Chapter 714: Consolidating Second-Grade Supreme
"Spirit-Gathering Bowl?"
Hearing Aunt Ling's words, Lin Langtian raised a brow at the jade bowl in his hand and murmured, "What does it do again?"
"In combat, almost nothing," Aunt Ling replied. "But for you right now, it's extremely useful.
"In ancient times, there was a strange race in the Great Thousand World known as the Spirit-Gathering Clan.
"They had a very special talent: any spiritual artifact they crafted would possess a spirit‑gathering effect. Their magnum opus was the very item in your hand—the Spirit-Gathering Bowl.
"If fully activated, it can cover heaven and earth. Any spiritual energy drawn into it will automatically be refined into Sovereign Spiritual Liquid."
Lin Langtian's eyes flickered. To transform any spiritual energy into Sovereign Spiritual Liquid? That was no small feat.
Didn't that mean that anyone who owned it essentially possessed an unending supply of spiritual liquid, the equivalent of what untold Sovereigns might refine over years on end?
If that were true, this jade bowl was priceless.
Should word of it leak, even Earth Supremes would fight over it.
"A Spirit-Gathering Bowl is an ancient Saint‑grade artifact," Aunt Ling said. "Its value is beyond measure. Even I never possessed one in my prime; I only heard tales of it."
"An ancient Saint‑grade artifact…" Lin Langtian murmured.
In the Great Thousand World, spiritual artifacts were divided into low, middle, high, and peerless grades; above them lay divine artifacts, saint artifacts, and supreme saint artifacts.
To be ranked saint‑grade placed the bowl in truly rarefied company. From what he knew, many Earth Supremes had never held a saint artifact.
"In that case, how did something like this end up in the hands of some roadside bandit?" Lin Langtian frowned.
If the bowl really was so frightening, there was no way it should have fallen into his hands. A single rumor would be enough to ensure he never knew a peaceful day again.
The innocent may be blameless, but bearing such a treasure was a crime in itself.
Without overwhelming power, this was not the sort of thing he could safely touch.
"If it were genuine, it would indeed be that remarkable. But this particular bowl is just an imitation," Aunt Ling said suddenly, then chuckled. "At saint‑grade, even Earth Supremes would burn with desire. As if the world would let you stumble into such a bargain."
"Even so, this fake still holds great value—likely no weaker than many divine artifacts. For you right now, it's already a tremendous stroke of fortune."
"A fake, hm?" Lin Langtian blinked, then gave a wry smile.
Ever since arriving in this body, he had sworn not to play the supporting role. But he had never expected to enjoy any "protagonist's halo" either.
Running into a saint artifact the moment he stepped into the Great Thousand World would have been too absurd. A counterfeit on par with a divine artifact was more than enough to satisfy him.
Within the bowl, a thin film of liquid seemed to slosh about, yet never spilled over the lip.
"See how much Sovereign Spiritual Liquid is in there," Aunt Ling prompted.
Lin Langtian nodded and extended his senses—only for gray light to flare from the bowl, cutting him off.
A thin light membrane rose over the rim, sealing it. Within, a snarling wolf's head sigil glared out.
Huanglie's seal.
Lin Langtian snorted and unleashed his spiritual power.
In mere moments, the seal shattered, and the inner state of the Spirit-Gathering Bowl unfolded in his mind.
Within lay a pool of green water, rich with vitality and an almost frightening spiritual aura.
Plop.
From the pool, small green fish surfaced, darting through the air as though swimming in an invisible sea.
They glowed with a soft emerald light and seemed vividly alive.
Yet from each tiny body, Lin Langtian sensed an extraordinarily pure and potent spiritual power.
"That is Sovereign Spiritual Liquid," Aunt Ling explained. "Only Supremes can refine it. Its energy is not only pure, but carries a trace of spirituality.
"Of course, that spirituality depends on the refiner's own strength. The higher the quality of the liquid, the more remarkable its manifestations.
"Once, I saw a single drop of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid that a Heaven Supreme spent a full year refining. The construct it formed was ten thousand feet long."
Lin Langtian nodded slowly. No wonder the whole Great Thousand World viewed the Supreme Realm as a great watershed.
Below Supreme, all were ants.
"There must be thirty or forty thousand drops in there," he said after a moment, feeling out the bowl's contents. "For a petty mountain‑bandit 'king' like Huanglie, he managed to stash away quite a pile. Shame it's all mine now."
Thirty to forty thousand drops was no trivial amount even for an established Supreme, let alone someone like Lin Langtian who had just arrived in this world with nothing.
Smiling faintly, he stowed the bowl. This was his first spoil in the Great Thousand World—and already a treasure on par with a divine artifact.
Just then, Song Yanfei and Song Jiang approached together, the look they gave him tinged with newfound respect.
Huanglie might have been only a First‑Grade Supreme, yet in the Beast Forest and for a thousand miles around, his name had carried considerable weight. Seeing Lin Langtian dispatch him so easily had shaken them deeply.
Before Flame Emperor Xiao Yan and Martial Ancestor Lin Dong had made the lower planes famous, natives of those realms had been viewed as weak provincials at best.
To see such power in someone from a lower plane was a profound shock.
"Brother Lin… Young Master Lin, are you truly from a lower plane?" Song Jiang finally managed, swallowing hard.
Lin Langtian blinked, then smiled. "Brother Song, just call me as you always have. As for where I'm from, I've no need to lie. I come from a lower plane called the Tianxuan Continent."
He drew out a spatial bangle and held it out. "This is what you just paid Huanglie—two thousand drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid. I owe the Song Clan a favor. I can hardly keep your toll money on top of that."
Song Jiang understood at once, but instead of taking the bangle, he glanced at Song Yanfei.
Her lashes fluttered as she reached out and gently pushed Lin Langtian's hand back. Their fingers brushed, and for an instant, a hint of color touched her cool gaze.
She mastered herself quickly and studied him.
The rough linen robes made him look unremarkable at a glance, but his features were strikingly handsome, and his bearing unmistakably refined.
Meeting his eyes, she started slightly. There was none of the restless greed or discomfort she was used to seeing in men's gazes.
In those dark pupils, there was only a deep, placid calm, like a still lake.
"Miss Song?" Lin Langtian asked, momentarily puzzled.
"It's nothing. Consider the two thousand drops our Song Clan's payment for dealing with the Skyfiend Wolf King," she said.
He hesitated, then, seeing her sincerity, decided not to argue.
Even with the Spirit-Gathering Bowl's thirty or forty thousand drops, two thousand still represented a meaningful sum. To refuse too much would have been mere posturing.
"Now that your injuries are healed, have you any plans, Young Master Lin?" Song Yanfei asked, lips curving slightly.
Having witnessed his strength, she could no longer treat him as just another stray. Even on the Qiankun Continent, a Supreme expert could dominate an entire region.
"I've only just reached the Great Thousand World," Lin Langtian said after some thought. "I've no fixed destination yet. Since your clan is headed to Beiling City, I'd like to travel there as well, if you don't mind my company."
Her eyes lit up. "We'd be honored. You're our caravan's benefactor, after all.
"And please, just call me Yanfei. 'Young Miss' feels far too formal now."
She glanced at him sidelong. "I never thought the half‑dead man we found in the forest would turn out to be such a deeply hidden expert.
"If not for you, I'd likely have died defending my honor against that wolf king. In that light, two thousand drops hardly seem enough thanks."
"If not for your people, I'd probably have been wolf food already," Lin Langtian replied with a shake of his head. "Helping each other is only right.
"You don't need to trouble yourself over rewards, Miss Yanfei. I took action because I wanted to, not to collect favors."
His easy humility drew a faint breath of relief from her and stirred a warm thread of goodwill in her heart.
After a little more conversation, the caravan resumed its journey now that the Skyfiend Wolf King was no more.
As Lin Langtian had expected, once his strength was known, the guards' attitudes shifted, tinged with awe.
He paid it little mind and accepted the swift upgrade in his accommodations with equanimity.
In this world, power ruled.
In a spacious new carriage, Lin Langtian sat cross‑legged. The surroundings were a far cry from his cramped earlier quarters.
With a flick of his finger, drops of green Sovereign Spiritual Liquid floated from the bangle, circling about him as thick spiritual energy filled the space.
He had broken through to Second‑Grade Supreme in haste; his foundation was still somewhat unstable.
Now, he meant to use the two thousand drops in the bangle to solidify that base completely.
Drawing a deep breath, he let the sense of comfort wash through him. This was his first time using Sovereign Spiritual Liquid for cultivation.
His devouring power spread quietly from within.
Buzz…
The swirling liquid shuddered, then poured into him in a torrential stream.
Light flared across his skin. Inside, meridians and bones bathed in power, shedding their lingering weakness and becoming firm and solid once more.
For the next several days, Lin Langtian barely left the wagon, spending every moment absorbing the liquid and anchoring his new realm.
The results far exceeded his expectations. With the strength within the two thousand drops, he not only stabilized his Second‑Grade Supreme cultivation but even made a small amount of progress, negligible to others but real enough to him.
This was thanks in no small part to the devouring power in his body. Even here, the fused demonic symbols gave him remarkable support.
Without that, even someone blessed with such wealth of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid could never have absorbed it so completely, without a trace of waste.
After the Skyfiend Wolf King's ambush, the journey passed without further incident.
Song Yanfei often thought of striking up a conversation, but every time she approached, she found the carriage sealed and could only bite her lip and withdraw.
As the days passed, the remaining distance shrank. Near dusk on the final day, the looming outline of a massive city finally appeared on the horizon.
At its sight, Song Jiang and the others let out a collective breath of relief.
Watching their reactions as he stepped from the wagon, Lin Langtian understood at once.
This was Beiling City.
(END CHAPTER)
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