242: Chapter 242 Purple Jade Gourd

The few Elders of the Cangming Clan behind him also stood up one after another, craning their necks to peer at the purple jade gourd, their faces full of disbelief.

That Saint Realm Elder, who had just been calculating the grade of the spiritual materials, even took two steps forward, reaching out a withered palm before abruptly stopping in mid-air, as if afraid he might shatter something extraordinary.

"The Lesser Spring-Autumn Secret Realm has not appeared in the world for tens of thousands of years!" Another Elder's voice changed pitch. "Ancient records state that during the ancient era, over a dozen Spring-Autumn Secret Realms of varying sizes were scattered throughout Cangxuan, but only seven contained the Law of time."

"Over the long passage of time, these seven were either destroyed or refined by others, leaving no trace behind. For tens of thousands of years, no one has seen a Secret Realm capable of condensing the flow of time appear in the world again!"

"Senior, this gourd of yours..." Cangming Wujian took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging excitement in his heart. He shifted his gaze from the purple jade gourd to Shen Qingyuan's face. "Senior, this gourd can actually contain a Lesser Spring-Autumn Secret Realm?!"

Shen Qingyuan leaned back against the chair, his hands tucked into his sleeves, a faint, elusive smile hanging on the corners of his lips. He was in no rush to explain, simply raising his right hand and tapping the purple jade gourd lightly with his slender fingers.

"Hum—"

A low hum emanated from the gourd, like an ancient bronze bell being lightly struck, distant and lingering.

The golden patterns on the surface of the purple jade gourd suddenly lit up, and streams of profound runes began to slowly drift across the gourd's wall like living creatures. Immediately after, a wisp of purple mist sprayed from the mouth of the gourd.

As soon as the mist left the gourd's mouth, it spread rapidly, condensing into a palm-sized spatial projection above the table.

Within the projection, mountains, rivers, vegetation, spiritual springs, waterfalls, and flying birds and beasts were all clearly visible. Spiritual Qi was dense and swirling, so thick it had almost condensed into a solid substance.

What was most heart-trembling was the aura circulating within that space—it carried an indescribable density and weight, as if every wisp of Spiritual Qi was imbued with the traces of countless years.

"The Law of time..." Cangming Wujian murmured softly, his voice hoarse and carrying uncontrollable trembling. "It really is the Law of time. That aura... it is the lingering charm of time's sedimentation; there is absolutely no mistake."

The hall fell into a long silence once more, with only the faint sound of flickering candle flames and a few extremely suppressed breaths remaining.

That Saint Realm Elder finally recovered from his loss of composure. He slowly sat back in his chair, rubbing his withered palms on his knees for a good while before looking up at Shen Qingyuan. His voice was a little steadier than before, yet it still carried a hint of undisguisable excitement: "Senior, with this supreme treasure, you can indeed complete the refining of the quasi-Emperor Puppet within three months. The flow of time in the Lesser Spring-Autumn Secret Realm is different from the outside world; one day outside is about a month inside the Secret Realm. With this treasure, the refining cycle can be compressed to at least within three days. Furthermore, the Spiritual Qi within the Secret Realm is dense and the dao rhyme is abundant, which can greatly increase the success rate of the Fusion of spiritual materials."

"Three days?" Shen Qingyuan raised an eyebrow slightly, clearly satisfied with this timeframe.

Cangming Wujian, however, gave a bitter smile: "Three days is only a conservative estimate. The refining of a quasi-Emperor Puppet is incredibly tedious; just smelting those two quasi-Emperor corpses will consume a vast amount of mental energy. Added to that are the quenching of spiritual materials, core infusion, and dao rhyme branding... every step must not fail. Even with the Lesser Spring-Autumn Secret Realm, it will require the full strength of our entire Cangming Clan to complete."

Shen Qingyuan nodded: "Then go and prepare. Once you are ready, we will begin."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and brushed it lightly over the purple jade gourd. The spatial projection quietly dissipated, and the golden patterns on the surface of the gourd slowly dimmed, returning to their original, plain, and unadorned appearance.

Watching as Shen Qingyuan tucked the gourd into his sleeve, a trace of almost imperceptible heat flashed through Cangming Wujian's eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.

He stood up, bowed to Shen Qingyuan, and said in a solemn voice: "I am grateful for Senior's trust; our Cangming Clan will definitely do our utmost."

Cangming Wujian turned to instruct the Elders behind him: "Go and arrange the manpower, prepare the Profound Fire Essence for smelting the spiritual materials, and take out those Saint Furnaces from the treasury."

The few Elders responded and left, their footsteps hurried.

Only then did Cangming Wujian turn back to Shen Qingyuan, making a gesture of invitation: "If Senior does not mind, please rest in the manor. I have already ordered a quiet courtyard to be prepared. Although the environment cannot compare to the spiritual elegance of the Central Plains, it is at least peaceful, and few people will disturb you."

Shen Qingyuan did not stand on ceremony. He stood up with his hands tucked in his sleeves and lazily walked out of the hall.

Luo Qingyue, her white clothes like snow, followed unhurriedly by his side.

Cangming Wujian stood where he was, watching those figures disappear around the corner of the courtyard before slowly exhaling a breath of turbid air.

He flew into the back mountain of the Cangming Clan; that was where the Old Ancestors of the Cangming Clan recuperated.

...

Back mountain ancestral grounds.

Cangming Wujian passed through the final Restriction and stepped into a mountain hollow encased in ten-thousand-year black ice, the sound of fine ice cracking echoing beneath his feet.

The view suddenly opened up. An ancient stone hall was embedded in the cliff face. There were no guards outside the hall door, only two half-person-tall stone steles standing on either side. The surfaces of the steles were as smooth as mirrors, faintly reflecting his slightly hurried figure.

He stopped, straightened his robes, and bowed towards the stone hall: "Cangming Wujian requests an audience with the Old Ancestors."

After a moment of silence, an aged voice came from inside the hall, hoarse and low, as if it hadn't spoken for a long time: "Enter."

Cangming Wujian pushed the door and entered. The interior of the hall was even dimmer than the outside, with only an ancient bronze lamp lit on a stone platform in the center. The lamplight was extremely faint, the dim yellow glow barely illuminating a three-foot radius around the stone platform.

Beside the lamp sat three figures, all white-haired and withered-faced old men. Their auras were as deep as an abyss, and beneath their calm exteriors lay a heart-trembling pressure.

The old man in the center had white hair and a white beard, deep-set eye sockets, and half-drooping eyelids, as if he might fall asleep at any moment. He was wrapped in a faded, washed-out grey robe.

But Cangming Wujian knew that this was the Old Ancestor with the highest seniority in the Cangming Clan, Cangming Chiguang, a cultivator at the Peak of the ninth level of the Saint King Realm, and the only Venerable of the Cangming Clan.

One of the most Peak existences in this land of ice and snow in the Northern Plains.

"Sit." Cangming Chiguang lifted his withered finger, signaling him to sit on the prayer mat in front of the stone platform.

Cangming Wujian sat down as instructed and did not beat around the bush, recounting everything that had just happened in the hall one by one.

From the origins of Shen Qingyuan's group and the injuries of the Second Master, who had been forced back by the white-clothed woman's sword in the street, to the scene of the purple jade gourd revealing the Lesser Spring-Autumn Secret Realm in the hall, and the two quasi-Emperor Yao Beast corpses laid out... his voice was neither high nor low, but he spoke faster and faster, the last few words almost carrying an uncontrollable surging of blood and Qi.

The hall was quiet for a long time.

The Saint King Old Ancestor on the left opened his eyes, two streams of cold, sharp light shining from beneath his eyelids, and asked hoarsely: "Are there really two quasi-Emperor corpses?"

Cangming Wujian nodded solemnly: "It is absolutely true. The Nether Mystic Snake and the Golden-Winged Peng are both quasi-Emperor Yao Race from the ancient era, and their corpses are extremely well-preserved with their dao rhyme not yet dissipated. Disciple saw it with his own eyes; there is no falsehood."

The one on the right also spoke, his voice even more parched than the one on the left: "What about the Lesser Spring-Autumn Secret Realm? Is that also real?"

"Although my cultivation is shallow, I would never mistake the fluctuation of the Law of time emanating from that gourd." Cangming Wujian added, "Furthermore, the other spiritual materials needed to refine the quasi-Emperor Puppet have also been prepared by that person. Ten-thousand-year Black Ice Jade Marrow, nine-turn lingzhi, dragon blood mysterious gold... the grade is so high and the variety so complete that it is the only time I have seen such things in my life."

The hall fell silent again. Only the breathing of the few people became increasingly rapid.

After a long while, the Saint King Old Ancestor on the left looked at Cangming Wujian with burning eyes, "Do you know what the origin of that person is?"