Chapter 796: Struggle for the Kaiyuan Prefecture

“Brother, are we just letting this go?”

“What else can we do? Do you want me to summon a magic treasure and fight him in broad daylight?”

The two figures hurried back to their own Dao field, Hua Ming’s face flushed with indignation: “So what if we fight? Your cultivation base is an entire realm higher than his. I say we should strike and teach him a lesson—make him lose face on Tian Ta Mountain, and see if he still dares to keep that immortal shrine.”

“Besides, he has no master—he’s not even one of our Three Immortals Sect!”

As he spoke, Hua Ming suddenly froze: “Wait—that’s right, he’s not one of us. We don’t need to teach him a lesson in broad daylight. We could just… behind his back…”

Why bother teaching him a lesson? Just kill the madman outright.

But before he finished speaking, a sharp, clean slap landed across his face.

Slap!

Master Hao Ming halted, his gaze cold as he swept over him: “If you speak another foolish word, don’t blame your brother for forgetting our fellow-disciple bond.”

My own progress may have been slow, but it was steady—until your incitement cost me a great demon, and I still haven’t found a place to vent my rage. Now this brat dares to speak without restraint?

Is something like that even fit to be spoken aloud?

There has never been a precedent in the entire Northern Zhou of disciples killing each other.

True, the Grand Void Alchemist currently has no master—but if he hadn’t secured ties with Ling Xu Cave, it would have been Yun Miao Brother who took over Tian Ta Mountain.

“… ”

Hua Ming numbly cupped his stinging face.

We didn’t seize the Dao field, and now I’ve been slapped for no reason—I simply can’t accept this.

He clenched his teeth, gasping for breath, his face flushed red: “Now that so many prodigies have left the Northern Zhou and the Bodhi Sect has meddled in, the situation is nothing like before. If you still cling to your old mindset and act with restraint, you’ll eventually suffer great losses!”

Hearing this, Master Hao Ming instinctively raised his hand—but hesitated, never bringing it down.

Actually, what he said wasn’t without merit.

In the past, the Three Immortals Sect’s strength far surpassed the imperial court, so the conquest of Po Zhou happened at lightning speed, and the division of Dao fields was mostly a matter of luck.

Many took advantage of that momentum—myself included…

But with so many prodigies holding the line, others dared not break the rules they had set.

Now that those people are gone, disciples who missed out on sufficient Dao fields in the past will surely seize this final chance.

Under these circumstances, how many will still abide by the rules? That’s uncertain.

If you’d never tasted the flavor of imperial qi, fine—but once you’ve swallowed it, demanding you spit it out? Others may hesitate, but Master Hao Ming has no qualms about fighting to the death.

And with the Bodhi Sect as a convenient scapegoat, anyone who secretly kills a fellow disciple can easily pin the blame on those monks.

For those already weak, how could they not feel threatened?

“Sigh.”

Thinking of this, Master Hao Ming let out a long sigh. Merely imagining how once-harmonious fellow disciples would soon turn on each other, his face grew heavy with sorrow.

“Rather than wait to be destroyed, it’s better to strike first, Brother,” Hua Ming lowered his hand from his face, teeth gritted, whispering fiercely.

“Say no more—I know what I’m doing.”

Master Hao Ming cut off his brother’s words again, but his voice was no longer so cold and hard—it had softened considerably.

As he spoke, he turned his gaze toward the edge of the Dao field.

After the white ape left, more and more people began glancing toward Tian Ta Mountain. Though no boundary separated them, the difference between the two Dao fields was glaringly obvious.

One side was a stinking ruin; the other, while not luxurious, had at least returned to something resembling normal life.

Among the refugees were merchants who had been wealthy before the city fell—they stared hungrily at the humble mud huts they once scorned, their faces stunned, eyes brimming with envy.

Nothing is worse than comparison.

These swine had been grateful just to survive, to have water and food—now they dare to crave more?

“What a vile tactic,” Hua Ming finally realized. That man next door appears to sit still, guarding his patch of land, sending no great demons to act—but he’s stealing incense and devotion through subtle, creeping means.

“… ”

Master Hao Ming fell silent for a long while, then waved his sleeve to summon a disciple, coldly ordering: “Do exactly what they’re doing on Tian Ta Mountain… no—do it better.”

A few mud huts, plus freely available water and food—what are those to immortals?

But by stealing devotion this way, everyone will be forced to imitate them, slowing down all disciples’ efficiency in absorbing imperial qi. In the past, this man would have been punished by his seniors.

But now no one cares. Master Hao Ming has no choice but to resort to this last measure.

First, stabilize the morale within the Dao field. As for that arrogant, fallen noble from the Southern Zhou—this day’s debt for the white ape’s death, I will repay in full.

…

Beneath Tian Ta Mountain.

Ordinary people could barely hear the conversation in the heavens, and even the immortals’ forms appeared hazy.

They all looked up, eyes fixed upward.

Until the white ape shattered into pieces, dissolving into a rain of blood.

The next moment, someone started it—under the influence of the demon’s blood, the shouts carried a hint of brutality, yet overflowed with celebration, finally coalescing into a tidal wave of chanting: “Great Void True Lord!”

Shen Yi felt the imperial qi suddenly grow thick and potent.

He lowered his gaze slightly, extended his palm—and before him, thirty-two Ba Jie Golden Pills coalesced.

This was the first time Shen Yi had ever drawn upon the imperial qi of the imperial court.

In ancient Shenzhou, building temples and shrines was strictly forbidden. Even if one achieved what the Southern Commander did—single-handedly saving a continent, aided by the Demon-Slaying Bureau’s propaganda—his status remained that of an imperial general, and the incense and imperial qi ultimately belonged to the Emperor.

Even if he received a share, it would be minuscule.

Besides, he had saved the Southern Zhou—how could he touch the imperial qi meant to protect the people?

But now, the situation is different. The Northern Zhou has fallen. Even if Shen Yi does not take this imperial qi, it will eventually fall into the hands of these immortals.

Only by experiencing it firsthand could he understand why they were so mad for it.

When imperial qi was held by the court, used for the people’s benefit, it seemed unremarkable—but when in a single person’s hands, its abundance became clear.

Tian Ta Mountain, occupying only one-fifth of a prefecture, generated over three thousand jie of imperial qi from this single demon calamity alone.

Extend that over millions of years—this is no Dao field. It is a divine pill, a celestial elixir that grants instant ascension, a bridge between the two realms.

“Huh.”

Shen Yi gathered the imperial qi golden pills, then floated lightly back to the peak of Tian Ta Mountain.

His face showed no great joy.

It was only thanks to the help of the Sumeru Mountain monks—and the perfect timing of killing Ling Su—that the change he awaited arrived even faster than expected.

The problem now: he still lacks the strength to fully grasp this transformation.

The Bodhi Fruit’s ninety-nine transformations may place him among the top disciples of the Northern Zhou, granting him the power to rival other prodigies—but under current circumstances, revealing his Dharma Body means certain death. No other outcome.

He possesses many magic treasures—but all are stolen goods.

His visible cultivation base? Still unentered the three-three transformation of the Divine Void Fruit.

Honestly, if not for the hidden aid of Divine Void Ancestor, even this white ape today would have given Shen Yi serious trouble.

[Killed third-rank White Ape King. Total lifespan: ten thousand jie. Remaining lifespan: eight thousand eight hundred jie. Absorbed.]

[Remaining demon lifespan: nine thousand one hundred jie.]

When Shen Yi first arrived at Tian Ta Mountain, he poured all his accumulated reserves from the Southern Zhou into the Divine Void Dao Art, allowing this Fruit to gather eighteen threads of heavenly Dao order essence.

Add the current demon lifespan and the newly acquired imperial qi golden pills—he should soon consider advancing to the next transformation.

Shen Yi closed his eyes and sank into inner observation.

At the moment he reached third rank, the Divine Void Fruit transformed into visible wind, swirling around the seated Bodhi Fruit, ceaselessly battering the golden body.

Clearly, the power of transformation and the power of protection were mutually opposed.

But the golden body’s cultivation far surpassed the Fruit’s, allowing it to remain unaffected.

Yet as the two grow closer in strength, the problem will only worsen.

“I must stop this wind.”

Shen Yi pondered long, then plucked invisible threads, slowly weaving them into the raging divine wind.

As thread after thread of order essence merged in, the wind grew heavier, the rustling fading, its color changing.

A dead, ashen gray—like the Grand Void realm.

The wind became a thin mist, like a translucent veil, gently draping over the Bodhi Dharma Body—just as Shen Yi himself must now conceal his blinding golden radiance.

He still had no clear direction for the Divine Void path—but at least he must resolve the conflict between the two.

“… ”

Watching the once-gleaming golden body now draped in a gray robe like a monk’s cassock,

Shen Yi almost laughed while cultivating.

But it was a silent, bemused laugh.

The path he stumbled onto seemed to be growing ever more twisted.

He was trying to forcibly merge two utterly opposite heavenly Dao orders into one path—would he eventually… fuse the Fruit and the Fruit Position into one?

Compared to that, the chance of qi deviation seemed higher.

But Shen Yi had no other options. He had no master—and even if he did join some great Primordial Great Luo Immortal, that master, upon learning his strange condition, would likely offer no useful advice.

He opened his eyes and looked toward a small, bouncing figure racing toward him—a tiny lump of flesh sprouting two antennae, each like a pair of stubby legs, tapping incessantly—no trace left of the former Southern Emperor’s dignity.

“My Lord, I found it!”

The Southern Emperor plopped onto the ground, then raised his two antennae, bowing in triumph.

“Get up.”

Shen Yi gave a slight nod. He had brought only two third-rank stabilizing stones: Divine Void Ancestor and the Southern Emperor. The former must act in his stead before others; the latter could not idle.

Tian Ta Mountain is too small. Relying solely on its imperial qi, it would take forever to push the Divine Void Fruit Position to the peak of ninety-nine transformations.

Therefore, Shen Yi still focused his thoughts on Yao Shou.

Since immortals need great demons to harvest imperial qi, and must also guard against sudden attacks from fellow sect members vying for them, these great demons would inevitably remain stationed near the sect’s grounds.

For instance, the True Person Shu Yu of the Qingguang Cave next door.

Nan Huang’s methods are indeed less convenient than those of the Ancient Ancestor Shen Xu, but his cultivation base is so high that locating these great demons is still easy.

“How many?” Shen Yi stood up.

“My lord, exactly four,” Nan Huang said, excited.

Hearing this, even Shen Yi, known for his calm nature, couldn’t help but twitch his eyelid.

Recall that in Nanzhou, so many Bodhisattvas joined forces—even fighting the True Deities for them—and still only managed to gather eight Great Demon Lords.

In Beizhou, a mere disciple controls half that number?

But upon closer thought, it was normal: the Bodhi Sect had far fewer rules; many great demons, once they achieved cultivation, directly joined it, securing a place in Nan Sumeru and becoming Pilgrim Bodhisattvas.

In contrast, in Beizhou, the options for these great demons were extremely limited—not every demon wished to serve as a servant, especially since they’d gain no status as sect followers; better to remain a free-roaming demon king.

Yet even so, someone like Ling Su couldn’t afford to keep a great demon and had to borrow one from Mao Feng—this alone revealed just how wealthy True Person Shu Yu truly was.

“Let’s go take a look.”

Shen Yi grew interested, rose, and stepped into Tai Xu.

…

Beizhou, Qingguang Cave.

The same smoky hall remained, but this time Yun Miao True Person was noticeably more relaxed, no longer so aloof.

After all, he was now something of an insider at Qingguang Cave.

“Are you joking, Yun Miao Senior Brother?”

True Person Shu Yu smiled and raised an eyebrow: “That man holds Tian Ta Mountain, yet now you claim he has no ties to Ling Xu Cave?”

“I only took him in out of respect for Senior Brother Qingguang. I never imagined he was a man of treacherous ambition—wild, incorrigible, beyond redemption.”

Yun Miao True Person gazed coldly: “The moment news of Ling Su Senior Sister’s death reached us, he ordered her statue removed and immediately erected a shrine to Tai Xu True Lord. Such conduct is truly chilling.”

Upon hearing this, even the crane attendant outside the hall, who knew Yun Miao’s true nature, dared not speak further on the matter.

“He’s from the south, a worm demon disciple—do you expect him to possess the refinement you and I have?”

True Person Shu Yu shook his head, yet his eyes held a different shade.

He glanced subtly toward his senior sister, who sat with closed eyes in meditation: “Tian Ta Mountain in his hands is not only a waste—it’s unbearable. Even for Ling Su Senior Sister’s sake, we must reclaim this place.”

Mid-sentence, Shu Yu quickly added: “Besides, Young Sister Yu Chi and Young Brother Shen Shan also lack a sect base.”

His senior sister currently oversaw the investigation into the Bodhi Sect and had remained silent to avoid offending them; he once again brought up the two southern cultivators.

“Senior Brother Shu Yu, I already told you last time—I dare not be greedy.”

To Shu Yu’s surprise, the seemingly humble Yu Chi refused outright every time this topic arose, offering not even a shred of face.

She rose immediately and bowed to him in refusal.

Shu Yu’s expression darkened; when he looked back, his eyes now held a glint of malice.

He stared hard at the old woman, yet though she bowed her head meekly, she showed not the slightest sign of yielding.

Shu Yu pursed his lips slightly and turned his gaze to Shen Shan Ancestor beside him.

(End of Chapter)