I have a panel that reduces proficiency.

Chapter 69 Ceremony

Fang Shi was taken aback. The girl before him had long, black hair that reached her waist, and beautiful features. She was no more than a teenager, charming and lovely. He said, "Wu Tong? How did you—become a celestial being?"

Wu Tong laughed and said, "Brother Fang, I am a girl. I used to hide it because I was afraid of trouble. Otherwise, how could an orphan like me dare to live alone on the edge of the wilderness?"

Just as Fang Shi was about to speak again, Xuan Zhu suddenly stepped forward.

Her aura suddenly changed, and an invisible pressure emanated from her, causing the surrounding rubble to tremble.

"You possess the aura of the Five Aggregates Wanderer. No, you are a practitioner of the 'Five Aggregates Heavenly Demon Summoning Secret Mantra'."

Xuanzhu rode the wind, his bare feet three feet off the ground, his Taoist robe fluttering in the wind.

Those rogue cultivators who had just escaped the claws of the flying zombies hadn't even had time to catch their breath before they were overwhelmed by this oppressive aura and couldn't lift their heads.

Even Fang Shi was the same.

Zhao Hu and Sun He were in even worse shape, their faces pale and struggling to breathe. They were forced to lie prostrate on the ground, where they had been standing upright.

Xuanzhu rose higher and higher, looking down at Wu Tong, and said, "Perfect, I'll capture you and bring you back to the Three Plates Temple—you won't escape any of the matters concerning the Forgetful Water Lord, the Five Yin Heavenly Demon, and this entire Seven Emotions and Desires Realm."

A beam of purple light shot out from Xuanzhu's sleeve and soared into the sky.

The purple talisman that Fang Shi had seen countless times unfolded in the air, its silver patterns spreading out like ripples on water, transforming into a giant net that blotted out the sky, enveloping the entire Qiyuan Town.

The crimson script flowed, like a net hanging upside down from the sky.

Fang Shi felt as if every line on the talisman had come alive, and it seemed that with just a slight tremor, the power it contained would be enough to grind all the mountains and rivers within a hundred miles into dust.

Wu Tong, however, remained completely unfazed, tilting his head slightly and saying, "Tsk, I'm talking to Brother Fang, why are you interrupting?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a sudden blizzard arose behind Wu Tong, obscuring the sky and the sun. The vast, ancient forests slowly unfolded behind her, as if an ancient world hidden at the ends of the earth was crushing down from the void.

"I once saw the morning glow congeal into azure blood, now the wind and snow cover the green mountains."

As the sound subsided, the wind and snow swirled back, rushing towards the sky-covering talisman.

On the talisman, streaks of crimson characters cracked like porcelain, then shattered with a deafening roar, and the sky filled with silver light and purple aura, turning into a torrential downpour of light.

The entire net crumbled inch by inch in the wind and snow, and was finally crushed back into a dim purple light, which whooshed into Xuanzhu's chest.

Xuanzhu let out a muffled groan, his aura dissipated, and he fell straight down from mid-air.

Upon seeing this, Fang Shi hesitated for a moment, but still stepped forward and caught her just as she was about to fall, placing her on the ground.

He glanced down and was suddenly stunned. On Xuanzhu's bare feet, the toenails that were once covered with dark, gleaming nails had now lost their sharpness and returned to their pink and rounded shape.

At this moment, the wind and snow dissipated, and Wu Tong lightly leaped down from the top of the ruins, saying, "Brother Fang is still so kind. Three years ago, when I came to the outside of your rented house to absorb spiritual energy, you were the only one who didn't drive me away the first time."

Fang Shi looked up at Wu Tong beside him and asked, "What exactly is going on?"

Wu Tong stopped in front of him and said, "If Brother Fang wants to hear it, I will naturally tell you in detail. This story begins three years ago. Brother Fang's parents, my parents, and more than ten rogue cultivators went to explore the depths of the Great Wilderness together and actually discovered the legendary rice roots."

Fang Shi said, "Rice root? Is it the rice root mentioned in the 'Biography of the Daoist Ancestor'?"

Wu Tong said, "This is it. Rice roots are the remnants of innate spiritual roots, and their wondrous uses are endless. Obtaining them brings great wealth and honor."

Before anyone could even see the rice roots and start a fight, Xuanqing from the Three Plates Temple arrived.

"He clapped his hands and laughed, saying, 'I am determined to obtain this thing,'" and then more than ten of them perished in the vast wilderness. After that day, Fang Ge and I both became orphans.

Fang Shi fell silent.

Three years ago, that was when he unraveled the mystery of his unborn child.

But he was reincarnated in this life, and his parents in this life are also his parents.

When the devastating news arrived, he lay on his bed for seven days and seven nights.

He wasn't unaware of the wisp of spiritual energy emanating from outside.

They just didn't have the strength to drive them away.

Thinking about it this way, Wu Tong's resolve in the Dao is far stronger than his.

Despite losing both parents, she never wasted a day in her life, diligently practicing asceticism without ceasing.

Wu Tong said, "Xuan Qing obtained the rice root, only to find that it was merely a wisp of energy. The real rice root had already fallen into the hands of Chu Qianfan, the Five Elements Hermit. At that time, Chu Qianfan had already been refined by Sanpan Mountain into the foundation of the Heavenly Origin Nine Peaks Purification Array. Xuan Qing was unwilling to accept this, so he began to plot to break the array and revive Chu Qianfan."

Wu Tong said, "After three years, Xuan Qing finally succeeded. He first used Li Daoyuan as a dwelling and sent it to Chu Qianfan, allowing him to revive an avatar. Unexpectedly, after Chu Qianfan succeeded, he pretended to lose, but secretly hid Li Daoyuan's avatar, then possessed his disciple Zhou Yan, and then refined Li Zhengyuan, an inner disciple of Sanpan Temple, into an avatar, gradually spreading the chess pieces throughout Sanpan Mountain."

Wu Tong sneered and said, "Chu Qianfan knows that Xuan Qing wants rice roots, but doesn't he also want to use Xuan Qing to deal with the Forgetful Water Lord? If he had made it clear from the beginning that he wanted to deal with a True Lord, that old fox Xuan Qing would probably have abandoned him long ago."

Fang Shi said, "The Lord of Forgetfulness? Is that Qi Xueyi—no, that Morning Dew?"

Wu Tong said, "The Forgetful Water Lord is none other than Senior Morning Dew. She devoured her younger sister, Evening Glow—or rather, Senior Evening Glow willingly allowed herself to be devoured so that her elder sister could defeat Venerable Su Yuan. Therefore, Senior Morning Dew spent her entire life striving to revive her sister, until she was slain by Shou Yijian before Mount Luofu. However, as a True Lord, how could Senior Morning Dew so easily perish?"

"Before her death, Senior Chaolu left behind a legacy on Mount Luofu. One was the 'True Explanation of the Seven Emotions of the Supreme Being Transformed into True Water and Attained the Dao,' which she personally wrote, and the other was the 'Secret Mantra for Summoning the Five Yin Heavenly Demons.'"

"Both of these cultivation techniques were later obtained by Chu Qianfan's daughter, Chu Yao. As expected of Senior Chaolu, Chu Yao possessed the same Heavenly Spiritual Root. She saw through the secret of the Forgetful Water Lord's attempt to revive himself by using the 'True Explanation of the Seven Emotions of the Supreme Being to Transform into True Water and Attain the Dao.' She then handed the scripture over to Chu Qianfan and secretly cultivated the 'Five Yin Heavenly Demon Summoning Secret Mantra' herself."

Fang Shi asked, "Since Chu Yao knew it was a trap, why did she still cultivate the 'Five Yin Heavenly Demon Summoning Secret Mantra'?"

Wu Tong said, "In order to step onto the path of immortality, Mount Luofu was already in turmoil due to the death of the Forgetful Water Lord. Even though Chu Yao possessed a Heavenly Spiritual Root, she still faced great difficulties in that situation. To establish her foundation, she had no choice but to cultivate the 'Five Yin Heavenly Demon Summoning Secret Mantra.' In the end, the Forgetful Water Lord was superior. The precarious state of Mount Luofu actually became an advantage for her and the driving force behind Chu Yao's final decision to devour her father, Chu Qianfan."

"However, Chu Yao was also a person of great fortune. She embarked on the path of immortality by chance and obtained the Rice Root. With the power of the Rice Root, she was able to break free from the Forgetful Water Lord's devouring of her immortal foundation. Although the final result was that her father, Chu Qianfan, became the Five Elements Hermit, Chu Yao did not perish. She and Chu Qianfan became of the same origin and temporarily broke free from Senior Chaolu. Later, the Five Elements Hermit died, and her immortal foundation was transferred and fell into the hands of the Three Plates Temple."

Fang Shi was silent for a moment, then asked, "And what about you? What role did you play in the later parts of the story?"

Wu Tong smiled and said, "Brother Fang, don't be in a hurry. Let me explain the situation slowly."

In the center of the Cold Mist Valley.

Wu Tong knelt on the ice.

Dozens of ice sculptures were scattered around, each in a different pose—standing, squatting, or huddled together—all with expressions of terror on their faces.

"You want to build a foundation?"

Wu Tong said, "I want to."

"Want to reach Foundation Establishment like my sister?"

Wu Tong said, "I want to."

The voice said, "Alright, but Foundation Establishment isn't that easy; you have to pay a price."

Wu Tong slammed his forehead heavily against the ice and said, "Senior, I'm willing to pay any price as long as I can establish my foundation."

The voice chuckled meaningfully and said, "Any price is acceptable? Very well, now that Chu Qianfan has been resurrected, it's time for my sister and me to be resurrected as well. However, our resurrection won't be so easy—Shou Yijian is keeping a close watch. We'll have to pay a price too."

Wu Tong said, "The matter of the Frost Grass was originally stirred up by Chu Qianfan using Li Zhengyuan's clone. The rogue cultivators were for the Frost Grass, and Chu Qianfan was for their Primordial True Nature. For every person who died in the Frost Ravine, his clone would regain a bit more power."

"It's laughable that Xuan Qing only knows that Chu Qianfan took Li Zhengyuan as his clone, but he doesn't know that Li Daoyuan is still around."

"Then came Zhou Yan's clone. The explosion of the earth veins and the chaos in Qiyuan Town were all orchestrated by this clone. Taking advantage of this chaos, Chu Qianfan's true body finally broke free from the Tianyuan Nine Mountains Pure Yuan Array and swallowed his Five Yin Spirit Platforms into the entire Qiyuan Town, intending to devour the town's primordial true nature to revive."

"What Chu Qianfan did not expect was that his resurrection also touched the power of the Dao of Heaven and Earth belonging to Senior Chaolu. Therefore, Senior Chaolu also took this opportunity to be resurrected from the Dead Sea."

"Senior Chaolu has just recovered, and his power is at its weakest. Chu Qianfan suddenly realized something—his resurrection requires him to devour the entire Qiyuan Town. But what if he directly devours a weakened True Monarch?"

"Moreover, even with Xuanqing's help, there will inevitably be unexpected twists and turns in order to truly revive. For example, the Xuanzhu invaded Chu Qianfan's Five Yin Spirit Platform. Therefore, instead of dealing with the Three Plates Temple, it would be better to just swallow Senior Chaolu, which would allow for a quick revival and also eliminate this hidden danger."

"At that time, in order to eliminate Chu Qianfan, Xuanzhu had already invaded the Five Yin Spirit Platform and suppressed it all the way from the entire Qiyuan Town to the Yi-character District."

"But Chu Qianfan had long since ignored Xuanzhu and instead pounced on Senior Chaolu. Senior Chaolu could only summon the Seven Emotions Blessed Land from her spiritual sea and combine it with the spiritual veins to defend herself by taking advantage of the terrain."

"Xuanzhu was suppressing the Five Yin Spirit Platform with all her might, but she never expected that Senior Chaolu would open the Seven Emotions Blessed Land at this time. As the two worlds overlapped, Xuanzhu was swept into them."

"Xuan Ge's daughter, Qi Xueyi, stayed in the Five Yin Spirit Platform because of her lover, Zhou Yan, and was also dragged in."

"By the way, Brother Fang, you've also dealt with Xuan Ge—he's the manager who chased you down in Luofu Mountain."

"Xuan Ge stayed in the Five Yin Spirit Platform to fight Chu Qianfan for his daughter's sake, which slowed down Chu Qianfan's offensive against Senior Chaolu to some extent."

"Therefore, Senior Chaolu took advantage of the gap between Xuan Ge and Chu Qianfan's entanglement to erode Qi Xueyi's physical body and break free. In a flash, she also created the Seven Emotions Blessed Land outside the Five Yin Spirit Platform. The two worlds attacked from the inside and outside, and then rolled back to counterattack Chu Qianfan."

"But that's exactly what Chu Qianfan wanted. The reason he chose Zhou Yan as his clone was from the very beginning to bring Qi Xueyi into the picture."

"Chu Qianfan has been a merchant in the mortal world for a hundred years. He plans ten steps ahead for every step he takes. He may not know what each piece will do when he puts it down, but he will always keep it."

"The moment Senior Chaolu was resurrected, Qi Xueyi, this seemingly useless person, became useful. Senior Chaolu thought she had escaped the encirclement of the Five Yin Spirit Platform, but little did she know that she used Qi Xueyi to escape and then used the Seven Emotions Blessed Land to trap Chu Qianfan in the outer perimeter. This just happened to fall into Chu Qianfan's trap."

"Devouring the Seven Emotions Blessed Land takes a long time. Once the Three Plates Temple reacts, it will be a complete loss. Chu Qianfan is unwilling to fight in the inner circle, so he simply creates an opening, making Senior Chaolu think that he has launched a fatal attack on the outer circle. But once the power is pulled to the outer circle, the power will be dispersed. This is the opportunity that Chu Qianfan has been waiting for."

"The interior is filled with obsessive thoughts, which leads to a lack of consideration, while the exterior is large but weak, making it an opportunity to break through. But this opportunity requires strength."

"If Chu Qianfan only had Li Zhengyuan as an avatar, Senior Chaolu would undoubtedly have won. But Chu Qianfan also has Li Daoyuan, so Chu Qianfan has won."

"Xuan Qing was furious when he saw Li Daoyuan, but things had come to this point, and he had no other choice. As for Xuan Ge, his daughter Qi Xueyi's body had been corrupted by Senior Chaolu, and if he wanted to save his daughter, he could only help Chu Qianfan."

"The Third Elder of Panshi Temple, Xuanmu, who was in charge of Panshi, originally intended to deal with Li Daoyuan's clone, but Xuange took the matter over. After taking it over, Xuange did not stop Chu Qianfan from absorbing the clone's power into himself, and even personally entered the inner circle of the Seven Emotions and Desires Realm to weaken Senior Chaolu's power."

"With this help, Chu Qianfan's power surged instantly. It was at that moment that he broke into the Jia-level area and entered the outer Seven Emotions Blessed Land where you, Brother Fang, were located."

"Senior Chaolu had foreseen the danger and had Fang Ge trapped on the surface of the Seven Emotions Blessed Land, which was surrounded by the Five Yin Spirit Platform, to prevent Fang Ge from encountering any danger."

"After that, Senior Chaolu killed Chu Yao and her father and was completely resurrected. Then he was killed by Shouyijian. All the Five Yin Spirit Platforms and Seven Emotions Blessed Lands were destroyed by Shouyijian. Only the power of the Seven Emotions Blessed Lands remained in my body."

At this point, Wu Tong stopped talking.

Zhao Hu and Sun He, who were standing to the side, were already dumbfounded.

From the so-called True Lord and Five Elements Hermit, to the clone possession and Five Yin Spirit Platform, to the so-called Seven Emotions Blessed Land and the resurrection of the Dead Sea, and also the so-called Mysterious Wood, Mysterious Spear, Mysterious Purity, Mysterious Pearl, and Guardian One Sword.

They could understand each word individually, but when put together, it was like a foreign language.

Zhao Hu opened his mouth and said, "Brother Fang—what are you talking about? I can't understand a word you're saying!"

Sun He's face turned even paler, and he whispered, "Fellow Daoist Fang, I only have one question—are we still alive?"

Fang Shi simply looked at Wu Tong and said, "This story is missing two people. You, and Wanxia—what roles are you playing?"

Wu Tong said, "Senior Wanxia is a very powerful senior. Taking advantage of Chu Qianfan's Li Daoyuan clone being resurrected, she also used the same opportunity to break free from the Dead Sea."

"She gave Brother Fang the 'Minor Breath Concealment Technique' and the opportunity to get close to Senior Chaolu, even though Senior Chaolu seemed a bit resistant and refused to let you enter the Seven Emotions Blessed Land where your obsession resides."

"However, Senior Evening Glow also gave Senior Morning Dew the opportunity to kill Chu Yao, just like back then, when Senior Evening Glow let Senior Morning Dew win against Venerable Su Yuan."

Fang Shi slowly shook his head, his gaze never leaving Wu Tong's face, and said, "That's not how it is. Wanxia would never give me and Chaolu a chance to get close. She cares most about Chaolu, how could she possibly push me to Chaolu's side?"

He looked directly into Wu Tong's eyes and said, "This is you, isn't it? How exactly did you get Wanxia to agree?"

Wu Tong met his gaze and remained silent for a long time.

A wisp of dust was stirred up by the wind above the ruins and swept across her silent face.

After a long while, she finally smiled and said, "Brother Fang is indeed not easy to fool."

"Brother Fang, I told you before—I want to cultivate, I want to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

"That day at Frost Valley, Senior Evening Glow told me the whole story. I thought that since Brother Fang was already doomed, it would be better for me to establish my foundation rather than let him die in vain. Coincidentally, I also have a Heavenly Spiritual Root."

Fang Shi's heart sank suddenly, and he said, "What do you mean!"

Wu Tong asked, "Brother Fang, I want to ask you, how did Senior Chaolu and Senior Wanxia revive from Chu Yao and Chu Qianfan?"

If it were in the past, Fang Shi would certainly not have understood.

After reading "The True Understanding of the Seven Emotions of the Supreme Being: The Response and Transformation to Generate True Water and Attain the Dao" once, he had a vague understanding of it.

Heaven and earth have their own way, and the power of magic follows its own path.

Once Chu Yao cultivates the Morning Dew technique, the "spirit" of the Morning Dew will fall into Chu Yao's body through the power circulation of the Dao of Heaven and Earth, devouring Chu Yao's immortal foundation to reshape her primordial true nature, and taking the opportunity to return from the Dead Sea.

And so it is with the sunset; as long as the inheritor of the "Five Yin Heavenly Demon Summoning Secret Mantra" is still alive, she too can return to the world.

Fang Shi said, "But you will die too! The day you reach the Foundation Establishment stage, just like Chu Yao and Chu Qianfan, will be your death day! How could you possibly agree to such a thing!"

Wu Tong said, "No, after returning from the Dead Sea, the two seniors' realms have reached an unfathomable level. They no longer need to rely on immortal foundations; as long as natural phenomena corresponding to them still exist in the world, they will return. Senior Evening Glow calls this..."

"ceremony."

"So, Brother Fang..."

Wu Tong took a step closer, and snowflakes swirled around her feet as he said, "Are you ready for the ceremony to welcome me to the Foundation Establishment stage and for the Forgetful Water Lord to return to the world?"

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