Chapter Ninety-Four: Half a Step from the Little Three Dragons

“What a pity. One stroke of my blade, and the royal bloodline of Water City ends here.”

General Li looked at the blood staining his long saber and let out a quiet sigh.

“Since General Li is so loyal to his sovereign and his country, and so mindful of the greater good, our Lin Kingdom will naturally not treat you poorly,” the two men beside him said coolly.

“Thank you for your regard, Your Highness the Prince of Rites, and Your Excellency the Grand General.”

General Li bowed respectfully to the two men at his side.

The Prince of Rites was one of the Lin Kingdom royal family’s inner-house masters.

The Grand General of the Lin Kingdom was one of the inner-house masters in the kingdom’s court.

“This time, the royal family places great importance on what lies within the Ancient Tomb of Mirror Lake. So long as you perform well enough, promotion and ennoblement will surely be yours.”

The Prince of Rites gave Li a kindly pat on the shoulder.

“I understand, sir.”

Li lowered his head, a flicker of heat flashing through his eyes.

As a mere general of a petty city-state, how could he compare to being a general of a great oasis power? That was far more real, far more satisfying.

And this time, for the sake of the Ancient Tomb of Mirror Lake, the Lin Kingdom had dispatched two of the three inner-house masters within its borders. That alone showed how greatly they valued this affair. So long as he performed well, there was no reason he could not climb another step higher.

“According to the information I gathered, Water City has invited an inner-house master from outside to aid them in restoring their nation.”

“Never mind. It is but one inner-house master. If he is sensible, he will naturally withdraw from the struggle between Water City and our Lin Kingdom. If he is not sensible, then the Grand General and I will teach him sense.”

The Prince of Rites spoke with utter indifference.

Hearing this, General Li also settled down.

Indeed. So what if Water City had invited an inner-house master? They had only one, while their side had two.

No matter how one looked at it, two against one — the advantage was theirs.

……

Inside the Ancient Tomb of Mirror Lake.

Huff.

Li Ju, who had been sitting in meditation, stopped and exhaled a long breath of stale air.

“At last, it has all been digested.”

The gains were enormous.

Li Ju flexed his hand; he could feel his strength had risen yet another level.

The cultivation of an inner-house master consisted of ceaselessly tempering and strengthening the power essence among the three primal essences of the human body. Outwardly, this appeared as a growth in inner force. Once the power essence had been refined to the limit of one’s current realm, the inner-house master would need to master and expand the mind essence in order to break through further, into the Minor Triad realm.

The path of the Minor Triad realm was the path of cultivating the mind essence. The mark of breaking through into that realm was the ability to enlarge and condense one’s mind essence to the point where it could begin to interfere with the outside world.

Concentrated spirit, influence upon matter.

That was the realm of a Minor Triad martial artist.

Originally, when he was still in the Chen Kingdom, Li Ju had already reached the peak of the inner-house level by devouring several rare treasures of heaven and earth. This time, after swallowing the consciousness fragment of a Minor Triad martial artist and refining it into nourishment to strengthen his own mind essence, he had immediately advanced to the half-step Minor Triad realm.

His strength had climbed another step.

Of course, the reason the effect was so astonishing was also because Xiao Hao was a member of the Demon Sect. Their cultivation foundations came from the same source, allowing Li Ju to absorb and make use of Xiao Hao’s consciousness fragment to the greatest extent.

“And the divine weapon, Long Soul Severer.”

Li Ju picked up the divine weapon that had fallen to the ground, now stripped of its miraculous power.

“Xiao Hao really was a good man. He risked his life to flee Chen Kingdom and come here, only to deliver a grand gift to me a hundred years later.”

Li Ju could not help but sigh.

First the information, then the strength, and now even the divine weapon — all delivered for free. He almost felt like erecting a tomb for Xiao Hao.

“Divine Weapon, faux: Long Soul Severer.

“In origin, it was forged personally by the fourth generation sect master of the Demon Sect. The principal material was cold iron essence, supplemented by the full three primal essences of twelve half-step Minor Triad martial artists. On the day it was completed, the life of a Minor Triad martial artist was used to hone its edge. Though Long Soul Severer does not rank among the Demon Sect’s Eight Great Divine Weapons, it still possesses the formidable power befitting a divine weapon.

“Origin: Supreme Demon Might — Demon Sect.”

Looking at the description, Li Ju once again slowly refined the divine weapon with his inner force.

This time, without Xiao Hao meddling in the dark, Li Ju took only a few seconds to complete the refinement.

“Divine Weapon, faux: Long Soul Severer.

“Traits:
1. Divine Weapon Enhancement: when wielding the weapon, the power of the user’s techniques is doubled.
2. Soul-Cleaving Blade: Long Soul Severer’s attacks can directly damage mind essence and consciousness fragments.
3. Soul-Nurturing Vessel: the owner may merge his consciousness into Long Soul Severer, greatly extending the survival time of a consciousness fragment.”

“Ha. I knew it wouldn’t compare to Bat Soul, but this is a bit too far.”

Li Ju looked at the three traits of Long Soul Severer and shook his head.

Only three traits. Compared with the Bat Soul he had wielded before, it was pitifully lacking. And these three traits could in no way raise his strength as dramatically as Bat Soul had.

Of the three, only Divine Weapon Enhancement was useful to him. The other two were of little value. As for methods that could wound a mind essence consciousness fragment, he already had such means himself. In fact, every martial artist of the Minor Triad realm, and even some of the stronger inner-house masters, possessed similar methods.

It was only the more ordinary and weaker inner-house masters who lacked them.

“So this is the difference between one of the Demon Sect’s Eight Great Divine Weapons and an ordinary divine weapon.”

Li Ju hung Long Soul Severer at his waist.

Though Long Soul Severer was far inferior to Bat Soul, it was still a divine weapon in the end. Just the Divine Weapon Enhancement trait alone could raise his strength considerably.

“Now that I’ve obtained a divine weapon, this tomb next…”

Li Ju fixed his gaze on a certain wall in the hall.

From Xiao Hao’s leftover memories, he knew this tomb was not Xiao Hao’s at all, but the tomb of some ancient and mysterious martial artist. More than that, the tomb’s interior was far from as simple as he had imagined. Within it lay treasures that even a Minor Triad martial artist like Xiao Hao coveted.

But the tomb was also fraught with danger. The mechanisms left behind by its owner had even been able to kill Xiao Hao at the height of his power, despite him wielding a divine weapon.

“Forget it.”

After gazing for a long while, Li Ju ultimately shook his head.

The tomb was too dangerous. With his current strength, if he rashly forced his way in, he might very well be courting death. For now, he should focus on completing the instance objective.

Just then, General Wang, who had been overwhelmed by Xiao Hao’s aura and knocked unconscious on the floor, slowly stirred awake.

“Sir, I…”

With one hand clutching his head and the other braced against the ground, General Wang struggled to his feet.

“You’re fine. You just passed out for a bit.”

Li Ju brushed him off casually.

He could not be bothered to explain what had just happened.

“It is the divine weapon!”

Suddenly, a voice came rushing into the hall from outside the tomb passage.