Chapter 259: The Divine Hammer of the Heavens (Part 2)

Returning from Jingtao Hall, Li Yuan was burdened with worries, tossing and turning all night, only falling asleep just before dawn and rising again before the sky fully brightened.

Splash!

A bucket of cold water was poured over his head; Li Yuan's body shivered slightly as he shook off the water droplets covering him.

"A lingering ghost."

Li Yuan sighed, feeling a bit of the irritation at his peaceful days being disrupted.

Over these past few years, although he had inquired about the Xieshen Sect often enough, his understanding of the sect's methods was severely lacking.

"Fortunately, it is Longhu Temple; if it were still at Shengbing Valley..."

After standing through several postures, Li Yuan silently changed his clothes, hurried down the mountain, and within moments returned driving a cart pulling a bronze incense burner.

Amidst the surprised gazes of many, he headed straight for Longmen.

This was something he had instructed Liu Zheng to rush and produce; the materials were all superior copper and iron, mixed with a trace of red gold; though the grade was not high, the appearance was excellent.

As an uninitiated disciple of the Great Longmen, without much trouble, Li Yuan arrived outside the small temple where Long Xi Xiang resided, and the mountain-guarding disciples even helped him carry the incense burner.

"Hmm..."

Inside the small temple, Long Xi Xiang stroked his chin, lost in thought, before looking up after quite a while:

"Li..."

"Li Yuan."

Li Yuan bowed, seeing that the old man had indeed forgotten him, and felt even more confident in his heart.

Is the master's forgetfulness not a good thing?

"Oh, oh, Li Yuan, the personal disciple I just accepted."

The old man with a youthful face repeated the name, somewhat puzzled: "You say I instructed you to come replace the incense burner?"

"... Yes."

Watching the old man's head flipping through the letter, Li Yuan felt slightly worried; would this old man remember everything?

"Hmm..."

After quite a while, during which Li Yuan was on edge, Long Xi Xiang finally put away the letter:

"Hmm, replace it."

"Alright!"

With the heavy stone in his heart falling, Li Yuan smiled brilliantly, feeling that his worry from a few days ago had been excessive; replacing the incense burner was such a small matter, the benefactor master would not care at all.

He hurried out of the temple, carried the large incense burner in, and moved the old one filled with ash out.

"Hmm, good."

The new incense burner looked excellent; once brought in, the somewhat dim small temple became Liangtang, and Long Xi Xiang could not help but nod upon seeing this.

"There are small ones too."

Li Yuan was well prepared; inside the large incense burner were fully forty-seven fist-sized incense burners, exactly corresponding to the number of incense burners before all the spirit tablets in the small temple.

Although the small incense burners before the spirit tablets were small, the incense smoke they contained was considerable; among them, some even retained sixth-grade incense smoke, while the worst were still third-grade.

Li Yuan naturally would not forget.

Soon, the incense burners in the temple were completely renewed; Li Yuan diligently wiped all the spirit tablets and offered incense to all the ancestors.

He bowed again and again with deep gratitude, from the bottom of his heart.

"Hmm, thoughtful."

Long Xi Xiang was very satisfied; although he still could not remember this disciple, he appeared to be filial.

"Honoring the ancestors is what a disciple should do."

Daoist Li acted like a model disciple; after bowing a few times and seeing the benefactor master in a good mood, he took the opportunity to ask about the Long Chan Vajra Sutra and the Longhu Hun Tian Hammer.

He had already entered the door of these two supreme arts in succession, but regarding martial arts, Li Yuan was always extremely cautious; understanding them more fully was not a bad thing.

Long Xi Xiang had a very poor memory for recent years and could not remember anything, but memories before his severe injury had not faded by a fraction; his understanding of these two supreme arts far exceeded Li Yuan's.

He had originally intended to ask questions to become familiar first, and then inquire about information on the Xieshen Sect, but listening to the explanation made him somewhat fascinated; soon, more than an hour passed.

"Thank you, Master, for clarifying."

Li Yuan gained a lot, but still slightly restrained his desire to continue asking questions, and instead asked about

the Xieshen Sect.

"The Xieshen Sect."

Long Xi Xiang recalled slightly:

"The Xieshen Sect originates from the Bai Shen Fa; that is a peerless Mo Gong. Those who cultivate it successfully can not only extend their life and longevity, but even return to youth, live a second life; since ancient times, it has been pursued by countless people, including emperors and generals, Daoist elders, and even masters of a Dao."

Extend life and longevity, return to youth?

Glancing at the old man who looked younger than himself, Li Yuan's thoughts wandered.

With such a widely spread and extremely tempting peerless Mo Gong as the Bai Shen Fa, the old man's head had likely seen it, and perhaps even learned it?

"Hmm, I also obtained a few chapters back in the day; indeed, it was extremely puzzling, but also extremely dangerous. This Mo Gong requires practicing visualization methods upon entry, involving the principles of yin and yang transformation; without a Grandmaster foundation, learning it is extremely likely to cause qi deviation."

Glancing at Li Yuan, Long Xi Xiang was quite open, or rather, simply did not care.

"You learned it too?"

Guessing was one thing; admitting it was another; Li Yuan was somewhat surprised.

"Extending life and longevity, seeking immortality; there are many in this world who pursue this. I am also a mortal, not a Buddha or Bodhisattva; I just did not learn it deeply."

Long Xi Xiang did not dwell on this, continuing to speak of the Xieshen Sect:

"The Bai Shen Fa is too tempting; among the Wudadao Sect and the Tianxia Sect, there are many who could not resist the temptation and joined this cult; thus, its power grew larger and larger. Coupled with the imperial court pushing it from behind, even though we several families encircled and suppressed it many times, it could never be completely banned..."

Long Xi Xiang's understanding of the Xieshen Sect was profound; from the personnel structure of local branches and halls down below, to the various experts of the main headquarters up above, he knew them all like the back of his hand.

"Three true and false sect masters, two great elders on the left and right, beneath them, four Dharma Kings, and below that, eight Protectors—these people, these people..."

Longhu Longhu Dandan sneered coldly.

Half of them came from the Wudadao Sect.

He didn't say it, but Li Yuan knew his meaning: the Crimson Flame Dragon King hailed from Longhu Temple, while among the remaining Protectors, Dharma Kings, elders, and even the deputy sect masters, all had origins in the Wudadao Sect.

Precisely because these traitors existed, the Wudadao Sect could never eradicate the Xieshen Sect; there was no other reason—they knew each other inside out.

"Upon seeing Xieshen Sect disciples, kill without mercy!"

Longhu Longhu Dandan's face radiated killing intent; the two were too close. At his shout, Li Yuan felt a buzzing in his mind, nearly having his soul shaken out of his body.

"Disciple remembers!"

Li Yuan forced back his discomfort and quietly stepped back one pace:

"Master, this disciple has heard that the Xieshen Sect has many who are proficient in the art of divination and deduction. Can this art of divination and deduction truly reveal things?"

"Divination and deduction? Fake!"

Longhu Longhu Dandan snorted coldly: "The blood sacrifice ritual is real!"

"The blood sacrifice ritual..."

Thinking of someone somewhere constantly performing blood sacrifices to find him, Li Yuan felt

a chill rise in his heart.

"Sacrificing blood to please the Evil God, thereby gaining guidance—this is the true essence of the Xieshen Sect's divination. There is no Wu Gong in this world where one can calculate all affairs under heaven by merely pinching a finger."

Longhu Longhu Dandan calmed down; regarding the Xieshen Sect, his memories were too deep.

"Then what exactly is the Evil God?"

Li Yuan asked cautiously.

Regarding the various gods and temples spread throughout the Great Yun Dynasty, he was deeply curious and puzzled; the imperial court built temples for incense offerings, while the Xieshen Sect pleased the gods through blood sacrifices.

He vaguely felt there was a great secret hidden within this.

"You dare ask anything."

Longhu Longhu Dandan glanced at this favored disciple, pondered briefly, did not answer directly, but said calmly:

"Blood essence is Yang, the soul and spirit are Yin; when soul and essence unite, and spirit and body intersect, that is Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang are the entry to the Dao. Those who undergo the transformations of Earth Fiends and Heavenly Stars, where spirit unites with heaven and earth, are also called Earthly Immortals."

"Hmm?"

Li Yuan was slightly stunned, pondering the meaning in Longhu Longhu Dandan's words.

"Enough. This master is weary; you may withdraw."

Longhu Longhu Dandan raised his hand to dismiss him.

"This disciple still has doubts."

Li Yuan temporarily set aside his speculation and spoke of the events of yesterday in the Surging Waves Hall; before Old Dragon Head, he was somewhat bolder.

After all, he was forgetful; even if something was slightly unpleasant, he would forget it by tomorrow.

"The rumors coming from the Xieshen Sect's main headquarters... Li Li Yuanba, the Split-Sea Black Whale Hammer?"

Longhu Longhu Dandan examined Li Yuan closely:

"Are you Li Li Yuanba?"

"No!"

Good heavens, at that question, Li Yuan nearly had a heart attack; fortunately, his control over his muscles was so fine that his face showed no change.

"Even if you were, it would make no difference."

Longhu Longhu Dandan yawned, implying something:

"Over two thousand years ago, everyone under heaven knew the Life-Nourishing Furnace was in our Longhu Temple; so what?"

Li Yuan was stunned; while he was still pondering, a mighty wave of Qi enveloped him and tossed him out of the small temple. Upon landing, he stumbled several times:

"Don't come every day; it affects this old man's recovery."

"The Life-Nourishing Furnace."

Gazing at the mist-shrouded peaks of Dragon Mountain, Li Yuan chewed over Old Dragon Head's words.

Longhu Longhu Dandan's words greatly steadied his heart; the slight fear and unease vanished instantly, for his perception of his own identity had been flawed.

He was now the direct disciple of the Great Dragon Sect Master, a promising new talent of Longhu with hopes of attaining the True Transmission position!

However...

"For safety's sake, it is best to climb even higher: the top ten of the Dragon List, the True Transmission disciple..."

After quite a while, Li Yuan returned to the small courtyard pulling a cart fully loaded with incense burners.

He now had only one thought in his heart.

"Forge a seventh-grade heavy hammer; if one isn't enough, make two; if two aren't enough, make seven! Then, master and command the Split-Sea Black Whale Hammer!"

Seven days later.

Mount Hengshan City, the backyard of the Weapon Forge.

"Hurry up!"

"Can't you even carry a few hammers? Be quick!"

At the courtyard entrance, Liu Zheng directed loudly as dozens of apprentices busily carried in hammers, some of which were ranked and others unranked.

Soon, a mountain of hammers was piled up in the courtyard.

"Continue recruiting, rush the work, but pay them well."

Inside the room, Li Yuan handed a thick Wen Wen Yida of gold notes to Wang Wang Peiyao and gave his instructions.

"Ten thousand taels of gold!"

Wang Wang Peiyao gasped: "How much silver did the Valley Master actually give you?"

"Not much..."

Li Yuan's mouth twitched.

Master Master Gongyang's sponsorship had already been mostly spent on purchasing the blood of the Spirit Beast King; this ten-thousand-tael gold note, plus the eight thousand taels of gold on his person, were borrowed from Xin Xin Wenhua.

In one year, he would have to repay twenty-six thousand taels.

After seeing the others off, Li Yuan closed the courtyard gate, stored the hundreds and thousands of hammers into the Space of Commanding Weapons; after the Talisman of Commanding Weapons advanced to the seventh tier, the Dingxin Dingxin Shitai had become quite large and could accommodate them.

"Huff!"

Back in the room, Li Yuan took a deep breath, sat in meditation, and entered the Space of Commanding Weapons.

He ignited the Divine Fire and began to merge the weapons!