Great Zhou Martial Immortal

Chapter 97 The curtain falls here, a deception unfolds.

Outside the picture scroll.

The candlelight flickered inside the cave, illuminating the tense faces of the inhabitants.

Li Lingyue sat upright in the round-backed chair, her fingertips lightly tapping the armrest, her cold eyes fixed on the painting "The Hundred Ghosts of the Azure Netherworld".

The ink on the surface of the scroll surged, sometimes revealing the phantom of mountains, sometimes flashing with blood-red light, but Lu Chenyuan and Wei Yang were nowhere to be seen.

A hint of worry flashed in her eyes.

"cough……"

A suppressed cough broke the silence. Yuan Qingshuang opened her eyes, her face pale, with traces of blood still remaining on the corner of her lips. Behind her, Shen Moxuan, the "Holy Hands and Benevolent Heart," slowly finished his practice.

Yuan Qingshuang looked around, then at Li Lingyue, forcing herself to kneel on one knee, her voice hoarse: "Your Highness, I have failed in my duties..."

"Shut up."

Li Lingyue suddenly appeared in front of her, her skirt embroidered with golden phoenixes sweeping across the ground.

She grabbed Yuan Qingshuang's wrist, placing three delicate fingers precisely on her pulse point. Sensing the disordered pulse, she frowned slightly: "What's going on? Is there still residual poison? Doctor Shen, even you can't cure it?"

Shen Moxuan clasped his hands in a fist and said respectfully, "Your Highness, please do not worry. The poison from the palm strike has been neutralized, but the toxicity is too strong. The remaining poison will require more than a month of recuperation to dissipate completely. The 'Xiang Huo Needle' can only strengthen the body and replenish vital energy. This poison technique is truly formidable. This is the first time I have ever seen such a potent Qi poison."

Li Lingyue breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the Twenty-Fourth Division: "Where are they?"

Shen Moxuan nodded and said, "Everything is fine now."

Chi Mei immediately knelt down, and the remaining twenty-three people followed suit, their faces full of guilt: "We have failed in our duties, please punish us, Your Highness!"

"All right."

Li Lingyue waved her hand and said, "Don't even mention you, even if I were to come in person, I'm afraid I would be in a sorry state once I entered this cave. Who would have thought that she would actually transform Gu Yunsheng's blessed land into such a bizarre and monstrous place! You have done more than enough. Blame Gu Yunsheng for creating such a monster that is causing havoc on the world!"

No one dared to respond.

After all, he was a hidden immortal, a being revered by countless people.

After Li Lingyue finished speaking, she remembered that the Empress was still beside her, and felt a little embarrassed. She added, "Of course, his intentions were good... cough, Lingxi, how is Shenyuan doing now?"

The goddess shook her head: "I can only sense that my brother is still in the painting, but I don't know the specifics..."

Just as I was saying this, the ink on the "Azure Hundred Ghosts Painting" suddenly began to flow backward, gradually coalescing into a familiar human figure.

Lu Chenyuan leaned out from inside. He had stepped out of the armor and was now in his true form.

Everyone in the cave breathed a sigh of relief. The goddess smiled and obediently took two steps forward. Li Lingyue's lips curled slightly.

Lu Chenyuan took the Empress's hand and turned to the crowd: "Come in."

Li Lingyue was taken aback and looked around: "Should we all go in?"

Lu Chenyuan nodded: "The matter is settled, including General Wang. He also needs to report back to His Majesty. It's better for everyone to witness it together than for others to stir up trouble later."

He spoke harshly, but Li Lingyue understood that it was necessary, not only for himself but also for her. She knew very well her mother's obsession with immortality. Right now, the "Dan Ding Scroll" was in the painting. If things weren't explained clearly, Lu Chenyuan would be suspected. Wang Xiaojie also understood this. Holding his gun in both hands, he saluted and strode towards the scroll.

As for the Shaolin abbot, the eighteen Arhats, Shen Moxuan, and the like, they could only wait outside.

The crowd entered the painting.

The first level of the "Withered Soul Forest" has been restored.

Looking at the flowing ink paintings, the menacing bushes, and the wandering ghosts before them, everyone marveled at the hidden immortal's divine arts.

Lu Chenyuan led them through the forest, across the boundary gate, and into the second realm: "My cultivation level is insufficient. Even if the scroll recognizes me as its master, I can only manipulate the mechanisms, not rewrite them. Be careful, everyone. This [Heart Cleansing Pool] and Heart Refining Array are no ordinary things. Stay close to me. No matter who or what you see, do not react. Remember that everything is fake."

After all, it was a treasure of the hidden immortals, so no one dared to be careless.

Li Lingyue grasped Lu Chenyuan's hand, closed her eyes decisively, and handed everything over to him.

Yuan Qingshuang and the Twenty-Fourth Division had no interest in trying it themselves, so they followed suit and followed behind Li Lingyue.

Wang Xiaojie wanted to see, but being surrounded by blood mist and illusions, as if he had returned to the battlefield of the past, with countless dead brothers crying out for his life, he was also a little overwhelmed. He simply closed his eyes and, with Chi Mei's help, pulled himself out of the entire Heart Refining Formation with only a long spear.

We arrived at the Dianjing Pavilion.

Wang Xiaojie glanced back with lingering fear: "What an amazing formation!"

Lu Chenyuan said, "The most powerful thing is yet to come. Follow me."

He leaped onto the attic, opened the wooden door, and the alchemy room came into view once again.

Besides the dozens of rows of bookshelves around the room, the most eye-catching thing is the three-foot-tall bronze alchemy furnace standing in the center of the alchemy room.

A faint, dark red glow emanates from the coiled dragon patterns on the furnace body, suggesting that the fire in the furnace has not yet gone out.

Lu Chenyuan pointed to the alchemy furnace: "This is the 'Alchemy Cauldron Scroll'."

Everyone was stunned.

Wang Xiaojie approached for a closer look, lifted the furnace lid, and discovered that the bottom of the lid and inside the furnace body were covered with tiny characters, containing various alchemical terms.

Such as "The sovereign is Poria cocos leaf, the minister is yellow stone, three times the flow of fire, the cauldron's energy sinks to the bottom..." and "Heavenly essence as the guide, earthly marrow as the medium, nine cycles of celestial fire, cinnabar clouds condense into smoke..."

Wang Xiaojie had a wide range of knowledge and could only tell that it was related to alchemy, but he didn't know the specifics. However, he seemed to have something to say about it. Li Lingyue and Yuan Qingshuang didn't know much about this. Among the twenty-four techniques, Bai Tao was more skilled in it. After taking a closer look, her face lit up with joy: "It is indeed the secret alchemy technique of transforming the dragon and tiger and matching male and female. It is extremely exquisite!"

of course.

Lu Chenyuan thought to himself, "The original text of the alchemy rubbing that I just carved was only reduced by 60 or 70 percent."

"only……"

Bai Tao looked at the blank space at the bottom, where it looked as if it had been carved and then erased: "What happened here?"

Li Lingyue glanced at it: "It should be related to the Elixir of Immortality. My great-aunt (Princess Pingyang) mentioned in her letter that the Hidden Immortal Gu Yunsheng had made other arrangements for the Elixir of Immortality, so it's normal that it's not here. Is there any Mysterious Crane Rejuvenation Pill? Since Wei Yang and the others used this kind of pill to gain trust, it should be the best pill that the 'Dan Ding Scroll' can make. What Mother is thinking about right now is probably this spiritual pill that she has personally verified."

Bai Tao looked closely and finally found the words "Black Crane Returns to Spring" in the corner, but upon closer inspection, she was shocked: "This..."

Li Lingyue frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

Bai Tao's face turned pale as she recited, "...It is made by extracting the essence and blood from the heart of the mythical beast Xuanhe, supplemented with the pure yang and pure yin blood of young boys and girls, combined with Kunlun Nine-Aperture Spirit-Connecting Ginseng, Thousand-Corpse Corroding Heart Grass, Blood Infant Fruit, and other ingredients, and then forging it with the power of the Big Dipper at midnight on the winter solstice. Taking it can reverse aging, turning white hair black and wrinkles back to youth. However, one must take another pill within three years, otherwise life force will dissipate and death will occur in an instant..." Hiss!
Everyone's expression changed.

Yuan Qingshuang exclaimed in surprise, "Boys and girls? This is the Hidden Immortal's recipe?!"

Bai Tao explained, "There's no need to worry too much about boys and girls. Boy's blood and urine are medicinal materials. As long as you take the right amount of blood, there won't be any danger to your life. The key is the Thousand Corpse Corroding Heart Grass and Blood Infant Fruit. These two medicinal materials are not only highly poisonous, causing death upon contact, but they are also extremely rare Grade 3 natural treasures!"
The Thousand Corpse Corrupting Heart Grass only grows in extremely yin places, mostly deep in mass graves. It feeds on rotting corpses and resentment. The seeds take thirty years to germinate and another thirty years to mature. It only lives for ten days before bearing fruit and dying. It is a divine spiritual material for cultivating poisonous arts, but the last time it appeared in the world was 190 years ago; the Blood Infant Fruit is even more legendary, and the last recorded instance of it was 700 years ago…

"In this case..."

Li Lingyue frowned deeply: "Doesn't that mean even if we get the formula, it'll be useless? Besides, there are such huge hidden dangers..."

Li Lingyue looked at Lu Chenyuan and remembered what he had said: "I will point out any obvious side effects, but its aftereffects will not appear for at least two or three years, and it is not a hidden danger for the emperor."

It turned out to be the case.

If you have the materials to make the first batch, then you don't need to worry about making more medicine later. But if you don't have the materials to begin with, then there's no point in talking about rejuvenation.

Bai Tao asked in confusion, "These materials are so rare, how did they refine them?"

Li Lingyue immediately looked at Lu Chenyuan.

Lu Chenyuan turned to the Empress: "Close your eyes, don't open them."

The goddess, not understanding what was going on, obediently closed her eyes.

Lu Chenyuan walked silently to the window and opened it.

Outside the window, the gate to the third realm still stands quietly, and the "Fengdu Illusionary World Array" inside the gate continues to evolve and flow according to the art of Qimen Dunjia.

Just now.

The scene within the formation was vastly different from before.

A chilling wind howled within the grove, and the once orderly locust grove was now leaning precariously, its thick trunks covered with jagged claw marks. Most of the hanging human skin lanterns were broken, with only a few remaining swaying in the wind.

At the center of the formation, a horrific scene came into view—

The remains of Wei Yang were pierced by dozens of locust tree branches, hanging in mid-air like a broken puppet.

Her face was distorted and deformed, and large areas of the joints of her cold iron armor had peeled off, revealing the intricate skeleton inside.

The most shocking thing was her chest cavity—where the Qi furnace was located, two large holes had been forcibly ripped out, and the jagged cracks at the edges showed that it had been torn by brute force.

Scattered on the ground were the remains of mechanical parts: an arm bone still connected to gears, several vertebrae wrapped with ink lines, and the once elegant and beautiful head, which was now being kicked around like a ball by three fox demons. With each kick, tiny gears would pop out from the broken neck.

The most bizarre thing was the locust trees. Their trunks displayed the last expressions of Wei Yang before his death: terror, resentment, and bitterness. Each face was screaming silently. At the roots, dark red liquid was slowly seeping into the soil. It was the mermaid oil that remained in Wei Yang's body, which was now being absorbed by this greedy painting world.

Everyone was stunned by this scene and stared blankly.

Lu Chenyuan spread his hands, taking out the "Azure Netherworld Hundred Ghosts Painting": "The true form of the 'Azure Netherworld Hundred Ghosts Painting' is hidden within the formation. Once this painting recognizes its owner, one can create a painted world anywhere. This is what she wanted to take away! What she wanted me to break was this 'Fengdu Illusionary World Formation' below. She thought that the speed of a peak fifth realm cultivator was fast enough, and that her body full of poison would be enough to immobilize me, allowing her to snatch the painting at the last moment. Unfortunately... she was still not as fast as me..."

The outcome is obvious.

Everyone understood.

Thinking of the dangers involved, Li Lingyue's eyes reddened, and she gazed deeply at Lu Chenyuan.

"..."

Lu Chenyuan felt a little guilty, so he subtly avoided eye contact and took out a few talismans and medicine gourds, handing them to Wang Xiaojie: "General, take a good look. The paint on them is untouched, and the seals are intact, which is enough to prove that I haven't tampered with them."

—It's newly added, of course it hasn't been touched.

The [Mysterious Crane Rejuvenation Pill] inside has been taken out; what remains are all third-grade poisons and wound medicines.

Wu Zetian had no need to rejuvenate, and even if there were a price to pay, it wouldn't work. She should just obediently die of old age!
Wang Xiaojie observed carefully and nodded: "Wang can testify."

Lu Chenyuan then pointed to the corpses in the formation: "General Wang, take these corpses with you as well, since words alone are not enough."

Wang Xiaojie felt a surge of warmth in his heart. This was all for his own good, so he could easily complete his mission. No wonder this Lord Lu was valued by the princess and His Majesty. He solemnly gave a military salute: "Thank you, Lord Lu!"

Lu Chenyuan helped Wang Xiaojie up and said gently, "General, you flatter me. We are both sharing His Majesty's burdens, so there's no need for thanks. It's just..."

He rubbed his temples wearily and said with a wry smile, "This was indeed a dangerous situation; I almost perished in the art world. If you, General, could put in a good word for me with His Majesty after you return to the capital, I would be eternally grateful."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaojie immediately clasped his hands in a solemn manner and said, "Lord Lu, rest assured! If it weren't for your and Princess's strategic planning, how could we have annihilated this villain? After returning to the capital, I will definitely report the truth to His Majesty and request commendation for you and the Princess!"

well.

Lu Chenyuan nodded, flipped over and leaped into the boundary gate, carefully avoiding the hundred ghosts, and followed the correct path to the center. He took down Wei Yang's corpse, sorted it out, and then carefully returned the way he came, handing the bundle to Wang Xiaojie.

Wang Xiaojie expressed his gratitude again.

"Brother, can I open my eyes now?"

The goddess closed her eyes and whispered.

Lu Chenyuan immediately closed the window, mainly to prevent her from giving herself away: "There's nothing to see, let's go out."

Everyone expressed their understanding, given the horrific state of the mechanical puppet being shattered.

The goddess did not press the matter further.

Although my brother just said that Fifth Sister's goal was "Azure Hundred Ghosts Painting," which was rather strange... and the Rat Armor is also missing...

Li Lingyue ordered everyone to carry the alchemy furnace during the three periods of the Great Cold, and then they all walked back together.

As everyone stepped out of the painting.

Lu Chenyuan was a step slower, turned around to look at the entire art world, and smiled slightly.

With a casual wave of his hand, the world changed color.

Wuzhi Mountain and the sheep that was pressed down by the mountain appeared out of thin air. Beside the sheep was the rat armor that was missing many minor parts.

Wei Yang sneered and said hoarsely, "If Gu Yun Sheng saw that his successor was such a scheming person, I wonder what he would think..."

Lu Chenyuan didn't care and strode away, leaving only a few words echoing softly: "He will be proud!"

(End of this chapter)