Chapter 747: The Dagger is Revealed

When the Chun Wangfu over there was attacked, the Dao Palace was completely calm.

Zhongmeng Zhenren stood at the entrance of the empty Dao Palace, feeling the breeze passing through the hall, and let out a long sigh: "It is truly quiet."

At this moment, there was truly not a single person in the Dao Palace. All the Disciple were sent out; even the Disciple who did the sweeping left with a small lightning sword. According to past custom, even if these Disciple obtained such precious Dharma Artifact, they would have no way to activate them or draw upon the power of the State Preceptor, but this time it was different. These lightning swords were personally bestowed by the State Preceptor; not only could they unleash power, they could also summon the State Preceptor himself.

The State Preceptor, too, has been provoked.

It is unknown whether he was provoked by the mastermind behind the scenes or by Shou Wang, but in any case, he used an unprecedentedly grand move. In an instant, there were hundreds of the State Preceptor's envoys in the city, each one the eyes and ears of the State Preceptor, as well as his hands and feet. It could be said that the State Preceptor was ubiquitous, truly becoming the "Supreme Deity" of Jingcheng.

Zhongmeng Zhenren was originally supposed to take an assignment to be stationed somewhere, but the State Preceptor had not yet completely lost his mind, so he ordered him to remain on guard. Thus, he had no choice but to stand alone on the peak of Zijin Mountain, overlooking the scenery below the mountain, watching the fire from the other side; the scenery was truly beautiful.

In fact, he did not want it to be this way; alone on the mountain, some things would be very troublesome.

"Crack—"

A bolt of Heavenly Thunder descended!

Immediately following, countless Heavenly Thunder descended from the thunderclouds shrouding the sky above, landing in several corners of this giant city. Each bolt of lightning was like a pillar supporting the sky, opening up a bridge between heaven and earth.

"They've made their move, they've made their move!"

For a fleeting moment, there was excitement in Zhongmeng Zhenren's heart; his heart pounded, and his body trembled slightly.

From the number of lightning bolts, one could see that this time in Jingcheng, it was not just one place making a move; the enemies were swarming in, fighting in separate groups. Yet the State Preceptor was only one person, but he could control the overall situation; every bolt of lightning was eliminating an enemy.

That's right, no matter how many people came this time, they would all die. It was impossible for anyone to survive under such Heavenly Thunder striking the crown of their heads; even the top-tier Sword Hero could not. The people behind the scenes would suffer heavy losses.

It is just unknown whether this kind of loss is worth it.

There is gain in every loss.

He walked slowly toward the back, from the front courtyard to the back courtyard, walking straight to the center until he reached a patio, and looked up at the sky.

Suddenly, a heart-palpitating power arose out of thin air!

Even after being with the State Preceptor for a long time, Zhongmeng Zhenren felt a shudder.

That is... a higher level of power!

Here, in Jingcheng, this most central and important place in Shenzhou, there was actually power of this level intruding!

This is a provocation against a dynasty guardian like the State Preceptor!

How could he tolerate it?

Sure enough, an angry shout rang out in the sky: "How bold!"

The lightning that had originally split into dozens of bolts, striking dozens of targets, suddenly merged into one, transforming into a massive pillar of thunder descending!

If the previous lightning was like a bridge between the Human World and the heavens, this lightning was a pillar supporting the sky! It was as if the sky above one's head was being held up by this very pillar!

Boom—!

Besides the deafening sound, there was also the lightning light that illuminated the horizon as bright as day!

Under the illumination of the lightning, Zhongmeng Zhenren's complexion was pure white, with shadows remaining only at the wings of his nose and the corners of his mouth.

"Found you!"

Suddenly, Zhongmeng Zhenren returned to the patio again, looked up, and in the square night sky, a thin bolt of lightning flashed and vanished.

You have finally been found by me!

A smile appeared at the corners of Zhongmeng Zhenren's mouth; he suddenly made a move, grabbed a Mirror in his hand, and met the sky.

The surface of the Mirror happened to touch the lightning.

"Zzz—"

The lightning crashed into the Mirror and immediately entered the dimension of the mirror surface, swimming back and forth inside the Mirror, bumping around non-stop, just like a tadpole trapped in a pond, unable to jump out of the water no matter how it bumped.

"Sss..."

"Hahahaha!" Zhongmeng Zhenren could no longer hold back and burst into loud laughter.

In his entire life, he had never laughed so heartily! It was as if decades of bitterness were scattered in this one burst of laughter.

"It was actually you?"

A voice rang out.

This voice sounded like it had a tingling sensation; without seeing the person who came, one knew who this was.

Zhongmeng Zhenren was not surprised at all; he immediately held the Mirror high, pointed his finger at the Mirror, and shouted: "Stop right there! Do not come over!"

Behind him, an empty Dao robe indeed stopped its footsteps; inside the Dao robe, a mass of lightning was twisting.

Zhongmeng Zhenren breathed a sigh of relief, slowly turned back around, and said: "Welcome back, State Preceptor, Master!"

That Dao robe, which was the State Preceptor, was silent for a moment and said: "It was actually you! It was actually you!"

Zhongmeng Zhenren laughed: "Didn't expect it? It's right that you didn't expect it! How could you have imagined it was me? Only by serving you obsequiously all these years could I gain your trust. With decades of preparation, I came to plot against you; how could you avoid it? Pity you hid your true body so well, telling no one, even keeping it from me, but as long as you use your full strength, how could you hide it? Now that you are in my hands, the positions of strength and weakness are exactly reversed from the past, aren't they?"

That robe fluttered and asked: "Who instigated you?" The lightning voice had no emotion, and no fluctuations could be heard.

Zhongmeng Zhenren sneered: "Didn't I say it? It is I who came to plot against you."

The State Preceptor said: "You are not worthy; who instigated you, call him out."

Zhongmeng was furious. He had originally taken advantage of the State Preceptor's battle to steal this true body of the Sword Prayer, already holding the State Preceptor's vital point. He had thought the State Preceptor would definitely be unprecedentedly humble, but he did not expect him to still not take him seriously, which was hateful. He shouted: "At this time, you are not worthy of asking me; it is I who am asking you!"

That robe went slightly still, then suddenly transformed into lightning and lunged over!

Zhongmeng Zhenren had long been prepared; he raised the Mirror with both hands to block. The State Preceptor indeed paused slightly, and suddenly the surrounding environment changed drastically; countless Yin energy sprayed out!

Those Yin energies did not just diffuse on their own like steam, but instantly transformed into a large cocoon, wrapping the State Preceptor inside. The Yin energy wound around layer by layer like yarn, becoming thicker and heavier the more it wound.

The dignified State Preceptor was actually wrapped by Yin energy!

The dignified Nine Heavens Dao Palace was overflowing with Yin energy, as if it were a Demon Cave!

Although the State Preceptor was trapped, almost in an instant, the Yin energy cocoon lit up, and countless lightning bolts rolled within it, as if they would burst the Yin energy cocoon at any moment.

Clearly, the State Preceptor was not so easily trapped.

Just at this moment, a Shadow appeared in the air, with a slender figure and a pure white color; it could barely be seen as a human shape, but it looked more like a lily flower.

Zhongmeng Zhenren saw this person, breathed a slight sigh of relief, pointed at the Yin energy cocoon and said: "He has already been trapped by me; you go in first and engage him in battle. Remember, do not seek victory, just consume his power. The more he consumes, the more his energy retreats back into his true body, and the more I can grasp his power while he is trapped by me. You..."

He was still chattering away there when the lily let out a huff and plunged directly into the Yin-Qi cocoon. Inside the Yin-Qi cocoon, another light, distinct from the Electric Arc, immediately lit up. The air was overflowing with fragrance, as if one were standing in the middle of a blooming Huayuan.

That Zhongmeng Zhenren let out a cold snort and said, "Truly a creature of the wilds, a non-human thing that cannot even understand a word of human speech."

Although he had this person helping him withstand the direct pressure from the State Preceptor, Zhongmeng Zhenren still did not relax; no one knew the terror of the State Preceptor better than he did, so he had prepared another contingency to ensure this hunting operation would be foolproof.

He turned his head back and ran toward the rear hall.

The layout of the Dao Palace was square, with front, middle, and rear halls, and side halls on both sides; once one reached the back, there was a rear courtyard that almost no one set foot in. Other Disciples almost never went to the rear courtyard, and even the Daoist Child responsible for cleaning would not clean it because they could not get in; the several courtyards in the back were all locked, and the keys were only in the hands of Zhongmeng Zhenren. No one thought there was anything wrong with this; Zhongmeng Zhenren had long been the actual person in charge of the Dao Palace, he held all the keys, so how could the rear hall be an exception?

At this moment, he ran to the entrance of the rear hall, gave a light swipe, and the great door opened of its own accord.

When the door opened, it emitted a "creak-creak" friction sound; although it looked like an ordinary wooden gate, it made a sound as if a thousand-catty boulder were being moved.

After opening one door, there was actually another door inside; he closed the first one and locked it, only then opening the one behind it. The entire sequence of movements was very compact; clearly he was also in a hurry, but his actions still followed the safest order, without the slightest disorder.

Entering the hall, one could see that the hall was filled with lightning, and the lightning intersected to form a giant net. This net also formed a prison; the layout of prisons is always similar.

In the prison, there was also a person sitting.

Compared to the environment of the prison, that person was in quite good condition, with neat clothes and not a single strand of hair out of place, sitting on a Cattail Mat, eyes closed to rest, as if taking a nap.

Zhongmeng Zhenren stepped forward and said, "Gaoyuan Marquis, it is time to make use of you."

Gaoyuan Marquis opened her eyes, her pupils slightly whitish, looking like a blind person, and said, "What, has it reached the critical moment? You have a use for me?"

Zhongmeng Zhenren said, "It is precisely the most critical moment now; I do not believe you cannot see through it. I am being polite to you out of consideration for our past friendship, so do not be ungrateful. There is no time to chat with you, hurry and come with me."

Gaoyuan Marquis pointed to her own eyes and said, "I truly cannot see through things now, isn't that what you forced upon me? But one must bow one's head when under a low roof. Since you have come, I can only go with you. Let's go." Having said this, she stood up and walked toward the outside of the hall; she walked with a swaying gait, appearing truly like a blind person groping her way forward.

Zhongmeng Zhenren was finally relieved and did not forget to appease her, saying, "Good, as long as you continue to cooperate like this, I will not harm you. I promise you, when the new era arrives, you will only live better than you do now."

Gaoyuan Marquis had by this time reached the entrance, and as if looking for support, she groped and reached out her hand, suddenly grabbing onto Zhongmeng Zhenren; she let out a breath as if she had grabbed a walking stick and said, "I would like to believe you, just as I once believed that our relationship was good."

Zhongmeng Zhenren let her hold onto him and said, "Is our relationship not good? You and I have fought side by side at the Qianxian together; I know your abilities well, so I am willing to give you a hand—do not miss this opportunity..."

Just at this moment, a beam of light appeared as if directly from the air and struck toward the back of his head!