Chapter 714: Wind and Thunder Converge, Spirit Treasure Nears Completion 1 [2.4k]

Translator: AnubisTL

Everyone believed Li Qing was about to face a heavenly tribulation and ascend to a higher realm.

But they were all mistaken. In truth, what Li Qing was doing far surpassed merely breaking through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage.

He was refining a heaven-piercing spirit treasure! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Since the ancient era, the Human Realm had seen no new heaven-piercing spirit treasures forged—at least, none had been publicly revealed.

If word of Li Qing’s undertaking were to spread, it would undoubtedly plunge the entire Human Realm’s cultivator community into profound shock.

Within the Lingyun Sect, thick dark clouds persisted for forty-nine days before gradually dissipating.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the anticipated heavenly tribulation never materialized, fizzling out like a damp firework.

"Could something have gone wrong? After brewing for so many days, the tribulation clouds vanished into thin air!"

"Perhaps it wasn’t a heavenly tribulation after all. No true tribulation would linger so long without striking. It’s more likely Ancestor Limitless was cultivating some powerful divine ability."

"I agree. The higher one’s cultivation realm, the greater the difficulty in advancing. Even with Ancestor Limitless’s extraordinary talent, he couldn’t possibly break through in such a short time."

Meanwhile, within his cave abode on Azure Cloud Peak, Li Qing exhaled deeply, his spirit slightly weakened and his complexion pale.

"As expected of a heaven-piercing spirit treasure. It took a full forty-nine days to completely fuse the Wind-Thunder attributes with this True Bone."

Before him floated a pair of bone wings, electricity and swirling winds occasionally flickering through the gaps between the bones.

The once yellowish jade-like bones had undergone a complete transformation. After fusing with spirit materials like Thunder Sound Bamboo and Void Moon Crystal Sand, the wings had become a silvery-purple hue, resembling a rare spirit gold rather than jade.

During those forty-nine days, Li Qing had remained sleepless, meticulously nourishing the wings with his pure true essence. He hadn’t dared to slacken his focus even for a moment.

Naturally, such intense concentration yielded remarkable results.

The bone wings could now be considered a nascent spirit treasure, capable of unleashing considerable power.

But Li Qing’s ambitions stretched far beyond this. He allowed the prototype Wind-Thunder Silver Wings to hover before him, then slowly closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing.

After regaining some of his strength, Li Qing retrieved a bottle of Third-tier Fire Origin Nectar from his storage bag and drank it down without hesitation.

His energy expenditure had been immense these past few days, pushing even a nascent soul realm cultivator to their limits. Without the constant replenishment of mana and true essence from the Third-tier Fire Origin Nectar, Li Qing would never have been able to sustain the refining process for so long.

As the entire bottle of Fire Origin Nectar flowed down his throat, Li Qing’s magical power rapidly surged back to full strength. This fire-attribute spiritual object replenished his true essence with remarkable speed.

"The spirit treasure’s prototype is complete, but that’s not enough. I need a unique method to awaken the spirituality within the bone wings, then inscribe the dao patterns. Only then will it be truly perfect."

Unlike the refining process for ordinary magic artifacts, Li Qing was crafting a spirit treasure, using materials that were among the rarest and most precious spiritual objects in heaven and earth.

Therefore, there was no need for spirit tempering, as the spirit treasure’s inherent spirituality was already astonishing.

Moreover, Li Qing had nourished the bone wings with his true essence for seventy-nine days, saturating their spirituality to the point where it could no longer be enhanced.

"To awaken the spirituality, I should use a spirit-attracting object. The North Sea Essence I acquired at the grand auction is undoubtedly the best choice."

With that, Li Qing picked up the North Sea Essence.

In the next instant, spiritual flames erupted from his palm, instantly shattering the North Sea Essence. The strange liquid contained within seeped through Li Qing’s palm and dripped onto the bone wings.

Almost immediately, the entire set of bone wings radiated an astonishing spirituality.

"Still not enough! Heavenly spirit fire is also an excellent spiritual catalyst. Use it to activate the thunder attribute spirituality within!"

As his words faded, Li Qing opened his other palm, and a three-colored spirit fire erupted, enveloping the bone wings completely.

Soon, the strange treasure liquid from the North Sea Essence had fully permeated the bone wings. An astonishing spirituality erupted, blazing with extreme intensity!

This was undoubtedly the most spiritually potent treasure Li Qing had ever encountered in his life—its concentration was almost absurdly high.

The spirit treasure was nearing completion. All that remained was to successfully inscribe the dao patterns, endure the spirit treasure tribulation, truly embody the great dao principles, and gain the great dao’s approval. Only then would Li Qing possess a genuine spirit treasure!

Li Qing was intimately familiar with the dao patterns required, having gained experience in the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm.

Forming a blade with his fingers, Li Qing channeled his true essence and gently touched the bone wings with his fingertip.

Boom!

The entire bone wing shuddered violently. Dense lightning crackled across its surface, but Li Qing’s true essence surged forth, suppressing the restless energy.

He began to inscribe profound dao patterns onto the bone wing, each stroke radiating arcane power.

The inscription process proved arduous, requiring a considerable amount of time. Despite his previous experience with such patterns, Li Qing faced numerous setbacks.

After all, his earlier attempts had been on relatively ordinary spirit materials, where the standards were less stringent.

Now, however, he was working with a true prototype of a spirit treasure. Even the slightest misstep could destabilize the entire structure.

Fortunately, Li Qing possessed unwavering patience. After each failure, he calmly started anew, showing no signs of discouragement.

He approached artifact refinement with unprecedented seriousness, demonstrating boundless perseverance.

Over a dozen more days passed. More than two months had elapsed since Li Qing’s participation in the Ten Thousand Treasures Merchant Guild’s grand auction.

During this time, a secret rumor spread throughout the cultivation world of the Human Realm’s great domains:

The heaven and earth were about to face another invasion from the demon realm!

The news stunned nearly every cultivator who heard it into stunned silence. Initially, they dismissed it as mere rumor.

But as the story spread, none of the top immortal dao factions issued denials, nor did any senior experts with profound cultivation step forward to refute it. A collective gasp of cold air swept through the cultivation world as the truth began to sink in.

"Did you hear? The rumor seems to have originated from the Ten Thousand Treasures Merchant Guild!"

"I heard the same! Apparently, the news leaked during their grand auction a while back!"

"That’s right! I asked a friend whose master is a core formation realm expert. He personally attended the auction and confirmed the story is true!"

"..."

Once the rumor received this unusual confirmation, panic inevitably gripped all cultivators.

A demon realm invasion—a calamity previously relegated to ancient legends—was about to become reality?

Faced with this impending crisis, reactions varied wildly.

Some were paralyzed by fear, hoarding vast quantities of supplies and retreating into seclusion, vowing never to set foot in the cultivation world again, desperate to avoid being caught in the chaos.

Others, however, saw themselves as exceptional. Amidst the looming sense of cosmic calamity, they doubled down on their cultivation, pushing themselves even harder.

After all, the stronger one’s cultivation, the greater their chances of survival in the face of disaster.

Still others dismissed the alarmist reactions of their fellow cultivators as needless worry.

They reasoned that if the sky were to fall, the tall would bear the brunt. Even if the demon realm invaded, it would have little impact on cultivators with shallow cultivation bases like themselves.

In short, life would go on as usual. They would live each day as it came, and perhaps they would die without ever witnessing the demon realm’s invasion.

Despite the diverse reactions among cultivators, they all faced a common reality.

Amidst the widespread panic, the prices of resources in the cultivation world skyrocketed.

Pills that had once cost a mere hundred spirit stones now sold for thirty to forty percent more, and prices continued to climb relentlessly.

Magic artifacts and talismans experienced even more dramatic price surges. Even ordinary low-tier Spirit Talismans could fetch nearly a hundred spirit stones!

"Too expensive! This is just a mid-1st-tier Fire Essence Crocodile hide. Why is it priced so high?"

"Exactly! I remember Claw Bear paws were only forty spirit stones each a few days ago. How did they more than double in price?"

"Heh, times have changed. Have you seen anything that hasn’t gone up? The Wind Blade Talismans at the next stall are selling for eighty spirit stones now!"

In the bustling market of Azure Ridge Domain, a gathering place for cultivators, such haggling was a common sight at every stall.

But today, this ordinary market received two unexpected visitors.

Two exceptionally burly men strode in, their faces grim and menacing.

One wore a golden fur vest, while the other’s scarred upper body was bare, radiating an overwhelming aura of malevolent energy.

No one dared to block their path as they moved through the crowd.

The scarred middle-aged giant seized the stall owner who had been selling Fire Essence Crocodile hides and Claw Bear paws just moments before.

His grip was so powerful that an adult man felt as fragile as a chick in his grasp.

"Tell me, where is the Lingyun Sect?"

The question sent a ripple of shock through the surrounding cultivators, who then cast strange glances at the two unusually large men.

Who in the Azure Ridge Domain doesn’t know where the Lingyun Sect is? they wondered.

But a closer look at the men’s attire revealed they were likely cultivators from beyond the domain, not locals.

"Head east until you reach the sea, then turn north and follow the coastline. You’ll see an immortal mountain rising from the sea, shrouded in ethereal spiritual energy, like a celestial realm. That’s where the Lingyun Sect is located!"

The stall owner’s voice trembled with fear as he spoke. He could smell an overwhelming stench of blood clinging to the man, as if it had seeped into his very bones.

"Master... please spare my life!"

"Tell me, how many Nascent Soul realm cultivators does the Lingyun Sect have?"

The poor stall owner was on the verge of fainting from terror. Who are these people, asking about Nascent Soul realm cultivators so casually?

Despite his overwhelming fear, the stall owner knew his life hung by a thread. He had no choice but to answer truthfully:

"The Lingyun Sect seems to have only one Nascent Soul Ancestor, Ancestor Limitless."

The burly man holding him grew even colder, his eyes flashing with murderous intent as he glanced at his companion, who was draped in golden robes.

"Golden Bear King, we’ve gathered the intelligence. It seems they’re quite a distance away."

"The Ten Thousand Treasures Merchant Guild’s unstable teleportation arrays are utterly unreliable. We’ve traveled this far just to find signs of civilization."

The scarred giant, whose upper body was covered in battle scars, actually addressed his companion as "Golden Bear King"!

Human cultivators rarely use "King" as an honorific. Only demons who have undergone transformation typically claim such titles.

The origins of these two men were now self-evident.

The Golden Bear King’s expression was icy, the malevolent energy in his eyes thick enough to be almost tangible.

"Then let’s strike directly. How can we not avenge the loss of our son?!"

"Though Limitless possesses formidable combat prowess, he’s ultimately just one man. With our combined might, we’ll ensure he meets a miserable end."

"Moreover, I acquired a piece of Geng Metal from the Ten Thousand Treasures Merchant Guild. This spirit material has reacted strangely upon coming into contact with me."

The two conversed as if no one else were present, completely disregarding the cultivators in the surrounding market.

In their eyes, these humans, whose cultivation levels peaked at foundation establishment, were no different from ants—why should they bother with such insignificant creatures?

Upon hearing this, the Black Crocodile King grinned, his smile brimming with murderous intent.

"Finally found him. The blood debt for my son, Crocodile Third Sky, can finally be repaid."

"Let’s move out. I can’t wait to flay that human alive, tear him limb from limb, drink his blood, and devour his flesh."

As he spoke, the Black Crocodile King turned his head toward the stall owner he was holding. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he declared, "You were selling demon crocodile hide earlier? It seems this calamity was your destiny!"

With that, the Black Crocodile King opened his massive jaws and, before the horrified eyes of the crowd, swallowed the stall owner whole.

Whoosh!

The cultivators in the market scattered in terror, fleeing in utter chaos.

"Hahahaha!"

Having completed his gruesome act, the Black Crocodile King patted his belly with satisfaction and roared with laughter as he followed the Golden Bear King, charging eastward into the sky.

The two demon kings in the transformation stage, though not renowned for their speed, were by no means slow.

They transformed into two streaks of escape light—one golden, the other crimson—and hurtled toward the eastern coastline at astonishing speed. Following the coast northward, they finally located the mountain gate of the Lingyun Sect.

At that moment, both demon kings simultaneously halted, their gazes turning grave as they stared at the immortal dao sect’s gate, which stood majestically by the sea.

Above the Lingyun Sect, a colossal thundercloud had once again gathered, nearly obscuring the entire sky. Within the swirling layers of mist, bolts of thunder flickered like flood dragons weaving through the clouds.

Moreover, the spiritual energy within a ten-thousand-mile radius had become abnormally active, as if stimulated by some unknown force, converging toward the Lingyun Sect’s mountain gate.

Most remarkably, the wind and thunder attributes of primordial energy throughout heaven and earth were being drawn in as well!

"What is this? A Wind-Thunder Tribulation? How could it be even more immense than my own transformation tribulation?" the Black Crocodile King exclaimed in shock.

(End of the Chapter)

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