466: Refiner?

"Spirit Refiner (Lian Shi)?" Xiao Zhuo was drawn to the unfamiliar term from the woman's mouth and repeated it in a low voice.

Feng Qingxue glanced at him in surprise. Seeing that his expression did not seem to be faked, she parted her red lips and explained, "A Spirit Refiner (Lian Shi) is a Spirit Refiner. Since Fellow Daoist can flawlessly strip a High Grade Spiritual Root, isn't this method enough to be considered a Spirit Refiner?"

Xiao Zhuo shook his head expressionlessly, his tone calm and unwavering: "I am not a Spirit Refiner (Lian Shi)."

Feng Qingxue smiled faintly without speaking, but a hint of imperceptible suspicion flickered in her eyes.

As far as she knew, even in the vast Tianyi Immortal Dynasty, there were only three Heavenly Grade Spirit Refiners who could flawlessly extract a High Grade Spiritual Root!

And this person in front of her not only accomplished it, but what he extracted was the Space Spiritual Root, the most difficult High Grade Spiritual Root to extract!

The difficulty was Heaven-Defying.

She had originally only come to investigate after noticing an anomaly in the spatial fluctuations here, but she unexpectedly witnessed the entire process of Xiao Zhuo's technique.

What shocked her even more was that her Divine Sense, at the Middle Stage of True Immortal, was instantly detected by a Quasi-Immortal!

She had intended to befriend him, but he directly denied it, keeping her at a distance.

She knew deeply what a Spirit Refiner, especially a High Grade Spirit Refiner, meant in the Nirvana Realm — it was an existence that could drive countless Sects mad and make Immortal Dynasty nobles humble themselves!

Even the lowest Yellow-Grade Spirit Refiner (Lian Shi) could implant a Low Grade Spiritual Root for others, opening the path to immortality and protecting an entire clan.

And the Mysterious-Grade and Earth-Grade Spirit Refiners (Lian Shi) who could handle Middle Grade and High Grade Spiritual Roots were even more transcendent in status, revered by thousands.

Not to mention the lofty Heavenly Grade Spirit Refiners.

But this person in front of her seemed completely unaware of the weight of this reverence.

Seeing Xiao Zhuo's lack of interest and desire for further conversation, Feng Qingxue had no choice but to suppress her thoughts and take her leave.

Whether he admitted it or not, just that unfathomable extraction technique alone meant he was someone she could not afford to offend.

Moreover, if this matter were reported to the Immortal Dynasty, perhaps...

Xiao Zhuo watched indifferently as the graceful figure disappeared, but a trace of urgency flashed deep in his eyes.

"It seems I must obtain the 'Heaven-Opening Inheritance' as soon as possible and leave this place of trouble."

Creak—

The door closed on its own without wind, shutting out the last sliver of light.

Xiao Zhuo sat cross-legged in the darkness, his aura as profound and still as an abyss.

It wasn't until late at night, when all was quiet, that Feng Changge and Zhao Tingzhi returned to Prince Yus Mansion.

Although both were pale and their Qi unstable, their brows were filled with an irrepressible joy.

As soon as Feng Changge stepped into the study, before he could even sit down, a figure in a green robe appeared silently in the center of the room like a ghost.

"Senior Xiao!" Their hearts tightened, and they immediately bowed respectfully, their posture extremely deferential.

Even Zhao Tingzhi, a Quasi-Immortal, had completely abandoned the idea of treating him as an equal at this moment, feeling only deep reverence.

Xiao Zhuo waved his hand slightly and went straight to the point: "Feng Ziyi's Divine Soul is completely annihilated. Your obstacle has been removed, and the imperial throne is within your grasp. The things you promised me should be delivered."

The joy on Feng Changge's face stiffened slightly, then he forced a smile: "This time, it was entirely thanks to Senior's efforts that Changge was able to turn the tide. This kindness is as heavy as a mountain, Senior, please follow me."

He glanced at Zhao Tingzhi, who understood and silently retreated outside the door to guard.

Feng Changge walked to a bookshelf on one side, grasped an inconspicuous bronze ancient book, and gently pulled it.

"Click—"

With a soft click of the mechanism, a deep opening just wide enough for one person to pass through silently slid open on the opposite floor, and a chilling aura emanated from it.

Feng Changge was the first to step in.

As he walked, the ever-burning lamps on the stone walls on both sides of the passage lit up one after another, their dim yellow flames extending downwards, as if leading to the earth's core, bottomless.

Xiao Zhuo's expression remained unchanged as he slowly followed.

His Divine Sense had long since explored this place, and he had even detected the existence of this passage before, but had never found any abnormalities.

The two transformed into streaks of light, rapidly descending.

A moment later, a secret chamber only about ten zhang square appeared before their eyes.

The four walls were built of rare Soul-Suppressing Stones, which could not only block Divine Sense detection but also suppress Soul Power fluctuations.

Various treasure boxes were displayed on the purple sandalwood shelves around, exuding brilliant light, precious Qi, and a rich medicinal fragrance; each was a rare and exotic treasure hard to find in the outside world.

Xiao Zhuo's gaze swept over them but did not linger on any of the treasures.

Seeing this, Feng Changge immediately said respectfully, "Senior, if you need anything, you may take anything here."

Xiao Zhuo glanced at him, his tone still indifferent: "This Lord only wants the Legacy."

"Yes." Feng Changge lowered his head in response, not daring to say more.

He walked to the center of the secret chamber, formed a complex and ancient hand seal, and sent a spiritual light into the ground.

Rumble... Amidst a low rumbling sound, a thick stone pillar slowly rose from the ground until it reached the ceiling.

In the middle of the stone pillar was a hollowed-out area, where a small three-legged cauldron quietly floated.

The cauldron's body was covered with abstruse and obscure strange characters. The small cauldron was only visible to the naked eye; when Divine Sense swept over it, there was only a void, as if the cauldron did not exist in this space-time.

"Senior, that Legacy is within this 'heaven-opening cauldron'." Feng Changge spoke with a hint of imperceptible reverence. He made a grabbing motion in the air, and the small cauldron lightly floated into his palm.

He formed another hand seal, and the cauldron lid opened.

In an instant, a chaotic, indistinct gray light cluster, as if containing a nascent world, emerged, slowly rotating and emitting an ancient, primordial, and supreme Dao rhythm.

"This is the 'Heaven-Opening Inheritance'?" Xiao Zhuo frowned slightly, but his gaze was deeply drawn to the light cluster.

Yet, he could not detect any energy fluctuations.

"Replying to Senior, precisely." Feng Changge affirmed, "This Legacy requires a special incantation to be activated and manifested, and it is of the same Origin as this heaven-opening cauldron, inseparable."

Saying this, he once again cast an incantation into the cauldron's body.

Buzz—

The strange characters on the cauldron's body suddenly lit up, as if instantly endowed with life, and they all detached from the cauldron, swirling and flowing around the small cauldron, intertwining into a brilliant trajectory of light.

At the same time, a hazy gray light screen projected from the cauldron's mouth, unfolding in the Void Realm a chapter of a Cultivation Technique composed of countless profound runes!

Xiao Zhuo's pupils suddenly contracted!

He recognized those characters!

Or rather, he recognized the 'Foundation' that formed these characters — they were, astonishingly, extremely complex Spiritual Root Runes, each containing the power of Origin!

Each character seemed to be constructed from several or even dozens of Spiritual Root Runes in a certain way, pointing directly to the Origin of the Dao!

Even if one did not recognize this type of writing at all, one could still, by comprehending the true meaning of its runes, barely deduce the Cultivation Technique's Veins!

This cauldron was absolutely greatly related to the Saint who created this realm!

"Very good." Xiao Zhuo suppressed the turmoil in his heart, swept his sleeve, and the heaven-opening cauldron's lid closed, instantly being collected into his sleeve.

"The transaction is settled."

Before his words finished, his figure had already dissipated like a wisp of green smoke, without causing the slightest spatial fluctuation, as if he had never appeared.

Feng Changge opened his mouth, but ultimately only let out a bitter smile.

He composed himself and returned to the study above ground.

Zhao Tingzhi soon entered and, seeing only Feng Changge, asked, "Senior Xiao has left?"

"He's gone." Feng Changge sighed, "Like a Dragon, he showed his head but not his tail. I couldn't even see how he left."

"That Legacy..."

"Senior took it." Feng Changge walked to the desk and sat down, his expression complex, "Such an Opportunity is not something we can covet. For several years, we couldn't even comprehend a single character. To exchange it for our lives and the imperial throne is already a great fortune."

Zhao Tingzhi nodded in deep agreement: "If not for Senior Xiao, we would have long turned to dust. The Legacy is good, but we have no fortune to enjoy it. This outcome is perhaps the best."

Feng Changge remained silent, his gaze directed towards the deep night outside the window, ambition and regret intertwined in his eyes... At the same time, Xiao Zhuo was already thousands of miles away.

He had performed the Great Teleportation several times, his figure flickering between illusion and reality, instantly having completely left the territory of the Changfeng Imperial Dynasty.

He had long sensed that Feng Qingxue's Divine Sense had been watching him from afar, but he was already proficient in the Dao of Space, and further enhanced by his Spiritual Root. Even if his cultivation was temporarily inferior to a True Immortal, if he was determined to leave, how could she easily track him?

Inside the imperial palace's separate courtyard, Feng Qingxue suddenly opened her beautiful eyes, a hint of astonishment and regret flashing within them.

"I actually... lost him?"

Her Divine Sense had been completely shaken off by the other party. Xiao Zhuo's Great Teleportation method, with its profound and unpredictable array patterns, vanished in an instant, making it impossible to capture his location.

"It seems I need to report this matter to the Immortal Dynasty as soon as possible." She murmured softly to herself, her eyes gleaming, "Such a person, possessing world-shaking techniques, the Immortal Dynasty will never let him go unchecked."