Chapter 1028: Return to Liehuo City

Just half an hour later,

Dongbo Xueying, accompanied by his demon servant Zi Bai, arrived at the Fan Clan’s shop. Despite the late hour, the entire treasure market was ablaze with dazzling, resplendent light.

“Young Master Xueying, my master has long since given orders for me to await your arrival,” a plump elder greeted him warmly at the entrance of the Fan Clan’s shop, his face beaming with a smile. If this had been a fellow cultivator of equal strength, they would have been far too concerned with face to stand at the door and welcome a mere Unity Realm genius with such enthusiasm.

But this plump elder was a demon servant, bound to obey his master’s commands without question.

“Thank you for your trouble, Steward,” Dongbo Xueying said.

“Young Master Xueying, this way, please.” The plump elder led the way eagerly, and soon the group arrived on the third floor. Given the late hour, there were few customers, and the third floor was entirely empty save for them.

This time, Dongbo Xueying wasted no time. He went straight to the floating spearhead on display. The tip of the spear emitted distorted spatial ripples, encased in layers of restrictive formations like an eggshell.

“Please wait a moment.”

The plump elder manipulated the formations, causing them to expand layer by layer until they enveloped Dongbo Xueying, who stood nearby. After a few breaths, the eggshell-like formations had expanded several yards outward, fully enclosing him within.

“Young Master Xueying, it’s ready,” the plump elder said with a smile.

“Thank you.”

Dongbo Xueying turned his attention to the floating spearhead before him. This unadorned spearhead had once belonged to the ‘Red Cloud Venerable,’ who had perished long before the first Great War of the Ancient Kingdoms. In other words, this spear had existed for far longer than the Six Great Ancient Kingdoms themselves. Yet, through unknown circumstances, the once-intact spear had been separated into its tip and shaft.

*Ssshhh—*

The spearhead continuously distorted the surrounding space, producing visible spatial ripples.

Dongbo Xueying reached out and grasped the spearhead.

It was cold to the touch, carrying an almost boundless sharpness that seemed capable of slicing through flesh. However, Dongbo Xueying had already cultivated the sixth layer of the Southcloud Sacred Body—how could a mere damaged treasure harm him? Moreover, his mastery over the void made such resistance trivial.

*Hmm.*

He closed his eyes, allowing his consciousness to seep into the spearhead.

*Boom!*

A thunderous resonance echoed in his mind. He could clearly perceive a complex, abyssal vortex staircase rapidly converging toward its core. When he had studied the spear shaft before, it had felt like groping through fog. But now, observing the spearhead, he realized that this intricate vortex staircase ultimately divided into three distinct paths, spiraling toward a single focal point.

That point was the culmination of the vortex staircase—yet it also seemed like the beginning of something entirely new.

Dongbo Xueying could sense that the vortex staircase’s convergence at this point represented an extreme compression, followed by an explosive release. Even without a wielder or activated runes, the spearhead’s tip distorted space into countless ripples. Clearly, this ultimate convergence held terrifying destructive power over the void.

*”If I combine this with the runes from the spear shaft…”*

His mind rapidly simulated the fusion of the runes he had deciphered from the shaft with those he now perceived in the spearhead.

Together, they formed the complete treasure’s runic pattern.

*”With myself as the core—the spatial origin point—everything else falls under my control.”*

*”A single thrust of this spear, concentrating all its power… the force would be unimaginable.”*

The more he simulated, the more he felt the vast, unfathomable depth of this weapon.

Given his current understanding, he could discern that the spear’s runes contained two major techniques. The first was establishing oneself as the spatial origin point, allowing control over the surrounding space—a domain technique. The second was the chaotic convergence of space toward this origin point, unleashing a force capable of annihilating all in its path. The sheer magnitude of this power was beyond even Dongbo Xueying’s imagination.

Though he now possessed the complete *Twelve Forms of the Southcloud Sacred Art*, including the two secret techniques of the tenth-layer Chaos Realm, their profundity paled in comparison to the spear’s domineering and ruthless intent. While he did not yet fully comprehend either, his own cultivation was high enough to gauge the difference in their oppressive, threatening auras.

*”Incredible.”*

*”The runes within this spear are far beyond the tenth-layer Chaos Realm. They must be higher.”*

Dongbo Xueying understood this well. Even the Fan Clan’s Slaughter Heaven Great Venerable had acknowledged that the Red Cloud Venerable’s strength was no weaker than his own—a testament to the spear’s might.

The Slaughter Heaven Great Venerable…

Dongbo Xueying knew full well that among the Fan Clan’s many Cosmic Gods, he ranked among the top few.

*”Memorize it.”*

*”Memorize as much as possible.”*

He began forcing the runic patterns into his memory.

Yet the spearhead’s runes were far too complex, far too profound. This was a weapon that had allowed the Red Cloud Venerable to dominate the Heart Realm Continent—how could Dongbo Xueying, who had not even reached the ninth layer, hope to fully retain its secrets?

At best, he could commit fragments to memory.

Only by comprehending more could he retain deeper impressions.

—

The plump elder stood nearby, waiting patiently. But as time passed—even as other customers occasionally arrived on the third floor, requiring his attention—he grew inwardly puzzled.

*”Two hours have passed, and he’s still examining it?”* The elder glanced at the white-robed youth gripping the spearhead. *”Does Young Master Xueying truly favor this damaged treasure so much? What could he possibly glean from staring at it for so long?”*

Studying a treasure to derive combat techniques?

The elder had never put much stock in such methods. Deciphering techniques from treasures was ten, even a hundred times harder than learning them from manuals. Moreover, it required vast spans of time—measured in hundreds of millions of years. What could a single day in the shop possibly accomplish? The most powerful runes could not be memorized; only through comprehension could one retain more.

*”Hah.”*

Dongbo Xueying opened his eyes, a trace of regret flashing within them as he reluctantly released the spearhead.

“Thank you, Steward.” He let the spearhead float back into place.

“Haha, it was nothing.” The plump elder promptly manipulated the formations, causing them to shrink back around the spearhead. Within moments, all layers had contracted to their original state.

Dongbo Xueying cast one last glance at the spearhead.

The domain technique, which he had already begun deciphering from the spear shaft, now appeared even clearer with the complete runes in view. Creating an eighth-layer domain technique would not be difficult, and with the shaft’s aid, he might even achieve ninth-layer power.

But the offensive technique?

Dongbo Xueying understood that this spear’s attack was an entirely different path from the *Twelve Forms of the Southcloud Sacred Art*—and its power was terrifying.

Unfortunately, he only had the shaft. The spearhead’s runes were too vast to memorize in such a short time. At best, he might derive a sixth or seventh-layer technique from it.

*”Still, I’ve now glimpsed the spear’s complete runic pattern. My future studies will have a clearer direction.”*

For instance, regarding the domain technique, he now faintly grasped the concept of *”oneself as the origin point.”* Without the spearhead, he might have spent untold eons studying the shaft before stumbling upon such insight.

“Zi Bai, let’s go.”

“Yes, Young Master.” The demon servant Zi Bai also glanced at the spear, inwardly wondering why his master was so fixated on this damaged treasure.

—

Early the next morning,

Dongbo Xueying, accompanied by his demon servant Zi Bai, Tian Yizhi, the maid Yan Yu, and others, departed the Southcloud Sacred Sect and set out for Flaming Fire City.

He had obtained all the void and illusory realm techniques he desired. He had studied the spearhead.

Since he could not fully unleash his strength within the Southcloud Sacred Sect, it was best to return to Flaming Fire City as soon as possible.

*”The next time I come to the capital will be the day I purchase that spearhead.”*

Whether for the sake of wielding a powerful, perfectly suited treasure or for deciphering the Red Cloud Venerable’s techniques, he *would* obtain that spearhead.