: Soul's Return

July 31, 2024

Author: Gu Zhenren

The entire Molten Immortal Palace was shaking violently!

Ning Zhuo pressed both palms against the five-sided stone pillar, his soul force depleting at a terrifying rate.

His soul had left his body.

While his physical body remained in Fire Persimmon Immortal City, his soul had been drawn into the Molten Immortal Palace. The connection between his body and soul was maintained by the Life Thread technique.

Ning Zhuo was only a Qi Refining cultivator, while the My Buddha Heart Demon Seal was a treasure-grade artifact. Under normal circumstances, it was already extremely difficult for him to harness the seal’s power.

Now, with his soul and body separated, and having to sense and channel the My Buddha Heart Demon Seal through the Life Thread, the difficulty had increased more than tenfold!

Ning Zhuo’s spiritual energy and soul force plummeted like a bursting dam.

He looked up at the ranking board, but instead of despair, he felt a surge of excitement.

Because he could see his name slowly sinking. If this trend continued, once his carved name leveled with the surface of the stone slab, he would successfully conceal his identity!

However, the sinking of his name abruptly stopped midway.

The puppet Ning Zhuo fell to his knees, collapsing before the stone pillar.

His soul force was almost completely exhausted. His soul had weakened to its limit, on the verge of scattering.

Ning Zhuo could no longer hold on.

Trying to harness the full power of the treasure seal was like an infant wielding a giant hammer—his fragile body and soul simply couldn’t withstand it.

In the next moment, his soul could no longer maintain its form. It swiftly ascended from the puppet body, following the Life Thread, piercing through space, and instantly returned to his physical body.

*Thud.*

His puppet body, now devoid of a soul, fell to the ground, motionless.

Ning Zhuo had lost consciousness once again.

---

Main Hall of the Molten Immortal Palace.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit leaped and danced mid-air, stirring up raging waves of fire wherever it went—a terrifying sight!

Suddenly, it froze completely, sensing Ning Zhuo’s soul departing.

It opened its mouth and let out a deafening roar!

The sound waves spread through the Molten Immortal Palace, clearing away layers of mist and pushing back the rolling magma in their path.

“That Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit is roaring again—what madness has taken hold of it now?”

The Lord of Fire Persimmon City had no choice but to go all out, urgently reactivating the city’s grand defensive formation.

Countless emerald-green formation patterns etched across the sky, interweaving like a net, creating a powerful barrier.

The city lord, his beard bristling and robes fluttering, struggled to withstand the raging Molten Immortal Palace. It took him a full half-incense stick’s time to gradually stabilize the situation.

“Last time, the palace was attacked by a Golden Core demonic cultivator and nearly took off.”

“What happened this time?”

“Has it been attacked again?”

The city lord narrowed his eyes, his expression dark.

Since the palace’s emergence, he had stationed himself high above the mountain peak, never leaving for a moment.

As a Nascent Soul expert and ruler of this domain, who would dare to infiltrate the Molten Immortal Palace under his watch?

The city lord was certain that no outsider had entered the palace since he took his post in the sky above the mountain.

“Even if someone tried to infiltrate through the mountain, they would still have to bypass the formation’s barriers and detection, not to mention the terrifying, unrestrained geothermal energy and fire toxins.”

“Has the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit simply grown impatient?”

---

Ning Zhuo slowly regained consciousness.

It took a long time for his blurred vision to gradually clear.

His eyelids felt incredibly heavy.

“The damage to my soul this time is far worse than last time.”

Suppressing the urge to fall back asleep, Ning Zhuo struggled to sit up.

Even though he deliberately moved slowly, his vision still darkened, and dizziness overwhelmed him.

He managed to prop up his upper body with great effort.

This simple action left him drenched in cold sweat, his vision overlapping, making even the stationary tables and chairs appear to sway.

He had no choice but to close his eyes again. In the darkness, the sound of his rapidly beating heart echoed in his ears like violent drumbeats.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, feeling slightly better.

“My body and soul are originally one, a matched set.”

The body nourishes the soul.

Ning Zhuo’s slight improvement was due to this natural synergy.

But the process was far too slow. If he wanted to save time, he needed medicine.

He slowly stood up, left the bed, activated a mechanism, and opened the hidden basement.

Leaning on anything he could for support, he inched forward like a snail. He couldn’t move too quickly, lest he faint again.

When he reached the middle of the stairs, he could no longer hold on and slowly sat down.

Curling up, he rested his head against the stair railing.

Discomfort, heaviness, weakness, dizziness so severe it made him nauseous, and an overwhelming urge to sleep!

He lowered his head, feeling as though it had swollen several times its size, while his spine felt as frail as a nearly withered branch.

He closed his eyes again, listening quietly to the war-drum-like pounding of his heart in the darkness.

Hunched over, he felt as if an invisible, mountain-like weight pressed down on him.

Threatening to crush him completely!

“Heh heh heh.” Instead of despairing, Ning Zhuo let out a soft laugh.

The more complex a mechanical creation, the more he wanted to understand it thoroughly. The more dire the situation, the more it ignited his hidden, deeply ingrained fighting spirit!

His face was pale as paper, his forehead drenched in cold sweat, but the corners of his lips curled into a faint, slightly crazed smile.

Soon, the smile faded entirely.

He opened his eyes again, his pupils gleaming with resolute coldness.

“It’s possible!”

“Using the My Buddha Heart Demon Seal, I can continue to conceal my identity.”

“This is what Mother left me—my only chance.”

“If I can’t seize this opportunity, I’d be unworthy of her and utterly useless!”

Ning Zhuo struggled to his feet once more, pouring all his strength into every minor movement.

He descended the stairs, leaned against the wall, and finally reached the cabinet.

Fighting against dizziness, he used his trembling hands to open the cabinet door, retrieve a medicine bottle, and painstakingly pull out the stopper.

When he tried to pour out the pills, his weak hands and blurred vision caused many to spill onto the floor.

But he managed to take some.

After swallowing the medicine, Ning Zhuo leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the floor. He lowered his head and immediately fell unconscious.

When he woke again, it was already deep into the night.

His condition had improved dramatically.

Previously, everything appeared double, and the slightest movement made the world spin.

Now, his vision was only slightly blurred, and double vision only occurred when he turned his head too quickly.

Using medicinal pills was far more efficient than relying on sleep. Otherwise, why would alchemy be ranked first among the Hundred Arts of Cultivation?

Ning Zhuo gathered the spilled pills from the floor, cleaned them, and returned them to the bottle.

He had very few pills left and needed to use them sparingly.

“I should stock up in large quantities.”

“The entire process of drawing my soul into the palace consumes soul force. So, the demand for soul-nourishing pills will only increase.”

“For me, the situation is even more severe.”

“Even if I buy many soul-nourishing pills, I can’t bring them into the Molten Immortal Palace. I can’t take medicine inside.”

“I must directly enhance my soul’s foundation, at least doubling it. Only then can I last longer and successfully conceal my identity on a ranking board.”

(End of )