Chapter 394: Dream of a Thousand Autumns

"When the Meng clan was exterminated, this poor nun was still very young. A senior member of the family sacrificed everything to protect me, and it was only through their efforts that I escaped Qishan and made it within the borders of Great Xuan."

"But that elder was severely wounded in the process, with little time left to live. This poor nun was too young to control the clan's divine treasure, and so they hid it at the bottom of this pool in the Qingxuan Temple."

Daoist Qingyu watched the dark pool before her with an unreadable expression, "After the Great Xuan emperor took this poor nun to the palace, this poor nun slipped away to this place to secretly stir the clan's divine treasure in the pool, allowing it to absorb the true qi of heaven and earth and gradually reawaken its power."

"This poor nun had long since planned that after obtaining the Demonic Patriarch's legacy tonight, I would retrieve the clan's divine treasure. Only..."

Here Daoist Qingyu paused and did not continue.

At those words, Li Musheng's expression became thoughtful, while the large black cat watched Daoist Qingyu with obvious wariness.

She had said a lot just now, and all of it sounded very convincing, claiming the treasure at the bottom of the pool was her family's heirloom. But what had the large black cat been doing down there for so long, then?

Family heirloom or not, the large black cat had no interest in such distinctions. Treasures like this went to those who were destined for them.

It did not care whether the thing in the pool belonged to Daoist Qingyu's family. Once it was in hand, it would be its treasure.

"So the strange occurrences in the Qingxuan Temple's pool were also your doing."

Li Musheng looked at Daoist Qingyu. The woman's planning had indeed been extensive.

She had awakened the clan's divine treasure in advance, causing the Qingxuan Temple to gather true qi from heaven and earth and produce the unusual phenomenon, which deliberately drew the three demonic sects to open the Demonic Cores here.

That way, Daoist Qingyu not only obtained the Demonic Patriarch's cultivative legacy but could also retrieve her family's treasure in the same stroke. It was genuinely a plan that accomplished two goals at once.

Li Musheng even suspected that when Daoist Qingyu had deliberately leaked news of the Longevity Scripture to the Great Xuan emperor, all of this had already been within her calculations.

And had Li Musheng not appeared halfway through and intervened, Daoist Qingyu would likely already have gotten everything she had come for.

At this point, Daoist Qingyu let out a quiet sigh and looked at Li Musheng, "Though this poor nun was taken in by the Azure Cloud Temple from childhood and cultivated the Daoist arts there, I never forgot the need to avenge my family. And it was this that caused me to take a single wrong step and enter the demonic path."

"But perhaps in the vast design of things, all is already determined. Seeking to enter the demonic path for revenge was going against the natural order, and the outcome I face now is not something the young master can be blamed for."

As she said this, Daoist Qingyu took a jade token from within her robes and extended it toward Li Musheng, "This poor nun's foundation is now destroyed. Revenge is no longer possible. But perhaps that is not entirely a bad thing. Even if this poor nun retrieved the clan's divine treasure, I would likely be no match for the other two families on Qishan as I am."

"As for this item, it is the Dream Jade, an heirloom passed down through the Meng clan for thousands of years. It is of no further use to this poor nun. I present it to the young master to help him command the Dream of a Thousand Autumns."

Li Musheng looked at the jade token Daoist Qingyu was holding out, then took it and turned it over in his hand.

He found it appeared unremarkable at first glance, but was warm and smooth to the touch, carrying an intangible force that settled the heart like an anchor in still water, bringing a calm and quiet tranquility that was as immovable as a great mountain.

"This really is a fine item."

Li Musheng gave a slight nod, but then returned the jade token to Daoist Qingyu, "Even so, it is not of much use to me. I do not need it."

With that, Li Musheng raised a hand toward the dark pool and reached. In an instant, the true qi of heaven and earth rushed down like ten thousand silk threads and entered the pool, churning the entire pool into rolling waves.

Before long, a bundle of true qi threads surged upward, lifting with them a jade pillow covered in seven-colored halo from the pool's depths, which broke free of the rolling surface and drifted slowly down to float before Li Musheng.

The moment they saw this, the large black cat's eyes blazed to life, its round green eyes fixed on the floating jade pillow with burning intensity.

It had been hunting for this jade pillow at the bottom of the pool for so long and had never once managed to touch it. Li Musheng had done nothing more than reach out casually, and the treasure was in his hand. This was the first time it had seen the thing with its own eyes.

Unable to contain itself, the large black cat immediately extended a paw toward the jade pillow, wreathed in shimmering, rainbow-hued light.

But in the next moment, Li Musheng reached out and flicked its paw away, "Be patient. Once I have had a look at it, I will let you play with it."

As he said this, Li Musheng wrapped a hand around the jade pillow and began examining it carefully.

Daoist Qingyu watched Li Musheng, her eyes flickering.

Dream of a Thousand Autumns was the Meng clan's supreme treasure, passed down through thousands of years. Even a Martial Saint, without the Dream Jade in hand, would not be able to get hold of the true body of Dream of a Thousand Autumns.

Yet Li Musheng had retrieved it with no difficulty at all. It was no wonder she had lost. She had lost fairly.

"The young master may not know, but Dream of a Thousand Autumns is an ancient treasure of supreme power, in a different category entirely from the divine weapons ranked in the martial world."

"In fact, a thousand years ago, when the Great Qi court invited a Martial God to act against us, the three families deployed their three divine treasures to resist, and even a Martial God of that era was unable to prevail. The three families survived because of it."

Daoist Qingyu spoke slowly, glanced at the Dream Jade in her hand, "With the Meng clan now gone, Dream of a Thousand Autumns has no master. That it has fallen to the young master may indeed be where it was always meant to end up."

"Even so, this poor nun must caution the young master that Dream of a Thousand Autumns, along with the divine treasures of the other two families, appears to be connected to some ancient secret."

"And since this poor nun brought Dream of a Thousand Autumns away from Qishan, the other two families have never stopped searching for it. That presents a potential threat for the young master."

At those words, Li Musheng paused his examination of the jade pillow and looked at Daoist Qingyu for a moment, "You are fairly candid, as people go."

Even without Daoist Qingyu's warning, Li Musheng knew this treasure was bound to be a hot coal to hold. After all, once the two families on Qishan had exterminated the Meng clan, they would naturally think about eliminating every trace. And having lost such an important divine treasure, the two families would never be at peace with it.

But once Li Musheng decided to keep the treasure before him, all of that became unavoidable.

Daoist Qingyu might appear to harbor no grievance and allow the clan treasure to pass to Li Musheng without complaint, but beyond having no power to stop it, this was also a transparent stratagem.

Though she could no longer take revenge herself, she was transferring the conflict between herself and the two families onto Li Musheng by way of Dream of a Thousand Autumns.

If the two families came after Dream of a Thousand Autumns and ultimately clashed with Li Musheng, that would be exactly what she most hoped to see.

Li Musheng was not concerned about any of this.

If he wanted the treasure before him, he would take it. If he did not, he would throw it away. Everything was according to his own inclination, and the threat of two ancient families was not going to change his thinking one bit.

"What does this thing actually do? If it is not much use to me, I will just give it away."

Li Musheng examined the jade pillow for a moment, then turned to Daoist Qingyu and asked.