Heavenly Spiritual Root

The leaders of the Three Great Merchant Alliances had all arrived. The crowd of Core Formation stage cultivators held their tongues, watching the great figures in the front ranks with curiosity, hoping for a good show. To their disappointment, after exchanging greetings, the masters spoke no further. As if possessing some sort of magic, the mottled gates of the Hall of Seven Kills drew the gazes of every Nascent Soul Patriarch. All of them stared intently at the entrance in complete silence. Qin Sang covertly observed the leaders of the Three Great Merchant Alliances. Having been a member of the Dongji Alliance for so long, he was finally seeing the alliance leader in person—the very scholar with the refined, elegant demeanor. The leaders of the Three Great Merchant Alliances were deeply mysterious, rarely making public appearances, giving rise to all manner of rumors in the outside world. There was not even a consensus regarding their exact cultivation levels. Some claimed their cultivation was on par with the Demon Lord and Lingzhuzi, that they were Great Cultivators as well; otherwise, neither the righteous nor the demonic factions would have tolerated the existence of the merchant alliances. Other rumors suggested their strength was somewhat inferior, which was why they were compelled to band together. Although the three leaders stood right before him, none of them revealed their auras, leaving Qin Sang unable to judge their true realms. Yet a remark made earlier by the Demon Lord had given Qin Sang a clue. The leaders of the Three Great Merchant Alliances were essentially cultivators guilty of holding jade they could barely protect, which was why they rarely dared step out of their cave abodes. Their cultivation was likely somewhat inferior to that of the Demon Lord and Lingzhuzi. Naturally, these were merely Qin Sang's speculations. A faint worry arose in his heart. He had not expected the hegemons of the human race to gather here in full force. The situation inside the Hall of Seven Kills was bound to be extraordinarily complicated; he only hoped it would not affect his own plans. Not long after the leaders arrived, several more groups of cultivators trickled in, all members of the merchant alliances. To Qin Sang's surprise, among them was a familiar face. Su Nü! Decades ago, during the unrest in the Demon Sea, Qin Sang had ventured deep into the Demon Sea alongside Immortal Aunt Yue to secure the Maoshan Vine and the right to return to the Inner Sea. Together, they had rescued a woman—and that woman was Su Nü. Since then, Qin Sang had never visited Immortal Aunt Yue again, and naturally had not crossed paths with Su Nü. He had never imagined they would meet again here. Su Nü walked alongside several Core Formation cultivators behind the Dongji Alliance's Nascent Soul Patriarch. With eyes fixed straight ahead, she followed closely onto the square and took her place behind the alliance leader. There was no sign of Immortal Aunt Yue. "Following the alliance leader into the Hall of Seven Kills... she actually holds such high status in the Dongji Alliance! Could it be that she isn't Immortal Aunt Yue's disciple?" Qin Sang wondered to himself. Back then, he had already suspected the true nature of the relationship between Immortal Aunt Yue and Su Nü. Now it seemed it was indeed far from simple. "Wait, her cultivation..." Qin Sang drew a sharp breath, a flicker of shock crossing his eyes. Su Nü's cultivation had surprisingly reached the late Core Formation stage! When they had rescued Su Nü all those years ago, she had only been at the Foundation Establishment stage. In just a few short decades, Su Nü had leaped across multiple realms—including the formidable bottleneck of Core Formation—and reached the late Core Formation stage, rivaling his own progress. How could this not leave Qin Sang utterly astonished? Back then, Qin Sang had already been in the mid Core Formation stage. Compared to her, Qin Sang felt as though all his years of cultivation had been utterly wasted. Most likely, only a heavenly spiritual root—unrestricted by the bottlenecks of Core Formation—could achieve such an astonishing speed of cultivation. *I brushed shoulders with a cultivation prodigy and let the opportunity slip away.* Qin Sang sighed inwardly. No wonder she had caught the eye of the Dongji Alliance's leader, and Immortal Aunt Yue had spared no expense to save her. Aside from rare spirit medicines and cultivation methods, the resources the Dongji Alliance could provide were far beyond anything Shaohua Mountain could offer. For Su Nü to break through so rapidly was only natural. Chen Yan, Su Nü. He had now encountered two geniuses blessed with heavenly spiritual roots, and their reputations were indeed well earned. Yet he wondered if Su Nü would also end up trapped by the Nascent Soul bottleneck, just like Chen Yan. Qin Sang noticed that Su Nü stood right in the center of the group, following closely behind the Nascent Soul expert, a testament to her standing. Su Nü kept her head lowered, standing in silence. She seemed to sense something and glanced behind her. A glimmer of puzzlement flashed in her eyes before she retracted her gaze and looked back toward the entrance of the Hall of Seven Kills. "Junior Sister, what is it?" The handsome young man standing beside her leaned in, asking with concern. Su Nü knitted her delicate brows slightly and shook her head. "It's nothing. Why hasn't the Hall of Seven Kills opened yet? I heard that this opening is different from previous ones, with an interval of barely a hundred years. Could something have gone awry with the Trial Realm the Alliance Leader spoke of?" "As long as the Hall of Seven Kills opens properly, we will definitely be able to enter the Trial Realm. Rest assured, Junior Sister—Senior Brother will do everything in his power to secure a bottle of Soul-Cleansing Liquid for you. Besides, the Alliance Leader dotes on you so dearly. Even if there is no Soul-Cleansing Liquid in the Trial Realm, he will surely find a way to obtain a similar elixir for you. With your talent, you need not worry about forming your Nascent Soul at all." The young man patted his chest, speaking with utmost confidence. "What virtue or ability do I have to deserve such great kindness from Senior Brother and the Alliance Leader? Then I shall wish Senior Brother success in claiming the Soul-Cleansing Liquid and forming your Nascent Soul soon." Su Nü smoothed her expression, speaking demurely. Yet no one noticed the faint shadow that flitted across the depths of her beautiful eyes. ... The crowd waited before the Hall of Seven Kills for a full two hours, and fewer and fewer cultivators arrived. Suddenly, the weathered plaque of the Hall of Seven Kills blazed with brilliant light. Seeing this, the cultivators were reinvigorated. The light on the plaque grew increasingly dazzling, making it impossible to look upon directly. At the same time, the Hall of Seven Kills itself and even the entire white-jade square began to tremble faintly. *Bang!* The grand gates of the Hall of Seven Kills swung open of their own accord. Simultaneously, the light on the plaque converged, instantly transforming into a beam of radiance that struck the ground, dividing the entrance of the Hall of Seven Kills into left and right. Afterward, the hall returned to tranquility, showing no further changes. A stir rippled through the crowd, but no one dared act rashly. Cultivators turned their eyes toward the Demon Lord and Lingzhuzi one after another. Lingzhuzi turned to look at the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord waved a hand dismissively. "Go ahead. I can't be bothered with such trivialities." Lingzhuzi took no offense. Stepping up the stairs, he arrived before the doors of the Hall of Seven Kills and extended a hand into the beam of light, as if touching the plaque from afar. A moment later, Lingzhuzi nodded slightly. Retracting his palm, he turned to the crowd of cultivators and smiled faintly. "The entrance to the Trial Realm is open; you may proceed inside. It seems everything within the Inner Hall is normal and has not been affected by its early emergence. Fellow Daoists, you may put your minds at ease." The crowd rejoiced. ... At the same time. Along the edge of an immortal restriction quite far from the Hall of Seven Kills. Within a mountain hollow, several cultivators were concealed in secret, their auras completely reined in, not a shred leaking out. Among them was none other than the Nine Phoenix King! "Fellow Daoist Flood Dragon, now that you have lured us here, can you speak plainly? Just how much longer must we wait before entering the Inner Hall? Do you have foolproof certainty that we can breach the sacred grounds of the human race without being discovered? Do not forget that you, like us, are now trapped in the Inner Sea. If exposed, there will be nowhere to run, and we will be entirely at the mercy of those cultivators!" One burly man spoke in a muffled, resonant voice. Impatience showed in his eyes, along with a hidden trace of worry. Curiously, upon his back rested an enormous black tortoise shell. The one questioned by the burly man was a dignified middle-aged man. Hearing this, he turned his head to look toward the Nine Phoenix King.