Chapter 25: Shattering Soul Rings to Transform Qi and Blood. Zhu Zhuqing Emerges from the Bath, Leaving Bibi Dong Utterly Envious
After saying this, the old nanny turned around and led Zhu Zhuqing out of the Spirit Beast Garden.
Along the way, the sights completely opened the eyes of both Zhu Zhuqing and the country bumpkins of the Douluo Continent watching through the sky screen.
After passing through the Spirit Beast Garden, they arrived at a long white jade corridor.
The corridor floated in midair, with clouds swirling on both sides.
Walking along it, Zhu Zhuqing glanced downward and saw that the ten-thousand-zhang abyss below was not dark at all. Instead, it was filled with a brilliant river of stars.
Countless tiny stars drifted within the abyss, emitting faint halos of light.
"Are those… stars?" Zhu Zhuqing could not help but gasp in shock.
"Yes. Those are discarded stars the Immortal Lord captured from beyond the domain. They're used as array cores for the mountain-protecting formation."
Nanny answered casually, as if she were talking about ordinary stones on the roadside.
Further ahead, several floating immortal islands came into view.
Immortal cranes soared through the clouds. When one of them spread its wings, the span reached a full thousand meters. Each feather looked as if it were carved from white jade, radiating a sacred aura.
"That is a Cloud Crane. It possesses the bloodline of a True Immortal. With a single cry, it could shatter an entire region of the lower realm."
Wang Nanny pointed at the crane while introducing it.
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing hurriedly looked up. However, after only a brief glance, she felt a sharp pain in her eyes, as if they had been pierced by needles. Startled, she quickly lowered her head.
Aside from that, along the way, Zhu Zhuqing also saw a spiritual energy waterfall flowing with golden liquid, luminous lingzhi growing on cliffs like miniature suns, and vast palaces faintly visible within the clouds.
Every scene carried an aura of vastness, antiquity, and supreme nobility.
Every blade of grass and every brick and tile here displayed how different this place was from the Douluo Continent. This was truly a higher-dimensional world.
In comparison, not to mention Spirit Hall or the Star Luo Empire, even the God Realm itself looked like garbage.
Finally, after passing through layers of immortal scenery, Nanny brought Zhu Zhuqing into a quiet valley.
At the center of the valley was a small pool.
The water in the pool had a strange, chaotic color. There was no steam rising from it, but it emitted a chilling aura that made one's heart tremble.
Looking closely, countless tiny runes seemed to swim within the water. Each ripple seemed to reveal a profound mystery of life.
"This is the Spirit Cleansing Pool."
Nanny pointed to the pool, her expression turning solemn.
"Go in."
"Remember, the process will be extremely painful. It will feel like every bone in your body is shattered and reassembled, like every meridian in your body is pulled out and washed one by one."
"And after the transformation, your original cultivation realm may completely disappear. Everything will start from the beginning."
"Do you… dare?"
After hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing clenched her delicate fists while standing at the edge of the pool.
Looking at the chaotic water, she took a deep breath and slowly closed her eyes.
In a daze, she thought of her fiancé, who only knew how to run away from responsibility.
She thought of the suffocating hierarchy of the Star Luo Imperial Family.
She also thought of the breathtaking sights she had witnessed along the way.
"I… am willing!"
Suddenly making up her mind, Zhu Zhuqing opened her eyes. Without any hesitation, she leapt forward and jumped straight into the Spirit Cleansing Pool.
"Ah!"
The moment she entered the water, her piercing scream echoed throughout the entire valley.
At the same time, the people in the Douluo Continent watching through the sky screen stared at the scene in horror.
Within the hazy Spirit Cleansing Pool, Zhu Zhuqing's soul rings appeared automatically and began to shatter one by one.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple!
In an instant, the four soul rings shattered like glass, exploding into nothingness.
As each soul ring broke apart, Zhu Zhuqing's painstakingly cultivated soul power began to decline rapidly.
"It's gone… it's all gone."
Douluo Continent, Shrek Academy.
The Evil Eye White Tiger Dai Mubai lay collapsed in a muddy pit, staring blankly at the scene as his lips trembled.
"She really did it… She really turned herself into a cripple just for that so-called immortal cultivation."
"Why? Is that kind of power really so important to her that she would destroy the power we share?"
"Hmph. Utterly foolish!"
Beside him, Yu Xiaogang stood with his hands behind his back, pointing at the sky screen, turning the situation into a live lesson for Tang San.
"Do you see this, Xiao San? This is the consequence of betraying one's martial soul!"
"Soul power is the foundation of a soul master. Without soul rings and soul power, Zhu Zhuqing is now weaker than even a peasant woman who cannot truss a chicken!"
"I said long ago that even if someone could truly start cultivation from the beginning, that old woman is clearly harming her. Unfortunately, Zhu Zhuqing lacks my insight. She has completely destroyed herself."
However, just as Yu Xiaogang was shaking his head and using Zhu Zhuqing as a negative example, the sky screen, which had been silent for a moment, suddenly underwent another change.
After witnessing it, the smiles on Yu Xiaogang's and the others' faces froze instantly.
They could not utter a single word.
At the same time, in the Perfect World.
Primordial Immortal Court, inside the Spirit Cleansing Pool.
Boom!
Inside the pool, the soul power light particles that had originally been dispersing did not completely disappear. Instead, under the pull of a mysterious force, they began to gather wildly toward Zhu Zhuqing's back.
At the same time, her martial soul, which had already manifested uncontrollably, did not shatter along with the soul rings.
On the contrary, as the chaotic liquid washed over it, the spirit cat phantom that had almost materialized let out a sharp cry toward the sky.
Immediately afterward, its body rapidly shrank until it transformed into a streak of black-purple light.
Whoosh!
The streak of light descended and imprinted itself directly onto Zhu Zhuqing's smooth, fair back.
It turned into a vivid black cat totem filled with wild energy.
In the next instant, a terrifying surge of blood qi, seemingly originating from the primordial era, erupted from Zhu Zhuqing's seemingly delicate body.
Although there was not the slightest fluctuation of soul power, that pure physical blood qi formed a towering pillar of crimson smoke above the Spirit Cleansing Pool.
It soared straight into the heavens.
"What… what is that?!"
Inside the Pope's Hall, Bibi Dong abruptly stood up when she saw this scene.
The scepter in her hand slipped from her grasp and clattered onto the floor.
She stared fixedly at the crimson pillar of blood qi. Even as an Ultimate Douluo, she could feel an overwhelming suppression from the level of life itself within that pure blood qi.
"No soul power, yet merely relying on physical blood qi can trigger a phenomenon of heaven and earth?"
"H… how is that possible?!"
However, an even greater shock was yet to come.
As the purification came to an end, the chaotic liquid within the Spirit Cleansing Pool gradually calmed.
Zhu Zhuqing's figure slowly rose from the water.
At this moment, her clothes had already been reduced to ashes during the earlier energy storm.
Her flawless body now floated completely exposed in midair.
—
End of Chapter