The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 187 Deciding Life and Death, Entering Mount Li

Zhou Yan sensed this new power and ability. With the majesty of Mount Tai, he held the power of life and death and could "judge the life and death of ghosts." This was connected to all the legends about the Lord of Mount Tai controlling the underworld since ancient times, and to the imperial decree that began with the Qin Emperor.

Ultimately, it evolved from fragments of the Taishan Gongdao Fruit.

Holding this authority within the domain of the Lord of Mount Tai.

It can gather the soul and stop the process of the soul dissipating.

On the shady side of the mountain, a place where ghosts can live for a long time can be created. In this place, a new order will be formed. The stronger this order is, the stronger the Lord of Mount Tai who holds this power will be.

In this realm of ghosts, the Lord of Mount Tai is directly equivalent to [life and death].

Until the very end, at the theoretical limit, when the Lord's authority spreads to every corner of the world, the realm of ghosts dependent on the Lord will also expand infinitely. At that time, the Lord's authority will be close to the concept of "death".

In this environment, the prefect, by virtue of his position, can deny the death of a certain person.

It will directly grant the characteristic of "immortality" from the opposite perspective.

That was neither luck nor immortality; Zhou Yan could sense the difference through his authority.

Longevity is the continuous flow of life force, abundant flesh and blood, and a complete spiritual state.

And not die—

This world merely represents the place where wandering souls find their rest.

Refuse to accept.

That would be an eternal torment, a punishment where the soul is worn away, the flesh withers, and the spirit remains trapped within the body, a sentence that the Lord of the Underworld refuses to accept, a sentence with no end in sight.

It will be the pain of dried-up flesh and blood, organ failure, withered hair, the stench of a dead person emanating from the body, and various lesions and distortions on the body, yet it will still be alive.

The only phenomenon that fits this state is the legendary "Five Signs of Decay of the Celestial Being".

Zhou Yan stretched out his hand, watching the jade talisman slowly rotate in his palm. A surge of emotions welled up in his heart. He realized the significance of this authority. This was no longer a basic authority like the "Imperial Conferment of the Mountain God" or the supreme authority of the Five Sacred Mountains.

"A world that can accommodate the existence of wandering spirits, the authority to build the underworld?"

"The basis for the possibility of the existence of the underworld..."

"Theoretically, it could eventually approach the concept of a deity... Could this thing directly pull out the Weaver Girl's soul? At that point, the problem would be much easier to solve."

"But there's probably no way to deal with it."

Zhou Yan thought that the power of authority only qualified him to do certain things. For example, he could try to pull out the soul of the Weaver Girl, but considering the difference in strength and cultivation between the two, it was a question whether Zhou Yan could pull her out.

"However, the Lord of Mount Tai can definitely pull it."

"However, the consumption will be relatively large."

"After all, there is no Netherworld at present, so using this power relies entirely on one's own strength; if there really were a Netherworld, the consumption would be much less."

Zhou Yan's lips twitched.

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.

Finally, Lord Zhou possessed a powerful ultimate move that even Lord Taishan could feel the drain on his mana.

However, if one were to fight against an ancient demon like the Weaver Girl, causing her soul to temporarily leave her body and temporarily granting her the concept of death, even the most formidable fighter would suffer a great loss.

Zhou Yan looked at the jade seal in his hand, pondering the words and deeds of the Qin Emperor from his memory.

Does it mean that the existence of the Imperial Seal and the blessing of the Jade Book allow for communication across time and space? Or does it mean that the Qin Emperor, who unified the world, was so powerful that he had an instinctive premonition that someone a thousand years later would see this scene, and therefore deliberately said this?

Don't know, not sure.

The mysteries are only increasing.

However, Zhou Yan could sense that the hidden things lurking beneath the surface of this world, those unknown vortexes, were probably more numerous than expected.

Zhou Yan pondered these questions and wanted to figure them out. The conversation between the Qin Emperor and the Duke of Taishan was definitely one source. To have more records of the conversation between the Duke of Taishan and the Qin Emperor, he needed more and more complete fragments of the Dao Fruit of the Duke of Taishan.

"...Emperor Li Heng of Tang, the Four Sacred Mountains True Lords, the Master of Qingming Pavilion..."

Zhou Yan looked at his palm and sensed the position of Mount Tai, or rather, the three powers of the Mount Tai Lord at this moment: the earth's veins, the power of demotion, and the power of life and death.

Zhou Yan clenched his fist.

"Never mind, let's wait a bit."

Put all these miscellaneous things aside for now. The most important thing right now is to kill that bastard Weaver Girl. After weaver Girl is gone, if I have the chance to see Manjushri next time, I must have a good talk with him.

If there's still a chance...

Zhou Yan calmed himself down and asked Shi Xuanxing and the old earth god to bring in the monsters they had been fighting, each one crying and begging for mercy.

Near Mount Tai, there are thirty-six caves and seventy-two peaks. These sacred sites and grottoes originally belonged to the various temples and monasteries that worshipped the Lord of Mount Tai. Several years ago, the Lord of Mount Tai passed away, and the sorcerers who practiced the Mount Tai lineage suddenly lost their abilities.

Furthermore, with the passing of Mount Tai and the loss of the Human Emperor's throne, the entire human realm descended into chaos.

Evil spirits were rampant, and so demons roamed freely. Many monsters came and drove away the people in the temples and monasteries of Mount Tai, taking over these places to do good cultivation and good business!
Some time ago, when the Four Mountains came, they slaughtered a whole group of people.

Some space was cleared, so some more monsters and spirits moved in. Those who were spared were actually the later arrivals, and they were all terrified. Zhou Yan asked, "How many more haven't been recovered?"

The Earth God respectfully said, "There are thirty-six caves, seventy-two peaks, and thirteen other places that have not yet been reclaimed. Those who occupy these places are all monsters with some abilities. They have killed many people and shut down the earth's veins, refusing to show themselves."

Zhou Yan nodded and ordered that the monsters who kept begging for mercy be taken away first. The monsters that were quickly captured by the three clever men were not strong in themselves. The more than 6,000 Taishan Guards suffered almost no losses, only some injuries.

However, Zhou Yan could also see the exhaustion of the six thousand Taishan Guards.

Regardless, they had all made contributions, and Zhou Yan felt that he should reward these Taishan Guards and Shi Xuanxing. However, his own alchemy skills were still in their infancy, and he had no way to bring Xuan Zhuzi over.

Zhou Yan paused slightly, seemingly lost in thought.

Wait a minute, this seems like it might work...

He had just activated the power of the Lord of Mount Tai. It would be difficult to directly pull out the soul of a great demon like the Weaver Girl, whose origins were extraordinary. However, it seemed not impossible to pull out the soul and primordial spirit of the little Taoist Xuanzhu.

Zhou Yan's gaze swept over these Taishan Guards.

These Taishan Guards were originally just ordinary mountain spirits and stone monsters under Shi Xuanxing's command. The reason they were able to reclaim most of the thirty-six caves and seventy-two peaks under Taishan this time was partly due to Zhou Yan's previous prestige, and partly due to their excellent armor.

But now, the soft persimmons are all gone.

The remaining few were all audacious and ruthless monsters. Even when facing the Taishan Guards under the command of the Taishan Lord, they used formations to tightly seal their caves and refused to surrender.

It's a tough nut to crack; we'll have to fight a real battle. If possible, you could ask Uncle Shen and Li Zhenyue…

If we could bring them here and have Uncle Shen and the others help train them, perhaps they could truly undergo a complete transformation.

After all, one of them was a fierce general in the Shuofang Army, and Shen Cangming was a champion of the human race battlefield who had fought in countless border battles. Their mastery of military strategy was far superior to that of Zhou Fujun, who was a half-baked expert.

Lord Zhou was making plans in his mind.

Okay, let's train the Taishan Guards first and completely pacify the area around Taishan.

This would allow us to gather the fragments of the Taishan Fair Fruit from these guys' hands.

That way, he can free up his hands and focus all his strength on beating up the Weaver Girl.

The grand ceremony should last at most a month and cannot be delayed.

After calming the demons and regaining his senses, Zhou Yan went to find Shen Cangming. Shen Cangming's arm had been reattached, and he was sparring with Li Zhenyue to familiarize himself with the severed arm and restore his strength as soon as possible. When he saw Zhou Yan coming, he stopped sparring with Li Zhenyue.

Zhou Yan handed over the towel in his hand for Shen Cangming to wipe his sweat. Li Pingyang knew they wanted to chat, so he made tea first. This girl, who carried a precious sword and had the natural aura of a sword immortal, was extremely decisive when drawing her sword, but gentle and peaceful when making tea.

Zhou Yan rejected the elaborate tea-drinking method of the Tang Dynasty, which involved adding spices.

Simply brew the tea.

Then he asked Shen Cangming and Li Zhenyue how to train six thousand soldiers with strong enough physical strength but little training to fight the enemy and make them strong enough.

Shen Cangming's eyes were calm as he gazed at Zhou Yan: "Is this an appointment from Mount Tai?"

Zhou Yan glanced at Li Zhenyue, his expression unchanged: "Yes, Uncle Shen, after the incident at the Wofo Temple, I became an envoy under the Lord. The Lord has just returned, and there are many monsters around Mount Tai. The Lord has summoned the Mount Tai Guards, and I am to lead six thousand of them."

"It's just that I'm really not good at these things."

"So I wanted to ask Uncle Shen and you guys."

Shen Cangming learned the specific situation of those Taishan Guards: "They are strong but slow, so..." He looked at Li Zhenyue, whose scars had healed but had also added to his ferocity.

"If that's the case, it certainly suits my [Zhanglei] lineage."

"I wonder, what kind of opponents are you currently facing with the Taishan Guard under your command?"

Zhou Yan explained the general situation to the two veteran generals.

A cup of tea was handed to Zhou Yan, who recognized it as Li Pingyang. He accepted it and thanked him.

The girl smiled gently.

Shen Cangming's voice was calm: "At first, it was because of the Lord's name and the strong armor that they were able to crush the enemy so easily. But that also means that they have not experienced any major battles."

"In this situation, a major battle and a major victory are necessary to initially build morale among the troops."

Zhou Yan was also worried that the troops wouldn't be elite enough when facing the Weaver Girl, and asked, "What should we do, Uncle Shen? Should we have them train more?"

Shen Cangming smiled and said, "Just sit down."

Zhou Yan was stunned.

Li Zhenyue said, "I see. A balance between tension and relaxation is the way of both civil and military affairs."

"Just training isn't good; at this time, it would be better to rest."

Shen Cangming said, "You gave them your beacon tower seals, but their training was too short and they haven't mastered them yet. They haven't been able to integrate the military strategies. If they face a major battle like this, they will inevitably fail."

There's no need to tell them the reason now.

"You tell them to find a monster's cave, sit cross-legged, and breathe in their vital energy. If one day isn't enough, then two days; if two days aren't enough, then three days; if three days aren't enough, then seven days, ten days, until their own vital energy rises and falls, becoming perfectly unified, like one body."

"Go and challenge them again, and when they make their move, take advantage of your adjusted state."

"Make your move."

"One move is enough to establish his authority."

"After establishing his authority, most of the remaining dozen or so monsters will surrender without resistance."

Zhou Yan was overjoyed and told Shi Xuanxing about Shen Cangming's instructions, telling him to do as Shen Cangming asked and not to worry about anything else. Although Shi Xuanxing wasn't very quick-witted, he had one excellent quality: he would give up thinking and simply obey.

And the six thousand mountain spirits and stone monsters under his command were all like that.

Lord Prefect, there must be a deeper meaning behind your actions!
If my brain isn't working properly, I'll just stop thinking altogether!

Abandon your brain, embrace your instincts!
One by one, they roared and went out. Following the map given by Shen Cangming, they found the most ferocious monster and sat cross-legged not far from the entrance of the monster's mountain, sensing each other's aura.

Zhou Yan then entrusted Xuan Zhuzi with the task of developing a pill that could replenish vital energy without affecting the meridians or internal organs. He promised to reward Xuan Zhuzi handsomely.

On the one hand, he continued to diligently study the original text of the Tao Te Ching.

The new powers also consume a lot of mana, so he has to cultivate them. However, this original Daoist scripture is really too difficult to digest. Zhou Yan has not made any progress for a long time. Just when he was getting a headache from reading it, he heard a soft meow.

Zhou Yan looked in the direction of the sound and saw a white jade lion cat with heterochromatic eyes sitting there obediently. He went over to greet it, but the cat seemed to be still wary of the time when he had captured it to observe the cat ball, so it retreated immediately.

But after taking a step back, it stopped and sat there obediently, meowing.

"You mean, you want me to come with you?"

"Meow meow meow~ Meow~"

The Eight-Leaf Immaculate Lion Cat meows sweetly.

But in his heart he gritted his teeth—

Despicable humans! They chat and laugh with females right in front of me every day.

Sooner or later, I'll take your ball down and dissolve it!
Eat my Buddhist teachings, and I'll pluck your balls!
But he only dared to mutter these words to himself.

The Old Mother of Lishan asked him to invite the person over, so he had no choice but to come and find the person himself.

Zhou Yan knew that this cat was different from his feet, so he followed the cat and ran all the way. The cat would always look back at him when Zhou Yan stopped. Before he knew it, they had arrived at a branch of Zhongnan Mountain, among the mountains and peaks.

Zhou Yan couldn't find the cat at all. He walked slowly over and looked around, but was slightly stunned. In the distance, he saw an old woman with silver hair and a cane burning paper money in front of a wooden house.

Looking around, the green trees are lush and green.

This is already Mount Li.

(End of this chapter)