Many years ago, Professor's daughter had died in a vendetta between immortal cultivators. He had already slaughtered the culprits with his own hands, grinding their bones to dust and scattering their ashes, but his daughter would never return.
Over the years, he had founded the superpower organization, gathered superpowered individuals from all over the world, and tirelessly researched superpowers day in and day out—all in search of a glimmer of hope to resurrect his daughter.
Yet reversing life and death was a taboo. Since ancient times, countless emperors, generals, ministers, and cultivation titans had sought to achieve that goal, only to fail. His research had once ground to an agonizing standstill.
Heaven did not betray the diligent heart; he had finally found a sliver of hope to bring his daughter back.
At that thought, Professor shifted his gaze to a jade coffin.
The jade coffin clashed utterly with the laboratory's modern aesthetic. Dignified and ancient, it bore no seams whatsoever, carved out of a single piece of unworked jade. The coffin's body was engraved with exotic beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, such as the Zhuyan and the Bright Beast, alongside seal script containing the original text of the Classic. It possessed immense research value, and at an auction, it would undoubtedly fetch an astronomical price.
Yet what truly stirred Professor was not the jade coffin itself.
Professor pushed the jade coffin open, revealing its owner. She was a woman breathtakingly beautiful, clad in a cyan Daoist robe that accentuated her peerless elegance. Her eyes were closed, her hands crossed over her chest, lying quietly in the jade coffin as if asleep.
Professor had discovered the jade coffin during an underwater salvage operation. He had only been searching for relics left behind by immortal cultivators and had never expected to haul up a jade coffin.
When he opened the jade coffin and laid eyes on its owner for the first time, he had been struck as if beholding a celestial being, holding his breath involuntarily.
He was not shocked by her beauty, but by the threat he instinctively sensed. Every hair on his body had stood on end, and every muscle had tensed, bracing for immediate action.
Professor was himself among the world's foremost experts; otherwise, he could never have kept the proud, conceited Seven Kings so thoroughly under his thumb. Anyone who could evoke a sense of danger in him had to be a legendary figure etched into the history of immortal cultivation.
According to ancient custom, a coffin should contain burial goods. Yet inside this jade coffin lay only the woman, without a single funerary object, as if nothing in the world was worthy of being buried with her.
Professor brought the jade coffin back to his laboratory for examination, only to discover that the woman could not be touched. An invisible force field surrounded her, repelling everything and creating an absolute domain.
If Professor wished, he could break through that force field, but he worried about unintended consequences and refrained from acting rashly.
What shocked Professor even more was that the woman was actually alive, exhibiting faint signs of life.
"No wonder she made me feel threatened." Those had been Professor's exact words at the time.
Had she been a mere corpse, no matter how powerful she had been in life, she never would have given Professor such a sense of crisis.
Logically, the identity of such an eminent figure ought to be easy to ascertain. However, the demonic calamity a thousand years ago had destroyed most ancient texts, leaving a severed heritage. Among the ancient records Professor managed to find, exceedingly few were complete.
He had spent a great deal of time confirming her identity, and she was indeed a titan of illustrious renown:
The cultivation world's foremost figure from a millennium ago: White Rainbow Dao Lord.
The world claimed that White Rainbow Dao Lord had perished alongside the devil who orchestrated the demonic calamity a thousand years ago, never imagining that she was still alive.
"The battle a millennium ago must have cast her into some extraordinary state. If she crosses that threshold, she will attain boundless creation; if she fails, she will sink into eternal oblivion," Professor had analyzed. While trying to figure out how to reverse life and death, he had conducted deep research into the methods of immortal cultivators. White Rainbow Dao Lord's condition did not resemble near-death so much as an ongoing breakthrough.
Professor did not care about White Rainbow Dao Lord's identity. Whether she was the foremost figure from a thousand years ago or the devil who caused the demonic calamity, none of it mattered.
What mattered most was that White Rainbow Dao Lord was the grand cultivator who had researched the soul, life, and death more thoroughly than anyone in history. According to records, she possessed miraculous abilities capable of reversing life and death, bringing the dead back to life!
If White Rainbow Dao Lord could be awakened, his daughter could be saved.
Awakening White Rainbow Dao Lord proved to be the sticking point. Professor had tried numerous methods, but none bore fruit.
During his observations, Professor noticed that White Rainbow Dao Lord muttered in her sleep from time to time. Shielded by the barrier, her voice could not be heard, but lip-reading experts analyzed her mouth movements and determined that she was murmuring the words "jade seal."
Furthermore, White Rainbow Dao Lord was the last known bearer of the Hereditary Jade Seal. Professor speculated that perhaps the seal could awaken her.
Hence, the first thing he had done upon receiving the hell banknotes was wave them before White Rainbow Dao Lord. He had performed shamanic dances, offered prayers, burned incense, and chanted incantations—stopping just short of burning a stack of the banknotes.
After fussing for an entire day, White Rainbow Dao Lord showed no sign of waking. Professor then wondered if the divine relic had concealed its brilliance, and only by activating the supreme treasure could White Rainbow Dao Lord be awakened.
After a series of experiments, he began to suspect that Red King had brought back a fake.
Professor closed the jade coffin, gazing at the laboratory filled with experimental subjects yet devoid of a single living soul, and sighed. "Hopefully, things go smoothly for Red King this time."
***
"Yaaawn—"
Zhou You yawned on his way to school as usual, drawing Chu Xiaoyao's puzzled gaze.
"Why do you seem so listless lately? Were you staying up late browsing the forum again?"
"Or was it fighting Sun Cheng yesterday that wore you out?"
Zhou You felt a twinge of guilt. Last night, he had slept in the same room as Duan Yuxian. It was the first time he had ever slept in the same room with a girl. Even though their relationship was completely pure, with nothing untoward going on and without even sharing a bed, sleeping in the same room naturally made his heart flutter with nerves.
Zhou You's sleep quality had always been excellent—he could usually fall asleep the moment his eyes closed. But last night, after the lights went out, sleep eluded him for hours.
That was why he was so drowsy this morning.
"Yeah, fighting Sun Cheng yesterday probably tired me out," Zhou You replied. He felt he couldn't keep using the excuse of staying up late browsing the forum; if he did, Chu Xiaoyao would definitely complain that he wasn't taking care of his health.
"It's all that Sun Cheng's fault! Keeping our sect master from getting his sleep!" Nuomi grumbled indignantly. Sun Cheng was on her blacklist now—how dare he call their Carefree Sect a tiny, insignificant sect?
If Sun Cheng dared show his face again, the sect master wouldn't even need to lift a finger next time; she would take care of him herself!
The harsher Nuomi's scolding, the more guilty Zhou You felt. Worse still, Chu Xiaoyao joined in on the cursing.
"I'll clobber him with the jade seal—one smack, one big lump!" Chu Xiaoyao said, tossing the Hereditary Jade Seal up and down in her hand. It had a satisfying heft and was fun to play with.
Clatter.
Her grip slipped, and the jade seal dropped onto the concrete ground, rolling twice before coming to a stop by Zhou You's feet.
"Take it easy. Don't break it. Our sect finally managed to get a seal," Zhou You reminded her, bending over to pick it up.
"It's fine. It's been dropped several times already; this thing's sturdy," Chu Xiaoyao said nonchalantly.
Zhou You looked closely. Sure enough, the jade seal was completely undamaged, without the slightest blemish.
Without Zhou You noticing, the jade seal had indeed been dropped several times; it was just that this time, he happened to catch it.
Watching in secret, Lian Yi's eyelid twitched. At first, she had assumed the Hereditary Jade Seal in Chu Xiaoyao's hand was an imitation, perhaps a sect-guarding treasure of the Carefree Sect or something along those lines. But judging by Chu Xiaoyao's attitude, could it simply be a cheap decorative trinket bought by the roadside?
Zhou You remembered the message Su Tingxue had left him yesterday. "By the way, the time and place for Su Tingxue and Duan Yuxian's spell duel have been set. Since Nuomi can't leave the school, they'll duel on the main sports ground tomorrow night after evening self-study."
Last night before bed, Su Tingxue and Duan Yuxian had discussed the time and location for tomorrow's duel on QQ. Once it was settled, Duan Yuxian turned around and told him, and immediately afterward, Su Tingxue messaged him on QQ as well.
Having received the notice twice, Zhou You remembered the details clearly.
"Huh? I can leave the school," Nuomi suddenly chimed in.
"You can leave?" Now it was Zhou You's turn to be surprised. Ever since meeting Nuomi, he had never seen her leave the school grounds. Subconsciously, he had assumed she was like an earthbound spirit tied to the school—perhaps her body was buried at No. 2 High or something—unable to leave. Su Tingxue must have assumed the same.
"Sure can."
"Then why haven't you left?"
"Why would I leave?" Nuomi didn't get it. The school was so lively during the day! She had the Grand Elder and the sect master keeping her company, so many students around, and teachers lecturing. Once evening self-study ended, it was already ten o'clock, and the streets outside were empty without a soul in sight. What would she do out there? Wander the streets scouting for fellow ghosts?
Come to think of it, Zhou You realized that made sense. He was pretty much the same as Nuomi, shuttling back and forth between school and home. The only difference was that the school was Nuomi's home, saving her the commute.
Now that Nuomi had a phone, there was even less reason for her to leave.
"Should we change the location... Never mind, let's leave it as is." Zhou You figured since the venue had been settled and they were fighting tomorrow night anyway, there was no need to go through the trouble of changing it.
Chapter 73