Chapter 169: A Dual Cultivation Technique?
"What's the Spirit Tribe?" Zi Yan tilted her head up to look at Lu Bu, her big eyes blinking curiously.
"Uh... let me think," Lu Bu muttered, momentarily stunned. Right, what was the Spirit Tribe?
Furrowing his brows, Lu Bu began sifting through his memories. The jade slip mentioned the "Seven Great Ancient Emperor Clans," which should mean there were eight clans in total. The strongest was the Soul Clan, followed by the Gu Clan. Then came the Yan, Lei, and Yao Clans as the second tier, while the Xiao Clan had already fallen. Lastly, there were the Stone Clan and the Spirit Clan…
Ah, so that's the Spirit Tribe!
Lu Bu suddenly understood. The Spirit Tribe was an incredibly unlucky clan that didn't even manage to make an appearance before being wiped out by the Soul Clan. Not a single notable character from this tribe was ever introduced in the story an absolutely tragic fate.
In the original novel, the first time Xiao Yan encountered the ancient clans was during the Gu Clan's coming of age ceremony. All of the ancient clans made an appearance then, even the Stone Clan, though its representatives were fairly unremarkable.
But the Spirit Tribe? They didn't even get to show up. They were annihilated before the story even began, to the point where the series' conclusion didn't contain a single mention of them. Truly pitiful.
"Tell me, tell me! What's the Spirit Tribe?" Zi Yan pestered excitedly, her face full of curiosity.
"Uh…" Lu Bu hesitated, at a loss for how to answer. He didn't know much about the Spirit Tribe either. Meeting Zi Yan's eager gaze, he thought for a moment, then repackaged what he knew about the Gu Clan, swapping their name for the Spirit Tribe.
"Oh… so they're descendants of the ancient Dou Emperor," Zi Yan said, her eyes lighting up with understanding. "What's in the jade slip? A Dou Technique?"
"It's a special technique called Imbue Spirit," Lu Bu replied. This was less of a Dou Technique and more of a secret art. Its purpose was to imbue lifeless objects with a spark of spirit. For objects that already had some degree of sentience, it could further enhance their spiritual essence, eventually allowing them to develop full intelligence.
Of course, the Spirit Tribe wasn't foolish. This secret art subtly implanted a loyalty imprint during the process, ensuring that the resulting "Spirit Servants" were eternally faithful to their master.
These "Spirit Servants" referred to beings like the pale corpse puppet and the fiery entity they had encountered earlier.
The Spirit Tribe's combat style relied on Spirit Servants to fight. A Spirit Tribe practitioner could wield flames or lightning in one hand, while commanding frost, wind, or even a powerful magical beast in the other.
However, contrary to Lu Bu's earlier imaginings, these practitioners weren't like close combat mages. They were more akin to glass cannon mages. Their physical bodies were exceedingly fragile, necessitating strong guardians like the corpse puppet from before to protect them.
"It seems kind of useful…" Zi Yan commented with a shrug, giving the technique an ambiguous review.
As a magical beast herself, Zi Yan was long accustomed to using her body to fight. The idea of relying on Spirit Servants didn't particularly interest her.
"Fair enough," Lu Bu said with a shrug of his own. However, this technique did intrigue him. He happened to possess a juvenile Fallen Heart Flame, which he had been considering nurturing for some time now.
Now he had found the perfect method to do so!
"Thank you, Mother Nature, for this gift," Lu Bu sighed deeply, a satisfied smile on his face. This must be his reward for living a virtuous life and accumulating good karma!
"What about the other jade slip? What's in it?" Zi Yan asked, clearly more interested in the second slip than in the Imbue Spirit technique.
"Let me take a look…" Lu Bu said, his soul force diving into the other jade slip. Moments later, his expression turned peculiar.
The second jade slip contained… a dual cultivation technique.
Yes, you read that right dual cultivation.
The technique, titled Feng Yue Yin Yang (Wind and Moon Yin Yang), was exactly what you'd imagine. Its primary function was to enhance the strength of both male and female practitioners.
"Lu Bu, say something!" Zi Yan puffed up her cheeks, impatiently urging him on. "What's so fascinating in there?"
"Uh… see for yourself," Lu Bu muttered, tossing the jade slip to her, feeling both exasperated and amused.
A moment later, Zi Yan's cheeks flushed a deep pink as she returned the jade slip to him with a sheepish giggle. "This… hehe, it seems kind of fun."
Lu Bu rolled his eyes and gave her a light flick on the forehead. "Stop letting your imagination run wild. Now hurry up and sense the next spot. Let's keep looking for treasures!"
"Okay…" Zi Yan grumbled softly, her eyes glowing faintly as she activated her unique sensing abilities. After a few moments, she pointed to the northwest.
"That way! Over there is something I really, really don't like. I absolutely hate it!" Zi Yan declared, her brows furrowing in distaste as she emphasized her words.
Hearing this, Lu Bu raised an eyebrow, a speculative glint in his eyes.
"Let's check it out," he said decisively, wondering if this would lead them to Mo Tianxing.
"Alright…" Zi Yan replied reluctantly, still sulking a bit. But seeing Lu Bu's enthusiasm, she led the way.
…
Meanwhile, the three elders of Demon flame Valley were flying northward, eager to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Lu Bu. They wanted to find other treasures. However, instead of treasure, they ran into someone else.
"So, it's the three elders of Demon flame Valley," Gong Heng greeted with a slight nod, his gaze sweeping over them. He immediately noticed their disheveled appearances. "You don't look too well."
"Greetings, Mr. Gong Heng," Fang Yan quickly said with a polite bow. "We just subdued a flame, which left us a bit worse for wear. Please excuse our appearance."
"Oh?" Gong Heng raised an eyebrow. "Did you encounter a fight?"
The three elders' situation was puzzling. They were too weak to face Dou Zongs and didn't need all three to deal with mere Dou Wangs.
"Not quite. We just happened to run into a little friend from the Inner Academy. Quite an interesting fellow," Fang Yan said with a chuckle. "The one who's Mo Tianxing's enemy."
"Oh? Did you make a move on him?" Gong Heng asked, intrigued.
"Of course not. Do I look like the kind of person who'd work for Mo Tianxing?" Fang Yan replied with a laugh, blatantly lying through his teeth. "That kid's not bad. We had a friendly conversation. You know how it is we don't want to get involved in Mo Tianxing and the Inner Academy's feud."
This half truth was the perfect lie. Fang Yan's smile remained pleasant, hiding his true intentions.
Gong Heng's interest was piqued, but he didn't press further. To him, Lu Bu was just a junior. If not for the feud with Mo Tianxing, Gong Heng wouldn't have spared him a thought.
After a brief exchange, the Demon flame Valley trio quickly departed, leaving Gong Heng deep in thought.
Soon, Gong Heng arrived at a massive crater, much larger than the one where Lu Bu had encountered the three elders. At the center of this hundred meter wide pit lay the corpse of a massive magical beast.
The beast's flesh was shriveled and mummified, its hairless body resembling dried parchment. Most striking of all was the pair of crystalline bone wings on its back, gleaming like polished jade.
Standing at the edge of the pit, Gong Heng reached out and grasped the air, a faint frown forming on his face.
"What immense wind and lightning energy… This magical beast wasn't ordinary," he murmured.
"Rather than the beast itself, it's its cultivation that stands out," said a cold voice.
Gong Heng turned his gaze toward the source, spotting two figures in the distance. One of them was clad in golden robes patterned with snake scales it was Mo Tianxing.
(End of Chapter)
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