Weiyang's Old Relic

Su Che hurried onward, and finally caught sight of Shanyin County's walls by moonlight.

Returning to Shanyin County did not mean he was safe.

Yet the pressure weighing on his heart had indeed eased considerably.

At times, Su Che felt that he was truly unlucky.

By his nature, he should have kept a low profile and bided his time, hiding until he became the Sword God of Ten Mile Slope before emerging into the world.

Unfortunately, things never went as one wished. Trouble and strife seemed to have singled him out by name.

Could it have something to do with his shattered fate?

Six Harmonies Azure Dragon... heh heh, Six Harmonies Azure Dragon.

Su Che had not believed in fate in his previous life, and he did not believe in it in this one either.

He took out the item he had obtained from Withered Forest Chan Temple from his sleeve.

Under the bright moonlight, he examined it closely.

At first glance, there was nothing remarkable about it.

A Huang talisman paper was pasted over its top. There was no other writing on the paper, only four words: "Fall upon meeting Su."

Fall upon meeting Su, open upon meeting Che.

Su Che only wanted to say one thing to that Zhongyuan: Why not just point at my nose and loudly tell all those demons and monsters to come seize me? Why go to all this trouble?

The item felt quite heavy in his hand. Its entire surface was covered in verdigris, thick chi-dragon patterns winding across it amid cloud-and-thunder motifs. Its form was ancient and unadorned, clearly bearing the weight of many years.

It had three feet below, a tail at the back, and two small three-legged azure birds on the rim, their wings spread as if ready to take flight.

It was a wine cup.

After going to such lengths, was this all Zhongyuan wanted to give him?

Su Che's first reaction upon seeing this ancient vessel was that it was merely an antique.

The moment he tore off the Huang talisman paper, the sheet covered in Zhongyuan's handwriting began to smolder eerily without wind or flame, vanishing into a puff of ash.

Inside the cup's mouth were several crooked ancient seal-script characters.

Su Che furrowed his brow and carefully identified the words within.

There was a legend in this world that the writing of the Central Land had been created in the Ancient Era, when humans and gods had yet to be separated, by divine beings. Once writing came into being, ghosts wailed and gods howled, for the secrets of Heaven and Earth had thereby all been laid bare.

Legends could not be entirely trusted, but the evolution of written forms had indeed not changed much.

Su Che could vaguely make out the four words "Weiyang's own making," but the rest of the writing was already illegible.

Why had Zhongyuan given him this thing? So that at future Mount Zhong Association gatherings, he could use this cup to drink a few more rounds?

Just as he hesitated, Su Che noticed a faint glow appearing within the wine cup.

Within a thread of azure light, countless specks of golden radiance flickered in and out of sight. The azure light seemed to be rapidly forming inside the cup at a certain rate.

This thing...

Su Che suddenly recalled a description he had once read in Records of the Hidden Within.

"On the night of Gengshen, the moonlight contains Emperor's Nectar. Its shape resembles countless olives, ten thousand golden threads strung one upon another, hanging down into the human world. When grass and trees receive its essence, they may become demons."

The sixty Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches formed one cycle. A Gengshen day came once every sixty days, and the moonlight concealed traces of Emperor's Nectar. To plant spirits and strange creatures, it was a supreme tonic.

What was forming in this wine cup was clearly Emperor's Nectar.

No, at this concentration, calling it crystallized Emperor's Nectar would perhaps be more appropriate.

Or perhaps, a stone.

As for the deity named Weiyang...

Su Che recalled another passage from Records of the Hidden Within.

"The so-called doctrine of the Five Directions and Five Emperors is exceedingly absurd. Though gods may exist throughout Heaven and Earth, no Heavenly Emperors have ever been heard of. Though there are five directions, no Five Emperors have ever been heard of. The so-called Red Emperor Biaonu, Azure Emperor Weiyang, White Emperor Zhaoju, Yellow Emperor Hanshu, and Black Emperor Zhiguang are truly unheard of. It is merely that alchemists are wild and fond of argument, while the Daoist sect is pure and tranquil and does not contend, allowing such errors to spread across the four directions..."

This thing was very likely a wine vessel personally made by the "nonexistent" Azure Emperor, Divine Weiyang.

Worthy indeed of an Ancient Era god—his handiwork was truly extraordinary.

There was no need to mention Emperor's Nectar's effect on demons and ghosts. It could make up for their foundations and allow their cultivation to advance by a thousand miles in a day.

Once such a thing appeared in the world, it would absolutely draw demons and ghosts from all under Heaven in an endless flood, like moths flying into a flame.

It truly was a precious treasure.

Lord Zhongyuan's methods were indeed extraordinary.

As Su Che marveled at Zhongyuan's power, he could not help but wonder: what he, "Lord Dongwang," had received was a drinking vessel once belonging to the Azure Emperor.

Wuzhiqi, Gushiye, Yuqiang, Plain Maiden, and that unlucky Qingqiu—what gifts had Zhongyuan given them?

Su Che also considered another possibility.

Back when Lion Azure Lotus Perfected Tathagata had come east to spread the Dharma, this wine cup might well have been one of the treasures he obtained in the Central Land.

No—Su Che even felt that the old lion had likely come to the Central Land precisely to seek such an object.

This wine cup appeared simple. His cultivation was still shallow, so he did not know what significance Emperor's Nectar held for great cultivators whose cultivation had reached an extremely lofty realm.

But from the perspective of someone from another world, Su Che felt that this wine cup possessed the power to alter the course of the entire world.

Simply put, today was not a Gengshen day, yet the Emperor's Nectar in this cup was frighteningly abundant.

If great demons and fierce ghosts wished to obtain Emperor's Nectar, they had to breathe in moonlight on a Gengshen day and expend great effort just to gather a thread or two.

The reason One-Eye had encountered him was also because he had been absorbing moonlight on a Gengshen night.

Yet now, this wine cup had gathered Emperor's Nectar on an ordinary night.

And a great deal of it—Emperor's Nectar that was exceptionally pure.

What did that mean?

Whoever possessed this item could easily raise an army of demons and ghosts.

Should this treasure fall into the hands of some Demon King or Ghost Immortal, it would be enough to make the great human age of this world, already like a guttering candle in the wind, even more turbulent.

It was practically a divine tool for the farming path of evil cultivation.

Heh heh, such a treasure had happened to fall between Shanyin County, where fiends sprang up everywhere, and Guobei County, where ghosts ran rampant.

Could it be that the Heaven and Earth of this realm were deliberately at odds with the mortal world?

Su Che raised the wine cup and poured a full cup of condensed Emperor's Nectar into his body.

The moment it entered his mouth, a clear, numinous energy rushed straight toward his Niwan Palace. His sea of consciousness seemed like a greedy sponge, slowly devouring the liquid infused with the essence of the lunar yin.

The shattered sinews and channels of his flesh, broken by the White Deer Cave scheme, gradually recovered beneath the effect of that lunar essence. In a manner as silent as rain moistening all things, it quietly brought even more changes to Su Che's body.

Of course, the greatest benefit came as his sea of consciousness was nourished. The sword intent between his brows leapt without cease, leaving Su Che so exhilarated that he wanted to let out a long howl.

Heaven-Supporting Jun Sword, divine edge carried in the gaze.

Sword light flashed in Su Che's eyes.

Worthy indeed of Heavenly Emperor's Nectar. Only such an exquisite, peerless spiritual substance was fit for Ancient Era gods to enjoy.

At that moment, Su Che immediately understood what had enabled Wuzhiqi to contend against three fifth-rank experts from the Censorate.

Why did he feel like the greatest benefit would come from taking out all the others?

Right, Qingqiu was already in his hands.

"Lord Dongwang" was thinking with a complete lack of loyalty.

Was this what it felt like to be Yue Buqun?

There really was a faint thrill of betraying one's morals.

Su Che looked at the Emperor's Nectar that had begun to condense anew inside the wine cup.

There was no earth-shattering transformation. It simply and plainly gathered the liquid drop by drop.

An Ancient Era divine artifact, an Ancient Era divine artifact indeed.

All he could do was marvel at the supreme divine ability with which the Azure Emperor had seized the workmanship of creation itself.

Turning cunning into clumsiness—truly good things needed no grand, imposing spectacle.

Su Che gained another layer of understanding.

Yellow Heaven Sect's rope looked best suited for tying around one's waistband.

The sword case of that previous-generation swordsman did not do much of anything when idle.

As for this Azure Emperor's cup, even if displayed on a curio shelf in a study, it would look like some counterfeit casually picked up from an old man's street stall.

Su Che tucked the wine cup into his sleeve and headed straight into Shanyin County.

Miss Qingqiu, this reunion would be different.