Chapter 247 - 175: Lifebound Magical Artifact

Chapter 247: Chapter 175: Lifebound Magical Artifact

In a dim, secret chamber, Meng Tianhua emerged from his cultivation. He first spent some time settling the flow of energy in his meridians before finally opening his eyes. The very first thing he did was take out his Identity Token from his Storage Bag and activate it with his Mana.

"Life and Death Platform challenge: Opponent has declined."

Seeing this, Meng Tianhua breathed a sigh of relief. Since his opponent had refused, it meant he wasn’t particularly powerful. At the very least, he wasn’t confident he could guarantee a win.

Had the man accepted immediately, Meng Tianhua would have had to worry he was hiding his true strength.

Or that he had a powerful ace up his sleeve for life-or-death combat.

’Now I just have to wait for him to come to me and negotiate.’

His eyes gleamed with intense confidence. He had used this exact method to strong-arm many disciples from the Core Heart Hall and Earth Fire Hall who lacked powerful backing.

Disciples from those two halls weren’t skilled in combat. At first, they would always refuse with a tough attitude, but soon after receiving the Life and Death Platform challenge, they would all turn spineless and come begging to be let off.

’After all, when faced with life and death, what Cultivator would choose to die over a handful of Spirit Stones?’

Meng Tianhua was supremely confident of this.

He immediately... submitted another Life and Death Platform application for the following month on his Identity Token.

Elsewhere, Zhao Zuo stared at the token in his hand. Ripples disturbed his Lake of Souls for a moment before it calmed once more. He had indeed underestimated the power of the Mutual Aid Association.

Just a few days ago, he was confident his true identity remained hidden. Now, in a matter of days, they had not only discovered who he was but had also petitioned the sect for a duel on the Life and Death Platform.

The Life and Death Platform was an arena established by the Moyun Sect for Inner Sect Disciples to resolve irreconcilable grudges. However, to prevent it from becoming a tool for eliminating rivals, its use was governed by two ironclad rules.

First, the challenged party has the right to decline, but only three times.

Second, any challenge on the Life and Death Platform requires three disciples from the Punishment Hall to investigate the claim. The challenge is approved only after they confirm the challenger is telling the truth, allowing the two parties to settle their grudge on the platform.

After each refusal, the challenged party could petition the Punishment Hall to reinvestigate the matter. Without the slightest hesitation, Zhao Zuo keyed a line of text into his token.

"Objection. Requesting re-investigation."

It had only been a few days since the incident, yet Meng Tianhua had not only discovered his identity but had also gotten the challenge approved by the Punishment Hall. These two facts alone revealed the power of the person behind the Mutual Aid Association—what kind of authority they wielded within the Moyun Sect, and just how many of its rules they had bent.

Zhao Zuo knew his request for a review would almost certainly be rejected, but he still wanted to try. He wanted to see just how far the Criminal Law Hall would take this and whether they would even bother to put up a facade.

A few seconds later, a line of text materialized on the Identity Token.

"Evidence conclusive. Request denied."

’Tsk, tsk. They’re not even putting on a show anymore,’ Zhao Zuo remarked. The proper procedure would have been for the Punishment Hall to investigate both of them, reach a conclusion, and then either approve or deny the request. Instead, they had skipped the inquiry step entirely and issued a direct rejection.

This alone showed how deep the ties were between the Mutual Aid Association and the Criminal Law Hall. Zhao Zuo was inclined to believe that a member of the Mutual Aid Association held some small measure of power within the Punishment Hall.

As for how his identity had been exposed, Zhao Zuo had already identified the only flaw in his disguise. His Cultivation, aura, and appearance were all fake, making it impossible to trace them back to him. His Identity Token, however, was real.

’That had to be the weak point. If so, then the humble, enthusiastic girl in the green robes was likely a member of the Mutual Aid Association. Or... she wasn’t the only one they had in the Ministry of Affairs Hall.’

The members of the Mutual Aid Association were like nodes in a spider’s web, spread across every level of the Moyun Sect. At the center of it all was their leader: the Seventh True Inheritance disciple, Lord Chu.

Zhao Zuo stowed the Identity Token back in his Storage Bag and went to the kitchen. He roasted some Demon Beast meat over a charcoal fire, then cut it into small pieces, chewing and swallowing each one deliberately.

At the same time, he took large bites of steamed Demon Beast blood, dipping them in a sauce he had prepared earlier.

As far as he was concerned, Meng Tianhua’s challenge was just an insignificant interruption. To put it modestly... he was a little bit stronger than Meng Tianhua.

To put it more confidently, it was more like an ’infinitesimal’ bit. The real trouble would be the fallout after killing Meng Tianhua three months from now, namely the enmity or targeted attacks from Lord Chu. Of course, he had no immediate way to resolve that predicament. The only path forward was to increase his own combat strength as much as possible, so he would be powerful enough to shatter the current deadlock.

Zhao Zuo was currently in the process of refining his Lifebound Magical Artifact, a process that required him to offer up a great deal of his own blood. That was why he’d specifically bought the Demon Beast blood as food, following the principle of "like replenishes like." The taste was mediocre, but the effects were quite good.

After finishing his lunch, Zhao Zuo returned to his bedroom. He took out a square, bronze cauldron, then used his Sky-Breaking Saber to slice open his wrist and let the blood flow. The scalding blood was a vivid crimson, and each drop seemed incredibly heavy, like a bead of super-dense mercury.

Normally, refining a Lifebound Magical Artifact involved keeping the artifact close and nurturing it with one’s Foundation Establishment Divine Thought. Over time—about half a month—a deeper connection would form. Afterward, one only needed to draw the artifact into their Dantian to continue nurturing it, and the Refinement of the Lifebound Magical Artifact would be considered complete.

This method was unsuitable for Zhao Zuo, as he possessed no Divine Thought.

The Secret Technique recorded in the Golden Fire Refining World Scripture used blood as a medium for connection. It involved activating the Magical Artifact’s innate spirituality with Soul Cleansing Water, then soaking it in blood and rinsing it with Mana. The purpose of the Bright Soul Pill was to strengthen one’s own soul, enabling one to perceive the spirituality contained within the artifact.