Chapter 494: The Fan Family of Black Obsidian City

Although Li Huo Sword Venerable’s words were harsh, Lu Sangjiu did indeed need to make some preparations for the trip to the Demon God Palace.

She had already questioned Lie Rufeng in detail and learned that his reason for going to the Demon God Palace was to find someone.

“I once had a junior brother, but he was killed by a Heavenly Demon Stage Demon Cultivator while on an excursion.”

“I’ve been tracking this Demon Cultivator for a long time. I know he’s a Loose Cultivator, and his cultivation hasn’t advanced any further.”

“This time, I heard news of his whereabouts from someone else, so I’m preparing to go to the Demon God Palace to try my luck and see if I can find him.”

Lu Sangjiu hadn’t expected him to be seeking revenge. However, if the target was a Heavenly Demon—the equivalent of a Heavenly Immortal among Immortal Cultivators—and a sectless one at that, killing him shouldn’t be too difficult.

The only issue was that they would be on Demon Cultivator turf, where their status as Immortal Cultivators might stir up some unexpected trouble.

After learning his reason for going, Lu Sangjiu asked for more details about his destination.

By comparing maps, she learned that the location wasn’t too far from the border with the South Immortal Palace. If anything went wrong, it shouldn’t be hard to escape back in time.

So, the two agreed to set off immediately after Li Huo Sword Venerable won the Ten Thousand Fusion Stones at the auction and returned.

Time passed quietly, and Lu Sangjiu meticulously prepared many items she might need for the journey.

「Soon, the day of the auction arrived.」

Lu Sangjiu, of course, couldn’t show her face, so she could only see Li Huo Sword Venerable off.

She then waited anxiously for nearly a full day. It wasn’t until dusk that Li Huo Sword Venerable finally returned.

“Senior, you’re back! How did it go? Are you all right? You didn’t run into any danger, did you?”

Seeing how nervous she was, Li Huo Sword Venerable found it amusing but decided not to tease her. He directly took out the Ten Thousand Fusion Stones and said, “There were no complications. One hundred Immortal Stones was just enough to win the auction for the Ten Thousand Fusion Stones.”

“I’ve already inspected it, and there’s nothing out of the ordinary. Does that put your mind at ease?”

Lu Sangjiu’s face lit up with surprise as she took the Ten Thousand Fusion Stones, examining it meticulously as if it were a precious treasure.

“So this is the Ten Thousand Fusion Stones? It doesn’t look particularly special.”

After staring at it like a treasure for a moment, she looked up at Li Huo Sword Venerable and smiled. “Thank you, Senior. I appreciate your hard work!”

‘It went so smoothly. Maybe I was overthinking things before. This wasn’t a trap at all?’

‘In any case, successfully obtaining the Ten Thousand Fusion Stones is a fantastic stroke of luck!’

‘And now I just so happen to have a broken Divine Artifact. Even though it’s lost its Divinity, if I merge it into the Domination Map Blade, it should make the blade even stronger, right?’

‘The only thing I need now is to find a suitable Immortal Artifact.’

She had made inquiries before; a single Immortal Artifact cost at least several thousand Immortal Stones.

Although Immortal Artifacts weren’t as scarce in the Immortal Spirit Realm as they were in the Lower Realm, not many were in circulation on the market. All in all, it was still a cause for concern.

‘But that’s okay. I’ll just have to build up from nothing. I’m sure I’ll get one eventually!’

Lu Sangjiu happily stored away the Ten Thousand Fusion Stones, and the very next day, she set off with Lie Rufeng toward the Demon God Palace.

Joining them on this trip, besides Lu Sangjiu, was Mu Lin, with whom she had worked before.

Originally, Mu Lin’s Earth Immortal Cultivation made him unsuitable for the journey, so Lie Rufeng hadn’t planned on taking anyone, intending to go alone.

But unexpectedly, after emerging from the Secret Realm, Mu Lin had actually broken through to the Heavenly Immortal Stage.

His cultivation had just stabilized, so he eagerly sought out Lie Rufeng and declared his intention to go with him to the Demon God Palace.

Lu Sangjiu had been using her real face for some time, but now that she was traveling, it was naturally safer to change her appearance for security.

Since Mu Lin was coming along, Lu Sangjiu decided to simply revert to her guise as Lin Qiu.

As a result, when Mu Lin first saw her, he was taken aback. “Lin Dao You? What are you doing here?”

He’d previously heard Lie Rufeng call her something like “Lu Dao You,” but he had been confused at the time and hadn’t quite caught it.

He never got a chance to ask Lie Rufeng about it later, so he was still completely unaware of Lu Sangjiu’s true identity.

Upon hearing this, Lie Rufeng spoke up to cover for her. “He owes me a favor, so he’s teaming up with us this time.”

Even though Lu Sangjiu’s cultivation was only at the Mid-stage Earth Immortal level, having witnessed her strength, Mu Lin certainly had no objections to her joining them.

“Great! We worked together perfectly last time. This time, let’s go wreck the Demon God Palace!”

Lu Sangjiu: “…”

‘Give me a break. Wreck the Demon God Palace? We’ll be lucky if we aren’t discovered and wrecked ourselves!’

Although there was some traffic between the Immortal and Demon Worlds, Immortal Cultivators who ventured into the territory of the Demon God Palace were few and far between.

To avoid tipping their hand, they all carried Magic Treasures to conceal their auras.

Of course, these items only provided superficial concealment. The moment they got into a fight, their identities as Immortal Cultivators would be exposed.

Which was why it was a good thing they had brought Lu Sangjiu. After all, she could pass as a Demon Cultivator.

While she couldn’t tell them her secret, Lu Sangjiu claimed she had a Secret Technique that allowed her to temporarily disguise her cultivation as demonic, an explanation they accepted without suspicion.

After all, they had just encountered a Demon Cultivator in the Secret Realm who could disguise himself as an Immortal Cultivator, so was the reverse really so surprising?

It was unclear what Lie Rufeng thought, but Mu Lin, at least, readily accepted this explanation and even praised Lu Sangjiu enthusiastically.

The three of them traveled via Sword Control and soon reached the border between the territories of the Demon God Palace and the South Immortal Palace.

The city on the Demon God Palace’s side of the border was called Black Mountain City.

Entering the city required paying a certain amount of Demon Essence Stones, but other than that, there weren’t many questions asked about one’s identity.

Lie Rufeng had already exchanged a considerable number of Demon Essence Stones to fund their operation.

Since this was his personal mission, he couldn’t possibly let Lu Sangjiu and Mu Lin pay for anything.

So Lu Sangjiu simply followed behind them, not needing to worry about a thing. With food and lodging taken care of, it was quite comfortable.

The only catch was that since they were disguised as Demon Cultivators, the food they bought was naturally Demon Cultivator cuisine.

The meals were infused with Demonic Qi, which was not something an Immortal Cultivator should consume.

Neither Mu Lin nor Lie Rufeng could eat it. Lu Sangjiu, however, insisted she was fine and happily polished off all the food herself.

After spending a night in Black Mountain City, the group continued their journey the next day. On the third day, they finally reached their destination: Black Obsidian City.

“A month ago, the Fan Family of Black Obsidian City announced that they had discovered a Demon Cultivation Secret Realm. Entry is restricted to Heavenly Demons—our equivalent of Heavenly Immortals. Because the family doesn’t have many members at the Heavenly Demon Level, they’ve specifically invited some powerful Loose Cultivators to assist.”

“I received intelligence that the Demon Cultivator Ye Wucheng has also accepted the invitation and will be there.”

“The agreed-upon time is within the next few days. If we keep a close watch on the Fan Family, we’re bound to find Ye Wucheng.”