Chapter 224: Forge of Earth and Sky (1/2)
Panorama Pavilion’s auction finally came to a close, and Lu Yun had walked away with all three prizes. After today, his name would be known far and wide.
He’d succeeded in refining a Heaven Descent Pill, and a female arcane dao immortal had taken it! Qing Ruyan’s unborn child was destined to become a celestial emperor and was already promised to Lu Yun as a disciple!
There was no reason for the youth to refuse such a tempting offer. For the rest of the world, things had definitely taken a turn for the worse.
There’d been some uncertainty before on whether Dusk Province could truly grow into a new sacred land. If a new celestial emperor rose up there, that would no longer be the case. More importantly, no one knew how quickly Qing Ruyan’s child would attain origin dao realm. In the ancient times, the Heaven Descent Pill alone had been sufficient!
The nine existing celestial emperors were about to seclude themselves from the world in order to seek that legendary realm. The winds of change were blowing, portents of the momentous affairs that were yet to come, and the Heaven Descent Pill was another catalyst.
……
“Sir Lu, a moment of your time!” As the crowd began dispersing, an aged voice called out to Lu Yun. It was an old man with fiery hair, dressed in matching robes.
“This old man is Zhurong Cangshan of the Zhurong family.” He approached the youth with a smile.
“Zhurong Cangshan!” The introduction elicited a considerable reaction from the surrounding crowd. The Zhurong family!
Although it wasn’t a great faction in the world of immortals, it was definitely one of the oldest. ‘Zhurong’ was the official title of a god in the ancient divine court; specifically, it was the god of fire. The family that now claimed the surname was a bloodline descended from that god.
At the beginning of the new world order, the divines had enslaved countless people, but hadn’t dared levy the same treatment on the Zhurongs. Even now, its kinsmen had mastery over nearly every kind of fire. Their proficiency with fire rivaled the Vermilion Bird tribe! Naturally, the family had engendered many genius pill masters and treasure refiners as a result.
Zhurong Cangshan himself was a capable member of the latter group and was the author of multiple superior treasures. His status was reflected in the deep fear and respect that others showed toward him.
“Is there anything you need, Mister Zhurong?” Sobering up, Lu Yun made a courteous bow toward his elder.
In a roundabout way, he owed a considerable amount to the old man’s family. Huangqing had once studied under a dao immortal Zhurong master, eventually rising beyond her master’s expertise. As such, Lu Yun could be considered an indirect student of the family’s knowledge.
If he hadn’t met Huangqing when he had, he’d act on his desire to dig up the Zhurong’s ancestral graves instead….
Zhurong Cangshan blinked with momentary surprise. He hadn’t expected respect from a youth who’d shown incredible arrogance to Gu Zun only moments earlier. In terms of renown and position in the world, he was very much the other master’s counterpart: a well-respected expert in his field.
Below dao immortality, in fact, he was the best.
The young governor hectoring Gu Zun meant that he might’ve been willing to dish out the same treatment to the master refiner. Instead, he showed a civility that was the direct opposite. Zhurong Cangshan was secretly very pleased.
“Need is too strong a word,” he replied seriously. “What I have is a humble request. The Ten Orientations Stone is very important to me, I am willing to exchange it for three unowned dao-grade treasures.”
Dao-grade treasures were a completely different beast from supreme-ranked treasures. As a result of being refined by dao immortals, they were much more powerful than supreme-grade treasures. Unowned treasures were especially precious; fusion and refinement via one’s blood would easily convert them to treasures that could be inherited by an entire clan.
In most people’s eyes, three unowned dao treasures were far more precious than a single Ten Orientations Stone. However, Lu Yun shook his head slightly. “I’m afraid I must disappoint you, Master Zhurong. I came here today for the stone as well.”
“Are you also here on behalf of another?” Zhurong Cangshan asked, a little bemused.
“Not at all,” said Lu Yun. “This junior intends to refine a treasure in the near future, and the Ten Orientations Stone is its main material.”
“What?!” the crowd clamored once more.
“You’re going to… refine a treasure?” An expression of intense bewilderment indicated that Zhurong Cangshan thought he’d misheard.
Lu Yun inclined his head in confirmation. “I have some modest accomplishments in that field as well. Unfortunately, I came to the auction for the stone. If the senior needs the Lunar Wings or the Skydragon Tendon, however, I am happy to offer them to you!”
“Is this true?!” Zhurong Cangshan focused on Lu Yun with delirious zeal. “You—can—refine—treasures?” he pressed, word by measured word.
Lu Yun had shown off his terrifying pill refining skills only moments earlier, with the Heaven Descent Pill. After that, he’d conjured a formation out of thin air without needing to set down any foundations, a technique that countless formation masters could only dream of. Now he could refine treasures, too!?
With something as fine as the Ten Orientations Stone, to boot!
“Yes!” Lu Yun responded with absolute certainty. He’d tried to keep a low profile before, but an avalanche of trouble had come his way regardless. A little bit of pomp and affectation wasn’t all bad; at the very least, it would do a good job of warding off some of the flies.
More importantly, the more useful he showed himself to be, the more connections others would want to make with him. That was a different kind of defense.