In the Bitter Life Mountain Range, outside the earth city's apothecary, Wu Jianwu gazed at the bustling street, observing the residents coming and going. The poetic inspiration in his heart had also surged in these past few days.
"Medicine, medicine, medicine, like drifting willow catkins. If you want to sleep well, come and buy medicine quickly!"
Wu Jianwu shouted loudly. Li Youfei, who was at the side, hurriedly shouted.
"Young master, what a great poem!"
Wu Jianwu laughed. Just as he was about to continue, Ling'er, who was in the apothecary, rushed past him like the wind. At the next instant, the figures of Xu Qing and the other two appeared on the distant street.
Ling'er directly pounced into Xu Qing's arms.
"Brother Xu Qing, you're finally back…"
Ling'er's eyes turned red. These few days, she had been worried day and night. The anxiety in her heart caused her to lose all interest in counting the profits, which she usually liked to do.
Seeing that Xu Qing was fine, her worried heart finally relaxed.
Xu Qing smiled and patted Ling'er's head before looking at the apothecary.
After a few days, he felt like he had experienced the passage of many years. Now that he had returned, he sighed with emotion inwardly.
"Little Nether, Big Butt, I'm back. Why aren't you coming over to hug me?" The captain at the side walked into the apothecary and spoke loudly.
Nether Fairy, who was squatting there boiling water, felt nauseous at the words. The inner restlessness, which had just calmed down for several days, immediately erupted upon hearing Erniu's voice.
'Sooner or later, I'll kill this b*stard and chew him up bit by bit!!'
The heir looked at all of this and smiled. He liked the warm atmosphere in this apothecary very much, so he sat on his usual chair and picked up his teacup to drink.
The parrot also swiftly arrived, landing on the heir's shoulder. It felt relieved in its heart, but as it lowered its head and glanced at its red flesh body that had lost a lot of feathers again, a sense of sorrow and indignation surged within it once more.
"Grandpa, a few days ago, I encountered bad people again. I couldn't see who they were. They trapped me in a bag. It was outrageous! They didn't hit me; they just pulled out my feathers through the bag!"
Ning Yan lowered his head and continued to wipe the ground with great force. However, after a few wipes, he noticed Xu Qing and stopped in his tracks, revealing a surprised expression.
"Boss, you… why do you give a different feeling from before?"
When Ning Yan spoke, Wu Jianwu also looked over, and Li Youfei cast his gaze as well. However, both of them were a bit puzzled and couldn't discern any changes. The only thing they felt was that Xu Qing seemed to be more crystalline than before.
He was clearly not a crystal, but the sensation of being crystalline still emerged from the depths of their hearts.
Ling'er was also curious.
The captain smiled but didn't say anything. He looked smug.
Xu Qing also didn't say anything. After his gaze swept past the apothecary, he sensed the chicks in the courtyard.
"They came here on their own," Ling'er said softly.
Xu Qing nodded. After catching up with everyone, he returned to the back room.
Here, he sat down cross-legged and took a deep breath. He recalled his experience this time and slowly closed his eyes, sensing the authority he had obtained and the Purple Moon Divine Repository.
"Now, just my Purple Moon Divine Repository can suppress the Dao Nurturing… However, I still can't integrate the Poison Restriction into my gaze. Only when I'm under the control of divinity can I do so."
"However, the authority seems to have more effects that can be used…"
"Also, the strength of my body and the power of the Purple Moon transformed into a divine repository, so my other nascent souls are a little unbalanced compared to it."
"The drawback of this imbalance isn't small. If I can't strengthen the other nascent souls as soon as possible, I'm afraid it will cause a siphon effect. The other nascent souls will gradually wither."
Xu Qing fell silent.
Time slowly passed just like that.
Seven days later, the date the heir mentioned arrived. He was going to take Xu Qing somewhere.
Before they left, in the courtyard, the heir gave Xu Qing a gray iron ball.
"Tie this iron ball around your waist with your Purple Moon power. Remember not to take it down unless it's absolutely necessary."
Xu Qing glanced at the iron ball. He vaguely felt that this item was a little familiar, so he lifted his hand and took it.
However, the instant he grabbed it, an extremely huge force emitted from the iron ball. Its weight was astonishing and Xu Qing's right hand instantly sank while his body rumbled.
At the next instant, Xu Qing instinctively activated the god's body in his shock. Amidst the rumbling sounds, a tall figure of about 200 feet appeared in the courtyard.
Only then could he barely hold the iron ball.
However, the weight from the iron ball didn't only affect Xu Qing's body but also his nascent souls. Apart from his soul, at this moment, everything was bearing this weight.
This caused his body to sink uncontrollably into the mountain rocks on the ground.
Cracks spread from under him, and half of Xu Qing's body sank deep into the ground. The surrounding chicks panicked, flying in all directions, leaving a pile of chicken feathers on the ground.
Xu Qing was moved.
He recognized this iron ball.
This item was the sun he and the captain had fished out on the shore of the Sacrificial Yin.
The old man was inside this iron ball at that time.
"This…" Xu Qing took a deep breath and looked at the heir.
"I'm lending you this thing. On the way, you cannot use the god's body to share the burden. The power of the Purple Moon can only be used to tie it to you. You need to constantly rely on the other nascent souls besides the Purple Moon to bear the weight."
"In this way, it won't let the rapid expansion of your Purple Moon suppress the other nascent souls, causing your cultivation progress to slow down."
"Alright, I'll wait for you at the entrance of the apothecary. You have to walk out step by step and control your strength. Otherwise, if the apothecary collapses, it'll be your problem."
The heir calmly spoke and walked into the main hall with his hands behind his back.
Beside the door, other than Wu Jianwu, there was someone else.
This was an old man. He was tall and had a dignified appearance. He stood there like a gate god and had an extraordinary aura. In particular, one could see thread-like Dao marks flowing in his eyes.
This was the sign of a first stage Nihility cultivator!
However, this first stage Nihility old man was wearing the staff's rough hemp clothes as he followed beside Wu Jianwu.
Under Wu Jianwu's disdain, his face was filled with grief and indignation as he spoke.
"Medicine, medicine, medicine, like drifting willow catkins…"
His voice was filled with sorrow and contained a sense of hopelessness. As it echoed in all directions, the old man saw the heir walking out.
His body trembled and he hurriedly put away all his grief and indignation. His face revealed incomparable respect and his mind was filled with fear. He lowered his head and greeted.
"Senior!"
The heir nodded and didn't bother with him. He stood there and looked at the sky, waiting for Xu Qing.
Wu Jianwu blinked and recited the poem even more diligently. As for the old man, he was trembling in fear and hurriedly repeated Wu Jianwu's poem. However, fear kept rising in his heart.
He thought of three days ago…
Three days ago, he was still the number one expert among the rogue cultivators in this Bitter Life Mountain Range. He was respectfully known as the Ancestor Mogui and even had some connections with the Red Moon Shrine.
The appearance of the Red Moon in the sky made him completely decide to side with the Red Moon Shrine.
However, all of this changed with the disappearance of his disciple's investigation of this apothecary.
Through what had happened in the past, he knew that this apothecary wasn't simple. Hence, he, who would seek revenge for the smallest grievance, forcefully endured it and didn't act rashly when he heard that Li Youfei had appeared here.
Even when his disciple went missing, he didn't come personally.
Instead, inside the Red Moon Shrine in the Bitter Life Mountain Range, he cast a spell, preparing to remotely stir up a divine technique, to see what kind of existence was hidden here.
However, he never expected that he would lose consciousness halfway through the spell.
When he woke up, he appeared in the backyard of the apothecary and became a chick. He saw his disciple…
This terrified him greatly. This was because he was very clear that he had cast the spell in the Red Moon Shrine. However, even so, such a bizarre scene had actually appeared.
What shocked him even more was the heir.
With just a glance, he knew that the other party was a living Soul Accumulation cultivator. This realization caused endless storms in his mind. Fear was like the sea, drowning everything in his mind.
After that, under his bitter pleading and the suggestion of the girl named Ling'er that they lacked a greeter, he became the second greeter in this apothecary.
Amidst the bitterness of the Ancestor Mogui, in the backyard of the apothecary, Xu Qing struggled to pull himself up from the ground.
Throughout the entire process, he was extremely careful, trying his best not to let his feet sink into the ground again. However, this simple action was very difficult for him at this moment.
The weight of the iron ball was too astonishing.
A long time later, Xu Qing barely got used to it. He endured the discomfort of his nascent souls and slowly retracted his god body, causing it to shrink from 200 feet to 100 feet.
As the body shrank, the shared force also decreased. Therefore, the next instant, with a thud, Xu Qing's body destroyed the ground again, sinking into it.
After a long time, he barely crawled out with a face covered in dust. Other than Purple Moon, the other 12 nascent souls in his body were all transmitting a heart-wrenching intent and were all erupting crazily.
This was especially so for the Golden Crow.
"This method is indeed effective." After Xu Qing perceived it, his eyes gleamed.
As long as it was effective, he would continue.
Hence, he continued to adapt and endure. After two hours, Xu Qing felt that he could do it. Hence, he shrunk his body again to 50 feet.
However, in the blink of an eye, a rumbling sound echoed.
His body disappeared and a large pit appeared on the ground.
Just like that, when it was almost nighttime, Xu Qing barely managed to return to normal after experiencing many falls.
With the iron ball tied to his waist, he moved forward slowly like a puppet.
He went all out with every step and controlled it to the extreme. A large amount of sweat flowed from his forehead.
Finally, with each step he took, the ground echoed with thuds, and the apothecary violently shook, dust flying. Amidst the stunned gazes of Ling'er, Ning Yan, Nether Fairy, and others, Xu Qing strolled into the apothecary's main hall.
Behind him were foot-deep footprints and countless cracks.
The iron kettle that was boiling water also fell down. More than half of the counter in front of Ling'er shattered.
Ning Yan was filled with grief and indignation. He was responsible for wiping the ground…
Xu Qing glanced at him apologetically and tried his best to walk out of the apothecary.
The instant he strolled out, the apothecary behind him emitted a creaking sound. It was clearly a little crooked.
"Senior." Xu Qing was expressionless as he looked at the heir.
The heir peeked at the apothecary and smiled before walking into the distance.
"Let's go."
Xu Qing glimpsed at the heir who left nimbly and silently strolled behind him. Booming sounds echoed and the ground trembled. The surrounding houses were shaking and a row of deep footprints kept appearing…
"Senior, where are we going?"
"Not far, just within the Bitter Life Mountain Range. I am taking you to meet someone you've met before—my third sister."
"Back then, she chose to recuperate here."
The heir strolled in front and his voice rang out leisurely.
"Some time ago, she told me that some flies were flying around outside. I told her not to kill them and kept them for you as an experiment to verify your authority."
Xu Qing nodded when he heard this. He had always been a little puzzled about the heir choosing to come to the Bitter Life Mountain Range. He guessed that other than training him, the other party must have other reasons.
Now that he knew the reason, he wasn't surprised.
He only felt that it was strange. Why… did everyone choose the Bitter Life Mountain Range?
The captain was like this, and so was Princess Mingmei.
As he pondered, rumbling sounds echoed in the Bitter Life Mountain Range in the night.
It was very difficult for Xu Qing to fly. He could only move forward on the ground. From time to time, when he passed by some fragile places, he wouldn't be able to control himself and directly fall into them…
Every time at this moment, the heir would squat beside the deep pit and examine it.
