Chapter 336

Not only did he prove his primordial spirit, but in one breath he directly crossed the Pure Yang stage and stepped into the Golden Body stage.

The foundation Zhang Jian revealed somewhat exceeded the expectations of the Slay Demon True Lord.

"In this mortal world, it is truly a blessed land for cultivators of the Holy King lineage!"

The Slay Demon True Lord sighed somewhat.

Such courageous and diligent progress is unimaginable for other orthodox cultivators; none of the orthodox cultivators do not need to rely on vast resources, countless battles, and finally attain the Dao and longevity.

"This is also good, for in these troubled times, the Great Qian is about to collapse and fragment; you managed to prove your primordial spirit before this, so coming up you will not need your master to help you anymore!"

"Collapse and fragment?"

Zhang Jian's expression froze in surprise.

Seeing his expression, the Slay Demon True Lord said: "Just now, the Qianhai True Lord was taken away by the Five Elements Immortal Sect using a treasure, and the ancestor of the Dongshen Sect fled into the void and disappeared, likely also suffering heavy injuries; the collapse of the Great Qian can already be seen!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jian's expression turned grave; even as strong as the Qianhai True Lord, the ancestor of the Dongshen Sect ended up in such a state.

At the same time, Zhang Jian also understood that without these two True Lords holding the fort, the Great Qian's collapse and fragmentation would likely happen in the blink of an eye.

The Dongshen Observatory cannot restrain those arrogant soldiers and fierce generals.

Nor does it anymore have the ability to suppress them.

Naturally, this also includes Zhang Jian.

At this moment, Zhang Jian's thoughts turned over countless times, but soon he regained his calm, for he had prepared for this moment for a long time.

The Slay Demon True Lord merely sighed slightly; such mundane dynastic changes, for her, have already been experienced many times, and then she reminded Zhang Jian.

"A Yu, go try, see if you can master this golden man!!"

"This golden man was seized by my master and two fellow Daoists working together; according to my master's agreement with them, they took the North Star Pearl and half of the remnant spirit; now this golden man only retains the main body and half of the remnant spirit..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jian's pupils flickered slightly; he examined the remaining body of the Junwang Golden Man from top to bottom, and his figure instantly appeared atop the hundred-zhang golden man.

His vast primordial spirit consciousness entered through the deep point between the golden man's brows.

A vast sea of consciousness appeared within Zhang Jian's primordial spirit consciousness; there it was now a vast expanse of grayish extinction white, with only a small portion of areas entwined with faint purple qi.

Zhang Jian's primordial spirit consciousness 'saw' a plump, round, purple-gold light sphere.

This purple-gold light sphere, though small and exquisite, was filled with a supreme and noble aura; even the imperial authority of the State Emperor that Zhang Jian condensed felt a tremendous pressure.

Zhang Jian furrowed his brows; there was some astonishment in his eyes; at this moment, using the position of the Four Heavenly Sons as a foundation to condense the State Emperor primordial spirit, the imperial aura was extraordinarily vast, making it hard to imagine what other destiny could exert such pressure on him.

But in an instant, his expression froze as he remembered what the Slay Demon True Lord had mentioned.

The Junwang is indeed a descendant of the ancient Holy King, a major rival of the ancestral teacher Great Yu Wang in contending for the throne, and he also successfully condensed the Human Emperor destiny.

"Could this be the Human Emperor destiny..."

A hint of brightness appeared in the depths of Zhang Jian's eyes.

The Human Emperor destiny is one of the most special among the nine Son of Heaven destinies.

It has already surpassed the Son of Heaven destiny and can be separately called the Holy King destiny.

Perhaps today he can use this to glimpse the mystery of the Holy King destiny.

The vast primordial spirit consciousness unfolded, and in an instant merged into this purple-gold light sphere; Zhang Jian felt that he could at any time fully refine it.

Zhang Jian thought this way, and did so.

He directly poured his own mana into this purple-gold sphere; first appearing before his eyes were countless chaotic memory fragments, which were too trivial, so Zhang Jian dismissed them, and his primordial spirit consciousness rushed straight to the core.

His powerful primordial spirit consciousness first filtered out many 'small grain' consciousness fragments, then locked onto three currently formed primordial spirit techniques.

The three primordial spirit techniques are extremely complex in structure; one is a golden bar with a golden dragon coiling around it, nine dragons lifelike, as if a true golden dragon had been resurrected; just a slight touch, and Zhang Jian immediately understood the terror of this technique.

This technique, when activated, seems able to condense nine guardian true dragons, combining offense and defense; moreover, the nine dragon qi forming the guardian true dragons can change along with one's cultivation progress.

Another is like countless strange life-death dark-bright qi intertwined, seemingly involving life and death, reincarnation and other heavenly laws, possessing the ability to reverse life and death.

"How mysterious?"

Zhang Jian merely glanced at it, and his eyes flickered slightly; while the third one was somewhat normal, it was a water-drop-shaped primordial spirit immortal method.

It flows with countless surging waves, like a heaven-engulfing flood rolling, and just a glance seems capable of overturning heaven and earth; it is a high-level water cultivation method.

Although Zhang Jian has practiced some water-attribute techniques, he has little interest in water immortal methods.

He then turned his gaze toward the last one, which had transformed into a purple dragon swimming in purple qi.

At this moment, Zhang Jian could confirm that this was precisely the fundamental manifestation of the Human Emperor destiny!

It was a strand of Human Emperor purple qi!

Feeling delighted, as he focused his mind, the Tai Xiao Flame Pearl deep in his consciousness sea suddenly emitted a tremendous suction, drawing this strand of Human Emperor purple qi into the Tai Xiao Flame Pearl; aided by the pearl's purity and purifying ability, after a slight refinement, a strand of purple qi spewed out from within and merged into the deep point between his brows.

After this Human Emperor purple qi merged, Zhang Jian directly absorbed it using the Ziwei Star Command this Son of Heaven destiny; visibly, the great Ziwei Star expanded, and in an instant countless purple lights burst forth.

Boom—boom—boom!

Above the courtyard, a dense purple light surged out from deep between Zhang Jian's brows; behind him, countless strands of purple qi intertwined and condensed into a huge colored star.

The purple qi filled the blessed land's legal domain; even the nearby Slay Demon True Lord felt a constricting force sweeping over, possessing the glorious divine power to seal myriad arts and suppress laws.

"Ziwei Star Command?"

Seeing this strange omen, the Slay Demon True Lord naturally understood that the Yinghuo, which had recently triggered consecutive Ziwei Star anomalies, was none other than the Zhang Jian before her!

But in that instant, the purple star behind Zhang Jian gradually gathered and transformed; behind him, countless starlight flowed and formed into a figure entwined with purple qi, sleeves fluttering, clad in Ziwei Emperor robes, a majestic divine deity emerged from the purple light; his figure was tall and unmatched, like a giant god stepping out from the center of the universe, standing firm between heaven and earth.

Vast divine might shook the ancient heavens and earth!

"This..."

Gazing at the majestic phantom of the Ziwei Divine Person before him, the Slay Demon True Lord's expression changed.

This is the Ziwei Emperor destiny.

A kind of destiny far surpassing the ordinary.

The Slay Demon True Lord had indeed not seen this destiny before; in the void beyond the world, some cultivators walking the Holy King path, with sufficient luck, obtain some fortunate coincidence and can condense such a destiny.

This destiny is extremely special and powerful; it can be combined with Star Immortal methods for cultivation, with excellent results.

At this moment, Zhang Jian opened his eyes, and deep within his pupils, a faint purple vaporous light swirled, while the spiritual pressure around his body greatly increased.

His very foundation was the mandate of the Four Heavenly Sons, stabilizing heaven and earth, the Red Virtue True Lord, the manifestation of heaven and sun, and now, with the Purple Micro Emperor's mandate added, his mandate's growth naturally enhanced his authority and laws, greatly increasing his strength.

At this moment, Zhang Jian slightly sensed that his substantiated primordial spirit had strengthened by over thirty percent.

Given the nature of his substantiated primordial spirit, being able to directly increase by thirty percent, this imperial purple aura of the human emperor is more effective than any state's spiritual mechanism.

After a moment of familiarity, Zhang Jian looked toward the Slaying Demon True Lord and asked.

"Master, within our sect, do we have any puppet secret arts or merit secret arts?!"

The Slaying Demon True Lord glanced at the hundred-zhang golden figure, knowing Zhang Jian's intention, and said.

"Naturally, we do!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jian's mouth corner revealed a hint of a smile.

For such a colossal Golden Figure of the Equal King, now that the Equal King's remnant spirit still has half remaining, the best method is undoubtedly to refine it into a puppet; not only would one obtain a golden puppet of immense power, but one could also thereby comprehend the three great primordial spirit immortal methods within the golden figure, achieving multiple gains at once.

Obtaining this supreme treasure, Zhang Jian's face beamed with smiles, and at once he spoke, leaving the Slaying Demon True Lord to prepare to properly honor this master, respecting teachers and cherishing the Dao, with utmost filial devotion.

The Slaying Demon True Lord, however, did not take it to heart, as she still had pressing matters.

Suppressing the Equal King's remnant spirit still left some aftereffects that needed to be dealt with.

However, before departing, Zhang Jian called out again to the Slaying Demon True Lord.

"Master, I still have two lively treasures here; please help this disciple examine them—are they valuable?"

"Lively treasures?"

The Slaying Demon True Lord was somewhat surprised.

Zhang Jian casually waved his hand, and summoned forth two streams of light.

The forms of Liu Xin and the Purple Element Daoist appeared within a crystal of stellar space.

Their primordial spirits were sealed, completely unconscious!

"This is the holy maiden of the Golden Mother Sect, and the other is also a primordial spirit great true person of the Golden Mother Sect; they attempted to assault this disciple, who subdued them—I do not know if they have any value?"

Zhang Jian's eyes showed a probing look.

These two primordial spirit true persons both hail from the Golden Mother Sect, especially the holy maiden Liu Xin, who is a disciple of the Golden Light Holy Mother; Zhang Jian subdued them but did not directly kill them.

The Golden Light Holy Mother is not to be trifled with.

Such trouble is unnecessary for him to bear; better to "hand over" to the sect, which would not only help him deal with future troubles, but perhaps the sect could even squeeze out their remaining value!

Now that the Contention for the Dragon is about to begin, Zhang Jian does not wish to provoke such a powerful enemy, and the sect often handles such matters very well.

Upon hearing this, the Slaying Demon True Lord glanced at the two, especially Liu Xin, and a hint of a smile appeared in her eyes as she looked at Zhang Jian and said.

"A Yu, your luck is not bad—you've picked up a 'treasure'! They are not merely valuable in the simple sense!"

"Oh?"

Zhang Jian's expression showed surprise.

The Slaying Demon True Lord laughed: "You may not know, but capturing this 'Liu Xin' is tantamount to grasping the soft spot of the Golden Light, and perhaps it could save this master much trouble!"

She herself had been preparing to seek the Golden Light Holy Mother, waiting for an opportunity to reclaim that half of the remnant spirit; having 'Liu Xin' as a leverage in hand makes it all the easier!

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jian's eyes brightened.

He had not expected Liu Xin to be so valuable.

The Slaying Demon True Lord seized Liu Xin and the Purple Element Daoist in one grasp, stored them away, and departed in an instant.

……

Meanwhile, as Zhang Jian used the Blessed Land Dharma Boundary to attempt to refine the Equal King's Golden Figure, on another front, news of the great battle above Guangyuan City, with the passage of time, was transmitted throughout the upper and lower realms of Great Qian.

The ancestor of the Cavern God Sect vanished, and the Qianhai True Lord was captured alive—this, for the entirety of Great Qian, was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

In a short time, voices arose everywhere in Great Qian.

The prestige of the Cavern God Observatory, which had suppressed Great Qian for hundreds of years as a colossal entity, now stood at the brink of danger; any slight stir of wind or grass, and Great Qian might directly collapse into fragmentation.

In the court, many civil and military officials already saw clearly that Great Qian now lacked a leader, the emperor and the sect founder one fallen, one missing—collapse was merely a matter of time.

……

On the Observing Heaven Platform, the Pure Bright Daoist stood in the void, his eyes somewhat lonely, like a full moon, yet between his brows lay countless black vapors; at this moment, he could barely manifest any magical power.

Great Qian's collapse was imminent, a great backlash descended, and the first to suffer were they, this master and disciple.

Thus, even if the Capital City of Haojing fell into great chaos, and Liu Xin and the Purple Element Daoist came knocking, the Pure Bright Daoist merely watched silently.

Truly, willing but powerless!

Not only him, but several other Daoists of the Cavern character generation in the Cavern God Observatory were also exerting full effort to resist the aftereffects of the backlash of Great Qian's fortune.

At this moment, gazing at the moon in the sky, the Pure Bright Daoist arose countless feelings of melancholy from nothing; in his mind were countless memories—he had stood here countless times with the Cavern God Sect's founder, envisioning the future, imagining assisting Great Qian in unifying the fertile lands of the Eastern Continent in splendor.

Who would have thought that Great Qian's downfall would come so swiftly?

"To actually end in this way!"

Just then, at the edge of the Observing Heaven Platform, a faint voice sounded: "Pure Bright Master, why must you worry? The great trend of the world is that long unity must divide, and long division must unite—this is the great Dao of heaven and earth!"

"Zhang Xueshi?"

The Pure Bright Daoist turned his gaze, seeing Zhang Jian slowly walking in from outside.

Behind him also came the Harmony Infant Daoist, bearing a worried expression.

The Harmony Infant Daoist was fortunate, having escaped the night of assassination.

The Pure Bright Daoist furrowed his brows:

"Zhang Xueshi, you are a sage of Great Qian—do you also hold such pessimism?"

Zhang Jian's eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled lightly: "A sage, huh..."

To those common people, he indeed was a 'sage' who saved countless lives, but in the eyes of the current civil and military officials of the court, he was probably not, but rather a 'powerful minister'.

Zhang Jian shook his head and said.

This is not pessimism, but the objective law of dynastic development; even a dynasty founded by a sage king is no exception.

Upon hearing this, the Daoist of Pure Light was momentarily startled, then gave a faint bitter smile and waved his hand.

"Let's not dwell on that. Right now, I envy Scholar Zhang more than anything—among the court's cultivators, few remain unaffected by the backlash of fortune. Scholar Zhang seems untouched by it?"

The Daoist of Pure Light gazed at him, voicing a question long buried in his heart.

By rights, Zhang Jian should be one of the cultivators aligned with the Great Qian court; even if he never drew upon Great Qian's fortune for cultivation, he still has some connection, so a backlash should occur—but Zhang Jian now shows no sign of it whatsoever.

Zhang Jian stepped forward with a smile.

He harnessed the Great Qian cauldron to gather the spiritual mechanisms of heaven and earth; the Great Qian dragon vein shattered—how could he avoid backlash?

First, his connection to Great Qian's fortune is not deep, so the backlash is minor.

Second, he possesses a supreme treasure to suppress fortune.

The Crimson Dragon Pearl is wondrous and rare—a heavenly treasure bestowed by the Holy Mother of Jade Pool, sufficient to ward off such backlash.

Most importantly, his foundation consists of the four 'Heaven's Mandate' patterns; he walks the path of ancient sage kings, making him an expert in this regard—how could he be affected by Great Qian's fortune?

"Actually, it's not just me!"

"If one operates correctly, even a Daoist can escape the deadly calamity!"

Zhang Jian's gaze fell upon the Daoist of Pure Light.

This is also the purpose of his journey to the Observatory Terrace.

Now is the time to lay all cards on the table with the Line of the Cavern Spirit!

Perhaps it is also an opportunity to annex, or to completely seize control of the Cavern Spirit Observatory.