Chapter 519: 473 Meeting in Person

Walking within the path of light, Tang Zhao only felt as if he were riding the wind and treading on clouds, walking in the sky, or perhaps walking on the flagstone path of his own hometown.

Everything was so natural, so intimate; not only was there not the slightest discomfort, but he felt extremely relaxed from the bottom of his heart, as if he had set down all his burdens and obtained a moment of freedom.

Perhaps this was the sense of intimacy between sunlight.

Sunlight entering the world of light was like finding its original source.

As for the various pressures such as intense light, scorching heat, and exposure, they did not disturb him in the slightest. For a person, being too close to the sun is a great harm, but how could sunlight fear the sun? Just as how could a drop of water fear the ocean?

Zheng Yun walked behind him; there was no discomfort in his body, but his expression gradually became somewhat nervous, even revealing awe and humbleness, just like a crow about to see a true Golden Crow.

Light was in every direction, and Tang Zhao could not distinguish which way he was walking, but he vaguely felt he had walked a very long distance.

Clearly they had not been walking for long, and their speed was not fast, but he just felt they had already left far below the Tongyang River, and even left a thousand miles away.

It seemed that with every step, he crossed a long distance, and space was leaping and shortening.

Did this seem like the legendary Supernatural Power "Earth Shrinking"?

Or did it seem similar to "space jumping" in stories?

He thought this way, walking at a steady pace, and the light before his eyes paved the way for him.

Suddenly, a touch of a different color appeared in the pure white brilliance.

It was a large patch of green, so bright and lovely that it seemed to be tree leaves.

Those leaves were truly too large; a single green leaf already blocked his entire field of vision.

The saying "a leaf blocks the eyes" was not a metaphor here.

Tang Zhao cautiously did not push the leaf aside directly, but instead walked around this leaf and saw a great tree at a glance.

That tree was too large, so large that Tang Zhao felt shocked.

That shock made him unable to be shocked by how a tree could grow in light, and he fell into a spiritual turmoil over "bigness."

Holy crap, what a big tree!

For a moment, he could only think of words like these.

Tang Zhao had seen the Jianmu that could serve as a bridge between the Suiyu and the Human World; he had already been shocked by the wonders of nature then, but the tree at this moment made him feel that the previous great tree was not worthy of the name "Jianmu" that connects heaven and earth in mythology.

This tree was the one that deserved it.

No, rather than Jianmu, it was more like another legendary great tree—

Fusang!

It grows as a forest tree, with leaves like mulberry. It also has fruit; the tree is two thousand zhang long, and two thousand zhang in circumference. Two trees grow together from the same root, leaning on each other, which is why it is named Fusang.

This was the description of Fusang in ancient books. Tang Zhao carefully distinguished it; this great tree was indeed like two trees intertwined, with leaves like mulberry, only the length of the tree was likely far more than two thousand zhang, and he could not see the top or the bottom—if it wasn't the Fusang Tree where the sun rests in legend, then what was it?

If it were the Fusang Tree, then the Golden Crow should be at...

The top of the tree?

Tang Zhao looked upward, but then he was startled, only to discover that this tree was growing upside down; the crown was at the bottom, and the roots were at the top. Because there was no soil, and he could not see the top of the tree or the root system, he had not noticed at first. It was only when he saw the shape of the branches that he realized.

It was hanging down from the surface of the earth, breaking through the soil, growing all the way down toward the center of the earth.

He lowered his head and seemed to see a huge, incomparable ball of light at the end from the distant underground.

Was that sun, the Golden Crow, hanging at the center of the earth?

Just as Tang Zhao was about to greet the bottom, he heard someone beside him give a light hum.

He turned his head and saw that someone was actually sitting on a leaf larger than a house.

It was a young man under thirty years old.

As soon as Tang Zhao saw him, a phrase flashed through his mind:

"A jade tree in a garden of orchids!"

Tang Zhao had been praised for his handsomeness since he was a child. Although he did not pay special attention to it, he was somewhat proud. After all, he had never seen anyone who could compare to himself in appearance from childhood to adulthood, but today he had seen one.

This person's appearance was almost without flaw, his temperament was incomparably noble, truly not like someone from the mortal world; sitting on the leaf, he was truly like an elf born of heaven and earth.

This person should be...

A guess floated in Tang Zhao's heart, and before he could speak, Zheng Yun had already said in his ear: "It is Ju Dongjun."

As expected!

The first time Tang Zhao saw him, he felt that he should be Ju Dongjun.

To be narcissistic, only such a figure could make Xiangyangzi, who had seen both of them, say that Tang Zhao was suitable to inherit the East Pillar of State.

The name of the East Pillar of State should be like this.

But he still confirmed it, saying: "Do you recognize Ju Dongjun?"

Zheng Yun gave a "heh" and said: "When we were infused with the duties of the Sun-Holding Envoy by the Jinwu Spirit, we were infused with some memory images. Although they were fragmented and I have forgotten quite a bit, the East Pillar of State is still hard to forget at first sight, isn't it?"

Tang Zhao nodded. The image of this person was undoubtedly Ju Dongjun. The only problem was that Ju Dongjun must have already fallen; many proofs showed it could not be fake.

Therefore, his appearance, like this Fusang Tree, was a miracle and also a false illusion.

But even if it were an illusion, it was meaningful to be created, indicating that the current Golden Crow still retained the original memories. The only human image that could still speak could be considered half a "true self."

Tang Zhao could not turn a blind eye. He took a few steps forward in the light, bowed, and saluted: "Greetings, Senior."

"Ju Dongjun" turned his head and said: "You say you are from Yunzhou?"

His voice was exactly the same as the Golden Crow that led the way. Clearly, he was another incarnation of the master here.

As soon as he spoke, his temperament shifted immediately. His previous image and temperament were as warm and lovely as a winter day, but when he spoke, he was arrogant and overbearing, as fearsome as a summer day.

As expected, he was not Ju Dongjun. It was possible that the current Sword Deity still retained some impressions of being a sword in the past, so it naturally chose a former Sword Guest as one of its incarnations.

However, although it was so arrogant, Tang Zhao still noticed that its state relaxed a little the moment it saw him. It was as if his own mood also gradually relaxed when he saw the other party, and his etiquette was not as formal as before. This was a state that only people who were familiar with each other would have.

But they were not familiar; they were strangers who had never met.

Perhaps this was the sense of intimacy between the Sword Intent of the Jinwu Sword?

It was exactly, "Although an outsider is before my eyes, in my heart it is like an old friend."

Tang Zhao answered sincerely, "We have indeed come from Yunzhou. I am Tang Zhao, and this is Zheng Yun. We have come to seek your help regarding the crisis in Yunzhou."

In truth, Zheng Yun was not from Yunzhou; he had been dragged along by Tang Zhao to serve as a temporary backup. The two parties only had a verbal agreement and no contract. Tang Zhao did not specifically mention this, but Zheng Yun could have stepped forward to explain his background, or even introduce the Returning Colorful Clouds sect, saying things like, "Jinwu Dianxia, everyone in our sect has missed you to death."

But Zheng Yun had no such heart; he only secretly sized up the appearance of Ju Dongjun, pondering if this was his future lifelong boss?

This boss didn't seem to have a very good temper, did he?

And recalling the previous conversation outside, he seemed not very bright either? But his strength should be decent, and his airs were sufficient. If so, could he whisper some slanders and have this person wipe out the Returning Colorful Clouds sect?

While he was quietly calculating how to be a sycophant, the Sword Spirit already said indifferently, "Oh, Yunzhou... are you also here to seek my help?"

Tang Zhao's hair stood on end, and he immediately said, "Besides us, has anyone else contacted you?"

"Ju Dongjun" said, "Yes, they came earlier than you, time and time again, noisy as can be. It's also the old man's fault for leaving behind so many contact methods back then, giving them to any Tom, Dick, or Harry. He left cleanly, but his creditors have all found their way to me. However, you are the first to find your way before me in person."

Tang Zhao relaxed slightly, but his heart immediately tightened again. Feeling a wave of urgency pressing in, he said, "Could the one seeking your help be the Gui... could it be the Eternal Night Court?"

"Ju Dongjun" said, "I have already forgotten where they are from, but it shouldn't be a name as detestable as the Eternal Night Court. Anyway, they don't speak as pleasantly as you do; they just repeat over and over, 'The world is in chaos, if the East Pillar of State does not emerge, what will become of the common people?' Nonsense, I am not some East Pillar of State, I am the Sun. With me here, where could there be any chaos? As for how I treat the common people, does that require others to point it out?"

Tang Zhao hurriedly said, "These people are definitely not doing this for the common people! They use the name of the common people to summon you, but in reality, they are borrowing your power to disrupt the world and harm the common people! It is fortunate that you are sagely and clear-sighted, seeing through their conspiracy at a glance, and will not be deceived."

He gradually found the way to speak with this "Sun"; no matter what the content was, he had to praise him fiercely first, and he would definitely not go wrong.

That Ju Dongjun, oh no, Ju Taiyang, had a calm expression, but his voice became softer, saying, "What clear-sightedness? You use the light of a firefly to compare with me? I don't care what language you use, anyway, I don't need to listen. I reject all current attempts to contact me. Unless, like you, you have the ability to walk before me unscathed."

Tang Zhao suddenly realized. No wonder this Ju Taiyang didn't answer communications at all. He had thought the other party was cold and aloof or even difficult to approach, but who knew it was actually the Gui bandits who had arrived first and pestered him incessantly, making Ju Taiyang so annoyed that he "shut down and refused visitors."

The Gui bandits were truly heinous.

But what exactly were they trying to do? Did that Array still need the cooperation of the Golden Crow?

If the Golden Crow did not cooperate, would it be impossible to activate?

He continued to probe, "Dianxia, although they can no longer harass you, they have not given up at all. They are currently setting up an extremely formidable Array, wanting to force you to leave this place, and even wanting to capture you to work for them."

That Ju Taiyang did not care at all and said, "Just the delusions of foolish mortals. What Array could capture me? Are you also here to alarm me with exaggerations?"

Tang Zhao hurriedly said, "I happen to have a draft of the Array here." He naturally had the Array diagrams in his Space Art Tool, but if he took them out now, they would definitely be ignited instantly by the temperature. He glanced around, grabbed a leaf of the Fusang tree, used light as a pen, and relied on his memory to sketch out the Array Diagram stroke by stroke.

After replicating that high-level Fu Formula Array, it was no longer difficult for him to form the images in his mind using light. It was just that this Array was outside his knowledge system, so he could only rely on rote memorization and carefully strive for a complete restoration, which took some time. If it were an Array within the Fu Formula system, he could complete it with just a thought.

The "Sun" walked over and looked down at this Array with his usual expression of regarding everything as beneath him, but as the Array gradually took shape, this disdain also became somber.

When the Array took shape, that Sun Dianxia finally snorted and said, "Just this Array... to capture a complete Jinwu Sword... is still not enough."