Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Three Sons and the Sunflower

“Appear!”

With a sharp cry, Tu Lu’s right hand immediately manifested a glove of deep azure, each of its five claws gleaming with a chilling light.

Within that cold glow, he sensed a horrifying power!

Thanks to the effect of the Nine Dragons Mark, he did not even need to refine it—the Blood God Glove was already intimately connected to him, as if it were a part of his own body. With a mere thought, he could unleash its supreme might!

“So this is a magical treasure?”

He drew a deep breath. Although he had yet to test the true extent of the power within the Blood God Glove, he could faintly sense it, and it was indeed formidable—so much so that it made him shudder.

He had the vague feeling that even the defense of the Heavenly Dragon Token might not withstand such force!

“Pity this treasure is not truly mine.”

He sighed again.

But to simply return it to Lin Fengtian was out of the question now!

“Withdraw!”

After a short while, his emotions finally calmed. As for the matter of returning the glove, he decided to put it out of mind altogether.

The Blood God Glove gradually faded from his hand, but Tu Lu could still sense its presence, as if it resided within his very skin.

“This Nine Dragons Mark is truly marvelous. But next come the Nine Dragons Chains and the Nine Dragons Armor—my spiritual power will surely be insufficient!”

He frowned at the thought.

Having succeeded in inscribing the Blood God Glove gave him some confidence, but it also made him more aware of his limitations.

Though his spirit had fully entered the Sea-Filling realm, the difficulty of high-level runes and the complexity of magical treasures exceeded his expectations. Just working on the Blood God Glove had left him weary; even with the aid of the Blue Lantern, it would be impossible for him to inscribe all nineteen magical treasures in a single effort.

After pondering this for a moment, he quickly sent out a message.

He instructed the Blue-Faced Tiger to gather as many plant spirits as possible, and if none could be found, then to collect any spiritual pills that could restore spirit power—the more, the better!

It was the best solution he could think of for the time being.

After sending the message, he deliberated briefly, then took out two sets of top-quality lower-grade magical armor from his person to practice with.

“I don’t have more magical treasures to try, but if I can become more proficient with the Nine Dragons Mark, the burden on my spirit will lessen.”

……

Within the City Lord’s Mansion, Gongsun Yan narrowed her eyes as she heard the Blue-Faced Tiger’s report.

“Even two plant spirits aren’t enough…”

Her eyes flashed with sharp light, and she immediately ordered, “Blue-Faced Tiger, pass down my command: all rune masters currently in the city are to hand over every restorative spirit pill in their possession. After the beast tide, the City Lord’s Mansion will compensate them uniformly for any losses. This order is mandatory!”

“Wait!”

“No, I’ll handle this myself. Prepare for my departure—I’m going to the Heavenly Dragon Market, and you’re coming with me!”

With these words, she stood.

The Blue-Faced Tiger looked surprised, but dared not ask further, and quickly nodded his assent.

……

In the blink of an eye, a day passed. This time, it took Tu Lu only a single day to successfully inscribe the runes—at a thought, the armor appeared on his body, and with a held breath, he withdrew it again.

During this period, the Blue-Faced Tiger had brought him a fair number of spirit-restoring pills, but there was still no news whatsoever about the plant spirit.

However, Gongsun Yan had commanded him to wait patiently, so he did not rush to inscribe the soft armor and the eighteen Nine Dragons Chains.

After a moment’s hesitation, taking advantage of the breakthrough of his spirit to the Sea-Filling realm, he decided to use this time to inscribe all his magical weapons!

First was the Primal Meridian Sword—a purely offensive magical weapon. The Nine Dragons Mark was not especially suitable, so he inscribed it with the Fire God Rune. It took him three whole days to complete both the main sword and the nine subsidiary swords before he finally stopped.

But still, there was no word from Gongsun Yan.

After much deliberation, he took out the Heavenly Dragon Token.

“This token is also a magical treasure. Although it’s a spatial artifact and somewhat unique, in theory, it should be possible to inscribe runes on it…”

With only a moment of hesitation, Tu Lu made up his mind!

He did not expect, however, that inscribing runes on the Heavenly Dragon Token would be so taxing—ten times more difficult than the Blood God Glove!

He found himself caught, neither able to advance nor retreat, and it took three full days and nights before he finally succeeded!

He came close to failure several times, breaking out in a cold sweat in his anxiety. Not only did he exhaust even his trump card, the Ancient Buddha Blue Lantern, but he also used up some of the spirit-restoring pills the Blue-Faced Tiger delivered.

“Will anyone notice…”

He cast a nervous glance around—this was, after all, tantamount to misappropriating public property.

Only after some time had passed did he finally relax.

A smile broke across his face. With a flip of his right hand, the Heavenly Dragon Token appeared, and with another, it vanished again, stored within his body.

“How convenient—now no one can easily steal it from me.”

He thought happily.

Back in the courtyard, Gongsun Yan had easily taken the Heavenly Dragon Token from him. Though she had soon returned it, a knot had formed in his heart—he could not help but feel the token was… not entirely safe!

At last, he could be at ease.

“What’s this?”

It was only now that Tu Lu noticed, at some point, a brocade box had appeared beside him.

“This is the Triple Sunflower!”

Opening the box, Tu Lu was stunned!

This was the legendary plant spirit, three-in-one; a single specimen was worth as much as three, surpassing even the Yin Sunflower and the centuries-old Mother Ganoderma in value!

He had only ever seen it in illustrations—actual sightings were exceedingly rare. The last time it was rumored to have appeared near Divine Wind City was a century ago.

That time, it was discovered in Obsidian Mountain, guarded by a great ancient beast. Several peak Sea-Filling cultivators had joined forces in a formation to seize the treasure, but failed.

Since then, such a supreme spiritual creature had never again appeared near Divine Wind City!

“To think Gongsun Yan could actually obtain such a thing, and a complete three-in-one at that!”

He took a deep breath, and without hesitation, after briefly restoring his spirit, he immediately began refining the plant avatar using the Shadow Guard Array technique!

He had worried the Grand Steward’s matter might be exposed, but after interacting with Gongsun Yan for a short time, though he still did not fully understand her character, he had come to realize that, in her eyes, nothing was more important right now than inscribing runes on her magical treasures. Someone like the Grand Steward likely did not even cross her mind!

So he worked without restraint!

But the instant his avatar consciousness entered the Triple Sunflower, an intense burning force followed his spirit straight to his main body!

“No!”

His expression changed dramatically!

In that moment, all the blood in his body seemed to ignite. The Yin Sunflower avatar immediately emitted a chill to suppress the force, but the two powers clashed, not calming but instead doing even greater harm to his body!

The powers of yin and yang battered each other within him. The Mother Ganoderma avatar instantly radiated vitality, healing the injuries!

His body cycled through destruction and restoration, until finally he reached a breaking point!

“Ah!!!”

He roared, and the vital energy surged, as if breaking through countless barriers, all flooding into his dantian and sea of qi!

“It’s done!”

At that moment, in the City Lord’s Mansion, a gleam flashed in Gongsun Yan’s eyes!