Chapter Ninety-Four: The Soul Pact Dissolves
In the end, those three calamity-substituting treasures had already fallen into the hands of Young Master Wu. Unless one used a life-replacement fruit to pay with a life for a life, the Blood-Jade Soul Pact could not be broken. So long as the blood pact remained, that man surnamed Tu would be unable to stir up any real trouble. There was no need to worry.
At this, the old man in the blue-green rain cape pondered for a moment, then nodded as well, his figure slowly fading from sight.
At the very same time, in a secret chamber at the provincial villa, Tu Lu sat with his eyes shut tight, his face twisted in strain, spiritual power sweeping ceaselessly through his body.
“Where is it, exactly?”
He gritted his teeth, his face deathly pale, cold sweat beading on his brow.
Following a faint thread of connection, his spiritual power had even reached the Thousand-Year Root avatar in the Moonlit Inn. He had gone so far as to force open the link between his true body and that avatar, and yet still he could not find the origin of the soul pact.
“A pact formed with the soul itself ought to exist somewhere within the body. But where in the world is it?”
He searched for the better part of half a day before, at last, opening his eyes and abandoning the attempt.
“If I cannot break the contract of my own accord, then I can only violate it and forcibly trigger the soul pact’s backlash.”
Drawing a deep breath, he took out a jade slip and began feeding it the information on the divine embryo.
Just as he had entered only a small portion of it, and without the slightest awareness on his part, a drop of blood suddenly welled from the center of his brow.
Tu Lu froze, reaching up to wipe at the spot.
The entire skull caved inward beneath his touch.
“Aah!”
A terrifying pain exploded deep within his soul.
The agony was so overwhelming that Tu Lu’s features contorted violently, and before he could even react, that force had already swept through his eighteen avatars.
The Thousand-Year Root avatar turned almost instantly into a pool of pus and blood. Blood began to appear on the others as well, and even his true body started to show signs of decay.
“Damn it!”
He clenched his jaw, and a wave of power surged out from the calamity-substituting flower avatar. The curses in every single avatar abruptly stalled.
Then the curse within the calamity-substituting flower avatar vanished first.
But the curses in his true body and the other avatars locked into a stalemate with it.
At last, Tu Lu gained a sliver of initiative and closed his eyes once more.
Time passed. In the blink of an eye, three days went by. In the secret chamber, Tu Lu finally opened his eyes.
“At last, it’s fully suppressed.”
As he spoke, he coughed twice, a thin thread of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
The calamity-substituting flower avatar had shattered, and the Thousand-Year Root avatar had turned to pus and blood. He had paid the price of two avatars before he finally dissolved the soul pact. Even so, the curse lingering within his body had not completely vanished; it had only been reduced to less than one-tenth, and he had forced it down.
“I never expected that even after sacrificing two avatars, I still couldn’t settle it completely. I’d like to keep at it, but by my reckoning the time is about right, and the calamity-substituting flower avatar has already collapsed. Let’s leave it for now.”
After some hesitation, he refined the remaining sword grass into yet another avatar.
Thus, he still stood one short of eighteen. The main reason was that he had never imagined suppressing the curse would drain the life force of an entire calamity-substituting flower avatar.
One day later.
“Greetings, Young Master Zi!”
“Haha, both masters are too polite. Master Tu, however, does not look well. Has something happened?”
In the provincial villa, Zi Tuofeng summoned Tu Lu and Zhao Yuyang. Yet when he saw Tu Lu’s ashen face, he could not help asking.
At this, Tu Lu gave a bitter smile. “Thank you for your concern, Young Master. I have merely been studying the Ninefold Sacred Embryo Pattern, and I overexerted myself for a moment. It is nothing serious.”
“So that is it.”
Zi Tuofeng nodded. “You two have worked hard. I called you here chiefly because the prefect’s longevity banquet is approaching, and I wondered whether the two of you would be interested in accompanying me.”
Tu Lu’s expression twisted with conflict, then he said, “I shan’t be going. To tell the truth, the Ninefold Sacred Embryo Pattern has already begun to show promise. Given a little more time, I may yet succeed. At such a critical juncture, it is truly not the moment to go anywhere.”
As he said this, he hesitated, then took a black-iron wooden box from his Heaven Dragon Token.
The instant the black-iron box appeared, it exuded a bone-deep chill.
“This is the gift Master Zhao and I prepared for the prefect, though it is still being nurtured and must not be opened for about ten more days. I ask that Young Master Zi present it in our stead, but please do not forget to explain that if it is opened too early, the treasure will be damaged at best and utterly destroyed at worst. That would be a loss far too great.”
“Good, good, good!”
Hearing that the Ninefold Sacred Embryo Pattern had already made progress, Zi Tuofeng laughed three times in succession.
“Rest assured, Master Tu. Focus calmly on your research into the Ninefold Sacred Embryo Pattern. Leave these twin ice swords to me. I won’t forget to mention that they are the masterpiece of two masters!”
With that, he swept his sleeve and stored the twin ice swords away, then turned to Zhao Yuyang.
“And what of Master Zhao? Do you intend to accompany me to the banquet?”
Zhao Yuyang hesitated, then shook his head. “This old man is ashamed to say that I have yet to find any clue to the Ninefold Sacred Embryo Pattern. Even Young Master Tu is unwilling to go; what face would I have to go in his place? I shall remain in seclusion with Young Master Tu.”
“Very well. Since neither of you is willing to attend, I shall not press the matter.”
Zi Tuofeng sighed and nodded.