https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-199-198-Wang-Guiyuan-Emerges-from-Seclusion/12586994/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-200-Yet-Another-Auspicious-Sign-Part-2-/12586996/
Chapter 200: Yet Another Auspicious Sign (Part 1)
Chapter 200: Yet Another Auspicious Sign (Part 1)
Perhaps, Sunday's interest in Wei Ancheng's news was due more to the man's inherent dangerousness.
But if Wei Ancheng was indeed a descendant of the previous dynasty's King Shengkang, it would explain a lot.
For example, the Jinzhou Ye clan suffered a huge loss in the Southern Wasteland, losing an important disciple like Ye Lingxi, yet they didn't react too aggressively.
Given this situation, it's likely that the Jinzhou Ye clan was already aware that Wei Ancheng was the problem they had left for the Tang Court imperial family.
In fact, the ones who exposed this information could very well be the Jinzhou Ye clan themselves.
They certainly wouldn't let the grievance of Ye Lingxi's death and Ye Han's severe injury go unresolved.
However, with the Tang Court imperial family in the forefront, there's no doubt that the Jinzhou Ye clan would prefer to stay out of the direct conflict and instead stir up trouble from the sidelines, waiting for their opportunity to strike.
Whether it's Wei Ancheng and the Blood River Sect or exposing the weaknesses of the Tang Court imperial family, they will take advantage of any opportunity that arises.
As for Sunday, Lei Jun's mind suddenly flashed with the image of the Queen.
Regarding Lei Jun's own situation, Xu Yuanzhen had once tried to probe the other party's background but to no avail.
Given Xu Yuanzhen's cultivation and strength, the other party must also be an extraordinary individual. There aren't many in the Tang Court imperial family who possess such cultivation.
Furthermore, considering Sunday's involvement in the trade of scattered soul essence and the Northern Border's Songjiang Knife Barrier's soul-purifying treasure, Lei Jun believed that all signs pointed to the Queen.
The scattered soul essence and soul-purifying treasure weren't meant for the Queen's personal use but rather to cultivate a powerful aide—Xiao Chunhui.
Recently, this name had become well-known throughout the Tang Dynasty's domains.
His physical body was extremely weak, but his soul was extraordinary.
If not for him, Lei Jun might have suspected that the previous Emperor Zhang Qilong wasn't truly dead.
Well, to take this train of thought even further, given the mysterious backgrounds of Xiao Chunhui and Xiao Xuetin, could there be some hidden connection?
Stop... Lei Jun reined in his wandering thoughts and focused instead on how the recent uproar caused by Wei Ancheng would affect the Tang Dynasty and his own Heavenly Master's Mansion.
Currently, the Heavenly Master's Mansion was at its lowest point and relying on the support of the Tang Court imperial family.
If there were any major changes within the Tang Court, it would undoubtedly impact the Heavenly Master's Mansion as well.
The news from the Southern Wasteland was varied and chaotic.
Regarding Wei Ancheng being a descendant of the previous dynasty, he neither confirmed nor denied it.
"In that case, it's as good as admitting it," Lei Jun said to his master as they discussed the matter.
Yuan Mobai nodded. "But Wei Ancheng isn't fully prepared yet."
The Blood River Sect's leader obviously wasn't pleased that his descendant's identity had been exposed prematurely.
Although Wei Ancheng's cultivation had successfully broken through to the Ninth Heaven realm, there were still many things he needed to prepare. Now wasn't the time for him to openly rebel against the Central Plains.
At the very least, he needed to consolidate his control over the Southern Wasteland's shamanistic sects first.
Undoubtedly, the Blood River Sect's leader was fuming inside.
With all the rumors flying around, it added countless variables and obstacles to his plans for the Southern Wasteland.
The Jinzhou Ye clan's move was indeed a bloodless yet deadly strike.
Wei Ancheng's silence and refusal to openly declare his lineage prevented the Tang Court imperial family from taking immediate aggressive action as well.
For the Tang Court, there were also many internal matters that needed to be sorted out.
Hence, a rather amusing situation arose.
The Jinzhou Ye clan had exposed a huge secret, and rumors were spreading throughout the Tang Dynasty and beyond, but both parties—the Tang Court imperial family and the descendant of the previous dynasty—remained tacitly low-key, forcibly suppressing the turmoil.
However, it was only a matter of time before it resurfaced.
Although the Tang Court didn't make any drastic moves, according to the information obtained by the Heavenly Master's Mansion, capable individuals had already been dispatched to the Southern Wasteland to investigate the rumors.
For now, Lei Jun and the Heavenly Master's Mansion chose to ignore external affairs and focus on their own recovery.
"Speaking of matters closely related to us..." Yuan Mobai said slowly, "Shigu Niangniang collaborated with the Tang Court imperial family to destroy a significant branch of the Yellow Sky Dao, dealing a heavy blow to Qi Shuo, but they were unable to capture him."
"The Yellow Sky Dao attacked Lin Shixiong, nearly causing his demise. Now, it's time to repay them in kind," Lei Jun said.
However, despite these words, the Yellow Sky Dao had been very active lately and had achieved quite a few of their objectives.
Besides attacking Lin Shan, they had also been relentlessly hunting down the remnants of the Li clan.
Compared to the Yellow Sky Dao, which had a temporary sect headquarters and Ninth Heaven cultivators from the Upper Three Heavens, the Li clan remnants were undoubtedly in a much more pitiful state.
Unable to directly retaliate against the Dragon and Tiger Mountain sect headquarters, the Yellow Sky Dao was now settling for the next best thing—viciously pursuing and slaughtering the Li clan remnants, and they were having great success.
Even the occasional survivors dared not mention their surname Li anymore.
There were countless Li surnames in the world, but the Li clan from Xinzhou would essentially be wiped off the face of the earth.
On the other hand, it was rumored that the Tang Court imperial family and Shigu Niangniang had used the Li clan as bait to capture a branch of the Yellow Sky Dao, destroying an extremely important base of theirs.
"Unfortunately, Qi Shuo burned the altar to ashes before he escaped, so we weren't able to obtain any more valuable information," Yuan Mobai said.
"Interrogating the Yellow Sky Dao disciples only yielded limited information, but there's one thing that concerns me," he continued. "The Taoist of the Great Peace hasn't been seen in public for a long time. Even his disciples in the Yellow Sky Dao haven't seen him for years."
Lei Jun raised his eyebrows. "Even if he was injured by Shigu Niangniang and Li Hongyu back then, and needed these years to recover, with his cultivation and accumulation, it's unlikely that he would have recently broken through to our Daoist Talisman Sect's Ninth Heaven realm, right?"
Yuan Mobai smiled and shook his head. "The chances are slim, extremely slim."
Upon recalling some of the novels he had read on the Blue Star before his transmigration, Lei Jun's imagination ran wild as he blurted out, "He... couldn't have been secretly eliminated by someone who is now impersonating him, could he?"
Upon hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Yuan Mobai's face as he fell into deep thought. "Well..."
"I'm just blabbering nonsense, pay no mind to it," Lei Jun quickly added.
"Having more ideas isn't a bad thing," Yuan Mobai replied.
However, Lei Jun decided to rein in his wild imagination for the time being.
The 15th of January, the start of a new year, was fast approaching.
This year would mark the second Consecration Ceremony since Tang Tianshi's ascension.
Most of the initiating masters for this Consecration would still be the elders from the previous generation of the mansion.
However, as Lei Jun and his peers continued to grow in age and cultivation, it would soon be their responsibility to shoulder the task of guiding new disciples onto the path.
Lei Jun already had a candidate in mind for his own disciple... or rather, a candidate for a bear disciple, but he didn't expect this person to participate in this upcoming ceremony.
As for Gong Gong, who had just been inducted into the Daoist Academy by Lei Jun this year, he had caused quite a stir. Fortunately, as time passed, the situation gradually calmed down.
Lei Jun believed that his master, Yuan Mobai, had played a part in smoothing things over.
Gong Gong's foundation for cultivation was already well established, but he still needed time to learn the various rules, rituals, and regulations of the sect.
No one could avoid this process, not even someone as carefree as Tang Tianshi, who had diligently attended these very same lectures during his time in the Daoist Academy.
Gong Gong had been following Lei Jun back to the mountain for several years now. Fortunately, due to his young age and the practice of the Human Chapter's Taoist methods for self-cultivation, his age wasn't a problem, and he could wait until the ceremony three years later to formally enter the mansion and pay his respects to a master.
"In the past, it might have caused a little controversy," Yuan Mobai sighed.
Lei Jun and Chu Kun, his senior-apprentice brother, nodded in agreement.
The Heavenly Master's Mansion was currently at its lowest point, facing problems on all fronts.
The successive calamities had not only resulted in casualties but had also affected the mansion's reputation.
In the recent Consecration Ceremonies, the selections from the Daoist Academy were based on the foundation that had been built up over the years.
However, the academy itself had been admitting fewer new disciples in recent years, and those who had joined lacked the brilliance to make them stand out.
Fortunately, the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou, their neighbors, were also badly wounded, and internal strife within the clan prevented them from forming a united front. Otherwise, the situation for the Heavenly Master's Mansion would have been even worse.
Of course, the good things in this world couldn't be monopolized by a single family.
With the consecutive appearances of Xu Yuanzhen, Li Zhengxuan, and Tang Xiaotang—three young Upper Three Heavens cultivators—as well as the rapid rise of Lei Jun and Chu Kun in the Middle Three Heavens, the mansion's luck in recent years could be said to be off the charts, arousing envy, jealousy, and hatred from countless people.
However, if the mansion wanted to quickly regain its vitality, it needed more outstanding talents to emerge one after another.
The mansion, of course, wouldn't be so picky as to starve itself.
Some rules were appropriately relaxed, and a blind eye was turned to certain matters.
Thus, among the crowd of gray-robed little Daoist apprentices, there was now a Gong Gong wearing a specially made, oversized gray Daoist robe.
After the new year, Lei Jun was unaffected by external matters and continued to focus on his cultivation.
As winter turned to spring and then swiftly to summer, time flew by.
One day, Yuan Mobai suddenly summoned his two disciples, Lei Jun and Chu Kun: "Your master will be leaving the mountain again for a while and heading to the Southern Wasteland."
Lei Jun looked at his master upon hearing this.
Yuan Mobai's expression was as calm as ever, his smile gentle, and he nodded slightly, meeting Lei Jun's gaze.
Lei Jun knew that his master had everything under control and would be prepared for any eventuality, just like the previous incident at Great Southern Mountain.
Chu Kun said, "Master, I've heard that the situation in the Southern Wasteland is becoming increasingly chaotic."
Yuan Mobai nodded. "Indeed."
The leader of the Blood River Sect, Wei Ancheng, had been facing various obstacles, both overt and covert, in his efforts to unite the Shamanic Sects.
After the secret of his identity as a descendant of the previous dynasty was exposed, he had become the center of attention from all sides.
However, Wei Ancheng was truly capable, and not long ago, the Blood River Sect, under his leadership, had successfully broken through the defenses of Jincheng Village, a stronghold of the Ghost Dao.
Some of the Jincheng Village disciples were unwilling to submit and chose to flee, biding their time for a chance to rise again.
Others decided to yield to Wei Ancheng.
After taking Jincheng Village, Wei Ancheng didn't rest on his laurels. His next target was Yanshan Valley, a sacred site for the Gu worm technique.
The Southern Wasteland was in a state of turmoil, with bloodshed and battles raging everywhere.
Hence, Chu Kun had reminded Yuan Mobai to be cautious.
"While I'm away from the mountain, if you have any matters, discuss them with the sect leader, Yao Tian, and Senior Martial Sister Shangguan," Yuan Mobai instructed.
Shangguan Ning, who had previously gone to the capital, had recently returned to Dragon Tiger Mountain, so Yuan Mobai was relieved to leave the mountain, as the current situation didn't allow for multiple high-level elders to be away at the same time.
Compared to the increasing intensity of the storms in the Southern Wasteland, the situation in the Great Tang Dynasty's capital had recently become somewhat calmer.
Although there were still many disputes, the new Imperial College had managed to stand firm after a long struggle, and it was gradually gaining the support of the people.
Previously, the Yellow Sky Dao and the Great Empty Temple had caused trouble, resulting in casualties among the representatives of the Heavenly Master's Mansion and the Celestial Dragon Temple in the Imperial College.
After that incident, not only had the Yellow Sky Dao's branch altar been destroyed, but the Great Empty Temple had also suffered losses, with rumors of the death of a high-level expert from the temple.
However, the current peace in the capital felt more like the calm before an even bigger storm, and it seemed only a matter of time before an even greater crisis emerged.
Lei Jun focused on his cultivation with a peaceful mind.
In the quiet room, he sat cross-legged, with a Taoist seal floating above his head, radiating brilliant light and emitting strands of Taoist essence.
Lei Jun closed his eyes, calming his mind and regulating his breathing.
His spiritual power swirled and transformed into black and white qi, which then merged into the Taoist seal above his head.
At that moment, shadows and light flickered around the Dao Seal above Lei Jun's head.
The shadows and light took on the form of a person, practicing an internal martial arts routine of the Daoist School, with the void as its body and nature as its spirit.
As the routine came to an end, the shadows and light slowly returned to the Dao Seal.
Subsequently, the light and shadows above Lei Jun's head changed once more, this time resembling night winds and rolling thunder.
All of these manifestations were techniques that Lei Jun had learned in the past, now being summarized and refined before being integrated into his Dao Seal.
This was a long and repetitive process. Only after everything was in place would a cultivator lay the foundation for advancing to the Upper Three Heavens, preparing to challenge the heavenly tribulation between the Sixth and Seventh Heavens.
As for breaking through the tribulation between the Sixth and Seventh Heavens, that would require additional effort.
For Lei Jun, with the help of the Immortal Spirit Seed given by Chu Kun, he could save a considerable amount of time. The Immortal Spirit Seed had already been refined by him.
In addition, he had another advantage.
Deep within Lei Jun's soul, the Heavenly Master Seal remained peaceful and calm.
However, within the True One Altar World that was derived from the Heavenly Master Seal, flickers of light frequently appeared on the surface of the three True One Altars.
In response, the Dao Seal floating above Lei Jun's head would occasionally transform, resembling the Heavenly Master Seal as if it were breathing.
Lei Jun was cultivating quietly when his heart stirred slightly.
Deep within his soul, the Heavenly Master Seal and the True One Altar World seemed to be stirring.
Lei Jun sank his consciousness into it and entered the True One Altar.
He saw that the door leading to the second level of the altar was trembling slightly, and the Nine Abyss True Fire within was condensing, emitting a roar like that of a tiger.
The green flames took the form of a fierce tiger, roaring towards the sky.
Above, at the entrance to the second level of the altar, black patterns appeared, looking serene and profound like a deep abyss.
Upon seeing this, Lei Jun seemed to understand something.
Were those strange black patterns the reason why the Heavenly Master Seal had been dormant lately?
Observing and pondering, he didn't feel that they carried any evil or baleful aura.
On the contrary, they seemed to have a certain connection to the Daoist Talisman Sect's own lineage, a case of different paths leading to the same goal.
Indeed, there were some similarities between the Confucian Chanting Sect and our Daoist Talisman Sect, as well as the shamanic traditions of the South Wilderness.
Especially the shamanic traditions of the Shamanic Dance Sect and the Chanting Sect.
(End of Chapter)
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