Book 8: Chapter 102: Vermilion Bird Jingwei
Buzz!
Ba’s heavenly eye abruptly closed, and the red clouds dissipated slowly.
Eyeing the place where Zhu Qiqi’s spiritual souls had exploded, Ba could not quite believe it. Everything happened too fast, didn’t it? Zhu Qiqi’s strength is comparable to mine, but she was destroyed in an instant?
Even though I a.s.sisted him, Gu Hai’s heavenly eye is simply too strange.
Zhu Qiqi’s spiritual souls had shattered, but her body remained mostly intact.
Gu Hai’s heavenly eye seemed ineffective against the physical, only targeting souls?
The torn s.p.a.ce in the surroundings gradually mended, but the countless experts who had been observing this battle could not calm their hearts.
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A mountainous forest:
Yinggou held the recently acquired Physical Soul Scattering Calabash and looked at Gu Hai in the distance, her eyes twitching.
“That was the Vermilion Bird Prime, yet Gu Hai killed her so easily?” Yinggou’s face turned somewhat unsightly.
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Yin Tiger Deity Hall:
“My Lord, is Zhu Qiqi faking her death? She is the Vermilion Bird Prime!” the Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon exclaimed in shock.
“She’s truly dead!” the Unrestrained Heavenly Demon said solemnly.
Everyone fell silent. Shattering her spiritual souls? Is Gu Hai’s heavenly eye really this powerful?
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The East Spiritual Fire Sea:
Gu Hai closed his eyes.
Buzz!
In the sky, Gu Hai’s heavenly eye instantly shut, blending into the dark clouds, which gradually scattered.
Gu Hai stood quietly in midair, looking at his recent accomplishment with astonishment. Initially, he had thought Zhu Qiqi’s spiritual souls would be severely damaged, but he had not expected it to be so thorough.
Gu Hai’s face paled for a moment. His cultivation was still lacking, and using the heavenly eye had consumed too much energy.
However, despite everyone realizing the tremendous toll on Gu Hai, no one dared to underestimate him at this moment. The might he had just displayed was truly terrifying.
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Everlasting Nether Capital:
“Brother-in-Law, you’re amazing! Was that a combination of the Heaven Splitting Ax and the heavenly eye just now? The world’s top-ranked enchanted treasure and the world’s strongest eye?” Long Wanyu burbled.
The skeleton Gu Hai remained silent.
Kong Xuan, the Mosquito Daoist, and Long Shenying sincerely congratulated Gu Hai after their shock pa.s.sed.
Everyone continued to look at the battlefield that had just been restored.
Buzz!
The last traces of the nirvana core were completely consumed, and Jingwei’s body suddenly trembled.
“Is she waking up?” Hou Yi’s eyes lit up.
Ba and Gu Hai immediately approached.
Whoos.h.!.+
Ba waved her hand, and the area was once again engulfed in surging flames. She did not want the outside world to see what was happening here.
On the altar, Lin Waner had awakened. There was a blurry figure beside her, which was Jingwei.
Both Jingwei and Lin Waner had undergone nirvanic rebirth and had separated.
“What…what happened to me?” Lin Waner said in disbelief.
“I’m alive! Elder Sister, I’m alive!” Jingwei suddenly cried out, full of grievance.
“Waner!” Gu Hai said gently.
Lin Waner turned her head and saw Gu Hai, and her eyes turned bloodshot. She suddenly understood everything Gu Hai had done for her.
“Gu Hai!” Lin Waner struggled to get up and rushed towards Gu Hai.
“Your body is weak; don’t move!” Gu Hai immediately held Lin Waner.
As Lin Waner embraced Gu Hai tightly, tears welled up in her eyes.
She inhaled the scent of sweat and blood coming from Gu Hai’s body, feeling extremely touched and intoxicated.
Gently patting Lin Waner on the back, Gu Hai said, “It’s alright. Everything is fine now. Let’s go back immediately!”
“Okay!” Lin Waner nodded vigorously.
On the other side, Jingwei rushed to Ba.
“Elder Sister, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have disobeyed you! Sob! Sob! Sob!” Jingwei apologized tearfully.
Ba’s expression softened at Jingwei’s regretful and pitiful appearance, and she said gently, “Alright, stop crying. Gu Hai and I have prepared a new body for you. I will help you refine your body, and you can merge your spiritual souls with it!”
“Alright! I will listen to Elder Sister!” Jingwei nodded vigorously.
Ba carried Jingwei to Zhu Qiqi’s corpse.
Then Jingwei’s spiritual souls merged with the vermilion bird’s corpse. Flames surged from Ba’s palm to burn the vermilion bird’s corpse.
Boom!
The vermilion bird’s corpse immediately erupted in a ma.s.sive blaze as Ba’s flames helped to remove the incompatible parts to create the perfect vessel for Jingwei’s spiritual souls.
Whoos.h.!.+
The fire burned for two hours.
During these two hours, Gu Hai comforted Lin Waner and carefully collected the fragments of Vairocana from the surroundings, placing them in a box.
Looking at Vairocana’s ?arīra in the box, Gu Hai said solemnly, “Vairocana, I have avenged you. I promise that my words will always be valid. You wait; one day, I will resurrect you!”
Click!
Gu Hai gently closed the ?arīra’s box and carefully put it away.
Lin Waner had been with Gu Hai the whole time. Sensing his melancholic mood, she held his hand tight, sharing warmth and comfort.
“I’m fine!” Gu Hai said softly.
“Yes!” Lin Waner nodded.
“Gu Hai, you severely damaged Zhu Qiqi’s souls just now. Which ones did you injure?” Ba turned to Gu Hai.
“I should have cast out her three spiritual souls. As for her seven physical souls, I damaged them too. Zhu Qiqi’s physical souls should not contain any of her consciousness,” Gu Hai recalled.
“Does that mean the second princess’s cultivation cannot be improved? Is the Vermilion Bird Prime’s body just a sh.e.l.l?” Hou Yi frowned.
Screech!
Suddenly, the blazing vermilion bird let out a long cry.
Its voice resonated throughout the skies. A fiery Great Dao image suddenly appeared behind the vermilion bird.
“Huh? Is this consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm? How is that possible? The second princess’s three spiritual souls are not that formidable, right?” Hou Yi exclaimed in surprise.
“No. This is the consummation of the spiritual souls!” Ba’s eyes narrowed.
Screech!
Another loud cry rang out, spreading throughout the nether realm.
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The expressions of everyone in the Heavenly Demon Holy Land changed.
“Impossible! Didn’t Zhu Qiqi die? What’s with this sound?” questioned the Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon.
“Vermilion Bird has the power of nirvanic rebirth. Could it be that Zhu Qiqi has undergone nirvanic rebirth and come back to life? Again? Did Gu Hai and Ba labor in vain?” wondered the Bellowing Griever Heavenly Demon.
The Unrestrained Heavenly Demon shook his head slightly. “It shouldn’t be. Once the three spiritual souls are shattered, there’s no coming back, not even with nirvanic rebirth.”
“However, the distant fire is shrouding that place, and we can’t see what’s happening inside,” the Bellowing Griever Heavenly Demon said anxiously.
The Unrestrained Heavenly Demon turned to look at Everlasting Nether Capital, hoping to discern something from the skeleton Gu Hai’s face.
However, the skeleton Gu Hai remained expressionless, revealing nothing.
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The East Spiritual Fire Sea:
The giant vermilion bird’s figure flashed, transforming into a human form, this time resembling a middle-aged woman.
“Elder Sister, I did it! I now have the vermilion bird’s body!” Jingwei exclaimed with great joy.
“Jingwei, how did your cultivation suddenly reach its peak?” Ba furrowed her brows.
“I don’t know. It’s like a mysterious energy stimulated my three spiritual souls, helping them break through to their peak!” Jingwei revealed happily.
“Sa’s energy? Zhu Qiqi absorbed Sa’s energy earlier, and it had not been refined yet. Maybe it mistook you for Zhu Qiqi, so it helped you achieve your peak?” Gu Hai’s expression changed.
“Who is Sa?” Ba asked curiously.
“Before the Six Paths Immortal, there was Heaven Cang, also known as Immortal Cang. Before that was Immortal Sa. Sa was Zhu Qiqi’s master, and the energy I absorbed earlier was Sa’s energy. Back in the day, Sa entered the void to search for experts and has been gone for countless years!” Gu Hai explained.
Gu Hai only spoke about the Sa Long Wanyu described, not mentioning anything about Earth’s Sa.
“Sa?” Ba narrowed her eyes.
“Eight hundred thousand years ago, f.u.xi and Sa’s consciousness battled, and in the end, they perished together. If my guess is correct, he should be returning soon! The great calamity of all beings is imminent,” Gu Hai said solemnly.
“He can perish together with f.u.xi with just a strand of consciousness?” Ba was astonished.
Gu Hai nodded.
Ba took a deep breath, not doubting Gu Hai’s words. She was simply shocked by this Sa.
“Is Sa really that formidable? He definitely cannot compare to my sister! Gu Hai, are you afraid of him?” Jingwei suddenly asked.
“Jingwei, don’t be impudent. Gu Hai saved your life just now; be more respectful to him. You still have not thanked him for saving your life,” Ba said sullenly.
“Me? I… Didn’t Elder Sister…” Jingwei appeared somewhat reluctant.
“Who was the one who saved you? Yet, you requite good with evil? If it weren’t for Gu Hai’s help, could you have come back to life? Gu Hai has saved you twice and helped you obtain the body of the vermilion bird. What kind of att.i.tude are you showing?” Ba scolded coldly.
Jingwei fell silent for a while and eventually nodded.
“Gu Hai, thank you!” Jingwei bowed solemnly to Gu Hai.
Although Jingwei only acknowledged this great favor because of her elder sister, she showed sufficient respect because she acknowledged it.
Gu Hai nodded, accepting Jingwei’s thanks.
“Gu Hai, I can see that you expended quite a bit of energy just now. Your face is still pale. Let’s call it a day for today!” Ba looked at Gu Hai.
“Farewell!” Gu Hai nodded.
He pulled on Lin Waner and disappeared in an instant.
Then Ba said, “Alright, let’s go!”
“Yes!” Hou Yi replied.
Whoos.h.!.+
Ba, Jingwei, and Hou Yi disappeared in an instant.
After everyone left, the vast flames that had not died for countless years in the East Spiritual Fire Sea suddenly dissipated.
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The East Spiritual Fire Sea:
Gazing at the distant, empty East Spiritual Fire Sea, Long Wanyu took a deep breath. “Thank goodness, everything went smoothly!”
“Indeed! If Ba hadn’t trapped Zhu Qiqi, my heavenly eye wouldn’t have worked so miraculously. It really was lucky.” Gu Hai nodded.
“Indeed, if Zhu Qiqi’s elder brothers had also come back to life, it would have been a disaster.” Long Wanyu nodded.
“What elder brothers? Zhu Qiqi had siblings?” Gu Hai looked at Long Wanyu with a slight surprise.
Long Wanyu nodded. “Yes, the Vermilion Bird Prime was actually seven people. Zhu Qiqi was the youngest.”
“Seven people? Seven Vermilion Bird Primes?” Kong Xuan and the others exclaimed in astonishment. f?e???b?o??l.c?m
“Yes, she was the seventh, which was why she was called Zhu Qiqi. Before her, there were Zhu Yiyi, Zhu Erer, Zhu Sansan, Zhu Sisi, Zhu Wuwu, and Zhu Liuliu. They all partic.i.p.ated in the ritual for Sa back then, but it seems only Zhu Qiqi survived,” Long Wanyu sighed.
[TL Note: Zhu Qiqi can be literally translated as Vermilion Seven-Seven. Her elder brothers are all named in the same fas.h.i.+on. Yi is one, er is two, san is three, si is four, wu is five, and liu is six.]
Boom!
A sudden deafening noise rang out just as the flames had died in the East Spiritual Fire Sea. Surging flames erupted anew, instantly blanketing the entire East Spiritual Fire Sea. The raging fire spread far and wide, expanding the East Spiritual Fire Sea to over three times its previous size.
Screech! Screech! Screech! Screech! Screech! Screech!
Six distinct vermilion bird cries rang out, resounding throughout the nether realm.
“Huh? The six of them came back to life too?” Long Wanyu’s face stiffened.