Lu Yun picked up the teacup from the coffee table and took a sip. ’An unparalleled expert at the Peak of Divine Intent Grandmaster wouldn’t travel all the way from Jiangze Province to Yun Port City just to chat with me.’
Before long, an old man dressed in a Bright Yellow Daoist Robe walked in.
His face was slightly tan, a white beard drifted below his chin, and his white hair fell to his waist. He leaned on a Nine-Section Peach Wood Staff engraved with cloud patterns, a Yellow Cloth Talisman Banner hanging from its head.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, this humble Daoist, Huang Jiao, apologizes for the intrusion."
Lu Yun’s expression didn’t change. "So it’s the Tiangong General. An esteemed guest has come from afar. I have been remiss in my welcome."
Then, he gestured with his hand. "Please, have a seat."
Seeing how calm and composed Lu Yun was, a meaningful smile appeared on Huang Jiao’s face.
This was the first time since his revival that he had met such a gutsy young man.
Those who knew his identity either turned pale with fright, knelt and called him "Tiangong," or gave him a wide berth, terrified he might so much as glance their way.
After all, in the eyes of someone like Huang Jiao, who was from the Zulong Dynasty era, the sixty-year-old Lu Yun was indeed still a young man.
After taking a seat, Huang Jiao didn’t stand on ceremony and got straight to the point. "Fellow Daoist Lu, do you know of my origins?"
Lu Yun’s brow furrowed slightly. In his heart, he already had the answer.
It was said that some incredibly powerful individuals at the Peak of Divine Intent Grandmaster, or peerless experts like himself who were Half-step Manifest Saints, could even entrust their Martial Dao Will to inanimate objects, allowing it to be passed down through the ages.
When someone eventually touched that object, the will that had slumbered for millennia would awaken and seize their body to be reborn.
However, this method was incredibly difficult to succeed with. Failures outnumbered successes a hundred to one, and after revival, the will would reject the new body, leading to an extremely short lifespan. It was all harm and no benefit.
Although Lu Yun had guessed the answer, he couldn’t be bothered to say it. "I do not."
Hearing this, Huang Jiao stroked his beard and laughed heartily. "This humble Daoist comes from the Zulong Dynasty of five hundred years ago."
After speaking, he lifted his chin slightly, glancing at Lu Yun from the corner of his eye, as if wanting to see a surprised expression on his face.
But the result disappointed Huang Jiao. The man across from him, Lu Yun, simply replied with a single, indifferent word: "Oh."
Huang Jiao was a bit unwilling to give up. He leaned forward slightly. "Fellow Daoist Lu, aren’t you curious as to how I’ve managed to live for so long?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Lu Yun silently lifted his teacup, took a sip, and then said calmly, "Because I have no desire to end up like you, Fellow Daoist Huang."
The smile on Huang Jiao’s face froze. ’Even if it’s true, you can’t just say it out loud like that, can you? Isn’t this a slap in my face?’
It was the first time he had ever met someone like this. But Lu Yun didn’t give him time to feel dejected, continuing, "Fellow Daoist Huang, you didn’t travel all this way to my humble little place just to have a heart-to-heart, did you?"
Huang Jiao didn’t answer Lu Yun’s question immediately. He had been secretly probing Lu Yun with his Divine Sense.
But the more Huang Jiao probed, the more alarmed he became. He could feel a powerful force emanating from Lu Yun, but he couldn’t grasp what that power was or how strong it was.
’To think there would come a day when I couldn’t perceive the power of a junior. Could it be that this Lu Yun is also an existence at the Peak of Divine Intent Grandmaster, just like me?’
Faced with this strange situation, Huang Jiao abandoned his original plan. He suddenly said in a low voice, "Fellow Daoist Lu, would you like to know how to break through to the Manifest Saint True Monarch Realm, which lies beyond the Grandmaster of Divine Intent?"
Lu Yun thought for a moment and ultimately decided to indulge his vanity.
"Feel free to speak, Fellow Daoist Huang."
Seeing Lu Yun finally show a hint of interest, the smile on Huang Jiao’s face deepened. He clapped his hands and laughed. "Hahaha, Fellow Daoist Lu, we hit it off the moment we met. Naturally, this humble Daoist won’t hide anything from you."
"There is only one way to break through to the Manifest Saint True Monarch Realm."
"You must use the power of a Dragon Vein to connect with Heaven and Earth, then combine the will of the masses with your own Martial Dao Will. Finally, you must condense a Divine Thought Golden Core, thereby becoming a Manifest Saint True Monarch capable of controlling the forces of Heaven and Earth."
Although Lu Yun’s expression remained unchanged, his mind was reeling in shock.
’I never would have thought that my own path of Martial Arts would have nothing to do with the Dragon Veins and the will of the masses that Huang Jiao mentioned.’
At this moment, Lu Yun furrowed his brow at just the right time and asked with a puzzled look, "Fellow Daoist Huang, what do you mean by that? Do such ethereal things as Dragon Veins truly exist in this world?"
Huang Jiao paid no mind to his tone. He just stroked his beard, smiled, and said with an air of profoundness, "Fellow Daoist Lu, this land of ours has Qi Refiners and Warlocks. So, would you say Dragon Veins exist or not?"
He paused, a glint flashing in his eyes. "As it happens, this humble Daoist could be considered a Qi Refiner."
Lu Yun’s eyes narrowed. Of course, he had heard of the famous Qi Refiners—hermits from legends who practiced Alchemy and cultivated the Dao deep in the old forests, capable of summoning wind and rain and flying on swords.
The Wisteria Spirit Wood Walking Stick in his own hand was a weapon refined by a Qi Refiner long ago.
Seeing his expression, Huang Jiao’s lips curled into a sinister smile.
At some point, a Talisman had appeared in his hand. It shimmered with golden light and crackling arcs of electricity, its surface covered in dense patterns drawn with cinnabar.
He held the Talisman between his fingers, the smile on his face deepening. "Fellow Daoist Lu, would you like to see what it can do?"
Without waiting for Lu Yun to answer, Huang Jiao casually flicked his wrist. The Talisman flew from his fingertips toward the villa’s floor-to-ceiling window, then spontaneously combusted into ash in mid-air.
Immediately after, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky outside the window.
The lightning bolt was as thin as a finger. A flash of blue-white light streaked by, instantly shattering the villa’s window and striking straight toward Lu Yun, who was seated in the host’s chair!
Huang Jiao watched this scene with a grin. This was his chance to test this strange junior, and he couldn’t wait to see how Lu Yun would handle it.
Lu Yun remained sitting motionless on the sofa. The lightning struck him, coursed through his entire body from head to toe, and then dissipated into nothing.
In truth, Lu Yun had already gauged the power of this lightning with his mutated Divine Sense. It wasn’t the heavenly lightning he might have imagined, but an artificially created bolt.
It looked grand and terrifying, but its actual power was about the same as a pistol bullet.
For Lu Yun, this amount of power wasn’t even enough to count as an itch.
Upon seeing this, the smile on Huang Jiao’s face instantly froze. He had, of course, seen the flash of jade-green light that flickered across Lu Yun’s body.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, you’ve actually cultivated a Horizontal Cultivation Technique as well? It seems Lord Lu of Yun Port City truly lives up to his reputation."
Huang Jiao knew better than anyone how terrifying Horizontal Martial Artists were. Fragile Qi Refiners like him feared these bastards, who were tougher than stone, more than anything.
Your techniques would hit them and feel like a tickle. They’d just stand there and let you attack until your hands went soft, and you still couldn’t hurt them.
In response to Huang Jiao’s surprise, Lu Yun smiled faintly. "That was a truly special gift, Fellow Daoist Huang. As it happens, I have a surprise for you as well."
The moment his words fell, the reflection of a rapidly enlarging fist filled Huang Jiao’s pupils.
It was too fast—so fast that Huang Jiao had no time to react. A dull THUD sounded, and Huang Jiao’s entire body was sent flying off the sofa.
He smashed through the wall behind him and flew straight out of the villa.
The two Lu Family guards had been drawn over by the sound from the floor-to-ceiling window. They were staring blankly at the shattered glass, wondering, ’Who did this?’ and ’Is the Old Master okay?’
Then, they suddenly saw a yellow figure fly out of the hole in the wall, tumbling several times on the ground before coming to a stop.
Their eyes widened, their minds went blank. ’What’s happening? Did the Old Master get into a fight with the Tiangong General?’
At that thought, they both subconsciously reached for the pistols at their waists. Just as they were about to draw their weapons, Lu Yun’s voice drifted out from inside the villa.
"Everything’s fine. You two, leave this area. Fellow Daoist Huang and I still have important matters to discuss."
Though they didn’t know what had happened, the Old Master had given an order. They didn’t dare hesitate and replied in unison, "Yes, Old Master!"
Huang Jiao felt the long-forgotten sensation of pain in his chest. He couldn’t even remember how many years it had been since he’d felt such pain.
The next second, Huang Jiao pulled a handful of ash from his robes. The ash trickled through his fingers and scattered in the wind.
That was a Protective Talisman that Huang Jiao had always kept hidden against his chest. It was a life-saving item.
Lu Yun’s punch just now had not only shattered his Body-Protecting Talisman but had also dispersed his Yellow Heaven Primordial Qi Technique.
Of course, it was only thanks to that Talisman and the Yellow Heaven Primordial Qi Technique he had practiced for many years that he was protected. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have just been a simple matter of pain—that single punch would have taken at least half his life.
’What terrifying power.’ Huang Jiao slowly climbed to his feet. He finally understood now. This junior was also an existence at the Peak of Divine Intent Grandmaster, just like him.
’This is too fucking monstrous! Even back in the Zulong Dynasty, which was rich with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, a monster like this was as rare as a phoenix feather.’
’And to think such a monster could appear in an era where the Spiritual Qi is less than a tenth of what it was back then?’
A short while later, Huang Jiao walked back inside. He plopped right back down on the sofa, no longer planning to be mysterious.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, we Martial Artists are born of mortal flesh and blood. We have sinews, bones, and muscles, yet we lack the one thing needed to sense Heaven and Earth: a soul capable of it."
"We train for a lifetime, fight for a lifetime, and kill for a lifetime, but in the end, we still walk the ground and live beneath the sky, never able to touch it. In our entire lives, we can never sense Heaven and Earth."
"This means that we Martial Artists can never take that final step."
"However, fate works in mysterious ways. The Dragon Vein is, in fact, the power of Heaven and Earth, and it is the only way for us mortals to use that power to sense them."
"And today, the Dragon Vein is located on the Overseas Immortal Island."
Just when Huang Jiao thought that dropping this earth-shattering secret would shock Lu Yun, he waited a moment, then another, only to see Lu Yun across from him still wearing that same unhurried expression.
Huang Jiao finally couldn’t help but ask, "Fellow Daoist Lu, are you not interested?"
At that moment, Lu Yun suddenly asked a completely unrelated question: "Fellow Daoist Huang, you don’t seem like the Tiangong General from five hundred years ago."

Comments

Loading...