Chapter 33

◎Not like a living person, but like a lonely soul.◎

Chi Lu didn’t go to find Jing Shuxing for several days.

First, because she was too embarrassed to see him, and second, because she had more important things to do.

She sent away all the people from Linghua Sect. The entire huge palace is now empty, leaving countless spiritual puppets moving around, disturbing the sight of Fengyue City.

After confirming that all the people from Fengyue City had left, Chi Lu also left the palace with the last group of people, seemingly wandering aimlessly in and around the main city of Fengyue City.

She divided the absorption into two parts. One part wrapped around her body, making it impossible for the cultivator’s consciousness to recognize her. The other part was placed underground, following the spiritual veins to explore the surroundings.

She knows very little about Fengyue City now, even if she tries her best to piece together, she can only get a little bit of information, such as:

“Fengyue City needs her to open the Soul Transformation Formation, and Jing Shuxing might be a living sacrifice.”

As for where the Soul Transformation Formation is and how to perform the ritual, she has no idea.

Chi Lu pretended to be a resident of Fengyue City, strolling around the market, occasionally buying some flashy but worthless trinkets, and her consciousness was already smoothly leaving her body along with her spiritual power.

The moment her spiritual power entered the earth veins, a scroll like a vast starry sea unfolded in Chi Lu’s sea of consciousness. Fengyue City turned into an endless scroll, and she was a faint starlight in the whole picture map, carefully exploring in the spiritual veins.

She quickly locked onto her target, noticing the nine-layered Xuan You Tower at the peak of Fengyue City’s main mountain.

Unlike other places, the nine-layered tower itself was golden and brilliant, but strands of black energy leaked out from the bottom of the tower. Under the tower, there was a huge pit, bottomless, with a large amount of black energy swirling around, emitting waves of angry roars.

These black waves of energy were somewhat like the evil spirits formed by the unjustly dead.

Above the pit, a large formation was laid out horizontally. Unlike ordinary formation eyes, there was a lock-like pattern on the large formation. That lock was added by the person who set up the formation. If you want to open it, unless the formation casterself unlocks it, you need to ask for help from Linghua Sect, who is good at manipulating spiritual power.

She had never seen such a vicious formation as the Soul Transformation Formation. The reason why Fengyue City invited her should be for this Soul Transformation Formation.

Chi Lu had a slight understanding in her heart, thought for a moment, and couldn’t help but focus her consciousness on the formation eye, probing a bit into it.

The overwhelming resentment and hatred rushed towards her, submerging the spiritual power carrying her consciousness. The girl walking on the street staggered and fell unconscious in the alley.

Chi Lu was dragged by the evil energy, constantly moving towards the formation eye.

Her consciousness condensed into a human form, the Red Soul Whip appeared at her side. Chi Lu swung the long whip, tearing open the layers of accumulated evil energy, opening a long gap.

Without a shred of doubt, she turned around and walked away.

She unexpectedly pulled into the inside of the formation; if she couldn’t escape quickly, she was likely to be engulfed by the overly intense spiritual power.

Either lose consciousness in the void, die and disappear from then on, or be rushed to the past, the future, or the other three thousand small worlds, lose contact with her original self, and finally disperse her soul.

When she returned to her spiritual body, a familiar figure flashed in the corner of her eye, making her unable to help but turn her eyes to look at the image that appeared in her field of vision.

She saw the scorched earth churning with black energy, and cultivators from different sects rushed from all directions.

A young man stood tall and upright, wearing a white snowy fur cloak. He seemed extremely cold, while waiting for people on the spot, he gathered his coat several times, and like enduring pain with all his might, he kept coughing up blood.

His snow-white skin and clothes stood out in the black energy.

He flipped his palm and raised it to mid-air, pressing down vaguely.

There were no screams, nor pleas for mercy.

In an instant.

In the blink of an eye. 

The pomegranate exploded into juice, and the water splashed, causing a red rain to fall in mid-air, dripping on the ground to form a gorgeous pattern.

“Jing Shuxing?”

After her consciousness returned, Chi Lu suddenly remembered the appearance of the young man. He looked almost exactly like Jing Shuxing, just appearing a bit older.

In terms of temperament, he also more closely matched the super villain set in the book 《Heavenly Fate》.

What Chi Lu caught a glimpse of must be a fragment of spiritual power from some time and space.

But how could he have turned into that appearance? It was as if the inside of his body had been completely hollowed out, leaving only a shell for others to manipulate.

Not like a living person, but more like a lonely soul.

In the plot provided by the system, Jing Shuxing’s ending was glossed over with a sentence “punished by the righteous path”. Chi Lu turned over the text again and again, but couldn’t find a more detailed description.

She got up from the alley, just having been severely injured by the evil energy, and was dizzy for a moment. When she came to her senses, she saw a peddler carrying a goods rack, looking down at her. 

“Young lady, don’t misunderstand. I saw you fainting by the roadside and came over to check. I have no ill intentions.”

Chi Lu waved her hand to indicate that she didn’t mind, and her gaze fell on his goods rack: “Are you a figurine maker?”

She had already found out where the Soul Transformation Formation was, and was not in a hurry to alert Jing Yi and others, so she simply stayed at the foot of the mountain and chatted with the peddler.

“Do you like these?” The peddler’s business sense was stimulated, and he immediately started introducing them to Chi Lu enthusiastically.

“I sell not only figurines of birds and beasts, mythological characters, but also those of the immortal lands in the mountains and waters. Look, this is our Fengyue City, and that is the sculpture of Linghua Sect, all made according to popular paintings. They are made of honey and steamed flour, all edible.”

As he spoke, he lifted the goods rack and turned it around, showing each one to Chi Lu.

Chi Lu smiled and didn’t bother to tell the peddler that his depiction of Linghua Sect was too golden and brilliant, and it looked more like an emperor’s palace.

“In addition to the high-rise buildings of the blessed lands, there are also figurines of cultivating immortals. Unfortunately, there are too few pictures that can be used for reference, and most of them can only be made by imagination.”

Next to the architectural sculptures, there were a line of small figures standing, including a white-clothed sword immortal and a charming but not demon-like woman in thin gauze, all lifelike.

Chi Lu looked at each one and recognized many sects. The cultivators lived far in the mountains, Fengyue City stretched for hundreds to nearly a thousand miles, but only the main city in the mountains gathered cultivators. The common people living at the foot of the mountain could only strain their necks during the grand ceremony of the immortal gate, trying to catch a glimpse of the cultivators. 

Compared to other sects, Linghua Sect, although mysterious, often intervenes in the unpredictable spiritual veins and often leaves its mark in the mortal world. Chi Lu picked a few figurines of her own sect and found one that looked particularly like Ying Lianyi, and bought it with a chuckle.

Next to the figurine of “Ying Lianyi” was a young man dressed in Fengyue City’s clothes, with a long sword on his back.

Chi Lu squinted at the young man’s features, which were somewhat familiar, and bent down slightly to stare hard at the figurine.

“Young lady, you have a good eye. This is a cultivator from our Fengyue City. Unlike the hearsay from others, this one is real and is the best-selling one here.” The peddler said proudly.

“Ten years ago, my father went up the mountain to chop wood, inadvertently went deep into the mountains, and couldn’t find the way back to the city.”

“Just when he was at a loss, he met a young cultivator who was like the moon in the sky.”

The story was very smooth, the storyteller’s tone was slightly mysterious, and there were hooks everywhere, obviously having been told countless times.

Chi Lu asked, “How are you sure he’s not a wandering knight?”

“Young lady, listen to me. At that time, my father was also unclear about the cultivator’s identity. Because he was eager to return home, he directly went up to ask for directions.”

“Who knew that the cultivator didn’t say a word, raised his hand and drew his sword. The flowers, grass, and trees in the mountains were cut in half by the sword light, and a path down the mountain was cut out. Although he didn’t leave his name, under the moonlight, my father recognized the clothes on him, which belonged to Fengyue City.”

Chi Lu lifted up the figurine and twirled it in front of her eyes. 

The peddler continued to speak, “Unlike other cultivators from Fengyue City, that cultivator often came down the mountain to eliminate demons in the past ten years. A year ago, people still saw his figure. If you, Young lady, live in Fengyue City for a long time, you will see him with your own eyes sooner or later. By then, you can prove that what I said is true.”

In less than a year, according to the plot of 《Heavenly Fate》, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, this cultivator will silently flatten hundreds of miles of mountains and valleys.

Chi Lu and the figurine looked at each other, and after confirming that it was Jing Shuxing, she opened her mouth and bit off its head.

The author has something to say:

Little Jing: Sharpening his knife, will appear in the next chapter.