Chapter 381
Eight Years of Cultivation
Cold seasons come and heat seasons go, the stars shift and the seasons change.
Above Xunyang City, a figure lay asleep on the clouds, knees bent and elbows crossed, spine like a great dragon, bathed in the morning sun, breathing like a long wind, his breath like thunder.
If someone with the ability to see clearly were here, they would see a primordial spirit sitting cross-legged above the head of this sleeping cloud person, breathing in and out the essence of the great sun, its whole body radiating a brilliant divine light, dazzling and eye-catching.
After an unknown amount of time, a clap of thunder sounded, and the golden, radiant primordial spirit trembled slightly before returning to its physical body.
Zhou Sheng slowly opened his eyes, stretched, and woke up from the clouds.
In the distance, a talisman bird just happened to fly by.
He stretched out his hand, and the talisman bird flew down automatically, transforming into a brocade book with a line of small characters on it: "To Brother Zhou personally."
Upon opening it, a slight ripple appeared in Zhou Sheng's eyes.
The letter contained only two words: "Case closed."
A smile appeared on his face as he exhaled a long breath of white air, which stretched out like an arrow piercing the clouds, stirring up waves in the sea of clouds.
Three years later, he finally heard those two words.
Time flies. Three years have passed since the last farewell in the snow. In these three years, Zhou Sheng has only accepted one ghost play each year, and there have been no major setbacks. With his current magical power, there are not many ghosts and gods that can threaten him.
His main focus was on one thing: digesting the enormous gains he had made after killing the Bodhisattva.
Rare and precious materials, wondrous magical powers, miraculous elixirs...
The fist-sized piece of five-colored mica has been completely used up. He even found many treasures that can enhance his cultivation through the Luoshu. In just three years, his magical power and cultivation level have skyrocketed to five hundred years!
With a cultivation period of five hundred years, in terms of cultivation level alone, he has already surpassed the vast majority of human immortals below the third tribulation.
But Zhou Sheng encountered a bottleneck for the first time.
In the past, as long as one's magical power was strong enough and one's cultivation was high enough, one could break through realms as easily as drinking water. But this time was an exception. Zhou Sheng had already reached the realm of perfect six levels two years ago. His primordial spirit was so powerful that he could walk freely under the sun and absorb its radiance.
He thought he could overcome the tribulation in one fell swoop, but what followed was two whole years of no progress. No matter how he improved his skills, he still couldn't overcome the tribulation.
He has now mastered the "Sleeping Immortal Technique of Hidden Dragon" to a state of perfection, and combined it with the Five-Colored Auspicious Cloud Technique he obtained from the Bodhisattva to create the Sleeping Cloud Method. He thought he could break through to the next level, but as soon as the spring thunder sounded, his primordial spirit immediately returned to his body, without any sense of tribulation.
"The Luoshu tells me that to overcome the Heavenly Tribulation, one must first understand one's own Dao, but what exactly is my Dao?"
Zhou Sheng sighed softly. His master had survived the third Heavenly Tribulation half a year ago, and the elder Yu Tianheng had also made great progress after breaking through his inner demons, and had recently survived the second Heavenly Tribulation.
Even Tan Sheng has broken through the fifth level and unlocked the secrets of the physical body.
Hongying also made a breakthrough; her golden body shone even brighter, and her divine power was now comparable to that of a cultivator at the sixth level. The name of Lady Feng was renowned throughout several states.
Not to mention Monkey King and Red Thread, who are still following Master Zhang in their cultivation. Although there is no news of them, they must be making rapid progress every day.
Shaking his head, Zhou Sheng banished all these distracting thoughts, rode a cloud back to the courtyard, and drank and ate with his master and Yaotai Feng, sharing the good news that the case had been closed.
Given Bao Ying's character, the fact that he said "case closed" means that he has already apprehended the 1,234 people on the list and made them pay the price they deserved.
"These past few years have been turbulent in the court. Bao Ying has really had a tough time. I heard that he even brought out Bao Gong's Dragon Head Guillotine. Faced with many threats, he even ordered people to carry his coffin to handle the case, to show his determination to die. He is so fierce and truly has the spirit of his ancestor."
Yu Zhensheng stroked his beard and praised him.
"Yes, nowadays people call him 'Little Bao Gong,' and some have even started writing operas and storybooks specifically for him..."
Yao Taifeng laughed and said, "Maybe we'll even be able to sing about him on stage someday."
"Fortunately, he was a direct descendant of the Crown Prince. I heard that the Crown Prince personally invited a Xuanqiong Si elder at the Tribulation Transcending Realm to come out of seclusion and personally protect Bao Ying, blocking many assassination attempts."
"After this case, the Crown Prince's reputation among the people has risen sharply, and he has the aura of a sage. Many people say that after he ascends the throne, he will surely sweep away the chaos and revitalize the Great Xuan Dynasty..." Upon hearing this, Zhou Sheng calculated with his fingers. Despite the blessing of the Luo Shu, when it came to matters concerning the country and the dynasty's fortune, he could only make a vague estimate.
That feeling wasn't pleasant; it even carried a hint of inexplicable danger.
"Forget it, what does the Li family's empire have to do with me? I only hope that Brother Bao... can have a peaceful end."
In any case, Zhou Sheng didn't want to see Bao Ying get into trouble, after all, there were fewer and fewer pure people like him in this world.
"Let's get back to you, my disciple. Your current cultivation level is so high that even I am astonished. But why are you still unable to transcend the tribulation?"
Yu Zhensheng was also puzzled. His disciple's cultivation was constantly increasing, but his realm remained unchanged.
This is not a good thing. On the path of spiritual practice, any imbalance can sow the seeds of disaster.
"Master, I think perhaps my thinking is wrong."
Zhou Sheng thought for a moment and continued, "I'm going to try another direction."
"Which direction?"
"Dragon Vein".
Zhou Sheng uttered these two words and analyzed, "Your specialty is Guan Gong's Dharma Image. When you were undergoing tribulation, you comprehended the Dao of Dharma Image. Senior Yu's specialty is Emperor's Play. When you were undergoing tribulation, you comprehended the Dao of Emperor's Rule over All Laws. My specialty is Spirit Binding and Commanding Generals, Refining the False into the True. The Great Dao I comprehended during my tribulation should also be in this direction."
Yu Zhensheng nodded upon hearing this, and Yao Taifeng also thought it made a lot of sense.
"However, my unique skill is too closely bound to the dragon vein. If I cannot obtain more dragon veins, I cannot continue to refine it. Perhaps this is the reason why I have been unable to transcend the tribulation for so long."
"So you plan to continue searching for the Nine Dragon Veins, which is a very likely direction."
"However, the dragon veins are scattered throughout the world, and countless extraordinary individuals cannot—"
Yu Zhensheng stopped halfway through his sentence, recalling his apprentice's amazing abilities. It seemed that this kid had never failed to obtain anything, no matter how mysterious or rare it was.
Of those nine dragon veins, one person has already obtained three of them.
"Alright, you don't need to be too anxious. With your current level of accumulation, once you achieve enlightenment and transcend tribulations, you will likely be transcending several tribulations in a row. It's impossible to proceed step by step."
"It should be understood that accumulating knowledge and experience before unleashing it is also the right path."
"Yes, disciple understands!"
"Well, in a while, I need to go and see that stubborn old mule. I heard that many disciples of the Southern School have died at the graduation stage. Recently, the Underworld has been going too far towards us Yin Opera Masters, as if they would love for all the young disciples to die in the Ghost Opera during the Ghost Festival!"
Yu Zhensheng's eyes narrowed slightly, shooting out two cold beams of light, concealing a murderous intent.
"In that case, I will join forces with that stubborn old donkey to kill a batch of ghosts and gods to vent my anger."
Are you only allowed to kill young disciples of the Yinxi Master lineage?
I'm sorry, but the Yinxi lineage currently has two Grandmasters at the Tribulation Transcending Realm.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!
"From this day forward, for every disciple of the Yin Opera who dies during the Ghost Festival, his underworld officials and generals will be buried with him!"
...(End of this chapter)