At the bottom of the phial, Aldric’s remnant soul lay curled within a faint cloud of black mist.
Over these five days, favonovel.com too had borrowed the Aureate Codex’s golden radiance and the essence of the soul-restorative draught to recover a small measure of vitality. The black mist that had once hovered on the edge of dispersal had become a little more solid.
He was still too weak to act, and even forcing out words looked difficult. But at the very least, favonovel.com no longer seemed as though favonovel.com might be wiped out completely at any moment.
Now and then, favonovel.com released the faintest thread of aura, as if passing his thanks to Jared.
Jared sensed it and only gave the slightest nod, saying nothing more. At this moment, every bit of his strength was fixed on restoring his spirit. He understood that only by recovering his strength as quickly as possible would favonovel.com have a chance to remake his body. Only then would favonovel.com have a chance to return to the Sixteenth Firmament and settle the blood debt.
***
At dusk on the fifth day, the last glow of sunset slipped through the hidden chamber’s vent and spilled a thin wash of gold onto the stone dais. It fell across the phial and wove together with the light inside.
Just then, the stone door of the hidden chamber gave a soft creak. Master Wellspring had returned.
When favonovel.com pushed the door open and stepped in, favonovel.com carried the dust and chill of the outside with him. His dark Daoist robe was smeared with mud and bits of grass, and several places had even been torn in fine, narrow rips.
These five days of searching had clearly not gone smoothly. The lines of travel had sunk deep into him. His eye sockets looked hollow, red threads covered the corners of his eyes, and even the white at his temples seemed to have gained a few more strands.
Compared with the last time favonovel.com had gone out to investigate, favonovel.com looked even more worn down. Even so, a faint spark flickered in his eyes, so slight it was almost hidden. It was the light that came after a clue had finally surfaced, after the road ahead had cracked open by even a hair.
Master Wellspring did not stop to rest. He went straight to the stone dais and carefully took the Storage Ring from his waist. Spiritual power stirred at his fingertips, and the weathered holding ring instantly lit with a faint spiritual glow.
From the ring, favonovel.com took out a yellowed hide map.
The material was unusual, warm to the touch. Black sigils traced the shapes of mountains, rivers, and waterways across its surface. Though it was old, and some of the sigils had already blurred, the map’s craftsmanship was still clearly meticulous.
He gently spread the hide map across the stone dais. Once unfolded, it took up a full half of the dais.
The map clearly marked the major mountain ranges, cities, and secret realms of the northern region. One place, marked in red sigils, was Beastmoor Ridge at the uttermost edge of the North.
“Aureate Heir, your servant has found some clues…” Master Wellspring’s voice came out hoarse. Days of rushing from place to place and searching without letup had worn hard on his throat, and when favonovel.com spoke, a strain lay beneath the words that was almost too faint to catch.
He bowed slightly, his gaze falling on Jared’s soul inside the phial. Every word carried the deference of a subordinate and the pressure of news that could not wait.
Jared’s soul gave off a faint flare inside the jade vial. The pale violet halo trembled once, and a low, clear voice came out from within. “Speak…”
At the sound of Jared’s voice, the tightness around Master Wellspring eased. He quickly pointed to one of the marks on the hide map and spoke with careful slowness. “Aureate Heir, if an ordinary cultivator wanted to rebuild a body from the spirit, it would not be too difficult. But for your spirit to rebuild a body, the matter is far from simple…”
“It requires two treasures of heaven and earth rarely seen in this world, and neither one can be missing… The first is Genesis Dew. This relic is among the finest body-shaping treasures in the heavens and the myriad worlds. It contains the purest nascence force, enough to remake flesh and rebuild bones and meridians…”
“Whether the body has been reduced to severed limbs and broken remains, or destroyed completely, as long as a single wisp of soul still exists, one drop of Genesis Dew can make a severed limb grow back. One vial of Genesis Dew can rebuild a complete physical body. It can even temper that body, giving the new flesh resilience and potential far beyond ordinary people.”
He paused, his fingertip settled lightly on the spot marked Everspire on the map, and his voice carried the weight of a problem with no easy way around it, though it still held on to one narrow opening. “Genesis Dew is extremely rare, a relic one can only encounter by chance. Over these five days, your servant went through every large auction house and black market in the northern region, and none of them had Genesis Dew available…”
“But through certain hidden channels, your servant learned that three months from now, Everspire will hold the Treasurevault Grand Auction. This Grand Auction Is a once-in-a-century gathering In the northern region, bringing together rare treasures from throughout the North… According to reliable word, one vial of Genesis Dew will appear at that Grand Auction. For now, this is the only chance we have to obtain Genesis Dew.”
“Three months?” Jared’s voice sank, with pressure underneath that favonovel.com did not quite cover.
He had been without a physical body for far too long. His spirit was slowly recovering, but without a body to support it, his cultivation could not advance, and even ordinary movement remained restricted.
Three months was not truly long, yet it was not short either. For favonovel.com in this state, every minute and every second carried weight.
“Yes, Aureate Heir… Three months…” Master Wellspring nodded with deliberate weight, his tone set to steady him.
“Three months is already fast. A relic on the level of Genesis Dew may appear only once every several thousand years. To have a chance at obtaining it after only three months is already an enormous stroke of fate…”
“During these three months, we can prepare properly. On one hand, you can continue nurturing your spirit and strive to restore it to its best state before the Grand Auction begins… On the other hand, your servant will prepare enough spirit stones and treasures to make certain we can win Genesis Dew at the Grand Auction.”
Jared said nothing for a moment. The halo around the pale violet soul swayed slightly, as if favonovel.com were weighing something in the silence.
There was no getting around it. Master Wellspring was right. Genesis Dew was far too rare, and having even this opportunity was already a fortune large enough to seize. Jared had no room to be choosy. He had no time to be choosy either.
After a while, favonovel.com spoke again, and his voice had steadied. “What is the second treasure of heaven and earth?”
Once Jared stopped holding on to the problem of time, the pressure on Master Wellspring eased again. He quickly pointed to a continuous mountain range at the northernmost edge of the northern region on the hide map, and his voice grew heavier with each word.
“The second treasure of heaven and earth is called Elderheart Soulwood…”
“This Elderheart Soulwood is no ordinary forest tree. It grows in the Elder Soulborn Forest deep within Beastmoor Ridge. It is heartwood that has existed since the elder age, and it contains an extremely dense soul- nourishing nascence force… Its purpose is to stabilize the fusion between spirit and body, preventing rejection between the spirit and the new body after the physical body is rebuilt.”
“Aureate Heir, consider your situation. Your spirit has been separated from the body for too long. Even if Genesis Dew rebuilds your body, without the nourishment and stabilization of Elderheart Soulwood, the spirit and the new flesh cannot fuse perfectly…”
“At best, your cultivation would fall backward, and from then on you would never advance another step. At worst, the spirit would collapse and vanish completely. If that happened, even Genesis Dew would be useless.”
“Beastmoor Ridge?” Jared repeated the name, as if it gave favonovel.com no foothold.
He had only just arrived in the Seventeenth Firmament. He was not familiar with the major powers and territories of the northern region, and favonovel.com had never heard of a place called Beastmoor Ridge.
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