Chapter 133: The Jade Bottle Recognizes Its Master

This sudden change was so abrupt that even Gui Jiu cast a sideways glance.

Holding the jade bottle in his hand, Liang Yan wore an expression of excitement. He glanced at the jade bottle and saw two bean-sized eyeballs staring fiercely right back at him, locking into a mutual, intense glare.

"Although it lacks facial features, I can sense that it is very angry right now," Liang Yan said, gripping the jade bottle tightly as he turned to Gui Jiu.

"That is only natural. The jade bottle was originally the master of this Thirty-Nine Grand Array, and now that it has gained sentience, it is bound to be a bit unruly and proud," Gui Jiu wrote on the ground.

"Now that the bottle spirit is in hand, how do we break the array? I ask Senior Gui Jiu to guide me out of this maze!"

"Make the jade bottle recognize its master!"

"Recognize its master?"

Liang Yan furrowed his brow slightly and asked in confusion, "I have no idea what grade of treasure this jade bottle is. Though my humble cultivation allows me to refine some spiritual tools, dealing with a treasure that has already attained sentience is probably beyond my current capabilities."

Gui Jiu shook his head and wrote on the ground:

"It is of no consequence."

Then he wrote further: "Drop your fingertip blood onto the jade bottle."

After a moment of contemplation, Liang Yan followed Gui Jiu's instructions. He bit the tip of his index finger, squeezed out a drop of blood, and let it fall onto the jade bottle.

As the drop of blood landed, the two small eyeballs on the jade bottle began to spin wildly, taking on a dizzy and disoriented appearance.

At that very moment, Gui Jiu suddenly pointed a finger at empty air toward Liang Yan. Liang Yan felt a jolt in his heart and instinctively wanted to dodge.

However, Gui Jiu's arm suddenly stretched out several-fold, effortlessly pressing against the center of Liang Yan's forehead.

Liang Yan was slightly startled, and the next instant, a massive influx of information flooded into his mind.

Mysterious Turtle Treasure Refining Art!

What flooded into Liang Yan's mind was actually an extremely profound and brilliant secret refining technique!

With a flick of his sleeve, Gui Jiu wrote on the ground once more:

"Refine it according to this technique, and it will be completed in half a day."

Looking at the line of small characters on the ground, Liang Yan felt a trace of astonishment in his heart.

One had to know that with his level of cultivation, refining even ordinary low-grade or mid-grade spiritual tools would take anywhere from four or five days to over a month. Yet, according to Gui Jiu, refining this sentient jade bottle using the Mysterious Turtle Treasure Refining Art would take merely half a day—it was practically unimaginable.

After a brief silence, instead of starting immediately, he asked Gui Jiu:

"Since Senior possesses such a method, why not refine it yourself?"

Gui Jiu shook his head slightly, reached out, and wrote on the ground:

"I dare not, and I cannot!"

"Why is that?" Liang Yan continued to ask.

A bitter smile appeared at the corners of Gui Jiu's mouth, and he wrote on the ground:

"Circumstances compel me; it cannot be spoken of!"

Liang Yan looked at him carefully and, seeing that the old man was not feigning sincerity, thought to himself: "Could it be because he is bound by the tomb master's restriction?"

However, Liang Yan was not an indecisive person. At this moment, apart from refining this bottle, he truly had no other way to escape his predicament. He had no choice but to trust this Gui Jiu for the time being.

"One last question, and I ask Senior to answer truthfully!"

Looking at the old man before him, Liang Yan slowly said, "Senior is helping me refine this bottle—is there anything you require this junior to do in return?"

This time, Gui Jiu nodded and wrote on the ground:

"Gather the divine lightning and help me break free!"

"Very well!"

Looking at the words on the ground, Liang Yan nodded and said, "After I refine this bottle, if I truly possess such capability, I will definitely do my utmost to help Senior escape."

With that, he sat cross-legged, holding the bottle in his left hand while keeping his right palm upright before his chest, and began refining according to Gui Jiu's Mysterious Turtle Treasure Refining Art...

Liang Yan concentrated on his refining while Gui Jiu sat in silence. The two of them remained seated in the dim thatched cottage for half a day.

At this moment, golden and blue spiritual lights from Liang Yan's hands completely enveloped the entire jade bottle. As time passed, the jade bottle, which had previously struggled incessantly in his grasp, gradually grew quiet.

The two eyeballs on the jade bottle no longer glared fiercely at Liang Yan, but instead drooped in resignation.

At that exact moment, Liang Yan suddenly tossed the jade bottle high into the air. At the same time, his hands danced rapidly before his chest, changing through various hand seals until his left and right hands clasped together, pointing his index and middle fingers forward simultaneously.

A thick beam of spiritual light erupted from his fingertips, shooting toward the jade bottle suspended in mid-air.

Upon that pillar of light, numerous archaic inscriptions flickered. These inscriptions possessed bizarre shapes, resembling turtle shells when viewed from afar, appearing profoundly mysterious.

As this beam of spiritual light struck the jade bottle, the vessel suddenly burst forth with a blinding white light, so piercing that it was impossible to keep one's eyes open.

When the white light finally faded, the jade bottle dropped from mid-air and hopped onto Liang Yan's shoulder of its own accord, its bean-sized eyeballs curiously sizing him up once again.

Liang Yan could also sense that a subtle connection had formed between his inner self and the jade bottle before him. This sensation was wonderfully marvelous, as if he could perceive every thought passing through the jade bottle's mind.

"So you are nothing more than a toddler of two or three years old!"

Looking at the small white jade bottle, Liang Yan spoke with a peculiar expression.

He raised his right hand, and the jade bottle seemed to understand his intent, leaping from his shoulder onto the back of his right hand.

After observing it closely for a moment, Liang Yan muttered to himself, "Since you are the master of this Thirty-Nine Grand Array, I shall call you Little Nine."

The jade bottle seemed to understand his meaning; its body swayed up and down as if it were nodding. Seeing its naive and bewildered appearance, Liang Yan could not help but smile warmly.

"Little Nine, can you gather away this Supreme Yin Divine Lightning?"

The jade bottle's eyeballs rolled, and it cast a somewhat disdainful glare at him.

Then, its body stirred, automatically flying off the back of his hand. With a soft *poof*, it merged into the wall of the thatched cottage and vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

Before Liang Yan could even react, he suddenly heard thunder rolling across the sky outside, the sound faintly penetrating the array restrictions surrounding the cottage and echoing within the room.

A surge of joy welled up in Liang Yan's heart. After waiting inside the house for a long time until the thunder gradually subsided, he pushed open the wooden door and looked outside.

The boundless sea of black lightning had now vanished, and suspended in mid-air was an overwhelmingly massive black sphere of lightning, which looked as though it were compressed from countless bolts of Supreme Yin Divine Lightning.

Beneath the black lightning sphere hovered the small white jade bottle. Its two bean-sized eyeballs glanced sideways at Liang Yan, appearing slightly proud of themselves.

Then, the bottle's body trembled, and a sweep of white Qi surged outward, rapidly shrinking the giant black lightning sphere in mid-air until it was completely sucked into the jade bottle.

Having gathered the Supreme Yin Divine Lightning, Little Nine swayed in the air for a moment before flying back toward Liang Yan and landing once again upon his shoulder. At the same time, the bottle rubbed affectionately against his cheek, as if claiming credit for its achievement.

A warm wave of amusement washed over Liang Yan's heart, and he thought, "This fellow certainly loves to show off."

At that precise moment, a sudden explosion echoed from the thatched cottage behind him, followed by a figure flying out from within and landing directly atop the roof.

Liang Yan turned his head to look—the newcomer was none other than Gui Jiu.

However, crouching with a curved back and moving with agility, he showed not a shred of sluggishness or old age. He was like an entirely different person compared to before.

With a wave of his hand pointing toward empty air, characters materialized instantly on the ground before Liang Yan:

"Dragon Saliva Qi can increase the success rate of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage; it is best to save it until then!"

Reading this, Liang Yan felt a warmth bloom in his chest, and he wanted to say something more.

Yet Gui Jiu beckoned with his hand, and a mottled turtle shell flew out from Liang Yan, returning to Gui Jiu's side. Then, with another sweep of his sleeve, a dark cyan beam of light shot rapidly toward Liang Yan.

Liang Yan instinctively reached out and caught it. Lowering his head to look, he saw it was a green stone token, cracked and damaged in many places, with only three small characters inscribed precisely in the center:

"Nine Gates Token!"

Liang Yan raised his head. Gui Jiu, standing upon the rooftop, actually managed to squeeze out a rare smile, cupped his fists toward Liang Yan, and then vanished as the cyan light flashed and faded away.