Chapter 706: The Xuanmu Gourd, Off to the Wedding!

“Oh?”

Lu Changsheng was slightly surprised to hear that when the Xuanmu Vine bore fruit, both the Xuantian Spirit Vine and the Sumeru Tree King benefited to some degree.

He hadn’t expected such a stir just from the maturity of a single Xuanmu Vine.

But considering that the complete Xuanmu Vine belonged to the fourth rank of heavenly plants and that it took almost twenty years in the Myriad Spirits Bottle to mature, it was reasonable to have such effects.

Moreover, the fact that the Xuanmu Vine could be revived and grow rapidly could likely be related to the Xuantian Spirit Vine as well.

“It’s this secret manual of techniques; I don’t know how to explain it yet.”

Qu Zhenzhen said with some frustration.

She had captured a trace of the rules of heaven and earth, a mysterious aura, when the Xuanmu Vine’s fruit matured, leading her to obtain a secret technique.

However, her cultivation was too low and her comprehension average; she could only barely use it herself and couldn’t articulate the secret technique yet.

“It’s fine, Zhenzhen. Take your time to study it. Once you comprehend it, you’ll be able to express it out loud.”

Lu Changsheng smiled and reassured her, not overly concerned about the secret technique.

He trusted that the technique was quite good, but the Lu Family had no shortage of techniques.

Lu Changsheng walked beside the Xuantian Spirit Vine and picked up the Xuanmu Gourd, examining it closely and stroking it with his finger.

It felt exceptionally warm to the touch, almost slightly elastic, radiating a faint warmth of life.

Lu Changsheng injected his magical energy into it.

But the Xuanmu Gourd seemed like a bottomless pit; no matter how much magical energy he poured in, none had any effect.

After a moment, he forced out a drop of essence blood and let it fall onto the gourd.

But after absorbing the drop of essence blood, the Xuantian Gourd showed no reaction whatsoever.

“Interesting.”

Lu Changsheng chuckled lightly and put the gourd away.

He planned to research it properly later on by using the Divine Creation Refinement Art for some experimentation.

“Husband, how’s the gourd?”

Qu Zhenzhen and Lu Miaoge looked at Lu Changsheng with eager expressions.

“Naturally, it’s an exceptional treasure. Thanks to my beloved Zhenzhen and you, Yuner, for your careful care.”

Lu Changsheng replied warmly.

He could see that this gourd definitely belonged to the higher echelon of the fourth rank—an extraordinary embryo!

Even though it wasn’t fifth rank, for him, it was more than sufficient for crafting his life-bound treasure—the Yin-Yang Creation Gourd! “Yes, yes!”

Seeing her husband delighted, Qu Zhenzhen was also filled with joy, a sense of accomplishment swelling within her.

Lu Changsheng observed the condition of the Xuantian Spirit Vine, finding it nearly unchanged from before.

However, the Five Elements Earth seemed to have gained a bit of vitality, its quality having improved compared to earlier years.

He gathered the Five Elements Earth closely around the Xuantian Spirit Vine, then he and the two women headed to the Sumeru Cave Heaven.

Aside from the fresh air and greenery, there wasn’t much change in the cave heaven.

Lu Changsheng inquired about the specific state of the Sumeru.

The latter indicated that the Xuanmu Vine’s fruit had matured, forming some innate pure energy that could help the cave heaven perfect its fundamental rules.

“Innate pure energy?”

Lu Changsheng knew there existed pure and turbid energies in the world.

Pure energy was the epitome of purity, containing boundless vitality and the power of creation, able to form refined heavenly spiritual energy that assisted in the growth of spiritual veins and plants.

Certain top-tier heavenly plants and elixirs could produce both innate and acquired pure energies.

Turbid energy, on the other hand, was murky and filled with various negative factors, containing countless sinister and decayed energies, chaotic and destructive.

Previously, the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons where Lu Changsheng was had rich acquired turbid energies.

“The innate pure energy is helpful for you. What about acquired turbid energy?”

Lu Changsheng couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes,”

the Sumeru replied with a voice that was ethereal and airy inside Lu Changsheng’s mind, indicating that if it needed to refine the rules of the cave heaven, it would require adequate pure and turbid energies.

However, it required pure energy more than turbid energy at this stage.

“Good.”

Lu Changsheng nodded slightly, taking note and considering if there would be an opportunity to acquire such innate pure energy in the future.

During the next while, Lu Changsheng stayed in the Sumeru Cave Heaven accompanying his wife, waiting for his son’s wedding to begin.

A few days later, Lu Changsheng researched the Xuanmu Gourd.

After refining it through the Divine Creation Refinement Art, he applied a drop of essence blood to it.

At that moment, the Xuanmu Gourd revealed a piece of information.

Not enough!

Seeing this, Lu Changsheng’s essence blood circulated, flowing towards the Xuanmu Gourd like water.

As nearly one-third of his essence blood surged into the gourd, its surface went from a jade-green to a bright crimson before sending a wave of satisfaction.

“Huh!”

Lu Changsheng exhaled, his face paling slightly, feeling a bit speechless.

He thought internally that this treasure was exceedingly difficult to recognize a master! He possessed a fourth rank body refining ability yet had spent nearly one-third of his essence blood.

If it were an ordinary cultivator, perhaps even if they offered up a human body, they wouldn’t be able to satisfy the Xuanmu Gourd.

The crimson blood and purple-black patterns of the gourd intertwined, forming intricate, complex runes resembling tadpoles, which then flew towards Lu Changsheng, transforming into a stream of information.

“Xuanmu Gourd, fourth rank supreme.”

Lu Changsheng learned the detailed aspects and effects of this gourd.

First, it could absorb various forces.

Poisonous gas, killing energy, turbid energy, and so on could all be absorbed.

Even the spells and techniques of others could be attempted to be absorbed and decomposed by the gourd.

Second, it could nurture elixirs and enhance the spirituality of treasures! The Xuanmu Gourd possessed a force of life and creation; placing elixirs inside would ensure they didn’t wither and even became more refined.

Treasures and artifacts could also be placed in the gourd for nurturing, with those of the wood attribute yielding the best results.

Of course, this nurturing effect is limited.

Or rather, the nurturing of elixirs and treasures has a limited force of life and creation. If there are too many things to nurture, the effects would diminish significantly.

“No wonder it’s a treasure formed from the companion spirit plant of the Xuantian Spirit Vine. Even as an embryo, it belongs to the top-tier rare treasures without needing refinement.”

After injecting essence blood, Lu Changsheng established a close connection with the gourd in his hand.

With a slight lift of his hand, the gourd spun before him, glowing green, then unleashed a blade of wind.

“Whoosh!”

As the wind blade sliced through the air, the gourd’s mouth spewed forth a purple-green radiance, sucking the wind blade inside.

“Just a simple activation produced such results; it indicates that I can counter a Nascent Soul cultivator’s spells with a full effort!”

Lu Changsheng nodded slightly, quite satisfied with the effect.

After all, this gourd was a fourth rank supreme; it was already remarkable that he could utilize it to this extent at his current level.

“I need to refine a fourth-rank artifact soon!”

Now that he had a fourth rank supreme Xuanmu Gourd, Lu Changsheng naturally thought to use it as an embryo to mold his long-desired Yin-Yang Creation Gourd.

Over the years, aside from the Yin-Yang Chart, the reason he hadn’t proceeded with crafting a life-bound treasure was partly due to a lack of time and energy, and partly because he viewed the others with indifference.

Like the other auxiliary treasures of the Yin-Yang Creation Sutra—the Yin-Yang Mirror, Yin-Yang Sword, and Yin-Yang Dao Robe—he could easily craft them if he wanted to with his current financial resources.

Not to mention those being top-tier third rank, or even quasi-fourth rank items were not a problem at all.

However, as his strength grew, those artifacts were of little use to him and were purely a waste!

But the Yin-Yang Creation Gourd was different!

This artifact belonged to the class of spiritual soldiers and could train the personal Yin-Yang soldiers exclusive to the Yin-Yang Creation Sutra!

With his current financial resources, if he domesticated and trained a set of spiritual soldiers, his combat strength would elevate another level! Furthermore, the Xuanmu Gourd being a supreme fourth rank was enough to craft a top-tier spirit treasure to be used until the Nascent Soul stage!

The only issue was that his artifact refining level was currently only at the top tier of the third rank.

If he wanted to refine the current Xuanmu Gourd into the Yin-Yang Creation Gourd, he would have to be willing to lower the gourd’s grade, or else his skill was far from sufficient.

Not only was his skill lacking.

Currently, the conditions of the Lu Family and the Immortal City of Damengze were inadequate.

For example, the Earth Fire and Heavenly Spirit Fire would need further upgrading to perfectly refine the Yin-Yang Creation Gourd.

“No need to rush it.”

Lu Changsheng knew that haste makes waste.

If he rushed to achieve this, resulting in flaws during the gourd refining process, affecting its quality, he would regret it, as it would be tough to find another gourd embryo like this.

“This Xuanmu Gourd has a wood attribute; to refine it into the Yin-Yang Creation Gourd, it’s best to use heavenly materials of both Yin and Yang to nurture it, giving rise to Yin-Yang energies.”

As a top-tier third rank artifact refiner with the teachings of the Divine Creation Refinement Art, Lu Changsheng had his own understanding of crafting treasures.

No longer did he simply follow procedures based on past written records.

For instance, with the Yin-Yang Chart being his life-bound treasure, he had made some adjustments based on the materials and his needs at the time.

Now, preparing to refine the Yin-Yang Creation Gourd, he needed to consider his current situation and the condition of the Xuanmu Gourd embryo to maximize effects!

“The Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Mirror, with the sunlight flowing by day and moonlight gushing by night, I can leverage it to influence the energy properties of the Xuanmu Gourd, allowing it to gradually develop Yin-Yang attributes for the refinement.”

Lu Changsheng contemplated.

Having just lost a lot of essence blood, he felt slightly weak, and after brainstorming a rough plan, he didn’t dwell on it.

Thinking about how the Xuanmu Gourd could nurture treasures and elixirs, Lu Changsheng considered putting the Yellow Spring Map inside to purify it, when suddenly he paused.

“Buzz!”

He saw a thumb-sized, diaphanous flying knife that sparkled like flowing stars appear in his hand.

This was the fourth-rank rare treasure flying knife he obtained from True Lord Loushan!

That day, outside the Mirage Domain of Vast Sands, he could severely injure True Lord Zicang with this rare treasure! However, after using it, he realized it had a flaw.

Once it released all its sharpness, its potency would greatly diminish, necessitating time for re-cultivation.

Now with the Xuanmu Gourd, he suddenly felt the two were a perfect combo! “Whoosh!”

With a thought, the fourth-rank flying knife swirled into the Xuanmu Gourd.

“In future battles, the Xuanmu Gourd can absorb and neutralize the opponent’s spells, while I can suddenly summon out this flying knife, catching them off guard!”

An image flashed in Lu Changsheng’s mind, and he decided to name this flying knife the ‘Immortal Slaying Flying Knife.’

After tossing the Xuanmu Gourd into the Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Mirror and having Ah Wu assist in refining it, Lu Changsheng went to find Lu Miaoge.

“Changsheng, what happened to you?”

Lu Miaoge immediately showed concern upon seeing Lu Changsheng’s pale face.

“I just researched the Xuanmu Gourd a bit; who knew…”

Lu Changsheng replied truthfully.

“There’s no need to rush these matters.”

Lu Miaoge’s eyes shimmered with a touch of concern as she assisted him with the Taiyi True Water to replenish his bodily energy.

“You’re right, Sister Miaoge.”

Lu Changsheng took Lu Miaoge’s delicate hand, smiling broadly, quietly enjoying her care and the tranquility.

A moment later, Lu Miaoge called for her sister, Lu Miaohuan.

Lu Miaohuan could devour living beings using the Guaiyu Demon Flower, plundering their bodily essence and transforming it into pure life energy to supplement her longevity.

During the dual cultivation process with Lu Changsheng, she could pass on this life energy to him.

On this trip back from the Jin Kingdom, Lu Changsheng had hunted many demonized beasts in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons and had fed some of their flesh to the Guaiyu Demon Flower.

Thus, in these days, Lu Miaohuan’s Heaven and Earth Everlasting Method was operating at full throttle, her graceful figure brimming with overwhelming vitality.

Though the life energy at her level had almost no effect on Lu Changsheng’s fourth rank body refinement, replenishing some essence blood loss wasn’t a problem.

Considering Lu Ping’an’s wedding, which would attract more Core Formation Realms to visit, Lu Changsheng and Ling Zixiao took this opportunity to improve their family array formations.

Especially the Sumeru Mirage Formation of Biyun Peak.

A month and a half later, Lu Changsheng and Ling Zixiao completed the upgrade of the Sumeru Mirage Formation.

They did not continue to stay in the cave heaven but returned to Bihu Mountain to attend to their other wives and children.

As Lu Ping’an’s ceremony drew nearer, Bihu Mountain became increasingly lively.

Most of the Lu Family’s younger generation returned home unless they had pressing matters to attend to.

After all, in this era with clear distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate children, as the eldest son of the Lu Family, Lu Ping’an possessed an inherent dignity amongst the majority of the Lu Family’s younger generation.

Moreover, this elder brother was not only hosting a wedding but also a Core Formation celebration! Even though the Lu Family had already ascended to become a Core Formation family, having Lu Changsheng, Lu Miaoge, and Lu Qingshan as three Core Formation Realms, the addition of another Core Formation would grant the Lu family’s younger generation an innate sense of honor and pride from deep within their bloodline!

“Father.”

Lu Ping’an came to pay his respects to Lu Changsheng, stating that he was preparing to head to the Azure Cloud Sect to fetch his bride.

The reason for going to the Azure Cloud Sect was that the Heavenly Sword Sect was too distant.

Thus, Master Feixue brought along Qin Yi and some cultivators from the Heavenly Sword Sect to temporarily reside at the Azure Cloud Sect.

“It’s about time. Go ahead.”

Lu Changsheng smiled and said.

Nearby, Lu Chensha raised his palm, and the Blackwater Flood Dragon Dao Soldier Talisman appeared.

The prepared Nine-Headed Blackwater Flood Dragon soldiers roared, pulling a majestic and grand wedding palanquin that flew toward them.

The nine-headed flood dragon’s menacing head was adorned with a festive red flower, creating a rather comical sight.

However, seeing the nine second-tier blackwater flood dragons, not a single cultivator would find it amusing; they would only regard it with reverence! However, Lu Ping’an did not board the flood dragon.

“Roar!”

The nearby Nine Nether Hound let out a low growl, soaring into the sky, exuding a commanding aura of a third-tier demon king, signaling Lu Pingan to mount.

As for his eldest son’s wedding, Lu Changsheng naturally wouldn’t hold back.

Lu Miaohuan, Ling Zixiao, and others also believed that this celebration should be grand enough to showcase their family’s authority.

Therefore, besides the nine-headed blackwater flood dragon carrying the bridal palanquin, they appointed the Nine Nether Hound, a third-tier demon king, to be Lu Ping’an’s wedding mount.

“Little Black, you’ve worked hard.”

Lu Ping’an did not stand on ceremony, stepping onto the back of the Nine Nether Hound and patting its fearsome head with a grin.

In the entire Lu Family, it could be said that Lu Ping’an had the best relationship with the Nine Nether Hound.

Both grew up together, a pair of companions.

When the Nine Nether Hound was young, it was often chased around by Lu Ping’an, Lu Wuyou, and Lu Xile, having a lot of playful fun.

Afterward, while traveling to Ruyi County, the Nine Nether Hound became Lu Ping’an’s sparring partner.

“Wow, what a grand display!”

“This is the Blackwater Flood Dragon Dao Soldiers of the Talisman Lu Family! It’s said that the eldest son of the Lu Family, back in the day, defeated Shangguan Jiuyang from the Shen Family of Blades with the help of thirty-six soldiers!”

“The Lu Family’s guardian spirit beast—the Nine Nether—surprisingly has a third-tier demon king as its mount!”

“Isn’t it said that once a spirit beast grows to tier three and gains intelligence, the master needs to show some respect? How come this demon king is willing to bow and let someone ride?”

Although there were still several days until the wedding celebration, numerous distant Foundation Establishment families had already come to pay their respects early, fearing delays on the road.

Thus, these guests temporarily residing at Bihu Mountain heard the commotion, stepping out of their homes to witness such a scene, each filled with awe and respect, their hearts full of yearning and envy.

In certain small areas, they would be regarded as Foundation Establishment ancestors, wielding power.

However, upon reaching Bihu Mountain, they could only lower themselves and be polite, presenting smiles and looking harmless.

Under everyone’s attention, Lu Ping’an rode on the Nine Nether Hound, soaring out of Bihu Mountain.

Meanwhile, Lu Chensha, Lu Wangshu, Lu Linghe, Lu Qingqi, Lu Yanyu, along with returning Lu Qingyan and Lu Qingxian, were each mounted on a blackwater flood dragon, escorting the wedding procession.

Such a magnificent and grandeur scene left all the guests in unarticulated shock.

Even the numerous Lu Family juniors were each unable to contain their excitement, feeling proud to be associated with it!

“Core Formation! I must break through to Core Formation and even reach Nascent Soul!”

In his Starry Sky Pavilion, Lu Xuangen watched this spectacle, his fists clenched tightly, feeling blood surging through him, unable to contain his excitement.

He hoped that he could achieve Core Formation in the future, or even Nascent Soul, leaving the family with a sense of pride in him, advancing the glory of the Lu Family further! “The Talisman Lu Family has four cultivators of Core Formation! Three father-son cultivators of Core Formation—truly the favor of heaven!”

“Considering the Lu Family’s current situation, as long as nothing unexpected happens, they definitely won’t stop at just four cultivators of Core Formation!”

“In the future, the Jiang Kingdom’s cultivation community might just rely on these four great sects and the Lu Family!”

Many visiting cultivators looked on as Lu Ping’an and the others departed from Bihu Mountain, filled with profound sentiments and envy.

Some youngsters, accompanying their elders to broaden their horizons, witnessed the grandeur of the Lu Family and felt their spirits soar, thinking a true man ought to be like this.

If Lu Changsheng, once a mere clan cultivator, could establish such a foundation, why couldn’t they?

Those with self-awareness among the cultivators prepared to follow Lu Changsheng’s example, seeking to raise several successors like Lu Ping’an and Lu Qingshan.