Chapter 98: Spreading the Dao

As for the others, they were utterly speechless; in the arena Zhang Heng and Zhan Xiao, though they had also witnessed grand scenes, were stunned and shook their heads with a wry smile at a peer who could display such power.

"Ka‑ka!" At that moment, a clanking sound rang out, and on the hovering rune war chariot, a flash of light burst forth, revealing several figures.

Leading them was a middle‑aged man dressed like a fortune‑teller, none other than Zhu Ge Qing Ming, who bowed toward the empty air where Lu Fan stood and said:

"Young Lu, today's Propagation Conference has encountered many setbacks. I fear many Symbol Cultivators' resolve has wavered; Lei Di has died here, and his resentment must be great. Perhaps we should sacrifice him now, refining him as a martyr!"

Behind Zhu Ge Qing Ming, several others—Han Zhen, Qian Shiyong, and others—stood in line. Their eyes flickered with unspeakable shock. They had been concealed inside the rune war chariot, witnessing the entire incident.

Lu Fan gave Zhu Ge Qing Ming a brief appraisal, then nodded, raised his large hand and tossed the Seven‑Star Illusory Banner diagonally, landing beside Zhu Ge Qing Ming. He then scanned the crowd below and shouted loudly:

"Today the Bright Moon Symbol Cultivation Guild convened the Propagation Conference; someone used it to stir trouble, but fortunately they have now been subdued!" He gave a casual glance at Qin Zhen among the crowd below, then directed a burst of pure qi toward the clearing.

"Suddenly," a blaze ignited, roaring fiercely. The blood‑cursed yin aura instantly turned to ash, and a faint, wavering specter appeared—the soul of Lei Di hidden within.

"Ah! You can't treat me this way; I am an elder of the Yinsha Sect. If you spare me this time, I will overlook the grievance of my physical damage!"

At this moment, Lei Di still clung to delusions. His words were absurd, hardly befitting a martial‑respect master.

Lu Fan gave him an indifferent glance, then with a single hand executed a move, and the Yinsha Nether Hammer flew toward him, embedding in his hand.

Lightning burst, rumbling with tremors. It was impossible to see how he wielded it, but its might was not to be underestimated, seemingly comparable to Lei Di's.

"Seal!"

He abruptly tightened his grip, and a seal shot out, instantly suppressing Lei Di's soul above, causing the ethereal visage opposite to freeze in an instant, losing consciousness.

Lu Fan had not yet stopped; he lightly patted his waist, and a streak of light burst forth, slowly solidifying into a statue.

Its surface glowed with an unfathomable aura. Though merely a statue, to onlookers it seemed like a living person. Even from over a hundred zhang of empty space, those below could see it clearly.

This statue had complete features, gentle eyes yet sharp angles. Staring at it felt as if across the void, it met one's own gaze. Just a single glance instantly lifted the spirit, stirring an inexplicable yearning in the heart, even causing some to involuntarily kneel in reverence!

"Technique God! This must be the Technique‑God Symbol Ancestor!"

Ke Ke Da Shi Shi seemed to have realized something, unable to restrain himself, he trembled and fell prostrate, kneeling with a devout expression.

Zhao Zu and the other were even more shocked, unable to help shouting, "It's him, it must be him!"

"Plop plop" sounded twice lightly; the two of them likewise bowed sincerely, their faces full of respectful compliance!

The arena erupted in a roar of change; the gathered Symbolists could no longer hold back, and together with Zhao Zu, Ke, and the others, knelt before the floating statue.

As for the other martial artists, they too could not restrain themselves. Though unfamiliar with the Symbol Dao, they bowed to the "Technique‑God Symbol Ancestor" spoken of by Ke Ke Da Shi Shi, hoping to absorb some of the Symbol Cultivators' aura and thereby accelerate their cultivation, turning dragons into phoenixes.

Lu Fan looked at the crowd below and gave a slight nod. Willpower from the void coalesced, and the radiant brilliance of his original body avatar swelled gradually around him.

"We Symbol Dao practitioners explore the ultimate principles of heaven and earth. First, we must revere teachers and the Dao, heed our benefactors' teachings, and seek the heavenly principles of the Symbol Dao. At today's Propagation Conference, I, Lu Fan—"

He paused briefly, "Perhaps some of you don't know me; from now on just call me Fan Shao."

Lu Fan glanced at the avatar beside him and continued, "Today I will stand in for that senior and pass down a Fire Refinement Technique, to aid the flourishing of the Bright Moon Symbol Dao and lay the foundation for each of you."

Before his words finished, he was already dancing in the air, scattering the seal with his hand; a luminous script materialized, the "Blazing Flame Skill" enhanced by the Nether God Heart Method.

"Eighteen Meridian Cultivation, this is the Yellow‑Grade Peak Fire‑Control Technique!"

"This Fire Refinement Technique is wondrous; I sense that mastering three or five of them will suffice for a Technique‑refining apprentice's entire fire repertoire, just one step away from a First‑Tier Symbol Cultivator!"

The entire Bright Moon Empire's Symbol Cultivators boiled with excitement; the Fire Refinement Technique Lu Fan transmitted was not of a high level, yet its subtlety was immeasurable. As the saying goes, the great Dao is simple; such an extraordinary technique, if mastered, will become the foundation of future Symbol Dao cultivation!

Understanding this, the group wasted no time, sitting cross‑legged together to begin cultivation. Even Zhao Zu and the others, their faces flushed with excitement, followed the script precisely.

In an instant, a surging wave of spiritual power gathered, reverent will like countless rivers flowing into the sea, pouring into the original body avatar.

Lu Fan smiled, feeling an invisible force empowering him. The avatar was his own former self, soul‑linked, so the crowd was in fact venerating Lu Fan.

He sensed his spiritual power surge, causing early‑stage Muscle‑Stage Symbolists' cultivation to loosen and skyrocket. The entire void was instantly shrouded by his spiritual force, minute and comprehensive, all within his mind.

He paid it no mind; his spiritual power suddenly condensed into a stream toward the Lu Family Residence. Though confident about Lu Shanxing and Lu Gucheng, he had never seen the Yinsha Sect's formation, and if trouble arose, regret would be too late.

His spiritual force barely brushed East City, his expression changed, cutting the connection in disbelief, and he gazed up at the void above.

The great sun rose like a wheel, and a blood star flashed!

Lu Fan's gaze hardened, his face showing disbelief, his complexion flickering, his eyes filled with shock and a hint of uncontrollable exhilaration.

The scorching sun blazed as a blood‑colored radiance streaked across the sky. Focusing his mind, he recognized it as a meteor, disc‑shaped, blood‑hued, its scorching blaze terrifying. It cut the void; under the bright day the light vanished, as if yielding to the blood star.

"Heaven's Lament! This is Heaven's Lament!"

Lu Fan's face was charged with excitement, his mind unable to restrain itself. When he died in his previous life, the supreme artifact Earth‑Demon shattered in his hand, turning into Heaven's Lament, Break Extreme, and Radiant Destiny—three supreme artifacts. He had thought they fell into Yu Wen Pojun's group, but now it seemed not so; something else had changed.

Heaven's Lament is a lower‑tier artifact, a weapon of ultimate annihilation, its power unparalleled. In his past life he had expended great effort to barely control it, later fusing it with Break Extreme and Radiant Destiny into a single supreme artifact.

"Heaven's Lament has appeared, blood staining ten nations, living beings burned! I didn't expect the spiritual will here to tug the original avatar and draw Heaven's Lament here; it seems this artifact remains closely linked to me!"

Lu Fan's expression turned solemn; with a single hand he flicked, a blaze erupted explosively, and he surged toward the stunned Lei Di soul.

"Chit‑chit" sounded immediately, and Lei Di's face was full of pain, his mouth open yet no sound emerged. After a moment he calmed, his features blurring, his soul body slowly contorting, no longer human, transforming into pure spiritual source energy.

Lu Fan inhaled lightly, waved his large hand, and the cluster of spiritual source energy surged forward, immediately turning toward the original avatar.

Without any resistance, the energy instantly merged into the original avatar. In an instant, the avatar's brilliance flared, its aura swirling, and a faint, ethereal figure stepped out, almost identical to the avatar.

"Ka‑czar" rang crisply, and Lu Fan suddenly struck his chest with a heavy palm. He made no sound, slowly exhaling a mouthful of his heart's essence blood, performing the seal, striking the ethereal shadow.

In almost an instant, the ethereal shadow solidified, its misty form turning into another Lu Fan. Though appearing youthful, his gaze brimmed with wisdom, bright and spirited, bearing the weariness of one who has seen the world's splendors and the mysteries of heaven and earth.

"Take me to see!"

Lu Fan slowly closed his eyes, gently waved his hand. Dark light flashed, an immeasurable wave suddenly shattered the void, and the ethereal shadow instantly became a clear breeze, merging within.

The next moment, he opened his eyes; the scenery of the world had changed. The Symbolists kneeling in the void turned into shadows, the Symbol Cultivation Guild became hazy and distorted. The bustling cityscape vanished, replaced by sheer cliffs and jagged rocks.

In the boundless wilderness, a strange formation spread over a hundred li, its core encircled by a group of heavily‑armed, oddly dressed warriors; at the center stood a massive blood‑colored wheel.

The wheel spanned ten zhang in width, its surface covered with swirling seals that faintly glowed, along with mountains, rivers, exotic birds and beasts. As the blood light flickered, the myriad seal patterns shifted, appearing almost alive.

"Indeed it is the Heaven's Lament Wheel; I didn't expect its power to remain so great after all these years. No wonder that modest faith source power could reach across the void and even trigger the celestial phenomenon of the blood star's appearance!"

At the top of an unremarkable hill, the ethereal shadow slowly materialized. Its gaze flickered as if alive. Lu Fan employed his divine power to summon this shadow, allowing him to project the myriad phenomena here into his own eyes, as if he were standing there thousands of miles away.

A short, frail elder stepped forward, his face hopeful as he stared at the blood‑colored wheel, muttering, "An artifact—this must be an artifact. The divination from the blood sacrifice of a nation was indeed correct; this is a sign of our sect's great rise!"

The surrounding onlookers, upon hearing these words, were inexplicably shocked, their faces fanatical.

"Grand Elder, is this truly an artifact? It doesn't seem very powerful, not much stronger than our sect's treasure, the Celestial Dome Wheel!" a Seventh‑Rank Martial Emperor said with astonishment.

"Yes! Rumor says the divine artifact's power is boundless, able to destroy heaven and earth and subdue a realm. Yet the Blood Disc that fell from the Nine Heavens before us has none of that might. It's even weaker than the sect's top artifact, the Heavenly Phenomena Celestial Wheel. Could the divination have been wrong?"

When those words were spoken, everyone around nodded repeatedly, and discussion broke out.

The Grand Elder, however, gazed leisurely at the surrounding people, then, with slight disappointment, said, "Alas! Even at your worst you are only Seventh‑rank Martial Emperors, yet your insight is far lacking. I, Nalan Zhenghong, have little time left; even if this divine artifact were to fall into the sect, it would likely be more a curse than a blessing!"

Upon hearing this, everyone around lowered their heads in shame. Each of them, were they to appear in the world, would be a remarkable figure. If an outsider were to speak such words, they would instantly fly into a rage, lay waste to cities and plunge the realm into chaos, no question.

Yet when the trembling Nalan Zhenghong spoke thus, no one dared to refute him, nor was there any hint of dissent or displeasure; they only cursed their own "meager" strength for having embarrassed the Grand Elder.

"Heh heh! Old man, since you say so, why not return this thing to its original owner and let me take it away!"

Lu Fan let out a bright laugh, stepped forward through the air, without any hesitation, and walked slowly toward the formation here.

"Audacious! What are you, to even spy on the belongings of my Qiankun Pavilion!"

Nalan Zhenghong's expression changed; this wilderness of mountains and forests is rarely trodden. Within a hundred‑mile radius the formation isolates everything—so how could a youth appear out of nowhere?