Bai Shuangshuang gave up.
She had to admit she had underestimated how troublesome this cluster of Red-Gold Flame was.
To be fair, it wasn’t really her fault—this was already the highest-tier resource she could mobilize at the moment.
Besides, raising a cluster of Red-Gold Flame inside one’s Dantian was something that had never happened before in the entire cultivation world.
She had no idea how to handle it either.
After mulling it over, Bai Shuangshuang had to resort to a rather unorthodox method.
Who said a Dao Seed had to be condensed right in the center of the Dantian?
I can’t mess with this boss in the middle, so I’ll just find a corner and live my own life over there, right?
She stopped trying to feed the flame and instead carefully guided her Spiritual Qi, squeezing it into the farthest corner of her Dantian.
That spot was furthest from the Red-Gold Flame; maybe she could avoid its notice, quietly condense a Dao Seed, and then both sides could leave each other alone.
The Spiritual Qi had just squeezed in, not even compressed yet.
The Red-Gold Flame shot out like a jackal that had caught the scent of meat.
No—it wasn’t just the flame.
It was the fire in the entire Dantian, spreading everywhere in a blazing tide.
Red-gold flames filled every corner of her Dantian, burning through Spiritual Qi, burning through meridians, burning through acupoints… then spreading backward along the meridians.
Bai Shuangshuang’s pupils suddenly constricted.
‘It hurts hurts hurts!!’
Every single pore on her body was screaming in pain.
Starting from the Dantian, this cluster of red-gold flames surged upward along the meridians, all the way to her fingertips, all the way to the top of her head…
She clenched her teeth, but still couldn’t hold back a suppressed groan.
A mouthful of dark red blood burst from Bai Shuangshuang’s lips.
She simply couldn’t endure this all-pervasive torment any longer.
“Bai Shuangshuang?!”
Zhao Qingyue’s voice came from beside her, laced with obvious panic.
Bai Shuangshuang wanted to answer her, opened her mouth, but couldn’t get a single word out.
Because her entire body was really burning—that wasn’t a metaphor.
Firelight shone through from inside her body.
She looked like a lit lantern.
The light grew brighter, the color deeper, until finally it became a faintly divine red-gold.
Divine?
She paid for it with her life.
“Bai Shuangshuang!”
Zhao Qingyue panicked.
She shot to her feet and lunged forward.
A wave of heat hit her in the face, like an invisible wall, pushing her back.
She lunged forward again and was forced back again.
Her face was flushed red from the heat, but she still gritted her teeth and tried to break through.
Qiu Yue watched from the side, wanting to say something but not daring to.
So which one of these two was who?
The pain on Bai Shuangshuang’s face grew more intense.
Her brow was furrowed, her lips pale as paper, and her fingertips trembled uncontrollably on her knees.
Her consciousness began to blur…
After the Red-Gold Flame burned up all the Spiritual Qi in her Dantian, it started devouring the Qi she had just guided in.
Even the Spiritual Qi still flowing through her meridians, not yet funneled into the Dantian, was burned clean by the Red-Gold Flame.
The Red-Gold Flame’s devouring speed was over ten times faster than before.
It was like a dry sponge thrown into water, crazily absorbing every water source around it.
Soon, all the surrounding Spiritual Qi was sucked dry.
The Array Patterns dimmed.
The Spirit Jade lost its luster.
The longsword stopped humming.
Within the entire courtyard, even within a hundred zhang radius, every bit of Spiritual Qi was drained clean.
Such thin Spiritual Qi simply couldn’t support that red-gold boss.
But the fire kept burning.
The Red-Gold Flame wouldn’t just go out because it had nothing to eat.
It would find new fuel.
Deep in Bai Shuangshuang’s consciousness, a cold realization suddenly surfaced—if there was no Spiritual Qi to keep the Red-Gold Flame burning, it would start to burn her soul.
She wanted to struggle, but her body no longer obeyed.
Her hands were shaking, her legs were shaking, her whole being was like a leaf caught in a gale, about to be torn apart at any moment.
“She needs Spiritual Qi—”
Qiu Yue finally spoke.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was steady.
After all, she was a proper disciple of an orthodox Immortal Sect; she had some insight.
Zhao Qingyue whipped her head around to look at her.
“I don’t know what that fire is, but it keeps devouring Spiritual Qi!”
Qiu Yue’s gaze fell on Bai Shuangshuang, and her words came faster than usual.
“The Qi around her has been sucked dry. If no new Qi is added, the fire will start burning her. When that happens, no one can save her!”
Zhao Qingyue’s mind went blank for an instant.
Lady Zhao fully understood what Qiu Yue was saying, but…
Spiritual Qi?
Where was she supposed to find Spiritual Qi?
She didn’t understand cultivation, and she didn’t have a habit of stockpiling Spirit Stones.
Even if she ran to find her father right now and urgently mobilized the massive pile of Spirit Stones in the Warehouse, it would be too late by the time she got back.
Her eyes were already red with anxiety.
Qiu Yue hesitated for a moment, then crouched down and pulled a few Spirit Stones from her sleeve.
They were the ones she carried with her—not many, and of average quality, but they were all she had.
She threw the Spirit Stones toward Bai Shuangshuang.
She didn’t really have to do this; no one would blame her.
But the kindness in her bones drove her.
The moment the Spirit Stones hit the ground, they burst into a cloud of Spiritual Qi, like a cup of water thrown into a blazing fire.
The firelight on Bai Shuangshuang’s body dimmed for an instant, then flared up again, brighter than before…
A drop in the bucket.
Qiu Yue bit her lip and reached into her sleeve, but there was nothing left.
She raised her head, met Zhao Qingyue’s gaze, and silently shook her head.
Zhao Qingyue’s eyes were already red and swollen.
She looked at Bai Shuangshuang’s pained face, at her trembling fingers, her tight lips, her breaths growing weaker…
She was so anxious she felt like she might faint.
Then, suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind.
The Bell Seal!
That very seal that had once accompanied her across all the famous mountains and great rivers of the Southern Region, pressing down on the foreheads of countless mountain and river spirits!
The Spiritual Energy in the Southern Region had stagnated, and even after she had enshrined so many spirits, it remained unchanged.
But that Bell Seal—the one she had watched with her own eyes, stamping again and again onto those spirits’ foreheads—surely it still carried some Spiritual Power, right?
Zhao Qingyue turned and bolted straight into the house.
“Hey?! Where are you going?!”
Qiu Yue jumped in alarm.
“Wait!”
Zhao Qingyue rushed inside and started rummaging through everything.
Clothes were thrown all over the floor.
Combs, rouge, hairpins scattered everywhere.
Finally, at the very bottom of the cabinet, she touched that cold, heavy object.
She gripped the Bell Seal, turned, and ran back out.
Qiu Yue was still standing there.
When she saw what was in Zhao Qingyue’s hand, she froze for a moment.
Before she could ask, Zhao Qingyue grabbed her sleeve.
“Help me!”
Qiu Yue nodded.
The two of them combined their spiritual power, pushing against the scorching heat, step by step toward Bai Shuangshuang.
The heat burned so fiercely they couldn’t open their eyes.
Their clothes grew hot to the touch.
Zhao Qingyue walked in front; Qiu Yue followed behind.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither let go.
Finally, they stood before Bai Shuangshuang.
Zhao Qingyue was gasping for air, her hands shaking badly.
But she still raised the Bell Seal steadily.
That seal, which had stamped every mountain and every river in the Southern Region, was lifted high and then brought down gently.
She pressed it against Bai Shuangshuang’s forehead…
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