Chapter Seventy-Five: The Arrival of Rewards

It is often said that there is great terror between life and death. For the living, death is terrifying, but for the dead, who is to say that life itself is not a horror? Yet neither compares to the terror that lies in the threshold between the two.

Having undergone this ordeal of immense terror, Qingxu's state of mind and cultivation advanced significantly, breaking through to the late Earth Immortal stage in one leap. The gains were considerable, but the losses were not insignificant. Within the Xuanmo Sword, all of the innate demonic essence and ancient demonic energy was seized by Luofan, causing the sword’s power as a killing treasure to plummet. It fell instantly from the level of an innate spiritual treasure to that of a forged artifact, with not only the innate restrictions dissipated, but even many layers of its subsequent restrictions destroyed.

A simple inspection revealed that only fourteen layers of acquired restrictions remained within the Xuanmo Sword.

“Ai! Such a loss! Fortunately, the Blood-Dissolving Aura remains. In the future, it can still become a top-grade acquired spiritual treasure. However, the name Xuanmo Sword no longer suits it. From now on, this sword shall be called the ‘Great Luo Blood-Dissolving Azure Sword’!” Qingxu mused to himself. The Blood-Dissolving Aura could corrode all things under heaven; whether immortal or mortal, a single touch would turn them to thick blood. Even the indestructible Great Luo Golden Immortals would be no exception. During the time of the Investiture of the Gods, Yu Hua wielded the Celestial Blood-Dissolving Blade and slaughtered countless foes, his reputation spreading far and wide. Even the elite disciples of the Chan sect suffered heavy losses, and heroes like Yang Jian and Nezha were wounded by the blade’s awful power. This was despite Yu Hua’s cultivation being a tier below theirs at the time—had he been their equal, they might not have escaped the fate of being dissolved into blood. Now, this ‘Great Luo Blood-Dissolving Azure Sword’ surpassed even the Celestial Blood-Dissolving Blade by more than tenfold in power. So long as Qingxu’s cultivation was sufficient, slaying a Great Luo Golden Immortal was far from an idle dream.

With a wave of his hand, he sent the Qiongqi beast into the small world within his body. Without innate demonic essence, devouring Qiongqi would not be accomplished in a short time—it would be a gradual process, like water wearing away stone. This left Qingxu rather frustrated. What could once have been accomplished in the blink of an eye would now require who knows how long to again merge with the Devouring Heaven Beast.

“Second-generation demon Luofan? I shall remember you. If ever there is a chance, I must have my revenge!” Yet this thought had scarcely arisen when his heart darkened again. Luofan was a mid-stage quasi-saint, having achieved the status of a scattered Hunyuan immortal, and practiced the path of proving the Dao through strength. His battle prowess was formidable, likely rivaling even late-stage quasi-saints. Was revenge truly possible?

“However long the journey, each step brings me closer to the end. With my current Earth Immortal cultivation, my path is largely unobstructed. Once I break through the shackles of Earth Immortal and step into the Celestial Immortal realm, my rise will be smooth and inevitable.” Having now reached the late stage in both state of mind and cultivation, all that remained was to accumulate enough mana to complete the late Earth Immortal stage. With the support of breaking and reestablishing his foundation, so long as he cultivated diligently, a breakthrough was within reach. As for the so-called peak of the Earth Immortal realm...

Each stage of cultivation is generally divided into early, middle, late, and peak phases, but strictly speaking, only the first three are true stages. The 'peak' is merely the late stage pushed to its bottleneck, and so it is still considered part of the late stage.

[Host mission accomplished. Reward: 100 points of acquired merit, 1,000 points of yang virtue, 10,000 points of yin virtue, 100,000 points of faith incense...]

[Host mission accomplished. Reward: one piece of information regarding the Innate Treasure, the Kunlun Mirror...]

The rewards came in succession, filling Qingxu with delight, especially the second reward!

The Innate Treasure, the Kunlun Mirror?

Extraordinary! What is an Innate Treasure? It is a supreme spiritual treasure possessing forty-nine innate restrictions! In the era of the Great Desolation, there were fewer than ten such treasures in existence. Even among the saints of the heavens, only Taiqing Taishang and Yuqing Yuanshi each possessed one, revealing their rarity.

While examining the information on the Kunlun Mirror, Qingxu also opened his own information template.

[Daoist Qingxu: Natal treasure Qingxu Pagoda (low-grade innate spiritual treasure, 10%)]
Grade: 37 (Weakened)
Immortal Dao Realm: Late Earth Immortal
Dao Techniques: Yuqing 25%, Taiqing 11%, Shangqing 15%, Three Pure Ones Dao Techniques 1%
Divine Abilities: Innate Stealth, Yuqing Divine Art, Grand Causality Art
Merit: Innate merit 1 point, acquired merit 140 points, yang virtue 1,100 points, yin virtue 11,000 points, faith incense 100,000 points
Karma: ???
Mission: Main Quest (Second): Facilitate the unification of the human race. Reward: 50 points acquired merit, 3,500 points faith incense

“There’s another mission? Oh, I see. This reward does not come from the system, but is a token of gratitude from both the human race and the Heavenly Dao.” The human race was destined to become the protagonists of the future world; this was already determined by the Heavenly Dao. After all, every word and deed of a saint aligns with the will of Heaven. The Three Pure Ones and the Two Saints of the West were not enthusiastic about the conflict between Wu and Demon clans. The human race, being created by Nuwa and taught by Taishang, possessed the fortune of two saints and was destined to flourish. The Two Saints of the West were content to see this happen, and Yuanshi and Tongtian stood with Taishang. Thus, five of the six great saints fixed the trend of the Heavenly Dao. Even Nuwa alone could not change it.

To help the future protagonist of the world overcome danger naturally brought a share of acquired merit, and the human race, grateful, would naturally offer faith incense in return.

While sorting all this out, Qingxu finished reading the information about the Innate Treasure, the Kunlun Mirror. It turned out there was karma involved. The fierce beast Qiongqi was on good terms with the Kunlun Mirror’s spirit, Little Kunlun. Now, because of this incident (where Luofan killed Qiongqi, but ultimately because of Qingxu’s actions), a karmic bond had formed. Since quasi-saints can conceal the mysteries of fate, this cause and effect would not be easily seen by others. Because of this bond, Little Kunlun would surely seek out Qingxu for revenge.

“A treasure spirit? The spirit of an Innate Treasure?” This startled Qingxu. Treasure spirits were not unfamiliar; whether acquired or innate, spiritual treasures could give birth to spirits. The advantage of a treasure with a spirit is that it can unleash power beyond its normal limits, but the disadvantages are obvious. If the treasure spirit becomes discontent or even rebels, the consequences are dire. At best, the treasure’s power is diminished; at worst, it can backfire and destroy the wielder’s soul, especially in battle against powerful enemies. This is why, in the Great Desolation, cultivators would immediately eliminate the spirit of any treasure that gave birth to one.

A treasure with a spirit, wondrous as it may be, is not truly under one's control!

“Perhaps Qiongqi’s friendship with Little Kunlun was not out of kindness, but rather to scheme for the Kunlun Mirror.” In this, Qingxu guessed correctly. The truth was as he suspected: Qiongqi had by chance encountered the naive Little Kunlun, and upon learning that it was the Kunlun Mirror’s spirit, deliberately befriended it, scheming to seize the Kunlun Mirror for itself. The reason it had not acted was because it was still under the control of Zhuo Long; even if it succeeded, it would only benefit Zhuo Long. Otherwise, even ten Qingxu would not have survived this time.

“Who knows where the Kunlun Mirror is now? I can only passively await Little Kunlun’s revenge.” This feeling of passivity greatly unsettled Qingxu. An enemy in the shadows, unknown methods, and not knowing when the attack might come—he had to remain vigilant at all times. Any relaxation would spell disaster.