Chapter 231 : Ancestor's Gambit and the Divine Gourd

The assembled cultivators exchanged glances, their expressions a mixture of awe and calculation. The value of the Violet Qi Cloud-Patterned Elixir [a supreme-grade pill that aids in breaking through to the Purple Palace realm] was truly extraordinary.

Before them lay not one, but two such pills. This was enough to grant a cultivator at the Purple Palace, Late Stage [the advanced stage of the Purple Palace realm] a sixty to seventy percent chance of achieving a breakthrough.

Qian the Ancient Ancestor gazed at the elixirs, his mind churning with deliberation. "My lifespan nears its end," he mused inwardly. "It is time for my clan to nurture its second Purple Palace, Late Stage cultivator."

"Since I have no hope of reaching the Golden Core realm myself, I might as well trade that treasure to the Chen Clan."

Having reached this decision, he produced a gourd of violet and azure hue. "I offer this in exchange," he declared, his voice firm. "Do you accept?"

"The Purple-Green Calamity-Warding Gourd!"

A collective tremor passed through the onlookers, their faces etched with unmistakable shock.

The Purple-Green Calamity-Warding Gourd was a unique third-rank magical treasure [an enchanted artifact used by cultivators]. It could unleash a single bolt of Violet-Azure Divine Thunder, a strike of terrifying power that approached the might of a fourth-rank artifact.

However, the thunder's gestation was a slow and arduous process, requiring a full century to accumulate the energy for a single discharge. This limitation rendered the gourd's offensive capability highly situational, relegating it to the role of a final, desperate trump card.

During the previous Beast Tide upheaval, Qian the Ancient Ancestor had been forced to expend its stored thunder. Now, it would require another sixty or seventy years before the next bolt could be formed. For that duration, its combat potency would be inferior even to a low-grade third-rank treasure. This novel is serialized on www . audio-novel.com. Visit for updates.

However, this treasure possesses another wondrous function: it can diminish the power of the Heavenly Tribulation [a trial of lightning and thunder faced by cultivators during major breakthroughs].

When a cultivator attempts their Golden Core breakthrough, the Purple-Green Calamity-Warding Gourd can absorb a portion of the tribulation's lightning force, thereby increasing the cultivator's chances of surviving the ordeal.

Precisely because of this, the value of this magical treasure is somewhat difficult to define, yet it must be acknowledged as a precious artifact indeed.

Qian the Ancient Ancestor possessed three treasures considered the pillars of his clan. The other two were his life-bound magical treasure and his vital defensive artifact, both of which he was unwilling to part with. Thus, it was with great reluctance that he offered this particular treasure for exchange.

Eldrin Chen exchanged a glance with the Old Patriarch, and a spark of interest ignited within him.

Countless cultivators with insufficient foundation, though they managed to breach the Golden Core realm, ultimately perished beneath the fury of the Golden Core Heavenly Tribulation, a testament to its terrifying power.

If they could acquire this Purple-Green Calamity-Warding Gourd, their clan would gain another treasure for weathering tribulations, bolstering their confidence when facing the Golden Core Heavenly Tribulation.

"This Purple-Green Calamity-Warding Gourd is truly exceptional,"

"I shall make the exchange."

Eldrin Chen produced the Violet Qi Cloud-Patterned Elixir and completed the transaction with Qian the Ancient Ancestor.

After selling the Purple-Green Calamity-Warding Gourd, the remaining five Creation Cloud Pattern Pill [a high-grade cultivation pill that aids in realm advancement] were also traded away.

These five Creation Cloud Pattern Pill were exchanged in total for one Yi Wood Crystal [a crystal imbued with the essence of the Wood element], a single third-rank lower-grade immortal sword, and one third-rank middle-grade defensive magical treasure.

The third-rank lower-grade immortal sword was acquired as a replacement for Lior Chen, the third-rank middle-grade defensive magical treasure was given to the Old Patriarch, and the Yi Wood Crystal was kept by Eldrin Chen for Elara Chen.

In the subsequent trades, he purchased two stalks of the primary medicinal ingredient for the Qi Replenishing Return Pill [a pill that restores a cultivator's spiritual energy], the Guiyuan Ginseng.

Beyond that, there were no other treasures that particularly caught Eldrin Chen's interest. After all, given his current cultivation realm and wealth, few treasures could stir his heart.

After the alliance meeting concluded, the group returned to Celestial Ruins Mountain to gather their forces and make final preparations for the coming campaign.

Eldrin Chen did not depart immediately. He sought out Lyra Jiang and asked with concern, "The Mirror of the Vast Heaven [a legendary artifact specifically designed to suppress demonic forces] is a supreme treasure for vanquishing demons. Are you confident you can handle it?"

"Set your mind at ease," she replied with assured confidence, a faint smile gracing her lips. "I have discussed it with Yvonne the Violet Consort, and we have agreed to request the presence of the Violet Abyss Cauldron."

"That is good."

Eldrin Chen let out a sigh of relief.

Due to the pressing urgency of time, he did not linger long at Celestial Ruins Mountain and swiftly returned to his clan's stronghold.

Similar to the previous Beast Tide upheaval, ancient powers like the Green Sun Sect could not be toppled by a single cultivator, not even one at the Golden Core, Late Stage.

Therefore, a massive conscription of cultivators was necessary, relying on sheer numbers to wear down the protective power of the Green Sun Mountain's grand defensive formation before a breach could be forced.

To ensure the complete fall of Green Sun Mountain, every immortal clan across the three prefectures was conscripted, required to dispatch over half of their cultivators for the assault.

The Green Sun Sect had long forfeited the people's hearts; the great clans had suffered under its yoke for ages. This campaign was both an act of vengeance and a pursuit of profit.

Once the vast resources of the Green Sun Sect were seized, the participating cultivators and clans stood to gain immense wealth, as promised by Lyra Jiang's system of merit exchange for spoils of war. Discover more cultivation stories at audio-novel dot com.

Utilizing the power of the Seven Stars Demon-Slaying Ark, the Chen Clan mobilized forces from all quarters. After three months of effort, they managed to assemble a contingent of twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators and one thousand Qi Refinement cultivators.

Combined with the Pan Clan and various other minor immortal clans, Yu County alone dispatched a force of over eight thousand Qi Refinement cultivators.

Altogether, the assembled forces from the eight counties across the three prefectures numbered a staggering sixty thousand cultivators prepared for this war.

Faced with this gathering storm, the Green Sun Sect was powerless to intervene. Xu the Ancient Ancestor remained secluded, healing his wounds. The sect's nine Purple Mansion cultivators, blockaded by formidable foes like Qian the Ancient Ancestor, Eldrin Chen, and Xavier Xu, could only turtle within the defenses of Green Sun Mountain, not daring to make a move.

On this day, as Eldrin Chen returned to Verdant Chariot Mountain upon his flying sword, he immediately heard Old Patriarch inquire, "How fares the situation in Yang Province?"

Eldrin Chen shook his head and replied, "Perhaps due to the covenant established by the Ji Clan, there has been no unusual movement from the direction of Scorched Sun Mountain for now."

"The Green Sun Sect has already abandoned its assets in Yang Province. Their main force withdrew to Green Sun Mountain long ago."

Old Patriarch nodded in acknowledgment. Yang Province had always been one of the vital lifelines for the Green Sun Sect.

Besides Scorched Sun Mountain, there was also Cloud Sun Ridge, which housed a third-rank high-grade spiritual vein. Within that ridge flowed a third-rank high-grade [a subterranean energy channel rich in the essence of metal, one of the five elements].

Now that the Green Sun Sect had lost Scorched Sun Mountain and outright abandoned Cloud Sun Ridge, their decisiveness was remarkable.

The spiritual veins still under the Green Sun Sect's control were now limited to Green Sun Mountain itself and the two third-rank spiritual veins in its immediate vicinity.

"I've heard that Liu the Ancient Ancestor's vital energy has begun to wane, and he is nearing the end of his lifespan," Thalion Chen stated, his expression turning grave. "This move was most likely ordered by Mo the Ancient Ancestor. That individual is a formidable adversary."

As the two were discussing this, they saw a massive treasure ship, spanning one hundred Zhang-lengths [one Zhang-length equals three point three three meters], cleave through the distant sky as it approached.

This vessel was named the [a magically crafted ship capable of flight and traversing treacherous realms]. It was forged by Lyra Jiang, using the skeletal frame of the Celestial Python Demon King as its keel and incorporating a vast quantity of spiritual materials.

To forge this treasured vessel, Lyra Jiang expended over two million Spirit Stone [a mineral that stores and radiates spiritual energy], purchasing tens of thousands of First-Rank Spiritual Wood logs. She then orchestrated a collaboration between Celestial Ruins Mountain and the various great clans to inscribe formation patterns upon every single log.

It can be said this magical artifact was forged from the fusion of countless First-Rank Magical Instrument [enchanted artifacts of the lowest recognized grade] with a Fourth-Rank dragon bone, all harmonized by the power of formations to unleash astonishing might.

The treasured vessel is equipped with four Fourth-Rank formations in total. One is named the Nether Profound Celestial Aegis. This formation pushes the defensive supernatural ability of the Celestial Python Demon King—the Nether Profound Celestial Aegis—to its absolute limit.

If three thousand cultivators were to channel their power into it simultaneously, with a Golden Core cultivator [a practitioner who has condensed a golden spiritual core within their dantian] presiding over the formation's core, the unleashed defensive force would be sufficient to withstand the full-force assault of a Great Perfection Golden Core expert. The complete novel can be found at audio novel.com.