Chapter 16 Dan Chi visits, new bargaining chips

The air in the cave was not frozen, it was dead.

Every speck of dust hung in mid-air, motionless, refusing to fall.

The pressure from chaos did not press on the body, but penetrated into the bone marrow and seeped into the soul.

Zhao Long and his followers now experienced a completely new form of life.

It's called a "living specimen."

Their Jindan stage cultivation, which they were so proud of, was nothing in front of that power.

No, not even the methane molecules in your farts.

It is a pure, meaningless zero that can be erased at any time.

Zhuohuo didn't open his eyes.

Even his breathing rate didn't change.

That devastating pressure was just the most instinctive protective reaction from deep within his soul.

Just like when a person is bitten by a mosquito, he will subconsciously raise his hand to slap it.

And Zhao Long is that mosquito who doesn't know how to live or die.

The pressure found the nearest source of the threat.

It was like a tide, gently surging towards Zhao Long who was still in a forward lunging posture.

“Crack!”

There was a crisp sound of bones breaking.

The fat arm that Zhao Long stretched out was bent backwards at an angle that completely violated human anatomy.

The white bone stumps pierced through the fat flesh and were exposed to the air.

Immediately following.

He felt as if he had been kicked hard in the chest by an invisible giant's foot.

The body instantly arched into a cooked shrimp.

His feet left the ground and he flew backwards.

Along the way, it crashed into three stalagmites that were as big as one person could hug, making muffled "bang bang bang" sounds.

Finally, the whole person snapped.

Like a human meat pie, he was slammed firmly against the wall at the deepest part of the cave.

He slid down softly, leaving a long blood mark and a shallow human-shaped hole on the wall.

A puddle of mud.

The gushing blood dyed the ground beneath him red.

He fainted instantly without even having time to scream.

The strings in the minds of the remaining followers suddenly broke with a snap.

One of them's legs went limp and he fell to his knees on the ground. His crotch quickly became wet and a foul smell filled the air.

The other one's eyes rolled back, he made a "ho ho" sound with his mouth, and saliva flowed from the corners of his mouth, as if he was having epilepsy.

They were terrified and scared out of their wits.

I didn't even bother to see what was happening.

Driven by the instinct of survival, they crawled to the wall.

Two people carried Zhao Long, who was unconscious and as soft as noodles.

Because he was too panicked, his hand slipped and Zhao Long's head hit the ground with a "bang".

They couldn't care less.

He didn't even dare to say anything harsh like "Just wait for me".

Like a group of rats whose nest was poked, they fled from "Tingyuxuan" in a panic.

It was as if there was some invisible and ferocious beast behind them, with its bloody mouth wide open, ready to chew up and swallow their souls.

The pressure comes quickly and goes away quickly.

As the threat disappeared, the suffocating force receded like the tide.

Peace soon returned to the cave.

Only a mess and a freshly-made human-shaped hole in the wall were left, silently proving what had just happened.

Lin Yue'er slowly opened her eyes.

She looked at the rubble on the ground, the bloodstains on the wall, and that...pit.

Then, her gaze turned dully to the cold jade bed.

The man still had his eyes closed, sleeping peacefully.

The long silver hair spread out on the jade bed, so holy that it was not stained by a trace of dust.

It was as if the devastating scene just now had nothing to do with him.

Lin Yue'er's eyes gradually changed from dull to awe-filled.

Finally, it turned into fear that penetrated deep into the bone marrow.

Zheng Qiuyu ignored her.

She immediately stepped forward and bent over to check the burning situation.

She stretched out her hand, and carefully placed her fingertips on his burning brow.

Just when her fingertips were about to touch it.

Between the burning eyebrows, an extremely fine chain composed of countless black runes flashed by.

It was so fast that it seemed like an illusion.

But Zheng Qiuyu saw it clearly.

at the same time.

The system, which had been silent for a long time, issued a piercing, unprecedented red alarm in her mind.

[Warning! The "Heavenly Love Gu Lock" has been detected to be experiencing a stress response due to the host being threatened!]

[Warning: The evil god's instinctive defense of his master will accelerate the fusion of the poison and his soul. Each time he activates his passive protection, the poison deepens. When the nine locks are fully integrated, he will be completely consumed by the desire for destruction. The first person he will kill is the one he loves most and wants to protect the most - you!]

A series of warnings, like a basin of ice water, poured down on Zheng Qiuyu's head.

It made her instantly sober up from the slight pleasure of taking advantage of the power of others.

Her heart sank bit by bit.

This is the most powerful amulet.

Surprisingly, it is also the most deadly death warrant.

She could no longer simply treat him as a tool to ward off disasters.

Every time you use his power, you are pushing him, and yourself, into the abyss of destruction.

Just when Zheng Qiuyu was feeling uneasy and torn between his conscience and his conscience.

Suddenly, a voice was heard outside the cave.

There was a hint of suppressed eagerness in that voice, as well as a cautious respect.

"Master Zheng! Danfeng Zhang Xuan, I want to see you for something important!"

"This concerns my Taoist partner's life. Master, please... help me!"

It’s Elder Zhang.

He actually went and came back.

Moreover, this attitude...it's like he's become a completely different person.

Shouldn't he be on his own hilltop, crying while hugging the exploded alchemy furnace?

She sorted out her messy emotions, put on that mysterious expression again, and glanced at Lin Yue'er who was still in a daze beside her.

Lin Yue'er ran to the cave entrance trembling, and soon brought Elder Zhang in.

The Zhang Xuan in front of him was completely different from the arrogant old man in the assessment hall.

His hair was a mess like a chicken coop, his eye sockets were sunken and bloodshot, and he looked haggard, as if he hadn't slept for several days.

Only those eyes were so bright that it was frightening.

There was no more scrutiny and suspicion as before, only blood-red, morbid fanaticism and hope.

As soon as he entered the cave, his eyes first fell on Zhuo Huo lying on the cold jade bed.

That look was not the look one would give to a seriously injured person.

It is to see a god.

Full of awe and a hint of fear that could not be hidden.

Then, he turned to Zheng Qiuyu and without saying a word, bowed deeply to her at a ninety-degree angle.

"I was blind and didn't recognize the great man before. I apologize for any offense. I hope the master will forgive me!"

The word "Master" was called out sincerely and with real feelings.

This 180-degree turn in attitude instantly diluted Zheng Qiuyu's depression with a strange sense of relief.

It seems that my previous combination of chemical knowledge was very effective.

"Elder Zhang, there's no need to be so polite."

Zheng Qiuyu spoke lightly, with just the right amount of distance in her voice.

Zhang Xuan stood up straight, without beating around the bush, and took out a roll of animal skin from his arms.

The animal skin was even older than the previous "Return to Heaven" pill recipe. The edges were damaged, the writing on it was blurred, and it exuded a smell of decay.

"To be honest, Master, my Taoist partner and I fought a great battle with a demon a hundred years ago. Our soul was damaged and we have been weakening day by day. We have been relying on elixirs to keep ourselves alive."

His voice was trembling, as if he was grabbing the last straw.

"This 'Ancient Warming Spirit Recipe' is my only hope, but I've been researching it for a whole century. Not only have I not succeeded, but I've failed repeatedly, making her condition worse..."

"Master, since you can see through the Soul-Locking Evil at a glance, please, please save her!"

Zheng Qiuyu's scalp suddenly felt numb.

What an international joke.

The previous one was just a guess!

That thing is just like mixing toilet cleaner and 84 disinfectant together. It would be strange if nothing goes wrong.

Now this is a real recipe for saving lives, how could she understand it!

If this goes wrong, her disguise as an "expert" will probably be stripped off to the point of being exposed.

She forced herself to suppress the panic in her heart, reached out her hand, and took the tattered animal skin recipe with gritted teeth.

She pretended to study it carefully, but her brain was working so fast that the CPU was about to burn out.

What to do, what to do, what to do...

Suddenly, her eyes fixed on certain lines of the pill recipe.

Several familiar names of medicinal herbs were combined with some descriptions of refining techniques that she could not understand.

Wait... this combination...

She remembered.

In modern chemical experiments, the extraction of these substances must never use the high-temperature co-heating method.

Because they have different boiling points and properties, high temperatures will directly destroy the most critical active ingredients and cause other ingredients to produce toxic byproducts.

The correct approach is to control the temperature in stages and perform distillation extraction.

A bold idea popped up in her mind.

Zheng Qiuyu pretended to be profound and pondered for a long time, so long that Zhang Xuan's forehead began to sweat.

She spoke slowly, in a very regretful tone.

"The problem with this recipe... is more complicated than the 'Heaven-Returning Pill'."

Zhang Xuan's heart suddenly rose to his throat.

"It's not that the herbs are poisonous."

Zheng Qiuyu shook his head.

"It's the method of refining that is completely wrong."

She looked at Zhang Xuan's eager face and threw out her chips.

"Your ordinary alchemy method is too crude. You simply randomly mix all the medicinal properties together and force them to fuse. This will not only cause the various medicinal properties to cancel each other out, but may even have the opposite effect, worsening the damage to the soul."

"I have an ancient secret technique called 'Condensation Dew Technique'."

"You can separate the purest trace of medicinal properties from the herbs and condense them into dew, without interfering with each other. Then, you can blend them in order according to the order of monarch, minister, assistant and guiding."

“It’s just this method…”

She paused deliberately, revealing a look of fatigue.

"It consumes a lot of energy from the caster."

Hearing this, Henry Zhang was so excited that his whole body began to tremble, and his face became more red.

The light of hope rekindled his desperate eyes.

Without hesitation, he took out a piece of jade from his storage ring.

The jade was warm all over and emitted a soft, moonlight-like glow. Once it was taken out, the temperature of the entire cave seemed to rise a little.

He presented the jade with both hands, his posture low to the ground.

"This is the 'Warming Spirit Jade' that I have treasured for many years. It has miraculous effects on nourishing the soul!"

"As long as the master is willing to help, regardless of success or failure, this jade will be yours!"

"Furthermore, from now on, all of Danfeng's resources are at your disposal!"

Zheng Qiuyu looked at the jade and his heart suddenly moved.

This thing...maybe it can be useful for burning fire?