Boundless Star Vessel

When it came to molding a body from lotus roots, the first person Lu Li thought of was the Third Prince. Legend had it that lotus roots formed his bones, lotus blossoms his flesh, and lotus fibers his meridians; a golden core or immortal arts were infused with his soul, ultimately forming a physical body. He wore a lotus-flower skirt, his face looked as if powdered, and his lips as though painted vermilion.

A man with a woman's face, so to speak.

Without a doubt, the first femboy Lu Li had encountered in his previous life was Nezha.

Lu Li made a rough calculation. The construct artifacts Elder Duan had mentioned alone numbered no fewer than eight. Going by what she meant, even his internal organs could be put up as collateral in exchange for construct artifacts.

By that calculation, she could provide nearly twenty types of construct artifacts. That was far more complex than the composition of Nezha's body.

Yet each of these construct artifacts was more yin and more feminine than the last. Coupled with the sorts of dreams he had been having every night lately, Lu Li gradually realized that something seemed deeply wrong.

His body... his body was about to become strange.

At that moment, Lu Li seemed to have discovered something!

"Hey, I mean... ahem, when all these construct artifacts of yours are put together, what exactly do they make? Why do I feel like something's not quite right?"

"Put together, of course they make a supreme physical body that makes ten thousand people drool with envy!"

"Drool with envy my ass. Is the way you're drooling over it even proper?"

"Heh. Disciple, I must criticize you for that. By 'drool with envy,' I do not mean carnal desire, but the pursuit of the ultimate cultivation and Dao attainment."

As she spoke, Elder Duan grew more and more animated, her voice gradually turning fervent.

To put it plainly, this body was incredibly formidable—powerful beyond compare. Even the one Duan Xuanyuan had refined back then had merely been a half-finished product.

Though she had removed the demonic pill, she lacked the critically important Lunar Manor. If not for the exceptional circumstances, she would not have feigned her death at that critical juncture.

Yet Lu Li sank into deep doubt. If the day truly came when he replaced all the skin, flesh, blood, bones, and internal organs throughout his body with construct artifacts, would he still be himself?

"You know that's not what I'm asking."

"Not only does it make ten thousand people drool with envy, it is also exquisitely beautiful. Disciple, have you ever heard of the Boundless Star Vessel?"

"Is it a construct artifact?"

"Indeed. It was a construct artifact refined by the Boundless Venerable in ancient times, also known as the Ship of Boundlessness. The Boundless Venerable once controlled it to wage war in all directions. During the thousand-odd years after his fall, that star vessel gradually decayed, and his disciples and followers continuously repaired it to preserve the image of their sect.

"Decayed spiritwood was replaced by fresh spiritwood, rusted spirit minerals by brand-new spirit minerals. Time slipped by in the blink of an eye, until one day, people discovered that the Boundless Star Vessel had already been completely refurbished. Not a single component within it had been made by the Boundless Venerable's own hand.

"In truth, the mechanism components that had been replaced were not discarded. The Boundless Venerable's followers collected them and used those decayed, rusted components to piece together another Boundless Star Vessel.

"At this point, some descendants of the sect might ask: which one was the true Boundless Star Vessel? The refurbished one, or the one pieced together from the components that had been replaced?"

Elder Duan paused briefly. The story sounded strangely familiar to Lu Li, but he could not help asking:

"So which one was real?"

"Just as the disciples were arguing without end, the artifact spirit within the Boundless Star Vessel awakened. It said—this new one is the Boundless Star Vessel. I say it is, so it is, because I am the artifact spirit."

"Wow. How domineering."

"An artifact spirit resides within a construct artifact, just as a cultivator's soul resides within a physical body. A cultivator's soul governs their true heart; naturally, an artifact spirit can govern the true heart of a construct artifact as well. Who is who? Of course the artifact spirit has the final say."

"The true heart..."

"If you were the artifact spirit, with a battered old ship on one side that could fall apart at any moment, and a sturdy, reliable new ship on the other, which would you choose?"

"Of course the new ship."

"Exactly. Mortal flesh is so inconvenient. Only by relying on the Dao of Constructs, turning external things to one's own use and seizing the creations of heaven and earth, can one flourish for ten thousand years and attain the Great Dao."

Lu Li did not trust Elder Duan. Whenever she said anything, his instinct was to question it first. That was his habit, as well as the principle by which he conducted himself.

He constantly warned himself not to believe her nonsense. She had to be trying to swindle and deceive him, trying to lure him into depravity.

But after hearing her out, Lu Li thought it over and over, only to find no flaw in her logic. He even felt that what she said made a great deal of sense.

"So long as I hold fast to my true heart, I'll still be me."

"That understanding isn't wrong."

"Good. Hold fast to my true heart!"

Setting everything else aside, holding fast to one's true heart could not possibly be wrong.

Lu Li waved his tiny fists, his eyes shining brightly. He made up his mind that no matter what happened, no matter what he came to look like, he would hold fast to his true heart, preserve his masculine spirit, and resist improper temptations.

Afterward, it was time to consider how to refine the Azure Underworld Painted Skin.

The spirit materials needed to refine the Azure Underworld Painted Skin numbered twelve in total. Eleven of them could be bought directly. Lu Li calculated that those would cost roughly fifty spirit stones altogether.

He still had some spare money on hand, so there was no urgent need for him to earn more. In terms of cost alone, the Azure Underworld Painted Skin was considerably cheaper than the Qi-Combining Cauldron.

But the difficult part was the twelfth spirit material, which was also the core material of the Azure Underworld Painted Skin: the hide of an Azure Underworld Demon Fox.

Lu Li spent half a day running through all six Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilions in Maple Fragrance City, yet he still failed to purchase this material.

He did get a general grasp of the situation. The Azure Underworld Demon Fox was a first-rank demon beast. Since every part of its body was spirit material, the two sects had hunted it extensively over the years, driving it almost to extinction.

Even if someone were lucky enough to encounter one or two, they would quickly be bought up by White Moon Palace and Azure Sun Hall, the two major sects. They simply never reached the market.

Lu Li happened to hear a saying: among the hundreds of towns and cities surrounding the Treasure Flow River, there were hundreds of Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilions. Nine out of every ten belonged to the two sects. Whenever they came across precious spirit materials, these pavilions did not dare keep them for themselves and had to report them to their sects at once.

Even more than ninety percent of spirit mines were not permitted to be sold privately. The two sects not only possessed the most advanced spirit-ore refining techniques, but also controlled the right to sell high-purity spirit ore.

In the end, Lu Li found a privately run Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion in an alley on the western side of the city. He spent the price of a kidney to post a bounty, seeking the fur of an Azure Underworld Demon Fox.

If there was any news, Wood Crow would send him a message.

But honestly, Lu Li did not place much hope in it. He could only take things one step at a time.

Toward evening, Lu Li walked through an empty alley. The loose bluestone slabs clacked beneath his feet, and a fine drizzle drifted through the air. He finished gnawing the pear in his hand, skin and all, then tossed it away.

After bustling about for most of the day without gaining anything, Lu Li could not help feeling dejected. And just then, Elder Duan poured another basin of cold water over him.

"There's something I need to remind you of first, lest when the time comes, even I won't be able to help you."

Hearing this, Lu Li let out a long breath. It drifted into mist amid the rain as he said impatiently, "Go on. What is it this time?"

"You need to get the Heavenly-grade dual seals of the Pincer Master and the Welding Master immediately."