Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Why don't you, Daoist Sanfeng, speak first?"

"I will set up a puzzle, forcing anyone who desires this power to challenge it. Only if they succeed will I distribute the armor. These armors cannot be used by everyone—even if it's only for five seconds, the number of people can extend it continuously. If that happens, I'm afraid the world will be in chaos. After all, a single celestial being already has the power to overturn rivers and seas, let alone so many people. Therefore, we must not pass this magical weapon to everyone."

"This is a good idea. The inner test and physical rewards can be placed separately, so that those who can pass the test can at least have a foundation. When people with cultivation start to break through, you can manually filter out some of the things you don't want and only keep the ones you want. Many things in the court are operated in this way, and there is nothing wrong with it. In the future, the heavenly court may be the same."

"But?" Zhang Sanfeng asked bluntly, "I'm afraid both you and I can see that this is a stage of cultivation. So, Master Sa, what do you think? Should we leave this stage to him, or should we give him a push?"

"Sword." Master Sa Tianshi replied, "The way of sword cultivation should be re-emerged in the Immortal Alliance. These murderous and fighting intentions need a scabbard to shield them, and this is a good choice. The way of sword cultivation can be established now."

"You want Shangluo to start leading the sword cultivators now?"

"There are no real 'sword cultivators' in this world. Maybe there are some people in the Conferred God War who have the power to take people's heads with flying swords. It is also the sword cultivators who can form a sect with those who are brave and aggressive."

"A sword cultivator needs a sword, of course." Zhang Sanfeng looked back at the huge sword box behind him: "It seems that it is fate that the two of us brought this thing here. Not only does it help him find his way, but it can also help the Jinyiwei to open their minds. But this sword only belongs to Shangluo, he needs more swords."

"It's okay to let Shangluo experience it himself first. After all, he has something more important to deal with than being brave and aggressive. He needs our help now."

Zhang Sanfeng glanced at him and said, "Master Sa, are you sure? I see Shangluo is having a lot of fun transforming into a dragon girl. He also likes to use his incarnation to contain his edge."

"The incarnation is ultimately cultivating others. What we are here to provide is the final solution - his power of heavenly tribulation needs to be put into the scabbard before he can use it. He is in trouble now, so it is better for us to help him."

"As expected of you, you are the master. You care about him more than I do. But sometimes, teaching an apprentice requires teaching by example. If you don't let him encounter problems, how can he find the answers?"

"So Daoist Sanfeng means that we should not give it to him until he has problems?"

"Not really - what I mean is that a heavy hammer is needed to make a loud drum. We might as well just give it to him and see what he does. Come on, Master Sa, let's go meet an old friend. Let him deal with the sword box himself."

"Okay, okay, let's do it. The two were about to throw the sword box down when Zhang Sanfeng suddenly remembered something and took out a talisman from his back. "I almost forgot. The instruction manual must be sent along as well. Three, two, one, let's go."

Chapter 1133 Unlocking

"Ouch!" A powerful blow hit Shangluo's back of the head, causing him to stagger and almost fall onto the shoulder of the giant god.

"Who placed the hidden weapon?!"

[It doesn't look like a hidden weapon. I just glimpsed it, it was a huge box.]

A good mirage means a good signal. In the surge of the mirage, Apollonia emerged from a ball of condensed water mist:

【Wow, what a big box! 】

"You can see what's behind me now? Can't you only see it from my perspective?"

[I found that this mirage is quite useful. It can actually reflect the scenery that is not in front of you into your field of vision. You don’t even need to use your eyes to see it. ]

"Oh? Really? It's so useful?" Shangluo tried to "sense" the mirage - he took a big breath.

"Wow, this thing is really useful. Let me put it aside for now and see who is plotting against me."

[I say, this is not right.] Apollonia brushed her hand over the box, [This mirage is so dark that you can't see your hand in front of you. How can anyone find your location? And if someone really wants to throw a hidden weapon at you, you should be prepared.]

"Tsk, it's like this again." Shang Luo tapped his forehead, "My defense mechanism is passive, which means I can only sense people who have ill intentions towards me. If there is no ill intention, no killing intention, I can't sense it. It turns out that a good blacksmith must have strong tools himself. I have to practice more magical powers to actively release my spiritual consciousness in the future."

But on second thought, he also lowered his head to look at the big box - if the other party was not an assassin who deliberately concealed his murderous intentions, then it seemed that he really had no ill intentions.

The box was square, as big as a wardrobe, and looked like it was made of wood. But there were no drawers on the four sides, so it was obviously not a wardrobe. Even though the material looked like wood, it was definitely not wood, at least not ordinary wood.

Bang bang, the sound was a bit dull at the beginning, but it actually "sounded" at the end. This thing is not ordinary hard.

He knocked on it, and the cabinet made a metallic echo. Just now, the cabinet hit Shangluo's head at a speed that no one in heaven could react to, causing him to stagger a few steps. But the "wood" did not deform.

[Is this Jianmu? ]

"Unlikely. It could be processed Jianmu. Or it could be another spiritual wood."

[Needless to say, didn't you see there's a talisman on it? You'll know who it is once you peel it off.]

"Who is this? If you want to give me something, can't you just tell me directly? Why are you hitting me? If I wasn't stubborn, my head would have cracked." He peeled off the talisman paper -

"Hmm? Master Sanfeng? Why are you here?"

"I'm not here. This is just a divine thought." Zhang Sanfeng's shadow looked around, then looked at himself. "The mirage energy in the Dragon Palace is really useful. Just a divine thought can actually transform into a true form. Your master is also beside me. He asked me to tell you that this mirage energy is very interesting, but the previous Dragon King watched it even more closely and couldn't do anything in a hurry."

"So you're not keeping a close eye on this one? Are you a little more relaxed?"

"No, this person wants to sell us the gas. But he only wants to build a gas pipeline from the East China Sea to our place. He will hold the gas and ask us to pay him according to the meter."

"Is there such a thing? Should I force him to hand over the mirage?"

"That's not necessary," Zhang Sanfeng replied. "What we mean is that we can have both business and benevolence. The Dragon Palace is not an outsider. If we pay him, he will still spend the money in our market. That's the price. We need to negotiate. It just so happens that you are here. The Dragon King is also a rare initiative to settle the account with Xu Fu. You should find out the details of the mirage so that we can negotiate the price with the East China Sea in the future."

“I think I have figured it out.”

"Really? Then tell me, I'll help you with some advice." Suddenly, the figure flickered, "Wait, this little bit of divine consciousness can't answer too complicated questions. When you finish this, Master Sa and I will have a small meeting with you before you return to the capital."

"Yes, got it."

"I will keep my words short as time is running out." He pointed at the sword box, "The sword is inside. I am going back to heaven."

"Hey! Wait, Master Sanfeng! This box fits perfectly, how do I use it?"

"Step one, open the box. Step two, take out the sword. Step three, close the box, up, up, up—"

The long "up" echoed in the air. Zhang Sanfeng's shadow slowly disappeared, and a point of spiritual light flew straight up to the sky and went east.

"." Shang Luo looked at the sword box in front of him silently. He could only bow from a distance towards the place where Zhang Tianshi flew away.

What are you saying to the air?

"I was wondering why I didn't react when such a big thing hit me. It turned out that it was the sword box that Master Sa and Tianshi Sanfeng threw to me. Inside was my sword. The talisman paper I just peeled off was an instruction manual. It contained a divine thought from Tianshi Sanfeng. It has returned now."

[So when they reach the level of Heavenly Master, they can cut out a part of themselves? That's really convenient. That's perfect.] Apollonia rubbed her hands, [This mirage is really useful, it can actually take shape. I want to try the sword too. So how do you use this sword box?]

"The first step is to open the box."

【???】Apollonia turned around and said, 【So you didn't say anything, right? The first step is to open the box, then take it out, and then close it?】

"It seems that this mirage accidentally caused the divine consciousness of Sanfeng Tianshi to take shape, so it consumed too much of his divine consciousness. However, it doesn't matter. At least I know that this is a box for swords, and it can be opened. That's enough."

[Tsk, that's true.]

If someone hadn't told them, they would never have guessed that there was something inside. Compared to a box, this thing looked more like a talisman, a wooden stake used to suppress some evil spirit.

[So, do you want to call and ask how to open the lock? ]

"You try first. This is official business after all. But I don't think you can get through because they seem to be busy doing something, otherwise they wouldn't just give you the instructions."

[Let me try. Recall that only the Heavenly Masters know about you, and the Heavenly Master you can directly contact with your personal communication method is Master Sa. Hey, there is also Lu Zu's token here, do you want to use the token to call him? ]

"Forget it, forget it, forget it." Shangluo waved his hand. "Three sentences actually contain enough information - this is a container, it can be opened, and there are good things inside. I think saying so much is already specific enough. Asking so many questions makes me look like a baby who has not been weaned. I have to save face too. Now that we have come to this point, I can't ask for specific plans at every step."

Chapter 1134 Encountering the Sword

【Then you can study it yourself? 】

"Since it's a locked box, it must have a padlock. Any locked item must first be in an 'open' state before the item can be put in. Just look at where the padlock is - of course, it's possible that there's no padlock, and it's not impossible to place the item remotely, in which case you'll have to use magic to take it out. Since it was given by the Heavenly Master, it must have been put together very well..."

[Ah.] Apollonia pointed to the place where the talisman paper was peeled off, [Look here, there is a crack.]

"Really? So obvious?" There was a square crack under the talisman paper, which looked like a tenon that fit into the hole of the talisman. "Ah, that's it."

He raised his thumb, channeled his Qi into his Dantian, and pressed down on the tenon:

With a snap, the entire sword box shattered into a large pile of parts.

There was nothing inside, only a dazzling white light flashing.

Suddenly, the sky and earth changed color——

Above the Nine Heavens, Zhang Sanfeng, who was traveling eastward, suddenly blinked: "Okay, the true spirit has returned, let's continue."

"Have you conveyed all the messages?"

"Not all of it. If it was telepathy, of course it would be all of it. But this mirage actually caused the true spirit to take shape, and it lost more of its spiritual wisdom. But it doesn't matter, the important things were all conveyed. I told him that this is a sword box, and he can get the sword by opening it."

"Then did you tell him that this sword case is held together with mortise and tenon joints, with only one mortise and tenon hole exposed, and that one cannot be pressed?"

"I said it was a box. Shangluo is so smart, he must know that boxes have lids. How can someone's first reaction when seeing the mortise and tenon joints be to press them down? He must have seen a carpenter working."

"." Sa Shoujian stopped abruptly, "He probably doesn't know."

"Not that much?"

"Have you forgotten? Shangluo is from 'next door'. Where did all the wood from next door come from? Not to mention the ones from next door, we don't have much left here. If you show a mortise and tenon joint to a kid nowadays, he'll probably think it's a Kongming lock and his first reaction is to take it apart. They've never seen a carpenter do his work."

"Alas." Zhang Sanfeng waved his hand, "It's okay. I've covered them with talisman paper."

"You put the talisman there? He might think it's a 'button' or 'switch' or something like that, and then he'll be even more eager to press it."

"Something bad has happened!" Zhang Sanfeng slapped his forehead, "The box contains the sword spirit of the White Emperor Sword. It was originally intended for him to infuse the lightning tribulation into the White Emperor Sword. If he opens it now, what he absorbs won't be the lightning tribulation!"

Before he finished speaking, the sky and the earth suddenly changed color around him - the air covering the sky and the earth was sucked back. The mirage condensed into a vortex, and everything around him was returning to its original state. The two looked back from a distance, and the size of the giant spirit was also shrinking.

"." The two looked at each other, turned around and headed back. Suddenly, there was nothing under their feet, and even the cloud they were standing on was sucked away.

A translucent long sword suddenly appeared in front of Shangluo. When the box was opened, it was empty at first, like nothing, like an illusion. The translucent sword body was emitting a five-colored light, looming, appearing and disappearing.

“Ah, what is this???”

"Did you accept Shuilong's intention?" A familiar voice suddenly appeared behind him. Shangluo turned around and saw that it was Lu Chunyang.

"Master Lu, why are you here?"

"I sensed that a precious sword had appeared, so I came to investigate. I never thought it was you. Who did you take the White Emperor Sword for? You should have taken your own, but it seems you took something else in."

Suddenly, a shrill dragon roar like thunder rang out from the south: "Where did the thieves come from? They stole the treasure of my Dragon Palace! Come out!"

"Look, the victim is here. I heard you like hairy things, and you didn't let go of the Dragon Palace you just met, right?"

"It's really not my fault! How could I have known that this thing would automatically run as soon as I pressed the button?" As he spoke, the two Heavenly Masters, Sa and Zhang, who had just left, also arrived.

When the sword was born, three immortals gathered. When the three met here, they were stunned for a moment - although they did have a meeting, they had not seen each other in person for who knows how long.

"Master Lu, how are you? It is a pleasure to meet you today."

"Congratulations." The Heavenly Masters showed a restrained friendship, and then all turned their eyes to the mist-shaped sword.

"So, Lü Zu," Sa Shoujian asked, "what should we do about this?"

"Good news. In my Sword Immortal Sect, one must 'encounter the sword' to enter. The sword is encountered by chance, and without chance, one cannot enter. I had planned to let him put his own thunder tribulation in, but he ended up collecting other strange things. This is called encountering the sword. Because of encountering the sword, you can also turn anything into something." He looked at the place where the dragon roared just now:

"Does the Dragon Palace have a long memory? They should have known that those who are destined to be with the Dragon Palace will get their own treasures from the Dragon Palace, and the treasures stored in the Dragon Palace will flow out sooner or later. If they had made preparations earlier, they should have sent the treasures to Shangluo in advance, so that they wouldn't have to come and get them at random."

"They gave it to you." Shangluo took out the dragon ball.

"Alas! I didn't give you enough." Lu Chunyang waved his hands. "How can fate be so easily fooled? Do you think giving a dragon ball can eliminate disasters? Now the disaster has come, it seems that you have received something extraordinary - Shangluo, you keep it, the treasures in the Dragon Palace can reach the sky. When the Dragon King comes, the three of us will deal with him."

Before he finished speaking, a flash of lightning came from afar, carrying a monstrous killing intent, but it suddenly stopped in front of the three immortals.

Ao Zang emerged from the lightning and bowed before the three Heavenly Masters:

"Ao Zang, the wave minister of the East Sea, greets the three Heavenly Masters."

"Oh, isn't this the Dragon King?" Lu Chunyang glanced at him. "We are gathering here. What can the Dragon King do for you?"

"I dare not ask you to do that. But, did you see anything flying over here just now?"

"What is it?" Lu Chunyang turned around and said, "Why don't you tell me what you lost so we can help you find it?"

"This is... the secret of the Dragon Palace."

"If you don't tell me what it is, how can we help you find it?"

"Okay. That's one of the four sea-stabilizing needles left by King Yu when he was controlling the flood."

"Didn't the Dinghai Shenzhen of your East China Sea get taken away by a monkey?"

"This is from the West Sea, and it's on loan to the East Sea for us to use. This Dinghai Magic Needle can be big or small, can rise or hide. When big, it can reach the sky and penetrate the earth, and when small, it can penetrate the smallest details. It can control the clouds in all directions, and can suppress the Guixu in the sea. This is a treasure of heaven and earth. If you see it, please help Xiaolong find it."

"I didn't see it." Lu Chunyang turned around and asked, "Did you see it? Shangluo, did you see it?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Look, we didn't see it. You should look somewhere else. Last time it was the Stone Monkey, this time maybe it was taken away by some other monkey."

Chapter 1135 Dinghai Shenzhen