A deafening roar echoed from the direction of the Lingbao Pavilion, as the blood-crazed cultivators from various factions forgot they were in the imperial city of Shuiyun Country. For the sake of the spiritual treasures, they dared to strike out at anyone near them. The sharp sound of bull horns blared; the troops from Tianshui City stationed within the Lingbao Pavilion must have begun to intervene to restore order.

Ji Changkong dashed across the rooftops, his mind perfectly clear, absorbing every surrounding fluctuation into his awareness, deliberately avoiding areas dense with formidable cultivators and slipping into the less-frequented corners. Huu!

A faint blue mist drifted towards him. As Ji Changkong sprinted forward, he inhaled a puff of it unintentionally. The moment the blue mist entered his body, a sudden weakness and numbness seized him. His foot missed its purchase, and with a thump, he tumbled into the center of an elegant courtyard.

"Heh heh, finally got you."

A familiar, sinister figure emerged from a shadow in a distant wall corner. It was the old man from the Lingbao Hall who had traded two hundred high-grade Yuan Stones for the venomous fang of the Thousand-Year Purple Gold Toad. The old man chuckled darkly, walking over to Ji Changkong, grabbing his collar, and dragging him directly into a side room of the courtyard. Inside, a couple lay foaming at the mouth, dead for some time now.

After shutting the door, the old man shoved Ji Changkong’s weak, limp body into a chair. A withered, yellowed hand fumbled over him for a moment, stripping away the dagger he clutched, his Mustard Seed Bag, and the ring on his left hand.

He opened the Mustard Seed Bag, and the spiritual herbs from the Yunmeng Marsh, the Black Jade Yuan Crystals, and the over six thousand high-grade Yuan Stones he acquired at the Lingbao Assembly were all piled up inside the room. "We’ve struck it rich, truly struck it rich! Tsk tsk, I never would have thought you, a kid who looks so unremarkable, would carry such wicked treasures. It was worth following you all this way!" the old man chuckled excitedly, marveling.

Powerless, Ji Changkong felt even his eyelids growing heavy. He managed to ask in a faint voice, "Who... who are you? Why are you following me?"

"Eh, there’s one more thing?" The old man didn't answer, instead staring at Ji Changkong with a look of doubt. He extended a withered hand, skeletal like a chicken's claw, and meticulously searched Ji Changkong’s body once more, demanding, "Boy, where is it?"

"What thing? Haven't you taken everything already?" Ji Changkong’s mind was muddled, and even speaking was becoming difficult.

"Don't play coy with me!" The old man sneered, lowering his voice, "Before the Lingbao Pavilion collapsed, three spiritual treasures flew out of the exhibition stand. The Tianyuan Pearl landed right on you! Boy, although chaos erupted inside the Pavilion, very few people dared to look around, but I kept my eyes fixed on that Tianyuan Pearl and saw exactly what happened!" "Hmph. There were too many people then, so I didn't dare move. I watched you snatch the Moon Heart Stone and Sun Heart Stone from Du Shaofeng before escaping the Pavilion. I followed you the whole way; I certainly wasn't tracking you for the Moon Heart Stone or Sun Heart Stone!" "Speak! Where did you hide the Tianyuan Pearl? Is it with that girl? If you confess honestly, I might take pity and spare your miserable life today!"

Bang!

The old man struck Ji Changkong’s chest with a punch. Ji Changkong, who was about to lose consciousness, felt a sharp jolt of pain, and his spirit momentarily recovered.

Tianyuan Pearl?

Ji Changkong’s mind was sluggish. After thinking for a moment, he recalled that when he and Bai Qingya fled the Lingbao Pavilion, he felt like he was struck by a beam of light on his back, creating a strange illusion of something new existing within him. The situation was urgent afterward, with Du Shaofeng in hot pursuit, leaving him no time to examine the anomaly. Now, hearing the old man, Ji Changkong suddenly remembered.

His eyes flashed. Ji Changkong focused his spirit, perception, and will as much as possible, striving to keep his mind clear while desperately plotting a countermeasure.

"Boy, don't be ungrateful. My cultivation of the Celestial Master Dao is different from others; I refine my body by collecting the world's great poisons. If you don't talk now, I'll let you experience what it means to wish for death, bit by bit!" The old man's face gradually turned sinister, his eyes darting over Ji Changkong like a viper's.

"That thing burrowed into my body, into my eyeballs. You can see for yourself," Ji Changkong said weakly, his voice barely a whisper.

Although Shen Zhen had followed him, Ji Changkong’s fight using his Silver Pupils against Du Shaofeng in the clothing shop happened in an instant. He guessed that Shen Zhen likely didn't know the secret of his eye pupils, so he spoke to test him.

As expected, Shen Zhen didn't know. He leaned in with a confused look, his eyes wide as he stared directly into Ji Changkong's eyes. Suddenly, Ji Changkong’s pitch-black pupils gradually turned silver. As Shen Zhen stared intently, a silver beam suddenly shot out.

"Ah..."

The silver light struck Shen Zhen's eyes. He merely uttered a sharp gasp that abruptly cut off, and just like Du Shaofeng, his body instantly froze solid, turning into an ice sculpture.

Only then did Ji Changkong's spirit, perception, and will truly begin to observe his internal body, probing from top to bottom for any abnormalities. In his abdomen, an foreign object was wrapped in flesh and slowly releasing the vital energy of heaven and earth within him.

The moment his spirit, will, and perception touched it, it suddenly pulsed violently. Surging vital energy poured out from it like fine threads, scattering into Ji Changkong’s limbs, every meridian, muscle, and drop of blood.

Another mysterious fluctuation aggressively intertwined with Ji Changkong’s spirit, will, and perception, causing all sorts of illusions to surface in his mind. He was in a sea of blood, with all the evil spirits of the heavens gnawing at his body, causing him excruciating pain! After a moment, he seemed to be in an immortal paradise, where beautiful women of perfect charm played with him in milky-white river water...

All manner of illusions flooded him, encompassing the myriad states of the human world, flashing repeatedly in his mind, each one different. Amidst the torrent of illusions, a sliver of clarity remained in Ji Changkong's heart. He firmly recalled the profound principles of the Taixu Secret Record, guarding his true heart and resisting the illusions.

After an unknown length of time, Ji Changkong shuddered violently, and all the illusions in his mind vanished without a trace. He shot up suddenly. The previous feeling of numbness and weakness was gone. He felt refreshed and invigorated, as if boundless power was available for him to command.

Following his thoughts, his perception extended in all directions. Every fluctuation of elemental energy and every sign of life around him were perfectly reflected in his mind. He opened his hand, and a wisp of vital energy flowed out of his palm. The energy constantly shifted, gradually forming a winding, swimming long snake, then suddenly reformed into a ball, becoming a lethargic sea turtle.

Vital Energy Condensation! The peak of the Three Talents Heaven Realm!

A thought stirred. His spirit, perception, and will merged into a vast, tangible wave that he could clearly sense. The wave was like ripples on water, or a flickering flame—invisible and intangible, yet truly existing. The Soul! Only a Soul could manifest in the mind in such a form, and only upon the formation of a Soul could vital energy be condensed into physical reality!

Overjoyed, Ji Changkong had not expected to form a Soul so quickly. Gazing inward with his Soul, in an instant, every meridian, bone, and internal organ within him was rapidly mapped into his consciousness, giving him an incomparably clear sense of being shrunk down countless times and inserted into his own body, intimately familiar with every corner of it. This was truly a wonderful sensation!

Above his abdomen, the foreign object, the Tianyuan Pearl, remained wrapped in flesh, still slowly but continuously releasing wisps of vital energy. This astonished Ji Changkong, but he dared not probe the Tianyuan Pearl further with his Soul. However, he knew that what Chen Yirong had said was correct: the Tianyuan Pearl, originating from an extraterrestrial meteorite, had absolutely more uses than just gathering vital energy! He understood that the Tianyuan Pearl must have been partly responsible for the rapid formation of his Soul.

Without delving deeper into the abnormality of the Tianyuan Pearl, Ji Changkong quickly snapped out of his Soul-based introspection. Before him, Shen Zhen, frozen into an ice sculpture, was still encased in hard ice. All his belongings—the Yuan Stones, the Mustard Seed Bag, the Black Jade Yuan Crystals, the dagger, the ring, the spiritual herbs—were all present and accounted for.

He grabbed the Mustard Seed Bag, sweeping all the Yuan Stones, Black Jade Yuan Crystals, and spiritual herbs into it. He then retrieved his ring and picked up the dagger. Seeing nothing else belonging to him in the room, Ji Changkong turned his gaze to the frozen Shen Zhen.

A movement of his Soul allowed him to clearly sense a faint flow of vital energy within Shen Zhen, who registered as a distinct fluctuation. Shen Zhen’s Soul had also formed, and he was not frozen by the hard ice; there was a vital sign within Ji Changkong's mind.

Not dead?

Frowning, Ji Changkong watched Shen Zhen calmly, appearing to contemplate something. Kill or not kill?

Shen Zhen had clearly harbored ill intentions toward him, following him solely for the Tianyuan Pearl, poisoning him along the way, intending to rob him of all his spiritual treasures, and planning to torture him to death slowly. A person like this could not be benevolent; the two innocent civilian corpses in the room were proof! Leaving him alive would certainly result in future disaster. Most importantly, this person knew the Tianyuan Pearl was inside him!

After a moment of hesitation, Ji Changkong’s eyes gradually turned cold, though his pupils remained the normal color, now tinged with a chill. He flashed the dagger, and with a clank, Shen Zhen’s head flew off, landing rigidly on the floor inside the room, still encased in ice.

Du Shaofeng's death was accidental homicide; this time, Ji Changkong killed deliberately! In this action, Ji Changkong was exceptionally calm and decisive, delivering a fatal blow in one strike! Since Shen Zhen was covered in poison and encased in ice, Ji Changkong did not disturb him. After giving him a deep look, he turned and left the quiet side room.

The moonlight poured down like water onto the earth; it was deep into the night, and the surroundings were silent. Having just taken a life deliberately, Ji Changkong looked up at the sky, released his Soul, and let his spiritual sense spread outward, rippling from him in all directions. Whether it was due to the formation of his Soul or not, his spiritual sense was far clearer than before, and the range of his perception had increased at least fivefold.

Leaving the room, the Tianyuan Pearl inside him seemed to stir. Immediately, the vital energy filling the heavens and earth began to converge toward him. With his Soul formed, the miraculous treasure of the Tianyuan Pearl within him, coupled with the Jingtao Jue, Tianlei Jin, and a pair of Silver Pupils capable of surprising victories, Ji Changkong’s confidence swelled to unprecedented heights.

"First, I need to find Sister Bai," Ji Changkong whispered, leaping up onto the eaves and heading toward the Lingbao Pavilion.

Second chapter. There is another chapter coming soon. Brothers, please support with monthly votes, won't you? Give us some monthly votes! To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please log in for more chapters, support the author, and support the genuine work!