He was invincible from the beginning of the Heaven-Covering Era.

Even though she had already experienced more than a dozen heavenly tribulations and her divine sense had been tempered by them many times, she still felt a trace of pain, as if weapons were cutting into her primordial spirit, which was quite terrifying.

At this moment, Zhou Qing had already opened his Martial Dao Heaven.

His eyes reflected a star field that was both alive and dead, and various weapons were also reflected in them.

In his eyes, among the countless star fields, weapons were rising and falling. Some were cauldrons, representing the tangible traces of the Dao; some were bells, representing time and eternity; some were towers, representing infinite space; some were mirrors, representing the two sides of Yin and Yang; some were furnaces, representing the melting of all things into one; and some were swords, representing slaughter, chaos, and order.

This is the Martial Arts Heavenly Eye, which allows one to see the origin of the Dharma at a glance. It is the most suitable Heavenly Eye for cultivators.

Suddenly, the stone wall seemed to transform into a jade wall, becoming crystal clear and absorbing moonlight.

The engravings of weapons such as tripods, bells, towers, mirrors, furnaces, and swords rotated on the stone wall, spinning faster and faster, becoming a blur, as if trying to coalesce together.

"boom"

The weapon markings kept rotating, recombining, and decomposing, eventually transforming into a single character—兵 (bing, meaning soldier)!

The moment this word appeared, a magnificent celestial sound descended upon Zhou Qing's sea of ​​consciousness, booming continuously and boundlessly.

It was as if a heavenly sword or divine blade had struck his primordial spirit, as if an eternal immortal weapon was suppressing it. This was because he had been cultivating the Pre-Word Secret for some time and had achieved some success, and his primordial spirit had developed a trace of immortal divinity, which was why he was unaffected by anything.

If it were an ordinary cultivator from the Four Extremes Secret Realm or the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm who had never survived the Heavenly Tribulation, they might even die because of this "soldier" character.

Even Dao Qingling's primordial spirit was greatly shaken at this moment, as if it were about to be split open, and he almost groaned.

However, this was only the beginning. The next scripture began to emerge, each word like a divine weapon, slaying people's minds and souls.

Xiaoyu listened to Dao Qingling's words and did not try to comprehend the Nine Secrets. At this moment, she was extremely glad that she had not tried to comprehend them, otherwise she would have probably perished here, which would have been a very unpleasant way to die.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Qing was the first to wake up, bathed in moonlight.

"This is the true divine art of controlling troops!"

The Secret of Soldiers is not just about teaching people how to seize someone else's weapons; it mainly teaches people how to control their own weapons.

It is vast and profound, encompassing everything from forging weapons to nurturing them and controlling them, and is extremely detailed in its explanation of how a weapon is created and how it is used.

"This is truly a single artifact that can overcome all laws! No scripture is more professional than this when it comes to refining artifacts for enlightenment!" Zhou Qing exclaimed in amazement.

Among the secret techniques of the "Soldier" class, there is one called the Unique Immortal Soldier. Zhou Qing glanced through it and immediately sensed the terrifying nature of this secret art. It involves refining the Soldier Ancestor to control all soldiers. The method of refining it is extremely profound, far more complex than the "One Weapon Destroys Ten Thousand" technique he had seen before.

“All things are weapons; this Celestial Venerable’s Dao is truly terrifying.” Zhou Qing was shaken.

From the secret of the character "兵" (soldier), Zhou Qing saw the Celestial Venerable's ambition: to seize someone else's weapon? That was merely a derivative method of the unique Celestial Weapon.

However, Zhou Qing saw a deeper level of Dao in this Celestial Venerable, which was the core of his lifelong belief and the outward manifestation of his path to enlightenment.

Everything can become an weapon. No matter what you are, a grain of sand or a stone can become an weapon. Whether it is inanimate or animate, in the eyes of this celestial being, everything seems to be a weapon.

Even a living person can be used as a weapon to cultivate and control; even the sun and moon, even the void, even the Dao that exists in both the tangible and intangible realms of heaven and earth can be used as a weapon to control.

"This is why later generations have been unable to cultivate the secret techniques to the level of their creators!" Zhou Qing exclaimed with deep emotion.

This is the difference between different paths. Only the creator can unleash its true power. Even if others understand the creator's mindset, they cannot fully match this secret technique and cannot unleash the power of the forbidden domain.

"There are countless ways to achieve enlightenment in this world. Some people can prove their enlightenment through calligraphy and painting. Why can't they use other means to make their mark on the heavens? This is a way to prove one's enlightenment by using other means to make one's mark on the heavens!"

Chapter 96 The Sage of the Cai Clan

Zhou Qing silently comprehended the profound wisdom of the "Military Secrets," sensing this great Dao, and continuously recited the scriptures, determined to master the "Military Secrets."

After some time, Dao Qingling also woke up. She had also comprehended the complete "Soldier" secret technique. Upon waking, she touched Xiaoyu's forehead with her finger and passed on this secret technique to her.

"I never imagined that I could find one of the Nine Secrets in this remote part of the Qinling Mountains. It's truly unbelievable," she said with great emotion.

“This sect has too many secrets. The Cai clan was wiped out by the Azure Emperor with a single finger, but those clansmen who were away survived. They returned to their homeland of Qinling Mountains from 30,000 years ago, changed their names and appearances, and passed on their lineage again,” Zhou Qing said.

"Do you think they intentionally preserved this stone wall? Was it on purpose or by accident?" Dao Qingling asked.

Zhou Qing pondered for a moment and then said, "It was intentional, wasn't it?"

It's quite interesting to know why the "Soldier" secret is on this stone wall, and why it's subject to a time restriction at night.

Over the past ten thousand years, many people have come here. Whether it was the young Biluo King more than twenty years ago, or Hua Yunfei, Yue Ling, and Ye Fan who will come here in the future, it shows that as long as you are determined, you can find this place.

However, the questions remain: was this stone wall here a long time ago, or was it placed here only in recent decades? Who carved the weapon marks on it? And who cleverly arranged the moonlight as a condition? Perhaps only the leader of the Qin Clan knows the answers to these mysteries.

"Next, I plan to take a stroll around the vicinity of Qishi Mansion," Zhou Qing told the two of their upcoming goals.

Dao Qingling nodded slightly, without question. Xiaoyu also did not object, as she was still trying to comprehend the secret of the character "兵" in her mind.

Seeing that neither of them had any objections, Zhou Qing immediately took out the Xuan Yu Platform, opened the domain gate, and the three of them crossed the void and left the Qin Gate.

Next, Zhou Qing's last goal in Zhongzhou will be to meet a Cai clan saint who should not yet have reached the Dao stage and is still alive in this world. Let's call him a saint for now, as his cultivation level is beyond comprehension.

Zhou Qing couldn't guess what would happen next. Before setting off from the capital, he cast a divination for the three of them regarding their training, and the result was very auspicious. He could only be certain that this training would be very rewarding, but he didn't know whether the process would be tortuous or not.

This sage has too many secrets. Zhou Qing even suspects that the secret character "兵" (soldier) on the stone wall was carved by this sage, and perhaps it has an extraordinary connection with the Qin Clan.

In the eyes of the world, ten thousand years ago, before the Azure Emperor passed away, he sat in the Eastern Wilderness and wiped out the ancient Cai clan of the Central Plains with a snap of his fingers.

The reason why the Green Emperor wiped out the Cai clan is something that people who know that period of history don't understand. The Green Emperor was supposed to wipe out the ancestors of the Cai family, and the Cai clan were also victims, but the Green Emperor wiped out the Cai clan as well, which makes people baffled.

However, since the Azure Emperor did this, he must have had his reasons. After all, he spared the Cai clan members who were away at the time, which shows that the Azure Emperor did not eliminate the Cai clan with a snap of his fingers because he had a grudge against them. He must have had a reason to take action.

Was this Cai clan sage one of the surviving members who lived outside the area?

It's actually difficult to tell whether the Cai people were descendants of this group or later.

Judging from his words before he passed away, this person seemed to be one of the survivors. However, Zhou Qing couldn't believe it, because even if he was a teenager back then, he would be ten thousand years old now. What level of cultivation would it take to achieve that?

Even if one has consumed some longevity-promoting spiritual items, one must possess extremely profound and unfathomable cultivation to possibly live to this age.

Even if he is a descendant of that group, it is still terrifying, because more than 8,000 years ago, a great sect called the Vermilion Bird Sect arose in the Qinling Mountains of Central China. The founder of the sect was surnamed Cai, and it is highly likely that he was this Cai clan saint.

He was already a powerful being when he founded the religion, so how long would it take to become a powerful being in the post-ancient era?

Just by looking at the time it takes for various holy lands and major religions to establish their holy sons, we can see that, taking the Yin-Yang Sect as an example, in the post-ancient era, everyone only changed their holy sons and holy daughters every five hundred years. The reason for this is that even a holy son or holy daughter with such qualifications would need about five hundred years to become a great power in the era of suppression by the Big Dipper Heaven and Earth.

In other words, this sage was already several hundred years old at that time, and he was not a prodigy like Gai Jiuyou Zhonghuang who achieved great power at a young age. Otherwise, he would have been famous in the world. He was probably a late bloomer.

This means that by now, this sage is at least eight thousand years old, possibly even close to nine thousand years old, or even close to ten thousand years old.

This is truly terrifying. It doesn't seem like they're only at the Saint level; they must all be at least Great Saints. And this is only terrifying in terms of age.

Besides, his lifestyle is very similar to the description in the notes of the Emperor of Anping Kingdom. His method of absorbing heavenly tribulations to form pills has the flavor of the Devouring Heaven Demon Art. And coincidentally, the Qin Clan has the Divine Transcending Technique, a ruthless secret technique that he obtained from who-knows-where.

All these causes and effects were like a complex web, and Zhou Qing couldn't understand the secrets within them for a while, which aroused his endless reverie.

Zhou Qing's purpose this time was to postpone the time when this sage attained enlightenment, for two reasons.

Firstly, since he obtained the Cai family's military secret and benefited from it, he should repay the debt of karma.

Secondly, if such a human saint could live a long time, he could also add a very important force to the human race when all the ancient races return.

After traversing the void several times, Zhou Qing finally arrived near the Qishi Mansion.

Qishi Mansion also has a sage, who enjoys pretending to be the owner of a small tavern, and is only a few thousand miles away from the Cai clan's sage.

To be honest, this distance is like being right under a saint's eyelashes. It's hard to say whether the old manor lord has noticed the existence of the Cai clan saint, but the Cai clan saint can definitely see everything the old manor lord does. Perhaps the two are even friends.

After the three of them walked out of the domain gate, not far away was Xiba City. It was more than 5,000 li away from Qishi Mansion, which was not far. It was one of the ten ancient cities recorded in the ancient books of the Central Plains Human Race.

This place has no city lord and does not belong to any major power. It is quite free and has a large number of cultivators, making it extremely prosperous.

Every time a large-scale auction is held, many high-ranking figures come from all walks of life, including people from all walks of life.

"You can rest in the city for a while. I'll come and call you after I've made some gains," Zhou Qing said to the two men.

Bathed in the glow of the sunset, Dao Qingling carried Xiao Yu and flew towards Xiba City, which was not far away. Zhou Qing then began to search for the small Taoist temple within a circle with Xiba City as the center and a radius of one thousand miles.

Chapter 97 Old Taoist

The forest is lush and green, and a blue stone path winds through the mountains. It is a very simple environment. Although it is near Qishi Mansion, there is no purple aura rising up. Instead, it has a kind of back-to-nature artistic conception.

On the mountain, slender vines meander and intertwine with the old trees, while lakes dot the landscape below. In the distance, on a small hill, stands a somewhat dilapidated Taoist temple.

"This is it." Zhou Qing stopped in mid-air.

On that low hill, there were no green bamboos or cypresses, nor any medicinal herbs or rare herbs. It was simple, with a small vegetable garden, but nothing special about it.

However, Zhou Qing was very serious. In an instant, he detected a strange Dao trace on that low mountain. The low mountain contained a trace of spirituality, and in his eyes, it had a mysterious and profound feeling.

A day later, Zhou Qing returned to the same place, but this time there were three of them.

"When you meet this senior later, remember not to be impolite," Zhou Qing said, looking at the two of them.

Both of them nodded slightly, their expressions serious; they naturally understood the implications.

Zhou Qing and the others walked along the bluestone path into the mountains, passing through several small hills, and soon arrived at the foot of the low hill.

"Life is but a dream, how long can it last? Life is full of sorrows. No one can grant me the elixir of immortality, so I'll sing a long song in the mountains on a spring day..."

A chant drifted down from the mountain, revealing a sense of detachment from worldly affairs and a tranquil, carefree state of mind.

Zhou Qing and the others stepped up the low hill and saw the small Taoist temple.

This small Taoist temple, though somewhat low and resembling a thatched hut, is very clean, indicating that it must be regularly maintained.

In front of the small Taoist temple stands an ancient pine tree with a hollow trunk that many people cannot encircle. Its branches are vigorous and its leaves are lush and green, as if it is full of vitality.

But Zhou Qing could see that this was just a forced continuation of life, and once this person stopped doing so, it would wither and die in two or three years.

There are no medicinal herb fields here, only a vegetable patch with a dozen or so green vegetables growing well, each one as green as jade.

In addition, there was a grape trellis, with lush green vines and two or three bunches of purple grapes hanging from it, each one like a purple agate.

"come in."

As soon as Zhou Qing and the others reached the door, they heard a voice, as if it were right next to their ears.

The three looked at each other, and finally went inside at the same time.

As soon as Zhou Qing entered, he saw a person sitting cross-legged in the Taoist temple, looking at them with a smile.

His body was thin and short, dressed in an old Taoist robe, with a wooden hairpin in his hair bun. His face was full of wrinkles, and his blood and energy were exhausted. He was so frail, but Zhou Qing and the other two dared not be presumptuous at all.

"Senior." Zhou Qing spoke first among the three, breaking the silence.

The old Taoist priest smiled and shook his head, seemingly without making any move, but three prayer cushions suddenly appeared in front of the three people.

So the three of them sat down, facing the old Taoist priest.

The old Taoist priest seemed to have been sitting cross-legged for a long time, as if he had anticipated the arrival of Zhou Qing and the others.