Chapter 289: Assassination

In the dim shadows, a fist-sized jade cauldron stood there.

With three legs and two ears, the cauldron emitted a shimmering purple color.

"Are there still such small cauldrons in the world? It looks like a wine bottle," Mu Xi exclaimed in astonishment.

Su Yi reached out and grabbed the jade cauldron, which swiftly landed in his palm. After examining it briefly, he said, "This is a Dan Cauldron."

As he spoke, he exerted force with his fingers.

Buzz~

The fist-sized jade cauldron suddenly enlarged, growing to a height of about ten feet. Its entire body shimmered with purple spiritual light, dazzling and colorful.

At this moment, Ning Xihua and the others could finally see clearly. The surface of the cauldron was engraved with vivid totems of Vermilion Bird, Phoenix, Bi Fang, Fire Pheasant, and other divine birds, each lifelike.

Purple smoke and mist billowed from the mouth of the cauldron, diffusing a mystical and obscure aura.

At the bottom of the cauldron, there were inscriptions that read "Purple Palace."

Undoubtedly, this cauldron was named Purple Palace.

"What a treasure!" Everyone's eyes lit up.

"This is a spiritual rune treasure personally refined by a powerful spiritual cultivator. The cauldron has eight layers of spiritual rune formations, each with its unique purpose, specifically designed for pill refinement," Su Yi explained as he examined it. "Only in the hands of a spiritual cultivator can this cauldron be fully utilized and unleash its full power. However, people like us can also use the power of formations to refine pills with this cauldron."

As he spoke, he retracted the elemental force between his fingers.

The purple cauldron immediately shrank, returning to its previous fist-sized form.

Then, Su Yi released a strand of divine sense, probing into it.

Inside the cauldron was a separate space, spanning a range of ten zhang, as large as a three-story building.

As Su Yi's divine sense entered, he immediately saw a radiant sphere suspended within the cauldron, emitting a strong fragrance of medicinal herbs.

"Bloodleaf Fuling, Eternal Life Powder, Condensed Yuan Spirit Marrow, Nine-stripe Variegated Worm, Chuanqiongzi, Fire Feathered Hook Kiss..."

In an instant, Su Yi recognized dozens of spiritual herbs contained in the sphere.

Especially when he identified the rare spiritual herb called "Spiritual Marrow Jade Liquid," Su Yi immediately understood—

The guy who called himself the Scarlet Peng True Sovereign wanted to refine a "Revitalizing Elemental Pill"!

This pill originated from the Soul Cultivation lineage. It wasn't particularly profound, but it allowed the power of the divine soul to condense into a "Spiritual Body" after consumption.

In this way, it was no different from having a real physical body.

However, the drawbacks of the Spiritual Body were also evident. It could only seek the path of "Soul Cultivation" in this life and world.

A soul body like Qing Wan, when truly embarking on the path of cultivation, would have a body that was essentially a "Spiritual Body."

"Judging by the degree of pill refinement, it seems to have been tempered for some time and is about to succeed..." Su Yi's gaze became somewhat peculiar.

No wonder that Scarlet Peng True Sovereign was so irritable earlier, and even left with strong resentment. It turns out that I disrupted his pill refining plan...

From this, Su Yi also deduced that the divine soul incarnation of the Scarlet Peng True Sovereign must have recently crossed over from another realm.

His arrival caused a violent disturbance in the blood-colored vortex, creating such a commotion that martial practitioners in the world believed that the Baosha Demon Mountain had undergone an astonishing change.

As a result, many martial practitioners were attracted here, including the monks from the Shanglin Temple.

And the Scarlet Peng True Sovereign, in preparation for this cross-realm operation, clearly had sufficient arrangements. He attempted to refine a "Revitalizing Elemental Pill" through pill refinement, in order to quickly condense a physical body and embark on a new cultivation path.

As for why he chose to refine pills here...

It was simple. This underground world had a "Vajra Demon-Sealing Formation" arranged by the Prajna Zen Courtyard, which completely sealed this place.

With the Scarlet Peng True Sovereign's abilities, he was still unable to break through this formidable sealing formation.

Otherwise, he would have left long ago, without needing to refine pills. He could have directly used the method of seizing bodies to start his cultivation anew.

Next, Su Yi shared his speculation with Ning Xihua and the others, and then stated his plan:

"I intend to utilize the power of this formation to refine a batch of pills. You all will help me protect the process. Once the pills are successfully refined, we will share them together."

Ning Xihua and the others' eyes brightened, and they readily agreed.

Without wasting any more time, Su Yi directly sat cross-legged on the black jade lotus platform, intending to completely heal his injuries first. Once his cultivation was restored to its peak state, he would then begin pill refinement.

Seeing this, Lansuo took out a bottle of pills and handed it to Su Yi, saying, "Master Su, this is a bottle of Heavenly Fragrance Jade Dew. Take it for your use."

Su Yi didn't hesitate and swallowed the pills directly.

Seeing this, Lansuo's heart was filled with joy. A smile bloomed on her moist and lustrous lips. As long as he accepts it, I won't believe he still dares to say that I'm a burden!

Ning Xihua and Mu Xi sighed inwardly.

Heavenly Fragrance Jade Dew!

It was the top-tier healing elixir of the prestigious Daqin Donghua Sword Sect. It was said that a single drop of it was worth hundreds of high-grade spiritual stones!

Even in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the "Heavenly Fragrance Jade Dew" was highly renowned among martial practitioners as a divine elixir capable of reviving the dead and healing the wounded!

And now, Lansuo casually took out a bottle of it for Su Yi's healing...

Such a solid and abundant family background made people fully experience what it meant to be wealthy and extravagant!

Half an hour later.

Su Yi stood up, ready to start pill refinement.

His figure floated into the air, and with a wave of his sleeve, the Vajra Demon-Sealing Formation roared to life, emanating waves of restrictive power fluctuations.

Hum!

The Purple Palace Cauldron was activated, instantly growing from fist-sized to a height of about ten feet, floating in the void.

As Su Yi manipulated the power of the grand formation and infused it into the Purple Sovereign Cauldron, the mystical treasure suddenly emitted a brilliant light, revealing vivid and enchanting totemic shadows. There were vermilion phoenixes spreading their wings amidst flames, Bi Fangs striking across the sky, fire pheasants roaming beneath the abyss, and phoenixes crying out like thunder...

These awe-inspiring scenes left Ning Xihua and the others stunned, marveling at the spectacle before them.

Who could have imagined that such extraordinary mastery would come from the hands of a young martial artist at the second stage of the Martial Grandmaster realm?

Su Yi sat cross-legged in the void, his sleeves fluttering as he continuously added various high-grade spiritual herbs into the Purple Sovereign Cauldron.

In fact, Su Yi's current wealth was incredibly abundant.

Whether it was the battle at the Governor's Mansion in Gunzhou, the Dragon Bridge Station battle, or the battle at the Cloud Wave Sect, Su Yi had gained invaluable spoils of war.

Furthermore, he had obtained ninety percent of the treasures shared by the Tenfold Pavilion.

Of course, within the Purple Sovereign Cauldron, there were originally dozens of spiritual herbs left behind by the Scarlet Peng True Lord, which were now all transformed into Su Yi's alchemy materials.

Boom!

The Purple Sovereign Cauldron rumbled, radiating dazzling spiritual light.

Occasionally, Su Yi manipulated the power of the grand formation, employing profound and mysterious alchemical techniques.

With his current cultivation at the second stage of the Martial Grandmaster realm, it would have been difficult for him to even activate the Purple Sovereign Cauldron, let alone refine pills. However, with the power of the "Brahma's Forbidden Demon Formation," Su Yi found an opportunity to leverage its restrictive strength. This was the marvel of the art of formation arrays.

A formidable array master could even transcend cultivation realms to kill their enemies!

Ning Xihua, Mu Xi, and Lan Su guarded the area near Su Yi, as any mishap at this moment would result in significant losses.

After a full stick of incense burning, signs of fatigue became evident on Su Yi.

Even though he was using the power of the grand formation to refine pills, his cultivation and spiritual power were continuously being depleted.

At this point, there were faint signs of exhaustion.

Fortunately, although it had been a long time since he last refined pills, the pills he was currently refining were not of extremely high grade, so the process went quite smoothly.

At this moment, waves of refreshing medicinal fragrance emanated from the cauldron. Just a whiff of it would make one's mind clear and body relaxed, with every pore dilating.

"Just one final step remaining."

Su Yi endured his exhaustion and focused on alchemy, not daring to be the slightest bit negligent.

Whether it was alchemy or artifact refinement, one must not be careless until the task is accomplished.

Otherwise, all efforts might be in vain, like reaching for a mountaintop only to fall short by a single step.

Clang!

However, just at this critical moment, a sword chant suddenly resounded.

Before the sound faded, a black symbolic sword had already cut through the air at an astonishing speed, directly aiming for Su Yi, who was in the midst of alchemy.

This assassination attempt was perfectly timed, reaching the pinnacle of subtlety.

Su Yi was fully immersed in his alchemical process, knowing that if he got distracted, even though he could dodge the attack, the pills in the cauldron would be destroyed.

However, if he didn't dodge, he was highly likely to be killed on the spot!

It was a dilemma!

In this critical moment, Su Yi's eyelids twitched slightly, but his mind remained incredibly calm. Unruffled and composed, he continued to focus on his alchemy.

Clang!!

A thunderous collision reverberated through the air.

At this crucial moment, Ning Xihua made a move. A blood-red, fish-shaped flying sword, dripping with freshness, narrowly intercepted the black symbolic sword.

The two clashed less than a foot away from Su Yi, and the resulting shockwaves even impacted him, causing his figure to sway violently.

Nevertheless, Su Yi's expression remained as calm as before, his composure and focus undisturbed. He continued to manipulate the pill-refining techniques in his hand without any hinderance.

Seeing this, Ning Xihua and the others couldn't help but break into a cold sweat. Their faces turned dark, and a murderous intent filled their brows.

Clang!

After being blocked, the black symbolic sword immediately retreated, disappearing into the distant darkness.

Following their gaze, Ning Xihua and the others saw a group of people approaching from afar.

Leading them was a man in a robe, ordinary in appearance but with sharp, hawk-like eyes.

Beside him was a silver-haired old man with kind eyebrows and a benevolent expression, as well as a woman in Daoist robes carrying a sword on her back.

They were Elder Lu Dongliu, the Elder Chamberlain of the Hidden Dragon Sword Sect, Elder Li Cang, and Second Elder Liao Yunliu!

When they saw these three individuals, Ning Xihua and Mu Xi's pupils contracted.

How could they not recognize these three Martial Masters at the Innate level from the Hidden Dragon Sword Sect?

If it were just them, it would be manageable since they had previously joined forces to kill a group of Innate Martial Masters from the Shanglin Temple.

But now, the timing was wrong!

Su Yi was in a critical moment of alchemy, and he couldn't afford to be distracted. If those opponents went all out to disrupt the process, the consequences would be unimaginable.

What made Ning Xihua and the others even more concerned was that there were two other individuals with Lu Dongliu and the others.

One was a disheveled, skinny old man walking with a staff.

The other was a suave middle-aged man in a jade-colored robe, with a white jade belt around his waist. Profound and imposing, a black symbolic sword floated above his palm.

Obviously, the assassination just now came from this middle-aged man in the jade-colored robe!

When Ning Xihua and the others saw these two people, Ning Xihua's brow furrowed, and Mu Xi's handsome face turned gloomy and unpleasant.