https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-250-Flaying-for-Gallbladder-Riding-as-a-Mount-Part-1-/12587079/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-251-The-Auspicious-Lot-of-the-Upper-Realm-of-the-Thunder-Pavilion-in-the-Upper-Qing-Part-1/12587081/
Chapter 250: Flaying for Gallbladder, Riding as a Mount? (Part 2)
Chapter 250: Flaying for Gallbladder, Riding as a Mount? (Part 2)
The green bamboo, shimmering with purple and golden light, had now stabilized at six sections.
Lei Jun sat cross-legged, one hand forming a magical seal in front of his chest while the other hand tapped rapidly, sending streams of divine abilities into the bamboo.
After refining it continuously for eighty-one times, Lei Jun finally stopped for a while to nurture the artifact.
When the time came to the early hours of the morning, Lei Jun put away the artifact and sat cross-legged on the summit of Mount Biyu.
Lei Jun's consciousness entered the universe and starry sky of the Heavenly Tome.
At this moment, among the Seven Luminaries of the Heavenly Bodies, all were lit except for Shen Quibing's Mars-Fire Star.
"Although we left a message, we haven't heard back from the Mars Star in a while. We won't disturb him anymore, and six of us will be present for this gathering." Monday said calmly.
Lei Jun and the others agreed.
In the world of cultivators, one could seclude themselves for days, months, years, or even decades at a time.
During this period, there were times when one completely shut out the outside world and refused all contact.
Everyone present had experienced something similar.
"Then let's begin." Sunday said indifferently: "My question remains the same: Who knows about the situation with Fang Jingcheng of Jingxiang Fang?"
Lei Jun and the others either answered that they didn't know or remained silent.
Sunday, as usual, didn't seem to mind not getting an answer.
After asking her question, she fell silent again, not paying much attention to the others' conversation.
Jingxiang Fang, the clan leader of the Fang Clan... Lei Jun gazed at the bright but silent Sun Star, Sunday, deep in thought.
If Sunday was indeed the Empress, then the people she had been paying attention to lately could all be considered potential candidates to break through to the Ninth Heaven Realm.
There could be significant differences among cultivators who had reached the peak of the Eighth Heaven Realm.
Some might be just a step away from the Ninth Heaven Realm, or even closer.
For some, however, the peak of the Eighth Heaven Realm might be their limit, with no possibility of further advancement.
Previously, Wei Ancheng, the leader of the Blood River Sect, had successfully taken that final step and entered the Ninth Heaven Realm.
What about Fang Jingcheng now?
Furthermore, Lei Jun couldn't help but wonder in the opposite direction.
His senior master sister, Xu Yuanzhen, had gone missing earlier, and even the Celestial Master's Mansion didn't know her whereabouts. Her sudden breakthrough to the Ninth Heaven Realm was unexpected, and it was understandable that the Empress wouldn't have prior knowledge of it.
What about Ye Yan, the clan leader of the Ye Clan in Qingzhou? He had indeed taken that final step and cultivated the Confucian Ninth Heaven Realm.
The fact that the Empress was interested in Fang Jingcheng but didn't inquire about Ye Yan's situation—was it because she had underestimated Ye Yan in the past, or did she already know that Ye Yan had reached the Ninth Heaven Realm and therefore didn't need to ask further?
Aside from Fang Jingcheng, what was the current situation with the other potential candidates for the Ninth Heaven Realm?
Lei Jun pondered silently.
At this moment, the Earth Star, Saturday, spoke up: "I have a question for all of you."
Monday: "Please go ahead, friend."
Saturday: "Are you all aware of the great battle between Jiangzhou and Youzhou?"
As the biggest news recently, everyone present indicated that they knew about it.
Saturday continued to ask: "I want to ask, how did the Celestial Master of Longhushan and Elder Xu of the Celestial Master's Mansion manage to break through the ancestral lands of the Lin Clan in Youzhou and Jiangzhou so easily?"
Sunday calmly replied: "I know some details."
Saturday: "If you don't mind, could you share what you know?"
He paused for a moment before continuing: "I don't have any information about Fang Jingcheng of Jingxiang. If possible, I'd like to try exchanging it for other information or something else."
Sunday: "I don't need anything else."
Saturday: "I apologize for my rashness."
Sunday: "Your inquiry is related to the meaning of the words you showed us last time, isn't it?"
Saturday's spirit lifted: "Exactly."
Lei Jun listened quietly, recalling the strange and unfamiliar words Saturday had shown them during their previous gathering.
While the words themselves were not obscure, everyone recognized them.
However, the meanings they conveyed were different from any Confucian classics of the Great Tang Dynasty, and they had never appeared throughout history.
Now, as Lei Jun recalled, the Confucian ruins in that foreign realm, destroyed by the fierce martial arts true intent, did seem to exude a similar meaning to Saturday's words.
Although there were still some differences, they were more similar to the current literary tradition of the Tang Dynasty.
Perhaps there was indeed some connection between the two.
Lei Jun was also curious, but he didn't speak up.
Sunday calmly said, "We can discuss this later, just the two of us."
Saturday: "Thank you in advance."
Wednesday, who had been absent from the previous gathering, spoke up: "I also have some information that I'd like to exchange. It's relatively rough, but I'd like to share it with everyone so that we can all benefit from each other's knowledge."
Monday: "What kind of information are you looking for?"
Wednesday: "It's about some traitors from the Pure Yang Palace of the Dan Ding Sect of the Daoist School."
Monday: "Traitors?"
Wednesday: "Yes, those who have been expelled from the Pure Yang Palace and are now wanted."
The others pondered upon hearing this.
Lei Jun was deep in thought.
Not getting an answer right away, Wednesday didn't give up: "This offer is always on the table. If anyone has any information, feel free to come to me at any time."
Monday: "I also have something I'd like to discuss with all of you. If anyone has any information, please feel free to contact me."
Wednesday: "What is it?"
"I want to ask all of you: Who helped the Celestial Master's Mansion during the battle in Jiangzhou?"
Monday slowly said, "According to the survivors' accounts, there were suspected Confucian divine archers or Daoist external alchemy experts who joined the Celestial Master's Mansion in attacking the Lin Clan's ancestral land in Jiangzhou."
"Confucian divine archers and Daoist external alchemy experts..." Saturday mused.
Monday: "Do you have any information on this, Saturday?"
Saturday: "I wouldn't say I have information, but I've heard that none of the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes secretly assisted the Celestial Master's Mansion. In fact, there were plans to unite against the Celestial Master's Mansion, but they were unable to carry them out due to various constraints.
As for the Daoist External Alchemy Sect's holy land, Shu Mountain Sect, they were facing off against the Jingxiang Fang Clan, restraining each other. I haven't heard of any Shu Mountain Sect experts bypassing the Fang Clan's surveillance to aid the Celestial Master's Mansion."
Wednesday: "What about the court?"
Monday: "As far as I know, there were court experts who wanted to aid the Celestial Master's Mansion, but they were too late. The battle in Jiangzhou ended much sooner than expected."
Saturday pondered: "I see."
After a few more exchanges, the group gradually "logged off."
It was clear that most people were more inclined to engage in private one-on-one chats.
Lei Jun approached Chen Xing Suiwei.
"Are you interested in exchanging information about the Pure Yang Palace traitors?" Lei Jun asked.
Suiwei: "Indeed."
Lei Jun: "Is it about a specific individual?"
Suiwei: "It could be anyone, but the information I have mainly concerns one person by the name of Zhou Peng."
After the Pure Yang Palace traitors escaped, they banded together for survival and to evade the Pure Yang Palace's efforts to wipe them out.
As an elder of the Pure Yang Palace who defected despite having reached the Upper Three Heavens realm, Zhou Peng's cultivation base gave him an implicit leadership role.
"My understanding is limited," Lei Jun admitted. "Let's exchange what we have."
Previously, in the Southern Wilderness, he had captured Wang Jingfang, a traitor of the Pure Yang Palace.
Through interrogating Wang Jingfang, Lei Jun had gained some related information.
However, the intelligence he had on Zhou Peng was limited.
The relatively valuable piece of information was that someone was secretly aiding and supporting Zhou Peng and the other Pure Yang Palace traitors. The Yin Moon Soul Stone that Zhou Peng had used came from this source.
After hearing this, Chen Xing Suiwei didn't comment much and simply said, "Zhou Peng has recently cultivated the Daoist Dan Ding Sect's Eightfold Heaven realm and has begun the Infant Transformation."
Lei Jun: "That seems to confirm the information I received earlier. There is indeed someone else backing Zhou Peng."
Suiwei: "Indeed."
After a hurried farewell, as the other party seemed to have something urgent to attend to, the starlight dimmed.
However, Lei Jun did not leave immediately.
He had another private chat scheduled.
"Are you inquiring about news related to the Vajra Temple?" Lei Jun asked. "I don't have any additional intelligence at the moment."
The future Mile, who was incarnated as the Jupiter Wood Star, said, "Just like what others have said, this offer is open for a long time. Of course, it also depends on what you're willing to exchange for it."
After some contemplation, Lei Jun said, "What information do you have about the Great Empty Temple?"
Future Mile replied, "Not much, but I seem to have my eyes on the Vajra Temple as well."
Lei Jun: "I can't guarantee that I will have any news, but if I do, I'll let you know as soon as possible. In exchange, I need information about the Great Empty Temple."
Future Mile: "A deal is a deal."
After the starlight of the Jupiter Wood Star faded, Lei Jun fell into deep thought.
Upon exiting the universe and starlit sky of the Heavenly Tome, he went to find his master, Yuan Mobai.
The news about the Vajra Temple welcoming a new abbot had come from Yuan Mobai earlier.
"I haven't heard of anything special for the time being, but..." Yuan Mobai said slowly, "...the place has been tightly sealed off recently, isolating itself from the outside world, which is rather intriguing."
Lei Jun nodded slightly.
Future Mile was the Young Patriarch of the White Lotus Sect.
The White Lotus Sect had deep connections with three of the four Buddhist sacred sites: the Bodhi, Xuan Tian, and Tian Long Temples. However, over the years, they had also become adversaries of the Vajra Temple.
During the Vajra Temple's welcoming of the new abbot, the White Lotus Sect and the Great Empty Temple had joined forces to target them.
The White Lotus Sect would normally pay attention to collecting information about the Vajra Temple and the other three major Buddhist sacred sites.
Now that Future Mile was seeking clues from Lei Jun, it seemed that they were doubling their efforts out of caution and suspicion, cross-referencing information.
"I can try to find out, but I can't guarantee any results," Yuan Mobai said.
Lei Jun nodded slightly. "The top priority for our sect right now is the upcoming battle between Senior Master Sister and Ye Moqian of Jinzhou."
As spring approached and the weather warmed, summer would soon arrive, bringing the battle date closer.
Suddenly, both master and disciple sensed something.
On Mount Longhu, within the Myriad Laws Altar, light flickered like a lamp, alternating between brightness and darkness.
"Zhang Shijie is taking that final step," Lei Jun said.
Yuan Mobai: "I hope she can successfully take this step. Our sect will then have another high-achieving Dharma Master."
For Daoist Fu Lu Sect cultivators to break through from the Sixfold Heaven to the Sevenfold Heaven realm, they needed their sect's altar.
On Mount Longhu, it was the Myriad Laws Altar.
For Huang Tian Dao, it was the Huang Tian Sect Altar.
Although Lei Jun had broken through in the Northern Border, which was far from Mount Longhu and the Myriad Laws Altar, he had the Heavenly Master Seal with him, which could derive the True One Altar.
At that time, it was as if he was cultivating near the Myriad Laws Altar.
"Unfortunately, Zhang Shijie had already set her Daoist Seal before, and her divine ability seed had taken shape," Yuan Mobai shook his head slightly. "If she succeeds in taking that step, she can only start cultivating the Fire Law Earthly Scripture Talisman first."
Earlier, although the Heavenly Master Seal had returned to Mount Longhu, it was soul-bound to Lei Jun and couldn't be separated.
For the sake of secrecy and safety, Lei Jun couldn't conveniently help Zhang Jingzhen observe the Thunder Law Heavenly Scripture Talisman.
Like other outsiders in the sect over the past hundred years, Zhang Jingzhen had to choose between the Fire Law Earthly Scripture Talisman and the Life-Preserving Human Scripture Talisman.
In the end, she chose the former.
Now that Lei Jun could manifest and control the Heavenly Master Seal, Zhang Jingzhen had been in closed-door seclusion, cutting off all contact with the outside world.
To be frank, at present, there were not many people in the Celestial Masters Mansion on Mount Longhu who had mastered the Yang Thunder Dragon. Not to mention the other aspects, the inability to perform the Dragon-Tiger Strike was a significant disadvantage, directly affecting their combat power.
For now, they could only proceed in this manner, leaving it for the future.
.................
Youzhou Lin Clan's ancestral land.
To be precise, the former ancestral land.
Although the Lin Clan continued to live and prosper here, and even though most of the destroyed buildings had been rebuilt over the winter, the place could not be said to have regained its former glory.
Above the ancestral land, the brilliant glow of culture and civilization flickered intermittently, leaving only a faint trace, as if it were an illusion.
It would be exceptionally challenging to restore the cultural legacy of this place.
Fortunately, the heirloom treasure, the Frostwind Sword, was still intact, giving them hope for restoration, although it would require a long time.
If the Dragon-Snake Brush had been broken as well, like in the case of the Jiangzhou Lin Clan, it would have been a complete tragedy.
The former clan head of the Ye Clan of Jinzhou, Ye Moke, remained here.
Beside him stood a woman who appeared to be in her thirties.
Ye Moke had stayed here throughout the winter, quietly studying the traces left by the previous battle.
PS: 7k chapter
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