ah?The palace fighting system can also cultivate immortality

Chapter 247

Du Xinghe and Ji Wuhuo retreated into the storage hall at an extremely fast speed.

The storage room remained quiet and deserted. Du Xinghe flicked out the scorpion tail hidden behind her back, letting the purple scorpion follow its instincts to find the location of the Immortal Gu.

The enormous scorpion tail swayed in mid-air, sniffing around like a dog, before its sharp stinger poked at three different directions in the storage room without hesitation.

Du Xinghe pulled the Thousand Treasure Ice Toad from his collarbone and placed it in Ji Wuhuo's hand: "There's more than one Immortal Gu. Let's split up. I'll have Hanling take you there."

After Qianbao Ice Toad settled into Ji Wuhuo's palm, it shifted awkwardly and complained, "Why did you have to separate me from Tan Shitian?"

Du Xinghe said, "Because the few immortal Gu you went to find might be even more beautiful than Tan Shitian."

The Thousand-Treasure Ice Toad immediately turned its body and raised one webbed claw: [Quick, quick, hurry, let's go!]

Little Fatty Scorpion had no objection to this.

Du Xinghe followed one of the directions indicated by the scorpion's tail and moved forward, becoming more and more frightened as she went.

The Reincarnation Courtyard places the Gu worms according to different categories of the Five Poisons, and the direction that Du Xinghe is heading forward is neatly arranged with snakes.

Besides the snake worm soaking in the glass jar, the cabinet also contained various magical artifacts, staffs, and fragments of jade slips, all of which were clearly looted from the witch clan after the war. Some of the fragments even had bloodstains on them, leaving dark red marks.

Reaching the end of the corridor, Du Xinghe finally saw a white snake pierced by a long wooden stick on a small altar.

The white snake's body was as thick as a human arm, and when stretched out, it could almost reach the palace dome from the floor.

On the top of the white snake's triangular head, Du Xinghe saw a pair of protruding bony horns. These are the horns that a fully cultivated snake gu can grow after shedding its skin a thousand times, and they are also one of the hallmarks of immortal gu.

But at this moment, the Immortal White Snake was coiled up in a painful posture, pierced by a sharp long piece of wood, and fixed to this small offering table, becoming a sculptural spectacle.

You...you are...a priestess...

Du Xinghe stood before the offering table and said, "Yes. I am the priestess of this generation."

Finally, I knew... there would be a day of liberation...

The white snake slowly opened its eyes, and Du Xinghe noticed that where its eyes should have been were only empty eye sockets. The white snake pleaded softly, "Help me remove the splinter..."

Du Xinghe reached out and grasped the long wooden beam that was securing the white snake. With focused effort, she heard several soft "snap" sounds as the beam broke, and the white snake's massive body crashed down onto the offering table with a thud.

The long tree was not sealed. The white snake's aura was weak, and it could be imprisoned by this single tree. It had suffered countless torments over the past hundred years.

The white snake lay prone on the offering table, its tongue flicking out with difficulty. After discerning the direction of the Star River, it turned its head, adorned with bone horns, to face it, and slowly opened its mouth: "Take me away, priestess. My people have been waiting for you to return and save them. We will seek revenge..."

Du Xinghe asked, "Gu worms and Gu cultivators are one entity, so why are there only Gu worms here? Where did all the Gu cultivators go?"

The White Snake paused for two seconds, then said: "Right here."

Du Xinghe: "There?"

"Right here," the white snake said. "Xuan Chao tore the Gu cultivator's body apart, merging his soul with the Gu worms. So we are here, our people, the Gu worms... everyone..."

I am the Great Shaman's direct disciple. Originally, I was supposed to burn my life essence alongside the Great Shaman to cover the retreat of the Gu Spirit and the Witch. But Xuan Chao used... evil magic...

As she recalled this, the White Serpent's voice grew increasingly hoarse and pained: "They threw their people into the furnace... For hundreds of years, I've heard their wails day and night! It's hateful that I'm trapped in the Immortal Gu; they said I was the most valuable, so they slowly tortured me, cutting me into pieces, dismembering me..."

"I only ask for release. Take my body and avenge the witch clan, my lady!"

Du Xinghe didn't say much.

She stretched out her arm, placing her tiger's mouth in front of the white snake. The white snake opened its mouth and bit Du Xinghe's palm with its scratched, shriveled venom glands, struggling with all its might to pierce her skin and draw out a bead of bright red blood.

But that's enough.

A sharp pain shot through him, and the white snake swam into Du Xinghe's arm, transforming into a long white serpent pattern. The Gu cultivator's soul turned into a wisp of white smoke, coiled twice on the offering table, and then drifted away, finally finding release.

Not far away, the sound of Ji Wuhuo's hurried footsteps could be heard.

A miniature Thousand Treasures Ice Toad perched on his shoulder, and two Immortal Gu in each hand: a blood-red centipede and a spider the size of a plate with eyes on its back.

As soon as Du Xinghe got closer, he heard the two immortal Gu worms crying out for help in turns: "[Witch...] [Help...]"

The Thousand Treasures Ice Toad leaped through the air and landed accurately on Du Xinghe's arm. After scrambling back up his neck with a "plop," it complained, "[There aren't any handsome guys here, just the old, weak, and disabled! They all cry when they see us!]"

Du Xinghe gently comforted them, "They are all people with very tragic lives. We are here to save them. Okay, go play with Little Fatty... Tan Shitian."

Without needing to say anything more, Du Xinghe already knew what to do next. She took the two Immortal Gu from Ji Wuhuo's hands, and as two warm currents flowed into her arms, the Gu cultivators who had been trapped and tormented for hundreds of years within these two Immortal Gu were finally freed. At this moment, Du Xinghe felt the Five Poison Gu worms within her body spontaneously forming a corner of the Five Elements, their spiritual energy intertwining and flowing, creating a strange cycle.

When she made a contract with the Thousand Treasures Ice Toad, someone asked her if she wanted to collect all five poisons. Now it seems that collecting all five poisons does indeed bring about miraculous changes, but these changes have only just begun. In addition, the three immortal Gu are extremely weak, so they have not yet become significantly apparent.

"What should we do next?" Ji Wuhuo asked.

Du Xinghe opened her mouth, intending to say that she wanted to steal more of the legacy and sacred objects left behind by the Wu Clan, but a strange muffled sound came from the alchemy room.

The alchemist mumbled something, and Du Xinghe's heart tightened. He quickly pulled Ji Wuhuo up and flew towards the alchemy room.

Has the elixir been successfully refined?
In a flash, Du Xinghe and Ji Wuhuo returned to the corner where the substitute was.

They dispelled the illusion, returned to their original positions, and stepped out from the corner.

The furnace door was wide open, and wisps of smoke escaped from it.

The alchemist who had been controlling the furnace was nowhere to be seen. A somewhat unfamiliar man stood with his back to the furnace, looking down at the newly produced divine pills.

"The pills are ready. This batch is of excellent quality. It seems he is indeed one of the best among this group of alchemists."

After saying that, the man sighed softly: "It's a pity that he only kept an eye on the stove and not on something more important, so I have no choice but to send him on his way."

After speaking, he slowly turned around and stared at Du Xinghe and Ji Wuhuo with a sinister look: "You two came in disguise and stole things from my Samsara Academy. Do you think you can just pretend nothing happened and take the divine pill and leave?"

He is the Imperial Advisor.

The man with unfathomably dark pupils scrutinized Du Xinghe closely. His gaze, like a snake's tongue, slid viscously across her face before finally settling on the healed wound on the back of her hand.

"Are you a Gu cultivator?"

The Grand Preceptor narrowed his eyes: "It must have been tough for you. The Witch Clan has clung to life for hundreds of years, and finally you've decided to leave the dark and mysterious land?"

Du Xinghe gestured for Ji Wuhuo to be quiet, and then sneered, "You call enduring hardship and biding your time 'living on your last legs'? Then I can only say that your education is not enough for me to think you are capable of communicating with me."

The Imperial Advisor said with a half-smile, "Sleeping on firewood and tasting gall? Have you perhaps cultivated some kind of skill?"

Du Xinghe said, "So-so. I just cultivated a pair of fiery eyes that can tell at a glance that no one in your Samsara Academy is human!"

"I ask you, what's the deal with the clouds and mist above the dome? What's your connection to the deadly fog gate at the end of the Immortal Alliance Grand Competition?!"

Upon hearing this, Ji Wuhuo was greatly shocked.

When the fog gate appeared during the Immortal Alliance Grand Competition, he led the collateral branches of the Ji family and the scions of other aristocratic families to find a safe place to hide. Thanks to the spiritual artifacts and magical treasures accumulated by the Ji family and other aristocratic families, they barely escaped the calamity, but they were still apprehensive about the chaos caused by the fog gate.

Was that fog gate actually created by the Samsara Institute?!

But why is that?
Is the Xuan Dynasty so utterly disregardful of human life that it intends to wipe out this generation of young elites?
"Indeed, you have keen insight to see the connection. You are a genius among the Witch Clan," the Grand Preceptor said slowly. "But what's the use of asking me? If you want an explanation, then ask the Heavenly Dao for one."

Du Xinghe asked, "What do you mean?"

The Grand Preceptor smiled slightly: "The way of Heaven is constant. If you want to gain something, you must give something in return. If your desire is great, the price you pay must be enough to move Heaven. There are quite a few promising talents in this year's Immortal Alliance Competition, but unfortunately, the two I wanted the most did not take the bait."

"However, what's meant to happen will happen. Look, you two have walked right into our doorstep."

The Imperial Preceptor suddenly flicked his sleeve, and the alchemy furnace behind Du Xinghe and Ji Wuhuo overturned instantly, crashing down on the two of them with the force of Mount Tai!

"You mere clown, do you think you can fool me? This brat from the Ji family dared to drag a Gu cultivator from the Witch Clan into my Samsara Academy. It is your Ji family woman's good fortune to be His Majesty's furnace. Once she gives birth to that precious bundle of flesh we have carefully nurtured, I will surely be able to refine the most effective divine pill!"

"As for the two of you, you'll serve as His Majesty's Qi-boosting pills for tomorrow morning!"

The lid of the alchemy furnace slammed shut, trapping Du Xinghe and Ji Wuhuo inside the sweltering, dark furnace.

Ji Wu Huo nestled close to Du Xing He's side, his arm already wrapped around Du Xing He's without his notice, and asked softly, "...What should we do?"

Du Xinghe remained completely calm. She secretly began circulating the five immortal Gu within her body, opened the medicine box the Ji family patriarch had given her before his departure, and while stuffing in the pills, smiled and said:
"No rush. As I just said, that guy's education level isn't high enough to go toe-to-toe with me. He hasn't even read 'Journey to the West,' yet he dared to lock us in an alchemy furnace. That shows how terrifying illiteracy can be."

Ji Wu Huo was taken aback: "I've never read 'Journey to the West' either, what is it?"

The temperature inside the furnace began to rise. Du Xinghe tore off the disguise of Consort Ji's maid, revealing her glistening scorpion tail, and said in a deep voice:

"It's a story about kicking over the alchemy furnace and defying fate."

"The Art of Gu Gods," the power of the Gu Gods, the expansion of the domain!

Using the power of the Five Poison Immortal Gu, she expanded the scope of her Gu-breeding farm, bringing the entire headquarters of the Samsara Academy into her space!