Chapter 810: Thunderstruck Fusang Wood and Tides of Destiny

Lu Changsheng glanced at the rewards he’d received, his brows arching in mild surprise.

He recalled reading about the Fusang Tree in ancient texts.

Legend had it that this was a rare, divine spirit plant favored by the True Spirit Golden-Winged Roc.

But what on earth is this Thunderstruck Fusang Wood?

An Advanced Lottery Draw award that just hands out a piece of wood? Still, remembering that a feather had once been awarded in the same draw, Lu Changsheng didn’t pay it much mind as he turned to his System Space.

【Thunderstruck Fusang Wood】

【Rank: Fifth】

【Description: Within the wood lies the power of thunder. Refined by tribulation fire to reveal its true form. In ancient times, a Golden-Winged Roc used a Fusang Tree to transcend calamity. When the ancient tree was consumed by a thunder tribulation, it transformed into Thunderstruck Fusang Wood.】

Reading the system’s description, Lu Changsheng furrowed his brow, unsure how to best describe this Thunderstruck Fusang Wood.

A fifth-rank marvel of the heavens and earth—its value needs no further explanation, unbelievably rare.

In the outside world, countless people would clamor for it, fighting tooth and nail, a prize nearly impossible to obtain.

But for him, this fifth-rank treasure was rather ordinary in its function.

Using it to craft high-level Talisman Skins felt like an extravagant waste, something even Lu Changsheng found prodigal.

Refining it into a Spirit Treasure?

He wasn’t short on Spirit Treasures nor had time to craft them; instead, he planned to use this fifth-rank marvel to refine treasures. His current Artifact Refining skill wasn’t top-notch, so it risked wastage.

As for other uses—maybe burning it in a fire or channeling its thunder attribute into a divine technique? Or perhaps scraping some wood shavings to assist in alchemy?

“I wonder if this Thunderstruck Fusang Wood holds any other benefits…”

Intent on the possibility, Lu Changsheng activated his system interface, drawing the log of Thunderstruck Fusang Wood from his System Space.

In an instant, a specimen the size of an infant materialized before him: its body charred black like coal, its surface marred by purple lightning patterns, and fractures revealing a golden-red wooden core. It radiated with scorching, domineering, desolate yet vigorous energy.

That fierce, overwhelming energy made Lu Changsheng immediately realize that this wood could be used in medicine or alchemy.

He also recognized its ideal potential as the core of a thunder-fire array—a perfect pivot for such formations.

For instance, by refining it into a Thunder-Fire Domain Pillar, it could serve as the array’s heart, amplifying the power of thunder-fire spells, and even exhibit a staggering demon-suppressing effect.

“Clearly, system rewards are always top-notch,” he mused.

“Fusang Wood itself is an embodiment of supreme yang, further tempered by a thunder tribulation to exude a hint of thunder yang—it’s absolutely mightful. Used for demon suppression, its effects would be phenomenal.”

In a flash, Lu Changsheng envisioned numerous uses for this Thunderstruck Fusang Wood.

For instance, when he breaks through to Nascent Soul, he plans to elevate the Immortal City of Damengze to fourth rank and set up a fourth-rank array.

Then he could use this wood as the array’s core, constructing an extremely yang, thunder-fire array to dramatically boost its might.

However, positioning a thunder-fire array in a vast aquatic domain like Da Mengze might diminish its efficacy.

Besides, thunder-fire arrays are primarily designed for offense rather than defending a city.

Nevertheless, just as all things cycle—water suppresses fire and fire counters water.

If a cultivator practicing water techniques dares to enter the Immortal City array, they’d certainly find their powers hampered.

Beyond that, Lu Changsheng also recalled the Sealing Demon Realm’s grand sealing array.

Upon leaving the Land of Eternal Night, a Sealing Demon Array Spirit had presented him with an array formation manual.

After a brief glance, he shared his insights with his wife, Ling Zixiao.

He was convinced that inserting this Thunderstruck Fusang Wood into the sealing array would produce remarkable, double-effect results.

Yet with Ti Hun involved, Lu Changsheng was reluctant to part with such a precious fifth-rank treasure for nothing.

Moreover, he began to realize additional applications for this wood.

For example, his son Lu Lingxiao had an early shortcoming in his Dragon Roar Body cultivation.

The Dragon Roar Body is the embodiment of extreme yang.

And this wood, too, is made of extreme yang timber.

He could easily have Lu Lingxiao refine a bit of this Thunderstruck Fusang Wood to absorb its thunder yang essence, potentially rectifying his developmental flaw.

Although the attributes differ and might not completely mend the Dragon Roar Body’s defects,

such supplementation would undeniably benefit Lu Lingxiao’s extreme yang constitution.

Besides, his son’s life-bound treasure was forged from a Golden Fire Vine Tree.

Mixing in some Thunderstruck Fusang Wood could potentially elevate his life-bound treasure by one level.

Yet with Lu Lingxiao still engaged on the Yue Kingdom’s battlefield, Lu Changsheng wasn’t in a hurry.

He decided to first use this wood as the core for his breakthrough array aimed at Nascent Soul advancement—a three-rank top-tier array.

Watching the thunder-fire extreme yang energy surge from the wood, he quickly formed hand seals and recited incantations to temporarily seal its energy, preventing any leakage that might degrade its quality.

Immediately after, he refined a Jade Box on the spot to safely contain the Thunderstruck Fusang Wood.

Three months later.

A warship from the Azure Cloud Sect returned from the Yue Kingdom Front Lines.

Lu Qingxian, Lu Chensha, Zhao Qingqing, and others had returned to Jiang Kingdom aboard this vessel.

With tensions high on the front, warships frequently ferried supplies or conscripted troops between the two countries.

Seeing his children return safely, Lu Changsheng organized a celebratory feast—a triumphal homecoming.

News of Lu Changsheng and Lu Miaoge’s lethal encounter with three Core Formation True Lords on the Yue Kingdom battlefield quickly spread, sending shockwaves through the entire Jiang Kingdom’s cultivation circles.

Previously, only the Four Great Immortal Sects and select Core Formation factions knew of the incident.

But now, many powerful clans were discussing it, elevating the reputation of the Talisman Lu Family to rival long-established forces like the Illusory Sound House and Danxia Mountain.

Many even marveled, calling Lu Changsheng and Lu Miaoge the ‘Second City Lords of Dameng City’.

This wasn’t a reference to Lu Changsheng serving as deputy City Lord of the Immortal City of Damengze,

but rather that, like the legendary Dreamless couple, their combined cultivation allowed them to surpass even late Core Formation masters and rank among Jiang Kingdom’s elite!

“No wonder Changsheng True Lord became the deputy City Lord of Damengze as soon as he broke through Core Formation. It’s far more complex than it appears.”

“Changsheng True Lord and Miaoge True Lord are likely disciples or successors of Wu Hen True Lord and Yunmeng True Lord, which explains their close ties with the new City Lord—they earned their deputy positions.”

“Slaying three Core Formation True Lords? Absolutely astonishing.”

“Not only that, I heard that Lu Changsheng’s son, Lu Qingshan of Golden Sun Sect, once decimated several enemy Core Formation cultivators and even escaped death from a late Core Formation master.”

“The Talisman Lu Family is terrifying!”

Many regions buzzed about the Talisman Lu Family, all marveling at the rapid rise of the Lu Family.

Meanwhile, clans like the Beast Taming Xu Family and the Shen Family of Blades bitterly lamented that their thousand-year legacies were being overshadowed by a mere century-old family.

Yet facing the staggering battle prowess of Lu Changsheng and Lu Miaoge, and Lu Qingshan’s performance on the front, they knew their families were no longer on the same level as the Talisman Lu Family.

In fact, upon receiving the news, some even sent congratulatory envoys to praise Changsheng True Lord and Miaoge True Lord for shaking Jiang and Yue.

However, many families remained curious about how the Azure Cloud Sect and the Lu Family of Bihu Mountain would view the situation.

After all, Bihu Mountain’s recent performance was now enough to threaten the Azure Cloud Sect.

Yet, the Azure Cloud Sect had not made a move.

The celebratory banquet at Bihu Mountain lasted a lively seven days.

“Father,”

After the festivities, Lu Qingxian immediately sought out Lu Changsheng to announce his intention to break through Core Formation.

Now that he had acquired the Thunder-Fire Body, Lu Qingxian felt his magical energy had hit its limit.

He said, “Use those wood shavings to soak in spirit liquid and stabilize your condition until Father returns. Then you can start your Core Formation breakthrough.”

Seeing his son ready for Core Formation, Lu Changsheng scraped some wood shavings from the Thunderstruck Fusang Wood and handed them to him, signaling that he should mix them with spirit liquid.

After all, this was a fifth-rank treasure.

Even just the shavings weren’t something a Foundation Establishment cultivator could easily digest.

Soon after, Lu Changsheng discussed the matter of the Phantom Mink with Lu Chensha and then led his son Lu Quanzhen to Dameng City to fetch some Tianlu for Lu Qingxian, Lu Wangshu, and Wang Yanjing for their Core Formation breakthroughs.

“Husband,”

When Hong Lian saw Lu Changsheng return, she inquired if he was preparing to break through to Nascent Soul.

Lu Changsheng smiled and replied, “Yes, on my trip to the Yue Kingdom I also conducted some research in the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range.”

He revealed his plan to seize a fourth-rank Spiritual Vein and set up an array to break through.

Once the array was established, he would directly advance his breakthrough.

In the future, Hong Lian could also come here for her breakthrough.

Hearing this, Hong Lian expressed her approval with no objections.

“By the way, Hong Lian,”

Lu Changsheng suddenly recalled his son Lu Chensha’s situation and asked if she could help him tame the Phantom Mink.

Hong Lian explained softly, “The Beast Art is extraordinarily dominant. Typically, a Foundation Establishment cultivator can never contract a third-rank Demon King. However, cultivating the Beast Art might grant a slim chance.”

She continued in a hushed tone, “The Phantom Mink isn’t as ferocious as other beasts. With proper taming, Lu Chensha has at least a seventy percent chance of forming a contract.”

Speaking of Lu Chensha, she couldn’t help but think of Xu Ruoyin.

Years ago she had set aside some Core Formation resources for Xu Ruoyin, but the latter had been out of touch ever since.

“As for Lu Chensha’s Core Formation…”

Hong Lian knew that for cultivators like Lu Chensha or Xu Ruoyin practicing the Beast Art, their spirit pets were indispensable before breaking through.

In a gentle, melodious tone she said, “Do you remember the Spirit Source Stone you acquired from True Lord Tiancang back then?”

Lu Changsheng replied, “Yes.”

He recalled that he had obtained some unidentified natural spiritual materials from True Lord Tiancang and True Lord Zicang.

Materials like these he always had Hong Lian identify; if useful, they’d be used, otherwise stored in the Immortal City’s treasury under the care of Hong Lian and Ling Zixiao.

So unless his personal resources ran completely dry, Lu Changsheng often wasn’t aware of the full extent of what he possessed.

“Based on my observations, it’s almost certain that this Spirit Source Stone houses some kind of demon beast. Its bloodline, though uncertain in terms of life and death, is undoubtedly extraordinary.”

“When Lu Chensha is ready for Core Formation, you could try slicing it open. If the beast within survives, its rare bloodline could be contracted while it’s still weakened.”

“If it’s deceased, the inherent demon beast energy within the stone will still help Lu Chensha’s breakthrough.”

Dressed in a red vermilion skirt embroidered with the Vermilion Bird motif, Hong Lian spoke serenely and gracefully to Lu Changsheng.

In truth, after sizing up the Spirit Source Stone’s condition, a part of her secretly planned to allocate it for Xu Ruoyin’s breakthrough.

But knowing Xu Ruoyin’s strong temperament and his likely intent to break through on his own, she decided to reserve it for Lu Chensha instead.

“Oh?”

Lu Changsheng raised his eyebrows and nodded, mentally noting the matter.

Soon after, when Ling Zixiao arrived, he discussed his plan to break through to Nascent Soul in the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range and suggested enlisting two women to help set up the array.

After all, if he were to set up the array by himself, it was hard to say how long it would take.

That was also why he brought Lu Quanzhen along—to have a top-tier warrior securing the Immortal City.

As for Qian Zhuyan,

she would naturally accompany them to the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range.

That way, if he had matters to attend to back home, she could help look after Hong Lian and Ling Zixiao.

“Alright,”

Ling Zixiao, upon hearing that Lu Changsheng was finally preparing to break through to Nascent Soul and that she could contribute, agreed cheerfully.

After her words, she suddenly asked Lu Changsheng with a mischievous glint, “My dear, during your trip to the Yue Kingdom, did you happen to encounter any celestial maidens or devilish enchantresses? Or perhaps in the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range, run into any shapeshifting seductresses?”

Lu Changsheng: “???”

“Alright, alright—don’t mock your husband!”

Lu Changsheng scooped his voluptuous wife into his arms, determined to settle things in their own familiar way.

A few days later, Lu Changsheng left his Hall of Everlasting Life and made his way to Qian Zhuyan’s Puppet Hall to see how busy she had been all these years.

As the Puppet Hall slowly swung open, Lu Changsheng saw a graceful woman in a long dress with wide sleeves made of Moon Essence Satin standing before him.

Her black hair flowed unbound like an icy waterfall down to her waist, adorned with seven delicately carved hairpins of North Pole Ice Essence that shimmered with crystalline frost.

Her exquisitely sculpted features, as if chiseled from ancient ice, combined with deep blue, translucent eyes that resembled a cold pool—though stunningly beautiful, they appeared lifeless, like a statue of an Ice Essence Goddess.

“Master,”

The ice-carved woman addressed Lu Changsheng, her voice both melodious and chillingly emotionless.

Not only did the woman speak, but behind her, a nearly eight-foot-tall, jet-black puppet also shouted at Lu Changsheng in a hoarse, grating tone.

“Huh!?”

Lu Changsheng studied the form of Lingbo True Lord’s body before him, noting no obvious signs of any puppet modification, and asked, “Xiao Yan, what have you done?”

“Soul Division.”

Lingbo True Lord replied coolly, his presence as formidable as an ancient iceberg meant to freeze others solid.

“Soul Division!?” Lu Changsheng exclaimed in surprise.

He understood that soul division involved fragmenting one’s divine soul.

Similar to techniques used in cultivating a second Nascent Soul or externalizing one’s form, it required splitting the divine soul.

But a cultivator’s divine soul is crucial; any fragmentation not only affects its essence but might also impact longevity and potential.

“It isn’t the soul division you imagine, Master. I merely carved out a portion of my puppet spirit’s soul, infused it into this body, and then took thorough control,”

explained Qian Zhuyan as she stepped forward. Her voice was cold and hoarse, betraying the modifications she had made.

Hearing that it was just a matter of slicing the puppet spirit’s soul, Lu Changsheng heaved a sigh of relief.

He knew that her puppet spirit’s soul could be replenished using a Soul Crystal.

“Xiao Yan, I see that you haven’t altered this body at all,”

Lu Changsheng observed, still puzzled about Qian Zhuyan’s intentions with Lingbo True Lord’s form.

“The Nascent Soul Body is rare and complex. I dare not tamper with it lightly. For now, my plan is simply to master this form and link it to my puppet body,”

Qian Zhuyan candidly disclosed her ideas.

She explained that her puppet body couldn’t be arbitrarily modified, as it served as her core combat strength.

Thus, the modification of Lingbo True Lord’s body had two directions.

One option was to craft it into a humanoid puppet, refining her physical form into a puppet body and substituting the Nascent Soul with an ice-element demon pill, turning her into an ice-element puppet.

This method, however, carried more drawbacks; it was preferable to exchange the body for natural treasures and craft a humanoid puppet.

Its sole advantage was that the fourth-rank ice-element spells and divine abilities it would unleash would outclass those of ordinary puppets.

The other approach, which she favored, was to merge her puppet spirit’s soul into her body, transforming it into her alter ego.

Then, by further modification, bind this alter ego closely with her puppet body so that their cultivation of divine abilities complemented one another—for instance, with techniques like spatial transference or storm evasion.

She even considered that, externally, this alter ego could be disguised as its master to divert attention.

Of course, Qian Zhuyan had one more confession.

Years ago, when her divine soul merged with her puppet, fate intervened and half of it transformed into a puppet spirit.

Though she had perfectly mastered the puppet, it meant she couldn’t leave it—forcing her to continuously upgrade both her puppet body and puppet spirit’s soul to strengthen herself.

After journeying through the Land of Eternal Night, she suddenly felt that her puppet body looked rather out of place and wished for a change.

Or perhaps she wanted to see if her divine soul could separate perfectly from her puppet spirit’s soul, making the puppet body merely an external avatar.

“Not a bad idea,”

Lu Changsheng conceded, though he thought it wasn’t of huge importance. Qian Zhuyan, with her love for puppet strategy, would keep refining her methods.

Still, since she was keen to delve deeper into puppet techniques, he was willing to provide research materials and funding.

A while back, after raising his Artifact Refining to fourth rank, Lu Changsheng not only improved but also deepened his understanding of the Divine Creation Refinement Art.

He then offered Qian Zhuyan several suggestions for her puppet body, promising to help her reforge some components later.

Thus, the two discussed puppet and Artifact Refining techniques in the Puppet Hall.

After a long discussion, Lu Changsheng stretched lazily and left the Puppet Hall, holding the Misty Dust Banner as he headed deep into Da Mengze in search of the Abyssal Sea Dragon Whale.

Upon arriving at Xuan Whale Island, Lu Changsheng soared several thousand miles more and called out to the Abyssal Sea Dragon Whale.

Before long, the sea roared and boiled. A massive figure, its head sporting what looked like a tiny cap, emerged. With dark, piercing eyes, the diminutive Lu Changsheng called out, “Master!”

“Spirit Whale, has anyone disturbed you these days?”

Lu Changsheng first inquired about Lu Lingjing with concern.

“None,” replied Lu Lingjing as he wagged his tail, stirring towering waves.

“How much Tianlu have you collected lately?” Lu Changsheng asked.

“I—I’m not sure,” Lu Lingjing pondered before replying.

“Give me what you’ve gathered,” Lu Changsheng demanded.

“It’s all gone,”

Lu Lingjing admitted honestly, with a hint of regret.

“???” Lu Changsheng was momentarily stunned and asked, “Where’s the Tianlu?”

“I finished it all,” Lu Lingjing confessed, almost with a lingering satisfaction.

He thought the dish was simply too small and that it took so long to condense even a tiny bit.

“???”

Lu Changsheng was dumbfounded.

He never expected that when he asked for help in condensing Tianlu, Lu Lingjing would secretly devour it all.

“Master, you told me I could eat if I wanted, so I did,”

Seeing his stunned expression, the Abyssal Sea Dragon Whale shrank its head and added, “Had you not permitted it, I certainly wouldn’t have eaten a bit.”

He recalled how, when he first saw the Kunpeng Egg, he was so tempted that he drooled but refrained from eating it.

Lu Changsheng remembered that he had indeed said as much.

At the time, noticing that the Abyssal Sea Dragon Whale’s injuries hadn’t fully healed, he had figured Tianlu would help with recovery and allowed a little to be consumed.

But he never imagined that it would be entirely eaten.

Still, seeing that the whale’s injuries were nearly eighty percent healed, Lu Changsheng didn’t scold it—instead, he said helplessly, “This time, it’s done. In future, you must leave at least ten drops for me.”

With that, he raised his hand to retrieve the Cheng Lu Pan from atop the whale’s head. Behind him, the Brahma Demon True Form appeared with three heads and six arms, poised to collect the Tianlu.

After all, they had come this far. They might as well gather a few drops of Tianlu before heading back.

Lu Lingjing obediently stood by, watching as the Brahma Demon True Form held up the Cheng Lu Pan.