338: Mysterious Heaven Treasure Mirror

[At the same time,]

[at the highest peak of the vast mountains, there was a hidden, bottomless, and profound Immortal Cave that extended deep into the earth's veins.]

[Inside the Immortal Cave, a faint light shimmered, and an invisible barrier hung like a night curtain, completely isolating the inside from the outside—making it difficult for Divine Sense to penetrate and impossible for Heavenly Secrets to manifest.]

[There were only a man and a woman in the cave, along with a bronze mirror quietly floating in mid-air.]

[The woman's name was Gu Yuetang, the Sect Master of the Blood Origin Sect. The man's name was Gu Rihai, the Vice Sect Master of the Blood Origin Sect.]

[The cultivation of both had surprisingly reached the Late Golden Core Stage.]

[On the surface of the floating bronze mirror, an illusory shadow gradually transformed into the shape of a tiny figure about an inch tall, slowly manifesting—]

[It was precisely the artifact spirit of this Innate Spirit Treasure, the "xuantian treasure mirror."]

[Innate Spirit Treasures are Innate spiritual objects that appear along with the birth of heaven and earth, each possessing unfathomable Divine Might.]

[An Innate spiritual object can be a drop of water, a wisp of fire, or a gust of wind; it can be formless and substance-less, or tangible and material.]

[Gu Rihai looked at the artifact spirit and asked in a deep voice, "Senior Xuantian... can't you take action yourself?"]

[The artifact spirit xuantian forced itself to remain calm, but its voice carried an imperceptible tremor and fear:]

["N-No... In this world of the qingming mirror, Qingming is almost like the Heavenly Dao, and nothing can escape its control."]

["I... my injuries haven't healed yet. I absolutely cannot show myself, much less take action."]

[It paused, its tone becoming slightly steadier as it continued:]

["You only need to act according to the plan. Once you form your Nascent Souls, you will be able to drive my main body to tear open a Void Realm crack and take you away from here."]

["By then, the Immortal Realm will be vast and boundless, and no one will be able to find us. We just need to find a secluded Shattered Star Continent, cultivate low-key, and live a peaceful life."]

["As for your revenge... once your strength is sufficient, there will be plenty of ways to settle it in the future."]

[After hearing this, Gu Yuetang nodded slightly, her expression calm:]

["I agree with Senior's words; it's not suitable to be impulsive right now."]

[She turned to Gu Rihai, her tone becoming serious:]

["Brother, don't forget the existence who wiped out the Black Eagle Gang more than twenty years ago."]

[Gu Rihai's expression turned solemn. "At that time, Senior Xuantian was about to go into hibernation and couldn't probe that person's depth. Thinking back now... that person was likely a Nascent Soul powerhouse."]

[Gu Yuetang looked at Xuantian and asked, "Senior Xuantian, you must know the identity of the person who saved us back then. Why have you always refused to tell us?"]

[Gu Rihai also looked at Xuantian seriously.]

["Shh..." Xuantian's voice was tense. "That person hides a great terror."]

[It lowered its voice. "I always feel... like I'm being watched by some eerie existence even now."]

["Remember, never provoke that person. If you see him in the future, you must stay far away."]

[As it turns out, these two were precisely the young boy and girl you saved when you leveled the Black Eagle Gang back then.]

[You had told them to go to the Vermilion Bird Tower to find Ye Wuhen to seek a way forward, but they did not go.]

[And the thing hidden inside the girl's body at that time was precisely this "xuantian treasure mirror."]

[Although it was an Innate Spirit Treasure, the artifact spirit "Xuantian" was surprisingly cowardly.]

[Years ago, when the Qin Immortal Clan was destroyed, the Restriction on its main body was somehow broken by someone. It took the opportunity to transform into a tailbone and hide within a survivor named Qin Mo.]

[To completely hide itself, it fully restrained its Qi and fell into a deep sleep, making that "tailbone" look no different from an ordinary bone, which was how it avoided discovery.]

[Qin Mo was later exiled to the Tianhuang Secret Realm, where he started a family and had children. Until he passed away and was buried, this "tailbone" remained buried deep underground with him.]

[After an unknown number of years, the artifact spirit xuantian finally woke up slowly.]

[So it used living beings to mask its Qi, passing through several hosts before just happening to reside within Gu Yuetang more than twenty years ago.]

[At that time, the Gu family had already been exterminated for offending the family of Duke of Zhenguo, Fang.]

[The siblings were also sold to the Black Eagle Gang of the Martial Alliance—Gu Rihai was to be sold as a slave, while Gu Yuetang was to be sent to a brothel.]

[Fortunately, the two were saved by you that day.]

[When you leveled the Black Eagle Gang and saved the Gu Siblings, the artifact spirit xuantian had originally planned to rescue Gu Yuetang.]

[However, it sensed your Qi and was actually filled with extreme panic.]

[It was terrified that you would discover its existence, so it could only deceive Gu Yuetang, saying that it needed to hibernate.]

[No wonder when you said you were a good person back then... the Gu Siblings' bodies trembled and their eyes were filled with fear—it turned out the artifact spirit "Xuantian" had told them... it was going into hibernation.]

[What terrified "Xuantian" the most was that it found itself unable to use Time-Space Reversal to escape in front of you.]

[It immediately understood that the blood of the Qin Clan people flowed within you.]

[Because it had once been bound by a Bloodline Contract by the Qin Clan Ancestor, which was one of the reasons its intelligence had not been erased back then.]

[This made it fear you to its very core at that time, and it dared not act rashly.]

[Even now, when it thinks of this matter, it still feels terrified.]

[So it feigned hibernation at that time and deceived the Gu Siblings.]

[As for the "unhealed injuries" it mentioned, they were naturally fake as well.]

[And its claim that "forming a Nascent Soul would allow one to drive its main body to break through the Void Realm" was also completely unnecessary.]

[To break through the Void Realm, it could have controlled its main body to do so itself.]

[It simply wanted to hide behind the scenes—so that if things failed, it wouldn't be directly targeted by "Qingming" and could escape in time.]

[To it, it was the same everywhere, as long as it was safe.]

[In any case, the lifespan of an Innate Spirit Treasure is almost infinite, unless this world is destroyed.]

[Furthermore, although Innate Spirit Treasures are born with intelligence, they are no different from living beings; it is only natural for them to feel afraid.]

[After all, if such a treasure falls into the hands of a true powerhouse, it would not be difficult for them to capture and suppress it.]

[In fact, the artifact spirit of an Innate Spirit Treasure is the same as the Primordial Spirit of a powerful Cultivator.]

[Erasing the Primordial Spirit of a powerful Cultivator and refining it into a Spirit Puppet is based on the same principle as erasing an artifact spirit and refining a new one.]

[Therefore, once many powerful Cultivators obtain an Innate Spirit Treasure, they often erase its original intelligence and refine a completely new artifact spirit.]

[Only this kind of artifact spirit, cultivated from scratch by one's own hands, will completely submit under the constraints of the Dao Law Origin and thus have no divided loyalty.]

[As for why the Qin Immortal Clan did not erase its intelligence back then, it was because the treasure's power would be greatly reduced after erasure, requiring a significant cost and a long time to re-nourish.]

[At that time, the Qin Family needed to rely on this treasure to guard a critical location and feared any complications midway, so they kept it.]

[In particular, when it learned that this Tianhuang Secret Realm was refining a new "artifact spirit," it trembled with even more fear.]

[There was also that "Battle for Qingming," plus the time Liu Jinfeng's Spirit Treasure displayed its Divine Might and caused the heavens and earth to change color, which scared it half to death.]

[From then on, it developed an inexplicable fear of the current "Qingming"—especially since "Qingming" holds an Innate advantage within this world.]

[So its cowardice is understandable; after all, from the moment it gained intelligence, it has been running for its life, until it was finally caught and imprisoned by the Qin Immortal Clan.]