Chapter 573: Golden Core Nine Heavens

At the Qiongqi Tomb, two figures, one large and one small, stood silently before the black coffin, without a word.

In the pitch-black darkness, the oily green glow emanating from their pupils added a touch of terror.

If a Qiongqi elder were present, they would recognize the larger figure as the living fossil of the Qiongqi tribe, its oldest and most senior member—an ancient Qiongqi who had lived for nine thousand years and reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage.

What was strange, however, was that among these two figures, the Tribulation Transcendence living fossil stood behind the smaller figure in a subservient position, showing utmost respect and not daring to overstep in the slightest.

The smaller figure gently stroked the sealed funerary objects, which astonishingly emitted buzzing sounds, as if eager to break their seals and fight alongside their master.

"Not yet," the small figure murmured softly. Upon hearing their master's command, the funerary objects quieted down.

Patriarch Jin rushed into the tomb chamber on all fours, but as he neared the main tomb, his pace slowed, and he gradually transformed into a human form.

He saw the two figures, stood firm, and bowed.

"Little Ancestor, the people from the Meng family and Wen Dao Sect have been sent away," he reported. "The Meng family's heir promised to speak with his father about lending us spirit stones once he returns."

The figure addressed as "Little Ancestor" turned around, revealing a petite girl who appeared to be about thirteen or fourteen years old.

The girl nodded, quite satisfied with Patriarch Jin's actions.

"That's good news."

"With the coming of the Great Era," she continued, "that old fellow from the Di Jiang tribe can no longer hold back. He wants to unite the demon realm and seize the initiative."

"His nascent Dao Fruit is indeed suited for this endeavor. Our Qiongqi tribe does not need to imitate others. There's still some time before the true Great Era arrives, and during this period, what you need to do is improve your own cultivation."

"Yes," Patriarch Jin and the living fossil said simultaneously, their eyes betraying a hint of excitement.

The Great Era struggle was comparable in scale to ancient times. If anyone truly understood the ancient situation in the present day, it was none other than the Little Ancestor.

Immediately, Patriarch Jin seemed to remember something and hesitated slightly.

"If you have something to say, speak freely."

"Little Ancestor, with our Qiongqi tribe's strength, can we truly develop enough to contend for opportunities in the Great Era struggle, on par with colossal powers like the Great Xia and the Buddhist Kingdom?"

The girl rolled her eyes, with a hint of exasperation, as if disappointed with their lack of ambition: "I never said we had to aim for first place. Isn't being in the top ten enough?"

"Oh."

The Black Market was a place where all sorts of characters mingled, and rumors flew everywhere. As long as you were willing to spend money, there was no information you couldn't obtain.

Inside a tavern, two shadowy figures, cloaked in black robes that obscured their faces, were conversing.

This was the most common attire in the Black Market.

"Have you heard about the Demonic Sound Heavenly Lady?"

"Please, who hasn't heard of the Demonic Sound Heavenly Lady? With a strum of her ancient zither, tens of thousands of sound lines slice demons into countless pieces, leaving no whole flesh behind. That female demon is on the wanted list of every tribe. If anyone could capture her, the combined bounty would make even Integration stage cultivators envious. If only I were strong enough, I'd try to catch her myself!"

"Hey, who's talking about that old news? I'm asking about the two attendants who appeared by the Demonic Sound Heavenly Lady's side four months ago."

"Two attendants? To be honest, brother, I've been in seclusion for the past half year and haven't paid attention to such news."

"Buy me a drink, and I'll tell you all about it."

"Waiter, two barrels of the finest monkey wine!"

The man twitched his nose, sniffing the aroma of the wine, and chuckled twice before speaking:

"I won't say much about the Demonic Sound Heavenly Lady; everyone knows about her. But four months ago, two attendants suddenly appeared by her side. They are also human cultivators, at the late Nascent Soul stage."

"Since acquiring these two attendants, news of the Heavenly Lady's appearances has become more frequent. She often visits the ancestral tombs of various tribes. By the time these groups are discovered, it's too late; they've already vanished without a trace."

"Even if they are discovered on the spot, the Heavenly Lady has plenty of methods to escape with her two attendants, leaving the tribes furious and stomping their feet."

"I heard that some tomb guardians in certain tribes welcome the Heavenly Lady's visits. They've been stealing many funerary objects themselves, engaging in embezzlement. If the Heavenly Lady comes, they can simply blame the missing items on her."

"Unfortunately, the Heavenly Lady doesn't care for those tribes. The tribes she targets are those with a heritage of over three hundred thousand years, possessing ancient backgrounds."

"I heard the Heavenly Lady's next target is the Zhu Yan tribe, and she's even sent out an advance notice."

"So arrogant?! The Zhu Yan tribe has a Tribulation Transcendence patriarch overseeing them. What exactly is the origin of this Demonic Sound Heavenly Lady?"

"My guess is, she might be a direct disciple of the Great Xia's Ancestor of Thievery, here in our demon realm for a trial."

At this point, the people in the tavern had gathered around the two, listening to the tales of the Demonic Sound Heavenly Lady. One person frowned and asked, "The news I heard was that the Heavenly Lady's two attendants once introduced themselves in the Insect Tribe, claiming to be from the Five Elements Sect?"

"Don't talk nonsense! The Five Elements Sect, as one of the Five Great Immortal Sects, acts honorably and uprightly. How could they engage in such sordid acts as raiding tombs?"

"What if they're one of the Five Great Immortal Sects? Isn't the Wen Dao Sect also one of them?"

While the crowd was arguing about the Demonic Sound Heavenly Lady's true origins, the shadowy figure who first recounted the information quietly left and headed outside the Black Market.

"Senior Sister, we're back."

The shadowy figure lifted his hood, revealing Meng Jingzhou.

"How was the information gathering?"

"I impersonated an insider and spouted nonsense for a while, and everyone in the tavern was listening. It seems they still don't know our identities or whereabouts."

Lu Yang quickly left through another exit of the Black Market and met up with his third senior sister to report his findings.

"I tried to buy information about our identities and whereabouts from the Baize tribe. The Baize tribe said they only had guesses, no definite information. Since the Baize tribe didn't know, I came back."

Third Senior Sister: "..."

"I gave you two spirit stones to gather intelligence in the Black Market, and you two didn't spend a single one."

In these four months, the three had been cultivating while exploring ancient history by raiding tombs. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had progressed rapidly.

Golden Core Ninth Heaven, each step a climb to heaven. Both had ascended from the Golden Core Eighth Heaven to the Golden Core Ninth Heaven, a mere half-step away from the legendary and seemingly unattainable Nascent Soul stage!

Just as the three were gathering information about themselves and confirming their safety, a startling piece of news spread throughout the demon realm, reaching the entire cultivation world.

—The ancient Di Jiang had emerged. Hundreds of large tribes had submitted to him, revering him as the Demon Emperor and establishing a demon kingdom. The ancient Di Jiang declined three times and deferred three times, reluctantly accepting the demons' request.

The Di Jiang tribe was fervently constructing imperial palaces and busily preparing for the enthronement ceremony. The ancient Di Jiang sent out invitations to various powers: the Qiongqi tribe, the Dragon tribe, the Phoenix tribe, Great Xia, the Five Great Immortal Sects, the Buddhist Kingdom, the East Sea, and more.

All major forces received invitations from the ancient Di Jiang to attend the enthronement ceremony.

"So many demon tribes have submitted?" Immortal Fairy was slightly surprised. "That's quite fast. Do they think there are no Immortals in the present world, and they've started letting loose?"

One characteristic of the nascent Dao Fruit of the Law of the Jungle is that the more powerful cultivators it controls, the stronger the wielder becomes.

"These large tribes certainly have Integration stage or Tribulation Transcendence cultivators. Controlling so many demon kings and emperors, the ancient Di Jiang's strength is probably even greater than in ancient times. He can rival the old Qiongqi, truly a top-tier half-immortal. No wonder he dares to declare himself emperor."