novelapdf Chapter 190 Heavenly Treasure
Chapter 190 Heavenly Treasure
Chapter 191 Heavenly Treasure
Lu Jianghe intentionally waited for them to finish speaking.
After its body stopped, it stood still, casting light into the distance. Although it did not deliberately conceal its aura, it still caused ripples in the surrounding air.
His eyes narrowed slightly, as if sensing something.
Suddenly, two astonishing streaks, one blue and one white, rose from the Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain above Tianxing City.
Two long streaks of light pierced the sky, tracing a huge arc in the air before falling like meteors, crashing through layers of clouds and hurtling straight toward their location.
Even with the naked eye, it was clear that the streaks of light in the air slowed down several times. When the two streaks of light truly approached and finally landed in front of Lu Jianghe, they revealed their forms.
Even though the pressure emanating from these two individuals had been completely suppressed, it still made Han Li, Zi Ling, and Yuan Yao feel as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
Even with protective spiritual light, it could only barely resist the suffocating feeling originating from the crushing power of their realm.
His internal spiritual energy was like ice frozen in a cold pool, making it difficult to even utter a single syllable. He was forced to retreat dozens of feet away.
Before them stood two figures: the man, dressed in a jade-green robe and adorned with a black jade hairpin, possessed an ethereal beauty, while the woman, in magnificent palace attire, had a slender waist, phoenix eyes that held a commanding presence, and an air of superiority that surpassed all others.
They were none other than the Star Palace Twin Saints, Ling Xiaofeng and Wen Qing, both late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.
The three Core Formation cultivators didn't even have the thought of casting spells; they could only passively adopt a defensive stance, their movements slightly sluggish and their expressions solemn.
Ling Xiaofeng didn't look this way, but Wen Qing's gaze swept briefly over Zi Ling and Yuan Yao.
Lu Jianghe looked straight ahead, not even bothering to bow, but simply smiled calmly: "Greetings, fellow Daoists."
The couple remained calm, their gaze lingering briefly on Lu Jianghe.
The two had learned from their junior brother Jin Kui that this person seemed to have successfully advanced to the Nascent Soul stage.
Despite still finding it unbelievable, the two of them eventually went out of the city to greet the aura as it drew near.
On the surface, it appears to be a courtesy, but in reality, it carries a testing intent.
Wen Qing smiled and bowed, after all, the other party might have crossed that insurmountable barrier—
"Fellow Daoist Lu."
Ling Xiaofeng got straight to the point, as always.
"Could my wife and I take a look at the Void Heaven Cauldron?"
Upon hearing this, apart from Han Li, who was relatively calm because he already knew about it, everyone else remained calm.
Zi Ling and Yuan Yao were both surprised. They hadn't expected that Lu Jianghe would take the Void Heaven Cauldron!
In fact, the fact that Lu Jianghe addressed them as "fellow Daoist" and that they came together as a couple exuded an aura of immense power.
In the minds of the three, the other party's identity was already self-evident.
Lu Jianghe had nothing to hide. With a flick of his sleeve, a simple, ancient-looking cauldron the size of a fist appeared in the air.
He pointed his fingers together, and a beam of spiritual light shone onto the cauldron.
The small cauldron emitted a deep hum, and the patterns of flowers, plants, insects, beasts, sun, moon, and stars engraved on its surface instantly shimmered and seemed to come alive.
Then, it swelled with the wind and, in the blink of an eye, transformed into a round cauldron with three legs and two handles, several meters tall, which hung steadily in the air.
The cauldron is ancient and heavy, without any trace of precious light emanating from it, yet it exudes a powerful aura that suppresses all directions.
In an instant, the couple appeared before the cauldron as if they had teleported.
They had entered the inner hall before, but due to the rules of the Star Palace throughout the ages, and the lack of a suitable spirit beast to pull the cauldron, they had only observed it with their divine sense.
Wen Qing stretched out her wrist, which was as smooth as mutton fat jade, and lightly touched the cold wall of the Void Heaven Cauldron with her fingertips.
Immediately, she put her index and middle fingers together and flicked them against the body of the cauldron.
""
A deep, resonant hum immediately rang out, unlike the hollow echo of ordinary metal, but instead carrying a heavy, textured quality.
The sound echoed endlessly within the belly of the cauldron, layer upon layer.
Although divine sense could not penetrate the cauldron to see what was inside, the dull echo itself was enough to show that even if there was something inside the cauldron, there was now very little left.
Ling Xiaofeng did not touch it. He stood with his hands in his sleeves, slowly walking around the floating cauldron, carefully examining the intricate and mysterious patterns on its surface.
His knowledge and the profound understanding accumulated over millennia by the Star Palace allowed him to quickly identify one of the ancient characters that was distinct from the decorative patterns.
"The Tongbao Technique —"
This should be the key method for refining and controlling the Void Heaven Cauldron.
"Ancient treasures can be roughly divided into ancient treasures, primordial ancient treasures, and even the legendary heaven-reaching spiritual treasures. If a cultivator obtains one of them, their combat power and killing ability can increase by several times. Especially the heaven-reaching spiritual treasure, it is no exaggeration to say that if an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator possesses it, they can overpower a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator."
Ling Xiaofeng's gaze was intense, and his voice reached everyone's ears.
"This Void Heaven Cauldron before us, though not a top-tier offensive weapon, is absolutely unparalleled in its ability to trap and suppress enemies. Even if it were simply thrown out to strike someone, I doubt anyone of the same level would dare to challenge its might."
Before Lu Jianghe could speak, Ling Xiaofeng pressed on, "Is there any way to open this cauldron now?"
These words caused an immediate silence to fall over the surrounding area.
The three Nascent Soul cultivators present all had intense curiosity in their eyes.
After all, being able to witness the opening of the number one secret treasure of the Chaotic Star Sea is a rare and wonderful encounter on the path of cultivation.
Lu Jianghe shook his head and laughed, "It's not that simple."
Wen Qing raised an eyebrow, clearly understanding the implication: it wasn't that Lu Jianghe was entirely without options, but simply unwilling to do so.
However, she and Ling Xiaofeng exchanged a glance and neither of them asked any further questions.
As late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, the Star Palace Twin Saints naturally possessed their own demeanor and sense of propriety.
Since the other party has already politely declined, forcing the issue would be a poor choice.
Now that the Void Heaven Cauldron has been removed, the core value of the Void Heaven Palace as a secret realm has been greatly diminished.
In the future, this secret realm will likely become less attractive to Nascent Soul cultivators, except perhaps for those nearing the end of their lifespan who might gather herbs to prolong their lives.
At most, it can only attract some Core Formation cultivators to seek opportunities.
As Lu Jianghe put the Void Heaven Cauldron back into his sleeve, his gaze turned to Ling Xiaofeng and Wen Qing.
"Fellow Daoists, have you broken free from the constraints of the Primordial Magnetic Divine Mountain and are now free to travel at will?"
Ling Xiaofeng remained calm, but upon hearing this, he gently shook his head and spoke frankly, "Fellow Daoist Lu, you flatter me. My wife and I can only move freely within the area surrounding Tianxing City. Once we leave this realm—"
His tone carried a hint of helplessness, "One's cultivation level will suddenly drop. If one is more than a thousand miles away, one's cultivation level may even be reduced by one level. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, the two of us will never easily stray too far from Tianxing City."
Ling Xiaofeng changed the subject, looking at Lu Jianghe with scrutiny and inquiry.
"I only heard from Junior Brother Jin Kui that Fellow Daoist seems to have advanced to the Nascent Soul stage? Such an earth-shattering event is something my husband and I absolutely must come to congratulate you in person."
Wen Qing nodded slightly, her phoenix eyes also flashing with a complex light.
Upon hearing this, Lu Jianghe gently shook his head: "It is true that he has broken through the realm, but he is not a Nascent Soul cultivator."
Ling Xiaofeng and Wen Qing were stunned for a moment, their faces showing deep confusion.
Deep clouds and shrouded in mist?
It's completely baffling!
What does that mean?
Ling Xiaofeng and Wen Qing's minds raced.
The other party is clearly already a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. If he takes another step forward, what else could he be but a Deity Transformation cultivator?
Could it be the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage?
Even if it is the Great Perfection, it is still within the Nascent Soul realm, so Jin Kui would not be so alarmed as to mistakenly report it as the Divine Transformation realm.
The claim that this person "broke through a realm" yet was "not a Nascent Soul cultivator" is truly perplexing.
In reality, the couple didn't have much genuine fear about whether Lu Jianghe had truly broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, stemming from the difference in their cultivation levels.
With their combined strength, they are powerful enough to dominate this world, and they also have the Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain as their ultimate trump card.
If a dispute were to break out with the other party, even if the other party were truly a Nascent Soul cultivator, they were confident that they could put up a fight with the power of the Primordial Magnetic Divine Mountain.
This confidence stems from the secret records accumulated by the Star Palace over thousands of years.
They knew a secret that was almost inaccessible to cultivators of this realm: the body of a Nascent Soul cultivator was a curse of Heaven.
When ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators fight, they consume the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as well as their own spiritual power reserves.
However, cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage are different. Once they truly unleash the techniques and supernatural abilities of the Nascent Soul stage, they are using power that touches the very source, and the price they pay is the consumption of their own lifespan.
Because the laws of this world are incomplete and the spiritual energy is scarce, it is impossible for Nascent Soul cultivators to unleash their full potential.
Historically, the few Nascent Soul cultivators in the Star Palace who broke through to the next level all disappeared immediately afterward, exhausting all their efforts to search for the legendary "spatial nodes" throughout the starry sea, hoping to break through the shackles of the interface, ascend to the upper realm, and seek the true path to immortality and a wider world.
Such a matter might be a huge secret to other cultivators, but for the Star Palace, which has been in charge of the central hub of the Chaotic Star Sea for thousands of years, it is not a rare secret and has long been recorded in the core classics.
Even other long-established sects have scattered records of this.
Lin Xiaofeng asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Lu Jianghe hesitated for a moment, finding it difficult to answer.
He couldn't very well tell them that the system he cultivated was completely different from this world and therefore wouldn't be subject to the many restrictions of the human realm.
Finally, Lu Jianghe could only vaguely say, "That's one way to understand it."
Lin Xiaofeng and Wen Qing exchanged a glance, then bowed and greeted each other.
Congratulations on making further progress!
Lu Jianghe smiled and said, "You two are too kind. It was just a bit of luck and chance."
Upon hearing the word "luck," a bitter smile appeared on Wen Qing's face. She shook her head gently and sighed, "Luck? My husband and I would like it too, but who can bestow it upon us?"
Ling Xiaofeng smiled and said, "If it weren't for you, Fellow Daoist, the 'Reverse Star Alliance,' secretly formed by the righteous Myriad Laws Sect and various demonic forces, would probably have already unleashed a massive wave of open and covert struggles on this chaotic star sea."
Although the Reverse Star Alliance was a scheme orchestrated by both the righteous and demonic factions, nothing stays hidden forever. The Star Palace has been in control of the Chaotic Star Sea for ten thousand years, so its intelligence network is certainly not to be underestimated.
Lu Jianghe neither confirmed nor denied the statement.
His existence is indeed an insurmountable obstacle and a huge variable that cannot be ignored by the Reverse Star Alliance.
If he were a supreme saint of the Six Paths, facing such an unexpected and powerful enemy, he would certainly spare no effort to set up a killing trap and do everything in his power to kill him, so that he could confront the Star Palace without hesitation.
In fact, the higher-ups of the Reverse Star Alliance had indeed considered this idea.
They had already quietly laid out their plan, just waiting for the right opportunity.
However, plans can't keep up with changes.
As a result, the subsequent arrangements and personnel gathering all came to nothing, and the project was abandoned before it even began.
Wen Qing seemed to remember something and continued, "Since you went to the Void Heaven Palace, some forces from the outer sea seem to have their eyes on the servants in your cave—juniors."
"Fortunately, Xinggong discovered it in advance. According to the investigation, its roots seem to point to Huangshamen. Unfortunately, the clues went cold when they were dug deeper. The other party was extremely vigilant and they were unable to find the mastermind. However, this matter is most likely related to Holy Demon Island."
Lu Jianghe hummed in agreement, "Thank you."
Seeing that he didn't say anything more, Ling Xiaofeng and Wen Qing turned around and disappeared from everyone's sight in an instant, unlike their stunning arrival.
Afterwards, the group entered Tianxing City, and Lu Jianghe led the three to the fiftieth-level cave.
Halfway through their journey, Zi Ling and Han Li bid each other farewell and departed.
Lu Jianghe then led Yuan Yao back to the cave.
As soon as Lu Jianghe stepped into the courtyard, his steps paused almost imperceptibly for a moment.
The scene before me was subtly different from when I left.
The traces of the spiritual plants beside the stone path are still fresh, the position of the mountain pavilion has shifted by a few inches, and the corridor seems to have been renovated.
It seems that the resolution of the Star Palace issue, as Wen Qing stated, is not as trivial as she made it out to be.
Lu Jianghe pondered silently, his gaze calmly sweeping over the traces.
He slowly entered the courtyard, seemingly indicating that he couldn't immediately go to find the true demonic energy of the Chaotic Star Sea, as there were still several urgent matters to be resolved.
Yuan Yao slipped into her boudoir almost immediately.
His gaze swept quickly across the area, and when he saw that the communication talisman he had deliberately left behind before leaving had been activated, his heart finally relaxed slightly, and the anxiety he had been feeling finally subsided.
It seems that Master knows.
She used her divine sense to investigate, but found that Zhuang Huayi's presence was not in the cave.
This made her feel a little strange.
Master usually lives a secluded life, spending most of his time in quiet meditation here and rarely going out.
At this moment, not only was their master absent, but their two elder sisters, Xin Ruyin and Yan Ruyan, were also nowhere to be seen.
"Could it be that the trip to the Void Heaven Palace these past few days has caused some unforeseen events?"
She thought to herself.
Yuan Yao came to Lu Jianghe.
At this moment, Lu Jianghe was sitting upright in the courtyard pavilion, deep in thought about the follow-up matters.
The first priority is to restore Zhang Tie's damaged soul.
Secondly, the women around us need to be properly taken care of.
Finally, there is the matter of dealing with the Six Paths Supreme Saint.
Each and every one of these tasks cannot be accomplished overnight. Even if everything goes smoothly, it may still take half a year to complete.
Although it was no easy task, it was something that had to be done.
Seeing Yuan Yao approach, Lu Jianghe looked up and said, "What? You can't wait that long?"
Yuan Yao quickly shook her head. "I just wanted to ask Mr. Lu if he knows roughly where that extremely yin place is located?"
Lu Jianghe asked, "Didn't Zhuang Huayi tell you that I wasn't born in the Chaotic Star Sea?"
Yuan Yao was surprised.
Just then, a streak of ink-wash sword light descended from the sky, revealing its form.
Zhuang Huayi looked dejected.