Su Yu's soul throbbed with pain. He did not take out an Emperor Weapon to protect his primordial spirit, instead quietly activating the Silver Moon Saint Pagoda and drawing on a wisp of the Inherited Saint Weapon's might.
Otherwise, he could not have endured the fierce killing intent of a Great Saint. He was closest to the vicious weapon, and the killing aura he bore was the most intense.
"Supreme saintly might..."
The Immortal Platform cultivators in the second circle cried out in astonishment, shaken by the boundless divine might of the Saint Dao.
No one could remain calm. Daoist Cao actually possessed a supreme Saint Weapon. This was a weapon of an ancient sage, almost never seen in the Age of Dharma Decline. With it in hand, one could roam the world unchecked...
Su Yu said nothing. He did not want to discuss the Saint Weapon.
With a flick of his fingers, sword light moved like a shadow, pulverizing stone chips. Soon, a brilliant silver glow appeared, beautiful as starlight and moonlight.
A jade-like beauty appeared within the Source.
This Blood Sacrifice Altar actually contained a primordial divine maiden, enveloped in a special kind of Source. It was not especially dazzling as a whole. It seemed to have been cast from a sky full of stars, or formed from the divine radiance of the bright moon gathered together, soft and hazy.
"A mixture of Star Source and Divine Source?" An old relic of the Ji Family identified the Source, but the mysterious kind of Source was not what drew the most attention. The divine maiden within was the focus, drawing every eye upon her.
The news spread as if it had wings. Everyone was astonished, surging forward like a tide, eager to glimpse the primordial divine maiden's beauty.
The owner of the Yaoguang Stone Workshop looked terrible. There had been eight Blood Sacrifice Altars in all. They had cut six and found nothing, yet this smallest one had yielded a treasure.
Su Yu also admired the beauty of the woman in the Source, even finding the leisure to compare her with Yang Yi, the previous-generation holy maiden of Jade Lake.
But as he looked, his interest waned.
Neither was his, so what was there to compare?
Chapter 33: Alone with the Divine Maiden, the Curtain Rises
The Blood Sacrifice Altar trembled slightly. Within the crystalline Source Stone, as though formed from gathered moonlight, was a pretty face with skin so delicate it seemed it would break at a touch. She was utterly serene, motionless as if fast asleep.
The divine maiden had a cascade of exceptionally silky purple hair. Its beautiful sheen covered half her face. She wore a golden gauze garment, and her skin was white as ivory. Her snow-white body seemed carved from mutton-fat jade rather than made of flesh and blood. It gave her a dreamlike quality, as though she were a masterpiece of heaven rather than born of flesh and blood.
Source Qi constantly flowed out of the Star Source and Divine Source. The sacred power they emitted diluted the killing aura of the blood-colored spearhead, giving off a soothing presence...
Su Yu stripped away the remaining stone of the Blood Sacrifice Altar. As hundreds of jin of stone chips fell away, the primordial divine maiden of the Divine Silkworm Clan saw the light of day again after millions of years.
It was a strange sight. A scarlet ancient divine spear pierced the strange Source, a length of its spearhead protruding from it. It had pinned the Divine Silkworm Princess in place, piercing her through the heart.
"This is another supreme Saint Weapon. What a pity it wasn't forged from Immortal Gold. It couldn't withstand the passage of millions of years, and the Saint Dao runes on it have all been worn away."
"If it really were an intact Saint Weapon, that would turn the heavens upside down. It wouldn't be worth much less than that Qilin Seed from before. The entire Eastern Wasteland would be shaken."
Several elders sighed, finding it a great pity. The ancient divine weapon had decayed after all.
Hearing this, Su Yu glanced sideways. They were comparing an intact Saint Weapon to a divine medicine?
After thinking for a moment, he shook his head. These early-stage figures did not even understand the levels of the Saint Dao, so it was only natural they did not know the true value of a divine medicine.
After all... this was an age of Dharma Ending in which no Kings appeared. Absurdity was the defining color of the age.
Big Moon had tried to seize the Green Lotus Emperor Weapon right at the start, and a great Four Extremes cultivator had bombarded the Demon Emperor's Tomb.
The Nangong mighty figure had sought to fight for immortality in a single lifetime.
Compared with those, what he had heard was not all that absurd! A summer insect could not be told of ice; there were many things these elders did not know.
On the grand scale, far too many beings who had attained the Dao were buried on the Big Dipper. Great powers clustered together, and there were numerous ultimate Emperor Weapons. Across the universe as a whole, however, Emperor Weapons were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. The true foundations of the great sacred lands had yet to emerge!
On the smaller scale, however, this ancient star had fallen into the most terrifying Dharma Ending. Cultivation was difficult, and the leaders of great sects were only at the peak of the Immortal Platform Second Heaven. Immortal Three was already considered part of a sect's foundation.
The two were essentially one and the same.
Su Yu's eyes shone brightly, and threads of silver light spilled from between his brows. Like a jade spirit descending into the mortal world, Divine Radiance danced and fell upon the Source, making the primordial divine maiden look utterly otherworldly!
The mighty figures present also shielded their juniors. They could move freely under the pressure of a Saint Weapon, but the younger generation could not.
The younger cultivators watched the blue-robed Daoist with pale faces, finding him terrifying. He had now become the center of attention in the stone garden.
Saint Dao weapons were sacred objects they could not even touch before becoming figures of the Holy Lord's stature. Yet Daoist Cao possessed one outright, and he was also a master Source seeker. Together, the two gave him an exceedingly high status...
"Collect!"
Su Yu formed a divine hand seal and sent it out. The Source, nearly two meters tall, was taken into his Bitter Sea. Everyone thought the divine maiden within the Source was dead, and sighed repeatedly.
The difference in value between a living "king" and a dead one was immense.
Someone made an offer, hoping to study the divine maiden of the Primordial Race, but Su Yu politely declined. After that, the matter caused little further stir.
Through the tremendous power lent by the Saint Weapon, Su Yu's gaze flashed like lightning, and his Source Dao eyes grew ever more wondrous. He could even sense the relative strength of the origins of the living beings present.
The two behind the Ji Family's mighty figure were the ones who most stirred his blood.
"Big and Little Moon Spirit..."
Su Yu murmured inwardly, glancing at the somewhat youthful Ji Haoyue and Ji Ziyue. A longing arose in his heart, but he forcibly suppressed it...
His objective had been achieved. It was time to leave!
Having decided to go, Su Yu cut open two more pieces of special Divine Source and traded them with the Jiang Family and the Ji Family respectively, obtaining six hundred thousand jin of Pure Source.
Afterward, he bid everyone farewell one by one and declined invitations from Xia Ye and Jiang Li before leaving the Yaoguang Stone Workshop.
His journey out of the city went smoothly. Perhaps because he had revealed the Saint Weapon's might, those harboring ulterior motives restrained their urge to act, and no one showed themselves.
As he departed on a cloud, Su Yu encountered a group of female cultivators from Jade Lake. Their lips were red and their teeth white, their figures slender and graceful, and their white robes fluttered about them. They were truly pleasing to the eye. Leading them was a Jade Lake supreme elder at the First Heaven of the Immortal Platform.
He knew perfectly well why the Jade Lake cultivators had come. After exchanging pleasantries, Su Yu disregarded the beautiful woman's invitation and flew away as a streak of light. Some shook their heads regretfully. Quite a few powers wanted to befriend this mighty figure of the Source Dao.
After all, such a young bone age could not be faked. He had reached the Dragon Transformation Nine Changes at such a young age, possessed a Saint Weapon, and was also a master Source seeker. This young man had a boundless future.
During this stone-cutting session, Su Yu had not displayed many secret arts from the Source Heaven Book, nor had he gambled on stones with anyone.
He did not have the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body and had no need for tens of millions of jin of Source to cultivate.
But he had cut out a divine medicine and a divine maiden, so many considered him a Source master of his generation.
"What a pity, that Qilin Seed. If not for the Saint Weapon, that junior..."
"He actually left alone. Young and full of himself. Does he think a damaged Saint Weapon is enough to dominate the Northern Region?"
Deep within the Divine City, dark figures whispered, each harboring different thoughts.
Seeing that Su Yu had declined invitations from both ultimate sacred lands, Li Chonghua, a supreme elder of the Illusion Destruction Palace, said sinisterly to his disciples, "Find out where he went. Also, have the sect master bring out the sect's guardian Saint Weapon..."
The mighty figure from Yaoguang Holy Land also instructed his subordinates, "Quickly report this matter to the Holy Lord, then send scouts to find out where Daoist Cao has gone."
A mere ant, yet he wanted to overturn the heavens with a damaged Saint Weapon?
If he had not cut out an Immortal Divine Medicine, these people would not have gone to such lengths. Tempted by the Qilin Seed, many began reporting to their sect masters and Holy Lords, hoping to bring Saint Weapons into play.
Meanwhile, many notices appeared in the Holy City inviting Daoist Cao Yusheng to investigate the lay of dragon veins. The rewards were generous, ranging from thirty thousand to a hundred thousand jin of Source.
After traveling several hundred li from the Holy City and making sure no one was following him, Su Yu quickly changed his appearance back to his original face.
There were still quite a few rare treasures in the Holy City, such as the Holy Prince and the Divine Silkworm, but they meant little to him.
With the most crucial thing in hand, the most pressing matter now was to retrieve the Ancestral Artifact.
Lately, he had always felt a sense of foreboding hanging over his head.
Although nothing had happened for the time being, and no Primordial Ancestral King had appeared when he last entered Purple Mountain,
Su Yu felt a sense of urgency. He had to reunite the Devouring Heaven Demon Jar as soon as possible to contend with the ultimate powers. Otherwise, he would remain a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow.
There was also devouring the Immortal Phoenix Bloodline, condensing the essence of his primordial spirit, and reforging his body with its power... These were matters that also needed to be put on the schedule and could not be delayed. After cultivating anew, if Su Yu were a little more ruthless and made a move against the two female saints in his hands, his cultivation would soar, and the Indestructible Heavenly Art would also rise to an unimaginable level.
For now, the situation had not deteriorated to that extent. The benefits of bringing the two female saints back to life were far greater than those of killing them...
Forty thousand li from the Holy City, Su Yu descended from the clouds and carefully found a desolate mountain range. He then used his sword to carve out a small cave, just large enough to hold two or three people.
When the Star-Moon Source appeared, hazy silver light filled the cave.
Su Yu took a deep breath and brought out the Devouring Heaven Demon Lid to protect himself, then readied the bronze Buddha statue-an exhaustive precaution.
If she could not be used, he would kill her!
He had long been prepared for this.
"Roar!"
As Su Yu pressed down with one finger, chaotic light surged and cloud dragons howled, transforming into a golden thread. In an instant, the Source, like stars and moon, gave a soft sound.
"Crack."
The Source was splitting apart. Terrifying Saint Dao killing intent descended in an instant. Su Yu's eyes blazed as he stared fixedly at the vicious weapon. A wisp of ultimate imperial might descended, completely eradicating the killing aura coiled around the divine spear.
The great mass of Divine Source fell away to either side, and the Divine Silkworm Princess appeared in the cave. Serene as a sleeping beauty, she was incomparably beautiful, with purple hair cascading down and skin of ice and bones of jade.
The divine spear was lodged in her heart. Su Yu frowned slightly at the wound. It was a killing blow struck by a Great Saint, passing through her chest and straight through her heart.
Suddenly, he sensed a very familiar presence on the Divine Silkworm Princess.
"The Nine Marvels Immortal Medicine, an unusual fragrance from the same source as the Sacred Fruit... Did the Divine Silkworm Clan's special nature and the Nine Marvels Immortal Medicine keep her hanging on to life?" Su Yu blinked, greatly surprised. But he still had ample confidence in his preparations.
In the original story, the Holy Prince had merely obtained an inferior flat peach from Jade Lake Sacred Land to save the Divine Silkworm Princess. The Sacred Fruit in Su Yu's hand could only be more potent...
Chapter 34: My Ancestors Followed a Dragon
"Sss!"
Su Yu reached out and grasped the shaft, then divine power surged out like a tide.
Divine howls and ghostly wails came from the vicious weapon. It was a recurrence of the strange phenomenon from countless years ago, as if countless vicious beasts were slaughtering their way out of it. Its killing aura was astonishing, accompanied by baleful Qi.
"A decayed weapon, and you still dare to show your ferocity!"
Su Yu gave a soft rebuke and pressed his palms together, drawing a wisp of dark light from the Devouring Heaven Demon Lid. With a resonant tremor, the Saint Dao runes on the bloodstained divine spear crumbled completely to dust. It became an ordinary weapon, losing all its supernatural qualities. Only the great Luo silver essence in its shaft shimmered with a silver sheen, as if countless stars were drifting within it.
At that moment, the starlike sheen illuminated the entire cave, intermingling with the Source's light in a dazzling, dreamlike play of colors.
Su Yu fixed his eyes on the spearhead and pulled. The dark red tip crumbled to dust, scattering at his feet. The Saint Dao runes on the spearhead had been soaked in the Divine Silkworm Princess's saintly blood, and even the material within had been tainted.
Scoured by the passage of millions of years, the tainted great Luo silver essence had also decayed, unable to endure.
Su Yu put the spear shaft into his storage bag and looked closely at the female Ancestor King.
She still looked like a sleeping beauty, and her injury even gave her a touch of fragile charm.