Shaohing, who had crossed nearly a hundred miles using escape arts, suddenly plummeted to the ground.
Enduring the excruciating pain from the severed wound, she retrieved the severed limb from her storage ring.
Cultivators nourish their bodies with spiritual power, possessing vitality far exceeding that of ordinary people; since Ao Chuan had managed to retrieve the severed left arm in time, there was a possibility of reattaching it.
However, the rampaging Metal-element spiritual power upon it was continuously eroding its vitality. Shaohing extracted the meager spiritual power remaining in the Yellow Sprout, extended her right hand, and let the emerald-green [Azure Emperor] spiritual liquid drip down to soak the wound.
After a moment, the dense vitality finally wiped away that metallic energy. Shaohing pressed the severed limb against the wound, and Ao Chuan flew out once more, using his slender body as a binding rope to help her secure it.
She then took out two Spring-Returning Pills, crushed them into powder, and sprinkled them over the site.
As her spiritual power circulated, her blood and qi were reconnected. Flesh buds began to sprout and writhe at the wound, knitting the parts together. Only then was she truly out of the crisis of losing her arm.
Shaohing lightly moved her newly reattached left arm, not daring to make large movements. A sense of stiffness remained; it seemed she would need to spend time nourishing it with spiritual power and exercising it to restore it to its original state.
"Little White Dragon, are you telling the truth? This jade ring contains the essence blood of a Phoenix?"
The Phoenix was also an ancient celestial demon, capable of rivaling a True Dragon, and its body was one of the most perfect Dao-bodies in the world.
To the Feather Race, only the Golden Crow and the Vermilion Bird, who were also celestial demons, could stand on equal footing.
Ao Chuan released himself from her arm, flicked his tail, and whispered, "If I sensed it wrong, you won't hit me, will you?"
"I'll just peel a layer of skin off you," Shaohing replied, her tone more gentle than ever before, her expression calm.
Ao Chuan immediately said, "Our True Dragon Race and the Phoenix Race are old rivals; I definitely wouldn't be wrong. There should be a drop of sealed Phoenix essence blood inside that jade ring. That is why at least half the power of the fire-element spells that male cultivator cast earlier was bolstered by the ring."
"Don't you also practice fire-element immortal arts? Once this jade ring is refined, it can similarly augment the power of your spells."
"A jade ring like this isn't classified as a magical tool, yet it has miraculous effects. It seems your human race calls them 'Secret Treasures,' and they have no grade classification. The Phoenix essence blood alone is worth no less than a Third-Grade magical tool of your human race."
For any living being, essence blood is the condensed essence of one's entire spirit, qi, and essence; it is by no means comparable to ordinary blood. When Jiang Yunjiang had charged into the white mist, it was specifically for Ao Chuan's True Dragon essence blood.
Shaohing fell into silence for a moment before saying, "Then if I destroy this jade ring, wouldn't I obtain a drop of Phoenix essence blood to refine and increase my Dao attainment?"
Ao Chuan scratched his head with a dragon claw and replied, "Is that really necessary?"
"The strongest celestial demon art of the Phoenix lineage is 'Nirvana through Fire,' which is why Phoenix blood possesses extremely potent vitality. You can keep this ring for now; if you encounter any incurable injuries later, this Phoenix essence blood might work wonders."
Such secrets were rarely recorded in books; Ao Chuan relied on his bloodline inheritance.
After weighing the options, Shaohing put the jade ring away and smiled at Ao Chuan. "I'll credit you with this one."
She took a stalk of Thick Earth Ginseng from her storage ring and tossed it to Ao Chuan.
The little white dragon proudly lifted his tail, held his dragon head high, and swallowed it in one gulp, shaking his head as he chewed.
The fury from having her arm severed on the spot still pressed upon Shaohing's heart, unspent, transforming into the motivation for her cultivation.
She did not linger. Dragging her exhausted body, she found a secluded cave nearby and hid within. She deployed a pale purple compass—a formation plate inscribed with the Second-Grade Lower-Tier 'Golden Smoke Cloud-Locking Formation.'
Shaohing sat on the ground with her knees crossed. Spirit stones fell around her as she used the *Qi-Nurturing Essence Art* to swallow the spiritual energy within them, circulating it through her meridians.
Simultaneously, she performed an internal inspection, directing her gaze toward her Niwan Palace.
Without reaching the Third Realm of the Purple Mansion, the Niwan would not open, and a cultivator would still only possess spiritual consciousness. The *Great Derivation Spirit-Refining Art* was a method for tempering the divine sense, but it was equally applicable to spiritual consciousness, and it would provide significant benefits once the divine sense underwent its transformation in the Third Realm.
The method of Great Derivation Spirit-Refining was extremely exquisite: first, it opened a sea of consciousness outside the sealed Niwan, acting like a cauldron or a millstone where every wisp of spiritual consciousness would be tempered.
The second was the method of spiritual consciousness manipulation. Shaohing had been born with extraordinary spiritual consciousness, but only now, compared to the exquisite records of immortal arts, did she realize that her previous use of it had been reckless and crude.
The first stage of this Mid-Grade Immortal Art required splitting the spiritual consciousness into "threads," much like the strings in a puppet show, to achieve one's thoughts and intentions.
Shaohing had already basically constructed her sea of consciousness, and now that the circulation of the cultivation technique within her body was on the right track, she withdrew her mind to comprehend and practice this "threading" of consciousness.
She controlled a wisp of spiritual consciousness to split it in two, but it immediately became scattered, appearing as if it were on the verge of shattering.
Dull pains throbbed in Shaohing's head. She silently recited the immortal art incantations, causing brilliant characters to emerge in her sea of consciousness and fall upon the two wisps of consciousness.
The originally pale, near-transparent spiritual consciousness was instantly dyed gold. Moonlight escaped from her Niwan Palace and merged into them, turning the scattered wisps into solid threads.
"Splitting the spiritual consciousness into threads for the first time feels like my head is going to split open. To truly complete the first stage, I need to do this at least eight consecutive times to possess two hundred and fifty-six threads of consciousness."
"The spiritual consciousness must be sufficiently condensed and resilient to withstand the next split; otherwise, it will dissipate, causing heavy damage. As expected of a Mid-Grade Immortal Art—one slight mistake and it will backfire."
By the time Shaohing finished refining the two threads of consciousness according to the spirit-refining technique, over ninety percent of the spiritual power in her body had recovered.
She stood up and stretched. The charred skin scorched by the flames had peeled away, but her reattached left arm still required frequent nourishment with the [Azure Emperor] essence.
Ao Chuan returned to her right arm, transforming into a dragon pattern.
"However, that male cultivator should be suffering as well. My arrow grazed his Qi Sea and Dantian; the injury cannot heal completely. Every time he cultivates and his spiritual power enters his Qi Sea, it will leak out, which must be a hindrance. Hmph, does he really think I'm a pushover?"
She put away the formation plate and walked out of the cave. Looking up, she suddenly noticed something strange.
When Shaohing first entered the secret realm, a full moon hung in the sky, but now it was a crescent moon.
"I originally thought the moon in this secret realm was an evolution of the realm's rules, but it actually undergoes normal lunar phases. Could it be the true Lunar Star? A special small world like a secret realm... what I read in books shouldn't be like this."
But Shaohing suppressed her doubts.
She released her spiritual consciousness, which had been tempered by the immortal art, to compare the perceived density of spiritual energy with the markings on her detailed map.
Taking into account the position of the previous jungle, Shaohing chose to head east.
Time was precious. She could rest, but could the fragmented moons and precious herbs in the secret realm rest?!
Shaohing soon arrived at a lake. Under the moonlight, the lake was filled with dark green lotus leaves, and white lotuses bloomed on the water's surface, hidden among the leaves. As a light breeze passed, ripples spread across the water.
She stood by the lake, scrutinizing the lotus leaves and flowers. Although they possessed some spiritual energy, they were not particularly precious herbs.
As Shaohing watched, she saw figures occasionally darting out from the water, and others constantly jumping into the lake. Presumably, the dense spiritual energy she had sensed came from the bottom of the lake.
"Are you also a disciple of the True One Sect? What is your name?"
Shaohing looked toward the source of the voice. The person's eyes were fixed on her, clearly speaking to her.
The woman appeared to be seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a dress that looked as if it were dyed with watercolors, moving gracefully like a blooming pink lotus.
Her face was as beautiful as a silver plate, and her eyes were like bright stars; she was dignified and elegant. In terms of pure beauty, she was one of the few who could rival Li Chaoge.
Even more striking was the woman's uncontained aura of spiritual power—she was actually at the perfection of the First Realm, possessing over nine hundred cauldrons of spiritual power.