Chapter 506: Another Divine Artifact

Yan Xue paused, then cleared her throat. “You found me out… All right, since we’re already here, I won’t hide it from you any longer.”

As she spoke, her expression grew more serious as she looked at Lu Sangjiu. “The truth is, the reason I brought you with me is because inside this Secret Realm… there’s a Divine Artifact.”

Lu Sangjiu was instantly shocked. “A Divine Artifact?”

‘Another Divine Artifact? Seriously, are Divine Artifacts a dime a dozen? Isn’t the frequency I’m encountering them a bit high?’

‘The last one might have been nearly scrapped, but it was still a Divine Artifact, wasn’t it?’

But Yan Xue clearly wasn’t joking. She gave a solemn nod and said with certainty, “That’s right, a Divine Artifact.”

“Last time, in the Immortal Cultivation Secret Realm, didn’t I capture that traitor from my sect? From him, I learned a little secret of yours…”

Lu Sangjiu immediately understood what she meant. That Demon Cultivator had personally seen her absorb the Divinity remaining on that Divine Artifact. That was likely what Yan Xue was referring to.

And just as she thought, Yan Xue continued, “Divine Artifacts can sense each other. Although you don’t have one, I figured you are also special in some way. Perhaps you can sense the Divine Artifact’s location.”

After Yan Xue finished, Lu Sangjiu fell silent, an unconscious sense of wariness toward her beginning to grow.

Yan Xue seemed to notice and instantly understood what she was thinking. She immediately clarified, “Don’t misunderstand. There is indeed a Divine Artifact here, but I’m not trying to fight you for it.”

“An item belonging to my clan was sealed within a Divine Artifact long ago, and we have been searching for it ever since.”

“So, if we find that Divine Artifact and it contains what I’m looking for, I’ll only take my item. The Divine Artifact can be yours.”

“If it doesn’t, I’ll just consider this a wasted trip. The Divine Artifact will still be yours.”

Hearing Yan Xue speak so candidly, Lu Sangjiu frowned, asking in confusion, “But it’s a Divine Artifact, after all. Are you really just going to give it up like that?”

It was true that Yan Xue was in the wrong for hiding this from her, but she didn’t need to concede so readily, did she? It all felt a bit unreal.

Yan Xue blinked and said with great honesty, “Perhaps you don’t know, but ever since the Ancient Divine Clan withered and the Divine Domain collapsed, the Divine Artifacts have been scattered across the Immortal Spirit Realm for tens of thousands of years.”

“Without the nourishment of Divine Power, the Divine Artifacts have all gradually decayed over time.”

“Just like the one you saw last time. That one was rather unfortunate, decaying while also being tainted by Evil Qi. But even the luckier ones that weren’t tainted by Evil Qi are probably not in much better shape now.”

“Basically, there’s very little Divinity left in them. I don’t have the Divine Power to maintain or repair them, so even if I got one, it wouldn’t be of much use to me.”

“Unless I’m like that traitor I captured last time and use an Evil Technique to maintain it, turning it into an Evil Artifact.”

“But of course, I would never stoop to that. So taking a Divine Artifact that’s of little use is not very practical for me. I might as well let you have it.”

This was the first time Lu Sangjiu had heard any of this. She listened in a daze, and it took a long while before she finally nodded. “So that’s how it is…”

She couldn’t fully believe Yan Xue’s words, but the part about the Divine Clan was most likely true.

So, after a moment’s thought, she asked curiously, “So, why did the Ancient Divine Clan wither away, and why did the Divine Domain collapse?”

Yan Xue shrugged. “That, I don’t know. All I know is that ever since the day the Divine Domain collapsed and the Divine Clan vanished, there has been no way to cultivate into a God in this world. Gods have become beings of legend.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Lu Sangjiu couldn’t help but ask, “Then… do you know what Divine Power is like?”

Yan Xue thought for a moment, then shook her head. “It’s the stuff of legends, how would I know? I have, however, read some descriptions of Divine Power in ancient texts: it gathers the Qi of heaven and earth, and is far stronger and more condensed than Immortal Qi or Demonic Qi.”

She paused, then added, “Oh, right. I’ve also heard that Gods can absorb any kind of Qi between heaven and earth to strengthen themselves. They’re incredibly powerful.”

That last sentence struck Lu Sangjiu’s heart like a heavy hammer… ‘No way. Why does that sound a little too much like me?’

‘Could the energy in my body actually be Divine Power?’

‘No, no, no, that can’t be it. If it were Divine Power, it should be much stronger.’

But she couldn’t shake the strong, intuitive feeling that even if her power wasn’t Divine Power yet, it was definitely related to the Gods.

‘If she was somehow connected to the Gods, then this Divine Artifact… she absolutely had to get it.’

‘Even if Yan Xue had just lied to her and would end up fighting her for it, she had to go.’

Thinking this, Lu Sangjiu took a deep breath, suppressed the turbulent emotions in her heart, and said to Yan Xue, “All right, I’ll trust you for now. Don’t forget the Heavenly Dao oath we both swore.”

Yan Xue’s eyes crinkled into a smile. “Don’t worry, I keep my word.”

Only then did Lu Sangjiu stop pressing the issue. She pointed in a certain direction. “That way.”

As they got closer, Lu Sangjiu could feel the pull on her growing stronger. Even the power within her body seemed to stir restlessly in response.

「Two days later.」

Lu Sangjiu and Yan Xue arrived before a forest thick with miasma.

“It should be in there.”

Yan Xue frowned. “Looks like this one’s luck wasn’t so good either. With such a dense miasma, it’s likely suffered considerable damage.”

“It’s probably full of dangers inside. Be careful.”

As they spoke, they each took a Detoxification Pill before heading into the forest.

The miasma in this forest was so thick it obscured their vision, forcing them to move relatively slowly.

Along the way, they were intermittently attacked by various Magic Beasts and Magic Plants, but for Lu Sangjiu and Yan Xue, these were naturally not much of a problem.

They continued until they reached a pool of water. By now, the restlessness inside Lu Sangjiu was almost uncontrollable.

She took a deep breath, looked at the calm surface of the water, and said, “It’s at the bottom.”

Yan Xue’s eyes lit up, but she wasn’t so reckless. How could she dare to enter the water when the situation was unclear?

“There are no traces of any Magic Beasts near this pool. It’s really strange.”

Yan Xue said, “I’ll go catch a Magic Beast and bring it back to test the waters.”

Yan Xue was more than capable of catching a Magic Beast on her own, so Lu Sangjiu nodded. “I’ll wait for you here.”

Besides, someone really did need to stand guard. Otherwise, if someone else came and beat them to it while they were gone, that would be foolish.

And as it turned out, it was a very good thing that Lu Sangjiu stayed behind. Just moments after Yan Xue left, someone really did arrive.

“Are you sure there’s something good here?”

A vaguely familiar voice spoke up, tinged with irritation, as if annoyed by the dangers they had faced along the way.

Then, a timid female voice replied, “I… I think so. My Compass is pointing this way, and it’s never been wrong before.”

At first, she couldn’t quite place it, but now Lu Sangjiu recognized the female voice. Wasn’t that Fan Xing?

And that earlier male voice belonged to the male cultivator surnamed Fan—the one Yan Xue had been following. Wasn’t his name Fan Lin?