"Pain, pain, pain... Master, could you please be gentle? I'm not fawning, I'm donating blood!"
Chu Xuan bared his teeth, his fingertip cut by the ice blade, and the blood droplet rolled down and dropped onto the "Mountain and River Together" jade seal, instantly giving rise to crimson gold mist.
Ling Qingxue held the ice blade, her ears slightly red, but her tone was as cold as snow: "Don't shout randomly. I haven't officially taken you as my disciple yet." "
"Oh? Then who just said down the mountain, 'He's mine'? So many people are listening. A great immortal can't break his promise."
"... Shut up and focus on contracting."
The jade seal hung between the two, like a little heart, thumping, thumping, every beat of the surrounding spirit. All the runes on the stone wall lit up, golden threads covered the ground and converged into a huge Taiji diagram, enclosing Chu Xuan and Ling Qingxue in the center.
"Next step?" Chu Xuan licked his dry lips.
"Relax your mind and let my consciousness in." Ling Qingxue took a deep breath, her fingertip touched her brow, and a wisp of ice-blue consciousness emerged, like a wisp of smoke, or like a little snow dragon. "Don't resist, or we'll both become ice sculptures."
"Don't worry, I'm one hundred percent open to you - including my heart."
"Keep talking nonsense and I'll really freeze you."
The ice-blue consciousness plunged into the sea of Chu Xuan consciousness and was instantly enveloped by a warm force. Chu Xuan seemed to hear a "ding", as if someone had pushed open a door in the farthest distance. The next moment, the double lotus within him emerged on its own, its petals opening layer upon layer, lifting the jade seal into the air.
At the same time, an illusory ice sword emerged behind Ling Qingxue. The word "Cold Star" was engraved on the blade. The tip of the sword trembled slightly and made a crisp sound as if responding to some kind of call.
"Blood as the lead, consciousness as the thread, the three vows of the Dao, the first oath - equality!"
Chu Xuan raised his hand, and the second drop of blood landed on the Taiji Yin Eye.
"Second vow - symbiosis!"
Ling Qingxue cuts her fingertip, blood drops roll into Yang Eye.
"Third oath - Guarding!"
Both of them spoke at the same time, their voices overlapping like two strings being plucked, and their frequencies synchronizing instantly.
Boom --
The Tai Chi diagram spins at high speed, interweaving ice blue and crimson gold light into a piercing beam of light that directly shatters the rock layers above the forbidden ground. Before the rubble could fall, it was crushed into dust by the spirit. The entire main peak of Qingyun began to tremble, and the spirit veins, like awakened dragons, let out a low growl.
...
Halfway up the mountain, Li Guanhai had just returned to the main hall of the sect master, his bottom not yet warmed up when he felt a violent shaking under his feet. He rushed to the terrace and saw a hundred-foot beam of light rising from the forbidden area at the back of the mountain, with ice and fire swirling around, so rich in spiritual energy that it was visible to the naked eye, forming a huge vortex that made a hole in the night sky.
"That is... Forbidden direction? !"
The elders beside him all turned pale: "Master, the spiritual vein has been activated!" If this continues, the main peak array will collapse!"
Li Guanhai's eyes twitched and he growled, "Ling Qingxue, what on earth are you doing!"
...
In the depths of the forbidden area, Chu Xuan had no time to care about what others thought. He was immersed in a mysterious state - as if every pore of his body had turned into a small mouth, frantically devouring the spiritual energy around him. In the dantian, the double lotus bloomed, withered, and bloomed again at a visible speed to the naked eye. With each cycle, it gushed out a vast amount of spiritual liquid and poured it into every limb.
Click!
The first crack appears in the foundation barrier.
Click!
Second, third... Blinking spreads all over the body.
Ling Qingxue was equally uncomfortable. She was highly cultivated, but the impact was even greater. The ice-blue spirit energy was like being boiled in a fire, boiling, vaporizing, and then condensing into purer Cold Star Spirit liquid. She clearly felt that the love demon, which had haunted her for three thousand years, was being melted little by little by a gentle yet firm force.
"Chu Xuan..." She called out softly, her voice softer than ever before.
"I'm here." The young man replied straightforwardly, like a freshly drawn sword, with a blazing edge.
"Don't stop, go a little faster."
"All right, sit tight!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Xuan suddenly stepped on the ground, his primordial spirit body fully activated, and the Tai Chi mark on his chest shone brightly. Boom - The whirlpool of spiritual energy went wild in an instant, like a thousand wild horses breaking free from their REINS, galloping down the beam of light and pouring into the two of them.
Snap - Bang!
The Foundation barrier is completely shattered, and Chu Xuan's aura soars straight up: Foundation one, two, three... It was not until the peak of the sixth level that it gradually stabilized. The twin lotus transformed into a lotus platform of ice and fire, hanging in the center of the dantian, spinning and dripping, and with each turn, pure spiritual liquid spilled.
Ling Qingxue opened her eyes at the same time. The ice blue in her eyes was deeper, but no longer cold, like a warm sun rising from the snowfield. She exhaled a wisp of stale air, which condensed into ice crystals and fell to the ground into stardust - the demon of heartbreak was dissolved.
How do you feel? Chu Xuan tilted his head, laughing so hard that his teeth were not visible.
"Like... Come back to life." Ling Qingxue lowered her head and looked at the two still touching fingertips, her ears slightly red but not moved away. "What about you?"
"Me?" Awesome! Just a little hungry." Chu Xuan rubbed his stomach, his dantian was full of spirit fluid, but his stomach seemed to be half empty. "When I go down the mountain later, I have to eat three bowls of spirit rice."
Ling Qingxue chuckled, and in an instant the ice and snow melted, and the beauty was beyond description: "I'll be with you."
...
The light column gradually subsided, the spirit vein subsided, and the forbidden area returned to silence. But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, a deep, long bell rang out in the distant direction of Kunlun
Thump --
Like crossing the ages, hitting the soul directly.
Chu Xuan and Ling Qingxue looked at each other, and at the same time saw shock in each other's eyes: that bell, they had heard in the stone wall illusion - the "Kunlun bell" rung by the first generation of Daoist contract holders!
"The ancient heritage... Is it going to start early?" Ling Qingxue murmured.
Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes, the jade mark in his palm burning slightly, as if responding to the bell. He took a deep breath, revealing his signature tiger tooth smile: "It seems we've just signed the contract and the honeymoon trip is already arranged."
"Honeymoon?"
"It's an exclusive adventure for Daoist lovers, including food and accommodation, and advanced stages."
"..." Ling Qingxue shook her head, but couldn't help curling the corners of her mouth. "All right, then go to Kunlun."
She raised her hand, and the ice-blue spiritual power turned into a water mirror, in which the shadow of the Kunlun mountains was faintly visible, and the bell rang again, as if calling.
Chu Xuan stretched his body, his knuckles crackling, his eyes burning with war intent: "Come on, go and ring their bells, and by the way - pick up some treasures."
"Thump --"
The second chime rolled across the night sky, causing the myriad lamps of the Qingyun Sect to sway. Chu Xuan rubbed his ears and grinned at Ling Qingxue: "This bell has a bad temper and is trying to answer?"
Ling Qingxue raised her hand to make a sign, the water mirror rippled and reflected the summit of Kunlun Mountain - the peak that was originally covered with snow all year round, now the golden light was shining, an ancient gate's shadow slowly emerged, a thin purple-blue mist gushed from the crack of the door, like a giant beast opening its mouth.
"The secret realm has appeared ahead of time." She lowered her voice. "The bell has rung nine times, and now it's only the second. There are still seven days."
"Seven days..." Chu Xuan counted on his fingers, "Enough for me to eat and drink and then break through a little bit."
"Don't be poor." Ling Qingxue waved her ice sleeve and the water mirror turned into flowing light. "The sect master and the elder will be here at once. You come down the mountain with me first and hold the situation steady."
Before he could finish speaking, a whistling sound came through the air. Li Guanhai came with his sword, his robe flapping, his face darker than the soles of his shoes, and the seven elders behind him each held magical weapons, flashing flashes of spirit, looking as if he were going to confront the crime.
"Ling Qingxue!" Li Guanhai's voice came before he arrived. "The spiritual vein of the forbidden land is moving. How do you explain it?"
Chu Xuan stepped forward and stood in front of the woman, laughing with sharp teeth and sharp mouth: "Master, the spiritual vein just sneezed. Don't be nervous."
"Be presumptuous!" The white-browed elder shouted angrily, "Little Foundation Building, dare to butt in?"
Chu Xuan blinked his eyes, and with a flip of his palm, the Ice and Fire Lotus Platform emerged, and the six layers of spiritual pressure of the foundation burst with a roar. Heat and cold currents interwove and blew the beards of several elders flutters.
"Sorry, just upgraded, I'm not sure about the force." He laughed in a harmless way.
Li Guanhai's pupils constricted, his gaze fixed on the pale gold mark between Chu Xuan's eyebrows, his voice tightened: "The mark of the Dao contract? The two of you... A contract?"
"Yes." Ling Qingxue's voice was cold but resounding. "From today on, Chu Xuan is the Daoist of the Qingyun Sect, with the same respect as me, seeing the seal is like seeing the patriarch."
"Absurd!" Li Guanhai's sleeves flapped. "A cross-camp contract against ancestral precepts! Do you still see the family rules?
"Ancestral precepts?" Ling Qingxue raised her hand, the ice-blue jade pendant hanging from her fingertips, shining brightly, "the ancestral token is here, the ancestral precepts are written by me."
The air froze instantly. The elders looked at each other and none dared to approach. Li Guanhai's face turned ashen and he was about to speak again when he heard a cry from a disciple in the distance --
Look! In the direction of Kunlun, the third bell!
Thump --
The third bell rolled across the night sky, sharper and brighter than the first two, shaking people's souls. Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes and saw that the purple-blue mist on the top of Kunlun had suddenly thickened, and the gate's shadow had opened three more parts, with the faint shadow of a crane circling.
"The secret realm opened seven days earlier, and now there are only six days left." Ling Qingxue said in a low voice, "Master, if you want to stop me, ask the ancestral token first."
Li Guanhai's eyes twitched. After a while, he blew his sleeve and snorted coldly: "Good! Six days later, Kunlun Grand Ceremony, if you two can't come up with a reason that convinces the world, don't blame this sect master for cleaning up the sect!"
With these words, he left with his sword. Several elders hurriedly followed. Before leaving, the white-browed elder did not forget to glare at Chu Xuan, who waved goodbye with a smile.
...
As the bells faded away, the forbidden area returned to silence. Chu Xuan stretched his body, turned back and raised an eyebrow at Ling Qingxue: "Master, was I handsome just now?"
Ling Qingxue put away the jade pendant, the corner of her mouth curved slightly: "Just passable."
"Just passable? Chu Xuan wailed, "I'm moving myself to tears."
"Come less." Ling Qingxue raised her hand and tapped his forehead with her ice finger. "In six days, Kunlun will gather, the Heavenly Dao Pavilion, the Demon Race, and the Demon Realm will all be present. Your level of cultivation is not even enough for one of their fingers."
Chu Xuan rubbed his forehead, laughing with confidence: "Then take advantage of these six days to ascend a few more levels."
"Greedy." Ling Qingxue shook her head, but couldn't help curling the corners of her eyes, "but... I like it."
She turned, her white dress swept across the starlight, and her voice drifted far away: "Go down the mountain, eat, and then retreat. For these six days, I'll supervise the practice myself."
Chu Xuan's eyes lit up: "Meals? Then I'd like three bowls of spirit rice, braised spirit beast hooves, and a pot of ice and fire mandarin duck soup!"
"I ask for a lot."
"Master is the best!"
"... Shut up."
The two figures moved further and further away, and the forbidden ice crystals quietly recombined as if they had never cracked. But on the summit of Kunlun, the fourth ring of the bell had already rumbled down.