Chapter 323: Another Spiritual Treasure, the Plague Elder

Chapter 323: Another Spiritual Treasure, the Plague Elder

August 27, 2024

Lu Qing slowly approached the spot where the Plague Gourd had fallen, coming to a stop at a safe distance away. The gourd lay half-buried in the dirt, no longer emitting any gray mist, revealing its dull gray body.

Information began to unfold before Lu Qing's eyes as he gazed at the gourd, a faint purple light of mystical power emanating from it.

[Plague Gourd: A sinister treasure, a damaged lower-grade spiritual artifact.]



[The signature treasure of a powerful sinister cultivator from the ancient cultivation era, the Plague Elder.]



[Contains plague qi, capable of corrupting the soul, body, and mind, spreading plague, and is extremely sinister in nature.]



[This treasure was severely damaged, diminishing its spiritual nature and power, and it has not recovered to this day.]



[As the ancient cultivation era drew to a close, the Plague Elder, to escape the Heavenly Tribulation of Five Declines, abandoned his physical body and infused his soul into his signature treasure, usurping the artifact spirit, barely clinging to existence.]



...

Lu Qing's eyes narrowed, intrigued by the information displayed.

Firstly, this was the first time he had heard of the Heavenly Tribulation of Five Declines, indicating that the end of the ancient cultivation era wasn't simply a matter of spiritual energy depletion but involved something far more terrifying that caused the disappearance of cultivators and the scarcity of their legacies.

Secondly, there was the so-called Plague Elder.

Abandoning his physical body and usurping the artifact spirit...

Was this Plague Elder still lurking within the gourd?

Lu Qing's gaze remained fixed on the Plague Gourd, his expression unreadable.

Time passed, and the gourd remained inert, giving no indication of any presence within.

It seemed that with the death of Qi Jia Lao Si, the controller of the gourd, it had become an inert object.

However, Lu Qing was not one to take chances.

Qi Jia Lao Si had only reached the Great Completion stage of the Innate Realm, and logically speaking, he shouldn't have been able to manipulate a spiritual artifact like the Plague Gourd with such ease.

There had to be something fishy going on, and Lu Qing wasn't about to buy into the idea that Qi Jia Lao Si's skills were the sole reason for his control over the gourd.

Now that the Plague Gourd was playing dead, Lu Qing wasn't about to fall for its ruse.

He thought for a moment, and a cloth bag appeared in his hand. With a mental nudge, the bag suddenly expanded, swallowing the half-human-height Plague Gourd.

Just as the bag enlarged, a shocked ripple emanated from within the gourd: "The Cosmos Sack! How is this possible? Wait..."

However, before the voice could finish, the Cosmos Sack had already devoured the Plague Gourd, cutting off the rest of its words.

After swallowing the gourd, the Cosmos Sack returned to its palm-sized form and landed in Lu Qing's hand.

A cold smile played on Lu Qing's lips as he said, "Now you want to negotiate? Too late."

He knew that the Plague Elder, a cunning survivor from tens of thousands of years ago, wouldn't have perished so easily.

Otherwise, with Qi Jia Lao Si's cultivation base, even with the damaged Plague Gourd, he wouldn't have been able to manipulate it with such finesse.

There had to be another entity aiding him in secret.

Lu Qing even suspected that Qi Jia Lao Si hadn't truly refined the Plague Gourd at all, and everything had been an illusion crafted by the Plague Elder within the gourd to deceive him.

Facing such a cunning survivor from the ancient era, Lu Qing had no intention of listening to his pleas.

He needed to gain complete control over the gourd first before he could feel at ease.

As for what to do with the old ghost afterward, that was a decision he could make at his leisure.

Stowing away the Cosmos Sack, Lu Qing returned to the village.

Jia Zhufu and the others greeted him with reverent gazes, their eyes filled with awe.

Having witnessed Lu Qing's extraordinary abilities and the terrifying might unleashed by his arrow, they finally understood why the City Lord of Qinglong had said that even the Sacred Mountain would think twice before provoking this young man.

His strength had transcended the Innate Realm, reaching a whole new level.

"Landlord Lu, is Qi Changfeng really dead?" Jia Zhufu asked cautiously.

"Yes," Lu Qing nodded.

Jia Zhufu heaved a sigh of relief.

Although he had seen Qi Changfeng blown to pieces by Lu Qing's arrow, the various uncanny methods Qi Changfeng had employed earlier were still fresh in his memory.

Thus, he hadn't dared to be completely sure of Qi Changfeng's death until he heard it confirmed by Lu Qing himself.

"By the way, Landlord Lu, how is my son now?"

"I've removed the plague mark from his body. His physical condition is stable now, and with proper rest and recuperation, he should make a full recovery," Lu Qing replied, waving his hand to dispel the array light shrouding Jia Sanlang.

"If you're concerned, you can go and check on him."

Jia Zhufu's heart filled with even greater reverence as he witnessed this. Bowing respectfully to Lu Qing, he then made his way over to his son.

Lu Qing turned to the old doctor and asked, "Master, how are you feeling?"

The old doctor, having already recovered his qi, smiled and said, "I'm fine now. With your spiritual talisman's help, that bit of plague qi couldn't affect me too much."

"Then this matter is resolved. Master, shall we continue on our journey?"

"Yes, let's." The old doctor did not object.

"Young Master Lu, Elder Chen, are you leaving?" Jia Zhufu asked, having just checked on his younger son and now intending to come over to express his gratitude. Hearing their conversation, he was taken aback.

"Indeed, Jia Zhufu. The villagers here have been protecting your son all this time before we arrived. Especially the young lady who stayed by his side, she tended to him tirelessly. Please, Jia Zhufu, do not mistreat them," Lu Qing said.

Jia Zhufu's expression turned solemn as he heard this. "Of course not, I, Jia, am not one to forget gratitude and righteousness. Rest assured, Young Master Lu, I will take good care of the villagers here."

"Jia Zhufu, these villagers once suffered from leprosy. Although they are cured now, they still have lingering ailments. I will leave a prescription that will help them. You can have someone knowledgeable in medicine prepare the formula and make an ointment for these villagers. After some time, even if their hidden ailments cannot be completely eradicated, they should be able to recover to a state close to that of a healthy person. Your son can also use this formula to remove the scars and scabs from his face and body," the old doctor said.

"Then I thank you on behalf of my son and these villagers," Jia Zhufu said reverently.

He did not dare to be the least bit disrespectful to the old doctor, especially after witnessing the sword qi domain he had displayed earlier, which still left him in awe.

As a fellow cultivator of the sword, he felt that his own sword cultivation was like that of an infant's first steps compared to the old doctor's, and he could hardly hope to catch up.

So, the old doctor went to the carriage, took out a brush and ink, and wrote a prescription, which he handed to Jia Zhufu.

Lu Qing thought for a moment and then left a prescription as well.

"Jia Zhufu, this is a regulatory prescription. Take it and follow the instructions to adjust your third son's body. Within half a month, his body should be completely recovered," Lu Qing said.

"Thank you both. I, Jia, will remember this gratitude and will not forget it for a moment," Jia Zhufu said reverently as he accepted the prescriptions.

At the same time, he felt delighted.

He had just checked on his younger son and found him extremely weak, with the scabs on the left side of his body and face particularly shocking.

These two prescriptions were like a timely gift, a godsend.

After taking care of these matters, Lu Qing and his companions finally prepared to depart.

"Jia Zhufu, farewell, and may we meet again," Lu Qing said.

After everyone had boarded the carriage, Lu Qing nodded slightly and climbed into the carriage.

With a gentle crack of the whip, the carriage slowly started moving. Then, a green qi surged, transforming the carriage into a stream of light that sped away into the distance.

Jia Zhufu and the others stood at the village entrance, seeing them off with respectful gazes.

Only when the carriage disappeared from view did they withdraw their eyes.

"House Master, this Young Master Lu is truly a divine figure. No wonder the city lord respects and fears him so much, not daring to offend him in the slightest," one of the Jia clan's Precelestial cultivators exclaimed.

"Indeed, and that Elder Chen is equally extraordinary. That sword qi like a dragon is the realm that we sword cultivators dream of attaining," another Precelestial cultivator agreed.

"Not to mention the power Qi Jia Lao Si displayed. We still can't fathom where he got that gourd, but it gave him such incredible and mysterious might. It must be an unimaginable treasure," the first cultivator added.

Hearing this, the other Jia clan Precelestial cultivators fell silent for a moment.

Indeed, they were equally curious about this matter.

They were very familiar with Qi Jia Lao Si's background.

In the past, he was not only weak, but his strength was also inferior to theirs.

Yet, with the help of that bizarre gourd, he had not only reached the Great Completion stage of the Precelestial realm but could also unleash such terrifying power.

Even the old master who had comprehended the sword qi domain was unable to defeat him.

It was clear that the gourd was an unimaginable treasure.

However, with Lu Qing's presence, they knew that the gourd was beyond their reach.

"It seems that after the restoration of spiritual energy, the world has truly changed. Countless unimaginable things have happened, and I fear that this world is no longer one that we Precelestial cultivators can control," one of them sighed.

After a long silence, one of the Innate Realm cultivators from the Ji Clan sighed.

"Enough with the sighing. While the restoration of spiritual energy has indeed made the world unpredictable and obscure, it also presents us with new opportunities.

You should have felt that cultivating recently has been much easier than before.

As long as we diligently cultivate without interruption from now on, we might attain extraordinary power like Young Master Lu in the future."

Having noticed the despondent expressions on his clansmen's faces, the head of the Ji Clan spoke up.

His words caused the Innate Realm cultivators to tremble, their eyes flashing with clarity as they felt ashamed.

"You are right, Head. We have lost our ambition," they said.

The head of the Ji Clan shook his head. After witnessing the power displayed by Lu Qing, his heart was equally shaken.

However, as the clan leader, he couldn't let this despondency spread.

Glancing in the direction of the departing carriage, he walked back to the village with a complicated expression.

His mind was occupied with thoughts about how to arrange the villagers' affairs.

Having promised to take care of them, he had no intention of breaking his word.

...

Lu Qing, of course, had no idea about the conversation that took place after they left.

However, he wasn't worried that the Ji Clan would go back on their word.

Not only because of Ji Sanlang's character, but also because the head of the Ji Clan didn't seem like someone who would renege on his promises.

As the leader of his clan, he should understand the consequences of deceiving him.

In the carriage, Hu Laosan was inquiring about Hu Zezhi.

"Zhi'er, where did you go after leaving the city gates that day?

Your uncle sent a letter later, saying that you didn't attend the recruitment ceremony of the Xuanxin Sect.

What about Zheng and Wang?

They also disappeared without a trace after leaving the city gates with you.

They didn't return to Qinglong City, and no one was at their residence when I went to look for them."

Hu Laosan recalled the panic he felt upon receiving the letter from Hu Zezhi's uncle.

If he hadn't known how vast the Central Plains were and how difficult it was to find someone, he would have left Qinglong City to search for his daughter.

"Dad, there's something you don't know. Zheng and Wang never intended to escort me to the Xuanxin Sect. They had their eyes on the Xuanxin Token on me from the start...

...If not for Young Master Lu and the others rescuing me, I would never have seen you again in this lifetime."

Finally having the opportunity to confide in her father, Hu Zezhi poured out her grievances.

Hearing this, Hu Laosan was both shocked and furious.

"Those evil scoundrels with the surname Zheng! I treated them as close friends, helping them settle in the city.

I was truly blind!"

Hu Laosan never imagined that the people he entrusted with his daughter's safety almost led her into an irreversible situation.

He felt a mix of shock, anger, and relief.

Suddenly, Hu Laosan knelt down in the carriage and began kowtowing to Lu Qing and the old doctor.

"Thank you, Young Master Lu and Elder, for saving my daughter's life. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to live the rest of my life."

"Uncle Hu, you're too kind. We just happened to be there at the right time. It was Young Miss Hu's good fortune that allowed her to escape that perilous situation." Lu Qing reached out to help Hu Laosan up gently, a smile on his face.

"Young Master Lu, ever since your aunt passed away, Zhi'er has been my only concern.

I really can't imagine what life would be like without her.

In any case, I am forever grateful for your great kindness, and I will repay it even if it means working like an ox or a horse." Hu Laosan's gratitude was evident, even though he couldn't kneel.

"Uncle Hu, you're too kind," Lu Qing said, reassuring him.

Suddenly, Lu Qing's expression changed slightly, and he called out gently, "Uncle Ma, let's find a place to stop for a noon break soon."

He then turned to the old doctor with a serious look and said, "Master, after we stop, I need to enter seclusion for a while."

"Is there a problem with the gourd? Do you need my help?" The old doctor asked with concern, having noticed Lu Qing's expression.

He had, of course, witnessed Lu Qing collecting the Plague Gourd.

In fact, he had long suspected that Lu Qing possessed a divine treasure that allowed him to collect items, as Lu Qing had never tried to hide it.

Recalling the gourd's strangeness, the old doctor felt worried.

"It's fine, Master. I can handle it. When we stop, I'll need you to help me with the protective formation," Lu Qing replied with a faint smile.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end