…… Simultaneously, during the annual purging of the Ghost Domain, besides the indispensable top masters, each sect would select outstanding junior disciples to accompany them. This served two purposes: first, to temper them amidst life and death through this bloody method, honing their experience and strength; and second, to prepare them for the future, as one day, the responsibility of clearing the Ghost Domain would fall upon these younger generations.

“...Zhan Qingzhu, Sixth Tier... Li Xiao, Fifth Tier...

Zhan Zichuan, Fifth Tier...” Gazing at the compiled profiles of the junior disciples chosen by the Elders, Zhan Yunlan smiled with satisfaction. “These youngsters are quite promising; they will surely become the pillars of the Zhan Clan in the future.

Once we enter the Ghost Domain this time, we must covertly protect their safety. However, unless it is the moment of gravest danger, we must never intervene to help.

Even if we must act, they cannot detect it, lest they develop a sense of complacency, which would defeat the very purpose of sending them to the Ghost Domain for tempering.” “...” Those gathered nodded in agreement. They recalled their own first expeditions into the Ghost Domain with their seniors to clear out the Nether Beasts; they had encountered all manner of dangers and repeatedly teetered on the brink of death, yet miraculously survived.

Only after becoming Elders did they realize that powerful experts of the Zhan Clan had been secretly guarding them all along, without ever alerting their notice. “Hmm?” Just then, Zhan Yunlan suddenly let out a soft exclamation and retrieved the "Golden Armor Jade Slip" from his robes.

A moment later, he frowned. “It’s a message from Tianlun.

As of today, the Nether Sea remains incredibly turbulent, showing no signs of calming down.” On that day, the inability to contact Zhan Xinzi, Zhan Baisong, and the others had left them deeply disheartened. Nine days later, the group ventured deep into the Fire Source again, but to their surprise, the "Heart of Flame" failed to manifest.

Believing Nie Kong had perished, they finally returned to the Zhan Clan in resignation. Afterward, Zhan Yunlan dispatched Zhan Tianlun to guard the edge of the Nether Sea, monitoring its movements.

“Counting backward, it’s been twenty-seven days since the Nether Sea became this way, hasn’t it?” “One strange occurrence after another—what exactly has driven the Nether Sea mad?” “News from the Ghost Domain seal indicates no one has entered recently. Perhaps our Ancestor is still in the Nether Sea; I wonder if these recent shifts are related to him?” “...” Listening to the conjectures swirling around, Zhan Baisong and Zhan Baifeng exchanged a glance, both letting out a silent, heavy sigh.

If not for the accident that day, Nie Kong’s name would surely have appeared on the Chief’s list for the upcoming Ghost Domain journey. …… The Nether Sea raged, waves towering to the heavens.

Deep within the Nether Sea, inside the cranial space of Panhu’s form, the vortex of the storm had nearly enveloped the entire pool. Ink-black energy continuously seeped from the Spiritual Marrow, billowing upward to merge with the vortex, the howling rush of the wind constant and piercing.

At the edge of the pool, the two little ones, Qingyue and Qingyou, were having a blast, trading playful punches and kicks. In recent days, absorbing the **Water Spirit had become Qingyue’s sole joy.

However, Qingyou, despite starting off like a blank slate, had become increasingly ‘cunning’ lately, driving Qingyue absolutely wild. The result of being driven wild was settling disputes with fists.

Consequently, Qingyue, whose body was much smaller than Qingyou’s, achieved ultimate victory in every skirmish. “BOOM!” With a sound like the collapse of heaven and earth, a colossal roar resonated from the Spiritual Marrow.

Qingyue, who had just pinned Qingyou down, jumped in alarm, and Qingyou froze momentarily. An instant later, their four small eyes almost simultaneously darted toward the pool beside them.

“What happened? Did Nie Kong break through?

Has it really only been a month?” Qingyue muttered, floating up. Seeing this, Qingyou quickly grabbed her small skirt and floated alongside her to the highest point in this space.

Looking down, through the base of the storm vortex, they could faintly make out Nie Kong’s figure. “Finally Seventh Tier!” Above the Spiritual Marrow, Nie Kong let out a long sigh of relief.

Feeling the torrents of death energy surging through the bones of his main body, a smile spread across Nie Kong’s face. After such relentless cultivation, the main body’s goal was finally in sight, and the cultivation of the Second Incarnation had leaped from Second Grade Void Spirit all the way to Ninth Grade Void Spirit.

Just now, Nie Kong had sensed the invisible barrier at the Spiritual God Acupoint of his Second Incarnation, but he chose not to force the breakthrough. The Pill Spirit realm was different from the Void Spirit realm.

During the breakthrough into Void Spirit, Nie Kong could draw upon all elemental particles in the surrounding heaven and earth to condense the Void Passage. But when breaking through to the Pill Spirit realm, he could only mobilize the spiritual power within his body to refine the 'Heart Pill' in the Spiritual God Acupoint.

If Nie Kong chose to break through now, he could only utilize the mutated wood spiritual power within the Incarnation. The 'Heart Pill' refined from that would certainly be inferior to one condensed using the essence of spiritual treasures.

Since he was already at Ninth Grade Void Spirit, only a half-step away from the Pill Spirit realm, he might as well wait for the right moment, allowing the spiritual powers of his main body and Incarnation to merge before making the final ascent. However, this Spiritual Marrow was truly an excellent place for cultivation; Nie Kong was momentarily reluctant to stop.

If he could continue cultivating here, it was entirely possible that his main body's cultivation could directly break through to Eighth Tier in three or four months. Of course, the Spiritual Marrow couldn't sustain him that long.

Nie Kong sensed that in the past month, he had absorbed nearly half the death energy contained within the Marrow. If he continued cultivating at this pace, Panhu would surely feel the pinch.

After a while, Nie Kong finally rose to his full height and strode out of the pool in just a few steps. The moment he stepped ashore, the storm vortex vanished with a roar, and all the inky black aura circling Nie Kong retreated instantly back into the Spiritual Marrow, like the Qiantang River tide ebbing away.

A moment later, the small pool returned to its original tranquility. “Look!

Look! The Nether Sea has calmed down!” At the shore of the Nether Sea, several Black Spirit Masters yelled out.

Immediately afterward, over a dozen men rushed out of their tents, their faces filled with astonishment. Zhan Tianlun was among them; seeing the tumultuous waves completely still, he quickly transmitted the situation back to the Zhan Clan.

But at this very moment, inside Panhu’s physical space, Nie Kong, who was about to greet the two little ones, Qingyue and Qingyou, suddenly paused. A familiar, crisp chiming sound echoed in his mind, causing a flicker of undisguised joy to cross Nie Kong’s eyes.

Xiangxiang reached Sixth Tier! The little fellow had awakened shortly after his main body broke through to the Seventh Tier.

For Nie Kong, this was double happiness. He had initially expected the little one to fall into a long slumber after consuming the "Black Ling Fruit" and the "Icy Snow Divine Heart Grass," but it had only taken a mere month, exceeding Nie Kong’s expectations.

“Ayaya!” The little fellow, curled up in a ball, stretched out, and a dense purple aura instantly permeated the entire Spiritual God Acupoint. After reaching Sixth Tier, a small new leaf had sprouted on the little one’s stem, its roots had become denser, and the small flower bud at the tip had grown larger.

After sensing for a moment, Nie Kong’s focus sharpened, and he instantly captured the sliver of thought transmitted along with the chime: Pet "Violet Illusory Spirit Incense" successfully upgraded to Sixth Tier, adding four slots to the Pet Inventory; Comprehended Sixth Tier Symbiotic Combat Skill "Flower Shadow Dazzlement"; Comprehended Sixth Tier Symbiotic Combat Skill "Misty Overlapping Peaks"; Comprehended Sixth Tier Symbiotic Combat Skill "Floating Light Evasion"; Comprehended Sixth Tier Symbiotic Combat Skill "Medicine King Incarnation"; Comprehended Sixth Tier Support Skill 'Illusion of True and False' ; Comprehended Sixth Tier Support Skill 'Unraveling Clues' ; 'Medicine Cauldron Illusion' promoted to Sixth Tier; "Scent for Medicine Recognition" advanced. For the little one, the jump from Fifth to Sixth Tier was indeed a qualitative leap.

In this promotion, even the Pet Inventory didn't increase by just two slots at a time, but jumped by four all at once, immediately opening up a large vacant area in Nie Kong’s almost-full inventory. As for the skills, they filled Nie Kong with excitement.

Putting aside "Flower Shadow Dazzlement," "Misty Overlapping Peaks," and "Floating Light Evasion"—which were the advancement skills for "Hundred Flowers Distraction," "Myriad Forms of the Universe," and "Flower Shifting Evasion," respectively—what delighted Nie Kong most was the Sixth Tier Symbiotic Combat Skill, "Medicine King Incarnation"! This type of skill was a reward Nie Kong received from the "Demon and Monster" system after inventing multiple medicinal formulas in the past.

The "Medicine King Incarnation" was incredibly potent, granting Nie Kong near-invincibility in the limited dozen or so PvP matches he fought against other players in his previous life. With this thought, Nie Kong quickly checked the information regarding "Medicine King Incarnation" within that strand of consciousness.

After being comprehended by the little one, this skill had considerable differences from before. It required extremely precious medicinal herbs as a foundation, combined with the little one’s innate medicinal power and Nie Kong’s own spiritual energy and blood, to successfully condense the "Medicine King Incarnation." Once condensed, the "Medicine King Incarnation" would be indistinguishable from the main body in both appearance and aura.

As long as the medicinal herb serving as the Incarnation's foundation remained alive, the "Medicine King Incarnation" would not be restricted by duration or cooldown times like it was in the game; even if shattered, it could be condensed anew. However, the "Medicine King Incarnation" and the "Second Incarnation" were both forms of incarnation, and the differences between them were vast.

First, the "Medicine King Incarnation" could not undergo cultivation; second, it did not require the main body's spirit or soul to remain within it. As for 'Illusion of True and False', it was a skill derived from the Violet Illusory Spirit Incense’s ultimate illusion, "Mirror Flower Water Moon." In the Demon and Monster game, this skill, when paired with "Mirror Flower Water Moon," could create an identical illusion of the "Violet Illusory Spirit Incense," achieving a level of verisimilitude that was hard to distinguish.

Now that Xiangxiang had comprehended it, this skill could actually be used in conjunction with the "Medicine King Incarnation," which was a pleasant surprise for Nie Kong. The final skill, 'Unraveling Clues', belonged to the Alchemist class.

In the Demon and Monster game, Mages possessed 'Curse' skills; once cursed, other players would suffer negative effects such as mental confusion. The Alchemist’s 'Unraveling Clues' was specifically designed against curses, allowing the user to extract curses afflicting themselves and their teammates thread by thread to replenish the Alchemist player's HP and MP.

The current world was not the 'Demon and Monster' game; its application here was unknown. Nie Kong quickly searched through the consciousness, finding no relevant information.

"'Unraveling Clues'!" Nie Kong commanded silently in his mind, attempting it directly. “Ayaya.” The little fellow let out an excited cheer, and strands of green energy rushed out of the Spiritual God Acupoint, probing into Nie Kong’s bones, searching within his death energy.

Nie Kong felt a mix of amusement and helplessness. Judging by the little one’s actions, it seemed to be unraveling his threads and stripping his cocoon.

What could it possibly find after unraveling and stripping? “Could I have been afflicted by some curse?” Nie Kong muttered jokingly to himself.

But a moment later, sensing the strands of blood-red energy the little one was extracting from his death energy, Nie Kong’s heart gave a sudden, sharp jolt…… ……