Thanks to the Profound Heaven Sect!

A short while later, Lu Changsheng returned to the battlefield.

As far as he could see, the sea of fire had died out. Many people had learned of the upheaval here and rushed over.

They had also determined the cause. Fortunately, the flames had appeared in time and burned all the Illusory God Flowers to ashes.

Yet they did not know who had acted, only that it had been a tower. Several searches had turned up no trace of it, and the tower had clearly arrived with murderous intent.

Yet it had inexplicably vanished, leaving everyone utterly bewildered.

Lu Changsheng poked his head out of the woods, but the elders paid him little mind.

Only his two senior brothers breathed sighs of relief upon seeing him unharmed.

Luo Xianling had rushed over long ago upon hearing the news, but had been unable to find Lu Changsheng. She had been burning with anxiety, nearly reduced to tears.

Seeing him unharmed, she threw herself at him, unable to hold back her tears.

"Senior Brother Changsheng, where did you go? I heard something had happened here. You nearly scared me to death!"

Lu Changsheng said, "With my senior brothers and the elders here, what could possibly happen to me?"

"You had me so worried! Don't come to places like this again!"

Luo Xianling felt a wave of lingering fear.

The elders sighed softly, finding it difficult to say anything. Her favoritism was far too obvious; she truly treated none of them as outsiders.

The people from the Profound Heaven Sect also arrived.

The old man glanced over, but his expression did not change at all.

Li Changfeng said nothing either. He had even suffered some injuries while fending off the Demon Beasts.

Only Shi Feng could not help frowning when he saw that everyone was safe and sound.

Fortunately, everything had been handled properly. Over the next three days, the Cangyun Sect completely repelled the beast tide and began the return journey.

Lu Changsheng remained as leisurely as ever. He followed the group back to Cangyun, then went straight to sell off all those Demon Beasts without stopping to rest.

Though the individual prices were low, the mountain of Demon Beasts made up for it in quantity, selling for nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones in total.

Afterward, he changed into black robes and went to the Drunken Moon Pavilion.

He knew that it was a brothel on the surface, but actually conducted all manner of business. A wide range of transactions could be completed here.

Lu Changsheng took out the Thousand Net Tower. It was now nothing but a hot potato, something he absolutely could not keep in his hands, lest it bring enormous trouble.

What he had not expected, however, was that despite its damage, the tower sold for the high price of nearly forty thousand Spirit Stones, almost making him rich overnight.

He obtained a large batch of Spirit Stones and resolved this problem at the same time.

There was another benefit to selling things here: no matter what the item was, nobody asked about its origins. Once payment and goods had changed hands, neither side bothered the other.

This time, his gains were enormous. Together with everything from before, he had nearly eighty thousand Spirit Stones on hand. By his estimate, that was about enough to break through to the Ninth Layer of Core Formation.

For a time, Lu Changsheng was in excellent spirits, humming a little tune as he walked back toward the sect.

In his heart, he was also thanking the Profound Heaven Sect for bringing him money.

Without this tower, he would not have known how to scrape together enough Spiritual Qi for his cultivation.

Still, he kept an eye on the three men's movements. Once they left Cangyun, he would strike and kill them all. After all, doing it within the sect would still be troublesome.

Meanwhile, the three from the Profound Heaven Sect exchanged looks.

They had been behind all of it.

What they had not expected was that a scheme like this had failed to harm Zhou Qingyu in the slightest. In fact, the entire group had emerged completely unscathed.

Yet he had clearly seen the Thousand Net Tower appear, and had no idea what had happened.

He wanted to investigate, but the people of Qingyun Peak kept their lips sealed.

"What exactly happened? Could they have seen through it?"

Li Changfeng spoke, truly unable to understand how it had accomplished nothing at all.

The Illusory God Flowers had been burned, the Thousand Net Tower had vanished, and even the puppet could no longer be contacted.

"Could someone have acted in secret and disrupted everything?" the old man said, his eyes sweeping over their surroundings, his expression hostile.

Shi Feng said, "Lu Changsheng must know. I'll go seize him and search his soul directly!"

"No!"

"Although he isn't highly valued, everyone on Qingyun Peak treats him extremely well. If we touch him, I fear we'll stir up trouble!"

"Then what do we do now?"

After pondering for a long time, the old man said, "Since things have come to this, we can only let it go. Even if someone ruined the plan and took the Thousand Net Tower, it is a Law Artifact that the Thousand Net Sect refined for over a thousand years. Its imprint cannot be erased in so short a time. Given a little longer, they will come looking for it!"

"When that happens, as long as the Thousand Net Tower is within Cangyun's territory, they'll find it difficult to explain themselves. That will still work in our favor!"

Hearing the old man's analysis, Shi Feng understood at once.

With this scheme, almost regardless of how things developed or how many unforeseen changes occurred, Cangyun could not resolve the matter completely.

After all, there was simply no way to erase the imprint and its aura from the Thousand Net Tower.

A fierce gleam flashed through the three men's eyes once more. What they did not expect, however, was that after the Thousand Net Tower was sold, someone had already taken it out of Cangyun City and headed far away.

The only thing they could not figure out was who had acted in secret.

Only a scant few people in all of Cangyun could take away this Law Artifact without a sound.

Moreover, those people had either been absent at the time or right beside them. They truly could not think of anyone else with such ability.

"Could it have been that old fellow from the Cangyun Sect?"

The three were puzzled.

Li Changfeng said, "Then what should we do now?"

"I've already sent word back. There's nothing more we need to do. The Thousand Net Sect will naturally make trouble for them. Besides, the Cangyun Secret Realm will open soon. We only need to wait until then!"

Li Changfeng continued, "But the Cangyun Secret Realm only allows people under thirty to enter. Who could keep Zhou Qingyu in check? When the time comes..."

"The people who will deal with him are already on their way. Never mind that he hasn't reached Core Formation yet-even if he does, he may not be their match. Our Profound Heaven Sect isn't the only one acting this time!"

The old man's expression was filled with sinister malice.

With the Thousand Net Sect making trouble as well, it seemed as though destroying Cangyun would hardly take any effort at all.

Meanwhile, Lu Changsheng returned to Qingyun Peak. After confirming that nothing was amiss, he found a secluded spot and sat down cross-legged.

Piles of gleaming white Spirit Stones lay before him, but as he formed hand seals, they turned into layers of ash that drifted down.

Vast spiritual power poured into the seal like a whale gulping down the sea. The Spirit Stones disappeared rapidly, flowing through his blood vessels, sinews, and bones before finally settling into wisps of Law Power.

As he felt his Law Power grow, his presence continually strengthened, and his body began to change. Every inch of flesh, sinew, and bone trembled faintly. An indescribable pain swept over him, spreading everywhere in an endless cycle.

Beads of sweat the size of beans appeared on his forehead and rolled down one after another. His brows knitted tightly, and his body shook uncontrollably.

This was the Myriad Tribulations Immortal Physique. It possessed strength that others at the same level could not compare to, but also required over ten times, or even dozens of times, as much Spiritual Qi.

Whenever he cultivated, after racking his brains and trying every means to gather enough Spirit Stones, he still had to endure tremendous pain. Countless times, he had been unable to bear it and wanted to give up right then.

Under this torment, his physical body was also growing stronger. Even without deliberately training it, he was not the slightest bit weaker than those body cultivators.

Hum!

Soon, a faint hum came from his body. Having exhausted eighty thousand Spirit Stones, he finally stepped into the Ninth Layer of Core Formation.

In that instant, every inch of his flesh felt as though it were being torn apart relentlessly. Dragging his battered body down Qingyun Peak, he came beneath the old pine tree and lay there quietly.

He lay there for several days, too lazy to move even once during that time.

But he was not idle. While consolidating his cultivation, he also contemplated the new sensations of this realm.

Now, he was suffering yet happy, thinking only of gathering enough Spirit Stones as soon as possible and stepping into Nascent Soul.

Although every breakthrough after reaching Nascent Soul would require enduring a lightning tribulation, he would no longer have to suffer the pain that came with cultivation and could cultivate in peace.

However, the further he went, the more terrifying the amount of Spiritual Qi he needed would become. For a moment, he could only feel that life was not easy, and cultivation was even harder.

"Ah!"

In the end, his thousand tangled thoughts left only this long sigh, which dissipated in the wind.