"Boy, where are you? What do you want?"
When the Plague Elder saw Lu Qing suddenly appear, he immediately recognized that the other party was a manifestation of divine soul power.
His expression changed drastically, and his heart sank.
Knowing that my guess has probably come true.
This place truly is a magical artifact space.
Moreover, it is a spiritual artifact space controlled by Lu Qing.
Otherwise, given his level of cultivation, he wouldn't be able to unleash such a profound supernatural power as the transformation of his soul into form.
"Nothing much, you old plague demon. Didn't you boast before that I couldn't do anything to you?"
So, can you guess where we are right now?
Lu Qing looked at the plague gourd with a leisurely air.
"There's no need to play tricks. This place is simply another magical artifact space."
The old man with the plague sneered.
Now that he knows he can't fool Lu Qing, he's too lazy to keep up the pretense.
"Boy, your luck is heaven-defying. You're only a minor Qi Refining Realm cultivator, yet you can wield two spiritual artifacts on your own."
However, such intense fortune cannot last long; it is like oil burning in a raging fire.
Be careful, lest you one day die a violent death and fall into an abyss of no return!
"No need for you to trouble yourself, old ghost," Lu Qing said calmly. "Since you've guessed that this is another spiritual artifact space, why don't you guess again which spiritual artifact's space this is?"
"No matter what kind of magical artifact it is, it cannot do anything to my Plague Gourd!" the Plague Elder said coldly. "Boy, I advise you not to waste your energy anymore."
If you really want to know about ancient times, you might consider my suggestion.
If you release me, I will not only tell you about ancient times, but also impart unparalleled supernatural powers to you.
Achieving the Golden Core, entering the Nascent Soul stage, and even becoming an immortal or ancestor will all be within reach in the future!
"What a boastful tone! Becoming an immortal and an ancestor, an old plague demon? How come I didn't know you had such supernatural powers?"
Back then, you were nothing more than a rat crossing the street in front of the righteous immortal sects.
They usually only dare to hide in the shadows and not show off.
You've only gained some fame because of your broken gourd.
How dare they speak so arrogantly now? They're truly shameless!
Just as the Plague Old Man was about to try to fool Lu Qing again, a mocking voice rang out from all around.
"who?!"
The old man was greatly alarmed. Someone knew so much about his origins; they must be a contemporary of him.
Could it be the person behind Lu Qing?
The old man, plagued by illness, quickly realized a possibility.
Then, the next moment, he saw a majestic middle-aged man wearing a dazzling fire robe and with two horns on his head appear in front of Lu Qing.
With this person's appearance, the restlessness in the surrounding space was amplified once again.
It was as if the king of space had arrived.
"You are the spirit of this magical artifact space!"
As fellow spirits, the Plague Elder immediately discerned the true nature of "Flame".
He felt an even greater sense of unease.
The aura emanating from "Yan" was significantly stronger than his.
This indicates that the spirit's recovery was much faster than his, and even its essence was stronger than his.
And then there's Lu Qing...
The old man, suffering from the plague, suddenly felt a chill in his heart.
"What, are you scared now?"
"Yan" seemed to sense the old man's emotions and sneered.
"Old Plague Ghost, I didn't expect you to be so ruthless. In order to survive the Five Signs of Decay of Heaven and Man, you actually possessed the spirit of your own natal artifact and managed to survive."
However, although you successfully possessed the body, your true spirit must have been greatly damaged.
Now that I'm trapped here, it won't be long before my true spirit collapses, and I won't even be qualified to enter the cycle of reincarnation!
The old man's expression suddenly changed drastically.
What he feared most was that Lu Qing would find out about this, but he never expected that "Yan" would see right through him.
However, he still pretended to be calm and said coldly, "Is that so? How could a mere artifact spirit like you possibly know about my divine powers?"
If you say that my true spirit is about to collapse, then let's wait and see.
"Let's see if I, the true self, will perish after being trapped here for thousands of years!"
"Old Plague Demon, you don't need to put on airs here. I'll ask you one more time: are you willing to open your mind and let me imprint my soul mark on your true spirit?"
Lu Qing said coldly.
"Don't even think about it, brat. You think you can make me submit to a mere Qi Refining Realm cultivator like you?"
An ant like you, I could have wiped out countless of you with a single breath back then.
"You dare to dream of refining the true spirit of a Nascent Soul cultivator? You're utterly ignorant of your own limitations!"
"Very good." Lu Qing said no more, his figure dissipating into the spiritual artifact space, leaving only one sentence echoing within: "'Yan', make your move, refine him to death!"
Hearing Lu Qing call him by his name, Yan felt a chill run down his spine.
But it inexplicably couldn't muster any anger; it only felt a chill lingering in its heart.
They didn't dare to be careless in their movements. With a wave of their hand, endless flames were generated out of thin air in the spiritual energy space.
Its own form shifted, transforming into a fire dragon that coiled around the plague gourd.
"Fire Dragon, you are the Fire Cauldron of the Fire Sect!"
Upon seeing the fiery dragon that "Yan" had transformed into, the Plague Elder finally understood that he was in the space of that magical artifact.
In the ancient era of cultivation, he had no dealings with the Li Huo Sect, which is why he didn't recognize the aura of "Yan".
However, the Li Huo Cauldron of the Li Huo Sect is still quite famous in the entire cultivation world.
One of the signature features of the Fire Cauldron is its attack method of spewing out fiery dragons that sweep across all directions.
Seeing the form that "Flame" had manifested, the Plague Elder knew perfectly well that he was trapped inside this magical artifact.
This made the old man with the plague somewhat tremble.
The Li Huo Cauldron is the sect's most prized spiritual artifact, and its grade is among the mid-grade spiritual artifacts.
It is a level higher than his plague gourd.
Most importantly, the Fire Cauldron is renowned for its ability to refine things.
Especially weapon crafting and alchemy.
It was thanks to this that the Li Huo Sect was able to continuously refine high-grade magic weapons and pills, thus securing a place in the cultivation world.
To find himself in the magical artifact space of this monstrous thing was the worst possible news for the Plague Elder.
If I had known, I wouldn't have provoked that kid like that.
A pang of regret flashed through the old man's mind as he was struck by the plague.
Unfortunately, it's too late to regret it now.
Seeing the fiery dragon that "Yan" had transformed into coiling around him, he had no choice but to shrink back and hide in the deepest part of the plague gourd.
He hoped that his spiritual artifact could withstand the refining power of the Fire Cauldron.
The Plague Gourd was created by him through a chance encounter with a piece of strange iron.
It possesses a strange ability that even he cannot fathom, which may be able to protect him.
Powerful flames surrounded the Plague Gourd, and the Fire Dragon, the embodiment of "Yan," was tightly coiled around it.
However, half an hour passed, and the plague gourd did not change at all, as if the surrounding flames did not exist.
"How is that possible?"
Yan's eyes revealed a hint of disbelief.
Although it is currently damaged and has not yet recovered, its power is far less than that of its peak period.
But this plague gourd is clearly even more damaged than the original.
Despite being a mid-grade spiritual artifact, it still couldn't be refined!
"There's something strange about this broken gourd!"
The thought had barely crossed Yan's mind when Lu Qing's voice came from above.
"Senior Yan, how is he?"
A hint of embarrassment flashed in Yan's eyes, but he still told the truth: "This plague gourd seems a bit strange. I can't refine it for a while."
"What should we do then?"
There was no emotion in Lu Qing's words.
But Yan felt a strange tightness in his heart.
It thought for a moment and said, "My true spirit has not fully recovered, and I don't have much power to use. I'm afraid I won't be able to deal with this plague gourd in a short time. I need your help."
"Alright!" Lu Qing immediately agreed. "I will use the great formation in this cave to help you refine this old ghost to death!"
As soon as he finished speaking, "Yan" felt a powerful array force reinforcing the Li Huo Cauldron.
At the same time, a surge of spiritual energy flowed into the cauldron.
It immediately perked up and, without hesitation, absorbed all the spiritual energy.
The next moment, the body in the spirit artifact space suddenly swelled up.
He swallowed the plague gourd whole, his body spiraled up, and endless firepower seeped into the gourd.
The plague elder hiding deep inside the gourd was secretly pleased, seeing that "Yan" couldn't do anything to him.
Unexpectedly, the aura of "Yan" suddenly surged more than tenfold.
His eyes widened suddenly, and he looked incredulous: "How is this possible!"
At the same time, his mind raced, and he used the remaining power of his divine soul to activate the power of the plague gourd to resist it.
However, all of this was in vain, as the flames refining the flames with all their might.
White flames continuously seeped into the plague gourd.
The layers of restrictions that the Plague Elder had painstakingly crafted in the gourd were destroyed one by one, and the gray plague energy was completely burned away, slowly spreading deeper into the gourd.
No matter how hard the old man with the plague tried, he could not stop it.
"No!"
As the white flames relentlessly encroached upon the space where his true spirit was hidden, the Plague Elder revealed a look of terror.
His soul suddenly emitted a violent fluctuation: "Young master, I surrender! I am willing to release my true spirit and submit to you!"
The white flames that were about to burn the spirit of the Plague Elder suddenly stopped.
"Yan" also looked up at the sky above.
The old man who had been infected with the plague breathed a sigh of relief.
However, the next moment, Lu Qing's cold voice came from above: "Too late, you old plague demon. I gave you a chance, but you didn't cherish it. 'Yan,' refine him for me!"
This sentence not only startled Yan, but also greatly alarmed the old man suffering from the plague.
He quickly shouted, "Master, it was all a misunderstanding. I was just being mean and shouldn't have provoked you like that."
This old servant knows he was wrong, and begs his master to forgive him this time.
"From now on, this old servant will certainly serve his master wholeheartedly and be of utmost loyalty!"
In order to survive, the old man with the plague abandoned all sense of shame and directly addressed Lu Qing as his master, referring to himself as his old servant.
His humble and obsequious attitude left Yan speechless.
It knew that these people of the demonic path were always cunning, deceitful, and shameless.
But no one expected that a former Nascent Soul cultivator would be so shameless in order to save his life.
However, what Yan didn't expect was...
Despite the Plague Old Ghost's humble and pleading attitude, Lu Qing remained unmoved.
He coldly said, "'Yan,' didn't you hear what I said? Refine him!"
Hearing Lu Qing's tone, it became even more intense.
"Yan" realized that this person was truly determined to refine the old plague demon to death.
Instead of simply intimidating him and forcing him to submit.
Sensing the dissatisfaction in Lu Qing's tone, "Yan" dared not be negligent and immediately urged the flames to spread towards the Plague Elder.
No! Don't!
The Plague Elder never expected that even after lowering himself so much, Lu Qing would still try to kill him.
He hurriedly shouted, "Master, this old servant truly knows he was wrong. Please give this old servant another chance to become your most loyal servant!"
Moreover, if you refine me to death, the Plague Gourd's grade will drop, turning it into a treasure.
This is a tremendous loss for you, Master. I urge you to reconsider!
Unfortunately, his pleas for mercy received no response from Lu Qing.
While Lu Qing remained silent, "Yan" propelled the white flames and finally broke through the space where the Plague Elder was hiding.
The white flames, exuding a terrifying aura, were closing in on his true spirit inch by inch.
The old man suffering from the plague finally despaired.
His face showed a look of madness.
"You little beast, if you want me dead, then let's all die together!"
Having said that, his mind raced, wanting to detonate the core restriction within the Plague Gourd, thus self-destructing the magical artifact and perishing together with Lu Qing.
However, when he tried to penetrate the core restrictions, he found that he could no longer activate the power of the Plague Gourd.
"Want to self-destruct?"
The resounding sound of "Yan" echoed deep within the gourd.
"Old Plague Demon, if you had detonated the restriction from the beginning, perhaps I wouldn't have been able to stop you."
But you were too afraid of death. My flames almost burned you to death before you thought of self-destructing.
"You really think my power is just for show? Prepare to die!"
As he spoke, numerous white flames that had penetrated deep into the gourd rushed toward the true spirit of the Plague Elder.
"No!!!"
The plague elder, whose true spirit was already weak, could hardly withstand the burning of such terrifying flames containing a trace of the power of rules.
Without even the slightest strength to resist, he was instantly incinerated, reduced to nothingness.
After the Plague Elder's true spirit was killed, "Yan" immediately spat out the Plague Gourd from its belly and withdrew all the flames.
Without the spirit's control and restraints, the Plague Gourd's grade dropped.
If it doesn't withdraw its power, this magical artifact will be completely destroyed.
Lu Qing's figure reappeared in the spirit artifact space.
“Young master, this is a gourd artifact left behind by that old plague demon.”
"Yan" handed the plague gourd in his hand to Lu Qing.
Even the way they addressed him was changed; they no longer called Lu Qing "boy".
Lu Qing took the gourd. At this moment, the plague gourd was no longer half a person's height, but had become the size of a palm, which could be held with just one hand.
“Young master, this gourd seems rather strange. Even my flames couldn’t do anything to it for the time being. There must be something else going on.”
