"Very generous indeed." Yang Sanyue smiled. "Since Gu King has made such a kind offer, I won’t hold back."

"Same here," Meng Ao added.

With that, his figure flickered. He broke away from the group and darted to the left.

Besides the few with a King’s Body, the others also spread out to search for Spirit Herbs and Medicines.

Ying Jiuxin’s expression darkened, but she said nothing.

Xu Jianzhu didn’t move, but he secretly cast an approving glance toward Gu Zheng.

Gu Zheng’s move had been executed with brilliant finesse.

The number of Spirit Herbs and Medicines was limited, and they should have all belonged to Gu Zheng. The Ying Family wouldn’t have said anything openly, but they would have undoubtedly grumbled in secret and plotted something.

Now that Gu Zheng had brought everyone into the fold, any objections the Ying Family might have had were rendered moot.

...

After a period of searching for and harvesting spiritual items, they then searched high and low through the houses left behind by the Changsheng Clan.

Anything useful was taken.

The rights to use the Ancestral Land were temporarily transferred to the Wind Kingdom’s Ying Family. For the next two hundred years, this Spirit Realm was theirs to use as they pleased.

「Upon leaving the Spirit Realm Space.」

Gu Zheng first returned to the Royal Capital of Jing Country with Zhong Zhengqiong and Xu Jianzhu.

Gu Zheng exchanged his reward for escorting the Ninth Princess to the Wind Kingdom for merit points.

Then, he used the merit points to redeem the Southern Mountain Tripod!

Arriving in the Royal Capital once again, Gu Zheng used the Human Emperor’s Seal Artifact Embryo to sense the precise location of the Southern Mountain Tripod. It was indeed in the Royal Palace, but it wasn’t hidden in some secret chamber. Instead, like the Ten Thousand Dragon Tripod in Taiping City, it was placed right at the main entrance of the grand audience hall.

When Gu Zheng made the exchange, he requested all the tripod cauldrons arranged in a circle around the great hall.

Though Zhong Yi and Zhong Zhengqiong found Gu Zheng’s request strange and were baffled by it, they still agreed readily. They didn’t even deduct any merit points, instead presenting the tripods as a gift.

A gift to celebrate Gu Zheng’s ascension to the King’s Body Realm!

They were just a few symbolic ancient tripods. How could they possibly compare to a newly ascended King’s Body like Gu Zheng?

As long as he still had merit points with them, a bond between Gu Zheng and Jing Country would remain. Even if that bond was tenuous, it was better than nothing.

"Gu, how is your cultivation of *Ten Thousand Blades Heaven Slaughter* coming along?"

As they were leaving the Royal Palace, Zhong Zhengqiong happened to be departing as well, so they walked out together and he asked casually.

"I’ve nearly perfected it."

Gu Zheng replied just as casually, "Once I perfect it, I’ll be able to see the Divine Weapon, won’t I?"

"That’s right," Zhong Zhengqiong said with a smile. "With your current realm, Gu, supplemented by a perfected *Ten Thousand Blades Heaven Slaughter*, I’m certain you can awaken the Divine Weapon!"

"I can’t make any guarantees." Gu Zheng shook his head. "I can only say that I will do my absolute best."

"Your best is all I can ask for. I’ll be waiting," Zhong Zhengqiong said with a hearty laugh.

"Very well. It won’t be long before I return to the Royal Capital," Gu Zheng said, cupping his fist in salute as he took his leave.

"Then take care, Gu. I wish you a safe journey." Zhong Zhengqiong stopped and cupped his hands in farewell.

Gu Zheng returned the gesture.

He then turned, leaped into the air, and shot off toward Fengzhou, disappearing over the horizon.

Zhong Zhengqiong remained in place for a moment before suddenly turning back around.

In a few flickers, he was back in the Royal Palace.

Inside the Royal Palace, Zhong Yi was having his men bring over the several tripod cauldrons from outside the great hall.

"Well?"

Zhong Zhengqiong landed and looked at the Zhong family members inspecting the tripods. "Find anything?" he asked in a low voice.

"Nothing."

Zhong Zhengao, who was running his hand along the rim of one of the tripod cauldrons, shook his head. "The material of these tripod cauldrons is quite remarkable—they can last for centuries without rusting or breaking—but they don’t possess any other strange qualities or Anomalous Power. What on earth does Gu Zheng want them for?"

"It is precisely because we don’t know his purpose that I had you inspect them," Zhong Zhengqiong said grimly.

Uh...

Zhong Zhengao was speechless.

"Regardless of Gu Zheng’s motives, now that we’ve given him the five tripod cauldrons, a connection has been established," Zhong Yi mused. "If those five tripod cauldrons prove to be a great help to him, he’ll simply owe us a favor."

"That makes sense," Zhong Zhengao agreed with a nod.

Zhong Zhengqiong fell silent.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

But he couldn’t put his finger on it.

He wracked his brain but couldn’t figure it out, and the inspection of the ancient tripods yielded nothing special.

In the end, he let out a sigh.

’Forget it...’

’Whatever!’

...

...

Whatever?

For Gu Zheng, however, it was far from "whatever." Obtaining the Southern Mountain Tripod meant he had now collected six of the Nine Dynasty Fate Tripods forged by Emperor Yu.

Southern Mountain, Celestial South, Hidden Dragon, Western Heaven, Central Heaven, and Ten Thousand Dragon.

Only the Sword South Tripod, the Original Dragon Tripod, and the Northern Mountain Tripod remained!

The Northern Mountain Tripod was in the Royal Palace of Kang Country.

The Sword South Tripod and the Original Dragon Tripod were in the Ancestral Land Spirit Realm.

He would have to figure out a way to get the latter two.

As for the Northern Mountain Tripod, Gu Zheng planned to go personally and force his way into the Royal Palace of Kang Country.

But before that, he had to repair the Heaven-piercing Halberd!

After crossing into Fengzhou’s territory, Gu Zheng found a remote spot and descended from the sky.

Then, he took out all the Thunder Essence and Fire Soul he had obtained from his trades and placed them beside the Heaven-piercing Halberd.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Amid flashes of light, the vibrating shaft of the Heaven-piercing Halberd rapidly devoured the pieces of Thunder Essence and Fire Soul.

Gu Zheng could clearly sense the aura of the Heaven-piercing Halberd continuously climbing.

Inside the Divine Weapon Space, the Thunder Vortex and Fire Vortex spun wildly.

The cracks on the Divine Weapon Core mended themselves in sync with the process.

Crack after crack vanished.

The nascent Divine Weapon Spirit was affected by this. The thin membrane encasing it continuously expanded, covering the entire Thunder Vortex before spreading to the Fire Vortex.

Its fledgling consciousness transmitted feelings of joy and excitement.

Gu Zheng was equally delighted, using his will to guide the Divine Weapon Spirit toward completion.

FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!

Licks of flame erupted spontaneously, swirling around the Heaven-piercing Halberd like a roaring fire dragon.

CRACKLE! POP!

BOOM! BOOM!

Not to be outdone, bolts of lightning discharged as well, surging and striking erratically around the Heaven-piercing Halberd.

Gu Zheng stood to the side, motionless, sensing the changes within the Heaven-piercing Halberd.

Only when the flames and lightning grew in intensity and size did he intervene, guiding the two forces into the ground to prevent the raging inferno and thick bolts of lightning from shooting into the sky, which would cause a major disturbance and attract unwanted attention.

"RUMBLE~"

BOOM! BOOM~

The ground trembled and the surrounding mountains shook.

Even with his deliberate guidance, the commotion was still significant.

Fortunately, it was within his control.

The Heaven-piercing Halberd’s absorption and empowerment process lasted for nearly ten minutes.

When all the external phenomena had vanished, the shaft of the Heaven-piercing Halberd looked the same as before. Inside the Divine Weapon Space, however, the two vortexes were spinning rapidly. Only two small cracks and one slightly larger one remained on the Divine Weapon Core.

Gu Zheng sensed it carefully. Having absorbed all the Thunder Essence and Fire Soul, the Heaven-piercing Halberd was now about ninety-five percent repaired!

Only the last five percent remained before it would be fully restored.

Even so, the Heaven-piercing Halberd could now be stored within his body.

There was no longer a need to keep it in a Storage Pouch or a Storage Leaf; it could be absorbed directly into his body.

The Divine Weapon Spirit, now on the verge of completion, played the largest role in this.

"Master, Master, just one more Thunder Essence and one more Fire Soul, and Xiaolu can manifest!"

The Heaven-piercing Halberd transformed into a streak of light and merged into his body. Within his consciousness, a clear, childish voice resounded in his mind.

It was the Divine Weapon Spirit of the Heaven-piercing Halberd.

’Right, I gave it a name,’ Gu Zheng recalled.

Xiaolu!

"Alright. Master will gather the last two pieces as soon as possible."

Gu Zheng replied with a smile.

’A Divine Weapon Spirit taking physical form... that’s a rare and wondrous sight.’

"Yay~"

Xiaolu cheered, and Gu Zheng felt a slight bulge at his shoulder.

’Where am I going to get the last two pieces of Thunder Essence and Fire Soul?’

Lost in thought, Gu Zheng leaped into the air and flew toward Qingshi County.

He hadn’t been back since he’d left.

’Now that I’ve advanced to the King’s Body, I should go back and take a look no matter what.’

...

「Entering Qingshi County’s territory.」

As he flew high overhead, he noticed that the number of pedestrians on the roads had increased.

Wuli Town, outside the county seat, had grown a full size larger.

The county seat itself, however, looked the same as always.

Then there was the Gu Mansion, now the Qingshi Marquis’s Mansion.

The two large words, "Marquis Mansion," were particularly conspicuous.

Gu Zheng descended from the sky. The moment his feet touched the ground...

"Eldest Young Master... oh, no, the Young Master is back!"

A retainer who happened to be nearby saw Gu Zheng. He froze for a moment, then, overjoyed, he cheered, "The Young Master is back!"

Shouting as he went, he ran off at a quick pace.

’Young Master?’