458: Chapter 458: The Regret of the Blood Spirit

Under the spirit spring, Xue Lingzi's remnant thought was still struggling.

The voice echoed in the space, but Gao Feng blocked it out.

There was still plenty of time; first, heal his wounds, then refine the remnant thought, and finally, comprehend the eighth style of the Nine Styles of the War God.

One step at a time, the road ahead was still long.

The door of the secret chamber closed slowly behind him, isolating everything from the outside world.

Deep underground in the Meteor Battle Tower, this stone chamber cast from meteorite iron had been reinforced by Lin Yue for seven full days before he left.

The walls were covered with dense defensive array patterns, each line carefully calibrated, interlocked, and layered.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the room was several times higher than outside, and the Spirit Stones in the eye of the Spirit Gathering Array emitted a soft, milky-white light.

In the center of the secret chamber was a small Spirit Gathering Array.

At its eye was a simplified version of the gravity training room brought back from the Lost City—it could simulate triple gravity in a small area to assist cultivation.

Gao Feng had tempered his Physical Body in the gravity purgatory of the Meteor Battle Tower; triple gravity was nothing to him, but it was enough to assist in his cultivation.

Silver Shadow manifested from his wrist, jumped to the ground, and circled the secret chamber.

It sniffed the array patterns on the walls with its nose, then ran to the edge of the Spirit Gathering Array, curiously looking at the glowing Spirit Stones.

Confirming there was no danger, it returned to Gao Feng's feet, lay down, and rested its chin on its front paws.

Gao Feng sat cross-legged and took out three items from his Storage Pouch.

A Breakthrough pill.

The Medicinal Pill was dark gold, with fine patterns flowing on its surface, and the medicinal fragrance was elegant.

This was the final reward for the trial in the Lost City, which could help a Golden Core Cultivator break through a minor Realm.

He was in no hurry to take it and placed it in a jade box beside him.

A fragment of the Heart of the World.

This fragment had already merged into the Myriad Spirit Space; this was a residual energy crystal, the size of a fingernail, with silver-white light flowing within it.

He held the fragment in his palm, feeling that warm and gentle Space Power.

Finally, there was the Dark Palace token left behind by Xue Lingzi.

The character "Dark" on the black token gleamed with a cold light under the lamp, and the blood-colored patterns on the back looked like congealed Bloodline.

Gao Feng looked at the token for a moment, turning it over, then set it aside.

"For the next three months, the goal is three things," Gao Feng muttered to himself, "First, restore my cultivation to the Peak of Golden Core Level 6; second, refine Xue Lingzi's remnant thought; third, comprehend the eighth style of the Nine Styles of the War God."

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and sank his Divine Sense into his Dantian.

Inside the Myriad Spirit Space, the water in the spirit spring pool was clearer than before.

Under the spirit spring, that part of Xue Lingzi's Divine Soul was being suppressed.

It was a dark red ball of light, about the size of a fist, with fine blood-colored patterns flowing on its surface.

It kept striking the Seal beneath the spirit spring, and every strike caused the light shield to tremble slightly.

The Seal was automatically generated by the Myriad Spirit Space, based on the purification power of the spirit spring, forming a translucent light shield that firmly locked the ball of light deep within the spirit spring.

Xue Lingzi's remnant thought sensed Gao Feng's Divine Sense and let out a cold, sinister laugh.

The laughter echoed in the Myriad Spirit Space, carrying a chilling, hoarse quality: "Kid, do you think you're safe just by suppressing me here? Every time your space evolves, I will absorb a portion of its energy. When it evolves to be strong enough, I will break through the Seal, and then... your body will be mine!"

Gao Feng's Divine Soul stood at the edge of the Seal, coldly watching the dark red ball of light.

His voice was not loud, but steady: "You won't have the chance."

Xue Lingzi's remnant thought laughed even louder: "Won't have a chance? Do you know why I was able to live for three hundred years? Because I am better at waiting than anyone else. Your space is growing, and so am I. One day, the Seal will not be able to contain me."

Gao Feng ignored him.

He withdrew his Divine Sense from the Myriad Spirit Space and returned to the secret chamber.

Silver Shadow looked up at him.

Gao Feng opened his eyes and stroked Silver Shadow's head: "Let's begin."

The first task, restoring cultivation.

The Spirit Gathering Array operated at full power, guiding the Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Stones to form a layer of milky-white spirit mist around Gao Feng.

Triple gravity pressed down on his shoulders, compressing the spiritual energy more tightly into his Meridians.

Gao Feng circulated the War God Art, guiding the spiritual energy to circulate through his Meridians.

His Golden Core Level 6 Realm had loosened after the battle at Taixu Mountain and could fall back to Golden Core Level 5 at any time.

He needed to stabilize his Realm first, then gradually restore it.

On the first day, he felt no obvious change.

On the second day, the flow of spiritual energy in his Meridians began to become smooth.

On the third day, the barrier of Golden Core Level 6 condensed again.

Half a month later, he recovered from the Late Stage of Golden Core Level 5 to the Early Stage of Golden Core Level 6.

A month later, he recovered to the Middle Stage of Golden Core Level 6.

He was one step away from the Peak.

Every morning, he spent two hours practicing the War God Art to restore his spiritual energy.

In the afternoon, he spent two hours refining Xue Lingzi's remnant thought.

In the evening, he spent an hour comprehending the eighth style of the Nine Styles of the War God.

At night, he used the spirit spring to nourish his damaged Divine Soul.

Day after day, he did not interrupt for a single day.

The process of refining Xue Lingzi's remnant thought was more difficult than he had expected.

Every day, he used his Divine Sense to penetrate the Seal, extracting memory fragments from Xue Lingzi's remnant thought bit by bit.

The feeling was like sticking a thin needle into his own Sea of Consciousness and then forcibly stripping away the other's memories.

Those memories were filled with blood, slaughter, and hatred—how Xue Lingzi plotted against his fellow disciples, how he devoured the essence blood of Cultivators, and how he took one assassination mission after another in the Dark Palace.

Each memory carried strong negative emotions.

Gao Feng's Divine Soul trembled violently under the impact of those emotions, almost being backlashed several times.

Silver Shadow stabilized his mind from the side with Soul resonance, its silver-gray eyes watching him without a moment's pause.

Xue Lingzi's remnant thought struggled within the Seal, its voice full of anger: "You are stealing my memories! You little thief!"

Gao Feng did not answer.

He pulled that thread of memory fragment out of the Seal and sent it into a corner of his Sea of Consciousness to digest it slowly.

Half a month later, he obtained the first batch of information from Xue Lingzi's memories.

The complete structure of the Dark Palace—the outermost layer was peripheral assassins, at the Golden Core Early Stage, responsible for executing ordinary assassination missions; above them were Dark Palace deacons, at the Golden Core Middle Stage, responsible for managing peripheral assassins and assigning tasks; above them were the Dark Palace Hall Masters, at the Golden Core Late Stage, with one Hall Master set for each Great World; at the very top was the Blood Venerable, at the Nascent Soul Stage, who was in seclusion all year round and reportedly had not appeared for hundreds of years.

The secret techniques of the Dark Palace—part of the Blood Spirit Demonic Technique, which uses the devouring of others' essence blood to increase cultivation, causing the practitioner to gradually lose their mind and eventually become a monster that only knows how to kill.

Shadow Evasion, a highly sophisticated concealment method that allows one to move silently in the shadows.

The complete recipe for Spirit-Devouring Powder, the poison that can cause a Cultivator's spiritual energy to become chaotic, which turned out to be refined from thirty-six types of poisonous herbs.

Clues to the Heart of the World fragments—the Dark Palace was also collecting fragments.

Known fragment locations included the Lost City, the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons, the depths of the Star Sea...

Gao Feng's heart stirred when he heard "depths of the Star Sea."

The Taixu Palace where Su Ning went was on the edge of the Star Sea, which was once the territory of the Star Clan and now occupied by the Sea Clan.

If the Dark Palace was also looking for fragments, Su Ning might be in danger.

He suppressed this worry in his heart and continued refining.

Silver Shadow was not idle in the secret chamber either.

It swallowed the Spiritual Qi escaping in the secret chamber every day, and its size grew from the size of a fist to the size of a small cat.

Its silver-gray fur became brighter, and the silver patterns on its body became clearer.

It also learned a new skill—Spatial Marking, which could leave an invisible spatial coordinate at a certain location, which could be sensed no matter how far away.

Gao Feng tried it once; he could still clearly perceive the mark Silver Shadow left in the corner of the secret chamber after walking a hundred zhang away.

The Myriad Spirit Space was also changing.

The day his cultivation recovered to the Middle Stage of Golden Core Level 6, Gao Feng's Divine Sense entered the space and discovered a silver-white sapling growing at the edge of the spirit field.

The sapling was only a palm high, its leaves slender, and fine silver patterns flowed on the surface.

He squatted down to observe carefully and found that the time flow around the sapling was different from other parts of the space.

He probed with his Divine Sense to confirm his judgment.

The time flow around the sapling was about twice as fast as elsewhere.

Although it was only a small difference, it was enough to prove that this sapling was affecting time.

Gao Feng's eyes lit up.

He remembered an ancient book he had seen in the Scripture Pavilion of Taixu Palace—The Tree of Time, a divine tree said to grow only at the intersection of space-time Laws, capable of manipulating the flow of time.

No one had ever seen it, and there were only sporadic records in the classics.

"Do you think this sapling is the 'Tree of Time'? When it grows up, will I be able to freely adjust the flow of time in the space?" Gao Feng asked Silver Shadow, who was lying at his feet, softly.

Silver Shadow let out a "woo-woo" sound, as if answering.

Gao Feng smiled and reached out to stroke Silver Shadow's head: "It's a pity Chu Lan is not here. If she saw this tree, she would definitely jump up in excitement."

He looked up at the dome of the secret chamber, a trace of longing flashing in his eyes.

He wondered how they were doing—had Tianxin found the ruins of the Shadow Realm?

Had Luo Li integrated the Tianyin Pavilion?

Had Su Ning broken through at Taixu Palace?

Had Chu Lan's Wood Spirit grown up?

Had Yao Guang's azure wood holy seed taken root?

Was Lin Yue's gravity training room built?

Had Lin Jingyu and Situ Lan encountered danger in the Sword Abyss?

He suppressed those worries and continued his seclusion.

Two months later, Gao Feng's cultivation recovered to the Peak of the Golden Core Middle Stage.

He was one step away from the Peak, but he couldn't take that step no matter what.

Xue Lingzi's remnant thought was still there; although most of it had been refined, the remaining part was like a thorn stuck deep in his Dantian, and every time his spiritual energy circulated, there was a sense of stagnation.

"I must refine you completely first."

Gao Feng looked at the dark red ball of light in the Seal, his eyes firm.

Xue Lingzi's remnant thought had shrunk by more than half compared to two months ago, from the size of a fist to the size of an egg.

But its voice was still cold and sinister, still carrying that unrepentant obsession: "You refined my memories, but can you refine my obsession? Naive! As long as I have a trace of consciousness, I will not give up possessing you! Your body is mine! Your space is also mine!"