Chapter 162 The Realm of Trials (Thirteen)

The man's expression went blank for a moment, then he looked intently at Jiang Gu.

In the blink of an eye, the scroll hanging on the wall suddenly expanded, wrapping the entire outer hall tightly like a gauze curtain, completely isolating the spiritual energy between heaven and earth. The man had disappeared without a trace, but his aura seemed to be everywhere. Jiang Gu stepped on the excessively soft Xuan paper, and the ink lines on the paper seemed to come alive, twisting and intertwining into countless ghost patterns, rushing towards him.

Jiang Gu's expression darkened slightly, and his intended resistance faltered for a moment.

In that instant, the opponent seized the opportunity. The ghostly patterns eagerly wrapped around his ankles, spreading wildly upwards along his calves. Soon, they expertly coiled around his neck and wrists. Then, Jiang Gu heard a satisfied sigh in his ear.

"Wei—" He was about to speak when a ghostly mark quickly covered his mouth.

The cold, sticky ghost mark pressed against the warm lips, eager to burrow inside. Jiang Gu's face darkened, and he raised his hand to tear the ghost mark off, saying coldly, "Enough."

The ghostly mark didn't seem convinced, and instantly transformed into countless tiny ghostly marks that densely wrapped around Jiang Gu's fingers, resembling a hand interlocking with his five fingers.

Having learned from his previous experience of being escaped, Jiang Gu did not act rashly. He vaguely guessed that someone was likely watching Wei Feng, so he did not want to be called by name. Otherwise, he would not have gone to such lengths. He looked at the "hand" that was clasped with his with a complicated expression, without speaking or making any move.

After a moment of silence, Wei Feng couldn't hold back any longer. The ghostly patterns coalesced into a tall human figure. He raised his arm and hugged Jiang Gu tightly. He lowered his head, affectionately rubbed Jiang Gu's cheek, and bit Jiang Gu's earlobe.

Then a powerful spiritual force struck him squarely between the eyebrows, and the head formed by the ghostly markings instantly disintegrated.

Jiang Gu turned around and looked at him coldly. The shattered ghost patterns quickly reformed and formed a blurry face. The human form was really unsightly. The dark ghost patterns kept entwining and writhing, looking just like a vengeful ghost.

He manipulated the ghostly patterns, relentlessly and fearlessly clinging to them. His hoarse voice finally rang out in the space entwined with the scroll, but it carried a hint of accusation: "Why did you kill Yan Huairan?"

Jiang Gu said succinctly, "Of course he deserves to die."

Wei Feng approached him somewhat angrily, "You've always been cautious and wouldn't do anything so attention-grabbing. Does he have ulterior motives towards you?"

Jiang Gu reached out and pushed away his dark head. "This is not something you should be concerned about."

"How is this not something I should care about? You are my Daoist partner!" Wei Feng grabbed his wrist and roared fiercely.

For a moment, Jiang Gu wondered if he had missed something due to amnesia. He coldly curled the corner of his mouth and said, "Is this humanoid form formed from ghostly markings brainless?"

Wei Feng knew he didn't want to admit it, so he gritted his teeth and said, "You forced me to have a spiritual connection with you and sealed my memories. Do you really not intend to take responsibility?"

"That was just a distraction, and besides, it was for the purpose of detoxification. Don't take it seriously." Jiang Gu said casually, "It was just a spiritual connection. There's no need to take it to heart."

Wei Fengsheng was so angry he laughed. The calmness and composure he tried to maintain were no match for Jiang Gu. The grievances and anger rising from the bottom of his heart almost overwhelmed his reason, but he still forced himself to steady himself. "Just spiritual communication? Then why don't you go and spiritually communicate with that Xiao Qingyan?"

"..." Jiang Gu impatiently lifted his eyelids, wanting to slap the man, "Where is your original spirit?"

"What, you want to find my original body so you can seal my memories again and make me watch you and Xiao Qingyan live happily ever after?" Wei Feng viciously wrapped the ghost pattern around him. "You're dreaming!"

The ghostly patterns had already scorched through the protective jade armor, and Wei Feng took advantage of Jiang Gu's attention to spread a lot of mist on his body, which is now all attached to Jiang Gu's primordial spirit.

Jiang Gu finally sensed the aura of Wei Feng's primordial spirit.

Compared to Wei Feng's anger, he appeared remarkably calm. "Wei Linming."

The restless spirit that had been trying to force a spiritual connection with him suddenly froze and stopped in its tracks.

"Consider the consequences before you act." Jiang Gu's tone was serious. Even though his jade armor and clothes were torn and messed up by the dark ghost patterns, he still stood quietly in place. He looked at the human figure formed by the ghost patterns in front of him and said in a deep voice, "Since you went to such lengths to drag me into this painting, you must have a plan. Provoking me will not do you any good."

His expression was stern, no different from the elders Wei Feng remembered who had instructed and warned their disciples. What angered Wei Feng even more was that he himself subconsciously began to feel intimidated in front of Jiang Gu, and even had an impulse to kneel down and admit his mistake. Even though Jiang Gu held a great deal of authority in his heart—

The ghost patterns around Wei Feng suddenly surged, and a figure suddenly pounced out from the dense ghost patterns, reaching out a hand to Jiang Gu. Jiang Gu subconsciously grabbed that hand, and then was tackled down into layers of Xuan paper.

The sound of splashing water and the strong stench of blood filled the air as the water hit the ground.

Crimson blood soaked through Jiang Gu's white sleeves. He lay on his back in the sea of ​​blood, and the youthful-looking spirit pressed down on him. Those dark, cold eyes were looking down at him, their greed and desire undisguised.

Jiang Gu was also looking at him.

This time, there were no ugly scars or black lines on his body. His handsome face was stained with blood, and his messy long hair hung down beside his ears. He was still wearing that tattered red dress, which was a little too small for him, with most of the sleeves torn...

"Get up." Jiang Gu tried to raise his hand, but the other man grabbed his wrist and pressed it above his head, splattering a sticky mess of blood.

He stared at Jiang Gu with almost obsessive intensity, his gaze seemingly licking every inch of her skin, his voice deep and hoarse: "...Let me see again."

Jiang Gu flipped his wrist, clamping it against his wrist bone, and while getting up, he observed the surrounding environment, "Where is this?"

"The Blood Sea at the Earth's Core in the Trial Realm." Wei Feng didn't fight him head-on, but instead grabbed his wrist and rubbed it vigorously, his lowered eyelashes still stained with blood. "This place is all my blood, forming a small space of its own, where no one can detect it."

As he spoke, he leaned in to lick the blood off Jiang Gu's face, but Jiang Gu grabbed his chin.

"So your every move outside is being monitored?" Jiang Gu paused. "You can't even call people by your name."

Wei Feng acquiesced, persistently trying to get close enough to kiss him.

Jiang Gu couldn't help but frown. "What exactly do you want?"

"A spiritual connection." Wei Feng's eyes were burning with passion, straightforward and frank. "My primordial spirit is more deeply poisoned. Help me cure it."

"..." The pity that had just risen in Jiang Gu's heart vanished instantly, and he said coldly, "You can even create your own little space, so those poisons are nothing to you."

“The feeling of being distracted is never as real as being with your own body. Besides, you’re only experiencing the fusion of your primordial spirit and mist, which provides very little pleasure. I’ll teach you how to use your primordial spirit to unite in your sea of ​​consciousness.” Wei Feng tilted his head and gave him a gentle smile. “It can also help you improve your cultivation. You might even be able to directly build a Dao Heart Realm.”

He's talking complete nonsense.

Jiang Gu stared at him expressionlessly. "You went to great lengths to bring me here, just for this?"

“Yeah, what else?” Wei Feng’s smile gradually turned sinister. “You don’t actually think you can get out of my Blood Sea in the Earth’s Core, do you?”

Jiang Gu tried to mobilize his spiritual power, but as expected, there was no reaction. The sticky blood seemed to have come alive, clinging firmly to his primordial spirit, binding him and rendering him unable to move. Wei Feng pressed down on him again, lowering his eyes and reaching out to undo his belt and jade armor. He murmured softly, "I don't know how long I've been in this godforsaken place. When I have nothing to do, I keep thinking about the past. I realize how stupid I've been. You pretended to be Zhou Huaiming, torturing me to the point of unbearable pain, while at the same time you pretended to be dutiful and coaxed me into submission. Even after your identity was exposed and you knew you wanted to use me, I couldn't bear to leave you. Jiang Gu, I was really a fool to insist on sticking to you. You treated me terribly. If I hadn't met you, I would never have been brought to this godforsaken place, Wangyue..."

He reached out and grabbed Jiang Gu's waist, forcing him closer, his expression sinister as he said, "I know you didn't push him with that slap, but so what? Besides making you feel at ease, does it change anything?"

Jiang Gu remained extremely calm, seemingly unconcerned about his questioning.

"Don't waste your time." Wei Feng scoffed. "I've been seriously thinking about one thing for the past five years: how to trap you."

Jiang Gu finally lifted his eyelids and glanced at him.

“This sea of ​​blood is specifically designed to suppress those with a metal spiritual root. Just now, in that scroll, my mist seeped into your meridians through the ghostly patterns, and the divine kite scales and wing root blood you previously refined have also been reconnected,” Wei Feng’s smile was somewhat sinister. “You can’t escape now. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time—”

Snap.

A small, dark primordial spirit suddenly fell out from Wei Feng's front.

Wei Feng, who was making harsh remarks, and Jiang Gu, who was preparing to clean house, were both stunned.

The little spirit, who was almost stunned by the fall, stood up by stepping on Wei Feng's clothes. It shook its head vigorously, then sniffed the air with a look of surprise on its face. It flapped its wings and excitedly pounced on Jiang Gu, so happy that it cried tears of joy.

Jiang Gu was surprised to find that the little thing was still there and looked at Wei Feng with some astonishment.

Wei Feng's face turned slightly pale. He reached out to grab the overly excited little thing, but the little spirit beat him to it, nimbly hiding behind Jiang Gu's shoulder, only its round little head sticking out its tongue at him.

Jiang Gu discreetly withdrew the God-Binding Array and met Wei Feng's gaze.

Wei Feng gritted his teeth and said, "I just forgot to kill it."

"Hmm." Jiang Gu gave him face.

But Wei Feng still detected a hint of amusement in that "hmm," and glared at him angrily, "I'll make you try it too—"

A storage bag was suddenly thrown into his arms, interrupting his bluff.

He glanced warily at Jiang Gu, and only after confirming that the other party had no way to escape did he tear open the storage bag with one hand with a sour face, while his other hand held Jiang Gu's wrist tightly, as if afraid that he would play some tricks.

The storage bag opened to reveal brightly colored clothes and boots, along with some miscellaneous accessories and magical artifacts... almost identical to what the little primordial spirit was wearing. The only difference was that these items were all condensed from spiritual energy, allowing the primordial spirit to wear them. However, making these items was time-consuming and laborious, serving no purpose other than for aesthetic purposes.

It's an extremely unnecessary thing.

Wei Feng gripped his clothes and gritted his teeth, "I don't care about this junk."

"Then forget it." Jiang Gu reached out to take it back, but he dodged it with lightning speed.

Wei Feng clutched the things tightly, glaring at him with red eyes, "I will never forgive you."

He forced back the tears from his eyes, making it seem like he was being bullied even though he had done something utterly rebellious. It was irritating to watch.

Jiang Gu sighed almost imperceptibly, "Okay."