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Chapter 383: Chapter 380: Demon Refining Pearl
Cheng Province, True Immortal Palace.
The news that Gu Jinlai, piloting the Cheng Ying Mecha, had returned to the battlefield with irresistible force and drawn the curtain of the Mu State battle, quickly reached Wu Tiandi and Di Luo, who were preparing to trap and assassinate Venerable Xuan Tian.
"I actually guessed wrong!?"
Wu Tiandi’s expression turned somewhat unsightly, "To annihilate three Demon Demon Emperors and twelve Demon Demon Kings with a single strike is a power on par with an Earthly True Immortal. Even if the war spiritual artifact that Gu Jinlai refines has an immense amplification, to release such a level of attack should have significant restrictions. At the very least, like before, it should require two to three months of recuperation. But now, he has recovered in less than twenty days..."
What does this mean?
It means that his power, comparable to that of an Earthly True Immortal’s single strike, only has a twenty-day cooldown period.
"This Gu Jinlai..."
Di Luo was filled with reluctance and even some fear, "It’s a good thing I didn’t make a move back then." 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
When Gu Jinlai came to Cheng Province, he was indeed bringing the Cheng Ying Mecha.
At that time, he was concerned about Tai Yuan and only sent Xiao Quan to make a move, leading people to cooperate with Wu Tiandi’s actions.
After the failure of Wu Tiandi and others’ actions, they had calculated that the war spiritual artifact called "Cheng Ying Mecha," though powerful, was at best only reaching the level of a Saint.
With his undying will achieved, and a Saint Body over twenty meters tall, dealing with Gu Jinlai of such combat strength would not take much effort at all.
It was merely that his speed was considerably fast, making it a bit more troublesome to kill him.
But thinking about it now, if he had truly made a move against Gu Jinlai, forcing Gu Jinlai to unleash the terrifying trump card that annihilated three Demon Demon Emperors and twelve Demon Demon Kings with a single strike...
He definitely wouldn’t be able to block it.
Wu Tiandi heard Di Luo’s words of relief and sneered internally.
He did not have much respect for Di Luo, his second senior brother.
He, along with Di Luo and Emperor Tianji, were from the same master.
There were seven senior and junior brothers in total.
Aside from the eldest senior brother, Xiao Yaozi, who chose to leave Qiantian due to the coercion from the third senior brother, Tianji’s rise to power, the other seniors, including himself, all served the Heavenly Immortal Palace established by Tianji.
Now, the fourth, fifth, and sixth seniors had all died in the great battle a hundred years ago, leaving only Di Luo who survived by being extremely cautious.
However, in these hundred years, he continued to live more and more timidly. Although he was ambitious and always thought of emulating Tianji’s past glory of sweeping through Daqian, he was indecisive and, to this day, had achieved nothing.
If the one who had reached Saint status were him...
"When the Battle of Mu State unfolded and Gu Jinlai annihilated three Demon Demon Emperors and twelve Demon Demon Kings with a single strike, I had investigated him. The weapon he used at the time was not the one for the war spiritual artifact Cheng Ying Mecha, but the Dao Artifact Panwu Spear. Based on information gathered from other sources, I deduced that to release a power on par with that of an Earthly True Immortal, Gu Jinlai must pay a price, possibly the vessel or something else. That price is a Dao Artifact."
Wu Tiandi glanced at Di Luo, "And when he first came to True Immortal Palace, he didn’t have any Dao Artifact in his possession."
"That’s just your conjecture. Who knows how Gu Jinlai’s trump card is actually triggered?"
Di Luo said, "Dragon Sparrow Manor and Yellow Sky Sect fell because they failed to see through Gu Jinlai’s trump card."
"No matter how powerful Gu Jinlai’s trump card is, the fact that he relies on external objects for the strength of a Saint is true. If we don’t give him time to activate that war spiritual artifact..."
"Oh?"
Before Wu Tiandi could finish speaking, Di Luo interrupted him. He looked at Wu Tiandi, who seemed increasingly dissatisfied with him, and sneered, "Younger brother, are you planning to assassinate Gu Jinlai?"
Wu Tiandi stopped speaking.
"Alright, from Lingxiao Palace’s side, if he doesn’t provoke us, we won’t provoke them. Next, let’s deal with Venerable Xuan Tian first."
Di Luo didn’t want to strain the relationship with his junior brother too much and changed the subject, "Venerable Xuan Tian is our real concern. Don’t forget, you were the one who directly destroyed Frost Sword Sect, and it was you who tortured his respected master and beloved senior sister to death in front of him."
Wu Tiandi nodded upon hearing this.
...
"Good."
Compared to the argument in the True Immortal Palace, Jiang Tianji in the Emperor Tower felt invigorated and firmly uttered the word "Good" after receiving the news.
"Mu State has been restored."
He circulated the Qiantian Purple Qi Technique and looked towards the south.
Although the direction of the Three Thousand Marshes was still shrouded in thick clouds of bad luck, order’s brilliance would soon be resurrected on that land within the territory of Mu State.
"Gu Jinlai, you have not disappointed me."
A glimmer of hope seemed to reignite in Jiang Tianji’s eyes.
"Daqian is endowed with the fortunes of heaven and earth. In times of crisis, a Warlord will arise to halt the advance of war. One day, these surrounding demons will be completely driven out by the elite forces of Daqian," said Zhou Ji with a smile, seeing the Emperor in a great mood.
"Fortune..."
Jiang Tianji pondered upon his recent observations of fortune.
The scenario for Daqian, compared to the previous gloom of dark clouds bearing down, had indeed gained a sliver of vitality.
But...
It was merely like taking a single breath.
Let alone the threat from outside demons, even within Qiantian, internal troubles were yet to be completely resolved.
"True Immortal Palace, Sanqing Hall..."
Jiang Tianji muttered to himself.
He received news from Xuzhen Tower that True Immortal Palace seemed restless, apparently plotting something.
Very uneasy.
The final ultimatum from Sanqing Hall was also nearing its deadline. Without a response, a direct conflict between the two would likely erupt.
When that happens...
"Your Majesty, with the strength of King of Tian Nan, Gu Jinlai, who can annihilate three Demon Demon Emperors and twelve Demon Demon Kings with a single strike, we have nothing to fear from Sanqing Hall and True Immortal Palace. Now that Mu State has been pacified, why not summon King of Tian Nan to collaborate with the Emperor’s Master, and together they can strike from the north and south to eradicate the menace of True Immortal Palace in one fell swoop?" Zhou Ji cautiously suggested.
"Have King of Tian Nan, Gu Jinlai, and Emperor Master Tai Yuan join forces from the north and south against True Immortal Palace..."
Jiang Tianji considered it without speaking.
Despite his trust in the King of Tian Nan, they had just vanquished the demons of the Three Thousand Marshes and likely needed time to rest and recuperate.
Now, Gu Jinlai, in pursuit of repairing the Cheng Ying Mecha, had sought him out again, which indicated that defeating the demons of the Three Thousand Marshes was not as effortless as he had made it seem.
In such a time, summoning the King of Tian Nan to the north was inopportune.
Moreover...
The other ministers in the court perhaps did not wish to see this happen.
Some ministers had already advised caution, worried that the continuing rise in the King of Tian Nan’s prestige might become difficult to control.
Rather than relying on the King of Tian Nan, they preferred to make use of Venerable Xuan Tian.
Though Venerable Xuan Tian was somewhat uncontrollable, posing great risks, at least he had no established forces and posed no threat to the Daqian Dynasty’s rule.
"Let’s not discuss this matter for now; we can’t always depend on the King of Tian Nan. Otherwise, the King of Tian Nan expelled the demons of the Three Thousand Marshes without any assistance, yet we can’t even handle a single True Immortal Palace. If compared, wouldn’t it make our Imperial Family seem incompetent?"
Jiang Tianji said with a hint of self-deprecation.
"This old servant deserves death..."
Zhou Ji shuddered and quickly knelt down.
"Enough, I wasn’t blaming you."
Jiang Tianji waved his hand dismissively.
He returned to his desk, where he reviewed petitions, and looking at the mountainous pile, he seemed to come to a realization.
After a while, he let out a long breath, evidently having made a decision, "Summon Wang Yizhi, Zhang Hanhai, Long Yuantu, Qianhua Mountain, and Zhao Riyue to discuss matters..."
As he spoke, he paused, "I want to discuss with my cherished courtiers the matter of recalling the Star King."
...
A month quickly passed since the conclusion of the battle in Mu State.
Outside Lingxiao City, on the drill ground.
A round of Great Sun shone within the spiritual world, emitting fierce and blazing brilliance.
Under this radiance, the remaining demonic nature in each of the Demon God Guards, which had not yet been purged, melted away like snow under the fierce sun.
Over the month, Gu Jinlai, besides tempering his physique to strengthen his body to a level comparable to that of a Demon Demon King, was busy with this task.
Not just him, Zhang Lihuo was the same.
Through the continuous efforts of the two, the number of Demon God Guards had grown to forty thousand.
And to fully refine all the remaining Essence Blood and increase the number of Demon God Guards to a hundred thousand, it was estimated that it would take another half year.
After a period of busyness, Gu Jinlai walked out of the drill ground under the feverish, admiring gaze of countless Demon God Guards.
Outside, Gu Qingmei and Leng Tianfeng were waiting on either side.
Yes, alongside Gu from the Gu family, there was Leng Tianfeng with no family ties.
Leng Tianfeng, like Gu Qingmei, Gu Luochen, and Gu Chifeng, had become one of his newly accepted disciples.
This disciple did not disappoint him.
With extremely astonishing progress in the new version of the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Method, after several months of guidance from him, Leng Tianfeng had already stepped into the Mahayana realm, becoming, following Gu Qingmei, the second disciple capable of manifesting the Great Sun True Demon Body.
Although manifesting the Great Sun True Demon Body still meant nothing against a Primordial Spirit True Monarch, Leng Tianfeng was the disciple among all the Demon God Warriors that Gu Jinlai had encountered who had the greatest affinity with the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Method.
As he continued to cultivate, he would surely reach the Perfection of this Body Refining Technique sooner than Gu Qingmei.
Gu Jinlai nodded to the two before heading straight to the Military Workshop.
Inside the Military Workshop, Zhou Yi and Zhang Lihuo were engrossed in research.
And at the core of this research was the Demon Soul Crystal.
The Demon Soul Crystal was a Treasure left behind after the fall of Spirit Venerable, an advanced currency used by creators in their transactions. Besides being used to manufacture Ruins Beasts, it had many other wondrous uses.
Above all else, Gu Jinlai valued its ability to absorb dissipating demonic natures, reconstituting them into new Demon Spirits.
"How is the production of the Demon Refining Pearl going?" Gu Jinlai asked.
"It’s going smoothly. With the complete method of producing the Demon Refining Pearl found in the heritage Lord Zhou brought, we were able to refine it with improvements and guidance," Zhang Lihuo said with a smile. "The Demon Refining Pearl itself was designed to purify residual demonic nature in some individuals. Now, with the Demon Soul Crystal at its core, not only is the efficiency increased by tens to hundreds of times, but we can also extract even the subtlest demonic nature from within Demon God Warriors, condense it into slayable Demon Spirits, and after the spirits’ death, we extract their spiritual nature—killing several birds with one stone."
After finishing, he looked at Gu Jinlai, "No wonder, Supreme Elder, you were so determined to kill that Spirit Venerable."
"Good to know it’s working out."
Gu Jinlai smiled.
He had long wished to be freed from the tedious work of purifying demonic nature for the Demon God Warriors. From the related materials he had acquired from Zhou Yi, he had noted the Demon Refining Pearl.
But the cost of producing one of these pearls was high, the efficiency low; creating a single pearl could cost the same as a Supreme Grade Spirit Artifact and take three to five days to remove the model ingrained within a Demon God Warrior.
Unless higher-grade core materials were used.
Such as the Demon Soul Crystal.
Upon seeing this information, coupled with not often encountering a target like the Spirit Venerable, he was naturally prepared to expend eleven rays of Qingguang, wearing down the Spirit Venerable.
"The Demon Refining Pearl, made from the Demon Soul Crystal itself, works extremely efficiently. Add to that our visualization of the power of the Great Sun Core as a purification catalyst, and its efficiency is enhanced even further. In one day, it’s enough to extract demonic nature from over a hundred Demon God Warriors and form a minor or medium-sized Demon Spirit," said Zhang Lihuo.
"Medium-sized Demon Spirit?" Gu Jinlai’s interest was piqued.
"Yes, the longer the demonic nature has been nurtured inside a Demon God Warrior, the stronger the Demon Spirit that is condensed after being extracted by the Demon Soul Crystal," Zhang Lihuo nodded. "In other words, we don’t necessarily have to rush to deal with the demonic nature inside some of the Demon God Warriors. We can nurture it and only extract it when the Demon God Warrior realizes their emotions are about to be influenced by the demonic nature, which yields better results."
After speaking, he laughed, "If we can truly achieve this, by relying on Demon God Warriors, the Demon Refining Pearl, and the Heavenly Master, constantly collaborating, we might be able to mass-produce ordinary spirit weapons on an assembly line."
