Chapter 792: Lu Qianqiu's "Great Gift

Shen Lang really hadn’t expected that something as secret as obtaining the Heaven-Slaying Trident in the Hungry Ghost Dao would be exposed so quickly.

And by people from the War God Hall’s Five-Colored Banner, no less!

The Heaven-Slaying Trident was one of the Ten Great Celestial Artifacts and no small matter. If this information got out, Shen Lang would likely find it impossible to take a single step in the Dragon Scale Divine Hall!

At this thought, killing intent for Yin Tianchou flared in Shen Lang’s heart.

With a flicker of his body, Shen Lang materialized behind Monk Bu Se, startling the lecherous monk.

Shen Lang didn’t bother greeting him. He took a deep breath, looked toward the cliff, and called out, “Lu Qianqiu, come out and see me!”

His voice, infused with wisps of Spiritual Power, wasn’t loud, but it rolled across the space above the cliff like thunder.

Monk Bu Se was stunned for a moment, then his head lolled to the side, and he fainted again.

Meanwhile, in the empty space above the cliff ahead, the figure of the red-haired Lu Qianqiu, seated on a throne, immediately became visible.

Lu Qianqiu spoke with a hint of laziness, “You’re quite the elusive one, aren’t you? Disappearing and reappearing at will, to the point that even I can’t track you. So, what do you want?”

Shen Lang nodded slightly. “Nothing that happens in this Dragon Scale Divine Hall escapes your notice, right? I need all the information on the two people who just left here—everything they’ve said and done since entering the Dragon Scale Divine Hall.”

“Also, starting now, I’ll need you to keep an eye on their movements for me.”

Lu Qianqiu chuckled in amusement. “You’ve got some nerve, asking a dignified Prince of the Dragon Race to do this kind of work for you… Alright, what can I say? You’re my friend.”

The moment he finished speaking, a wisp of thought transmitted from the void and hovered before Shen Lang.

With a flicker of his will, Shen Lang lowered the defenses of his Sea of Consciousness and absorbed the thought into his mind.

Yin Tianchou and his companion arriving at the Dragon Scale Divine Hall, frantically breaking through the formations, then entering the Hungry Ghost Dao in a sorry state and using the “Qi Gathering White Flag Formation” to see Shen Lang’s blurry figure…

All of this, every last detail, appeared in Shen Lang’s mind.

No wonder Lu Qianqiu had arrogantly suppressed the Abyss Lord and declared himself the Dominator of this Dragon Scale Divine Hall.

Even the Abyss Lord’s Divine Thought couldn’t penetrate a place like the Hungry Ghost Dao, yet Lu Qianqiu knew everything that happened inside.

Even Ghost Venerable Ye Youming hadn’t noticed Lu Qianqiu spying on them. This showed that the man had indeed, as he claimed, mastered most of the Restriction Secret Techniques in the Dragon Scale Divine Hall, allowing him to use them to observe events in the vast majority of its regions.

“So that’s how it is…”

After fully processing the information from the wisp of thought, Shen Lang finally understood the whole story.

A legendary figure from the War God Hall, the strategist Wu Xingkong, had used Divination to determine that Ghost Venerable Ye Youming was suppressed beneath the Hungry Ghost Dao in the Dragon Scale Divine Hall.

He had even divined that Yin Tianchou, the most famous genius of the White Banner Lineage, was fated for this great opportunity—to not only rescue Ye Youming but also obtain the Heaven-Slaying Trident, one of the Ten Great Celestial Artifacts.

Therefore, the White Banner Master had sent the Emperor Martial Realm expert Duan Chenfeng to escort Yin Tianchou here to free Ghost Venerable Ye Youming.

However, this perfectly logical sequence of events had been completely thrown into chaos by Shen Lang’s sudden appearance.

When Shen Lang entered the Dragon Scale Divine Hall, he had mischievously repaired and activated all the Restrictions he encountered along the way, blocking Yin Tianchou and his companion outside.

By the time Yin Tianchou and his companion exhausted themselves to finally reach the Hungry Ghost Dao in a pathetic state, Shen Lang, who had stumbled upon the Heaven-Slaying Trident, had already rescued Ghost Venerable Ye Youming and claimed the Trident for himself!

At the location of the Heaven-Slaying Trident, Yin Tianchou used the “Qi Gathering White Flag Formation” and saw Shen Lang’s blurry figure, which was why he had been hunting him down ever since.

Unfortunately, the Dragon Scale Divine Hall was a maze of countless branching paths. Yin Tianchou and his companion took the wrong turns, backtracking again and again, until more than three days later, they finally tracked Monk Bu Se down to this spot…

‘Bai Luobing’s most prized disciple? With Bai Luobing’s judgment, how could he have taken a liking to such a corrupt person?’

Shen Lang’s eyes shifted as another strange thought occurred to him. ‘The War God Hall’s strategist, Wu Xingkong… Why is there no record of him in the War Emperor’s memories? It seems the relevant memories are still sealed… And what’s the reason for the Seal? I really want to drag that War Emperor out and beat the hell out of him!’

Sighing, Shen Lang cupped his hands toward Lu Qianqiu. “Many thanks!”

Lu Qianqiu raised an eyebrow and smiled. “It’s not easy to get a ‘thank you’ from you… By the way, I’ve left arrows for you at all the forks in the path ahead. Just follow them. They lead to some of the Medicinal Gardens and storage spots of those old geezers from Yumu Cave Blessed Land. It’s also the fastest and safest route to the next level up.”

“Anyway, all those guys from Yumu Cave Blessed Land have fled. It’s your lucky day, kid.”

After saying this, Lu Qianqiu’s figure slowly faded and vanished into the void.

Standing at the cliff’s edge, Shen Lang couldn’t help but start to laugh.

The Medicinal Gardens of those old geezers from Yumu Cave Blessed Land—what did that mean?

Even if those people took all the precious herbs with them when they left Yumu Cave Blessed Land, whatever little scraps remained would still be a treasure trove capable of shocking the world!

Any herb inside, even without counting how many years it had grown before, had been growing for a full ten thousand years just in the time since the people of Yumu Cave Blessed Land disappeared!

In other words, any herb inside that was still intact and hadn’t been taken by some other Demon Beast was at least ten thousand years old!

A ten-thousand-year-old herb grown in a place so rich with Spiritual Qi…

This was absolutely terrifying!

Shen Lang had been complaining about being poor lately. Now that Lu Qianqiu had presented him with such a grand gift, it was hard not to smile!

‘It’s hard not to like this guy!’

Shen Lang praised Lu Qianqiu, then lightly tapped Monk Bu Se on the back, waking him up.

The moment Monk Bu Se awoke, he vigilantly circulated his Buddha Power and scanned his surroundings, rattling off, “What happened? How did I mysteriously pass out again? Were there enemies here? Grand Martial Uncle, are you alright?”

Shen Lang pointed down the path ahead. “Nothing happened. I just called an old friend over for a quick chat. He just didn’t want you to know about him. Pull yourself together, it’s time to go treasure hunting.”

“Treasure hunting?” Monk Bu Se’s eyes lit up as if he had become a different person.

Shen Lang smiled. “At every fork in the road ahead, there will be an arrow that only you or I can see. Follow that arrow. Understood?”

“I need to sit and recover. You continue onward. Don’t wake me unless you run into something you can’t handle within the next two days… As for any treasures you find, you can keep a little bit for yourself. The rest is mine, understand? A monk should not be greedy.”

“This disciple understands. Grand Martial Uncle, rest assured!” Monk Bu Se said respectfully.

But as expected, the monk was unreliable…

Shen Lang had just entered the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron and closed his eyes for barely a moment when Monk Bu Se’s call for help came through. “Grand Martial Uncle, look! Is this the arrow you were talking about?”

“Damn it!” Shen Lang was about to die from exasperation. ‘Can’t a guy get some sleep?! Can’t a guy get some rest?!’

Opening his eyes, Shen Lang indeed saw a strange arrow…

Before Monk Bu Se, four more branching paths had appeared.

And beside one of the paths, which hugged the cliff and was clearly more dangerous, was an extremely conspicuous mark!

A red arrow!

It looked as if someone had dipped their palm in blood and smeared it on the cliff face!

That wasn’t even the strangest part.

The strangest part was that although the red arrow was simple and crude, if you stared at it for a couple of seconds, it would spontaneously transform into a Red Dragon!

The Red Dragon even turned its head, glared at Monk Bu Se who was staring at it, and gave him a wink!

It was as if to say, “Follow me!”

That look was exactly the same as the Red Dragon Lu Qianqiu’s!

Of course, Monk Bu Se had never seen the Red Dragon before, so upon witnessing such a bizarre sight, he immediately shuddered.

Even though Shen Lang had just told him about the arrows, he couldn’t resist the urge to take a different path!

“Idiot, I already told you to follow the arrow when you see it. What are you so suspicious about?” Shen Lang cursed, thoroughly displeased.

Monk Bu Se’s lips trembled as he spoke. “But Grand Martial Uncle, this is too weird, too sinister! There are no Spiritual Power fluctuations coming from it, but this arrow that looks like it was smeared with blood can turn into a Blood Dragon! It even glared at me!”

“In a place like this, why would there be such an obvious arrow? And it’s blood-red, too! It’s clearly a trap to lure people into danger, right? Anyone would choose any path but this one! I’m afraid this arrow is trying to lead me to some terrible place! Grand Martial Uncle, could it be that this isn’t the arrow you were talking about?”

Shen Lang said irritably, “Idiot, what do you mean smeared with blood… That’s the juice from a fruit that’s common around here!”

“And it’s not a Blood Dragon, it’s a Red Dragon… Stop being so paranoid and just follow the arrow’s direction. We have a powerful expert guiding us, understand?”

“A powerful expert… a powerful expert who does things so strangely?” Monk Bu Se was completely baffled, muttering to himself, “I think Grand Martial Uncle is the real expert. Illusion is reality, reality is illusion, emptiness is form, and form is emptiness…”

“Emptiness my ass! Why are you spouting so much nonsense? Get a move on. If you die, I’ll burn incense for you and ask the Buddha to take good care of you, so don’t worry.” Shen Lang yawned and shut his eyes again.

“…” Monk Bu Se was speechless.

Shen Lang closed his eyes, and his consciousness sank directly into the Tai Chi Diagram, where he sat down beside the World Tree.

His Sea of Consciousness was depleted, and the Spiritual Power within his Nascent Soul was completely exhausted. Shen Lang was so tired he felt like he could sleep forever.

However, simply sleeping or cultivating was far inferior to cultivating next to the World Tree.

With the World Tree’s help, his recovery time could be reduced to almost a quarter of what it would normally take!

This was something Shen Lang had only discovered recently while comprehending the Rules on the World Tree. He had rarely experienced his Sea of Consciousness being completely drained before, so he had never noticed the World Tree’s terrifying Recovery Power in this regard.

Right now, there were three urgent things Shen Lang wanted to do.