Chapter 34: Phoenix Soul Blood Fragrance

Ning Zhuo was filled with a sense of urgency.

Because he didn't know when the subsequent competitors would be ensnared and enter the Molten Lava Immortal Palace to undergo trials.

It was entirely possible that the moment after next, Meng Chong would enter the palace, pass through all the tests, enter the preparation room, and discover Ning Zhuo's name.

"The opponent possesses transcendent Immortal aptitude!"

"What method is there to allow my soul's foundation to surge at least twofold in a short amount of time?"

Ning Zhuo frowned deeply, opening several drawers.

These drawers were stuffed full of jade slips.

Each jade slip had a simple label on it.

Ning Zhuo searched for a moment, pulling out one jade slip and placing it against his brow.

He drew upon his divine sense from his Upper Dantian Spirit Sea, probing into the jade slip, perusing the information.

Ever since he started earning spirit stones, he had begun gathering information from outside. This good habit had persisted for over a decade.

It was precisely relying on this information that he had a greater understanding of Fire Persimmon Immortal City. Otherwise, with his Qi Refining cultivation base, how could he understand cultivators of the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages?

Although a lot of the information remained superficial, it couldn't withstand Ning Zhuo's decade-long diligence of constant collection, constant comparison of the developments of events, and constant speculation.

Ning Zhuo flipped through multiple jade slips, primarily searching for information regarding the soul.

Eleven years ago.

A demonic cultivator came to Fire Persimmon Immortal City, named Hua Qianhun. She planted flowers in a valley near the city, causing a sea of flowers to spread, covering the mountains and fields, creating rumors of a rare flower appearing. Many people were attracted, entering the sea of flowers, and their souls were extracted, becoming fertilizer for the flowers. Ultimately, a rare flower truly appeared, named the Soul Essence Flower. Hua Qianhun immediately plucked it and swiftly fled.

Eight years ago.

News of the appearance of the Seven Star Lamp spread widely throughout the cultivation world. Fire Persimmon Immortal City also learned of this matter.

The Seven Star Lamp was created by Kong Riyue, a famous prime minister of the Azure Mountain Kingdom. He wanted to defy fate, so he created this lamp, intending to use the power of the stars to replace a portion of his soul with a celestial soul. Ultimately, he failed because Dai Yan, an internal saboteur from the Tyrant Weapon Kingdom, ruined his plans.

The appearance of the Seven Star Lamp caused waves in several countries at the time, triggering countless cultivators to compete for it, and almost incited a war between the Azure Mountain Kingdom and the Tyrant Weapon Kingdom.

Five years ago.

A Golden Core cultivator from the Sacred Ape Sect traveled the world and came to Fire Persimmon Immortal City. During his stay, he made a mistake in his cultivation technique, became possessed by madness, and his soul actually merged with his spirit pet, the Blazing Heart Ape. He caused no small amount of damage to Fire Persimmon Immortal City at the time. Several Golden Core cultivators joined forces to kill him.

Four years ago.

A large number of ghost fires appeared in the mountain cemetery at the foot of Fire Persimmon Immortal City, sparking a momentary trend of plucking ghost fires.

Three years ago.

Seven hundred li away from Fire Persimmon Immortal City, there was a withered mountain. A pool of Yellow Springs water appeared in the Death Valley within the mountain, attracting many cultivators to fight over it.

Two years ago.

A Nine Nether Black Death Cat was born near Fire Persimmon Immortal City. The city lord personally went to battle, fighting for three days and three nights before driving it away.

The aftermath of the battle deeply affected the surrounding hundreds of li of mountains and forests.

Numerous mountains were shrouded in deathly aura, and hundreds of ghosts roamed at night.

Fire Persimmon Immortal City was also affected. The city lord ordered a large number of cultivators to constantly leave the city, cleansing the surroundings of the city and reorganizing the landscape. The Southern Bean Dynasty allocated disaster relief funds and distributed a large amount of supplies, which finally revived the natural vitality of the surrounding lands.

One year ago.

Grandmaster Sun Lie, a great alchemist, came to Fire Persimmon Immortal City to visit friends. He was commissioned by the Zhou family to refine the Phoenix Soul Blood Fragrance Pill using phoenix avian souls and essence blood. On the day the pill was completed, the phoenix's cry echoed around the beams, never ceasing for three days, becoming a strange sight in the city.

Eighteen pills were completed, twelve were delivered to the Zhou family, and the remaining six caused a fierce competition among the cultivators, resulting in one death and three injuries. The culprit, Han Ming, is still at large...

"Phoenix Soul Blood Fragrance Pill." A glint flashed in Ning Zhuo's eyes.

He knew of this elixir, as red as blood, with a fragrance that soothed the heart, possessing an extremely strong effect of nourishing and restoring the soul.

Ning Zhuo took out a token and tossed it outwards.

The token disintegrated in the air, quickly transforming into a battle armor.

Azure Steel Han Armor.

After the blasting the Immortal Palace operation, the Han Armor was heavily damaged, especially in the back. The greater damage came from its interior. The Foundation Establishment pill, which served as a key component, was only ten percent effective.

"There's no choice, I must act!"

Ning Zhuo climbed into the Azure Steel Han Armor. He bent over, leaning on his cane. After a series of light and shadow transformations, the Han Armor's visor turned into an old man, with a weathered face, black and purple eye bags, and deep wrinkles. He wore a tattered leather cloak, and the Drooping Child Fishing Whip disintegrated, disguised as hair, hanging from his head to his feet.

The Drooping Child Guest made his appearance once again.

Ning Zhuo stood in the corner, activating the teleportation array.

In the next moment, he entered deep underground.

He walked out of the teleportation chamber, passing the giant alchemic furnace used for burning corpses, his hunched figure gradually disappearing into the underground tunnel.

Fire Persimmon Immortal City, the Black Market.

In the courtyard, a cultivator knelt on the ground.

His body trembled, his face was bruised and swollen, and his face was full of fear, cupping his hands and begging for mercy: "Boss Sun, I will definitely pay back the money I owe. I can definitely pay it back! You have to believe me, I..."

*Pfft.*

In the next moment, a flash of a blade, and the kneeling cultivator's arm was directly severed.

"Ah—!"

The kneeling cultivator was stunned for a moment, then howled, his voice miserable.

He covered the stump of his arm with his hand, fell to the ground, the pain causing him to roll around.

A huge wound spurted blood outwards, quickly forming a pool of blood.

Boss Sun chuckled, appreciating the miserable scene before him.

He had short, jet-black hair, chubby cheeks, dyed with two patches of blush, making him very cute.

His eyes were big, black and white clear. His skin was tender and smooth, resembling a three- or four-year-old child.

This was all because he had mistakenly eaten a Face-Fixing Pill in his infancy, and then cultivated a certain special technique.

Boss Sun was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his full name was Sun Lingtong.

Sun Lingtong sneered disdainfully: "You still want to lie to me? I've been in charge of the black market for so long, relying on these eyes of mine. I'm the best at reading people, how could you deceive my spiritual eyes?"

As he spoke, he fiddled with a dagger.

The dagger was extremely sharp, flying between Sun Lingtong's agile wrists and fingers, like a butterfly spreading its wings and dancing under the moonlight.

Just then, a cultivator respectfully stepped forward, standing by Sun Lingtong's ear, whispering something.

Sun Lingtong immediately suppressed his smile, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"You guys tidy up, we have an honored guest." Sun Lingtong waved his hand, and two burly body cultivators with faces full of flesh immediately trotted over.

One person directly snapped the neck of the armless cultivator, and left with the corpse.

The other person cast a spell to clean up the small courtyard.

A moment later, the Drooping Child Guest was led into the small courtyard.

Sun Lingtong opened his arms, walking towards the Drooping Child Guest with a smile on his face: "Old Brother, what wind has blown you here?"

The Drooping Child Guest's voice was hoarse, his expression indifferent: "Boss Sun, this time, there is indeed something I need to ask of you."

"I want to make a move against Sun Lie."

Sun Lingtong's pupils shrank sharply.