Liangya Province, Kyoto.
Inside the Nine Heavens Hall of the Imperial City.
Several guards lay prostrate on the ground, reporting to the Lord on the dragon throne and the Grand Preceptor Yin standing nearby:
"Subordinates failed to find the whereabouts of the eldest young master of the Luo family, but we discovered the princess's tracks in Qianwu Town."
Grand Preceptor Yin held a Bagua compass in one hand, pinching a tuft of his short beard, and slowly looked at the man on the dragon throne:
"As expected by this minister. I previously calculated that the princess is still within the borders of Liangya, and the Phantom Color Stone must be with her."
On the dragon throne, Song Hu leaned obliquely against the armrest, propping his head with one hand, seemingly resting with his eyes closed.
After a long time, he slightly nodded, his tone lazy:
"The Grand Preceptor is indeed brilliant in calculation."
Song Hu's tone suddenly shifted.
"But—" He opened his eyes, his gaze carelessly sweeping over the prostrate figures below, his tone drawn out: "Your men seem to be useless. They didn't find the medicine primer, found the princess but didn't bring back the Phantom Color Stone."
"Just bringing back some news to amuse me?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his sleeve.
The palace maid kneeling at his feet hadn't even reacted before the health-preserving soup she was holding crashed to the ground, the porcelain bowl shattering and soup splashing everywhere.
The maid trembled all over, throwing herself to the ground:
"Spare me, my Lord, spare me!"
Song Hu didn't even raise his eyes, his voice flat: "Do you know that the Lingzhi in this soup is hard to find in a hundred years? Several of your lives can't make up for it. Drag her out and beat her to death."
The maid even forgot to beg for mercy, collapsing on the ground, and was dragged away.
The hall suddenly became quiet.
Among the prostrate guards, one raised his head slightly, looking at Grand Preceptor Yin, as if he had more to say.
Grand Preceptor Yin understood and spoke calmly:
"My Lord, why not listen further? My subordinate might have brought back more important intelligence."
Song Hu yawned, leaning lazily back into the dragon throne, and waved his hand: "Speak."
The guard immediately cupped his fists, reporting in a deep voice: "After discovering the princess's tracks in Qianwu Town, to track her movements, subordinate specially sneaked into Luoxingyuan and participated in the New Moon Arrow Duel. Who knew, we ran into a big commotion."
"Near a mineral vein, a violent evil aura suddenly erupted. Subordinate secretly sneaked up to investigate, and actually saw a Miao man from the southern border whose chest was completely pierced by a monster, yet his physical body recovered on its own, with no threat to his life."
"Later, the evil aura was too strong, and subordinate was affected and fainted on the spot. Thanks to the protective magic weapon given by the Grand Preceptor, I narrowly survived."
Song Hu's gaze finally surged with a trace of interest from its laziness.
He instinctively turned to his side, his eyes shining with burning light: "Grand Preceptor, could this be the immortal body I have been searching for?"
Grand Preceptor Yin didn't answer immediately.
He lowered his eyes to the Bagua compass in his hand, his fingertips hovering over the surface, gently moving.
A moment later, the surface stopped, pointing in a certain direction.
Grand Preceptor Yin's eyes lit up with joy, and he spoke: "According to my calculations just now, this person comes from Mount Chi. I heard that the Witch Gu clan of Mount Chi has a lost secret spell. Combining the blood of the Saintess with the power of a curse, they can birth the purest blood. Whoever possesses this bloodline has an immortal body."
The light in Song Hu's eyes grew brighter.
Grand Preceptor Yin stepped back at the right moment, bowing deeply, his voice carrying irrepressible excitement: "Congratulations, my Lord! Congratulations, my Lord!"
"We only need to find and capture this person, and with the Phantom Color Stone, the art of immortality is just around the corner. By then, my Lord will unify the Central Plains and sit firmly on the throne forever!"
*
Ouyang Residence.
In front of Ouyang Rui's room, an altar was set up facing south. On the altar were Ouyang Rui's personal clothes, pressing down his birth characters.
A large circle was drawn in front of the altar, and Hongjiao was obediently coiled inside.
Setting up the array required extreme care; a miss is as good as a mile.
Around the large circle, seven soul-urging lamps needed to be lit according to the positions of the Big Dipper.
They corresponded to Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang, and Yaoguang.
Jiang Zhiyu squatted in front of the seventh lamp, condensing a cluster of flames at his fingertips, approaching the wick...
It went out.
He lit it again...
It went out again.
He took a deep breath, adjusted his posture, held his breath and concentrated, for the third time...
It still went out.
Beside him, Wu Li had already lit the other six lamps and stood with his arms crossed, watching expressionlessly as Jiang Zhiyu failed for the umpteenth time.
Silence.
A long silence.
Jiang Zhiyu still maintained the hand seal posture, a thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead.
Wu Li finally spoke:
"Move aside."
He could only blame a fierce girl who had repeatedly threatened him not to curse casually.
Those nasty words had already piled up together, blocking his throat for a long time, almost bursting out, making him swallow them back.
After enduring it a few times, he decided to personally rescue this idiot.
Jiang Zhiyu felt as if he had been granted an amnesty, silently stepping aside a few paces.
Wu Li squatted down, not even giving it a second glance. With a light flick of his fingernail, a cluster of eerie blue flames shot out, instantly igniting the seventh lamp.
The flame flickered steadily, and the wick remained perfectly still.
Jiang Zhiyu praised sincerely: "Thanks to you coming to help, Wu Li. If it weren't for you, I would have worried about when I could light it."
Wu Li stood up, giving him a sidelong glance, his tone cool, carrying a hint of mockery: "Jiang Zhiyu, it's because you have too much righteous energy in your heart. No wonder you can't ignite this Yin fire."
Hearing this address, Jiang Zhiyu felt delighted in his heart. It was finally not the distant "Young Master Jiang, Young Master Jiang" anymore.
Not far away, the white cat drawing runes on the yellow cloth didn't even look up, nor did it think much, casually replying: "Yes, Yu'er. Often, not being able to light it is a good thing."
"Why do you say that, Master?"
Jiang Zhiyu didn't catch the underlying meaning.
But Wu Li did.
Yin fire itself belonged to the obscure and gloomy. Those who could easily ignite Yin fire were naturally obscure and gloomy people.
Such people were mostly heinous villains and treacherous scoundrels.
So, how could lighting Yin fire be a good thing?
The white cat's brush paused.
It was just a casual remark just now, but when Jiang Zhiyu suddenly asked, it realized its slip of the tongue.
It instinctively looked up.
Meeting Wu Li's deep, half-smiling eyes.
"Alchemist Ji."
Wu Li bent down slightly, as if deliberately "kindly" accommodating the white cat's height, but his cold smile was full of condescension.
"You seem to understand me extremely well."
A mocking smile lifted the corners of his lips, his expression becoming increasingly thin and cool.
That smile froze on his lips, like a thin layer of ice, brewing indescribable gloom and danger beneath.
Something seemed to be fermenting in the air.
Dull, oppressive, ready to explode at any moment.
Even the flames of the seven soul-urging lamps seemed to tremble.
The white cat's mind suddenly detached for a moment.
As if its mind was seized by something, or as if it slipped into a dazed gap. When it came back to its senses, the young man in front of it was smiling softly and brightly.
"It's time to use the illusion spell on my snake." Wu Li stepped aside to make way, his tone uncharacteristically polite. "Don't miss the time, please."
He even bowed slightly, making a "please" gesture.
The white cat froze in place.
Just now...
Was it an illusion?
No, it wasn't an illusion.
That kid was absolutely up to no good!
Its fur practically stood on end as alarm bells blared in its head.
But Xiaomi's words drilled into its mind like a haunting melody, echoing over and over, striking right at its heart.
It forced it into another moment of self-reflection.
It thought to itself: Little Xiaomi, since you told this old man to wait and see, then I shall wait and see exactly what kind of fruit this patch of land will bear.
If it yields good fruit, I will take him back to Lingyu Province to reunite with the Lord.
If it yields poisonous fruit... its gaze darkened... I will surely strike him down first.
