Chapter 160: 159. The Multipurpose Opportunity

Chapter 160: 159. The Multipurpose Opportunity

Despite being absorbed by Lei Jun, the multicolored light qi maintained a relatively stable and somewhat "stubborn" state.

The five-colored light was vibrant and dynamic in its internal interactions.

However, it remained separated from the outside world.

Although Lei Jun's physical body and soul were nourished by this five-colored light qi, he was still far from completely refining it.

He gathered his spiritual power.

In the True One Law Altar cave, a illusory Central Sanqing Palace manifested.

Lei Jun directed the Grand Five Elements Primordial Qi into his Dao Palace.

However, just like what happened with the Xirang Banner, the five-colored light qi entered Lei Jun's Dao Palace and nearly eradicated it, threatening to return it to the neutral qi of the spleen soil.

Lei Jun remained calm and unhurried, instead choosing to let the Central Sanqing Palace change accordingly.

The boundless spleen soil qi that balanced yin and yang reappeared.

But under Lei Jun's control, he prevented it from completely merging with the Grand Five Elements Primordial Qi.

Instead, it intersected with the black and white streams of qi generated by his spiritual power and proactively gave birth to new qi.

Thus, earth gives birth to metal, metal to water, water to wood, wood to fire, and fire returns to earth.

The Five Elements gave birth to each other in an endless cycle of creation.

In this way, when combined with the Grand Five Elements Primordial Qi, a new transformation finally occurred.

Lei Jun's Five Elements were not directly dissolved by the opposing force.

On the contrary, the two sides harmonized and responded to each other, flowing together with a sense of synchronization and resonance.

It was during this process that Lei Jun gained deeper insights.

The Grand Five Elements Primordial Qi began to establish a genuine connection with his spiritual power, and he officially started to extract and refine it bit by bit.

With this spiritual guidance, as if imbued with the secrets of creation, Lei Jun's spiritual power also surged in spirituality.

The generation of the Five Elements did not cease.

However, the black and white streams of qi rose, and within the True One Law Altar cave, they reconvened to form the Central Sanqing Palace once more.

Then, with the Central Sanqing Palace balancing yin and yang, the yang ascended while the yin descended.

The heartfire solar qi burned relentlessly, growing hotter by the moment.

Within the heartfire yang qi, a dragon and a tiger could be faintly seen, entwined and roaring.

As the dragon and tiger converged, they continued to condense, and the heartfire rose, as if forming a true sun.

At this moment, the solar qi seemed to transform into a physical entity, ultimately condensing into a majestic palace.

A brand-new Dao Palace.

The Southern Dragon Tiger Palace, manifested from the heartfire solar qi.

Lei Jun exhaled slowly.

His second Dao Palace had been constructed.

Although it had taken shape earlier, according to his original expectations, he should have needed more time to cultivate before completing the Southern Dragon Tiger Palace.

Now, he had achieved this at least several months in advance.

Thankfully, the nourishment and assistance of the Grand Five Elements Primordial Qi had accelerated his progress... A smile appeared on Lei Jun's face.

After calming his mind, his attention quickly refocused.

While the Grand Five Elements Primordial Qi accelerated his cultivation progress, it also held other wonderful uses.

As Lei Jun examined his inner self, he saw that within his five viscera, apart from the spleen soil and heartfire, the remaining kidney water, lung metal, and liver wood were even more vibrant than before.

Even without formal cultivation, a solid foundation had already been laid.

Under the generation of the Five Elements, it was clear that his cultivation had already begun and was starting to take shape.

As a result, his future cultivation would naturally be much more convenient.

More importantly, Lei Jun felt as if he could see a door in the distance, and it had already opened a crack in anticipation of his arrival.

The Daoist Talisman Sect's cultivation: Sixth Heaven, Dao Seal Realm.

From the Fifth Heaven Dao Palace to the Sixth Heaven Dao Seal, there lies a new challenge that looms before countless cultivators.

Refining the four primordial talismans is to prepare for the establishment of the Dao Palace.

Constructing the Five Elements Dao Palace is also to prepare for the condensation of the Dao Seal.

But how exactly does one condense it?

After the Five Elements give birth to each other and achieve the foundation of the internal Daoist law of nature, it must be reconstructed.

Integrate one's previous learnings, continuously condense, organize, and even improve and transform until one achieves sublimation.

Lei Jun's encounter with and refinement of the Grand Five Elements Primordial Qi, his insights into the secrets of creation through the generation and convergence of the Five Elements, held similarities to this process.

Not only was it beneficial to his current cultivation, but it also helped him become familiar with the path to the Sixth Heaven Dao Seal Realm ahead of time.

Lei Jun nodded repeatedly, gathering his thoughts and calming his mind and qi to continue his cultivation.

As time passed, in addition to the second Southern Dragon Tiger Palace, Lei Jun even began to lay the initial foundations for his third Dao Palace.

Located in the north, it was a pitch-black Dao Palace.

Unlike the order in which other Heavenly Master's Mansion Fifth Heaven cultivators constructed their Dao Palaces, Lei Jun's approach was to first balance yin and yang in the center and then establish the northern and southern solar and lunar palaces.

The third Dao Palace he would successfully establish was the Northern Xuanming Palace, arising from the kidney water lunar qi.

"Once this Dao Palace is built, my spiritual power recovery speed should increase significantly," Lei Jun nodded with satisfaction.

By then, even without the support of the Xirang Banner, his spiritual power recovery after casting spells would still be much faster than before.

The Dao Palaces of the Fifth Heaven cultivators of the Daoist Talisman Sect each held unique functions.

The Central Sanqing Palace in the center balanced yin and yang, benefiting overall cultivation improvement.

The Western Lingguan Palace served as a guardian palace, enhancing spell power upon completion.

The Eastern Xuantan Palace was a reservoir, increasing spiritual power thickness or total amount upon refinement.

The Northern Xuanming Palace followed the path of kidney water nourishment, aiding recovery after depletion.

The Southern Dragon Tiger Palace, with its convergence of dragons and tigers and its abundant yang fire, proved advantageous for Talisman Sect cultivators in terms of refining artifacts, pills, and talismans, enhancing their external alchemy techniques.

Lei Jun decided to test his skills with the establishment of the Southern Dragon Tiger Palace.

As expected, he found that refining artifacts and creating talismans were much smoother processes than before.

Not only did he achieve faster speeds, but he also experienced higher success rates and reduced spiritual power consumption.

"Hmm, it seems that I should learn more about pill refining since I haven't had much exposure to it before," Lei Jun nodded in satisfaction.

Although Yuan Mobai did not cultivate fire, earth, or talisman law, his profound knowledge in the Dao of Pills was renowned both within and outside the Heavenly Master's Mansion.

Having such a master, it would be a waste not to learn at least a little about pill refining.

Lei Jun hoped that he wouldn't have an innate talent for the Dao of Pills... He prayed silently.

With a wave of his hand, he summoned another pill.

A Sword Pill.

Aside from the one that had been damaged after being fired, Lei Jun still had several intact Sword Pills, all of which he had refined using refined essence metal.

The material itself was of excellent quality.

However, since Lei Jun was not a descendant of the Taoist lineage specializing in artifact refining, he found it challenging to control the Sword Pill after launching it with his Yuan Magnetism. The force and speed made it difficult to manipulate at will.

At great distances, it was also challenging to retrieve it solely through his mental will and spiritual power.

Of course, if the situation warranted it, he could choose not to retrieve it and simply treat it as a consumable item.

Previously, Lei Jun had opted to retrieve the damaged Sword Pill to avoid revealing the details of his newly created technique to outsiders prematurely.

Since there was a possibility that the Sword Pills could be used as consumables, Lei Jun would refine extra ones in his spare time as backups.

Now that he had formed the Southern Dragon Tiger Palace, he intended to make full use of it.

In addition to the Nine Abyss Earthfire on the True One Law Altar, Lei Jun also sought to harness the power of the Grand Five Elements Primordial Qi.

This multicolored luminous qi was extremely versatile for the current Elder Lei.

With this spiritual energy, many tasks became much more convenient than before.

Lei Jun's thoughts began to wander, as was his habit.

He couldn't help but re-evaluate the myriad of spells he currently possessed, considering if they could be combined with the Grand Five Elements Primordial Qi to create even more novel variations.

Of course, he didn't forget the responsibilities he currently shouldered.

He was currently at the Celestial Drift Palace, not at the mountain sect's headquarters.

He hadn't come to this place for sightseeing.

The Heavenly Master's Mansion valued the Celestial Drift Palace because of its diverse resources, and the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou also targeted it for the same reason.

Due to the war, various aspects of extraction, production, and processing had been disrupted and even forced to halt.

Now that the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou had repeatedly failed in their attempts to breach the defenses of the Celestial Drift Mountain, the situation was no longer as dire as it had been before.

Some production and processing activities needed to be resumed.

During wartime, the consumption of all kinds of resources tended to be more intense than during peaceful times.

The Five Qi Stones used for the disciples' cultivation within the mansion went without saying.

The Celestial Drift Ink, a crucial type of talisman ink, was in especially short supply during wartime due to the massive consumption of talismans.

With the situation on Celestial Drift Mountain stabilizing to some extent, Lei Jun arranged for Yun Zhan and his fellow disciples to not only maintain vigilance against potential attacks from the Lin Clan but also to resume the extraction and production processes.

Without strong enemies invading and disrupting their activities, communication with the mountain sect's headquarters became smoother.

The headquarters quickly dispatched personnel to the Celestial Drift Mountain to restore the supply of resources.

Lei Jun and his companions also received news from the outside world from time to time.

Members of the Lin Clan were still organizing forces to launch a surprise attack on the seemingly vulnerable Heavenly Master's Mansion headquarters at Dragon Tiger Mountain.

At that time, only Elder Li Hongyu was stationed at the mountain.

However, the Lin Clan's available forces were limited, making it challenging for them to breach the defenses of the Heavenly Master's Mansion, protected by Elder Li Hongyu, in a short period.

Before long, Yuan Mobai reappeared, sandwiching the Lin Clan between their forces and forcing them to retreat once more.

Yuan Mobai still did not return directly to the mountain, and his whereabouts remained a mystery to the outside world.

However, he maintained contact with Lei Jun and a few others, sharing information from time to time.

In their most recent communication, Yuan Mobai mentioned that the White Lotus Rebellion in Huai Mountain seemed to have lost some of its previous momentum.

As for the future Maitreya, his whereabouts seemed rather unpredictable.

After his appearance in the Celestial Drift Mountain area, Lei Jun had taken the opportunity to inform his master about him.

Yuan Mobai had also been keeping an eye on the situation.

However, neither the future Maitreya of the White Lotus Sect nor Kong Jing, the master of Xuantian Temple, had been spotted near Celestial Drift Mountain again.

Subsequent reports of their appearances placed them elsewhere.

"There is another matter," Yuan Mobai's voice echoed from the spirit talisman. "The schism within the White Lotus Sect is highly likely to be true, and the Huai Mountain Rebellion may be related to the Prince of Wu outside of the White Lotus Sect."

Lei Jun's eyes flickered upon hearing this.

Although his master usually stayed on Dragon Tiger Mountain, his social circle clearly extended beyond their sect.

The fact that he had discreetly leaked information about the interactions between the Prince of Wu and General Sheng Yan, the Guardian of the Demon City, to the south was a testament to that.

Now, it seemed that the Prince of Wu was even more active behind the scenes than they had anticipated.

He even had connections with the White Lotus Sect, a rebel group against the imperial court.

Although Lei Jun believed that the prince wouldn't leave any tangible evidence or handles that could be used against him...

Similar incidents often don't require evidence.

In today's society, it is rare to find people who insist on hard evidence and the whole truth. Instead, suspicion is often the driving force.

And with suspicion alone, some people feel it's enough to strike first and ask questions later.

The fact that Prince Wu was closely associated with General Sheng Yan, the Demon City's Guardian, was already enough to raise eyebrows and invite trouble.

So, while Prince Wu himself is temporarily safe, General Sheng Yan has already fallen victim to the political game...

Prince Wu's secret funding and support for the White Lotus sect's uprising are likely calculated moves to create more chaos and buy himself some breathing room.

Such tactics are truly underhanded and despicable.

Fortunately, the White Lotus sect itself is not united, and many disagree with the current course of action.

Premature and ill-planned rebellions will only result in a waste of their accumulated resources and manpower.

It remains to be seen how much the future Maitreya can salvage from this mess.

Also, it's unclear why they initially appeared near Celestial Drift Mountain.

Was it merely a coincidence? Lei Jun shook his head slightly, lacking sufficient information to make a judgment.

He didn't dwell on it further, choosing to set it aside for the moment and focus on the tasks at hand.

After another day of inspecting the surroundings of Celestial Drift Mountain and finding no signs of a large-scale invasion by the Lin Clan, Lei Jun returned to his private chamber within the Celestial Drift Palace.

As midnight approached, he refocused his mind on the True One Law Altar cave.

This time, he immersed himself in the starry sky within the heavenly book.

During their previous gathering, Lei Jun had been preoccupied with refining the Grand Five Elements Primordial Qi and had missed the meeting.

Now, the four of them were gathered once again.

"It's been a while, Gold Day. Good to see you're doing well," greeted Monday.

"Thank you for your concern," replied Lei Jun.

"Now that we're all here, let's begin," said Sunday.

"As usual," Monday continued, "we can each take what we need—information for information, or even bartering if we trust each other enough. Helping each other is not out of the question."

Sunday spoke up, "The information I wish to exchange today is about the Blood River Sect of the Southern Wasteland."

"The Blood River Sect?" Thursday inquired.

"Yes," Sunday continued, "Does anyone have any information about the Blood River Sect's recent movements, preferably the latest whereabouts of their leader, Wei Ancheng?"

"I don't have anything on that," Monday replied.

"Nor do I at the moment," added Thursday.

"Nothing here as well," said Lei Jun, his expression thoughtful.

In fact, Sunday's inquiry was a matter of concern for many.

In recent years, there had been too much bloodshed across the land.

And this environment was exactly what the Blood River Sect thrived in.

Even if they weren't the ones doing the killing, environments soaked in blood benefited their cultivation immensely.

Not to mention, they could take advantage of the chaos to further their own agenda.

There was no need to elaborate on the situation with the Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Masters Mansion, as it was common knowledge.

In the past few years, they had consecutively engaged in battles with the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou and the Yellow Heaven's Way, and the Blood River Sect had even personally stepped in to take advantage of the chaos, directly clashing with the Celestial Masters Mansion.

Then came the great war in the Western Regions, where humanity's cultivation world clashed with the great demons, resulting in a catastrophe more devastating than the previous battles at Dragon Tiger Mountain.

Numerous top human cultivators and elite demons perished in the conflict.

Rumors circulated that the Blood River Sect had also made an appearance during the war, keeping a relatively low profile and refraining from provoking other human experts. They even joined the battle, slaying some of the demon spirits.

However, in such an environment, any Blood River Sect cultivator who survived the battlefield would undoubtedly make significant gains.

What drew the attention of others was the fact that the Blood River Sect's current leader, Wei Ancheng, known as the "Blood Demon" and infamous for his bloodthirst and cruelty in the eyes of many, had successfully navigated the war.

After that, Wei Ancheng disappeared without a trace.

Even the Southern Wasteland's Shaman Clan felt uneasy about this development.

That insane killer, obsessed with slaughter, was most likely hiding away, slowly digesting his gains from the Western Regions campaign.

By the time he emerged from seclusion, who knew what kind of monster he would have become.

The Blood River Sect had other experts as well, all of whom had reaped bountiful rewards.

Then came the internal strife and great war within the Shu Mountain.

Once again, shadows of the Blood River Sect appeared, lurking in the area of Ba and Shu.

The war resulted in heavy losses for many powers within the Great Tang.

In contrast, the Blood River Sect seemed to be thriving, accumulating more and more.

This dynamic naturally drew the attention of others.

As far as Lei Jun knew, the Celestial Masters Mansion's current war with the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou had escalated and become more intense, but both sides still maintained a level of wariness, guarding against other enemies and potential demon attacks.

And among those they were wary of was the Blood River Sect.

However, unlike the previous Dragon Tiger Mountain battle, this time, there had been no sign of the Blood River Sect's descendants.

When something deviates from the norm, there's usually a sinister reason behind it.

Lei Jun speculated that the Blood River Sect might have their eyes set on other targets.

Perhaps, with their growing strength, they were no longer content with merely taking advantage of chaos and instead sought to actively create and hunt their prey, biding their time before striking.

He wondered if there was any involvement of the Blood River Sect in the White Lotus Sect's uprising in Huai Mountain... Lei Jun pondered.

Sunday didn't get the answer he sought, and although he didn't immediately leave, he remained silent for the rest of the meeting.

Monday then turned to Lei Jun and asked, "Gold Day, I have a question for you."

"Please go ahead," Lei Jun replied.

"You mentioned last time that you had two pieces of information for exchange.

"One of them was about a divine soul treasure, which I already exchanged with Sunday, so there's no need to bring it up now.

As for the other, I recall it had something to do with the White Lotus Sect?"

Lei Jun: "Indeed."

Monday: "Now, do you still intend to exchange that piece of information?"

Some time has passed since then, and the White Lotus Sect has already rebelled.

The future Maitreya has also appeared in more than one place.

I should say that the information provided by Master Yuan Zhen back then has already lost its validity.

But Lei Jun remained calm and said, "Let me clarify in advance that this information still needs to be further verified for its authenticity. If any of you are interested, I'm willing to exchange it."

Monday: "Oh? Then, do you have any requests for the information you want in return?"

Lei Jun: "Do you have any information about the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes?"

Monday: "I have some information about the Chu Clan in Suzhou from the Five Surnames. Would you be interested in that?"

Upon hearing this, Lei Jun's mind instantly filled with guesses about Monday's identity.

He recalled the questions and information exchanged with this person before. This person had first revealed the connection between the Prince of Wu and General Sheng Yan, the Guardian of Demon City.

Later, they had exchanged information about the Vajra Temple, a sacred Buddhist site, for some intelligence about the Long Family from the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes.

Now, they were offering information about another family from the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes, the Chu Clan in Suzhou, in exchange for intelligence on the White Lotus Sect.

The flow of information was very complex.

If this wasn't a deliberate attempt to divert attention from their true identity, then the scope of their information network was extensive, causing Lei Jun to suspect that this person might be someone from the imperial family of the Tang Dynasty.

Or perhaps, it was the opposite...

Lei Jun's mind raced with thoughts, but his expression remained unchanged as he said, "Then, let's discuss this privately later."

Monday: "Sure."

Thursday then spoke up: "I don't have any new information today, but I do have something else I'd like to offer for trade or exchange. It's a pill formula."

It was unclear if it was due to their personality or some other intention, but Monday was a great straight man, ensuring that no silence or awkwardness filled the conversation: "What kind of formula are you looking to exchange, my friend?"

Thursday: "I'd like to exchange a pill formula for another pill formula. But let me clarify that this is a partial formula for the Tian Yuan Qingjing Pill. As far as I know, it's a lost formula from the Tian Shi Fu, a sacred site of the Daoist Talisman Sect, from the early years."

Lei Jun's eyebrows rose slightly upon hearing this.

He almost thought that his identity had been exposed.

Was this a coincidence? Or was it a deliberate attempt to test him?

Was it a test to see if he knew about it being from the Tian Shi Fu, or were they simply seeing if there was anyone from the Tian Shi Fu present?

As for the Tian Yuan Qingjing Pill, if it was genuine, it would be quite significant.

As far as Lei Jun knew, his sect did indeed have such a miraculous pill in its history, but it had been lost long ago.

That was a very long time ago, during the first schism in the Tian Shi Fu caused by a change in the Daoist orthodoxy, even before the dispute between Li and the outsider.

It would be a good thing if they could recover the formula for the Tian Yuan Qingjing Pill.

However, Lei Jun remained cautious.

Firstly, he wasn't sure if this was a deliberate test.

Secondly, his current means of exchanging information wasn't secure.

His master, Yuan Mobai, had finally come out of seclusion and was no longer stationed solely at Dragon Tiger Mountain, but he was obviously busy with other matters.

As for his senior sister, Xu Yuanzhen, she was currently engaged in intense battles with the Lin Clan experts in Poyang Lake.

There was still no news of his junior sister, Tang Xiaotang, returning to the mountain.

Putting aside the fact that Lei Jun himself now had responsibilities at the Xianliu Palace, even if he could travel freely, he didn't want to take the risk of trading with someone of unknown identity, lest he fell victim to a scam.

Moreover, Thursday's Tian Yuan Qingjing Pill formula was incomplete.

Thus, although Lei Jun was intrigued, he didn't show any reaction on his face.

Just like Sunday before, Thursday's proposal also fell through.

Thursday didn't seem to mind, simply saying that he looked forward to their next gathering.

With that, Sunday and Thursday "logged off", leaving only Lei Jun and Monday to "privately chat".

"There's no need to mention the White Lotus Sect's rebellion and the future Maitreya's appearance," Lei Jun said. "The future Maitreya's appearance isn't to instigate the rebellion in Huai Mountain. On the contrary, he aims to quell this unrest. The White Lotus Sect itself is divided, and they don't all agree with the rebellion."

Monday: "I'm vaguely aware of that, but I'm not clear on the details."

In the starry sky of the heavenly book, everyone's voices sounded the same, making it difficult to discern identities. However, Lei Jun could tell that Monday was smiling as he spoke:

"I'm not trying to get one over on you, Friday. But I do have some information about this. That future Maitreya has appeared in multiple places and taken away many disciples of the White Lotus Sect, causing the local unrest involving the White Lotus Sect to stagnate."

Lei Jun: "Then, do you know about the external forces colluding with the rebels from the White Lotus Sect?"

Monday: "Oh? I'm afraid I don't know about that. Please enlighten me."

Lei Jun: "The Prince of Wu."

"Him..." Monday said, "Thank you for the information. Now, it's my turn."

As promised, he continued: "Recently, a similar incident occurred within the Chu Clan in Suzhou from the Five Surnames.

The elderly clan head of the Chu Clan had a fierce argument with his youngest daughter, Chu Yu. Afterward, Chu Yu left the ancestral land and moved to her own moon residence."

PS: Here's another 6k.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end