Everything here was completely enveloped within Lu Changsheng’s Divine Sense.
He stared at the black shadow, certain that it was not someone from the Cangyun Sect. Moreover, its target was explicitly clear: Zhou Qingyu.
At this moment, a group of disciples had already retreated to the rear.
Only a few Elders and Zhou Qingyu were still fighting, preventing the Demon Beasts from advancing.
But in the next instant, the black shadow moved. A fluctuation of spiritual power rippled across its body, and a small tower materialized in its palm.
It was only a few inches tall with seven layers. Without any hesitation, the figure tossed it into the sky.
Under Lu Changsheng’s gaze, a massive shadow spread across the sea of fire.
Right above Zhou Qingyu, the small tower grew explosively in the wind, expanding to several tens of zhang in height. It descended from the heavens, pressing down with crushing force to suppress and kill those below.
“Senior Brother, be careful!”
Ye Tianyi caught sight of the sudden arrival of the tower. Shouting a warning, he rushed toward the location.
Zhou Qingyu could not extricate himself; he had to hold the line temporarily.
But as the black shadow infused more spiritual power, the tower’s might manifested once more, becoming increasingly heavy as it pressed down.
“A Spirit Grade Magical Artifact!”
Lu Changsheng was astonished. Magical Artifacts in the world were divided into distinct grades.
The lowest was Mortal Grade, followed by Profound Grade, Spirit Grade, King Grade, and Divine Grade.
Furthermore, Magical Artifacts were precious and difficult to refine, commanding terrifyingly high prices. Each grade was divided into three sub-ranks, but even the cheapest Low Grade Profound Artifact would cost over ten thousand Spirit Stones.
A Spirit Grade artifact required tens of thousands, while a Top Grade one could cost as much as over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones. As for King Grade, that was a treasure that even a Nascent Soul-level grandmaster artifact refiner might not be able to forge after decades of effort.
An ordinary Nascent Soul powerhouse might not even possess a High Grade Spirit Artifact, let alone a King Grade one.
The entire vast Cangyun Sect only possessed one Low Grade Spirit Artifact and one High Grade Spirit Artifact.
Even within Cangzhou, Spirit Grade Magical Artifacts were quite rare.
Lu Changsheng watched, completely stunned.
As the small tower descended, its spiritual pressure rippled outward. Seeing a Core Formation cultivator unleash a Spirit Grade Magical Artifact, even Zhou Qingyu’s expression changed.
Ye Tianyi was only at the Essence Condensation realm. He raised his hand to block, but the longsword in his hand instantly shattered. The terrifying force fell, about to pierce through his body and crush him to death.
“Tianyi!”
The Elder of Qingyun Peak’s expression darkened.
Zhou Qingyu briefly repelled the Azure Bird. Sword Intent manifested around him as sword Qi rose, trying to break free from the suppression and escape.
But the Azure Bird attacked again, and the small tower had already fallen.
No one expected the assault to be so sudden. They knew someone was secretly making a move, but there was no time to investigate. The source of this chapter is g.com.
However, what they found even more unexpected was that just as the tower was about to pierce through Ye Tianyi, a spiritual light manifested from the earth.
A surge of golden spiritual power swept in, blocking the tower’s might the moment it fell.
Immediately after, that spiritual power enveloped the tower, attempting to seal and imprison it, completely restraining all its sharpness.
The several tens of zhang tall tower trembled continuously, trying to break free. Yet under the influence of that spiritual power, it shrank unceasingly, finally returning to its original size and falling toward the ground.
“This…”
Ye Tianyi’s heart trembled. He had thought he was doomed, but the killing intent had inexplicably dissipated.
The group of Elders also had no idea what had happened.
They looked toward the ground, seeing only the spreading sea of fire, but no figure.
Within the sea of fire, Lu Changsheng stood quietly, holding the small tower in his hand. The exquisite tower body was inscribed with countless patterns, faintly carrying an ancient aura.
He noticed a crack on the tower’s body, and then frowned, muttering, “Thousand-Net Tower!”
Lu Changsheng recognized this Magical Artifact. It was the sect-protecting treasure of the Thousand-Net Sect.
The Thousand-Net Sect, like the Cangyun Sect and the Profound Heaven Sect, was one of the three major sects of Cangzhou. The tower bore the emblem of the Thousand-Net Sect, and there was a spiritual imprint within it.
It had once been a High Grade Spirit Artifact, but it was damaged in a great battle long ago, and now only counted as a Low Grade Spirit Artifact.
At this moment, the small tower was still struggling. Someone was trying to recall it, and the one making the attempt was the black-clothed man. However, after trying for a long time, there was no response from the artifact.
Soon, people from the other peaks began to rush over.
Seeing the cultivators of the Cangyun Sect arriving, the black-clothed figure no longer bothered with the small tower. He turned around and disappeared into the mountain forest.
Lu Changsheng traversed the mountain forest and followed.
A hundred li away, he raised a surge of spiritual power to intercept the black shadow.
The black shadow was shaken, its entire body blasted backward, smashing through a mountain peak.
It got up, wanting to flee, but it was already too late. Lu Changsheng arrived before it and raised his hand, instantly suppressing it.
The series of movements was smooth and fluid. The opponent had no strength to fight back and was simply pinned down by spiritual power, unable to move.
Lu Changsheng had pursued it to investigate, but he was astonished to discover that the person before him was not a living being, but a humanoid puppet.
Beneath the black robe was an utterly ordinary face, but its body radiated the spiritual power fluctuations of the Third Layer of Core Formation.
“A Core Formation puppet… who is so generous?”
Lu Changsheng was somewhat shocked. Puppets were roughly divided into two types. One was refined from the bodies of living beings, which was the simplest and most convenient method, but once refined, the puppet was destined to lose part of its original cultivation base. Read this novel at novelping . com for the best experience.
The materials consumed were astonishing, no less than cultivating a new expert from scratch.
Even so, puppets could do many things that ordinary cultivators could not. For instance, right now, it acted as a dead soldier, carrying the tower to assassinate Zhou Qingyu. Even if it were discovered, the mastermind could deflect suspicion.
The other type was refined from various rare treasures and precious materials, which was even more valuable. As long as the materials were sufficiently impressive, it could even continue to grow.
“To kill Senior Brother, the Profound Heaven Sect really spared no expense!”
Lu Changsheng had a general idea of the plot. Everyone knew the Thousand-Net Tower belonged to the Thousand-Net Sect, so even if they wanted to assassinate someone, they wouldn’t use their own recognizable treasure.
That only left the Profound Heaven Sect.
If the assassination failed, they could distance themselves and shift the blame toward the Thousand-Net Sect.
But no one was a fool. Such an obvious move could easily be seen through. Even if the Cangyun Sect suspected the truth, they would still be wary of the Thousand-Net Sect. No one could be absolutely certain.
And there was another scenario: if the Thousand-Net Sect didn’t know their Magical Artifact was lost and followed their spiritual connection to find it here, how would the Cangyun Sect respond?
Would they say someone went to great lengths to steal the Thousand-Net Sect’s treasure just to kill Zhou Qingyu?
It sounded so absurd-would the Thousand-Net Sect believe it?
Even if they didn’t fight, it would breed mutual suspicion against the Cangyun Sect.
If someone fanned the flames behind the scenes, how would the situation evolve?
Lu Changsheng pondered. Regardless of the outcome, the only one to benefit was the Profound Heaven Sect.
If they killed Zhou Qingyu, that would be best. If not, friction would inevitably arise between the other two sects, breeding mutual suspicion, which was bad for everyone.
“Is the Profound Heaven Sect’s mind really so venomous?”
Lu Changsheng raised an eyebrow. It seemed that no matter what, they couldn’t completely escape this trap.
The Thousand-Net Tower had been refined by the Thousand-Net Sect for thousands of years, and its spiritual imprint ran deep. It couldn’t be erased in a short time. The Thousand-Net Sect would definitely be able to find it here through their spiritual connection.
Even if he threw it away, if it was found on the Cangyun Sect’s territory, what would they think?
Lu Changsheng looked at the tower in his hand and the puppet before him. He couldn’t help but sigh, glancing at the distant battlefield.
“What kind of deep-seated grudge makes them so meticulously target the Cangyun Sect? I heard the Sect Leader of the Profound Heaven Sect is a woman. Could it be that our Sect Leader did something unspeakable to her?”
For a moment, Lu Changsheng’s thoughts drifted to who knows where. It was a long time before he pulled himself together.
He absolutely had to inquire about this when he returned. Otherwise, having this happen every now and then was truly a headache.
But this time, the opponent was targeting Zhou Qingyu. Was it simply jealousy over his exceptional talent and fear of his growth?
Or did something happen during Senior Brother’s last participation in the Cangzhou Ascension Ceremony that he didn’t know about?
Suddenly, he recalled that when Senior Brother attended last time, he heard that the Profound Heaven Sect Leader had greatly praised Zhou Qingyu, and then no one could find him that very night.
“Could it be that Senior Brother…”