One person: Senior Brother Zhang Zhiwei, who has mastered the Golden Light Mantra to its fullest lev

This grab carried the unquestionable authority of the Celestial Master's Mansion, and even more so, his determination to completely end this calamity!

This was the first time he had laid a hand on his junior brother.

Faced with this grab that was powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, Zhang Yunyuan neither dodged nor parried.

He simply watched his senior brother quietly, his aura rippled slightly.

A layer of seemingly thin Qi barrier, yet containing the chaotic colors of the beginning of the universe, silently unfolded before him.

That layer of Qi barrier was hazy and indistinct, lacking any imposing presence, like an inconspicuous layer of water vapor.

Zhang Zhiwei's domineering grab, imbued with the power of the Golden Light Mantra, landed solidly on the chaotic energy barrier.

Then, something incredibly bizarre happened.

There was no earth-shattering collision, no explosive clash of Qi, and not even a ripple was stirred up.

The old Celestial Master's violent and fierce power, the moment it touched the Qi barrier, was like a piece of scalding iron falling into the boundless deep sea, instantly swallowed up, decomposed, and returned to the most primordial nothingness.

Like a clay ox sinking into the sea, leaving no trace!

Zhang Zhiwei's hand froze in mid-air, no more than three inches from the glimmer of light.

The resolute and dignified look on his face was replaced by extreme shock and disbelief in a fraction of a second.

His pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints as he stared intently at the thin, seemingly fragile barrier of chaotic energy. Then, he abruptly looked up at Zhang Yunyuan, whose expression remained unchanged.

"you…?!"

The old master lost his voice.

He clearly felt that the force of his grab just now was not blocked or pushed away, but was perfectly "dissolved" by a more essential and supreme force.

This method, this level of skill, has far exceeded his comprehension!

Tian Jinzhong, standing to the side, was so shocked that his mouth dropped open and his eyes almost popped out. He stared at the scene before him, which overturned his entire understanding of the world, and his mind went completely blank.

Zhang Yunyuan slowly put away the fragment of inheritance in his palm, and the layer of chaotic qi barrier also dissipated.

His tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable force.

“Senior brother, I understand your concerns. But this is a promise I made to Senior Brother Huaiyi.”

He looked at his two senior brothers, who were still in shock, his gaze as deep as the starry sky.

“I have already made arrangements. Senior Brother Huaiyi’s grandson, Chu Lan, will one day step into the world of supernatural beings.”

"At that time, this will be his responsibility and his opportunity. He will forge his own path to complete what Senior Brother Huaiyi did not finish, and perhaps... he will also be able to truly unravel the cause and effect brought about by these Eight Extraordinary Techniques."

The room was deathly silent.

Zhang Zhiwei slowly withdrew his hand, which had been frozen in mid-air, and the shock on his face gradually transformed into an extremely complex emotion.

There was solemnity, scrutiny, and bewilderment, but in the end, it all turned into a sigh that was longer and deeper than before.

The junior brother in front of him was no longer the junior brother who needed his protection.

His cultivation and his will have reached a height that he himself could not attain.

He stopped insisting and simply spoke in a heavy tone.

"Yun Yuan...you'd better watch yourself."

"That child... I hope it's really as you say."

He closed his eyes, looking exhausted.

"Longhu Mountain... ultimately owes them too much..."

This was a reluctant compromise, and the only choice made based on an assessment of Zhang Yunyuan's unfathomable strength.

Tian Jinzhong stood to the side, tears streaming down his face, unable to utter a single word.

The quiet room fell into a long silence once again, with only his suppressed sobs echoing in the empty space.

Zhang Yunyuan stood up and bowed deeply to his two senior brothers once again.

"Take care, senior brother."

"I know what I'm doing regarding Chu Lan's matter."

Having said that, his figure faded away slowly, just as it had appeared, without disturbing a wisp of air, and finally disappeared completely.

He came quietly, and he left quietly.

All that remained was a shocking piece of bad news, an unsolved mystery, and two elderly people who were deeply troubled and unable to sleep all night.

Chapter 139 The Storm Subsides, Dragons and Tigers Appear in the Shadows

Zhang Yunyuan's figure vanished like a wisp of smoke in the quiet room, without stirring up a single speck of dust.

But the heaviness he left behind was like an invisible boulder, pressing down on Zhang Zhiwei and Tian Jinzhong's hearts, making this quiet room, which should have been peaceful and undisturbed, even more suffocating than the busiest city at the foot of the mountain.

The air in the quiet room seemed to freeze. Even the last wisp of sandalwood incense burning in the incense burner in the corner seemed to be choked by the oppressive atmosphere and dissipated helplessly.

Tian Jinzhong was still immersed in the immense grief of Zhang Huaiyi's passing. His burly body trembled slightly, not because of the cold night in the mountains, but because of the deepest, uncontrollable sorrow in his heart.

He remembered his second senior brother Zhang Huaiyi, who had always stood beside him decades ago, coldly calling out "Jinzhong." He remembered Zhang Huaiyi's stubbornness during his training and the light in his eyes before he descended the mountain.

Each scene, each incident, has become a sharp blade piercing my heart at this moment.

The turbid old tears slid silently down the furrows of his cheeks, dripping onto his dark Taoist robe, leaving a small dark stain that quickly disappeared, just like Huaiyi's vanished life.

He opened his mouth, his throat tightening, wanting to say something, wanting to ask something, wanting to scream, wanting to cry.

But in the end, it only turned into a suppressed sob, like that of a trapped beast.

The sound echoed in the empty, quiet room, filled with endless helplessness and sorrow.

A long time, a long time.

Time seemed to lose its meaning in this small, quiet room.

Only the changing colors of the sky outside the window faithfully record the passage of time.

It wasn't until the light outside the window changed from a deep indigo to a hazy, pale white, and the first clear bird song broke the tranquility of Longhu Mountain, that Tian Jinzhong seemed to finally struggle out of that quagmire of sorrow.

He slowly, extremely slowly, raised his head, his movements as stiff as a rusty machine.

He raised his bloodshot eyes and looked at the old Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei, who had remained seated motionless from beginning to end, as if he had turned into a stone statue.

The senior brother sat there, his breathing so faint it was almost imperceptible. If it weren't for the slight, barely perceptible rise and fall of his chest, Tian Jinzhong would have almost thought he had also passed away along with Huaiyi.

"Senior brother..."

Tian Jinzhong's voice was terribly hoarse, as if it had been polished by countless grains of sand, and every word was filled with tearing pain.

"Huaiyi... he just left like that..."

Zhang Zhiwei did not open his eyes, nor did he even twitch his eyebrows.

He simply exhaled a long, slow breath.

That long breath seemed to carry away the pent-up emotions that had been building up in his chest for decades, and all the worries and concerns he had for that rebellious junior brother.

It also took away the last trace of the human touch that belonged to "Zhang Zhiwei".

From now on, he will only be the Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain.

He is the one who needs to carry on the thousand-year-old tradition and set an example for the righteous path of the world, an exceptional person.

"We can't stop him from taking the path he's chosen."

Zhang Zhiwei's voice was very soft and calm, without the slightest emotional fluctuation, yet it carried a sense of weariness and understanding of the ways of the world.

“From the moment he followed Wugensheng down the mountain, this path was destined.”

Tian Jinzhong remained silent.

Yes, it was destined.

He knew his senior brother was telling the truth, but the resentment and grief in his heart still gnawed at his internal organs like a leech.

He recalled that unbelievable scene from just now.

That junior brother they've watched grow up, Zhang Yunyuan.

The thin, hazy aura surrounding him was so inconspicuous, like a layer of morning mist.

But how could the eldest brother's powerful grab, capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, a grab that embodied the essence of the orthodox thunder magic and golden light mantra of Longhu Mountain, vanish into thin air like a mud ox entering the sea?

There was no collision, no resistance, not even a ripple of energy.

It just vanished into thin air.

That scene completely exceeded his understanding of "Qi" over the past hundred years.

That's not technique, that's more like... the Way.

A Tao that he could not understand, or even imagine.

Tian Jinzhong spoke cautiously, his voice carrying a hint of awe and confusion that even he himself was unaware of.

"Junior Brother Yunyuan... what was the origin of that skill he just used?"

He paused, as if searching for the right word to describe the feeling, the feeling that sent shivers down his spine.

“I…I feel that it is no longer the ‘Qi’ we know.”

"It...it seems to be..."

He pondered for a long time, but couldn't come to any conclusion.

Because in his cognitive system, there simply isn't a word that can describe that kind of power.

Zhang Zhiwei finally slowly opened his eyes.

Those eyes, which were always sleepy and seemed uninterested in anything in the world, were now filled with an unprecedented solemnity and depth, as if they held a bottomless starry sky, in which countless stars were born and died, deducing some supreme celestial secret.

"I do not know either."

He shook his head, and for the first time, his usually calm and collected face revealed undisguised bewilderment and shock.

"I can't see through it, I can't see through it at all."

"But I can feel it."