My Young Lord

Chu Zeming led the others into the Immortal Residence.

By the time everyone came back to their senses, the scene around them had changed abruptly.

The exquisite walls and floor tiles paved with white jade resembled the most luxurious palace in the world. Though the Immortal Residence had been without an owner for a long time and no one had entered it for over ten thousand years, it remained splendid and magnificent, untouched by a speck of dust.

"So this is... the Immortal Residence? It's so beautiful."

"I heard its defenses are incredibly strong too. That blond-haired man outside can't get in, right?"

"No wonder everyone in the Joint Grand Tournament wanted to fight over it..."

It was also Chu Zeming's first time entering the Immortal Residence, and his heart was no calmer than Xuan Mo's and the others'. As expected of a defensive magic artifact that even He Wuwei had wanted to contract, only for it to disdain him—it had every reason to be proud. Such a beautiful, noble thing... no wonder it feared being stained by something as unspeakable as dung water.

It was a pity that the Immortal Residence could not move on its own. Otherwise, it would have been perfect. The Spirit Mirror Platform, on the other hand, could move. Cultivators might not be able to come out easily, but entering it was effortless, and it had no defensive power at all.

Chu Zeming sighed inwardly.

Sure enough, it was impossible for all the advantages to fall into his hands.

Setting aside his greedy thoughts, Chu Zeming stirred his mind, and a tiny figure in wide robes and broad sleeves appeared before them, surrounded by nine white doors.

Chu Zeming looked toward the center of the Immortal Residence and ordered, "Place it here."

The translucent little white figure in broad sleeves obediently curved its eyes into crescents. Then it raised the tiny hands hidden entirely within its sleeves, and the first door floating at its side descended.

Half an incense stick later.

The Purple Nether Spirit Fruit Tree, radiating a faint, chilly glow, appeared through the door in the hall. Pale purple fruits swayed gently beneath its tassels—

Having finished the placement, the Mirror Spirit summoned the door back.

Watching the translucent little white figure with its nine white doors return to Chu Zeming, then plunge into his body and vanish, Xuan Mo and Ling Tian were too shocked to recover. "Eldest Senior Brother, that thing was..."

Chu Zeming nodded. "The Spirit Mirror Platform. That day, the sect leader had me retrieve raw stones from the sixth floor of the Spirit Mirror Platform, and its Mirror Spirit followed me out."

He had no intention of hiding it.

Some things could not be concealed merely by trying hard enough.

Besides, the Immortal Residence alone, which everyone knew about, was already enough to bring countless lethal dangers upon him. Whether or not you possessed a hidden treasure, those who wanted to kill you could always find all sorts of excuses to do so. Without explaining further, Chu Zeming simply lifted his chin. "There are fifty-four fruits in total. Eighteen each. Pick them and eat them yourselves. Once you've stabilized your realms, we'll leave."

Xuan Mo looked at Chu Zeming hesitantly. "Eldest Senior Brother... but there are four of us."

With eighteen per person, fifty-four Purple Nether Spirit Fruits were definitely not enough to divide among them.

Chu Zeming glanced at Yue Lian and said calmly, "He doesn't need any."

Yes, Yue Lian did not need any.

As for the real reason, only Chu Zeming and Yue Lian knew it. Chu Zeming was merely stating a fact, but Ling Tian and Xuan Mo heard it differently—Little Junior Brother was too weak; giving him fruits would be a waste.

Ling Tian, in particular, was delighted. Even his steps became light and graceful. As he passed Yue Lian with his head held high, he paused and snorted, "A useless leech nobody loves or cares about."

Yue Lian glanced at Ling Tian, somehow produced another Illusion Spirit Stone, and held it before him. "Xuan Mo begged me to come... Xuan Mo begged me to come... Xuan Mo begged me to come..."

In the empty Immortal Residence, the sound was especially grating.

Ling Tian staggered, then viciously snatched the Illusion Spirit Stone from Yue Lian's hand.

He threw it to the ground and smashed it!

Yue Lian stared at the broken Illusion Spirit Stone on the floor, let out an "Ah-oh," then raised his head and smiled eerily at Ling Tian. "It's fine. I have plenty more." With that, he brought out a large handful of Illusion Spirit Stones.

He activated them all—

"Xuan Mo begged me to come... Xuan Mo begged me to come... Xuan Mo begged me to come..."

Hearing the voices rise and fall one after another, Ling Tian was nearly driven mad. "Eldest Senior Brother, come beat him up!"

Chu Zeming closed his eyes and said blandly, "Shut up. Come cultivate."

Ling Tian said, "...Yes."

The clamor by his ears finally fell silent.

Chu Zeming began absorbing the power of the second, then the third... Purple Nether Spirit Fruit. His body began to grow scorching hot, and soon tiny dark-blue bolts of lightning appeared over him. These were unformed lightning tribulations. When Chu Zeming broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm, he had not drawn a lightning tribulation. It seemed the Heavenly Dao had been holding back a great move. Now that he had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, even breaking through to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage showed signs of drawing lightning.

The seventh, the eighth... Chu Zeming continued eating. As his body suddenly accepted such immense power, his skin began to crack. Beneath his black robes, mottled fissures appeared alongside traces of blood, only to be quickly enveloped by threads of pale purple spiritual energy and healed...

The seventeenth, the eighteenth... Chu Zeming's realm rose at a visible speed. The surrounding air seemed to begin churning.

When the spiritual power within him piled up to a certain critical point, Chu Zeming seemed to hear an exceedingly faint crack in his mind—

A breakthrough—the Nascent Soul Middle Stage!

The chaotic spiritual power within his body all settled into calm, and his sea of consciousness seemed to have expanded by more than twice.

Feeling the changes in his body, Chu Zeming slowly opened his eyes. His deep black gaze was colder and sharper than before. But... there was likely still a slight gap between him and the Nascent Soul Peak man outside.

Yue Lian was examining the tassels of the now-bald Purple Nether Spirit Fruit Tree, while Xuan Mo and Ling Tian had eaten all their spirit fruits and were still struggling to hold on.

The two of them were advancing from Golden Core Peak to the Nascent Soul Realm, so their breakthroughs were far more difficult than Chu Zeming's.

Watching Xuan Mo and Ling Tian furrow their brows as they strove to break through, inspiration suddenly struck Chu Zeming, and an excellent plan formed in his heart—

"Yue Lian, help watch the two of them. I'll go outside and take a look!"

After speaking, Chu Zeming vanished from the Immortal Residence in the blink of an eye before Yue Lian could react.

****

Outside the Immortal Residence, the Ji Household's people were still guarding the same spot.

Ji Liangyi wore a frosty expression as he led the others in surrounding the place where Chu Zeming's group had disappeared.

Having the Purple Nether Spirit Fruits snatched from his grasp left him deeply unwilling to accept it. Defensive magic artifacts could not move, so that black-robed man... had to still be here.

"Even if they took the Purple Nether Spirit Fruits, we must seize the tree back!" Ji Liangyi said coldly.

The others called out in low voices, "Yes! Young Lord."

The instant the words fell, a black-robed young man abruptly appeared in the heavily encircled center—

He was out!

Ji Liangyi stared ahead, his gaze icy. "Nascent Soul Middle Stage. You ate quite a few fruits. But you still can't defeat me. Hand over the tree, and I won't kill you."

Chu Zeming raised his eyes in surprise. "Where does all that confidence come from?"

Ji Liangyi sneered. "Great strength is the foundation of my confidence."

Chu Zeming neither agreed nor disagreed. He merely looked up at the sky.

As though he had confirmed something, when Chu Zeming lowered his gaze again, the Luminous Glaze Sword abruptly appeared in his hand. His black hair stirred without wind, his dark robes fluttering sharply. Chu Zeming raised his eyes and fixed them on Ji Liangyi as he said slowly, "Then... let's fight. I'll allow all of you to attack together."

"Hahaha! What arrogance! Do you know how ridiculous you are?" a green-robed cultivator mocked with a loud laugh.

Ji Liangyi also revealed a scornful expression.

Yet in the very next moment, they could no longer laugh.

For as their words fell, thick, terrifying tribulation clouds instantly spread across the entire sky.

Everything within a hundred li turned pitch-black in an instant. Spiritual energy surged wildly, and thick, terrifying lightning tribulations churned within the black clouds. A flash of lightning suddenly lit up, tearing through the dark canopy overhead.

At the center of the violent lightning tribulation, the black-robed man, holding a longsword glowing blood-red with his black hair flying wildly, smiled at them like a ghostly asura—

"Because my helper is the Heavenly Dao."

With those words, Chu Zeming became a streak of black shadow and flew toward Ji Liangyi and the others.

As he moved, the tribulation clouds overhead abruptly shifted as well, following Chu Zeming. Thick lightning tribulations containing the terrifying power of the Heavenly Dao crashed down one after another, densely striking the green-robed cultivators.

"Tribulation clouds!"

"The tribulation clouds of two Nascent Soul Realm cultivators!"

"Young Lord, dodge!"

Ji Liangyi's expression suddenly darkened. "Everyone, scatter and evade!"

The lightning tribulations of two Nascent Soul Realm cultivators overlapping... were no joke.

If they took them head-on, they would surely be severely injured.

Ji Liangyi retreated at high speed, trying to put distance between himself and Chu Zeming. But Chu Zeming clung to him like a maggot attached to bone, with only one purpose—to make the lightning tribulation strike him!

Seeing there was nowhere left to flee and the terrifying lightning tribulation was about to descend, Ji Liangyi abruptly stopped. He turned back, seized Chu Zeming by the collar, and roared, "If we're getting struck, then we'll be struck together! Let's both get injured and see who has the last laugh!"

Before he could finish speaking, Ji Liangyi suddenly felt a sharp pain in the web between his thumb and forefinger.

Looking down, he saw that where his hand gripped the black-robed young man's collar, a small, inconspicuous pitch-black four-headed snake hung there, all four heads biting into his hand.

Ji Liangyi's pupils contracted sharply.

"...You... used poison... despicable..."

With those words, he lost consciousness.

In the span of a spark, the lightning tribulation crashed down savagely—

No sooner said than done—just as the lightning was about to strike him, Chu Zeming directly raised Ji Liangyi above his head. The terrifying bolt struck the unconscious Ji Liangyi, instantly frying him black on the outside and tender within. Even his two beautiful locks of golden hair had been charred black, and his clothes were shredded. Though unconscious, Ji Liangyi could not help but twitch his limbs.

Rumble—

Rumble—

One lightning tribulation after another descended. Chu Zeming hid beneath Ji Liangyi's body like a mushroom. A lightning tribulation would only enter one person's body; once struck, there was no avoiding it.

Chu Zeming swung Ji Liangyi's body around like a windmill to draw in the lightning tribulations, keeping his own body completely concealed beneath him. "Anyone else want to come over? Hurry up and come get struck by lightning."

Seeing Ji Liangyi's body twitching continuously from the lightning, all the green-robed cultivators' eyes turned bloodshot, their eyes nearly splitting open—

"My young lord!!!!!"

"Damn it! You bastard!"