528: Chapter 528 The Final Kick

The door opened, and two figures with distinct temperaments stepped inside.

Nangong Mei was dressed in a crimson, waist-cinching gauze dress; her temperament was bright and vivid, and a lazy, playful smile hung on her face.

Baili Qiao, in purple palace attire, had a slender figure and a dignified demeanor, forming a perfect contrast to Nangong Mei's flamboyant nature.

Both of them also saw the scene inside the room and the Spirit Treasure in front of Ling Hao—the Hunyuan Yin and Yang Pestle.

That Yin and Yang Pestle hung in mid-air, its seven-inch body trembling slightly, emitting a low hum.

Lacking the suppression of the Pure Yin Qi, the pestle's body was scorching hot, constantly evaporating the Tianyi True Water condensed on it, turning it into wisps of Spiritual Qi that dispersed in all directions.

"Yo, you four little girls, have you already been defeated?"

Nangong Mei swept her gaze across the room and saw the four young women collapsed on the floor, her tone containing thirty percent mockery and seventy percent understanding.

Hearing this, Baili Rou and the others blushed with shame, lowered their heads, and replied, "It is because our skills are not refined enough..."

Nangong Mei chuckled, her gaze falling on Ling Hao: "It seems we have arrived just in time. Sect Master, your Natal Spirit Treasure is on the verge of the Heavenly Tremor but has yet to initiate; if it is not stabilized in time, I fear it might easily fall back to the sixth star. If that happens, all previous efforts will be wasted, and the loss will outweigh the gain."

Ling Hao looked up at the two of them, his expression calm: "The reason it failed to reach the eighth star, the Heavenly Tremor, is likely due to a lack of 'Soft Neutralization' and 'Profound Tempering'. Elder Nangong, you should try the 'Layered Mountains Embracing Peaks Art' from the 'Taixu Soft Jade Technique'."

Nangong Mei smiled charmingly: "Since the Sect Master has commanded it, I will naturally do my best."

She walked to the front of the Yin and Yang Pestle, focused her mind and held her breath, formed hand seals in front of her chest, and the seal technique covered the floating pestle from afar.

Her chanting was low and melodic, flowing from her lips: "Taixu as the furnace, Soft Jade as the guide. Layered mountains circling the peaks, circling for nine turns..."

As the incantation began, Pure Yin Qi surged from her Shanzhong acupoint, turning into wisps of visible white airflow that seeped into the pestle's body.

The purple-gold patterns on the surface of the Yin and Yang Pestle lit up layer by layer, and the temperature rose sharply. Even the surrounding air was steamed into a wave of heat, visibly distorting.

Fine beads of sweat oozed from Nangong Mei's forehead, showing that the consumption was not small.

The time of one incense stick passed quietly in the silence. When she chanted the last part of the incantation, her voice had become somewhat hoarse: "Jade marrow turns to mist, clouds steaming and rosy mists rising..."

Before she could finish, the Tianyi True Water evaporating from the Yin and Yang Pestle turned into thick white mist, rolling like rosy clouds, spreading out in layers, shrouding the entire room in a dense haze.

Nangong Mei's body swayed slightly, and she slowly sat down on the floor; her True Qi had been excessively consumed, and even her breathing was somewhat unstable.

However, the Yin and Yang Pestle shone brilliantly, its body swelling to eight inches amidst a hum, its whole body glowing crimson like a branding iron, with flame patterns vaguely flowing endlessly on its surface.

Ling Hao praised: "What a magnificent 'Clouds Steaming and Rosy Mists Rising'! My Natal Spirit Treasure has advanced further. Elder Nangong, you have worked hard."

He turned to Baili Qiao, his gaze falling on her: "Elder Baili, it is your turn. Can the first level of your 'Nether Spring Soul-Locking Technique', the 'Nine-Winding Hidden Pass Art', handle such a scorching Yang Spirit Treasure?"

Baili Qiao silently turned around, with her back to Ling Hao, and formed hand seals.

She took a deep breath, and her chanting was steady and firm: "Nether Spring opens the abyss, nine turns hide the pass. Binding the Dragon to coil around the pillar, gathering the twin pearls. A thousand twists and turns, breathing and exhaling the Hunyuan..."

Amidst the chanting, an invisible suction force emerged from the Void Realm behind her, pulling the surrounding air until it distorted slightly. The white mist and Spiritual Qi were stirred into a vortex, slowly rotating around her. Deep within the vortex, a dark red light flickered, as if leading to some unknown abyss.

With a thought from Ling Hao, the crimson Yin and Yang Pestle flew up and slowly sank into the vortex of Qi.

Baili Qiao let out a muffled groan, the clothes on her back gradually soaked with sweat, showing that this tempering was extremely exhausting to her mind.

This was Ling Hao's immortal-grade Spirit Treasure; how could it be so easily refined? Right now, Baili Qiao was trying to refine this treasure with her own strength, which was like trying to control a blazing sun with weak water; any slight carelessness would result in being backlashed by the Yang fire.

The Yin and Yang Pestle appeared and disappeared in the vortex of Qi, its crimson light being wrapped and compressed by a dark red force, emitting a "sizzling" sound of tempering.

After one incense stick of time, Baili Qiao let out a long sigh, and the dark red radiance around her exploded. The light rippled outward like water waves, hitting the walls and bouncing back, stirring up ripples of Spiritual Qi in the room.

She collapsed softly onto the floor, her breathing rapid, and the loose hair on her forehead stuck to her face by sweat.

When the Yin and Yang Pestle flew out from the vortex, it had grown to nine inches in length, its entire body covered in mysterious patterns interwoven with purple-gold and dark red. The two colors intertwined and permeated each other, emitting a heart-stopping pressure.

Ling Hao swept his gaze over the two people sitting on the floor and nodded approvingly: "Well done. Elder Nangong used soft gentleness to neutralize the Yang fire, and Elder Baili used profundity to temper the Impurities, which perfectly accords with the principle of Yin and Yang complementing each other."

He leaned over to help the two women up, ordering them to sit cross-legged facing each other in front of him, with their palms pressed together.

"I remember that you two once practiced the auxiliary technique 'Yin and Yang Carp Rotation'; today, we will use this method to brand the Yin and Yang double-fish totem onto the Yin and Yang Pestle. Operate the 'Twin Carps Holding Pearls' Mind-Cultivation Technique."

The two women dared not delay and chanted the incantation simultaneously. Their Qi circulated between them, converging through their pressed palms, and then returning to their Dantian along their respective Meridians; this repeated, forming a closed circuit. Their breathing gradually synchronized, and their Qi circulation worked in perfect harmony.

"Twin carps playing in water, two orifices facing each other. One Yang pierces the center, the Qi vortex is born spontaneously. Rising and falling, the Dragon Gate leaps upward..."

A phantom of a red carp appeared in front of Nangong Mei; the red carp was entirely crimson as if forged from raging fire, its scales distinct, and flames seemed to leap as its mouth opened and closed;

Behind Baili Qiao appeared the light of a black carp; the black carp was entirely ink-blue, and when its twin tails swayed, it brought up circles of dark water ripples. The ripples spread out, and wherever they passed, even the air was stained with a touch of chill.

The twin carps chased each other's tails, swimming and rotating around the Yin and Yang Pestle floating between them—one red and one black, one Yang and one Yin—chasing, intersecting, and entangling with each other.

Under the pressure of the two women's Qi, the pestle's body trembled like thunder, its light flickering uncertainly, sometimes blazing white like day, sometimes dark like an abyss. The red carp held the head of the pestle, while the black carp bit the root; then the two carps swapped, with the black carp holding the head and the red carp biting the root.

With each swap, the purple-gold body of the pestle trembled slightly under the pulling of the two Qi forces, emitting a faint hum.

Vaguely, the Yin and Yang double-fish totem flickered on the surface of the pestle, gradually emerging.

At first, it was just two blurry shadows of light, but as the twin carps alternated biting, the shadows became more solid and clearer.

Time flowed slowly. The red carp and black carp spun faster and faster, the Yin and Yang Pestle trembled more intensely, causing the seated bodies of the two women to sway slightly.

The double-fish totem finally turned from blurry to clear, one on the left and one on the right, one head and one tail, carved into both sides of the pestle, their heads and tails connected, naturally formed.

The red fish was Yang, the black fish was Yin, and each fish's eye was embedded with a dot of the other's color, which was the very meaning of Yin and Yang complementing each other and containing each other.

The moment the branding was completed, the phantoms of the twin carps suddenly exploded, turning into countless red and blue light spots, which floated in the air like fireflies for a long while before gradually dissipating.

Nangong Mei and Baili Qiao both collapsed from exhaustion, their breathing rapid.

The two looked at each other, feeling a sense of relief.

If they continued to operate the Mind-Cultivation Technique, their Pure Yin Qi would likely be exhausted.

It's just that...

"Elder Nangong, Revered Master, you..."

Beside them, Baili Rou's eyes curved, as if she had seen something interesting. Although she was also collapsed on the floor, her spirit had recovered a bit, and her gaze scanned back and forth between the two Elders.

Zhu Jin, Bai Zhi, and Shu Lan had the same expression, wanting to laugh but not daring to, their shoulders shaking as they held it in.

Nangong Mei said irritably: "If you want to laugh, then laugh. Your Revered Master and I are not so petty as to hold a grudge against you for this little matter."

"Hahahaha..."

The laughter echoed in this small room.

Ling Hao looked down at the Yin and Yang Pestle. The Yin and Yang double-fish totem had been imprinted into the pestle's body, feeling warm and smooth to the touch. Upon careful sensing, one could perceive two Qi forces, one cold and one hot, circulating ceaselessly within, generating and restraining each other.

Combining the strength of the two, the eighth star, the Heavenly Tremor, had been reached, but the final orifice of the Nine-Star Link remained silent as an abyss. No matter how he probed with his Divine Sense, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, unable to stir up any response.

He sighed softly. Breaking through to the sixth level of Mahayana was indeed not so easy.

The Nine-Star Link, where each star is a separate heaven; this last star, who knows how many days it will take, and how many methods must be used to light it up.

Now, only the final step remains; one cannot give up halfway.

He raised his head, his gaze crossing over the two women sitting on the floor and falling towards the door of the room. The bead curtain there swayed slightly, and a slender figure stood beside the door frame, wanting to enter yet retreating, hesitant and indecisive.

"Ling Ling, why are you standing outside instead of coming in?"