Chapter 678: Luo Han and Taiyi, Both Fifth Realm

On the official road piled high with snow, a continuous, winding caravan moved in orderly formation.

They advanced toward Xishan Fucheng; a thick, rotting stench swept over the sky and earth, bloodstains dyeing the frosty ground red.

The caravan transported massive demon corpses, their forms grotesque and bizarre, their deaths so tragic they were beyond words, as if they had endured some purgatorial torment in life.

The instant the caravan entered Xishan Fucheng, waves of shocked exclamations erupted throughout the vast city.

It is true that the people of Shenzhou are well-traveled and knowledgeable, but under the imperial court's protection, it is still very difficult for them to witness such a terrifying number of demons with their own eyes.

Before long, notices issued from the prefectural government office plastered every street and alley.

Compared to the ordinary people's astonishment, the cultivators residing in the city roughly understood the recent events.

The situation has been quite chaotic lately, making people's hearts panic.

The imperial court wishes to intimidate the demonic evil and stabilize the people's hearts; Lei Ting methods are indispensable, so this scene is not hard to understand.

But when they noticed a relatively brief description in the notices, almost all cultivators, regardless of their realm, stood frozen in place, eyes wide and mouths agape.

"Puti Sect member Monk Hui Zhen, relying on his fruit position, despised the imperial court, colluded with demons, and brought disaster to numerous commanderies and counties in Xishan Fucheng; evidence is conclusive, and he is to be executed along with his accomplices!"

Although the notice referred to him as a sect member, which cultivator could not see... relying on a fruit position, that makes him a Luo Han!

Those noble beings who traverse the world with Golden Bodies, subduing demons and eliminating evil, would actually commit acts of colluding with demonic evil?

What shocked the cultivators even more was the hardiness the imperial court displayed when facing the Three Sects, something unimaginable in previous days.

Even for Puti Sect, even if it is a Luo Han, as long as they commit crimes within the divine dynasty's scope, they will still be beheaded!

The imperial court has become completely serious.

Within a short time, this news spread out from Xishan Fucheng, nearly covering all of Da Nanzhou.

"What is Brother Yan planning to do?"

In a certain grand residence, flanked by several titled generals, two people stood side by side.

One was the Zhennan General Yang Mingli, and the one who spoke was a woman who appeared to be in the prime of her life, wearing a bright long skirt, looking somewhat like a flower swaying in the breeze.

But once back in the imperial court, her face held no more glamour; instead, it revealed a majesty that made people's hearts tremble.

This woman was the last Zhennan General in charge of the entire Zhan Yao Si of Da Nanzhou, Feng Xi.

She frowned slightly, clearly not understanding the events in Xishan Fucheng, especially the prefectural government office's concluding actions regarding the matter.

Hearing this, Yang Mingli's face grew somber, and his voice held no inflection: "Regarding the affairs of Nanzhou, I have already reported to the Imperial Capital; each of you should manage your own affairs and not ask about idle matters."

That old thing surnamed Yan has long been dissatisfied with my conduct; now that he has finally broken away, he naturally wants to make a grand display of his power.

Thinking of this, Yang Mingli coldly twitched the corner of his mouth.

Let him go mad; sooner or later he will suffer bitter consequences. At that time, I will have the chance to properly enjoy that old thing's face full of regret.

"Sigh, I don't know what quarrel you are having. No matter which side has a problem, it is still an affair of Da Nanzhou. In the end, among the three of us, who can stand by and watch without acting?" Feng Xi sighed helplessly.

"Whether to act or not is one matter; if we do not suppress that aggression of his, Nanzhou will sooner or later be destroyed by his hands!"

Yang Mingli suddenly waved his sleeve and decisively closed his eyes.

The more chaotic the situation, the more one must remain stable! Only by being stable enough can problems be avoided.

That surnamed Yan does not understand this principle; he will either die in the Three Sects' interception and killing, or commit a grave error and be punished by the imperial court.

He is merely a commoner; if he dies, so be it. Do not let him implicate the living beings of these twenty-seven prefectures!

Jianyang Fucheng, Shen Zhai.

In the courtyard, heavy snow flew; a young man sat cross-legged, concentrating his spirit and calming his breath, as if listening to a Dharma teaching, yet beside him stood no one.

Since the demon lifespan required to advance a realm was truly too vast, filling even a little was impossible, so after leaving Nanyang, compared to self-improvement, reshaping demon souls had become a very low cost-performance affair.

But there were exceptions.

For instance, a genuine Puti Sect Luo Han.

After ascending above the fifth realm, because of the existence of the Dao Fruit and fruit position, the cost-performance of reshaping demon souls achieved a leap.

With dozens of kalpas of lifespan, one could obtain a henchman possessing hundreds of kalpas of power, and there were other gains as well.

Shen Yi spent a full thirty kalpas to condense this Cloud Ox into a Stabilizing Stone; under the other's Dharma transmission, the panel also underwent changes.

【Fifth Realm: Dragon-Tiger Mountain-Crushing Seal: Perfection】

As a true Dharma of the Three Sects, and one specifically prepared for the Dragon-Tiger Luo Han, Shen Yi had personally experienced its power once.

Rather than calling it a certain "technique," it was more like an exploitation of the original effects of the Dragon-Tiger Golden Body; it required no significant expenditure of lifespan to cultivate, and as long as one knew the underlying principle, mastering it was very easy.

Puti Sect's things are still good.

Shen Yi sent forth a sigh in his heart.

Only now did he finally realize that perhaps the Dragon-Tiger Luo Han itself had no manifestation of Dragon and Tiger; it referred to the process of borrowing the power of Dragon and Tiger during arduous cultivation to infect the qi of heaven and earth, and finally transform it into one's own use.

And those actions of his that seemed "superfluous," though sounding somewhat ridiculous, had accidentally yielded benefits.

Ye Lan once said that the method for a fifth-realm cultivator to reach the fourth realm was to find a path belonging to oneself, and then use kalpa power to pile up this path.

Clearly, the demon lifespan Shen Yi invested was not wasted; it had transformed into real, tangible strength.

This indicated that this path had unfolded in some mysterious way; it was just unknown what form it would take at the very end.

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: Sixty-Eight Kalpas】

According to common sense, pouring these demon lifespans into the Dragon-Tiger fruit position would naturally be the most cost-effective, since Puti Sect's things were quite substantial; you get what you pay for.

Unlike the Great Void Dao Dharma of the Sanxian Sect; no matter how much you pour in, how much can be utilized depends on opportunity and comprehension.

Moreover, Qi Refiners can take pills to assist their cultivation, and since he excels at refining pills, he could perfectly pair them with the Imperial Qi Golden Pills awarded by the imperial court.

The path of the Qi Refiner could completely avoid using demon lifespan, instead using the human Imperial Qi for cultivation.

But the current situation was rather special.

Only forty-plus kalpas remained before completely harvesting the Great Void Dao Fruit and ascending to the Taiyi Immortal.

Thinking of this, Shen Yi no longer hesitated, rapidly pouring the remaining lifespan into the Great Void Dharma.

With the infusion of vast demon longevity, the silver moon hanging from the tip of the green wood within his body gradually grew plump, its density so thick it seemed ready to drip.

Until the demon's lifespan began to show signs of exhaustion.

The radiance finally started to gather, slowly forming a translucent jade; the patterns engraved upon it resembled the most primal laws of the Great Dao at the moment of its initial formation, when heaven and earth were about to open.

A single glance was enough to instill fear in the heart.

Fortunately, it was only an instant; those patterns shifted from primal to intricate, gradually transforming into something a cultivator could roughly comprehend.

"Tai Xu..."

Shen Yi slowly opened his eyes; without the panel's reminder, he knew his Taiyi Zhenxian realm had been achieved.

One hundred and ninety-three tribulations had all been transformed into this Tai Xu Dao Fruit.

【Fifth Rank. Tai Xu Dao Art: Perfection】

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: Three Tribulations】

Even with all the preparatory measures, of the sixty-plus tribulations of demon longevity, fully twenty were wasted in vain; no wonder Qi Refiners must take pills to assist their cultivation; compared to the Puti Sect, the efficiency was simply too poor.

Although the Dao Fruit and the Fruit Position are both Fifth Rank, they are entirely different things.

Shen Yi's pair of eyes emitted dragon-tiger golden light and Tai Xu moonlight respectively; the same heaven and earth, falling into his vision, appeared as two different scrolls.

His soul drifted like white clouds, his body anchored the world like a golden mountain.

The huge contrast made confusion surge in his eyes; the deduction had clearly ended, yet he had inexplicably fallen into some kind of demonic obstruction; wanting to move his fingertip, he felt it light as a goose feather, yet he could never lift it.

Just then, a low voice came from outside the mansion.

"General Wushan has arrived to visit."

This voice from an outsider finally pulled Shen Yi out of that bewildered state!

He lightly wiped a non-existent bead of sweat from his forehead.

No wonder few choose to cultivate both the Qi Refiner and the Walker paths; apart from the pressure of lifespan and tribulation power, the risk of cultivation going awry caused by this completely different experience of heaven and earth was likely also a very important reason.

Shen Yi quickly adjusted his mood, then turned back and said, "Please come in."

After receiving permission, that large, burly fatty, with a gloomy expression, stepped into this mansion and walked all the way to the courtyard to stand still.

He looked at Shen Yi and said in a muffled voice, "I have handled the matters of Xishan Mansion according to Old Master Yan's instructions; I came to inform you. As for the reward for subduing demons, it will be delivered to your mansion in a few days."

Hearing this, Shen Yi stood up and said softly, "Thank you."

Since leaving Great Qian, he had not experienced for a long time the feeling of having a big tree to lean on, where causing trouble meant no need to worry about fleeing for one's life, someone else would take responsibility and handle it, and one could even receive a reward.

The decision to join the Zhan Yao Si had finally gained some meaning.

However, after General Wushan finished speaking, he showed no intention of leaving; shaking his head, he said, "I am not here to claim merit, nor am I here to congratulate you."

"Then what?"

Shen Yi raised an eyebrow, noticing General Wushan's facial features slightly distorted, and he clenched his fists even tighter.

"First, for the rudeness and presumption last time, I offer an apology. I am accustomed to reading people's expressions and often fall into the habit of judging by appearance. When my next reward is issued, I will send someone to deliver a golden pill containing thirty tribulations to you as compensation."

Shen Yi continued to listen quietly, not interrupting the other party.

After all, General Wushan's expression clearly had nothing to do with an apology, and compared to the verbal rudeness and the act of bypassing him to directly command the Xishan Mansion Zhan Yao Si, using a golden pill containing thirty tribulations as compensation was obviously too valuable.

Sure enough, the next moment General Wushan slightly turned his body, no longer looking at Shen Yi, and his voice became much lower: "I have roughly figured out your and Old Master Yan's thoughts."

"I apologize; General Wushan works for the imperial court, not for one person, and I am certainly not a madman."

"The reason I joined here is simple: I have my own matters to attend to. Unfortunately, my strength is insufficient, so I came to earn some imperial qi to raise my realm. I have no grand ambitions; forgive me, General Wushan, but I will not accompany you in your madness."

"I will manage my three mansions, and that is all."

"Everyone has their own aspirations; I hope you and Ye Lan can understand."

Having said this, General Wushan stood stiffly in place. As a Fourth Rank Taiyi Zhenxian, he could crush Shen Yi with a casual hand, but at this moment, he was clearly somewhat guilty, merely holding on stubbornly.

It was only because these words were not spoken to General Nanyang, but were intended to use his mouth to express his dissatisfaction and bottom line to Old Master Yan.

Expressing dissatisfaction to a direct superior is something that, within the Zhan Yao Si, if the other party takes it seriously, his fate needs no further explanation.

Yet General Wushan still came.

In his eyes, this was an old madman leading two young madmen, sprinting relentlessly toward a dead end.

However glorious it is now, how miserable it will be later.

The Puti Sect and the Sanxian Sect did not become part of the Immortal Court by mere words.

"..."

Shen Yi pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Understood."

After all, the other party had no way to kill demons and gain lifespan, nor had they offended the great Hongze Daxian in the heavens; forcing them to follow him into recklessness would be purely insane.

Hearing this, General Wushan was obviously stunned for a moment.

Clearly not expecting this General Nanyang to be so easy to talk to, for a moment, a faint redness surged onto his face.

Recalling this junior's actions during this visit to Xishan Mansion, he indeed had not asked him anything from start to finish, let alone sought help.

Perhaps the other party never even counted him in.

Could it be that he was overthinking it...

"Thank you."

General Wushan nodded lightly, turned to leave, took two steps, then turned back and said, "Do not be too careless. My talent and comprehension are inferior to yours, yet my realm is higher than yours, simply because I am many years older and have seen many things. Those hypocritical Immortal Venerables and Bodhisattvas, if they truly stir up anger, their methods are no more benevolent or noble than those of demons and evil spirits."

"Even with General Yan's backing, hidden arrows are always hard to guard against. I do not wish to get involved in your affairs, but as a colleague, if you encounter any problems, you may come and ask me; I will certainly speak without holding anything back."

"Farewell!"

After leaving another few words, General Wushan then transformed into a streak of light and flew straight out of Jianyang Mansion.

"..."

Shen Yi watched the other party leave.

After all, he had simply gained thirty tribulations of imperial qi for free; a little courtesy was still required.

With the rewards the imperial court is about to bestow, Shen Yi's unease, akin to running out of money, was marginally alleviated.

Now, in the path of cultivation, both the Qi Refiner and the Walker have reached the Fifth Rank; among them, the Great Void Dao Fruit has endured one hundred and ninety-three tribulations, while the Dragon and Tiger Seat has endured over one hundred and sixty tribulations.

The distance between them and the Fourth Rank's Thousand Tribulations Great Dao Fruit is quite vast.

While General Yan is still here to help bear the pressure, I must hasten my own actions.

Although General Wushan does not govern the affairs of these three prefectures, it has never been said that I cannot manage the other six prefectures.

Thinking thus, Shen Yi planned to find a moment to go see Ye Lan and obtain the jade slips containing the contact information for the Demon-Slayers of those six prefectures; at that time, he would simply treat it as an official mission.

Just then.

The sudden change on the panel pulled Shen Yi's thoughts back.

【Remaining Lifespan of Demons and Monsters: Eleven Tribulations】

The inexplicably added eight tribulations of lifespan could obviously only come from one place.

Shen Yi did not rush to rejoice; instead, he fell silent and looked up at the sky.

Lady Qinghua descending to the mortal realm so frequently to slay demons, with almost no rest, clearly defies reason; this can only mean that the trial by that Green Phoenix Celestial General is becoming increasingly undisguised.

What information could she have received that makes her keep staring at this Merit Immortal of stable-boy origin?

Could it be because of a single incident at the Imperial Stables?

Shen Yi closed his eyes, a vague ominous premonition stirring in his heart; rather than thinking Lady Qinghua was being watched, he felt that the gaze cast by those eyes had already fallen upon himself.

After a long while, when the youth's clear eyes opened again, a hint of ferocity had risen within them.

What does it matter? Since a delicacy has been served right to the door, let us eat it first!

(End of this chapter)