Phoenix Jade Coffin
In the huge main tomb chamber lies a jade coffin. The jade feels warm to the touch, and the coffin body is carved with a phoenix spreading its wings and flying, with the details of its feathers carved vividly.
Yuanli stopped in front of the coffin, stroking the phoenix with her fingers, and A Ci's words echoed in her mind: In the entire six realms and eight wildernesses, there is only this one white phoenix, and it will only belong to you.
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and fell into the phoenix's eyes. Yuanli wiped away her tears in panic. The white phoenix from heaven was back, but her white phoenix was gone.
Pushing open the coffin, a strong smell of gray mold invaded the nose. Under the layers of gold quilts lay a skeleton wearing a phoenix crown and a red robe. Yuanli was about to bend over and lift the gold quilts when Tianshu grabbed her outstretched hand.
"The coffin has been covered with a veil, look, A-Li."
The starlight from Tianshu's fingertips sprinkled on her eyelids, and the skeleton disappeared before her eyes. The golden quilt was empty, with only the spiritual silver bell lying on the jade pillow.
Yuanli said disdainfully, "A skeleton, and someone stole it?"
"The person who stole the skull is not a human. His deception is low-level, but the level of skill that can continue to be seen by the gods is not low-level. The other party must be someone who understands you, otherwise he would not be on guard against the gods."
Yuanli subconsciously thought of the person who healed her spiritual consciousness. After stealing her spiritual consciousness, he stole her skeleton. She really couldn't figure out his purpose.
The sound of rats squeaking in the underground palace brought Yuanli back to her senses. Tianshu was staring at her suspiciously.
"Forget it, it's just a skeleton. Whoever wants it can have it. We have to go to the next place. Let's go."
Yuanli grabbed the magical silver bell on the jade pillow, and hurriedly took Tianshu into hiding, rushing to the former Prince Wen's Mansion. The plaque on the door had been taken down, and the place where the plaque was placed was empty. If you got closer, you could vaguely see the traces left by the original plaque.
The streets outside the palace were deserted, with only a few civilians hurriedly passing by. The gates were heavily guarded, and the Imperial Guards, who had originally been stationed at the palace, now stood guard outside Prince Wen's residence.
The huge palace was covered with thick dust. The furnishings were still arranged, but there was no one in the house. There was not even a maid to clean the house.
The towering peach tree in the yard seemed to be more lush than before. In the days approaching early spring, a few green buds sprouted from the bare peach branches. The stone table under the tree was covered with dead leaves and was dusty and dirty.
Yuanli's nose felt sore. His past with Wen Yici was like the stone table buried in the dead leaves and dust.
She walked quickly into the house and put all the things that Wen Yici used during his lifetime, including his clothes, shoes and socks, into the Lingbao silver bell.
"Ah Li, that's just Sima Ming's words, it's nothing. You are a god with a long lifespan, you shouldn't be immersed in this short seven-day tribulation."
His words caused Yuanli to pause, then regain her composure and turned back to say, "In the heavens, it's only seven days, but to me, Wen Yici is truly alive in this world, with flesh and blood and emotions."
Tianshu wanted to say some words of persuasion, but seeing her helpless and uneasy look, the words in his heart suddenly melted away.
What qualifications did he have to persuade her not to be stranded in the sea of love? Hadn't he himself been drowned in the deep sea tens of thousands of years ago?
Tianshu left the room to calm himself down, his thoughts growing wildly, his feelings tangled and tangled. A cool breeze lashed his face, sending a chill into his heart, and the sighs from his mouth were blown away by the wind.
On the way back to heaven, the two of them were silent for a long time, each with their own thoughts. Their thoughts had already drifted away with the wind. It was not until the familiar figure passed by that Yuanli perked up.
Heng Jin, clad in the robes of a celestial god, sat cross-legged atop a nine-headed figure, followed by hundreds of celestial soldiers and generals. A few strands of hair fluttered freely in front of his forehead, and his solemn face was stained with two drops of blood, as if he had just returned from a victorious battle.
When she got closer, Heng Jin, who had been resting with her eyes closed, suddenly opened them slowly, tilted her head slightly and glanced at her. There was a hint of numbness and fatigue in her eyes, which made Yuanli feel inexplicably distressed.
Heng Jin just took a glance at her and continued to rest with her eyes closed, her eyes still cold. Tianshu caught a glimpse of her lonely expression and quickened his pace.
"He is not your Ah Ci, wake up."
"I know."
"If you really knew, I wouldn't..." Tianshu had already said the words in a hurry, but the second half of the sentence was choked in his throat. He put her down in front of the Broom Star Lord's mansion and hurried away.
Yuanli didn't understand why he was so angry, so she stood outside the door for a while before going into the house to clean.
The Lord of Broom Stars was an old man, and the furnishings in his mansion were somewhat old-fashioned. Yuanli followed the techniques recorded in ancient books to make the furnishings in the main hall the same as those in the mortal world, and then took out the magic silver bell and displayed all the things he had brought from the mortal world.
Even Wen Yici's earthly clothes were hung in the rosewood wardrobe, mixed with her dresses. Every time she opened the wardrobe, she could deceive herself into thinking that he still lived there.
After finishing everything, Yuanli lay down on the couch contentedly to rest. With her divine power, she didn't feel cold even after lying in the quilt, but something was missing.
Feeling bored, Yuanli walked out of the mansion and wandered aimlessly in the Heavenly Palace. Passing by, immortal messengers were hurrying back and forth. Several friendly immortal friends nodded slightly to her as a greeting. The familiar faces were clearly Zhao Quan, the gatekeeper in Prince Wen's mansion, Ahua, who swept the floor, Dunzi Zhou in the kitchen, and old A'gou, who poured night incense... She didn't expect that they were all immortals in the Heavenly Palace.
After walking around for about half an hour, the door of the Taibai Jinxing Mansion next to him opened with a muffled "bang" sound, and thick black smoke slowly floated up from the side hall of the mansion.
After much hesitation, Yuanli finally approached the threshold and gently knocked on the doorknob. Upon hearing the sound, the fairy child came over and saluted, saying, "I didn't know the Star Lord was coming to visit. I'm so sorry for not being able to greet him. Taibai Star Lord is very upset right now, and I'm afraid he'll take his anger out on you. Please come back another day."
The fairy boy's voice became smaller and smaller, and he lacked confidence. He lowered his head and occasionally raised his eyes slightly to observe her expression.
"Thank you, Fairy Child, for reminding me. I've heard a little about the two boys burning the furnace under the seat of Taibai Xingjun. I'm deeply sorry. I came here rashly, just to ask for a pill of Taibai Xingjun's Nurturing Pill. I wonder if you, Fairy Child, know..."
Before he could finish his words, Taibai Jinxing shouted angrily, hands behind his back: "No, no, nothing!"
Yuanli looked in the direction the voice came from. Taibai Jinxing's long white beard was now stained with a lot of black dust, and his immortal robe was also covered with black ash. His wrinkles were squeezed together due to anger.
"I don't ask for it for nothing. Before you find a new furnace-burning boy, I can help Taibai Xingjun light the furnace and refine the elixir."
Taibai Jinxing laughed upon hearing this and said, "Ha! You ignorant little girl, do you think my alchemy furnace is just an ordinary stove? If you don't control it properly, be careful that my Samadhi True Fire will singe all your hair off. If you're not afraid of going bald, just give it a try."
"Thank you very much. When will you start work?"
"Now, follow me. Let me make it clear first, if it doesn't burn well, forget about making the Huayu Pill." As he said that, Taibai Jinxing walked towards the alchemy room on his own, completely ignoring whether Yuanli followed him or not.
The black smoke in the alchemy room had dissipated. Without the furnace boy tending to it, the medicinal materials were scattered everywhere. Taibai Jinxing flipped open a page of an old manuscript and handed it to her, saying, "First, learn how to control the Samadhi True Fire and ignite it."
Looking at the pile of compact and small records: The heart is the monarch fire, also called the divine fire, and its name is Shangmei; the kidney is the minister fire, also called the essence fire, and its name is Zhongmei; the bladder, the sea of qi below the navel, is the people fire, and its name is Xiamei②.
To practice the true fire of Samadhi, one must stop distracting thoughts, calm the mind, concentrate the thoughts and focus the heart, use the primordial essence, primordial energy, and primordial spirit to refine Samadhi, cultivate the essence of separation, and become one with the ordinary fire.
Samadhi True Fire is either innate or acquired through practice, and very few people can achieve it. The former depends on accumulating virtue, the latter on practice.
Controlling the Samadhi True Fire that is not produced by oneself is even more difficult. It requires years of dedicated research and not only accumulating virtue but also practicing.
After studying for a while, the sun and moon alternated, and stars appeared in the sky. Yuanli tried for a long time but could not control the Samadhi True Fire well, let alone controlling the temperature to refine pills.
At the moment of frustration, the voice of Taibai Xingjun floated from behind Yuanli, saying, "If you retreat when you know it's difficult, I won't laugh at you, a little girl."
Yuanli thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, "Taibai Xingjun is right, it is indeed difficult to control the Samadhi True Fire." As he said that, Yuanli closed the old notebook he had given her earlier and handed it back to Taibai Jinxing.
"You gave this up yourself, so don't blame me for being stingy and not even giving you a Huayu Pill."
"I agreed with the Star Lord that I would light the furnace for you and help you refine the elixir. The only thing I gave up was controlling the Samadhi True Fire. There is always a way out. I will always find another way to help you."
Yuanli looked at the weak Samadhi True Fire and felt a little uneasy. Although it was also fire, it was a divine fire after all, burning without extinguishing, while hers was at most a wildfire in the wilderness.
Under Taibai Jinxing's suspicious gaze, Yuanli transformed into her true form and threw herself into the burning furnace. After entering the alchemy furnace, the fire quickly grew and sparks kept flying out of the furnace.
Taibai Jinxing exclaimed repeatedly, "No, that won't work. My Samadhi True Fire has the effect of refining the primordial spirit. How come you, youngster, are acting like that naughty monkey from back then? It's just the Nurturing Pill, right? Here you go."
As she realized that the fire was gradually merging with her, the fear in her heart disappeared, and she even felt as comfortable as soaking in a hot spring, which made her sleepy.
She discarded the control method in the notes just now, forgot about the Samadhi True Fire, and treated it as her own external flame. She stopped all distracting thoughts and controlled her own fire as usual. After trying it twice, she actually found the right method.
"What do you think of this heat?"
Taibai Jinxing's attention was quickly diverted, and he happily picked up the alchemy book and looked through it, finding countless medicinal herbs and putting them into the furnace.
"Turn up the heat a bit."
Hearing the sound, Yuanli turned up the fire slightly until Taibai Jinxing called for a stop.
"Okay. If you need any temperature, please let me know. I can't read the book on alchemy while I'm in the furnace, for fear of burning you."
Taibai Jinxing agreed repeatedly and happily searched for ingredients for the medicine. His cheerful laughter filled the entire alchemy room.
She just thought of it as a candle flame in a different place. All the energy she consumed in refining the elixir was Samadhi True Fire, so she didn't need to consume herself, so it was not a loss.
Half an hour passed without changing the temperature of the fire. Yuanli was so bored that she kept beating in the furnace. The fairy boy sitting outside would fan her from time to time, which made her feel very comfortable.
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