Chapter 6

That black stone looked like a piece of low-quality coal, dark and sooty, the kind that felt as if touching it would leave your whole hand covered in ash.

When Shang Que read the first chapter, she had still been led by that yao creature into thinking it was some kind of special magical artifact, a golden finger the author had given Su Tanghua. But now, it seemed that was not the case.

The black stone’s first escape attempt ended with Su Tanghua pressing it into her quilt.

But it immediately began its second escape attempt.

When Su Tanghua sensed the black stone leaving her, she was practicing the sword. The elder teaching swordsmanship was truly strict. In addition to studying the sword path, she had also studied medicine and could accurately identify every disciple who pretended to be sick because they were slacking off.

Su Tanghua tried and found that she truly could not escape.

And so, in the comic, Su Tanghua became someone who appeared to be practicing the sword seriously on the surface, while the version of her in the thought bubble above her head was utterly terrified.

She was genuinely afraid that this stone would do something bad.

It was precisely because she had formed a blood contract with this stone that she knew it was actually extremely sinister.

Because this stone seemed to eat everything.

The comic timely reviewed part of the first chapter: Su Tanghua lying in a pool of blood, while her blood was being swallowed by the stone not far away.

This also made Shang Que recall the plot of the first chapter. The stone’s trait of running away, the scene in the first chapter where it swallowed Su Tanghua’s blood, and the scene of Su Tanghua gripping Jingchuan appeared one after another before Shang Que’s eyes.

She more or less knew what that stone was now.

A Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal.

A type of crystal that could devour other materials. Its formation conditions were extremely harsh, and its existing quantity was extraordinarily scarce.

So scarce that Shang Que had once thought this thing did not actually exist, and that the so-called bailiantales.comrecords of it were fantasies copied out of storybooks.

Until her older sister obtained one and used it to forge Jingchuan.

She rubbed the space between her brows. Her sister’s stone had probably been fed with heavenly treasures and earthly materials, so it had looked brilliant and luminous. Meanwhile, this one existed in the mortal world. Forget heavenly treasures and earthly materials; it had probably barely eaten any spiritual energy at all, which was why it had turned as gray as a lump of coal.

Combined with the influence of the artist’s style, Shang Que had actually failed to recognize it.

Looking at it now, the blood contract Su Tanghua believed in was not a blood contract, but a symbiotic relationship formed because the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal truly had no other choice.

Because Su Tanghua was really good at “finding” food.

At this point, everything had to begin from the first chapter.

Su Tanghua was a high school girl who had transmigrated into a farmer’s daughter. On a normal walk home from school, she was sent flying by an out-of-control bus.

One moment, she was lying in a pool of blood beside the bus, listening ​unauthorized copy​to the horrified onlookers shouting for someone to call 120. The next, she was lying among a pile of stones in the cultivation world.

When she opened her eyes, she saw blood flowing steadily from her wrist, but there was no blood around her, because all of it had been swallowed clean by the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal.

At first, Su Tanghua thought she was hallucinating from excessive blood loss.

She did not pay attention to that stone and instead checked her wound first.

She originally thought it was a suicide attempt by wrist-slitting, only to discover that the wound looked like the marks left by a wild beast’s bite.

The original owner had probably been treated as stored food by a wild beast, then bled to death. She made a rough judgment.

Su Tanghua did not want to die the moment she opened her eyes. Treating a dead horse as if it were still alive, she ate the medicinal herbs beside her that looked extraordinary at a glance.

Her wound soon healed, and Su Tanghua finally had the energy to look around.

There were many people lying all around. All of them had been bled. Su Tanghua went to check their [stolen content]breathing. All of them were dead.

But their blood was still flowing outward, being swallowed by that coal-like stone.

At that time, Su Tanghua thought this place was an altar. She was afraid that if she did nothing, some evil soul would be summoned next, yet she was also afraid that if she moved recklessly, she would be flayed and have her tendons pulled out the next moment, then be eaten clean by the stone.

But she did not have time to think, because sounds of fighting suddenly came from outside. She could only lie flat and watch as a woman in Daoist robes gripped a sword and fought with a fox half the size of a person.

The woman in Daoist robes kept calling it a monster with every other breath, saying the fox was a man-eating yao creature.

Su Tanghua truly could not understand that fight. In Shang Que’s eyes, that battle was nothing more than two rookies pecking at each other.

Because that woman was an outer disciple of Jiuxiao Sect. She had probably only just reached Foundation Establishment. Her cultivation was still shallow, and she had little experience of the world. It did not take long before the yao fox tricked her and left her heavily injured.

The yao fox was slightly better off. Better in the sense that it could still struggle to get up and stagger over to eat that outer disciple.

Su Tanghua knew full well that she had no strength to even truss a chicken. If she rushed forward rashly, she would probably just be delivering ​bailiantales.com​herself as food. But if she did not go, then once the yao fox ate the Dao-robed woman, she would be even less likely to survive.

At the time, no one knew where her courage came from. Perhaps it was because she had lain beside the stone and watched the fight for so long, yet the stone had not eaten her.

Or perhaps it was because if she did not gamble, she would die anyway.

In short, Su Tanghua picked up the blood-eating stone, yanked up a medicinal herb beside her foot, and charged toward the fox yao.

She gripped the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal and stabbed it into the fox yao’s wound. The crystal greedily sucked in the more energy-rich blood from the fox yao’s body. The fox yao let out a shrill scream. Its heavy injuries made its body go rigid, but it was still enough to deal with a clumsy high school girl. The sharp pain of fox claws raking across her chest made her ignore the pain of her palm being cut open by a bone spur.

The outer disciple of Jiuxiao Sect also seized this chance to swallow a healing pill, tighten her grip on the sword in her hand, and stab it into the fox yao’s heart.

Together, the two of them finally ended the fox yao.

And Su Tanghua’s body could no longer hold on. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

When she opened her eyes again, she was already on a flying boat bound for Jiuxiao Sect.

That claw from the fox yao had nearly pierced Su Tanghua’s heart. Her vitality was draining away rapidly. In order to keep Su Tanghua alive, that outer disciple of Jiuxiao Sect had practically contributed every healing medicine she had on her. Even while heavily injured herself, she had rushed to carry Su Tanghua on her back and find her fellow disciples.

After using far more healing medicine than expected, the disciples of Jiuxiao Sect finally managed to save Su Tanghua.

Su Tanghua survived, but while following the senior sister on the flying boat and learning how to control spiritual energy, she discovered the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal that had merged into her body.

At the time, she was terrified and wanted to tell the senior sister about this evil thing. But the senior sister said no one would make a magical artifact in the shape of a little stone.

Su Tanghua took out the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal for the senior sister to see. Half-believing and half-doubting her, the senior sister cut open her own palm, wanting to verify whether Su Tanghua’s words were true. Unexpectedly, the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal behaved as if it were full. It did not move at all. It was simply a dead stone, a pure lump of coal.

Su Tanghua was dumbfounded. The senior sister looked at her with pity and love, thinking that Su Tanghua must have eaten random herbs and hallucinated.

Because afterward, they went to explore the fox’s cave once more. The yao fox, which had nearly reached Foundation Establishment, had quite a few good things on it.

But they had still arrived too late. The fox yao’s corpse had already been eaten by other small animals until only a layer of skin remained. Fortunately, the fox cave still held all kinds of minerals and [unauthorized copy]spiritual herbs, though they were mixed among dead bodies.

That fox also had no knowledge or culture. Whenever it discovered a spiritual herb, it collected it, without caring whether that herb was for treating illness and stopping bleeding or one that sealed the throat the moment it touched blood.

In short, the Jiuxiao Sect disciples took a rough look and discovered that those spiritual herbs had all kinds of effects.

Su Tanghua had probably eaten a random handful, which was why she had both drawn qi into her body and become so difficult to treat. Looking at it now, she had probably been hallucinating at the time.

To hallucinate and still be so brave—she really was a good child.

So the senior sister brought her back to the sect, watched her step onto the Heart-Inquiry Stairs, and led her onto the immortal path.

Thus, the first chapter ended.

The outer disciples of Jiuxiao Sect were also people who had only recently stepped into the cultivation world. How would they know about the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal?

Su Tanghua had wanted to use the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal to kill the fox yao, but the bone spur inside the fox yao’s body had cut open Su Tanghua’s palm. The Devouring [unauthorized copy]Xuan Mother Crystal absorbed energy from both sides.

Mainly from the fox yao, since it was even more powerful than a Foundation Establishment disciple.

After eating the fox yao, it actually still was not quite full.

The energy in Su Tanghua’s blood was too low. It was a little disdainful and did not really want to eat it.

But it could not withstand the presence of a senior sister who kept feeding Su Tanghua healing medicine.

Taking a bite was not impossible…

It ate one mouthful after another. In the end, it grew tired from eating, and because it had eaten too much of Su Tanghua’s blood, it formed a strange symbiotic state with Su Tanghua.

That was the beginning and end of everything.

And the reason it had become lively again now was because [stolen content]it smelled Jingchuan buried in the back mountain.

To the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal, the most delicious thing would always be its own kind, followed by all kinds of heavenly treasures, earthly materials, and various ores.

The very, very worst would be the blood of living creatures.

But this Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal had fallen all the way into the mortal realm. Did it have any other choice?

That was why Su Tanghua sincerely believed it was some evil thing. She was deeply afraid it would run out on its own and eat other injured people, dragging her into trouble as well.

But Su Tanghua, trapped in sword practice class, had no way to do anything.

The comic’s second chapter continued. That very night, the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal actually returned on its own.

Su Tanghua was shocked to discover that the stone was bigger than before, and its color had become clearer and more translucent. Now, it no longer looked like coal. It looked like a crystal-clear gemstone.

Its entire body gave off an aura of satisfaction.

What had it eaten?

Su Tanghua grew uneasy to the extreme.

Even after eating a fox yao that had nearly reached Foundation Establishment, the stone had not undergone such a huge change.

What exactly had it eaten?

And so, on the third night, when the stone once again grew restless and tried to go to the rear forest to hunt for food, Su Tanghua gritted her teeth and followed it.

Strangely, along the way, she did not encounter any yao beasts.

Immediately afterward, Su Tanghua saw the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal begin pushing through the soil.

But such a tiny stone had little strength on its own and could not dig up much dirt. stolen contentAt this point, it finally remembered its symbiotic partner and urged Su Tanghua to dig the soil.

Su Tanghua resigned herself to fate and scraped at the soil a few times, digging up the bone of some unknown animal. Then she used that animal bone to continue digging.

Perhaps because she was digging so earnestly, she did not notice that the Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal had once again hovered in midair for a long time.

It wanted to devour this bone, but the thing buried in the soil was truly too fragrant.

In the end, it still endured.

Because Su Tanghua finally dug out that sword.

That sword forged from a Devouring Xuan Mother Crystal.

The broken Jingchuan.

As expected, it was the same as Shang Que had guessed.

Shang Que continued flipping the pages, wanting to see why Su Tanghua had been seriously injured again. But when the page turned, she discovered that the author had actually changed perspectives.

It was a pair of hands, positioned where light and shadow intertwined.

Plain white, with distinct knuckles and long, slender fingers.

A pair of hands given a special close-up by the comic. A pair of exceedingly beautiful hands.

Those hands were loosely cupped together, seeming to hold something. In the next panel, they moved smoothly and fluidly.

She was casting a divination. Three copper coins with different heads-and-tails arrangements appeared on the table.

Her slender fingers pressed against the copper coins. Following those fingers upward, past the boundary of light and shadow at her wrist, that person stood within the darkness.

Past her rough black robe, past her deep-blue, water-like unauthorized copylong hair, her fair jaw was finally revealed.

The lips shown in close-up curved slightly.

She said, “‘She’ is there.”