https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-272-A-Bamboo-Slip-in-Hand-All-Treasures-Bow-Part-2-/12587156/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-273-Returning-What-s-Rightfully-Owned-Paying-Back-Debts-with-Life-Part-2-/12587161/
Chapter 273: Returning What's Rightfully Owned, Paying Back Debts with Life (Part 1)
Chapter 273: Returning What's Rightfully Owned, Paying Back Debts with Life (Part 1)
With a single strike, Lei Jun shattered Wang Dongchu's immortal soul, and the remaining Tian Quan, Yu Heng, and Yao Guang swords, which were about to counterattack, suddenly fell silent.
As the Upper Clarity Jade Celestial Bamboo struck, purple and golden lights flickered, containing an awe-inspiring might as if it held the authority to interrupt and halt the changes of other Daoist essences and spiritual energies.
Thus, the Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, and Kai Yang swords all froze in mid-air. After Wang Dongchu's immortal soul was struck, not only was his cultivation stagnant, but even his consciousness seemed to be severed by Lei Jun's attack.
Lei Jun struck again, instantly shattering his immortal soul.
This elder of the Shu Mountain Sect, who had reached the Eightfold Heaven realm, possessed an incredibly resilient immortal soul and divine sense, far surpassing ordinary cultivators. Although his immortal soul was shattered, it still floated in the air, refusing to dissipate immediately.
Normally, despite the severity of such a blow, Wang Dongchu would still be able to regroup his immortal soul and attempt to escape.
However, under the strike of Lei Jun's Upper Clarity Jade Celestial Bamboo, those scattered fragments of his immortal soul seemed to freeze in mid-air, neither advancing nor retreating.
If given more time, after the spiritual power of the Upper Clarity Jade Celestial Bamboo dissipated, Wang Dongchu might have found a way to regroup his immortal soul.
Lei Jun, however, waved his hand, and the surrounding Xuan Thunder enveloped and devoured those colorful "bubbles."
Under Lei Jun's control, the Xuan Thunder moved as if it were an extension of his body, calm and tranquil, causing no harm to those "bubbles" but merely immobilizing them, preventing their reunion.
Lei Jun turned his attention back to the Seven Star Sword.
Having been initially refined by Wang Dongchu, the treasure was now free from his control and influence. The seven flying swords trembled slightly in the air, their wild nature becoming apparent.
Their original foundation and style were always closer to their first owner and creator, Chen Donglou.
Without Wang Dongchu, the Seven Star Sword immediately reverted to its original nature.
Having dealt with Wang Dongchu, Lei Jun put away his Upper Clarity Jade Celestial Bamboo.
He quietly observed the seven flying swords before performing a Daoist salute and saying, "Elder Chen, Lei Jun, descendant of the Dragon and Tiger Mountain, borrowed your magic sword and immortal seed for a while. If there is any offense in the future, please forgive me. One day, when I find your sect's Purple Micro Sword, I will return it to Shu Mountain. Please do not take offense."
As his thoughts turned, black Xuan Thunder gathered, and the Xuan Xiao Five Thunderous Magic once again appeared, forming a Five Elements talisman array in mid-air.
Lei Jun pinched a magic seal with his hand and pointed a finger at the sky.
A second Five Thunderous Five Elements talisman array appeared.
The two arrays combined, encapsulating the Seven Star Sword within, temporarily storing them away.
The merged array quickly shrunk and then transformed into a shadow, flying into Lei Jun's palm.
Lei Jun then turned his attention to the purple-light immortal seed, which hung motionless in mid-air like an illusory purple sword light.
He raised his hand and absorbed it with his own power.
The slender purple light retracted, returning to its seed form, converging into a single point, and finally disappearing into Lei Jun's palm.
Lei Jun flipped his other hand, and the hidden side of the Heavenly Book suddenly appeared, its aura and concept erasing all traces of what had transpired.
At the same time, as the purple-light immortal seed was retracted, the layers of smoke and mist barriers, as if finding an outlet, quickly gathered and sank into the Ancient Divine Tree.
Lei Jun's figure flew away, quickly leaving the southern slope of the Ancient Divine Tree Mountain.
As the vast smoke and mist barriers were drawn into the Ancient Divine Tree, the massive ancient tree seemed to gently sway.
In the sky above the Ancient Divine Tree Mountain, the sun gradually reappeared.
The northern slope of the mountain range, which had been stripped of its trees, burning silently to create the smoke screen, now stood bare and exposed to the world.
Starting with the Ancient Divine Tree, the southern slope's foliage seemed even more lush and vibrant.
Extremes give birth to extremes, and the fierce qi that had entangled Chen Donglou's immortal soul had, after this back-and-forth struggle, transformed into a nurturing qi that nourished the numerous trees on the southern slope.
Before the smoke and mist had completely dissipated, only disappearing by half, a figure flashed several times within it.
When the figure reappeared, it had arrived beneath the Ancient Divine Tree.
It was Shangguan Yunbo, holding the Pacifying Banditry Golden Spear.
His eyes blazed with intensity as he scanned the surroundings, but he found no trace of Wang Dongchu.
In the distant mountain ranges, Shen Quibing, Lei Jun, and Shangguan Sheng appeared one after the other, scattered in different locations.
Shangguan Yunbo's gaze swept over them, and he continued his search for Wang Dongchu.
To find the man, the Grand Marshal of the Tang Dynasty's Divine Strategy Army went all out, digging far more than three feet deep. He practically turned the entire Ancient Divine Tree Mountain range upside down.
Lei Jun and the others assisted from the side.
However, in the end, their efforts yielded nothing.
"Did he take advantage of the previous barriers and escape?" Shangguan Sheng said helplessly.
Shangguan Yunbo frowned. "Strange... Could there be some hidden trick?"
He looked around and gave Lei Jun a subtle nod before speaking, "Expand the search radius and look around. If you find any traces of him, report it to me immediately!"
Lei Jun and the others agreed.
The group immediately dispersed once more to continue the search.
Lei Jun's expression remained calm as he pretended to search for Wang Dongchu, whom he had already imprisoned within the True One Law Altar cave heaven.
Suddenly, news from the north interrupted their search:
"Shu Mountain is under attack!"
A battle on a larger scale than the previous internal strife within Shu Mountain had suddenly erupted.
The successive reports shocked even Shangguan Yunbo, who usually remained unperturbed in the face of collapsing mountains.
He had no choice but to recall Lei Jun and the others.
"Elder Wei, is she one of the key figures of the Nation of the Human Path?"
Shangguan Yunbo's first statement surprised Shen Quibing.
Lei Jun stood quietly by, listening.
Wei Qiuyue, a senior elder of the Shu Mountain Sect from the previous generation, held a higher generation than Chen Donglou, Wang Dongchu, and the others.
In the Heavenly Master's Mansion, she was of the same generation as Li Song and the others.
She was also one of the few Eightfold Heaven elders of Shu Mountain, making her extremely important to the sect in terms of both generation and strength.
Now, it seemed that she had her own agenda.
Shangguan Sheng said, "Then, at Snow Dragon Mountain, wasn't Chu Shizhi facing Wang Dongchu, Wei Qiuyue, and Gu Han from the Dan Ding Sect at the same time?"
"At that time, they wanted to shift the blame to Chen Donglou, diverting the court's pursuit, thus turning a big matter into a small one. However, when I arrived at Snow Dragon Mountain, their plan fell through."
At that time, Chu Yu had already grown suspicious of Wei Qiuyue, who was traveling with them.
However, she kept it a secret and only communicated her doubts to Shangguan Yunbo in private.
It was only after they escorted Liao Jie and Mo Chen back north and further confirmed her suspicions that they could affirm that Shu Mountain's Grand Elder, Wei Qiuyue, was indeed a core member of the Nation of the Human Path, just like Wang Dongchu.
This discovery also led Chu Yu to realize that the situation in Shu Mountain was even more severe than they had anticipated.
Thus, they decided to take action before reaching Shu Mountain and captured Wei Qiuyue.
Although Shangguan Yunbo pursued Wang Dongchu deep into the southwestern lands, Chu Yu secretly contacted other experts and together, they ambushed Wei Qiuyue.
In the land of Xiaoxiang, there lived a lineage of the Xiang King, one of the blood descendants of the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty. The current Xiang King, Zhang Luo, personally took action, joining forces with Zhang Dongyuan, who had left Shu Mountain early with the Qingming Sword, and Chu Yu, intending to capture Wei Qiuyue alive.
However, from there on, the situation spiraled out of control.
The good news was that Wei Qiuyue carried more weight than Liao Jie and even more than Wang Dongchu, leading them to some truly big fish.
Not just one, but several.
The bad news was that these fish were truly massive.
Fu Dongsen.
The current leader of Shu Mountain! It was under his leadership that Shu Mountain began to engage more with the outside world, becoming more involved in worldly affairs and increasing their interactions with the imperial family of the Tang Dynasty.
The large-scale civil war that broke out years ago was also instigated by him.
Now, it seemed that the true purpose of that internal conflict was to eliminate dissidents while secretly planting his followers within the sect so that they could operate freely outside the mountain in the future.
Hong Jie.
To many young cultivators today, this name was extremely unfamiliar, and even within Shu Mountain, she was like a legendary elder from the past.
She was the most senior elder in Shu Mountain, of an even higher generation than Wei Qiuyue, Xu Duan, and the others.
Fu Dongsen, Zhang Dongyuan, and the others had to address her as their grand-master.
As for Zhang Taegang, Liao Jie, Ji Chuan, and the rest, they had to address her as their grand-grand-master.
Due to her advanced age, Hong Jie had been living in seclusion for many years, rarely appearing in public, and spending most of her time cultivating in the Qingxiaofu within Shu Mountain, no longer involving herself in external affairs.
She had not participated in the civil war that took place years ago, choosing to remain a reclusive elder like Lin Jian and Lin Zhan of the Lin Clan in Jiangzhou.
Looking back now, her neutrality during the civil war seemed to carry a different meaning.
However...
"Hong Jie, Wei Qiuyue, Fu Dongsen, Wang Dongchu, Liao Jie..." Lei Jun was left speechless for a moment.
Putting aside everything else, just these few names encompassed the highest-ranked and most senior members of Shu Mountain, capturing the old, middle-aged, and young generations in one net.
Aside from the fact that the vision of the Nation of the Human Path was not something that could be easily publicized, it seemed that they might actually represent the mainstream opinion of Shu Mountain today?
It would be difficult to say who was the insider for the Nation of the Human Path in Shu Mountain, wouldn't it?
Perhaps it would be more appropriate to refer to Zhang Dongyuan, Xu Duan, Zhang Taegang, He Dongxing, and Ji Dongquan as the pro-Tang faction within Shu Mountain?
Shen Quibing and Shangguan Sheng were equally stunned.
"What's the situation with the general now?" Shen Quibing asked anxiously.
Shangguan Yunbo replied, "We're heading north immediately. As for Wang Dongchu, that thief, we can only let him go for now."
As they set off, he continued, "Hong Jie has been occupying the Qingxiaofu, and with Fu Dongsen as the leader of Shu Mountain, they directly control the Taiyi Xiantian Pagoda. With preparation, they seized the initiative, taking the Beiming Godly Spear and the Nanming Lihuo Ding, and even injuring Xu Duan."
Aside from the lost Ziwei Sword, among the six great treasures of Shu Mountain, only the Qingming Sword remained in Zhang Dongyuan's hands.
The news also mentioned that Gu Han and other cultivators from the Dan Ding Sect had arrived at Shu Mountain.
"Will Her Majesty in Guanzhong embark on a southern tour? I'm not sure if the timing will work out..." Shangguan Sheng furrowed his brows.
Shangguan Yunbo's expression remained unchanged, but his tone carried a slight hint of emotion:
"Before I headed south this time, Her Majesty had already made arrangements in anticipation of the situation in Shu getting out of control... The head of the Xiang Clan, Fang Jingsheng, has left seclusion."
Shangguan Sheng fell silent.
Shen Quibing looked on in surprise.
Lei Jun, on the other hand, wore a thoughtful expression.
Shangguan Yunbo added, "Fang Jingsheng has been studying diligently behind closed doors for many years. She has crossed the heavenly tribulation between the Eightfold Heaven and the Ninth Heaven, successfully reaching the Ninth Heaven realm of Confucianism, where one can 'pacify the world.' She secretly went to Guanzhong to meet with Her Majesty before... The other clans also sent representatives."
"Is the sun rising from the west today?" Shen Quibing exclaimed in astonishment.
"Different times call for different measures. The world is unpredictable," Shangguan Yunbo replied.
Shen Quibing was even more perplexed.
It wasn't just because of the severe damage suffered by the Lin Clans of the north and south and the Ye Clan of Jinzhou... Lei Jun thought to himself.
Another significant change was the emergence of the Western Regions' Sumeru Vajra Sect.
According to rumors, the Sumeru Vajra Sect had abandoned the low-key style of the previous Vajra Temple and become extremely proactive, actively interacting with the imperial family of the Tang Dynasty.
While they maintained a respectful and enthusiastic attitude, they also implicitly displayed a tough stance, exhibiting extreme zeal in their missionary work.
Although they had not yet shown any signs of aggression, the major Confucian families, with their keen senses, were immediately on alert.
Now, with the emergence of the Nation of the Human Path, which opposed the Confucian families that had established their power across the land, the situation had become even more complex.
At present, the major clans were in a critical period of recuperation, and they quickly adjusted their strategies. At the very least, the Xiang Clan had made a clear statement.
In the past, they had secretly funded the Great Empty Temple, the White Lotus Sect, and the Yellow Sky Dao.
Now, they were repairing their relationship with the imperial family of the Tang Dynasty.
Expecting them to dedicate everything to the Tang Dynasty and obey the emperor's every word was unrealistic.
After all, bargaining and exchange were dynamic and ever-present.
The clan head, Fang Jingsheng, who had been in seclusion for many years, had finally broken through to the Ninth Heaven realm.
And her first move was directed at Shu Mountain.
However, this time, Fang Jingsheng was not suppressing the Daoist sect.
Instead, she was suppressing the rebellion, acting under the emperor's orders.
With Fu Dongsen occupying the summit of Xiaoding Mountain in Shu Mountain, and with the combined forces of the Taiyi Xiantian Pagoda and the Qingxiaofu, even facing Fang Jingsheng, who had reached the Ninth Heaven realm, they could hold their ground.
(End of Chapter)
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