Longzang

Chapter 942 The Sword Tomb of the World
"So close yet so far," Wei Yuan finally understood the meaning of this phrase.

The immortal city wasn't large; Zhang Sheng's residence and Wei Yuan's own were only a step apart. Wei Yuan locked his divine sense onto his own courtyard, took a step, and found himself in an unfamiliar room.

The room was brightly lit and decorated with a natural charm. The old Taoist priest was counting the grains of rice one by one under the lamplight. Each fist-sized pearl rice grain was carefully placed into a bag if it was slightly flawed. Only the grains that were full of spirit and flawless were placed into the jade basin.

The True Man of the Hoeing Field was startled by the roar. He looked at Wei Yuan, who had descended from the sky, and then at the large hole in the roof. He was speechless for a moment.

"Sorry to bother you." Wei Yuan said awkwardly, then his figure flashed and disappeared again.

This time, Wei Yuan appeared directly beside a large bed, where Feng Tingyu was lying sprawled out, half-revealed, fast asleep.

Before Wei Yuan could react, Feng Tingyu's long hair suddenly stood up, followed by a cheer, and then darkness descended upon Wei Yuan!
As darkness fell, Wei Yuan had vanished. But Feng Tingyu was quick; his toes caught Wei Yuan's clothes, but he was just a hair's breadth away from capturing him.

Wei Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he had escaped quickly. However, the location was still somewhat off; he was surrounded by warm, subtly fragrant water. Amidst the rippling water, some familiar scenery seemed to appear.

With a thought, Wei Yuan rose up and emerged from the water, only to find that he had grown out of a bathtub. Ji Liuli was sitting in the tub, her eyes first flashing with surprise, then looking at him with a half-smile, as the surrounding spiritual energy rapidly gathered towards her fingertips!
"You launched a sneak attack as soon as you got back, in such a hurry..." Before Ji Liuli could finish speaking, a claw that blotted out the sky descended down on his head!

But despite several attempts to reach Wei Yuan in the water, she couldn't catch him; he escaped from the bottom of the bucket. Ji Liuli wasn't annoyed. Since there had been this sneak attack, there would be a second, a third... Thinking of this, she smiled and began to carefully file her nails.

That night, chaos erupted in the immortal city.

The next morning, Wei Yuan walked out of his residence, his expression and movements as usual. The cultivators flying overhead glanced at him, but quickly looked away, as if nothing had happened.

Wei Yuan slowly walked into the council hall, inwardly cursing Ronglong: "He adapted in just one night? Why would he need to do any more exercises?! This guy is so cunning, and he holds grudges too. I almost fell for his tricks!"

When Wei Yuan first started teaching Ronglong arithmetic, he often lost his temper and said things without thinking. For example, he would say things like, "You're such a blockhead," "You can't even do something this simple?" and "What's in your head?"

Seven or eight days later, when he realized he could no longer answer the questions posed by the Molten Dragon, Wei Yuan's eyes began to clear, and his attitude became gentler day by day. At this point, there were still several days before Wei Yuan humbly sought guidance.

Fortunately, Ronglong was broad-minded and did not hold a grudge against Wei Yuan. Instead, he kept giving Wei Yuan questions, using sheets of jade paper full of numbers and formulas to make him reflect on what kind of material his brain was made of.

Only now did Wei Yuan realize the sinister intention behind Ronglong taking out that jade paper in front of Zhang Sheng.

Inside the main hall, apart from Zhang Sheng, all the cultivators from Taichu Palace gradually arrived. At this moment, everyone's expression remained normal, without any surprise, but most of them were still in high spirits.

Wei Yuan took in the expressions of all the cultivators and laughed heartily, almost blurting out the words "Li Wuyu".

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and pulled back from the brink, saying calmly, "Qingming must have had a very difficult time while I was away. But it's okay, the lost time isn't much. We can work together to make up for it..."

All the cultivators remained calm and nodded in agreement.

Wei Yuan was about to inquire about Qingming's progress in various aspects when a thought suddenly struck him, and he looked up at the sky.

Clouds suddenly appeared in the sky, and countless purple tribulation clouds quickly gathered, transforming into a thousand-mile-long cloud layer in the blink of an eye.

Wei Yuan then said, "The Heavenly Tribulation has arrived. Let's stop here for now and I'll go protect my teacher."

Zhu Xiuze said, "We will go too."

So the group left the Immortal City and headed to the Heavenly Tribulation Base. Everyone was eager to know what Dharma form Zhang Sheng would ultimately cultivate after experiencing so many trials and tribulations. Moreover, none of them had ever seen these purple tribulation clouds before.

The tribulation clouds in the sky weren't very large, and their aura wasn't particularly intimidating, far less exaggerated than when Wei Yuan underwent his tribulation. But for some reason, all the cultivators who had already reached the Dharma Aspect stage felt somewhat uneasy, vaguely sensing that if the tribulation were to fall upon them, things might turn out badly.

In the blink of an eye, the appointed time arrived, and the heavenly tribulation descended.

The world suddenly fell silent. A thin beam of light descended from the clouds of calamity. There was no thunder, no magnificent display, just a beam of light, falling silently.

Suddenly, all the cultivators felt a piece of their divine sense was missing. The divine sense that had probed into the Heavenly Tribulation Base had all vanished into thin air, and they didn't even know how it had disappeared. Then, a sudden gust of wind rushed towards them, scattering them in all directions!

In the center of the Heavenly Tribulation Base, an extremely intense light flashed briefly before fading away.

At this time, the huge Heavenly Tribulation Base had been razed to the ground, and all the facilities that had been added by humans later had disappeared into thin air, restoring this land to its original state.

……

Song Cui Xincheng, a beautiful woman in palace attire, sat high in the main hall with a solemn expression and said: "Letter: The duel has arrived. The decisive battle will take place between the two realms in three days. Let Zhang Sheng come and face his death!"

The attendant quickly wrote out the challenge letter, then cautiously asked, "Is there anything else you'd like me to convey? For example, what conditions must be agreed to in order to avoid death?"

A ruthless glint flashed in the eyes of the beautiful woman in palace attire. She said, "No conditions, I only want Zhang's life!" "Wanyi..." Cui Chengxiao called out, but hesitated to speak.

The beautiful woman in palace attire pretended not to hear, and simply played with a nine-layered nested jade ball in her hand.

Cui Chengxiao hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Wanyi, one should always leave room for maneuver. Let's offer them a redemption condition! We can be a little harsh so that we can get something in return and avoid hurting the relationship between the two families."

The palace-dressed beauty gritted her teeth and said, "Impossible! I've been enduring this for months, waiting for this day! There are no conditions to discuss; Zhang Sheng must die!"

Cui Chengxiao sighed inwardly and didn't try to persuade her further. Compared to the beautiful woman in palace attire, Cui Wanyi, he was actually a descendant of his uncle's branch of the Immortal Ancestor's family, and he was the only one in that branch who had achieved the highest status. His position in the Cui family was completely incomparable to that of the beautiful woman in palace attire. He had no right to object to anything she decided, whether it was a small matter or a big one.

Three days later.

At the midpoint between the two realms, the heavens and earth stood solemnly, and the two groups of people had arrived and were facing each other from afar.

The beautiful woman in palace attire, with her hands tucked into her sleeves, flew between the two armies, stood in mid-air, and shouted, "Where is Zhang Sheng? Come out and face your death!"

Zhang Sheng, still dressed in a blue robe, walked out step by step, then stood on the ground, hands behind his back, looking up at the sky. But he wasn't looking at the beautiful woman in palace attire; instead, he gazed at a certain point in the sky and said, "Now that the Immortal Lord has arrived, why not show yourself?"

"You're quite perceptive, young lady."

With that clear, bright sound, a scene appeared in the air. Several ancient pines stood beside a mirror-like lake, their branches covered in pristine white snow. The blue lake, green pines, and white snow created a picturesque scene.

A monk in black robes sat beneath the pine tree, a small red clay teapot beside him, the fire burning brightly, the snow water inside just boiling. He picked up the teapot, poured hot water into a cup, and then sipped it lightly; for a moment, it seemed as if the entire Western Regions were filled with the aroma of tea.

Inside the Azure Formation, Wei Yuan was deeply shocked and quickly and carefully memorized the set design, color scheme, movements, and expressions for future use.

While trying to memorize it, he frantically pulled out a strange object, rubbed it a couple of times to change its shape, attached it to Compassion, turning it into a new spearhead, and then blatantly placed it beside him without any attempt to conceal it.

The immortal in black robes glanced at the spear beside Wei Yuan before saying, "The Yin Bullet, rumored to be able to shorten one's lifespan by ten thousand years, actually exists. Wasn't it said to be lost?"

"I found it again when I was cleaning the courtyard a couple of days ago," Wei Yuan said without changing his expression.

Cui Chengxiao's face darkened: "How dare you! How dare you speak to the Immortal Ancestor like that?"

Wei Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "I always speak to immortals like this. How should I speak? Why don't you teach me later?"

Cui Chengxiao's face darkened. He hadn't expected Wei Yuan to be so blunt. He said coldly, "Young man, you don't know your place. It seems I'll have to teach you a lesson on behalf of your elders!"

Wei Yuan said, "Want to discipline me? Of course, no problem! Then let me ask you one question: Tell me, can your body take a beating?"

Cui Chengxiao's face turned ashen. At this moment, the immortal in the air said, "Enough."

Cui Zhengxing, the immortal ancestor of the Cui family, took a sip of immortal tea and said slowly, "I would never do anything to bully the weak. I came here only to see the rising stars and also to prevent the loss of our ancestral immortal artifact. Let me remind you first that Wanyi has an immortal artifact left by my great-grandfather. It is powerful and difficult to control. If you want to compromise, we can stop here. There is still time, and we can avoid hurting our feelings."

With the Immortal Ancestor before them, the beautiful woman in palace attire dared not speak recklessly. She rolled her eyes and said, "Since the Immortal Ancestor has spoken, we juniors naturally dare not disobey. How about this, you say 'I was wrong' three times in front of everyone, and this matter will end here, how about that?"

Wei Yuan's expression changed drastically, and his hand reached out towards Compassion. The cultivators of the Primordial Palace also felt a surge of killing intent!
Zhang Sheng smiled slightly, looked at the Cui family's immortal ancestor, and said, "Immortal Lord, you are overthinking it. Three months ago, I did not want to bully the weak, so I gave her three months to prepare. After all, she is only a Dharma Aspect Perfection cultivator who cannot reach the Imperial Realm. She is fragile and weak, and without some powerful immortal treasure to protect her, it would be easy for her foundation to be damaged."

But I never expected that such a fortuitous opportunity would arise in the middle of March, and that I would inadvertently cultivate to the Dharma Form. So please rest assured, Immortal Lord, I will hold back and try not to hit you too hard. But a minor punishment as a warning is unavoidable.”

Even with his good temper and deep cunning, Cui Zhengxing's smile vanished at this moment. He said calmly, "If that's the case, let's begin. I also want to broaden my horizons and see just how extraordinary your Dharma form has become."

A sliver of sword light shot out from between Zhang Sheng's brows, instantly soaring into the sky. A vast, ancient palace slowly appeared in the air.

Immortal swords were stuck everywhere—on the palace rooftops, walls, and courtyard grounds. Each sword possessed a unique sword intent; some were still brand new, while others had decayed completely over time.

The gate to the palace complex is made up of countless immortal swords, and the patterns on the swords naturally form four large characters: "Sword Tomb of the World".

At the summit of the central mountain of the Sword Tomb, there were three chairs, upon which sat three Taoist priests, one old, one middle-aged, and one young.

With a snap, the teacup in Cui Zhengxing's hand shattered, and he immediately said, "We admit defeat!"

　It's really difficult to cut it; cutting it anywhere will easily get me criticized, so I'm releasing both chapters at once, including tonight's. There's nothing else tonight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)