Chapter 226: Demon Emperor

Before, when exploring the secret realm with Du Gu Miss Qingli, Lu Xingzhou had already known that Bai Mao possessed immense experience in exploring secret realms and ancient tombs.

Cultivation in Frozen Moon Cold River is not about playing survival in the wilderness; the reason this place is an excellent trial ground is that beneath the ten-thousand-year glaciers, at varying depths underground, lies history from many different eras.

One could say there are countless blessings of fate; as long as you can endure loneliness and possess a certain measure of opportunity.

In the age of cultivation, sometimes effort and reward do not necessarily stand in direct proportion; "talent" and "resources" first present two major hurdles, while vague things like "opportunity" and "luck" can sometimes determine far more.

Frozen Moon Cold River is so vast, its radius exceeding a thousand li, its area larger than many nations. Similarly, those mixing in the outer reaches of Frozen Moon Cold River: many from Tian Shuang Kingdom wasted ten years perhaps without finding a single hair, while Du Gu Miss Qingli, at such a young age, had already dug up who knows how many tombs here.

Bai Mao's Ice Cold Constitution is not like everyone else's fear of the cold; spending a night outdoors was no difficulty for her at all. The reason for building the hut was obviously that she had discovered something nearby requiring long-term exploration.

Lu Xingzhou's judgment was correct.

That night, master and disciple hugged their arms and crouched by the hut's corner for half the night; when a little light appeared the next day, A Nuo, with snot bubbles hanging from her nose, got up, while Lu Xingzhou had already been wandering around the mountain thinking for a long time.

Seeing A Nuo come out rubbing her sleepy eyes, Lu Xingzhou kicked an ice spike by the mountain: "Did you notice? The ice layer here is thinner and more brittle; it must have been dug up and then re-frozen."

A Nuo cupped her hands and walked over, peeking in: "But Master... even if there is a secret realm or ancient tomb here, Sister Miss Qingli has already dug it up. Is there any value left? Moreover, even the place Sister Miss Qingli could explore back then was at most a fourth or fifth grade level; it doesn't meet the Old Woman's requirements..."

"I don't understand Frozen Moon Cold River, but I understand Bai Mao... given her expertise in medicinal herbs, I dare bet good things were left behind like a sieve." Lu Xingzhou raised his fist and fiercely smashed down onto the ice layer.

Sure enough, with a crisp sound, a dark, large hole appeared below.

The two jumped down with a splash; at the very least, the biting cold wind was gone, and it was inexplicably much warmer.

Very luckily, below was not a dead person's tomb, but a small secret realm.

Secret realms form for many types of reasons: some are naturally formed, others are man-made. More often, it is because a certain treasure was lost in a location; the radiating energy isolated the soil, forming a small space, which then evolved into a special region due to its own characteristics. When the treasure is taken away, that secret realm loses its special nature.

The one before them now looks very much like a pure pit left behind after a treasure was taken, basically useless. But because of the treasure's former existence, it might cause special crops to grow inside; those who don't know their value might not clear them out, allowing latercomers to pick up leftovers.

A Nuo ran to the corner and dug half a foot down with a grunt, unearthing a root vegetable that looked like a sweet potato: "Master, this is useful, but it's only fourth grade level."

"This secret realm, being both on the edge and shallow, wouldn't be very strong to begin with... Fourth grade is enough. Hmm, this is a good thing for detoxification; at the very least, it makes for good auxiliary materials." Lu Xingzhou put it away and stroked his chin, examining the surroundings.

A Nuo looked at him hopefully: "What are you thinking, Master?"

"Bai Mao once took a treasure from here. Judging by the companion crops, it might have been a magical treasure with a purification effect. The question is, why would an independent magical treasure fall here?"

A Nuo said, "Because a battle once occurred in the sky nearby; a magical treasure was struck down. Then the original owner died, and no one retrieved the fallen treasure."

"Then not far away, there should be bones buried by time under the ice layer. I wonder if Bai Mao has touched the corpses... logically, given her experience, she should have touched them."

"So Master, are you on a trial, or are you looking for Sister Miss Qingli's former footsteps?"

"Is there a difference? Following Bai Mao's legacy, we can easily pick up leftovers."

"Master, this is cheating."

"What else? Bai Mao is a natural glacier walker; we are not. In this bird-dropping-less place where everything looks exactly the same, how the hell would we find anything?"

"But Master, is this what the Old Woman wanted us to trial?"

"When did you become so honest... but you're right." Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment: "Right now, we are both fourth grade; alchemy can only be said to produce third grade pills, so we are not true third grade alchemists. Mr. Ye's meaning is to have us find the threshold of third grade; the most typical distinction is that third grade opens the level of spiritual soul cultivation. Therefore, her meaning should be to hope we exercise our spiritual sense and intuition to solve problems, rather than taking shortcuts."

"But if we haven't opened spiritual soul cultivation, how can we exercise our spiritual sense?"

"Not having opened spiritual soul cultivation doesn't mean we lack spiritual soul power; it just means we don't know how to use it. Actually, we use it daily; for example, your talent for communicating with flowers and plants, or our control when refining pills, is actually conducted through spiritual thoughts; we just don't know the specific operating principles. It's like you eat and naturally digest, but you don't know how it digests, or whether you can actively make it stop or accelerate digestion..."

Hearing about eating, A Nuo understood immediately: "In Frozen Moon Cold River, is this beneficial?"

"Hmm... Bai Mao gave me the feeling several times that before reaching third grade, she could already utilize spiritual soul power to a limited extent; it should be an effect brought by this place. 'Heart like clear ice, moon reflecting on the cold river.'" Lu Xingzhou said: "In fact, when I said I was going to find the location of the bones, I also needed to use such means; otherwise, saying 'search the surroundings for bones,' which direction is the surroundings, and how to search?"

A Nuo looked at Lu Xingzhou blankly as he closed his eyes.

Actually, Master is truly a genius, as long as he isn't thinking of being lazy or taking shortcuts.

When the spiritual soul cannot be manifested for use, relying on the mind actually just cultivates a kind of intuition. This intuition is actually used in many daily situations; for example, when danger approaches, the strong all feel a "warning sign" in their hearts, a sensation of goosebumps on the scalp; that is a direct manifestation.

It is very difficult for a person to actively find and use it, but in Frozen Moon Cold River, it is beneficial for this.

The extreme cold climate makes the heart extremely cold and extremely quiet, as if even thoughts are being solidified.

Lu Xingzhou closed his eyes; vaguely, he seemed able to see his soul sea, silent and boundless.

He wanted to use it, but it was like empty thought, impossible to grasp. A faint movement in his heart; he felt that what he wanted to find was in a certain direction; following it would surely bring benefits.

So, with eyes closed, he lifted A Nuo, leaped out of the hole, and flew straight toward the position in his heart.

Not long after, A Nuo struggled.

"Did you see the pit marks of digging up bones?" Lu Xingzhou asked.

"No, but I saw a person..."

"Could it be that the bones were thrown directly onto the ice surface?"

"I said a living person!" A Nuo struggled: "If you walk any further, you'll bump right into her!"

Lu Xingzhou suddenly stopped and opened his eyes.

Ahead, a woman stood quietly with her hands behind her back, looking strangely at his performance-art-like act—he was three steps away from bumping into her.

Lu Xingzhou stepped back half a pace, looking at the woman strangely.

She was quite performance-art-like too.

She wore a robe of golden brilliance, more dazzling than Gu Zhanting's dragon robe, because many parts were truly made of gold.

The phoenix crown on her head was piled entirely with jewels and ornaments; at a glance, it looked vulgar and tasteless.

Her eyeliner was painted with gold powder, and there was a golden pattern on each side of her face; she looked like someone who had run away from a mental hospital.

However, paired with her absolutely beautiful face, all of this became art.

Sword-like eyebrows entered her temples; eyes like cold stars. Merely staring at her made one feel a heart-shaking, spine-chilling pressure; the formless oppression almost made Lu Xingzhou's knees buckle, yet he stood firm again.

Thus, the vulgar and tasteless laurel became an emperor's crown; the strange facial patterns became blood-quenched blades.

Commonly said: if a person is good-looking, even wearing a sack looks good; let alone gold...

But Lu Xingzhou had absolutely no mood to appreciate beauty; only one word flashed through his mind: Demon Emperor!

Shen Tang said there was an emperor's aura, but even under her least love-brained, most lofty atmosphere as sect master, she did not possess this woman's dignity and oppressive power; after all, she was still young.

Mr. Ye said she was aloof and proud, but she was closer to a lotus on a snow mountain; one only felt clear and noble, yet very peaceful; you would not feel pressure or death from her. Yuan Muyu, the Blood Hand, was ruthless; the killing intent in her eyes was like solid matter, yet she never possessed this aura of all bowing before her; it was as if a single glare from her made one unconsciously want to kneel.

Not to mention anything else, this momentum makes Lu Xingzhou able to directly compare Mr. Ye and Yuan Muyu; if this is not the Demon Emperor, Lu Xingzhou dares to cut off his own head.

Damn it, what's this "follow your intuition" nonsense? My intuition was looking for something "beneficial for alchemy"...

Oh right, Mr. Ye said the Demon Emperor is a female dragon... A dragon! Just say, is she suitable for alchemy or not!

Lu Xingzhou almost wanted to cry.

A-Nuo timidly tugged at Lu Xingzhou's robe hem, hiding behind him; she was also seeing a human for the first time and felt afraid.

The woman's gaze also fell on A-Nuo, her brows knitting slightly, her majestic look turning somewhat confused.

"Human," the woman finally spoke: "How did you walk straight toward me with your eyes closed?"

"Well..." Lu Xingzhou said awkwardly: "I was using the Frozen Moon Cold River to temper my spiritual sense... this is mostly probably... intuition that there's an unparalleled beauty here?"

A-Nuo's eyes widened in terror.

Do you not want your life?

Lu Xingzhou had bitterness he couldn't speak; he couldn't exactly say his intuition sensed alchemy ingredients here, and which one was more deadly needed no saying.

Yet the woman seemed to see right through what he was thinking, a cold sneer curling her lips: "I suppose your intuition sensed fortune here... pity fortune is something you need a life to use."

Actually, Lu Xingzhou also found it strange; such intuition should truly be seeking profit and avoiding harm; how could there be an unparalleled crisis here that he would approach with eyes closed? It absolutely should have been to get as far away as possible, walking in the opposite direction.

And the Demon Emperor actually had the interest to speak, instead of directly slapping these two ants to death...

Does this prove she isn't actually dangerous?

Injured? Pretending to be formidable?

But who dares to be stubborn enough to test her with an attack!

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PS: Begging for monthly votes, weepy weepy~

(End of this chapter)