Chapter 554: Five Elements Mountain

“I refuse!”

Zhu Ju’s voice wasn’t loud, nor did it carry any intense emotion, yet it sent a chill through Zhou Ruxuan’s heart.

“Wh-Why?”

She turned her head to look at him, her voice trembling.

“I thought… I thought our relationship was… was good.”

Zhou Ruxuan had to admit it.

When they first met, her intentions had indeed been somewhat pragmatic.

But after so many years together, even though it was never formalized, she had in fact come to see herself as a woman of the Zhu Family.

In the eyes of others, she was Zhu Ju’s wife.

Family is family.

Putting herself in his shoes, if Zhu Ju needed her to do something, Zhou Ruxuan would absolutely never refuse.

Pure Yang Qi was a good thing; it could help a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist achieve a breakthrough. But with Zhu Ju’s current age and Cultivation, it was unlikely he would reach Seventh-Grade Perfection before thirty, so theoretically, he had no use for it.

“I’m your intended wife…”

“I never agreed to that.”

Zhou Ruxuan was rendered speechless. A sense of desolation washed over her, and her eyes couldn’t help but redden.

“But what did I do wrong?”

“All these years…”

“You never showed any interest in other women. I thought you had tacitly accepted this.”

A bitter smile appeared on her face.

“If this is about Ming Nianwei, I… I can allow you to take her as a concubine.”

The moment the words left her mouth, Zhou Ruxuan wished she could slap herself.

‘How arrogant I used to be. How could I be so subservient in front of a man now?’

‘I’m a daughter of the Zhou Family. Marrying a mere cloth merchant is already marrying beneath my station. How can I be so humiliating?’

“You’ve misunderstood.”

Zhu Ju spoke slowly.

“I have no romantic feelings for Ming Nianwei either.”

“Then why?” Zhou Ruxuan clenched her fists, forcibly suppressing the churning emotions in her heart.

“Is it because my attitude toward you was bad in the past? Whatever I did wrong, I can change.”

“Everything was already agreed upon…”

“Why won’t you acknowledge it? Why?”

The more she spoke, the more pitiful she sounded. Grief welled up in her heart, and she couldn’t stop the tears from streaming from her eyes.

In their relationship, she had always thought she held the power, that Zhu Ju couldn’t live without her.

But now.

She suddenly realized that it was she who could not live without him.

Just a simple refusal hurt more than the cold mockery of her older brother and her family. A heart-wrenching pain spread throughout her body, almost making it impossible to breathe.

Her heart was filled with confusion and panic.

“If you don’t want me, and the Zhou Mansion treats me like an outsider… where else can I go?”

Watching Zhou Ruxuan sit to the side, silently weeping, Zhu Ju couldn’t help but sigh. He had already made himself very clear; how could she still not understand? After thinking for a moment, he finally said:

“I can give you the Primordial Yang Qi, but I need something in exchange. The Innate Pill is useless to me.”

“Oh!”

Zhou Ruxuan’s tears turned to laughter.

“Then let’s get married. Everything I have will be yours. That should be enough, right?”

“…” Zhu Ju pressed his forehead.

“Forget it.”

“Trade your body’s Qi Blood Divine Weapon for the Primordial Yang Qi. That should be acceptable, right?”

“The Mixed Element Stone?” Zhou Ruxuan took out a miniature, mountain-shaped stone with a flip of her hand. Pursing her lips, she said:

“If I can advance to the Sixth Grade, this item won’t be of much use to me. If you want it, just take it.”

With that, she tossed it over with one hand.

‘If I can’t advance to the Sixth Grade…’

‘This time, by using the Primordial Yang Qi to reignite my Essence and blood, it will be impossible to recover for at least eight or ten years.’

‘That would sever all hope of advancement. At that point, I’d probably just give up on Martial Arts entirely, making it even more useless to me.’

“Come on!”

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Ruxuan’s face flushed red as she reached for the thin sash at her waist.

“Shall we go to the bed in the back?”

It wasn’t that she was impatient.

It was that she had been in the middle of a breakthrough and had used a Secret Technique to forcibly seal her Qi Blood. Time was indeed short.

As far as she knew, absorbing Primordial Yang Qi into the body required intercourse between a man and a woman.

“…That won’t be necessary.” Zhu Ju’s expression was strange.

“When the Primordial Yang Qi Technique is cultivated to a certain level, it can be transferred into your body without… intimate acts.”

Huh?

Zhou Ruxuan’s hands froze, and the blush on her face deepened. If a crack had opened in the floor, she would have dived right in.

*

*

*

“Master.”

Ming Nianwei walked into the Quiet Chamber.

“You called for me.”

“Mm.”

Zhu Ju nodded, tossing the Mixed Element Stone in his hand upward. It hovered steadily in mid-air.

“Refine it with your Magical Power.”

“This…” Ming Nianwei frowned.

“A Qi Blood Divine Weapon is an exclusive item for Martial Artists. Refining it with Magical Power will have little effect.”

She had seen the Mixed Element Stone before and knew it was Zhou Ruxuan’s Qi Blood Divine Weapon. She was just a little confused as to why it was here.

“I’m aware,” Zhu Ju said, his expression unchanged.

“But this one is different.”

From the first time Zhou Ruxuan had taken out the Mixed Element Stone, he had sensed that it was extraordinary.

Now that he had traded his Pure Yang Qi for it, he was determined to understand it.

Besides.

He had a ready-made powerhouse right beside him.

Oh?

Ming Nianwei’s beautiful eyes flickered. She sat cross-legged on the cattail cushion, formed a Finger Technique, and summoned the True Flame from within her body.

“FWOOSH…”

A ball of flame materialized from thin air and coiled around the Mixed Element Stone like a living thing, completely enveloping it.

“Eh?”

“This is a Magical Artifact!”

“No!”

Ming Nianwei’s beautiful eyes lit up.

“It must be a Magical Treasure!”

Magical Artifact, Magical Treasure. The difference was just one word, but they were worlds apart.

Only Mages of the Middle Third Grade could refine a Magical Treasure. She had only ever seen one in Li Chengxia’s memories.

“Don’t lose focus.”

Zhu Ju barked in a low voice.

“Take out your Elixirs to restore your Magical Power. Refining this thing won’t be easy; it will likely take a very long time.”

“Yes.”

Ming Nianwei refocused her mind, splitting her attention between refining the ‘Mixed Element Stone’ and setting up a Small Gathering Spirit Array.

Then, she placed Spirit Stones in the Spirit Gathering Array to restore her Magical Power.

She also popped an Elixir into her mouth, preparing for a battle of attrition. However, she had clearly underestimated what Zhu Ju meant by “a very long time.”

Three days passed.

The Mixed Element Stone remained unchanged, without the slightest transformation. It seemed as if it were just a mundane object.

「Ten days later.」

The Spirit Stones she carried were completely exhausted, and her supply of Elixirs was almost gone.

「Half a month later.」

Ming Nianwei’s Divine Soul was depleted and her Skin and Flesh had withered. She looked as if she had aged thirty or forty years.

“Master…”

“I… I can’t go on.”

“Shh!”

Zhu Ju sat cross-legged opposite her, his face solemn.

“It’s close.”

“It’ll be done soon.”

His eyes shone brightly, his Formless Divine Light was activated at full power, and the Qi Blood in his body was stirring restlessly.

At a certain moment.

‘It’s time!’

Zhu Ju’s eyes constricted. The condensed Qi Blood in his body shot out like a cannonball leaving the barrel.

“SWOOSH!”

The Qi Blood rushed into the Mixed Element Stone.

Qi Blood and Magical Power intertwined in the air, and a multi-colored halo of light emerged.

“BOOM!”

As a wave of Qi Force erupted, the already exhausted Ming Nianwei’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

As for Zhu Ju.

He slowly reached out and caught the Mixed Element Stone as it fell from the sky.

No!

At this moment, it could clearly no longer be called the Mixed Element Stone, but rather a miniature mountain range.

A mini-mountain shaped like five fingers.

“It contains the Five Elements Supreme Dao. This item was probably once a Pure Yang Spirit Treasure. It’s a shame that with the Great Dao gone, it has also lost its former Spirituality.”

Zhu Ju held the Mixed Element Stone, his eyes flickering.

“I wonder which great senior forged a new path, forcibly converting a Pure Yang Spirit Treasure into a Qi Blood Divine Weapon.”

“Theoretically…”

“If it could be nourished with Qi Blood, it could even recover its former grade, becoming equivalent to a First-Grade Divine Weapon!”

But it was a pity.

The great master who refined this Treasure did not achieve their wish, causing it to be lost to the world, with no one able to recognize its true nature.

Until it met Zhu Ju.

“Fifth Grade!”

Gently tossing the Mixed Element Stone, Zhu Ju revealed a faint smile.

The Mixed Element Stone had revealed its true form, comparable to a Fifth-Grade Qi Blood Divine Weapon, not inferior to the Bright Armor within his own body.

Most importantly…

Zhu Ju raised a single hand. The Mixed Element Stone abruptly grew larger, hovering in mid-air and scattering a five-colored light.

“The Five-Colored Divine Light!”

“My Five-Colored Divine Light is a perfect match for this item… It’s highly likely that this Treasure and the legacy of the Five-Colored Divine Light share the same origin. With the Divine Light’s enhancement, this Treasure’s might is probably no less than that of a Fourth-Grade Qi Blood Divine Weapon. And as my Cultivation and strength increase, its power will grow stronger.”

“From now on…”

“I’ll call you the Five Elements Mountain!”