Controlling the Five Thunders and the Two Worlds

Chapter 175 A Glimpse into the Vastness of the World
"So beautiful," Li Qingshuang exclaimed.

Looking out, at the foot of the eastern mountain stands the gate of the Daluo Palace, with four green dragons circling the pillars and seven shrines intertwined. A total of 1,296 steps, shaped like green dragons emerging from the water, extend to the halfway platform, where the first hall of the Daluo Palace is the Lingguan Hall.

Li Qingshuang had vaguely heard the craftsmen who built the Daluo Palace mention something about one hundred years per level. The 1,296 steps would equal 129,600 years, which is the number of one primordial cycle. Walking from the mountain gate to the palace would mean passing through the Great Tribulation of One Primordial Cycle, transcending the Three Realms and Five Elements, and arriving at the Daluo Heavenly Palace.

She didn't quite understand, but it sounded very impressive.

This Daluo Palace is definitely not without origin; its historical background may even be deeper than that of the imperial court.

"Emerging from the mountains in times of chaos, retiring in times of peace, upholding justice and acting on behalf of Heaven..."

Li Qingshuang couldn't help but look at Gu Zhao, and saw that Gu Zhao's angular profile shone with a light called hope under the sun and white snow, and his dark, deep eyes revealed vigor and high spirits.

Li Qingshuang felt a little dizzy for a moment and couldn't help but look away.

Taking a deep breath, Li Qingshuang warned, "You must be careful of the Ink Dragon of Pingjiang Prefecture."

Gu Zhao turned around and said, "I've heard of him. It's said that he's the adopted son of the Dragon King of Wanling River and lives in seclusion in Mohu, Pingjiang Prefecture, rarely coming out."

Li Qingshuang sighed, "She only comes out once every year or two, which can indeed be considered a seclusion."

"Then why should I be careful of him?" Gu Zhao asked.

"Because every time he comes out, he summons clouds and rain, devours souls and people, and eats up an entire county, thirty to fifty thousand people," Li Qingshuang said calmly.

Gu Zhao's eyes were somewhat glazed over. "Thirty years ago, an old turtle, in order to cultivate, once tried to use the blood of the people of Wuhe County as a sacrifice."

"Compared to the black dragon, that old tortoise is like a firefly compared to the bright moon," Li Qingshuang said, shaking her head.

Gu Zhao felt his lips were a little dry. "I heard that the black dragon has three thousand years of cultivation."

"Only more, not less," Li Qingshuang said. "Back then, after the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits caused chaos in the river, he flooded eight hundred miles of plains, creating an eight hundred miles of marshland, drowning countless people. The bottom of Ink Lake is piled high with white bones, and no living person should enter."

Then he went into seclusion in Mohu to cultivate, and every two or three years he would come out to devour souls and people, mostly in the four surrounding prefectures of Lianshan, Qianshan, Baishi, and Pingjiang.

Because Mo Jiao is the adopted son of the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits, there are no particularly powerful beings in these four prefectures. Even if there are great demons in seclusion, they would not dare to challenge him.

Gu Zhao's eyes flickered. "So, there are some really powerful experts in Yongzhou to the east and Yazhou to the south?"

Li Qingshuang nodded, "The Great Ning Dynasty only has 23 prefectures and 198 counties. If there were no experts in each region, they would have been wiped out by all sides long ago."

Gu Zhao clicked his tongue, not asking any further questions to avoid exposing his ignorance.

However, he had only gleaned a glimpse of the situation from Li Qingshuang's account and roughly learned that Baishi Prefecture, south of Changping Prefecture, also lacked any experts, and even if it did, they were probably only on par with those in Changping Prefecture.

Once they have accumulated more strength, they can then expand towards Baishi Prefecture.

Thinking of this, Gu Zhao suddenly asked, "I wonder how many years of cultivation the Myriad Spirits Dragon King has?"

Li Qingshuang paused for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I don't know, but even when the Grand Master of the Xuanwei Divine Sect personally took action, he couldn't defeat the Myriad Spirits Dragon King, which is why the Xuanwei Divine Sect withdrew from the Myriad Spirits Jiangnan region."

Gu Zhao understood clearly.

Li Qingshuang continued, "The Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits is tyrannical. After the incident of causing chaos in the river, the five prefectures of Jiangzhou, the six prefectures of Yongzhou, and the nine prefectures of Yazhou in the Jiangnan region of Ten Thousand Spirits have undergone tremendous changes. All kinds of demons and monsters have emerged one after another. The good have hidden themselves, while the evil have come to the fore."

“Compared to others, the Daluo Palace is quite an anomaly.” Li Qingshuang looked at Gu Zhao. “If you continue to act this way, I’m afraid the people around you will dislike you, and they might even come after you.” Gu Zhao waved his hand, not caring at all, but rather very confident. “If they don’t come after me, I will come after them.”

It was confirmed by Li Qingshuang that most cultivators in this world had a cultivation level of less than five hundred years.

Those who have cultivated for more than five hundred years, such as the Golden Wind God King, can be called the patriarch of a prefecture. As for the Ink Dragon, the Myriad Spirits River Dragon King, and so on, they are beings beyond the comprehension of ordinary cultivators, and their numbers are not very large.

He had only been here for a little over half a year, yet Daoist Yansong and Daoist Yihong had both broken through to the next realm and had accumulated five hundred years of cultivation. Daoist Mingyu, Daoist Jingfeng, and Yunyang were all catching up quickly, and he was just one step behind.

This shows the value of the Five Thunder Order; it was practically designed specifically to eliminate evil and accumulate merit!
Five hundred years of cultivation has already been achieved; a thousand years is within sight; three thousand years is just around the corner; five thousand years is a distant dream; ten thousand years...

Ahem, that's a bit far.

Gu Zhao withdrew his expectations and looked at Li Qingshuang, "Doing good deeds and accumulating virtue, eliminating evil and accumulating merit, is the guiding principle of the Daluo Palace, and it will never change."

Li Qingshuang nodded, her gaze towards Gu Zhao gentle. "I believe you."

She heard from the embroiderer about the stories of several old Taoist priests from the Daluo Palace who went around exorcising ghosts and demons. She felt that they were all intolerant of any wrongdoing and hated evil as if it were their enemy. Sometimes they were even more radical than the Spirit Court.

This force should not perish amidst a pack of wolves.

“The imperial court will not allow the five states of Jiangnan to break away from Wanling,” Li Qingshuang comforted Gu Zhao. “It’s just that the Wan Yao tribes in the northern wilderness and many divine kingdoms in the west are making moves, and the imperial court is temporarily unable to spare the resources.”

As long as the west and north are stabilized, and the poisonous dragon in the Nine-Colored Pool in the southern mountains is subdued, the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits will eventually compromise, after all, the Master of the Azure Star Academy and the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits are of the same race.

Gu Zhao nodded without saying anything.

I received a lot of information today, so I need to slow down and digest it.

Zhuo Qingyan glanced at Gu Zhao, then at Li Qingshuang, a thoughtful look flashing in her eyes, before asking, "Since the Dragon King of the Myriad Spirits River is of the same clan as the Master of the Azure Star Academy, why did he cause the disturbance in the river?"

"I don't know the specifics, I've only heard it's related to a poisonous dragon in the southern mountains." Li Qingshuang shook her head. "They are all masters with thousands of years of cultivation, how could I possibly know the inside story?"

Gu Zhao laughed and said, "If the sky falls, there will be tall people to hold it up. We don't need to worry about things that we have no right to worry about."

“That’s true.” Li Qingshuang nodded, then shook her head and chuckled.

She had meant to comfort Gu Zhao, but she never expected that he would comfort her instead.

Just then, the embroiderer rushed up the mountain, and Bai Ke nestled steadily on her shoulder, calling out, "Young Master! Young Master!"

The three of them turned back together.

"what happened?"

"Little White can transform into human form!"

"what?"

Bai Ke, who was perched on the embroiderer's shoulder, suddenly leaped up, and then her entire fox body emitted a hazy white light. This light, which penetrated straight to the soul, was so bright that even Gu Zhao could not see inside.

The next moment, the white light dissipated, and a pretty young girl wearing a plain-colored, cloud-patterned gauze dress with lilies stood there.

(End of this chapter)