Longzang

Chapter 424 Knowing Too Much (Thanks to Alliance Leader Zhi Ruo_Chu Jian)

The young Taoist priest said slowly, "You will have to figure out the various principles on the path of cultivation yourself. Even if I tell you, you will not understand what you are meant to understand, and you will understand when the time is right. Now there is an important matter that I need to tell you properly."

"Senior, please speak."

Wei Yuan had a feeling that if the fish came up, the young Taoist would not only talk about the principles of cultivation, but also talk about many other things.

But why didn't the fish come up? Wei Yuan pondered this, but couldn't find a solution.

The young Taoist said, "Liuli has been in seclusion during this time, trying to advance to the Dharma Aspect stage, but she has always failed at the last step. As her patriarch, I can't just watch her like this; I have to come up with a plan for her."

Based on Wei Yuan's understanding of Ji Liuli, there is absolutely no reason why he cannot achieve the Dharma Form. The reason why he cannot take the final step must be that there is some flaw somewhere that makes the Dharma Form imperfect.

Just like Wei Yuan himself, he rejected the true dragon form three times before finally achieving worldly success.

Wei Yuan asked, "Is there a problem with your state of mind?"

Given Ji Liuli's inherent strength, the injury that would have been fatal to Zhang Sheng could be healed by her. Therefore, Wei Yuan didn't think it was a problem with his Dao foundation; it was more likely a matter of his state of mind.

The young Taoist smiled slightly and said, "It seems you know her quite well, so this matter will have to be left to you."

"What should this disciple do?"

"Let nature take its course. After she comes out of seclusion, visit her often and help her if she needs anything. That's all. Also, there's something else. My Heavenly Mystery Hall has five thousand Dao soldiers who have been transferred back from the battlefield and sent to you for training. Once they have formed their Dao foundations, you can give forty percent of them to the Azure Sky Hall as a reward for helping the wanderers."

Wei Yuan hurriedly replied, "Helping Senior Sister is my duty, and I dare not accept any reward."

The young Taoist glared at Wei Yuan and said, "Take it if I tell you to. If you don't take the payment, there are many things I can't do."

Wei Yuan was taken aback, never expecting that True Lord Yan Shi would speak so bluntly. This left him with absolutely no room to refuse. Besides, this matter was beneficial to Tai Chu Palace, Tian Qing Palace, and Ji Liuli. He might only have to pay a small price himself. How could he possibly refuse?

Wei Yuan convinced himself and agreed.

Seeing that Wei Yuan agreed, the young Taoist was very happy and said, "The flying boat and Taoist soldiers are ready. You can go back to Qingming after you have packed your things. I have some small matters to attend to here, so I won't keep you any longer."

After Wei Yuan left, the young Taoist's face suddenly darkened, and he coldly said, "Someone come here!"

Several Taoist priests appeared and came to his side. The young Taoist priest instructed, "Prepare fish boxes and fish baskets, and make sure you have plenty!"

Then, a celestial sword appeared in the young Taoist's hand, crackling with lightning, its power so intense it seemed capable of destroying the heavens and the earth! The young Taoist raised his hand, about to plunge the celestial sword into the small lake.

Several Taoist priests were shocked and hurriedly stopped the young Taoist priest, saying, "True Lord, you mustn't! If this lightning sword strikes, all living beings in the lake will perish. The karmic force of annihilation cannot be lightly touched!"

The Taoists risked their lives to stop him, preventing the young Taoist from unleashing his thunder sword.

He suddenly pointed to the sky, and several different powders appeared, mixed in the air, and transformed into a huge cylindrical shape that fell onto the lake.

The crowd was greatly alarmed and simultaneously used their magic to support the barrel, crying out, "True Lord, you mustn't! If this barrel of chaotic thunder falls, the creatures in the lake will be blasted to the point that less than one-tenth survive. It will still be a karmic act of annihilation!"

The young Taoist priest put away the round bucket and said impatiently, "This won't do, that won't do! What do you suggest we do?!"

The Taoist priests hurriedly offered a solution: "There is a kind of net that can skim across the bottom of the lake. As long as the mesh is made fine, it can catch all the creatures in the lake and ensure that none escape. Then we can just arrest the ringleader and release the others, thus accomplishing our task without incurring any karmic consequences. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"

The young Taoist priest's expression softened slightly, and he nodded, saying, "This method is excellent."

The group went to retrieve the net, and then the giant net was cast into the lake. After a moment, the net was pulled up and floated on the surface of the lake. Inside, they saw countless large and small fish and aquatic creatures, all trembling in fear.

Among the fish, a large fish with a golden scale on its head was pushed out by the other fish and placed in the most conspicuous position.

Suddenly, the young Taoist reached out and grabbed, the giant net was three feet above the water, and then the Taoist's thunder sword fell into the lake!

The entire surface of the small lake was instantly filled with leaping lightning and fire, like a thunderous inferno. In the blink of an eye, several ghostly spirits emerged from the water and vanished into the world.

The young Taoist priest sneered and said, "As expected, there are some who have slipped through the net! Did they really think they could deceive my divine sense?"

The Taoist priests dared not speak, and instead reached out to grab and capture the fish. After a moment, they dragged several old fish carcasses from the bottom of the lake and threw them onto the shore.

The young Taoist priest glanced at the fish in the net and ordered, "Pick out all the ones with golden scales on their heads, and release the rest."

The Taoist priests breathed a sigh of relief, and a moment later they pulled out three large fish: one old, two young, and the fat fish that had just acquired a golden scale. The three fish were terrified and begged for mercy.

The young Taoist priest's face was grim as he coldly said, "You lot think you've got some connections and a smattering of cultivation, so you dare to ruin my plans and embarrass me! As the ancients said, 'The people can be made to follow a path, but they cannot be made to understand it.' That's absolutely true. You lot really do know far too much!"

The two new fish were still inexperienced and could not speak, so they could only desperately blow bubbles to beg for mercy.

In desperation, the old fish spoke in human language, saying, "I have accompanied the immortal to drink alone at midnight and heard him mutter to himself to the heavens! I have stood guard for the immortal and kept watch over him all night! If you offend me, when the immortal returns, I will speak with him and he will not let you off easily!" The young Taoist scoffed, "You really think you have a past with the immortal?"

The old fish, forcing a smile, said, "This fish lives to be two hundred years old, what else?"

The young Taoist priest sneered: "There's only one reason why you've lived so long: the Immortal Lord doesn't eat fish!"

……

Two days later, knowing that Zhang Sheng had gone into seclusion to digest the medicinal effects, and that the large flying boat of Taichu Palace was ready, Wei Yuan boarded the flying boat with the five thousand Dao soldiers drawn back from the front lines. Wei Yuan then returned to Qingming with the flying boat.

Besides the Dao soldiers, there were also ten senior disciples of the Heavenly Crafts Hall, ten disciples of the Creation Temple, and Xu Henshui on the flying boat.

Xu Henshui was also on the flying boat, which really surprised Wei Yuan. He said that he wanted to take these disciples to build a branch temple in Qingming, grow herbs and refine pills on the spot, and then come back when everything was on the right track.

In the previous training sessions, Wei Yuan contributed over a thousand Dao Foundation cultivators to the Taichu Palace. Now, the defensive pressure on the northern mountain gate has been greatly reduced, so newly promoted Dharma Ministers like Xu Henshui can be transferred out.

The Kingdom of Wu, the ancestral home of the Bao family.

Bao Yun stepped out of the quiet room and looked at a flowering tree in the courtyard with platinum branches and pale red flowers. Suddenly, several petals drifted down from the tree, landing on the fine white sand on the ground and disappearing.

She frowned slightly, feeling a strange sense of loss. So she cast a hexagram on the spot, interpreting it as "water within mountains" and obtaining the hexagram "Meng" (蒙). Upon seeing this hexagram, Bao Yun felt a sudden sadness, thinking that the water had passed but the mountain remained.

Another interpretation of this hexagram is that it indicates insufficient affinity or predestined connection.

Just then, there was a knock on the courtyard gate, and Zhao Fusheng's voice rang out from outside: "Zhao Fusheng of Qiongshan requests an audience."

Bao Yun opened the door and invited Zhao Fusheng into the guest room. Then she calmly said, "It's been a long time. Is the young island master here to make trouble again?"

Zhao Fusheng was somewhat embarrassed and waved his hand, saying, "Let's not mention this matter again! I was indeed overconfident that day, thinking that my sincerity was sufficient and that I didn't take anyone in the world seriously, believing that dealing with the Peacock Buddha Mother was a piece of cake. Who knew that so many unexpected things would happen in the secret realm! Since I have lost, I will keep my promise, and I will not overstep my bounds in any way until the one-year period is up!"

"I believe the young island lord can keep his word."

Zhao Fusheng said, "After my defeat in the secret realm, I returned to the island to cultivate in seclusion for half a year, and re-examined my true self. I unexpectedly discovered something."

"What's the matter?"

Zhao Fusheng sat upright, took a deep breath like a whale inhaling water, and then looked into the empty space in front of him, saying each word clearly: "I like you."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a burst of dragon fire suddenly erupted from above Zhao Fusheng's head, scorching a section of the ceiling in the living room.

Zhao Fusheng's face flushed with anger, and flames seemed to erupt from his head. He sat as still as a statue, not daring to move an inch.

Upon seeing this, Bao Yun couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle. It seemed that getting the young island master to say those words was probably even more difficult than letting him experience a heavenly tribulation.

Bao Yun's smile intensified the flames above Zhao Fusheng's head, threatening to burn through the roof.

Bao Yun quickly stopped laughing and sat up straight, and the dragon flame on Zhao Fusheng's head gradually faded away.

"Young Island Master must have something else to say."

Skipping over that topic, Zhao Fusheng finally calmed down a bit and said, "A few days ago, an elder divined some of my destiny, some of which involved you. It indicated that you might miss an important opportunity in the near future, but it can still be made up for. That's why I came here specifically to discuss this with you, thinking I can do something to help."

Looking at Zhao Fusheng's serious expression, and recalling the divination she had just performed, Bao Yun sighed inwardly. If this guy knew what kind of opportunity it was, she wondered if he would still be so eager to offer his help.

Bao Yun composed herself and said, "I appreciate the young island master's kindness. However, to make up for this missed opportunity, the price to pay will be very high. I cannot accept something for nothing."

Zhao Fusheng said, "These are just worldly possessions; I'll use them and earn more in the future!"

It must be said that, as long as it's not a confession of love, this young island lord is quite composed and magnanimous in both his actions and words.

Bao Yun smiled slightly and said, "I have naturally witnessed the young island master's demeanor, more than once. So there is no need to deliberately show it off."

Zhao Fusheng's face flushed red again, and he said, "Sir, what happened last time was indeed my fault! Oh, well, how should I put it, I underestimated your value..."

Bao Yun said, "It's not about last time, that's all in the past. I obtained something by chance, and that's how I witnessed the young island master's demeanor again. It's this thing."

Seeing Bao Yun hand him a stone, Zhao Fusheng felt a sudden sense of unease. When he took the stone and activated it with his Dao power, his hand trembled slightly, and then an image appeared before him.

It was a very distant side view; above a bottomless abyss, Zhao Fusheng was carrying the Peacock Monk, flying across.

(End of this chapter)