After Mu Feng and the others returned to the Mu Domain from the Black Nether Abyss, they rested for a day, then went back to cultivating or working.
The Liu Domain had suffered grievous casualties during this operation. After Liu Qing returned to its main city, he ordered his forces to lower their banners and silence their drums, drawing their influence back.
Once Mu Feng had dealt with the matters that had piled up while everyone was in the Black Nether Abyss, he also put an attack on the Liu Domain on the agenda.
By then, Su Qing had been in seclusion for three days.
Inside the cultivation chamber, Su Qing was still sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Within the aura sea of his dantian, several golden threads still connected Kunwu to his Spirit Wheel. The dark red on the blade had already faded, leaving only a faint red line along its spine.
Above the Spirit Wheel, a phantom Divine Soul slowly opened its eyes. A glimmer of gold flashed in them, and the last red line along the Kunwu Sword's spine turned to blue frost.
As the golden threads snapped, the Kunwu Sword circled nimbly around Su Qing's Divine Soul before settling into his hand.
All the dark red had now faded from the Kunwu Sword, leaving its entire blade a cold, frosty blue. Despite the ancient patches of rust along its edge, it still exuded a keen sharpness.
After the Kunwu Sword settled into Su Qing's hand, a black shadow suddenly darted out of it. She let out a shrill cry, then glared furiously at Su Qing. It was none other than the Nine Nether Sparrow.
"Hello."
Su Qing's Divine Soul smiled.
At that, the fury in the Nine Nether Sparrow's eyes burned even brighter. She beat her wings and prepared to lunge at Su Qing.
Before she could strike, however, several blue chains shot out of the Kunwu Sword and pinned her in midair.
Those blue chains were the seal Mu Chen's mother, Qing Yanjing, had placed on the Kunwu Sword. Su Qing had used it to seal the Nine Nether Sparrow inside the sword earlier.
"Despicable human!" the Nine Nether Sparrow spat through gritted teeth.
"Oh?" Su Qing gazed calmly at her, his eyes like a pool of autumn water. "How so?"
"Hah! You imprisoned me with those contemptible tricks because you covet my soul essence and want to refine it. Why pretend to be some merciful bodhisattva?"
"If you could control that seal, why would you bother wasting words with me?"
The Nine Nether Sparrow's voice was sharp.
"The sea of suffering is boundless, but turn back and you will find the shore. Hell has no gate, yet you brought this upon yourself." Faced with the Nine Nether Sparrow's foul attitude, Su Qing abandoned all courtesy.
"If you hadn't coveted my body and tried to borrow a corpse to return to life, how would I have sealed you inside the sword? You have only yourself to blame," Su Qing mocked coldly.
"Hah, so what? If you people hadn't come running because you coveted me, how would I have had a chance to enter your body?" the Nine Nether Sparrow retorted, refusing to give ground.
"Do you think you can keep me trapped forever like this? My Nine Nether Sparrow Clan carries the bloodline of the Ancient Undying Bird. However exceptional your talent may be, you have no chance of destroying me as you are now."
"Once my strength recovers, you'll be the first one I kill!"
The Nine Nether Sparrow's words brimmed with vicious intent, along with a deep contempt.
"Heh, fine. We have plenty of days ahead of us anyway. Take your time. We'll see how things turn out."
Rather than getting angry, Su Qing laughed as he answered.
With that, Su Qing stopped looking within himself and returned his attention to his physical body.
The Nine Nether Sparrow did not return inside the Kunwu Sword. She remained in the aura sea of Su Qing's dantian, shrinking her body and lying on the sword with her wings stretched out.
Her purple eyes stared at the blue chains, a trace of worry in her gaze. After a long while, she closed them.
Inside the cultivation chamber, Su Qing stretched and slowly exhaled a breath of white vapor, the gleam in his eyes brighter than before.
Having successfully sealed the Nine Nether Sparrow, Su Qing could finally turn his mind to weighing the gains and losses of this journey to the Black Nether Abyss, reflecting on his shortcomings while planning his next moves.
The expedition had yielded plentiful rewards. Both the damage inflicted on the Liu Domain and the gains in his own cultivation had exceeded expectations.
Yet the final outcome had also departed from what he had anticipated. The Nine Nether Sparrow had chosen him rather than Mu Chen, forcing Su Qing to alter his original plans.
He would need to work out detailed plans with his father and Uncle Zhou for their next moves against the Liu Domain. They had to cut out the weeds by their roots as thoroughly as possible, leaving no chance for the spring wind to bring them back to life.
The improvement in his cultivation had been another unexpected gain. When he bound the Kunwu Sword as his life-bound flying sword, the spiritual energy it fed back to him had helped him break through to the Divine Soul Realm.
The Mu Domain now had three Divine Soul Realm cultivators under one roof.
But this increase in cultivation had also left him with some issues to resolve.
The spiritual energy fed back by the Kunwu Sword was not something he had cultivated himself, after all. There was a slight disconnect between it and Su Qing's own spiritual energy, making its circulation somewhat sluggish.
He would therefore need some time to assimilate and temper that spiritual energy, and the best way to temper it was through battle.
As for his Divine Soul, Su Qing had no intention of refining the soul essence of any spirit beast.
Whatever soul essence he refined would exert a subtle influence on him, and Su Qing disliked that.
Besides, it was merely a Divine Soul!
To compromise the purity of my soul for a temporary increase in strength would be to abandon the root for the branches!
My heart is like the bamboo of the southern mountains, straight without bending. It is neither stone nor mat, to be turned or rolled away. I will neither retreat nor evade.
Rather than refine a Divine Soul, I would cultivate my true self and behold my own heart and nature.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Su Qing reached this conclusion and became a little more certain of the path ahead.
When Su Qing stepped out of the cultivation chamber, the midday sunlight fell directly across his face. Though it was already winter, the glare still made him narrow his eyes.
"Greetings, eldest young master."
The Mu Domain guards stationed in the courtyard greeted Su Qing when they saw him.
Su Qing smiled back, then asked, "Where are my father and Uncle Zhou?"
"Young master, the Domain Lord and Master Zhou should be in the council hall right now," a guard replied, cupping his hands.
"All right, thank you." Su Qing patted the guard's shoulder and strode toward the council hall.
"Qing, you're here? Your Uncle Zhou and I were just discussing whether to construct a rank-two Spirit Gathering Array within the Mu Domain. Do you have any thoughts?"
Mu Feng was discussing the matter with Zhou Ye in the council hall. Wen Ling, the rank-two Spirit Array Master who taught Mu Chen about Spirit Arrays, stood nearby as well.
"That can wait. Our first priority right now is declaring war on the Liu Domain."
Su Qing went straight to the point.
"Well..." Mu Feng and Zhou Ye exchanged a glance. "We need to consider the Liu Domain matter carefully. If we declare war on them, the other domains won't simply sit back and watch."
Su Qing said gravely, "We have to fight. Liu Qing's father, Liu Jingshan, isn't dead. He's in seclusion right now, preparing to break through to the Three Realms stage."
"From what I know, he'll be coming out soon. And things between the Mu Domain and the Liu Domain have already reached the point where only one of us can survive."
Startled, Mu Feng and Zhou Ye immediately grew serious. "Is that information reliable?"
"It is," Su Qing said solemnly. "There were plenty of suspicious circumstances surrounding Liu Jingshan's death years ago. Rumors that he faked his death to enter seclusion have always circulated across the Northern Spirit Plains."
"During our trip to the Black Nether Abyss a few days ago, I captured Liu Mubai. After that, I subjected him to a series of brutal interrogations, focusing mainly on this question."
"I won't go into the details of the process. What I learned from Liu Mubai was this: Liu Jingshan is still alive, and he's only one step away from the Three Realms stage."
"If he successfully emerges from seclusion, it will be a disaster for us. We have to kill him before he advances to the Three Realms stage, or force him out early and make all his efforts come to nothing."