Chapter 96: Bring Her Back
【Ding! Return to True ended: You died.】
【Return to True settling in progress, please wait…】
【Settling complete.】
【Items that can be brought back this time: Heavenly Fox Spirit Body physique*1, eighth-rank Dharma Artifact*1, eighth-rank talisman*1, Dao-rank Pill Storage Ring*1, sixth-rank Spirit Artifact*1, Dragon Pearl*1…】
A series of System notification sounds rang in Lu Qingyang’s ears.
Especially the entry listing items that could be brought back — it rang for a full cup of tea’s worth of time before finally stopping.
“I’ve struck it rich…”
Lu Qingyang opened his eyes, trying to calm his emotions.
This Return to True had lasted a long time, arguably the longest in history.
Nearly a thousand years of cultivation experience, plus a glimpse of the legendary Immortal Realm, had stirred Lu Qingyang’s emotions.
“Wife…”
Lu Qingyang sighed softly.
Though Return to True was nothing but flowers in a mirror and the moon in water, what he experienced had nevertheless truly happened to him.
It was as if he had genuinely lived such a life.
Fortunately, he had the Stone-Bright Dao Heart. Otherwise, he would have collapsed long ago.
But before Lu Qingyang could choose his brought-back items, a profoundly mysterious aura suddenly spread from all around him.
“Hoo. In Return to True, I had already stepped into Great Vehicle. Just returning to reality with these memories alone has actually loosened my cultivation.”
Lu Qingyang took a deep breath and focused his attention on his dantian.
His Seven-Colored Nascent Soul was now increasingly condensed, its brows and eyes more and more resembling a real person.
If his Nascent Soul became as solid as substance, that would be the moment he proved his Dao and broke through to Soul Transformation!
And as Lu Qingyang’s spiritual power surged, an even more terrifying pressure welled out from within his Nascent Soul, causing the Spirit Lake at the peak around him to churn without end.
A moment later, the Seven-Colored Nascent Soul had visibly condensed by a fraction!
“Nascent Soul… late stage.”
Lu Qingyang murmured softly, feeling the vast energy contained within his dantian, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
But I’m afraid I won’t stop here this time. That True Spirit Bloodline from the Simulation hasn’t been absorbed yet.
If I refine it, I likely will have hope of Soul Transformation within days!
At this thought, Lu Qingyang flipped his right hand, and a drop of bright red blood appeared in his palm.
The blood had a faint golden hue, with strands of golden patterns flowing through it.
Faintly, one could see countless ancient True Spirit phantoms roaming within it, extremely terrifying.
True Spirit Bloodline. In Return to True, the reason I could step into Great Vehicle was entirely thanks to this foundation.
With this treasure, Great Vehicle is only a matter of time for me.
Lu Qingyang’s eyes blazed with brilliance. He no longer hesitated, opening his mouth and swallowing the blood drop!
“Buzz~”
The next second, he felt his whole body tremble, and the images in his mind changed drastically.
He seemed to see the ancient mountains and rivers, beasts and creatures.
He also seemed to be amidst ancient great demons, great devils, great witches, and even a massive Kirin.
Scene after scene flashed rapidly before Lu Qingyang’s eyes.
Finally, everything disappeared, leaving only himself.
“Boom!”
As a muffled thunderclap suddenly exploded from within his body.
Spiritual power of every attribute in the heavens poured torrentially around him.
In just a few breaths, Lu Qingyang felt as if fine golden threads had grown within his bones and sinews.
Every inch of his skin was filled with tyrannical strength.
At the same time, the realm he had just broken through actually loosened again at this moment!
Is the True Spirit Bloodline this domineering?
I remember it didn’t have such miraculous effects in Return to True. It can actually push me further from late-stage Nascent Soul?
Lu Qingyang was somewhat surprised.
He seemed unable to understand this sudden good fortune.
But he seemed to have forgotten — in Return to True, he only had a single True Spirit Bloodline plus a standard Heaven Spirit Root.
In reality, he not only possessed a half-matured Dao-less Body, but also the Stone-Bright Dao Heart within.
Add to that the Mutated Lightning-Attribute Heaven Spirit Root and his own Seven-Colored Nascent Soul.
Under all these blessings, the True Spirit Bloodline’s effect could be described as performing beyond its limits.
“Buzz~”
But just as Lu Qingyang was still surprised.
The aura within his body surged once more!
In the blink of an eye, it shattered the bottleneck of late-stage Nascent Soul!
“Nascent Soul… great perfection!”
Lu Qingyang’s mind shook.
His body trembled slightly. In less than a year since stepping into Nascent Soul, he had already reached Nascent Soul great perfection.
Compared to Return to True, he was much older now — after all, his starting point was low, his beginning poor.
But judging purely by cultivation speed at this realm, one could say he had left his Return to True self eight streets behind and then some!
And Jun Moyan, in the back mountain of Chaotian Peak, naturally sensed this powerful aura as well.
“Martial-Nephew… has broken through again!”
“Hiss!”
Jun Moyan sucked in a cold breath, his mind shaken.
Then he could not help but want to wipe away the chuunibyou poem he had just finished writing in front of him…
“Ah, how could someone like me be worthy of reciting such an eternal masterpiece?”
“Only Martial-Nephew deserves such a poem — bold and unrestrained, sweeping across ten thousand li.”
Jun Moyan’s tone was sour.
Yet even as he spoke, he re-bound that chuunibyou poem and stuffed it back into his robes…
…
“Hoo, one step from Soul Transformation. Though I can attempt a breakthrough now, but…”
“But consecutive breakthroughs are ultimately unstable. Every time I enter a realm, I must do so with an invincible posture.”
“Only then can I hope for the legendary Supreme Great Vehicle.”
Lu Qingyang slowly stood up and looked at the items that could be brought back before him.
The rewards this time were truly abundant.
Judging by overall value, the entire Chaotian Sect could not match the rewards from this return.
And the most precious was undoubtedly that True Dragon Inner Core, known in the world as a Dragon Pearl!
I never imagined I could encounter a true Dragon Pearl in that kind of Middle Thousand World.
After all, even the lowest cultivation among the True Dragon Clan is a True Immortal.
The value of this Inner Core… I’m afraid it can compare to the lowest-grade Immortal Artifact, right?
Lu Qingyang did not hesitate, nor did he glance much at the other items.
With this item here, why would he need to pick and choose!
A True Dragon Inner Core, even the lowest grade, was worth an Immortal Artifact.
Moreover, the Dragon Clan was powerful; no low-level True Immortal would dare hunt a dragon for its core.
So in truth, this item’s value far exceeded a low-grade Immortal Artifact!
“Bring back, Dragon Pearl!”
【Ding! Congratulations, Host, on a successful retrieval.】
【Item Name: Dragon Pearl】
【Item Origin: The clan-guarding treasure of the Flood Dragon Clan in Return to True.】
【Item Analysis: A complete True Dragon Inner Core, also called a Dragon Pearl. This item is what remains after a fallen member of the Upper Realm’s Dragon Clan. A Dragon Pearl naturally possesses the effect of warding off evil and suppressing beasts, as well as nurturing body might. If used to temper the body or refine artifacts, there is a chance of forging a Dragon Body or Dragon Artifact.】
【Item Tip: Every Dragon Pearl is unique. Non-Dragon Clan members who appropriate this pearl will inevitably be hunted by the Dragon Clan!】
“Roar!”
…
When a fist-sized, crystal-clear Dragon Pearl appeared in Lu Qingyang’s palm.
A Dragon Roar suddenly rang out from within it.
Instantly, the entire peak’s Spirit Lake was filled with a faint Dragon Awe!
This Dragon Awe actually pressed down on the Spirit Fish in the lake until each one could not help but tremble!
How terrifying was the might of the Dragon Clan? Even if only Dragon Awe spread out, it had a massive suppressing effect on ordinary demonic beasts!
Yet even as they trembled, two Spirit Fish with somewhat more substantial bodies actually slowly grew a few scales.
This surprised Lu Qingyang quite a bit.
What, could it be that my Spirit Lake will really nurture a few Spirit Dragons in the future?
That’s interesting.
Lu Qingyang shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
Right now, the most important thing was to think about how to use this Dragon Pearl!
Dragon Artifact? Dragon Body?
But then again, ever since my physical body entered Nascent Soul, it’s been hard to make progress.
Though the Hundred-Life Demonic Stratagem is a dual cultivation technique, without body-tempering resources, its progress is ultimately too slow.
Now, if I use this Dragon Pearl, perhaps I really can forge a Dragon Body!
By then, with both Dharma and body at the peak, once I enter Soul Transformation, I will have an invincible foundation!
Lu Qingyang’s gaze focused. He clearly had an idea…