After I stopped trying, a rich woman trained me into a demon emperor.

As the golden needles entered the array, the light in the hall suddenly dimmed, and the flames of all the candles were stretched by an invisible force and completely disappeared into the needles.

The entire Zixiao Palace was plunged into darkness, with only the grooves of the Nine Palaces Array on the ground flowing with warm golden light due to the presence of the nine ancient golden needles, weaving into a golden spider web covering the palace.

Xu Yun formed a sword with his fingers and pointed it from afar.

The first golden needle detached itself, vibrated slightly in mid-air, and quietly disappeared into the surface of the Yin-gathering banner.

Inside the banner, Li Zhiyao's soul light trembled violently, then contracted inward, and wisps of black energy were forcibly peeled away from the banner surface.

The black mist transformed into a tangible, turbid stream, meandering across the ground before being drawn by the array patterns and flowing into the four bronze urns at the corners of the palace.

This is the gloomy and turbid energy she has accumulated over two thousand years.

The second and third stitches followed in quick succession.

Li Zhiyao's soul outline gradually emerged from a chaotic blue light, and the details of her facial features, hair, and clothing became clearer inch by inch.

Zhou Ran stood at the edge of the formation, the dragon core in his arms remaining silent and unresponsive.

Until the sixth stitch.

Xu Yun's withered fingers had just come together, but he had not yet activated the needle technique.

The dragon core beside the silver needle, which had remained dormant, suddenly throbbed without warning.

A wisp of dragon energy overflowed on its own, transforming into a thin, dark blue stream on the ground, which followed the array patterns and headed straight for Li Zhiyao's soul.

Xu Yun's fingers, which were about to activate the needle's intent, paused in mid-air.

He stared at the dragon energy flowing on its own, and in his cloudy old eyes was an expression that seemed to have seen through everything.

"really."

Xu Yun muttered to himself in a low voice.

Zhou Ran frowned slightly:

"What do you mean, 'as expected'?"

Xu Yun did not answer immediately, but closed his eyes and inserted the sixth golden needle into the soul.

The golden needle pierced precisely into the heart of Li Zhiyao's soul.

When the dragon's energy touched the golden needle, a deep dragon's roar echoed in the hall, and the roof tiles trembled softly.

"This dragon's aura recognizes her."

Xu Yun opened his eyes and looked at Zhou Ran.

"It wasn't that the dragon pill was tainted by her aura."

Rather, the very source of this dragon energy has a connection with her that is far more ancient than you can imagine.

Zhou Ran's mind raced.

I recalled the old dragon's gaze as it spewed elixir from the riverbed, its eyes fixed on the direction of the Yin-Gathering Banner...

It was a complex expression of recognizing an old friend.

The seventh stitch.

Eighth stitch.

The outline of Li Zhiyao's soul body has been completely solidified, and her features are clearly visible.

His eyebrows were like swords, his eyes were slanted at the corners, and his lips naturally carried a hint of coldness.

It's the kind of beauty that exudes a sharp edge and aloofness even in its slumber.

Ninth stitch.

Xu Yun formed a hand seal and flicked his ten fingers in quick succession.

Nine golden needles resonated simultaneously inside and outside the soul, the true meaning of Taoism and the energy of the dragon merged, transforming into a layer of azure light cocoon, completely enveloping Li Zhiyao's soul.

The cocoon of light throbbed powerfully three times.

Then, it cracked open inch by inch.

A female phantom composed of azure rainbow light slowly rose from the Yin Gathering Banner and hovered three feet above the center of the formation.

In the interplay of light and shadow, Li Zhiyao's figure was no longer blurred at all. Her long hair fluttered without wind, and the surrounding air became crisp and clear because of her, carrying with it a chilling aura that kept people at a distance.

She opened her eyes.

Those eyes fell on Zhou Ran, but there was no gratitude as others had expected, nor tears of joy at surviving a disaster.

There was only a lazy, top-down look.

"You look a little bit better than when you pulled me out of the water."

Zhou Ran remained unmoved.

Li Zhiyao's gaze did not linger on him for long, but instead swept across the main hall, looked at Xu Yun, looked at the nine golden needles, and finally lowered her head to examine her translucent hands.

"Nine-Turn Resurrection Needle, well done."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was clear and bright.

"Xu Yun, you old Taoist priest, you haven't ruined my things."

Xu Yun stroked his white beard, not annoyed, but instead smiled:

"Li girl, when you left behind the acupuncture techniques, did you say you would use them on yourself?"

"Yes, I said so."

Li Zhiyao's response was very bland.

"It's just that your ancestor thought I was joking at the time."

The conversation inside the hall was thus interrupted.

Zhou Ran broke the strange atmosphere:

"Has the soul stabilized?"

"temporary."

When Li Zhiyao answered, her gaze fell on the Taihuang scale pattern on his left arm.

For the first time, a change appeared in her indifferent eyes—an inquisitive look that finally settled on Zhou Ran.

"But the Nine-Turn Resurrection Needle can only solidify the soul, not the body."

I need a physical body.

She paused for a moment, her ethereal gaze shifting from Zhou Ran to the dragon core on the table.

"Or, use the core essence of the Jiao Dan, with dragon energy as the bone, to recast the spiritual body."

This is much safer than finding an ordinary physical body.

Zhou Ran then said directly:

"Your life has been saved."

"I still have a use for the core essence of the Jiao Dan; you're next in line."

Anyone who heard this would probably feel dissatisfied.

Li Zhiyao smiled.

When she laughed, the eerie aura intensified, and coupled with her semi-transparent soul form, she truly resembled a female ghost who had just crawled out of a grave and was about to dance on broken bone flowers under the moonlight.

"I've waited two thousand years."

she says,

"It won't make a difference if you stay a few days."

"However, Zhou Ran."

Her voice suddenly lowered, and her spirit floated to Zhou Ran's shoulder, close to his ear.

You'd better hurry.

I have a bad temper; if I get impatient, I'll bite.

Her breath had no physical form, yet it sent a chill down Zhou Ran's spine.

He simply turned his head away, avoiding the chilling aura, and spoke provocatively:

"You don't even have a physical form yet, so who are you going to bite?"

He thought to himself, "This crazy woman hasn't changed at all."

Li Zhiyao remained silent, her soul transforming into a wisp of blue light and retreating back into the Yin Gathering Banner. She then uttered a single sentence from within the banner:

"Old Master Xuyun, please thank your ancestor for me."

This debt is now settled.

Xu Yun looked at the blue light within the Gathering Yin Banner, which had quieted down again, and shook his head.

"This girl, two thousand years have passed, and her temper hasn't changed a bit."

Zhou Ran put away the Yin-Gathering Banner and was about to leave the main hall when Xu Yun called him back.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou."

Xu Yun's voice was still old, but in the empty hall, every word was exceptionally clear.

"I sensed the divinely bestowed elixir in your dantian when I was applying acupuncture."

Xu Yun sat cross-legged on the spot, his cloudy old eyes revealing a sharp glint between them.

"The Great Wilderness, the True Dragon, and the Heavenly Tribulation coexist in three forms."

Such quality is unprecedented.

but……"

He extended a withered, bony finger.

"That is why all the common methods of forming the elixir in the world are dead ends for you."

The orthodox Taoist school emphasizes pure Yang energy, but your body contains residual demonic energy, which is incompatible with water and fire.

The Demonic Sect requires a large amount of turbid energy to form its core, which your Primordial Origin will automatically reject.

not to mention......

There is also the power of Buddhist vows.

Zhou Ran asked:

"In the Sutra Repository of Longhu Mountain..."

"no."

Xu Yun's response immediately extinguished his thoughts.

"The old Taoist has lived for 237 years and has read no less than a hundred methods of forming the elixir."

"None of them can enlighten your three-colored elixir embryo."

He looked at Zhou Ran and slowed down his speech.

"Your path is not in the scripture pavilion of Longhu Mountain."

It's not even mentioned in the scriptures of any sect in the human world.

Zhou Ran didn't ask any more questions. After standing still for a moment, he turned around and walked out of the Zixiao Palace.

Outside the hall, the evening breeze of Longhu Mountain wafted through layers of pine forest, carrying the bitter fragrance of pine resin.

There are no roads inside the library.

Then forge your own path.

He carefully put the Yin-Gathering Banner away from his body, and his fingertips accidentally touched a black iron jar in his arms, the jar wall radiating warmth.

This temperature did not originate from the dragon corpse powder inside the jar.

It came from the one he always carried with him...

The seeds of white mystery.