novelraw Chapter 106 : Serving the Master’s Bath
Chapter 106 : Serving the Master’s Bath
Chapter 106: Serving the Master’s Bath
Not so.
So the Sun-Moon Sundial was used like this.
Lu Changyuan raised a brow.
This compass-like artifact had originally been embedded within the hourglass inside the Nether Kingdom’s Sin Prison, and it had passed through many hands.
But regardless of whether it was the Palace Mistress of the Sun-Moon Palace or Lu Changyuan, they had only ever treated this artifact as a treasure that aided cultivation.
When the Sun Dial and Moon Dial were combined into one, they could obscure the Heavenly Dao, thus creating a blessed land where not only the flow of time differed, but comprehension of the Dao accelerated.
Xiao Qingfeng had used the Sun-Moon Sundial in the same way.
But today Lu Changyuan finally saw how its true owner used it.
It could be called brutal.
The Nether Lord fused the Dao of Death into the Sun-Moon Sundial and forcibly imposed a life countdown similar to a curse upon everyone.
The hourglasses on the foreheads of those spirits began to release fine sand. Once the last grain fell, they would step into death.
You tell me this was the Sixth Realm?
Lu Changyuan stared at the Nether Lord like he had seen a ghost.
What was this thing? And what kind of ability was it?
It made no sense—this was a straightforward, compulsory life-taking technique.
Lu Changyuan had known the Nether Lord was strong, but he never expected this strong. What kind of Sixth Realm cultivator could directly impose a death countdown on everyone?
He turned his head to look at the Nether Lord, only to find the Nether Lord’s expression still perfectly calm.
The expenditure wasn’t great? This kind of technique didn’t consume much?
Lu Changyuan asked, “Can you kill the most powerful enemies in your clan right now?”
“No. They can use their own Dao to break my technique, but I can injure them.”
Oh.
That was fine then.
If he truly made a move and instantly crushed all opponents of the same realm, that would be too terrifying.
As terrifying as I was back then.
Just as Lu Changyuan thought this, the Nether Lord waved a hand again. “But if they break the technique, I can apply another layer. And again and again, until they are exhausted and die.”
?
Lu Changyuan drew in a deep breath.
Why were all the people around him such heaven-defying monsters? Not to mention that disciple of his who later comprehended an absurdly powerful Dao, and Xia Lianxue’s Dao of Time.
Even the supposedly ordinary Qiu Yuehan had once been frighteningly strong.
Lu Changyuan suddenly remembered one thing.
Back when Xia Lianxue had not yet recalled her past memories and cultivated in Jade Palace, even if the little immortal had amnesia, her talent should have still been extraordinary.
Yet someone’s talent had surpassed hers.
He hadn’t thought much of it then, but now that he recalled it—indeed ridiculous. A Seventh Realm Jade Radiance cultivator was rebuilding her cultivation, and someone could still suppress her. What kind of talent was that person born with?
The truth was now clear.
Qiu Yuehan wasn’t a normal person either.
The Nether Lord tilted his head toward Lu Changyuan; the mist grew even thicker.
No wonder she had dared to charge alone back into the Spirit Clan. Judging from this situation, even if the entire Spirit Clan rushed her together, they would all be forced to kneel.
When Lu Changyuan first heard the Nether Lord speak of killing their way back to the Spirit Clan, he had imagined a bitter and grueling battle.
Who would have thought it would turn out like this?
It seemed there wouldn’t even be a place for him to intervene.
Lu Changyuan thought so. The Soft-Rice Dao he failed to master in his previous life… this life, he might truly have a chance.
What Dao of Nothingness? It was far inferior to the Soft-Rice Dao… How could he have such a degenerate thought?!
Lu Changyuan felt he had become young again, just like when he had first entered the cultivation world—optimistic about everything, without much negative emotion.
The Nether Lord said calmly, “They’re here.”
Two people burst out of the thick mist—one red, one blue.
“Nether! You…”
The one who spoke was Chi, but before he finished, the mist abruptly condensed into a massive fist. It punched down at Chi, slamming him into the ground.
The Nether Lord didn’t like talking.
When he attacked, he aimed straight for killing Chi.
Countless blossoms of the other shore sprouted instantly from Chi’s body, surrounding him tightly. The massive fist of mist hammered fiercely upon him, even cracking the earth beneath.
Lu Changyuan watched with his heart thumping wildly. Under this combination assault, Chi, who was also Sixth Realm, had almost no power to fight back.
Boom!
Violent flames ignited around Chi, quickly burning the blossoms to ash.
He could still stand.
Chi still had some strength after all.
He roared, “Nether!”
As he prepared another move, a complex ancient seal formed in his hands.
But before the seal could complete, the Nether Lord leapt down from the sky and stomped, cracking the earth again and forcing Chi deep into the ground.
“A human old granny once taught me something—when dealing with an enemy, the fewer words the better.”
The Nether Lord stretched out a pale, slender hand. Space rippled abruptly, and someone was dragged out of the void.
It was Lan.
Then Lan seemed to be grabbed tightly and smashed repeatedly into the ground until that once-noble face turned completely battered.
Such vicious methods.
No wonder Qiu Yuehan’s sword attacks later became so fierce—so it had always been like this.
Lu Changyuan almost couldn’t bring himself to watch.
The beautiful young girl didn’t use a sword, nor any other weapon. She simply used her fists, and each punch landed squarely on Chi’s face.
Bang!
Bang bang!
The Nether Lord said softly, “Once you die, I’ll pull out your spirits and roast them in fire day and night.”
Lu Changyuan found it breathtaking.
But in the next moment, an inexplicable sense of danger rose.
Lu Changyuan raised Severed Thought horizontally.
Clang—like metal striking metal—sparks burst along Severed Thought’s blade.
A hideous spirit appeared beside Lu Changyuan.
A spirit summoned by Chi and Lan?
No time to think. Lu Changyuan instinctively lifted Severed Thought. Bai Cang appeared in the next instant, followed by the Pure Yang Sword.
The Spirit Clan could summon the thoughts of the dead.
Severed Thought could sever all thoughts, so Lu Changyuan effortlessly split the spirit before him.
But cutting them apart wasn’t the end.
Countless illusory spirits appeared before Lu Changyuan—these were all summoned by the two respected elders.
I have to fight all these alone?
The Nether Lord’s voice echoed from afar: “Be careful.”
Looking again, the scene ahead had changed.
Chi and Lan had somehow stood up again and were currently joining forces to besiege the Nether Lord. Although it still looked like a one-sided beating from the Nether Lord, he probably didn’t have time to help Lu Changyuan.
Chi roared, “You’ve learned some human tricks, but as a Spirit Clan member, you haven’t mastered the art of commanding spirits. You want a respectful title? If I kill your guardian spirit, there will be no place left for you in the Spirit Clan’s titles.”
Lu Changyuan now understood a little.
In ancient times, the Jade Radiance Realm had a fixed number—one per clan—granted by the Heavenly Dao.
Just what kind of chaotic era had that ancient age been?
Lu Changyuan smiled. “Don’t worry about me. You kill those two, I’ll kill their spirits. Each doing our part.”
As his words fell, the mist surged again, thick and sticky, covering everything.
In the mist, the spirits stumbled in confusion, their bodies blooming with flowers.
This truly was—
The easiest fight he had ever had.
He began by turning the battlefield into his own domain.
Lu Changyuan reflected on himself. In the past, whenever he fought others—even in the cultivation world—he had always just used brute force and hacked with his sword.
The efficiency had been a bit low.
He should learn from the Nether Lord.
He thought for a moment.
Oh.
He really thought of a technique.
Severed Thought was infused with the Five Desires and Six Dusts Mind-Transforming Technique and then transformed into illusion. Countless sword shadows floated upward.
This wasn’t originally Lu Changyuan’s sword technique.
It belonged to the Grass-Sword Sect.
Its name was very simple—Little Grass Sword Technique.
It spread sword intent like scattered blades, like ten thousand swords falling, inflicting terrifying area damage on enemies.
Lu Changyuan had been acquainted with the former sect master of the Grass-Sword Sect and had learned a few moves from him—this was one of them.
Under Lu Changyuan’s hands, the technique changed.
Some spirits pierced by the phantom swords didn’t die immediately; those with tough skin and nearing the Fifth Realm struggled to rise, attempting to tear at Lu Changyuan.
But from their wounds, strange little blades of grass sprouted, absorbing their thoughts and feeding the power back to Lu Changyuan.
Much like the Nether Lord’s blossoms of the other shore.
The spirits summoned by Chi and Lan wandered in confusion through the mist, eventually dying as the little grasses drained them.
Quite useful.
Cultivation, too, needed to keep up with the times, Lu Changyuan thought.
“The Five Desires and Six Dusts Mind-Transforming Technique” required Lu Changyuan to devour other desires, and the spirits summoned by the Spirit Clan were undoubtedly a great tonic for him.
Lu Changyuan suddenly had a thought—if he raised the Spirit Clan in the back garden, letting them give birth to spirits for him to eat every day, wouldn’t that allow him to quickly step into the Fifth Realm?
That didn’t seem very moral.
Boom.
Just as Lu Changyuan was thinking, ghostly blue flames suddenly ignited all around. The dense fog began to burn fiercely, tearing open a massive rift through the mist.
“You’re underestimating me far too much.”
The Nether Lord suddenly appeared in front of Lu Changyuan, extending his fair and elegant hand to catch the ghostly blue fireball that was about to strike Lu Changyuan.
With a loud bang—
The ghostly fire was crushed to pieces.
As the fog dispersed, Lu Changyuan finally saw the miserable state of Chi and Lan.
Chi had only half of his body left, while Lan’s cheeks had caved inward, as if someone had hammered his face in.
“Go!”
Lan suddenly swept up Chi, transforming into a gust of wind, trying to flee into the distance.
“Trying to escape? You really look down on me.” The Nether Lord sneered.
The blossoms of the Blossoms of the Other Shore lying low on the ground began to bloom brilliantly. The moonlight reflected upon the red flowers, turning scarlet in an instant.
Bang!
Chi and Lan crashed to the ground. Though not dead yet, they were not far from it.
What a terrifying woman.
Lu Changyuan carefully thought back to his own combat strength before he retraced the Red Dust Path—back when he had just left the Nether Kingdom—and compared it to the Nether Lord now.
Hiss—
It seemed… he couldn’t beat the current Sixth-Realm Nether Lord.
At that time, he hadn’t yet comprehended the “Supreme Pure-Spirit Forget-Immortal Technique.” His path of Killing Dao was barely passable. To fight against this cold, beautiful woman before him, who actually preferred brawling with her fists—he had no chance at all.
The Nether Lord’s voice echoed through the entire tribe: “Chi and Lan have already been executed. Within half a day, those who do not kneel beneath the tree crown shall die.”
Without Chi and Lan, the remaining Spirit Clan members—if they didn’t want to die—could only kneel before the Nether Lord’s seat.
Lu Changyuan let out a sigh of relief.
He had thought there would be a fierce battle.
“So now we just need to wait for the bestowal of the title, right?”
Lu Changyuan asked curiously.
The Nether Lord beckoned toward Lu Changyuan. “No need to rush for the title just yet.”
Then what was the rush?
Lu Changyuan heard the black-haired girl speak in a relaxed tone.
“First, go and assist your master in bathing, and change me into clean clothes. Only then can I ascend to the crown for coronation.”
The Nether Lord was a girl who loved cleanliness to an extreme. Even though she hadn’t been injured in her battle against Chi and Lan, merely having the corners of her robes dirtied was enough reason to wash them clean.
As for Lu Changyuan—
Naturally, the guardian spirit had to take on the duty of attending to the master’s needs.
Du was fleeing in panic.
Just like the Nether Lord had fled many years ago.
She couldn’t afford to think too much, running blindly, wanting only to get away from the vicinity of the World Tree.
Because she had already left when the Nether Lord used the Sun-Moon Sundial, there was no hourglass imprinted on her forehead.
Bang!
She fell to the ground.
Something had blocked her way.
Du looked up. Two phantasmal spirits slowly appeared before her.
It was Lan and Chi.
Du stared at the two Lords in horror, completely unaware of what had happened.
Chi’s face was pale. “What a powerful Dao… we almost couldn’t return.”
Lan exhaled a long breath. “Fortunately, she hasn’t learned our clan’s secret art. She doesn’t know that you and I can be reborn through the spirits once. Those two bodies are hers now. We’ll need to find a place to repair ours.”
When Du had left the World Tree, both Lan and Chi had placed a strand of their spirit within her, just in case they lost the battle—so they would have one more chance.
“There’s no time. If we want to slowly repair our bodies and recover our Dao Realm, it’ll take years. We don’t have that long—the heavenly title will soon descend.”
Chi shook his head and looked at Du. “You’ve worked hard. When the time comes, your thoughts will be gathered, and you shall become an immortal spirit.”
Du said blankly, “Lord Chi?”
Before she could react, a gigantic serpent spirit emerged from Chi’s hand and swallowed her whole.
Lan frowned, but said nothing.
Chi gritted his teeth. “We must kill that guardian spirit. Otherwise, her royal lineage will stand out too much!”
“To seek out the Blood Clan?”
“Mm. The Blood Clan won’t let go of royal blood. If they consume her royal blood, they’ll have enough qualification to bear a heavenly title.”
The Blood Clan was a race hidden within the blood marshes of the gorge.
A few days later, Chi and Lan, supporting their nearly shattered bodies, arrived at the blood marsh.
In their memories—
The air here always reeked of rot and iron, thick enough to wring blood from it. Below, in the crimson swamp, bubbles rose from the viscous sludge, bursting with sucking sounds and releasing an even denser stench.
The Blood Clan’s nest lay beneath this suffocating scarlet mire, like an enormous hive.
They never saw the light of day. Their bodies were soft and boneless, resembling giant leeches. Their slick skin was covered in mucus, their movements nearly soundless. Their heads bore no visible features—only a constantly opening and closing sucker-mouth made of countless fine tendrils, revolting to behold. They lived by feeding on the blood of other races.
Because of this behavior, the Blood Clan had long been one of the most despised races in the ancient cultivation world.
But now, the blood marsh before them was different from memory.
The once-viscous swamp had dried up, and even the insects once everywhere had disappeared.
Lan said in disbelief, “What happened here? Were the Blood Clan exterminated?”
Chi replied indifferently, “No. They did this themselves. They devoured my royal kin, then gathered the thoughts of all their clan members into one body, using it to bear a heavenly title.”
There were ten thousand races under heaven.
Each race’s strongest could be bestowed a heavenly title by Heaven’s Dao and ascend to Jade Radiance.
But receiving a title didn’t mean one could bear it.
It was simple to understand.
The title bestowed by Heaven’s Dao was less a position and more a pass—a qualification to enter Jade Radiance and truly take command of a Dao.
But to enter Jade Radiance, at the very least, one had to reach the pinnacle of the Sixth Realm, Dawning Sun. Otherwise, the title would be useless.
There were countless weak races in the world.
The weakest were the human race, followed by the Blood Clan.
The strongest of both could only barely reach the Fourth Realm. Even if Heaven’s Dao gave them a title, they couldn’t withstand it.
So, the Blood Queen devised a method—to gather all the Blood Clan’s bodies together, merge the strength of an entire race, and create a composite being capable of bearing the heavenly title.
Chi said, “In these years, all Blood Clan members have returned to the blood marsh, and turned into…”
Before he could finish—
A black-robed figure emerged from the marsh.
The figure let out a guttural roar.
It was a sound that made one’s skin crawl.
The fused body of the Blood Clan.
If Blood Smoke Rakshasa were here, he would recognize this being’s identity.
The Blood Demon.
One of the Three Thousand Great Demons—yet to fully take form.
Chi said coldly, “About the deal we made before—since the released royal one has returned, you shall devour her guardian spirit. In exchange, I will grant you ten years’ worth of the World Tree’s Water of Life.”
The black-robed Blood Clan creature lumbered forward—not walking on two legs, but wriggling like a worm.
It stopped before Chi, continuing to roar.
Chi’s brows lifted slightly. “You say you can kill her? Impossible. She’s far too strong. You only need to kill the guardian spirit—nothing more…”
The Blood Demon kept roaring.
Chi frowned. “We won’t fight you for the royal blood. If you have the ability, take it for yourself.”
Though the reason was unknown, the Blood Clan naturally restrained the royal guardian spirits. Otherwise, during their rebellion against the royal clan, they wouldn’t have enlisted the Blood Clan’s aid.
The black-robed Blood Demon said nothing more, lowering itself eerily, crawling away like a worm, leaving a long, blood-red trail on the ground.
Lan looked at Chi. “Can it really do it? Its aura is only at the Sixth Realm… at our peak, we could’ve killed it with ease.”
A composite born from the weak Blood Clan’s fusion was nothing more than a bug that a Spirit Clan powerhouse could crush at will.
Chi shook his head. “It only needs to devour the guardian spirit. We’ll go to the Stone Clan—they still owe us a favor. It’s time they repaid it.”
At this point in time, the Stone Clan was an extremely powerful race. Water, fire, blades, and spears could hardly harm them.
Before long, Chi and Lan arrived at a valley filled with rocks.
With a deep rumbling, the stones reassembled, merging into a headless giant. The giant struck the cliff wall with heavy thuds.
If Lu Changyuan were here, he would have found the headless giant familiar.
For this was Luo.
Luo, before his death.