Chapter 166 The Realm of Trials (Seventeen)
When Wei Feng woke up, Jiang Gu was no longer in the barrier.
The little primordial spirit was happily munching on the small wisp of primordial spirit he had placed in the second realm. When he opened his eyes, it immediately hid the remaining fragments of primordial spirit behind its back, as if afraid he would snatch them away.
Wei Feng glanced at it indifferently.
The sea of blood beneath him rippled, the stench filling the air. As he rose, the arrays of all sizes on his body slowly dissipated. A familiar pain shot through his chest, and suddenly his wrist felt a heavy weight. He looked down, and the white jade ribbon hanging from his hair fell down from his cheek, along with his neatly combed ponytail.
His thick, dark eyelashes trembled slightly as he noticed the new wrist guard made of Yin Bone on his wrist. His previously loose white robes had been replaced with red ones, the collar neatly trimmed, almost covering his entire neck.
After an unknown amount of time, a soft laugh slowly echoed through the deathly silence of the sea of blood.
——
The second stage of mental cultivation takes place in Wujia Village.
There is still a quarter of an hour before the village banquet begins.
Jiang Gu looked at Song Sui in the courtyard and asked, "Are you planning to stay here?"
“No, this place is not suitable for us to stay any longer.” Song Sui shook his head, then met Jiang Gu’s gaze. “I have a favor to ask.”
"Please feel free to speak."
“I am willing to exchange half of my primordial spirit for the remnant soul of the Spirit Realm.” He held the Spirit Realm artifact with great care. “My primordial spirit was forcibly created from the remnant soul fragments. Although it is very weak, it is still a so-called ‘calamity jade’, which should be of some help to you.”
Jiang Gu looked at him without saying anything.
Song Sui knew he was at a disadvantage, since his strength had been greatly reduced and Jiang Gu could easily subdue him without losing the Heavenly Rank magic treasure, the Spirit Realm. However, he was certain that Jiang Gu would agree.
Because I had helped Wei Feng.
"Okay," Jiang Gu said.
Song Sui breathed a sigh of relief without making it obvious.
Song Sui's half of his primordial spirit condensed into a drop of dark green pendant, which landed in Jiang Gu's hand.
“This primordial spirit has no consciousness, you can use it without worry.” Song Sui gripped the spiritual realm tightly in his hand.
Jiang Gu made a hand seal, breaking the contract of recognition with the Spirit Realm, and gave Song Sui two wooden puppet bodies, saying, "These two wooden puppets can be used for three years. Although they cannot cultivate, they can nourish the spirit."
Song Sui accepted it with some surprise, "Thank you."
Jiang Gu nodded slightly, watching Song Sui leave. But when Song Sui reached the door, he suddenly turned around and said, "Wei Feng didn't use the drop of Song Sui's essence that I gave him back then."
Jiang Gu was not surprised and waited for him to continue.
"He used all the spirit stones to bribe the guards who imprisoned him, and offered Song Suixi to Chu Guanshan, who went to the Tower of Life and Death to choose a spirit pet... Tribulation Jade and Jade Steps, those who can ascend are not necessarily of the Jade Steps, and no one wants to die." Song Suixi stopped there, put the spirit realm into his arms, and turned to leave.
The village banquet was set up at the entrance of Wujia Village, with more than a dozen tables of people gathered together in a lively atmosphere. Jiang Gu was invited by Wu Rao to take the seat of honor.
The food was made from spiritual energy, and it was delicious and visually appealing.
"Brother Jiang, hurry up and eat, or it'll get cold," Wu Rao greeted him warmly.
Jiang Ke nodded irritably, picked up his chopsticks unhurriedly, and reached for the dish closest to him. However, before he could touch it, a whip came flying through the air towards him.
Jiang Gu flipped his wrist, and two wooden chopsticks blocked the whip's end. The chopsticks broke inch by inch, and the burst of spiritual energy caused the wood chips to overturn more than a dozen tables of food around them. The villagers, who had been stunned in place, seemed to finally react and scattered in panic.
In mid-air, Qi Yi gripped the whip tightly, her eyes surging with resentment. "Jiang Gu, why did you kill Yan Huairan?!"
Luo Fan, who had just arrived, blocked Jiang Gu's retreat. "Why waste words with him? Just kill him!"
"No, I must find out the truth." Qi Yi's voice trembled slightly with pain and anger. "Tell me!"
A knowing glint flashed in Jiang Gu's eyes. "You're his Daoist partner?"
Qi Yi's expression grew even more distressed. "I didn't do it. Why did you kill him? And why did he die outside the city?"
Jiang Gu said coldly, "He wants to take me as a furnace, so naturally I won't spare his life."
Qi Yi's hand holding the whip trembled. "No, impossible! A Ran isn't that kind of person! He's never had anyone else but me, let alone a furnace! You're just using your body to seduce him!"
Luo Fan, standing beside her, looked at her with pity. "Qi Yi, don't ask anymore."
Qi Yi shook her head with tears streaming down her face. "He said he would marry me after we left the trial realm. He's not that kind of person."
Jiang Gu observed her with interest. "Since you asked, it means you have doubts about him. There must have been clues in your daily life. You know he betrayed you, but you still deceive yourself. I killed him for you. You should be happy."
Qi Yi flew into a rage, "I'll kill you!"
Jiang Gu leaped up, dodging her attack. Impulsiveness and anger are fatal weaknesses for cultivators in combat. From the moment he noticed that Qi Yi could not hold the whip firmly, he knew that she was doomed.
Qi Yi's cultivation level was the same as Jiang Gu's, both at the mid-stage of the True Immortal Realm. With the help of Luo Fan, who was at the late-stage of the True Immortal Realm, she was confident of success, but the result was quite different from what she had expected.
Jiang Gu's cultivation level was not high, but his methods were extremely ruthless. After hundreds of moves, he was not at a disadvantage at all.
Luo Fan sensed something was amiss and whispered to Qi Yi, "This place is strange; we shouldn't stay here any longer."
"I must kill him!" Qi Yi refused to listen to his advice and continued to do as she pleased.
Luo Fan had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue fighting, becoming even more vigilant.
Unfortunately, it was of no use. As the underground Refining God Formation closed, Jiang Gu retreated at just the right moment. The villagers who had already fled sensed the aura of the trial participant's primordial spirit and rushed into the formation from all directions. They had no cultivation or spiritual power, so the Refining God Formation was completely ineffective against them. Qi Yi and Luo Fan wanted to resist, but they were restrained by Jiang Gu in the sky.
Dozens of strong and robust villagers pounced on Luo Fan and Qi Yi, their eyes bloodshot, and opened their mouths to tear at their primordial spirits. The two immediately let out screams of agony.
Jiang Gu looked at the tragic scene in the formation without any emotion. These two people acted impulsively and without any rules, and they ignored the primordial spirits of these mortals, which is why they fell into the trap set by these mortals.
He stared at the extremely concealed Spirit Refining Array, which had some similarities to his weapon refining array, but was more exquisite and rigorous. He secretly memorized the array's structure. Taking advantage of the mortals' primordial spirits scrambling for it, he pulled back the Fire Rope in his hand, tearing up two fragments of Qi Yi and Luo Fan's primordial spirits, and jumped into the teleportation array next to him.
——
The night was dark and the wind was high.
In the empty cave, Jiang Gu recalled the Spirit Refining Array of Wu Family Village and drew the array in the same way. Then he superimposed this array on his own weapon refining array and put Song Sui's half of the primordial spirit and Qi Yi and Luo Fan's two large pieces of primordial spirit into the array. The three parts of the primordial spirit were gradually melted. Jiang Gu poured his spiritual power into it, and the melted primordial spirit began to be forced to condense into a human form.
Outside the cave, the mountain wind howled, and the moonlight slanted in, like a layer of cold frost.
Jiang Gu began to carefully sculpt the features of the primordial spirit. Song Sui's reminder before leaving still rang in his ears, and Qi Yi's tearful, angry, questioning face kept appearing.
His movements were slightly agitated.
Jiang Gu naturally knew that Wei Feng was hiding something from him. He couldn't even fully guarantee Wei Feng's absolute loyalty. Five years was too long, enough for Wei Feng to completely become a different person. Moreover, he wouldn't trust anyone other than himself. So he offered Wei Feng the condition of freedom. Cooperation only exists on the basis of absolute interests, and Wei Feng was no exception.
However, certain hypothetical possibilities made him feel uneasy—Wei Feng was very likely working for Chu Guanshan, and from an objective point of view, there was no guarantee that Wei Feng would choose him.
What truly annoyed Jiang Gu was that he seemed to be following in Qi Yi's footsteps, also acting on impulse.
He felt that Wei Feng would definitely choose him.
Jiang Gu's hand paused. Before him was a new primordial spirit created by fusing the primordial spirits of Song Sui, Qi Yi, and Luo Fan. This primordial spirit looked exactly like him, almost indistinguishable from the real thing, and could transform into the appearances of Song Sui, Qi Yi, and Luo Fan at any time without any flaws.
This primordial spirit had no intelligence. Jiang Gu made hand seals, bit his fingertip, and put a drop of blood on the primordial spirit's brow. He then used his jade armor to gather his own primordial spirit and entered the primordial spirit—it was still that insidious trick of half-possession, only this time the body was replaced with the fused primordial spirit.
Jiang Gu turned his stiff neck, erased the traces of the array in the cave, and completely concealed his own aura.
But he will not leave Wei Feng any choice.
Chu Guanshan must be killed.
——
The moment Jiang Gu's aura vanished, the person meditating in the sea of blood suddenly opened their eyes.
The little spirit, who had just finished munching on its "snack," trembled at his terrifying gaze and ran behind the tree roots to hide.
"It's rare that you're willing to tidy yourself up. You looked really slovenly before." Chu Guanshan's voice came from the Bodhi tree. The little spirit trembled in fright and ran back to Wei Feng, crawling into his sleeve.
"Jiang Gu cleaned it up," Wei Feng said coldly. "I took him into the Blood Sea."
"Didn't you hate him to the bone? Why did you bring him in?" Chu Guanshan's voice was filled with curiosity and suspicion. "Could he really be a Jade Rank cultivator? Luckily, he was protected during the previous assessment."
“I just want to give him a taste of his own medicine and let him experience what it’s like to be deceived.” Wei Feng’s eyes flashed with hatred. “I thought he wasn’t a Jade Rank cultivator before, but now I’m not so sure if he has the ability to kill Yan Huairan.”
Chu Guanshan clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
“However, there is an extra primordial spirit in the second realm, and I have a connection with it,” Wei Feng said with little interest.
"Oh?" Chu Guanshan asked, "Who is it?"
"That piece of trash Xiao Qingyan." Wei Feng made no attempt to hide his disgust, his face grim as he said, "My separated primordial spirit subconsciously protected him several times. If he were truly a Jade Rank cultivator, why would you go through all this trouble? Is that old bastard Xiao Dan trying to embezzle the Jade Rank and deliberately playing you for a fool?"
He spoke impatiently, and Chu Guanshan remained silent for a moment before slowly saying, "Given Xiao Dan's personality, he shouldn't do such a thing. Xiao Qingyan's aptitude is so poor that he's not good enough for the Jade Rank."
"Who set the standards for the jade steps?" Wei Feng scoffed. "Maybe the immortal lords came down here wanting to suffer a bit."
"..." Chu Guanshan laughed and said, "Why are you so irritable today?"
“You’ll get furious when you encounter your mortal enemy,” Wei Feng said through gritted teeth. “I want Jiang Gu to suffer a fate worse than death.”
Chu Guanshan said, "Since the Wind and Moon Secret Realm has already determined that there is no romantic relationship between you, it is unlikely that he is a Jade Rank cultivator. Observe Xiao Qingyan and the others more closely."
Wei Feng reluctantly agreed.
"By the way, there's another matter I wanted to discuss with you this time," Chu Guanshan said. "People from the Burning Platform Hall have infiltrated the Trial Realm, including Luo Xiaoyuan. Wen Ziheng should have received the news as well. Kill her before Wen Ziheng finds her."
Wei Feng concealed the surprise in his eyes, "Killed Luo Xiaoyuan?"
“Good disciple, if I don’t kill her, I will be exposed. Without me, do you think Xiao Dan and his men will allow you to still be conscious?” Chu Guanshan said unhurriedly, “The same old rules, one Bodhi fruit is enough for you to move around outside for twelve hours. This time I will give you three. It is best to deal with the people in the Burning Platform Hall. They are useless expendable pawns who still insist on jumping around in front of me. It’s really annoying.”
“Okay.” Wei Feng stretched out his hand, and three blood-red Bodhi fruits fell into his palm. He took one and placed it on his heart. The branch that had burrowed into his back withered away silently.
Before he left the sea of blood, Chu Guanshan suddenly spoke again: "Disciple, do you really have no feelings left for Jiang Gu?"
"I hate you to the core." Wei Feng said expressionlessly, "In my heart, only you are my master."
Chu Guanshan chuckled, “Go ahead. If we’re sure he’s not at the Jade Rank, killing him won’t hurt. Dragging things out isn’t our sect’s style.”
"Okay." Wei Feng nodded and disappeared into the sea of blood in the blink of an eye.
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