3: Phoenix rebirth, Xuanbing Jade Marrow obtained!

The System prompt sounded in his mind, causing Lu Yuan's heart to shake.

A thousand-fold return, Phoenix Source Essence Blood.

This was countless times better than what he had anticipated.

He didn't linger any longer, immediately activating a Formation to send himself back to his Immortal Cave on Longevity Peak.

Inside the Immortal Cave, Lu Yuan opened his palm, and a drop of golden blood emitting a crimson halo, containing an aura of endless holiness and nobility, floated quietly in his palm.

Just by looking at it, Lu Yuan could feel his nearly extinguished vitality produce a throb of longing.

Without the slightest hesitation, he opened his mouth and swallowed this drop of Phoenix Essence Blood.

Boom!

An indescribable, terrifying heatwave instantly exploded within his body.

Lu Yuan's Physical Body, Meridians, and even his crack-filled Nascent Soul began to shatter and decompose inch by inch before this power.

Intense pain swept over him, but his Dao Heart remained firm as he deathly guarded the last sliver of clarity in his mind.

In a daze, he seemed to see a Phoenix that blotted out the sun, singing loudly amidst raging divine fires.

Its wings spread out, causing the stars to dim, and then it turned into a streak of light, charging straight into his Sea of Consciousness.

Phoenix Nirvana; this was an instinct inherited within the Bloodline. At the end of destruction lies rebirth.

Outside Lu Yuan's Immortal Cave, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi of the entire Longevity Peak began to riot.

Above the sky, the wind and clouds changed color. Vaguely, it seemed as if rosy light pierced through the clouds, and a high-pitched, clear Phoenix cry resounded through the nine heavens.

This Phenomenon came quickly and left just as fast. Before the others in the Sect could react, it had already vanished without a trace.

Inside the Immortal Cave, Lu Yuan's body was enveloped in a ball of crimson flame. His withered Physical Body was rapidly melting and turning into ash.

But within the ashes, a brand-new skeleton filled with powerful vitality was reshaping itself; Meridians were like dragons, and flesh and blood were regenerating.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, that shattered Nascent Soul was also enveloped by Phoenix True Fire.

All the cracks, Dao wounds, and traces of erosion by spatial power were being removed one by one under the calcination of this divine fire, and then reorganized in an even more perfect way.

After an unknown amount of time, the flames dissipated.

Lu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, a crimson divine light flashing briefly within them.

He stood up, feeling the regained and even purer Late Stage Nascent Soul magic power within his body compared to his Peak period. A sense of being in control of everything returned to him.

Dao wounds, fully healed.

Cultivation restored to the Late Stage of Nascent Soul.

Upon careful sensing, his Lifespan, which was originally less than three years, had directly recovered to one hundred years after this Nirvana.

Although it still wasn't much, he had finally escaped the dangerous situation of potentially passing away at any moment.

“Phoenix Nirvana is indeed Heaven-Defying,” Lu Yuan whispered.

Then, with a thought, he summoned the Azure Lotus Earth Heart Fire.

With a slight movement of Lu Yuan's mind, streams of pure life essence were slowly inhaled into his body, nourishing his newly reshaped Physical Body and Nascent Soul, making up for his missing vitality.

Fifteen minutes later, Lu Yuan had refined about ten percent of the Azure Lotus Earth Heart Fire's Origin.

That vitality steadily raised his Lifespan from one hundred years to two cycles of sixty years.

Only after doing all this did Lu Yuan examine the changes in himself.

His originally withered skin had now become lustrous again. Although he still had the appearance of a middle-aged man, he no longer showed any signs of old age.

Nearly half of his white hair had turned ink-black, and his eyes were deep and calm... Meanwhile, in the Zhao Kingdom Capital, at the Four Seas Merchant Guild.

Gu Qingxue very easily found that dust-covered Mystic Ice Technique Jade Slip in an inconspicuous corner of the third floor and successfully purchased it.

About half an hour after she left the merchant guild...

A youth with delicate features but eyes revealing a determination inconsistent with his age walked into the Four Seas Merchant Guild.

He was none other than the Azure Cloud Sect Inner Sect Disciple, Xiao Fan.

He went straight to the third floor, searching among the shelves according to his Revered Master's guidance in his mind.

However, he searched the entire corner his Revered Master had mentioned but never saw that so-called 'Mystic Ice Technique' Jade Slip.

“Revered Master, it's not here,” Xiao Fan asked anxiously in his heart.

Inside his ring, an aged remnant soul also let out a soft sound of surprise.

“Strange. Although my Divine Soul power is not what it used to be, I shouldn't have made a mistake. It was just here a moment ago; how could it be gone?”

“Could it have been bought by someone else?” Xiao Fan said with some unwillingness.

“Perhaps. Such opportunities can be missed by a hair's breadth and lead to completely different outcomes.

Never mind, perhaps your destiny has not yet arrived. We will just look for other opportunities,” the aged voice comforted.

Xiao Fan nodded, a flash of disappointment in his eyes, and finally turned to leave.

After Lu Yuan stabilized his cultivation in the Immortal Cave, he did not linger at all.

According to the coordinates provided by the System, he arrived at the North Cold Ice Plain in the northern border of the Zhao State.

It was snowy year-round here, with bone-chilling cold.

He ignored the Yao Beasts on the ice plain and went straight to the location of the coordinates. His powerful Late Stage Nascent Soul magic power erupted as he struck the ground with a palm.

The thousand-zhang-thick mysterious ice layer cracked at the sound.

He went deep underground and easily found that milky-white jade marrow emitting extreme cold at the core of the mysterious ice layer.

Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Jade Marrow.

After taking it into his possession, Lu Yuan immediately returned to the Sect.

Just as he returned to the Longevity Peak Forbidden Ground, Gu Qingxue's aura appeared outside the Immortal Cave.

“Disciple Gu Qingxue requests an audience with the Old Ancestor,” Gu Qingxue's voice sounded outside the cave.

The stone door opened, and Gu Qingxue stepped inside.

When her gaze fell upon the figure in the center of the Immortal Cave, she was struck as if by lightning and instantly froze in place.

The person before her was still Old Ancestor Lu Yuan.

But after not seeing him for only half a day, he had been replaced by a man with handsome features who, though still appearing middle-aged, had a tall and straight posture.

His long hair was half-black and half-white, draped casually over his shoulders. As his eyes opened and closed, divine light was restrained within, as deep as the starry sky.

Most importantly, the vast magic power fluctuations of the Late Stage Nascent Soul on his body were heavy and solid, without the slightest sense of weakness anymore.

This... how is this possible?

Gu Qingxue's mind went blank; she even wondered if she had fallen into some kind of illusion.

Before she left, the Old Ancestor looked like he could pass away at any moment. Only a few hours had passed; how could such an earth-shaking change occur?

“You're back,” Lu Yuan's voice sounded calmly, waking her from her shock.

“Old... Old Ancestor.” Gu Qingxue came to her senses and stepped forward quickly, her voice filled with unbelievable joy. “Your injuries...”

“No longer a major issue.” Lu Yuan nodded faintly, his gaze falling on the Jade Slip in her hand.

“Did you retrieve the item?”

“Fortunately, I did not fail the mission.” Gu Qingxue hurriedly presented the Mystic Ice Technique Jade Slip with both hands.

She had countless questions in her heart at this moment, but since the Old Ancestor didn't say anything, she didn't ask further.