Chapter 2205.1: The Beginning of Despair

“What?!” Qin Yu and Chang Si greeted Jadecliff’s words with incredulity.

Regardless of all else, Jadecliff was an empyrean immortal. No matter how cowardly he might be, he shouldn’t be wary of a third rank cultivation empire. The man’s caution, however, was no act.

“While Darklake appears to be an ordinary third rank empire, crouching tigers and hidden dragons abound within it. A true immortal died here a month ago.” Jadecliff felt quite lucky as he voiced these words. Thankfully, he hadn’t stubbornly set himself against Lu Yun that day. He would be the one dead in that case.

“A true immortal died?” Qin Yu and Chang Si’s eyes widened. “Was it the gray scaled-dragon?”

“What scaled-dragon?” Jadecliff furrowed his brow.

“We cannot make the decision in this. Please return to the mountains with us, Empyrean Immortal Jadecliff, and meet our lord.” Qin Yu abruptly turned respectful.

……

“That was close! If it wasn’t for the Teleportation Talisman I carry around, we would’ve died to the fire spirit.”

Although Ashflame’s spirit vein had been taken, Dark Orchid was still able to restore the city to full operations, albeit lacking its former prosperity. Within the city lord’s residence, the handsome young man from the empire’s delegation breathed out shakily.

“Your Highness, the fire spirit was plainly imprisoned. Why did it break free of the Immortal Suppression Gourd?” asked a puzzled middle-aged man.

“The fire spirit… likely swallowed the gourd’s core essence at some point and evolved without any of us knowing. The Aureate Bird Truefire was the last straw it needed. But Lu Yun was craftier than we thought and looks to have mixed in some Brahman Fire to help the fire spirit.” The young man sighed, “This is my oversight, one that fell on poor Sui Ge…”

The handsome young man was the greatest personage of Dark Orchid Empire—Prince Sui, Sui Wuye. He appeared to be a latter soul projection cultivator, a fact that no one believed. It was due to his presence that Dark Orchid was the only fourth rank empire in the world without a superior nation.

Many were the fifth rank nations that’d tried to bring Dark Orchid to heel, but they’d all failed. Stories circulated among the lower ranked nations of Jade Ruins Realm that Sui Wuye was the disciple of an immortal. Thus, fifth rank nations didn’t dare easily march on Dark Orchid.

Any who entered the Celestial Realm Battlefront also knew that Sui Wuye was ranked number three on the battlefront’s ranking. He was the third strongest in the entire realm.

“What do we do next? Is it over, just like this?” the middle-aged man asked unwillingly. He was Sui Wuye’s general and had watched Sui Ge grow up. The little prince’s death also caused him extreme heartbreak.

“Lu Tianling of Darklake Empire is not one to provoke,” Sui Wuye shook his head. “I’ve wanted to give it up a long time ago, but went along with everyone because I didn’t want to expose the empire and the sect’s people operating in it.”

The middle-aged man fell silent.

“Don’t worry, Sui Ge isn’t dead,” Sui Wuye sighed. “He just needs to start over. Sui Ge’s growth has been smooth and unobstructed his whole life. This will be a good trial for him.”

“Understood,” the middle-aged man heaved a long sigh. His lord wouldn’t be so composed if Sui Ge really was dead.

“We can’t let a mere Lu Tianling ruin our plans,” Sui Wuye mused. “If the Origin Sect wishes to move against Lu Tianling, let them do it themselves. Dark Orchid will no longer take part in this matter.”

“But the emperor…” the middle-aged man hesitated.

“That dog emperor has long become the Origin Sect’s puppet. We can use Lu Tianling’s hand to get rid of him.” Sui Wuye waved him off. “Jade Ruins Realm is the weakest of Great Xia’s three thousand worlds of cultivation because it lacks a ruler. Go make your preparations, Lan Shi. It is about time that this world had a master.”

……

After returning to Dark City, the black sparrow on Lu Yun’s shoulder drew a few surprised looks. Only Terra Demon and the gray jiao identified its origins. No one else, not even Lu Tianling, connected the palm-sized bird to the ferocious Hadal Fire Spirit.

“Young master, the Hadal Bird’s cultivation touches on the barrier of the gods. Its battle strength can more than rival peerless immortals. Some weaker aether dao immortals are no match for it either,” Terra Demon gave his assessment after studying the bird on Lu Yun’s shoulder.

“It is a pity that its spirit is too weak for prolonged battle,” Lu Yun sighed softly.

As strong as the Hadal Bird was, its unusually fragile spirit would be scattered to the four winds if it suffered an immense blow. It would return to being a bloom of Hadal Fire without sentience.

Hadal Fire with a fire spirit was an entirely different existence to one without. Additionally, the Hadal Bird’s spirit was so weak that it was nearly full after devouring one ball of fire origin. It needed some time to refine and absorb the elemental energy.

Regardless, the troubles to come were a walk in the park. As weak as the Hadal Bird was, that was only a concern if they faced powerful immortals.

“But with this little guy, the pressure on my shoulders is slightly relieved.” A rare smile appeared on Terra Demon’s stiff face.

Hadal Fire was far stronger than Aureate Bird Truefire and even superior to the level of connate li fire that Lu Yun could summon at his current strength. Terra Demon’s speed of cultivation would increase with the aid of Hadal Fire.

“Heh heh heh heh heh…” Lu Yun smirked at Terra Demon. “The Hadal Bird can’t help you with refining pills.”

“Um…” Terra Demon’s expression froze.

“Don’t bother with refining pills for a while.” Lu Yun ignored the man’s change in expression and took out a thumbnail-sized tea leaf from his storage ring. “Refine this tea leaf and thoroughly cleanse your body. Wipe away all traces having to do with Yong Heyu.”

“This is…” Terra Demon’s eyes widened as he took the tea leaf that showed signs of having been steeped before.

“Dao Comprehension Tea.” Lu Yun nodded.

Dao Comprehension Tea exceeded the limits of heavenly and earthly treasures. It was one of the legendary treasures of the world of immortals, one of the connate spirit roots. Harboring dense qi, its uses were incredibly varied. One of them was to cleanse the body and bring it closer to dao.

When Lu Yun broke the Severed Meridians Hold over Lu Xiaochi, he’d done so through Dao Comprehension Tea water, then refined his uncle as a pill. Not only did it cleanse the restriction from Lu Xiaochi, but also modified his ordinary spirit root into one of the connate five elements.

Lu Yun was able to manage the feat solely due to the spirit root’s effects.

Terra Demon’s body was that of an ordinary cultivator. It couldn’t sustain his ponderous immortal king nascent soul. Thus, the Dao Comprehension Tea was needed to thoroughly change it. This had been part of Lu Yun’s plans from the beginning, but he hadn’t been entirely confident at that time. Now with the Hadal Fire, his confidence grew that much stronger.

The Shennong Grass of the ten heavenly materials possessed enormous vitality. It was the key ingredient in the Shennong Life Restoring Pill—a panacea that could cure any sort of physical hurt or damage to the nascent soul.

Terra Demon’s nascent soul was injured and his physical body weak. Thus, the Shennong Life Restoring Pill was the perfect medicine for his needs.

During his three thousand lifetimes, Lu Yun successfully created the medicinal properties of the Shennong Grass with the strength of a cultivator. He then used the attributes to create the Shennong Life Restoring Pill.

However, he’d failed and only created an ordinary immortal pill. He almost died in the ensuing pill tribulation and all sorts of unsavory characters came for him after he refined the pill. He was chased throughout the world by a host of cultivators and wandering immortals. After experiencing his three thousand lifetimes, he didn’t dare make the same attempt despite possessing the relevant methods to.

……

Refining a piece of Dao Comprehension Tea the size of a thumbnail was the most that the current Terra Demon could manage. After absorbing the power within the tea leaf, it would thoroughly cleanse his body and fill it with sufficient strength to contain the nascent soul of an immortal king.

Lu Yun sat quietly on the ground within the seed storage formation in the Lu secret vault. Thirty-two lower rank spirit crystals floated in front of him—found in Sui Ge’s storage ring after his death. The ring remained in perfect condition thanks to protection from a paramount dao rank treasure.

The palm-sized Hadal Bird retracted all of its flames and sprawled quietly on the young man’s shoulder. Its pale golden eyes looked curiously at the thousands of low level spirit herbs in front of it.