Chapter 168 - 167: True Monarch

Chapter 168: Chapter 167: True Monarch

Chen Qingyang listened for a long time with a deadpan expression, so Lu Qingyu chuckled.

"That’s understandable. You must be wondering if I’m setting a trap for you, Junior Brother. But there’s no need to worry. We’re just having a casual chat. If you think I’m lying, you can just ignore me."

Truth be told, Lu Qingyu had voiced Chen Qingyang’s exact concern.

He offered no comment, simply lifting his teacup. "Have some tea, Senior Brother!"

"Very well." Lu Qingyu picked up his cup and drained it. "Since you don’t want to hear it, Junior Brother, I’ll drop the subject."

’Chen Qingyang knew exactly what he was doing. This was a classic case of feigning retreat to advance. Lu Qingyu was betting that after bringing things to this point, Chen Qingyang’s curiosity would get the better of him.’

But Chen Qingyang didn’t bring it up. And just as he expected, Lu Qingyu couldn’t contain himself. "Junior Brother, your mental fortitude is truly beyond the ordinary. So many people have met their doom, their Daos extinguished, all because of a single word: greed. They always grasp for things beyond their capabilities. You, however, don’t seem to be that way."

Chen Qingyang just smiled. "Or perhaps I’m simply a coward, not as remarkable as you make me sound, Senior Brother."

Lu Qingyu continued, "Fine, fine. I’ll just lay out my entire deduction for you. As I’ve told you, Li Qianxue spent a few days here recovering from her injuries. Master Jing Yuan and I chatted many times, and they often visited two places in particular. You should know one of them... the Ancestral Master Temple..."

He paused deliberately before continuing, "The other is on the back mountain of this very Nine True Temple, in a grove known as the Apricot Forest. The mountain paths there are treacherous, so it’s rarely visited."

’I’ve been to the Ancestral Master Temple out of curiosity before, and there was nothing of note. This is the first I’m hearing of an Apricot Forest, though. Is he trying to hint that I should go take a look?’

This only made Chen Qingyang more suspicious. "Your deductions are so brilliant, Senior Brother. I presume you’ve already visited this Apricot Forest?"

"Alas!" Lu Qingyu heaved a sigh. "What’s the use of brilliance? I’m not fated to benefit from it. I’m someone who received their power through the inheritance of the Longevity Bridge Daoist Skill. My Meridians lack the spiritual nature of those who cultivated from scratch, like you. My Cultivation is capped here. How pitiful, how lamentable."

Chen Qingyang had another question. "There’s a flaw in your theory, Senior Brother. The Spirit Rhinoceros Guide Talisman that the Demon Sect sensed—could it have been a fake? The Talisman’s aura was clearly emitted from outside the mountain. It couldn’t have reached inside the Nine True Temple, could it?"

"Wrong, all wrong!" Lu Qingyu shook his head. "Junior Brother, you couldn’t be more mistaken. A Talisman is still just a tool. And as a tool, it’s susceptible to error."

"The so-called Spirit Rhinoceros Guide works by having two auras sense each other. Since the Talisman was planted on the Cyan Nether Sword Embryo, any Sword Qi that leaks from the Sword Embryo will carry a trace of the Talisman’s power with it. Therefore, the Sword Qi the Demon Sect collected outside the mountain that day did, in fact, originate from the Cyan Nether Sword Embryo."

’Thinking back on everything he’d witnessed over the past two months, it started to make sense.’ Still, Chen Qingyang had a third question. "My master specializes in the Alchemy Dao, and his Cultivation Technique is aligned with the Fire Element. What use would he have for this Sword Embryo?"

By the time a cultivator reaches the level of a Foundation Establishment Master, their chosen Dharma Gate is already a self-contained system. Its foundations run deep and cannot be changed on a whim.

Lu Qingyu shook his head. "That, I can’t say. If you want to know, Junior Brother, you might as well go back and ask your master. I wouldn’t recommend it, though. With stakes this high, who knows what he’s gotten himself into? It would be terrible if you were implicated."

’It was baffling. Utterly baffling.’

Chen Qingyang frowned. "Your deductions are truly spectacular, Senior Brother. And this tea is excellent."

Seeing him posturing as if to take his leave, Lu Qingyu also rose. "It’s still early, Junior Brother. If you go take a look now, you’ll still have time."

...

After leaving, Chen Qingyang didn’t rush off. He returned to his small courtyard to think for a moment, turning over every one of Lu Qingyu’s words in his mind.

’The logic was sound and seemed to align with all the recent events involving the Daoist and Demon Sects. The only piece that didn’t fit was his own master.’

’Oh, what the hell. There was only one way to find out if it was true or not.’

He picked up his sword and first sent his Conscious Fish swimming toward the back mountain. It quickly located the Apricot Forest.

The grove was situated on a patch of flat ground surrounded on all four sides by sheer cliffs. With such treacherous geography, it truly lived up to its reputation for being rarely visited.

Chen Qingyang arrived in person, first scanning his surroundings before descending. He moved through the apricot trees, finding nothing out of the ordinary—only a small stream gurgling past.

’Given the terrain, where was the stream coming from?’

He followed the stream uphill and soon came upon the mouth of a cave. It was about the height of a man, easy enough to get in and out of. Just as he was about to step inside, he felt a distinct chill against his chest.

He pulled an object from his robes—it was the Jade Talisman he had taken from the Demon Sect Disciple, the one capable of sensing the Spirit Rhinoceros Guide.

’It’s... reacting.’

He sent his Conscious Fish plunging in first. The cave was extremely deep. After traveling for several dozen miles, it suddenly opened into a large cavern connected to an underground river—the source of the stream.

Beside the underground river, beneath dripping stalactites, sat a jade box. It was a vibrant green, and a soft light shone from within it.

As he moved the Conscious Fish a little closer, he could feel a sharp Sword Qi. It was indeed the Cyan Nether Sword Embryo.

He then entered in his physical body. The jade box was right before him. As he took a deep breath, the Sword Qi he had cultivated from the Danxia Nourishing Truth Sword Manual seemed to rejoice, as if lining the streets to welcome a king on the verge of his coronation.

’This was Li Qianxue’s destined opportunity, but she was in a coma, and who knew when—if ever—she would awaken? How much longer could the Sword Embryo be left here like this?’

’He should be the one to take it,’ Chen Qingyang thought. ’Only by rapidly increasing his Cultivation could he accelerate his research into Elixirs.’

’But... if he really took it, would he just be falling into another one of Master Lu’s traps? That was the real problem.’

’He could have quietly achieved Foundation Establishment on his own. There was no need to take such a risk. This went against his entire philosophy. He didn’t want a Cyan Nether Sword Embryo like this.’

Just as he made the decision to leave, Master Lu appeared once more.

"I wasn’t wrong about you. To be able to renounce even a destined opportunity like this... Junior Brother, your mental fortitude is truly superb!" His tone was emotional, yet full of genuine admiration.

Chen Qingyang said, "I’ve always known that one should never take what one cannot control. To do so is to risk losing even more."

Master Lu mulled that over. "You’re right. It seems you won’t take this opportunity unless I lay all my cards on the table."

Chen Qingyang was resolute. "Even if you do, I’ll still have to weigh the consequences."

"Haha... Do you know how many Golden Core True Monarchs the Tai Xu Sect has? And how many the Demon Sect has?"

Chen Qingyang’s silence was answer enough.

"Twelve on each side. It’s been that way for many years, maintaining the balance between the Daoist and Demon Sects. And I, your unworthy Senior Brother, happen to be one of the Daoist Sect’s True Monarchs. My title is Purple Sun!"

This... A look of shock crossed Chen Qingyang’s face.

’He had wondered about Master Lu’s true identity.’

’A Demon Sect spy, a reclusive master... but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine a Golden Core True Monarch—and one from the Tai Xu Sect, no less.’

Unfortunately, Chen Qingyang was too poorly informed; he hadn’t heard of a single one of the Sect’s True Monarchs by title.

Seeing his silence, Master Lu added, "Back in the Tai Xu Sect, I was the Xu Ling Peak Master. You must have heard of that title, surely, Junior Brother?"

In truth, the moment the man claimed to be a Golden Core True Monarch, Chen Qingyang had stopped doubting him. No one would invent such an outrageous lie. It had to be true.

"Twelve on each side. So, with the loss of Purple Sun True Monarch, the balance was destroyed. The Sect grew desperate and took a risk, trying to accelerate Li Qianxue’s growth to prepare for the Eternal Life Assembly more than a century from now. And that’s what led to this whole affair with the Cyan Nether Cave Mansion, isn’t it?"

Chen Qingyang had combined what he’d heard from the Demon Sect Disciple with what he’d learned today, added his own deductions, and arrived at this conclusion.

"My, my, Junior Brother, you really do know a lot. That’s the gist of it, yes."

Chen Qingyang continued, "And I’m guessing Purple Sun Master ended up in this state because something went wrong during your reincarnation process. The Guardian Daoist failed, your Dharma Embryo was stolen, and you lost your entire Cultivation."

’When he’d asked about the inheritance, Lu Qingyu had made a point of mentioning the Bridge of Longevity. Now, thinking back, it wasn’t just a casual remark; it was an obsession. That, combined with the shift in the man’s expression when he spoke of it, had led Chen Qingyang to this deduction.’

"Clever. That’s exactly what happened."

"Then, Senior Brother, what you are now is..." Since the man called him Junior Brother, he addressed him as Senior Brother.

"Fortunately, a sliver of my Divine Soul survived, hidden within the Bridge of Longevity. As it happened, someone from the Nine True Temple came to receive the inheritance, and well... you can guess the rest."

Possession.

’He had said it himself: ordinary Possession was unsustainable. Only by using the Bridge of Longevity could one truly *become* the other person.’

"So Purple Sun Master is now Master Lu?"

"No, no, no!" the man said, shaking his head. "There is no more Purple Sun Master. There is only Master Lu."

Hearing this, Chen Qingyang made his decision instantly. "You have helped me obtain a great opportunity today, Senior Brother. In the future, should I gain the power, I will surely repay you. To what extent I can do so will depend on my own abilities."

"Haha!" Lu Qingyu laughed heartily. "I wasn’t asking for anything. Perhaps when you truly have the power, I’ll think of something to ask of you. If you weren’t so damn suspicious, kid, I wouldn’t have had to reveal my identity. Now... you can take this Sword Embryo without any worries!"

’That had to be just polite talk. One moment he was hinting he wanted something, and now he was claiming to want nothing.’

Now that he understood the full story, Chen Qingyang finally felt that the Cyan Nether Sword Embryo should be his.

He reached out and placed a hand on the jade box containing the Cyan Nether Sword Embryo.