To those hearing those three words for the first time, confusion reigned, while the Spirit Masters who recognized the name felt their hearts seize with dread. Had someone from the Spirit Shrine actually arrived in Jiyang City?
After flinging the two figures away, the colossal blue palm slowly dissipated into the void. The crowd waited for a long time, but Elder Shen Gong’s voice never echoed in the heavens again.
“Those two were actually from the Spirit Shrine?”
Drawing their gaze back from the dim night sky, the figures outside the courtyard seemed to awaken from a dream. But as their awareness cleared, the expressions of Cheng Feiliu and Cheng Feihong grew even grimmer. If they truly hailed from the Spirit Shrine, and if the 'Silver Fire Tree' had been stolen by them, the Royal Family would simply have to swallow their misfortune.
“There are two other people here; question them!” Elder Nine, Nie Xingdong, reminded them.
“Right!”
Cheng Feihong glared darkly at Elder Huo.
Seeing their hostile looks, Elder Huo quickly tried to explain, “Don’t look at me like that, I didn't take your ‘Silver Fire Tree.’ By the time I arrived, that ‘Silver Fire Tree’ was long gone.”
Cheng Feiliu sneered, “You say you didn’t take it, so you didn’t? If this old man remembers correctly, you were one of the figures playing tricks outside that manor last night and tonight!”
“……”
Sensing the situation turning perilous, Elder Huo grabbed the unconscious middle-aged man and made to flee. But the moment he moved, the Cheng brothers and the three elders, including Nie Xingdong, shot out like arrows, surrounding him completely. Fierce light flickered in Elder Huo’s eyes, but ultimately, he offered no resistance…
……
In the center of Jiyang City, a small apothecary not far from the Four Seas Tower, a figure—frost-browed, white-haired, so wrinkled he seemed ancient—clutched his chest, his face contorted in pain. He began to cough violently, the sound like air escaping a bellows with a broken spout—harsh and grating.
After a long moment, the old man straightened up, leaning weakly against a lounge chair, muttering with a sigh, “‘Yin Xu’s’ woman is truly formidable. After all these decades, I still haven't managed to expel this clot of blood. My cultivation remains stuck with one foot out of the Celestial Spirit realm. If I exert myself today, I probably won't have many days left…”
……
After the blue giant palm vanished, Nie Kong’s spirit could not settle for a long time.
This was true power!
Among the experts battling near the small manor, setting aside the Cave Spirit realm expert with the eunuch's voice, the others were likely masters of the Void Spirit realm. Yet, to the great Elder Nie Shen Gong, the combat between these Void Spirit masters, and even that Cave Spirit expert, seemed like nothing more than childish antics.
What was bearing? This was bearing! This bearing wasn’t just shown in strength, but in the commanding mindset of one who looks down upon the world. Merely by speaking, he could seize control of others’ wills! His previous strike, while harming no one, that formidable giant palm could awe those scoundrels eager to cause trouble in Jiyang City over the ‘Silver Fire Tree.’ At the very least, those people would harbor significant reservations before making a move.
In the several months since arriving on the Celestial Spirit Continent, this was the first time Nie Kong felt a surge of reverence toward the Great Elder he had never met.
“If I am to be a Spirit Master, I must be one like Elder Shen Gong!”
Nie Kong gazed at the spot where the giant palm had disappeared, allowing himself a moment of private awe before heading toward the Nie family residence. While traversing the silent, deserted alleys, Nie Kong changed back into his original clothes, then used golden needles to prick his face, restoring his crooked mouth and nose to their former appearance.
The light was still on in Hua Mei’s room. Nie Kong did not disturb her, slipping quietly back into his own quarters and immediately sitting down cross-legged.
Observing the little creature’s status, Nie Kong’s face instantly went blank. This little one was currently deeply engaged with the ‘Silver Fire Tree’ inside the Pet Pouch.
Tendrils of green light, symbolizing Xiang Xiang’s inherent medicinal essence, seeped out of the Yaochi Acupoint, extended into the Pet Pouch, and then, like watering, dripped onto the leaves of the ‘Silver Fire Tree.’ The stems and leaves, which had been somewhat listless, now looked vibrantly energized.
From time to time, the roots of the Silver Fire Tree also secreted a small cluster of shimmering red nectar, which was swept up by the little one’s green tendrils and completely absorbed.
The two entities maintained this cycle of giving and receiving nourishment.
At this moment, Nie Kong suddenly recalled an issue he had long ignored: since the little creature’s inherent medicinal essence could enter the Pet Pouch, didn't that mean it could absorb the medicine herbs on its own anytime it wished? Yet, in reality, the little one had been waiting for Nie Kong to feed it personally!
“I was so stupid! Truly!”
Nie Kong slapped the back of his head hard. He should have realized this long ago. The ‘Pet Pouch’ was something that emerged when the little one advanced its rank; it and the creature were two sides of the same coin. How could their bond not be intimate?
This little creature was just like those five or six-year-old children in his past life—they could certainly manage to pick up food with chopsticks, yet they would still whine and demand their parents spoon-feed them bite by bite.
When he worked as a doctor before, Nie Kong had encountered many such children. Each time, he advised the parents not to spoil them too much. If the child refused to eat on their own, one should let them cry themselves out without giving in, and eventually, they would obediently pick up their bowl.
Tragically, not a single set of parents had taken his advice.
This little creature was the same. He absolutely could not coddle it anymore. Did it want to consume medicinal essence? Fine, it could absorb it directly from the herbs inside the Pet Pouch!
“Xiang Xiang!” Thinking this, Nie Kong hardened his resolve.
“Ayaya…”
The little creature responded happily, but then seemed to realize its little secret had been discovered. The green light extending into the Pet Pouch retracted in a flash back into the small, tender sprout within the Yaochi Acupoint. Following that, as if afraid of being scolded, its leaves curled up and its roots retracted, forming a tight little ball.
Nie Kong looked at this and immediately felt amused, but his spoken words remained firm: “Hmm? Playing pitiful? Let me tell you, playing pitiful is useless. Starting today, you have to eat your medicine yourself. Master will only be responsible for delivering the medicine into the pouch... Do you hear me?”
“No response means agreement!”
“Eh?”
Nie Kong suddenly felt something was amiss and quickly checked the little creature’s condition, only to find it had actually drifted into slumber?
It seemed all his previous words were wasted!
Nie Kong grumbled internally, then abruptly realized the significance of the little creature’s slumber, an irrepressible wave of pleasant surprise washing over him.
The ‘Silver Fire Tree’ was indeed one of the five greatest miraculous medicines of the Celestial Spirit Continent. The little one had used so much of its inherent medicinal essence to nurture it, yet had only absorbed that meager amount of red nectar it secreted, and it was already nearing the Third Rank! Its advancement speed was even faster than his own! What a fine medicine! A fine medicine indeed! Increasing alchemy success rates should only be one of its effects; he needed to find some time later to inquire further from his two masters.
When the little one wakes from this sleep, it should be Third Rank. He wondered what skills it would have grasped by then?
Nie Kong was delighted, his mind cycling through the Alchemist skills and Ultimate B-Skills from the Demon/Devil Game. After a long while, Nie Kong finally redirected his attention to the ‘Silver Fire Tree’ inside the Pet Pouch.
The Silver Fire Tree blooms under the eternal night, the Dragon Tamer and God Devourer dance lightly!
If the Silver Fire Tree was this potent, he wondered just how wondrous the subsequent Eternal Night, Dragon Grass, God Devourer Flower, and Fluttering Jade Butterfly Spring would be?