Chapter 483

Chapter 483: Asking Senior To Lend Me a Hand!
A clear voice rang out over the sea of fire. It was Su Qing Wan, shouting: “Fatty, make your heart and mind one!”

She and Bai Yuan had known each other for many years and were good friends.

Seeing Bai Yuan hanging between life and death, she could not help calling out a reminder.

But before she even finished speaking, the chain under her own feet also began to sway in small arcs.

She hurriedly drew back her wandering thoughts and silently chanted her heart formula.

Thanks to Su Qing Wan’s reminder, Bai Yuan forced himself to push down the panic and irritation in his heart. After a while, the shaking slowly grew weaker.

Having escaped death, Bai Yuan was full of relief and lingering fear.

The others, who had been watching him, also pulled back their gazes and looked forward again, only to be shocked to find that Yu Zhao had already walked deep into the fire sea and had become only a tiny black dot at the edge of their vision.

Lu Jiu Yuan was stunned.

[Between Yu Zhao and me, who is supposed to be the Void Refining cultivator again?]

How was it that even here, inside the Eye of Bi Fang, Yu Zhao was still a step ahead of him?

Holding that mix of doubt and frustration in his chest, he quickened his steps.

But after only a few strides, the chain under his feet began to sway in protest, forcing him to slow down.

By the time he looked up again, Yu Zhao had already vanished from sight.

In truth, Yu Zhao, who was at the very front, was not as relaxed as Lu Jiu Yuan and the others thought.

When she entered the Eye of Bi Fang, she had another task in mind.

As she went deeper, she could feel her soul going through a slow transformation.

This transformation was like gentle rain that soaked everything quietly.

If she did not focus on it, it would have been hard to notice.

But Yu Zhao wanted more than that.

She bowed her head slightly and spoke in a low voice that echoed over the flames: “Bi Fang Divine Bird, Senior, this junior Yu Zhao begs you: please lend me a hand and remove the chains that were forced onto this junior’s soul.”

Yu Zhao was not sure at all that the Bi Fang Divine Bird would answer her.

The Bi Fang Divine Bird was willing to guard an entire realm and even gave special rewards to cultivators who entered the Eye of Bi Fang. It should be a being with a broad heart that embraced all living things.

And the chain was formed from the will of the Bi Fang Divine Bird itself.

Maybe, through her words, it could sense Yu Zhao’s true sincerity.

Her voice spread far across the sea of fire.

After a long silence, Yu Zhao gave a bitter shake of her head.

[As expected, I was thinking too much.]

Since there was no response, she could only gamble.

The moment she made up her mind, Yu Zhao cut off the connection between herself and the Array Token.

The barrier that had been circling around her body shattered at once. The surging fire sea rushed toward her like a tide, blocking all paths of retreat.

Yu Zhao gathered all her Spirit Power to shield her body and withdrew all protection from her soul.

Her plan was to restore the link with the Array Token in the very next breath after the flames started burning her soul.

She was gambling that, within that one breath, the Otherworldly Flame would be able to burn through the connection between her and the Jade Ruyi.

However, the moment the fire licked at her soul, Yu Zhao regretted it.

She had never expected the pain of a burning soul to be this strong.

The agony went far past what her body could endure. To her horror, she found that she could not restore her connection with the Array Token at all.

Just when she thought she would die here in the fire sea, a long cry suddenly rang out inside her mind.

Then, the Antler Imprint that had been quiet in her Sea of Consciousness for so long suddenly lit up and blocked the Otherworldly Flame from her soul.

Yu Zhao seized the chance at once and reactivated the Array Token.

Right then, another cry echoed.

From deep within the sea of fire came a low humming sound, as if something were answering the Fortune Beast’s call.

Right after that, a blinding pillar of fire shot up from the depths of the sea and turned into the phantom of a giant flaming divine bird.

The bird spread its wings, covering the sky and the sun. Its outline actually overlapped with the shape of the Divine Mountain.

With a single beat of its wings, a wave of fierce flame swept out and wrapped Yu Zhao inside.

Yu Zhao felt her entire body heat up, as if she had been thrown into a furnace. Strangely, though, she did not feel a burning pain, but a soft, warm power.

That power traveled once around her body, then sank into her Sea of Consciousness and went straight to the depths of her soul.

In the next moment, the Jade Ruyi hanging on her chest began to tremble wildly.

At last, she could clearly feel that faint yet unbreakable link between her and the Jade Ruyi.

No wonder she had not been able to find it before. That thin green light was almost fused with her soul and was very hard to separate.

A sharp cry rang out.

Yu Zhao’s mind went blank. Her body swayed on the chain, as if she could fall at any moment.

Then, a great force slammed into her soul again.

The tearing pain that spread through her whole body felt as if her soul was being ripped apart. Her consciousness snapped awake all at once, and she almost cried out.

She bit down hard on her lower lip. Bright red blood slowly ran down, but she did not make a sound. She did not even notice how her fingernails dug deep into her palms.

Compared to the torment on her soul, the pain of her flesh was nothing at all.

She did not know how much time passed. Her soul was numb, and her body was almost without feeling. She had even started to give up hope of ever breaking the binding when the Jade Ruyi suddenly slipped free from her body and floated before her eyes.

Yu Zhao stared blankly at the Jade Ruyi. Then wild joy surged up from her heart.

She and this damned Jade Ruyi were finally unbound!

She carefully checked her body again and stared in surprise.

Her soul was now much stronger than before. It was not just more solid. Even her Sea of Consciousness had grown by almost half.

The pain from the Otherworldly Flame burning her soul vanished at once, leaving no trace behind, as if it had never existed.

Just when Yu Zhao thought everything was over, a tongue of fire leapt up from the sea below and wrapped around the Jade Ruyi’s jade body in a flash.

This was the Bifang Sacred Flame. It could burn all things under heaven. How could a Magical Artifact refined by a cultivator hope to resist it?

The Jade Ruyi melted in the flames at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into a ball of clear, crystal-like liquid.

Before Yu Zhao could react, the liquid rushed forward and wrapped her from head to toe.

A cool power flowed into her body through her seven orifices and finally merged completely with her soul.

When the last trace of liquid merged into her, Yu Zhao’s body shook hard. Before her eyes, a scene appeared.

She saw a young woman forging an artifact.

The Magical Artifact in the furnace was the very same Jade Ruyi that had just been turned into liquid.

Sadly, the young woman’s face was covered tightly by a ghost-like mask, hiding everything but her eyes, which flickered with the light of the flames.

Yu Zhao stared without blinking, trying to find more clues from the woman’s every movement. But the image quickly burst like a bubble, leaving only darkness behind.

Yu Zhao felt a bit of regret.

She had a strong feeling that this person was closely tied to the Auspicious Palace.

If she could learn this woman’s identity, she might be able to dig out the secrets of the Auspicious Palace.

Helpless, she put away her wandering thoughts and focused back on herself.

She sent out her Divine Sense and was delighted to find that her cultivation level had already broken through to the Mid Divine Transformation Stage.

Not only that, but her body also seemed to have changed.

Before, under the daily nourishment of the Jade Ruyi, her skin had been white as snow and so tender it seemed it would break at a touch. It was beautiful, but it had no real value.

Now, the skin under her fingertips had a kind of toughness she had never felt before. It was like armor that could not be broken. Even a thousand blades slashing at it would find it hard to leave a mark.

Surprise after surprise went far beyond what Yu Zhao had expected.

She bowed slightly toward the fire sea and said with sincere gratitude: “Many thanks to you two Seniors for fulfilling my wish.”