Chapter 950

Mask?

He Pingsheng was startled!

He had imagined the divine artifact might be a divine spear, a sword, or perhaps a defensive shield.

But he never expected the final item he received would be a bronze mask.

He Pingsheng took the bronze mask in his hand; its surface was covered in rust.

It felt cool to the touch and heavy in his grip.

He Pingsheng sent a thread of his magic power into it.

Hummm… hummm… hummm…

Instantly, the divine artifact blazed with emerald light, and layer upon layer of sealing arrays emerged.

There were a total of forty-two sealing arrays on it.

In the Spirit Realm, the highest-grade magic treasures are [Profound Heaven Spirit Treasures], which possess between twenty-nine and thirty-two sealing arrays.

Thus, one rank above the Profound Heaven Spirit Treasure, the sealing arrays range from thirty-three to thirty-six.

A divine artifact two ranks above the Profound Heaven Spirit Treasure should have between thirty-seven and forty sealing arrays.

A divine artifact three ranks above the Profound Heaven Spirit Treasure has between forty-one and forty-four sealing arrays.

No wonder the dragon clan called this a third-rank divine artifact.

According to Spirit Realm standards, this should be mid-grade among third-rank divine artifacts.

“What is this object’s function?” He Pingsheng asked Ao Cheng.

Ao Cheng replied cautiously with a smile: “Ah… He Daoist, to be honest, even our dragon clan doesn’t know!”

“Since we brought this item down from Piaomiao Mountain, no one has ever been able to subdue it!”

“Perhaps because the rules of the Immortal Realm differ from ours in the Spirit Realm—we can’t even subdue a single layer!”

He Pingsheng was stunned: So you’re just passing me something you can’t use?

“He Daoist!” Ao Cheng quickly pulled out a heavy jade vial and respectfully offered it to He Pingsheng: “Inside is [Yinming Heavy Water], obtained by our dragon clan from the deepest depths of the Evil Sea—it is one of the Ten True Waters, and when fused, it absorbs atmospheric moisture and is exceptionally heavy!”

He Pingsheng asked: “Exceptionally heavy?”

“Yes!” Ao Cheng said. “That’s why it’s called Yinming Heavy Water—one drop carries a thousand jun of weight. If refined to its peak, a single true water can imprison and crush a Mahayana Emperor-level demon emperor!”

He Pingsheng said: “Good.”

He took the heavy water from Ao Cheng’s hand and said: “Thank you.”

“Swear a Heavenly Oath in the name of the Dragon Clan: from now on, your clan shall remain confined to the Evil Sea and refrain from interfering in the affairs of the Five Continents of the Spirit Realm—then your clan may live freely beneath the waves!”

“Yes, yes, yes…” Ao Cheng laughed. “Thank you!”

For them, living in the Evil Sea wasn’t bad.

After all, the Evil Sea was vast, and its cultivation resources were quite abundant.

Ao Cheng quickly swore the Heavenly Oath in the name of the Dragon Clan.

He Pingsheng said: “In ten days, I will convene the Five Continents Assembly at this Indestructible Volcano, inviting all Mahayana Emperor-level demon emperors from the Five Continents of the Spirit Realm.”

“I hope you, Ao Cheng Daoist, will attend.”

“Yes!” Ao Cheng bowed. “I will be there.”

“He Daoist, this old monk takes his leave.”

Convening the Five Continents Assembly was something He Pingsheng must do.

He intended to publicly declare to all demon emperors: From now on, humanity rules this continent!

Anyone who dares continue oppressing humanity is opposing me.

At that time, the many vacant territories must be filled with human influence.

For example, on the Heavenfire Continent, nearly ten imperial domains were once controlled by the Phoenix Clan—now they are vacant and can be claimed by humanity.

On the Xuanbing Continent, with the Dragon Clan’s power retreating, humanity should now take control.

He didn’t need to personally notify anyone of this.

He only needed to inform the Qilin Clan on Leihuang Continent, the Wu Clan on Houtu Continent, and the Jinku Clan on the Western Extreme Continent.

The Dragon Clan would notify the Xuanbing Continent, and on the Heavenfire Continent, a single word from He Pingsheng would reach every demon emperor within a day.

Any demon emperor who isn’t foolish will come.

…

In the following days, He Pingsheng sat cross-legged in midair, took out the bronze mask, and began subduing it.

You dragons couldn’t subdue it—let me, He Pingsheng, try.

What if I could?

After several days of subduing, He Pingsheng could only smile bitterly.

It truly couldn’t be subdued.

Not only that—blood drops, blood subjugation methods—all failed.

And clearly, this was a divine artifact, not a blood-subjugated treasure.

“It must be due to different rules!” Jin Ku’s voice echoed in his body: “Otherwise, even if a treasure had countless sealing arrays, the first few layers should be easy to subdue. Your complete inability to subdue it proves its subjugation rules are different!”

“I’ve heard that after ascending to the Immortal Realm, one’s magic power transforms into Immortal Spiritual Energy!”

“And the rules of the Immortal Realm differ from those of the Spirit Realm!”

“Perhaps then, you’ll be able to subdue this item.”

He Pingsheng nodded.

Helplessly, he stored the artifact in his magic treasure space.

A strange thing happened—the bronze mask couldn’t be stored inside the Hongmeng Purple Gold Rod’s magic treasure space.

Fortunately, it could be temporarily placed in the Treasure Basin.

“He kid, I beg you for a favor!” Jin Ku spoke up. “My disciples and their disciples, no matter what, participated in sealing you in the small world—perhaps coerced, perhaps deceived—but their crimes are unforgivable!”

“But… I ask you, on my behalf, could you spare them?”

He Pingsheng said: “What favor? What have you got to offer?”

“Why should I owe you any favor?”

“You’re a parasite living inside me, using my fortune to drain your curse—aren’t you the one in my debt?”

“Now you dare ask me to show you mercy?”

After He Pingsheng spoke, Jin Ku fell silent, offering no rebuttal.

After several breaths, the old man finally said: “In another two or three hundred years, I should be able to fully exhaust the curse on my body.”

“Then, I’ll do you one favor.”

He Pingsheng asked: “Kill someone for me?”

“No, I can do that myself!”

“No!” Jin Ku said. “Not to kill—this favor is to save someone.”

“Your… Zhou Qingmei—I might be able to help.”

He Pingsheng’s heart stirred: “How?”

Jin Ku said: “Don’t you have a divine technique called [Six Paths Soul Snatching Art]?”

“You can’t use it because your cultivation base is too low, and Zhou Qingmei’s is too high—you’re too close in level!”

“But if I use this technique, I might have a chance to retrieve Zhou Qingmei’s soul.”

“You know Zhou Qingmei isn’t an ordinary cultivator.”

“She’s been dead for many years—her previous rebirth was thanks to you.”

“Such a cultivator is tolerable in the mortal world, but if she reaches the Underworld, she’ll be sentenced to the gravest punishment—likely never granted reincarnation again.”