A pair of hands grabbed his chubby wings, suspending him over the brazier. With a sizzle, sparks flared up, singeing his tail, and he flailed in terror.
“Hot, hot, hot! Blacksmith, are you trying to roast me?!”
“Spill it. What’s wrong with the Hall Master?” Hua Hong’s voice was as cold as steel, each word dripping with menace.
The Hall Master was a semi-divine being. No one could have hurt him so quietly—this pig must know something.
Cang Shan, standing by the hall door, struck his long staff against the stone floor, shattering the green stone tiles into powder.
Facing the sharp stares of all three, Long Yi looked exasperated and cast a sidelong glance at Bai Shuo. “Little Bai Shuo, you’re smart enough—do I really have to spell it out?”
Bai Shuo looked down at her own palm and murmured, “Middle Upper Lord level… my old injury… and all this spiritual energy…” She turned to look at Fan Yue lying on the bed. “It’s all related to the Great Demon, isn’t it?”
Long Yi shrugged, which was as good as confirmation.
“How did he manage it?”
Demonic and immortal powers don’t mix. Even as a semi-divine being, Fan Yue couldn’t have healed her old injury or strengthened her spiritual energy.
“Bi Ling Grass.”
Just those three words, and Bai Shuo was stunned.
“Bi Ling Grass? The sacred Bi Ling Grass of the dragon clan?!”
“The Hall Master went to Dragon Island? That’s insane! It’s protected by Twilight’s barrier! Why didn’t you stop him?”
Long Yi snorted, his nostrils flaring. “Could you?”
Hua Hong was left speechless.
A heavy silence filled the hall, broken by a voice calm and as clear as ice.
“He’s a semi-divine being. Even with Twilight’s barrier around Dragon Island, it shouldn’t have harmed him this severely.”
Everyone turned to look at Bai Shuo, who was now standing beside Fan Yue, staring intently at Long Yi Pig.
“Is his spirit so weak because of the split Bodhi tree?”
It was unusual—back when she was a mortal, Bai Shuo was roguish; as a half-immortal, she was slippery; as an immortal lord, she was unruly. Everyone knew her reputation for treasuring her own life above all. Yet, at times like these, one couldn’t ignore her presence. There was the same reckless courage she had shown when she protected Chong Zhao in his pursuit of the immortal path, the same resolve she showed in her pact with the semi-divine on Fire Ice Island, the same disregard for life and death she showed rushing toward Mumu at the blood pool in the foreign city. Now, as she looked at Long Yi Pig, Zihan seemed to glimpse a familiar spirit from her memories.
“That dumb mule only knows part of the story,” Long Yi Pig flapped his wings, easily escaping from Hua Hong’s grasp, who blinked in surprise, narrowing her eyes.
“Little Bai, lift his shirt.”
The moment Long Yi Pig said it, Bai Shuo complied without hesitation, only to freeze at the sight. On Fan Yue’s bare chest, a seven-pointed star array glimmered faintly. Thorny brambles extended from four unlit points, grotesquely piercing close to his heart. Weak spiritual energy encircled his heart, barely preventing the thorns from penetrating deeper.
“What is this?” Bai Shuo’s breath caught in shock.
“Have you heard of the Soul Suppression Tower?” asked Long Yi Pig.
“The ancient Lord God’s artifact?” Hua Hong was startled. “It’s said that it nurtures all souls in existence and was forged by the ancient Lord God with the power of chaos. But what does it have to do with the Hall Master’s condition?”
“Because what he carries is the Soul Suppression Fire.”
Everyone stared in shock at Fan Yue, realizing for the first time that the horrific brambles on his chest were, in fact, strands of blue fire.
“How is that possible? The Soul Suppression Fire is a divine power—how could it harm him?”
“The Soul Suppression Tower can only be wielded by a deity. He isn’t a god yet, so why wouldn’t it harm him?” Long Yi Pig rolled his eyes.
“Why does he have the Soul Suppression Fire?” Bai Shuo suddenly interjected.
“You know by now, he’s originally a Bodhi tree spirit. To become a god, a Bodhi must pass the divine tribulation. He attempted to use the Soul Suppression Fire to overcome it, but ultimately failed, causing his true form to split apart. The fragment that retained his sentience suffered backlash from the Soul Suppression Fire.”
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