The Legend of Qingpeng: Starting from the Costinus

After waking up, Zhou Yu's consciousness gradually emerged from the chaos. He slowly opened his eyes, and everything in front of him seemed to become very clear.

He took a deep breath and immediately looked inward, discovering that his cultivation had indeed improved, and a feeling of joy welled up in his heart.

However, this joy was soon overshadowed by the state of his body.

The severe pain from the damaged Nascent Soul surged like a tide, making Zhou Yu's face even paler. Even the strength to stand seemed extremely difficult. In the depths of his soul, there were waves of indescribable pain, as if millions of fine needles were piercing him at the same time.

Zhou Yu immediately took out a bottle of pills from the storage bag hanging around his waist, opened it, and threw them all into his mouth without even looking at them.

An unknown amount of time had passed, but when Zhou Yu's pain was temporarily relieved by the elixir, he immediately began to look around carefully.

The scene before him was very different from the underwater palace in his memory. Instead, it was the familiar yet slightly deserted cave in the Ghost King Sect.

All the furnishings in the cave remained the same, but there was an unusual silence in the air. In particular, the owner of the Shadow Tower who was supposed to be guarding by the side was nowhere to be seen, leaving him with only endless doubts and speculations.

Although he had many doubts in his mind, Zhou Yu knew that the most urgent thing was to confirm his own condition.

He suppressed his discomfort, concentrated his mind, and lightly touched the storage device hanging around his waist with his fingers. A gentle force flowed out from his fingertips, quickly scanning every item in the storage bag.

After a while, Zhou Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that some precious spiritual objects in the storage bag were safe. At least his wealth and life were not damaged by this incident.

Afterwards, he forced himself to support his weak body and walked quickly towards the small building where he practiced.

Each step seemed extremely heavy, but the eagerness in his heart prevented him from stopping.

When he reached the top of the building, he skillfully activated the mechanism. He heard a slight mechanical sound, and a crack slowly appeared on the wall, revealing the secret space where the jade slip was originally hidden.

However, at this moment, the space was empty, with only a yellowed piece of paper lying there alone, which looked particularly glaring.

Zhou Yu picked up the note with trembling hands and read it word by word.

The handwriting on the note was vigorous and powerful, revealing unquestionable majesty between the lines. It was left by the owner of Youying Tower.

Between the lines, Zhou Yu read the deep fear of the owner of the Shadow Tower towards the secret method of "Inner Demon Seeding the Dao", and that he took the jade slip and planned to destroy it in order to protect the people of the world.

This sense of justice, like a heavy rock, pressed on Zhou Yu's heart, stirring up layers of complex ripples and making his emotions become complicated.

He felt deeply regretful for the lost secret method, as if he had missed an opportunity to change his destiny.

At the same time, he felt an indescribable admiration for the Shadow Tower Master's behavior of caring for the human race in the world.

This forced Zhou Yu to re-examine this mysterious figure.

"No, where does this inexplicable trust come from? When did I become so easy to trust others?"

Zhou Yu muttered to himself, alarm bells ringing in his heart.

He quickly sorted out his thoughts, trying to find the source of this sense of trust.

Fragments of memory surged in my mind, and all the abnormal scenes before the extermination of the demon species emerged one by one...

Those subtle mood swings, occasional trance and loss...

Everything seemed to have a reasonable explanation - the owner of the Shadow Tower had quietly laid out a secret method to influence his mind at that time.

As the effect of the secret technique gradually dissipated, Zhou Yu seemed to wake up from a long dream, and the world before him became exceptionally clear...

He stared at the empty gap in the wall, a mixture of emotions welling up in his heart.

A conversation sounded in his mind, and the real purpose of the owner of the Shadow Tower saving him became clear at this moment.

"I have recently created a secret method for cutting the soul, just to deal with this kind of situation. I am willing to help you..."

"Any operation involving the soul must be handled with caution. I naturally dare not be careless..."

"But I have tried this method many times within a controllable range. Although I cannot say it is foolproof, the chances of success are much greater than failure..."

……

"It turns out that the owner of the Shadow Tower had already told me his purpose a long time ago..." Zhou Yu thought to himself.

"I am just a pawn used by the other party to test the secret method, to verify whether the unknown secret method is feasible."

The disappearance of the jade slip added a strong touch to all of this.

Zhou Yu speculated that the reason why the owner of the Shadow Tower could find this place was probably because he also practiced the way of the inner demon seed and was able to sense the subtle traces left by his own demon seed in the jade slip.

Although this speculation seems bold, it coincides with all the current clues.

After all, if there wasn't a demon seed that he had planted in the jade slip, how could he have easily avoided the heavy defenses and taken the jade slip?

You should know that this jade slip itself is very special. You cannot detect any abnormalities with your spiritual sense, and you can't even sense its existence.

This place is also connected to the sect protection formation by some of the sect elders who are secretly controlled by him, and the jade slips inside are concealed by the sect protection formation.

Since the owner of the Shadow Tower can find this place, he must also be practicing the way of the inner demon.

Soon the cause and effect of the incident emerged in Zhou Yu's mind.

The owner of the Shadow Tower must have practiced the Heart Demon Seed Technique, and then discovered that this secret technique was a trap, but he did not dare to easily try to eliminate the demon seed in his soul, so he used this person who also practiced the Heart Demon Seed Technique as an experiment.

Although this is just a guess, Zhou Yu feels that his speculation is probably correct.

However, as the thoughts turned, a bigger mystery emerged.

The origin of the jade slip can be traced back to five hundred years ago, when the Shadow Tower first appeared in the world of cultivation.

If there really was a demon seed planted by the owner of the Shadow Tower hidden inside it, then why did it end up here and become someone else's property?

Could it be a trap set by the owner of the Shadow Tower? To create some people who would also fall into the trap of the Heart Demon Seed Path, so as to test the feasibility of the secret method?

But why did it take five hundred years to find him? You know, the demon species will continue to corrode the soul.

Is there a more far-reaching plan hidden behind this by the owner of the Shadow Tower?

Or, did something unexpected happen in the past five hundred years that forced him to abandon the jade slip?

Zhou Yu pondered for a long time, his heart full of doubts and uneasiness.

He realized that he might be involved in a chess game spanning five hundred years, and every step was full of unknowns and dangers.

Zhou Yu was full of doubts and couldn't help but frown.

If this is true, then what kind of relationship does the Shadow Tower Master have with him?

Why did he go to so much trouble to set up this scheme?

These questions swirled in Zhou Yu's mind, making him feel confused.

However, no matter what the truth is, he has now returned to the Ghost King Sect safely.

Since he couldn't figure it out, Zhou Yu decided to put these questions aside for the time being and focus on repairing his soul, which was the top priority.

Zhou Yu took out another pill, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began to recover from the damage to his soul.

At this moment, in the small building where Zhou Yu was, a pool of mucus was hiding in the dark, silently watching Zhou Yu's behavior at the moment...