Chapter 565: New Version of the Punishment Dragon Pillar

"The divine blood you use to make demon puppets must have a source, right?" He Lingchuan glanced left and right. The nearest guests were still outside, eating and chatting, no one paying them any attention. "I won't ask about its origin; I just need a tiny bit of divine bone, just a little!"

"I don't have anything like that!" Dong Rui turned to leave, but He Lingchuan grabbed him.

"This is for an emergency, to save a life!"

"Whose life?"

"Mine," He Lingchuan pointed to his nose. "I'm about to walk through the gates of hell. If I don't make it, my plans in Lingxu City will fall apart, and your demon puppets won't get their extended lifespans either."

The chain of cause and effect was that simple.

Dong Rui hesitated.

That single hesitation gave He Lingchuan hope. He had asked casually, not expecting to hit the jackpot right away.

How could he be so lucky? It must be the divine bone necklace protecting him!

He reached out to Dong Rui. "Give it to me, quickly!"

"This is blackmail!" Having failed to outmaneuver this person time and again, Dong Rui had no choice but to surrender. He pulled a small crystal bottle from his storage pouch.

The bottle was filled with clear liquid, in which a small, black substance, about the length of a pinky finger, was suspended.

"What's this?" He Lingchuan had seen divine bones before. "Shouldn't it look like bone or metal?"

"The black parts are the flesh attached to it..." Dong Rui snapped irritably. "Have you ever even seen a divine bone to dare question me?"

"No, no, I wouldn't dare." Attached tissue on a bone, how novel! He Lingchuan's face lit up with joy as he reached out to take it.

As soon as the bottle appeared, the divine bone necklace grew warm. This indicated that what Dong Rui had given him was likely genuine and not a trick.

What an honest man, Brother Dong.

But Dong Rui pulled the bottle back. "Not for free!"

He Lingchuan was quick to respond. "Alright, name your price."

"One hundred thousand taels of silver." Dong Rui said it as if it were ten or fifteen taels, not a hundred million large coins. "I've been researching something recently, and I'm really short on funds; I can't afford the materials."

Without a second thought, He Lingchuan counted out one hundred thousand taels in banknotes and handed them to him. "Take them."

He didn't earn his money easily, but this was no time to be stingy. If Dong Rui only wanted money, that was perfectly fine.

It was a thick stack, which Dong Rui quickly tucked into his storage pouch. Seeing the young man hand over a hundred thousand large silver taels without blinking, Dong Rui regretted that he hadn't asked for more.

But He Lingchuan had already snatched the bottle, so quickly that Dong Rui couldn't react, and his hand was empty.

Young Master He smiled. "Alright, goods and payment settled."

In truth, both understood that exchanging one hundred thousand taels of silver for a piece of divine bone meant He Lingchuan had gotten the better end of the deal.

Was divine bone something one could just buy with money?

More importantly, He Lingchuan needed divine bone that still retained its vitality.

The item Dong Rui produced looked even better than those in the ancient city of the Xiji Royal Palace; that alone made it worth it!

With one hundred thousand taels of silver in hand, Dong Rui was in a much better mood. He even offered a bonus piece of information: "By the way, it seems you have an enemy who is also in Lingxu City."

Although divine bones were rare, he hadn't found a use for them recently, so converting them into cash for materials was a better option.

"Who?" He Lingchuan wondered, surprised. He didn't know many people; why did it seem like he had enemies everywhere?

"Nian Zanli," Dong Rui said. "Nian Zanli seems to have returned to Lingxu City for business and to recover from an illness."

He Lingchuan let out a breath and said seriously, "Thank you for the warning." He casually tossed a silver ingot fragment onto the table. "This meal's on me."

During the Battle of Hanshui, Nian Zanli was a key enemy leader. At that time, Hong Chenglue lent Nian Zanli the Green Willow Vase, allowing him to flood the Shu Kingdom's army. However, Nian Zanli's own Xunzhou army was not spared, suffering heavy casualties.

The two parted ways at the street corner and returned to their respective places.

Dong Rui returned to his lodging, where his two guards were still sprawled out, sound asleep, on the low table. He fetched a basin of water from a jar and splashed it over their faces with a loud gush.

The two jolted awake.

"Huh? What happened?"

"Are you two here just to drink and sleep?" Dong Rui's face darkened. "We're out of Baixiang wood. Go buy some for me!"

Meanwhile, He Lingchuan didn't return to the Golden Sunflower Inn until sunset. When he inquired at the counter, he learned that someone had recently asked for "Li Junyi" and left a message: "The matter is settled."

This was the secret signal he had arranged with Li Qingge.

In other words, Li Qingge had sent someone to inform him that the news of "He Xiao," the Chiyan envoy who had repeatedly humiliated Zhongsun Mou in Baishaque, arriving in Lingxu City had begun to spread.

The Lord of Songyang Prefecture was still very effective in handling matters in Lingxu City.

The Soul-Guiding Mirror in his arms said to him, "Hey, if you've had enough, you can leave Lingxu City now and Beijia in a month or two. When the fuss dies down, you can come back for that relic or whatever it is."

But it didn't know that He Lingchuan's primary goal was not the spider demon relic at all.

Yet, he spoke with grand spirit: "If I wanted to retreat, I would have done so back in Zhida Village." If he were still the Young Master of Blackwater City, he probably would have slipped away long ago. But now, "Since I'm already here, how can I justify the toil of the past few months if I don't see this through?"

How much effort had he put in to reach this point? He finally had the opportunity to observe Beijia's power structure up close; retreating now would mean all his previous efforts were wasted.

The mirror wailed, "Before you get yourself killed, can I find a new owner first?"

"How about the Lord of Songyang Prefecture?"

"Oh, t-that works too!" The Songyang Prefecture treated artifacts very well.

He Lingchuan flicked the mirror surface hard.

"Ouch!" The mirror quickly changed the subject. "What do you plan to use the divine bone for, the one you traded a hundred thousand taels of silver for?"

Its curiosity was stronger than a cat's.

He Lingchuan closed the doors and windows tightly, then set up a barrier. Only then did he take out the small bottle from his embrace and examine the small piece of the heavenly god's remains.

The divine bone necklace also grew warm at the same time.

"We put so much effort into getting this small piece of divine bone; we won't get a second chance to make a mistake." He unfastened the necklace, placed it on the table, and said, word by word, "Don't get greedy. Make me the Dragon Punisher Column! If you're missing any materials, I'll get them!"

The divine bone necklace remained warm.

So He Lingchuan brought the bottle close to the necklace, and with a whoosh, both the bottle and the bone vanished.

At the same time, the necklace stopped emitting heat.

He Lingchuan got up and poured himself a cup of hot water. He had only taken two sips when he suddenly heard the mirror gasp, "Hey, hey, look!"

He turned his head and saw that, besides the divine bone necklace, there was something else on the table:

A middle-finger-length tube.

Huh? Was the production of the Dragon Punisher Column that efficient?

In fact, rather than a tube, it looked more like a bare tree branch, its surface covered with cracked wood grain.

The moment He Lingchuan picked it up, he recognized the feel—it was a Juluo tree branch!

It was about two centimeters in diameter, not a perfect cylinder. A beast-head statue still sat atop it, but its design was different from what He Lingchuan had seen in Panlong City; he didn't know the exact species.

A piece of transparent colored glaze was embedded in the middle section of the branch, showing that it was hollow inside. Next to it was a round button, made of neither gold nor jade, but resembling the divine bone He Lingchuan had seen.

This must be the Dragon Punisher Column. The simplified changes in its appearance might be because he provided too little material, so the Grand Cauldron supplemented it with some old scraps?

Presumably, it also knew that now was not the time to be picky about aesthetics.

Downgraded configuration was fine, as long as the effect wasn't compromised.

He Lingchuan dared not press the round button. Instead, he found a brocade velvet box for gifts, secured the item completely inside to prevent accidental button presses due to bumps or vibrations.

Mitian had once said that "certain" Dragon Punisher Columns she created carried the aura of the Grand Cauldron, and their first use would attract the attention of the Heavenly Gods.

So, he could infer that, at this perilous moment, the Dragon Punisher Column he had created "must" carry the aura of the Grand Cauldron. Therefore, its debut location needed to be chosen very carefully.

Diverting the Heavenly Gods' attention and reducing their interest in him was key to He Lingchuan's survival.

To whom should he entrust it?

He Lingchuan sat holding the box, lost in thought for a long time, and then reluctantly realized he seemed to have no other choice.

He knew too few people in Beijia.

But he was also pressed for time.

So, a little over an hour later, He Lingchuan was back at the Songyang Prefecture.

Li Qingge, wrapped in a large cloak, appeared to be about to go out. Seeing him, she seemed a little surprised. "What happened? Has anyone come looking for trouble with you?"

He Lingchuan shook his head. "No, I have another important matter to entrust to you."

"Why 'another'?" Oh, well!

Li Qingge, being good-natured, showed no impatience at all. "I'm listening."

He Lingchuan glanced around.

Li Qingge understood and dismissed the others.

Only then did He Lingchuan take out the box and place it on the table. "My Lord, have you ever been to Ju Country?"

Li Qingge nodded. "Yes, I have. I actually intended to open a branch there. It's in the northwest of Beijia, rich in iron and aluminum, and borders the Suoluo Demon Kingdom, which imports raw iron from it."

"Recently, many strange occurrences have been happening one after another in Ju Country's Wange Swamp and Wange Forest. The local authorities sent people to investigate, but things only became more perplexing." He Lingchuan opened the box, pointed at the Dragon Punisher Column, and said, "I'd like to ask you, My Lord, to send someone trustworthy to take this item near Wange Forest and press this button."

Li Qingge examined the unfamiliar object. "And then what will happen?"

"It will be calm, and everything will be as usual. Have him press it several times throughout the night, and he can leave early the next morning. It's best if he doesn't return to Lingxu City."

Li Qingge was taken aback. "That's it?"

"Yes, that's it, and it won't harm anyone or anything," He Lingchuan said earnestly. "But there's one thing to pay extreme attention to: before reaching Wange Forest, the box must not be opened, and this item must not be touched!"

"It's just a small favor," Li Qingge mused. "Is this matter very important to you?"

He Lingchuan's expression became solemn. "It's a matter of life and death."

"Alright, then consider it handled. Coincidentally, I have a few subordinates heading to Suoluo Kingdom; I'll have them depart tomorrow morning." Li Qingge produced sealing wax and immediately sealed the box. "However, it will take at least twenty days to travel from here to Wange Swamp. Can you wait that long?"

It was simply due to Beijia's vast territory; leaving this large empire was no easy feat.

He Lingchuan gave a bitter smile. "Even if I can't wait, I'll have to."