Chapter 249: The Roadblock of Qingyun Dasheng

Kowtowing was unnecessary—perhaps it was luck, but over the next half-month, Zheng Fa and the others detected six more special electromagnetic waves.

Adding these to the previous two, Zheng Fa now knew eight distinct waveforms, meaning he had mastered eight possible Wood Thunder spells.

"The Wood Thunder we studied earlier matched the special electromagnetic waves of the Da Shu solar term…" the old man said with faint satisfaction, "it indirectly confirms your hypothesis, Zheng Fa."

Zheng Fa's face bore a smile.

Indeed—the special electromagnetic waves of Da Shu were a Wood Thunder; the likelihood that the other twenty-three solar terms' waves were related to Wood Thunder was very high.

"Too bad we can't verify it yet…"

Tian, the teacher beside him, sighed.

Zheng Fa had no solution to this matter.

Verifying whether these special electromagnetic waves could stimulate spiritual plants was difficult in the modern era…

According to Zheng Fa's theory, if spiritual plants arose from passive cultivation by ordinary plants, then their formation likely required specific time and conditions.

First, modern timeframes might simply be insufficient.

Second, the concentration of spiritual energy seems unable to meet the requirement.

Moreover, it's questionable how many modern plants could even be cultivated into spiritual plants.

To verify this, we'd likely need to go to the Xuanwei Realm—no, the Heavenly Stele Realm would be even better.

In fact, Zheng Fa already had a method to test it—using the herbal garden in the Heavenly Stele Realm.

During the growth of the plants in that garden, there are twenty-four bursts of spiritual energy—in Zheng Fa's view, the connection to Wood Thunder is highly probable.

To be honest, verification would be simple:

Zheng Fa would generate a newly tested Wood Thunder, then compare its electromagnetic field with the fluctuations in the garden's field, and immediately know if the Wood Thunder was effective.

The problem was how to measure such subtle electromagnetic fluctuations within the Heavenly Stele Realm…

A tall-legged immortal maiden appeared in his mind.

…

In the Heavenly Stele Realm, outside the Baibao Hall.

Yuan Shijie was still advancing; this time only Zheng Fa and Zhang Shijie had entered the Heavenly Stele Realm, yet they still gained over twenty thousand Heavenly Merits.

After exchanging spiritual materials, Zheng Fa had just stepped out of the Baibao Hall when he encountered Xiao Yuying—the very person he'd been thinking of—she seemed to be waiting for him.

"Lady Xiao?"

He looked at Xiao Yuying, puzzled.

"I've come to take my leave," Xiao Yuying said with a smile.

"Take your leave?"

"I can't compete with you for the Heavenly Stele," Xiao Yuying admitted frankly. "Staying here any longer would be a waste of time."

Zheng Fa was stunned—he hadn't expected her to give up so decisively.

Seeing his confusion, Xiao Yuying smiled: "Everyone knows your name is climbing higher on the Stele; the betting markets have collapsed… They're not leaving because they still want to exchange more spiritual materials in the Baibao Hall."

"… "

"I don't lack these things—if I could win the Stele, I'd certainly fight harder… but you just…"

Xiao Yuying shook her head, as if recalling Zheng Fa's lavish exchanges of spiritual materials.

Zheng Fa smiled awkwardly.

Then Xiao Yuying said: "I plan to explore other places—maybe I'll stumble upon some other treasure."

"… "

That wasn't something to feel embarrassed about…

She was far richer than he was!

Zheng Fa thought it over—yes, the Heavenly Stele was valuable, but for Xiao Yuying, aside from the Stele, there seemed to be nothing here particularly worth her attention.

But…

He still lusted after her body!

Xiao Yuying handed him a jade pendant. "I told you before—if anything happens to Jiushan Sect, you can come find me…"

Zheng Fa glanced at Zhang Shijie, who said nothing.

But her expression had grown cold.

Xiao Yuying acted as if she noticed nothing, placing the jade in Zheng Fa's palm: "That offer still stands. If you need me, just channel your spiritual power into this pendant—no matter how far away, I'll sense it."

Zheng Fa froze, staring at the pendant—

This thing sounded like a valuable magic treasure…

Xiao Yuying had clearly come only to say this; after speaking, she waved at him and left the Heavenly Stele Realm, her figure utterly carefree.

Yet Zheng Fa's gaze remained fixed on her retreating back.

"What?"

Zhang Shijie murmured beside him, glancing at Zheng Fa.

"Sister Zhang… what does Lady Xiao like?"

"… "

Zhang Shijie's gaze turned colder.

"I wanted to invite her to study Wood Thunder together, but now she's just leaving?"

He had thought about this for a long time—Xiao Yuying was hard to sway.

She was too wealthy, came from an excellent background—not that she lacked desires.

It was just that the things she wanted, Zheng Fa could never provide…

After hearing Zheng Fa's words, Zhang Shijie's eyes grew thoughtful, her gaze following Xiao Yuying's departure.

…

Back at the base, Master Huang hurried over, his face grim.

Zheng Fa and Zhang Shijie exchanged a glance—they knew bad news had arrived.

"Your Master Pang sent word."

Master Huang didn't explain; he tapped the air, and a water screen appeared before them.

Master Pang's figure stood at the center, beside him a tall, kindly-faced old man.

They stood in the Great Hall of the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace, seemingly flying toward Jiushan Sect.

Voices from the screen carried their conversation.

Master Pang said respectfully: "My lord, my disciple sent word that Qianhe Sect has suffered disaster, and the Yuling Sect has undergone upheaval…"

The old man was likely Tongming Shangren—or perhaps Tongming Shangren's spiritual treasure.

His tone was stiff, yet carried emotion; he sighed lightly: "My Hundred Immortal Alliance is already a scattered mess, with only my true self as a Soul Transformation cultivator. Without external powers stirring things up, it's manageable—but if they are…"

Master Pang fell silent for a moment, then asked: "Then what will you do, my lord?"

Tongming Shangren paused, then said:

"The Yuling Sect is rotten flesh—scrape it off. Those with disloyal hearts emerging is fine; whatever schemes they harbor is trivial—the most important thing is that Jiushan Sect must not fall apart. If it does, the Great Zizai Demon Cult will emerge, and that will be the end of the Hundred Immortal Alliance."

Zheng Fa nodded inwardly—Tongming Shangren saw the situation clearly.

The Xuanwei Realm was a world where individual power reigned supreme.

Ultimately, without Qingyun Dasheng, the Yuling Sect's troubles wouldn't be insurmountable for a Soul Transformation cultivator.

The demon race and the Great Zizai Demon Cult were stirring up chaos merely to drive away Zheng Fa and his group, who were blocking their path.

Hearing this, Master Pang seemed somewhat reassured.

"Then what are you planning, my lord?"

"The one in Tongming Mountain who leaked news to the Great Zizai Demon Cult—I've already dealt with him," Tongming Shangren's tone turned cold. "As for Qingyun Dasheng, he's forgotten why the Immortal Sects have ruled for hundreds of thousands of years…"

Even Zheng Fa could feel Tongming Shangren's confidence in those words.

But when he looked at Master Huang's still-tense face, he knew things were not so simple.

On the water screen, the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace drew near Jiushan Sect.

The sky was stained crimson by the setting sun; the ground churned with demonic aura.

There weren't many demonic beasts near Jiushan Sect—Master Pang's group encountered only a hundred or so—but each was of high cultivation.

"Eight Nascent Soul demonic kings…"

Zhang Shijie murmured.

Her voice was heavy.

"More than that."

Master Huang spoke up.

Master Pang seemed unwilling to provoke these great demons and intended to reach Jiushan Sect first to meet Master Yuan; the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace gradually vanished into the clouds, concealing their forms.

Yet after another half-hour…

A loud laugh rose from the ground:

"Is that you, Tongming Shangren?"

The Five Dragon Heavenly Palace halted midair, as if forcibly stopped by an invisible force.

"Qingyun Dasheng?"

Tongming Shangren murmured, his tone certain.

On the peak of a green mountain below, a middle-aged man stood, smiling up at the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace.

He wore a green Confucian robe, tall and slender, resembling a scholar—but if one looked closely at his golden pupils, one sensed coldness and ruthlessness within.

"Qingyun Zi, I have long heard of the great reputation of Tongming Shangren."

He bowed with clasped fists.

Tongming Shangren fell silent for a long moment, then swept his sleeve, and he and Master Pang landed atop the mountain peak.

"The Demon Cult has hidden in secret realms for hundreds of thousands of years, driven into silence by our Immortal Sects," Tongming Shangren said coldly. "Yet you beast tribes dare to fetch firewood for them."

This was also something Zheng Fa found puzzling—

From this era's perspective, the Immortal Sects still held the advantage.

Why would these beast tribes rush forward so recklessly?

The Qingyun Great Saint smiled and said, "Tongming Shangren, do you not know what kind of life my beast tribes have endured these past hundreds of thousands of years?"

Tongming Shangren seemed to recall something, and fell silent.

"Mandate treasures... hey, mandate treasures..." The Qingyun Great Saint's face was filled with scorn. "Aren't those the lives of my beast tribes? Aren't they the spiritual essence of my beast tribes' Nascent Souls?"

"..."

Zheng Fa and Zhang Shijie exchanged a glance, both startled.

They had never known that mandate treasures had any connection to the beast tribes.

Now that he thought about it, it made sense—today's Xuanwei Realm had ever-decreasing spiritual materials, and the beast tribes were naturally a major source of such materials.

More importantly, it seemed the crafting of mandate treasures was deeply tied to the Nascent Souls of beast tribes—if the Immortal Sects now relied on mandate treasures, then the beast tribes must truly be suffering.

Tongming Shangren fell silent, seemingly unable to refute.

After a long while, he said, "So because of this, you're willing to die for the Great Zizai Demon Cult and fight me to the death?"

"Fight to the death?" Qingyun Great Saint laughed. He looked at Tongming Shangren and said, "I only mean to delay you. If you simply halt here, I shall offer you sweet nectar and jade wine—what talk of fighting to the death?"

"Delay me?"

Tongming Shangren froze, then suddenly looked up toward the direction of Jiushan Sect.

Master Pang's face turned pale with terror; the Five Dragon Celestial Palace seemed ready to surge into the sky, yet was pinned down by Qingyun Great Saint's overwhelming pressure.

"Shangren, your eyes are sharp..." Qingyun Great Saint smiled. "My beast tribes and the Demon Cult have lain dormant for hundreds of thousands of years. Now that we've finally emerged, sending only one Soul Transformation cultivator? That's far too timid."

Zheng Fa's heart jolted; he turned to look at Huang Yu.

He finally understood why Huang Yu had appeared so urgent and grave.