Chapter 323

Chapter 323 Another Spiritual Weapon, Plague Old Man

Lu Qing walked slowly toward the spot where the Plague Gourd had fallen.

It now lay quietly, half-lying in the pit it had created.

No trace of gray air emanated from it, revealing its ash-colored form.

However, Lu Qing didn’t approach too closely, maintaining a safe distance.

Within his sight, the Plague Gourd emanated a faint, supernatural purple glow.

[Plague Gourd: A magical weapon of the evil ways, a damaged, low-grade spiritual instrument.]

[The natal magical instrument of the evil master, the Plague Old Man, from the ancient era of immortal cultivation.]

[Containing the aura of plague, it can corrode the soul and body, spreading plague, a profoundly sinister force.]

[This magical instrument had sustained significant damage, greatly diminishing its spiritual power, and has yet to recover.]

[At the end of the ancient era of immortal cultivation, the Plague Old Man, to avoid the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, abandoned his body and embraced his own magical instrument, possessing the instrument’s spirit and clinging to life.]

…

A strange light flickered in Lu Qing’s eyes.

The note that emerged from the Plague Gourd contained a wealth of information.

First, there was the Five Decays of Heaven and Man—this was the first time Lu Qing had encountered such a description.

It seemed the end of the Immortal Cultivation Era wasn’t simply a matter of spiritual energy depletion; something far more horrific occurred, leading to the extinction of the cultivators and leaving behind little of their legacy.

Secondly, there was the so-called Plague Old Man.

He abandoned his body to possess the spirit of a weapon…

so, was this Plague Old Man still alive within the gourd?

Lu Qing stared at the Plague Gourd in silence.

For a long moment, it remained motionless.

It was as if, after the death of the fourth son of the Qi family, it had become a dead object without its master.

Naturally, Lu Qing wouldn’t be so reckless.

The fourth son of the Qi family was only at the Great Perfection stage of the Innate Realm. Logically, he didn’t possess the ability to freely control a magical weapon like a spiritual weapon.

Even with Lu Qing’s current strength, even borrowing even a little of the Qiankun Qi Bag’s power would be a struggle.

Lu Qing would never believe there wasn’t something fishy going on.

Now that the Plague Gourd was feigning death, Lu Qing naturally wouldn’t be fooled so easily.

He pondered for a moment, and a cloth bag suddenly materialized in his hand. With a thought, it expanded rapidly, swallowing the Plague Gourd, now half a man’s height.

As the bag grew, an incredible wave of energy suddenly emanated from within the gourd: “Qian Kun Yi Qi Bag! How is this possible? Wait…”

However, before the wave could finish its words, Qian Kun Yi Qi Bag had already swallowed the Plague Gourd, cutting off its next words.

After swallowing the Plague Gourd, Qian Kun Yi Qi Bag returned to palm-sized size and landed in Lu Qing’s hands.

A sneer crossed his face: “Want to negotiate now? Too late.”

He knew that the old Plague Ghost hadn’t vanished.

Otherwise, with the Qi family’s fourth son’s cultivation alone, even with the damaged Plague Gourd, he wouldn’t be able to control it so flexibly.

There must be someone secretly helping him.

He even suspected that the Qi family’s fourth son hadn’t been able to refine the Plague Gourd at all, and that it was simply the Plague Ghost within it that was deceiving him.

Faced with such a cunning old ghost that had survived tens of thousands of years ago, Lu Qing naturally refused to listen.

He would only feel at ease once he had completely subdued it.

As for how to deal with the ghost afterwards, that was a matter of his own volition.

After storing the Qiankun Qi Bag, Lu Qing returned to the village.

Patriarch Ji and the others greeted him with awe.

After witnessing Lu Qing’s many miraculous techniques and the terrifying power of his recent arrow,

Patriarch Ji and the others finally understood why the Azure Dragon City Lord had said that even the Holy Mountain was unwilling to provoke this young man.

His strength was beyond the reach of the Xiantian Realm; it was a being of a completely different level.

“Young Master Lu, is the Qi family’s fourth son dead?” Patriarch Ji asked cautiously.

“Dead,” Lu Qing nodded.

Patriarch Ji breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he had witnessed Qi Changfeng being shattered to pieces by Lu Qing’s arrow,

the various methods Qi Changfeng had previously employed were too bizarre.

Therefore, without Lu Qing’s confirmation, he couldn’t be sure that the other party was truly dead.

“By the way, Young Master Lu, how is the son now?”

“I have removed the miasma mark from the Third Young Master’s body. He is now healthy and should be able to fully recover after a period of recuperation.

He is now asleep. If you are worried, you can go and check on him.”

Lu Qing waved his hand gently, removing the light curtain of the formation surrounding the Third Young Master Ji.

Seeing this, the head of the Ji family was filled with even greater awe. After bowing respectfully to Lu Qing, he went to his son.

Lu Qing looked at the old doctor: “Master, how is your health?”

The old doctor, who had already adjusted his breathing, smiled and said: “It’s fine now. With the help of your talisman, that little bit of gray energy can’t have much impact on me.”

“Then the matter here is resolved. Master, let’s continue our journey.”

“Okay.” The old doctor did not object.

“Young Master Lu, Senior Chen, are you leaving?”

After seeing the condition of his youngest son, the head of the Ji family was about to come over to thank him, but was surprised after hearing the conversation between the two.

“Yes, head of the Ji family, the people in this village have been protecting your son before we came.

Especially the girl who stayed by his side, she took care of him every step of the way.

Please don’t treat them badly, Master Ji.”

Upon hearing this, Master Ji’s face suddenly became solemn: “Of course, I, Ji, am not such an ungrateful person.

Young Master Lu, please rest assured that my Ji family will take good care of the villagers in this village.”

“Master Ji, these villagers once suffered from leprosy. Although they are now cured, they still have hidden diseases.

I will leave a prescription for you. Master Ji can ask someone who understands medical principles to prepare some medicine according to the prescription and boil some plasters.

Apply it to these villagers. After a while, even if the hidden diseases cannot be completely cured, they should be able to recover to be almost normal.

After your son recovers, you can also use this prescription to remove the sores and scars on his face and body.”

At this time, the old doctor said.

“Then I would like to thank you on behalf of my son and these villagers. “The head of the Ji family said respectfully.

Facing the old doctor, he did not dare to neglect him at all.

When he recalled the sword energy field that this person had displayed earlier, he was still shocked.

As a person who practiced the sword, he felt that his sword skills were just like a baby learning to walk compared to the other party, and he could not compare with him at all.

So the old doctor went to the carriage, took out a pen and ink, wrote a prescription and handed it to the head of the Ji family.

Lu Qing thought about it and simply kept a prescription and handed it to the other party.

“Head of the Ji family, this is a conditioning prescription. Take it back and follow the method on the prescription to condition the body of the third young master. Within half a month, his body should be able to fully recover.”

“Thank you both very much. I will remember this kindness in my heart and will never forget it.”

The head of the Ji family took the prescription respectfully.

At the same time, he was also a little happy.

He had just checked on his youngest son’s condition. He was incredibly weak, and the sores on the left side of his body and face were even more alarming.

These two prescriptions were like timely help, arriving at the right time.

After completing these tasks, Lu Qing and the others were finally ready to set off.

“Master Ji, see you again if we’re lucky.”

After everyone boarded the carriage, Lu Qing nodded slightly and got inside.

Ma Gu flicked his whip, and the carriage started slowly. Then, a green air flow surged, transforming into a stream of light, and it sped away at an incredible speed.

Master Ji and the others stood at the entrance of the village, respectfully watching the carriage go away.

Only when the carriage disappeared did everyone look away.

“Master, this young master Lu is truly a god-like figure. No wonder the city lord is so in awe of him and dares not offend him in the slightest.”

A member of the Ji family couldn’t help but exclaimed in amazement.

“Yes, and that old senior is equally extraordinary. That dragon-like sword energy move he used earlier was the realm sword practitioners of my generation only dream of.”

Another Xiantian realm cultivator exclaimed in agreement.

“Not only that, but the fourth son of the Qi family has also become terrifyingly powerful. I wonder where he got that gourd from, but it actually possesses such miraculous power. I wonder what kind of treasure it is.”

Upon hearing this, several of the Ji family Xiantian cultivators fell silent.

Indeed, they, too, were incredibly curious about this matter.

They knew the fourth son of the Qi family very well.

In the past, he wasn’t even powerful, let alone formidable. Even their strength was inferior.

But before, with that strange gourd, he not only reached the Great Perfection of the Xiantian Realm, but was also able to unleash such terrifying power.

Even the old senior who had comprehended the realm of sword energy was unable to defeat him.

It was obvious that that gourd must be an unimaginable treasure.

Unfortunately, with Young Master Lu around, it was definitely beyond their reach.

“It seems the world has truly changed since the resurgence of spiritual energy. All sorts of bizarre things are happening one after another. From now on, I’m afraid we Xiantian realm masters will no longer be able to rule the world.”

After a long silence, a Xiantian realm master sighed.

“Alright, stop lamenting. While the resurgence of spiritual energy has undoubtedly made the world more bizarre and incomprehensible, this isn’t necessarily our fate.

You should have noticed that your cultivation has been much easier recently.

With diligent practice in the coming days, we might even achieve the same power as Young Master Lu.”

Patriarch Ji, noticing the dejected expressions of the Xiantian realm masters within his clan, spoke up.

Several of the Ji family Xiantian masters shuddered at his words.

A glint of clarity flashed in their eyes, and a look of shame crossed their

faces. “The Patriarch is right. We haven’t had enough ambition.” Patriarch

Ji shook his head. Witnessing the power Lu Qing displayed had shaken him deeply.

But as Patriarch, he couldn’t allow such dejection to spread.

Looking at the direction the carriage left, the head of the Ji family walked towards the village with mixed feelings.

He was thinking in his mind how to resettle the villagers in this village.

Since he promised to take good care of the villagers here, he would naturally not break his promise.

…

Lu Qing naturally didn’t know what the conversation between the Ji family and others was after they left.

But he was not worried that the Ji family would not keep their promise.

Not to mention that with the character of the third son of the Ji family, he would not do such a thing.

Even the head of the Ji family did not seem like someone who would be so confused.

As the head of the family, he should know very well what the consequences would be if he deceived himself.

On the carriage, the third son of the Hu family was questioning Hu Zezhi.

“Xiao Lian, where did you go after leaving the city gates that day?

Your uncle later wrote, saying you didn’t even attend the Xuanxin Sect’s disciple recruitment ceremony.

And what about Brother Zheng and Miss Wang?

Like you, they left the city gates and haven’t been heard from since. They

haven’t returned from Qinglong City either. I’ve been to their residence several times, but they’re nowhere to be found.”

Hu Lao San recalled the panic he’d felt when he received the letter from Hu Zezhi’s uncle.

If he hadn’t known the vastness of Zhongzhou and the difficulty of finding someone, staying in Qinglong City would have been a better way to gather information.

He’d almost wanted to leave Qinglong City and search for his daughter.

“Dad, you don’t know, Wang, Zheng, and the others had no intention of escorting me to the Xuanxin Sect that day. They had their sights set on the Xuanxin Token…

If it weren’t for Young Master Lu and the others’ help, I’m afraid I would never see you again in my life.”

Hu Zezhi finally had the chance to tell her father about her grievances.

Hu Laosan was extremely shocked and angry after hearing these words.

“Those evil thieves surnamed Zheng are such beasts in human form.

I treated them as my close friends and helped them settle down in the city.

I was simply blind!”

Hu Laosan never expected that the people he entrusted his children with almost put his children in an irretrievable situation.

He was shocked, angry, and scared.

Suddenly, Hu Laosan knelt down in the carriage and kowtowed to Lu Qing and the old doctor.

“Thank you, young master and old senior, for saving my daughter’s life. Otherwise, I, Hu Laosan, don’t know how to live for the rest of my life.”

“Uncle Hu, there’s no need to be so. We simply happened to meet that day. It’s Miss Hu’s great fortune that saved her from danger.”

Lu Qing reached out and gently helped Hu Lao San to his feet, smiling.

“Mr. Lu, ever since her mother passed away, Xiaolian has been my only concern in this life.

I truly cannot imagine life without her.

In short, I, Hu Lao San, will never forget your kindness. Even if I have to work like a slave, I will repay you in the future.”

Hu Lao San couldn’t kneel down, but the gratitude on his face didn’t diminish in the slightest.

“Uncle Hu, you’re too polite,”

Lu Qing said, soothingly.

Suddenly, his expression changed, and he called softly, “Master Ma, let’s find a place to rest for lunch.”

Then he looked at the old doctor with a serious look, “Master, after we park the car, I need to retreat for a while.”

“Is there something wrong with the gourd? Do you need my help?”

the old doctor noticed Lu Qing’s expression and asked with some concern.

He had undoubtedly witnessed Lu Qing collecting the plague gourd.

In reality, the old doctor had long been aware of Lu Qing’s possession of a magical treasure capable of collecting objects.

After all, Lu Qing had never been too secretive about this fact.

Remembering the strangeness of the gray gourd earlier, the old doctor felt a little worried.

“It’s okay, disciple, I can handle it. Master will help protect the Dharma later,” Lu Qing said with a faint smile.

(End of this chapter)