No matter how great the temptation offered by others, Leng Yaozhu did not give away a single piece of her four-word battle armor.
Instead, she directly announced that whoever could help Xia Yi evolve his martial soul would be given one set of four-word battle armor.
And if someone could help Xia Yi evolve his second tail, then both sets of four-word battle armor would be given away.
With Xia Yi having broken through to the four-ring level, the next step was to consider his fifth ring and fifth tail.
Leng Yaozhu regarded this matter as more important than anything else.
No one was dissatisfied with her decision.
Xia Yi was Leng Yaozhu's man, and besides, these two sets of four-word battle armor from Zhen Hua were largely gifted for Xia Yi's sake.
Leng Yaozhu's decision was reasonable.
However, this made things difficult for Xia Yi.
That very night, Qian Gu Dong Feng took him away.
He brought him to a secret realm unique to the Qian Gu family—
The Myriad Serpent Secret Realm.
It was said that the rise of the Qian Gu family was inseparably linked to this secret realm.
The Qian Gu family was a great clan with a history spanning over twenty thousand years.
Their lineage had already begun during the era of the Spirit Hall.
For them to have persisted for so long, they naturally had their own reliance.
The Coiling Dragon Staff!The Coiling Dragon possesses a spirit, and dragons gather to form the staff!
The ancestors of the Qian Gu family originally possessed an ordinary long staff as their martial soul. However, they once discovered a severely wounded and dormant dragon. When the dragon awakened, it initially intended to devour them, but being gravely injured, it was left with no choice but to form a contract with the Qian Gu family, transforming into a dragon soul that was infused into the martial soul of their ancestor, continuing its existence through generations of inheritance.
This dragon was known as the Dragon of Purging Evil.
The Dragon of Purging Evil was an exceptionally unique species among dragons. It was not even subject to the authority of the Dragon God, making it an anomaly among its kind. Born purely from the righteous energy of heaven and earth, it could be considered a dragon yet also not a true dragon.
It possessed the power to eradicate evil. No matter how formidable the opponent, the Dragon of Purging Evil would always radiate an unyielding will, often allowing the wielder of the Coiling Dragon Staff to exceed their natural limits.
Alongside the discovery of the Dragon of Purging Evil, the Myriad Serpent Secret Realm was also found.
However, the original master of the Myriad Serpent Secret Realm had already perished.
Within this secret realm, the Qian Gu family obtained only a single divine artifact—
The Soul Capturing Tablet.
After years of research, the Qian Gu family speculated that the former master of this secret realm might have been the Sin God Medusa, a third-rank deity of the Divine Realm.
It was highly possible that she had been slain by the Dragon of Purging Evil.
And it was also likely that the Dragon of Purging Evil had been gravely wounded by Medusa, leading to its dormant state.
Of course, this was merely conjecture.
Regardless of whether it was the Dragon of Purging Evil or the Sin God Medusa, both had long since fallen.
There was no way to verify the truth.
After years of development by the Qian Gu family, the Myriad Serpent Secret Realm was no longer as perilous as before and was primarily used as a training ground for the Qian Gu family's disciples.
Every disciple of the Qian Gu family who entered the Myriad Serpent Secret Realm would gain some form of benefit.
If not for the goal of securing a set of four-word battle armor for Qian Gu Zhang Ting, Qian Gu Dong Feng would never have allowed Xia Yi to enter this place.
Xia Yi was quite frustrated.
He knew that Gu Yue had taken all the fierce beasts into seclusion, claiming it was to comprehend the River Diagram and Luo Book, but a significant reason was also to give him and Leng Yaozhu some uninterrupted time together.
Yet, he had barely spent a few days with Leng Yaozhu before he was dragged into the Myriad Serpent Secret Realm for training.
"A secret realm left behind by a deity, huh? I'd like to see what's so special about it."
Despite his frustration, Xia Yi quickly focused himself, raising his head to face a massive serpent—more than ten meters thick—lunging fiercely at him from the front.
"This isn't a soul beast—it's a special type of energy manifestation."
Xia Yi frowned. This giant serpent was very similar to the soul beasts in the Spirit Ascension Platform.
But it was not the same as them.
The Spirit Ascension Platform must have been built based on the principles of the Myriad Serpent Secret Realm.
With a flick of his right hand, his Dark Gold Dreadclaw extended, slashing forcefully and severing the serpent's head in an instant.
The giant serpent immediately dissolved into scattered energy in the air.
Xia Yi swiftly entered his martial soul possession state. His second soul ring lit up, and his Fox Mind Technique instantly stabilized the dispersing energy.
He guided the energy into his body.
In that instant, he truly felt his martial soul tremble.
"This really can help evolve my martial soul, but the absorption rate is too slow."
Xia Yi frowned slightly.
As expected of the number one family in the Spirit Pagoda, known for producing three Limit Douluos in a single generation—
Their foundation was truly formidable.
Just as he lifted his head again, he saw a tiny snake diving toward him from the sky.
It was a small snake, barely ten centimeters long, with twin wings and an almost transparent body.
Its aura was extremely faint.
Had Xia Yi not broken through to the Spirit Abyss Realm, he might not have even noticed it.
With a mere thought, an ice needle shot out, piercing the small snake.
A vast energy, even greater than what the previous giant serpent contained, burst forth and was once again absorbed entirely by Xia Yi.
"At this rate, who knows how long it will take to gather enough energy to evolve my fifth tail. I'll have to get Yulai to help."
Xia Yi sighed lightly, and the Dark Phoenix Flame tattoo on his arm glowed.
Leng Yulai immediately appeared before him.
Since Leng Yaozhu dared to let Xia Yi enter the Qian Gu family's Myriad Serpent Secret Realm, she had naturally ensured his safety.
As his top-tier bodyguard, Leng Yulai was a necessity.
After Xia Yi briefly explained the situation to Leng Yulai, she nodded and said, "Rest assured, Master. I will help you complete your martial soul evolution. There's an energy serpent ahead—we'll collect its energy now."
With her Spirit Domain Realm spiritual power, the energy serpents had nowhere to hide.
A wisp of Dark Phoenix Flame descended.
Before the energy serpent even realized what was happening, it was already reduced to pure energy, which Xia Yi absorbed entirely with Fox Mind Technique.
"Master, if you use Fox Mind Technique in the Spirit Ascension Platform, the Spirit Pagoda would cry their eyes out," Leng Yulai said with a giggle, watching Xia Yi forcibly absorb all the dispersed energy.
She had heard about the Myriad Serpent Secret Realm long before joining the Holy Spirit Cult.
Just like the Spirit Ascension Platform, when one killed energy creatures here, they could normally only absorb one percent of the energy.
The remaining energy would return to the secret realm to reform into new energy creatures.
But Xia Yi was absorbing one hundred percent.
If Qian Gu Dong Feng found out, he'd probably cough up blood in rage.
"It doesn't work in the Spirit Ascension Platform. I've tried." Xia Yi shook his head.
"It might not have worked before, but now that your spiritual power has reached the Spirit Abyss Realm, your Fox Mind Technique's control has greatly improved. It just might work now," Leng Yulai said confidently.
"We'll try it another time and find out," Xia Yi chuckled.
"But Master should be prepared to get blacklisted by the Spirit Ascension Platform," Leng Yulai said playfully.
"Enough chatter. Let's keep hunting energy serpents."
"Yes, Master!"
Leng Yulai obediently led Xia Yi forward.
Before long, they encountered a giant serpent with a unicorn horn on its forehead…
Meanwhile, deep within the Star Dou Forest, Gu Yue's seclusion had reached a critical breakthrough.
Her golden eyes suddenly snapped open.
Golden mist spread throughout the entire Star Dou Forest, dyeing the vast expanse gold.
Suddenly, her pupils contracted violently.
She realized—
This golden mist was disappearing.
No, it wasn't simply fading—
It was being stolen.
"Someone has been siphoning the fortune of soul beasts all along… In the past, I had no means to stop them.
But I promise, very soon—
The days of you stealing the fate of soul beasts will come to an end."
Her gaze turned icy cold.
She raised her hand, and the River Diagram and Luo Book reappeared before her.
As her fingertips glided across its surface, the dots and circles on the book began shifting.
Suddenly, she recalled the moment in Mingdu when Xia Yi had wielded the Three Lives Soul Suppressing Cauldron to suppress Xiao Yicai instantly.
Gradually, the patterns on the book began forming the shape of a cauldron…
(End of Chapter)