Loan Wusheng

"kill!"

The sounds of battle cries filled the air beneath the walls of Daliang City.

The Crown Prince of Wei, his face deathly pale, stared at the generals left to defend the capital of Wei, and cried out as if insane, "Can we hold out?! Has the message for help reached Qingzhou? When will my father return?!"

Seeing the Crown Prince of Wei in such a state, the generals of the Outer Gang and the Tongqiao Sect all fell silent. Some of them had even written letters of surrender to the Han army outside the city.

The reason is simple: the Han army was too strong.

The army besieging Daliang numbered no less than 600,000, and there were as many as five Yuan Dan Martial Saints.

With such a configuration, how could Daliang City possibly be defended?

Even if the King of Wei were to withdraw his troops, there would be nothing he could do!

not to mention……

They heard that the emperor of the Han Dynasty had already attained the status of a Dharma Image True Lord, and that no one under heaven could compare to him.

They were all from powerful local families in Jinzhou, so naturally they had to consider the interests of their families.

Faced with a war that is destined to be lost, there is nothing more to consider.

The Crown Prince of Wei staggered back two steps, his fingertips almost digging into the armrest of the throne: "You have received the emperor's favor for generations... and now you can't even come up with a single solution!"

The hoarse voice of the Crown Prince of Wei echoed in the empty hall, while the ministers lowered their heads even further and remained silent.

"Your Highness, the Great Xuantian Gang Formation in the city has not been completely broken! Even if the enemy is strong and well-equipped, with five Yuan Dan cultivators guarding it, they cannot conquer Daliang City in a short time. They can hold out for at least ten days!"

Just then, the sound of clanging armor broke the silence, and a young general with blood-stained silver armor stepped forward: "During this time, I am willing to lead my elite soldiers to open the small path at the south gate and escort the prince to Qingzhou overnight!"

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince of Wei looked up, a glint of anticipation in his eyes: "Really?"

Just as a glimmer of hope ignited in the heart of the Prince of Wei, a deafening roar suddenly erupted outside the palace.

The generals' expressions changed drastically, and the Crown Prince of Wei was also taken aback. Then, led by the Crown Prince of Wei, they rushed out of the Wei Palace and looked up at the source of the sound.

A majestic mountain appeared, breaking through the clouds. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a magnificent palace shrouded in purple mist, with the three characters "Taiji Palace" on the plaque shining like stars.

Before the Taiji Palace, a majestic figure stood with his hands behind his back, the 'Lord of the World' Dharma image unfolding behind him, enveloping the entire Daliang City in a magnificent imperial aura.

Purple aura travels three thousand miles eastward, and the phantom image of nine cauldrons suppresses the heavens!

Zheng Jun stood before the Taiji Palace, his imperial robes fluttering in the wind, his gaze sweeping across the city walls of Daliang like lightning.

In that instant, the entire city fell into a deathly silence, and even the spiritual light of the city's protective array froze.

"Not surrendering?"

Zheng Jun's voice wasn't loud, but it resounded like thunder in everyone's ears: "I gave you all a chance."

Before the words were finished, the Taiji Palace suddenly burst forth with golden light, and nine golden dragons of fortune spiraled out from the palace walls, instantly tearing apart the Heavenly Gang Formation above Daliang City!
The silver-armored general had just drawn his sword when he was suddenly crushed as if by a mountain. His knees shattered the floor tiles, and he collapsed to the ground, blood oozing from his seven orifices. He died instantly.

The Crown Prince of Wei looked up at the towering Dharma Image True Lord, his pupils trembling violently. He forced out a hoarse gasp and collapsed to the ground as if all the bones in his body had been removed.

Why is there a Dharma Image True Lord?
Why is it that Zheng Jun, who has cultivated for ten years and is younger than me, has already become a Dharma Aspect True Lord?!

"Your Highness! Surrender!"

An old general behind him advised, "The Han Emperor has already attained the status of a True Lord of Dharma, even if His Highness the King of Wei were to come in person..."

"shut up!"

The Crown Prince of Wei's eyes flashed like lightning, and his heart was filled with surging anger.

He suddenly gathered his energy, and his true essence surged like a raging torrent, unleashing a deafening roar from his dantian. Crimson flames ignited inch by inch in his meridians, and every drop of his essence blood burned, transforming into the most resolute resistance.

"I am a descendant of the Great Zhou imperial family; I would rather die a glorious death than live a shameful life!"

Before he could finish speaking, the blazing fire had already engulfed him completely.

He completely self-immolated.

Seeing this, none of the Wei palace officials present tried to stop it. Only after the Wei prince had turned to ashes did an old minister suddenly speak up: "Where is the Han prince? Quickly go and invite the Han prince to open the city gates..."

Just then, a general at the Outer Strength Realm spoke up to remind him, "Lord Liao, the Crown Prince of Han has already gone to the city gate and is preparing to open the city gate."

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, the assembled officials were taken aback.

The general then spoke up, his tone somewhat sour: "Princess Qingning, daughter of the King of Han, is now a Noble Consort of the Han Dynasty. According to the relationship, the Emperor of Han can be considered the brother-in-law of the King of Han's heir. Naturally, the King of Han's heir is eager to surrender. Once he gets there, he will also be a duke or marquis."

"Gentlemen, we can discuss this matter later! For now, we must hurry to the city gate to surrender. If the Crown Prince of Han takes the credit for surrendering, it will be too late!"

……

The Han army easily took control of the present-day state.

With the fall of Daliang City, the Central Plains of the present state can be considered to have changed hands. The remaining counties and prefectures can be described as being settled with a simple proclamation.

Zheng Jun resided high within the Taiji Palace, moving with the army.

The Han army, numbering 1.6 million, set out in an endless stream.

The Northern Rong and Western Di armies, together with the Yunzhou army, first attacked Qingzhou, while the troops from other prefectures and counties headed south to take Pengzhou.

Pengzhou was naturally easy to take, since all the Yuan Dan Martial Saints were gathered in Qingzhou, and Pengzhou had no Yuan Dan Martial Saints stationed there. With the combined offensive of the troops from various prefectures and counties, plus the support of the local gentry of Pengzhou, taking it would be no difficulty at all.

The main difficulty lies in Qingzhou.

That's why Zheng Jun ordered the Northern Rong and Western Di to be the vanguard in filling the ditches, the Yunzhou border troops to be the main force in the attack, and the Wang family father and son to be the vanguard commanders for the time being.

Zheng Jun himself is currently practicing the art of separating consciousness within the Taiji Palace.

This technique of separating consciousness is not difficult for martial artists at the Dharma Aspect realm.

Using the 'Dharma Form' as cover, one can extract a wisp of divine consciousness, and even use this wisp of divine consciousness to put on airs, like the Buddha of the Western Paradise, to display the power of the Dharma Form.

However, compared to the Buddha of the Western Paradise, Zheng Jun is not yet as skilled and can only display the power of his Dharma form, which is several tens of feet long, in order to put on airs.

As for the strength of this wisp of divine consciousness itself...

Not big.

However, Zheng Jun could use this wisp of divine consciousness to transmit his own supernatural powers to fight the enemy. Although he was not a Dharma Aspect level opponent, he could still kill those who had reached the Qi Opening stage or the Yuan Dan stage.

"Your Majesty, the army..."

Inside the Taiji Palace, Chen Jingzhong submitted a memorial to the emperor, reporting on the current state of the battle.

Zheng Jun didn't care much about this. He listened to it briefly, nodded and praised it, and then ordered the cabinet to draft the plan themselves without having to report every detail.

After the cabinet ministers left, Zheng Jun prepared to begin his first exploration of the outside world.

This is primarily a test, not a attempt to seize the source.

Zheng Jun sat cross-legged on the cloud platform, his body surrounded by purple energy like an inverted galaxy. His eyes were slightly closed, and his fingertips traced mysterious patterns in the void.

"rise!"

With a soft shout, a golden mark suddenly appeared between Zheng Jun's brows, and strands of divine consciousness were peeled away like silk threads being unraveled.

The excruciating pain felt like a thousand ants gnawing at his brain, but his expression remained unchanged, and the muscles beneath his imperial robes were taut as iron.

Although this method of distraction does not harm the root cause, it is as painful as having a piece of flesh and blood ripped out.

"Condensation!"

Nine illusory images of cauldrons appeared above his head, and the cauldron handles collided, producing a sound like a great bell.

The wisp of divine consciousness suddenly contracted, transforming into a fragment of soul, its body entwined with a faint dragon-shaped aura.

From Zheng Jun's perspective, however, there was an additional line of sight in front of him.

Zheng Jun now only feels...

It felt like I had two computers running in an internet cafe.

The images on the two monitors are slightly different.

Fortunately, Zheng Jun is still a Dharma Aspect True Lord, and he still has the ability to multitask. So he immediately raised his hand, and his true essence surged, directly tearing the space in front of him. A pitch-black rift appeared out of thin air, and the gale-force wind howled out from the rift like a knife, but it was completely blocked by the Nine Cauldrons phantom when it touched this wisp of divine soul.

"go."

The purple-gold figure transformed into a stream of light and disappeared into the rift. In the instant he passed through the spatial barrier, Zheng Jun felt all five senses vanish, as if he had fallen into boundless chaos.

This wisp of divine soul surged with purple energy, manifesting a ten-zhang-tall illusory form. After entering this chaos, there was no distinction between heaven and earth, only raging chaotic winds and floating shattered continents.

Two nebulae in the distance stood out: one was crimson red like blood, and the other was a mix of blue and yellow.

According to the memories of the Great Sage Who Overturned the Sea, the crimson color, like blood, was the Luo Tian Realm.

The Luo Tian Realm is teeming with ghosts and was once a peaceful and harmonious place. However, a major upheaval occurred there, leading to an increase in the number of ghosts and an imbalance in the natural order.

According to the memories of the Great Sage Who Overturns the Sea, this Luo Tian Realm is actually more in line with the image of 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio' in Zheng Jun's memory.

The martial artists... or rather, cultivators of this Luo Tian Realm are not actually very skilled. The main reason is the strength of the ghosts. Even a Yuan Dan Martial Saint can become a local overlord if he enters it, and the Dharma Aspects are even more unique.

However, the Great Sage Overturning the Seas once glimpsed the Luo Tian Realm and found that the Heavenly Dao of the Luo Tian Realm was somewhat abnormal and mad. If one did not have the ability, going there might drive one insane by the Heavenly Dao of the Luo Tian Realm. Therefore, the Great Sage Overturning the Seas never entered the Luo Tian Realm and marked it as dangerous.

The other nebula, interwoven with green and yellow hues, is the Xuanhuang Realm.

The Xuanhuang Realm is the cultivation world that Zheng Jun is quite familiar with. "The Luotian Realm is too eerie and is not a normal world. On the other hand, the Xuanhuang Realm seems quite normal, and the Great Sage Fuhai also has a basic understanding of the Xuanhuang Realm."

After pondering for a moment, Zheng Jun manipulated this wisp of divine soul and sped towards the Azure-Yellow Nebula.

Zheng Jun's wisp of soul had no physical form; it was like a gentle breeze that quickly swept past and disappeared into the blue-yellow nebula. Looking back, he could still see the earthy-yellow nebula in his direction.

"Let's go in and take a look first, then we'll figure out how to steal the source."

……

Xuanhuang Boundary, the border of the Eastern Continent, Southern Qi.

"Boom!"

A bolt of purple lightning cleaved the sky, startling birds and beasts in the mountains and fields into scattering.

The sudden thunderclap caused panic in the surrounding area, and many cultivators took to the air, feeling as if a rare treasure had descended upon the world, and came to search for it.

After searching for a while, they found no treasure, as if it were just a sudden clap of thunder, and left dejectedly.

However, most of the cultivators had already left on their magical artifacts, with only a few remaining unwilling to give up and still searching the spot, hoping to find the treasure.

Among them was a boy.

The boy's name was Shao Jin. He was the young patriarch of the Shao family, a cultivation family of the Xuantian Sect in the Southern Qi Dynasty, and was responsible for overseeing the sect's medicinal fields.

The Shao family and the He family have always been at odds. Not long ago, the He family took advantage of the Shao family's failure to fulfill their duties in the medicinal herb fields and their failure to hand over the herbs on time, which led to their punishment by the sect. They then launched a ruthless attack and wiped out the entire Shao family. Only this young man at the sixth level of Qi Refining escaped with his life.

The young man endured humiliation and hardship, only wanting to avenge his family and wipe away the shame he had suffered.

Therefore, in the eyes of this young man, the rare treasures here might be his destiny!
"Damn it, where is this treasure? Could this strange phenomenon be just a coincidence, or... has it already been stolen by those Foundation Establishment cultivators?"

Shao Jin clenched his fists, his eyes filled with resentment.

As the mountain fog thickened, it swallowed Shao Jin's figure up into the lush greenery.

He pushed aside the thorns, oblivious to the bloodstains on his fingertips. Several roars of beasts echoed in the distance, startling him so much that he quickly formed a hand seal, and a layer of pale blue protective aura emanated from his body.

"There are even Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts in these deep mountains. If we can't find any opportunities..."

Shao Jin gritted his teeth and pulled out a crumpled talisman from his pocket. This was a 'Spirit-Seeking Talisman' that his father had given him before the destruction of his family. It could sense any unusual spiritual energy within a ten-mile radius.

After searching for a long time without any movement, Shao Jin couldn't help but sigh in disappointment and decided to silently return to the market.

Zheng Jun, on the other hand, watched the whole thing.

After all, Zheng Jun is now like a gentle breeze.

In this realm, perhaps only those at the peak of the Golden Core stage and those at the Nascent Soul stage can perceive their own existence.

Zheng Jun originally wanted to search the boy's soul to see how things were going, but when Zheng Jun's wisp of soul descended, he sensed a sense of rejection, which made Zheng Jun reduce the frequency as much as possible, conceal his aura, and deal with it only as an observer.

At the same time, Zheng Jun thought to himself, 'The laws of this world are so repulsive to outsiders; it seems that stealing its origin will be truly difficult.'

How can the source be stolen?
To be honest, Zheng Jun had no clue either, so he could only start thinking.

The so-called origin of heaven and earth is a way of bestowing gifts from the heavenly way of this world.

After some thought, Zheng Jun realized that there were currently two ways to steal the source.

One method is to seize the source, which involves finding something similar to the earth veins in this world, commonly known as spiritual veins. The person then steals the spiritual vein, escapes back to the Yama Realm, and places it in their own territory. This is considered as seizing the source.

However, this method is no different from robbing a bank.

The only option was to grab it and run before the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm could react.

The risk is extremely high, and even if you succeed, it will be very difficult to continue stealing.

Another way is to steal.

By secretly cultivating the methods of this world and reaching the Golden Core or Nascent Soul realms, one can steal a portion of the original essence.

only……

To do this, one must reincarnate this wisp of one's soul in this world, thereby negating the world's rejection, so that one can steal it with peace of mind.

However, this method is not entirely acceptable.

the reason is simple.

First, Zheng Jun is too lazy to create a clone here.

Secondly, without the Great Dao Martial Arts Manual or the favor of Heaven, it would take at least several hundred years to cultivate to the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stage. Where would Zheng Jun find such a long time to wait?

Moreover, it requires manual operation, which is time-consuming, laborious, and too troublesome.

After all, Zheng Jun only took ten years to cultivate to the Dharma Aspect in the Jambudvipa Realm. Now, if he is asked to wait for a hundred years, he might not even be able to cultivate to that level. How can Zheng Jun wait like that?
"If there were a way to steal the essence without being reincarnated here, that would be great."

Zheng Jun muttered to himself, when suddenly, something occurred to him, and his eyes lit up.

In the Jambudvipa realm, there is a Dharma image that can perfectly perform the operations Zheng Jun needs!
Steal the secrets!
Admittedly, Zheng Jun could steal the origin without using the "Heavenly Secrets" technique, but the success rate would be low, and he might fail.

Imagine painstakingly nurturing a Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivator, only to have them betray you and kill you when you try to steal their essence. Wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing?

Stealing the secrets of heaven, however, can perfectly avoid this!
"It seems that it would be better if this True Lord Fulong of the Upper Cave were dead. It would be a waste to leave him with the 'Stealing Heavenly Secrets' Dharma Image."

Zheng Jun thought to himself silently.

With this thought in mind, Zheng Jun set his sights on his immediate goal.

Kill the True Lord of the Upper Cave and seize the Dharma Image of 'Stealing Heavenly Secrets'!
Don't ask what to do about the conflict between 'Lord of the World' and 'Stealing Heavenly Secrets'. Anyway, you can get it in advance, and we'll deal with it when the time comes. At worst, you can just neutralize 'Lord of the World'.

Anyway, the world will be in our hands eventually, and we can always rebuild it later.

Now that Zheng Jun has come all this way, he intends to make some initial moves.

With this thought in mind, Zheng Jun immediately prepared to go and find 'Shao Jin'.

Shao Jin's experiences are quite similar to those of a protagonist.

His luck was also quite good, which suited Zheng Jun's needs.

So next, Zheng Jun will transform into a traditional Chinese medicine doctor and try to fool this kid.

Anyway, it's just a casual move. I can just give some pointers occasionally, and spend the rest of the time pretending to be 'asleep'.

Zheng Jun's divine sense followed Shao Jin into the market like a gentle breeze. There, he saw Shao Jin huddled dejectedly in a small pavilion on a street corner, his eyes filled with resentment and bitterness.

The market was bustling, and no one paid attention to the joys and sorrows of this minor Qi Refining cultivator.

With a thought, Zheng Jun transformed his divine sense into a wisp of purple energy and quietly entered the broken jade pendant at Shao Jin's waist.

"Young man, do you wish for revenge?"

An old and majestic voice suddenly exploded in Shao Jin's mind, startling him so much that he stood up abruptly and almost knocked over the spirit medicine stall next to him.

"Who?!"

Shao Jin's face turned deathly pale, her fingers digging tightly into her palms.

The jade pendant emitted a barely perceptible purple light, and Zheng Jun deliberately lowered his voice to a hoarse tone: "I am the 'Supreme Lord of the Mysterious Vault,' but I was ambushed by my enemies and am now only a remnant soul. Just now I observed that you possess extraordinary talent, and moreover, your blood feud remains unresolved..."

At this point, Zheng Jun paused deliberately, his divine sense sweeping over the boy's violently fluctuating emotions: "If you are willing to become my disciple, you can avenge your great grudge!"

Shao Jin's breathing became heavy, but he quickly asked warily, "Why did you choose me, senior?"

"Over the years, while residing within the jade pendant, I absorbed a great deal of spiritual energy from your Shao family. Seeing the Shao family's destruction, I couldn't bear it," Zheng Jun said with a sigh.

Upon hearing this, Shao Jin remained vigilant.

But this suddenly appearing 'senior expert' was indeed the key to his revenge.

Without hesitation, Shao Jin kowtowed directly to the jade pendant: "Master, please accept my bow!"

"good."

Zheng Jun nodded slightly and channeled a wisp of pure spiritual energy into Shao Jin's meridians. The young man immediately felt a burning sensation in his dantian, and the bottleneck that had been trapped for so long began to loosen!
"This...this is?" Shao Jin trembled with excitement.

"It's just a greeting gift," Zheng Jun said calmly. "I haven't recovered yet and need to sleep for a while. My disciple, please continue your cultivation. I will go into slumber now."

As soon as the purple light from the jade pendant disappeared, Shao Jin was filled with surprise and doubt.

After completing all this, Zheng Jun withdrew his consciousness and sensed the surroundings. Relieved that he hadn't been discovered, he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, 'Now that the seed has been planted, let's see how much of the Xuanhuang Realm's fortune I can steal.'

After doing all this, Zheng Jun secretly observed Shao Jin's fate.

However, Shao Jin's causal relationships were now in a state of chaos and disorder.

It's clear that he was influenced by himself.

Since he was not a being of this realm, even if a Nascent Soul cultivator came to examine Shao Jin, they could only see that his cause and effect were disordered, but they could not see that it was his doing, nor could they calculate who had orchestrated it.

Once discovered, Zheng Jun would at most give up on Shao Jin; he wouldn't have to worry about having his background uncovered.

Not bad.

Zheng Jun nodded slightly, but at that moment, he suddenly realized something.

My second brother and those cousins!
"Damn it, is there a similar being from beyond this realm who shares the same idea as me?" (End of Chapter)