"Good, good!"
Bai Qing smiled as she patted her daughter, Feng Jin Huang, who had successfully broken through to the middle stage of Rank 5 and was now cultivating with renewed determination.
The rumors that once sought to degrade Feng Jin Huang had long since faded, and after more than a year, hardly anyone was paying attention to them anymore. Only a few remained who still whispered, but her father, Feng Jiu Ge, had taken care of them swiftly, ensuring that no new rumors would surface.
As for the corpse of Fang Yuan, Feng Jiu Ge had thoroughly stripped the skin from his body, crafting shoes for his daughter from it. The bones had been fed to the dogs, and his flesh thrown to the beasts.
"Mom, don't worry about me," Feng Jin Huang said with a confident smile. "In a few years, I'll definitely become a fairy of the Spirit Affinity House."
Bai Qing embraced her daughter tightly. "I believe in you."
Feng Jin Huang had not completely forgotten the humiliation from her past, but now, whenever she looked down at her shoes, the anger would fade, replaced by a smile. After all, that demonic Gu Master, Fang Yuan, had been slain by her father, and his skin was now part of her footwear.
She imagined with every step that she was walking on Fang Yuan, stomping on his memory. And with that thought, the bitterness of the past began to dissipate, her smile slowly returning as she moved forward, leaving the past behind and living her life in peace.
...
"Let's begin." Fang Yuan's voice was like ice, a chilling command that pierced through the air as he began to pour the materials into the cauldron before him.
The treasure spirit stood at his side, cradling a second cauldron. In it laid the essence of a child burned in the immortal essence, the screams of the innocent lost to the cruel, relentless refinement.
But Fang Yuan didn't flinch, didn't even spare it a glance.
One by one, he reached into his aperture and withdrew six Rank 9 Immortal Gu and dropped them into the cauldron without hesitation.
As they hit the bubbling concoction, a sinister aura erupted from the depths of the vessel—black flames licking the air, the grotto heaven trembling.
The treasure spirit, noticing this, felt its intangible heart contract with dread.
"Master... what are you refining?" it whispered, unable to disguise the tremor in its voice.
Fang Yuan remained silent for a moment, his gaze colder than a winter's night. "Throw in the Lifespan Gu."
The treasure spirit obeyed, sending more than a hundred Lifespan Gu spiraling into the cauldron's swirling depths.
A cacophony of violent, dark energies erupted, filling the space with a terrifying resonance, the very air around them crackling with unnatural power.
"Once you notice the whirlpool, throw in the Immortal Zombies and also the cauldron you hold," Fang Yuan commanded, his voice unwavering, as though he were giving instructions for something as mundane as cooking dinner.
The treasure spirit, unable to speak but filled with foreboding, nodded.
"Please... succeed, master," it whispered under its breath, though it wasn't sure it believed the words even as they left its lips.
Fang Yuan's response was simply a faint nod.
He turned to the cauldron, the temperature rising.
Slowly, deliberately, he stripped off his tattered clothes, revealing his body—aged, frail, with skin like parchment and bones that creaked with each movement.
Without a hint of hesitation, he reached into his aperture and retrieved the Rank 8 Fixed Immortal Gu and the Rank 8 Liquor Worm.
Ten bowls of yellow apricot immortal essence followed, pouring out like liquid gold into the cauldron.
The essence flowed swiftly, draining from his body with the cold efficiency of time itself.
Then, without any concern for the searing heat, Fang Yuan leapt into the cauldron.
His naked body submerged into the immortal essence, and the agonizing process began.
His flesh cracked and split, blood pouring from his pores like a river, yet not a sound escaped him.
He felt it—his own body coming apart, the ultimate test of will and ruthlessness.
The treasure spirit, witnessing this, shuddered, the coldness of Fang Yuan's actions sending a tremor through its incorporeal form.
"Master... this... is madness," it thought, but the words never left its mind. There was no time for doubt.
As Fang Yuan's body twisted in the cauldron, the mixture inside began to take on a sickly deep red hue.
A whirlpool formed in the center, its pull so powerful that it felt as though the very fabric of the universe was being distorted. Blood began to swirl towards the center, consumed by an insatiable force.
The treasure spirit felt a primal, overwhelming fear—the sensation of absolute terror, something it had never experienced. It was as if the very essence of death itself had come alive in that swirling vortex, an entity of pure, cold destruction.
"Master..." the treasure spirit muttered, but its voice faltered as it watched the cauldron. With trembling hands, it threw the remaining materials into the whirlpool.
The Immortal Zombies were ejected, their bodies disintegrating in the unnatural fire.
The swirling vortex continued to grow, its power increasing with every passing second. The air itself grew thick with dread, suffocating all in its path.
The treasure spirit could only watch in silent horror as the cauldron's energy reached a fever pitch, knowing that Fang Yuan was on the edge of something far beyond even its comprehension.
The cauldron's contents churned violently, the colors turning darker still, the energy spiraling out of control. A dangerous, terrifying force was born from that vortex.
And in that moment, it understood, Fang Yuan was no longer simply refining a Gu.