Chapter 220: Diligent Progress

"Fox Hill, Celestial Fox Palace!"

But no matter what, since the opponent used the techniques of the Celestial Fox Palace, they are inevitably connected to the Celestial Fox lineage, and Chao Mu silently noted the Celestial Fox Palace in his mind.

Dongxiao Daoist stood to the side, not daring to speak, with a hint of shame and anger in his eyes.

As a distinguished Yin Spirit Venerable, he was knocked unconscious in such a manner, which was too much of an insult to his dignity.

That said, between insulting dignity and preserving life, Dongxiao Daoist still leaned toward the latter.

Dongxiao Daoist secretly felt relieved in his heart.

It seemed the opponent only wanted that imperial corpse and did not kill anyone.

This was much better than the previous Celestial Corpse Sect's Nascent Soul True Person, who could nearly wipe out all the Daoists in this temple with just a glance.

Chao Mu's face was icy, and after a moment, he coldly instructed Dongxiao Daoist.

"Immediately organize disciples to guard the surroundings; this seat will reestablish the altar and perform rites!"

He then had Dongxiao Daoist retrieve various ritual materials from the Dongshen Observatory, for he intended to set up the altar to first calm the dragon veins and attempt to refine the resentment and evil within Shu State's dragon veins, and secondly to find traces of the incoming enemy, using secret arts to lock onto their traces.

……

On the Observatory Terrace

The Demon-Suppressing Tower, at this moment the demons facing Zhang Jian were noticeably more obedient.

On the seventh level, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox saw Zhang Jian pacing back and forth beside the altar, her beautiful eyes instantly locking onto Zhang Jian, her expression highly alert, no longer the languid demeanor of before.

Not only her, but the other demon kings within the Demon-Suppressing Tower also wore solemn expressions, having witnessed Zhang Jian's methods against other demons.

The Magic Buddha Jia Ye on the tenth level, though still chanting sutras, had slightly narrowed eyes gazing outward from the Demon-Suppressing Tower.

That person sometimes proved even more vicious than these demons and monsters.

Fortunately, Zhang Jian had no intention of playing with them at this moment; his full attention was on the Corpse King's Golden Core in his hand, mentally rehearsing the optimal refinement method.

In fact, that Corpse King's Golden Core, for zombie-like anomalous spirits, could be considered a supreme treasure; any zombie consuming it might forge a powerful spirit with the potential to ascend to Corpse King status.

What Zhang Jian now needed to consider was how to separate the dragon vein essence and that most precious trace of Purple Imperial Qi from within it.

The Purple Imperial Qi resides in the residual soul of the imperial corpse within the Corpse King's Golden Core; it is the essence left behind by the imperial destiny known as Emperor Purple Fate. After refinement, Zhang Jian can transform the Red Virtue True King Destiny into the Red Whiskered Purple-Scaled Flood Dragon.

Transforming destiny into a flood dragon is naturally a king's destiny.

At this moment in the Demon-Suppressing Tower, the mad Daoist in the eleventh level had a slight flicker in his gaze; his eyes, unknown when, were now fixedly staring outward from the tower. He had always been disheveled, his mad expression now tinged with a hint of gloom.

……

Seven months later, Qi Yuhua successfully gave birth to a daughter, who was also Zhang Jian's eldest daughter. Zhang Jian named her Zhang Chang'an; the name is rather rustic, but it carries Zhang Jian's earnest longing for this eldest daughter.

It seems that after this eldest daughter's birth, Zhang Jian completely let go of certain unnamed emotions and fully integrated himself into the land beneath his feet.

He finally took root and established himself here.

At this moment, his mind was also at peace and round, and the power of the first tribulation of the Yin Spirit successfully reached its limit.

In the Zhuangyuan Manor, Zhang Jian held the newborn daughter in the birthing room while his eyes gazed tenderly at Qi Yuhua; a stream of spiritual power fell from his hand onto Qi Yuhua, helping her regulate her blood and qi, heal her wounds, to avoid leaving a root of illness.

"Chang'an!"

At this moment he extended his hand and placed it on the infant's glabella; similarly, a point of moist spiritual power entered there, and after a moment his face showed a hint of a smile.

Whether it was due to his bloodline being too exceptional and pure, or perhaps due to Qi Yuhua's mother bearing the Phoenix Fate, the eldest daughter Zhang Chang'an likewise possessed spiritual roots, possibly not matching Zhang Yi, this eldest brother, but not weaker than Zhang Zhao, this second brother, and even slightly stronger.

"Fire spiritual root, wind spiritual root!"

Although only two spiritual roots, both are quite 'excellent', and the innate qi within her body is rich; though she lacks an innate Dao body, Zhang Jian keenly sensed that an acquired Dao body might possibly exist.

Though an acquired Dao body is not as good as an innate one, it is still quite respectable.

"Husband!"

At this moment, hearing Qi Yuhua's slightly reproachful voice from beside him, Zhang Jian turned his head, saw Qi Yuhua's somewhat resentful gaze, he was momentarily stunned, then lightly smiled, and handed the swaddled eldest daughter to Qi Yuhua.

After Qi Yuhua gave birth, Zhang Jian stayed in the manor for half a month, until several Daoists from the Dongshen Observatory repeatedly came to invite him, before returning to the Observatory Terrace.

And taking advantage of this half month's time, Zhang Jian finally succeeded in separating the Corpse King's Golden Core, the dragon vein essence, and the Purple Imperial Qi.

On the Observatory Terrace

Zhang Jian could now feel that within his Yin Spirit, two special dragon destinies were undergoing transformation.

Zhang Jian refined the remaining Purple Imperial Qi, absorbed it, and integrated it into the Red Virtue True King Destiny, causing its destiny form to successfully transform into a dragon, metamorphosing from the Purple-Scaled Red Carp into the Red Whiskered Purple-Scaled Flood Dragon.

Though the flood dragon is not a true dragon, it is still a dragon form, sufficient to be called a king's destiny.

And the other mass of dragon vein essence was integrated into the "Inquiring the Mountains and Rivers" dragon destiny, causing the Mountain River Cauldron destiny form to transform, containing a dragon shape within—it is a red dragon phantom, though only four-clawed, yet still a dragon form, and the dragon form's rank is still above that of the Red Virtue True King Destiny.

This is thanks to the evolution of the Mountains and Rivers Territorial Diagram, allowing the "Inquiring the Mountains and Rivers" destiny to gradually become Zhang Jian's strongest dragon destiny within his body.

With the two king destinies born, Zhang Jian clearly felt that his dantian's Spirit-Nurturing Cauldron, the Five-Form Territorial King Cauldrons, had greatly increased in refining power.

This invisibly strengthened his Yin Spirit foundation.

After the Yin Spirit's first tribulation power became round and complete within his body, Zhang Jian began preparing to continue his divine wandering in the Virtual Realm's Second City.

Since the foundation is solid, naturally one must advance with courage and diligence.

Taking advantage of the still relatively stable situation in the Great Qian.

……

And when Zhang Jian's king destinies took shape, deep within the imperial mausoleum, the Great Qian's dragon veins faintly trembled; a vast black dragon surged violently from the depths of the dragon veins, extremely uneasy, causing the nation's fortune to tremble.

Yuan Geng, who was stationed in the Eastern Mausoleum, immediately sensed this change, but saw before him that the Praying for Heaven Feng Shui Array suddenly became disordered; he seemed to see an invisible red dragon flowing out from the deep void of the unseen, the red dragon's tail sweeping past, causing the three sandalwood incense sticks on the altar to burn faster.

"Red Dragon?"

Yuan Geng gazed at this scene, his face slightly changing; he felt a deep sense of oppression.

That red dragon is clearly a reverse dragon, not a latent dragon.

Only dragon veins that have not yet flown to heaven are called latent dragons; the red dragon before us has already taken form and grown to the point of threatening the Great Qian's dragon veins.

Yuan Geng merely furrowed his brows; previously, the former dynasty's dragon veins had not yet been properly dealt with, and now another reverse dragon has appeared, truly adding frost to snow.

The year 9 of the Jingtai reign of the Great Qian is, for the entire Great Qian up and down, considered a turbulent year.

In the tenth year of the Jingtai era of the Great Qian dynasty, spring, good news finally arrived from the northern lands: the rebellion in Lingwu Commandery had been thoroughly suppressed, and the State Preceptor had reappeared, set to return to the capital soon.