Chapter 543: Nine Transformation Lotus Pool, Ancient Divine Palace

Chapter 543: Chapter 504: Nine Transformation Lotus Pool, Ancient Divine Palace

Song Ciwan silently mulled over the title of the “Three Immortals of Kunlun” in her mind for a moment.

A strong feeling grew within her. ‘There’s definitely something wrong with the Three Immortals of Kunlun!’

However, at her current level, Song Ciwan had no way of truly reaching figures of the True Immortal Level. As for what was wrong with the Three Immortals of Kunlun, she could only sense a vague wrongness, unable to deduce anything specific.

The chaos in Xingzi Forest finally came to a close. Of the seventeen Poisoned Cultivators, seven had died and ten were saved. Among the survivors, aside from the exceptionally lucky Wu Yanjun who made a full recovery, the other nine were all left maimed to varying degrees.

Some lost a leg, some lost both legs, some lost a hand and a leg…

In short, they were all severely maimed—so grievously wounded that even their mortal enemies would have pitied them.

Among these injured cultivators, some were philosophical about their fate, like Zuo Yuzhi. Others were filled with anguish and resentment. Unable to accept their disabilities upon waking, they immediately summoned their Magical Treasures and sped away.

One of them even went so far as to blame Song Ciwan.

He was a True Disciple of the Profound Heart Sect. When he awoke and discovered he was missing a hand and a leg, he nearly had a complete breakdown.

The young Sword Cultivator, named Yao Jinglin, leaped up from the ground. A Flying Sword supported his mutilated body as he staggered and swayed, only managing to avoid a pathetic fall by relying on its power.

His eyes were bloodshot, practically splitting with rage as he pointed at Song Ciwan. “You! You’re the one who cut off my hand and leg! Who told you to do that? You quack! You charlatan… AARGH!”

SMACK!

Song Ciwan had made her move. She didn’t have the good temper to save someone only to be cursed to her face, even if the person was indeed pitiable.

So, she raised a hand and casually swung her palm through the air.

The massive palm formed by the Qi Absorption Technique slapped Yao Jinglin and sent him flying a full hundred feet.

Yao Jinglin raised his remaining hand, clutching his face as he stared at Song Ciwan, both horrified and aggrieved.

He was resentful and impulsive, taking his anger out on others, but at least he wasn’t a complete fool. He immediately yelled, “You… You dare hit me! I’ll get my senior brother to avenge me! Just you wait…”

Before the last word even left his lips, his Flying Sword had already carried him several hundred yards away.

By the time that last word was heard, he had already flown completely out of Xingzi Forest.

Only the furious cry of “Just you wait…” lingered, its long echo reverberating through Xingzi Forest.

In the square before the hall, Yu Wenxu frowned slightly, and Wu Yanjun said worriedly, “Yao Jinglin’s senior brother is Daoist Monarch Fu Guang, Yun Liuguang!”

He opened his mouth, as if to warn Song Ciwan to be careful.

But Zuo Yuzhi said, “Although Daoist Monarch Fu Guang is Cultivating the Emotionless Dao, he is a man who distinguishes clearly between kindness and grievance. He would never harm an innocent person over Yao Jinglin’s narrow-minded and misplaced anger. What’s more, Xing Lan Fairy has done us a great service. Junior Brother Wu, you need not worry, and neither should Xing Lan Fairy.”

Afterward, she took the initiative to report to Yu Wenxu what she and the others had encountered at the Nine Transformation Lotus Pool.

It turned out that Du Xingheng had been leading a team to battle the Demon Race in the northern part of the Ice Crystal Forest. The group consisted entirely of True Disciples from the Major Sects; including Du Xingheng, there were thirty-six of them in total.

When the sinkhole appeared, everyone was sucked into it.

Zuo Yuzhi said, “That hole was extremely strange. After being sucked in, we fell vertically downward for at least two hours!”

Two hours! At the speed they were falling, it felt like they should have plunged straight through the planet’s core.

Zuo Yuzhi added, “It felt like two hours, but at the time, I didn’t feel like I was falling into the earth, but rather flying Beyond the Heavens.”

She couldn’t describe the sensation of passing through the sinkhole, and neither could Wu Yanjun.

The two of them took turns speaking, supplementing each other’s accounts, and finally described the situation in the Nine Transformation Lotus Pool just before they left.

Zuo Yuzhi said, “Senior Sister Du severed eight of the Nine-headed Flood Dragon’s heads. With only one head remaining, the beast didn’t dare to fight on. It herded the other demons and rushed into the Earth Palace behind the lotus pool. Senior Sister Du speculated that the Nine-headed Flood Dragon would likely devour other demons to heal its wounds!

“Also, that Earth Palace is very likely an Ancient Divine Palace. Senior Sister Du said there must be a great opportunity within the Divine Palace, and it must not fall into the hands of the Demon Race. Otherwise, the fortunes of our two races would shift, and the Human Race would be in danger.”

Wu Yanjun said, “After the demons were driven off, we had all sustained injuries of varying degrees during the fight. So, we picked the Lotus Seeds from the Nine Transformation Lotus Pool and each ate one.”

Zuo Yuzhi said, “Unexpectedly, there was a problem with the Lotus Seeds. About ten minutes after eating one, Senior Sister Du’s expression suddenly changed, and she urged us all to leave at once.”

At first, when Du Xingheng urged everyone to leave, some people were hesitant and didn’t want to listen to her.

But then, carapace-like scales suddenly began to sprout on Du Xingheng’s arm. She stretched out a hand and, with the force of a mountain being toppled, lunged for a fellow cultivator beside her.

Given Du Xingheng’s speed and strength, if that grab had connected, the person next to her would have had no chance of survival.

The person beside her never expected her to suddenly lash out and was completely unable to react in time.

Just as disaster was about to strike, Du Xingheng suddenly pulled back her hand at the critical moment. She forcibly retracted the hand she had struck out with, even digging her left hand deep into her own right arm.

Blood suddenly splattered everywhere as Du Xingheng turned and roared, “Go! All of you, go! Get away from me, now!”

Amid her roars, the faint outline of jointed, insect-like wings seemed to unfurl from her back, and the carapace on her arms grew at an alarming rate.

She struck her right arm with her left hand and her left arm with her right, mauling her own arms until they were drenched in blood.

While injuring herself, Du Xingheng stepped out of the lotus pool and sprinted toward the Earth Palace passage within it.

In just an instant, Du Xingheng’s figure vanished into the depths of the Earth Palace.

Zuo Yuzhi said, “Everyone was terrified. Many didn’t understand what had just happened or why Senior Sister Du had suddenly become so strange. Thinking back on it now, Senior Sister Du also ate a Lotus Seed from the Nine Transformation Lotus Pool. She must have been affected by the Poisonous Insect before any of us.”

Wu Yanjun added with both admiration and worry, “Senior Sister Du’s willpower is incredible. The moment she realized something was wrong, she harmed herself and left. She would rather hurt herself than hurt us! We’ve returned to the city and been saved, but who knows what’s happening to Senior Sister Du in the Earth Palace right now…?”

Zuo Yuzhi added, “After Senior Sister Du left, the thirty-five of us who remained split into two groups. The seventeen of us believed we should return to the city for help and to deliver the news about the Earth Palace. The other eighteen decided to follow in Senior Sister Du’s footsteps and venture deeper into the Earth Palace to continue exploring.”

Finally, Zuo Yuzhi handed a Jade Scroll to Yu Wenxu. Recorded within it was the precise location of the sinkhole.

Having done all this, she bid farewell to everyone and departed.

Along with her other maimed companions, she left Xingzi Forest, and Demon Suppression City as well.