Chapter 1402: One Day, Two Advancements, the National Teacher Takes Action (Combined)

The river wind surged, the qi pillar shot straight into the sky.

One wave after another, layer upon layer of water ripples swirled around the royal ship, rocking it, striking the hull, endless, directly pushing aside the surrounding escort boats!

"Guard the carriage! Guard the carriage!"

"Pull the ship over, quickly pull the ship over."

"Formation, formation!"

The commander swiftly directed and shouted, the helmsman braved the wind and waves, maintaining the fleet's order, escorting the royal ship.

The phenomenon came suddenly, the royal procession became noisy and chaotic.

Just moments ago the wind was calm and the waves still, in the blink of an eye the waves surged!

Who?

What?

How?

Potted plants, flower vases, screens, paperweights, tables and chairs trembled slightly, the screen slid sideways, the window paper bulged outward, finally unable to withstand, it suddenly burst open.

A large hole appeared in the room, the airflow found its outlet and poured onto the river surface, bringing down the screen, the screen pressed down, knocking over the flower vase, the vase shattered instantly, liquid spilled everywhere.

The Holy Emperor was solemn.

A rare opportunity, Zhang Longxiang seized the breakthrough inspiration in one grasp, in an instant——

"Dragon Elephant King! Do not break through! Hold it in! Suppress it! A thousand times suppress it!" Liang Qu hissed low.

A flicker of surprise crossed the Holy Emperor's face.

Zhang Longxiang's expanding pupils rapidly contracted, immediately suppressing the urge to break through.

"Why?"

"I did not expect the Dragon Elephant King's talent to be so extraordinary as to grasp it in one go and refine it in an instant—it is entirely my fault for not explaining clearly——" Liang Qu's words came in rapid succession, "This fruit, 'Ascension,' can only be used once, but my authority in nurturing it is not yet mature, it has not borne fruit. Using 'Ascension' once will still cause it to wither on its own, return to ordinary, so it can be used again. Rather than breaking through now, it would be better to liken it to the Temple of Heaven for use! Its value is higher!"

Zhang Longxiang understood instantly.

His face flushed slightly, he immediately forced back the sensation of breaking through.

Usually his momentum was like splitting bamboo, when had he ever been unable to break through when he wanted to?

It felt rather like the mischief of youth, endlessly curious, standing in the field urinating on the wheat seedlings, urinating halfway then suddenly clenching, wanting to see what would happen, a strange feeling, truly——

The flood surged to the gate, mighty and overwhelming, crashing into the sluice.

The sluice trembled, dust fell, the refreshing rush of a thousand miles vanished without a trace, replaced by soreness and swelling, as the subsequent flood surged up in succession, continuous impacts on the gate, but the impact force was not as strong as the first wave, until it finally stabilized completely.

Barely, barely.

The flushed face gradually calmed, Zhang Longxiang only remembered the sensation, did not act on it.

"Indeed so, indeed so." The Holy Emperor was rarely moved.

After a quarter of an hour.

The window pushed open by the air current stopped swinging, the hanging ornaments gradually ceased trembling, the screen leaned diagonally against the wall, braced against the stool corner.

On the river, the treasure ship pushed away by the air current and drifted far, rejoined the left and right sides of the flagship.

The Chong King, the Su King, and the two princely relatives swallowed their saliva.

"Your Majesty, Huai King, Dragon Elephant King, what did they do? Why did they go in for half a day, then the Dragon Elephant King suddenly broke through?"

The Holy Emperor, Zhang Longxiang, and Liang Qu remained inside, no one answered their questions.

Standing on the deck waiting for two hours, the high moon hung, the white clouds in the sky glowed with gray light, there was no movement inside for a long time, the four assumed this breakthrough would soon end.

The Su King glanced at the princely relative.

The princely relative understood, stepped forward a few steps, pressed against the door: "Your Majesty——"

Boom!

The air current burst through the door, lifting the hair strands.

Majestic and magnificent, soaring and surging, the clear sky bright, penetrating the clouds.

Exactly the same, utterly identical, following the same pattern.

Still the familiar qi mechanism, the familiar situation, the familiar people.

Chong King: "?"

Su King: "?"

Princely relative: "?"

The princely relative retreated two steps, felt the air current brush his face, as if slapped, he lifted his head to gaze at the cloud hole pierced by the qi pillar, mouth agape.

Still coming?

Again Zhang Longxiang?

Ascend twice?

Just now from tenth to eleventh, now from eleventh to twelfth?

The four envoys dropped their jaws in shock.

What were they doing in the room? Why did Zhang Longxiang break through two realms in one day?

Was it because of Liang Qu?

The four are not foolish.

Not breaking early, not breaking late, but precisely when the Holy Emperor's southern tour returned, came back to Pingyang, and met with the Huai King, then broke through—it must be this meeting, producing some unique reaction, combined with half a year ago, Liang Qu said there was a prototype of the fruit, the Holy Emperor sought an elixir for Liang Qu.

Could it be——

"Is it Liang Qu's fruit? Liang Qu's fruit can make people break through? How is that possible?"

Their eyes met, they communicated, all four felt it was unbelievable.

If such a fruit exists, what is all their painstaking cultivation worth?

Endless curiosity and confusion piled up all at once, along with an eagerness to try.

If Zhang Longxiang can do it, then wouldn't they also————

King Chong's eyes burned hot.

He and King Huai share the bond of comrades-in-arms!

Around the royal vessel, the escort ships were blown away again, and the Heavenly Feather Guards, silent until now, grew busy once more.

After another half-hour like this, the Qi pillar vanished abruptly, and the cloud cave sealed shut.

The four enfeoffed kings stood dumbfounded outside the room, not daring to step forward and ask, fearing a third occurrence inside.

Zhang Longxiang, tenth stage — broke through twice to reach twelfth stage, and later there was still a thirteenth stage that could be broken through.

Since there was a second time, a third time wouldn't be strange, right?

"Creak."

The door opened, revealing a gap the width of a small arm.

A pair of jade-white dragon horns emerged first, swaying left and right for a moment, even bumping against the door frame — seemingly because the gap was too small to squeeze through — only after the horns fully showed did a small head poke out.

"Cough, cough." The Third Prince coughed twice and beckoned with a claw toward the four enfeoffed kings outside, "Come quickly, come quickly, His Majesty summons you."

King Su and King Chong had been waiting outside in agonizing impatience, wishing they could pluck out their own eyeballs and toss them in to see; seeing the invitation, they forcibly suppressed their bewilderment and stepped forward.

"Boom!"

The fish spear was cast down, kicking up a huge wave.

The Heavenly Feather Guard who had caught a fine large fish presented it with delight, and the eunuch conveyed it to the kitchen with delight.

"Th- th- this————"

"There actually exists such a Position Fruit in the world?"

"So it's not twelfth stage — it's a fake advancement once, then a real advancement once?"

Groundless, wild wind rushes on the path, startling mandarin ducks into splashing waves.

King Chong stared wide-eyed, King Su stroked his beard incessantly, the two Imperial Clansmen kings looked in unison at Zhang Longxiang digesting with eyes closed, then at the Holy Emperor radiating health, and finally at Liang Qu who seemed entirely unperturbed.

Even though Martial Saints are all over a hundred years old and widely experienced, they were stunned by this never-before-seen scene.

Wu Sheng Primordial Yang — is it really this exaggerated?

Terrifying!

"Primordial Yang————"

After a bout of muttering to themselves, they once again valued this thing that had disappeared from their own lives hundreds of years ago; they felt a bit of testicular pain, then thought of the outstanding juniors in their clans and wondered whether they should strictly supervise them henceforth — in the future they must never allow them to lose their virginity carelessly————

Forget it.

King Chong fantasized for a moment, then dismissed this impractical delusion.

Forcing the requirement would be as hard as ascending to heaven.

A clan having three Entering Zhen Xiang, branching out and producing geniuses, with no accidents or calamities, mutually supporting each other and concentrating resources, can ensure the clan produces Grandmasters generation after generation without cease.

One step higher — three Soaring Dragons — yet one cannot say it will certainly succeed. Good luck, and a descendant might continue the line with one; bad luck, and after the three Soaring Dragons, a single generation ends the line, leaving only Entering Zhen Xiang remaining, perhaps to appear again generations later.

Becoming a Wu Sheng is too hard, too hard — fortune, talent, and will, none can be missing.

Becoming a Wu Sheng and moreover self-producing a Position Fruit is even harder on top of hard.

Making all juniors preserve their Primordial Yang — the clan's first self-producing-Position-Fruit Wu Sheng might never be waited for, while the line dies out first.

Thinking of this, a woman's figure suddenly surfaced in his mind.

King Chong sighed softly; he considered himself not lecherous, and able to restrain himself before beauty — even his first time was at seventeen with a personal maid, which compared to those second-generation scions who did it at twelve or thirteen counted as restraint.

But that was already several hundred years ago; who knows where that maid's grave lies now. His wife passed away early, and he now only has a dozen or so beautiful concubines kept in the household.

Forcing outstanding juniors to preserve their Primordial Yang would likely incur great resentment.

Thinking of this, King Chong couldn't help but look at Liang Qu again.

Is this a human?

Seeing everyone silent, all struck dumb, Liang Qu coughed once to draw their gaze: "Cough, King Longxiang is extraordinarily gifted, with deep accumulation long since; it's just that once his path ahead was set, he immediately grasped it firmly in hand and directly refined and comprehended it — ordinary people cannot achieve it in one go; most need repeated attempts."

"So that's how it is."

The kings suddenly understood.

Liang Qu's rise has been brilliantly dazzling — they only remember Liang Qu is a heaven-defying monster, forgetting that Zhang Longxiang was also a heaven-defying monster before, just not quite as heaven-defying, merely ordinarily heaven-defying.

King Chong couldn't help asking: "What about beyond realm?"

"Divine abilities work too."

"How are divine abilities counted?"

"One divine ability can sublimate once, counts as one item, same as realm."

"What about Root Sea?" King Su asked.

Liang Qu shook his head: "Realm, divine abilities — both can be cultivated through comprehension; Root Sea, however, requires accumulation, belongs to slow grinding work; sublimation can indeed increase it, but after regression not much progress remains."

"What about dead objects?" The Imperial Clansman king produced his own Xuan weapon, "Can it sublimate?"

"Dead objects won't work." Liang Qu shook his head in refusal, but then paused, "However, Xuan weapons haven't been tried."

Strictly speaking, Xuan weapons are not entirely dead objects, but extensions of a Wu Sheng's body — including Spirit Weapons; the Spirit Weapon's greatest trait is self-repair, precisely because they are forged according to living beings during crafting.

Huh?

Liang Qu froze; the Imperial Clansman king's words truly opened another line of thought for him.

"What stage is King Huai at?" King Chong asked.

"Me?" Liang Qu chuckled lightly, then released his aura.

"Snap!"

A slight tremor, and the folding screen leaning against the wall toppled completely.

The room fell silent in an instant.

Prince Chong's scalp went numb.

Sixth rank!

I still clearly remember when we dealt with the Withered Bones together—back then, what realm were we at?

This guy entered the Wu Sheng at twenty-eight, and it's only been three years—sixth rank?

Damn, two ranks per year? How many people can't even advance two levels in four years within a year?

They don't know that Liang Qu's heavenly tribulation and immortal pills came in succession, nourishing him in return, nor the upgrading of his martial bones— they only assume Liang Qu possesses extraordinary talent and astonishing comprehension, just like Zhang Longxiang now, grasping something and holding onto it directly, refining it immediately.

"Sixth rank, the foundation sea guarantees at least a thousand and up, the number of divine ability ranks unknown—"

Prince Su's gaze was serious; back when he and Prince Yue went to seek trouble with the flood dragon, it was all because of Liang Qu. In the blink of an eye, this level of strength—perhaps not enough now, but in another two or three years, saying he's the strongest below immortals might even be worth contending for.

Fast, too fast.

Back then, he was just a young brat.

Prince Huai, do you have no bottleneck at all?

"Does repeated use affect the development of Prince Huai's position fruit?" asked the clan prince.

"No."

By now, Prince Su and Prince Chong's gazes had already become scorching, unable to hold back, they half-stepped forward, as if looking at a human-body precious medicine—no, no precious medicine in the world could compare.

Such authority and effect, placed among middle-rank fruits, would absolutely be top-tier—no, can't say top-tier; position fruit authorities are largely without hierarchy, only divided into useful and useless. Liang Qu's is extremely top!

Liang Qu, however, retreated half a step, standing beside the Sacred Emperor: "Without yesterday's Majesty, there would be no today's subject. I met my benefactor, so I have no worries about food and warmth, but without Your Majesty, there would be no Prince Huai, nor today's position fruit. This position fruit is shared between Your Majesty and me—no arbitrary decisions may be made."

"Your Majesty!"

The four Martial Saints looked again at the Sacred Emperor, utterly unable to restrain themselves, making repeated requests.

The Sacred Emperor laughed loudly, laughed to the heavens, and pointed at Liang Qu.

"You, you, you really know how to surprise me!"

Most middle-rank fruits begin from self-nurturing, but Liang Qu's situation is ultimately special—by the time the foundation sea reached eight hundred times, it already had a prototype, even causing hidden dangers like foundation sea cracking, much like a premature infant born with congenital insufficiency. If thus nurtured into a small position fruit, it's not impossible.

Now looking at it.

Good, it couldn't be better.

The Sacred Emperor waved his hand, immediately ordering people to bring meditation mats—everyone gets a share.

"Everyone remember: do not use this to break through or consolidate, just to feel it. Once you break through and consolidate, there will be no chance to feel it again. Those present who can be Martial Saints are all talented outliers. For one rank, damaging ten ranks—I myself believe it's not worth the loss."

Liang Qu individually bestowed "elevation" upon Prince Su, Prince Chong, and the two clan princes—Prince Su received the Art of Creation, while the other three received realm advancements.

After patting the last clan prince, he inexplicably felt like he was the jinchuriki who gave everyone a chakra buff before the Ninja World War.

"Huuu—"

Zhang Longxiang slowly opened his eyes, gazing at Liang Qu, his thoughts inexplicable.

Everyone says he's a seed of immortals, a seed of furnaces—even he has been called that before—but until the final step, no one has ever directly affirmed another person can succeed. Now, however, he feels Liang Qu definitely can.

However—

How can a person be a monkey?

"Can the Dragon Elephant King try twelfth rank again?"

"Again!"

【Can consume two hundred thousand Marsh Essence to generate Yin-Yang Five Elements Seeds.】

【Consuming one hundred thousand Marsh Essence may nurture into a Yin-Yang Five Elements Disk.】

【Marsh Essence: 20,050,000】

In the octagonal-like rectangular disk, two clusters of black and white qi continuously spin, the edge of the rectangular disk flashing with different lights, locking the two qi.

"Crack."

At the center of the black and white qi, a variegated seed falls.

Held in the palm, then infused with essence.

The variegated seed rapidly expands, finally breaking open, becoming identical to the adjacent rectangular disk.

Two more portions, making three portions total of 【Yin-Yang Five Elements Disks】—Zhang Longxiang takes one, the imperial court keeps one, Liang Qu holds one himself. Clever rabbit has three burrows; the great war is coming, prepared brings no worry.

"Marsh Essence isn't enough."

Liang Qu worries: two Five Elements Disks require 2.4 million essence, plus the Little Mirage Dragon bound by the Laozu Sect as the "oil rat," causing yin-yang accounting, doubling the cost—4.8 million.

Originally, I thought over thirty million essence was enough to squander, but who would have thought that in just over two months, over ten million is gone.

A thought moved, I sent a message to Long Pingjiang, letting him go find the Merfolk clan chief Quan Linghan.

It's been several years since I last asked him for Merfolk tears—time to replenish a wave.

Merfolk tears from the East Sea are good, and those from my Jianghuai are not bad either.

"Old Bei, want to go to Shahe River to see the yellow sand scenery? I estimate we'll need to stay long-term at Shahe River from now on.

, "Not going, not going—the water of Shahe is very turbid; entering it will surely choke me to death."

The old shattered boulder over three zhang high stands at ease.

【Marsh Essence +3】

"Alright then."

Liang Qu pinched Long Eying's hand, inwardly viewing the fixed 【Pebble-to-Pill】, messaged Blue-Cover King and Pot King they could depart, next time we'll come when opportunity arises.

"How is it?" Zhang Longxiang flashed to the pond.

"Still need to wait a bit!"

Liang Qu threw out the Five Elements Disk, Zhang Longxiang raised his hand to catch it.

This time, both Prince Chong and Prince Su will head north, gathering affairs under the name of governing sand, to counterattack the netherworld.

Liang Qu felt it was time to contact Lao Yingtian again to check on his situation; now that he had Ju Mang, he thought having another Meng Hu Wang in Beiting would not be a bad thing.

"Who are we waiting for?"

"Waiting for — no need to wait anymore, here he comes."

"Splash."

"Liang Qing! The State Preceptor of our country has arrived!"

>