Chapter 703: The Yellow Spring Map and the Gu God Cauldron!

After finalizing the marriage proposal, Lu Miaoge, Lu Ping’an, and the others stayed at the Heavenly Sword Sect for seven days before bidding farewell to prepare their return to Bihu Mountain.

During this time, Lu Miaoge signaled Lu Wangshu to prepare some invitation cards to send to the Shen Family of Blades and other families under the Heavenly Sword Sect.

As for Qin Yi, she didn’t travel back to Bihu Mountain with Lu Ping’an and the others; instead, she would come later with Master Feixue.

This was also part of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s arrangement, as the ceremony would grant the Talisman Lu Family and Lu Ping’an ample face.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, the Heavenly Sword Sect would hardly devote time and effort to such a wedding of this caliber.

Before long, the reason for Lu Miaoge and Lu Ping’an’s visit to Nine Heavens Immortal City became widely known.

They had come to propose marriage to Heavenly Sword Sect! This trip was meant to assist Lu Ping’an in courting a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Though some factions received invitation cards and knew the real reason—that the fiancée was a disciple of Master Feixue—many remained unaware, leading to rampant speculation and rumors.

As a result, rumors twisted the narrative to suggest that Lu Miaoge had come to Nine Heavens Immortal City to take a concubine.

After all, the tales about Lu Ancestor’s fondness for marrying multiple wives and fathering children had long been the topic of gossip.

Especially after his breakthrough to Core Formation, his fame spread across the Jiang Kingdom’s cultivation community, and more cultivators revered Changsheng Zhenren as a model.

Yue Kingdom.

Unbeknownst to many, the Liang-Yue War had already erupted for over two years.

Although the Beast God Mountain’s True Lord Tiancang had been slain and the Barebody Sect’s True Lord Yunmei severely injured, the Liang Kingdom’s top combat strength had significantly diminished.

But since the Nascent Soul true lords would not engage personally, the Liang Kingdom possessed four-tiered beast kings, making it impossible for the Yue Kingdom to reclaim their last several defensive lines.

Faced with this situation, the Nascent Soul true lord from the Yue Kingdom proposed that both sides send several Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators to duel to determine the outcome.

Although the Foundation Establishment duels had been won by the Yue Kingdom, the Core Formation battles had placed them at a disadvantage.

“Roar!!!”

At this moment, on the battlefield at the Yue Kingdom’s border, a howl that seemed to come from the depths of the Nine Nether Pits echoed, shaking the very heavens.

There, an enormous, dark purple wolf emitted a furious roar, its coarse fur shimmering with an enigmatic sheen, glittering like the surface of a lake.

Its terrifying wolf head bore a crescent-moon mark, dark as ink, between its brows, radiating an awe-inspiring glow.

Its sharp fangs bared in a terrifying mouth currently clenched around a medium-grade Dao-Comprehending Artifact, making a chilling ‘crack-crack-crack’ sound as it attempted to crush the treasure.

“Hiss-hiss-hiss!!!”

At the same time, in the skies above, a woman swathed in violet radiance and wearing a strapless skirt descended, aiming to attack the artifact’s owner.

This woman was tall and graceful, with thick, light purple hair flowing behind her like a cloak, appearing like a peerless warrior, fierce and domineering.

Despite the intense killing intent emanating from her, her proud figure wrapped tightly in violet fabric, with arms as delicate as fresh lotus roots, a flat and smooth waist, and stunningly elegant legs, detracted from her murderous aura.

It even invoked a strange desire in onlookers—one could die at her hands and feel no regret.

The Holy Maiden of Beast God Mountain charged through the air, her white, powerful hand brandishing a talisman like a claw as she unleashed a punch, sending the artifact’s owner flying, forcing blood from his mouth.

Immediately after, her long, gleaming legs propelled her, leaving ripples in the void as she darted forward, her limbs like blades intending to slice down the artifact’s owner.

Even though her stunning legs were irresistible, the power she wielded forced the owner to activate a protective talisman to save his life.

“Holy Maiden, you’re magnificent!”

Upon witnessing this scene, the people affiliated with the Beast God Mountain couldn’t help but cheer excitedly, stealing glances at the Holy Maiden’s breathtaking form and long legs.

At this moment, the Holy Maiden was surrounded by a purple glow, accentuating her graceful curves, exuding an alluring charm that seemed both distant and ethereal.

The cultivators of the Yue Kingdom watching the scene wore grim expressions.

“This Holy Maiden of Beast God Mountain is truly impressive; with her and the Dragon Prince of Beast God Mountain, breaking through their defensive lines seems impossible in the near future.”

On the walls of the Yue Kingdom, Lu Qingshan observed the battlefield, his expression grave.

Though he was exceptionally powerful and boasted that he was unmatched among his peers, he had only recently broken through to Core Formation and couldn’t sway the outcome of the battle.

In this Core Formation duel, he didn’t even earn permission to participate.

“Retreat!”

Upon observing the circumstances, True Lord Ziguang of the Yue Kingdom ordered indifferently.

Through the course of this war, they had also learned why the Liang Kingdom dared to instigate this conflict.

If not for Jin Kingdom’s interference resulting in Jiang Kingdom’s defeat, leading to the loss of True Lord Tiansha, and unexpected occurrences in the Mirage Domain of Vast Sands, they would probably have lost half their territory by now.

Amid the faithful, admiring, and even infatuated gazes of numerous cultivators, the Holy Maiden of Beast God Mountain returned to her camp.

She lounged casually on a tiger-skin chair, her legs crossed lazily, then turned to the maid beside her and asked, “Xiao Zi, have you heard from Shadow?”

The maid, referred to as ‘Xiao Zi’, promptly replied respectfully, “Reporting to the Holy Maiden, we have yet to receive any news from Lord Shadow.”

“No news from Shadow yet?”

The Holy Maiden frowned slightly.

Four years had passed since she instructed Shadow to head to Jiang Kingdom.

Though traveling through Liang Kingdom was dangerous and time-consuming due to the war, four years was more than sufficient.

“Could it be that Shadow encountered some mishap?”

She straightened her posture, her thigh wrapped by the purple skirt showing alluring curves.

Even Xiao Zi, being a young maid, couldn’t help but gaze at her impressive legs every time she caught a glance.

“Just a trip to Jiang Kingdom; with Shadow’s strength, encountering danger shouldn’t be possible. If there is any danger, the Soul Lamp would alert me—I’d have received notice long ago.”

Shadow was not a disciple of Beast God Mountain, but a personal guard cultivated for the Holy Maiden, meaning the Soul Lamp would notify her immediately of any situation in the family.

After a moment of contemplation, the Holy Maiden instructed the maid to investigate Shadow’s whereabouts and check for any news concerning the Talisman Lu Family over the last two years.

“Understood, Your Highness!”

Xiao Zi answered respectfully.

Six months later.

Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons.

The sky was dark and devoid of stars or moon, only endless black mist swirling and lingering ominously.

“Roar, roar, roar!!!”

Deep, terrifying roars resonated through the heavens and earth, forming swirling black holes that overwhelmed all with an indescribable dread.

A shadowy hundred-foot-long Yin Jiao and a fierce Ghost King cloaked in black mist charged toward two tiny silhouettes of escaping light.

Lu Changsheng felt the Nine Treasures Dao Bone surge with blood energy and magical energy, wielding the Da Luo Sword Embryo, occasionally slashing backward to escape desperately.

Beside him, the Five Poisons Sect Master appeared somewhat disheveled, clutching a long banner to tightly shield himself.

Although both had not sustained serious injuries, they looked frazzled and exhausted.

“Zhi zhi zhi!”

During this chase, the Soul-Taking Beast on Lu Changsheng’s shoulder emitted a powerful light, yet could only slightly ease the overwhelming pressure coming from all sides.

After an indeterminate period, nearing the outer perimeter of the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons, the Yin Jiao and the Ghost King reluctantly howled in anger and abandoned the pursuit.

“Huff!”

Lu Changsheng and Ah Youduo found a temporarily safe spot, weary-eyed, and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Master, you’ve worked hard.”

Ah Youduo, her little face pale and tired, expressed sincere apologies to Lu Changsheng.

In their quest for the Gu God Cauldron, they had delved deeper, ultimately arriving at the depths of the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons.

Here, Ah Youduo finally sensed the aura of the Gu God Cauldron.

But within the abyss lurked not only a mid-tier Yin Jiao but also a mid-tier Ghost King.

Even though Lu Changsheng and Ah Youduo were far from their opponents, they had no choice but to exhaust all their strength and escape.

Fortunately, they had various means, and with the help of the Soul-Taking Beast to share the burden, otherwise, they would have incurred severe injuries!

“It’s fine, finding it is what matters.”

Lu Changsheng took a deep breath, gradually calming his pallid face.

If the situation persisted, he was prepared to use his Nirvana Divine Abilities.

At this moment, the Soul-Taking Beast, sensing the threat was gone, chirped and indicated it wanted to sleep.

“Soul-Taking, you’ve worked hard this time.”

Lu Changsheng stored it back in the Storage Belt.

The smoothness of their escape this time was in large part due to the Soul-Taking Beast clearing the way.

After more than half a year of eating and digesting, the Soul-Taking Beast was rapidly approaching peak third tier.

If it had enough time to fully digest and evolve to the peak third tier or even into a quasi-fourth tier, facing the Yin Jiao and Ghost King wouldn’t have been so perilous.

Thus, Lu Changsheng planned to let the Soul-Taking Beast sleep and digest thoroughly before bringing it back to the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons at the first opportunity to speed up its ascension to fourth tier!

After all, compared to the Golden-Winged Roc and the Abyssal Sea Dragon Whale, this Soul-Taking Beast was much easier to raise! Once the latter ascended to fourth tier, it could potentially sweep through the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons and continue to grow! After taking a short rest.

“Master, besides the Gu God Cauldron, these are some other treasures and spiritual materials I gathered in the Yin Jiao’s lair. I believe this map is also a broken spirit treasure.”

At this moment, Ah Youduo took out the harvest from earlier.

The Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons lacked natural spiritual medicine, and even if there were some, savage beasts and ghost kings would consume them; most were crystal stone veins.

Aside from the Gu God Cauldron, there was also a pitch-black ancient scroll depicting the Nine Nether Yellow Spring.

“Oh?”

As a top-tier artifact refiner, Lu Changsheng took a glance and recognized the extraordinary quality of this scroll; it absolutely belonged to the spirit treasure grade.

He lightly lifted his palm, pulling the scroll into his hand and infusing some magical energy into it, causing the Nine Nether Yellow Spring to appear to flow, the demonic energy surging.

However, as the magical energy circulated, he noticed several fine cracks across the scroll’s surface.

“This indeed is a spirit treasure of excellent quality, but it’s damaged and has been in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons for too long, tainted by demonic aura for a prolonged period, causing its spirit to be lost, and its demonic malice to become overwhelming.”

After closely inspecting it, Lu Changsheng spoke regretfully.

This Yellow Spring Map, in its prime, was likely a mid-grade spirit treasure.

However, due to the damage and the spirit being completely obliterated, combined with the excessive demonic malice, it could barely qualify as a low-grade spirit treasure.

Unless he simulated the Twelve Heavenly Demonic God Technique to activate it, it wasn’t suitable for him at all.

“But with the Soul-Taking Beast, I can have it absorb the demonic malice from this ancient scroll as much as possible, then find a way to repair it; it could serve as a decent low-grade spirit treasure.”

As a top-tier artifact refiner, Lu Changsheng immediately devised a rough repair plan in his mind.

During this excursion to the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons, he had obtained numerous fourth-tier demonic spiritual materials.

When the opportunity arose, with his towering wisdom, extraordinary comprehension, and unmatched talent, he could elevate his artifact refining skills to fourth tier and repair this spirit treasure.

However, thinking of how his wisdom, comprehension, and talent also had to be utilized for talisman making, formations, dragon seeking, and divination, Lu Changsheng couldn’t help but shake his head.

“Is this the Gu God Cauldron?”

He turned to gaze upon the cauldron, dark and seemingly made of ink, its surface engraved with various symbols and patterns.

Like the Yellow Spring Map, the Gu God Cauldron was also riddled with cracks.

Furthermore, the ghostly aura, demonic energy, malevolence, and murkiness within the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons had obliterated its spirit, creating excessive yin energy and demonic malice.

“Mhm, this is indeed the treasured Gu God Cauldron recorded in the sect, but its appearance suggests it must undergo tempering before it can be barely used.”

Ah Youduo said, feeling pained by the discovery.

“However, I’m already immensely satisfied to have found this sect’s treasured item.”

Lu Changsheng replied calmly, knowing that the excessive yin energy and demonic malice would affect raising the gu insects.

“Thank you, Master.”

After over half a year in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons, Ah Youduo grew even more in admiration for Lu Changsheng; even her words were filled with budding affection.

Beyond their secret exploration together, their reliance on each other grew further through the Seven Calamities Love Gu.

Otherwise, it would be extremely difficult for a demonic Nascent Soul patriarch to fall deeply in love with someone.

“It’s no trouble.”

Watching the glimmer of affection in Ah Youduo’s eyes, Lu Changsheng knew the efforts he had invested over the past six months had not gone in vain.

Ten days later, the two mostly regained their magical energy and quietly stepped out of the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons, returning to the Five Poisons Sect.

As a Nascent Soul-level faction like the Five Poisons Sect, Ah Youduo’s lengthy seclusion had no discernible impact.

Therefore, upon returning, Ah Youduo did not make an appearance; instead, she immediately engaged in dual cultivation with Lu Changsheng to heal.

Days later, the bejeweled halls of the sect master’s palace were left in complete disarray.

“Mmm~”

The Five Poisons Sect Master, with a delicate arm as white as jade dangling beside her intricately carved violet bed, lay languidly, exuding a lack of energy as she softly moaned.

Her two immaculate, smooth feet curled tightly together.

Lu Changsheng observed Ah Youduo, tear-streaked like pear blossoms, with a surge of guilt swelling in his heart.

In truth, he rarely experienced such guilt when facing other wives and concubines.

But for some unknown reason, the weight of guilt was particularly profound when it came to Ah Youduo.

In silence, he embraced her dream-like form shrouded in haze.

Ah Youduo said nothing, resembling an innocent and adorable girl, quietly nestled in Lu Changsheng’s embrace.

Her delicate face, adorned with a hint of baby fat, flushed a rosy hue, radiating an enchanting beauty.

Just then.

The outer palace door swung open, accompanied by the sound of graceful footsteps and delicate chimes.