Longzang

Chapter 645 Seeking the Dragon
On the main peak of Qingming, Wei Yuan looked up at the sky. The heavens and earth of Qingming were already quite solid, and the cracks in the sky above were gradually showing signs of healing. However, through the cracks, he could still feel the gazes of extraterrestrial demons sweeping over from time to time.

Ever since encountering the extraterrestrial demons, Wei Yuan has found himself exceptionally sensitive to their auras. However, he would rather remain ignorant as before, so he can live a carefree and happy life.

With a multitude of matters at hand and a jumble of thoughts swirling in his mind, Wei Yuan took a deep breath, calmed himself, and began to consider the order in which each matter would unfold.

The first priority is to ensure connectivity between the Netherworld, the Azure Nether, and the mortal realm. The immediate task is to construct a teleportation array to secure the gateway to the mortal realm, creating a permanent passage.

Furthermore, the teleportation array within the Heavenly Abyss Space formed by the extraterrestrial demons also needs to be modified to guard against any hidden threats. After ensuring transportation, Wei Yuan plans to establish an outpost in the Heavenly Abyss Space, dispatching his own Dao Foundation Warriors to take turns guarding it and monitoring the movements of the extraterrestrial demons.

After witnessing the extraterrestrial demons firsthand, the restrictions placed by the immortals on the matter became ineffective on the cultivators of the Primordial Palace. Yu Zhizhuo accepted the task of repairing the teleportation array, but he didn't know how to repair the teleportation array between the Ancestral Master Realm and Qingming.

In theory, one could simply leave a mark in the Netherworld like Wei Yuan did, and then teleport their primordial spirit to the marked location, without needing a teleportation array. However, this was entirely a technique employed by the Imperial Realm. None of the Dharma Aspects in the Primordial Palace possessed a primordial spirit as powerful as Wei Yuan's.

After discussion, it was decided that for the time being, they could only enter the human realm first, and then enter the cold and desolate realm from there.

Wei Yuan then returned to the Netherworld, to the place where he had planted the Ancestral Boundary Stone. The place had now turned into fertile black soil, and in the soil stood a delicate blue boundary stone.

Within a hundred miles of the boundary stone, the world was filled with a rich array of colors, though all of them had a slight bluish tinge.

Wei Yuan placed his hand on the boundary stone and silently sensed it. As the boundary expanded, some of the primordial energy of heaven and earth was transformed, and the information of the Ancestral Boundary Stone began to slowly emerge.

After this boundary stone was re-erected, it absorbed the primordial energy of heaven and earth and connected with the fundamental Dao. It has already been given a name from the Dao of Heaven: Spring Blossom Dao Stone.

This stone is based on wood, and fire is generated from wood, making it an extremely powerful source of life fire. Its properties are somewhat incompatible with the Netherworld, even showing a degree of antagonism.

This stone possesses extremely strong properties, and its domain expands rapidly. All the demons of the Netherworld who cannot adapt to the new domain are fleeing in terror. A few stubborn ones refuse to leave and instead begin to resist the power of the domain.

Before Wei Yuan could intervene, the Spring Blossom Stone automatically mobilized the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, concentrating the power of the realm on those few demons. Those demons let out a miserable scream, spewed out a ball of green fire from their mouths, and were burned to ashes from the inside out!

Several demonic beings at the Dharma Aspect level died swiftly and decisively, without even having a chance to struggle.

Wei Yuan stared in disbelief. It seemed that the Ancestral Master's boundary stone had a rather fiery temperament.

However, thinking back to the patriarch back then, he must have had a fiery temper. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stormed into the Witch Realm so soon after becoming an immortal, and forcibly killed the First Witch under the siege of three veteran Heavenly Witches.

At this moment, the remaining information about the Boundary Stone gradually emerged. The Spring Blossom Dao Stone possessed two characteristics and one divine mystery, the latter being named the Meaning of Life. This divine mystery could make the inhabitants of the boundary strong and less prone to death. If that were all, it would be similar to the Wood of Jia generating Xuan, and still far from the Wood of Jian generating Xuan that would later advance.

The power of the Will of Life lies in the fact that a Realm Lord can designate several beings and preserve their primordial spirit and essence within a Dao Stone. Even if they die outside, they can be resurrected using the power of the Realm through this essence and primordial spirit. However, this person will lose most of their cultivation and most of their memories.

At this point, the Dao Stone can be inscribed with three people; when it reaches its full potential, it can be inscribed with seven people.

Seeing the power of life, Wei Yuan could only marvel at the strength of the Ancestral Boundary Stone.

The other two characteristics are: one is the Flame of Spring, which is an offensive technique that possesses the power of perfect Dharma form when cast.

The second characteristic is called "Remnants of Ancestral Power." Within the realm, humans receive comprehensive buffs, while non-humans are suppressed and weakened. Furthermore, if non-humans display strong hostility, they may provoke an autonomous attack from the Dao Stone.

Having read this far, Wei Yuan had a better understanding of the attitude of the founding patriarch of the Taichu Palace towards the alien races.

However, since this is the Netherworld, Wei Yuan sealed the autonomous attack function of the Dao Stone, which was left by the remnants of his ancestors. Otherwise, if the great demons like the Dream Eater came to visit, they would probably have to eat a Spring Fire first.

At this moment, Sun Yu walked over and said, "I have already seen all the witches and people in the city within the palace, and I have interviewed dozens of them one by one. They are all witches and people who died in the battle against the extraterrestrial demons. Shu Li protected them with the power of the kingdom and allowed them to live in the palace. Therefore, these witches are all heroic spirits who fought against the demons."

After saying that, Sun Yu remained silent, awaiting Wei Yuan's decision.

Wei Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the seemingly empty sky of the Netherworld. After a moment, he finally made a decision and said, "I will open another portal and send them into the human world. What happens after that is up to their fate."

What would happen if the shaman's spirit entered the mortal world was self-evident. Sun Yu said nothing, but his eyes showed admiration.

A moment later, Sun Yu brought all the spirits of the city's sorcerers to the front of the main hall. Wei Yuan opened the gate leading to the human world and ordered the sorcerers to enter.

The witch people were no longer numb; some wore expressions of despair, others of anger, and some even lunged at Wei Yuan, hurling vicious curses. But they were all survivors of a catastrophe, their primordial spirits extremely weak. Wei Yuan merely used a little of the Spring Flame to reduce these witch people to ashes.

Under the coercion of the surrounding cultivators, one by one, the spirits of the Wumin entered the mortal realm. As soon as they emerged, they found themselves suspended in mid-air, with a vast ocean below. They screamed and plummeted into the sea.

Once they entered the human world, the spirits of the shamans were as if they had been doused with boiling oil, struggling in agony. After falling into the sea, they were as if they had fallen into strong acid, and were instantly corroded into ashes.

One by one, the spirits of the sorcerers vanished into the sea, and then one by one, individuals emerged from the black pool beneath the Gate of All Realms. They were somewhat bewildered when they first emerged, but soon someone appeared before them and gathered all of these reincarnated individuals together.

About half an hour later, the spirits of more than nine thousand shamans all entered the human world.

Immediately, Wei Yuan ascended into the air and proclaimed, "Any of you who remain hidden have one last chance: come out on your own, and you may be reborn. If you hide, you will only face annihilation!" Wei Yuan repeated this three times, and ultimately, less than a hundred of the sorcerers emerged and entered the mortal realm. Seeing that no one else would come out, Wei Yuan immediately activated the residual power of his past life. A burst of azure flames erupted from the Dao Stone, then transformed into hundreds of sparks that flew in all directions!

Screams erupted instantly as the Wu Clan members hiding in the shadows were set ablaze, along with many of the Legion Beasts that had been lying in wait.

After a burst of flying fire passed through Wei Yuan's realm, he felt the entire area had become much cleaner. Following this, he tallied the number of humans reborn from the human world's fires, finding approximately a thousand. Generally, eight Witch Clan heroic spirits could be transformed into a human primordial spirit body.

Wei Yuan then placed these reincarnated people into the Netherworld. Sure enough, many people showed expressions of both joy and confusion on their faces, and many people strangely twisted their bodies, trying to find the limbs and organs that no longer existed.

Wei Yuan then ordered his men to take them to the Witch City in the main hall. These reincarnated people immediately dispersed and naturally went to different places. Then, they instinctively picked up tools and froze there, not understanding why they were doing this.

As expected, as heroic spirits, their primordial spirits become extremely tenacious. Even after being refined by the mundane world and reincarnated through the gates of various realms, these witch people still miraculously retain a little bit of their previous life's habits.

At this point, Wei Yuan couldn't help but feel a sense of respect. However, no matter how much respect he felt, Wei Yuan would not change his course of action. This place was far too important; he would never leave any potential trouble behind.

The reincarnated beings adapted quite well to the current Netherworld, as if they had lived there for generations. They each found their place to work and settled down, awaiting further orders.

Wei Yuan then used his divine sense to scan the entire hall, and then sent the map of Wucheng's distribution to the mortal world.

The system immediately analyzes the distribution of the entire city and the workplace of the reincarnated person, then plans where to demolish first, where to move next, and then plans a new city.

Because the Spring Blossom Stone is located outside the main hall, the new city is built around the stone, and a sturdy fortress will be built on top of the stone to defend against possible attacks.

Just as Wei Yuan was busy as a bee, atop a distant, towering peak, Hongye and Shuli stood side by side. Shuli suddenly let out a heavy snort and said, "That kid is ruthless! He wiped out all the witch people I left there, not a single one left!"

Hongye said, "So your defeat was not unjust."

"I hope he can really suppress that monster, otherwise I'll never forgive him!"

Hongye sighed and looked helplessly at Shuli, saying, "You should change your stubborn temper. You no longer have a kingdom and are no longer a threat to them. After I leave, as long as you can swallow your anger and wait until your avatar has cultivated enough, Longzhe should give you another chance to establish a kingdom. After all, the pressure has been increasing over the past few hundred years, and every Netherworld Witch is very important. Naturally, the more kingdoms the better."

"I..." Shu Li hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

"You have to endure it even if you can't!" Hongye had already seen through his thoughts.

Shu Li slowly nodded, then said, "My lord, I still don't understand why you were willing to take that shot?"

"My fate was sealed the moment I failed to defeat Qingming. If I hadn't taken that bullet, you would all have died because of me. And some old guys up there are very wary of the Yang Bullet in Wei Yuan's hands, so they have to use it up. By doing this, you have a glimmer of hope."

Hongye patted Shuli on the shoulder one last time and said, "Remember, don't be his enemy. After all, I lost in a direct battle, and I accepted the defeat wholeheartedly. You are no match for him."

Shu Li nodded with difficulty.

After several busy days, Wei Yuan was finally able to relax once everything was arranged. He then returned to Qingming and went to Zhang Sheng's residence.

The room was quiet and filled with a subtle fragrance. The aroma of the celestial tea rose in the mist, gently caressing a stunningly beautiful face.

Zhang Sheng, dressed in a moon-white silk robe, sat upright at the desk, consulting the Daoist canon. Upon Wei Yuan's arrival, she slowly raised her eyes, her limpid gaze filled with delight. Setting down her book, Zhang Sheng rose, smiled, and asked, "All done?"

Wei Yuan was distracted by Zhang Sheng's smile and almost forgot the purpose of his visit. He quickly composed himself and said, "The arrangements are almost complete. Now we just have to wait. By the way, teacher, I have a question. Hongye said that the Heavenly Abyss Demon Tide suddenly broke out nineteen years ago, and that seems to have been the time when you went down the mountain to search for the dragon."

Zhang Sheng seemed thoughtful and said, "It's strange, I don't know why I suddenly wanted to go looking for dragons back then. Actually, thinking about it now, even if there was no dragon energy, there were many things that could be used as substitutes."

The Heavenly Abyss Demonic Tide… Although I didn’t feel it, many great changes did occur in the mortal realm that year. I later inexplicably lost my Dao power and didn’t leave Yongzhou for three years.”

At this point, Zhang Sheng rolled his eyes at Wei Yuan and said, "...and then he ran into you, his traitorous disciple?"

Her subtle expression, so natural and effortless, radiated beauty, illuminating the world.

Wei Yuan's heart stirred again, and he went to Zhang Sheng's side, saying, "This disciple has another matter."

"What is it? Speak."

"I now possess a dragon within me. Would you like to find out where it is..."

Zhang Sheng let out a soft cry and turned to escape, but was grabbed and pulled into a burning embrace.

(End of this chapter)