Chapter 224

Chapter 224

Wen Qiao placed the lotus seed of the Pure Spirit Water Lotus between her hands and infused it with her Primordial Spirit Force.

However, the Primordial Spirit Force she poured in seemed to vanish without a trace. The lotus seed remained as pristine and green as ever, showing no signs of life or emotion, as if it were merely dormant.

After exhausting the energy from thirty spirit nodes, Wen Qiao finally put down the seed and took a Spirit Replenishment Pill.

"Chui, how is it?" Ning Yuzhou asked, already understanding the situation upon seeing the unresponsive seed.

Wen Qiao sighed, "Husband, my cultivation level is too low; I can't communicate with it."

The Pure Spirit Water Lotus was an extraordinary spiritual plant, not like the ordinary ones she had dealt with before. It was difficult even to establish communication, let alone nurture it successfully. Wen Qiao felt that the Pure Spirit Water Lotus had given her an impossible task. She knew she couldn’t help it grow within a short time, nor could she use it to suppress the Blood Miasma again.

Ning Yuzhou said, "It's fine. If the Pure Spirit Water Lotus doesn't work, we'll find the Divine Tree instead."

Wen Qiao looked at the sea of blood outside the grand array and the monsters and blood giants emerging from it, sighing again, "Husband, finding the Divine Tree won't be easy either."

In this vast sea of blood, filled with countless monsters, how could they search?

They would likely be torn apart by those monsters the moment they entered the sea.

Currently, they relied on the grand array for rest after battles. But entering the sea directly meant facing endless monsters and blood giants, making it impossible to return unscathed, let alone find the Divine Tree.

Although Su Wangling could see the Divine Tree in the sea, its current state and why it appeared with the sea were unknown. The variables were too many, and the situation was far from optimistic.

Wen Qiao never overestimated her combat abilities and knew she couldn't defeat the blood giants in the sea.

Ning Yuzhou patted her head, comforting her, "Don't worry. Since Young Master Su dared to ask for help, he must have a plan."

Compared to them, the cultivators of the Flying Star Continent were undoubtedly more anxious about the current situation. This crisis not only threatened their lives but also the survival of the entire continent.

Thinking of Su Wangling’s cunning plans, Wen Qiao agreed that smart people always had backup plans.

Putting aside her worries, she decided to rest a bit more before resuming the battle against the sea monsters.

This time, Ning Yuzhou joined her, planning to go out and fight, honing his combat skills.

Wen Qiao was delighted by his decision and confidently declared, "Husband, don't worry. Wen Tutu and Wen Guangun will protect you."

The two beasts quickly agreed.

Ning Yuzhou smiled at her gently.

All the cultivators present, including the alchemists who weren't particularly skilled in combat, chose to fight rather than hide behind others.

When they noticed injured cultivators, the alchemists retreated to treat them and immediately began refining Spirit Replenishment Pills to distribute among the fighters, helping them sustain their efforts longer.

After battling through waves of monsters, Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou saw Xiong Yan being escorted back by a physical cultivator.

Several monsters had sneaked up from below while they were distracted. Wen Qiao whipped them back into the sea.

The physical cultivator supporting Xiong Yan broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly thanked Wen Qiao, "Thank you, Lady, for saving us!"

Wen Qiao looked at Xiong Yan and found him in terrible condition. He had numerous wounds, all oozing a thick, foul aura that prevented healing. The open wounds were gruesome and alarming.

"Senior Xiong, are you alright?" Wen Qiao asked, lashing her whip to kill the monsters and send them back to the sea.

Xiong Yan managed a weak response, "Sister, I'm fine. I can still fight..."

Before he could finish, Ning Yuzhou killed another monster charging at them and said, "Let's go back to the grand array first!"

Wen Qiao, worried about Xiong Yan's condition, followed him back.

Inside the designated resting area within the defensive array, Ning Yuzhou examined Xiong Yan and said, "The foul aura has entered his body and needs to be expelled quickly."

Xiong Yan laughed bitterly, "I've tried, but it's stubborn and takes a long time to remove."

Time was what they lacked most, and they couldn't afford to spend months slowly expelling the foul aura.

That's why Xiong Yan hadn't paid much attention to his initial injuries, relying on some spirit pills. At the time, the few wounds didn't affect his combat ability despite the lingering foul aura. However, as the number of wounds increased, the accumulated foul aura severely damaged his spiritual body, rapidly degrading his fighting strength.

Other injured cultivators faced similar issues.

At that moment, Chen Shixin and Zhu Ying, among other alchemists, approached Ning Yuzhou to report the situation.

"Master Ning, these cultivators' conditions are not ideal. If left untreated, they will lose their combat abilities and damage their spiritual bodies, hindering future cultivation," Chen Shixin said, his elegant brows furrowed deeply.

Ning Yuzhou pondered for a moment and suggested, "We can try the Crimson Sun Pill and Lesser Yang Disaster Relief Pill to expel the foul aura first."

He then took out a Crimson Sun Pill and gave it to Xiong Yan. As Xiong Yan took it, the foul aura in his wounds gradually dissipated, though some stubborn remnants remained. Ning Yuzhou then gave him a Lesser Yang Disaster Relief Pill, which eventually healed his wounds completely.

The alchemists present were thrilled. They knew about the Crimson Sun Pill but were unfamiliar with the Lesser Yang Disaster Relief Pill.

"Master Ning, this Lesser Yang Disaster Relief Pill..."

Chen Shixin looked at him eagerly. No alchemist could remain calm when faced with an unknown pill formula. They yearned to study lost ancient formulas and innovate based on past knowledge.

Ning Yuzhou handed them several jade slips, saying, "Here is the formula for the Lesser Yang Disaster Relief Pill."

The alchemists received the jade slips reverently, as if they had discovered a treasure.

After reviewing the formula and required materials, many alchemists looked troubled because they lacked sufficient ingredients. Only Chen Shixin, the talented disciple of the Alchemy Symbol Sect, had enough materials, but only barely enough for three batches.

Ning Yuzhou said, "I have some materials for refining the Lesser Yang Calamity Crossing Pill. You can use them first."

Back in Tai Zecheng, Ning Yuzhou generously gave away the formula for the Lesser Yang Calamity Crossing Pill to the alchemists there for free. Later, many alchemists received the formula and, to thank Ning Yuzhou for his generosity, they returned a considerable amount of materials needed to refine the pill. He kept those that couldn't be planted in the spatial realm.

Now, these materials could be put to good use.

The alchemists gratefully accepted the materials Ning Yuzhou provided and hurried to refine the Lesser Yang Calamity Crossing Pill.

Fortunately, these Earth-grade alchemists were quite skilled. With Ning Yuzhou's guidance, most only failed once or twice before successfully refining the pill. However, the quality was somewhat low, and the yield was not high.

Chen Shixin had the highest yield. As an alchemy prodigy highly regarded by the Danfu Sect, he succeeded on his first attempt and produced five to six pills per batch from the second try onwards, mostly of medium grade. This was much better than those who could only produce low-grade pills.

Of course, it still couldn't compare to the supreme-grade pills Ning Yuzhou refined.

With the Crimson Sun Pill and the Lesser Yang Calamity Crossing Pill, the injured cultivators quickly recovered and rejoined the battle.

There were too few cultivators here, and their combat strength was insufficient. Saving one more person meant one more chance of survival.

Therefore, these alchemists did not hesitate to give them spirit pills, prioritizing saving lives and overcoming the crisis together.

After guiding the alchemists, Ning Yuzhou picked up his sword again, preparing to fight alongside Wen Qiao.

Seeing this, the cultivators, alchemists, and Talisman Masters present trembled inwardly and quickly said, "Young Master Ning, you should rest here. We'll handle the fighting outside."

"Yes, Young Master Ning, come here to rest for a while."

"Young Master Ning..."

They all tried to persuade him, worried that he might be injured by the blood sea monsters if he left the defensive formation.

Their concerns were understandable. Ning Yuzhou's earlier performance had made many cultivators realize that his alchemy skills were no less impressive than his array formation expertise. Having a skilled alchemist around provided an additional layer of security. If they were injured, they would rely on him to save their lives.

Moreover, alchemists were generally weak and not expected to contribute to the battle.

Ning Yuzhou smiled and said, "No problem, I'll go with Chui."

Seeing that they couldn't persuade him, everyone watched helplessly as the engaged couple left the defensive formation. The other cultivators who went out to fight formed a protective circle around them.

After fighting for half a day, Wen Qiao, exhausted, pulled Ning Yuzhou back to the defensive formation. Suddenly, a buzzing sound echoed.

Everyone instinctively turned to look at the entrance of the Hellish Water Marsh, their eyes widening in shock.

Wu Qijie, guarding the entrance, was thrown into the air by a surge of blood mist.

"Senior Brother Wu!"

Seeing Wu Qijie about to fall into the blood sea, disciples from the Linglong Fort rushed forward and rescued him just in time. However, the monsters in the blood sea still managed to tear open the flesh on his shoulder, leaving a deep wound.

Wu Qijie spat out several mouthfuls of blood, his face turning pale. His eyes were filled with fear as he looked at the entrance of the Hellish Water Marsh.

The color of the blood mist at the entrance had changed from a light red to a deep red, surging continuously and attacking the two large formations at the entrance.

Beyond the blood mist, the howls of blood demons and the roars of monsters emerging from the Blood Miasma Wasteland could be heard, as if trying to break through the entrance's defensive formations.

Everyone's faces turned grim.

The cultivators outside the formation quickly retreated, staring intently at the entrance of the Hellish Water Marsh.

Although the monsters in the blood sea and the blood giant were terrifying, they feared even more the monsters suppressed in the Blood Miasma Wasteland.

Tu Liang approached and asked, "Should we set up another Evil Suppression Formation and Purification Formation?"

Qiao Leshan, with a serious expression, replied, "These are already the strongest formations we can set up. If they can't hold, adding more formations won't make a difference."

The disciples of the Tianfu Sect also said solemnly, "As Daoist Qiao said, this is already our strongest defense."

Su Wangling stared at the surging blood mist, silent for a long time.

Suddenly, Qiao Leshan asked him, "Young Master Su, what do you think?"

Su Wangling smiled bitterly. "We need to act quickly. If the monsters from the Blood Miasma Wasteland emerge, the entire Heavenly Plains might not be able to contain them."

What did he mean by acting quickly?

None of the cultivators present understood his meaning, except Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao. They knew they had to find the divine tree quickly, allowing it to reappear and suppress these evil spirits, restoring peace to the Heavenly Plains.

At this moment, Su Wangling walked over to Qiao Leshan and whispered something to him.

They set up soundproofing and confusion formations around them, so no one could hear what they were saying or discern it from lip-reading.

Tu Wang looked at the two of them, his brows slightly furrowed.

A cultivator friendly with Tu Liang whispered, "Daoist Tu, do you think we can survive this calamity?"

"With Feixian Island's resources, I believe they must have some trump cards they haven't revealed yet."

"The only ones who can lead us safely through this are Feixian Island."

"But look, apart from guarding the formation and killing the blood sea monsters, the Feixian Island disciples haven't done much. Perhaps they are also powerless..."

"Yes..."

The cultivators whispered among themselves, feeling a sense of despair.

Tu Liang frowned tightly. While their words made sense, they weren't entirely accurate.

He knew that Linglong Fort and Feixian Island must have some hidden strategies, especially Su Wangling, the sole heir of the Su family and the future leader of Linglong Fort. If he were to perish here, Linglong Fort would likely lose its legacy.

Linglong Fort differed from other forces; it passed down knowledge from father to son, and only those of Su lineage could inherit it. If the heir were lost, they would rather let Linglong Fort disappear than choose someone without blood ties. Fortunately, every successor of Linglong Fort had been outstanding, ensuring its peaceful transition and continuation.

Linglong Castle would never allow their heir to fall here.

But he also had some concerns, worrying that this time might be an exception. What if even Linglong Castle couldn't protect their young master? The situation was extremely perilous; they might all die here.

Who would want to die when they could live?

He only hoped that Su Wangling and Qiao Leshan still had hidden cards up their sleeves to help them overcome this crisis.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw Su Wangling and Qiao Leshan walking together toward the center of the formation, approaching Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao.

Everyone who witnessed this scene was once again stunned.

They didn't doubt Ning Yuzhou's abilities—he was proficient in alchemy, talismans, and formations—but no matter how proficient he was, his cultivation level and combat strength were still deficiencies that wouldn't help in the current situation.

No matter how astonished they were, they still couldn't figure out what Su Wangling and Qiao Leshan intended to do.

At this moment, Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou understood Su Wangling and Qiao Leshan's intentions.

"This is a Buddhist Bodhi seed, born from Buddha's light. Wearing it can protect one from evil spirits and ensure safe passage through the sea of blood," said Qiao Leshan, holding a smooth and lustrous Bodhi seed.

Su Wangling said, "Miss Wen, I entrust the divine tree to you."

Wen Qiao looked at the Bodhi seed emitting a faint golden glow and said, "Senior Qiao, with this Bodhi seed, you could actually use it to leave."

Qiao Leshan calmly replied, "My brothers and junior sister are all here. I must bring all of them back safely!"

His tone was calm, but his expression was extremely serious.

Even with the Buddhist Bodhi seed, he had never considered leaving alone. His responsibility was to bring everyone out, not just himself.

Ning Yuzhou suddenly asked, "Why not let Senior Qiao go find the divine tree?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Leshan paused and remained silent.

Su Wangling said, "Only Miss Wen can accomplish this task; others cannot. You should understand what I mean."

Whether it was the Fifth-Rank Holy Lotus or the divine tree, these were highly spiritual beings that had their own preferences and choices. When the Purifying Spirit Water Lotus chose Wen Qiao, it proved that these spiritual beings were drawn to her.

Having her search for it would be more effective than any of them doing it.

"Actually, there's another reason. I can't see the current state of the divine tree. Its absolute domain blocks all detection. I can only vaguely sense that it is still holding on."