Chapter 5: Reshaping

  They took a brief rest, and then they continued on their way. Along the road, everyone was silent, with only the sound of the wooden cart creaking. Although she was anxious in her heart, she could only go with the flow. As soon as she reached out to touch the thing that bound her, the force sent her flying back. The one-armed old man glared at her and ordered everyone to speed up, which made the ride even bumpier. Qingkuang covered the injured area and cursed their ancestors for eighteen generations.

  The prolonged tossing made me dizzy and disoriented, unable to tell the direction at all. It was clear that I had left Hongshu City, and around me was another desolate expanse, without even a human shadow in sight.

  People always get anxious when facing strangers and unknown situations. Not to mention the physical pain that made his emotions unstable, he shouted at the one-armed old man, "Hey, where are you taking me? Even if it's death, let me die with a clear mind... Hey..."

  "Shut up!" The old man glared at her with a sinister gaze, and again urged the crowd to speed up.

  Looking at the Black Thorn City that appeared before her eyes, Qingkuang was very puzzled. What did they bring her here for? But her current spiritual power level couldn't even get in! She didn't want to try the taste of being torn into pieces. Did this group of people's levels all exceed Huangqian Boundary Five Stars?

  Just as she was at a loss, the one-armed old man waved his hand to signal everyone to stop, looking disdainfully at the plaque on the city gate. He took out a round disk-like thing with strange patterns on it, and there were six corners around it, each corner having a crystal nucleus. That thing directly enveloped them all in it, forming a light screen of faint red light, with layers of energy fluctuations vaguely visible.

  "Go!"

  This group of people apparently all believed in the one-armed old man, and with a push, they walked towards the inside. They thought they would be torn apart immediately, but the light on the city gate called "Death's Arrival" didn't react at all. They just swaggered in like that, and the light seemed to have not detected them at all - was it the effect of the one-armed old man's thing? What kind of person is he? Why can he take out treasures time and time again?

  I thought arriving at Hei Cheng City would be enough, but that one-armed old man apparently still doesn't plan to stop, having walked so far and yet continuing on, it's really unknown where the destination is.

  If she estimated correctly, they had been walking for at least a day and a night, but those people were free to do whatever they wanted, while she was suffocating for a long time.

  "Hey! Can't you let me go for a bit, I need to use the restroom." She had never felt so suffocated before, even going to the bathroom required reporting to others. Indeed, good people are often bullied and good horses are often ridden.

  The person in charge of taking care of her soon went to discuss with the one-armed old man.

  "Don't play any tricks!" The one-armed old man walked up to her, but still didn't dare to let his guard down and tied up her hands. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the others also quickly took a rest.

  "Hurry up!" A lame man pushed her, and was fiercely stared back by her.

  The pain in his stomach made Qingkuang stumble, and he walked to a distant place. His spiritual power couldn't be used, and the demon children couldn't come out either. This broken place didn't even have a grass thicket to hide behind, forcing Qingkuang to go crazy.

  "What are you dawdling about? I haven't got all day to wait for you!" The lame man yelled at her with an ill-tempered scowl.

  "Shut up, you!" The rabbit was furious and even bit people! What's more, she had never been a good-tempered person. She took out clothes and other things from her space to block the view of the crowd, trying to carefully untie the rope on her hand, but unexpectedly, the rope got tighter when she moved, and when she tried to use her spiritual power to break it, her spiritual power was still suppressed.

  "I advise you not to waste your energy! In the end, it's still you who will suffer." Caught red-handed, she glanced at the one-armed old man who was sneering at her, without showing any embarrassment of being caught. She stood up and returned to the cart, she would always find a way.

  Just as everyone was resting, a large group of people and horses appeared in the distance with a whirring sound, immediately alerting the one-armed old man and his companions.

  "On guard!" The people holding her all picked up their weapons and glared at the approaching crowd with anger.

  "Haha, Ghost Craftsman! You've been caught by me again!" The newcomer's face was full of golden rings, dense and numerous, just one glance made people feel uncomfortable.

  "Hoo... Hoo... Hoo..." The people following him also raised their voices in a loud and clear manner.

  "Ghost Craftsman! If you know what's good for you, hand over the Purple Demon Crystal we stole earlier. If I'm in a good mood, I might even let you keep your corpse intact!" As for this reckless and impulsive fool, Qing Kuang didn't think much of him. Although he didn't know what level this Ghost Craftsman was, just by looking at his treasures and the calm aura around him, it was clear that this old man wasn't afraid of them. Even if they outnumbered him, they probably wouldn't get any benefits out of it.

  "Kill! Not a single one is left!" The eyes of the ghost craftsman were all icy, and as soon as he finished speaking, the people who had been following him immediately took action. The two groups of people suddenly fought to the death, while the ghost craftsman simply looked on with an expressionless face, as if nothing was in his eyes.

  At the most intense moment of their battle, someone happened to see the heavily injured Qingkuang and raised a large knife, charging towards her. Originally prepared for this, Qingkuang was about to strike back when the sneak attacker collided with the cart she was on and was sent flying several meters away, spitting out blood as his entire body's bones shattered. This was a strong master of the Huangqian realm, now reduced to a useless person, not to mention being stabbed again and directly meeting his demise. Guizhuang saw this and merely smiled cruelly, nonchalantly shifting his gaze back to the battlefield.

  In this desolate and eerie realm, the cheapest thing is probably human life! Survival of the fittest, those with abilities can live on, while those who are inferior pay with their own lives. Living one more day is a day, every day is a gamble with one's own life.

  Looking at her "prison", I didn't expect that not only could she not get out from the inside, but people outside also couldn't come in! And its lethality is so powerful!

  "Kill him for me! Catch the thief first, catch the king. Who can take down Gui Jiang, I'll reward him with a bag of rations!" In such a harsh environment, food was the most precious thing, and under the heavy reward, there must be brave men. The five men directly surrounded the one-armed old man, staring at him with eyes wide open, then simultaneously made their move, apparently using all their strength for that promise.

  He smiled cruelly, and the ghost craftsman wouldn't have put these small fries in his eyes? In the blink of an eye, before he saw how he came out, the five people surrounding him all fell to the ground, staring with their eyes wide open. The whole body convulsed, covering their own necks, and finally they were all silent. Only the ghost craftsman's hand held a small curved knife, black as if it couldn't be seen what material it was made of, but there was still blood dripping from the tip of the knife. Even though the five people around him died, the one-armed old man didn't let them go, inserting the curved knife into the ground, and a strange scene occurred! Five trails of blood flowed slowly out of their throats, gathering on the curved knife, emitting a red glow, as if an evil demon that had been starving for a hundred years was suddenly awakened. The five corpses withered away at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving only bones and skin bags behind. Only then did the ghost craftsman put away the curved knife with satisfaction.

  Obviously, the troublemakers were no match at all, as Guī Jiàng's subordinates all had weapons in hand, harvesting these people's lives like machines, human life was worthless, and they all killed with bloodshot eyes.

  "Anything that falls into my hands is mine, who dares to rob me?" The man with a face full of golden rings trembled all over, it was clearly them who found the purple crystal stone first, but it was snatched away by this ghost craftsman, how did it become his now?

  After fighting for half a day, Gui Jiang also lost his patience and shouted loudly, "Life-taking drill!"

  Countless awls as long as an adult's palm, as if having a life of their own, stabbed into each other's brains, killing with one strike. Some people saw the horror and fled in all directions, but that man was White Start again, chasing after the crowd relentlessly until they dropped dead; some people built barriers in front of themselves, but before they could hold on for an instant, they were pierced through and lost their lives immediately.

  What a formidable weapon! The surroundings looked like a battlefield, with corpses scattered all over the ground. The ghostly craftsman's expression didn't change as he retrieved all the deadly cones one by one, took stock of the numbers, and set off once again.

  "Go!" The people around him didn't dare disobey, silently following in his footsteps.

  Having seen this cruel scene, Qing Kuang was much more honest. How could a person named Gui Jiang have so many treasures? If she guessed correctly, he should be an artifact refiner! But being an artifact refiner is such a noble profession, how could he end up in such a state?

  With doubts in mind, Liang Keguo knew that they had probably walked for another half a day before stopping to rest.

  She carefully re-dressed the wound and re-bandaged it, then she carefully examined the one-armed old man. He took out a purple crystal stone and examined it carefully, then coldly smiled, using his remaining right arm to hold the purple crystal stone in his hand, a dark fire rose from his hand, refining the crystal stone until it slowly melted. Then, the ghost craftsman closed his eyes, his hands still rotating around the melted purple crystal stone, which had turned into water. He added some unknown substance to it, and soon the purple liquid gradually took shape, forming a strange triangular shape, no matter how you looked at it. It was thought that this would be the end of it, but the ghost craftsman bit his finger open and dripped blood onto it, causing a surge of purple light that illuminated the surrounding sky, making the color even more enchanting. The strange object slowly absorbed all of the ghost craftsman's blood, and only then did the light gradually stabilize. Taking advantage of this moment, he took out countless crystal nuclei and embedded them one by one into the object, which was already strange, but now became even more colorful.

  A series of actions completed, the ghostly craftsman smiled in satisfaction, holding the newly refined object and walking to a distant place. A five-colored light burst forth instantly, followed by a loud explosion that shook the earth three times. When the smoke cleared, the entire ground seemed to have been blasted out like a crater from a meteorite, with the surface sinking deeply into the ground. Seeing this, Qingkong was shocked and amazed, and indeed, her guess had been correct - this ghostly craftsman was indeed an alchemist! However, looking at his current appearance, he didn't seem very satisfied, staring intently at the object in his hand, his originally expressionless face now scrunched up.

  After resting for several hours, under the leadership of the ghost craftsman, they set off again. This old man was unpredictable and mysterious, and it was unclear where he would take her. He seemed to be a person who wouldn't get up early without any benefit, so why did he suddenly capture her?

  A belly full of questions that can't be spoken, the wound on her belly is starting to heal, but the itch in her heart makes her feel miserable. There's also the fear of unknown things and worry about Hui'er, if this continues, she'll go crazy sooner or later.

  The further forward they went, the hotter it got. Compared to those people, she was still okay, not having to walk herself, just being carried made her whole body ache. Moreover, they were obviously climbing uphill, and as they went higher, the temperature rose even more, wave after wave of heat came crashing down, making everyone sweat profusely.

  "Halt!" At his command, everyone stopped and wiped the sweat from their faces. From their bewildered expressions, it was clear that they too were here for the first time.

  Watching him walk step by step into his own solitary old age, waiting lightly for his final ultimatum.

  "How about we make a deal?"

  "What deal?" Was she brought here just for a deal?

  "Murderous intentions!" Along with the ominous words, the ghost craftsman's face turned increasingly unsightly.

  "Who to kill?" She didn't have much interest in who was to be killed. What she wanted to know was why they had come looking for her.

  "Hell's Thirteen Wolves!" Tian Tian's hatred erupted, and Gui Jiang's eyes turned bright red. "Will you answer or not? If you don't, I can send you to the afterlife right now!"

  "Why are you looking for me?" Upon hearing her words, Gui Jiang shifted his gaze to her wrist, the reason being self-evident.

  "Because you have a divine artifact! So, you won't die, and killing them is no longer an issue." That's a divine artifact, indeed! He has lived to such an old age without refining even one divine artifact, who would have thought that this little girl actually had one? If it weren't for the sake of this divine artifact, he wouldn't have taken this little girl seriously. It's not that he didn't want to take the divine artifact for himself, but rather that the artifact spirit within was too much for him to handle, otherwise why would he be so accommodating?

  Sacred artifact? Are you talking about the Dragon Ring that has protected her time and again? That man...

  "Even if I have a divine artifact, but now I'm no different from trash. Are you sure I can help you kill someone?" This person must be crazy! If they have a grudge, why don't they go settle it themselves? Why do they need to find her to do it?

  "No, no, no, I'm keeping you because you're still useful! How could I let you become a waste? Behind you is the lava of the prison fire, as long as you can come out alive, what you lost will definitely come back. And I brought you here to give you a chance to be reborn. In exchange, go and help me kill the Thirteen Wolves of Hell."

  "You're not a blacksmith, aren't you quite impressive? Why don't you go yourself?"

  "It's none of your business! Just say yes or no, if you don't agree I'll slit your throat right now, but if you do, you still have a chance to survive, as long as you can make it back alive!"

  Upon hearing this, Qingkong suppressed all his anger and muttered to himself, "No matter which one it is, it's all beneficial to you. You've made a good deal!"

  "How can I dare to disobey now? However, who are the Hell's Thirteen Wolves, I'm not clear." Ah, right, that blond old man who injured her before seemed to be one of the Hell's Thirteen Wolves.

  "Wait until you come out alive, I'll tell you one by one. Now it's time for you to go down." He changed a rope and tied her hands tightly, then kicked her down with one foot.

  "Damn it! I'll f**k your mother!" The angry shout floated in the air, revealing her unbridled hatred towards him. TMD, growing up like this, she had always been the one kicking others around, never thought that today she would be kicked down by an old man! And he didn't even hold back!

  Upon hearing her angry rebuke, the ghost craftsman's face changed color, then returned to normal. Noticing the people around him, a brutal glint flashed in his eyes, "Life-taking awl!"

  Everyone fell to the ground one after another, until the moment of their death, they still didn't understand why they were killed. Weren't they supposed to work together to avenge the Thirteen Wolves of Hell? Hehe, they were too naive, in this desolate and treacherous world, there was no trust, only self-interest driving them, how could they have believed otherwise?

  Watching them close their eyes one by one, Gui Jiang finally put his mind at ease. After all, only the dead can keep secrets forever. He looked at his missing arm and felt resentful and unwilling to accept it. His chest was filled with grievances, making him breathless. Revenge! He must take revenge! Hell's Thirteen Wolves! He will never let them off! Absolutely not! And he will soon have the best pawn! Thinking of this, he actually laughed out loud, his old face twisted in a sinister grin.

  The lightly insane person who was kicked down by Gui Jiang was so angry that he cursed his ancestors for eighteen generations. When life encounters threats, instincts begin to resist, and as she watched the bright red magma get closer and closer, she couldn't find a place to stand. The fiery red magma bubbled and churned, occasionally spewing out countless flames, which made her feel extremely oppressed. Upon closer inspection, above the flames was a black flame that looked very eerie. What kind of broken place is this?

  Just then, a sudden voice echoed in his mind. "Master~ Master~"

  Can she talk to the contract beast now? Does that mean her spiritual power can be used? Using water-based spiritual power to build a protective layer around her, but it didn't last long and evaporated. As the falling speed got faster and faster, Qingkuang's heart was anxious, if she fell into it, wouldn't she turn to ashes? Just as she thought so, a huge flame burst out, illuminating Qingkuang's face bright red.

  Her life was in danger, her hands were still tied up, she struggled desperately and didn't forget to build a protective layer at any time, but the effect was not great, she didn't want to be burned to death!

  With a loud bang, she was engulfed in the magma, and her originally black and smooth hair was completely burned to a crisp, not a single strand remaining. Her clothes were also completely destroyed, and the wound on her abdomen was directly scorched by the flames, causing her teeth to chatter in pain. At the same time, stimulated by the intense flames, the elements in her life space frantically circulated, slowly beginning to form an energy sphere. Sensing this phenomenon, even though her body was enduring immense suffering, she gritted her teeth and endured it. Her fire-element spiritual power was originally derived from the transformation of life elements, so now that her spirit pearl had been destroyed, could she still condense a second one?

  Magma burned her skin, as if it had really turned into roasted meat, wrinkled and blackened, almost unbearable pain, but she still couldn't die, could only suffer like this. At this time, the life element also came to make trouble, not sucking her into space, but bursting out spontaneously, a faint golden color gradually thickening, slowly gathering together, like a huge tornado, bringing the surrounding flames to slowly absorb, then becoming more powerful, dazzling gold and white, eye-catching fire red, and black that would be overlooked if not careful, all gathered together, strong energy gathering, perhaps the flames were all absorbed, the temperature around also dropped slightly.

  She opened her eyes and was immediately startled by everything in front of her. All the magma, the uncontrolled flames gathered above her, the pressure made her heart beat wildly, the energy gathered at a visible speed, getting bigger and bigger, as if it had transformed into a furious fire dragon, until it sucked everything dry in this abyss, still spinning and searching for a breakthrough.

  Looking at the fire dragon rushing towards her, he secretly cursed in his heart: Oh no! Don't rush towards her! It's going to be fatal!

  However, the fire dragon's wild prayer was directly swept away to the nine heavens, and with a "boom" it all surged into her body. Her entire body felt like countless atomic bombs exploding, the pain made her almost lose consciousness. The endless energy pouring into her body, how could she bear it? Her charred skin was torn apart inch by inch, like shattered glass, cracked open piece by piece, with fresh blood flowing out, even revealing the pink flesh inside.

  "Ah……" She's going to die, she's going to die. Her mouth was bleeding from being bitten, but it couldn't stop the dragon's dominance at all. Slowly, an energy ball began to form on her spiritual foundation, spinning rapidly with a fiery red color. The energy outside her body continued to supply it, and on her spiritual foundation, a fire-red bead gradually took shape, slowly revealing itself bit by bit. At first, it was only the size of a thumb, but now it had grown to the size of a baby's fist.

  At this time, the light and shadow under his feet also began to form an array, the fire-type spirit bead on the spiritual foundation reappeared, and desperately absorbed energy, the spiritual stars on the array were constantly changing.

  "Ah...... it hurts so much...... it hurts......"

  One, two, three... the colors are changing again and again. Spirit, spirit master, great spirit master, spirit king, spirit emperor, spirit saint... Then on the yellow array method, spiritual stars are constantly being generated, one, two,... five, the array method flashes continuously, it's obvious that they still want to rush up. At this time, the light is already painful to lose consciousness, only a few dull cries remain.

  Finally, the fire dragon's energy was almost depleted, and with one last effort, it all surged into Qingkuang's spiritual foundation. A massive pain struck, and chunks of charred flesh fell off her body, slapping loudly onto the ground.

  At this time, the light and proud figure was like a broken rag doll, with no good place on her entire body, stained with blood, and she was awakened by pain. Her nerves were tense, her body convulsed, yet the array under her feet shone brightly as her flesh fell off.

  No one helped her, no one comforted her, no one encouraged her, and there was no help from the phoenix. Everything had to rely on herself to get through, gasping heavily, she wanted to survive, must survive!

  Suddenly the array method shone brightly, and finally stopped narrowly on green, Huang Qian Jing!

  A loud phoenix cry resounded, a fiery red figure soared into the clouds, majestically proclaiming to all directions. Was it her Fire Phoenix? Ah? Sharp eyes, sharp claws, powerful wings, the fiery red figure flew by, leaving behind golden red afterimages with previously unseen black dots, surveying its surroundings before returning to its slender body.

  No, not her phoenix of fire, her phoenix of fire would look at her gently, would hold her in a doting embrace. This phoenix is not it, not it. Then where did her yellow phoenix go?

  Originally somewhat dazed and confused, she was about to get up, but found that everything around her was a mess of charred black and blood red. Her body was also sticky, and her hair, which had been fluttering in the wind, was all gone. It was really as disheveled as it could be. Her body was still trembling involuntarily. She used water-based spiritual power to wash away the bloodstains on her body, and the sticky feeling gradually disappeared. The exposed skin was as white as snow, delicate and fragile. Even a drop of water couldn't stay for a moment. However, when her hand touched her collarbone, she found that the mark was still there? It could be seen how much strength the man had used at the time.

  Just as she was about to put on her clothes, she found that her hands were still tied up! A cold light flashed in her eyes, that old man who kicked her down!

  She wrapped her clothes tightly around her body, covering every inch of skin, and then pulled the rope tight, letting that damned old man pull her up.

  The demon artisan had been paying attention to the situation here, and naturally saw that powerful energy, as well as the fire phoenix that rushed out. What he didn't expect was that all of the lava from the prison fire had been completely absorbed by her! Not bad, not bad, it seemed he hadn't misjudged her after all. Now there's hope for revenge!

  That rope was his magic tool, naturally listening to his command. In a short while, it pulled the light kite up. When he saw people, he was still surprised by this hair...

  "What are you looking at! Haven't seen a bald head before?!" Which girl doesn't love beauty, her hair... was ruined just like that.

  "Do you know who you're talking to?" The craftsman's anger was about to rise due to her rude tone.

  "Talking to you, huh? What's going on? And another thing! You just kicked me a moment ago, this kick, I'll get revenge sooner or later! Now, untie my hands." Looking around at the corpses, he raised an eyebrow in surprise and disdain, immediately realizing that this was indeed a ruthless person.

  "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

  "Kill me and see who will avenge me!"

  "You!"

  "What's wrong with you! Let me go!"

  He had never seen anyone as troublesome as her in his life, but thinking that she still had use, he suppressed his anger and took back the rope from her hand.

  "Turn around! I'm going to change clothes!"

  "How old am I, and yet you still dare to deceive me, a young girl?" He must control himself, he must! The great Ghost Craftsman was actually being treated as a lustful person, the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable his heart became.

  "You can't know a person's heart by their face! Only ghosts would know what you're thinking!" Even though the old man was quite elderly, he was still a male, and she subconsciously felt that her body couldn't be seen by others.

  "Hmph!" The angry Ghost Craftsman turned around, fearing that before this little girl could avenge him, he would end up killing her first.

  A rustling sound came, and she quickly put on her clothes, rubbing her sore wrists. Only then did she speak to him, "Alright, don't think that just because you helped me recover my spiritual energy, I'll be grateful to you. You kidnapped me, kicked me, but I'm a magnanimous person who doesn't hold grudges against petty people. Let's put ourselves on an equal footing and discuss the terms of our deal!"