Chapter 21: Abyssal Stone

The life core of the Soul-Connecting Flower, during its time in the cultivation realm, had already devoured ten Soul Immortals from higher realms such as Zong Xi and Feng Qu—top-tier Soul Immortals. After absorbing their souls, the life core’s soul level had reached the pinnacle of top-tier Soul Immortals.
If the life core consumed the soul of a Earth Immortal, it could immediately evolve to the soul level of an Earth Soul Immortal.
At this moment, the life core arrived above Zhu Bao’s head and immediately entered his soul.
“Ah, Fire Lord, what is this thing?” Zhu Bao screamed in terror.
Zhu Bao was merely a lower-tier Soul Immortal; how could his soul realm compare to that of the life core? The moment he sensed the life core entering his soul space, he realized his soul could not escape at all.
Soul Immortals could use the Soul Flower as a medium to fly directly and resume cultivation in their original bodies. But Zhu Bao found himself unable to resist the life core’s attacks; even when trying to escape with his soul, he couldn’t break through the life core’s soul blockade.
After screaming in shock, Zhu Bao stood there dazedly on the ground.
The life core had already imprinted Qu Yi’s soul mark within Zhu Bao’s Soul Flower.
A moment later, the life core flew back into Qu Yi’s soul.
※※※
After some time, Zhu Bao regained consciousness.
“Ah, Fire Lord, you’ve tampered with my soul! You’ve imprinted your own soul mark!” Zhu Bao realized suddenly and cried out in panic.
“Kneel!”
Fire Lord said firmly.
Unwillingly, Zhu Bao’s body obeyed, and under Fire Lord’s command, he knelt down.
Qu Yi himself, along with Gold Lord, Wood Lord, Water Lord, and Earth Lord, watched smilingly.
“Zhu Bao, now that I’ve imprinted my soul mark on you, you are my slave. If you dare to shout again, I’ll kill you,” Fire Lord said indifferently.
Kneeling on the ground, Zhu Bao’s eyes turned blood-red as he trembled with anger, but he didn’t dare attack Fire Lord. He understood clearly that his soul was under control, and his life was no longer in his own hands.
Seeing Zhu Bao’s expression gradually calm down, Fire Lord smirked coldly before saying, “Zhu Bao, do you still have the right to enter your Zhu family’s cultivation space?”
Cultivation spaces varied in size. For example, the cultivation space owned by Tongzhou Hall could only accommodate thirty people at once. Meanwhile, some larger cultivation spaces could hold tens of thousands of people to cultivate and comprehend the power of the primal essence.

Moreover, the plans of different factions for training disciples vary. Some do not allow Human Soul Immortals to enter their training spaces, as they are of little help in comprehending mystical principles there and also take up spots. Of course, some factions still permit Human Soul Immortals to enter their training spaces.

Zhu Bao was momentarily puzzled by the Fire Lord’s sudden question about training spaces. It was only when his gaze fell on the Gold Lord, Wood Lord, Water Lord, and Earth Lord that he understood.

“Sure. Our Zhu family’s training space can accommodate a hundred people to train at the same time,” Zhu Bao replied affirmatively, with a hint of pride on his face.

Among the three major factions of Zhu Yanxing, the Zhu family possessed the largest training space, which they had always taken great pride in.

Upon hearing this, the Fire Lord immediately smiled. The reason he hadn’t killed Zhu Bao was to use his identity to allow the other four avatars of Qu Yi to enter the training space. Otherwise, Zhu Bao would already be dead.

Inside Tongzhou Hall, due to his own status, the Fire Lord couldn’t enter the training space frequently, and with the covert surveillance of figures like Hall Master Yun Zhouzi, he couldn’t allow the Gold Lord, Wood Lord, Water Lord, and Earth Lord to enter either. Now, he could have Zhu Bao take those four people into the Zhu family’s training space.

“Zhu Bao, can you tell us about your family’s situation?” the Fire Lord asked calmly.

Since Zhu Bao had personally requested the creation of ten thousand immortal artifacts at the Human Soul Immortal level and a thousand at the Human Soul Immortal level during his time at Juehuo Peak, the Fire Lord had sensed that the Zhu family was planning something mysterious and was now eager to find out more.

At that moment, Zhu Bao glanced awkwardly at the Fire Lord, then looked down at himself, still kneeling. The Fire Lord understood and smiled, saying, “Get up.”

Zhu Bao immediately stood up, his expression becoming slightly more relaxed. Then he said, “Our Zhu family is divided into an inner courtyard and an outer courtyard. The inner courtyard consists of the family’s bloodline disciples, who must also be at the Human Soul Immortal level. The outer courtyard includes family members and disciples recruited from various places. In the inner courtyard, there are fifty people, and I am one of them, though only at the lower level of Human Soul Immortal. I’m assigned to handle certain tasks. In the outer courtyard, there are also disciples at the Human Soul Immortal level, forming a total of a hundred teams. Besides operating in Zhu Yanxing, we also have strongholds on the four nearby planets.”

The Fire Lord’s eyes lit up as he realized he now had a general idea of the Zhu family’s strength, understanding that they were far more powerful than the Tongzhou Hall and Chen Dan Pavilion factions.

“Zhu Bao, you’ve come to Tongzhou Hall this time asking to create ten thousand immortal artifacts at the Human Soul Immortal level. What’s the reason?” Fire Lord asked with narrowed eyes and a smile.

Ten thousand immortal artifacts—such a large quantity—certainly weren’t meant to be sold to the human immortals on Zhu Yanxing. That would mean directly confronting the Fire Cloud Merchant Alliance and inviting retaliation.

A hint of panic flashed in Zhu Bao’s eyes as he tried to avoid answering, but a sudden pain in his soul forced him to reply immediately, “It’s because our Zhu family wants to rapidly expand our influence on the four planets—Jubian Star, Fangyang Star, Anyang Star, and Xiulei Star. Once the power on these four planets grows strong, our family will unite their forces and suddenly attack Zhu Yanxing, wiping out Tongzhou Hall and Danchen Pavilion in one fell swoop.”

The Zhu family wanted to take control of entire Zhu Yanxing.

Fire Lord wasn’t surprised upon hearing this. Given the Zhu family’s current strength, such ambitions were entirely normal.

However, after hearing their plan, Fire Lord came up with his own strategy.

“Very good, Zhu Bao. You’ve told the truth, so I won’t make things difficult for you. From now on, you’ll be under my control. Wait here for a while while I go look for spiritual stones here, then I’ll meet with you again,” Fire Lord said suddenly with a smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, Fire Lord and Water Lord flew out of the cave. Meanwhile, Qu Yi, Gold Lord, Wood Lord, and Earth Lord remained in the cave, smiling at Zhu Bao.

Zhu Bao trembled all over.

※※※

Before Fire Lord entered the cave, the Artifact God had already discovered that beneath this mined-out Mo Yun Crystal mine, there were several spiritual stones—ones that would be extremely beneficial for Water Lord in mastering the essence of water.

At that moment, Fire Lord and Water Lord left the cave and entered another one to search for those water-related spiritual stones.

The cave was tens of thousands of meters deep. When Fire Lord and Water Lord reached the bottom, they sensed the strong presence of water-related spiritual stones.

“Hmph, the miners from the Zhu family must be people below the Great Vehicle stage. And the ones overseeing this mine aren’t familiar with crafting materials either, otherwise they wouldn’t have missed these spiritual stones,” Fire Lord said with a laugh.

Water Lord was naturally delighted. With spiritual stones, he could master the essence of water and further improve his cultivation.

Soon, guided by the Artifact God, Fire Lord and Water Lord took out their immortal artifacts and used them to dig deeper underground. After digging thousands of meters down, they arrived at an underground cavern before stopping.

The cavern was about a hundred meters wide, filled with a dense gas. When the two entered, it was difficult to move around, as if they were being pulled by some kind ofslime.

At the center of the hollow were two stones that resembled ice blocks.
“Haha, these are Chendang Stones—perfect for the Water Venerable,” suddenly, the voice of the Vessel God rang out.
The Water Venerable had already grasped the powers of moisture, nourishment, cold, and coolness, and had reached the cultivation level of a four-star Human Soul Immortal. Now, he was focusing on mastering the power of depth. With these Chendang Stones and the help of the Enlightenment Stele, he would soon be able to comprehend this power. In other words, it wouldn’t take long for him to advance to a five-star Human Soul Immortal.
Without hesitation, the Water Venerable happily went over to the Chendang Stones and immediately stored them in his space ring.
“Congratulations, Water Venerable!” said the Fire Venerable joyfully.
The Water Venerable nodded.
※※※
Soon, the Fire Venerable and the Water Venerable returned to the hollow where the true Qu Yi was located.
“True Self, the Water Venerable has made progress and will soon advance to a five-star Human Soul Immortal,” the Fire Venerable called out first.
Upon hearing this, Qu Yi, along with his other avatars, showed evident joy on their faces. The achievements of his five avatars directly benefited the true Qu Yi, as the chaotic energy in his dantian would instinctively simulate the primal forces from various places. Thus, the achievements of his five avatars were equivalent to helping the true Qu Yi in his cultivation.
“Very good. This trip to the Blue Mountain Veins wasn’t in vain,” Qu Yi said happily.
The Gold Venerable, Wood Venerable, Water Venerable, Fire Venerable, and Earth Venerable also nodded and laughed.
On the side, Zhu Bao remained astonished, finding Qu Yi even more mysterious.
“Five avatars, and their cultivation speeds are unmatched by anyone in the entire Immortal Realm. This man is truly mysterious. It’s not too bad that I, Zhu Bao, fell into his hands. It’s only my own fault for practicing insufficiently and acting impulsively over a single word, thus attracting such a powerful figure,” Zhu Bao thought with some regret.
At that moment, after finishing laughing, Qu Yi turned to Zhu Bao and said indifferently, “Zhu Bao, next, we’re going to visit your Zhu family.”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Bao felt a chill sweep over his body. Staring at Qu Yi in shock, he asked, “Why?”
Qu Yi was too lazy to explain.
Suddenly, Qu Yi, the Wood Venerable, the Gold Venerable, the Water Venerable, and the Earth Venerable all disappeared, entering the Tiny Realm Sphere, leaving only the Fire Venerable in the hollow.
The Fire Venerable picked up the Tiny Realm Sphere, which looked like an imperceptibly tiny speck of dust, and suddenly threw it at Zhu Bao.
“Zhu Bao, return to your Zhu family and follow the true self’s orders,” the Fire Venerable said calmly.