Old Du exclaimed in shock, "This is... Life and Death Balance??"
"Heavens! She did it! She actually did it!"
He was ecstatic.
Old Du had never imagined that Zi Linling could achieve Life and Death Balance in just one month. What kind of monstrous talent was this?
Now that Zi Linling had achieved Life and Death Balance, she could go to the border of life and death to pluck the Rebirth Flower.
However, she did not awaken from her cultivation but remained in a peculiar state.
Although Old Du was eager to pluck the Rebirth Flower, he could not startle Zi Linling out of this state.
He knew that Zi Linling's current state was called enlightenment, a cultivation state that was rare and precious.
Because it was rare and precious, it was even more valuable.
Of course, for Zi Linling, enlightenment was as simple as eating and drinking. However, Old Du was still unwilling to interrupt it, as what she gained from each enlightenment was different.
Zi Linling's state lasted for more than two hours before she emerged from it.
The life energy from her left side and the death energy from her right side quickly flowed into the nascent world within her dantian.
The golden Human Emperor's Medical Canon and the white Scripture of Creation transformed into two streams of light and entered Zi Linling's body.
"Old Du, I succeeded!" she said excitedly.
"Cough, cough!"
Old Du coughed twice, calmed his emotions, and feigned nonchalance, "See? I told you, others might not be able to, but you definitely could. Wasn't I right?"
He would never tell Zi Linling that he had been worried sick for over a month!
Zi Linling, being intelligent, knew that Old Du's seemingly casual demeanor was not genuine.
However, she did not expose him.
Some good things were better left unspoken, cherished in the heart.
Zi Linling took a deep breath and leaped, moving swiftly across the border of life and death like a dragonfly skimming water.
At the same time, her palm, with her middle finger as the dividing line between life and death, became half vibrant with life and half shrouded in deathly stillness.
Soon, the Rebirth Flower was in her grasp. With a strong pull, she uprooted it.
The Rebirth Flower's root resembled a garlic bulb, with countless rootlets at the bottom.
Zi Linling kept Old Du's words firmly in mind.
Therefore, the moment the Rebirth Flower was uprooted, she willed it into her nascent world, where it would be nurtured by the power of Life and Death Balance within that world.
Then, with another thought, she drew all the water from the Life and Death Pond into her nascent world.
"What is that!" Old Du cried out in astonishment.
At the bottom of the Life and Death Pond, where the border between life and death had been, two orbs were now nestled closely together, one pulsating with life and the other emanating deathly stillness.
Zi Linling was also greatly surprised and quickly reached out to grab the two orbs.
Soon, she exclaimed in confusion, "Huh? Why can't I pick them up?"
Old Du shouted, "Try using the power of Life and Death Balance!"
Zi Linling suddenly realized.
She had dispersed the power of Life and Death Balance from her palm after uprooting the Rebirth Flower.
Now, reminded by Old Du, she quickly channeled the power of Life and Death Balance into her palm again and reached for the two orbs.
This time, the two orbs were easily grasped and eerily settled on the border of life and death within her palm.
"Interesting! So, everything in this Life and Death Pond can only be obtained using the power of Life and Death Balance. The world is truly full of wonders."
With that, Zi Linling leaped to Old Du's side and showed him the two orbs.
Old Du's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in shock, "Girl, your luck is incredible! To have found the Life and Death Balance Orbs, could you truly be..."
He then pointed to the sky and asked, "Could you truly be his illegitimate daughter?"
Zi Linling smiled playfully, "Old Du, what is the use of these Life and Death Balance Orbs?"
Old Du shook his head, "I don't know! All I know is that these Life and Death Balance Orbs, life cannot be separated from death, death cannot be separated from life, they are together in life and death, following each other through life and death!"
"Ah?"
Zi Linling paused and asked, "Then how should I handle these Life and Death Balance Orbs?"
Old Du shook his head again, "Since these orbs have fallen into your hands, it means you are fated to have them. Perhaps only you can uncover their secrets."
Zi Linling said with mild annoyance, "Uncover? How do I uncover them?"
Just then, the nascent world in her dantian trembled violently, and the Life and Death Balance Orbs in her hand vanished.
Huh?
Zi Linling cried out in surprise and quickly sank her soul into her nascent world. She discovered that a Life and Death Pond had appeared within the nascent world.
The Life and Death Balance Orbs had transformed into a stream of light and plunged into the bottom of the Life and Death Pond.
A border of life and death suddenly divided the Life and Death Pond into two, and the Rebirth Flower she had thrown in took root on this border.
Zi Linling chuckled wryly, shook her head, and withdrew her soul force back into her body. She said to Old Du, "These Life and Death Balance Orbs seem inextricably linked to the Life and Death Pond. I'll study them further later! We've been in here too long; it's time to leave!"
Old Du nodded, "Indeed, it's been over a month. Your friends must be going crazy with worry by now, right?"
Zi Linling smiled, "Probably. Quickly remove the Grand Concealment Array, and let's go out!"
Old Du smiled at this, formed hand seals again, and the array discs returned to his hands.
"The array has been removed. Let's go!"
Zi Linling nodded and used her Dragon Swimming Steps, heading towards the entrance of the Mirror Flower Secret Realm.
Soon, she reached the entrance but did not see Cao Shaoqing or the old patriarch of the Cao family.
"What's going on? Wasn't Cao Shaoqing supposed to wait here? Did he go deeper into the secret realm?" Zi Linling frowned and muttered to herself.
Then, she unleashed her vast divine sense, searching the Mirror Flower Secret Realm.
Fortunately, the Mirror Flower Secret Realm was not large, and Zi Linling's divine sense had already broken through to the Guiyuan Realm. She quickly scoured the entire secret realm.
However, she still could not find any trace of Cao Shaoqing or the old patriarch of the Cao family.
A bad premonition immediately struck Zi Linling.
Her expression changed, and she said anxiously, "This is bad!"
With that, she quickly set up a small array that was synchronized with the entrance array of the Mirror Flower Secret Realm, completely enveloping herself within it, and squeezed out of the Mirror Flower Secret Realm.
She did not damage the array at the entrance of the Mirror Flower Secret Realm.
The moment Zi Linling exited the Mirror Flower Secret Realm, she felt a sharp aura.
She let out a cold smile and sped towards the front courtyard of the Cao family.
Soon, she arrived at the Cao family's training grounds.
On the Cao family's training grounds stood five pillars, and tied to each pillar was a person.
These four people were none other than Cao Shaoqing, Xuanyuan Xun, Shangguan Yulin, Rong Guang, and Shen Liuxing.