Chapter 36: Chapter 33: Night Light Pavilion, The Secret of the Immortal Bone
Freed from his bindings, Fu Quanliang's fingertips sparked with spiritual light, and he instinctively thought to counterattack.
However, after detecting the powerful surge of energy within Chu Zheng, he lost his spirit for a moment, dispelled the alcoholic fumes around him, rubbed his neck, and said softly,
"You ask."
Cultivators are acutely aware of the disparity in strength between each other; a simple encounter was enough for understanding to dawn on them.
He had not dodged Chu Zheng's grab before, and he would not be able to dodge it a second time.
"Why did the Phantom Spirit Sect send you here? what is the real purpose?" Chu Zheng cut directly to the heart of the matter.
"To protect the Song Family from being harassed."
Fu Quanliang tugged at the corner of his mouth, chuckling lightly, "At least, that's what the mission states."
"Why have only you come alone, and with your strength so weak, how could you possibly protect the Song Family?"
Chu Zheng took a deep breath and pressed on sternly, "Phantom Spirit Sect, do you really intend to protect the Song Family?"
Fu Quanliang watched Chu Zheng for a while before saying, word by word,
"The mission I know of never mentioned that the other party was also from the Immortal Sect."
That was all he said, no need to mention more.
Chu Zheng had his answer and nodded, "What is the power of the Night Light Pavilion like?"
"With a heritage spanning ten thousand years, over a hundred Soul Condensing elders, and more than a handful of Divine Infant Realm masters. There's also a Supreme Elder who has stepped into the Second Transformation of Divine Infant, governing forty-seven nations of North Cave," Fu Quanliang recited as if listing treasures from his own home.
Chu Zheng was not unfamiliar with the realms of Immortal Path cultivation, having already learned the basics from the "Initial Understanding of Immortal Path."
In the training of Immortal Path, the First Realm is Nourishing Power, the Second Realm is Spiritual Spring, the Third Realm is Entry Path, the Fourth Realm is Soul Condensing, the Fifth Realm is Divine Infant, and this Second Transformation of Divine Infant is already the Sixth Realm, 'Deification Nine Transformations'.
The Nine Transformations Tongxuan, understanding the secret of creation, is already half immortal in the world.
The power of Night Light Pavilion was far more terrifying than Chu Zheng had anticipated. The Divine Infant Realm alone had the power to move mountains and seas; erasing a great nation could be done overnight.
And the Deification Nine Transformations were even more exaggerated.
After absorbing the information, Chu Zheng spoke again, "How does Phantom Spirit Sect compare to the Night Light Pavilion?"
"Not considering the depth of the sect's foundation, the Night Light Pavilion is at least twice as strong."
"Currently, in the sect, only a few Supreme Elders and the sect leader, a total of seven people, have stepped into the Divine Infant Realm. There's also a Supreme Elder in the First Transformation of Divine Infant who has been in closed-door cultivation for a thousand years and hasn't appeared in the world."
At this point, Fu Quanliang couldn't help but sneer, "It's unknown whether he's still alive; he might as well be dead."
Resentment flickered in his eyes; had the sect not intentionally concealed this, sending someone here as a scapegoat, he would not have ended up in this situation.
Chu Zheng's gaze deepened, the disparity in strength was indeed rather large.
"How many nations does the Phantom Spirit Sect govern?"
"Fifteen countries..."
Fu Quanliang thought for a moment, then shook his head, "It should be fourteen countries. A few years ago, Qionglou took one away, claiming that a Lower Quality Spirit Mine had appeared, and Qionglou exchanged it for a High Quality Divine Weapon."
Chu Zheng remembered what Li Mingzhou had told him and confirmed, "Which Immortal Sect does the territory of Great Zhou belong to?"
"The Zhao Family of Great Zhou is quite special. They once had a genius with a High Quality Immortal Bone and a Fire Spirit Body named Zhao Tingxian. He stepped into the Divine Infant Realm within just two hundred years and was the Saint Heir of the Tai Xu Holy Land for some time before he suddenly disappeared."
As the topic unfolded, Fu Quanliang relaxed considerably, reclining on the ground disdainfully,
"Without confirmed news of his death, no one among the nearby Immortal Sects dares to make a move rashly; they are all afraid of death. Moreover, thanks to Zhao Tingxian's influence, the Zhao family still has connections within several Immortal Sects."
"Why do you know this so clearly?"
Seeing Fu Quanliang's fluid responses, Chu Zheng couldn't help but feel suspicious.
"My talents are mediocre, and my cultivation progresses as slow as a turtle. If I don't study these things, I really have nothing else to do," Fu Quanliang said with self-mockery. "Just studying these things is utterly useless."
"Then in your opinion, why doesn't the Night Light Pavilion directly take action against the Song Family?"
This was the biggest question in Chu Zheng's mind so far, since their strength was not inferior, why hesitate and drag things out?
"I think it's either because of Zhao Tingxian's example, they are wary and dare not act too rashly, or they are trying to force the Supreme Elder of Phantom Spirit Sect out of the sect gate, intending to make him voluntarily walk into the trap," replied Fu Quanliang.
"After all, Song Lingqing is the Supreme Elder's disciple. With his blood relations being constantly threatened, it makes no sense for the Grandmaster not to act."
Fu Quanliang had thought over this matter countless times these days, and he had already thought of all the possibilities he could envisage.
He had even considered whether the Night Light Pavilion was trying to deliberately provoke a war between the Immortal Sects, aiming to annex the Phantom Spirit Sect.
After hesitating for a moment, Fu Quanliang spoke up and revealed one of his speculations:
"The Night Light Pavilion has been hesitating to take action, perhaps waiting for the right opportunity. As for what that opportunity is, I'm not completely sure, it's just a speculation."
"If the Night Light Pavilion is fishing for a big fish, then I, as a small shrimp, obviously won't satisfy their appetite. There will surely be further actions."
Listening to Fu Quanliang's analysis, Chu Zheng nodded. If he were one of the Night Light Pavilion people, he would probably choose to kill Fu Quanliang, entering the previous cycle again, and waiting for the Phantom Spirit Sect to walk into the net.
This is a blatant scheme, coercing the Phantom Spirit Sect into making a decision.
Having clarified his thoughts, Chu Zheng looked at Fu Quanliang. He now clearly understood the predicament of the man before him.
This man was truly stuck between a rock and a hard place, trapped with death on both sides, which explained why he had been so indulgent lately, clearly knowing his days were numbered.
On this trip, Chu Zheng had obtained some of the information he wanted. Now that Fu Quanliang was taking the brunt of it, all he had to do was to prepare calmly to enter the Spirit Transformation and face the first move of the Night Light Pavilion.
If the person who comes to kill Fu Quanliang is too powerful, he might just start preparing for the next step.
......
......
"Take off your clothes."
Chu Zheng suddenly stood up, gazing down at Fu Quanliang.
"What are you going to do?!"
Fu Quanliang gulped, instinctively shuffling backwards.
"Just take them off."
Chu Zheng's eyes slightly narrowed, his breathing somewhat heavy:
"Let me see your Immortal Bone."
"Hmm?"
Fu Quanliang stagnated for a moment, then suddenly exhaled in relief, quickly turned his back, and pointed to the back of his head, "No need to undress, it's right here."
Chu Zheng reached out and felt it, his eyes immediately brightened.
He was extremely knowledgeable about human bones. In Fu Quanliang's occipital, there was a gap which should have fused during the growth process, yet on his body, it was still separated.
This extra piece of bone, which acted as a breach between the human body and nature's spiritual energy, thereby allowed the entry of nature's spiritual energy into the body.
Due to the different degrees of bone healing, this gap naturally varied, perhaps, which is what distinguished the so-called Immortal Bone.
This kind of gap was not man-made but innate; simply breaking the bone and forcibly intervening had no effect.
With this, Chu Zheng's puzzle was finally somewhat solved, as he came to understand the basic principles of cultivation on the Immortal Path.