Chapter 495 - 10: Inscribing a Rune with a Sword Thread

「Half a day later.」

High above a stretch of the Ancient Forest Sea, tens of thousands of miles from Taiyi Cave Heaven.

An Escape Light streaked in from the distant sky and landed leisurely in a clearing within the forest sea.

The Escape Light dissipated, revealing a man and a woman.

It was Fang Cheng and the Cyan Robe Demon Emperor.

Fang Cheng summoned the Jade Tower, set up a restrictive ward with a wave of his hand, and then led the Cyan Robe Demon Emperor inside.

He had relied on the Creation Golden Talisman to quickly and thoroughly comprehend the Ancient Profound Talisman on the cliff face of Taiyi Cave Heaven.

This talisman was more like a treasure left behind by a great sage of the Ancient Human Race to unlock humanity’s wisdom. The Profound Talisman itself only brought Fang Cheng "closer" to the Celestial Dao, granting him a deeper and clearer understanding of the great Dao of heaven and earth.

However, it did not grant him any tangible Divine Communication Techniques.

He had a faint feeling that if he could study this talisman for a long time, he might be able to create his own Divine Communication Techniques!

Many of the Tribulation Realm Great Powers throughout history had benefited from this, founding sects and establishing their own magnificent legacies on the Immortal Path in the Red Profound Realm.

After the two entered the Jade Tower, Fang Cheng dropped his disguise and revealed his true appearance.

He was tall and slender, with broad shoulders and a strong back. His face was sharp and angular, with sword-like brows and star-like eyes. A demonic aura, deep and unfathomable, swirled around him.

Upon seeing this, a look of surprise flashed across the Cyan Robe Demon Emperor’s cold, beautiful face. Then, as if she had guessed something, she lowered her gaze and fell silent.

Fang Cheng sat down casually, looked at the cyan-robed woman, and asked, "I don’t believe I know your name, fellow Daoist?"

The Cyan Robe Demon Emperor’s mind was under his control, her life and death hanging on his every whim. Hearing his question, she didn’t dare to be slow in her reply. "This humble one is named Li Huan. I beg you, fellow Daoist, to spare my life."

She had originally thought that the soul attack arts of her Celestial Pool Cave Heaven were unrivaled, second only to the Buddhist Sect. She believed that a sudden strike in that situation would surely have dealt "Xi Yinglong" a heavy blow and curbed his arrogance.

Who could have known that he would break her technique in the blink of an eye...

She was of noble birth and had spent her years cultivating in Celestial Pool Cave Heaven, rarely venturing into the mortal world. Having only recently broken through to the fourth tier, she was representing her Sacred Land to offer birthday congratulations. It should have been a time of high spirits, yet she had suffered such a setback and defeat.

She now understood clearly that this demon before her had impersonated Xi Yinglong of Red Bright Immortal City, wreaked havoc in Taiyi Cave Heaven, and had been unstoppable even for Pei Juxian. How could she possibly escape his grasp?

Surrendering and begging for a slim chance of survival was her only option now.

As for how to escape the demon’s clutches, that was a matter she would have to plan for slowly.

Fang Cheng said coolly, "Considering your cultivation was not easily achieved, I’ll spare your life for now. As it happens, I am in need of a Tripod Furnace. You can stay and accompany me in my cultivation."

Hearing this, a seductive blush crept onto Li Huan’s cold, exquisite, jade-like face. Humiliation and shame-filled anger rose in her heart, but she quickly suppressed it. Not daring to let the slightest hint of displeasure show, she merely said respectfully, "My thanks, fellow Daoist."

Fang Cheng added, "The bedroom is upstairs. Go up and bathe first, then wait for me on the bed."

Li Huan nodded lightly. After giving a deep curtsy, she walked toward the stairs.

Fang Cheng watched her graceful, curvaceous back, knowing that while she appeared obedient and respectful on the surface, she was still proud and conceited on the inside. To truly conquer her, he would need to use some other methods.

After the Li Huan Demon Emperor went upstairs, he placed another restrictive ward in the Jade Tower’s main hall, sealing it off from the outside world. Only then did he take out the Immortal Copper Treasure Box.

The Treasure Box was perfectly square, seamless, and cast a faint, mysterious glow.

If one were to examine it with their Divine Sense, they would see that each face of the Treasure Box was engraved with a dense, countless number of ancient runes. Smaller than the tip of a pin, they were as vast and endless as a sea of smoke, like a "code" made of hundreds of millions of characters.

If not for the strange stirrings of his Creation Golden Talisman, he never would have noticed that each of the Treasure Box’s six faces was missing a single rune.

After obtaining this Treasure Box, he had tried to refine it several times, but to no avail.

What he had to do now was to take the Ancient Profound Talisman he had comprehended in Taiyi Cave Heaven and carve it onto this tiny Treasure Box, right in the spot where the rune was missing!

A wisp of sword light appeared at his fingertip. In an instant, it became as thin as a gossamer thread, bright and nimble, and circled the Treasure Box a few times.

Then, the sword light grew even finer, so fine it became almost invisible to the naked eye. Only then did it gently poke at the box, attempting to engrave the Profound Talisman upon it.

For a Sword Dao master like Fang Cheng, this was not a difficult task. His sword light could just as easily sunder mountains as it could carve scriptures onto a grain of rice.

But the moment the sword light touched the Immortal Copper Treasure Box, an awkward scene unfolded.

The sword light of a mighty Dharma Master was completely unable to leave a single mark on it!

Fang Cheng’s gaze flickered. He immediately summoned the Mountain-Slaying Flying Sword, transformed it into a thread of sword light, and once again aimed for the spot to carve.

The sword light from the Tier Five Flying Sword managed to leave a white scratch, but it quickly healed and disappeared.

Fang Cheng smiled and looked at the Treasure Box suspended silently in the air.

"Quite a treasure, aren’t you!"

As his voice fell, he pushed his Magical Power to its limit. The Mountain-Slaying Sword let out a sudden CLANG, and a straight thread of sword light shot forward viciously.

The sword light was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it had carved the Ancient Profound Talisman onto the Immortal Copper Treasure Box!

The next moment, the countless runes on that face of the Treasure Box seemed to spring to life, shifting and transforming to form an exquisitely intricate runic array that glowed brilliantly.

As Fang Cheng felt the Profound Mechanism of this runic array, he had the illusion of facing a Tier Five Array. An indescribable sense of shock washed over him.

’It’s done!’

He sighed inwardly.

This runic array seemed to be only one part of the process of refining the Immortal Copper Treasure Box.

If he could gather the other five arrays, they would combine into a single Divine Technique, allowing him to refine the Treasure Box completely.

Then, whatever secrets the Treasure Box held would be revealed.

’What exactly did the Seventy-Two Saints of the Ancient Times hide inside? And what other secrets does this realm hold?’

Fang Cheng’s gaze was profound. He stared silently at the Immortal Copper Treasure Box for a long moment before finally letting out a long sigh and putting it away.

...

In the Forest Sea, the ancient pines and firs seemed ordinary, but they were incredibly tall and straight, each one piercing the clouds, standing over a thousand feet high.

Each giant tree was comparable to a skyscraper—straight, tall, with lush foliage, and brimming with life.

As far as the eye could see, this forest sea was filled with an unknown number of these giant trees, creating a vast and intimidating landscape.

The Jade Tower was hidden deep within the Forest Sea, veiled by a restrictive ward, leaving no trace of its presence.

「Inside the Jade Tower.」

A subtle fragrance drifted from within the magnificent, unparalleled gauze curtains.

Fang Cheng leaned lazily against the side of the couch, holding the Profound Gold Smoke Gun and contentedly puffing out clouds of smoke.

The Li Huan Demon Emperor, her snow-white cheeks flushed crimson, nestled beside him.

She recalled her uninhibited, loud moans from just moments before—a voice so coquettish, soft, and utterly ecstatic that even she could hardly believe it was her own. The memory brought another blush to her cheeks.

Just then, Fang Cheng asked, "Li Huan, what do you know about the Jade Emperor Sect?"

Li Huan nodded, a bewitching expression on her face as she said, "The Jade Emperor Sect is one of the ten great Mystic Sects of the Mingxiao Domain. It has a long history and foundational resources left behind by a Tribulation Realm Great Power. Its strength is on par with the four great Sacred Lands of the Demon Race."

Fang Cheng exhaled a puff of smoke and set down his pipe. Li Huan moved gracefully to replace the Xiangyun Grass for him, then lit it with a flick of her finger.

Fang Cheng said, "Tell me everything you know about the sect."

Li Huan’s heart stirred. ’Don’t tell me this old demon is planning to target the Jade Emperor Sect now?’ she thought.

She replied softly, "Since the Middle Ages, many factions in the Mingxiao Domain have produced Tribulation Realm Great Powers. The main ones are the six great monasteries of the Buddhist Sect, the ten great Mystic Sects, the seven sects of the Demon Dao, the nine great Noble Families of the Middle Ages, and the ten great Ancient Evil Races. In addition, there are three great Tribulation Realm Loose Cultivators, such as Ascendant Red Bright..."

As she spoke, she glanced up at Fang Cheng before continuing:

"The Jade Emperor Sect is one of the ten great Mystic Sects. Their last Tribulation Realm Great Power failed their tribulation 5,300 years ago and perished. The sect currently has at least thirteen Dharma True Monarchs. It’s rumored that among the few cultivators in the Mingxiao Domain most likely to break through to the Tribulation Realm within the next three hundred years is the Jade Emperor Sect’s Supreme Elder, Yan Zongdao."

Fang Cheng listened intently. The power of the sects in the Mingxiao Domain was clearly on a completely different level than in the East Cyan Domain.

Their foundations were deep, and geniuses were born in every generation!

’If the other four great ancient domains are like this,’ he thought, ’then after the Demon Lord returns to the Red Profound Realm, it probably won’t be so easy for him to corrupt the world.’

Then, Li Huan began to recount everything she knew about the Jade Emperor Sect, including various rumors about its cultivators.

Fang Cheng listened while puffing on his pipe, occasionally interjecting with a question or a comment.

His words were witty and interesting, his tone shifting from playful to scolding, a constant stream of clever remarks. Unconsciously, the Li Huan Demon Emperor lowered her guard, becoming more and more obedient and compliant.

Gradually, a plan began to take shape in Fang Cheng’s mind.

There were still several months before the Feathered Immortal Tree was scheduled to appear in the Illusory Sun Sea. It was the perfect amount of time to head to the Jade Emperor Sect and investigate.

Among the many factions that Yun Qiuyuan had told him possessed an Ancient Profound Talisman, the Jade Emperor Sect was one of them.

...