ebookland Chapter 28 was merely a tool to help her cultivate into a true spirit.
Chapter 28 was merely a tool to help her cultivate into a true spirit.
Tao Tao had a very long dream. In the dream, she turned into a little girl in red, a tiny bundle of a baby, holding her mother's hand and slowly walking towards a tall palace.
The words "Floating Splendor Palace" could be faintly seen on the solemn plaque of the palace. She understood nothing and didn't know what to do, so she obediently let her mother lead her.
They stepped through the purple-gold gate and arrived at the center of the hall, where there stood a jade-carved statue of a blue phoenix, flanked by black candlesticks burning with millennia-old ink. A faint, pleasant fragrance permeated the air.
Many people had already arrived in the hall. Some of them had white hair and were stroking their beards with worry. Several middle-aged people were whispering among themselves. Standing at the head of the table was a woman in a green robe with an extraordinary temperament. She held a jade-green scepter in her hand and looked calmly at the two people who entered.
"Silence." The woman slammed her scepter into the ground, and a cry of a blue phoenix, mixed with an invisible force, spread outwards. Everyone in the hall fell silent and turned to look at the person who had entered. Strictly speaking, their gazes all fell on the little girl.
Their eyes held a mixture of emotions: complexity, excitement, speechlessness, and helplessness. The little girl, oblivious to everything, greeted them in a soft, sweet voice and called out to the woman in green, "Grandmother!"
However, she did not receive a gentle and kind response from her grandmother. Instead, she was enveloped in a green glow and was directly brought to the side of the woman in green robes by a force.
"Mother..." She was terrified and tried to grab her mother's hand, but when she looked back, her mother was very, very far away, so far that she could hardly see the expression on her face.
The woman in green robes reached out and touched her forehead, a satisfied smile appearing on her face. "Not bad, the purity of your essence blood is very high. You two haven't wasted your time all these years."
"Mother, Ling'er is still too young. If she accepts the inheritance now, she may not be able to withstand it..."
“She has to bear it. Lan’er is the future of our Ye family. There can be no mistakes. Once the inheritance begins, you know what to do a hundred years from now.”
"Yes, I understand."
As the woman in green robes chanted the incantation, the enormous Azure Phoenix statue let out a clear cry, and a circular magic circle appeared on the ground. The girl was placed in the center of the magic circle, and countless Azure Phoenix phantoms burrowed into her body, causing her to writhe in pain and constantly call out for her mother.
Unfortunately, among all the people present, who were her closest relatives, not one of them stood up to stop it. They all tacitly accepted this approach. From birth, her fate was already set; she was merely a tool to help her sister cultivate into a true spirit.
"Mother, it hurts, it hurts so much...Grandmother, Father...Uncle..."
She called out again and again, calling out to everyone, but in the end, she could only slowly lose consciousness in pain...
"pain……"
The sleeping girl's eyelashes trembled slightly, and a clear tear slid down her cheek. She opened her eyes groggily and stared blankly at the starry sky for a long time.
"Junior Sister Yue, you're awake? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?" Linghu Xuan had been watching over her the whole time. Hearing her soft moan, he quickly came over and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she had already opened her eyes.
Tao Tao was a little confused and didn't understand what was going on. The dream was too real, and she couldn't calm down for a long time. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether the dream was more painful or reality was more painful.
"Where am I?" Her voice was hoarse. The pain in her body was slowly dissipating, which gave her the strength to sit up. Linghu Xuan quickly helped her up and explained, "We are still in the Secret Bone Forest. You suddenly broke out, and we don't know what happened. Fortunately, that senior helped us, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable."
"The Secret Bone Forest?"
She clearly felt unfamiliar with the place. The trees in the Secret Bone Forest were unusually dense, especially the canopies that were connected to each other, making it impossible to see the sky. How could it be like now, where you could see the stars just by looking up?
No, upon closer inspection, you can still vaguely see the transparent veins on the leaves. Could it be that the leaves here become transparent at night, allowing the moonlight to shine through them?
"Yes, the Secret Bone Forest is truly magical. Look, whether it's the leaves or the grass, they all become transparent at night." Linghu Xuan, finally able to speak, couldn't resist rambling on. He casually picked up a leaf and handed it to Tao Tao, excitedly telling her about the wonders of this place.
Sure enough, the leaves were transparent; such wonders truly exist in this world.
Tao Tao examined the leaf repeatedly. Linghu Xuan wanted to ask about what happened during the day, but seeing Tao Tao's bewildered expression, he figured he probably didn't understand either. So he leaned closer, pointed to Bai Yan lying against a tree trunk not far away, and whispered, "Junior Sister Le, where did you meet such a powerful senior?"
"Senior?" Tao Tao looked over in confusion, but upon seeing that it was Bai Yan, she immediately jumped up excitedly from the ground, "A-Yan!"
She skipped and hopped over there, having completely forgotten the dream she had just had.
As soon as she came over, Bai Yan naturally pressed down on her little head and said in an annoyed tone, "Stay away from me. It's good that you're awake. I told you before not to eat everything. Your cultivation level is not high enough. You can't refine higher-level demonic beasts at all. If you're not careful, you'll explode and die."
"But I was hungry at that time." Tao Tao crossed her two fingers, her voice becoming even softer.
Bai Yan glanced at her. "Are you ever not hungry?"
"Maybe not."
"..."
Unexpectedly, the two of them were chatting and laughing, and seemed to know each other very well, which put Linghu Xuan's mind at ease.
If it were some reclusive senior who lends a helping hand, then asking them to repay the favor would be outrageous. The combined possessions of the two of them, being minor cultivators, wouldn't even be enough to fill someone's teeth.
However, he was really puzzled as to where this little girl Tao Tao had gotten to know such a senior.
Linghu Xuan didn't want to be left out, so he mustered his courage, walked over, and respectfully cupped his hands, asking, "May I ask if you intend to travel with us, senior?"
Upon hearing this, Tao Tao tilted his head, looking puzzled. "Hasn't Ayan been traveling with us the whole time?"
"Huh?" Linghu Xuan was stunned. He wondered how they had ended up on the same road. Could it be that this senior had deliberately hidden himself, just to protect her in a moment of crisis?
Does this count as cheating...? The disciples who come to the trial are required to have a certain level of cultivation. Moreover, at most, only cultivators at the early Foundation Establishment stage can enter. This person is probably not just at the early Foundation Establishment stage. How did he manage to fool those old guys at the gate?
"Don't make a fuss. I am her spirit, so it's not surprising that we're working together. As for the trial, don't worry, I won't interfere."
Bai Yan said this in a serious tone, leaving Tao Tao dumbfounded. How did he become a weapon spirit? However, Linghu Xuan believed this explanation without a doubt, and it seemed to make sense. But this also shows that Tao Tao is not simple. If he is so powerful as a weapon spirit, who knows what other hidden strength he has?
"Then Ayan..." Tao Tao wanted to say something, but Bai Yan silently transformed into a white light and rushed into her jade rings.