Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
As lights lit up, bathing the scarecrow in a yellow glow, the whole landscape seemed to emit a faint peculiarity.
As the short Taoist clad in a big red robe felt the arrival of Han Guang, he smiled and said,
“All is ready except for what is crucial.”
Han Guang relaxed and said with a laugh, “Thank you for your trouble.”
This short Taoist was Lu Ya and the arrangement in front of him was one of the two power moves which had shot him to fame in ancient times, the Nail Headed Seven Arrow Book!
It endured through billions of calamities, killing and cursing enemies unknowingly and silently!
In the past, the Lord Xuantan Zhao Gongming had been killed by this exact move under the gates of Lord Ling Bao.
…
Crack!
As dark clouds loomed over Changle, green lightning struck down violently and in no time, the greenery within King Jin’s Mansion was burnt black, further igniting a roaring fire that triggered the action of the tactical formation.
Hu Dou jumped in fright and was about to go out and inspect, but he noticed that his Lordship’s silent cultivation room was glowing bright yellow from within, spreading outwards, like the continuous rolling of waves of the ocean.
Correspondingly, the luminous floating lights in Changle became very apparent as the people’s Power of Vow accumulated to form golden Real Dragons. They swam and glided about in the bright yellow ocean of light as they flocked to the mansion like a million dragons in exaltation of a pearl, forming a scene that was both brilliant and magnificent.
Hu Dou was stunned at the scene and only one thought occurred in his mind. How come my… my Lord suddenly attempted to break through?
Wasn’t he still caught up in his unresolved mental block and still wandering the path, stuck and unable to move forward?
Crack!
The green lightning bolts that danced through the sky like a group of demons converged into one and struck suddenly but directly at Zhao Heng’s silent cultivation room. Like a bridge that connected the sky and the earth, it illuminated millions of miles in light as bright as noon.
At this moment, roaring winds whizzed out from the silent room forcefully as it swept upward, bringing with it vibrations that seemed to shake the earth itself, cutting through the green lightning and tearing them into pieces.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Lightning continued to strike down one after another in colors cyan, golden-green, pure gold, and golden-purple. It was beautiful in its iridescence but also lethal in its power of destruction. However, the lightning seemed to lessen with each strike of the sword beams and the void-shaking blows that came from the silent room.
Hu Dou had no time to be curious as there was only one obsession in his heart:
My Lord, you have to make it!
I pray for the blessings of all the gods and Buddhas, no, I pray to the great Primitive Emperor in the Jade Palace on Kunlun Mountain to bless and protect my Lord through his Heavenly Calamity to become an immortal!
Crack!
As the ninth calamity lightning struck down, its golden-purple hue turned into a pure purple shade that was brilliant but dominant and overbearing, as if it was able to directly reduce King Jin’s Mansion into ashes.
It was at this moment that a figure flew out from the silent room, wearing a flat imperial crown with hanging tassels that covered his face. The surrounding golden Real Dragons formed from the people’s Power of Vow circled and gathered around him closely, seeming to almost merge with him, whereas outside of the Power of Vow, the world crumbled to turn into an Eight Trigram Virtual Shadow, shining over the void.
“In acceptance of the Heavenly Mandate, thunder calamity, begone!” the figure issued a solemn and serious statement, leading ten thousand golden dragons to meet the brilliant purple lightning calamity.
Rumble!
A dull roll of thunder sounded in the sky as the purple lightning was swarmed by the golden dragons, causing the lightning to break up strangely. Subsequently, the dark clouds disappeared and the sky became clear with fresh air.
The figure descended as the golden dragons entered his body and the crown. The Eight Trigram Virtual Shadow and the likes were put away to reveal Zhao Heng’s face. In comparison to the past, the depths of Zhao Heng’s eyes now glowed with a tinge of gold from the Eight Trigram Virtual Shadow.
Looking at the Lord in front of him, Hu Dou was abuzz with inexplicable excitement and in sobs, he choked out,
“Congra… Congratulations my Lord, after pa… passing this trial, my Lord will be listed in the Celestial group!”
Zhao Heng smiled, “I finally managed to attain the Emperor Dharmakaya.”
Hu Duo’s turmoiled emotions had finally calmed down a little, but then, boiling curiosity started to rise up.
Could it be that after praying to his ancestors, wandering around old places and road-tripping, my Lord managed to rediscover and establish his path just like that?
Forget it, no matter what, my Lord achieving the Dharmakaya is a cause for celebration!
…
In the Kunlun Mountain Jade Palace, Meng Qi who was cultivating while seated upright on the cloud bed looked out at Changle and nodded his head in approval.
Old Fifth Zhao has finally broken through!
After passing this trial, the ranks of Celestial Beings and Earth Fairies would not be an insurmountable obstacle for him in accordance with today’s Rules of Heaven and Earth.
As for Little Foodie, after her completion of the Sky-Splitting Song and the Music Score of Dragon-Tortoise Longevity where life and death merged into one, she had had some visions, as if she had been able to connect with some strange places. Since these two heavenly songs were left behind by the Fu Emperor in the early years of the ancient times where he had been in charge of the River Map and had acted with the mysteries of heaven, it was a mystery which he would have to guard against.
I have to watch over her more…
…
Inside the Aquamarine Heaven, members of the Immortal World came and went in a much higher frequency compared to the past.
Since the Master of the Six Dao of Samsara had opened up the restrictions on the exchange of Jade Pillars, wanting to compete with the Myriad World Access, the forces and influence of the Immortal World had expanded so fast that even the aces of the universe of the Myriad World had wanted to join.
However, the Lady Mother of the Chariot Ye Yuqi embodied the standpoint of never accepting substandards and had controlled the entrance strictly. Therefore, there had been no unwanted situations that needed to be weeded out. In private, Meng Qi had commented that it was because of the limited number of ancient immortals where if formal members increased, the titles would be repeated and it would have been inevitable that awkward titles such as Lord Taiyi Number One and Lord Taiyi Number Two would turn up. Therefore, the Ice Fairy with her obsessive compulsive disorder for perfection had raised the threshold for official membership.
There was no doubt now that the reserve members of the Immortal World were without any title and that they could only choose Martial Arts direct knowledge to get the corresponding subsidy.
Standing in the Aquamarine Heaven, wearing the mask of the Lady Mother of the Chariot, Ye Yuqi looked at the view of the teeming people outside with mixed feelings. Who would have thought that there would be such a situation a few decades ago?
The Immortal World had accompanied her for most of her life where Priest Chonghe was both a master and father to her. It had always been her ambition to triumph over the myth and develop the Immortal World into bigger things, but when all of these had been achieved, she suddenly felt a kind of melancholic confusion.
With the mere fact that the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi could simply quash the members of the myth, the achievements of the Immortal World seemed to have little to do with her own self. Besides, the gap between the realm and real strength was growing further apart and newcomers were also catching up with each other, such as the outer circle member, Zhao Heng, who had now also attained the Dharmakaya.
“Lady Mother, what are you thinking about?” although Huo Jiuniang was wearing a mask, her eyes were bright and burning with energy, looking as if she could see mass amounts of wealth anytime and anywhere.
There was no doubt in her eyes that every unofficial member was a moving treasure trove, especially after cooperating with the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi Su Meng, the whole of the Myriad World Mall had now heard of her!
The Lady Mother of the Chariot Ye Yuqi glanced at Qu Jiuniang whose infectious energetic demeanor had gotten to her as well, and she could not help but say, “Jiuniang, you actually shouldn’t have chosen the title of Azure Cloud Deity, you should have picked Lord Xuantan’s title since the title represents the Heavenly Court’s God of Wealth. That path would have been the most suitable for you.”
Qu Jiuniang was stunned momentarily but then clapped forcefully with both hands, “That’s right! If I had chosen the title of Xuantan, I could have become a Great Guru with my special skills even if I couldn’t achieve Dharmakaya!”
She had forgotten that her original purpose had been to ask about the Lady Mother’s worries and was now only thinking of switching titles with Lord Xuantan.
At this moment, Ruan Shuyu who was wearing the Fairy Chang Er mask stepped in with a somewhat grave mood.
“What happened?” Ye Yuqi asked.
Ruan Shuyu’s distinct black eyes appeared to lack spirit as she whispered, “Just some troubles on my mind.”
Ye Yuqi who had a cool nature did not ask much since she did not want to interfere with other people’s private affairs. However, just as she was leaving the Aquamarine Heaven, she heard Ruan Shuyu’s hesitant tone, “Lady Mother, I have a question that needs your guidance.”
Ye Yuqi looked at Qu Jiuniang who was daydreaming and asked in an acoustic voice, “What’s the matter?”
In the same manner of acoustic voice, Ruan Shuyu’s clear voice was tinged with some bleakness, “I am troubled by matters of the heart.”
“Troubles of the heart?” Ye Yuqi was quite surprised. In her opinion, Ruan Shuyu had always been obsessed with zithers and food and had been indifferent and uninterested toward emotional matters, like an innate Buddha.
So she is finally enlightened, but is now stuck in the web of love?
Thinking again of her identity as the main pillar of the Ruan family who had never married with the reasoning of focusing on her cultivation to enter the Celestial group, perhaps the reason was not as simple as it seemed.
Ruan Shuyu whispered in a low voice, “Yes, I liked someone who I shouldn’t have liked.”
“What do you mean you shouldn’t have liked?” Ye Yuqi’s emotions were stirred. Somehow, she felt moved and in a rare move of concern, she asked on her own accord.
“He already has a love interest so he has eyes for no one else. I can only look at him from afar and my heart is done with suffering,” the voice of Ruan Shuyu was like a zither that echoed in the space.
Ye Yuqi listened with mixed feelings as she suddenly sympathized with Ruan Shuyu.
There was a kind of fondness between people that was founded in the phrase, misery loves company.
With a rare softened tone, she stopped her thoughts before saying,
“If you really like him, then bless him and protect him. Liking someone doesn’t mean possession, neither does it mean having to be together. It’s a wonderful thing just to look at him from afar as well.”
“Liking him is your own business, it has nothing to do with him.”
As she said so, she seemed to pour out all the positive thoughts that had been in her heart for so many years.
At this moment, Ruan Shuyu looked up with bright eyes to look meaningfully at Ye Yuqi, her voice as clear as a bell,
“Why is it that even though you’ve understood it, you still can’t let go, Lady Mother?”
“Is it that your love is not deep enough and is merely the desire to possess?”
Not expecting such a change in position where she was spearheaded with her own statement, it felt as though Ye Yuqi was being forced to drink. As her body shuddered while her heart raced, she took a few steps back.
That’s right, since I understand, why can’t I let go?
Must I possess him if I like him?
After a long while, Ye Yuqi finally said hoarsely,
“Thank you very much.”
From her tone, it was as if she had been relieved of something. After a pause, she added, “Was what you said just now fabricated?”
Ruan Shuyu’s eyes dropped and she said with a cool voice, “He taught me to say so, to see whether the Lady Mother could be enlightened.”
Ye Yuqi suddenly gave a long sigh,
“How nice, how nice of the Yuan Xin Seal!”
Facing the exit which was in the direction of the Kunlun Mountain Jade Palace, she bowed deeply before stepping on a Magic Cloud and left the Aquamarine Heaven.
Ruan Shuyu watched quietly before leaving as well and went back to Langya’s Ruan Residence.
She sat in the zither room for some time, then suddenly stroked the strings that rang in heavenly melody. It was like the tinkling of spring water, clear and unstained, straight to the heavens.
In the melodious tunes of the zither, dark clouds began to gather in the sky.
