Chapter 199

One month later

Before the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, a magnificent aura emerged, and Zhang Jian's body condensed an invisible Dao diagram, behind which faintly appeared the scenery of rivers, lands, sun, moon, and stars surveying all.

On this Dao diagram, countless heavenly and earthly runes seemed to be buried within, each containing a special heavenly and earthly mystery, they combined according to a multi-dimensional structure, two by two, three by three, evolving into the wonders of mountains, rivers, and Luo.

Inside it was the Five-Form State Altar Cauldron.

This technique model appeared on its own, instantly triggering a magnificent surge of spiritual inspiration in the sky above the Observation Terrace.

But Zhang Jian, watching this scene, waved his hand to conceal all the phenomena, merely continuously infusing his mana into it, while simultaneously gathering the state's Qiankun spiritual inspiration to help it take form.

At this moment, Zhang Jian gazed upon this State Dao diagram, his eyes showing a hint of sigh.

"Too complicated!"

With his monstrous comprehension, even he found the process of understanding this State Dao diagram cumbersome and somewhat strenuous.

This is more complicated than the Chaotic Stars Art.

Because the State and Rivers Map originally was a great world map transformed.

Inside it contained the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and peaks.

The mountains, rivers, and peaks he evolved at this time were not illusory but substantial in both form and spirit, thanks to Zhang Jian's comprehension of the ancient Rivers and Lands Map in the Canal Dragon Palace.

And his understanding of various heavenly and earthly laws.

But even so, this made him feel like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water.

Yet this did not make him feel discouraged; instead, his heart was stirred with excitement.

The more complicated this State and Rivers Map, the more it proves its power and potential are greater.

Otherwise, with his current knowledge and comprehension, understanding an ordinary technique would not be difficult.

"False Daoist, what technique is this?"

At this moment inside the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, many demons also noticed the magnificent Dao diagram appearing behind Zhang Jian.

A surprised voice echoed out.

This was the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon.

Zhang Jian, however, paid no heed, his gaze falling inside the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda; since his cultivation had succeeded, naturally the next step was to test the technique.

Any powerful technique must be tested in actual combat.

Zhang Jian's gaze fell inside the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.

To him, the many demons inside the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda were excellent subjects for testing the technique.

"False Daoist, answer me!"

At this moment, the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox was still pressing for an answer.

She was indeed persistent.

During this time, she kept probing indirectly, trying to find out Zhang Jian's background.

Zhang Jian then smiled and said, "Want to know? You'll have the chance!"

The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox's charming laugh came from within. "Is that so? This palace is very much looking forward to it!"

Zhang Jian stepped closer to the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, his step crossing the boundary of the altar.

Other demons noticed Zhang Jian's movement and all became alert.

Zhang Jian also noticed these demons' restless movements.

And the Infant Daoist had warned him of the taboo: no matter what, he must not cross the altar's boundary, for there is a magical prohibition around the altar that can prevent the leakage of demonic qi from inside the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda; if he crosses the boundary, it may not be possible to stop the demons inside from exerting influence, which would pose a certain danger.

At this moment, as he reached out, he directly touched the pagoda wall, his gaze locking onto the first layer of the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.

Inside the first layer were mostly imprisoned weak demons, the strongest being a bull demon.

It was a domesticated blue bull that had become a demon; although after becoming a demon it had never slaughtered living beings, it had used magic to enslave the villagers who had once enslaved it, turning them into slaves to serve as oxen and horses, exploiting them even more severely, until it was discovered by the ancestor of the Cavern God Sect and thus imprisoned in the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.

At this moment, the bull demon named Qingniu was lying asleep on the first layer, but when Zhang Jian's palm emitted flowing mana light, the first layer of the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda was quietly covered by mana.

The cold cyan lustrous stone began to change, instantly transforming into a fragrant grass garden, immediately awakening the bull demon named Qingniu.

It opened its large eyes, looking around in some surprise.

At this moment, his tall figure transformed into human form, wearing a tiger skin, with two black bull horns standing upright toward the heavens.

"Am I free?"

He widened his bull eyes, a deep joy welling up in them.

At the same time, he casually grabbed a handful of grass from the ground, stuffed it into his mouth to chew, and a hint of intoxication appeared in his eyes.

"This familiar feeling!"

"This foolish fellow!"

At this moment, on the upper layers, a group of demons could, through the State and Rivers Map, see the scene of Qingniu frolicking; some impulsive demons had already begun shouting warnings, but no matter how they cast spells, they could not interfere with the phenomena within the State and Rivers Map.

Zhang Jian's expression remained unchanged, letting these demons see that it was done intentionally by him.

He wanted to test, knowing it was illusory, whether these demons had any way to break through his State and Rivers Map.

But in an instant, the State and Rivers Map began to change, and lo and behold, plots of farmland began to appear in the distance, unconsciously revealing Qingniu's familiar scene in his eyes, with many farmers appearing in the fields.

And many oxen and horses were plowing!

Seeing this, Qingniu was first startled, his nostrils involuntarily exhaling rough breaths, and in a fit of rage, his demonic aura surged all over his body, emitting a demonic aura not inferior to that of the Golden Core realm.

Boundless black wind blew toward the many farmsteads.

The black wind overturned the farmsteads, causing chaos, and he laughed loudly, instantly a black wind swept up many households, hurling them toward the distant mountain peaks, yet within this mountain peak he again began dreaming of enslaving many households...

The very farmers who had once enslaved him, he did not know how much psychological trauma they had caused him, making him still unable to forget this to this day.

Zhang Jian, seeing this, had a slightly amused expression.

He somewhat understood the Cavern God Sect's ancestor.

Such demonic creatures indeed are not deserving of death.

After the demonic entities participated in the simulation of the first layer, Zhang Jian circulated his magical power to repair several minor flaws in the spell model!

These rune changes made the transformations in the State Map significantly more reasonable!

Soon, his gaze fell upon the second layer, the third layer, and even the fourth layer.

The demonic entity of the fourth layer was a flower demon.

This flower demon possessed considerable cultivation, being a great demon of the Yin Spirit realm.

It manifested as an old woman, appearing as if her heart were dead ashes, transforming into a peony—merely a solitary manifestation of its true form, clinging to the tower wall, it faintly emitted a strong hallucinogenic aura; many demonic entities were bewitched by this invisible hallucinogenic aura, each perpetually dazed and drunk, seemingly unable to sober.

……

While Zhang Jian was performing the ritual of the Mountains, Rivers, and State Map, and simultaneously his Golden Core elixir energy reached full completion, the court received disastrous news.

The bandit-suppressing army suffered heavy losses; the Marquis of Tongcheng, Yang Gonghu, was wounded and gravely ill.

In the Chengtian Hall, the Emperor Jingwu's countenance was not pleasant.

He inquired of the assembled officials: "Which of you esteemed ministers believe that now someone should be dispatched to the north to replace General Yang Gonghu, the old general?!"

Upon hearing this, a high-ranking official clad in vermilion robes stepped forward and said.

"Your Majesty, the situation is dire; now that Old General Yang has fallen unconscious, it is fitting to dispatch a veteran general of established merit to stabilize the situation. Your humble servant recommends the Marquis of Feicheng, Song Dingshan!"

Upon hearing this name, many senior ministers in the court reacted with a shift in expression.

The Marquis of Feicheng, Song Dingshan, indeed possessed illustrious military achievements, and his prestige in the army was not inferior to that of Yang Gonghu.

However, Song Dingshan did not enjoy the current emperor's favor.

Emperor Jingwu had long despised factionalism and clique-building, yet Song Dingshan had precisely committed a taboo—he had, in recent times, to curry favor with a certain prince, ostentatiously borne many lavish gifts to his door, incurred the emperor's rebuke, and is now confined to his home, reflecting on his faults behind closed doors.