"Heh, you little Soul Condensation brat, your will is certainly resilient."
Luo Xiran's tone relaxed considerably, tinged with a hint of amusement. "Though I don't know what you've been through, it seems I won't have to divide my attention to help you maintain consciousness."
Hearing this, an ominous premonition inexplicably rose in Xu Yuan's heart. "Wait, what do you mean?"
Luo Xiran gave a dry chuckle. "It means you, a brat who shows no respect for your elders, should rein yourself in. Don't boast too early—the real pain is yet to come."
"..."
The ferocious grin at the corners of Xu Yuan's lips stiffened slightly. "What—"
The moment the word left his mouth, his entire body seized up violently.
Due to the aberrant ghost transformation, the whites of Xu Yuan's long, narrow phoenix eyes were already gone, leaving only a pair of bewitching, glowing scarlet irises.
And at this very moment, countless colored threads suddenly surfaced within the dark depths of his eyes, dense and tangled like a spiderweb, turning his entire gaze into an appalling, blood-drenched hue.
Xu Yuan suddenly felt like a fool. Truly.
The method by which the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art forged an Innate Dao Body was simple: following a specific cultivation method, it continually destroyed and rebuilt the sea of consciousness and meridians.
And what Luo Xiran was doing to him now was essentially the same.
Using the method she had discovered ten thousand years ago, she utilized life origin and the Fate-Reversing Liquid to repeatedly force his body to vacillate between aberrant ghost and human, thereby achieving a leap in his level of life.
Nourished by the seemingly inexhaustible life origin, Xu Yuan could clearly feel the fungal armor inside his body growing exponentially. Growing along with it was an agony spreading from the depths of his intent-soul to every bone and limb in his body.
Luo Xiran seemed able to observe Xu Yuan's state of consciousness. "If we had enough time, we could take it slowly. But as you said earlier, brat, a Saint could hunt us down here at any moment, so I must finish this in the shortest time possible."
"..."
The boundless torment prevented Xu Yuan from speaking right away. Only after a long while did he manage a trembling, strained laugh. "Then... then you'd better go even faster..."
"What?"
This time, Luo Xiran spoke with a touch of solemnity. "Do you know what you are saying?"
His body shuddered slightly under the excruciating pain, and even the voice Xu Yuan transmitted through his intent-soul trembled. "I... I still have enough focus to transmit my voice to you. When I tell you to hurry, just... just stop wasting breath and—aargh!!"
Before he could finish, Xu Yuan's voice degraded into a low, agonized roar.
At the bottom of the blood pool, a massive vortex instantly formed around Xu Yuan.
The blood-red liquid containing life origin was swept in and absorbed, turning transparent before being carried away by the swirling current.
Amidst the unending, needle-pricking agony, Xu Yuan did not drop his guard. Instead, he inspected his body and the fungal armor coexisting with him with even greater vigilance.
He did not trust this newly acquired, ancient sworn sister of his.
What Luo Xiran had said earlier was true: he and she were currently in a symbiotic relationship. But the problem was that even in symbiosis, someone had to be in charge.
As a ruthless figure who had dared to proactively refine herself into a spiritual essence spirit, the idea of Luo Xiran willingly taking a subordinate role and allowing herself to be controlled by him was completely unrealistic.
At the center of the vortex at the pool's bottom, time crawled by.
And with each passing second, Xu Yuan gradually sensed several fundamental changes occurring within his body.
It was an indescribable, unfathomable sensation.
It was unlike the intent-soul and Source Qi of humans, nor was it like the life origin and synesthesia of aberrant ghosts, yet he could clearly perceive everything in his surroundings.
It was like a brand-new sense forged from the fusion of all four energies.
And through this radically different method of perception, Xu Yuan suddenly discovered several things he had previously been unable to sense.
For example, his connection to the Blood God Stone.
Luo Xiran had not lied to him; she and he truly were bound in symbiosis right now.
Moreover, this symbiosis placed him as the primary host. If the fungal armor were destroyed, he could still survive; but if he died, the fungal armor would wither and die alongside him.
Xu Yuan experienced this brand-new sensory faculty without restraint.
It was like a nearsighted person regaining clear, unobstructed vision.
Spiritual vision.
The agonizing pain persisted, yet the benefits brought by this pain stirred an uncontrollable surge of excitement in Xu Yuan's heart.
He could not compare to genuine geniuses like the Big Ice Block or Xu Changge, who each dominated an era, but he could use cheats.
If his software couldn't match theirs, maxing out his hardware would still allow him to obliterate them all the same.
While enduring the excruciating torment raging through his body and intent-soul, Xu Yuan continually extended this new perception outward.
He sensed the life origin and Source Qi in the blood pool, sensed Luo Xiran's unclad, flawless jade body, and sensed the connection between himself and the Blood God Stone...
Wait.
The moment his spiritual vision swept over the Blood God Stone, a wave of vigilance rose in Xu Yuan's heart.
It had weakened.
The connection between him and the Blood God Stone seemed to have grown somewhat fainter.
His heart sinking slightly, Xu Yuan quietly used his spiritual vision to examine his own body.
Then, he discovered that the fungal armor inside him was detaching from his body at a slow pace.
Yes, detaching.
While the Fate-Reversing Liquid and life origin continually washed over and reconstructed his flesh, the fungal armor—which had absorbed the vast majority of the life origin—was likewise undergoing subtle mutations.
It... was gradually acquiring the ability to survive independently!
"..."
Having noticed this, Xu Yuan's crimson eyes quietly swept toward the Blood God Stone.
*As expected, she has tricks up her sleeve...*
Xu Yuan was not actually surprised that Luo Xiran had withheld certain information.
If she had been completely forthright with him from the very beginning, Xu Yuan would have found himself on edge instead.
There was no love or hatred in this world without cause.
Having known each other for less than a quarter of an hour, Xu Yuan had no idea what kind of person Luo Xiran was, just as Luo Xiran had no idea what kind of character he had.
Though they had reached a cooperation and shared common interests, neither could guarantee whether the other was a ruthless, unscrupulous schemer.
In such a situation, anyone who wasn't an idiot would leave themselves some room to maneuver.
With this thought, Xu Yuan reined in his racing thoughts.
Judging by Luo Xiran's current covert actions, she did not seem intent on biting the hand that fed her.
Although Old Man Luo's sister was quietly detaching the fungal armor from him by absorbing life origin, she was also genuinely helping him rebuild his human body.
Time ticked by second by second.
Under the scrutiny of Xu Yuan's spiritual vision, Luo Xiran continued to manipulate the fungal armor, devouring and processing the life origin in the blood pool.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan felt a strange sensation in his heart.
She... did not seem to have realized that he had discovered her little trick.
Why?
Did she simply not care?
Or could she not sense the probing of his spiritual vision?
While he was lost in thought, Luo Xiran's voice suddenly drifted over, carrying a faint smile: "Little Soul Condensation brat, your mental fortitude truly is remarkable. If this were ten thousand years ago, seeing you might have tempted me to take you as my disciple."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan endured the pain and gave a trembling laugh in reply. "Heh... Ten thousand years ago, wasn't there... wasn't there a saying that an eldest brother is like a father? If you took me as a disciple, wouldn't the generations be all..."
"Insolent mouth. You brat truly are... never mind."
Luo Xiran cut him off with a snort, then spoke quickly in an undertone: "Don't panic in a moment. I will temporarily sever the connection between us, detach the fungal armor from your body, and stabilize your physical frame from the outside before re-entering you."
"..." Xu Yuan froze.
Luo Xiran's words threw him off balance.
Because he knew nothing about the transformation process, Xu Yuan couldn't tell whether Luo Xiran had said this deliberately after noticing his surveillance, or if the transformation genuinely required detaching the fungal armor first.
Seeing that Xu Yuan didn't reply, Luo Xiran assumed he was in too much pain to speak, and her voice softened slightly. "Once I detach the fungal armor, according to my past research, your pain should lessen considerably."
"..."
Xu Yuan still said nothing, merely continuing to silently sense his own body.
Luo Xiran did not speak further either, continuing to execute the process she had verified repeatedly in the past.
"..."
"..."
"..."
As time passed second by second, a sense of dread gradually began to creep into Xu Yuan's heart.
Not because Luo Xiran had lied to him.
Everything that followed unfolded exactly as Luo Xiran had explained to him on the surface.
After detaching the fungal armor from his body, Luo Xiran immediately manipulated it to adhere to him once more, releasing that unknown substance capable of forcibly fusing flesh and performing flesh editing.
The unknown substance released by the fungal armor, life origin, and the Fate-Reversing Liquid complemented one another, repeatedly tempering his body.
What made Xu Yuan uneasy was that Luo Xiran had no idea his body had developed a brand-new spiritual vision under this refinement.
In other words, this woman actually didn't know what consequences this life-refining method—relying on the interaction between the Fate-Reversing Liquid and life origin—would bring upon the test subject.
This body-tempering was entirely a clinical trial to verify the hypothesis she had formed ten thousand years ago.
It might succeed, but it could just as easily result in sudden death.
More importantly, Xu Yuan wasn't the only guinea pig in this experiment. If he died during the trial, their symbiotic bond meant Luo Xiran would die right along with him.
*This Luo Xiran is a damn lunatic too.*
Amidst his swirling thoughts, Luo Xiran's voice came again, her originally gentle, water-like tone laced with suppressed excitement.
"Little Soul Condensation brat, it's temporarily over."
Returning to his senses, the pain in his body had vanished completely. Xu Yuan briefly sensed the changes within him, a flicker of confusion crossing his eyes, and transmitted through his intent-soul: "Did we succeed? Won't the Transcendent Realm cultivation granted by the aberrant ghost body dissipate?"
Though some fundamental changes had occurred in his body, the Transcendent Realm cultivation brought about by the aberrant ghost transformation had not disappeared.
"You certainly think highly of your luck."
Luo Xiran's voice held a chuckle. "Power without cost—how could there be such a good deal in this world? You are still half-aberrant ghost. Hold on for a moment."
Saying this, her melodious, pleasant voice took on a faint trace of anticipation.
"However... we have already succeeded halfway. Now, we just need to leave this blood pool. I'll manipulate the fungal armor to attach to 'Qi,' absorb the life core that belongs to a primordial aberrant ghost, and then return to your body to fuse the primordial aberrant ghost's life core with you. Finally..."
"..."
Listening to her rambling, Xu Yuan felt reluctant to entertain this madwoman.
This woman truly wasn't afraid of dying.
That was the life core of a primordial aberrant ghost. If it failed...
With that thought, Xu Yuan suddenly cut her off. "Luo Xiran, are you really helping me with no reservations like this?"
"What?"
The woman's voice from the Blood God Stone held a hint of confusion. Then, seemingly realizing what Xu Yuan was getting at, she chuckled. "Does a brat like you believe there shouldn't be love without cause in this world?"
"Love is a stretch."
Now that the pain was gone, Xu Yuan's tone was much calmer. "But no matter how you put it, we aren't close enough for this."
"Honestly, a brat is a brat, spending all day dwelling on petty schemes."
Luo Xiran's voice was thoroughly candid, carrying the poise of a Saint as she spoke without reservation: "If you hadn't appeared and saved me, I would likely have remained trapped in this subterranean crypt for the rest of my existence until my final wisp of spiritual essence dissipated completely. You showed me grace. As a Holy Venerable of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, I have always drawn a clear line between gratitude and grudges, so naturally I won't do anything detrimental to you."
Xu Yuan was silent for a moment. "It seems I judged the heart of a noble person with the malice of a scoundrel."
"Well, that isn't entirely true either. I have my own selfish motives."
Luo Xiran let out a crisp laugh, her tone leisurely. "I was supposed to have died ten thousand years ago. Since I am still alive today, I naturally want to verify whether my original theories were right or wrong. The lifespan of the human race shouldn't be limited to a mere two hundred years."
As she spoke, Luo Xiran's voice turned slightly solemn. "Alright, brat, we can talk about the rest later. Let's head up first."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan immediately asked, "Do you have a way to deal with that aberrant ghost in a short amount of time?"
Luo Xiran's voice sounded somewhat odd upon hearing his question. "Are you out of your mind? You're planning to deal with 'Qi' inside this Blood Nest?"
"Huh?"
Puzzlement flickered in Xu Yuan's eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
Luo Xiran sighed and said in a low voice, "As a primordial aberrant ghost, 'Qi' was once a Saint-level powerhouse. Even though she is only at the Transcendent Realm now, she isn't someone you can deal with in a short time. If we weren't being hunted by a Saint, you and I working together could manage to kill her in this Blood Nest, but as things stand..."
While speaking, the Blood God Stone in Xu Yuan's palm suddenly burst with brilliant light, and tremors violently erupted throughout the Blood Nest.
The remaining life origin in the blood pool spread along countless formation patterns, and an even more violent shudder resonated through the massive tunnel of the Blood Nest.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan was astonished. "This is a formation?"
Luo Xiran replied with a beaming tone, "Don't get your hopes up. This is a formation to blast open the crypt. Back then, it was another desperate measure I left behind—if aberrant ghosts reappeared in the world, the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, besieged by various sects, could use it to catch its breath."
The moment she finished speaking, Luo Xiran pushed off the ground, already controlling Xu Yuan's body to shoot toward the surface of the blood pool.
Xu Yuan instinctively wanted to look back at that exquisite, delicate body still seated quietly at the bottom of the pool, but Luo Xiran stopped him, her voice tinged with chill. "What are you doing?"
Seeing this, Xu Yuan gave a light cough. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to ask, Xiran, aren't you going to take your physical body with you?"
Luo Xiran fell silent for a moment before letting out an unburdened, soft laugh.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It is merely an empty shell..."
Chapter 310