As the two of them, one chasing and one fleeing, fought their way into a grotto-cave within the black hole, Shuang Qingqing's Nascent Soul had already been seriously injured from the joint attack of the three demonic generals earlier.
After the human and the demon plunged into a grotto-cave within the black hole, they continued to fight their way down, constantly attacked by the Golden Giants who had been alerted. The Golden Giants didn't just attack Shuang Qingqing; they would also attack the late-stage Demonic General, which gave Shuang Qingqing some breathing room. As they fought and fled, Shuang Qingqing relied on the agile movement skills of the Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix to reach the bottom of the black hole's abyss one step ahead. The Golden Giants would not go to the bottom of the abyss, or rather, they couldn't appear there. Although she had temporarily escaped the crisis, Shuang Qingqing's Nascent Soul was on the verge of collapse after being attacked by several Golden Giants in succession. It was clear she could not survive.
At this time, the late-stage Demonic General also reached the bottom of the abyss. However, this Demonic General had also been seriously injured in its clash with the Golden Giants. Demonic creatures all followed the path of physical cultivation, similar to the Golden Giants, both following a path of brute force. The moment they met, it was a head-on clash. The tragic extent of it was imaginable.
The moment this late-stage Demonic General landed at the bottom of the black hole's abyss, Shuang Qingqing, who was also a person of decisive and resolute character, did not hesitate to directly detonate her Nascent Soul. In the small space at the bottom, and facing the self-destruction of a Nascent Soul who was determined to die, no matter how powerful the late-stage Demonic General was, it was instantly turned to nothingness.
And before her Nascent Soul self-destructed, Shuang Qingqing had already placed her entire soul in the "Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix." The "Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix" was a high-grade magical treasure she had refined. Although she had intentionally protected it, directing the main force of the Nascent Soul's self-destruction in a different direction, it still caused one of the "Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix's" wings to be broken in the explosion, and its tail feathers to disappear completely. Only most of its body was preserved. Shuang Qingqing's soul inside its body burned frantically to resist the aftershock of the explosion, and in the end, only a remnant of her soul was left.
The wisp of soul that Shuang Qingqing left behind was extremely weak, and soon fell into a deep sleep. This sleep lasted for an eternity. And the black hole grotto-cave she was in was never visited by any Nascent Soul cultivator again. This was also because she had already been seriously injured before entering the "Flying Sand Grotto-Caves," so she had chosen a black hole grotto-cave at the edge and directly rushed in. And the Nascent Soul cultivators who came here usually would not linger at the edge of the "Flying Sand Grotto-Caves." Everyone knew that the black hole grotto-caves near the edge had long been explored by other Nascent Soul cultivators over the long years. After entering, besides a pointless battle with the various restrictions inside, they would get nothing. And the low-level cultivators, even if they could break the restrictions and enter the black hole grotto-caves, would often be killed long before they reached the bottom of the black hole's abyss.
Just like that, the years passed like the wind and sand in the grotto-caves, blowing and then leaving, rolling and then coming again. It was not until more than a hundred years ago that this remnant of Shuang Qingqing's soul slowly woke up.
When she woke up, she tragically discovered that this remnant of her soul could no longer use great divine abilities, and the "Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix" was also in a dilapidated state. The most crucial thing was that of the usable spirit stones left in the "Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix's" body, only three mid-grade spirit stones were left, and the spiritual energy within them was also almost depleted. If she wanted to get out, she didn't have much confidence in breaking through the blockade of the Golden Giants above, especially the three Nascent Soul stage Golden Giants. They would not disappear after reaching a certain distance in the abyss, but would continue to follow and attack.
At the same time, she was also afraid that a Nascent Soul cultivator would really enter this place. The higher a cultivator's cultivation, the more heartless they often were. These people had long since, with the passage of time, seen their relatives leave and enter the cycle of reincarnation, and had become cold and ruthless. And this wisp of Shuang Qingqing's soul was the soul of a Nascent Soul cultivator, which was exactly what those old monsters liked to get. It was not only the best material for refining top-tier puppets, but could even be re-refined into a soul slave, becoming a good cauldron for sharing pleasure and seizing yin essence.
In her current state, under the Divine Sense of a Nascent Soul cultivator, she wouldn't even have a chance to self-destruct. So she could only hide carefully in the "Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix's" body. But without good medicinal pills, recovery was like climbing to the heavens. A hundred years of hard cultivation had only made her soul a little more solid. But the good news was that as her cultivation recovered bit by bit, many of her memories had been revived. Many of her previous memories had disappeared with her main soul and had become fragmented.
As she waited with anxiety, today she suddenly felt an extremely familiar aura. This aura was both strange and familiar to her. Because her memory was incomplete, for a moment, she couldn't judge what it was. It was during this process that Li Yan began to fall from the top of the cave. At the same time, it could also be said that Li Yan was fated not to die. There were many black holes in the Flying Sand Grotto-Caves, but they were all independent, and the restrictions within them were also different. First, the black hole he had entered had a Golden Giant restriction. If it hadn't been a physical cultivation attack, he might have died in the first two waves of attacks. Secondly, it was a coincidence that Shuang Qingqing was also in this black hole. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to fall any further. In front of a late-stage Golden Core physical cultivator, he would have died without even a bone fragment left.
This familiar feeling was something Shuang Qingqing couldn't grasp. As this remnant of her soul was deep in thought, she unintentionally saw the "Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix," and her mind was suddenly struck by lightning. Four words flashed through her mind without reason—Thousand Luo Ancient Ape. Although her memory of things related to the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape was still vague and incomplete, it had made her subconsciously make a decision. She instinctively felt that she could take this opportunity to escape from this place.
So she used the last remaining power of the "Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix" to directly break through upwards. The final result also surprised and delighted her. Not only did she successfully enter the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape's body at the last moment, but through subconsciously controlling the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape, some of her memories began to revive, making her remember many things about it.
After roughly explaining her origins, Shuang Qingqing's beautiful eyes looked at Li Yan. "How many Nascent Soul fellow daoists does the Malevolent Spirit Sect have now? There should still be a Spirit Transformation stage senior, right?"
Hearing this, Li Yan first shook his head, then thought for a moment and said, "Senior thinks too highly of this junior. How would I know if the sect has a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator? As for Nascent Soul ancestors, I only know of my Little Bamboo Peak's Ancestor Da Cen, and also, a senior brother once mentioned Ancestor Mo Qing when talking about the Devil's Cliff Crevice. As for the specific cultivation of the two ancestors, this junior is also not clear. As for whether there are any other Nascent Soul stage ancestors, I am even more ignorant."
Hearing this, Shuang Qingqing nodded lightly. She hadn't expected to get much information from a Foundation Establishment disciple anyway. But even with this little bit, she could deduce many things.
"Da Cen? Mo Qing? I've never heard of them. They must be newly promoted Nascent Soul experts." Shuang Qingqing's jade-like neck was lowered, her chin gently resting on the cloud-piercing peaks. The night wind lifted her purple dress, revealing a dazzling flash of white. She muttered to herself softly. This vivid picture made Li Yan's heart beat violently again, and he hurriedly lowered his head.
Li Yan, however, sighed inwardly. As expected of a Nascent Soul Old Monster. To have survived with just a remnant of her soul. According to Li Yan's calculation, since she didn't know the two ancestors Da Cen and Mo Qing, Shuang Qingqing was at least a person from several thousand years ago. Although it could be said that the current Shuang Qingqing was no longer the previous Shuang Qingqing, she only had sporadic fragments of her previous memories and was no longer a complete soul. In the future, after repossessing a physical body, she would slowly condense a new complete soul. It was also possible to say that she was reborn.
"Senior Shuang, why does this Thousand Luo Ancient Ape have such heaven-defying abilities, to be able to fight against a Nascent Soul stage Golden Giant without being destroyed?" Li Yan finally asked the question that had been puzzling him.
Shuang Qingqing raised her beautiful face and looked at Li Yan with a half-smile. Li Yan was first stunned, then couldn't help but feel embarrassed. His question just now was a bit abrupt, and even had the meaning of prying into another sect's privacy. And his question might be the biggest secret hidden in this ancient ape, the result that Bai Rou had been searching for but couldn't find.
But after seeing the ancient ape puppet's previous attacks, Li Yan was now very interested in this puppet. If he could also control the ancient ape puppet like that, where in this world could he not go? At least ninety percent of the places he would have no fear of. So for a moment, he couldn't help but ask. But the words were already out, and now it was too late to regret.
"Oh, Senior, I was just curious for a moment. It was inevitable... inevitable that I was rude. Please don't blame me, Senior," Li Yan hurriedly apologized.
"Hehehe, I know what you're thinking, but you can't control it like I can. First, you need a soul powerful enough to be at the Nascent Soul stage to control it. With your current cultivation, even with the help of many conditions, the most you can do is deal with a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator. But... with your current cultivation, it's not impossible to control the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape to fight against a Nascent Soul stage cultivator..." Shuang Qingqing first chuckled a few times. At the end, she suddenly stopped, her beautiful eyes blinking a few times as she looked at Li Yan.
Hearing this, Li Yan was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "S-Senior, r-really... w-with my cultivation, I can also control the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape to fight against a Nascent Soul cultivator?" He was so excited that he started to stutter.
"Hmm, of course you can. As long as you have seven high-grade spirit stones, you can fight with an initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivator for about an incense stick's time," Shuang Qingqing said, her beautiful eyes twinkling as she looked at Li Yan.
Li Yan was stunned. A joke, high-grade spirit stones. He had never even seen one. Even in the sect, you couldn't get them with spirit stones. He had heard that only Nascent Soul cultivators might have some, but definitely not too many. They all treasured them like jewels and never showed them to others. How could he use so many at once?
After being stunned for a while, seeing Shuang Qingqing looking at him with a playful gaze, Li Yan just scratched his head in embarrassment and chuckled a few times.
Thinking about it, it made sense. To be able to control a puppet to fight against a Nascent Soul cultivator, without strength, one could only rely on external objects to erupt with the spiritual power to fight against a Nascent Soul cultivator's combat power. If that wasn't high-grade spirit stones, what else could it be? And this former Great Elder of the Wood Flow Sect, although only a remnant of her soul, was still the remnant soul of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Even so, she could only use spirit stones now to unleash the power of the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape.
'Seven high-grade spirit stones to fight with an initial-stage Nascent Soul for an incense stick's time. That's too extravagant,' Li Yan thought, and smiled embarrassedly again.
"Hmm, since you helped me a great deal this time, I'll tell you some things about the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape," Shuang Qingqing said suddenly after pondering for a moment.
Li Yan's eyes couldn't help but light up. After seeing the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape's previous attacks, he was now of course very interested in this puppet.
"My memory of the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape is not very complete. Maybe after my soul gradually recovers, and if I can see some things from the Wood Flow Sect in the future, maybe it will help me remember more things."
"The Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix was the first high-grade magical treasure I refined, and it later became my Natal Magical Treasure. The Thousand Luo Ancient Ape was only slowly refined after finding the materials many years later. It is also an affiliated attack-type high-grade magical treasure of mine. It's just that when I was about to leave the Wood Flow Sect to fight outside, I left it in the sect..."