Chapter 20: The sword transformed from the feather pierced through...

The first year of the spiritual recovery, February 12, 19:29, Kiriyama Fantasy Study.

"Sure enough, the dragon's breath can open the door." Phoenix looked at it with satisfaction.

This is a Chinese-style study room. Sunlight shines through the gaps between the sycamore trees outside the window and onto the desk.

The ink in the inkstone hasn't even dried up yet.

It doesn't look like an ancient monument that has survived from thousands of years ago.

"As expected... it's the Kiriyama illusion that rejects time." Li Bo sighed in a low voice.

Lin Jinsong, who was pulled in the moment the "door" was opened, was wrapped in his robe and sat on the ground in a daze.

Ning Changkong was still confused: "What dragon? What is the relationship between Gu Minghui and dragons? Where is this place?"

Chu Qingge almost rubbed the keyboard to sparks, trying to get all the information he could: "You ask me, I can't ask the world's will."

Ning Changkong took a deep breath and tried hard to contact the warning spell he had placed outside the door.

I want to escape! I don't want to die!

Li Bo watched Phoenix open the secret compartment of the bookshelf with familiarity, took a deep breath, and felt a little headache.

He originally wanted to take advantage of the moment when Phoenix's attention was diverted when the "door" was opened, and use the Dijiang feather and the engraved runes in the pocket of the robe to teleport Lin Jinsong away.

If Lin Jinsong really died that night, the cooperative relationship that he had established with that idiot Chi Zhaoming with great difficulty would be really over.

No, or maybe these demons don't want Li who has a certain degree of tacit understanding with the Alien Bureau?

Tsk, what a hassle.

Phoenix immediately found what he wanted and put it in his arms with satisfaction.

He then walked slowly to Lin Jinsong and said to Li Bo, "My Lord, I have an order. This matter is top secret."

Before he finished speaking, the sharp sword transformed from the feather had already pierced the boy's heart.

The boy's body twitched twice, and then slowly became motionless.

Li Bo's attention was attracted by the secret compartment.

There's clearly something in there...

Come to think of it, were you and this gang of demons only planning to cooperate once?

"Whatever you want." He put his hands into his sleeves to hide the seals on his hands. "Let's go. We'll make too much noise."

Phoenix was eager to leave, and just as the "door" was closing, Li Bo lightly snapped his fingers.

The whole drawer was pulled out and fell to the floor.

The red, strangely pulsating crystal rolled out and landed in a pool of blood.

"Consider it as my...meeting gift, Junior Brother."

The first year of the spiritual recovery, February 12, 19:31, Taoyuan area, Xianshi Bank.

Although they were checking for signs of activation of a large-scale formation, the three of them tacitly turned to the Immortal Stone Bank first.

When Zuo Langning saw the lights in the shop dimmed, his heart sank and he suddenly pushed open the door of the Xianshi Money House.

Yan Yian, Wen Qingsheng, Yan Xiaoling - and Gu Minghui. Chi Zhaoming's eyes scanned them one by one.

The front hall of the bank was empty, with only four people lying unconscious on the ground.

Yue Jingting was frantically rummaging in his arms, looking for the resonant Lingbi specially made by Lingzhuan Academy.

There are two pieces of Gongming Lingbi in a pair. If Lin Jinsong is really in trouble, then the one in his hand should have some effect...

Zuo Lang held Yan Yian, who was lying on the ground, and called softly, "Yian?"

Yan Yian slowly opened his eyes and asked in confusion: "Lang Ning? Have you solved it?"

"The shopkeeper is telling us a story. He just mentioned the time when Yuqingfang was first built. You and Second Senior Brother should sit down and listen, too."

The illusion that Li Bo mentioned worked, but the corresponding arrangements were not made. Why?

Chi Zhaoming stroked the hilt of the sword. No, the answer was obvious.

—— Because someone is missing.

"Suddenly, what happened?" Yan Yian was a little confused, and seemed unable to understand the change in the scene before his eyes. "What is flashing?"

Zuo Langning followed her gaze.

The faint light flickered very slowly.

Red, blue, red.

There was a pool of blood next to it.

She turned around stiffly and opened her mouth.

The blood on Yue Jingting's face suddenly faded away. The jade disk in his hand shattered into pieces and turned into powder.

At the same moment, the warning light went out.

With a clear sword sound, Zuo Langning's Kunwu sword was unsheathed, and chaotic sword energy chopped out, and the room was in a mess in the blink of an eye.

The first year of the spiritual energy recovery, February 12, 19:31, system space.

Ning Changkong put his hands behind his head and opened his eyes on the familiar sofa.

It is Chu Qingge's system space.

The link with the warning spell was completely broken, the resonance spirit wall shattered, and the consciousness was directly ejected from the body... It seems that the body has died, and this mission ends here.

Alas, his perfect attendance award will be deducted again, but he should still write a report on the failed mission first.

He stood up, moving his shoulders, and walked to the computer chair in the middle of the room.

"What are we going to do next? Go back to the Quick-Pass Bureau and make a report?"

Chu Qingge swiped at the keyboard as he scanned the dozen or so monitors that were like surveillance cameras. "He's not dead yet. He can be saved."

She rummaged in her drawer, pulled out a remote control, and beeped at him.

"Go back."

These were the last words Ning Changkong heard before his consciousness returned to his body.

pain.

Can't breathe.

A strong sense of hypoxia.

The lungs are trying to expand, but they can't get any air.

The blood... must have entered the trachea.

The heart is still beating.

...Why is it still beating?

Every beat was accompanied by a burning pain.

A pain I have never felt since I became a fast traveler.

Chu Qingge's voice pierced through the mist of pain with an unusual calmness: "It's really strange, this illusion rejects death."

Li Bo's statement about "refusing time" gave her inspiration. As expected, Lin Jinsong's body still retained a little vitality, allowing her to once again take possession of it and force the soul into the body.

Just like half a year ago, Ning Changkong's consciousness was accurately transmitted into Lin Jinsong's body, which was extremely close to death due to drug allergy.

Ning Changkong had no time to think so much. The intense pain seemed to tear his soul apart.

All I could see was my own blood, nothing else.

Only her voice could be heard.

"But this body won't be alive for long, so hurry up."

The feeling of being detached from the body and soul became stronger and stronger, like the feeling of leaving the world after completing a normal mission.

"Stretch out your right hand and move forward a little."

Ning Changkong, relying on the trust accumulated from countless journeys through time and space, followed her instructions instinctively.

The tentacles are smooth, like gemstones.

But strangely, it seemed to have a pulse and was beating slightly.

"Put that thing——"

"—into your heart."

The first year of the spiritual recovery, February 12, 19:48, Taoyuan area, Xianshi Bank, basement.

All traces of the formation had been destroyed when the believers left, but Zuo Langning still persisted in searching through the ruins.

Here...not either.

Her cell phone kept ringing.

"Lang Ning? Zuo Lang Ning! Wake up!"

A familiar voice. Is it Yuejingting?

She looked up blankly and he handed a cell phone to her.

In the short video played on a loop, unusually thick green vines broke through the asphalt road surface, vehicles overturned, and people screamed in terror.

She finally heard what he was saying.

He is saying, "The Aura is revived."

Zuo Langning knelt in the ruins, as if he was back in that snowy night ten years ago.

She spoke in a hoarse voice: "I..."

"I hate stories like that the most."

The story of someone who gives everything and ends up with nothing.

On that snowy night ten years ago, she was called to see her father for the last time.

The old man with the broken arm lay in her arms, giving her a forced smile.

Her nightgown was soaked with blood.

Senior Brother Chi, covered in blood, put his hand on her shoulder and apologized to her.

He said: An accident occurred during the mission... In order to bring back as many people as possible, the master stayed until the end.

He said: I'm sorry.

Her father's lifeless eyes were fixed on the sky, his lips were moving, and she tilted her ear to listen.

"I really want to ..."

Before he finished speaking, the person had already left.

She spent many sleepless nights pondering the implications of these words.

Once again, once again doing what?

Hug her again?

Once again, practice swordplay together, eat together, and celebrate the New Year together?

She stood up from the ruins, leaning on her sword.

"Let's go, do you need me anywhere?"

She had to go and guard... the human world that her father still loved before he died.

The first year of the spiritual energy recovery, February 12th, 19:41, present world·Chu Qingge’s apartment.

The lights in the apartment suddenly came on.

The blood-soaked man was thrown onto the bed, and the Dijiang feather in his hand went out.

"Positioning successful, transmission successful." Chu Qingge's emotionless voice rang out.

Ning Changkong lay on the bed, gasping for breath. The fatal wound in his chest had healed miraculously, and the half-dried blood rubbed onto the bed sheet as his limbs spasmed.

After confirming that the gem was completely integrated with the heart and the collapse of the body had stopped, Chu Qingge turned on the pain shield.

After excessively blocking the sense of pain, it would indeed be a problem to manipulate the body, but... why are his limbs cramping?

The whole body is engulfed by intense pain, as if the blood in the body is boiling, the skin and muscles are undergoing remodeling, and the bones are making a creaking sound as they grow.

It felt like another being was trying to break free from his body, or like he was about to transform into a completely new life form.

Chu Qingge replied: "That piece of Spirit Blood Crystal is transforming your body, like a second marrow cleansing. When the marrow cleansing is completed, you should undergo a new transformation... From what I can see now, your appearance should also change. The spiritual power of the phoenix is ​​really brutal..."

"What is it? The Soul Blood Crystal?" Ning Changkong lay on his back on the bed, the pain from near death and violent treatment still lingering in his nerves.

His vision was blurry, and every beat of his heart seemed to pump pain throughout his body, allowing him to barely stay awake. The pain that came from deep inside his body, as if his flesh and blood were forcibly twisted, gradually spread to his face, causing his facial features to distort.

"It's the stone I asked you to put in your heart," Chu Qingge explained. "The Phoenix has sealed a part of its heart in it. Using some violent methods, it can... let this stone fill in the damaged part of your heart."

After she finished speaking, she sighed again: "What an ingenious design... I want to draw a picture of the design... Refusing death is to preserve the heart that has survived for a thousand years..."

"...Do you speak modern Chinese, sis?"

Chu Qingge took a deep breath.

Ning Changkong quickly changed the subject: "Anyway, how come you have so much information all of a sudden?"

His control ability also became stronger. He watched the wall-mounted TV in front of him turn on automatically with a click.

"Of course it's because——"

In the emergency news, scenes of monsters attacking humans and plants destroying cities came into view.

"——The spirit has revived."

An important node has been reached, the world stage is advancing, and the power of the system is being liberated.

Ning Changkong stared blankly at the scenes on TV where ordinary people were crying.

The miracle that practitioners have been praying for for a thousand years has finally come, but does this miracle really come without a price?

But don't think too much now, he stood up with the help of the wall. His legs, which were still trembling, suddenly became unfamiliar, as if they were no longer a part of his body, and they brought waves of pain when they touched the ground.

No matter what, he'd better go out and investigate the situation now. Ning Changkong gritted his teeth and took a step forward.

Lin Jinsong's identity is likely to have been confirmed dead, and he is now an illegal resident without an ID. If he wants to intervene in the major events of the plot development, he must have a vest with sufficient status.

Now that his spiritual energy has been revived, the simplest and most direct method is to pretend to be a senior who has been in seclusion for a long time and has just come out into the world to help people.

The Alien Bureau* must be caught off guard by the sudden resurgence of spiritual energy and are extremely busy. If you don't act cool now and try to gain the Alien Bureau's trust, when will you?

He needs to think carefully about how to create this identity, and then check his current strength... No, he needs to find some clothes to wear first. He feels like he has grown a few centimeters taller... Forget it, how about taking a shower first?

Ning Changkong: "Uh, where is the bathroom?"

Chu Qingge: "...First, hold on to the wall and leave the bedroom."

This time, we are finally going to save the world!