History's Strongest Senior Brother

Chapter 1580: Four-stringed Decrepit Qin

“In other words, we’ll have to find them a valid reason. A reason captivating enough for them to relax their pursuit for the Awakened Sky Cosmos, even to a point where they could ignore the threats we pose after acquiring all Immortal Extermination Four Swords.” Xue Chuqing said, “Perhaps, the heretics and the Western Pure Lands won’t fully believe this. But as long as the reason seems convincing enough, they would go along with the flow and pretend to relax their pressure on us, all the while hoping to lure us in.”

She frowned slightly, “How do we even come up with a reason of this caliber?”

How many existences beneath the Dao Realm could be compared to the Immortal Extermination Formation?

Leaving the aspect of strength aside, in terms of the value of other categories, rarely anything could compete against the formation.

Xu Fei frowned as well, “We can’t just let junior apprentice-sister Sikong risk themselves, right?”

To the Immeasurable Heavenly Lord, the missing piece of the Heavenly Essence Stone fragment was far more important than the Humanly Essence Stone he was fighting for against the Future Buddha.

“If push comes to shove, we can just push Gao Han to them.” Yan Zhaoge shrugged, “Those who sell others out should be prepared to be sold off the same. I believe the Exalted Solar Luminary will understand.”

Xue Chuqing and Xu Fei chuckled as they looked toward him, “We’re already at such a moment. Be more serious.”

“Fine. Even without using the Humanly Essence Stone fragment, there are still some other ways.” Yan Zhaoge said, “Only, we require the Incongruence Divine Mother to verify our plans.”

Xue Chuqing sunk deep into thought, “A certain treasure of the Prime Clear lineage? As you said previously, the Jade Illusory Palace was already emptied. Therefore, the Roving Jade Palace should be in the same condition, right?”

“Without going in personally, who can be certain of it?” Yan Zhaoge smiled.

He stood up, left the Pill Hall, and looked toward the scenic changes happening by the distant horizon, “No matter what, if we’re going to act, we should continue the show till the end. By patiently waiting for forty-nine years to pass, we should slowly await the moment where our opponents lay the bait out.”

“When that time comes, whether we’ll swallow the bait while breaking off the hook or be riled up by the enemy’s rod depends on our capabilities.”

Xu Fei and Xue Chuqing, who stood beside him, nodded.

…

In the Astro Mountains Starry Sea, skyglow glimmered across the landscapes within the Grand Plainness Heavens. Iridescent clouds spanned across the boundless skies.

A spot of gold-red spark arose from the Fusang Divine Tree [1] and continued ascending upward, heading straight toward the ethereal mythical palace hanging aloft the void of immeasurable height.

Plains of Nuwa, Eastern Sovereign Palace.

This was the Eastern Sovereign Taiyi’s residence.

A trail of gold radiance entered the Plains of Nuwa, manifesting the appearance of Dao Monarch Lu Ya. After approaching the Eastern Sovereign Palace, he bowed toward a quaint, majestic, and awe-inspiring ancient palace instead of entering, “I implore the Eastern Sovereign to disclose the Tush*ta Palace’s location.”

No replies were heard from the palace, but only a bell tolled.

Then, a gust of wind appeared beneath Dao Monarch Lu Ya’s feet, lifting out of the Plains of Nuwa, out of the Grand Plainness Heavens, out of the Astro Mountains Starry Seas, and straight into the void’s boundless outskirts.

Dao Monarch Lu Ya’s figure traversed through the void’s boundless outskirts, and the concept of time seemed to be blurred for him. After venturing for an indefinite amount of time, he ascended toward a celestial realm.

Within the celestial realm, a simple-looking palace was situated.

The Tush*ta Palace.

A houseboy stood in front of the palace door and bowed toward Dao Monarch Lu Ya, “Greetings, Dao Monarch who came from afar.”

“Pray tell if Daoist Xuan Du and Daoist Earth are present?” asked Dao Monarch Lu Ya.

“The young master is in seclusion for pill refining, while the Earth Mother is cultivating in solitude. She mentioned that if the Dao Monarch visits, he could go ahead and visit her.” After he finished speaking, the houseboy immediately led the way.

Dao Monarch Lu Ya entered the Tush*ta Palace and followed the houseboy into a private room.

Inside, a woman in traditional clothing was sitting atop a cloudy bed. Upon seeing Dao Monarch Lu Ya, she stood up and nodded, “Dao Monarch, you’re here.”

Beside her stood an ancient glazed lamp. Its flares were projecting its unfathomable profundities, making one overwhelmed with marvelousness just by placing their sights on it.

Dao Monarch Lu Ya entered the private room, headed straight to the lamp, and said, “Greetings, Daoist Earth. I’m here to fulfill the promise of that day.”

Then, an ancient qin appeared in his hands.

The qin reeked of atavistic presence. Upon seeing it, the woman in traditional clothing seemed to have felt the transformations in the empyrean dao, sensing the limitless profundities within.

Only, there were four strings left on the Guqin. The others were all snapped apart.

The woman in traditional clothing wasn’t surprised by this. After all, she knew long ago that this was a decrepit qin.

“The lamp is here. Please help yourself, Dao Monarch. You can take the Kindling Devil Spirit away, but the lamp has to remain in the Tush*ta Palace. Please do forgive us for such a demanding request,” said the woman in traditional clothing.

“It’s fine, I understand.” Dao Monarch Lu Ya turned to look at the flare.

Embers seemed to have lit up within his pupils. They were flames birthed during the Early Heavens and were coupled with extreme profundities as if they were the progenitors of myriad flames.

The flare within the Jade Illusory Glazed Lamp wasn’t affected at all. It continued prancing about nonchalantly.

However, deep within the flares, queer sparks flew out from within, dancing around the atmosphere within the lamp.

The sparks were shackled by the flares and could not make their escape.

However, Dao Monarch Lu Ya’s Earlier Heavens Essence of Departed Fire flew out of his eyes and landed by the flares within the Jade Illusory Glazed Lamp.

A passage seemed to have opened up from the flares, causing the prancing sparks within to fly out.

Then, Dao Monarch Lu Ya used the Earlier Heavens Essence of Progenitor Flames to sweep these sparks away, keeping them within his eyes.

The flare returned to normal once again. The ancient lamp continued burning silently within the room, illuminating the entire room to a shade of white.

“Well then, I shall take my leave. Please do relay my greetings to the Elder Lord and Daoist Xuan Du,” said Dao Monarch Lu Ya with a smile.

The woman in traditional clothing said, “Very well. I won’t be sending you off, but have a safe journey.”

When trading within the Tush*ta Palace, no one had to worry about any gimmicks.

While the Elder Lord was indeed someone used to tranquility, his existence prevented any trifling tricks from happening.

Watching Dao Monarch Lu Ya depart, the woman in traditional clothing retained her calm composure and struck her fingers across the four strings on the decrepit qin.

Bhikkhu Xuan Du appeared soundlessly and said, “Let’s quietly await the final moment.”

The woman in traditional clothing transformed and reverted to Yang Jian’s original appearance. He nodded and said, “Right.”

On the other side, Dao Monarch Lu Ya departed from the Tush*ta Palace and returned to the Astro Mountain Starry Seas. After entering the Grand Plainness Heavens, he descended beneath the Fusang Divine Tree, which was his very own residence.

He took out a red gourd and plucked the cork out. Then, the Earlier Heavens Progenitor Flames in his eyes carried out the Kindling Devil Spirit, and he sealed it within the gourd.

“Sun Crow.” Dao Monarch Lu Ya called softly.

A gigantic brilliant sun heeded his summoning and appeared from afar, landing on the Fusang Divine Tree. Then, the sunlights converged, transforming into a three-legged crow. It approached Dao Monarch Lu Ya and said formally, “Ancestor.”

“Take this with you. Notice if it reacts to anyone in the Astro Mountains Starry Seas,” said Dao Monarch Lu Ya as he passed it over to the three-legged crow.

After receiving the red gourd, the crow replied, “Relax, ancestor. I shall attend to your behest with minute details.”

“There’s no need to be too rashful. You just have to pay attention to it,” ordered Dao Monarch Lu Ya.

“Yes, ancestor.” After a short pause, the three-legged crow said softly, “Ancestor, that qin…”