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Chapter 368: 367. Things to Do as the Celestial Master (First Update)
Chapter 368: 367. Things to Do as the Celestial Master (First Update)
High above on Dragon and Tiger Mountain, within the Celestial Master's mansion, Lei Jun quietly perused the reports that had arrived from various sources.
Although much of the information was inaccurate and required further verification, the impending sense of a looming crisis was palpable.
"As always, it's these powerful demons making their moves first..." Lei Jun mused to himself.
During the early years of the Great Tang Dynasty, when the country was still stable, these demons had repeatedly stirred up trouble.
Now, the atmosphere was even more fraught with demonic energy.
Their desire to slaughter and their greed for the flesh and blood of humans, especially cultivators, was deeply ingrained in their bones.
In the past, these powerful demons had been dealt severe blows within the Great Tang borders, forcing them to lie low for many years.
But as time passed, their old habits began to resurface.
Especially with the rise of new powerful demons, their audacity knew no bounds, and their greed was insatiable.
The only unknown was whether there was someone secretly contacting and guiding these demons behind the scenes during this chaotic dance of the demons.
In the past few hundred to a thousand years, the exiled Great Empty Temple had been the most successful in this regard.
The Great Empty Temple received covert support from the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes, with both sides benefiting from the arrangement.
However, the Great Empty Temple had already fallen out with the Qingzhou and Cangzhou branches.
Ever since Abbot Yuanmie helped the Earthsea Broken Clan's Clan Leader, Li Yan, out of a predicament, he had rarely been seen.
The Great Empty Temple, which had suffered heavy losses in the interior of the Great Tang, was now licking its wounds overseas.
The Western Regions' Vajra Temple, or the Sumeru Vajra Sect, which had given them a hard time in the past, had already disappeared from the human world of the Great Tang.
It was uncertain what the Great Empty Temple's next move would be.
However, Lei Jun didn't need to think hard to know that those heretical monks would not feel grateful to the Tang court and the Celestial Master's mansion.
Unlike Lei Jun's calm demeanor, a certain Tang clan's National Master, Tang Xiaotang, was quite excited.
She walked here and there, examining everything with keen interest.
Messages and intelligence from various sources poured in, leaving her feeling a bit overwhelmed.
However, one particular piece of news immediately captured Tang Xiaotang's full attention.
It was a message from the eldest senior sister, Xu Yuanzhen.
Lei Jun received Xu Yuanzhen's message and paid close attention to it as well.
The eldest senior sister, Xu Yuanzhen, had traveled through Penglai to the Western world, where the White Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty resided.
This news wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lei Jun had somewhat anticipated this, but he hadn't foreseen that it would happen at this particular time.
From Xu Yuanzhen's tone, it seemed that she wasn't overly enthusiastic about the journey herself.
In fact, it was rare to hear a hint of displeasure in her voice due to a mishap.
Fortunately, Xu Zhenren had initially planned to find her own way into the Great Ming Dynasty's mortal realm from the outside world.
Now, with the Penglai route, she had indeed entered, but she felt a bit...unsettled about it.
However, this news made Tang Xiaotang incredibly envious.
She was almost ready to set out herself and rush into Penglai.
It was only due to the Tang court's special envoy, who patiently persuaded her, that she temporarily restrained herself.
"Little Senior Sister, there's no need to rush. Let's wait for Elder Senior Sister's reply," Lei Jun reassured Tang Xiaotang through his Heaven-Viewing and Earth-Listening Talisman, which allowed him to communicate over long distances.
Due to the separation of the Void Realm, even his Thousand-Mile Sound Talisman and Heaven-Viewing and Earth-Listening Talismans couldn't maintain contact with Xu Yuanzhen at the moment.
However, despite Xu Yuanzhen's displeasure, she didn't express any difficulty.
Given Lei Jun's understanding of her, she would probably soon be exploring the Great Ming Dynasty's mortal realm with enthusiasm.
Speaking of which, their current understanding of the Great Ming Dynasty's mortal realm mostly came from Tian Li, with a small portion derived from some of the personal belongings of Shang Nan and Xue Xingzi, the two individuals from the Daoist Country who had come from that world.
As Tian Li had not communicated with the Great Ming Dynasty for many years, her knowledge of the current situation there was limited.
The information provided by the items of Shang Nan and Xue Xingzi was also scarce and fragmented.
Now that Elder Senior Sister Xu Yuanzhen had personally gone there, hopefully, she would bring back more detailed information upon her return.
"The head of the Qingzhou Ye Clan, Ye Yan, did not enter Penglai, nor did he return to the ancestral land of the Qingzhou Ye Clan?" Yuan Mo Bai asked Lei Jun.
Lei Jun nodded, "It's said that he stayed in the East China Sea to monitor the entrance to Penglai, but the specifics are unclear."
He had become increasingly familiar with the means of communication used by the Cangzhou Ye Clan.
However, they still lacked knowledge about the Qingzhou Ye Clan.
Nevertheless, according to the information they had received, Ye Yan was indeed still in the East China Sea, although his exact location remained uncertain.
The passage between Penglai and the mortal realm of the Great Tang still existed.
As for the other elder, Chu Xiuyuan, who had previously gone to the East China Sea, it could now be confirmed that he was no longer in the sea.
"Within Penglai, there is not only the so-called Western White Emperor but also others...with intentions to establish a Daoist Country in the mortal realm," said the Shu Mountain elder, Ji Chuan, who sat across from Lei Jun and Yuan Mo Bai. He was an old acquaintance of theirs and had come to visit the injured Celestial Master Lei.
Upon hearing the news about Penglai, Ji Chuan couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.
(End of Chapter)Ji Chuan sighed as he spoke, his emotions stirred by the news about the Western Realm. "The White Emperor is not the only one in the Western Realm with ambitions to establish a spiritual nation in the mortal world."
Lei Jun's expression remained calm, unaffected by the news. "Has your order chosen She Yiying as the new Master of the Celestial Sword?" he asked.
At this question, Ji Chuan sighed again. "To be honest, Chen Donglou would be the most suitable candidate for the Celestial Sword Master. However, his current whereabouts are unknown, so our order has no choice but to make this temporary arrangement."
Generally speaking, a treasure like the Celestial Sword would be best suited for a Sword Master of the same lineage to wield its full power. Masters like Zhang Taegang, Xu Duan, and Ye Dongming would also be capable of harnessing its might.
Compared to Zhang Dongyuan, a Sword Master, there would inevitably be a gap in their abilities.
Similar situations had occurred in the past with Fu Dongsen and Hong Jie, who were not as skilled as Wang Dongchu and Wei Qiuyue in wielding similar magical swords.
In the Western Realm branch of the Order of the Golden Dawn, the Golden Dawn Sword was a formidable weapon in the hands of the order leader, Ji Yao. But when wielded by the Great Elder Li Linxue, a Sword Master, its killing power was even more formidable.
However, the current embarrassment for the Order of the Golden Dawn lay in the fact that aside from the elusive Chen Donglou, they had no Sword Masters at the Seventh Heaven realm or above.
Before the great battle in the Northern Border, Zhang Dongyuan had been the only Eighth Heaven Sword Master residing in the Order.
After his death, they were fortunate that the Empress retrieved the Starlight Sword, preventing it from falling into foreign hands and ensuring its return to the Order.
After much discussion within the Order, the preliminary decision was for Ji Chuan, who had attained the Seventh Heaven, to temporarily take charge of the Starlight Sword, surpassing his mentor He Dongxing.
Another young and talented elder, Xie Yiying, who had recently broken through to the Upper Three Heavens, would temporarily take charge of the Celestial Sword.
Aside from Zhang Taegang, these two were the rising stars among the younger generation of the Order, and the entire order had high hopes for them.
"Fortunately, with the guidance of the Grand Master and the elders from the Celestial Palace, Xie's first life treasure has been successfully refined. This will give her ample time to nurture the Celestial Sword," Ji Chuan said.
Lei Jun nodded in agreement. "The Western Realm heretics pose a significant threat, and we must remain vigilant at all times."
"Your wisdom is profound, Master," Ji Chuan acknowledged.
As their conversation progressed, they returned to the topic of treasures and artifacts.
Lei Jun proposed a related idea and sought the help of his master and Ji Chuan, a high-achieving elder from the Order of the White Lotus, to ponder over it.
Yuan Mobai listened thoughtfully, while Ji Chuan fell into contemplation, murmuring, "A combination, you say..."
"There's no need for it to be too complex," Lei Jun explained. "The main idea is that it can be disassembled into various parts, each of which can be refined separately, and then assembled together to function as originally intended."
Ji Chuan focused his mind, contemplating Lei Jun's proposal.
Such an idea had never been presented in the history of the Order before.
While the order had a history of refining treasures, such as Chen Donglou's Seven Star Sword and Fu Dongsen's Eight Trigram life treasure, they were still quite different from what Lei Jun was suggesting.
Ji Chuan could understand that Lei Jun was referring to a type of sword artifact that could be disassembled into different components like a sword hilt, guard, and blade. Each part could be refined separately and then assembled together as a whole.
However, the challenge lay in expecting this combination artifact to possess the same formidable power as a complete and unified artifact.
While refining individual parts would undoubtedly reduce the difficulty, expecting the assembled whole to exhibit exceptional effectiveness seemed like having one's cake and eating it too, a tall order for any craftsman.
"From the perspective of our order's doctrines, there are quite a few contradictions," Ji Chuan admitted. "However, if I'm not mistaken, this idea might be more in line with the teachings of the Arcane Sect."
"It's natural that there will be significant differences compared to our order's approach to cultivating life artifacts and treasures," Lei Jun acknowledged. "But I believe that we can embrace diversity and draw references from their methods."
"Furthermore, if we truly want to expand our operations, we'll need to stockpile a large amount of equipment and resources in addition to manpower, or we won't be able to sustain a significant scale," Yuan Mobai remarked.
Lei Jun nodded in agreement. "If it weren't for the current abundance of magical energy and the revival of magical creatures, I wouldn't dare to entertain such out-of-the-box ideas. Today's discussion with Senior Brother Ji was more about exchanging and validating our thoughts; I don't expect immediate results."
"Moreover, the situation we're currently in is quite delicate," Lei Jun continued. "The atmosphere is fraught with impending change, and it's not an opportune time for meticulous training. However, I believe that day will come soon, and I hope to achieve this during my tenure as the leader of the Celestial Order."
Yuan Mobai smiled, seeing that his disciple had a different outlook compared to previous generations of Masters, including Tang Xiaotang.
But for now, it didn't seem like a bad thing.
As Lei Jun had said, these ideas were still mostly in the conceptual stage.
Lei Jun was currently focusing his time on nurturing the rare and precious magical plants, repairing the Master's robe, and deepening his own training.
In his spare time, he was instructing his disciple Zhuo Bao Jie, collecting intelligence from various sources, and keeping a close eye on the developments of other factions.
As the harsh winter approached the new year,
"Greetings, Leader," Luo Haoran announced as he returned with his disciple, Qin Caiwei.
"How are the water conservation projects in various regions doing?" Lei Jun inquired.
"A lot of the projects can no longer be sustained, so we've started reinforcing some of them during the dry winter season," Luo Haoran replied. "We plan to finish the rest before the spring after the new year."
The changes in the earth's energies and landscapes had far-reaching consequences.
The entire kingdom was affected by these shifts.
Lei Jun turned to Qin Caiwei with a smile and said, "We've recently acquired several rare and valuable flowers in the garden, so I'll need your help in tending to them as well."
Qin Caiwei's eyes lit up at the mention of the flowers, and she replied with a respectful bow, "Please rest assured, Leader. I will take good care of them and not neglect my duties."
Lei Jun and Luo Haoran smiled and nodded in response, and Luo Haoran dismissed her with a wave of his hand, saying, "You may go now."
"Yes, Master," Qin Caiwei bowed once more to the two of them before leaving.
After seeing her off, Lei Jun turned to Luo Haoran and commented, "I've noticed that Hua Wei is not only diligent in her training and her hobby of nurturing magical plants, but she's also quite adept at handling other matters."
Luo Haoran nodded in agreement. "Indeed, it's impressive how she can manage her own affairs efficiently while also coordinating with others."
He looked at Lei Jun expectantly, curious about his intentions.
"Hua Wei has already reached the Fifth Heaven, and with the addition of the magical artifact, she can be appointed as an elder," Lei Jun stated.
"However, we should still ask for her opinion on this matter," he added.
Luo Haoran nodded. "I'll discuss it with her before the New Year ceremony."
"She's about to surpass her master," Lei Jun said with a smile.
"Her talent and affinity surpass mine, so it's only natural that she will," Luo Haoran acknowledged with a smile.
Both he and Fang Jian had recently reached the Sixth Heaven of the magical artifact stage in the Order.
"I wouldn't have dared to dream of this in the past," Luo Haoran sighed.
If the environment had been like it was a hundred years ago, he wouldn't have dared to hope for his current training progress.
But now, the rate at which practitioners were advancing was gradually increasing.
This was especially true for the disciples of the Celestial Order.
On the one hand, the abundance of magical energy and the changing environment played a significant role.
On the other hand, the Order, being one of the sacred sites of the magical tradition, offered an even better training environment than before.
The presence of magical creatures like the ancient tree, which created favorable conditions for training, and the emergence of powerful magical artifacts like the Heaven's Origin Green Jade, had a profound impact.
The acquisition of secret realms that originally belonged to the Lin Clan of the Southern Sect, such as the mystical mountain, also contributed to these changes.
These secret realms either provided environments conducive to training or produced various rare and precious magical treasures.
The cumulative effect of these multiple factors resulted in significant changes.
This didn't even take into account the intangible deterrence formed by the overall strength and prestige of the
Chapter end
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