Chapter 569: New Version of the Dragon-Punishing Pillar

"I don't have that kind of thing!" Dong Rui turned to leave, but was grabbed by He Lingchuan: "This is for emergency life-saving!"

"Saving whose life?"

"Mine, of course." He Lingchuan pointed to his own nose. "I have a trip to the gates of hell to make right now. If I can't get through it, my plan in Lingxu City will be ruined, and don't even think about extending the lifespan of your demon puppets."

The chain of causality was just that simple.

Dong Rui hesitated.

Just this hesitation allowed He Lingchuan to see hope. He had just asked casually, not expecting to hit the mark immediately.

How could he be so lucky? It was truly the blessing of the Divine Bone necklace! He reached out to Dong Rui: "Give it here, quickly!"

"This is extortion!" Having failed to beat this person several times, Dong Rui had to give up resistance and took out a small crystal bottle from his storage pouch.

The bottle was full of transparent liquid, soaking a small section of black substance, about the length of a little finger.

"What is this?" He Lingchuan had seen Divine Bone. "Shouldn't it look like bone or metal?"

"These black parts are the flesh and skin attached to the outside..." Dong Rui said irritably. "Have you ever seen Divine Bone, to dare to question me!"

"Don't dare, don't dare." The bone even had tissue attached to it—fresh! He Lingchuan was overjoyed and reached out to take it.

As soon as the bottle appeared, the Divine Bone necklace heated up. It was evident that what Dong Rui took out was mostly genuine; he hadn't tricked him.

Truly an honest man, Brother Dong.

Dong Rui, however, clutched the bottle and pulled back: "Can't give it for free!"

He Lingchuan was also straightforward: "Speak, what do you want in exchange?"

"One hundred thousand taels of silver." Dong Rui's tone was as if he were talking about ten or fifteen taels, rather than a full one hundred million large coins. "I'm researching something recently, and I'm too tight on cash; I can't afford the materials."

He Lingchuan didn't even think, counting out one hundred thousand taels of silver notes and handing them to him: "Take it."

It wasn't easy for him to earn money either, but now wasn't the time to be stingy. As long as Dong Rui wanted money, that was for the best.

That was truly a thick stack, which Dong Rui quickly put into his storage pouch. Seeing this kid take out one hundred thousand large silver taels without blinking, Dong Rui regretted that his asking price had been too low.

But He Lingchuan had already snatched the bottle, so fast that Dong Rui couldn't even react, and his hand was empty.

Young Master He smiled: "Alright, goods and money are settled."

In fact, both understood that exchanging one hundred thousand taels of silver for a piece of Divine Bone was still He Lingchuan taking full advantage.

Was Divine Bone something you could buy casually just because you had money? More importantly, what He Lingchuan needed was Divine Bone that still retained its activity.

The quality Dong Rui took out looked better than the one in the ancient city of the Xiji Palace; just this point alone made it worth it!

With one hundred thousand taels of silver in hand, Dong Rui was in a great mood and even included a piece of news: "By the way, you have an enemy who seems to be in Lingxu City too."

Although Divine Bone was rare, he hadn't found a use for it for the time being, so it was better to exchange it for cash to buy materials.

"Which one?" He Lingchuan was very strange; he didn't know many people, so how did it seem like he had enemies all over the world?

"Nian Zanli." Dong Rui said. "Nian Zanli seems to have returned to Lingxu City to handle business and recuperate by the way."

He Lingchuan exhaled and said solemnly: "Thanks for the reminder." He casually threw a piece of broken silver onto the table: "I'll treat this meal."

In the Battle of Handan, Nian Zanli was the leader of the enemy side. At that time, Hong Chenglue lent Nian Zanli the Green Intent Bottle, letting him flood the Yuan army, but his own Xunzhou army didn't escape unscathed, suffering heavy casualties.

The two parted at the street corner and returned to their respective ways.

Dong Rui returned to his residence, and the two guards were still sleeping soundly on the low table. He went to the vat, scooped up a basin of water, and splashed it on their faces with a splash.

The two woke up in a start.

Ah, what happened?

"Are you two staying here just to eat, drink, and sleep?" Dong Rui said with a dark face. "There's no more White Fragrant Nutmeg; go buy some for me!"

On the other side, He Lingchuan didn't return to the Golden Sunflower Inn until the sun was setting. When he asked at the counter, someone had come to look for "Li Junyi" not long ago and left a message saying that the matter had been handled.

This was the secret code he had agreed upon with Li Qingge.

That is to say, Li Qingge had sent someone to tell him that the news of the Chiyan envoy "He Xiao," who had humiliated Zhongsun Mou again and again in Baishaju, arriving in Lingxu City had begun to spread.

This Master of Songyang Prefecture was still as capable as ever in handling things in Lingxu City.

The Soul-Taking Mirror in his arms said to him: "Hey, if you've thought it through, you can leave Lingxu City now and leave Beijia in a month or two. After the storm passes, you can come back to find that whatever remains."

But it didn't know that He Lingchuan's primary goal wasn't the Spider Demon's remains at all.

But he insisted on speaking heroically: "If I wanted to retreat, I would have retreated in Zhitian Township." If he were still the Young Master of Black Water City, he probably would have slipped away long ago. But now, "Since I'm already here, how could I justify the hard work of the past few months if I don't experience it properly?"

How much effort had he put in to get to this point? Finally, there was an opportunity to observe Beijia's power structure at close range; retreating now would be throwing away all his previous efforts.

The mirror wailed: "Before you court death, can I change owners first?"

"How about the Master of Songyang Prefecture?"

"Eh, that, that's okay too!" The Songyang Prefecture was quite good to divine artifacts.

He Lingchuan flicked the mirror surface hard.

"Ouch!" The mirror quickly changed the subject: "What do you plan to use the Divine Bone you exchanged for one hundred thousand taels of silver for?"

Its curiosity was stronger than a cat's.

He Lingchuan closed the doors and windows, set up a barrier, and only then took the small bottle from his bosom to examine the small piece of Heavenly God's remains.

The Divine Bone necklace heated up at the same time.

"It took so much effort to get a small piece of Divine Bone; we don't have a second chance to try and fail." He took off the necklace and placed it on the table, saying word by word, "Don't be greedy, make the Dragon-Punishing Pillar for me! If any materials are missing, I'll go get them!"

The Divine Bone necklace's heat didn't diminish.

So He Lingchuan brought the bottle close to the necklace, and with a "whoosh," both the bottle and the bone disappeared.

At the same time, the necklace stopped heating up.

He Lingchuan got up to pour himself a cup of hot water, and after taking two sips, he suddenly heard the mirror say "ah": "Hey, hey, look quickly!"

He turned his head, only to see that besides the Divine Bone necklace, there was something else on the table: a tube the length of a middle finger.

Eh? Was the production of the Dragon-Punishing Pillar so efficient? Actually, rather than a tube, it looked more like a bare tree branch, because its surface was covered with cracks in the wood grain.

He Lingchuan knew it was a Juluo tree branch as soon as he picked it up! Its diameter was about two centimeters, and it wasn't a standard cylinder; the top still had a beast-head sculpture, but the styling was different from what He Lingchuan had seen in Panlong City, and he didn't know what specific breed it was.

A piece of transparent glaze was embedded in the middle of the branch, and one could see it was empty inside, with a round button on the side, made of a material that was neither gold nor jade, looking more like the Divine Bone He Lingchuan had seen.

This should be the Dragon-Punishing Pillar. The simplification in appearance might be because the materials he provided were too few, and the Great Fang Hu supplemented it itself, using some old scraps?

It probably also knew that now wasn't the time to be picky about aesthetics.

It didn't matter if it was downgraded, as long as the effect wasn't compromised.

He Lingchuan didn't dare to press the button, but found a velvet gift box to fix it completely, avoiding accidental activation due to bumps and vibrations.

Mitian had once said that the "certain" Dragon-Punishing Pillars she manufactured were stained with the aura of the Great Fang Hu, and their first use would attract the attention of the Heavenly Gods.

Then he could understand that in the current crisis-ridden situation, the Dragon-Punishing Pillar he manufactured "must" be stained with the aura of the Great Fang Hu, so its debut location had to be very particular.

Diverting the attention of the Heavenly Gods and reducing their interest in him was the key to He Lingchuan's survival.

Who should he entrust it to?

He Lingchuan held the box and was dazed for a long time, helplessly discovering that he seemed to have no other choice.

The number of people he knew in Beijia was simply too few.

But he was also in a hurry.

So more than a quarter of an hour later, He Lingchuan came to the Songyang Prefecture again.

Li Qingge was wearing a cloak, as if about to go out, and was a bit strange to see him: "What happened? Did someone come to trouble you?"

He Lingchuan shook his head: "No, I have another important matter to entrust to you."

Why did he have to say "another"? Sigh!

Li Qingge was good-tempered, without the slightest impatience: "I'm all ears."

He Lingchuan looked left and right.

Li Qingge understood and waved the others away.

Only then did He Lingchuan take out the box and place it on the table: "Has the Lord ever been to the Ju State?"

Li Qingge nodded: "I have, I intended to open a branch there. It is in the northwest of Beijia, rich in iron and aluminum, bordering the Xuluo Demon State, and the Xuluo State imports crude iron from there."

"Strange things have been happening one after another in the Wan Ge Swamp and Wan Ge Forest of the Ju State recently. The local government took people to investigate, but it became increasingly confusing." He Lingchuan opened the box and pointed to the Dragon-Punishing Pillar. "I would like to ask the Lord to send someone you trust to take this thing to the vicinity of Wan Ge Forest, and then press this button."

Li Qingge examined this strange object: "And then what will happen?"

"Peace and quiet, everything as usual. Tell him to press it a few more times in one night, and he can leave the next morning; it's best not to return to Lingxu City."

Li Qingge was startled: "Just like that?"

"Yes, just like that, and it won't harm anyone." He Lingchuan said solemnly. "But there is one thing to be very careful about: before arriving at Wan Ge Forest, the box must never be opened, and this thing must never be touched!"

"A mere trifle." Li Qingge pondered. "Is this matter very important to you?"

He Lingchuan was solemn: "Life-or-death."

"Good, then leave it to me. It just so happens that I have a few subordinates going to the Xuluo State; I'll have them leave tomorrow morning." Li Qingge took out fire wax and sealed the box on the spot. "But it will take at least twenty days to get from here to Wan Ge Swamp. Can you wait?"

If one had to blame something, it was that the Beijia State's territory was too vast, and it wasn't easy to get out of this great empire.

He Lingchuan smiled bitterly: "Even if I can't wait, I have to."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 570 =====