Chapter 327

Zhang Family Estate

In the Yellow Court Blessed Land, yin and yang and the five elements are complete; the sun, moon, and stars shift between reality and illusion.

Though small as a sparrow, it possesses all five viscera.

Zhang Jian stood beneath the jujube tree, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings; in a single thought, it seemed as if the Yang God's divine sense scattered and merged into the void, evolving into the mountains and rivers of heaven and earth, the sun, moon, and all beings.

After cultivating the "Dream Roaming the Grand Void" technique to the level of the Yuanshen, Zhang Jian discovered its marvel.

"Dream Roaming the Grand Void" can, with a single thought, evolve all beings, and also, with a single thought, illusion heaven and earth.

A single thought can, in a dream, transform into a colossal creator god, evolving heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers; it can become the origin of all things, and through this, survey the origins of all things in heaven and earth, witnessing the evolution of civilization—such a marvelous method, even after Zhang Jian achieved cultivation, still filled him with astonishment.

Yet at the same time, he also sensed danger.

If one's divine sense is not steadfast, one will sink into the "Dream Phantom Grand Void," truly becoming heaven, earth, mountains, rivers, sun, moon, and Qiankun, never able to return; but if used well, it can indeed save him many years of cultivation in the future.

Moreover, this method of cultivation is greatly beneficial for now seeking to comprehend the "Nine Turns Ruyi Time Wheel Sutra"; this intense sensation of time's passage allowed Zhang Jian to quickly grasp the inspiration in his mind regarding the traces of time, condensing the first Ruyi Time Wheel that needs to be meditated upon in the "Nine Turns Ruyi Time Wheel Sutra."

The true form of this Ruyi Time Wheel is extraordinarily complex, like the gears of fate turning, yet seemingly not; this time wheel initially consisted merely of a planar structure of a time wheel disc.

According to its cultivation method, it should be to first visualize the illusory made real.

However, for Zhang Jian, whose Yang God is immensely powerful, he can directly write out strands of runes representing time.

Standing beneath the jujube tree, at this moment, an invisible fluctuation appeared at his brow, and around his body gathered a semblance of atmospheric conditions from before ancient times.

At this moment, many traces of the temporal Dao rhythm in Zhang Jian's mind became manifest.

The temporal traces evolved from "Dream Roaming the Grand Void," and more importantly, the fusion of the celestial souls of the Zhou Tian, aided by that strand of Dao imprint, the sensation of wandering through heaven and earth.

Those countless fragmented shards, at this moment, resembled a treasure trove.

As he contemplated the related Dao runes, he immediately gained insight, as if returning once more to the time when chaos had not yet opened; an invisible wheel disc formed behind him, the wheel disc taking on a three-dimensional structure; upon close inspection, the countless gray runes resembled strands of gray light sand drifting, and the wheel disc emitted a gray stone-like radiance.

As this gray radiance appeared, Zhang Jian faintly felt that his Yang God's divine sense had penetrated a layer of omnipresent, grand heavenly and earthly law.

At the moment he comprehended this heavenly and earthly law, Zhang Jian's expression suddenly changed; he felt his essence, qi, and spirit beginning to accelerate in their dissipation.

His essence, qi, and spirit—the Three Treasures—had now fully merged into his Yang God's magical power; the dissipation of magical power is also the manifestation of his lifespan's dissipation.

With a thought, gray runes appeared all over his body, faintly carrying a special power that condensed into a gray cocoon; as this cocoon formed, he felt that the dissipation of his lifespan had noticeably improved.

"This method, at critical moments, can actually delay the loss of one's magical power, avoid this kind of 'unintentional' loss, and if, at critical moments, one can use it to control the flow of time, pinning it upon one's spellcasting ability, then the created result..."

Zhang Jian opened his eyes, and there was a hint of sigh in his pupils.

The auxiliary power of this time method is indeed miraculous.

However, Zhang Jian felt that one cannot rely on it too heavily.

Using it once or twice might yield remarkable results, but overuse might instead bring harm.

He is not primarily cultivating the Great Dao of Time.

As Zhang Jian grasped and unearthed the time treasure buried deep in his memory, the Ruyi Time Wheel he had visualized suddenly began to expand, gradually filling with a layer resembling the ancient qi of primordial chaos; countless strange runes emerged with his memories, appearing upon the Ruyi Time Wheel, making its light and shadow mottled, like a heavenly Dao god-wheel born of heaven and earth, emitting an ancient, icy aura.

As this aura appeared, within the entire Yellow Court Blessed Land, it seemed as if wind and clouds changed color; countless billows twisted incessantly around his body, like a swimming fish, emitting a strange, mighty power.

Zhang Jian's comprehension of the "Nine Turns Ruyi Time Wheel Sutra" became extraordinarily smooth.

……

Just as Zhang Jian's accumulation approached perfection, inside and outside Guangyuan City in Bei Chu, people's hearts were troubled.

Around, the elite troops and fierce generals of Da Qian gathered like clouds, nearly six hundred thousand troops assembling beneath Guangyuan City.

Yet the passing of Emperor Jingwu did not affect the morale of the Da Qian army.

At this moment, with the arrival of the ancestor of the Dongshen Sect, the entire Da Qian army, from top to bottom, instead saw morale rise.

This strange situation stirred many cultivators who tried to fish in troubled waters.

The Dongshen Sect has deeply cultivated in Da Qian for hundreds of years; its accumulated might is like mountains and seas; even in death, the tiger's might remains!

Moreover, this old tiger has not yet died; it has merely grown a little thinner for now.

Beneath Guangyuan City, at this moment, great arrays had already been set up.

These are the last defenses of the Bei Chu cultivators.

Before this mighty city, they became walls of a thousand ren, also blocking the charge of hundreds of thousands of Da Qian elite troops.

Ordinary flesh and blood bodies, facing these killing formations and demonic formations, ultimately have limitations.

Limited by terrain and space, hundreds of thousands of troops cannot all charge forth to unleash the army's blood-and-slaughter qi, which scatters all magical powers.

If only a few enter, facing these demonic formations and killing formations, they are simply not enough to contend with.

On the city wall, Bei Chu's Grand Tutor Tuoba Zhenwu at this moment had a solemn expression, his gaze sweeping; beside him stood several Bei Chu cultivators, and also two Hedao True Lords.

These two True Lords are none other than the Qinghe True Lord of the Qinghe Sword Sect from Haojing who has manifested his true form, and the Yuanhua True Lord of the Xuanji Sect.

As for the two ancestors of the Wuxing Xian Sect, they are nowhere to be seen.

Only seeing the Qinghe True Lord glance downward, he then smiled and said.

"Grand Tutor Tuoba, you need not worry; these several arrays are the secret transmissions of various sects, sufficient to halt the advance of the Da Qian armies; time will ultimately stand on Bei Chu's side; Houyang Daoist has already returned to seek aid, and the exalted ones of various sects will come in an endless stream; the Dao of Heaven will ultimately also stand on Bei Chu's side!"

Tuoba Zhenwu still had some worries.

Bei Chu receiving aid from numerous orthodox sects overnight is indeed a joy, but the current situation is not optimistic.

He urged: "Senior Qinghe, can you not think of another way to urge all the exalted ones? Bei Chu cannot hold out for long; before tonight, I, the junior, have already received several battle reports; the Dongshen Sect ancestor has become arrogant too quickly, his rampages everywhere; my Bei Chu's various commanderies have already seen ten or more armies destroyed by him; if time drags on, even if the exalted ones defeat Da Qian, I fear Bei Chu will also..."

Tuoba Zhenwu drew a deep breath, anger rising in his heart.

Without those loyal to Bei Chu's commandery troops, is not the Bei Chu imperial house of the Heng clan become a lone emperor?

Qinghe True Lord, hearing this, furrowed his brows and said.

"That Dongshen old demon is actually more cunning than imagined; Grand Tutor Tuoba, rest assured, the Dongshen old demon will not be arrogant for long; when the opportunity arrives, naturally there will be your Great Chu's time to take revenge and repay hatred!"

Qinghe True Lord's face bore a smile, yet he pretended not to understand the meaning in Tuoba Zhenwu's words.

Yuanhua True Lord beside him had not spoken, but his eyes showed some fluctuation.

The meaning of this Bei Chu Grand Tutor, they understand clearly, yet to have them go assassinate the Dongshen Sect ancestor is something they cannot do.

The outcome of the battle at Dongshen Guan was truly beyond expectation—four renowned Dao-United True Lords simultaneously besieged the Dongshen Sect Ancestor with the sect's supreme treasure, yet failed to subdue him and were instead driven back in disarray, clutching their heads.

The Jinchen Ancestor suffered even worse—his physical body was shattered, and his primordial spirit nearly collapsed.

For the Three Sects, this battle was nothing short of a great disgrace, yet their fear of the Dongshen Sect Ancestor had reached its peak.

At this point, setting up a great formation to momentarily hinder the Dongshen Sect Ancestor's advance was already the utmost they could do.

……

Within the Great Qian campaign headquarters beneath the city.

An Ruoming still sat in the commander's seat, his body now radiating a dense stellar glow—the Greedy Wolf Star Fate had been fully awakened in this battle, and as the military momentum surged, his martial Dao profound arts were pushed to an unprecedented state, truly unparalleled in ancient and modern times.

He had transformed the Greedy Wolf Star Lord's celestial image from the Star Fate into a martial Dao dharma aspect, enabling him to command hundreds of thousands of blood-killing qi while seated in command—truly terrifying.

Now seated in the chief position, even the various primordial spirit true persons in the army dared not slight him, each one relegated to a lower rank.

At his lower seat, Huanghe Zhenren laughed and said.

"As the Sect Ancestor predicted, these turtle-withdrawn heads knew he was absent and yet still dared not move, leaving us free to attack and seize territory!"

"Hmph, once my army destroys the North Chu provincial reinforcements and sweeps across all North Chu lands, let's see what means they have left to reverse heaven and earth!"

Yinshi Zhenren Chaomu sat in the lower seat, his brows now dusted with white frost, silent.

Since learning of the Emperor Jingwu's demise, his smile had grown increasingly rare.

At this moment, the Star Extreme Daoist of the Star Palace looked toward Huanghe Daoist, first bowing slightly, then speaking.

"Brother Huanghe, your news is most reliable—tell us, does the Sect Ancestor still have any plans? We all know they await reinforcements, but we cannot simply watch their arrival without acting."

Upon hearing this, many senior cultivators in the camp turned their gazes toward him.

Following the Emperor Jingwu's demise, they had all been somewhat affected; though one or two great victories had boosted morale, they could not dispel the worry in their hearts.

Moreover, as the cleanup of various armies proceeded smoothly, many primordial spirit true persons instead felt ominous stirrings of bloodlust, which unsettled them greatly.

Huanghe Zhenren, seeing pair after pair of eyes turn toward him, felt his heart twitch—how could he know the Sect Ancestor's intentions?

Yet he still spoke in a deep voice.

"Fellow Daoists, the Sect Ancestor naturally has a plan—what manner of being is he? The pressure of his past destruction of Shu was no less than today's, yet he still overcame strength with weakness, shattered the Wuji Sect, the Golden Maiden Sect, and those renowned cultivators of the cultivation world, driving them to wander the barbarian wastes, where they dare not return to this day!"

"And now, in our great war against North Chu, our Great Qian still holds absolute advantage—fellow Daoists, consider: could the Sect Ancestor possibly lack a strategy?"

Upon hearing this, Star Extreme Zhenren and the nearby Yinghuo Zhenren exchanged glances, then nodded slightly.

"Indeed, the Sect Ancestor's prestige shakes heaven and earth; his stratagems are flawless—we all sincerely admire and submit!"

Star Extreme Zhenren bowed slightly.

This is also why the Star Palace willingly joined Great Qian.

Not because Great Qian possesses great potential, but purely due to the Sect Ancestor's personal charisma.

Beside them, two primordial spirit true persons had sat silently from beginning to end—one clad in black, face icy, a female cultivator.

Merely facing this female cultivator, all primordial spirit true persons instinctively guarded against her or kept their distance, as if she emanated an inhuman power that repelled strangers.

The other was disheveled in appearance, with clear and spirited eyes—a Daoist.

On the chief seat, An Ruoming turned his gaze to these two cultivators and said: "Senior Taiyin, Senior Feng, do you have a method to break the several great formations before Guangyuan City?"

Upon hearing this, a cascade of gazes fell upon these two Daoists.

Among them, many who arrived later did not know that these two had once been the 'Jeweled Bridge Spanning the Sea' of the frontier army!

Huanghe Daoist, the Taiyin Immortal Maiden, and the Daoist Feng Shan Hai— their arrival had withstood the pressure of North Chu's million-strong invading army, even wounding the Blood Sea Holy Lord and the Taiyin Demon God Yin Wujiu.

The Taiyin Immortal Maiden remained expressionless.

Feng Shan Hai shook his head and said: "No, those formations cannot be broken by ordinary means!"

An Ruoming furrowed his brow!

"Must we merely wait in vain for the opportune moment?"

Feng Shan Hai's lips curled into a smile, the disheveled Daoist's eyes now flashing with sharp, piercing light: "Young Master An, why test us? Since the Sect Ancestor wishes to fish, we shall naturally cooperate! We can fully take the initiative!"

He hehe-laughed: "Nor need we hesitate—whatever we want, we shall do!"

"Before the decisive battle, we shall reduce North Chu's war potential to the utmost!"

Upon hearing this, An Ruoming's pupils shifted.

This coincided exactly with his own thought.

Upon hearing this, Yinshi Zhenren Chaomu raised his head and said: "If we are to maximally reduce North Chu's war potential, nothing surpasses severing their dragon vein!"

"This..."

Upon hearing this, all present primordial spirit true persons changed expression.

An Ruoming, seated in the chief position, felt his heart sink—the primary purpose of this war for Great Qian was to seize North Chu's dragon vein, not destroy it; only by taking the dragon vein could Great Qian be reborn from death, but if they shattered North Chu's dragon vein, would it not be like losing both chicken and egg?

Seeing the crowd's expressions, Chaomu seemed to have seen through their thoughts and coldly laughed.

"Gentlemen, do you truly believe that after North Chu's fall, we shall be allowed to keep the dragon vein intact?!"

"Would those sect powerhouses permit it?"

Chaomu's expression turned cold.

Upon hearing this, many primordial spirit true persons in the camp exchanged glances, sharing their doubts.

It was not that they doubted the Sect Ancestor's stratagem.

But this matter was nearly impossible.

Chaomu spoke in a gloomy tone.

"Rather than this, better to destroy North Chu's dragon vein early—at least it would increase our chances of survival in this war!"

Other primordial spirit true persons exchanged glances, their eyes flickering.

Huanghe Zhenren had intended to object, but now hesitated as well.

If we could sever the Great Chu dragon vein in advance, we would all harbor evil killing qi, our magic power equally diminished—yet in battle, this would indeed increase our odds of victory by a fraction.

On the contrary, if the dragon vein of North Chu still exists, one side has the support of the dragon vein, while the other side not only lacks such support but also bears the burden of evil calamity; at a critical moment, this could very well affect life and death.

Many primordial spirit true persons furrowed their brows in contemplation, remaining silent, but nearly everyone tacitly accepted this outcome.

……

In the Zhang family residence

Zhang Jian, while contemplating the Nine Revolutions Ruyi Time Wheel Sutra, had entered a state of profound insight.

In less than three days, a temporal imprint had already coalesced into form within his sea of consciousness.

This speed even surpassed that of the preceding several primordial spirit-level immortal techniques.

This is the ninth immortal technique of primordial spirit level that he has cultivated!