Chapter 300

Besides a few ancient lamps, on several seats, Zhang Jian saw a bronze bell and a war drum in the distance.

The bronze bell was bright yellow all over, with dragon patterns, and extremely heavy!

The war drum was a stone drum covered with a layer of unknown ferocious beast fur, and missing a corner!

The dragon-patterned bronze bell was instantly enveloped by the mana of Zhenren Huanghe.

And the damaged stone war drum was instantly enveloped by a strand of mana by the reacting Daoist Jingming.

In the blink of an eye, the mana of Xingyaozi followed closely and collided with it, but was blocked by a golden bronze mirror shining with golden light, and bounced back.

Pure yang golden light contained but not yet released!

This is the Pure Yang Treasure Mirror, the supreme treasure of Dongshen Guan.

Seeing this, Xingyaozi's jade-like face immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.

"Daoist Jingming, your action is really too excessive!"

Daoist Jingming appeared before the stone war drum, his expression bearing a faint smile.

"Daoist Xingyaozi, our rule is first come, first served; this ancient war drum was first touched by my mana, so I believe you, Daoist Xingyao, are reasonable and will not contend with me again!"

Upon hearing this, Xingyaozi's face sank, he instantly let out a cold snort, and departed in an instant.

At the same time, he felt some regret in his heart.

If he had known that Scholar Zhang could actually break open the Beichen relics in one go, he would not have come alone.

The Xingxiu Palace also has a Yuanshen Zhenren stationed in Haojing City.

Zhang Jian watched the dispute among the people with an unmoving expression, merely waving his hand to envelop the ancient mirror on the mirror stand with a strand of mana!

That too is a bronze treasure mirror, its back entirely covered with countless strange runes, also featuring Gengchen of the sun and moon!

In an instant, a strand of mana transformed into countless runes that fell onto the ancient mirror, countless mana drilling into the interior of the ancient mirror, penetrating its treasure structure.

The vast Yangshen divine sense slightly searched and found the way of refinement.

With a strong substantiated Yangshen and profound attainments in rune studies, Zhang Jian easily grasped this treasure!

His mana turned into a seal, following the operation of the inner restrictions, slipped into the core depths, quickly breaking it, and integrating a part of his own Yangshen seal into it.

Everything proceeded smoothly!

Merely refining this treasure mirror slightly, a smile instantly appeared at the bottom of Zhang Jian's eyes.

This treasure mirror is a Lingbao.

Moreover, it is of the Zaohua grade Lingbao, inlaid with two Zaohua-grade Yuanshen immortal methods, and besides that, one Jinshen-grade Yuanshen immortal method.

Zhang Jian cannot fully identify those two Zaohua-grade immortal methods.

He can only sense that one of them functions as illumination, search, and tracking.

That special immortal method, when unleashed, can penetrate all changes in the void; after locking onto the qi mechanism, no matter how many transformations or wondrous methods you have, you cannot escape the ability of the source of illumination.

The second one is purely a destructive Yuanshen immortal method; its function is purely to kill, capable of releasing a strand of golden light—any enemy enveloped by the golden light will be scorched by it, pierced through the body by the golden light, and their Yuanshen destroyed.

This is somewhat similar to the 《Great Five Elements Yuan Magnetic Annihilation Divine Light》 that Zhang Jian obtained.

After cultivating the 《Great Five Elements Yuan Magnetic Annihilation Divine Light》, one can transform it into yuan magnetic annihilation divine light needles; hundreds or thousands of invisible yuan magnetic annihilation divine light needles sweep out, and one careless moment will turn you into a sieve.

Its power is beyond doubt.

This is a destructive great power immortal method.

Once erupted, it possesses the power to destroy mountains and break ridges.

But Zhang Jian does not value such destructive techniques much; on the contrary, the divine power of illumination source truly suits his heart.

Meanwhile, Zhenren Huanghe also used his wondrous method to take the dragon-patterned bronze bell, similarly preliminarily refining it with a wondrous method.

Seeing his joyful expression, it is obvious that the power of this dragon-patterned bronze bell is probably quite considerable.

This hall is both the core of the relic pass, and the dragon-patterned bronze bell being placed on the upper seat serves no other purpose than these few.

One is to warn, the bell's sound as an alarm.

Another is to suppress.

This dragon-patterned bronze bell probably serves both functions.

As for Daoist Jingming and Daoist Dongjue, they are still striving to collect their own treasures.

At this moment, Zhenren Huanghe laughed and said.

"Congratulations, Scholar Zhang, on successfully obtaining the Dongdi Divine Mirror! That Dongdi Treasure Mirror is indeed a fine thing!"

He also felt a hint of envy in his eyes.

Zhang Jian's gaze fluctuated; seeing that Zhenren Huanghe recognizes this treasure mirror in his hand, his gaze moved slightly, and he directly asked.

"Senior Huanghe, do you know the origin of this treasure? Could you elaborate?"

Seeing that time is ample, Zhenren Huanghe also has this interest, and thus said.

"The Dongdi Divine Mirror is one set of Lingbao refined by the Dongdi Emperor; it is heard that there are twelve in total, used to monitor the void and guard the void law realm!

Such divine mirrors were used to snipe extraterritorial demons, extraterritorial ferocious beasts, and have made great contributions!"

"Twelve? So many?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jian was somewhat surprised.

If there are so many treasures, wouldn't they be devalued?

Zhenren Huanghe then said: "The twelve treasure mirrors form a set; heard to be respectively placed in twelve unique void divine cities, used to deter extraterritorial evil gods; among them, four fell with the collapse of those four void divine cities, their whereabouts unknown!"

"The remaining eight, following the disappearance and fall of the Dongdi Emperor, gradually came into the hands of some high cultivators, becoming private possessions; not a few became the sect-protecting supreme treasures of some cultivation lineages, and even two are said to have fallen into the hands of demonic masters, refined into demon treasures, which is truly regrettable!"

"Now I understand!"

Zhang Jian nodded silently.

A hint of smile appeared in his eyes.

This Dongdi Treasure Mirror counts as the first Lingbao he has obtained.

Meanwhile, on the other side, after some effort, Daoist Dongjue also stored the three ancient lamps away.

Daoist Jingming also temporarily put away the war drum using a secret method.

Afterwards, Daoist Jingming walked up to the camphor table and began preparing to take the lotus palace lamp on the central camphor table.

The lotus palace lamp in the centre quietly rested on the camphor table, seemingly without any protective prohibition.

Simply gazing at this lotus palace lamp, Daoist Jingming's expression was solemn; he did not know what he was thinking, and after a moment, when his hand was about to touch it, he suddenly stopped.

"Uncle-Master Jingming, what's wrong?"

Seeing this, Zhenren Huanghe could not help but have his gaze fluctuate.

Upon hearing this, Daoist Jingming slowly withdrew his hands, and after a moment, he spoke in a deep voice.

"Master Uncle, I do not know why, but whenever I wish to touch this object, I always feel somewhat uneasy, as if something major might happen at any moment!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jian glanced at Daoist Jingming.

A sudden thought arose—this is an ominous sign.

Zhenren Huanghe pondered for a moment, then said: "Then let us check again, to see if there is any further feline adhesion on this object?"

Daoist Jingming thought for a moment, then activated a marvelous method with his hand; faint threads of lightning seemed to leap within his palm, and threads of magical power touched the lotus palace lamp before him, yet he saw threads of dense innate spiritual energy bursting forth from the lamp.

The North Star Pearl within shone brightly, as if a world-shaking divine power were bursting forth.

Even Zhang Jian at a distance, and Zhenren Huanghe, felt their hearts startled.

The innate spiritual energy contained within this pearl is too rich.

Daoist Jingming briefly inspected it, then shook his head.

"There is no prohibition at all?"

Zhenren Huanghe thought for a moment, then looked toward Zhang Jian and said: "Scholar Zhang, you hold the East Emperor Divine Mirror in your hand; the mirror should possess the ability to illuminate and probe—can you investigate one or two?"

"This is simple!"

Zhang Jian slightly waved his hand; the East Emperor Treasure Mirror, stored within his body, transformed into a stream of light appearing in his palm. He infused a stream of Yang Spirit magical power into the East Emperor Treasure Mirror, activating its first primordial spirit immortal law of the Creation level.

Yet, on the mirror's surface, ripples shone brightly, and in an instant, it reflected the divine form of the 'North Star Pearl'.

All eyes turned; within the East Emperor Treasure Mirror, a large innate treasure pearl appeared before everyone's eyes.

It is pure glazed glass, flawless and spotless.

Dense innate Qian Heaven spiritual energy circulates within.

Extremely pure.

It seems capable of communicating with the boundless void power between heaven and earth.

"Indeed, it is an innate treasure pearl! A divine object of heaven and earth naturally born between heaven and earth!"

Seeing this fluctuation, Zhenren Huanghe, Daoist Jingming, Daoist Dongjue, and Xingyao Zi all had their eyes ripple with waves, their expressions shaken.

Innate divine objects of heaven and earth, since ancient times, have only appeared in myths; although there are some rumors in the cultivation world, they are exceedingly rare.

Zhang Jian was not particularly surprised, for he had already encountered such things before.

And he had even refined them into his body.

The Zhou Tian Star Soul is precisely this kind of heavenly and earthly divine object.

This treasure pearl before us should have been nurtured by the Void Law Realm; after mastering it, one can mobilize the boundless void's hidden heavenly and earthly spiritual energy.

Numerous innate spiritual energies undulate, their source profound.

However, as the East Emperor Treasure Mirror illuminated it, part of the rune prohibition structure deep within its source became visible.

Its outer layer is connected to the prohibition of the lotus palace lamp, forming an extremely tight suction structure.

The focus, however, is the lotus palace lamp below; it is surrounded by a layer of intricate, complex central prohibition.

Within the prohibition, countless rune structures can be vaguely seen forming individual seals, one of which resonates faintly with the external Minor Heavenly Wheel Reincarnation Law Prohibition.

Clearly, this object is the core item controlling the relics of Beichen Pass.

"It seems there is nothing unusual?"

Daoist Dongjue scanned the crowd, a hint of smile appearing on his jade-like countenance.

But in the next instant, he saw an abrupt change.

The mirror surface of the East Emperor Treasure Mirror suddenly emerged with a thread of ink.

This thread of ink was hidden deep within the lotus palace lamp, not within the 'North Star Pearl'.

"What is this?"

This thread of black light emerged, and everyone's expressions changed.

Yet, a thread of dense black qi suddenly flowed out from within.

This thread of black qi became visible, instantly transforming into a black demon snake that rushed swiftly toward Daoist Jingming.

At this moment, Daoist Jingming was too close; his expression changed instantly.

Though the black qi had not yet arrived, within it seemed countless demonic sounds pierced his ears, causing his Yin Spirit divine sense to instantly seem to manifest countless illusory delusions.

But just then, Zhang Jian suddenly appeared before Daoist Jingming; his expression unchanged, he merely raised his hand, and a stream of milky-white righteous and noble qi burst forth, instantly condensing countless milky-white firelights that struck against that black qi.

Within the black qi, faintly hidden were countless curses and insults; upon encountering the righteous and noble fire, they met their nemesis and instantly dissipated into nothingness.

At this moment, Daoist Jingming vaguely came to his senses; his expression was somewhat unpleasant.

Under such terrifying resentment, in that instant, his vast Yin Spirit divine sense could not resist.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Zhang Jian then laughed and said.

"It's all right!"

"Merely a residual curse!"

At this moment, Xingyao Zi furrowed her brow.

She felt somewhat strange.

This treasure controlling the ruins should not have been cursed by human hands.

However, Daoist Jingming was extremely fortunate!

Yet he managed to escape such a deadly calamity!

Huanghe Zhenren, seeing this, shook his head slightly and said.

"Perhaps it is because too many living beings have died around the outskirts of this Void Divine City, and some extradimensional gods and demons, extradimensional ferocious beasts, in their dying moments, left curses and spells that combined with the resentment of these beings and have lingered on!"

"Such a situation has also been found in other ruins! However, it is very rare!"

Zhang Jian's gaze fluctuated; he glanced at the Beichen Pearl.

This matter is somewhat strange.

Moreover, even without having explored the ruins, Zhang Jian knows that such a large ruin preserved so completely, and even the core area with numerous treasures preserved so intact, must have experienced something back then.

There must be something strange here.

However, his benefit has already been secured.

Whatever strangeness lies on the 'Beichen Pearl' is the affair of the Dongshen Guan, and has nothing to do with him.

At this moment, Daoist Jingming's expression turned solemn; he stepped forward and solemnly bowed to Zhang Jian, saying.

"Sir, your life-saving grace, this humble Daoist keeps in mind; were it not for your assistance, Mr. Zhang, this humble Daoist would probably have..."

Zhang Jian waved his hand and laughed.

"It's not that serious; even without me, with Senior Huanghe present, the State Preceptor would come to no harm!"

Huanghe Zhenren shook his head and said.

"That may not necessarily be the case!"

Zhang Jian glanced at Daoist Jingming, taking in the gratitude in his eyes, his gaze flickering slightly.

This was naturally done intentionally by him.

However, after this matter, Daoist Jingming did not again go to inspect the 'Beichen Pearl', but prepared to wait for the strong ones from the dragon veins to enter this place before conducting the inspection.

……

Meanwhile, at the Bai Jia Wine Shop, Zhang Fu had waited for three days, and on the fourth day finally saw the form of Zhao Qingshan.

"General Zhao, you have finally come!"

After Zhao Qingshan went upstairs, he sat down opposite Zhang Fu of his own accord, his bright eyes fixed on Zhang Fu, and after a moment he asked.

"Are you the steward of the Zhang Scholar's mansion, is this the meaning of the Zhang Scholar, or is it your own meaning?"

Zhang Fu's expression remained unchanged; upon Zhao Qingshan discovering his origins, he was not at all surprised.

Because Zhang Jian had already mentioned it.

Zhang Fu said calmly: "What difference is there between my lord and me?"

Zhao Qingshan narrowed his eyes at Zhang Fu, his gaze serene, and coldly laughed: "Everyone says the Zhang Scholar is a sage of the world, never expecting that he is also so skilled in calculation!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fu laughed heartily, shook his head and said.

"My lord has long said that sages are not equivalent to lacking survival wisdom, desireless and pursuitless; sages are also living beings, only everyone has mythologized the sages' virtues, ignoring their mundane side!"

"Perhaps those mundane aspects, compared to the sages' achievements, are indeed insignificant, but we must also admit that they certainly exist!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qingshan's gaze flickered; he raised one hand and extended it toward Zhang Fu.

"Take it!"

Seeing this, Zhang Fu took out the talisman in his hand, and after a moment spoke seriously.

"General Zhao, you must think clearly; my assistance to you comes with conditions!"

"You do not need to repay now, but in the future you will inevitably have to repay today's favor!"

Zhao Qingshan coldly snorted: "I know; today's favor, I will remember!"

"Whatever Zhao promises, I never go back on!"

Zhao Qingshan's expression remained calm; he had also thought much; he is now merely a life in ruins, with nothing behind him, and thus does not fear the other bearing a grudge.

Zhang Fu smiled faintly: "Good, everyone says General Zhao values emotion and righteousness; I also believe General Zhao will keep his promise!"

Zhang Fu casually flicked his wrist, turning the talisman in his hand into a stream of light which he threw into Zhao Qingshan's hand, informed him of its use, and then directly turned and left.

……

Meanwhile, Zhang Jian had already emerged from the Dongdi Ruins, merely manifesting himself, his gaze toward the direction of the northern land slightly furrowed.

The waning moon hung in the sky, killing intent surged to the heavens.

Have Bei Chu and Da Qian erupted into great war?

Moreover, such a terrifying killing intent, the intensity of this war is likely beyond imagination!