Just for Fun?

While the group was bustling away in the forging chamber, Lu Wuhen sat casually in his chair, listening to the report from his subordinate. Tapping his fingers lightly against the tabletop, Lu Wuhen murmured impassively, "To seek out Meng Jiangchu to forge artifacts at a time like this... Heh, interesting. "Could it be... they didn't even have a ruins artifact of their own before this? "Seven days, three ruins artifacts... "Even the renowned Five Yang Ghost Emperor could probably only turn out shoddy, low-grade ruins artifacts in that time, couldn't he?" The figures in the study had long since withdrawn; they all knew better than to disturb Lu Wuhen at a moment like this. High up in his tower, Lu Wuhen walked onto the balcony and leaned against the railing, gazing down at the mist-shrouded peaks below. The spiritual energy within the Lu clan's domain was far inferior to what it had once been, but... None of that mattered to him. At this moment, his mind was occupied solely with the arena wager against the Great Xia Sword Sect in six days. "Li Guanqi, you truly are strong... Heh, fascinating." At that moment, an old man who had been concealed in the shadows appeared silently in Lu Wuhen's study. Lu Wuhen did not turn around. Merely casting a sidelong glance back, he spoke with evident displeasure. "Ancestor, I told you not to enter my study without my consent!" The gaunt, white-haired and white-bearded old man chuckled, walked to the edge of the tower, and murmured softly, "Wuhen, do you have confidence in this wager?" The corner of Lu Wuhen's mouth tilted into a sneer. "No, no, no, Ancestor. You should... ask whether I am ready to take over the Great Xia Sword Sect's entire foundation." Hearing this, Lu Hengtian burst into hearty laughter. He had always known this grandson of his was a man of boundless ambition! "Then what do you plan to do next?" Lu Wuhen turned to the old man beside him and smiled. "None of your concern." The old man took no offense at this, merely uttering several "Good"s with a laugh before turning and departing. With a faint smirk playing on his lips, the young man clasped his hands behind his back, looked into the distance, and murmured under his breath, "Li Guanqi, Ye Feng. "Heh, like beating the kids on a rainy day—might as well pass the time. "Then let's just play around a bit." With that, Lu Wuhen raised a hand and sent two jade slips shooting out through the air, while he turned and walked back into the study. At the very moment he turned, two branch clan heads among the eight branch families opened their eyes at the same time! Time flew past. Over the next few days, the atmosphere across the entire Six Domains grew suffocatingly oppressive. Countless sects and clans received visiting cards for arena wagers from the Ancient Clan. Every sect and clan proved just as unyielding as the Great Xia Sword Sect, showing not the slightest courtesy to the Ancient Clan disciples delivering the cards. Some even hurled insults before beating the couriers half to death. You are trying to seize my thousand-year foundation—why would I give you a warm reception? Yet beneath such vents of fury lay a pervasive helplessness. Leveraging the overarching plight of all living beings under heaven, the Ancient Clan coerced everyone. Among all the sects and clans across the Six Domains that received challenge cards, not a single one refused! Not a single sect or clan refused! Perhaps they knew they were doomed to lose, yet not one faction chose to shrink back! Tang Ru of Guanyun Pavilion made a decision that no one could have anticipated. He cast aside all profit, relying on Guanyun Pavilion's formidable intelligence network to unite every sect and clan within the Great Xia Domain. Whatever resources anyone needed could be exchanged on equal terms—or even unequal terms in their favor. Because of this, all the prestige Guanyun Pavilion had built over several months paled in comparison to what it garnered in these few short days. Guanyun Pavilion won over the hearts of the people! Even Ji Yuchuan marveled that while Tang Ru might not be the most brilliant merchant when it came to tradecraft alone, his ability to balance business with rallying hearts and minds proved he was truly a remarkable figure! Qianqiusui admired Tang Ru to no end. Every day, Tang Ru was so swamped with work that he scarcely had time to pause for a sip of water. A desperate, last-ditch battle with their backs to the river—that was the attitude of every sect and clan now. Even the Great Xia Sword Sect was no exception... Lu Kangnian had grown more and more white hair lately. Although the Great Xia Sword Sect boasted many cultivators, among those under a hundred years old who could truly hold their own, only Li Guanqi and a handful of others could step forward. With Li Guanqi in seclusion, his avatar and Void Spirit consumed hundreds of thousands of spirit stones each day. Ye Feng and the other two had gone to the Shenbao Domain and had yet to return, while the fifth competitor had still not been found. *** At the Six Ancient Sacred Sect. Gu Huai came to the edge of the pool and said in a grave voice, "Shiyu, have you truly made up your mind not to help? "You must realize that young friend Li of the Great Xia Sword Sect stepped in to help us through several successive crises! "Now that the Great Xia Sword Sect faces danger, are you truly going to stand by with folded arms?" In the middle of the pool, Zhou Shiyu knitted his brows slightly, yet remained silent. Gu Huai sighed, clasped his hands behind his back, and shook his head. "Sometimes I truly cannot comprehend how your mind works. For the Six Ancient Sacred Sect, you were willing to risk certain death without hesitation. "Yet when it comes to the Great Xia Sword Sect, even after young friend Li told you that you wouldn't bear any consequences, you still refuse to go! "I'm done with you. Think whatever you want!" Once the old man left, Zhou Shiyu finally opened his eyes and let out a long sigh. He, Zhou Shiyu, was not an ungrateful man. If Li Guanqi had come to him for a personal matter, he would never hesitate, even if it meant scaling mountains of daggers or wading through seas of flames. Gamble his life? Zhou Shiyu had no fear of that. But this was the Great Xia Sword Sect's entire foundation and legacy! What right did he, an outsider, have to hold one-fifth of the deciding power over their fate? Even if Li Guanqi had assured him that he would bear no consequences, he was not afraid of losing, but he was afraid of gambling away what belonged to others. Yet Li Guanqi seemed not to dwell on it; ever since returning last time, he had not contacted Zhou Shiyu again. *** Time slipped away. In this oppressive atmosphere, the Abyss Demons across the Six Domains were temporarily suppressed by the Ancient Clan's intervention. The casualties were still heavy—even the Ancient Clan found them hard to bear. Yet the more this was so, the more they fixed their gaze upon the sects and clans of the Six Domains. Numerous clashes broke out between the two sides recently, but both sides exercised restraint, resulting at most in injuries. For both sides understood that if someone accidentally killed another in a clash, it could very well spiral into all the sects and clans of the Six Domains uniting to resist the Ancient Clan's return to the world! A clash between the new era and the old—that was a cost no one could afford. Therefore, the Ancient Clan recently pulled everyone back into their clans, quietly biding their time. Just one day before the Great Xia Sword Sect's wager arena, the Meng clan domain shook violently as sword chimes and spear hums erupted in unison! His eyes bloodshot, Meng Jiangchu held up his forging hammer and laughed wildly. "Hahahaha! As expected of me! "If I were in the Tribulation Transcendence Realm today, these three ruins artifacts would definitely break past the ninth rank!!" Meng Jiangchu was extraordinarily satisfied with his three masterpieces. After all, these ruins artifacts had all incorporated Devouring Starstones! With this material, so long as they were continually fed various rare and precious forging materials, the rank of the ruins artifacts would steadily rise—until these three ruins artifacts could perfectly merge with their ruins artifact souls!