Chapter 897: Blushing Peach Blossom, Journey to the Jin Kingdom, Subconscious Memories

“A Dao Seed?”

Lu Changsheng glanced at the system reward and felt a rush of delight.

Sure, a normal draw could cough up a Dao Seed every now and then,

but after seeing what the last few Seeds could do he valued them highly.

He focused his mind and looked inside the system space, pulling up this Seed’s description.

【Dao Seed: Blushing Peach Blossom】

【Grade: Fourth Rank】

【Description: ‘Peaches are young and lush, their blossoms glowing bright. The lucky bride returns, a perfect match for home and hearth.’ Enhances the bearer’s looks and presence, guides her to a worthy partner, allows the two to bloom together, and smooths the road of cultivation.】

“It boosts appearance and bearing?”

Lu Changsheng blinked.

The earlier Seeds—Sword Charges the Ox Constellation, which raised one’s sword talent and made their sword qi a notch sharper than any peer;

Son of Heaven’s Aura, which boosted overall cultivation talent and even granted the innate divine art, Emperor’s Aura Gazing Technique;

Clear Dao Heart let him open his Dao heart, slip into a state of instant enlightenment at will, keeping his spiritual embryo crystal clear, free of distractions;

Seven Orifices Exquisite Core allowed communion with every living thing and massively boosted comprehension.

So why did this new Blushing Peach Blossom focus on looks and charm?

Granted, it also promised a fated partner, dual blossoms, and an open road ahead,

but compared with the first four it felt a little out of place.

With his wife still beside him he decided not to take it out and inspect it just yet.

When he finally had a moment he slipped into the Sumeru Cave Heaven and retrieved Blushing Peach Blossom.

The Seed appeared bathed in a rosy halo, like a peach bud about to open, and its details unfolded in his mind.

First, every Dao Seed could enhance talent, expand the six senses, temper the heart, improve appearance and mend hidden flaws.

This one was no exception.

In fact it provided an enormous boost to appearance and aura.

That aura, however, leaned heavily toward male-female attraction.

For instance, the bearer would unconsciously exude a warm approachable charm.

Every gesture would resemble blooming peach blossoms, swaying the hearts of onlookers.

Beyond looks its core effect was to ‘find the right one, bloom as twin blossoms, and tread an unblocked Dao.’

In plain terms—it was tailor-made for marriage and lucked out the husband!

If the bearer married someone she truly loved, Heaven and Earth would favor the couple with countless boons.

Their mutual love would help them support each other, cross bottlenecks and level up faster.

Studying arts, alchemy, arrays or runes together would grant unseen help and even raise their success rates.

Venturing through secret realms together, Heaven’s blessing would dial down the danger they faced.

As long as the pair stayed loving, their future path would be far smoother, their highs and lows balanced, crises quelled before they sparked.

Like all Seeds it carried side effects.

First, if the marriage soured, everything the Seed had once given would bite back. Heaven would disdain the bearer and nothing would go right.

Second, if she never found a true match, the Seed would slowly reject all proper fate and attract only rotten romances.

Each rotten peach blossom would chip away at her luck.

Third, only women could use this Seed.

Men would receive a watered-down version and drown in obsessive flings that might trigger a Peach-Blossom Calamity.

“Peaches young and lush, blossoms burning bright…”

Staring at the Seed, Lu Changsheng was momentarily at a loss for words.

Its benefits were unquestionable.

Find the right partner and both sides would gain on every front.

The spouse would share in the perks too.

As for drawbacks,

compared to Sword Charges the Ox Constellation’s temperament shift, Son of Heaven’s Aura’s mental strain, Seven Orifices’ medicinal-body risk, or Clear Dao Heart’s danger of deviation,

Blushing Peach Blossom’s downsides felt mild.

Keep the marriage steady and there was nothing to fear.

The old ancestor had that much confidence.

“So who gets it?”

His first thought was to hand it to one of his daughters.

Sadly, the capable girls hadn’t married yet.

The married ones, on the other hand, were far from promising—what a waste.

As for daughters-in-law…

he was reluctant to lavish such rarity on them and leaned toward giving it to his own wife.

After all, it boosted the husband.

If his wife used it he’d profit too.

Granted, a fourth-rank Seed offered him little,

but his wives Lu Miaoge, Ling Zixiao, Xiao Xiyue and Chu Qingyi were still at Core Formation; the Seed could bump their talent and raise their odds of reaching Nascent Soul.

Hong Lian was already at peak Core Formation, preparing to charge for a Heavenly Dao Nascent Soul.

She would benefit from the Seed as well.

So long as the bride and groom were wed Heaven would bless them both.

A Nascent Soul tribulation still relied on personal strength, yet fate and fortune played a huge part at that level.

“In that case, I’ll give it to Hong Lian.”

He recalled her decades of loyalty and hard work.

Besides, the Seed’s peach theme matched Hong Lian’s Peachwood Spirit Fetus body.

Just then the Peach Blossom Gu in his sea of consciousness stirred, radiating intense desire for the Seed.

“You want it?”

Lu Changsheng was startled.

The Gu had long been stuck at the peak of Rank Three.

Held back by his own cultivation and the sizable gap between three and four, it had failed to break through.

Most days it slept inside the space between his brows.

Only prime peach-blossom fortune or a spiritual love fate could wake it.

It would also rouse to shield his spirit against mental attacks.

Who’d have thought it would crave a Dao Seed.

On second thought, the Seed’s effects did echo the Gu’s nature.

The Gu could enhance its host’s looks, subtly tuning them to attract the opposite sex.

That was strikingly similar to Blushing Peach Blossom.

It also increased the host’s romantic luck.

Different from the Seed’s husband-boost, yet akin to its risk of attracting rotten blossoms.

“Why do you want it? What good would it do for you?”

He questioned the Gu, not opposed to giving it over.

It had, after all, accompanied him for more than a century.

From Rank One to the verge of Rank Four it had served faithfully, practically his life-bound Gu.

Still, the Seed was rare; the Gu should at least bring enough benefit in return.

Otherwise, even with the System he wouldn’t squander it.

“Bzzz—”

The Peach Blossom Gu vibrated, sending him its intent.

Merge, devour, evolve, advance…

It wanted to fuse with and devour the Seed, push its grade higher and leap the chasm into Rank Four.

“Advance in grade?”

Lu Changsheng knew Gu were ranked Mortal, Spirit, Profound Spirit, Earth Spirit, Heaven Spirit, and finally Immortal.

Earth and Heaven Spirit Gu were already rare.

He had only heard rumors of Immortal Gu.

Even Ah Youduo, master of the Five Poisons Sect, didn’t have one.

She had recovered the sect’s treasure, the Gu God Cauldron, dreaming of refining an Immortal Gu one day.

Yet Immortal Gu were on par with true-spirit bloodlines.

To craft one you needed both formula and materials no ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator could gather.

“Can you reach Immortal level?”

Hope flared. If the Peach Blossom Gu could become an Immortal Gu, feeding it the Seed was no waste at all.

“I’m not sure.”

It answered that it didn’t know, only that instinct screamed it needed the Seed.

It felt the Seed would give it a tremendous boost.

Like a beast spotting a treasure that could elevate its bloodline.

“Alright.”

After a moment’s thought he decided to hand over Blushing Peach Blossom.

Not because he wanted more power from the Gu,

just that he was sentimental.

If the Seed helped his companion, so be it.

He never short-changed his own, even spirit pets.

Joy rippled from the Gu, its petal-like wings fluttering.

A peach-blossom mark bloomed between his brows.

The thumb-sized butterfly-like insect emerged, wrapped the rosy Seed in drifting peach petals, then fluttered back into his sea of consciousness to fuse with it.

He watched Blushing Peach Blossom melt into the Gu just like the Seeds that had merged with his children.

As master of that inner world he felt an indescribable resonance.

It was as if the source laws of Heaven and Earth flowed through him.

His Taiyi Spirit, a tiny golden figure, observed quietly.

He sensed he could, if he wished, seize the Seed’s source.

He didn’t.

He simply watched, eager to see the outcome.

Time ticked by.

The Gu’s fusion differed from that of Lu Qingshan, Lu Lingxiao and the others.

The Seed fused while devouring, intent on completely assimilating the Gu.

Unlike Lu Qingshan and the rest, whose Seeds were only in preliminary fusion.

Their Seeds would continue merging slowly as their realms and hearts matured.

During this process the Peach Blossom Gu grew more and more vibrant.

It really was peaches young and lush, blossoms blazing—the insect now swirled with profound peach-blossom fortune.

“Husband?”

That day Qu Zhenzhen entered the Sumeru Cave Heaven and called, telling him her brother Qu Changge was looking for him.

“Alright.” Lu Changsheng stopped observing the Gu, stepped out with her and asked what Qu Changge needed.

Qu Changge stated bluntly he was about to leave.

He planned to visit his nephew Lu Quanzhen in the Jin Kingdom and wanted directions.

“I’ll go with you.”

Lu Changsheng said at once.

Not only did he worry about Qu Changge traveling alone, he too had business there.

The Peach Blossom Gu would soon break into Rank Four after devouring the Seed and would need to face a tribulation.

Bihu Mountain wasn’t suitable; they’d have to head into the depths of Da Mengze.

He also wished to consult Ah Youduo about Gu advancement and Immortal Gu.

Besides, he’d recently drawn a true-immortal soul art, the God-Devouring Technique.

He intended to plant the fifth-rank Ghost Tree from his system space inside the Yin Ghost Sect and use it to cultivate the technique, patching his weak soul foundation.

He also meant to brief Ah Youduo and the Heaven Corpse Sect Master on the Liang-Yue War and the looming demonic calamity, and borrow some manpower to handle Liang prisoners.

“You’re coming too?” Qu Changge frowned, worrying his sister would be left unguarded.

Then he remembered Lu’s uncanny abilities and the third-rank Tree King guarding Bihu Mountain, and silently nodded.

Lu Changsheng, seeing that money-owed expression, felt equally annoyed.

He smiled at his wife. “Zhenzhen, you’ve never been to the Jin Kingdom. Want to come and visit Quanzhen too?”

“Is that alright?” Her eyes lit up; she missed their son.

“Why not?” Qu Changge produced a cave-heaven artifact.

“No need, I’ve got one.” Lu Changsheng teleported to the top of Biyun Peak and, with vast power, shifted the Auspicious Tree into his Heavenly Yuan Lotus.

Qu Changge had planned to gift his artifact, hoping his sister could travel more,

but seeing Lu already had one he dropped the matter, left Bihu Mountain, gave Elder Xun a few instructions and took the helm of the magic boat.

The violet-blue vessel was a fourth-rank spirit treasure.

It could sail the Great Void and boasted remarkable speed.

Lu informed Lu Miaoyun and their son Lu Ping’an he’d be away, then entered the cave heaven and took along Bing’er’s coffin.

He’d previously asked the Heaven Corpse Sect Master about Bing’er’s condition.

Words alone hadn’t helped, so he meant to bring her for examination.

Once everything was ready he and Zhenzhen left Bihu Mountain.

Seeing Qu Changge standing atop the magic boat, Lu mused about the man’s status inside the Tianmo Sect.

The fellow was generous enough to gift Nascent Soul essence to help his niece and her husband temper their bodies, and even owned such a treasure ship.

Once the couple boarded, Qu Changge steered the spirit boat toward the Jin Kingdom.

Along the way he used a mirroring spell to project the scenery so his sister wouldn’t miss the view.

If she wished to stop and look around she only had to say the word.

Hengduan Rift Valley—Zhefeng City.

Deep within the City Lord’s Mansion.

A huge cloud of spiritual mist twisted to its limit, then froze and burst like a tide, spilling multicolored rays and the faint cry of a phoenix.

Below, a fifteen-or-sixteen-year-old girl with fair skin and sharp features opened her eyes.

Though her jawline was crisp, her slightly upturned phoenix eyes lent her a spirited feminine charm.

Mu Que examined her own hand.

During Foundation Establishment she’d felt her body transform, as if reborn, and she seemed to have grown taller.

She glanced at the kindly old woman leaning on a redwood cane and cried joyfully, “Grandma!”

“Hehe, congratulations on reaching Foundation, my little sparrow.” Granny stepped forward with a loving smile.

The immaturity in Mu Que’s face had completely faded.

Her firm jaw and upturned eyes now drew a distinctive heroic beauty.

“Grandma, thank you for everything,” she said, eyes filled with affection.

“My little sparrow has finally grown up—so pretty,”

Granny caressed her fair cheek, knowing her bloodline made her mature differently from ordinary folk.

“Grandma…” Mu Que rarely cared about looks and sometimes even fretted over being too pretty.

She bit her lip, both nervous and expectant. “Grandma, could you look into the memories hidden in my subconscious now?”

She longed to know what her parents looked like and why they’d abandoned her.

Yet she feared a cruel truth.

“Of course.” The old woman also wished to see the images concerning her parents.

Her rough aged hand rose and settled atop Mu Que’s head, glowing like amber glass.

As amber light flowed, the wrinkled hand transformed into something jade-smooth and translucent, gleaming like mutton-fat jade bathed in dew for a thousand years.

The slender fingers and pearl-sheened nails flickered with delicate gold light.

Her other hand rose, flawless like a work of art, forming mudras with innate grace.

Mu Que sat motionless, as if in a void.

A ribbon of amber light replayed the scenes buried in her childish subconscious.

“Master, is this the baby?”

A barefoot girl, cute and lively, dressed in a long turquoise feather robe with a cyan plume on her brow, stepped forward and spoke to a stunningly beautiful but deathly pale woman cradling an infant.

“Mother…”

At the sight of the pale woman Mu Que instinctively cried out; she knew that was her mother.

They looked far too alike.

Especially their eyes.

Her own features were softer and younger.

“So childbirth drained her,” Grandma murmured calmly.

The vision continued: after handing the baby to the lively girl, the pale woman spent all her time healing except when feeding.

Both moved with urgency and caution as though danger could strike at any time.

“Little Qing, go now!”

One day her face changed sharply; sensing danger she sealed infant Mu Que inside a Spiritual Eye Fountain, the memory blurring for a moment.

When sight returned, the once-recovered beauty was ghastly pale, her azure-gold armor riddled with damage—evidence of a fierce battle.

The barefoot girl was gone, replaced by a huge battered luan bird, its feathers scorched black.

Mu Que realized the luan bird was the same lively girl.

Her mother was a Nascent Soul True Lord.

And she owned a fourth-rank shapeshifted spirit pet!

Clad in her battered azure-gold armor, the majestic woman carried the baby to a remote mountain village and surveyed it quietly.

“This may be a tiny village, yet hidden fortune gathers here, forming the stance of a dragon submerged,”

After a while her gaze fell on an old woman and the little boy beside her.

“That child…” She noted his vigorous blood, rare physique and extraordinary fate.

If her daughter grew up with him she could borrow his fortune and turn disaster to blessing.

She had come here guided by the Five-Virtues Qi; Heaven indicated this place held her daughter’s chance.

With no time to spare she used her last strand of Five-Virtues Qi to shield the infant, obscure her fate and left behind an inheritance jade token.

She placed the baby outside the picket yard of the old woman and boy.

“Grandma, Big Brother…” Mu Que knew the rest: she would be taken in and raised.

She sensed her mother had been in grave peril, hence the abandonment.

“Mother must have known Grandma’s identity as a Nascent Soul cultivator,” she thought, otherwise it was too coincidental.

Yet another thought arose—what about Father?

Why had he never appeared?

“Using the Phoenix’s Five Virtues to ward calamity, is it?”

Grandma gleaned even more.

She realized Mu Que’s mother carried a priceless phoenix inheritance.

Using those Five Virtues she had purged disaster from Mu Que and led her to a place of concealment.

“Judging by her and her pet’s state, her cultivation shouldn’t exceed mid Nascent Soul,”

Because the vision was fuzzy she couldn’t sense precise power and had to estimate Qingluan True Lord’s realm from clues.

In her opinion the woman was at most fourth-layer Nascent Soul, maybe lower.

The luan bird was probably early Rank Four at best.

“With just that cultivation she could still sense my existence—her divination lineage must be special. So the power that foretold Little Sparrow’s fate came from her?”

Grandma stayed calm but felt a touch disappointed.

She had hoped the girl’s parents might hold a clue to her own problems.

Yet the mother, rare phoenix lineage aside, was at best fourth-layer Nascent Soul.

That level was far from enough to help her.

As for the father,

though male cultivators usually outnumbered females and tended to be stronger,

judging by Qingluan True Lord, she guessed the father was at most mid Nascent Soul.

Late Nascent Soul was extremely unlikely.

Besides, the mother had been hunted so badly that Mu Que was born premature, and the father never appeared—he was likely dead or worse.

“Sigh.” The old woman shook her head. She had gotten ahead of herself.

Imagine pinning her hopes on two strangers.

If they returned and offered a little assistance that would already be good.

“Grandma…” Mu Que opened her eyes, emotions swirling.

She had seen her mother, and as expected, the woman had no choice.

But the vision showed her mother in mortal danger; the long silence likely meant bad news.

Although her father never appeared in the memories, she felt he too was in peril.

“It’s alright, Grandma is here.”

The old woman hugged the teary, bewildered girl and soothed her.

She did not resent her despite the parents’ weakness.

“Grandma, I’m worried about my parents. I don’t know where they are.”

Mu Que wondered if she could ever find them when even a Nascent Soul mother was in such danger.

“Your mother is extraordinary—she carries a phoenix inheritance,”

the old woman comforted her. “A phoenix can always rise from ashes; killing her won’t be easy.”

“Phoenix inheritance?” Mu Que didn’t quite understand but knew dragons and phoenixes were top true spirits.

“Yes. When you were little she gave you a strand of Five-Virtues Qi, a power only the phoenix clan can wield.”

She stroked the girl’s head. “Your Heavenly Phoenix bloodline most likely comes from her.”

Mu Que knew what her bloodline could do.

She healed rapidly from injuries; her Nascent Soul mother must be even stronger.

“Grandma, why isn’t Father in my memories? Is… is he still alive?”

“I don’t know divination, child. Later I’ll try to find news of them for you.”

She promised gently.

“Thank you, Grandma.” Gratitude welled in the girl; she owed the old woman too much to repay.

“Since you’ve broken through, let’s go.”

Granny smiled, leaned on her cane and led her out of the mansion.

“Where are we going?” Mu Que asked.

“Somewhere you can learn cultivation.”

The old woman explained, “I have things to deal with and can’t stay by your side, so I’ll send you someplace that will let you grow the fastest.”

“When I’m done I’ll come pick you up.”

Her face dimmed at the thought of separation, yet she straightened. “I’ll do as you say and cultivate hard.”

She knew her parents’ odds weren’t good.

Only by becoming stronger could she investigate their fate.

The same applied to Grandma’s hidden troubles.

“Grandma, when can I help you?” She held the old woman’s arm.

“That depends on how hard little sparrow cultivates.”

Granny just smiled fondly, giving no realm target.

To her, the girl was but a seed she had planted during her long life.

Whether it would bloom and aid her remained unknown.

She would not force it or pin too much hope.

Immortal City of Damengze.

Yunmeng Tower.

After receiving Xu Ruoyin’s message, Hong Lian hurried to Yunmeng Tower where Xu awaited, her long crimson hair and regal demeanor on full display.

“Girl Xu, you’ve formed your core?”

Though Xu had concealed her cultivation with a secret art, Hong Lian saw right through it.

One glance told her Xu had broken through and her foundation was solid.

“Senior Hong Lian.”

Xu showed deep respect and no arrogance despite awakening womb memories.

Past-life flashes were like a half-remembered dream; reality still had to be faced.

Moreover, those memories were fragmented; she still didn’t know who she used to be.

“Where have you been these years, girl?”

Hong Lian had always treated her like a junior and asked with concern.

“I’ve been in the Myriad Beasts Range all this time,”

Xu confessed she’d gone there after leaving the city to hunt beasts and raise her spirit pets.

During a perilous hunt she stumbled on a ruined secret realm.

It turned out to be Qingluan True Lord’s hidden treasure vault.

Her Beast Art and her pet, the Heavenly Demon Phoenix, happened to mesh with the vault’s wards.

So she used the resources inside to raise her cultivation and finally form her core.

“Qingluan True Lord’s vault?” Hong Lian was stunned.

Many cultivators kept multiple lairs, true,

stashing resources to avoid losing everything if robbed.

Nascent Soul cultivators in particular prepared secret vaults to rise again if needed.

Yet a recently active Nascent Soul like Qingluan True Lord would have left immaculate wards.

Forced entry risked alerting the owner.

That’s why most people hunted ancient, abandoned ruins.

They were easier to crack and their owners long gone.

Touching Qingluan True Lord’s vault was bold beyond belief.

But rumors said she vanished after the Mirage Domain of Vast Sands incident.

More than thirty years had passed with no news.

Since she still hadn’t shown up, it seemed Qingluan True Lord had left the Jiang Kingdom far behind.

“I only realized whose vault it was after I got inside,”

Xu explained.

Ordinarily she’d never dare touch such a vault.

But her Heavenly Demon Phoenix had already cracked a corner of its wards.

“Qingluan True Lord gets along well with my husband. I’ll tell him later so if she finds out she won’t press too hard,” Hong Lian said.

Since one couldn’t know the owner’s status before breaking the wards, she didn’t blame Xu.

The word “husband” made Xu Ruoyin’s heart tremble.

She too called Lu Changsheng her husband and they had a son, Lu Chensha,

yet her feelings for him were complicated beyond words.

Ever since forming her core and awakening fragments of a past life, she’d pondered many ways to handle it.

But after hearing in Qingluan Immortal City that the Lord of Dameng City had single-handedly captured six Nascent Soul cultivators—reviving the awe he once inspired—she again felt lost about how to face Lu Changsheng.