As the medicinal herbs vanished, the giant serpent, suspended mid-air, grew even more enraged and frenzied. From its wide-open maw erupted a piercing shriek, a sound so sharp it seemed capable of punching through several layers of thick steel plating.

"Whoosh!"

Simultaneously, a dense cloud of blood mist shot out from the serpent's mouth like an arrow. Nie Kong saw only a flash of crimson light before the mist was upon him. He desperately suppressed the agony of his body threatening to rupture and his heart on the verge of shattering, forcing his barely emerged soul upward toward the heavens.

The blood mist instantly enveloped Nie Kong's physical form. In less than half a second, his entire body dissolved into a puddle of gore, leaving behind not even a single shard of bone.

An indescribable sense of suffocation spread from the depths of his soul. Nie Kong’s mind was utterly shaken. What rank of spirit beast was this giant serpent to be so terrifyingly powerful? If he had hesitated for even half a second longer before self-destruction, both body and soul would have been utterly annihilated by now.

Though the unnatural dissipation of his physical form brought an even more severe torment and agony to his soul, Nie Kong’s consciousness was filled only with relief.

"Boom!"

The serpent’s body, dozens of meters long, slammed down heavily. Sand and dust exploded outward, leaving a long, deep fissure torn into the earth. The serpent’s blood-red eyes swept beneath the crimson jade tablet; aside from the pool of blood and the freshly dug crater, the surrounding area was empty, devoid of any trace of the medicinal herbs.

Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss...

The rapid hissing emanating from the serpent below rolled out in waves. Nie Kong’s soul was almost shattered by the sound. He could clearly sense the intense unwillingness and towering fury contained within that noise; clearly, the herbs he had sequestered into his pet inventory were extremely precious to the giant serpent.

"Bang!"

The serpent writhed, its thick tail sweeping out in a horizontal arc, fiercely striking the cliff face ahead. Rocks sprayed in a shower like heavens-sent rain, scattering everywhere. After the tail strike, the serpent’s massive head tore through the void, violently slamming into the cliff face once more with a tremendous crash.

The battering continued...

Boom! Boom!

Boom...

As if undergoing the agony of being stripped of tendons and skinned, the serpent’s elongated body thrashed and twisted violently, slamming against the cliff face again and again.

For a time, it was as if the heavens had collapsed and the earth split open. The cliff trembled, massive stones collapsed and flew, the ground groaned and was crisscrossed with ravines, and the nearby lake churned with violent waves. However, no matter how the giant serpent vented its rage, that arch-shaped crimson jade tablet at the base of the sheer cliff remained completely unmoved.

So powerful!!

Nie Kong floated ever higher, and the raging serpent on the ground grew smaller and smaller.

Suddenly, Nie Kong’s soul, which had been intensely shaken, plunged into a vortex. Immediately afterward, his consciousness was engulfed by the rapidly spinning crimson.

"Bang!"

Vaguely, Nie Kong heard a loud impact. His consciousness, which had been growing increasingly hazy from being sucked into the blood-red whirlpool, suddenly snapped back to alertness.

A sensation of extreme comfort blossomed from the depths of his heart. Nie Kong instantly realized that his soul had finally broken free of the Illusory Realm and returned to the "Phantom Spirit Stone" held in his hand via the substantial, blood-red tether connecting to the illusory vessel. At this moment, his soul was transferring into his physical body...

...

The blood-red, hazy Hall of Life and Death was deathly quiet, silent enough to hear a pin drop.

Surrounding the blood-red Illusory Realm were circles of white light, yet only on one meditation cushion stood a single, upright cocoon, crimson as blood. Not far behind the red cocoon sat three figures with their eyes closed in meditation: the Ninth Elder Nie Xingdong, Nie Fenghan, and Nie Qingfeng.

"Bang!"

Although the sound was faint, it struck their hearts like a massive hammer. The eyes of Nie Xingdong and the other two opened almost simultaneously, their gazes falling upon the blood cocoon before them. Dense, spiderweb-like cracks had appeared on the cocoon's surface, but unlike before, it did not completely shatter.

Nie Qingfeng asked with confusion, "Ninth Elder, has his soul returned, or...?" Nie Fenghan’s eyes fixed on the Ninth Elder in the center with equal incomprehension.

Ninth Elder Nie Xingdong’s small eyes widened until they were perfectly round. After a long moment, he seemed to awaken from a dream, his baby face flushed with excitement: "Does that need asking? Returned! Of course, he’s returned!"

As he spoke, Nie Xingdong’s lips trembled slightly. Nie Qingfeng and Nie Fenghan exchanged a glance, their expressions somewhat bewildered. Nie Kong, who had entered the second layer of the Illusory Realm, was indeed extraordinary, and his soul’s safe return was certainly cause for happiness, but was such excitement necessary?

"Good! Good!"

As the two speculated, Ninth Elder Nie Xingdong had already jumped up like a child, pacing around the blood cocoon, occasionally bursting into a word of praise, or letting out a soft chuckle. Judging by Nie Xingdong’s demeanor, one would think he desperately wanted to rush forward and smother the cocoon with fervent kisses.

Nie Qingfeng and Nie Fenghan were deeply surprised. In their memory, among the elders they had seen, Nie Xingdong was the one who possessed the least patriarchal authority, yet they had never witnessed him lose composure like this. Subconsciously, their gazes drifted back to the blood cocoon covered in minute cracks.

When the soul returned, the blood cocoon fractured but did not disintegrate...

Could there be some hidden mystery within this?

...

The moment his soul burst out of the Phantom Spirit Stone and flooded into his head, Nie Kong’s Dantian acupoints vibrated violently at an unprecedented speed. Spirit power surged through his meridians like terrifying, crashing waves. In that instant, every single cell in Nie Kong’s muscles, blood, bones, and internal organs came alive.

As the soul and flesh merged completely, a profound and wondrous feeling arose from the bottom of Nie Kong’s heart. The invisible barrier, which had just begun to emerge from the Three Spiritual Apertures of the Soul, burst open and attained complete passage. The breakthrough Nie Kong had striven for in the illusory cave but failed to achieve, was realized at this very moment.

Spirit Manifestation Second Grade!

This process was seamless, as natural as flowing water, encountering virtually no obstruction. No wonder that whenever the first layer of the Life-Death Illusory Realm opened, so many young cultivators fought desperately to hold on until the final deadline arrived before choosing self-destruction to exit, Nie Kong reflected with hidden satisfaction amidst his joy.

"Boom!"

To Nie Kong’s surprise, after breaking through to Spirit Manifestation Second Grade, the spirit power did not settle down. Instead, it surged even more intensely, raging violently through his meridians like the tide of the Qiantang River in his past life. In moments, a tearing pain emanated from the Twelve Main Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Vessels within Nie Kong’s body.

If this rampant spirit power were allowed to run wild, all his meridians would surely rupture! Nie Kong quickly calmed his mind, sinking his consciousness, and activated the "Five Stars Shifting Art," striving to control the spirit power darting through his meridians, directing them ceaselessly back into the Three Spiritual Apertures of the Soul.

Finally, the chaotic spirit power was brought back into order. However, a warm, soft heat began to radiate from the palms of Nie Kong’s hands, the soles of his feet, and the crown of his head. Immediately, wisps of scorching heat separated from the surrounding blood cocoon and poured forcefully into Nie Kong’s body through the "Five Hearts"...