Chapter 731: Ghost Tree, Lu Quanzhen’s Whereabouts!

The Alchemist Alliance.

Lu Changsheng was naturally aware of this organization.

It was a neutral faction formed by several master alchemists.

Although its combat strength was somewhat weaker than Penglai Island’s.

As a neutral faction, the Alchemist Alliance emphasized harmony, wealth, and extensive connections, giving it an extraordinary appeal.

Thus, no faction wished to offend the Alchemist Alliance, making it one of the top powers in the Starry Sea.

According to Lu Changsheng’s knowledge, the Starry Sea’s top alchemist, who had once pursued Shen Jianjia, was a current magnate of the Alchemist Alliance.

“If I remember correctly, in seven years, the Alchemist Alliance will hold an auction for high-grade pills. If you’re interested, Fellow Daoist Xu, you can check it out.”

“Although there’s no Huaying Pill, there will be many high-quality pills, such as the Nine-Turns Spirit Pill, known as the ‘Lesser Huaying Pill’.”

Shen Yiren continued speaking to Lu Changsheng.

“Lesser Huaying Pill? Nine-Turns Spirit Pill?”

Lu Changsheng had never heard of this pill.

After Shen Yiren’s explanation, he learned that the Nine-Turns Spirit Pill was a unique pill developed by the Alchemist Alliance, possessing thirty percent of the Huaying Pill’s efficacy.

“This Alchemist Alliance is really something.”

Although many alchemists, talisman masters, and formation masters would improve and research their own unique pills, talismans, and formations.

The difficulty of improving a pill of the Huaying Pill’s level was unquestionable.

Then the two continued to eat and chat.

Shen Yiren knew that Lu Changsheng didn’t know much about the Starry Sea, so she explained many things and interesting stories about the area.

“Today, I must thank the Third Palace Mistress for broadening my horizons.”

After a long while, having eaten and drunk his fill, Lu Changsheng cupped his hands in thanks to Shen Yiren, his tone sincere.

Although he had a general understanding of the Starry Sea through intelligence organizations.

This understanding was very limited, far inferior to the explanations and introductions of the various factions given by Shen Yiren, the Third Palace Mistress of the Divine Maiden Palace.

“I should also thank you for your hospitality today, my friend.”

Shen Yiren smiled gently, her skin as radiant and alluring as moonlight.

Lu Changsheng gazed at Shen Yiren, a flash of মুগ্ধতা and admiration flickering in the depths of his eyes.

Although it was only for an instant, it was still perceived by Shen Yiren, who was at the peak of the Core Formation Stage, causing her heart to skip a beat.

After so many years of cultivation, she was naturally aware of her own charm.

Although not as peerlessly beautiful as her sister Shen Jianjia, whose beauty was renowned throughout the Starry Sea, she had always had cultivators showering her with attention, trying to please her.

Her reluctance to go out was partly related to this.

However, she didn’t mind the attention from Xuamu Daoist. “It’s my pleasure if the Third Palace Mistress enjoyed my cooking.”

Lu Changsheng, as if realizing his momentary lapse, quickly hid the admiration in his eyes and spoke warmly.

“Of course I did.”

Shen Yiren’s voice was clear and gentle, as if she could never get angry, making Lu Changsheng curious to see how she would sound if she were angry.

“It’s getting late, and I have some matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave for now. I’ll seek your guidance another day, Fellow Daoist Xu.”

Perhaps it was because of the flash of admiration in Lu Changsheng’s eyes, or perhaps because she had just met him and was already dining at his home, but Shen Yiren felt it was inappropriate to stay longer and took her leave.

“Of course, I’ll always be here to welcome you, Third Palace Mistress.”

Lu Changsheng, with his refined and handsome appearance, smiled and saw Shen Yiren off Moonmelt Isle.

After she left, he rubbed his chin.

From their interaction just now, he could tell that Shen Yiren had a very good impression of him and held some degree of affection.

“At this rate, it’ll be the year of the monkey before I can take the final step.”

Lu Changsheng sighed inwardly.

If there were enough time, he was confident he could naturally attract Shen Yiren and win her heart.

But he wasn’t here in the Starry Sea to slowly cultivate a relationship.

“I must find a way to speed things up.”

Although a slow and steady relationship was more likely to last.

Achieving a deep emotional connection, trust, and understanding through daily interactions was also the most difficult path.

In comparison, Lu Changsheng preferred to take a shortcut, directly to the depths of the heart.

Not only was he a gentleman who wouldn’t do such a thing.

Given her status, if he dared to be disrespectful, he would likely be hunted down by the Divine Maiden Palace and the entire Penglai Island.

Shaking his head to clear his mind of these thoughts, Lu Changsheng recalled the information he had just gained from his conversation with Shen Yiren.

Under normal circumstances, the Huaying Pill rarely circulated, appearing perhaps once every few decades.

Even if it occasionally appeared at auctions, it would cause a sensation in the Starry Sea, with many factions competing and driving the price sky-high.

So, obtaining the Huaying Pill through normal means was not only difficult but also not something that could be rushed.

As for fourth-tier spirit lands, they were almost all occupied. To find an unoccupied high-grade spirit land, he would have to go to the Forbidden Sea.

The Forbidden Sea was also part of the Starry Sea.

But as one went deeper, many powerful demon kings resided there.

Rumor had it that deep within, there were even late fourth-tier transformation stage demon kings, making it extremely dangerous even for Nascent Soul cultivators to venture deep, hence the name Forbidden Sea.

“It wouldn’t be difficult for the Abyssal Sea Dragon Whale, as a fourth-tier demon king, to seize a fourth-tier spirit vein in the Forbidden Sea.”

“With the Abyssal Sea Dragon Whale, I can go to the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons later and help Soul-Taking Beast advance to the fourth tier. To be safe, I can even wait for Golden-Winged Roc to reach the fourth tier.”

“With three fourth-tier demon kings, plus Qian Zhuyan, Hong Lian, and Ah Youduo, even if I attempt to reach the Nascent Soul Stage and attract hostile cultivators or demon kings, I’ll have nothing to fear.”

Since cultivators undergoing tribulation were easily noticed by hostile cultivators who might try to disrupt the process, this tribulation was also called the ‘Human Tribulation’.

Normally, breaking through to the Nascent Soul Stage didn’t necessarily involve a Human Tribulation.

But considering that several fourth-tier demon kings had attacked when the Abyssal Sea Dragon Whale was undergoing its tribulation, Lu Changsheng felt it necessary to be cautious.

After all, breaking through from Core Formation to Nascent Soul was no joke.

Once the breakthrough began and the core shattered to form the Nascent Soul, there was no turning back.

It was either success or death! “In that case, it doesn’t matter if I can’t get a Huaying Pill.”

“With my foundation and resources, even without the Huaying Pill, it won’t affect me much.”

Lu Changsheng looked at the Soul-Taking Beast, fast asleep in his spirit pet pouch, and the Golden-Winged Roc, refining the fourth-tier flood dragon king’s demon core, and felt that it wasn’t worth wasting time on the Huaying Pill once both beasts advanced to the fourth tier.

After all, to him, the Huaying Pill was just the icing on the cake, not a necessity.

“I’ll wait another year. If there’s still no news about Quanzhen, I’ll head back and go to the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons to help Soul-Taking Beast advance to the fourth tier.”

Waiting like this wasn’t a solution. Lu Changsheng was unwilling to waste time like this and made a decision.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, half a year passed.

After completing the Divine Maiden Palace’s talisman-making tasks, Lu Changsheng spent the rest of his time refining his Brahma Demon True Form.

This divine ability was very time-consuming.

Especially since he wanted to use the Xuanhuang Essence, a fifth-tier rare treasure, to form the skeleton of his Brahma Demon True Form.

[Congratulations, Host! Twenty of your offspring have broken through to the second tier of body refinement. You have received a high-grade lottery draw!]

Suddenly, a system notification sounded in Lu Changsheng’s mind.

“Hmm? Twenty already?”

Lu Changsheng was taken aback, then the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

He knew that the effect of having Lu Ping’an dilute the Void Kun’s flesh to make medicinal baths for the Lu Family’s descendants to improve their body refinement was gradually showing.

With this kind of resource cultivation, the slightly more talented descendants of the Lu Family would basically embark on the path of dual cultivation of both magic and body.

“System, draw!”

Lu Changsheng mentally commanded.

A golden light began to spin on the wheel.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have obtained the fifth-tier spirit plant: Ghost Tree!]

[The reward has been distributed to your system space. You can view it at any time.]

An ancient tree that seemed to grow in the netherworld, with skulls hanging from its branches, appeared from the lottery wheel, accompanied by a system notification.

“Ghost… Tree?”

Lu Changsheng was no stranger to spirit plants and tree spirits.

Besides obtaining the Demonic Flower of the Prison and the King of the Sumeru Tree through the lottery, he also had the extremely rare Five Elements Spirit Fruit Tree and the Divine Ability Fruit Tree.

He didn’t expect that this extremely rare lottery draw would give him another fifth-tier spirit plant.

[Ghost Tree]

[Grade: Fifth Tier]

[Description: The sacred tree of the Ghost Clan. All Ghost Clan members are born without the need for a father’s essence or a mother’s blood. They all come from the ghost cocoons formed by their clan’s sacred tree. The Ghost Tree forms cocoons every hundred years, and the quality varies. It needs to be cultivated in a netherworld land with fresh blood.]

“The Ghost Clan? Ghost cultivators?”

Lu Changsheng frowned as he looked at the description.

He naturally couldn’t take out such a fifth-tier Ghost Tree directly. He focused his mind and looked at the detailed description.

After a while, Lu Changsheng had a detailed understanding of the Ghost Tree.

The Ghost Clan was not ghost cultivators.

But they were a type of ghost similar to ghost cultivators.

The Ghost Tree was the mother body that nurtured the Ghost Clan.

A fifth-tier Ghost Tree like this one would produce a batch of ghost cocoons, about ten or so, every hundred years.

These ghost cocoons would, depending on the circumstances, nurture Ghost Clan fetuses with different talents.

Once these fetuses took form and broke out of their cocoons, they would at least have cultivation equivalent to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Some exceptionally talented elite ghosts might even possess third-tier cultivation when they emerged!

“So this Ghost Tree is a tree that produces Ghost soldiers?”

Lu Changsheng’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The ghosts born from the Ghost Tree could be cultivated as a type of soldier.

Some of the more outstanding ghosts could serve as generals or even ghost servants.

“These ghosts are naturally pure at birth. Perhaps they can even be used for spirit infusion, to become artifact spirits or puppet spirits.”

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Through his interactions with Qian Zhuyan via the Thousand-Faced Fox Puppet, Lu Changsheng knew that puppets had spirit infusion and spirit attachment secret arts.

By refining a soul into a puppet, it could gain a certain level of consciousness, making it easier to train and control.

And the Divine Creation Refinement Art also contained similar methods for nurturing and enhancing the spirituality of artifacts, allowing them to advance to become spirit treasures! “But this Ghost Tree is a fifth-tier spirit plant with very specific environmental requirements. It must be planted in a netherworld land and watered with fresh blood. Otherwise, it’s difficult for it to form cocoons, and even if it does, the quality will be extremely poor.”

Unlike the Five Elements Spirit Fruit Tree and the Divine Ability Fruit Tree, this Ghost Tree couldn’t be planted on a spirit vein. It had to grow in a place filled with ghostly energy and turbid energy.

“Wait, ghostly energy, turbid energy.”

Looking at the Ghost Tree in front of him, Lu Changsheng instantly thought of a suitable place to plant it.

The Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons! The depths of the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons were filled with ghostly energy, demonic energy, baleful energy, and turbid energy.

The few remaining spirit veins from the past had all been demonized and polluted, making it an excellent netherworld land.

And the demonized beasts inside could be used to water the Ghost Tree.

“The only problem is that it needs someone to look after it.”

If the Ghost Tree were planted in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons, the only problem would be the lack of security.

It might be destroyed by some demonized beasts, or a cultivator might enter the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons and dig it up.

After all, he couldn’t stay in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons to look after it all the time.

“I wonder if the Myriad Spirits Bottle has any effect on this Ghost Tree. If it does, I can quickly cultivate a Ghost army.”

Lu Changsheng was quite interested in these ghosts.

But considering the planting issue, he could only put it aside for the time being.

He planned to wait until the Soul-Taking Beast broke through to the fourth tier and everything else was settled before considering having it guard and patrol the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons.

Three months later.

Moonmelt Isle, cultivation cave.

Lu Changsheng sat cross-legged, his body intertwined with Buddhist light and demonic energy, the three-headed, six-armed Brahma Demon True Form looming behind him.

And at the chest of the Brahma Demon True Form, the fist-sized Xuanhuang Essence pulsed like a heart, its hazy light flowing through the True Form’s body, forming a skeleton.

“Elder, the Third Palace Mistress has come to visit.”

Just then, a talisman on the cave door flickered with a faint light, transmitting a message.

“Alright.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Changsheng retracted the Brahma Demon True Form, the Buddhist light and demonic energy transforming into a refreshing fragrance like orchids and jade trees.

The Xuanhuang Essence also returned to Lu Changsheng’s hand.

After so long, this piece of Xuanhuang Essence hadn’t been consumed much.

He estimated that it would take more than ten years to completely consume this fifth-tier rare treasure.

After doing this, Lu Changsheng cast a cleaning spell on his robe and walked out of the cave’s courtyard.

“Elder Xu.”

Song Yudies, a tall and beautiful woman in a Divine Maiden Palace disciple’s uniform, was waiting outside. Seeing Lu Changsheng, dressed in a green robe with a wide belt, looking refined and handsome, she immediately bowed respectfully.

When she was first chosen as the steward of Moonmelt Isle, she thought that Elder Xu had taken a fancy to her.

But apart from a few instructions, he hadn’t summoned her in over half a year, and she gradually realized that she was just lucky.

But the more this was the case, the more grateful she was to this refined and handsome elder.

After becoming the steward of Moonmelt Isle, not only did her benefits and treatment double, but all her fellow disciples treated her with much more respect.

Even her father, whom she rarely saw, came to visit her immediately, providing her with ample resources.

He told her not to be greedy for the perks of Rongyue Peak, to serve Elder Xu well, not to displease him, and to invite Elder Xu to visit the Song Family when the opportunity arose.

It could be said that her life had undergone a complete transformation with just a flick of Lu Changsheng’s finger.

So she cherished this opportunity very much.

“Yes.”

Lu Changsheng nodded at her with a smile, then went to the main hall of the manor and saw Shen Yiren, dressed in a flowing green cloud-sleeved dress that draped to her embroidered shoes, her hair in a simple bun, looking pure and elegant.

“Greetings, Third Palace Mistress.”

Although their relationship was good, Lu Changsheng still maintained proper etiquette.

“Greetings, Fellow Daoist Xu.”

Shen Yiren smiled and nodded, then after Lu Changsheng sat down, she said softly, “I’ve come this time because I’ve obtained some news about your disciple.”

“Oh? There’s news about Wuzhen?!”

Lu Changsheng’s expression immediately brightened.

If there was still no news, he was planning to head back first.

“Please take a look, Fellow Daoist Xu.”

Shen Yiren took out a jade slip from her sleeve and handed it to Lu Changsheng.

“Wu Gu Old Demon, Shi Hai True Lord, the inheritor of the Kunpeng Demonic Art.”

Lu Changsheng looked at the information in the jade slip, which stated that when the Kunpeng Nest secret realm opened, Wu Gu Old Demon and Shi Hai True Lord brought an inheritor of the Kunpeng Demonic Art with them. This person seemed to be named Zhao Wuzhen.

However, according to the information, when the Kunpeng Nest secret realm collapsed, all the inheritors of the Kunpeng Demonic Art were buried within, with no survivors.

“Fellow Daoist Xu, is the person mentioned in this jade slip your disciple?”

Although Lu Changsheng had previously said that Zhao Wuzhen was a member of his family, Shen Yiren didn’t ask about those details. She was just curious why the person Lu Changsheng was looking for was an inheritor of the Kunpeng Demonic Art.

Although there wasn’t much distinction between good and evil in the Starry Sea, the Kunpeng Demonic Art was still an unpopular cultivation method.

“This person should be Wuzhen. I don’t know why he became an inheritor of the Kunpeng Demonic Art. May I ask, Third Palace Mistress, what does it mean to be an inheritor of the Kunpeng Demonic Art?”

Lu Changsheng had long guessed that his son Lu Quanzhen’s entry into the Kunpeng Nest was related to the cultivation method he practiced.

But he didn’t know what it meant to be an inheritor of the Kunpeng Demonic Art.

Shen Yiren pursed her red lips and explained softly, “An inheritor of the Kunpeng Demonic Art is a cultivator who practices the Kunpeng Demonic Art.”

“Legend has it that this cultivation method was passed down from the Kunpeng Nest in the early years and is related to a certain opportunity within. So when the Kunpeng Nest opened, many Nascent Soul cultivators and factions searched for cultivators who practiced this art to enter the secret realm.”

During this process, Shen Yiren studied Lu Changsheng’s face, trying to discern something from his expression.

After all, he was a cultivator from an unknown origin, not from the Starry Sea.

Now, the family member he was looking for cultivated the Kunpeng Demonic Art, which was passed down in the Starry Sea. It was all very perplexing.

“Passed down from the Kunpeng Nest?”

Lu Changsheng hadn’t expected the cultivation method his son practiced to have such a connection.

This cultivation method was given to him by his uncle. Could it be that his uncle had joined some demonic faction in the Starry Sea? Regardless, he now had more clues about his son’s whereabouts.

Wu Gu Old Demon!

Shi Hai True Lord!

“I’m not sure about the matter of the demonic arts, but this person is very likely Wuzhen, the person I’m looking for.”

Lu Changsheng said sincerely to Shen Yiren.

“Yes, what are your plans now, Fellow Daoist Xu?”

Shen Yiren saw no sign of falsehood on Lu Changsheng’s face and spoke softly.

“Please wait a moment, Third Palace Mistress. Let me see if I can use this information to deduce Wuzhen’s current situation.”

Lu Changsheng thought for a moment and decided to use these clues to further deduce his son Lu Quanzhen’s situation.

“Alright.”

Although according to the intelligence, all the inheritors of the demonic art were buried in the Kunpeng Nest secret realm and were most likely dead.

But she naturally couldn’t say that so bluntly to the person involved.

Lu Changsheng didn’t perform the divination in front of Shen Yiren. He went to a side hall, took out his divination copper coins, and began to divine.

“According to the family records, Quanzhen didn’t die in the Kunpeng Nest secret realm. At the last moment, he was even subjected to a soul search.”

“And according to my previous divination, the heavenly secret regarding Quanzhen has changed, meaning he most likely left the Kunpeng Nest. Now it seems that it might also be due to the collapse of the Kunpeng Nest secret realm.”

When a secret realm collapses, one is likely to fall into the Great Void.

But Lu Changsheng had previously spent his vital blood to divine that his son was most likely in the Starry Sea.

Then, these pieces of information turned into threads, flowing into the vast, boundless heavenly secrets, helping Lu Changsheng filter through the possibilities.

Even with these clues, divining his son Lu Quanzhen’s whereabouts was still extremely difficult, shrouded in a thick fog.

Lu Changsheng’s face gradually turned pale and weary.

After a moment, he spat out a mouthful of vital blood onto the three divination copper coins.

Kunpeng egg! In an instant, Lu Changsheng received a message from the heavens.

His son’s whereabouts were very likely related to the Kunpeng egg!