Chapter 678: Fallen (Part 2)

The one truly commendable thing about this Spiritual Object was its astonishing effect.

After consuming the Emperor Insect Juice, Lü Zhong was pleasantly surprised to find that the once awkward and arduous fusion process now felt as if it had been lubricated. The integration of his Nascent Soul and Primordial Spirit was still challenging, but its difficulty had dropped by several orders of magnitude. This translated into a drastic reduction in the time needed to break through his bottleneck.

He made a simple estimate: if he focused all his efforts on refining it, it would probably take him less than fifty years to complete the initial fusion of his Nascent Soul and Primordial Spirit.

‘A twenty-fold difference!’

Lü Zhong was astonished.

But then he remembered that he had obtained this benefit only by razing a Forbidden Land, and it no longer seemed so strange. The massive reward had come with a massive risk.

If the Purple-Melody Insect Queen had decided on mutual destruction, his grand expedition would have likely yielded nothing at all.

…

In the time that followed, Lü Zhong devoted himself completely to closed-door cultivation.

At the same time, the news that the Forbidden Land of Skeletons had been razed shocked the entire Southern Barbarian region.

Overcome with envy, the various powers, both large and small, couldn’t help but turn their gaze to the Forbidden Lands in their own territories. Those places also contained numerous Spiritual Objects, some of which could tempt even Nascent Soul True Monarchs. They all began to scheme and calculate, wondering if they could replicate the Bihai Sect’s feat and raze a Forbidden Land themselves.

The turmoil from this event didn’t subside for several years and even triggered considerable unrest.

Some even came close to provoking an uprising from a Forbidden Land.

After this incident, the various powers finally sobered up. They realized that without overwhelming, game-changing strength, the Forbidden Lands remained as forbidden to them as ever.

The days passed one by one, and Lü Zhong’s life was busy and fulfilling.

During this period, he continued to construct the Singularity, hoping to master the Sleeve Universe Technique as soon as possible. The rest of his time was not divided; it was all spent refining the Emperor Insect Juice.

This routine continued for a full nine years.

After this period of closed-door cultivation, his results were quite remarkable.

The progress on his Singularity increased to twenty percent, nearly reaching thirty percent.

The reason for this significant progress lay in the fusion of his Nascent Soul and Primordial Spirit. Their integration was a qualitative transformation. It not only greatly increased Lü Zhong’s computational power but also enhanced his sensitivity to the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. Although he still couldn’t directly utilize this Qi, his efficiency when channeling the Jia Yuan Heavenly Talisman saw a massive boost.

This higher efficiency in utilizing Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi manifested as a further increase in the talisman’s power.

According to Lü Zhong’s calculations, it was at least a ten percent increase.

These fulfilling days should have continued indefinitely.

However, on this day, Lü Zhong was forced to emerge from his seclusion.

It wasn’t that a problem had arisen in his cultivation. Rather, the party led by his Incarnation, which had gone to Central Earth in search of the Jade Disc, had fallen into a crisis. While exploring a place called the Chankong Forbidden Land, they had used the Seeking Disc Mantra to find the fragment he needed, but in doing so, had become trapped in grave danger. This forced Lü Zhong to emerge from his seclusion ahead of schedule.

Analyzing the memories sent back by the Incarnation, Lü Zhong realized the matter was not simple.

The crisis struck suddenly. Before Baqiong could even react, a hidden danger emerged and subdued both her and the Incarnation. Before his main body could learn what had happened, the connection with the Incarnation was abruptly severed and could not be re-established.

‘To instantly subdue Baqiong at her Early-stage Transformation realm, the attacker must be at least at the Mid-stage Nascent Soul realm. They likely possess some powerful Secret Skill, or perhaps an incredible innate talent.’

Lü Zhong’s expression grew dark and uncertain.

After careful consideration, he decided to make a trip to Central Earth.

With the Gray Mist Space, he could avoid falling into any traps. Even if a direct confrontation occurred against an enemy at the Late-stage Nascent Soul level, he was confident he could escape. After all, his strength had increased considerably after so many years in seclusion.

Seven days later, after arranging all necessary matters, Lü Zhong took nine newly refined Incarnations and left the Bihai Sect alone, heading straight for the Chankong Forbidden Land in Central Earth.

…

「A little over a month later, in the Northern Realm of the Gui Miao Sect in Central Earth.」

This was a vast mountain range, not far from the infamous Chankong Forbidden Land. Suddenly, three streaks of Escape Light appeared in the distance. They flew over an unnamed giant peak, circled once, and then descended. After the three-colored Spiritual Light dissipated, three cultivators—two men and one woman—were revealed.

The three wore similar attire, clearly indicating they were fellow disciples from the same sect.

At the summit of the peak, someone was already waiting.

It was none other than Lü Zhong, who had arrived in Central Earth.

To be cautious, he hadn’t rashly entered the Chankong Forbidden Land upon his arrival. Instead, he sought out a local Sect, hoping to find out the reason for his Incarnation’s mishap.

“You are the cultivators in charge of the Ghost Locust Sect?” Lü Zhong turned to face the newcomers and asked.

“Reporting to Senior, the three of us are indeed the ones who speak for the Ghost Locust Sect,” said the leader, a withered old man with an Early-stage Core Formation Cultivation, his face etched with anxiety. “May I ask why Senior has summoned us? Is there something you require of the Ghost Locust Sect?”

“That’s right. I’ve asked you to come because I do have some questions,” Lü Zhong said with a slight smile.

“May I ask what it is about?” the withered old man asked tentatively.

“It’s like this…”

Lü Zhong recounted the entire ordeal of his Incarnation’s party, omitting the sensitive parts. Upon hearing the story, the three from the Ghost Locust Sect couldn’t help but look at each other in dismay. The withered old man, in particular, had a strange expression, as if he wanted to say something but was holding back.

Noticing the change in their expressions, Lü Zhong couldn’t help but press,

“What is it? Is there some secret involved?”

“It’s not really a secret, just a matter few people know about. Senior may not be aware, but long ago, a Great Cultivator met with disaster in the Chankong Forbidden Land. His Nascent Soul managed to escape the Forbidden Land, but his physical body was trapped inside. Now, after several thousand years, it has most likely transformed into a Corpse Demon. If your people truly encountered this Corpse Demon, then I’m afraid their chances are grim!” the withered old man sighed.

“A Corpse Demon? How could such a thing be here, and one transformed from the body of a Great Cultivator at that,” Lü Zhong said, somewhat startled.

If that was true, then he was in big trouble.

The physical body of a Nascent Soul cultivator is already incredibly tough, capable of withstanding ordinary Magical Treasures without issue. If it were to transform into a Corpse Demon, a type of zombie, its body would become unimaginably durable. It was feared that even a Sword Cultivator would have trouble breaking its defenses.

Even Thunder Skills, which were its weakness, would probably need to bombard it for quite some time to have a chance of destroying it.

Of course, that was only a chance.

Without knowing the Corpse Demon’s specific Realm or the types of abilities it possessed, Lü Zhong didn’t dare guarantee that he could handle it. This was especially true since the Corpse Demon was formed from the body of a Great Cultivator. No one could be sure what it had inherited, which added a great deal of uncertainty to any assessment of its strength.

In any case, learning the enemy’s origin was a significant gain.

“Do you have a map of the Forbidden Land? If so, please allow me to make a copy.” Lü Zhong had decided to go in anyway. ‘It doesn’t matter if I can’t get the Dao Transmission Jade Disc Fragment, but I can’t leave Baqiong trapped in there. It makes no sense to give up without even trying.’

“Yes, yes, we do,” the withered old man nodded, taking out a green Jade Scroll.

Lü Zhong raised his hand and drew the Jade Scroll into his grasp. He immersed his Divine Sense into it and found that it was indeed a map of the Chankong Forbidden Land, and a remarkably detailed one at that. Many areas had already been explored, and it even clearly marked the locations of various resources.

The value of such a map was self-evident.

A great deal of effort must have been poured into it.

‘In that case, it wouldn’t be right for me to offer nothing in return.’ After copying the Jade Scroll, Lü Zhong pondered for a moment before taking three bottles of Pills from his Storage Ring. They were all high-quality Pills he had refined in the past, suitable for Core Formation cultivators to consume to advance their cultivation.

“These three bottles of Spring Radiance Pills aren’t particularly valuable. Please consider them payment for my questions and for the map copy. I hope the three of you will accept them.”

“This…”

The three from the Ghost Locust Sect were astonished. How could they dare to accept payment? This was something that had never happened before. In the past, when summoned by a Nascent Soul cultivator from a Sect Family, they would only ever put in hard work with not the slightest benefit to show for it. In the end, seeing that Lü Zhong was sincere in his offer, they cautiously accepted.

Gazing at the departing streaks of light, the three of them couldn’t calm their hearts for a long time.