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Chapter 929 Soul Clan's Secret Treasure, Frost Shadow's Background

In the void.

Elder Kui Mu of the Star Palace cautiously set up an isolation barrier and whispered a few words to the group.

The elders present all wore expressions of deep emotion, their faces filled with complex emotions.

The reason why these old monsters with such cultivation levels reacted in this way was clearly not as simple as the deal with the Void Spirit Clan.

Even the Fire Ancestor of the Taiyi Sect hadn't expected that the identity of the Soul Clan widow who had secretly escorted her was so important.
After they met, they immediately set off towards the Demon Realm.

……

A few months later.

In a valley near the Heavenly Ridge Mountains within the Demon Realm.

A streak of black, dazzling light pierced the sky and fell downwards.

The light dissipated, revealing the figure of a young man shrouded in a black robe.

The valley is serene and surrounded by countless lush and towering spiritual plants. In the middle of the valley is a lake, where an old man in a gray robe is fishing.

This was in stark contrast to the dark and oppressive atmosphere deep within the Demon Realm.

The old man fishing was none other than the Ren Shui Patriarch of the Tianhe Sect.

After the figure in black robes landed, it stood respectfully behind him and bowed to the Ancestor Renshui.

"Disciple meets Master!"

"You're back?" The Old Ancestor Renshui didn't look back, but simply replied.

The black-robed cultivator removed his hat, revealing Lü Lu's face, and immediately replied, "Reporting to Master, my identity in the Lingmiao Sect has been exposed, so I have no choice but to retreat. I'm afraid the three major sects of Tianyuan Domain will not let this matter go easily."

"Well, this matter has nothing to do with you, but it's been difficult for you." Ancestor Renshui casually put away his fishing rod, turned around and looked at Lü Lu, saying, "The spies we arranged to infiltrate Beidou Immortal City have all been eliminated, which means there was a problem somewhere."

"However, there is something even more important that I need you to do next."

Lu Lu was taken aback upon hearing this, then gritted her teeth and said, "But... Master, you promised me that if I succeeded in my mission to infiltrate the Lingmiao Sect, you would be able to save Qingyin's damaged soul."

"Your disciple has done everything in his power and devoted himself to your plan."

"I know you are deeply in love with your Daoist partner, but her primordial spirit has been injured, and she is almost completely destroyed. Even if I were to intervene, it would not be possible to save her overnight," said Ancestor Renshui calmly. "This is the last matter. If it can be accomplished, I will spare no effort, even at the cost of some of my own source power. Rest assured." Ancestor Renshui said to his eldest disciple with a concerned expression.

Lu Lu had clearly heard this before, but dared not disobey his master's orders, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Alright then, disciple will obey Master's orders."

"I wonder what Master wants me to do next?"

"However, given my current situation, it is probably almost impossible for me to return to the human race to handle matters."

Ancestor Renshui waved his hand and said, "You don't need to go back to the human race for the rest of the matter. Just stay by my side and do things."

"It might be necessary for you and me, master and disciple, to make a trip to the Void Spirit Clan."

"Huh? The Void Spirit Clan?" Lu Lu was taken aback upon hearing Ancestor Ren Shui's words.

The Old Ancestor Renshui explained to him, "The information you provided last time was very timely, allowing the Golden Ring Old Monster of the Tianjiao Clan to capture Xiahou Yun, a core disciple of the Star Palace, and to learn a lot through soul searching."

"And one of these matters concerns a batch of secret treasures left behind by the ancient Soul Clan, which are located on the territory of the Void Spirit Clan."

"We had originally found a widow of the Soul Clan, who was the key to opening the treasure vault, but unfortunately, she was taken by a powerful senior member of the Demon Clan."

"However, now that I know the secret of this place, I must go and pay homage to the legendary treasure of the Soul Clan no matter what."

"Furthermore, I have already decided to join forces with several fellow cultivators from the Celestial Horn Clan and the Demon Clan."

Upon hearing this, Lü Lu was immediately shocked!
The ancient Soul Clan, as one of the super clans of the Spirit Realm, was once incredibly powerful. Although they later declined, no one could resist the allure of the secret treasures left behind by the Soul Clan.

Seeing that Lü Lu was already somewhat interested, Ancestor Renshui continued, "As far as I know, among the treasures left behind by the Soul Clan, there is even the legendary top-tier spiritual object, 'Three Yang Divine Water,' which can instantly reshape the soul. If you can get your hands on it, you might be able to save Qingyin without me having to rack my brains for a solution."

"Moreover, the Soul Clan's secret treasures might even contain opportunities for achieving the Fusion Realm, or even the key to breaking through to the Great Ascension Realm."

After listening, Lü Lu's eyes showed a strong desire, but then a look of doubt appeared as he asked:

"Is this true? But such an important place must be fiercely contested by powerful cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage. What help can a disciple with only the Void Refinement stage offer?"

"If that's the case, how could the treasure vault have been found and opened without that widow of the Soul Clan?"

"Hehe! This is a long story. The widow of the Soul Clan didn't actually know about the secret treasure left by her ancestors. It was only after the Star Palace captured this woman that they deduced it from the stone tablet left in the Holy Land and her bloodline."

"However, according to the Soul Searching Star Palace disciple, the Golden Ring Old Monster believes that the location of the Soul Clan's secret treasure cannot be entered by anyone above the Integration Stage, otherwise it will cause a spatial collapse, and all the spiritual objects inside will be immediately destroyed."

"Therefore, the Star Palace only sent Xiahou Yun, who was at the peak of the Void Refinement stage, and had Gu Cangxuan lead the team to take the Soul Clan widow to retrieve the treasure. They also concealed many things. Of course, it is true that they made a deal with the Void Spirit Clan using the Soul Clan widow. If it succeeds, it will be killing two birds with one stone."

"Furthermore, the current situation of both the human and demon races is not optimistic, and it is an indisputable fact that they are eager to win over more allies."

"However, the three major sects and the Star Palace never expected that I, their ancestor, would leave you, my good disciple, with such a hidden move before I left. It has yielded unexpected gains, which can be considered a little interest for our Heavenly River Sect."

"Alright, I won't go into the specifics."

"Go and make preparations first, we will be setting off soon."

After a conversation between the master and disciple, Lü Lu pondered the words of the Ren Shui Ancestor and walked out of the lakeside with mixed feelings.

He gazed at the distant sky, never expecting that his master was already brewing an even bigger plan, and that he himself had been unwittingly drawn into an even larger vortex.

As for any chance to combine forces, he no longer dares to hope for that.

Now that his identity has been exposed, he has become a traitor to humanity. No matter where he hides in the spirit realm, he will likely be hated and despised by everyone.
He only hoped to save his Daoist partner.

……

Beneath the Ice Crystal Demon Peak Mountains.

After several years of cultivation, and with the aid of the seventh-tier demonic wine, Qin Ming began to further hone his Dao heart and temperament, comprehending the Great Dao in endless reincarnation.

Although we are currently right under the nose of the demon king, it is arguably the most dangerous place, but also the safest.

At the very least, Ancestor Renshui and Elder Jinhuan wouldn't dare come here again, much less carry him around like that.
During this period of time.

While Qin Ming was in seclusion in the Lesser Spirit Realm, they took advantage of the opportunity.

Bored and emboldened, the Devouring Rat noticed that although the Demon Peak Mountain Range was deserted, it was still frequented by many demonic beasts.

Therefore, he would occasionally come out for some fresh air, but he would only stay within a radius of about ten feet around the small spirit realm, not daring to go too far, for fear of being discovered by the purple-clad succubus.

This day.

The white-clad girl from the Soul Clan, having finished serving the guests on Demon Peak, came to where Qin Ming and the others were, and sat alone on a rock, looking heartbroken.
Suddenly.

But then, a gray-furred rat timidly emerged from a nearby stone cave. It looked around warily before running to the soul-clan girl and whispering:

"Young lady, I've been watching you cry for years now. It's really too pitiful, isn't it?"

"What's bothering you?" "Here are some spiritual fruits I've been keeping. Eating them might make you feel better."

The Soul Clan girl was heartbroken when a gray-haired rat suddenly appeared and spoke in human language, which startled her.

She wiped away her tears, looked at the spirit fruit offered by the Devouring Rat, and dared not step forward to take it.

But when I think about my current situation, being at the mercy of others, it's no different from being dead.

Then she saw those few spiritual fruits, which were brimming with spiritual energy. She had never seen anything like them on this Demon Peak. She couldn't help but swallow as she smelled the unique fragrance of the spiritual fruits.

She blinked, looking at the seemingly harmless and rather comical appearance of the Sky-Eating Rat, who didn't seem like a bad person.

Therefore, they relaxed their guard a bit.

So she reached out her snow-white hand and took the few spiritual fruits, but didn't dare to eat them directly. Instead, she asked softly:

"You...aren't you a demon from this Demon Peak? How come I've never seen you before?"

When asked this question, the Devouring Rat's eyes darted around, and it boasted without batting an eye, "I am the mountain god of this place, in charge of everything here. I know everything about you."

"Cough! Even that succubus star from the demon race can't control me."

"Your name is Shuangying, right?"

Immediately, it recounted to her how Frostshadow had fallen into the hands of the human race and how she had been abducted to this place by the Golden Ring Elder of the Skyhorn Clan.

The Soul Clan girl was clearly naive and simple-minded. She was easily fooled by the Devouring Sky Rat and actually believed its words.

She immediately put the spiritual fruit to her lips and took a small bite. But this one bite was all it took; a unique, sweet aroma filled her mouth, making her unable to resist.
Soon, Shuangying finished the spiritual fruit in her hand in no time, and then wiped her mouth with some embarrassment.

"My daughter thanks the Mountain God for his gift."

Upon hearing this, the Sky-Devouring Rat almost lost its composure, and then asked another question:
"Little girl, you've been captured by the demons for so long, why haven't your people come to rescue you?"

"I can see that your aptitude is not bad either. Moreover, a ball of purple light is shooting into the sky from the top of your head. You must be one in a billion a promising cultivator in the spirit world."

"His luck is truly remarkable; he shouldn't have died!"

The Devouring Rat didn't just make this up.

Since cultivating to the mid-stage of the sixth rank, its bloodline talent has greatly improved, allowing it to perceive various strange phenomena unknown to others in the cultivation world.
They can even easily detect and distinguish things as ethereal as luck.

Upon hearing the words of the Devouring Rat, Shuangying clenched her small hands, lowered her head, and remained silent for a long time, tears welling up in her eyes again.
"I sneaked out, I never expected it to turn out like this."

"And I have no family left, only an old woman who took me in. I bet she's looking for me everywhere right now, sob sob sob."

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere, which had just become a little lively, instantly turned somber again, as the conversation had directly touched on the other party's sore spot.

And once again, I felt deep sympathy for Shuangying's plight.

"What? They're all dead? That's terrible!"

We truly are in the same boat.

For a moment, it didn't know how to comfort her, so it took out a few more spirit fruits and handed them to her, offering some words of comfort before saying:

"If you're ever unhappy in the future, you can come here to chat with me and cheer me up, but you can't stay too long, and you can't let that witch know about this."

"Although I, as a mountain god, am not afraid of her, I also do not want her to know of my existence."

Shuangying took the spirit fruit and ate it, feeling a little better. She then nodded gently.

Their first encounter was brief, and they soon went their separate ways.

And the days that followed.

Ever since she tasted the sweetness of it, this girl from the Soul Clan would come to the foot of the mountain every few days to find the Devouring Sky Rat to relieve her boredom.

Over time, their mutual trust increased considerably.

The Succubus Star, however, did not exert much control over Frost Shadow, allowing him to roam freely within Demon Peak without paying him much attention.

The Devouring Rat also learned some things about the Soul Clan from Frost Shadow. There should still be some surviving members of the clan in the Spirit Realm, but they have never met.

The reason she secretly ran away was because her mother-in-law, who had taken her in, was too strict with her and relentlessly pursued her spiritual practice, which she could no longer tolerate.

She originally just wanted to get some fresh air, but she never expected to fall into the hands of the Star Palace and then end up here.

The Devouring Rat sighed and said, "You really have a big heart. If it were anyone else, the grass on their grave would probably be a foot tall by now. It's fortunate that you have the halo of being a Soul Clan member that those old monsters haven't made a move against you yet."

Then, it took out a spiritual fruit that it usually couldn't bear to eat and handed it to Shuangying.

But as Frostshadow reached halfway to take the fruit, the Sky-Devouring Rat withdrew its hand and said:
"Wait a minute, I've given you so many spirit fruits and kept you company while we chatted. In exchange, shouldn't you give me something in return?"

Shuangying immediately understood, but she looked embarrassed and, after searching her pockets, found nothing of value to offer, so she could only say:

"My belongings, including my storage bag, were all stolen by those humans."

"Now all that's left is this ordinary wooden hairpin, which my mother left me before she passed away. I'm giving this to the Mountain God to thank him for taking care of my daughter for so long."

After Shuangying finished speaking, she reached out and took off the hairpin from her head, reluctantly handing it to the Devouring Sky Rat.

The Devouring Rat took the wooden hairpin, but even with its bloodline supernatural abilities, it couldn't tell the difference between it and an ordinary hairpin.

However, seeing her reluctant expression, he decided to return the wooden hairpin to her.

"It's just a broken wooden hairpin, I don't care for it at all. Take it back, take it back."

Shuangying felt really bad about taking so many benefits from the Devouring Sky Rat.

In the end, she insisted that it accept the object that was of great significance to her.

The two had finished their conversation, and the Devouring Rat glanced at the sky outside, deciding to return to the Little Spirit Realm.

As it was about to part, it stroked the wooden hairpin that carried the scent of frost in its hand, and suddenly remembered something.

So it turned around and casually asked her:
"By the way, who was that old woman who took you in? What was her cultivation level?"

Shuangying recalled for a moment, and without hiding anything from the 'Mountain God' before her, she spoke frankly:

"My mother-in-law's cultivation level seems to be at the Mahayana stage, but I don't know exactly what level she's at."

"I sneaked out of the Realm of Myriad Spirits while she was in seclusion cultivating."

boom! !

Upon hearing this, the Sky-Devouring Rat was struck dumb! His body froze on the spot, and his mind went completely blank.
"A great-great...mother-in-law of the Mahayana stage?"

'There's also the Realm of Ten Thousand Spirits? Isn't that where my master's good brother, Su Yuqing, went to cultivate with that Daoist Lu Yun?'

……

(End of this chapter)