I Was Forced to Marry a “Trash” Cultivator, But She Turned Out to Be a Reborn Empress!

Chapter 299: A Supreme Treasure of Cultivation, Forging the Sect’s Foundation

Qiu Ruoli stood at the entrance to the cultivation chamber, a vision in snow-white robes. A blue phoenix hairpin swayed gently in her hair, framing a face of cool, detached beauty that betrayed neither joy nor anger.

Her gaze, clear as a mountain spring, settled on Shen Xian.

“You’ve returned.” Her voice remained chilly, but to a keen ear, there was a faint, almost imperceptible tremor beneath the surface.

Time and experience had, after all, wrought significant changes upon the former Holy Maiden of the Tianyao Sect.

Shen Xian offered a faint smile. With a flick of his wrist, he retrieved the Rippling Heart Pendant from his Storage Ring. The artifact pulsed with a deep, spectral blue light. “I acquired an Ancient Treasure during this trip. I thought it might suit you.”

Qiu Ruoli’s eyes locked onto the pendant, her pupils contracting sharply.

An Ancient Treasure!

Such artifacts were relics of a bygone era, containing the raw, chaotic laws of heaven and earth from antiquity. While they often conflicted slightly with the current Heavenly Dao, their raw power—once activated—was absolute, easily crushing modern Dharma Treasures of the same rank.

They were items of legend, things one could only hope to encounter by sheer destiny. She never expected to see one placed before her today.

What shocked her most was the resonance; the water-attribute Spiritual Qi flowing within the ancient relic hummed in perfect harmony with her own cultivation technique.

Subconsciously, Qiu Ruoli reached out, only to freeze her hand in mid-air.

Shen Xian seemed to see right through her hesitation. He chuckled, a teasing lilt in his voice. “Who exactly is this display of shyness for?”

Familiarity, it seemed, bred a certain comfort.

While Shen Xian hadn’t quite developed romantic feelings for this woman, the icy distance between them had thawed. He could now afford the luxury of a joke.

A trace of awkwardness flitted across Qiu Ruoli’s face.

Indeed, their relationship had long passed the point of polite formalities.

“Thank you,” she finally whispered, fastening the pendant around her neck.

The spectral blue light cast a glow upon her porcelain skin, adding an ethereal, almost transcendent quality to her beauty.

**[System Alert: Host has gifted Dao Companion the low-grade Ancient Treasure ‘Rippling Heart Pendant’. Triggering Hundredfold Blessing Return. Reward: Top-grade Ancient Treasure ‘Myriad Spirits Forging Furnace’. Claim?]**

The mechanical prompt rang in Shen Xian’s mind, sending a surge of heat through his blood.

A top-grade Ancient Treasure.

This classification implied that the object possessed complete internal laws and boundless power. Such a treasure could rival a Heaven-Connecting Spiritual Treasure. In its presence, even a top-grade True Spirit Treasure would be rendered dull and lifeless.

The distinction lay in the restrictions. Ancient Treasures were unbound by the shackles of modern cultivation realms. As long as the user possessed sufficient Spiritual Qi, even a lower-tier cultivator could unleash its full potential.

In contrast, modern powerhouses like True Spirit Treasures or Heaven-Connecting Spiritual Treasures were strictly gated by one’s cultivation base, often allowing a user to access only a fraction of their true might.

Furthermore, a heavy treasure of this caliber often contained rule-level authority. Once unleashed, the devastation would be catastrophic.

If a Sect possessed a single top-grade Ancient Treasure, it was enough to intimidate surrounding forces for ten thousand years. It was a nuclear deterrent in the world of cultivation.

“I have pressing matters to attend to,” Shen Xian said, forcing down the rising tide of excitement in his chest. His voice remained calm and gentle. “Take some time to familiarize yourself with the Rippling Heart Pendant.”

Qiu Ruoli was already entranced, her jade-like fingers tracing the contours of the glowing blue pendant, her mind lost in the profound mysteries of the artifact. She simply nodded, barely registering his departure.

Seeing this, Shen Xian smiled and turned toward his own meditation chamber.

With a wave of his hand, he layered several high-level restrictions over the room. He took a deep breath, centering his mind, and commanded via his Divine Sense: *Claim!*

In an instant, the fabric of space within the chamber twisted and groaned. A three-foot-tall ancient bronze furnace materialized from the void.

The vessel possessed a gravitational weight, an ancient density that seemed to warp the air around it. Its surface was etched with arcane, antediluvian script—runes so obscure they seemed to predate current history, each stroke embodying the fundamental axioms of heaven and earth.

The mouth of the furnace respirated with a seven-colored radiance, while the nine apertures at its base seemed to reach out, seeking an invisible connection to the earth veins below. It emitted a fluctuation of Spiritual Qi so potent it was heart-palpitating.

“This is… the Myriad Spirits Forging Furnace?” Shen Xian stared at the relic, his eyes burning with intensity. Even with his vast experience, the sheer imposing aura of this object left him awestruck.

He could feel the majestic ocean of Spiritual Qi contained within. It far surpassed any Dharma Treasure he had ever encountered.

Perhaps only the Tortoise-Snake Lamp could claim a marginal superiority.

Shen Xian extended his Divine Sense into the furnace. Immediately, a torrent of information flooded his Sea of Consciousness:

*This furnace is named “Myriad Spirits.” It was the supreme Sect-Guarding Treasure of the ancient Heavenly Artisans Sect.*

*Forged from Nine Underworld Nether Copper and housing the Stellar Fire of the Cosmos, its nine base apertures correspond to the terrestrial ley lines. The walls are inscribed with three hundred and sixty “Heavenly Artisan Cloud Scripts.”*

*However, this treasure bears one absolute constraint: Once placed, it becomes an Eternal Anchor—immovable for all time!*

Its profound mysteries were fourfold:

**The First Mystery: Spirit Convergence and Origin Transmutation.**

When the furnace activates, it automatically couples with the True Fire of the earth veins, siphoning heaven and earth Spiritual Qi from a ten-mile radius and transmuting it into a nebulous purple haze. Cultivators within this field experience a fifty percent increase in absorption efficiency.

*Constraint: Once a location is selected, the furnace fuses with the earth veins permanently.*

**The Second Mystery: The Hundred-Fold Truth.**

During artifact forging, the Stellar Fire within the furnace manipulates reality, harmonizing the Five Elements and stabilizing the entropy of materials. Ordinary refiners working in its proximity see success rates jump by thirty percent, and their creations gain an inherent spirituality.

*Constraint: Once rooted, this location becomes a fixed sacred land for artificers, never to be relocated.*

**The Third Mystery: Geothermal Resonance.**

The nine apertures connect directly to the Earth’s Lungs, drawing an endless supply of Earth Fire essence.

*Constraint: This is a permanent covenant. The bond between furnace and planet is eternal.*

**The Fourth Mystery: Neural Linkage.**

By activating the Cloud Scripts, a “Heavenly Artisan Array Diagram” is formed. Within this array, the minds of cultivators are linked, their Divine Senses merging into a collective consciousness ideal for deducing the mysteries of the Great Dao.

*Constraint: The consumption is astronomical. No one below the Soul Formation stage should dare initiate this.*

Shen Xian withdrew his Divine Sense. The Cloud Scripts on the bronze surface pulsed with a rhythmic azure light. A wisp of Stellar Fire leaped from the mouth of the furnace, taking the form of a swimming dragon before diving back into the core.

The entire meditation chamber roiled with thick, heavy Spiritual Qi. It felt less like a room and more like a high-tier Grotto-Heaven.

“A supreme treasure of the ancients, indeed!” Shen Xian couldn’t help but clap his hands in admiration.

Once placed, this furnace would create a permanent blessed land.

It was not merely a tool; it was the bedrock of a legacy that could span ten thousand generations.

Those top-tier Sects with histories stretching back eons all utilized such Sect-Guarding Treasures as their cores, building protective mountain arrays around them to condense the Providence of heaven and earth.

Placing the Myriad Spirits Forging Furnace would fundamentally alter the Duobao Sect’s precarious existence.

He weighed his options.

Option A: Black Profound City. The Earth Fire there was tyrannical, the Spiritual Qi pure. It was already the main commercial hub for the Duobao Sect.

Option B: The current base. It was the original headquarters. While the conditions were lackluster, it offered seclusion and safety from prying eyes.

Both had merits and flaws.

Shen Xian gazed at the bronze monolith, silence stretching out in the room.

“The Duobao Sect requires a true Mountain Gate,” he murmured, his voice hardening.

Currently, the Duobao Sect was a patchwork of connected buildings—a paper tiger. It lacked a protective mountain array and had no room for physical expansion. It was trapped in a box.

If the goal was merely to sell artifacts, the current setup sufficed.

But Shen Xian’s ambition was not so small. The Duobao Sect was destined to grow, to become a titan among top-tier forces.

From that perspective, Black Profound City was the only logical choice.

With the Black Profound Celestial Venerable stationed there and the city’s formidable restrictions, there was a layer of political and physical protection. Even if a Body Integration True Venerable coveted the sect, there would be room to maneuver.

The decision was made in a heartbeat.

He would plant this ancient supreme treasure in the heart of Black Profound City, formally declaring it the Mountain Gate of the Duobao Sect!

Once the furnace took root, the Duobao Sect would possess a true “Dao Lineage Foundation.”

As the furnace fire tapped into the ley lines, the surrounding hundred miles would slowly evolve into a cultivation paradise. The density of Spiritual Qi would climb over centuries, eventually forming a unique “Heavenly Artisan Spiritual Domain.”

Though such a transformation might take a millennium to fully mature, once established, it was a foundation that even a Body Integration powerhouse would struggle to uproot.

Moreover, the three hundred and sixty Heavenly Artisan Cloud Scripts were essentially a library of lost forging techniques. Given time, the Duobao Sect could build a refining system that rivaled even the Hundred Arts Sect.

Shen Xian’s eyes grew dark and profound.

He had read in ancient texts that such treasures were often tied to the Providence of a region. As long as the furnace fire burned, the Sect’s luck would endure. This was why top-tier Sects could rise from the ashes of annihilation as long as their core treasure survived.

Most critically, once merged with the earth veins, he could deploy the “Earth Vein Spirit-Locking Grand Array.”

This array would not only repel invaders but also terraform the local feng shui. The Yin and baleful energies plaguing Black Profound City would be neutralized by the pure Earth Fire, eventually turning the gloomy city into a true Cave Paradise.

Shen Xian’s fingertips brushed the cold bronze, sensing the hum of the artifact spirit within.

He suddenly grasped the System’s intent. This wasn’t just a reward; it was a roadmap. The System was paving a heaven-reaching path for him to establish an empire.

“If that is the path…” A sharp, predatory light flashed in Shen Xian’s eyes. “Then let the Duobao Sect truly sink its roots into that holy ground!”

He immediately formed a series of complex hand seals, driving a beam of spiritual light into the furnace.

The ancient bronze vessel hummed violently. From its nine base apertures, blinding white Earth Fire erupted, weaving together in the air to form a complex, shifting array diagram.

It was time to return to Black Profound City. The Duobao Sect was about to claim its true home.