A moment later, Lu Changsheng returned to the battlefield.
As far as the eye could see, the sea of fire had died down. Many people had rushed over after noticing the commotion.
They investigated the aftermath. Fortunately, the flames had appeared right on time to burn away all the Phantom God Flowers.
Yet no one knew who had actually made a move. They only knew it was a tower. Despite searching several times, there was no trace of it. Furthermore, the tower had clearly arrived with killing intent.
But it had inexplicably vanished, leaving everyone baffled.
When Lu Changsheng poked his head out from the forest, the Elders did not pay him much mind.
Only his two Senior Brothers breathed a sigh of relief seeing him unharmed.
Luo Xianling had rushed over the moment she heard the news but had been unable to find Lu Changsheng for a long time. Frantic with worry, she was on the verge of tears.
Seeing him safe, she threw herself directly at him, unable to hold back her tears.
“Senior Brother Changsheng, where did you go? I heard something went wrong here, you scared me to death!”
Lu Changsheng said, “With the Senior Brothers and Elders here, what could possibly happen to me?”
“It was too terrifying. Don’t come to places like this anymore!”
Luo Xianling still felt a lingering fear.
The Elders let out soft sighs, finding it hard to say anything. Her favoritism was far too obvious, completely disregarding everyone else’s presence.
The people from the Profound Heaven Sect also arrived.
The old man cast a glance over the scene, his expression unchanging.
Li Changfeng also remained silent. He had even sustained some injuries while resisting the Demon Beasts.
Only Shi Feng frowned when he saw that everyone was safe and sound.
Fortunately, the matter was handled properly. Over the next three days, the Cangyun Sect completely repelled the beast tide and began their return journey.
Lu Changsheng remained leisurely. Following the group back to the Cangyun Sect, he immediately went to sell off all the Demon Beast carcasses without pausing to rest.
The Demon Beasts were piled up like a mountain. Although their individual value was low, the sheer quantity made up for it, earning him nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones.
Afterward, he changed into a black robe and went to the Drunken Moon Pavilion.
He knew that while this place was a brothel on the surface, it actually ran various clandestine businesses. Many transactions could be completed here.
Lu Changsheng took out the Thousand-Net Tower. This item was now a massive liability; he absolutely could not keep it, as it would attract endless trouble.
What he did not expect, however, was that even though the tower was damaged, it fetched a high price of nearly forty thousand Spirit Stones, almost making him rich overnight.
Not only did he obtain a vast sum of Spirit Stones, but he also got rid of a deadly burden.
Another advantage of selling items here was that no matter what it was, no one would ask about its origins. Money and goods were exchanged, and neither party bothered the other again. Find the original chapter at novelping(.)com.
His harvest this time was enormous. Combined with his previous savings, he now held nearly eighty thousand Spirit Stones. According to his estimates, it was roughly enough to break through to the ninth layer of Core Formation.
For a while, Lu Changsheng was in a splendid mood, humming a small tune as he walked back to the Sect.
In his heart, he was genuinely thanking the Profound Heaven Sect for delivering such wealth to his doorstep.
If not for this tower, he still would not know how to gather the Spiritual Qi needed for his cultivation.
However, he kept a close watch on the movements of those three. Once they stepped out of Cangyun City, he would strike and kill them all. After all, dealing with them inside the Sect would invite too many complications.
At the same time, the three from the Profound Heaven Sect looked at each other in dismay.
They were the ones pulling the strings from the shadows.
What they had not anticipated was that such a scheme would fail to harm Zhou Qingyu in the slightest. In fact, the entire group had escaped without a single injury.
He had clearly witnessed the Thousand-Net Tower appear, yet had no idea what transpired afterward.
When they tried to investigate, the people of Qingyun Peak remained tight-lipped.
“What exactly happened? Could it be that our plan was seen through?” Li Changfeng asked, truly unable to understand why their efforts yielded no results.
The Phantom God Flowers were burned, the Thousand-Net Tower was gone, and they had even lost contact with the puppet.
“Could someone have acted from the shadows and disrupted everything?” the old man muttered, his gaze sweeping the surroundings with a dark expression.
Shi Feng sneered, “Lu Changsheng definitely knows something. I’ll go capture him and search his soul!”
“No!”
“Although he is not highly regarded, the people of Qingyun Peak treat him extremely well. If we lay a hand on him, it will provoke chaos!”
“Then what do we do now?”
The old man pondered for a long while before answering, “Since things have reached this point, we can only let it be. Even if someone ruined the plan and took the Thousand-Net Tower, that is a Magical Artifact refined by the Thousand-Net Sect for over a thousand years. Its imprint cannot be erased so easily. Given a little time, they will track it down!”
“When that time comes, as long as the Thousand-Net Tower is within Cangyun territory, they will have a hard time explaining themselves. This still works to our advantage!”
Hearing the old man’s analysis, Shi Feng suddenly understood.
No matter how this situation unfolded or how many variables emerged, the Cangyun Sect could not escape the consequences.
After all, the imprint and aura of the Thousand-Net Tower simply could not be wiped away.
A fierce glint flashed once more in the eyes of the three. However, what they did not know was that after the Thousand-Net Tower was sold, it had already been carried far away from Cangyun City.
The only thing they could not figure out was who had intervened.
In the entirety of the Cangyun Sect, there were very few capable of quietly taking away such a Magical Artifact.
“Could it be that old monster from the Cangyun Sect?”
The three remained utterly puzzled.
Li Changfeng asked, “Then what should we do now?”
“I have already sent word back. We do not need to do anything else. The Thousand-Net Sect will naturally seek them out for trouble. Besides, the Cangyun Secret Realm is opening soon. We only need to wait until then!”
Li Changfeng continued, “The Cangyun Secret Realm only allows cultivators under thirty years of age to enter. Who can possibly suppress that Zhou Qingyu? When the time comes…”
“The ones meant to deal with him are already on their way. Never mind that he hasn’t reached Core Formation; even if he had, he might not be a match. The Profound Heaven Sect is not the only one making a move this time!”
The old man’s expression was thoroughly grim.
Coupled with the impending wrath of the Thousand-Net Sect, it seemed that destroying the Cangyun Sect would require hardly any effort at all.
Meanwhile, Lu Changsheng returned to Qingyun Peak. After confirming that everything was calm, he found a secluded spot and sat down cross-legged.
Piles of gleaming white Spirit Stones rested before him. But as his hands formed incantation seals, the stones dissolved into layers of falling ash.
A majestic tide of Spiritual Qi flowed into his seals, swallowed up like a whale drinking the sea. The Spirit Stones vanished at an astonishing speed, the energy surging through his blood, meridians, and bones before finally settling as pure strands of spiritual power.
As he felt his spiritual power grow, his aura steadily strengthened. His body began to change; every inch of his flesh, blood, and bones trembled faintly. An indescribable agony struck, rippling through his entire being in endless cycles.
Beads of sweat the size of beans broke out on his forehead, rolling down one after another. His brows were locked tight, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
This was the Myriad Tribulations Immortal Physique. It granted power completely unmatched by anyone of the same realm, but it also demanded ten-even dozens-of times more Spiritual Qi.
Every time he cultivated, racking his brains to scrape together enough Spirit Stones, he also had to endure this excruciating torment. Countless times, the pain had been so unbearable he wanted to give up.
Yet under this torture, his physical body was constantly growing. Even without deliberate body tempering, his physique was in no way inferior to dedicated body refiners.
Hum!
Soon, a soft resonance echoed from his body. Having exhausted all eighty thousand Spirit Stones, he finally stepped into the ninth layer of Core Formation.
In that instant, every inch of his flesh felt as though it was being mercilessly torn apart. Dragging his exhausted frame down Qingyun Peak, he approached the old pine tree and quietly laid down beneath it.
He lay there for several days, too lazy to even twitch.
But he was not completely idle. While consolidating his realm, he also meditated on the new insights brought by his breakthrough.
Right now, he was caught between agony and joy, his mind filled only with the desire to gather enough Spirit Stones to break through to the Nascent Soul realm as soon as possible.
Once he reached Nascent Soul, every subsequent breakthrough would require him to face a heavenly lightning tribulation. But in return, he would no longer have to endure this agonizing pain during regular cultivation and could finally cultivate in peace.
However, the further he progressed, the more terrifying the required amount of Spiritual Qi became. For a moment, he deeply felt that life was bitter, and the path of cultivation was even harder.
“Sigh…”
Ultimately, amidst thousands of complex thoughts, only this long sigh remained, drifting away into the wind.
…