Chapter 1408
Moro
Chapter 1408 Moro
The sky was magnificent.
The light of daylight spread across the heavens and earth like a thin veil. The purple-gold flames of true qi had dissipated, but the cyan-yellow and blue-purple hues still shone deep within the clouds, surrounding the weeping star. Below, a thin, misty white rain fell.
The atmosphere of the entire Shu region resembled that of a world in ancient times of great upheaval. The void was torn into pieces by the scattered water and fire, and the myriad lights of martial arts cultivation were like cuts, no longer able to properly illuminate this land.
The sounds of the three distant passes shattering echoed one after another, like distant dragon roars in this azure-gold world, one sound louder than the other. The strange phenomena of divine powers falling soared into the heavens and earth, but they were nothing more than minor embellishments.
The mountain spirit gazed into the distance, its withered vine-like hand hanging down. The palace above its head had long since disappeared. After an unknown amount of time, it was seen to stretch out its large hand, like a rainbow piercing the sky, extending all the way into the mountain.
The next moment, he pulled something out of the mountain.
This was an old man-like creature, shrouded in billowing black smoke, hunched over, and draped in a tattered feathered robe. The mountain spirit's fingers passed through the tear in his robe, and he picked him up as if he were an ant, placing him in his other palm.
The old man landed in the palm of the hand and immediately knelt down, unable to stand. Purple-gold iridescent light swirled around his body, and even his tattered clothes revealed the imperial style.
Blood-red streams of light kept jumping out of his mouth, like thousands of tiny fleas crawling on his cheeks and falling to the ground as tiny insects.
It looks neither like a human nor a ghost.
Qing Zhuo turned slightly to the side, lowered his head and looked at him meekly, neither surprised nor angry, and did not look at him, but just stared at the earth with complicated emotions.
Of course he knew who the person in front of him was.
This was once the senior disciple of Changhuai Mountain. His position, this communication cave, and his role as the supervisor of the present world originally belonged to him.
Now kneeling in the palm of his hand, like a wild dog, it is clear that during this great battle between the two sides and the emperors, this once-valued Daoist has not received the slightest attention from the attendant gods—Qing Zhuo was deeply involved and knew that the Xuan Palace, which was used to cultivate truth through falsehood, could not actually be opened from the inside.
He could only watch silently from his meditative state as the emperor slaughtered everyone in the palace, watched the white qilin approach, watched the emperor destroy his own body, and finally watched him perish.
His gaze shifted away, and the old man steadied himself. Qingzhuo heard neither anger nor sorrow, but rather a hoarse, low plea:
"Is it possible that you are here, sir?"
The mountain spirit seemed unable to speak, looking down at the object in his palm, and then a sobbing sound was heard. The old man said:
"After six hundred years of cultivation, the Master taught me the method of cultivating truth through falsehood, thus granting me this opportunity. I knew long ago that the Master's kindness was as heavy as a mountain, which could never be repaid in ten thousand lifetimes..."
He was once a renowned genius, a great figure among supernatural powers, but when everything collapsed, the pavilion of the Divine Elixir did not wait for him for even a moment longer. When everything in Changhuai was taken away, all that was left for him was to sit and wait for death.
Qingzhuo didn't understand why the old man would say such things at this moment, but this deep despair gave him a chilling feeling of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold."
The mountain spirit didn't speak, but simply picked up the thing and casually placed it in the belt around its waist, as if it were a mosquito that had been swatted dead. Qing Zhuo lowered his eyes again, without changing his expression at all.
Back then, when Qingji suffered a crushing defeat in the desert, he spoke warmly to the old man, but his expression turned cold and indifferent in front of him, treating him like an insect. Now that the old man is being mentioned, he remains expressionless, as if he were a complete stranger.
The distant black mist churned, seemingly restless, before quickly receding into the dim darkness and gradually fading away. The Daoist on the Xuan Palace and the Golden One cultivators on either side were nowhere to be seen; only the dissolute young master remained guarding the palace entrance.
He stood with his hands behind his back, walking through the air until he reached the mountain spirit, whereupon he spoke softly:
"Chat?"
The tense standoff just now seemed like an illusion. Jin Yi's relentless suppression, coming from afar, also seemed to have passed. Qing Zhuo nodded politely and said:
"please."
The white Qilin below, like a blazing sun, sat atop the ruins, clearly digesting its gains. The two Golden Core disciples walked side-by-side, slowly heading north. Qing Zhuo said:
Where is Fellow Daoist Yang?
Tian Huo laughed and said:
"The martial arts world is in turmoil. Although they are the ones who benefited, they are also eager to go back and stabilize the situation. If something happens here, it will be a matter of life and death."
Qingzhu pondered for a moment.
It seems that Zhou Chu, a direct descendant of the Golden Core cultivator, did not suffer any significant personal loss during this incident. In fact, from a less than honorable perspective, the Qing family's arrangements were limited, but they had more than one genius, so this incident might not have been entirely without benefit to him.
Although this benefit is no longer of much significance...
Qing Zhuo believed that his talent and wisdom were only on par with Qing Tangyin's, and that the other party's situation was far beyond his reach. After the fall of Western Shu, Chang Huai would surely retire and go into seclusion. What future did he have?
Back then, in the Qingsong Temple's grotto, Nian Yi, who stood opposite him and whose cultivation and wisdom were inferior to his, had already ascended to heaven and escaped to the North Sea, far beyond his reach. Now, even Tian Huo, the carefree young man who roamed the four corners of the world, required him to treat him with respect.
He glanced back with a complicated look and said:
“Impressive, ruthless... showing no mercy... I’ve seen it clearly today, this wasn’t the Yang family’s idea.”
Tianhuo stood with his hands behind his back, lost in thought and silent.
"Shu was a fiefdom that Xiuwu usurped by usurping our territory."
Qingzhuo said:
"These words could make Lady Yang feel terrified."
Tian Huo shook his head and said:
"From this day forward, Bai Qilin is no longer under the control of the Yang family, nor even that Yang Gongcao. Bai Qilin has elevated you to the heavens and eliminated this Shu, yet he has turned around and made them uneasy. Just now, when Gongcao left, his face was so ugly."
His words were quite accurate.
Shu was destroyed by Li Zhouwei, but what did the Song Dynasty have that was more commendable than Western Shu? The deterrent power it displayed in this battle made all the wise men in the world tremble with fear. Looking across the south and north of the Yangtze River, there were only two people who could withstand the White Kirin.
Qing Zhuo chuckled instead, a sound of satisfaction in it, and said:
"Didn't we think of this outcome earlier? We're not the only ones who underestimated him. The Yang family's intervention was due to their misjudgment of the consequences of this beast being unleashed. They didn't expect the fate of the Song Kingdom to be in our hands, so let the White Qilin have it."
He said calmly:
"If Bai Qilin becomes dissatisfied or insatiable one day, and demands to cede three or five cities, what can the Yang family do? If it were a conflict between Shu and Song, at least they could still control Bai Qilin, and at least the various parties could sit down and discuss things in detail..."
"Now that Western Shu has been destroyed, who will restrain Bai Qilin? Cheng Xunzhi? If Bai Qilin were to suddenly change his ways, backed by Tianxia, what level of turmoil would that be? What would the Yang family do then?"
The name he uttered last made Tian Huo's eyelids twitch, but Qing Zhuo calmly withdrew his gaze and said:
"Seeking stability but aiding chaos, suppressing trouble but indulging the king, ultimately suffering the consequences—this is utterly foolish and demonstrates the incompetence of the Yang family."
Tian Huo shook his head and smiled:
"The matter of True Qi is witnessed by all parties. If something were to happen, the Dragon Clan would not let it go, and the White Qilin could not rely on Tianxia's backing. Therefore, Judge Yang should let them do as they please..."
With the fall of the Shu Emperor, the two powers, who had been at loggerheads just moments before, suddenly became friendly. Tian Huo's tone was as if he were comforting a long-lost friend, saying:
"Your Excellency won't care about a mere Qing Tang Yin. Reincarnation is often related to one's future and fate. It's hard to say who is suffering the consequences. You must see things clearly."
Qingzhuo felt a chill in his heart.
He suddenly understood what the other party meant—his own Taiyi Zhenjun didn't care, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to the north without a care, while his own Shendan stood quietly in the sky, what was he thinking?
Is the fact that Uncle Qing has been reincarnated a good thing?
The Changhuai Daoist lineage has always been law-abiding over the years. Qing Tangyin's path of divine elixir can be considered one of their few brilliant moves. Their two elders went to the north to negotiate, asking Qing Tangyin to be reincarnated in Guangyuan Heaven. Was this a reward? Or... a condition?
'Both.'
Indeed, this is a great thing for Qing Tangyin, but what about Zhenjun? With the power of the current Heavenly Clouds, to which family does Qing Tangyin, who has been reincarnated from the Vast Plains Heaven, belong? Is it possible that his position has been usurped by another lineage?
In the current situation, does your own lineage have any intention of taking advantage of the situation?
If we look at it from another angle, Qing Tang would rather let the White Qilin smash down this fruit that has been nurtured for hundreds of years than hand it over to the North. Even if it succeeds, it will only benefit from the previous life's connection. Wouldn't that just make the North owe a favor?
'And... the Lord Servant... has also been freed from this earthly bond, no longer needing to offend the underworld. He has used the difficulties of the world to... resolve His own difficulties.'
Qingzhuo dared not think any further; he only felt a chill run down his spine.
Who are the victims?
It is because of the large amount of spiritual resources, manpower and connections that Qing Tang and the Qing family have invested over the past few hundred years!
of course.
And Changhuaishan's reputation.
But the adults didn't care about these two things. Qing Tang, trapped in the palace, must have known all this long ago, but could only watch helplessly as Qing Ting fell into Bai Qilin's hands!
'So… when he said it would be impossible to repay even in ten thousand lifetimes, he was actually referring to the next life… He must have uttered these words a thousand times, ten thousand times, while he was trapped in that mysterious palace.'
Qingzhuo's heart gradually returned to peace.
Of course it was agonizing—Qingting achieved his revenge a thousandfold with his own life, but Qingzhuo also understood that the real adults didn't care, and even fueled the flames, not deigning to give it a second glance.
Tian Huo remained silent, smiling as he strode forward, waiting for the person before him to finish sorting through the thoughts in his mind. He thought to himself with a cold laugh:
'A lifetime of stinginess, and yet you've been ruined by the stinginess of others! Qing Tangyin, oh Qing Tangyin… even your family is stingy with their wishes…'
Their conversation subtly touched upon a higher level, causing them both to fall silent. The towering Xiaoshan Mountains came into view. Qingzhuo exhaled a sigh of frustration and said:
"I don't know whose interests were harmed, but you, Jin Yi, benefited again. You didn't just target the Qing family... but also the Yang family. What a clever tactic."
Upon hearing this, a strange glint flashed in Tian Huo's eyes. He moved his lips as if to laugh, but after a while, he recovered and said:
“Plan? This is not my plan, Jin Yi.”
Qing Zhuo squinted at him thoughtfully, then suddenly turned around and looked at the beam of light that stretched to the heavens.
Tian Huo waited for a while before turning around and smiling:
"Or rather."
"My plans are not here."
……
The weather is ever-changing.
The palace was silent. The light in the sky had become extremely concentrated. The white Qilin standing in mid-air slowly opened its eyes and gently exhaled.
With that breath, an endless stream of dark flames was exhaled!
The fire was as black as ink, pulsating like a living thing, falling down and drifting into the ruins, merging with the purple flames. The heads and various imperial artifacts on the ruins were all burned by the flames.
【Upo Mara's Dharma Body】!
The fortune of an entire nation was the perfect nourishment for him. In that short moment, Emperor Guanyuan received unimaginable nourishment, and the next thing to respond was the Demonic Avatar!
Li Zhouwei then spread his hands.
In his palm lay a long, radiant whip, surrounded by water and fire, with true qi nurtured within it. Yet, at this moment, it trembled constantly, as if it were about to shatter at any moment.
【Feng Zhen Ce Xuan Bian】.
This treasure is already connected with the fate of the entire Shu Kingdom. As the fate of the kingdom collapses, this Xuan Whip will also shatter. The black flames burning on it are like adding fuel to the fire, constantly drawing out the various essences within it!
At the same time, the various treasures in the ruins also lost their luster. This Shu Palace, which had cost an unknown amount of spiritual resources to build, had now become nourishment for the Black Flame, which was greedily draining it.
The Demonic Body nourishes itself by destroying nations and sects; its first source of nourishment at the Purple Mansion level was the Changxiao Sect!
This sect gave Li Zhouwei a significant boost at the time, but when you think about it, since the sect's founding patriarch Changxiao escaped, what he actually got was just Cheng Yan, who was at the early stage of the Purple Mansion realm.
Later, during the conquest of Jianghuai, few sects remained, and there was no danger of national annihilation. Meanwhile, his supernatural powers improved so rapidly that his avatar gradually could not keep up with Li Zhouwei's fighting style...
Many years later, the black flames engulfed the state of Western Shu—a massive force formed by more than ten Purple Mansions across the entire Shu region, with Golden Core as its background. When it was founded, it swept through the Four Gates and Nine Clans!
The country is not lacking in great masters, and those who are buried with them are the rulers of a country whose names are known and whose voices are heard throughout the world, and whose martial stars shine brightly.
The supreme being of the human realm, imbued with the essence of gold!
The white Qilin remained seated, cross-legged, sensing the endless black flames surging like mountains and seas. The enormous shadow shone down, sensing its life force, and faintly took on the form of a four-legged beast.
Two points of crimson gold shone from within the black flames.
Such resources were only enjoyed by the founding emperor Tuoba Xuantan of the Tuoba clan, who had cultivated this technique for thousands of years! None of the high-ranking cultivators, generals, or emperors who followed him were qualified to receive such resources!
This also means that as long as he receives this endless black flame and annexes the entire kingdom of Western Shu, the upper limit of this Dharma body will be pushed to the limit of the Purple Mansion. As long as he has enough resources, Li Zhouwei will become the pinnacle of the Black Flame Demon Dharma body in this world!