As the cloud-piercing peak loomed larger and the metallic sphere upon it drew closer, Gong Chenying suppressed the restless stirring in her Dantian's Purple Mansion . This agitation had flared up several times on their journey here—a potent force coursing through her Dantian , growing more and more turbulent.
'What on earth was that pill my little martial brother gave me? Could it have been a sixth-rank, high-grade pill? Otherwise, how could its medicinal effect be so potent? My injuries have healed, yet there's still so much medicinal power left. I must enter seclusion as soon as we get out.' When she had first witnessed the unbelievable speed of her recovery, she had guessed the pill Li Yan gave her might be a fifth-rank, high-grade, or perhaps a sixth-rank, low-grade pill. Although she had never taken a pill higher than the fourth rank, she tried to estimate as best she could.
But since leaving the cave, her suspicion had deepened. The residual medicinal power in her body showed no signs of dissipating; on the contrary, it had become increasingly vigorous. This led her to believe the pill Li Yan had given her was likely a sixth-rank, mid-grade, or possibly even high-grade one. The more she thought about how precious the pill was, the more her heart ached. If she could have brought it back for the sect to study, this trip to the Wheel of Life and Death would have been worth it, even if everyone else had perished. At the same time, a string in her heart inexplicably vibrated, its tune passing through a distant bamboo pavilion, seeping into her heart under the moonlight.
'He used such a precious pill on me without a moment's hesitation. Even if he didn't know its exact rank, he should have known how valuable it was from its appearance and scent...' At this thought, an unusual feeling bloomed in Gong Chenying's heart, a sensation she had never experienced before.
Though she was trying her best to guess, she was still far from the truth. The "True Essence Pill " sounded like a pill for consolidating one's foundation and cultivating essence, but it was far beyond any ordinary pill of that nature, which even common apothecaries could refine. The True Essence Pill's name was derived from the Daoist concept of "dual cultivation of nature and life, with true essence at the threshold." Its ingredients were rare even in the Spirit Immortal Realm . Besides consolidating essence and healing injuries, its greater purpose was to aid cultivation at the Void Refining stage and above, allowing the spirit power in one's body to converge like dragon and tiger, turning extreme adversity into fortune. A single one of these pills could easily incite boundless slaughter in the Mortal Realm . It was a heaven-defying item that even an entity like Pingtu would use to recover.
If Gong Chenying were to enter secluded meditation and channel this residual medicinal power, her cultivation could very quickly break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment , or even the Great Perfection stage. She might even be able to condense the Golden Core she had always dreamed of. One could only imagine her astonishment if she knew all this. If becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator was like ten thousand people crossing a single-plank bridge, then condensing a Golden Core was like several hundred thousand people attempting the same feat.
Although she didn't know the pill had such heaven-defying abilities, it didn't stop her from making certain judgments. She had a strong feeling that if she were to enter seclusion, she could likely reach the late stage of Foundation Establishment , perhaps even the Great Perfection stage.
'He was so willing to give it up... even if his cultivation is low, so what? I'll be just one step away from the Golden Core ! That saves me decades of bitter cultivation and brings me so much closer to fulfilling my wish. He is my man.' As Gong Chenying's thoughts ran wild, her heart grew increasingly flustered, once again shattering the calm she had maintained for decades. Coupled with Li Yan's admission of having seen her navel ring , this was the second time she had lost her usual composure. Her cheeks flushed, and her jade-like neck turned a delicate pink. After all, in her bones, she possessed the fortitude and stubbornness of a Tianli Clan woman.
Li Yan had no idea what Gong Chenying was thinking. He was just looking around, his gaze occasionally drifting to the tall, curvaceous figure ahead of him, which stirred a faint ripple in his heart. What young man does not feel passion? What young maiden does not dream of love? But when he saw Gong Chenying's somewhat dazed expression, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
'Why is Senior Sister's neck red again? Is the medicine Senior Pingtu gave me any good? One moment she's inexplicably temperamental, the next her blood is rushing to her head. It seems this medicine can't be used casually.' Li Yan stared blankly at the pink, jade-like neck revealed by the half-raised collar of the long robe of the slender figure before him, a sense of fear creeping into his heart.
As the two remained silent, lost in their own thoughts, the White Jade Skiff arrived at the summit of the central peak. The metallic sphere and the massive platform came into view.
Li Yan couldn't help but stand up. His movement immediately snapped Gong Chenying out of her reverie. She secretly chided herself again, her attention instantly focusing on the platform and the semicircular archway . Her Divine Sense spread out. A moment later, she frowned slightly. She hadn't found any problems, but this only made her more nervous. Normally, since the two of them were late, there should have been other people here, or at least some traces left behind. But the place was terrifyingly calm; there was nothing to be found.
She couldn't help but turn to look at Li Yan, only to see him staring intently at the semicircular archway , his eyes glinting with a sharp light, lost in thought.
"You... did you find something?" Gong Chenying hesitated for a moment before finally asking.
"Oh, that gate. It's exactly the same as the invisible gates we could use to exit in the previous trials," Li Yan said, pulling his gaze back to Gong Chenying. He didn't notice that she no longer called him "little martial brother," but had simply used the word "you."
"Oh? You mean the gates you used to exit the passages?" Gong Chenying's expression turned serious as she asked in confusion.
"Yes. But I can't tell if there's a problem. This is the only entrance here." Li Yan could only see that the semicircular archway resembled the gates outside the passages, but he couldn't discern any issues for the time being. However, he had already guessed that this was likely the exit from the Wheel of Life and Death . In any case, he had nothing to fear inside the Wheel of Life and Death . With Pingtu around, what could possibly happen to him?
"It's just that this place is unnervingly quiet, and there's no one else here. When my Divine Sense touched that gate, it was repelled. We should be careful," Gong Chenying said after some thought. A moment ago, her Divine Sense had been instantly repelled when it touched the semicircular archway .
"Heh heh, perhaps those who arrived earlier have already entered the sphere. We'll need to be extra careful after we enter the passage in case of an ambush," Li Yan said, his eyes flickering. Gong Chenying listened and nodded lightly. She had the same thought.
The two of them slowly lowered the White Jade Skiff and landed on the platform. The entire process was uneventful, which allowed them both to breathe a sigh of relief. The quietness of the place was enough to make one's heart race and put one on high alert.
But just as they set foot on the platform and Gong Chenying retrieved the White Jade Skiff , the same strange event occurred. With the crisp sound of a bursting bubble, a bubble rose from beneath the platform at their feet with the speed of lightning and thunder, instantly enveloping them both. This sudden change startled Gong Chenying. By the time she reacted, the bubble was already carrying them swiftly toward the semicircular archway . Her reaction was swift; her jade-like hand had already slapped her storage pouch at her waist. But a glance from the corner of her eye caught Li Yan's stunned expression. He seemed to have been frozen by the sudden turn of events, not making any defensive posture at all.
"What are you spacing out for? This bubble is strange!"
Her cold voice rang in Li Yan's ear. The next moment, a light flashed on Li Yan's body, and a Ghost-Chariot Talisman was already affixed to him. It turned out that Gong Chenying had taken a talisman from her own storage pouch and slapped it on Li Yan. She herself, however, applied a different talisman, one with a much weaker defense than the Ghost-Chariot Talisman .
Li Yan couldn't help but smile at her. He knew Gong Chenying only had two Ghost-Chariot Talismans in her storage pouch , the very ones he had returned to her earlier. One had been corroded by the tea water shot by Yue Chengying, and now she had used the last one on him. In truth, he also had a Ghost-Chariot Talisman in his storage pouch , but he felt it was unnecessary. Pingtu wouldn't let him die so easily. So, while the bubble's appearance was sudden and had given him a jolt, he had immediately determined it wasn't an ambush set by a cultivator or demonic beast and had calmed down, making no move. But this expression was misinterpreted by Gong Chenying, who had immediately slapped her last Ghost-Chariot Talisman on him.
"Senior Sister, this should be part of the rules of the Wheel of Life and Death . If it were an attack, it would have already happened. Given the speed of that bubble, we wouldn't have been able to defend against it anyway. There shouldn't be any problem," Li Yan said with a smile.
Gong Chenying tilted her head and thought for a moment, concluding that he was right. But this head-tilting gesture made Li Yan stare in a daze. It was the very picture of a young maiden, charming and spirited.
As they spoke, the bubble had already carried them directly through the semicircular archway .
After the bubble flew through the archway, the scene inside the sphere was revealed before them.
In the hundred-yard space within the metallic sphere, three discs were arranged in a descending, tiered formation. They were motionless and devoid of any light. What stunned Li Yan and Gong Chenying was that there was another bubble present in this space. Inside it, nine people were sitting cross-legged, staring intently at the bubble that had just flown in.
"Malevolent Spirit Sect !"
"It's the Malevolent Spirit Sect !"
"Gong... Chen... Ying!"
Several soft cries came from the other bubble. At the same time, Li Yan and Gong Chenying also got a clear view of the nine people inside.
"The Supreme Mystery Teachings . Qiu Jiuzhen." Gong Chenying spoke calmly, but her hand was already on the storage pouch at her waist. With sixty percent of her strength restored, she wasn't overly afraid of Qiu Jiuzhen, but with the other party having superior numbers, she was worried about Li Yan.
The one who had called out Gong Chenying's name, enunciating almost every syllable, was none other than Qiu Jiuzhen. But after seeing Gong Chenying and Li Yan, she paid no heed to Gong Chenying's words, merely muttering to herself, "It's not Senior Brother Jiuxing and the others. Could it be that he has already entered the top three and been teleported away?"
After both sides recognized each other, a strange thing happened: not a single one of the nine Supreme Mystery Teachings disciples stood up to attack Li Yan and his companion. This peculiar situation made Gong Chenying and Li Yan even more vigilant. But after a moment, they exchanged a look and understood the meaning in each other's eyes.
They had clearly seen the killing intent in the eyes of the other party, yet they hadn't acted. Looking at the two bubbles, Gong Chenying and Li Yan, being exceptionally clever, immediately guessed the truth: the bubbles were strange. They likely couldn't be escaped from or broken.
The two of them had been brought here instantly by the bubble and hadn't had a chance to try and leave it. But the other party had arrived so much earlier and was still sitting obediently inside their bubble. They must have already tried to attack it and found it impossible to get out.
Gong Chenying's beautiful eyes flickered. She stretched out a slender, jade-like hand, which glowed brightly with spirit light. She slowly pressed her hand against the bubble in front of her. A powerful repulsive force immediately came from her palm. She withdrew her spirit power accordingly, her heart now certain of her theory. Li Yan, who had been watching coolly from the side, saw this and then reached out and took the Ghost-Chariot Talisman off himself, putting it back into his storage pouch .
"Senior Sister, it looks like we were too late. The top three spots have already been taken," Li Yan said, completely ignoring the murderous gazes from the bubble opposite them as he looked at the three discs.