[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-lies-hidden":3,"chapter-the-dragon-lies-hidden-the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-91":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon Lies Hidden",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2289389,4477,"Chapter 91: The Beginning of Ascension (Bonus Chapter 3)","the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-91",91,"\u003Cp>The second ability of the Dao Base is called the Power of Mountains and Rivers, augmenting Wei Yuan himself. After activation, any Dao technique targeting Wei Yuan becomes equivalent to attacking the boundless, desolate earth—the force is dispersed across the vast heavens and earth, drastically reducing the impact that reaches Wei Yuan. The degree of dispersion depends on how much of the heavens and earth Wei Yuan can manifest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Wei Yuan can only control a hundred zhang around him; ordinary Dao Base techniques lose half their power against him, while Manifestation techniques lose one-tenth. As for True Lord techniques… Wei Yuan felt he was overthinking it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Power of Mountains and Rivers weakens Dao techniques far more than direct physical attacks—meaning to injure Wei Yuan, one should best use blades and axes, or failing that, arrows. But even magical arrows infused with Dao power suffer severe reduction in potency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, Wei Yuan could launch the Jade Mountain to strike enemies. Though only a zhang tall, this mountain was extraordinarily dense, weighing ten thousand shi—no golden mountain could match it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Throwing this Jade Mountain would force every Dao Base to flee; none could withstand it directly. Yet controlling it was cumbersome—Wei Yuan’s Dao power could only slightly alter its trajectory, unable to direct it at will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So far, Wei Yuan had only uncovered three functions. The Ten Thousand Li Mountains and Rivers were unprecedented, with no similar precedent to draw from; he could only borrow insights from Dao Bases like peaks and boulders. Perhaps later, as a spark of life within the Jade Mountain took form, new marvels would emerge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After studying the Dao Base all day, Wei Yuan had exhausted his Dao power and depleted his Primordial Spirit. With time still left before returning to the palace, he casually inventoried his battle spoils.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most valuable item was not the Young Master’s head, but the jade bowl filled with water. No matter where placed, it continuously generated pure water—equivalent to an endless spring. The water it produced was no ordinary water, but spiritual water imbued with faint life energy; irrigating plants with it accelerated their growth several-fold and doubled recovery speed for injuries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the vast lands of Liaoyu, this bowl was a divine artifact—capable of conjuring an oasis even in the desert, sufficient to sustain a force of thousands daily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Tai Chu Palace’s Merit Exchange System had a similar item: a magic treasure called the Pure Water Glass Vase. Multiple such treasures existed, each exchangeable for twelve thousand merits. If Wei Yuan surrendered this jade bowl to the palace, it could be converted into four thousand merits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Functionally, the Pure Water Glass Vase and this jade bowl were nearly identical, with no essential difference—yet the palace valued it at four thousand merits for surrender, yet demanded twelve thousand for exchange. Wei Yuan couldn’t tell which price was fair, but he now understood how the Tai Chu Palace’s merit system maintained its balance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next came the Young Master’s head—a single head equivalent to thirty-two ordinary Dao Bases. Wei Yuan once again regretted the Young Master hadn’t grown more heads; if he could have cultivated a divine skill like the Nine-Headed Lion, Wei Yuan could have rested for three years after a single battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then again, the Young Master Kan Bidai was far harder to kill than thirty-two lower-rank Dao Bases combined—the difficulty wasn’t even on the same level. Killing thirty-two lower-rank Dao Bases was merely a matter of time; to slay Kan Bidai, Wei Yuan had consumed over a hundred strands of black fate qi. In terms of combat power alone, the Young Master likely equaled a hundred Dao Bases, minimum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then came the Young Master’s golden axe—a top-tier magic treasure, comparable in value to Li Zhi’s longbow, the beast-headed golden shield, and armor—all worth fifteen hundred merits each. This axe bore three divine effects: Divine Edge, Sharp Blade, and Execution—unquestionably a weapon of slaughter. Too bad Wei Yuan didn’t use axes; otherwise, he’d have kept it for himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lastly, the saddle and horse armor—also magic treasures, worth five hundred merits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, the black steed itself was a divine mount—besides supernatural speed, immense strength, and endurance, it could absorb part of its master’s injuries. Even without the Heaven’s Tyrant enhancement, it was worth at least two thousand merits. Too bad, during Wei Yuan’s southern return, the three strikes from Snow Eagle were absorbed by the horse, which took half its damage and ultimately lost all vitality. Without it, Wei Yuan might not have escaped alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of these spoils, Wei Yuan planned to keep only the jade bowl for personal use; the rest held little value to him and would be sold for immortal silver to repay debts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flying vessel shot like lightning, finally returning to the Tai Chu Palace. No sooner had he arrived than two Daoists approached, announcing that An Yue Zushi wished to see him. Zhang Sheng was still injured, so each Daoist took one of them and in an instant arrived at Tianqing Hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tianqing Hall remained unchanged as before; An Yue True Person still had a kind, gentle face, his hands always hidden in his sleeves. All six True Persons from the two halls were present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only half a month had passed since Wei Yuan’s last audience; the hall and the True Persons showed no change. The only difference was that two True Persons’ qi felt slightly unstable—they had evidently learned the lesson of respecting their master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Wei Yuan, An Yue True Person’s eyebrows curved into a smile, his eyes reduced to slits. He spoke softly: “Good child, open your Primordial Spirit. Let this old man take a proper look at your peerless Dao Base! Oh, no need to manifest it—there’s no room here anyway.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Yuan obeyed, opening his Primordial Spirit. Instantly, six immensely powerful spiritual senses surged into his mind sea, pushing An Yue True Person to the rear. Yet Wei Yuan’s mind sea was now boundless, its edges unknown—the six spiritual senses darted wildly, yet found no limits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An Yue True Person sat unmoved, utterly calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The six spiritual senses weren’t idle—they left behind a misty drizzle as each True Person nourished Wei Yuan’s Primordial Spirit with their own Dao power, accelerating the stabilization of his Dao Base. Each drop of rain saved him half a year’s cultivation. But since each True Person’s cultivation and Manifestation differed, their rains varied—among them, a patch of crimson fire-rain fell, igniting smoke where it landed, making Wei Yuan’s Primordial Spirit tremble. This fire-rain poured down fiercely, as if heaven itself had cracked open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Sheng’s face remained expressionless, coldly watching as Fire Sea True Person’s aged face flushed crimson, desperately pouring fire onto Wei Yuan’s Dao Base. Fire Sea True Person lived up to his name—he poured out the equivalent of three men’s share.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the True Persons’ spiritual senses withdrew, An Yue True Person finally moved. A larger, gentler spiritual sense entered Wei Yuan’s mind sea, bringing a gentle breeze. Within it, green specks drifted down like snow—each speck a spark of life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the breeze ceased, though still insufficient to awaken life upon the land, a patch of soil appeared within a hundred li around the Jade Mountain. This single breeze surpassed all six previous rains combined—and still had surplus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After observing Wei Yuan’s Dao Base, the True Persons were all satisfied—ten years of effort had not been in vain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An Yue True Person said: “Now that your Dao Base is forged, the next step is to enter the proper path—begin studying the sect’s secret techniques.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Yuan too felt anticipation. From this moment, he truly stepped onto the path to heaven—this was the true beginning of cultivation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An Yue True Person continued: “I observe your Dao Base—radiant, bearing the might of heaven and earth, unyielding to the erosion of time. You shall study the… Qianqing Zhengfa Yu Shi Jing…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For some reason, Wei Yuan suddenly felt Tianqing Hall darken. An Yue True Person’s voice grew fainter, wavering, hard to hear. Wei Yuan was alarmed—what caused this anomaly? Was a powerful enemy approaching? Yet the True Persons showed no change, as if nothing had happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1372,"2026-06-20T03:38:27.933Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","bea21b6adac08f1f4df7f97dc814fc878c99147bb8301585e2394bbacc39b5dd","the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-92","the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-90",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-lies-hidden-cover.jpg"]