Longzang

Chapter 783 Half a Day of Absence
With the selection finalized, everyone in the village, whether they could move or not, dispersed. Even a thatched hut sighed and closed its windows.

The bald boy followed Wei Yuan and Xuan Yue out of the mountain. Although Wei Yuan was naturally wary of the bald boy, there was nothing he could do about it, so he could only accept it.

"May I ask what your background is, Master?" Wei Yuan asked respectfully.

The young man laughed and said, "I don't deserve the title of 'master' or anything like that. My former master was a bit obsessive. After becoming the first deputy palace master, he became so arrogant that he insisted on going out to seek revenge. He was also a bit of a germaphobe, and he wanted to get rid of anyone even remotely related to his enemies. As a result, he wiped out four Arhats, more than a dozen Vajras, countless strongmen, and tens of thousands of monks in one go."

This angered the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land, which dispatched the Victorious Fighting Buddha and three Guardian Buddhas. The master was no match for them and died. But after he died, he went to reincarnate and enjoy freedom, while I fell into the hands of those bald men. They said I had too much malevolent energy and was burdened with karmic debts, so they put me in front of the Buddha and made me listen to the sutras for hundreds of years.

Later, the Palace Master finally returned from beyond the heavens and retrieved me from the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land. And now I'm like this. Alas, you don't know how mighty I was back then. With just a shake of my body, my Dharma form would instantly turn to blood. Now, I'm useless. I've even forgotten how to fight after listening to sutras.”

Wei Yuan grew increasingly alarmed as he listened, and quickly asked again, "And who is the Palace Master?"

"This is the one right now! He's one of the longest-lived palace masters. But this old fellow is very cunning. Whenever he gets the chance, he hides away in the heavens to avoid trouble. No one can do anything about him, and nobody knows what he's plotting. Sigh, after he brought me back, he disappeared again, and I'm stuck in this little village. To be honest, I really miss the days when I listened to the sutras."

Wei Yuan's sense of unease grew stronger, and he subconsciously asked, "May I ask which Buddha you are listening to the sutras before, senior?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Yuan knew things were going badly and wished he could slap himself!

But it was too late to make amends now. The young man, with a bright and cheerful smile, said, "Naturally, it is the Great Joyful King Buddha!"

Suddenly, a passage of obscure scripture surfaced in Wei Yuan's mind. It was entirely composed of extremely complex runes, yet its meaning emerged naturally. The general meaning was: Anyone who recites my name, meditates on my name, or even just hears my name will draw closer to the supreme truth.
Praise me, draw near to me, become me.

Seeing that Wei Yuan's expression suddenly turned extremely pale, Xuan Yue asked with concern, "What's wrong? Did something suddenly come to mind?"

Wei Yuan forced a smile and said, "No, it's nothing."

This struggle, at the level of reincarnation and the Great Dao of Cause and Effect, is unpredictable and fraught with countless traps at every step. No one knows whether a certain thought or moment is a trap set by an immortal. However, Wei Yuan believed that the Tai Chu Palace had been able to suppress the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land for over a thousand years. As the number one among the younger generation, if anything bad were to happen to him, the Tai Chu Palace would not be unable to protect him.

Given Xuan Yue Zhenjun's temperament, if he knew about this, he might secretly sneak into the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land and try to steal and destroy the Dharma image of the Joyful King Buddha. Wei Yuan felt it was better to wait until the Patriarch ascended to immortality before devising a plan.

Halfway through the journey, the boy said, "I will reside temporarily inside your body. If you encounter danger, you can awaken me. But you will only have one chance to awaken me, so remember that."

At this moment, Wei Yuan noticed that the sky was darkening, as if a mountain rain was about to come. There was not much light left, and the surrounding mountains and forests looked somewhat desolate.

The boy said, “Have you noticed? We’re actually just barely surviving here, waiting for the opportunities of future generations. If we don’t meet a new master, we’ll just slowly recuperate here and preserve our vitality. The last time Xuanlu came out, and this time when I came out, each time we’ve consumed a lot of the immortal energy accumulated here. When the immortal spiritual energy is insufficient, it will show signs of decay.”

Wei Yuan then realized that summoning a celestial weapon was an extraordinary opportunity. And the price, naturally, was paid by Xuan Yue.

"I have not yet asked your name, senior."

"Just call me Lotus Lantern." Then the boy transformed into a stream of light and landed in Wei Yuan's left hand, where he turned into a lotus petal on the back of his hand.

Once they left the secret realm, Xuan Yue said, "You possess a celestial weapon; I'll escort you on your way."

Then, True Monarch Xuan Yue took Wei Yuan and flew towards Qingming. On the way, Wei Yuan asked, "Are those in the mountain village all immortal weapons left behind by the senior immortals?"

Xuan Yue nodded: "Most of them are like that, but a small number have had their Dao bodies destroyed, leaving only a spirit. These can't leave and can only maintain their spirituality in the secret realm. Although their spirituality will gradually dissipate, it will prolong their lifespan considerably."

"With so many celestial weapons, why didn't you or the other patriarchs use them when they made their moves?"

Xuan Yue said, "Immortal weapons also have different levels. Those that do not reach the level of peerless divine weapons cannot transcend the shackles of the Great Dao. Moreover, using them once consumes a huge amount of energy and incurs great karma. Even I can't unleash many attacks. Furthermore, we are not the original owners of the immortal weapons and have not gained their approval. Even if we obtain them, we cannot unleash their full power. Only after ascending to immortality can we successfully master them."

But since one can ascend to immortality, who wouldn't have their own magical treasures that they've been refining and nurturing for a long time? Once they successfully ascend, their favored treasures, having survived the immortal tribulations, naturally become immortal weapons, and they no longer need to use others'.

"Then aren't these celestial soldiers useless here?"

"That's not quite right. They usually commemorate their predecessors, but when it comes to life and death, they can unseal the immortal weapons. One immortal weapon is equivalent to the original owner's full-force attack. Back when the fourth immortal master passed away and the fifth palace master had not yet ascended to immortality, he was forced to use two immortal weapons to severely injure two great enemies and ensure that the Taichu Palace's mountain gate would not fall."

There's also a secret weapon left by the founding patriarch sealed within this mountain. So, if someone truly wants to destroy my Taichu Palace, they'd have to spare the life of someone of the caliber of the First Heavenly Witch.

Only now did Wei Yuan see the tip of the iceberg of the Taichu Palace's true potential.

Upon returning to Qingming, Xuan Yue will remain there temporarily, awaiting Wei Yuan's return from his exploration.

Xuan Yue was eager to risk his life for Wei Yuan, but his own mental world was already fully developed, though he hadn't become an immortal. Without the means to transform between the real and the virtual, he couldn't enter Wei Yuan's mortal realm. If Xuan Yue entered, it would be tantamount to an attack on the world, and the sheer pressure of his mental world alone would cause serious damage to the mortal realm.

Even with Xuan Yue's temperament, she could only obediently wait for the results. At this moment, several thousand mortals had already settled in the fragment of the outer world, and hundreds of research projects were being carried out simultaneously. An eight-story building had been built right next to the teleportation gate, where more than three thousand people were working non-stop. Maintaining the lighting alone required five hundred strands of azure energy every day.

Including other bases, outposts, and the costs of maintaining the light path, the basic maintenance cost of this fragment of the world is two thousand units of Qi every day. If you do nothing for a month, sixty thousand units of Qi will be gone.

Therefore, when Wei Yuan saw the bright lights in the broken world, his heart bled. Every ray of light here was obtained by burning away one's luck.

Fortunately, after gathering the refugees, he gained a lot of new fortune. Looking at the three million green qi he had accumulated, Wei Yuan felt much more at ease and thought that he could still use it for some time.

After entering the world fragment, Wei Yuan gathered his combat troops and began final preparations for entering the building.

The first step was to thoroughly clear the area between the inner and outer light paths, creating a harmless zone 300 zhang wide, completely eliminating the possibility of monsters launching sneak attacks and providing support. This step was basically completed, with only a few areas remaining to be cleared.

After Wei Yuan painstakingly cleared these areas, he gained two more streams of profound energy. Meanwhile, research behind the scenes showed that the more territory cleared, the looser the suppression of the rules of the entire world fragment became, and the stronger the monsters were.

The cleanup of the outer perimeter took ten days; the next step is to clear the area surrounding the entire building. This is a vast area spanning several hundred square feet, where monsters frequently emerge from the building, making it extremely dangerous.

Wei Yuan proceeded cautiously, gradually encroaching on the area in small increments, erecting lampposts at each encroaching location to illuminate the surroundings, slowly transforming the area around the building into a bright plaza.

Perhaps due to the loosening of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, Wei Yuan did not see the light of day this time, nor did he see those black birds again.

Just as the road leading to the building's entrance was about to be completed, the research institute behind the building made new progress. They deciphered part of the language used in this world, and the meaning of the string of runes on the building's name wall was: Umbrella Biotechnology...

Upon seeing this name, Wei Yuan felt rather disappointed. Biotechnology? Just by looking at the state of this fragmented world, one could tell what level the original creatures here were at—at least a hundred thousand miles inferior to the original world with its path to immortality.

As for the information technology Xu Wenwu mentioned, to be honest, Wei Yuan doesn't really need it right now. After the last illusion, Wei Yuan knew that a cultivator's spiritual sense speed far exceeded that of ordinary mortals; their Dharma Aspect's computing power was already terrifying, and immortals were practically mobile supercomputers. Instead of researching how to manufacture chips, it would be better to build more Dao Foundations, which could not only calculate but also fight.

What Wei Yuan wanted most at this moment was materials technology, but unfortunately, it wasn't available.

Wei Yuan composed himself and stood at the entrance of the building, with thousands of cultivators gathered behind him. At this moment, the bald-headed youth appeared beside Wei Yuan, also surveying the building.

Wei Yuan then asked, "Senior Lotus Lantern, how are you feeling?"

The boy exclaimed, "So plump and delicious!"

Wei Yuan never expected such an evaluation. He wanted to ask more questions, but Lian Deng refused to elaborate.

With everything ready, Wei Yuan was about to step into the main entrance of the building when he was suddenly stopped by the young man, who said, "Wait a little longer, there's one more side dish that hasn't arrived yet, it'll be here soon."

Wei Yuan was taken aback, then stood still and waited patiently. After a short while, a familiar figure hurried over; it was Ji Liuli.

She patted her chest and said, "I lost track of time while reading, but luckily we made it in time! I'll go in with you; that way, it'll help relieve some of your stress."

Senior Sister is just a side dish? Wei Yuan turned his head, only to find that the lotus lantern had disappeared, and the lotus petals on the back of his hand were gone as well.

Wei Yuan wanted to object, but Ji Liuli said, "It's alright! I have the ancestral master suppressing the fortune, so you won't be in any danger inside. Don't worry!"

Wei Yuan nodded, walked side by side with Ji Liuli into the building entrance, and disappeared instantly.

The world changes.

A tightly closed, smooth steel door appeared in front of Wei Yuan. The area around him was crowded with people, all dressed in sharp suits and looking very smart, but they all looked anxious and kept checking the time.

Numbers flashed intermittently on the screen by the door: 23, 25, 26… pausing briefly after almost every number. The waiting people were extremely anxious, occasionally muttering curses under their breath. Wei Yuan was also inexplicably agitated, his eyes fixed on the fluctuating numbers, almost bulging out of their sockets.

The number finally decreased from large to small, eventually reaching 1. The elevator doors opened, and Wei Yuan rushed in. The elevator was instantly packed with people, and then the overload alarm sounded.

Amidst the accusations of those around them, the two people on the outermost edge reluctantly withdrew, and only then did the elevator proceed smoothly upwards.

Wei Yuan was extremely anxious, but people were going down to almost every floor. After going down floor by floor, he finally reached his floor. He sprinted all the way to the company gate and stopped in front of the attendance machine.

A green light swept across his face, then examined his pupils, before a cold, ruthless voice rang out: "Six minutes late, half a day of absence."

(End of this chapter)