Chapter 1292: Chapter 487: Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell

Zhou Xuan saw the "Dan Demon Child" open its eyes and was ready to use his "Godly Horse Armor" to evade, while internally sneering at Alchemist Bai Lu.

The Old Bai Lu had confidently asserted — the Dan Demon committed suicide!

How is this suicide? This is feigning death.

As the ink on the Godly Horse Armor talisman spread,

Zhou Xuan had already flashed dozens of meters away, but when he looked back carefully at the Dan Demon Child — the child’s whole body still seemed petrified, and the eyes showed no signs of opening, resembling blue stone.

"Hmm? Did I just see wrong? Am I too sensitive?"

Zhou Xuan muttered a couple of words to himself, and then walked towards the Dan Demon Child again, touching the golden heart once more.

This time, he saw the child’s eyes open suddenly, a pair of white pupils without irises.

With previous experience, Zhou Xuan was not in a hurry to evade this time, instead holding the golden heart in his hand, he stared at the Dan Demon.

After the heart was taken, not only did the Dan Demon’s eyes open, but dense golden spells appeared on its stony body, and its face regained a sense of flesh and blood.

"Hmm."

Zhou Xuan was puzzled again — is this Dan Demon Child dead or alive?

If he is alive, why assume the petrified appearance?

If he is dead, why does he now open his eyes and regain flesh? What is the reason?

After pondering for a long time, he decided not to pay attention to the Dan Demon Child for the time being.

He held the golden heart and immediately performed a Divine Soul Day Trip, appearing in front of the painter and Yun Ziliang.

Seeing Zhou Xuan, the painter hurriedly asked: "Mr., when you were taking the elixir from the furnace, did you have some insight and suddenly became dazed?"

"Eh?" Zhou Xuan looked at the painter and asked: "When I took the elixir, did the Dan Demon’s body have any reaction?"

"No, it has already become a blue stone statue, how could there be any reaction?"

Zhou Xuan turned his head to ask Li Changxun: "Li Shanzu, did you see any reaction from the Dan Demon?"

"No reaction at all."

Li Changxun echoed the same sentiment.

"Is that so?" Zhou Xuan turned back to look at the Dan Demon in the pill furnace, and this time he observed that the Dan Demon was entirely petrified, unlike the blood-and-flesh restored state from earlier.

"The painter did not see any anomaly, Li Shanzu, with a higher incense fire level, also did not see the Dan Demon opening its eyes or regaining flesh. Only I saw it... Why is this?"

Zhou Xuan stared at the painter and then looked at Li Changxun, making them both uneasy.

Alchemist Bai Lu, however, urged from the side: "Mr., the golden heart in your hand is the result of this alchemy, but there’s a layer of golden bone shell on the surface which you need to break to reveal the true Golden Core."

"Only when you break this sealing shell can the grade of this elixir be finally determined."

He was clenching his fists with excitement, eager to see the elixir inside the bone shell.

Zhou Xuan was not in a hurry to break the shell but asked: "Old Bai Lu, let me ask you, the assertion that the Dan Demon committed suicide — where does this come from?"

"Of course, it’s recorded in ancient texts."

Alchemist Bai Lu also could not understand why Zhou Xuan cared about the suicidal Dan Demon after obtaining the elixir. It had already become a piece of blue stone, devoid of spirit — its greatest use being to take it home as an ornamental piece, for display only.

Zhou Xuan didn’t think likewise. He asked: "Where did the ancient records come from?"

"Naturally, they were deduced by a previous Heavenly Dome Master."

"In the deduced results, are there records of other elixir deaths?" Zhou Xuan inquired.

"No, since it’s just a deduction, the results aren’t very detailed. Only I, Old Bai Lu, esteemed for my knowledge, found out about the Dan Demon’s suicide."

Alchemist Bai Lu said this with pride, casting a smug glance at Li Changxun.

Zhou Xuan fell into contemplation.

Open eyes, flesh recovery... coupled with... suicide façade of the Dan Demon.

He pieced together these clues, pondering them carefully.

The more Zhou Xuan thought about it, the more he felt something was amiss,

an audacious thought burgeoned in his mind.

"Perhaps the Dan Demon didn’t commit suicide but faked death."

Immediately, Zhou Xuan thought of the term — "Golden Cicada Shedding Skin."

"Maybe the Dan Demon is the Golden Cicada, and the elixir in my hand is just a cicada shell."

"Perhaps this Dan Demon wants everyone to believe it is dead, using the elixir in my hand to deceive the world, and me as well."

"And its eyes opening, flesh recovery state, is its flaw in feigning death."

Having thought this far, Zhou Xuan became more composed.

The true valuable piece was the petrified body of the Dan Demon, while the golden heart in his hand became merely an accessory.

What Zhou Xuan had to do was to conceal the truth, and during the ritual of offering pills to Heaven and Earth, use the golden heart in his hand.

Once he understood these connections, Zhou Xuan raised the golden heart high, addressing the two figures not far away,

"Eternal Life Sect Leader, Tiancan Monk, tonight marks the day I, Zhou Xuan, rebuild Mingjiang, and also the Heavenly Dome’s examination of whether I am a qualified Dan Officer,

Now, I have crafted the elixir and taken it in hand, Heavenly Dome Gods, please come forward and take a look, to see if this elixir I, Zhou Xuan, made qualifies."

As Zhou Xuan’s call ended, the Eternal Life Sect Leader smilingly replied: "Lord Zhou, the elixir you took from the Dan Demon, surely it’s one of the foremost elixirs between Heaven and Earth,