Chapter 488: Chapter 294: Absorbing the Golden Crow Celestial Mandate, the Great Yan True Dragon Reappears, the Whereabouts of the Ascension Platform
The next day.
Dawn had broken.
In the end, Lu Mingyuan couldn’t bring himself to throw away the Black Turtle Shell.
The real issue was that this Black Turtle Shell was paired with his own.
Tossing it away just like that would be too rash.
He had wanted to destroy it.
However, he didn’t know what material the Black Turtle Shell was made of. Even with his current strength, he couldn’t damage it in the slightest.
He suspected its material was close to that of an Immortal Artifact.
But no matter what, he couldn’t let the Great Nether Empress track his whereabouts whenever she pleased.
Lu Mingyuan chose to seal it and place it within one of his Acupoints.
To be honest,
’if the Turtle Shell really does have a spying function, she’s probably already heard and seen everything she was going to hear and see.’
For now, Lu Mingyuan would only be staying in the Golden Crow Country for a short while before quickly returning to Great Yan.
’The war is over. If Wu Gongyu wants to watch, then let her watch.’
’I’ll settle the score with her when I get back.’
As soon as Lu Mingyuan stepped out of his room, he saw two people waiting for him outside the hall: Taiwei True Monarch and Saintess Ziwei.
"Your Majesty, how is she?"
Saintess Ziwei moved closer, her face filled with anticipation as she asked.
She was clearly also very curious about what had happened to Sui Yuqing.
Lu Mingyuan clasped his hands behind his back and smiled faintly. "She’s fine for now. It’s just a few stray thoughts plaguing her."
His expression quickly turned stern. "However, not a single word of what happened last night is to be spread. This is a Holy Decree. Remember that."
"Understood."
Taiwei True Monarch nodded slightly, indicating his compliance.
"There is one more matter that requires Your Majesty’s decision. The Champion Marquis reports that the army has only seven days’ worth of rations left. Should we extend our stay? If we do, we’ll need to procure provisions from the Golden Crow Country. If not, we can leave the capital in three days and make for the nearest Great Yan Prefecture."
"We’ll stay a few more days."
After giving the instruction, Lu Mingyuan left the courtyard without further explanation.
Saintess Ziwei watched Lu Mingyuan’s departing figure, a playful look on her face. "It’s definitely not as simple as being ’plagued by stray thoughts.’ From what I can tell, it looks like the symptoms of a Heart Demon Devouring Body."
"I never thought that Fairy Ci Hang, renowned for her Buddhist and Daoist Dual Cultivation and for practicing Supreme Forgetting Emotions, would also be afflicted by a Heart Demon."
Hearing this, Taiwei True Monarch mused, "Heart Demon Devouring Body... That’s no small matter."
Saintess Ziwei chuckled. "Sui Yuqing left in such a hurry just now. It must mean something happened between her and His Majesty."
Taiwei True Monarch said coolly, "Whatever happened, it’s not our place to worry about it. I’m surprised that Saintess Ziwei, who doesn’t even cultivate our sect’s Profound Truth Bagua Scripture, is such a gossip."
He didn’t share Saintess Ziwei’s intense interest in juicy gossip.
He only knew that he just needed to do his job well.
If the Taiwei Daoist Sect wanted to secure a foothold in this new era, its only choice was to align with Great Yan.
Saintess Ziwei heard him but paid it no mind. "Say what you will. I, for one, don’t cultivate Supreme Forgetting Emotions. I find these mortal affairs quite interesting."
But Taiwei True Monarch didn’t respond, simply flying away.
「Elsewhere.」
Lu Mingyuan went deep inside the Golden Crow Palace and found Luo Qiufu, who had not long since finished with her morning court.
She was dressed in a wide Golden Crow King Robe, a crown upon her head. Her delicate face featured brows like distant, dark mountains, and her ink-black hair, like a splash of clouds, cascaded over her shoulders. Her simple, unadorned face possessed an indescribable, tranquil beauty.
Upon seeing Lu Mingyuan, Luo Qiufu immediately instructed the maids behind her, who were holding the train of her robe:
"You may leave us."
"Yes."
The maids slowly withdrew.
Lu Mingyuan walked up to Luo Qiufu and said coolly, "Isn’t it time you fulfilled your promise?"
"The throne, power, status."
"I have reclaimed them all for you."
Luo Qiufu clasped her hands before her, standing gracefully. "But of course," she said seriously.
"Follow me."
Luo Qiufu led the way, and Lu Mingyuan followed.
The two of them passed through the many corridors and halls of the Royal Palace, eventually arriving at the mountain behind it.
As far as the eye could see, countless iron and rusty swords were stuck in the mountain forest, like ten thousand swords returning to their root.
The mountain forest looked like a hedgehog, its back covered with thousands upon thousands of Flying Swords.
There was also a massive cave entrance on the mountain, guarded by two men with swords.
This was Lu Mingyuan’s first time here.
"This is the ancestral ground of my Golden Crow Country, the Wang Mountain Sword Tomb," Luo Qiufu explained directly.
"As early as three thousand years ago, this place was a Sword Dao Sacred Land. Back then, my Golden Crow Country was the Golden Crow Dynasty, and we possessed the most outstanding sword-forging techniques in the Central Plains World. Many Sword Cultivators would come here to forge their Lifebound Flying Swords. They would leave their previous swords stuck in the ground here as a memento before departing with their new ones."
"Over time, this place became a Sword Tomb."
Lu Mingyuan nodded. "No wonder this place has such an extraordinary Sword Dao aura. The three great Sword Dao Sacred Lands of the world are the Celestial Visualization Palace in Fuyao, where one can receive the inheritance of an Ancient Sword Immortal amidst the five-colored clouds; the Sword Pavilion of the Heaven-Reaching Sword Sect, which holds a million sword skills and the Wordless Sword Scripture that countless Sword Cultivators dream of comprehending; and the last is your Golden Crow Country’s Wang Mountain Sword Tomb, a place for forging Flying Swords since the Middle Ages, containing innumerable hidden blades."
In his early years, back when he was in the Cold Palace, he had read about these three places in ancient texts.
Now, he could consider this a successful pilgrimage, standing at the entrance to the Wang Mountain Sword Tomb.
"Back then, a wisp of Destiny from the Celestial Destiny Divine Lotus descended upon this very spot," Luo Qiufu explained.
"If you want the Celestial Destiny and Fortune, you can take it here."
Lu Mingyuan stood atop the Sword Tomb, carefully sensing the fluctuations of Destiny in this place.
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