Chapter 324: Negotiation and Threats from a Reluctant Survivor of Millennia

Chapter 324: Negotiation and Threats from a Reluctant Survivor of Millennia

Around noon, Mag found a grove of trees to halt the carriage. Lu Qing, on the other hand, located a large boulder nearby and leaped onto it, assuming a cross-legged seated position. He swiftly immersed his consciousness into the Cosmos Bag. The elderly physician remained by his side, protecting him during this process.

Within the Cosmos Bag, the plague gourd was emanating waves of power, striving to break free from its confines. However, one of the Cosmos Bag's most formidable abilities was its ability to suppress and constrain as a spatial and wind-attributed spiritual artifact.

Not only was the plague gourd damaged and ownerless, with no one to control and activate it, but even if it were intact and at full power, it would still be unable to break free from the Cosmos Bag's restraints without someone to activate it for a while.

Nevertheless, there were numerous other items stored within Lu Qing's Cosmos Bag. Although he had proudly suppressed the plague gourd in a separate location upon storing it, if the gourd went all out and wreaked havoc inside, it could still potentially damage the other items.

"Old thing, don't waste your energy. In my spiritual artifact, you won't be able to turn the tables." As Lu Qing's consciousness immersed into the Cosmos Bag, the suppressing and binding force within intensified. The plague gourd, which had been slightly struggling and trembling, was instantly immobilized and unable to move even a fraction.

Seeing that escape was hopeless, the plague gourd resigned itself and returned to calmness. However, it also ceased all other activities, remaining motionless like a dead object.

Lu Qing projected a wave of divine soul fluctuation: "Old thing, you were struggling inside to attract my attention, weren't you? Why are you pretending to be dead now?"

The plague gourd within remained silent, as if it hadn't heard Lu Qing's words.

Lu Qing, upon seeing this, didn't bother to indulge it. "Since you're playing dead, you might as well wait here for a decade or two."

With that, he was about to withdraw his consciousness.

This caused the existence within the gourd to panic. If Lu Qing truly intended to trap him here for a decade or two, without the nourishment of spiritual energy, his true spirit might truly perish. After enduring for tens of thousands of years and finally witnessing the resurgence of spiritual energy, he was unwilling to let his efforts go to waste.

"Wait, young friend. We can always negotiate. There's no need to be so hasty."

"Old thing, you've finally opened your mouth?" Lu Qing smiled faintly, his tone unfriendly. "I thought you had so much backbone that you'd keep up the act of being dead."

"Young friend, why are you being so aggressive? I have no grudge against you. Is this the attitude of someone who cultivates?" The existence within the gourd sighed.

"No grudge?" Lu Qing's smile turned colder. "Old thing, have you been cooped up in that broken gourd for too long that your brain isn't functioning properly? Weren't you just trying to harm my master a moment ago?"

"That was truly unavoidable. I didn't want to be your enemy, but as an artifact spirit, I have no say in my own destiny. Life and death are in the hands of my owner. That Qi Changfeng wanted to be your enemy, and I, a mere artifact spirit who has been refined, could hardly disobey my master's orders." The existence within the gourd spoke with a sorrowful tone.

"Is that so?" Lu Qing's smile grew colder. "You're putting on quite an innocent act, but let me ask you this, Plague Ghost. Do you really think no one can see through your true nature?

You abandoned your physical body and usurped the spirit of your own artifact, barely surviving for tens of thousands of years, only to finally welcome the resurgence of spiritual energy.

Would you so willingly let yourself be refined by a mere Precelestial Realm cultivator? In my opinion, that Qi Changfeng is nothing more than a puppet manipulated by you.

You pretended to be refined by him, and then took the opportunity to manipulate the Qi family, spreading the plague in Fengzhou to cultivate the plague energy and restore yourself. Am I right or wrong?"

"How do you know all this?"

These words shocked the existence within the gourd. Not only had Lu Qing laid out his plan without a single mistake, but he had also seen through his true identity.

It was worth noting that no one had witnessed his usurpation of his own artifact's spirit all those years ago. For such a secret to be suddenly exposed left him utterly astounded.

"Who are you?"

The existence within the gourd could no longer remain calm and urgently inquired.

"Who I am is not important. What matters is that I know everything about you, Plague Ghost. No matter how you try to deceive me, it will be of no use here." Lu Qing's tone carried an inexplicable weight.

However, it also exerted immense pressure on the existence within the gourd.

The Plague Elder had originally thought that with his mysterious and unpredictable identity, coupled with his tens of thousands of years of experience, manipulating a young man like Lu Qing would be as easy as turning his hand.

Now, however, he suddenly realized that his true nature had long been seen through.

Yet, he knew nothing of Lu Qing's origins.

This realization caused a momentary panic in his heart.

However, having lived for tens of thousands of years, the being within the gourd quickly regained his calm.

He pondered for a moment before speaking calmly, "I didn't expect you to know my true nature, young friend. Indeed, I am the Plague Elder.

May I ask if there is an old acquaintance by your side? If so, please allow them to step forward so that we old friends may reminisce."

Indeed, the Plague Elder immediately surmised that there must be an existence similar to himself by Lu Qing's side.

There had to be another ancient being who, like him, had endured the terrifying Five Declines of Heaven and Man and managed to survive to the present.

Otherwise, he found it hard to believe that Lu Qing, a mere youth, could see through his tricks and know his identity so clearly.

Was it the spirit of the Cosmos Bag, or another ancient being like himself?

"Trying to trick me into revealing information, Plague Ghost? Don't be delusional!" Lu Qing, realizing that the Plague Elder might have misunderstood something, chose not to explain and instead mocked him.

"You don't have the qualifications for him to show himself just yet!"

"How dare you continue to be so arrogant, young man!" The Plague Elder could no longer hold back his anger, having endured Lu Qing's condescending tone for some time.

"Since you know my identity, you still dare to be so reckless! Don't you know who I was back in the cultivation world?"

"What now, are you going to threaten me?" Lu Qing smiled faintly. "Plague Ghost, I think it's you who fails to recognize the reality and your current situation.

Do you really think you still have the leverage to threaten me?"

The Plague Elder fell silent.

He sensed the suppressing force upon the gourd and knew that Lu Qing was right.

In their current situation, he indeed had no grounds to threaten Lu Qing.

However, he certainly wouldn't show weakness.

After a moment of silence, he spoke, "Young man, what do you intend to do?"

"It's simple. Release your true spirit and let my divine soul imprint upon it," Lu Qing said directly.

"Impossible!"

However, the Plague Elder immediately refused without hesitation.

How could he possibly release his true spirit and allow Lu Qing to imprint upon it? That would mean complete refinement, with his life and death entirely in Lu Qing's hands.

As an ancient being who had lived for tens of thousands of years, the Plague Elder couldn't possibly accept such an outcome.

"Young friend, it's impossible for me to release my true spirit. How about this—since you know my background, you must have also heard of my fame back in the cultivation world.

I possess knowledge of countless cultivation secrets and divine arts. Just one of them would be enough for countless geniuses of the cultivation world to fight over.

I propose a deal: if you set me free, I will pass on all these divine arts to you. What do you say?"

"No deal, Plague Ghost. Don't try to deceive me with your sweet words. Do you think I'm as foolish as Qi Changfeng, willing to cultivate your evil art and fall under your control? There's only one way for you to leave here, and that's to release your true spirit and let me refine you.

Otherwise, you can rot inside my Cosmos Bag forever!

Your true spirit must be decrepit after enduring for so many years, old ghost.

Without the nourishment of spiritual energy, I wonder how long you can last!" Lu Qing threatened, unmoved by the Plague Elder's offer.

"I'm afraid you will be disappointed. Recently, I was nourished by the plague qi refined from the life force of tens of thousands of people, and my true spirit has already recovered. I can easily survive for hundreds of years more.

Perhaps even when you die, I will still be alive and well.

Young man, your threats are futile!" The Plague Elder finally understood that Lu Qing was far more cunning than Qi Changfeng, and he dropped all pretense, retreating into the depths of the gourd and falling silent.

Lu Qing, seeing his prolonged silence, willed it, and the gourd was suddenly surrounded by countless gale-force winds within the space of the Cosmos Bag.

The Plague Elder within the gourd sensed this and coldly smiled, "Young man, don't waste your efforts. Although the Cosmos Bag is powerful, its gale-force winds cannot harm my Plague Gourd.

If you truly wish to resolve this, consider my proposal carefully.

"I, the Plague Elder, always keep my word. As long as you're willing to set me free, I will impart to you the supreme divine arts. In the future, even if you want to condense a Golden Core and achieve a True Divine Soul, it will be as easy as pie!"

"Is that so, old ghost? You really think I can't do anything to you? Then go ahead and wait it out."

Seeing that the gale-force winds had no effect on the Plague Gourd, Lu Qing decided not to waste any more effort. After all, manipulating the might of the Cosmos Bag took a toll on his mental energy.

However, seeing how the Plague Elder seemed to have taken him for a ride, Lu Qing's temper rose.

After dispersing the winds, he withdrew his consciousness from the Cosmos Bag, no longer wishing to waste words with it.

Once Lu Qing's consciousness left, the space within the Cosmos Bag returned to tranquility.

The Plague Elder waited for a long time. When he realized Lu Qing wasn't going to respond, he understood that he had left.

He quietly sensed the situation outside and found that the suppressing force on the Plague Gourd remained, making it difficult for him to move even a little.

He knew that Lu Qing hadn't let down his guard.

Although he felt frustrated, the Plague Elder could do nothing about it.

Back then, although he had successfully usurped the spirit of his artifact, dodging the Five Declines of Heaven and Man and greatly extending his lifespan, maintaining his true spirit and enduring through the tens of thousands of years of spiritual energy depletion, it hadn't come without a cost.

In fact, the price he paid was extremely heavy.

Firstly, by usurping the artifact's spirit, he himself had become the spirit of the Plague Gourd, and his once awe-inspiring cultivation had become nothing.

Aside from a wisp of his true spirit that hadn't perished, he had lost all his power.

Secondly, as the spirit of the artifact, he could control the power of the Plague Gourd, but he had lost the ability to cultivate on his own.

If he wanted to improve his own rank, he had to rely on external help.

This was also the weakness of spiritual artifacts.

As objects that contained the power of laws and held a hint of immortal consciousness, spiritual artifacts had lifespans far surpassing any cultivator below the Ascension Realm.

However, this immortal consciousness also became a shackle for spiritual artifacts.

They wanted to break free of their constraints and improve their rank, but it was nearly impossible to do so on their own.

They needed external help to achieve this.

But there was no way the Plague Elder would accept being refined by Lu Qing.

That would mean having his life and death entirely in someone else's hands, and he would rather die than submit to that.

So no matter how Lu Qing threatened him, the Plague Elder would never release his true spirit.

For now, he could only wait, biding his time until Lu Qing realized that he truly couldn't do anything to him, which would be when the real negotiation began.

The Plague Elder was quite confident about this.

Regarding the Cosmos Bag, he hadn't personally fought against it back in the day, but he had witnessed its might.

To be honest, at its peak, this artifact was no weaker than his Plague Gourd.

However, as an artifact that contained the laws of space and wind, the Cosmos Bag was exceptionally powerful in terms of killing and suppression.

But wanting to forcefully break through the protection of the Plague Gourd and refine him was impossible.

Thus, the Plague Elder had enough patience to wait until Lu Qing was willing to negotiate with him.

The only thing that might make him a little anxious was the incident where he had manipulated Qi Changfeng to spread the plague in Fengzhou the last time.

By refining the plague qi derived from the life force of tens of thousands of people, he had nourished himself and prevented the collapse of his true spirit.

However, that hadn't completely restored his true spirit.

If he didn't receive nourishment from external spiritual energy within three years, his true spirit would fall into decay once again.

Now, his only hope was that Lu Qing wouldn't have the patience to wait that long.

"I refuse to believe that a mere youngster like him would have the patience to truly keep me trapped for three years!"

The Plague Elder gritted his teeth, forcibly suppressing the killing intent in his heart.

He vowed that if he ever escaped this predicament, he would do everything in his power to take revenge on the brat who had humiliated him repeatedly.

Until this hatred was resolved, even if he broke free of his shackles and achieved the body of a spiritual artifact, attaining freedom, his thoughts would likely remain muddled.

"Qing, what's wrong?"

Upon seeing Lu Qing regain consciousness, the elderly physician quickly asked.

"It's temporarily resolved," Lu Qing replied, his eyes glinting with a hint of murderous intent.

"Master, let's return to Nine Miles Village quickly. There's an old man I want to kill as soon as possible!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end