Longzang

Chapter 599 Treasure in Hand
In a quiet room filled with the fragrance of incense, a tall and imposing Taoist soldier walked to a bronze mirror, straightened his clothes, then sat down regally at the table, spread out jade paper, and picked up a brush to write:
Brother Xiaoyu:

I recently gained tens of thousands of Heavenly Merits, more than many of my fellow disciples, and I'm quite troubled about how to spend them...

At this point, Daobing suddenly shuddered, a look of doubt flashing in his eyes. He then skipped the long, sarcastic passage in the middle and directly wrote his signature: Wei…

When he wrote the first character "Wei", it was as if lightning flashed through Dao Bing's consciousness, dispelling the illusions that had been covering his primordial spirit.

He looked at himself again, then looked up and saw a strange man wrapped in a black robe standing in front of the table. It was the mysterious witch he had contacted not long ago.

The witch seemed to chuckle, and said in a hoarse, indistinct voice, "To be able to break through my mental illusion so quickly, you truly deserve to have overcome the tribulation of inner demons. Is the person in this letter your greatest obsession?"

Wei Yuan, disguised as a Dao soldier, calmly put away the letter and said, "Of course not, it's just that I had something to write to my former classmate."

The Wu clan did not press further, but instead said, "Don't be nervous, you are still you, and you are still in the Azure Netherworld. I simply created a small illusion to trap you while you were comprehending the Dao and your primordial spirit was leaving your body. Once you know the trick, it won't be difficult to break free."

The more he said this, the more vigilant Wei Yuan became. Just a moment ago, not only was he in the core of the Azure Netherworld, but he was also trapped inside the celestial treasure, the Hall of Merit, yet he was still bound by the witchcraft of the Witch Clan. This was no small matter.

Wei Yuan asked, "Did you use a sneak attack on me?"

The shaman shook his head and said, "Your physical body has been cultivated to a level close to perfection. If I were to use a sneak attack, you would quickly notice. There's no need to guess. This is just one of my innate shamanic arts; it's not very useful in reality. It's mostly used for secret meetings with certain people, like right now."

"Since you've overcome your inner demons, this illusion is quite easy for you; you can break through it at any time."

Wei Yuan calmly said, "Alright, what brings you here?"

The sorcerer opposite said, "We have confirmed that Hongye was indeed hit by the Yang Bullet, which will shorten her lifespan by 1,100 years..."

Wei Yuan was taken aback and said, "How could it only be 1,100 years?"

"Your Yang Bullet's rank isn't high enough, so its effect on Momiji will be greatly reduced. Our original estimate was a lifespan reduction of 1,200 years, but the result is about what we expected, so we are very satisfied."

Wei Yuan personally crafted the Yin-Yang Bullets, so he naturally understood under what circumstances their effectiveness would be diminished. He was immediately shocked and asked, "Are you saying that Red Leaf's essence is a Heavenly Witch?"

"It's not that exaggerated. If he were really a Celestial Witch, we wouldn't want to deal with him. But he does have some Celestial Witch substances on him, so we're not confident we can deal with him. We have to use your Yang Bullet."

"And what about my payment?"

"Rest assured, we will not break our promise. The fragment of the boundary stone has been placed outside Qingming. This is the location; go and get it yourself. Furthermore, the master is very satisfied with your performance this time and has indicated that the other fragment is not out of the question. He looks forward to our next cooperation."

An image appeared before Wei Yuan's eyes: a mountain pool with rising mist, spring water cascading down the mountain peaks in tiers, forming small waterfalls that flowed into the center of the pool. The pool was surrounded by lush vegetation and smooth bluestone, and the water itself was filled with mist—it was a hot spring.

Wei Yuan had already studied the terrain around Qingming, so he naturally knew about this mountain spring. The shaman chuckled and said, "Now that we've finished discussing business, I should be leaving. But you were able to stay in the illusion for so long, which is no wonder you've overcome your inner demon tribulation. Let's meet in reality next time; I don't want to let you into my mental illusion again."

Wei Yuan merely smiled faintly, exuding an air of profound mystery. Then the illusion shattered, and Wei Yuan found himself still in the Enlightenment Chamber, the walls glowing with Daoist talismans and flowing with Daoist energy. The Daoist weapon in his consciousness was already quite perfect, with every detail lifelike.

However, a normal Daoist soldier only has one soldier, while Wei Yuan, this Daoist soldier, was sitting at a desk with a half-written letter on it, and a bronze mirror standing beside it. On the other side was a bookshelf, filled with the history of Tang.

For a moment, Wei Yuan couldn't distinguish between what was a mental illusion and what was real.

The shaman was clearly wary of Wei Yuan, and finally revealed a little information: mental illusions could not only trap enemies, but the opponent could also use them to severely injure oneself. If one encountered an opponent with a firm will and equally proficient in mental illusions, then using an illusion to trap the enemy was tantamount to handing one's vitals to the opponent's blade.

A person who can overcome their inner demon tribulation at this time cannot be overestimated in terms of mental strength and willpower, so the witch did not intend to let Wei Yuan enter her mental illusion again.

What he didn't know was that Wei Yuan hadn't actually overcome his inner demon tribulation. When Wei Yuan was undergoing his tribulation, an invisible inner demon came from beyond the heavens, entered Wei Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness, and then saw hundreds of thousands of mortals…

Thus, for the first time in the mundane world, a mortal died because of their inner demons.

Therefore, Wei Yuan didn't know whether he had overcome the tribulation or not. In any case, he was still irritable and easily angered, his mind was agitated, and he was especially intolerant of insults and provocations. He showed absolutely no signs of the enlightenment and perfect, steel-like will that one would expect after overcoming the tribulation of inner demons.

Wei Yuan checked himself and found he was unharmed, but to prevent the witch from still hiding in the shadows and spying, he calmly left the Enlightenment Chamber, ordered light cavalry to rush to the designated area to meet him, and then flew towards the hot spring himself, making every move as unassuming as possible.

Finally, Wei Yuan flew to the hot spring without any incident and found the jade stone at the bottom of the spring.

The jade felt warm and smooth in his hand, and Wei Yuan's blood surged once more, subtly resonating with the jade. With this precious treasure on his person, Wei Yuan dared not linger outside Qingming and quickly returned. He then contacted the main mountain of Taichu Palace through the Hall of Merit, explaining that he had retrieved a fragment of what appeared to be the boundary stone carried by the patriarch.

Wei Yuan didn't wait long in the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion before a young Taoist appeared in front of him; it was none other than True Lord Yan Shi.

"I heard you obtained a fragment of the Ancestral Boundary Stone? Let me take a look."

Wei Yuan then took out the jade stone, and True Monarch Yan Shi examined it carefully for a long time. After silently calculating with profound wisdom, he nodded after a moment and said, "The aura is slightly off, but this is to be expected. The fragment has been lost for too long, and the boundary stone that the ancestor obtained before attaining enlightenment was also very ordinary. After it was damaged, its quality dropped by one level, and the fragment gradually drifted away from the original.

However, after the patriarch achieved great success in his cultivation, he used the blood of the Heavenly Witch to reforge the boundary stone. This not only repaired the damage but also upgraded the quality of the boundary stone by three levels, making it a celestial stone and laying the foundation for the Taichu Palace. However, the current scale of this mountain is not due to the boundary stone, but rather to the passing away of the patriarch and all the celestial lords, whose bodies turned into precious soil, thus creating the number one mountain gate in the world.

Therefore, this fragment is useless to this sect, but it will be of great use to you. It was a gift from your ancestor when you joined the sect—the boundary stone from which the ancestor established the sect's gate. It has come to pass precisely today. I have just calculated that this fragment will have a significant impact on your future path, so you should keep it.”

Wei Yuan asked, "Then what is the purpose of this fragment?"

True Lord Yan Shi said, "It is used in the same way as a normal boundary stone, but its connection with you is so close that it is unique and even surpasses Qingming. Your control over the boundary will reach its limit, and you can greatly manipulate and change the environment within the boundary."

Wei Yuan's heart stirred, and he thought of a possible place where this treasure could be used.

(End of this chapter)