Chapter 358 - Chapter 358: 358, 【Large Ancient Relic】

Chapter 358: 358, 【Large Ancient Relic】

The hot sun was high, temperatures were rising, and the Heavenly Dust Continent was yet again welcoming another scorching summer.

Mao Nanbei had not spoken to Lu Xun for an entire day.

Well, she was currently in her little black cat form, unable to speak. It would be more accurate to say she hadn’t mewed at Lu Xun for an entire day.

It was all because Lu Xun had petted her while she was basking in the sun, petting her from head to tail.

Lu Xun’s large hand first rubbed her cat ears before sliding all the way down her body.

Mao Nanbei was half-closing her eyes, quietly enjoying it until Lu Xun’s devilish hand touched her cat’s forbidden zone—her tail.

All at once, the small black cat’s eyes shot wide open, round as saucers.

Pupil earthquake!

Lu Xun clearly felt her body stiffen. There wasn’t the expected intense struggle. The little black cat did not even move, continuing to stay frozen.

Looking at the fluffy tail that he had held, Lu Xun was a bit puzzled and squeezed it gently again.

Then, he was swatted by the cat.

Regrettably, his physique, comparable to that of a Superior Spirit Sword, meant that other than his cloak and inner shirt getting all torn up, he really wasn’t hurt.

Of course, he realized he’d made a mistake—Mao Nanbei seemed to genuinely dislike people touching her tail.

From her reaction, it was not just a mere dislike, but more of… rejection?

Thank goodness she was already a mature cat. She would only refuse to eat out of spite if she was already full.

When it was mealtime, she would stuff her belly, throw her wooden bowl aside, flick her tail, and walk off.

Having realized his error, Lu Xun, after sincerely apologising, tried to cheer her up.

But he still couldn’t help but sigh:

“Oh, the feeling of that cat tail, it’s seriously fantastic!”

…

…

After being mad at Lu Xun for an entire day, Mao Nanbei felt she had sufficiently displayed her authority as an elder sister.

She was no longer frowning. When Lu Xun brought her a bowl of dessert with a big grin on his face, she chose to forgive him.

Anyway, she will soon be able to transform back into her human form again. Even if he dared to, he wouldn’t be able to touch her tail then!

And the reason for forgiving Lu Xun so quickly was that she would soon transform back to her human form.

She was in a good mood, finally getting to transform back again, she looked forward to it.

The reason was simple. Since losing one of her “lives,” the size of her black cat form had slightly increased. She wondered if there would be any changes after the transformation.

As it turned out, there indeed were changes.

But very limited ones.

One early morning, just as Lu Xun was about to get up, a figure burst into his room through the window.

The familiar cute face, the lively cat ears, and the still flat chest. It was the transformed Mao Nanbei.

“I’ve grown taller! Little junior brother, I’ve grown taller!” Mao Nanbei was overjoyed, and the first person she wanted to share it with was Lu Xun.

Although she wasn’t sure why the first person she thought of sharing her news with was her junior brother.

Lu Xun looked at her carefully and smiled. “You did grow taller.”

Perhaps by just a few centimetres.

Mao Nanbei indeed had some changes, now in a transitional state between a cat loli and a cat girl.

Seemed like she was going through a transition phase.

Magically, both forms’ advantages seemed to have converged on her without appearing out of place.

“Amazing,” Lu Xun exclaimed in his heart.

He checked Mao Nanbei’s state. Her strength had already recovered to the peak of the third realm. She was recovering quite quickly.

This made him completely at ease.

After getting out of bed, Lu Xun took Mao Nanbei to the kitchen.

Mao Nanbei stood at his side, occasionally raising her hand to measure her height. She would sometimes tiptoe while walking or make a small jump.

Of course, most of the time, she liked to be a decorative pendant, hanging onto Lu Xun.

…

…

As the group was finishing their breakfast in the bamboo forest of Back Mountain, a streak of light appeared within the bamboo forest. Following that, a man in a black cloak appeared before the crowd.

His appearance added a touch of brightness to the Back Mountain.

It was none other than the infamous nuisance of the Demon Sect—the Sect Master Shen Yan!

Sometimes Lu Xun wonders, is Shen Yan’s head so shiny because of excessive oil or is he just born that way?

Now in the middle of summer, the sun is so strong, sometimes when he looked at him, he felt a glare.

“Gentlemen, esteemed uncles, and two junior sisters,” Shen Yan greeted in turn, then said, “I come to the back mountain this time to find Little Junior Brother.”

“Oh? Looking for me?” Lu Xun was slightly taken aback and asked, “What can I do for the Sect Master?”

Shen Yan arranged his words and said, “There is a large ancient relic appearing in the Southern Territory. It’s likely an ancient site belonging to a great sect from ancient times.”

Shen Yan looked at Lu Xun and continued, “Originally, these large ancient relics contain strong prohibitions, and this one is absurdly strong. Even the Great Cultivator from the Qingtian Sect in the Southern Territory failed to breach it.”

Lu Xun nodded, he understood.

There are definitely treasures within the ancient relics, people exploring them are essentially treasure hunting.

Exactly for this reason, it’s much harder to break the prohibitions.

It’s difficult to destroy the prohibitions without damaging the relics.

He believed that with the strength of the Qingtian Sect, they could forcefully destroy this relic. After all, Qingtian Sect is one of the Seven Great Sects, they could definitely do it.

But from the current situation, it seemed like even if the entire sect master’s elite couldn’t breach the prohibitions while ensuring the safety of the relic?

“What does this have to do with me?” Lu Xun thought to himself.

Shouldn’t they be asking the Great Cultivators for help in such a situation?

It seemed as if Shen Yan had sensed Lu Xun’s confusion, he spoke up, “Little Junior Brother, ancient relics have a long history and their prohibitions haven’t been maintained for a long time, so it’s normal for some abnormalities to occur. As for the prohibitions of this particular relic, they don’t stop cultivators below The Fourth Realm.”

Lu Xun nodded, he sort of understood.

Many instances within “Heavenly Dust” are actually based on this form.

It’s easy to understand, think of it as a defense network with a gap, the larger ones can’t get in, but the smaller ones can.

If this ancient relic truly belonged to an ancient sect, then these so-called prohibitions are equivalent to a Sect Protection Array.

Generally, the Sect Protection Array is more sensitive to Great Cultivators. After all, they are formidable enemies.

If it’s a Great Cultivator breaking in, it might trigger the entire array. But if it’s just some nobodies, the small formations would be triggered rather than the entire formation, akin to a “power saving mode”, saving cost.

Of course, if the smaller formation is broken, the larger formation would still be activated immediately to ensure foolproof protection.

From the current situation, these small formations might have naturally died out, leaving a gap to be exploited.

Quite attractive.

Lu Xun looked at Shen Yan, and asked, “Does Sect Master want me to go?”

Shen Yan didn’t deny, he nodded slightly and laughed, “Who among our disciples below The Fourth Realm in the Demon Sect is comparable to Little Junior Brother?”

Lu Xun nodded, readily accepting the compliment.

After all, it wasn’t flattery, but the absolute truth.

Lu Xun asked, puzzled, “The Qingtian Sect could just send their own lower cultivation base disciples, why seek help from our Demon Sect?”

Shen Yan cleared his throat, saying, “It wouldn’t be considered seeking help, more like returning a favor.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Xun blushed.

He narcissistically thought that the other party was worried that they couldn’t handle it and came to him for help, considering him a strong expert below the Fourth Realm.

But Shen Yan’s intention was clear, it was just a trade-off between the great sects.

For instance, if the Demon Sect has a good thing, they’ll call the Qingtian Sect to let them mooch off. So, if our Qingtian Sect has a good thing, we’ll call you and share some meat with you.

Oh~ such a dirty trade-off, it’s easy to get hooked on.

Looking at it this way, it seems that the Qingtian Sect owed the Demon Sect some favors over the years, and they are compensating with the opportunity to explore the relic.

Seeing Lu Xun’s somewhat complicated expression, Shen Yan asked, “Doesn’t Little Junior Brother want to go? If you don’t want to, I can send a few Inner Sect Disciples and it would be the same.”

Honestly, Lu Xun does not lack any treasures, so there was no need for him to risk going into the relic.

With his wealth and status, he didn’t care.

As to why Shen Yan wanted Lu Xun to go first, he simply wanted to show off the Demon Sect.

However, Lu Xun was planning to leave the mountain in a few days anyway and his destination was the Southern Territory. After pondering for a moment, he thought, “If it’s on the way, I might as well check it out.”

The Southern Territory isn’t smaller than the Eastern Region where Demon Sect is located. If it was too far from his original destination, it wouldn’t be convenient.

The place Lu Xun wanted to go was at the southernmost point of the Southern Territory, the Uncold Forest.

Legend has it that the place is spring all year round, but the scenery is just so-so.

So, he asked, “Sect Master, where in the Southern Territory is this ancient relic found by the Qingtian Sect?”

Shen Yan explained clearly, “It’s located at the southernmost point of the Southern Territory, a place called the Uncold Forest. I visited it when I was young. It’s said to be spring all year round there, but the scenery is really quite plain…”

…

(PS: First update, monthly ticket ranking fell by one place, asking for more monthly tickets at the end of the month!)