Chapter Forty-Six: The Spiritual Artifact—Lu Wu Bell

Taking advantage of the moment, Song Changsheng once again approached the heart of the formation. With a wave of his hand, a set of formation flags and a dark yellow bronze bell emerged from beneath the earth. After collecting the formation flags, he finally had the chance to take a closer look at the high-grade spiritual artifact that served as the core of the array.

Now shrunken, it resembled more a small bell, its surface engraved with the image of a fantastic beast: a human-faced, tiger-clawed creature in the likeness of a fierce tiger, nine tails streaming behind it, exuding an imposing presence.

It was the ancient divine beast known as "Lu Wu."

"Lu Wu Bell, from now on, you'll follow me, won't you?" Song Changsheng gently stroked the bronze bell, murmuring softly.

A layer of light shimmered over the Lu Wu Bell, and the carved beast upon it seemed almost to come alive, radiating a sense of joy.

"It seems you agree. I will not let you down," Song Changsheng smiled faintly, placing it in his storage pouch. The value of such a high-grade spiritual artifact was on par with the inheritance left by the master of this abode.

Yet something puzzled him: all evidence suggested the master of this place had been a sword cultivator skilled in both formation and artifact crafting. The three inheritances within the storage pouch confirmed as much.

But would the life-bound spiritual weapon of a sword cultivator be a bronze bell? Clearly not. This Lu Wu Bell was more likely a tool for formations.

Which raised another question: where was the sword cultivator’s life-bound sword, or rather… in whose hands had it ended up?

Suddenly, Song Changsheng recalled the stone chamber he had not entered. His gaze instinctively shifted to Xu Yunhe, not far away. Could it have fallen into his hands?

The possibility was high.

But this was a matter he could only keep to himself. If there truly was a spiritual weapon in that stone chamber even stronger than the Lu Wu Bell, then it simply meant fate had not favored him.

While he was deep in thought, Zhu Yiqun came over, grumbling, "Those blood demons are outrageous. I searched them all, and their storage pouches are cleaner than my own pot. Other than demonic artifacts, there's nothing."

"As for that Foundation Establishment fiend cultivator, I didn’t see a storage pouch on him at all. Who knows if he didn’t bring one, or if Senior Niu took it away."

"Are you sure you didn’t just pocket it all yourself?" Song Changsheng teased with a laugh.

"How can you slander me without reason? Am I that kind of person?" Zhu Yiqun cried out, feigning indignation, making the two of them burst into laughter.

After the laughter faded, Zhu Yiqun tossed a pile of blood-stained demonic artifacts onto the ground. "Thirty-one demonic artifacts in total. Let’s divide them up."

"These demonic artifacts won’t be easy to get rid of," Song Changsheng frowned. Even though they were all low-quality, first-grade artifacts, they were still worth a fair number of spirit stones.

The problem was that demonic artifacts were difficult to handle. Even now, Song Changsheng still hadn’t found a proper way to deal with the few he’d seized last time—if all else failed, he’d have to melt them down.

At these words, Zhu Yiqun smacked his chest with confidence. "That’s a minor issue. I have connections. If you trust me, let me handle it, and we’ll split the profits evenly."

"I trust Fellow Daoist Zhu’s character," Xu Yunhe spoke up first.

Song Changsheng nodded. "That would be best. With such a large batch of demonic artifacts, we’d have a hard time dealing with them ourselves."

"Don’t worry, I, Old Zhu, will take care of it," Zhu Yiqun grinned, sweeping up the demonic artifacts from the ground.

"These blood demons are organized. There’s no way they’re this poor. Their lair must be nearby. It’s a pity none were left alive," Song Changsheng said with some regret. The area was full of hills and dense forest; to find a fiend cultivator’s lair that had been deliberately concealed would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

"If it’s meant to be, it will be. We’ve already gained plenty," Zhu Yiqun replied, taking it all in stride.

Song Changsheng nodded, his worries fading. Suddenly, inspiration struck him. "By the way, what should we do with the remains of the senior? We can’t just leave them here."

"We’ve benefited from the senior’s legacy. Naturally, we must see to his remains properly, lest they be defiled by evil cultivators. The same goes for the remains and relics of the fellow Daoists who came with us. All must be properly arranged," Zhu Yiqun said, unusually solemn, his eyes reddening at the mention of their fallen companions.

"I’ll take care of the senior’s remains," Xu Yunhe, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

Song Changsheng and Zhu Yiqun exchanged glances, then nodded in agreement.

Xu Yunhe went into the cave to collect the bones. Watching his departing figure, Zhu Yiqun said enviously, "It’s Fellow Daoist Xu who has reaped the greatest rewards this time. Though he lost an arm, the sword aura now shrouds him, his edge just beginning to show. Should he break through to Foundation Establishment, he’ll be a force renowned far and wide."

"Fate favors each in their own way. We’ve all gained much this time; we should be content."

"True enough. Eh, someone else is coming?" Zhu Yiqun pointed toward the distant horizon.

Song Changsheng looked and saw a small black dot growing larger in the distance. Focusing his gaze, he recognized Wang Wanzhou riding his sword toward them.

Wang Wanzhou surveyed the devastation left by the battle, a somber look in his eyes. He could sense that two cultivators whose strength rivaled his own had clashed here. He very likely had arrived too late.

His aged eyes swept the chaos until he finally spotted Song Changsheng amid the wreckage. Relief washed over him as he descended on his sword before Song Changsheng. "I’m a step too late, it seems. Thankfully you’re unharmed, or your grandfather might have stormed my command post in anger."

Song Changsheng quickly cupped his hands in salute. "Great-uncle, you honor me. Your presence alone is more than I could ever hope for. I will inform Grandfather of your timely aid and remember your kindness always."

"Hahaha, no need for such formality. Tell me, did you run afoul of demon cultivators? I sense the aura of blood fiends here." Wang Wanzhou’s gaze swept the area, his expression grave.

Song Changsheng recounted all that had happened, omitting nothing except the spoils found within the cave.

"So that’s how it was. There’s a saying that Heaven favors the virtuous—truer words could not be spoken of you," Wang Wanzhou said with emotion.

After a moment’s thought, Song Changsheng finally mustered the courage to ask, "Great-uncle, you and my grandfather are old friends. Do you know if there’s any enmity between our clan and Luoxia City?"

Wang Wanzhou studied him for a long moment, then sighed. "I knew you’d ask that, but it really isn’t my place to tell you. If you want to know, you’ll have to ask your grandfather yourself."

"It concerns Grandfather?" Song Changsheng frowned. Why had he never heard anything about it?

"Ah, let’s not speak of this now. If your business here is finished, come back to the marketplace with me. When I left, the Earthfire Sect wasn’t behaving themselves," Wang Wanzhou said, glancing at the setting sun.

Song Changsheng turned to Zhu Yiqun. "Brother Zhu, are you coming with me?"

Zhu Yiqun shrugged. "I’ve already let my old man know, he’ll be picking me up soon. If he doesn’t see me, he’ll flip out. You and the senior go on ahead. Yunhe and I will leave together."

Seeing this, Song Changsheng didn’t insist. With a farewell salute, he leapt onto Wang Wanzhou’s flying sword and began the journey home.