northernbook Chapter 550
Chapter 550
"It's the Xuanlin Python guarding the spirit plant!" Ye Jiuchen's silver needle grazed the python's head, sparking a string of sparks on its scales. As Dongfang Wan'er's soft whip wrapped around its jaws, she suddenly noticed a shattered jade slip in the center of the python's eye—the evil object left behind by the man in black. The young wolf's sharp teeth bit into the python's neck at its seven-inch mark, but the tough scales made it whimper. In a moment of panic, she threw the Spirit Heart Grass leaves from her bosom into the air. The dark blue grass leaves transformed into thousands of points of light in the sunlight, all of which burrowed into the patterns on the python's body.
The python suddenly let out a deafening wail, and the scales contaminated by the jade slip began to peel away, revealing newly grown pale blue skin beneath. Dongfang Wan'er saw Ye Jiuchen seize the opportunity to shoot out the last three silver needles, piercing its eyes and brow respectively. Where the silver light flashed, the fragments of the jade slip in the python's eyes shattered instantly. The enormous body crashed into the sea of clouds, the resulting spray carrying countless luminous seeds that drifted away in all directions with the golden light of the rising sun.
"It... is controlled by evil spirits." Ye Jiuchen slumped to the ground, staring at the lingering light of the Spirit Heart Grass in his palm. "Those specks of light just now were the secret realm purifying its wounds." Dongfang Wan'er then noticed that the bloodstains on the boy's chest had been soaked by dewdrops from the vines, the glistening droplets seeping into the skin along the wounds, stopping the bleeding and promoting tissue regeneration. The wolf cub rubbed against her knee, bringing her a Spirit Heart Grass leaf covered in morning dew, the patterns on the leaf exactly matching those on the water python's scales.
The sea of clouds transformed into a shimmering hue in the morning sun, and a crystal archway stretched towards a floating island in the distance, where spiritual plants swayed gently in the breeze. Dongfang Wan'er helped Ye Jiuchen to his feet, feeling his fingertips subtly hook around her little finger, casting dappled shadows in the morning light. The young man gazed at the countless seeds of light drifting in the sky and suddenly chuckled softly, "Perhaps every scar is a way for light to find its way in."
She looked up at him and saw that the rising sun had already leaped above the sea, gilding his silhouette with a warm gold. The bloodstains and wounds that had once brought her to tears now appeared gentle yet resilient in the light. The vines beneath her feet swayed gently again, this time producing a clear, bell-like sound—it turned out that, unnoticed, the vines of the arched bridge had blossomed with tiny silver flowers, each stamen holding a singing dewdrop.
“Next time, it’ll be my turn to protect you,” she whispered, placing a Spirit Heart Grass leaf in his palm. The wolf cub howled and ran ahead, startling a swarm of butterflies made of light. As they crossed the last crystal pillar, the arched bridge behind them gradually disappeared into the sea of clouds, leaving only the purified spirit plants swaying gently in the morning breeze, as if telling yet another story of courage and compassion!
In late spring, leaden-gray clouds floated on the horizon. Ye Jiuchen's sword sheath trembled slightly, his fingertips touching the mermaid teardrop swaying in Dongfang Wan'er's hair, its faint blue light making the lines on his palm flicker. As the third vermilion-feathered bird took flight from the blood-red reeds, the floating island finally peeked through a crack in the clouds, its bluish-gray rocks shimmering with a mercury-like spiritual light, forming an ancient spirit-gathering array.
"Watch your step." Ye Jiuchen grasped Dongfang Wan'er's slender wrist and pulled her closer into his dark, wide sleeves. The moment they stepped into the formation, a clear, melodious sound of jade striking each other suddenly rang out between heaven and earth. Thousands of spiritual energies, like fine spring rain, penetrated her clothes. The ice silkworm armor around Dongfang Wan'er's neck shimmered, and the cuffs, which were stained with the juice of spiritual plants, gradually became clean and new under the cleansing power of the spiritual energy.
The sound of flowing water came from the depths of the island, but it was no ordinary stream. The two pushed aside the fluorescent ferns that were taller than a person, and the scene before them was breathtaking—a crimson spiritual plant resembling coral was emitting flame-like halos, and the dew that condensed on the edges of its leaves transformed into swimming golden-scaled fish after falling; nine warm jade beads hung from the dark vines that resembled ancient zithers, each bead containing a fine spring rain; most strangely, there was a towering glass tree, with countless rhomboid dust particles suspended between its branches, each reflecting a different starry sky.
"Silence." Ye Jiuchen suddenly pressed down on Dongfang Wan'er's hand, which was about to touch the spiritual plant, his fingertips touching the pulse beating in her wrist. In the shadows to the west, the moonlight was shattered into tiny silver foils, and a figure dressed in black tight-fitting clothes walked through the air like a night owl, the nine-section whip hanging at his waist still covered with fresh spiritual plant juice, gleaming with a dark golden hue in the twilight.
"Who dares to trespass into the Illusionary Spirit Realm?" The man flicked three glowing silver needles from his fingertips, grazing Ye Jiuchen's ear and embedding them into the tree trunk behind him. The needles, under the influence of spiritual energy, sprouted tiny vines that instantly entwined the tree trunk into a verdant cage. Dongfang Wan'er saw the cinnabar mole at the corner of the man's left eye, visible beneath his veil, and alarm bells rang in her mind—it was "Poison Shadow," a name on the black market's bounty list, rumored to possess whip techniques capable of triggering the deadly poisons of spiritual plants.
Ye Jiuchen whirled and drew his sword, the dragon-like cry startling several star butterflies perched among the fluorescent flowers. But at that moment, a snow-white figure suddenly darted out from the spiritual plants. The wet nose of the wolf cub brushed against the boot of the Poison Shadow, the silver bell around its neck jingling softly. The Poison Shadow's nine-section whip abruptly froze in mid-air, moonlight illuminating the shock that exploded in his pupils: "Little White? How did you...?"
The wolf cub tilted its head back, letting out a whimper characteristic of young animals. Its front paws clung to Poison Shadow's trouser leg, revealing a crescent-shaped scar on its belly—the very same crescent-shaped scar from the mural in the island lord's study depicting the missing spirit wolf. Poison Shadow abruptly ripped off his veil, revealing an old mark on his left cheek, similar in shape to the wolf cub's scar: "Three years ago, when I accompanied my master to the mortal realm to exorcise demons... it still remembers me." His voice trembled as his fingertips traced the wolf cub's earlobe, and the vines of the silver needles in his sleeve suddenly withered into ashes.
Upon learning of the two's efforts to purify the Xuanlin Python, Poison Shadow knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the fluffy head of the young wolf. "The Xuanlin Python's reverse scale on its spine is something even its master wouldn't easily touch..." He looked up, his eyes reddening. Suddenly, he untied the jade token hanging from his waist; the four characters "Illusionary Spirit Attendant" flickered in his spiritual energy on the back. "Please come with me to see the Island Lord. If we're late, that thousand-year-old snow ginseng might peck the new Crane Boy bald."
As she passed through three archways made of spiritual plants, Dongfang Wan'er caught a faint scent of agarwood. The island lord sat in a bamboo pavilion floating on the lake, his long, snow-white beard reaching his knees, teasing a group of transparent, bubble-blowing fish with a withered branch. Upon hearing about the Xuanlin Python, the old man's withered branch suddenly snapped, a starlight gleaming in his eyes: "Compassion combined with swift and decisive action, truly rare." He raised his hand, summoning a wisp of spiritual energy, and a golden ancient book appeared on the lake's surface. "Back when I was slaying demons on Qingming Mountain, I also encountered a similar spiritual poison..."
Three days later, as the dawn painted the edge of the floating island crimson, Dongfang Wan'er gazed at the snow ginseng seedling wrapped in ice silk in her arms, sensing the cultivation insights flowing within the jade slip. Ye Jiuchen tied a jade pendant engraved with a spirit-gathering array around the young wolf's neck, but Xiaobai bit his sleeve, pulling him towards the island lord. The old man stood amidst the swirling clouds, hands behind his back, smiling. Suddenly, two cranes folded from gold foil flew from his sleeve: "If you encounter wind and snow on the road ahead, call upon them."
The moment the spirit boat pierced the clouds, Dongfang Wan'er looked back; the floating island had already transformed into a glimmer of light on the horizon. Ye Jiuchen's sword tassel brushed against the back of her hand, carrying the refreshing scent of the island's spiritual dew. The wolf cub crouched at the bow, gazing at the surging sea of clouds below, and suddenly let out a clear howl—from the more distant horizon, the faint sound of a dragon's roar could be heard, startling countless fireflies into flight.