Chapter 1126
The Grand Finale
No one dared to approach Pan Yun, and no one dared to stand higher than Xue Shao and the others, for fear that the thunder in the sky would mistake them for people, so they stood far away and low.
Before long, Wang Feiyin arrived with Miaozhen and the other two. He casually tossed the three to Xuanmiao and Tao Ji, then flew directly over the constantly flashing net of lightning in the air and stopped in front of Pan Jun.
Everyone pricked up their ears and stared wide-eyed at the two, eager to hear what they had to say and what they were doing.
But they were too far away to hear or see anything.
Wang Feiyin took out a stone as big as a basketball from his sleeve and gave it to Pan Yun.
Pan Jun took it, looking bewildered: "What is this?"
“It was given to you by your master,” Wang Feiyin said. “Over the years, He has used his merits to appease grievances and has recovered a lot of his divine power. This is the top stone of Sanqing Mountain, nourished by the wishes of all people and imbued with divine power. It is the softest and strongest thing in the world, and I gave it to you to help you overcome your tribulation.”
"It's such a waste not to use such a good item for weapon crafting," Pan Yun raised an eyebrow and asked, "Senior brother just gave it to me like this?"
Wang Feiyin said irritably, "When have we ever lacked what we have in the mountains? Take it. Judging from the current situation, things are unlikely to end well today. In a critical moment, it might save your life."
Pan Yun held the stone, lowered her eyes, and began to think.
Given Xuanmiao and Miaozhen's current progress, they will be able to use this stone someday. Even Wang Feiyin, who plans to advance further in the future, will benefit from it...
Before she could weigh the pros and cons, a hand gently patted her head, and Pan Yun couldn't help but look up at him.
Wang Feiyin said softly, "You don't need to worry about anything else. Just take care of yourself."
Pan Yun suddenly had a feeling as she held the stone. She couldn't help but say, "Senior brother, if I... can't get through this, please take care of my eldest brother and second brother."
Wang Feiyin readily agreed: "Okay."
Pan Jun looked at the increasing number of little ones in the distance, and said with a slight smile, "It's a pity that Cong'er was overseas and didn't have time to see him one last time."
Wang Fei remained silent.
If she can get through it, although he doesn't know what the restrictions are between the upper and lower realms, he will definitely be able to come back and have plenty of opportunities to see Wang Cong.
But what if we can't get through it...
Wang Feiyin asked her, "Is there anything else you want me to tell you?"
Pan Yun thought for a moment and then shook his head: "I only hope that the Ming Dynasty will be prosperous and democratic, and that the people will live in peace and happiness."
"democracy?"
"Yes, the world belongs to the people, and democracy is the way of the people."
Wang Feiyin: "Fortunately, you cultivated quickly, otherwise, one day I would have to see you for the last time at the execution ground."
Wang Feiyin said earnestly, "Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you have high cultivation and great merit. If the emperor wants to kill you, do you think he can't? How can you, alone, fight against an army of thousands?"
Pan Yun: "Senior brother, I'm about to undergo my tribulation. Isn't your warning too late?"
Wang Feiyin slapped her head in an annoyance: "I'm telling you to remember that when you go to other places in the future, don't do things like that. Don't be too domineering. Follow your heart. Our goal is to live a long life. There's no need to force worldly fame and fortune."
Wang Feiyin had so much to say, rambling on and on with instructions. If it weren't for the increasing amount of lightning striking him, making his hair stand on end and his skin sizzle, he would have had even more to say.
Wang Feiyin sighed as he looked at Pan Yun one last time, then turned and left with a heavy heart.
Pan Yun said from behind him, "Senior brother, I left a lot of books and notes in the Imperial Observatory. After I leave, go and move them out. They are all things I left for Miaozhen and the others."
Wang Feiyin paused in his hopping steps, agreed, and then continued hopping out.
He leaped half a mile away, and in no time he was out of the electric fence's range, standing next to Xue Shao.
Xue Shao glanced at the electric shock marks on his skin and said with a regretful expression, "It's a pity that current technology is not good enough, and lightning is too unstable, otherwise such a large amount of lightning could be stored..."
Wang Feiyin: ...
Xue Shao's eyes gleamed: "Pan Yun mentioned last time that there's a formation that can gather lightning?"
Miao Zhen, who had been silent all along, slowly reached out her hand: "My master and I are studying this matter. My master is currently in Lingnan. There is a lot of thunder and lightning there at this time of year. However, thunder and lightning occur in an instant. No storage capacitor can complete the storage so quickly. But if we use an array to wrap the descending lightning energy and then guide it to be stored, it might be usable."
Wang Feiyin: "Where has the research progressed to now?"
Miaozhen said with a serious expression, "It's still in the planning stage."
She looked at the apocalyptic black clouds in front of her and said, "It's a pity that this thunderstorm is too severe. Otherwise, we could set up a test field now and perhaps test whether our formation can be used."
I don't dare try it now because I'm afraid of getting struck by lightning.
Those who overheard this remained silent.
Pan Yun, her junior apprentice, is also famous for her array formations, but it is said that her greatest skill is not array formations, but physiognomy.
This time, the thunder was very patient, accumulating until the last light in the sky disappeared.
And this place is located in...
Where is it located?
Miaohe looked around with her big eyes and asked, "Master, where is this?"
Miao and the other two were brought here by Wang Feiyin, while Tao Ji flew here on his own with Xuanmiao. So he knew: "This is the desert north of Qu Xianwei. The locals call this place Lop Nur. It is a place rarely visited by people. If you go any deeper, there will be no birds, and it is very dangerous."
Actually, this place is dangerous. If it weren't for the dark clouds guiding the way, even cultivators wouldn't dare to come in easily.
Here, the compass is useless, spiritual energy is scarce, and the Yuan power can only allow them to live a few days longer than ordinary people, but it cannot allow them to survive safely in the no-man's-land.
Why did Junior Sister choose this place to undergo her tribulation?
Other fellow cultivators were also pondering this question: Why did Pan Yun choose this place to undergo her tribulation?
“Of course it’s because there are fewer people, and also because this place is advantageous to me!” Pan Jun answered Pan Xiaohei’s question. “When I sensed that I was about to undergo tribulation, I realized that coming west would lead me to the most advantageous place.”
"Sure enough, I sensed the strongest possibility of survival here. If there is any chance of survival, it must be here."
Pan Xiaohei himself was into metaphysics, so he naturally believed in these mysterious things. He asked, "How confident are you that you will successfully overcome the tribulation?"
"No."
"What?" Pan Xiaohei's voice cracked.
Pan Yun looked up at the clouds that were slowly rolling, compressing, and gathering power. A slight smile played on her lips as she said confidently, "He wants to kill me!"
The clouds suddenly collided, and a bolt of lightning, thicker than a bucket, struck down abruptly...
Lightning struck Pan Yun from the top of her head, numbing her entire body and leaving her feeling refreshed!
People several miles away could see it clearly. Those with high cultivation and good eyesight could clearly see the skeleton that flashed by when the lightning passed through her body. Those with sharp eyes could even catch a glimpse of the golden core, which was almost the size of an infant's fist, spinning in her dantian.
Some people secretly swallowed hard.
But when Pan Yun survived two tribulations to become the third marquis, they still dared to have such audacious thoughts. Now, however, they have no such thoughts at all and are just greedy.
Even though I was drooling, I didn't dare make a loud sound of swallowing, because my master's sect was right there.
Neither Wang Feiyin nor Xuanmiao are easy to deal with.
Especially those few demons, who kept their distance from Xuanmiao, secretly swallowing their saliva repeatedly.
Thunder roared and struck three times in succession before the first bolt finally ended, leaving Pan Yun charred and cracked.
She quickly exhaled a puff of smoke, sat cross-legged to absorb spiritual energy, digest the lightning within her body, and restore her vital energy...
Miaozhen calculated the time. In summer, the sunlight in Lop Nur disappears late. She checked the clock and, according to the time in the capital, the sunlight would not disappear until Hai time. However, according to the local solar time, the thunder and lightning should begin around the end of You time and the beginning of Xu time.
They stood there for a night and a day, and by the time the sunlight disappeared again on the second day, a total of nine bolts of lightning struck them.
That speed, that intensity...
Miao Zhen was extremely worried. After the last flash of the ninth heavenly lightning disappeared, she was about to rush over when Wang Feiyin grabbed her arm and said, "This is just the beginning, no rush."
"Huh? This is already the ninth heavenly lightning strike."
"Who said that transcending tribulation and ascending to immortality involves being struck by nine bolts of heavenly lightning?"
Miao Zhen had a bad feeling: "How much is it?"
Wang Feiyin remained silent, and Xuanmiao, after a moment of silence, said, "Eighty-one?"
Miaozhen's eyes widened.
Eighty-one chakras, even if you split nine chakras in a day and a night, it would take nine days to split the heavens. This is not a test, it's practically a recipe for turning people into ashes.
Not to mention Xuanmiao and Miaozhen, even Miaohe couldn't help but jump up, pointing at the sky to curse, but Tao Yanbai quickly covered her mouth.
Wang Feiyin's expression also turned grave. He said, "Let's wait and see. Junior Sister can still handle it for now."
Pan Yun was relatively relaxed at this moment. Apart from her clothes being torn to shreds, her hair standing on end in all directions, and her dark complexion, she had no other problems.
Taking advantage of the fact that the heavens had just struck her down, she immediately took out something to eat from her spiritual space after repairing her meridians and dantian. While eating, she also picked out a set of clothes to change into.
Fortunately, she always kept food in her space. At this moment, she was expending a lot of energy, and even though she could have abstained from grains long ago, she still needed to eat.
After eating and drinking his fill, Pan Jun calculated the time when the next bolt of lightning would arrive. He figured there was still an hour left, so he simply lay down on the sand and stared blankly at the dark clouds that were almost pressing down on his face.
Pan Xiaohei huddled in her Niwan Palace, trembling: "You... do you want to think of a way? Judging from the extent of this, it's probably going to take many days to chop."
Pan Yun: "Eighty-one steps, the further you go, the harder it gets. I've calculated that it will probably take about twenty-one days."
At the moment of starting their tribulation, each person undergoing the tribulation will have a general sense of the lightning strikes that will follow and the timing.
Pan Yun's current sensation is that everything goes black in front of her.
Pan Xiaohei's eyes also went black; it couldn't understand: "Is there really still a chance of survival? With such great merit, why is He so cruel to you?"
Pan Jun remained silent, focusing instead on restoring her body and vital energy in preparation for the next heavenly lightning strike.
There were twenty-seven bolts of lightning over three days, nine each day. On the fourth day, each bolt of lightning transformed into three intertwined electric nets, resulting in seven bolts striking the earth each day.
Three more days passed, and the heavenly lightning began to fall in five bolts a day, but the intensity of each bolt was increasing, and each strike felt like the end of the world.
More and more people flocked to Lop Nur to watch the spectacle. The crowd had retreated more than 20 miles away because the area covered by the lightning was increasing and the amount of ionized electricity in the air was too great, which frightened everyone.
Xiao Hong and Hong Yan couldn't resist sneaking around to watch the excitement, so they hid on Miao Zhen and Xuan Miao.
Meanwhile, news came from the Celestial Master's Mansion that the Emperor was also on his way here and had already entered the desert. It wouldn't be long before the Celestial Master's Mansion brought the Emperor here.
In order to protect the emperor, the Celestial Master's Mansion had to clear a space and set up an array.
Many academy disciples were reassigned to be assistants and errand runners.
To ensure everything went smoothly, Longhu Mountain even asked Wang Feiyin for help.
Wang Feiyin politely declined, but also indicated that he would not stand idly by if the emperor were truly in danger.
The Celestial Master's Mansion simply wants to express an attitude.
By the time the emperor arrived with several important officials, Pan Yun had already been undergoing his tribulation for ten days.
Now, the heavenly lightning strikes three times a day, each time pouring down like a waterfall. The spot where Pan Jun is standing has been struck, creating a large crater about twenty meters in diameter. She is sitting in the crater, and if it weren't for the darkness, people would hardly be able to tell her apart from Huang Sha.
But at such a distance, most people can't see it clearly.
The emperor set up a telescope and used it to search for his teacher.
Pan Yun's golden core cracked open and took on its own form.
Her dantian frantically channeled its energy, and the "Return of Spring to the Myriad Trees" mantra of Sanqing Mountain circulated wildly. Her cracked body healed rapidly, and her charred body, exuding a fleshy aroma, grew quickly. Her whole body felt numb and itchy, and her skin slowly hardened, with layer upon layer of black shell enveloping her...
Pan Jun lay on the sand, her breathing barely audible. She opened her eyes to the dark clouds that showed no signs of dissipating, estimated the speed at which her meridians were recovering, and finally said to Pan Xiaohei, "You go for the next lightning strike."
Pan Xiaohei had been eager to try it out, and upon hearing this, he immediately agreed: "Okay!"
For the past ten days, it has absorbed the lightning that she passed through, strengthening itself, but it has not truly received the heavenly lightning.
It felt incredibly powerful after breaking the seal and wished it could be the first to be struck by heavenly lightning, but Pan Jun kept it from doing so.
Now its chance has finally come.
Four hours later, the lightning accumulated enough power to tumble and swirl in mid-air, pushing and shoving each other together. Zhu Jianji witnessed the formation and strike of the lightning for the first time, and felt as if his heart was being gripped tightly, making it so painful that he could hardly breathe.
At that moment, he finally understood why his teacher always said that power was insignificant in her eyes.
She must be suffering so much because she has something more important to pursue; power is simply not worth mentioning in her ideals and expectations.
A jade-white lotus-shaped magical artifact shot up from the sand pit and caught the bolt of lightning in mid-air. It was the only thing with color under the entire sky. The remaining lightning passed through the spiritual realm and struck Pan Jun, who felt very comfortable.
To her, such intense lightning was utterly insignificant, like a light bite from an ant.
Pan Jun couldn't help but laugh, feeling that she was getting a little carried away.
Pan Xiaohei, on the other hand, fell back to reality from the lightning strike. After being struck by the lightning, it landed in Pan Jun's arms with a thud, chirping loudly.
Pan Yun grasped it and worked with it to absorb the incoming heavenly lightning, trying to recover her body before the next bolt of lightning arrived.
Xue Shao watched quietly. On the thirteenth day, the Heavenly Dao only struck with lightning once a day, and spent the rest of the time brewing. But no one felt relaxed. Everyone was on edge, waiting to see the result.
Everyone, including Pan Yun's former enemies, secretly wished that she could survive the tribulation.
If successful, she will be the first person to ascend to heaven in the centuries following the Tang Dynasty.
Xue Shao turned his head to look at the emperor's tent behind him, his eyes filled with an expression that no one could understand.
Wang Feiyin was startled and stepped forward, warning in a low voice, "What are you going to do?"
Xue Shao smiled gently at him: "What are you worried about, Daoist Wang? Are you afraid that I, Xue, will use the emperor as a tool?"
Wang Feiyin's long-held suspicions resurfaced, and he asked suspiciously, "Who is your mole? My junior sister is innocent and kind, and has always put the people first. She would never have such thoughts."
Xue Shao nodded frankly: "That's right. Pan Yun may seem shrewd, but she has a strong bottom line. She is not willing to take any risks for the people, let alone His Majesty, who is her student. She would never take advantage of a student."
He looked toward the emperor's tent, and Wang Feiyin followed his gaze.
Then, a young man in a blue and white Taoist robe emerged from the camp surrounded by Taoist priests from the Celestial Master's Mansion and disciples from the academy.
He seemed to be unwell, coughing with every step, and covered his mouth with a handkerchief as he walked in their direction.
Wang Feiyin: ...
He almost instinctively turned his head to look at Xuanmiao.
Xuanmiao: "...Although it is indeed something I might do, this matter is indeed unrelated to me."
Zhang Liuzhen walked slowly, taking one step at a time, and soon he reached the sand dune and stood in front of the group.
He smiled slightly and said, "This matter has nothing to do with my aunt; it was all my doing."
After Zhang Liuzhen's dantian was repaired, he miraculously survived to this day, and ten years ago he successfully broke through to the first Marquis level again, becoming a cultivator who could be ranked in the heavens.
Zhang Liuzhen and the elders had privately deduced that he was able to live to this day because the Ming Dynasty was thriving and the country was prosperous, which in turn nourished him and allowed him to live to this day.
Zhang Liuzhen was deeply grateful to those who had contributed so much to the Ming Dynasty over the years, especially the ordinary people.
He inherited the Zhang family's talent, which allows him to foresee the future. He is one of the Dao bodies closest to the Dao of Heaven. Moreover, is there anyone in this world who understands the Dao of Heaven better than the Zhang family?
He had long suspected Tiandao of Pan Yun.
“Pan Yun was born with spiritual power, bringing vitality to this world. But at the same time, she also brought greater crises to this world. She has received so much from this world. If she didn’t want to ascend and leave, she could have lived in this world forever, as a wandering immortal or an earth immortal. But if she wanted to leave, the Heavenly Dao would not let her take so much with her.”
If she were to take away the merits accumulated by the people's hearts and the incense that clung to her, all the gods and Buddhas enshrined in the temples of this world would suffer a great loss.
Wang Feiyin understood Zhang Liuzhen's unspoken meaning, his lips trembling slightly: "But Heaven cannot be so ruthless; He must spare her a chance to live..."
“Isn’t her life force right here?” Zhang Liuzhen smiled. “With three Dao bodies and an emperor who has accumulated merit, even if Heaven doesn’t want us to, it won’t strike us all down.”
Wang Feiyin: "Are you all insane? Using the emperor as a magical artifact?"
“It’s just for show; he won’t actually be struck by lightning,” Xue Shao said. “I have been an official for decades; I would never be disloyal.”
Wang Feiyin: "Is this really the last glimmer of hope?"
Xue Shao and Zhang Liuzhen nodded together.
Because they were both Dao Bodies, their understanding and interpretation of the Dao of Heaven were the strongest, so Wang Feiyin decided to trust them.
"What do you need us to do?" Wang Feiyin immediately changed his mind.
Wang Feiyin didn't need to do anything; he could just watch. He didn't even need to protect the emperor, because Zhang Zijin, who had always stayed in the palace, had also arrived and was secretly watching the emperor.
If lightning really strikes, he can throw the emperor out and shield himself from it.
Even an emperor with mortal flesh and blood can't withstand a small lightning bolt.
When the lightning struck for eighteen days, Pan Yun took out the stone that Wang Feiyin had given her to block it. The lightning passed through the stone and struck her and Ling Jing, leaving both of them weak and listless.
Pan Yun could barely move a finger at this moment, relying entirely on her consciousness to control the spirit and resist the heavenly lightning. But even her consciousness was becoming somewhat blurred. The stone and the spirit realm landed on either side of her. After being struck by lightning, it was completely different from before, its radiance flowing. At this moment, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a divine stone.
Lingjing's body was crackling with tiny lightning bolts, and Pan Xiaohei lost the desire to speak, remaining silent throughout.
Pan Yun slowly said in her mind, "Three more days, three days... three times."
Pan Xiaohei took a while to reply: "But now you can't even stop it once."
Pan Yun refused to admit defeat. She forced herself to wake up, circulated her Yuan energy to repair her body, adjusted her breathing, and began to train her divine sense.
Physical strength alone is not enough; one's mind must also be strong enough.
As she thought this, her wandering consciousness touched the stone beside her, and in an instant, Pan Jun felt as if she had floated to the center of the universe, with starlight everywhere she looked.
Pan Yun was captivated by the beauty and profundity before her. By the time she came to her senses, her consciousness had faded, and she had recovered most of her senses.
She struggled to sit up cross-legged, glanced down at the divine stone, and couldn't help but grin: "So that's what you're good for."
Pan Yun began circulating her cultivation technique and placed her spiritual sense on the stone, relaxing her mind and following the spiritual sense and power on the stone to feel it. Her body recovered even faster...
However, it is far slower than the speed at which the heavenly lightning recovers.
Now, a single bolt of lightning strikes each day at the end of the 5-7 PM, but even with just one strike, the intensity of the lightning increases with each strike.
Although Pan Yun was unwilling to admit defeat, she didn't know if she could survive the next time.
She just refuses to admit defeat, she just won't admit defeat!
She has worked hard for decades. She is a native of Pan Yun and has never taken over anyone else's body. She has cultivated herself to this point through proper means. She has done good deeds and accumulated virtues throughout her life. Why shouldn't she be allowed to ascend?
Pan Yun was not convinced!
She must ascend to immortality and break this barrier!
The third-to-last bolt of lightning, having gathered its power, struck down fiercely towards Pan Jun's head. However, it suddenly slowed its attack mid-air and split into three bolts. One bolt struck directly at Pan Jun, while the other two split in two and struck the sand dunes on either side.
After catching the lightning, Pan Yun turned his head sharply and saw Zhang Liuzhen on a sand dune to the west groan and fall to the ground, while Xue Shao on the sand dune to the east only swayed before standing up.
"You're asking for it!"
The sound came rolling in, but Zhang Liuzhen didn't care. He just waved his hand, thinking that he couldn't even withstand half a bolt of heavenly lightning. So he sat down cross-legged and opened the array plate.
Only Xue Shao remained standing still.
The emperor, seeing this through his telescope, anxiously asked, "What are Xue Shao and Zhang Liuzhen doing?"
The Left Secretary of the Daoist Registry told the Emperor, "Both Master Zhang and Mr. Xue are born with Daoist bodies, just like the Imperial Preceptor. In the world today, there are only three people born with Daoist bodies."
"Since Heaven has granted them Dao bodies, it is unwilling to kill them all. Master Zhang, Mr. Xue, and the National Preceptor form a triangle. Heavenly Thunder cannot distinguish who is who for the time being. In order not to implicate the other two, Heavenly Thunder will slow down its attack."
"That array plate belonging to a real person..."
"That array plate allows the heavenly lightning to see it, but it cannot detect any fluctuations in its energy. Therefore, the heavenly lightning will not strike it, but the energy of the heavenly lightning is reduced due to the distraction."
Zhu Jianji murmured, "So there are so many intricacies involved in transcending tribulation..."
No one could see that on a couch behind the emperor, under a blanket, lay a compass exactly like Zhang Liuzhen's.
As the second-to-last bolt of lightning struck, Pan Yun's eyes were filled with red light. Just as she was about to fight Ling Jing to the death, Xue Shao took the lead and flew into the air to block her and Ling Jing.
Lightning strikes with incredible speed, crashing down with a crack and disappearing in an instant.
Xue Shao caught all the lightning bolts, which then struck down straight down.
Pan Jun's eyes were red as she reached out to catch Xue Shao and Yu Dian.
Pan Xiaohei glanced at him and said, "Using the Dao body as a tool, it's fortunate that he has already reached the second rank, otherwise he would surely die."
“But he’s practically dead now.” Pan Xiaohei excitedly suggested, “Extract his soul and throw it into the Spirit Realm, use his body to block the lightning, and our success rate in surviving the next heavenly lightning will increase by at least 30%.”
Pan Yun glared at it: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Xue Shao had recovered from the excruciating pain. He spat out the blood and foam from his mouth, and said with a smile in his eyes, "Its suggestion is good."
Pan Yun looked puzzled: "Is it worth risking your life to help me?"
Xue Shao knew what she was thinking and weakly explained, "I helped you, not out of romantic feelings, but simply because you deserve it."
He said, “The Ming Dynasty… I have seen the Ming Dynasty’s fortune three times. The first time was when I was three years old. I followed my great-uncle into the school and saw that the Ming Dynasty’s fortune was red with purple. In the future, the number of literate people in the Ming Dynasty will increase. The officialdom will not be able to accommodate so many talented people, so they will have to go to the common people. Commerce, industry and agriculture will develop in an all-round way, and the Ming Dynasty will have all nations paying tribute.”
"The second time was when my second uncle was imprisoned and banished from the capital. I went to the capital to rescue him. When I entered the city, I saw that the fortune of the Ming Dynasty was red with a hint of blue, and the fortune was actually declining. I knew that the emperor could not control the court, that there were treacherous officials in the court, and that the Ming Dynasty would fall into internal strife."
"The third time was when the Zhengtong Emperor led his northern expedition to the grasslands. I have never seen such a chaotic national fortune." Xue Shao murmured, "If we take a step back, the national fortune of the Ming Dynasty will be cut in half, and the color blue will prevail over the color red; if we take a step forward, the national fortune of the Ming Dynasty will soar to the sky, and the color purple will reappear, overpowering the color blue. And you are connected to the national fortune of the Ming Dynasty."
"When I first saw the fate of the Ming Dynasty, I vowed to study hard and serve my country, so I passed the provincial examination at the age of fifteen. Before I could become a Jinshi, I saw the fate of the dynasty a second time, so I decided to live a carefree life and not concern myself with politics. But then I met you, so I decided to try again. I saw it a third time, so I firmly chose you."
“Pan Yun, I am not choosing you, I am choosing the Ming Dynasty, I am choosing the millions of people in this world,” his breath grew weaker and weaker, almost invisible: “For nearly forty years, you have never once sought personal gain. All the merits you have accumulated are well-deserved. Just because you want to leave, He cannot kill you. This... this is unjust.”
His voice trailed off, and his eyes slowly closed: "Injustice is wrong..."
Pan Yun's tears fell one by one as she poured her Yuan energy into his body, circulating the "Return of Spring to All Trees" technique to barely preserve his heart meridian.
Pan Yun glared at the heavens with resentment, her whole body filled with bitterness. Even Pan Xiaohei moved his body aside, not daring to mention the matter of using Xue Shao's body to refine weapons and block lightning.
Pan Yun placed the barely alive Xue Shao into the Spirit Realm, set up a Spirit Gathering Array for him, then looked up at the dark clouds in the sky and raised a middle finger to the heavens: "If you have the guts, then kill me! Let me tell you, even if you kill me, you won't be able to keep all my merits. I'm going to let Pan Xiaohei take them away to another world, and I'm going to make the people of this world remember and worship me for generations to come. You can forget about taking away a single bit of my merits!"
Thunderclouds rolled across the sky, filled with rage.
Pan Yun bit her tongue hard, forcing herself to suppress the piercing anger. She glared at the heavens and softened her tone, saying, "Of course, I was born and raised here and have deep feelings for this world. If you are willing to give me justice, even if I ascend and leave, I will give back to this world. I am also willing to balance the incense offerings of the gods and Buddhas so that they will not suffer the same fate as my master, whose divine power was damaged due to the scarcity of incense offerings."
The thunderclouds slowed their rolling, and after churning for a long time, their color actually lightened.
The onlookers scratched their heads, unable to contain their anxiety, and asked, "What happened to Xue Shao? Why has he disappeared? What is the Imperial Advisor yelling at the heavens for?"
"It's too far away, I can't see it!"
Wang Feiyin and the others were also extremely anxious. Tomorrow evening would be the final bolt of lightning. If they could just get through this one...
But it was clear to everyone that Pan Yun was already at his limit.
Wang Feiyin carefully considered whether he should also go and shield his junior sister.
His cultivation is much stronger than Xue Shao's, so the last heavenly lightning bolt will definitely be the strongest. He can't block it all, but he can block a third of it, which will give Pan Yun a greater chance of winning.
Wang Feiyin was eager to act on his idea and was about to step forward when Xuanmiao blocked his way with his sword. Xuanmiao said with a stern face, "Senior Brother, Xue Shao is born with a Dao body. Heaven favors him, and lightning cannot recognize him. Therefore, he can block the lightning without increasing the punishment. But you... I'm afraid you will be struck and your soul will be scattered. You will also implicate Junior Sister."
Wang Feiyin hesitated: "I have the same doubt, but... we're at the very last step. It would be such a pity if Junior Sister failed."
It's not just Pan Yun who's a pity; the entire Ming Dynasty will feel sorry for him.
How long have they been waiting for someone to ascend to heaven?
Amidst all the turmoil, the next day arrived, and the lightning, having accumulated power over the course of a day and a night, was ready to deliver its final blow.
Pan Yun was the same.
She's come to terms with it. So what if she dies? It's not like it's her first time dying. What's wrong with dying again?
These past few decades have been a windfall for her!
Seeing her fierce expression, Pan Xiaohei quickly said, "You, you, you, don't be in such a hurry to die! If you really can't stop, I'll take you and run away!"
It said, "The seal is broken, so what if we escape again?"
Seeing the lightning about to strike, Pan Xiaohei muttered to himself, "We're tied together. If you die, that's one thing, but if your soul is scattered, I'll die too. Your threats to the Heavenly Dao won't count. You don't want to threaten Bai Fang yourself, do you?"
As she was talking, the heavenly lightning had fully accumulated. Pan Yun held the Spirit Mirror in her hand, and the divine stone suddenly flew up to block her head. The person, the spirit, and the stone flew up to meet the heavenly lightning.
The four objects collided in mid-air, and a burst of white light blinded everyone. The light was so bright that they couldn't open their eyes. Only after the overwhelming white light subsided did they hear the slow, rumbling thunder.
Pan Yun fell from mid-air. Pan Xiaohei noticed that her heart had stopped beating and her soul was unstable and on the verge of breaking. It immediately swept the divine stone that had fallen into the air into the spiritual realm, intending to take her soul away and escape. Suddenly, it heard a thud.
It was very slight, yet very pleasant to the ear. Pan Xiaohei paused for a moment, and in that instant, Pan Yun fell into the sandpit, slowly opened her eyes, her heart started beating again, and her spiritual energy surged, drawing all the visible spiritual energy around her into her body.
The dark clouds in the sky dispersed, turning white, then colorful, and the setting sun shone through the clouds, turning the whole world orange-red.
The orange-red clouds transformed into phoenixes in mid-air, and countless spiritual energies fell with the auspicious rain, often being swept away by Pan Jun before even landing.
Seeing the magnificent phoenix-shaped clouds, everyone realized that Pan Yun had won!
Aside from the people of Sanqing Mountain, everyone instinctively rushed into the auspicious rain, welcoming the spiritual rain, feeling the lingering Daoist intent, and hoping that they could also gain some insights from it.
Wang Feiyin and his group headed straight for the large sand pit in the distance.
They dug Pan Yun out from under the sandpit and dressed him in robes.
While Wang Feiyin was stuffing pills into her mouth, he told Tao Ji and the others to hurry up and dig out Xue Shao, but they dug for a long time without finding her.
Pan Yun transformed spiritual energy into Yuan Power, and the Nascent Soul in her dantian was already clearly defined, completely different from her.
She woke up too.
She helped Miaohe sit up, leaning against Miaozhen. She looked up at the sky where a golden passage was gradually opening, then turned to Tao Ji and the others, saying, "Stop digging, Xue Shao isn't down there."
Tao Ji: "Then where is he?"
Wang Feiyin waved to him and said to Pan Yun, "That's not important. What's important is that this passage hasn't been open for long. You need to cultivate quickly and recover your cultivation before you have to ascend. Don't have any illusions about the upper realm. You must remember that wherever there are people, there is a martial world, and wherever there is a martial world, there is conflict. Even immortals are people who ascended to heaven. How could they possibly become something else?"
Wang Feiyin stuffed many medicine bottles into her arms: "I don't know if they will still work for you. These are all leftovers. Take them quickly, lest you die in the upper realm instead of under the heavenly lightning."
Pan Yun: "Calling someone 'senior brother' sounds so scary."
She looked up at the sky and slowly smiled: "Who says I can only go to that upper realm?"
"What do you say?"
Pan Yun mentally probed the Spirit Realm: "Tell me, when I was on the verge of death, did you open a portal to my original timeline?"
Lingjing remained silent, simply feigning death.
Pan Jun sneered. She was no longer the same as before. She vaguely sensed the space and time she came from, and even had a feeling that its passage was in mid-air, as if she could go there as long as she wanted.
Pan Yun lowered her eyes.
Thinking of the flaws in the cultivation techniques of that world, and Xue Shao who was still lying in the Spirit Realm Space, barely breathing, Pan Yun felt that she didn't necessarily have to follow the path of Heaven. She could have another path to choose from.
As the passage in mid-air gradually narrowed, Pan Yun knew that she had at most eleven and a half hours to choose from.
She simply put on her clothes, sat cross-legged, and before closing her eyes, said to Miaozhen and the other two, "I want to go back to my past life and take a look. Do you want to go?"
Miao Zhen's eyes lit up, and she was about to answer when Pan Jun raised his hand to stop her, saying, "No rush, you have at least ten hours to think."
Xuanmiao, standing to the side, blinked slightly and asked, "Is there a limit to the number of people?"
Pan Yun: "No."
Xuanmiao understood immediately and looked at Wang Feiyin.
Wang Feiyin: ...
Why do difficult things always seem to happen to him?
After Pan Yun repaired her meridians and dantian, and her Yuan Qi recovered to half its original level, ten hours had passed. When she opened her eyes, she saw her good disciple's big face.
Zhu Jianji was overjoyed to see Pan Yun open her eyes: "Teacher!"
Pan Yun nodded to him and began to peel off the charred, blackened skin from her arm, revealing the fair, tender skin underneath.
Zhu Jianji couldn't help but shift his gaze to the side: "Teacher, I've had a tent set up over here. Would you like to go in for a bath and rest?"
Pan Yun looked up at the increasingly smaller passageway in the sky, nodded to the emperor, and said, "I will come out in a quarter of an hour and leave in a quarter of an hour."
Upon hearing this, the emperor disregarded his lewd actions and squatted outside the tent, speaking to her through the cloth: "Teacher, after you ascend to heaven, will you be able to return? What will I do if I miss you?"
Pan Yun quickly took a shower. This time, she was still shaved naked, but she circulated her Yuan energy, and her eyebrows and hair quickly grew back, with her hair only reaching her shoulders.
After she finished dressing, she thought for a moment, took out a blank jade bottle, picked out two pills from a pile of medicines to restore her vital energy and blood, and rubbed them together. She then used the Myriad Trees Return to Spring technique to fuse them together and remove some impurities. She didn't know why she had to refine them this way, but she felt that the pills refined in this way would not be poisonous and could even prolong life.
Although the effect was not significant.
Pan Yun tossed the medicine into a bottle, then handed it to Zhu Jianji, earnestly instructing him: "This medicine could save your life in a critical moment. There's only one in the world. Jianji, remember, you must always listen to the voices of the people. If one day there are voices among the people saying that the emperor has become senile, or if one day you feel you have succeeded enough, then abdicate the throne to the crown prince and live out your remaining years as the retired emperor."
Zhu Jianji was stunned: "Teacher?"
Pan Yun: "A long-lived emperor is not necessarily a good emperor. Have you forgotten Emperor Xuanzong of Tang?"
Zhu Jianji seemed to be deep in thought. When he was young, the master and disciple had once commented on the gains and losses of emperors of various dynasties. When they talked about Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the master and disciple both thought that if he had died fifteen years earlier, how could the Tang Dynasty have ended up like that, and he himself would have been infamous for ten thousand years?
Zhu Jianji solemnly agreed: "I will remember your teachings, teacher."
"Junior Sister, it's almost time," Wang Feiyin reminded her from the side.
Pan Jun nodded slightly and said to the emperor, "I will escort Your Majesty back. The capital is still too far away. You should not stand under a dangerous wall."
"teacher……"
Before he could finish speaking, Pan Yun had already taken him and the other high-ranking officials and disappeared. In the blink of an eye, they were back in the palace.
They were completely stunned by such miraculous skills.
It took the people from the Celestial Master's Mansion two days to fly there.
This... truly is divine skill; the Imperial Advisor is indeed worthy of the title.
Pan Yun put Zhu Jianji down and was about to leave when Zhu Jianji quickly called out to her, "Teacher, how is Mr. Xue?"
Pan Yun turned to look at him and saw his worried expression. Her smile became much more genuine, and she nodded, saying, "He's still alive."
The emperor wanted to ask more questions, but Pan Yun had already disappeared.
Zhu Jianji thought to himself, "That's enough. As long as he's still alive."
Zhu Jianji sighed and sent the Imperial Guards to the Xue family: "Tell them that Mr. Xue is still alive."
He paused for a moment, but still reinstated Xue Shao's official position. Although he could not return to serve as an official now, at least his reputation was restored.
Pan Yun was back in the desert in an instant.
Many people lingered there, reluctant to leave. After all, it was their first time witnessing a person ascend to heaven, and they were determined to see it with their own eyes before they were satisfied.
As soon as Pan Yun returned, a sandstorm swept up, blurring everyone's vision. When they looked again, Pan Yun had already ascended into the sky, following the passage to the ninth heaven before disappearing.
But in just a moment, before the passage completely closed, everyone saw a figure flash in mid-air...
Someone asked uncertainly, "Just now, it seemed like someone fell from the sky, but then it seemed like they were caught by another passage. That person seemed to be the Imperial Advisor..."
"I saw it too! I thought I was seeing things!"
"That can't be right. Could there be a lie about ascension?"
"It might not be fake, but it seems that even the realm of immortals isn't peaceful."
"What should we do? How is the Imperial Advisor? Did she successfully ascend to immortality, or not?"
"Where are the people from Sanqing Mountain? Ask them."
After searching carefully, everyone discovered that the people from Sanqing Mountain had long since disappeared.
"They're running pretty fast. Abbot Wang is so unfair. We're not trying to take advantage of them, so why are they running so fast?"
Wang Feiyin hurried towards Sanqing Mountain, he had to leave quickly, because when they came there was a group of people, but when they left, he was the only one left.
That's ridiculous! Who ascends to immortality with so many people?
By the way, what kind of space is Junior Sister's? It can actually hold living people?
Pan Yun's spiritual space can not only hold living people, but when it gets powerful, it can also hold an entire world.
The three leaves of the Spirit Realm could give rise to a world.
Pan Yun held the Spirit Realm and flew up to the upper realm through the passage. Once she arrived, after the Spirit Realm marked the location and she obtained the coordinates, she pretended to slip and fall down again before anyone could speak.
Welcoming the Celestial Envoy: ...This is the first time I've ever seen someone slip and fall back to the mortal realm while ascending to immortality.
They waited for a long time but no one came up. They were terrified. Could this person have fallen down and never come back up?
The moment Pan Yun fell, she was plunged into the space-time torn open by the spiritual realm. As soon as she stood up and looked up, she immediately recognized that this was their school.
Without a second thought, she took Xue Shao into the laboratory and threw him into the life pod to lie down.
Only after the life pod was operational and showed that the people inside could be treated did Pan Jun breathe a sigh of relief and release the five mysterious people from the space.
The five people were immediately curious about the world as soon as they appeared. Xuanmiao was the most perceptive and noticed a gaze watching them. He immediately looked up at the corner of the room.
Pan Jun also turned her head to look over and waved at the camera: "Which senior is on duty? I can borrow our life pod for a moment."
The senior student on duty behind the camera stared wide-eyed, then pinched himself a moment later and realized he wasn't dreaming.
He immediately picked up his phone and sent a signal: "Teachers, come back quickly! Your beloved student, who was blown to bits, has come back to life, bringing back five ancient figures!"
[End of main text] (End of this chapter)