Chapter 777

The phantom fled.

Xi You left.

Before Wu Tie, the void twisted and writhed; a mass of soul power so strong it made one suffocate hovered before him, like a black hole silently floating there.

Wave after wave of gentle yet immensely vast soul power swept over Wu Tie's body; a faint spiritual light appeared on his surface.

"Descendant of the Wa clan… my clan's descendant… among the younger generation, you count as promising." Suddenly, the air around this mass of soul power trembled, emitting a soft, pleasant sound.

No knowing how many tens of thousands of li away, the owner of this soul mass, using soul power, shook the air to produce such a wondrous sound. Such divine ability leaves one astonished.

"Senior, you overpraise." Wu Tie felt immense goodwill from that soul mass, and immediately smiled, bowing.

"Eh, the little brats of the Chao dynasty have come clamoring… I can't let our clan's children be bullied by the Sui people. Hmm, interesting, interesting… the 'Pangu Classic', 'Wan Hua Classic', 'Wan Jie Classic'… we've gained quite a few good things, haven't we?"

This soul mass suddenly blazed, as if igniting.

Among Wu Tie's spoils, the true Buddha relic flew out uncontrollably; a mighty, peerless soul power, like a millstone, lightly stirred it, and with a clear chime, the silver-white lotus-shaped true Buddha relic, in the despairing gaze of Fan Kun who seemed bereaved of parents, shattered completely.

Strands of incredibly pure strange power spewed from the shattered true Buddha relic, instantly penetrating Wu Tie's brow and merging into his vast soul. Wu Tie's whole body shuddered violently; the fusion speed of his divine fetus and divine body surged by an unknown multiple.

Visible to the naked eye, countless dense dao patterns emitting strange light, like swimming dragons, surged from Wu Tie's interior and quickly merged throughout his body. His aura shot up, rising wildly.

That true Buddha relic did not enhance any of Wu Tie's power or foundation; it merely, with the aid of that soul mass, helped him, in an instant, as if crossing thousands of years, greatly boost the fusion progress of his divine fetus and divine body.

In a snap of the fingers, 108 great dao laws and 3,000 side-path dao patterns transformed from them fully merged with Wu Tie's body; his divine fetus shrank considerably, while the void around him, due to his sudden power surge, like fragile crystal, cracked with countless visible black fissures in a 'ga-ga' sound.

The vast soul power lightly wiped, and those black fissures vanished completely.

Wu Tie's bosom-held three supreme scriptures of the Qinglian Observatory—the 'Pangu Classic', 'Wan Hua Classic', and 'Wan Jie Classic'—also flew out.

Qing Feng looked at the three supreme scriptures with a half-smile, murmuring: "Ah, having backing and a strong supporter makes one extraordinary… the Wa clan, tsk tsk, terrifying Wa clan old monsters, tsk tsk… what can be done? Even the divine empresses of past Chao dynasties came from the Wa clan—cannot afford to provoke them, cannot afford to offend them, must not provoke them…"

Squinting his eyes, Qing Feng muttered: "Ah, I almost forgot—my master's dual-cultivation partner, our madame, is also a Wa clan woman… ah, ah, what's most terrifying in the world? Pillow wind!"

Strands of ancient, mysterious light, formed from countless strange ancient characters, welled up from the three scriptures.

The vast soul power hovering before Wu Tie burned itself, turning into a strange energy that activated the supreme dao of the three scriptures, turning into visible dao patterns that swiftly poured into Wu Tie.

In Wu Tie's mind, countless insights into the three supreme dao methods appeared out of thin air; it felt as if he had spent at least thousands of years painstakingly cultivating and receiving aid on those methods.

In just a dozen breaths, Wu Tie's body had condensed a 'Pangu Seal'; his 'Pangu Classic' was already accomplished—by activating the seal with mana, he could quickly incarnate as the true Pangu form, wielding part of the supreme might of the Pangu sage.

Wu Tie's bones trembled; his entire body's chaotic bones sensed the aura of the Pangu Seal, seemingly activating some marvel deep within the chaotic bones, his bones emitted strong light, frantically devouring his entire body's essence and blood energy, promoting another aberration of his chaotic bones.

Then came the 'Wan Hua Classic'.

Wu Tie's eyes felt a sore ache, then his vision suddenly brightened; when he looked at all things in heaven and earth, the scene in his sight became vastly different.

Both arms felt sore and swollen; a novel, miraculous power gathered in his arms. Wu Tie's palms emitted a faint white light; this light caused Fan Kun and Bai Lu's expressions to change inexplicably—mixed envy and apprehension—making their looks splendid.

Finally, a layer of faint blood light welled up over Wu Tie's entire body.

On his body, a terrifying 'calamity force' gathered, enveloping Wu Tie; his body and divine fetus, under this calamity force's shroud, seemed to harbor endless changes brewing and gestating within.

In less than half an hour, that vast, surging soul power before Wu Tie was depleted by about ninety percent; the direct result was that Wu Tie's cultivation level leapt forward, his realm soared, and he also accomplished the three supreme dao methods of the Qinglian Observatory.

"Thank you, senior." Wu Tie solemnly knelt on the ground, kowtowing to the remaining soul mass.

This was the act of some unfathomable elder of the Wa clan; otherwise who would painstakingly expend such power just to make Wu Tie, a nameless stranger, successful?

Wu Tie once again felt the warmth and strength of family and bloodline.

"Forget it… regarding Xi You, be polite from now on; unless he truly courts death, if we can spare his life, we will." The soft, pleasant voice chuckled lightly: "But rest assured, we old fogies will not interfere in your juniors' conflicts."

"However, he is after all one of the extremely rare dragon-phoenix twins; the Xi clan values this greatly. Be wary of them—just be wary."

"Furthermore, don't fear being bullied." Within that soul mass, a speck of chaotic spiritual light condensed; after a few breaths, a strange soul seal formed and was lightly imprinted on Wu Tie's brow.

"With your achievements, kid, you're qualified to directly seek aid from us old-timers. Well, juniors squabbling among themselves, we won't intervene. But if an elder disregards status and bullies you, just call us out to back you up."

"Speaking of domineering and unreasonable bullying, our Wa clan never yields to anyone."

The void twisted slightly; that soul mass silently sank into the void, and the spot returned to tranquility.

Watching the soul seal merge into Wu Tie's body, and hearing the final words left by that soul mass, Fan Kun and Bai Lu's expressions were incredibly splendid, their faces drooping as if they might burst into tears at any moment.

It felt like a child whose lollipop had been snatched, wanting to tell his parents but lacking the courage… tsk, truly pitiful, so pitiful!

Qing Feng chuckled and bowed to Wu Tie: "Martial King, you've also learned our observatory's three supreme dao methods, heh… may I have the originals back? According to the wager oath, you cannot transmit these three dao methods outward; keeping them yourself is useless."

Wu Tie rose, dusted his sleeves and knees, glanced askance at Qing Feng: "Hey, indeed, among those present, you, Daoist, are the most scheming… borrowing flowers to offer Buddha, borrowing flowers to offer Buddha, Daoist, your no-capital trade is brilliantly executed!"

Qing Feng laughed brightly, yet merely smiled without speaking.

Fan Kun clasped his hands and bowed to Wu Tie, saying nothing to him, then rose and looked at Qing Feng: "Senior Brother Qing Feng, I have been taught… the Xuan Huang pendant is on you, right? Good, good, good… in this Wuguo, my efforts were in vain and I lost many personal treasures; this karmic account we consider settled."

Qing Feng grinned, nodding slowly at Fan Kun: "Fan Kun, you're still no match for me; you also made the wager oath, and you saw the fate of the one who broke his oath just now. Thus you cannot win this round."

"To understand this karmic bond, have a few of your senior brothers come… you, this Kun-peng, still lack some refinement."

Fan Kun gave a cold snort, flicked his sleeve, and strode away.

Each step covered a dozen li; after walking nearly a hundred li, Fan Kun suddenly turned back and asked Qing Feng: "Senior Brother Qing Feng, your Qinglian Observatory never lightly forms grudges… you even disdain supporting princes or contending for the divine emperor's throne. Why did you suddenly strike to harm someone this time? I'm quite curious."

Qing Feng smiled and softly laughed: "You guess."

Fan Kun stared, gritted his teeth, stomped hard, then his body flickered and vanished without trace.

Just then, east of Wu Tie's central army camp, mountains suddenly 'boomed' aloft, then exploded in midair into countless fragments that rained down.

In a finger snap, at least tens of thousands of hills large and small suffered calamity.

Qing Feng watched the mountains flying all over the sky, shook his head and muttered: "What a brute—so many flowers and grasses, so many baby rabbits and mice, you bald oaf, your slaughter has been thoroughly wrought… sigh, I'm not your master, why bother managing you?"

Bai Lu waited until Fan Kun left in angry defeat, then put away his splendid expression, smiled gently, and bowed to Qing Feng: "Senior Brother Qing Feng, I have been taught… after such an incident, Bai Lu has no face to wander outside; he can only return to the Bai Lian Palace."

He sighed deeply, then Bai Lu chuckled lightly: "Everything that happened here, from cause to effect, Bai Lu will report to the Grand Master."

Qing Feng nodded with a smile: "Go on, go on, go back and file a complaint… tsk, your Bai Lian Cave has such a bad habit—you recruit disciples, like to seek heirs from wealthy noble clans, yet you always end up with what sort of lot? Spoiled rich youths suffer losses, then return bringing lackeys and hounds to stir up trouble… tsk, embarrassing or not?"

Shaking his head, Qing Feng chuckled: "Go on, go on; if your Grand Master feels angry, just come hassle my Qinglian Observatory. Heh heh, in the past sixty years, the mountain guardian of my Qinglian Observatory has been Drunken Buddha Uncle-Grandmaster; if your Grand Master goes up the mountain, be careful lest he mistake you for a tree root and split you with an axe."

Bai Lu's face became incredibly splendid.

Wu Tie's mouth corner twitched again. A mountain guardian of a daoist temple should be a daoist, right? A daoist using 'Drunken Buddha' as his dao name—everyone in this Qinglian Observatory exudes an improper vibe.

Bai Lu resentfully glanced at Wu Tie, then looked at the statue of the Sincere Sage standing beside the great sea bowl, sighed, and cupped his hands toward Wu Tie: "Martial King, you have cultivated the grand righteous qi; do not waste this talent and this opportunity… the gates of my Bai Lian Palace are always open to you."

Wu Tie gave a perfunctory clasped-fist salute to Bai Lu: "Haha, haha, again, again......"

Bai Lu's face stiffened; he gave Wu Tie a deep look, then glanced at the Five Elements Daoist standing beside Wu Tie, his gaze focusing on the pinch of Nine Heavens Vital Soil in the Daoist's hand, then he looked up at the sky, stamped his foot, and sighed.

Bai Lu, Bai He, and Bai Ti shot up into the sky simultaneously; in the high altitudes, strands of spiritual energy surged, quickly condensing into a colossal twelve-winged aberrant white crane. Upon hearing a long, heaven-shaking cry, the aberrant white crane's wing merely flickered, and it shot up to an unknown height of the firmament, instantly transforming into a point of white light flying eastward.

Wu Tie secretly calculated: the speed of that point of white light is at least a hundred times that of an ordinary Divine Manifestation Realm expert of the seventh or eighth heavenly layer.

Such flight divine ability is truly terrifying to the extreme.

Wu Tie could see that this white crane was a divine ability for rapid travel, not an actual flesh-and-blood creature.

"White Lotus Palace disciples value 'a gentleman does not stand beneath a dangerous wall' above all; thus, their talent for escaping death is top-notch even among the Three Gods Sect." Qing Feng stood beside Wu Tie, smiling, and said: "Martial King, even if you do not admit it, you know in your heart: first, you owe me a favor; second, before long, you will have trouble."

Wu Tie helplessly looked at Qing Feng: "Daoist Priest, are you saying that the Red Lotus Temple and the White Lotus Palace will continue to send people to cause trouble for this king?"

Qing Feng nodded with a smile: "What do you think? Of course, they will not come looking for you because of Fan Kun and Bai Lu; otherwise, Fan Kun and Bai Lu would surely suffer backlash from their oaths, and they would be unwilling to lose two elite disciples."

"But your Wuguo…… the population is too many, the ethnic groups too rich; if the Fire Dynasty hadn't found you, it would have been fine, but since they have……" Qing Feng said solemnly: "No matter what, they are determined to swallow your Wuguo whole."

Wu Tie fell silent for a moment, then asked Qing Feng: "May I ask, Daoist Priest, do you have any good ideas?"

Qing Feng grinned, pointed at his own nose, and laughed loudly: "Yes, look—my bone structure is extraordinary, my nature pure, my Daoist methods profound, and my backing strong; if you appoint me as National Preceptor, you will surely not lose out."

Wu Tie narrowed his eyes in thought, touched the still-warm spoils of battle on his person, and nodded with a smile.

"Thus, Esteemed National Preceptor, Wuguo will henceforth have greater support."

After a dry cough, Wu Tie's expression suddenly changed; he turned to face the north and said in a deep voice: "National Preceptor, you have toiled… as the saying goes, the capable bear more work; this Northern Snowy Plains Tribe's resistance is so fierce that I truly ache for the lives of my subordinates… Please, National Preceptor, use your hand to suppress them with a flip of the hand."

Qing Feng's face also suddenly stiffened.

"This National Preceptor of mine hasn't seen any benefit yet—not even a copper coin's salary—and now I'm supposed to risk my life working?"

"This Martial King… tsk!"

Qing Feng silently cursed in his heart an extremely splendid phrase.