Immortality and cultivation begin with full comprehension.

Chapter 770 Royal Power, Buddhist Grand Preceptor (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
He could clearly sense that beneath the entire capital city lay an enormous ancestral dragon vein, providing the city with almost inexhaustible spiritual energy.

Furthermore, countless powerful and secretive restrictive formations are hidden at key points throughout the city, and even in the void, forming an extremely terrifying giant defense system.

Once fully activated, even cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage would likely find it difficult to break through.

In addition, there were at least a dozen auras in the city, as conspicuous as torches in the night, all of which were at the Nascent Soul stage. Some of the more subtle auras even made him feel a faint threat.

That's very likely someone at the seventh, eighth, or ninth level of the Nascent Soul stage, or even at the Great Perfection stage.

The entire "Tian Zhao City" encompassed almost all the essence of the Zhao Kingdom.

This is also the Zhao family's stronghold. By investigating this place, one can almost completely uncover the Zhao family's secrets.

"The royal family's heritage is indeed profound."

Li Yunjing strolled along the bustling streets, seemingly casually, but in reality, he had already taken in the prosperity and strict security of the capital.

Instead of rushing to find out more crucial information, he first found a rather elegant-looking inn to stay in, located in a relatively quiet area in the south of the city.

After settling in, he began to wander around the capital like a true tourist.

He went to the trading market where cultivators gathered, listened to the storyteller in the teahouse recount the legendary tales of the Zhao royal family, and gazed at the majestic palace walls and strict guards of the imperial city from afar. He also "unintentionally" overheard some scattered discussions about the war in the northwest, resource allocation, and the movements of various sects.

He silently memorized all this information, comparing and contrasting it with what he had learned in the "Black Wind Mountains."

Several days later, Li Yunjing gained a more intuitive and profound understanding of the distribution of power, the structure of power, and the current tense situation in the Zhao state.

"The royal family's power is concentrated and their formations are very strict; a direct attack would come at too high a cost."

"Although there are internal conflicts, it is far from falling apart... If the 'Yuanyang Dao Sect' wants to succeed, we must find its weaknesses, either by creating internal strife or by coordinating with it from within and without..."

Standing by the window of the inn, gazing in the direction of the imperial city in the distance, Li Yunjing's eyes were deep and unfathomable.

As night deepens, the lights of thousands of homes in "Tianzhao City" illuminate, echoing the stars in the sky.

However, in Li Yunjing's perception, beneath this bustling imperial capital, the massive ancestral dragon vein was emitting energy fluctuations even more turbulent than during the day, and countless hidden array formations and restrictions were shimmering with dangerous light under the cover of night.

He lightly tapped the windowsill with his fingertip, and a barely perceptible ripple of spiritual connection spread out, like a drop of water merging into the ocean.

This is the "Tracing the Origin of All Things" secret technique that Li Yunjing learned after breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm. It allows him to silently observe the subtle traces of the laws of heaven and earth.

Suddenly, he frowned slightly.

In that brief moment of perception, an extremely unnatural stagnation appeared in the flow of the underground spiritual veins in the southeast corner of the imperial city.

Although it was quickly overwhelmed by a larger flow of spiritual energy, that momentary stagnation was anything but normal.

It was as if something was secretly drawing power from the spiritual veins, yet doing so in an extremely discreet manner.

"interesting."

Li Yunjing's lips curled into a slight smile. "An impregnable fortress often begins to crack from within."

The next morning, Li Yunjing changed his strategy of strolling around.

He disguised himself as a medicinal herb merchant from the southern border, and under the guise of purchasing rare spiritual herbs, he began to frequently visit major trading companies and auctions, paying particular attention to contacting merchants with royal merchant backgrounds.

On the afternoon of the third day, at a small auction held by the royal-backed "Linglong Pavilion", a 30,000-year-old "Dragon's Breath Grass" was presented on the stage.

This spiritual herb typically grows only in areas where the ancestral dragon's spiritual veins overflow, making it quite rare.

When the bidding reached its climax, Li Yunjing, who was sitting in the corner, suddenly spoke up and quoted an outrageously high price, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.

After the auction, a man who looked like a manager approached with a smile: "This gentleman is very generous. Would you do me the honor of having a cup of tea?"

Li Yunjing knew that the bait had been taken.

Inside the private room, wisps of incense smoke curled from the incense burner.

The manager introduced himself as Zhao, the third manager of "Linglong Pavilion," and probed Li Yunjing's background and needs in his words.

"Although this herb contains a strong dragon aura, it seems..."

Li Yunjing sipped his tea slowly, deliberately revealing a hint of disappointment with the quality of the "Dragon's Breath Grass": "It's mixed and impure, as if it was forcibly grown."

He put down his teacup and looked at Steward Zhao with a half-smile. "It seems that the spiritual veins of the capital are not so stable lately."

Manager Zhao's smile froze instantly, though only for a moment before returning to normal. But how could it escape Li Yunjing's eyes?

"Sir, you are joking."

Manager Zhao chuckled twice, “The Ancestral Dragon Spirit Vein of the Imperial Capital is the foundation of our Zhao Kingdom, as stable as a rock. How could there be any problems? Perhaps this Dragon Breath Grass was not handled properly during harvesting.”

Li Yunjing said no more, left the spirit stone, picked up the "Dragon's Breath Grass" and took his leave.

But he didn't go far. Instead, he sat down in a tavern opposite "Linglong Pavilion," and his divine sense, like an invisible net, quietly enveloped the backyard of "Linglong Pavilion."

Sure enough, less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Steward Zhao hurriedly left through the back door, boarded an unmarked carriage, and after many twists and turns, finally drove into a side gate in the southeast corner of the imperial city.

It was near the area where Li Yunjing sensed the abnormality of the spiritual vein that night.

"Sure enough, there are ghosts."

Li Yunjing's gaze narrowed slightly.

Over the next few days, Li Yunjing secretly inquired through various channels, and the scattered information gradually pieced together a vague outline.

The southeast corner of the imperial city is home to the "Hundred Herbs Garden," which is nominally a garden where the royal family cultivates rare and exotic flowers and herbs. In reality, it is directly managed by the Imperial Preceptor, Master Huiming, and is extremely heavily guarded. In recent years, it has rarely been open to the public.

Rumors circulate that some massive project is secretly underway there, requiring an enormous amount of spiritual energy.

“Master Huiming… a Nascent Soul cultivator at the Great Perfection, the most loyal guardian of the Zhao royal family, and the main maintainer of the Imperial Capital's Great Array.”

Li Yunjing pondered, "If the projects he's in charge of all require secretly drawing upon the power of spiritual veins, then there's only one possibility..."

The project is clandestine, and the energy required is so enormous that it cannot be openly mobilized, lest it arouse the vigilance of other forces or even cause abnormal fluctuations in the spiritual veins.

This means that either the Zhao royal family is secretly preparing a powerful secret weapon, or... Master Huiming himself is secretly carrying out some kind of shady business.

Regardless of which one it is, this is a potential breakthrough.

"It seems I need to find an opportunity to meet this Buddhist master."

A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

Li Yunjing, like the other cultivators of the "Shenxiao Dao Sect," felt a deep-seated disgust for Buddhists, almost to the point of nausea.

In Li Yunjing's view, the Zhao royal family's collusion with Buddhism was a path to their own destruction.

The night was as dark as ink, and Li Yunjing's figure blended into the shadows of "Tian Zhao City" like a ghost.

He concealed his presence to the extreme, like a wisp of air, and quietly headed towards the "Hundred Herbs Garden" in the southeast corner of the imperial city.

The closer you get to the "Hundred Herbs Garden," the richer the spiritual energy in the air becomes, but it also becomes increasingly restless.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The subtle tremors caused by the forced extraction of power from the ancestral dragon's spiritual vein underground were magnified infinitely in Li Yunjing's keen perception.

The "Hundred Herbs Garden" is surrounded by towering vermilion palace walls, inscribed with intricate Buddhist scriptures and royal array patterns, which intertwine to form a pale golden halo, making it impossible for ordinary cultivators to approach.

But Li Yunjing was no longer an ordinary cultivator.

He went around to a relatively secluded corner, where the light seemed a little thinner than elsewhere.

He held his breath and focused intently, his fingertips rapidly drawing an extremely ancient seal that broke the seal in the air.

This is a secret technique of the "Shenxiao Dao Sect," specifically designed to counter Buddhist restrictions.

The seal, silent and unmarked, cast a halo of light on the palace wall, like a red-hot iron placed in ice water, emitting an extremely faint "sizzling" sound. The pale golden halo rippled and quietly cracked open a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through.

Li Yunjing flashed in, and the gap behind him instantly closed up as if it had never existed.

The garden inside was not the garden scene I had imagined; instead, it was unusually desolate.

Enormous bronze alchemy furnaces stood in rows, and the ground was paved with dark black iron, outlining a vast array of veins. Countless thick spiritual energy pipes extended from the ground, coiling around a majestic black Buddhist pagoda in the center like giant pythons.

The pagoda is nine stories high, and at the top of the pagoda, a huge, dark relic is slowly rotating, frantically devouring the ancestral dragon's spiritual energy drawn from the ground, emitting a chilling and eerie aura.

Around the tower, eight monks dressed in dark gold robes sat cross-legged, each with a deep and concentrated aura, and all of them had the cultivation level of the early Nascent Soul stage!

"May this merit be extended to all beings, so that all sentient beings may be freed from suffering and attain the supreme path together..."

They chanted obscure scriptures in hushed tones, their voices creating an eerie resonance with the spinning of the relics.

On the high platform directly in front of the pagoda, an old monk, dressed in a red-gold robe, with a withered face but piercing eyes, sat with his eyes closed.

He held a string of ebony prayer beads in his hand, each bead engraved with the distorted and tormented phantom of a soul.

The aura emanating from his body was clearly that of a Nascent Soul cultivator at the Great Perfection stage, and he even faintly touched the threshold of the Divine Transformation stage!
It was none other than the Imperial Preceptor, Master Huiming.

Li Yunjing's pupils contracted slightly.

How can this be a garden for cultivating spiritual herbs?
It is clearly an altar that uses the spiritual veins of the entire capital as its energy source and employs the secret methods of evil Buddhism to refine some kind of terrifying existence!

"Who dares to covet the Pure Land of Buddha!"

Just as Li Yunjing's breath hitched slightly in shock, Master Huiming on the high platform suddenly opened his eyes, and two beams of golden Buddhist light, as solid as swords, shot straight at the place where Li Yunjing was hiding!
The Buddha's light was mixed with countless twisted, resentful roars, a bizarre fusion of the sacred and the evil.

exposed!
Without hesitation, Li Yunjing retreated rapidly, his fingers forming a sword-like shape as he unleashed a fierce and unparalleled "Heavenly Dragon Imperial Aura." The purple-gold dragon tore through the air and precisely collided with the two golden Buddhist lights.

"boom!"

The golden dragon and the Buddha's light vanished simultaneously, unleashing a powerful airflow that made the surrounding alchemy furnaces hum.

The eight guardian monks were instantly alarmed and stood up in unison, forming a mysterious formation that subtly blocked Li Yunjing's retreat.

"The Dragon Emperor Scripture?!" A hint of surprise flashed in Master Huiming's eyes, which then turned into intense killing intent. "So it's a remnant of the Dragon Clan! Perfect, I'll use it to refine my 'Ten Thousand Soul Relic,' and its power will surely increase greatly!"

He flicked his ebony rosary, and one bead flew out, growing longer in the wind and transforming into a hideous phantom of a ghostly Buddha. It roared and pounced on Li Yunjing, leaving a chilling wind in its wake that bewitched people's minds.

"Hahaha! Is this Buddhist practice? So brutal, how is it any different from the demonic sect? Even my dragon clan can't stand it!"

Li Yunjing's face was ashen, but he laughed loudly.

His aversion to Buddhism reached its peak.

This Master Huiming has clearly fallen into evil ways, yet he still wears the skin of a high-ranking Buddhist monk!
However, being in a foreign land, he was unwilling to reveal his true skills, so he hastily exchanged a move with Master Huiming using the techniques recorded in the "Dragon Emperor Scripture"!
"What do you know, you mere dragons!"

Master Huiming sneered, seemingly disdainful of Li Yunjing's words.

The eight Buddhist monks around him also sneered repeatedly, their gazes towards Li Yunjing filled with mockery.

"Ok?"

Li Yunjing's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the other party had not fallen into demonic possession?
Or is there another motive?

Before Li Yunjing could even think, Master Huiming's natal Buddhist lotus flower transformed into a Buddhist kingdom, enveloping the area where Li Yunjing was located.

Immediately afterwards, two eminent Buddhist monks moved. They silently disappeared into the ground and lay in ambush in the shadows.

Meanwhile, two other Buddhist monks appeared at the location of the wall, cutting off Li Yunjing's escape route.

As for the remaining four, under the leadership of Master Huiming, they used the Five Elements Formation to surround the Buddhist Kingdom and launch a fierce offensive!

"Well done!"

Li Yunjing moved like a ghost through the Buddhist realm filled with chanting and dazzling golden light.

He could wield the Five Elements Taoist arts with ease, sometimes transforming them into thick earthen walls to block the pursuit, sometimes turning into raging flames to tear apart the constraints of Buddhist light, and sometimes slipping away like flowing water through the gaps in the encirclement.

He appeared to be dodging in a disheveled manner, but in reality, his consciousness was highly concentrated as he calmly observed the domain constructed by Master Huiming's thoughts and the relics of the evil Buddha.

"This Buddhist kingdom appears solemn, but its foundation is unstable and restless, relying entirely on the ancestral dragon's spiritual veins that have been forcibly extracted to support it."

"While the relic was devouring the spiritual vein, it was also being backfired by the immense dragon energy contained within the spiritual vein... No wonder it needed 'Dragon Breath Grass' to harmonize it, and even wanted to use me, this 'true dragon,' as a sacrifice!"

In the blink of an eye, Li Yunjing had already grasped the key point.

He deliberately created an opening, his body momentarily pausing as if he were trapped by the pressure of the omnipresent Buddha's light.

"Suppression!"

Master Huiming's eyes flashed with a sharp light, thinking the time had come, and his withered palm pressed down from the air.

Three more ebony prayer beads flew up and transformed into three even more ferocious ghost Buddhas, carrying piercing shrieks as they pounced on Li Yunjing from three directions.

"Go together!"

At the same time, the four monks who had been lurking underground and blocking the retreat also exerted their power, and the pressure in the Buddhist realm increased sharply, making the space seem to freeze.

Just as this seemingly inescapable trap was formed, a cold smile of triumph crept onto Li Yunjing's lips.

He no longer concealed himself, and the Dragon Emperor Scripture technique within his body was fully activated, unleashing a vast, ancient, supreme, and noble pure dragon might!

"Yan..."

A dragon's roar, seemingly from the primordial chaos, reverberated from Li Yunjing's body, instantly overwhelming the chanting and ghostly howls.

A purple-gold dragon-shaped aura coiled around his body. He pointed his fingers like a sword, no longer dodging, but instead actively facing the three ghostly Buddhas.

"break!"

Dragon energy bursts forth from his fingertips, like a real dragon reaching out its claws, tearing through the void.

The three ghost Buddhas, formed from the evil power of vengeful spirits, were like ice and snow encountering the blazing sun in the face of the pure dragon energy that was extremely strong and yang and could overcome all evil. They let out a miserable scream, collapsed and dissipated instantly, and turned back into three cracked prayer beads that flew back!

"What?! Such pure dragon energy?!"

Master Huiming suffered a backlash, his body trembled violently, and for the first time, a look of horror appeared on his face.

He has refined this "Ten Thousand Souls Relic" for many years, devouring countless living beings. What he fears most is this kind of true dragon energy with an extremely solid foundation and extreme yang and strength!

An even more intense reaction came from the dark relics at the top of that black stupa!
Li Yunjing's pure dragon energy, which he poured without reservation, was like a bucket of cold water poured into boiling oil for the relic, which was frantically devouring the ancestral dragon's spiritual veins but could not be completely harmonized and was in a delicate balance!
“Buzz…buzz…”

The dark relic trembled violently, its surface light flickering wildly, and the channels that were drawing spiritual energy groaned under the strain.

The ground of the entire "Hundred Herbs Garden" began to tremble. The ancestral dragon vein, which had been forcibly suppressed, seemed to sense the call of the dragon energy of the same origin but a higher level, and began to resist violently!

"Oh no! Stabilize the relic!"

Disregarding Li Yunjing any longer, Master Huiming rushed toward the pagoda in utter terror, repeatedly casting hand seals in an attempt to quell the relic's rampage.

The eight Nascent Soul monks were thrown into disarray, pouring their magical power into the formation beneath their feet in an attempt to forcibly suppress the backlash from the spiritual veins.

The entire Buddhist realm fluctuated violently due to the shaking of its foundation, becoming uncertain and unpredictable.

"It's now!"

How could Li Yunjing miss such a golden opportunity?

He let out a long laugh, his body moving like a dragon as he crashed directly into the edge of the area where the fluctuations were most intense.

"Huiming! You stole the dragon vein and forged evil weapons, which is intolerable to Heaven! Today, you will reap what you sow!"

Before he finished speaking, he gathered all his dragon energy and pointed a finger, not at anyone, but directly at the surging and restless spiritual vein node on the ground!
"Boom!!"

A deep, muffled roar came from underground, as if a giant dragon had turned over.

The entire "Hundred Herbs Garden" shook violently, and several bronze alchemy furnaces collapsed to the ground. Several of the spiritual energy pipes that had been wrapped around the pagoda instantly ruptured, and a massive amount of out-of-control spiritual energy surged out like a burst dam, transforming into a violent spiritual tide that swept in all directions!

"puff!"

Master Huiming was the first to be hit, simultaneously struck by the out-of-control spiritual energy and the backlash from the relic. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood, and his aura instantly weakened.

The monks who had formed the array were now staggering and falling, and the array was broken in an instant!

The Buddhist realm is shattered!
Using the impact of the exploding spiritual vein, Li Yunjing moved like lightning, instantly breaking through the remaining restrictions and fleeing outwards without stopping.

"Stop him!"

Master Huiming clutched his chest and roared in fury.

However, at this moment, the spiritual energy in the "Hundred Herbs Garden" was raging and in chaos, so how could it stop Li Yunjing, who was determined to leave?
Several monks who tried to give chase were thrown back by the violent spiritual tide as soon as they rushed into it.

A moment later, Li Yunjing returned safely to his room at the inn in the south of the city, his breathing steady, as if he had never left.

He pushed open the window and gazed at the sky in the southeast corner of the imperial city, a sky that must be filled with flashing lights and chaotic energy at this moment, a cold smile playing on his lips.

"The seeds have been sown, and the cracks have widened. Huiming, the Zhao family... how many more days can your 'Buddhist Pure Land' remain peaceful?"

he muttered.

With such a significant fluctuation, it goes without saying that the Zhao imperial family must have known about it.

If Master Huiming obeys the royal family's orders and uses the power of the dragon vein, that would be fine. But if he steals the Zhao family's ancestral vein, the Zhao family will definitely not let these monks off the hook!
In this way, without me having to take action, the Zhao family and the Buddhist sect will inevitably weaken each other by turning against each other!
As night deepened, the disturbance in the southeast corner of the imperial city did not last long before it was forcibly suppressed by an even more powerful force.

But the sudden burst of chaotic spiritual energy and the faint dragon's roar, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, rippled through the hearts of many powerful figures in Tianzhao City.

Li Yunjing sat quietly in the room, his divine sense like a fine spider web, subtly sensing the changes in the atmosphere of the city.

Several powerful divine thoughts swept out from the depths of the palace without any concealment, precisely targeting the "Hundred Herbs Garden," carrying a scrutinizing and cold meaning.

Immediately afterwards, a group of golden-armored cultivators dressed in royal guard uniforms and exuding a chilling aura quickly arrived at the outer perimeter of the "Hundred Herbs Garden," but instead of entering immediately, they sealed off and isolated the area like an iron wall.

Among the dozen or so Nascent Soul auras within the city, which resembled torches, several showed obvious fluctuations, their divine senses intertwined, seemingly exchanging something in secret.

Clearly, Master Huiming's unauthorized large-scale extraction of the Ancestral Dragon's spiritual veins to cultivate evil arts has been exposed.

"Oh, it's true."

Li Yunjing chuckled softly.

The Zhao imperial family could tolerate the power of the Grand Preceptor, but they would never tolerate anyone shaking the foundation of their rule, the Ancestral Dragon Spirit Vein.

Especially in such an evil way that is almost like draining the pond to catch all the fish.

Over the next two days, Tianzhao City remained outwardly bustling and noisy, but undercurrents were swirling beneath the surface.

The "Hundred Herbs Garden" was completely sealed off by the royal guards, allowing entry but not exit. The originally strict Buddhist light barrier was covered and suppressed by an even more powerful royal formation.

Rumors quietly spread throughout the city that the Imperial Preceptor had encountered some setbacks in his secluded cultivation and needed to recuperate, but the real high-ranking officials knew that things were not so simple.

Li Yunjing could even vaguely sense that a brief but extremely intense energy conflict had erupted in the direction of the palace.

Although it subsided quickly, it revealed Master Huiming's violent yet listless aura, as well as another, more majestic imperial power containing the aura of a true dragon.

This indicates that the two sides have already had one direct confrontation.

The results speak for themselves.

Under the suppression of the Imperial Capital's grand formation and the siege of the royal experts, Master Huiming, who was already injured by the backlash, had no chance of winning.

On the morning of the third day, a piece of news that shocked the court and the public spread from the palace.

Due to his eagerness for quick results, the National Preceptor Master Huiming was careless in his cultivation, which caused a backlash of his magical power and damaged his foundation. He will go to the Royal Mausoleum for seclusion and recuperation from this day forward and may not leave without imperial decree.

All his duties will be temporarily taken over by Zhao Tianwang, the Imperial Clan Head.

(End of this chapter)