Chapter 74: A Long Cry That Echoes Through Endless Green Mountains

"Boy, stop staring!"

Just as Lu Sheng was consuming merit to scan the severed bird’s head in the sky, a voice suddenly sounded by his ear.

Before he could locate the source, a dizzying sensation overtook him, and his body was abruptly pulled away from its original location.

"A Grandmaster of the Void Realm!"

Without needing to think, Lu Sheng instantly knew that only such a Grandmaster could so effortlessly extract him from the domain of the Sunset Blade Sovereign.

No one else in the world could so casually breach the domain of a Grandmaster of the Refined Void and bring him out.

"Thirty-sixth generation descendant of Emperor Jing, Lu Sheng of the Lu clan of Bingzhou—"

"I pay my respects to the Grandmaster!"

Landing on solid ground, Lu Sheng didn’t spare a glance at his surroundings. He immediately knelt in the icy snow.

In the face of such a Grandmaster, his only shield was his identity as a scion of the Lu clan of the Great Jing.

Moreover, by Lu Sheng’s estimation, this Grandmaster was most likely also of the Lu clan.

The fact that he had been brought out could only mean the Grandmaster had his reasons.

"Astute and courageous—"

"Excellent, excellent!"

"You are indeed a fine candidate!"

After a few murmurs of appreciation, Lu Sheng heard the figure say:

"Boy, I heard you once proposed to Murong Yu. I shall fulfill your wish now—"

"Go! This is your night of union with her!"

Before he could protest, Lu Sheng felt the ice beneath his feet melt away, and his body began to sink.

At the same time, two bottles of elixirs appeared on him, and another voice sounded by his ear:

"Boy, these are Dragon-Phoenix Yin-Yang Pills. You and Murong Yu should each take one."

"If you mess this up, be warned—I will deal with you once we return to the Central Plains!"

Then came a long, resounding cry. The ice and snow around him rapidly melted, transforming into a pale azure vital energy—

The energy was so dense it became manifest, allowing even Lu Sheng, merely a martial artist, to feel it keenly.

—

"A single cry turns ten thousand mountains green—"

"You are Lu Wanshan of the Great Jing Court!"

"Where has the Spirit Fox King gone?"

Within the snow and ice, a wave of spiritual energy swept by, and as one attuned to spirits, Lu Sheng felt the message resonate within him.

Only now did he finally confirm the identity of the one who had brought him here.

Lu Wanshan, currently the foremost power in the Great Jing Court—no wonder he possessed the cultivation of the Void Realm!

Ever since King Huntian, Lu Zhengyang, entered the Divine Ruins, many factions had been restless, but none dared make bold moves, all wary of this man.

Many believed that Lu Wanshan, who cultivated the Mountain and River Sutra left by Emperor Jing, and had integrated the Primordial Elixir Scroll of the Elixir King, Lu Ninghua, had likely reached the Void Realm.

Indeed, here on this snow-clad mountain, with the departure of Huntian King, Lu Wanshan had revealed for the first time his true strength.

"If he is Lu Wanshan, then the one speaking to him, and questioning him—"

"It must be the sixth-grade Snow Lotus, the transformed form of the Snowhawk King!"

"Lu Wanshan gave me the Dragon-Phoenix Yin-Yang Pills and sent me to Murong Yu’s bedchamber—what is his true intention?"

The Dragon-Phoenix Yin-Yang Pill, crafted by the Elixir King Lu Ninghua from the blood essence of dragon and phoenix beasts, blended with herbs of both yin and yang natures, was renowned not only for its effects on Grandmasters but also for ensuring that any man and woman who took it together would conceive twins—a dragon and a phoenix child.

"Is Lu Wanshan intending for Murong Yu and me to bear children?"

As this thought flashed through Lu Sheng’s mind, a ripple pulsed above, and he felt his body, under Lu Wanshan’s control, appear within an ice cave.

This was Lu Wanshan’s true purpose in bringing him here!

—

"Murong Yu!"

The ice cave was small. One sweep of Lu Sheng’s gaze revealed a lotus pond.

Within the pond, a pure white lotus enfolded a graceful silhouette, merging into her body.

Witnessing this, Lu Sheng immediately understood Lu Wanshan’s plan.

"So the Snow Lotus is borrowing a body to take form—"

"No wonder Lu Wanshan gave me the Dragon-Phoenix Yin-Yang Pills!"

This process required a spirit body of utmost purity, both in flesh and soul. Clearly, Lu Wanshan intended for Lu Sheng to defile Murong Yu, thus preventing the sixth-grade Snow Lotus, incarnation of the Snowhawk King, from completing its transformation.

Moreover, with the Snow Lotus already merging into Murong Yu, if it were forced to separate now, its very essence would be grievously damaged.

With Lu Wanshan pressing from without, any attempt to withdraw would be certain death.

Thus, even if the Snow Lotus resisted, it could only reincarnate within the fetus in Murong Yu’s womb!

What a plan! Truly, a masterful stratagem!

So, Lu Wanshan intended for him and Murong Yu to unite and beget a child, so the sixth-grade Snow Lotus—or rather, the Snowhawk King—would be reborn as a scion of the Lu clan.

—

"Hurry!"

"Others are on their way!"

There was no time for hesitation. While suppressing the Snow Lotus with all his might, Lu Wanshan manipulated the powers of heaven and earth to break its defenses within the ice cave, urging Lu Sheng toward Murong Yu.

Sensing the urgency in Lu Wanshan’s words, Lu Sheng understood clearly—

If he hesitated even a moment, Lu Wanshan would likely seize control and force him to act with the power of the world itself.

"So be it!"

"I might as well do this on my own initiative!"

"Having a daughter reborn as a strong cultivator may not be a bad thing—"

"I just hope she doesn’t regain her memories too quickly!"

With this thought, Lu Sheng gazed at the exquisite Murong Yu, whose beauty was heightened by the Snow Lotus merging into her. He took out the elixir from the phoenix-adorned vial and gave it to her, then swallowed the other himself...

—

"Damn!"

"Why can’t I possess her?"

Not far from the glacier, the Firelord had been lurking, waiting for the battle between Lu Wanshan and the sixth-grade Snow Lotus to break out. Now, seizing the moment, he prepared to possess Murong Yu’s body through the Divine Cauldron of All Beings.

Previously, wary of the Snow Lotus, he had hidden this ability.

Now, with Lu Wanshan containing the Snow Lotus, his chance had come!

But to his shock, though the spiritual connection between himself and Murong Yu remained, he was unable to possess her.

"The connection is still intact, but I can’t possess her. That can only mean—"

"Murong Yu is no longer a pure spirit body!"

"Damn it, who has tainted her!"

Just as with the Snow Lotus’s reincarnation, his own consciousness could only possess an utterly pure vessel. Now, despite the lingering spiritual bond, he was repelled, leaving only one conclusion—

Murong Yu’s body had been tainted by someone’s design!

"Shi Haoyan, help me hold off the White Elephant King!"

There was no time to fume. The Firelord heard Lu Wanshan’s voice. Even in the Western Regions, where he was worshipped as the God of Fire and had grown arrogant, he dared not disobey—

A Grandmaster of the Void Realm could slay him with ease!