[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-first-iron-rice-bowl-of-great-jin":3,"chapter-the-first-iron-rice-bowl-of-great-jin-the-first-iron-rice-bowl-of-great-jin-chapter-529":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The First Iron Rice Bowl of Great Jin",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},152215,261,"Chapter 529: Sharing the Soul Realm","the-first-iron-rice-bowl-of-great-jin-chapter-529",529,"\u003Cp>Beneath the city wall of Duimen Pass, the Fire Lotus had long since scattered into countless sparks and vanished in the air, leaving behind a group of human cultivators who had survived the calamity, their expressions dazed, unable to come back to their senses for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hua Hongyi...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the crowd gradually dispersed, Meng Ziyu and his three companions walked straight toward Hua Dalang and, without making a sound, led him to a secluded corner of the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Dalang’s gaze first lingered for a moment on Sheng Pengyun—the elder brother of his fiancée—then shifted to the other three, clasping his fists in salute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Four generals, do you have orders to give?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meng Ziyu and the other three were all assistant generals, while Hua Dalang was merely a commander of ten thousand. Even though the four were not his direct superiors, he could not afford to neglect their instructions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meng Ziyu laughed heartily, reached out and put his arm around Hua Dalang’s shoulder, acting like a good buddy: \"Don’t be so formal. We don’t have anything to order you; we just came over to chat.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Dalang’s eyes flickered. \"This officer wouldn’t dare.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Demon Suppression Army had strict military discipline; he would not dare to joke around with his superiors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Meng Ziyu’s expression turned awkward. He withdrew his hand, looked at Sheng Pengyun, and signaled with his eyes for him to take over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sheng Pengyun was silent for a moment, then went straight to the point: \"Hongyi, do you find the Lingguang Hall Master familiar?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this, Hua Dalang thought to himself, *Just as I expected*, knowing what the four wanted to ask, and directly shook his head: \"The Lingguang Hall Master’s aura was frightening, and we were very far away. Don’t laugh at me, generals, but I couldn’t see her face clearly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meng Ziyu smiled: \"We couldn’t see clearly either. Don’t you think her posture and mannerisms seemed familiar?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Dalang recalled for a moment, then shook his head again: \"Truly, I didn’t see clearly...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Meng Ziyu wanted to press further, but Sheng Pengyun stopped him: \"Hongyi, don’t overthink it. We’re just curious.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Lingguang Hall Master has always been elusive, appearing only rarely. This is the first time she has publicly shown herself. There were rumors before that she is your ninth sister, so we wanted to ask you to confirm it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Dalang nodded in understanding but did not respond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sheng Pengyun said, \"...Go ahead and get busy. We also need to report to the minister about this trip to the Nine Abyss.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Dalang clasped his fists in a salute, then quickly left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching his retreating figure, Meng Ziyu rubbed his chin and clicked his tongue: \"If the Hua family hadn’t started from such a low point, this family of theirs wouldn’t be bad at putting on an act.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sheng Pengyun glared at Meng Ziyu after hearing this: \"He is my brother-in-law. Don’t casually test him like that in the future.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*Sigh, Hua Hongyi’s depth of thought is still insufficient!*\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did he think that by not directly answering their questions and speaking ambiguously, he could fool them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what he didn’t know was that his failure to deny directly was, in itself, another kind of affirmation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hua Jiuniang... might very well be the Lingguang Hall Master!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to Meng Ziyu and Sheng Pengyun’s curiosity about whether the Lingguang Hall Master was Hua Jiuniang, Jiang Yanyi and Ye Jingzhou were more eager to know why the Lingguang Hall Master had been following Chu Junyi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Demon Suppression Army has a fearsome reputation, and our chief is extraordinarily handsome and wins the hearts of all young ladies. What do you think—could it be that the Lingguang Hall Master just admires him?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That can’t be. The Lingguang Hall Master is no ordinary young lady.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She may not be ordinary, but she is still a young lady.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Aren’t you overthinking this? I feel like there must be something we don’t know about this!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lingguang Hall Master had always been elusive, rarely revealing her true appearance to the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, this time she forcibly broke the Five-Square Formation and saved countless trapped cultivators from desperate straits, sparking an unprecedented amount of discussion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the past, people only knew that the Lingguang Hall Master’s power was unfathomable; this time, rescuing the trapped individuals had displayed her sense of responsibility and courage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, countless human cultivators praised her endlessly, especially the younger generation, who regarded her as their role model, their admiration flowing like a mighty river.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Duimen Pass, ordinary cultivators were still immersed in the thrilling battle that had just taken place, talking about it in excitement; inside the pass, the leaders of the Five Holy Lands, the Guardian Families, and the various major sects and clans had already gathered in Wei Zhenjie’s tent, their expressions varied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elder of the Guardian Wu family was the first to speak, breaking the silence: \"Minister Wei, the key to the Nine Abyss Soul Realm is now in the hands of the Lingguang Hall Master. May I ask what you plan to do about it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Zhenjie glanced sideways at the speaker and couldn’t help but let out a sneer: \"What do I plan to do?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused, a hint of sarcasm in his tone, \"The Nether Firewood isn’t in my hands. Is my plan even important?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Wu family elder’s face stiffened, and his embarrassment was plain to see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had originally intended to flatter Wei Zhenjie on the occasion, but he hadn’t expected Wei Zhenjie to be so ungracious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Elder Long of the Long family quickly stepped in to smooth things over, chuckling as he said, \"Minister Wei, the Central Holy Land is the pillar of the Central Continent. The matter of the Nether Soul Realm concerns the overall strength of our human race. I’m afraid it’s necessary for you, Minister Wei, to step forward and negotiate a bit with the Lord of the Lingguang Hall.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A playful smile curled at the corner of Wei Zhenjie’s mouth as he countered, \"And how, in your esteemed opinions, should I go about this negotiation?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heads of the various factions exchanged glances at his words. After a silent look between them, someone began to speak up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Lord of Lingguang Hall is the commander of the Vermilion Bird Army, and the Vermilion Bird Army is a righteous army protecting all living beings. I imagine that, for the sake of strengthening the human race, the Lord of Lingguang Hall will be willing to share the Nether Soul Realm.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Exactly. If the Nether Soul Realm can be shared by the entire human race, and we pool our efforts to cultivate powerful experts, that would be the true path to long-term development.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As the spiritual energy recovery accelerates, the demon race grows stronger day by day. Given time, a great war between humans and demons will surely break out. When that time comes, if the human race lacks enough strong experts, how will we resist the demons?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Nether Soul Realm is an unparalleled opportunity to enhance the cultivation strength of human cultivators. If the Lord of Lingguang Hall truly cares about all living beings, she should not monopolize such an opportunity.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A true hero acts for the nation and the people. As a strong human expert, one should not ignore the safety of the human race for personal gain.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One after another, they spoke in lofty, impassioned tones. Their goal was simple and clear—the Nether Soul Realm should be shared among all humans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Were these words reasonable?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course they were!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the Commander of the Demon Suppression Army, Wei Zhenjie understood the current state of the human race better than anyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The demon race grew stronger by the day, watching hungrily. If humans remained a scattered sand, each with their own ulterior motives, they would eventually suffer greatly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only by uniting the strength of all factions and consolidating the hearts of the human race could they truly resist the demon invasion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, these people’s petty schemes were also laid bare. They only wanted to share the benefits of the Soul Realm, yet never once mentioned the price that should be paid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The key to the Soul Realm was obtained by the Lord of Lingguang Hall at great personal risk, venturing deep into the Netherworld.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Zhenjie spoke slowly, his voice not loud but carrying an invisible pressure. \"If you want her to share it, what are you prepared to offer in exchange?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Well...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The various leaders huddled together again, their faces showing hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If the Lord of Lingguang Hall is willing to share the Soul Realm, we will certainly show our sincerity. But...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"At this Nine-Gate Auction, the Ghost King and Lady Banshee appeared, causing no small trouble to all parties. And all of this is related to Lingguang Hall...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"BAM——!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A loud crash cut off everyone’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Zhenjie smashed the teacup in his hand with a slap. Shards flew everywhere, and tea splashed across the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The faction leaders were startled by this sudden turn of events. They looked at him with shock and uncertainty, and the tent instantly fell into dead silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Zhenjie no longer bothered to save face for them. A sneer appeared on his face as he said coldly, \"Day in and day out, you spout hypocritical words of righteousness until you’ve even fooled yourselves, haven’t you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When trouble arises, you don’t want to take responsibility—you only want to shirk it. That’s bad enough. But when a benefit appears, you’re like dogs spotting a bone, only thinking of snatching it. Not only do you lack any awareness of fair exchange, but you even try to sling mud and turn the blame on others?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I think you people are regressing the older you get!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you really think a few plausible-sounding pretty words can hide the petty thoughts in your hearts?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you think the Lord of Lingguang Hall is easy to fool, go ahead and try yourselves. Don’t use me as your pawn.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having said that, he couldn’t be bothered with them any longer and walked straight out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Junyi followed Wei Zhenjie out of the tent, his brow furrowed. \"Small-time figures have to be greedy to survive, but these are top-tier powers—they don’t lack that bit of resources...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Wei Zhenjie shook his head. \"Greed isn’t the main issue. What they primarily want is to put pressure on the Lord of Lingguang Hall.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Junyi was stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Zhenjie sighed. Although he had cleaned up after Hua Changxi, once a deed is done, traces always show. Others might not be unable to find out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps everyone still couldn’t be one hundred percent certain of the Lord of Lingguang Hall’s true identity, but they might have gathered some scattered evidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Hua Changxi—a junior of humble origins who was stubborn and unyielding—those people might have a deliberate intention to oppress her.\u003C\u002Fp>",1835,"2026-05-29T04:11:04.856Z","2026-06-01T04:29:08.487Z",1,"deepseek-v4-flash","c1c9551cd98628dd10a8b5c98fb77efe7d266976b23b4a43ddac51e622fa5a01","the-first-iron-rice-bowl-of-great-jin-chapter-530","the-first-iron-rice-bowl-of-great-jin-chapter-528",547,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-first-iron-rice-bowl-of-great-jin-cover.jpg"]