Body-Guarding Formation and Mysterious Wish-Power

Evan Lin gazed at the Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill in his hand, still radiating a bit of residual warmth. Resting in his palm, it gave off a faint, elegant fragrance.

"This kind of Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill is enough to make Mom look years younger. There are three pills, so I can give Auntie Lu one as well."

"It’s just a pity that the herbs are too low-grade, so it can’t greatly enhance physical strength."

Evan muttered to himself, then shook his head and turned his gaze to the Fire Crystal Stone.

Refining pills is different from directly using the fire inside the Fire Crystal Stone. To form pills like these, you need a massive amount of firepower. This particular Fire Crystal Stone was already small to begin with—first it was used to refine the Old Immortal Sage into a pill, and now it’s been used again to forge these three Youth-Preserving Beauty Pills. Its red hue has clearly faded a lot.

"This Fire Crystal Stone probably won’t last for many more pill-refining sessions. Since that Fire Elder from Medicine King Valley was able to get his hands on this one—and Medicine King Valley is famous for pill-refining and healing—there must be more Fire Crystal Stones in their valley."

Evan frowned slightly, deep in thought.

"I really should find a chance to pay Medicine King Valley a visit and settle all the old scores."

Evan set the three Youth-Preserving Beauty Pills aside, then picked up the Harmony Jade Pendant from nearby. The pendant’s entire body was jet-black, giving off a cold, chilling vibe, with a faint hint of bloodthirsty baleful energy lingering on its surface.

The pendant had the words 'Harmony Jade' written on it.

"This pendant is a great artifact. I can inscribe some defensive formations on it, so if I’m ever away, no one will be able to hurt Mom."

With a thought, Evan held the Harmony Jade Pendant in his left hand, preparing to summon the Three Maiden Spirits from the Soul-Sacrifice Beauty Scroll to absorb all the baleful energy inside. But unexpectedly, the moment his left hand touched the Harmony Jade Pendant, Evan suddenly sensed the slumbering dragon in his hand stir for a brief moment.

Evan’s mind moved, and he looked inward. He saw the little dragon with closed eyes, its tail trembling slightly, then it opened its mouth and suddenly took a deep breath.

As the dragon in his left hand inhaled, the pitch-black hue covering the Harmony Jade Pendant faded away like a receding tide, all of it completely absorbed by the dragon.

"This is... Wish-Power!"

Evan's eyes widened in surprise.

Wish-Power is the strength people believe in—it’s usually used to nourish ghosts and spirits. Evan had thought the blackness on the Harmony Jade Pendant was all baleful energy, but once the dragon finished absorbing it, a strange sensation echoed lightly through his left hand, and Evan suddenly realized the truth.

"Back on Thornridge Mountain, I saw Incense-Offering Coins that had lost their Wish-Power. Maybe both those coins and this Harmony Jade Pendant are artifacts left behind by that thing trying to return to the world?"

Incense-Offering Coins are energy tokens formed from human wishes, usually used to support yin soldiers and honor ghosts and spirits.

"No matter what kind of form that woman wants to use to come back to life, I guess I’m the one who lucked out this time."

Evan gave the pendant a strange look. After the Wish-Power was absorbed by the dragon in his left hand, he waited a long time, but unlike when it absorbed spiritual qi, the dragon didn’t release the Wish-Power for Evan to use in cultivation.

But even if the dragon did release the Wish-Power, Evan wouldn’t be able to cultivate with it—after all, Wish-Power was still a rather unfamiliar force to him.

However, Evan noticed that the dragon’s scales had become noticeably glossier.

"Forget it, I’ll stop thinking about that for now and focus on the present."

Evan took a deep breath and picked up the Harmony Jade Pendant.

After the dragon absorbed the darkness, the Harmony Jade Pendant’s black color completely vanished, revealing a flawless, pure white jade body. The whole pendant was crystal clear—if it were put up for auction in the mundane world, it would fetch a sky-high price.

"This ancient jade is perfect for making a protective artifact for Mom to carry."

With this thought, Evan didn’t hesitate. He pressed the tip of his right thumb against his right index finger, drawing a cut. As blood flowed, he quickly traced patterns in the air with his finger.

The blood from Evan’s fingertip formed lines in midair, which didn’t disperse, but instead floated there, weaving into a faint, complex diagram.

"First-tier formation: Body-Guarding Array."

Evan shouted quietly, his eyes turning cold as spiritual qi surged through his body.

This spiritual qi was the same as what he’d absorbed from Lily Zhong back in Brightsea City.

The spiritual qi poured out from Evan’s fingertip, and when it touched the blood-lines floating in midair, they glowed faintly as the diagram slowly rotated.

"Go."

Evan pushed forward with one hand, sending the blood-pattern diagram crashing directly into the body of the Harmony Jade Pendant.

A moment later, the blood-pattern diagram slowly fused with the Harmony Jade Pendant.

After a short while, the Harmony Jade Pendant returned to its original state, except now it shimmered with a faint glow.

"It’s a shame there’s so little spiritual qi right now, and this ancient jade seems to have endured countless years—its body is already fragile. It can only hold this simple, first-tier body-guarding formation."

"But even this protective array is enough to guarantee Mom’s safety."

Setting the Harmony Jade Pendant aside, Evan let out a long breath. This kind of pill-refining and formation-inscribing without relying on any external tools was still rather exhausting for him at the moment.

Soon after, Evan lay down on his bed and fell asleep.

In the morning, a little after six, Evan got up.

When he stepped out of his room, Joy Zheng had already prepared breakfast and set it on the table.

"Your Auntie Lu should arrive around eight. We’ll go to the bus station to pick her up—do you want to come along?"

Joy didn’t need to go to the cram school today, so she wasn’t in a hurry.

Evan had nothing else to do, so after breakfast, he went to the bus station with Joy Zheng.

When they arrived at the station at seven thirty, they could see Yolanda Fang and Lynn Chen standing gracefully in the crowd from a distance. The two girls were eye-catching among the people, and quite a few passing men couldn’t help but sneak a few glances.

But Yolanda’s brazen, domineering face, paired with Lynn’s slightly upturned, cool expression, quickly discouraged anyone from getting too close.

"Evan! Auntie Zheng!" Yolanda spotted Evan and Joy Zheng and waved at them.

"Auntie Zheng!" Lynn greeted Joy politely, glanced at Evan, then quickly looked away with a proud little pout.

"You guys got here pretty early."

Joy Zheng smiled as well.

Not long after, the coach from Brightsea City to Whitewood County finally pulled into the station.

And not far away, two people stood quietly watching them.