Chapter 54: Shielding with One

On that day, the True Lord of Xuan Yue personally sealed Wei Yuan’s celestial fortune, for strictly speaking, the celestial fortune did not belong to Wei Yuan—its true form still lay beyond the heavens, so Wei Yuan’s cultivation of the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram amounted to theft. After drawing upon it continuously for three hundred and sixty-five days, the True Lord of Xuan Yue feared it might trigger changes in the celestial fortune, or even provoke its wrath, and thus intervened to seal it, forcing Wei Yuan into Body Casting.

Zhang Sheng had already told Wei Yuan about this matter afterward, but less than two years had passed—how had the celestial fortune reappeared?

Yet now that Wei Yuan had begun Body Casting and no longer converted the fortune into his foundational energy, the celestial fortune’s reappearance should not pose much of a problem… right?

With a nervous heart, Wei Yuan opened his mouth wide and took another fierce gulp of moonlight—then saw a wisp of black qi mixed within the moonlight swallowed into his belly.

At this moment, Wei Yuan’s perception grew even clearer: over ninety percent of the moonlight and the spiritual energy transformed from Peiyuan Pills vanished into thin air, gone somewhere—or swallowed by something.

The wisp of black qi entered his body but did not disappear; instead, it hovered within his spiritual sea. Wei Yuan knew this black qi intimately—it was his own celestial fortune, and this wisp could be moved at will. Based on his past experience, this sliver of fortune could roughly activate the Heavenly Rogue once.

Thus, Wei Yuan continued daily, inhaling and exhaling moonlight, each day a wisp of black qi entering his body and floating at the center of his spiritual sea.

The sect’s minor examination was approaching; as expected, Bao Yun was preparing again to probe the ancient sect’s strength. Probing meant arranging a fight. With the exam imminent, this time they’d arranged a major one—nearly all disciples from both sides would participate. Dingxin Sect was already small, each disciple a core fighter, so despite Wei Yuan’s sole desire to cultivate, he could not resist Bao Yun’s persistent nagging, was forced to borrow ten thousand taels, and was dragged to the battlefield.

It had been several months since their last arranged fight; Body Casting cultivation had progressed rapidly, and many had gained new abilities.

Wei Yuan’s muscle forging had now reached eighty percent—he was thick-skinned and tough, the perfect choice for vanguard, so he charged ahead straight toward Zhigu Sect. His charge was like a giant bear lunging at a flock of birds, instantly scattering countless flyers.

The two sides had fought many times before and knew each other’s strengths. Seeing Wei Yuan charge, the Zhigu disciples either sidestepped, dodged, or leapt high—each movement covering over ten zhang—and in an instant, no one remained around Wei Yuan. All Zhigu disciples bypassed him, attacking the rear-line Dingxin disciples.

Just this evasion revealed that most Zhigu disciples had completed Blood Refinement, and over half had nearly finished Bone Refinement. After Blood Refinement, physical strength surged again, movement swift as wind; after Bone Refinement, speed became lightning-fast—Wei Yuan could not catch them.

Wei Yuan was like a mighty, boundless bear facing a swarm of erratic flying birds—utterly helpless, unable to catch a single one.

Zhigu’s tactic instantly disrupted Bao Yun’s deployment; the two sides inevitably plunged into chaotic battle.

Chaotic battle…

Wei Yuan sighed inwardly—he’d get beaten again, but this time he wondered how many he could tie down.

At that moment, a hazy emerald glow suddenly flew in from the side.

Dao technique!

Wei Yuan was startled—someone had already begun Spirit Refinement, and had practiced for some time. The Taichu Palace’s Dao methods were mostly based on the Primordial Spirit; only after the Primordial Spirit had been forged could Dao techniques be used.

The glow came too swiftly for Wei Yuan to dodge—he was struck directly on the shoulder. The glow exploded, splitting into seven or eight fine, sharp water blades that shredded half his clothing and left several crisscrossing wounds.

Wei Yuan’s skin shimmered with a faint divine radiance, his whole body resembling fine jade—this was the hallmark of successful muscle forging. Others had changed too, but none as dramatically as Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan looked down at the fine, crimson-thread-like wounds and the single bead of blood barely oozing out, and felt bewildered.

This was the famed Dao technique, Water Blade Art? Was this classmate perhaps a fake immortal?

While Wei Yuan was still puzzled, flashes of light appeared before him—five or six colored glows shot toward him at once; clearly, Zhigu had more than one Spirit-refined disciple.

Dao techniques moved faster than lightning, impossible to dodge—a barrage of lightning threads, fire orbs, and wind needles exploded against Wei Yuan, tearing his robes to shreds.

Wei Yuan was dazed by the relentless barrage of Dao techniques. He had never been struck by Dao techniques before—his vision filled with flickering lights and flying fabric scraps, his head pounding as if hammered repeatedly by several strongmen, and panic began to rise within him.

He staggered a few steps before regaining his balance, hurriedly looked down, and saw numerous small blood spots—wounds from wind needles; several faint yellow patches—burns from fire orbs; and a few thin charred lines—scorch marks from lightning threads. Combined, these injuries still fell short of qualifying as minor.

Several Zhigu students were also stunned, unable to understand what had gone wrong with their long-practiced Dao techniques.

Zhigu had Dao techniques; Dingxin had them too. With Zhigu’s main force focused on Wei Yuan, Dingxin’s side had no opponents—Cui Yu summoned a wind serpent at once, sweeping seven or eight Zhigu students off their feet.

Seeing Zhigu was about to lose again, an otherwise unremarkable student glared hatefully at Wei Yuan and suddenly sent a streak of green light flying from his sleeve!

The green light reached Wei Yuan in an instant—it was a small dagger. A sudden sense of danger surged in Wei Yuan’s mind; in desperation, he twisted his body as much as he could.

The dagger pierced Wei Yuan’s chest effortlessly, exiting his back and spurting a fountain of blood!

Magic treasure!

Wei Yuan was stunned—had someone already forged their Dao foundation?

Vast Dao power raged within Wei Yuan’s body; his unrefined blood, bones, and organs were extremely fragile. He felt his strength draining away with the blood from his wound, barely able to stand. But Wei Yuan had always been stubborn—he refused to fall.

Seeing Wei Yuan still standing, the dagger spun in midair and turned back toward his lower back, clearly intending to pierce him through again!

Wei Yuan strained to dodge, but the magic treasure moved like lightning—he was severely wounded and weak, and had no chance to evade.

At that moment, a figure in a pale yellow dress suddenly flung herself onto Wei Yuan. The dagger, unable to halt its momentum, pierced her lower back!

The impact knocked Wei Yuan off his feet; both of them collapsed.

“Miss Bao!!” Seeing Bao Yun struck by the magic dagger—right in the vital lower back—everyone was shocked and immediately ceased fighting.

Both Wei Yuan and Bao Yun lay motionless; the dagger stuck in Bao Yun’s lower back, its hilt visible. A bloodstain appeared instantly on her back and rapidly spread.

Xiang Xiaoyu, enraged beyond measure, suddenly saw his eyes fill with bloodshot veins. He clasped his arms tightly, lifting them with immense effort, as if carrying a mountain. A brilliant glow ignited between his arms, and spiritual energy from the surrounding heavens and earth surged wildly toward that point of light, stirring a storm!

In the gale, the point of light blazed brighter in an instant—like a red sun!

The surge of energy rising into the sky was one all of them knew well—the hallmark of a forged Dao foundation. Xiang Xiaoyu had been on the verge of breakthrough; he never expected that in his fury, he had broken through mid-battle.

“Die!” The red sun in Xiang Xiaoyu’s arms shot forth, crashing down upon the one who had launched the magic dagger!

The great sun blazed overhead; though the man had forged his Dao foundation, he was paralyzed under the terrifying pressure, his face ashen, helplessly watching the red sun descend upon him.

A sigh echoed through the air: “That’s enough.”

(End of Chapter)