However, upon entering the Netherworld City, Lu Fuyue discovered that the so-called primordial energy was actually a mixture of the primordial energies from various realms.

Suddenly, the horse's hooves leaped up, carrying a terrifying pressure, and kicked straight at Lu Fuyue's head. At the same time, the headless general forcefully stood up, stepped onto the horse's back, and leaped out, raising his hand and swinging it forcefully, the black nine-dragon spear in his hand slamming hard into Lu Fuyue's shoulder.

Lu Fuyue's pupils suddenly contracted, but her body did not react.

To cultivate the Phoenix Body Refining Technique, one must either devour rare and precious materials and enter a deep sleep to break through; or one must use external forces to open up the forty-nine spiritual apertures within the body.

The former takes too long, while she needs to break through to the Nascent Soul stage as soon as possible. In addition, opening up the spiritual apertures would be more beneficial to her cultivation, so she has to take this risk!

The cultivators on the platform became excited, waving their hands and shouting, "Kill this brat! Kill this brat now!"

"Hahaha, the fall of a genius is truly exhilarating!"

Amidst everyone's anticipation, the spear slammed into Lu Fuyue's shoulder and back. A sharp crack echoed as the immense pain surged like a tidal wave, nearly causing Lu Fuyue to faint.

Her face turned deathly pale instantly, a pungent, metallic taste of blood welled up in her throat, and mouthfuls of blood flowed from the corners of her mouth.

The next second, he was thrown into the air by the force of the spear, like a kite with a broken string, and slammed hard against the iron railings around the arena of life and death, before sliding down and crashing to the ground.

But she still held the Weak Water Zither tightly in her hands.

When the onlookers saw Lu Fuyue lying on the ground, barely breathing, they shouted even more excitedly.

"Headless General, seize the opportunity and kill her! Hurry!"

The headless general rode his warhorse, holding a long spear, and slowly headed towards Lu Fuyue.

The heavy clatter of hooves struck everyone's hearts like a dense drumbeat, and the atmosphere instantly froze.

In the shadows, a man wearing a black spirit-patterned mask had a turbulent look in his eyes.

Seeing that he seemed overly concerned about the fighting slave on the stage who was on the verge of death, Chongyuan's subordinates tentatively asked, "Sir, should we call a halt?"

If the fight isn't stopped soon, that low-ranking fighting slave will probably die.

Upon hearing this, a flicker of emotion flashed in Chongyuan's eyes, then disappeared. "A person of unknown origin, so be it."

After saying that, he turned and left.

The subordinate scratched his head, sensing that something was off about his superior today.

However, at this moment, under the effect of this attack, and with the large amount of vital energy that had just surged in, one-third of the forty-nine spiritual apertures in Lu Fuyue's body were opened in one go.

The Phoenix Body Refining Technique began to circulate continuously, and golden-red blood slowly flowed through various meridians. As the spiritual apertures were filled, Lu Fuyue's injuries gradually healed by more than half, and her physical strength was greatly enhanced.

Finally, the Phoenix Body Refining Technique broke through to the early stage of the fourth level, which is equivalent to the early stage of the Nascent Soul stage in spiritual cultivation.

Seeing that Lu Fuyue was still alive, the headless general's spear was aimed straight at Lu Fuyue's face in the next second. The warhorse reared up and neighed, and after a moment of lifting its two front legs, it lifted Lu Fuyue.

The cultivators on the platform became even more excited, shouting, "Quickly, quickly, kill that brat!"

"Stomp him to death, then use your spear to obliterate his soul!"

Lu Fuyue, who was lying on the ground on the verge of death, twitched her fingers slightly, suddenly opened her eyes, rolled over and got up to the side, raised her hand to put away the Weak Water Zither, and a coldness was hidden in her eyes.

Instead of dodging, she leaped towards the headless general, her hands forming palms, and swiftly struck his shoulder. At the same time, she secretly channeled a wisp of Phoenix Crimson Lotus Divine Fire into his body.

The headless general was furious. He shook his body violently, and the next second, Lu Fuyue was blasted away by a burst of yin energy.

Fortunately, she quickly regained her balance in mid-air and then flipped over to land on her feet.

Lu Fuyue looked up at the headless general and saw that black malevolent energy and resentment were constantly emanating from his body. Instantly, the pressure of the peak Nascent Soul stage was like a mountain tilting towards her.

Unfortunately, she was a divine phoenix, and the mere pressure from a peak Nascent Soul cultivator had no effect on her whatsoever. Lu Fuyue only had to put on a show to avoid revealing her identity.

Lu Fuyue then circulated her spiritual power, making her face paler and her body sway slightly. In reality, she took the opportunity to manipulate the wisp of phoenix red lotus divine fire left in the headless general's body, causing it to churn and rampage within him.

As the headless general's body stiffened and gradually became transparent, Lu Fuyue took out the Weak Water Zither and pressed his right hand hard on the strings. Instantly, countless golden and red flames rose from the ground beneath his feet, firmly surrounding the headless general and his warhorse.

These flames are remnants of the Red Lotus Karmic Fire from before she merged with the Divine Fire, and the Red Lotus Karmic Fire is precisely what counters evil spirits.

The flames grew fiercer and fiercer, and the headless general and his warhorse were soon engulfed and surrounded by the fire. Under the influence of the Red Lotus Karmic Fire, the malevolent energy and resentment on their bodies began to dissipate.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a wisp of golden light of merit secretly flew into Lu Fuyue's body, and she learned about the origins of the general and the warhorse.

A thousand years ago, a small country in the mortal realm was besieged by three neighboring countries. All the generals who could be used in the entire court died on the battlefield. In the end, the capital of the small country was besieged by the armies of the three countries, but no one was able to fight.

So the king stepped forward, donned his armor, rode his horse, and went to the battlefield alone. Behind him was a temporary army composed of people from the capital, ranging in age from twelve to sixty, who volunteered to fight.

They all knew they would lose this battle, but for their homes and country, for the land where they had lived for generations, and for their benevolent monarch, they had to stand up and defend their country, their homes, and their only monarch.

Thus, an army of 300,000, composed of the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled from the entire capital, followed behind the ruler of the small country, and under the watchful eyes of his family, opened the city gates and resolutely charged towards the enemy.

...

In the end, they all died beneath their own capital city, their blood staining the entire city.

Afterwards, dynasties changed and time passed. The former capital city was no longer what it used to be, and had become a desolate wasteland overgrown with weeds.

But even if their monarch died in battle, he still remembered that he had to bring his people and his soldiers home no matter what.

However, in life, his head was cut off while he was still alive. After death, he could no longer see the direction and could only rely on his obsession to lead 300,000 souls step by step to find the way home.

Finally, by a twist of fate, he led these 300,000 souls to the gates of the Netherworld City. Only after the 300,000 souls were saved by Chongyuan and were finally able to reincarnate did most of his obsession dissipate.

However, he had one last obsession: to vanish from this world with his warhorse. After all, such uncontrolled existence in this world was not what they desired.

A person of great virtue is imbued with the golden light of merit, which is why he was able to come to this place.

...

After Lu Fuyue received that wisp of golden light of merit, the dantian in her body gradually showed signs of forming a nascent soul.