Lu Chen's mention of the Demon God Flower shattered the composure of the two Demon Kings and the Demon Race princess, for it was a supreme divine treasure long spoken of among the Demon Race.
The name "Demon God" might have been somewhat exaggerated, but any member of the Demon Race who received the baptism of this Wonderful Flower in childhood could, at the very least, become a Demon Saint.
In this age, when heaven and earth suppressed cultivation, Severing the Dao at Immortal Three was difficult, and kings were nowhere to be seen, a supreme Saint of the Demon Race would be enough to tower over the entire world.
Though it was of little use to the Azure Flood Dragon King, the Peacock King, or Yan Ruyu themselves now, what of their children and successors?
Regardless of their race, how many mighty predecessors were willing to pay with their lives to pave the road for later generations, allowing them to climb higher and travel farther?
Children and successors not only inherited their predecessors' arts and Dao; they were also another form of continuation for their ancestors' lives and wills.
"Young brother, do you have a Demon God Flower?" the Azure Flood Dragon King asked Lu Chen earnestly, his face solemn and imposing.
Yan Ruyu, the Peacock King, and several old demons also stared intently at him, waiting to hear his answer about the supreme divine treasure.
Lu Chen shook his head. "It isn't in my possession, but I know where it is. And in just a few more years, that Demon God Flower will bloom fully."
Judging by when Ye Fan and the others found the Demon God Flower in the future, it should be about another ten years before that divine flower blossomed.
"Brother Lu, name whatever terms you want. As long as I, the Azure Flood Dragon King, have it, you may take it," the Azure Flood Dragon King said solemnly.
"The same goes for me!" the Peacock King also pledged.
Despite the promises of the two Demon Kings, Lu Chen turned to Yan Ruyu, the Demon Race princess. "I would like to trade with the princess for a few drops of Demon Emperor's essence blood. Would that be possible? As for how the Demon God Flower will be used afterward, the two seniors can discuss that with the princess."
Yan Ruyu considered for a moment. "Very well. If we truly find the supreme divine flower of the Demon Race, I am willing to give Young Master Lu nine drops of the Ancestral Emperor Blood."
"Thank you, Princess!" Lu Chen rose and cupped his hands in salute.
The Azure Emperor had originally been a green lotus Immortal Divine Medicine. Through a fragment of the Immortal Ascension Cauldron, he had broken free of his medicinal form and become a complete living being. From there, he had advanced triumphantly all the way to attaining the Dao and becoming an emperor.
The heart he had left behind was a divine treasure that could shake the world. Had the Azure Emperor not refined away the aura of the imperial Dao within it himself, deliberately leaving it as a potent medicine for his descendants, no one in this world could have extracted Emperor Heart Essence Blood from his imperial heart.
And if Lu Chen's guess was correct, someone had already obtained the Azure Emperor's essence blood from Yan Ruyu in a trade.
That person was Duan De. He had schemed to trick Ye Fan into going to Yan Ruyu's residence, sold his Desolate Ancient Sacred Body to her, and received a drop of emperor blood in exchange.
He truly was an unscrupulous Daoist, swindling and deceiving, digging up ancestral graves, and making countless people gnash their teeth with hatred.
Having settled the exchange of the Demon God Flower for the Azure Emperor's essence blood with Yan Ruyu, Lu Chen still had one small problem to resolve.
The Demon God Flower was in the Feathered Immortal Valley, but that valley lay somewhere within a million-li stretch of the Great Wilderness in the Southern Region. He had no idea exactly where within that expanse it was.
The Eastern Wasteland! The Eastern Wasteland! In other words, this land held endless stretches of primordial wilderness. How was Lu Chen supposed to find it? And only the Ji Family possessed a map of the Feathered Immortal Valley.
Tens of thousands of years ago, a Great Accomplished God King had emerged from the Ji Family. He had accidentally entered the Heavenly Palace ruins outside the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land and obtained an immense opportunity within. Afterward, he had been transported into the small world of the Feathered Immortal Valley. Only then had he learned the location of that secret land, drawing a map and leaving it with the Ji Family.
Aside from them, Lu Chen did not know who else might know the location of that immortal valley.
Though the map was with the Ji Family, obtaining it could be called difficult, yet there were ways to get it. The Ji Family placed little importance on the map left by the Great Accomplished God King, merely keeping it among the family's ancient books. If no one mentioned it, it might well have already been forgotten.
Lu Chen came up with a plan: imitate the Black Emperor's underhanded trick for subduing Jiang Family disciples, fabricate a treasure map, and lure a Ji Family Disciple into bringing out the ancient map.
First, he painstakingly created a treasure map steeped in the weathered air of antiquity, hinting obscurely that an ancient mighty cultivator had perished in the Feathered Immortal Valley and might have left behind precious treasures.
Then he found an ambitious Ji Family Disciple in the Dao Palace Realm and had the Peacock King place a secret mark on him, allowing them to track his movements.
Next, he staged an accident that allowed that Ji Family Disciple to obtain the treasure map. Barring any surprises, the man would surely search through his family's ancient books to locate the Feathered Immortal Valley.
But how could they ensure he would not tell the Ji Family's powerful cultivators about the treasures in the immortal valley?
That was precisely why they had chosen an ambitious Ji Family Disciple in the Dao Palace Realm.
A Dao Palace Realm cultivator was not considered powerful, but compared with the many ordinary cultivators, he was far from weak and had enough strength to travel outside on his own.
As a Desolate Ancient Family that had endured for well over a hundred thousand years, the Ji Family likely had as many as a million descendants. Only a small number received the family's focused nurturing.
Under such circumstances, if a family disciple obtained a treasure map, would he tell other people? Would he tell the Ji Family?
Probably ninety-nine out of a hundred people in the world would tell no one, especially in a great clan with as many descendants as the Ji Family.
If the higher-ups were mobilized and found precious treasures, how could a junior in the Dao Palace Realm get a share? Unless he was a core disciple like Ji Haoyue or Ji Ziyue, his chances would be slim.
The best choice was naturally to search for the treasure in secret. Only if he truly could not obtain it would he consider another course.
Sure enough, just as Lu Chen had expected, several days after returning to the Ji Family, that disciple quietly left the clan again and headed alone into the boundless wilderness.
What followed needed little explanation. Using the mark the Peacock King had left on the man, Lu Chen quickly caught up with the Ji Family Disciple, subdued him outright, and seized the map of the Feathered Immortal Valley.
Afterward, the Azure Flood Dragon King stayed behind to prepare a Domain Gate for the journey to the Northern Region. Since they would be crossing between the two ends of the Eastern Wasteland, the distance was immense. Dao Patterns of that kind could not be engraved in a short time; constructing them required a lengthy effort.
As for Ye Fan, Lu Chen told him where the Fire Domain was and that the Bodhi Seed could suppress the power of its flames. It was an ideal place for refining artifacts, where he could forge his Mother Qi of All Things into shape.
This left Ye Fan utterly astonished. Only he and Pang Bo knew about the Bodhi Seed, while only he and Ji Ziyue knew about the root of the Mother Qi of All Things.
He had told no one else and had never used either before outsiders. How did Lu Chen know? Had he sensed them during their recent time together?
Lu Chen merely smiled without explaining. Afterward, he set out for the Feathered Immortal Valley with the Peacock King, Yan Ruyu, and the others.
The Eastern Wasteland, as its name implied, lay in the east. Vast and boundless, it took its name from its endless stretches of primordial wilderness.
This was a million-li expanse of wild forest in the Southern Region, a vast and limitless region densely packed with mountain peaks. No members of the Human Race could be seen for hundreds of thousands of li. Only the occasional cultivator ventured into it in search of medicinal herbs.
Lu Chen, Yan Ruyu, and the others traveled deep into the wilderness. Carried by the Peacock King, they flew for countless tens of thousands of li, crossing innumerable mountains, rivers, and landscapes as they followed the route map copied by that Ji Family Disciple.
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