Chapter 288: Disciple Li Yuan, Pays Homage to the Dao Master

Cloud seas churned, a azure dragon extended its claw.

In Hengshan City, a sudden gale erupted, whipping sand and stones through the streets, rolling clouds of dust.

Across the city districts, countless people looked up at the sky, feeling that the dragon's claw, though seemingly only a mu in size, seemed ready to engulf the entire city of Hengshan.

Hundreds or even thousands of meters away, invisible force surged downward like a solid mountain; where the dragon's claw pointed, wind and clouds followed—not resisting, but amplifying its power tenfold.

Terrifying!

Terrifying!

Across half of Longhu Temple, Li Yuan felt icy dread rise in his chest—he had seen Masters exchange blows from afar, and that terrifying scene still haunted him.

But compared to what he saw now, that past scene seemed dim and faded.

"A god!"

A thought suddenly flashed in Li Yuan's mind.

High above the cloud sea, a single claw could stir wind and clouds; unseen, unfaced, it was enough to intimidate a metropolis of ten million souls.

If not a god, then who is?

"Long Long Yingchan?!"

Like a thunderclap exploding, Fang Fang Chaotong's roar tore through wind and clouds, piercingly high.

Facing such a terrifying palm, distant onlookers trembled in spirit—how much more so Fang Fang Chaotong, the one directly targeted, whose every hair stood on end, feeling bone-deep cold.

Crack!

With a long roar, Fang Fang Chaotong suddenly erupted upward.

He had no time to ponder why Long Long Yingchan had returned so swiftly, or why he received no intelligence—this instant, he unleashed his full power.

Vast, river-like true qi surged through his meridians, coalescing behind him into a towering figure nearly a hundred meters tall, with black sinews and white bones, savage and grotesque.

This was his envisioned spiritual self, the "Blood, Flesh, Sinew, Bone Great Vajra," embodying his lifetime of cultivation—his foundation, his greatest weapon.

Boom!

In an instant, the dragon's claw crossed ten thousand meters of sky, and the clouds and gales around it boiled and churned.

"Roar!"

The Blood, Flesh, Sinew, Bone Great Vajra roared, leaping deep into the air like a sun-piercing rainbow, hurtling straight toward the dragon's claw.

At the same time, the tavern beneath Fang Fang Chaotong's feet cracked with a "crack," and amid rolling dust, he plunged headfirst, like a diver,

Toward the ground.

He had been a Master for years, touched the Earthly Fiend, unafraid of the crippled Long Xi Xiang or Brother Helian Feng—but this was Long Long Yingchan.

Lord of Longhu Dao, one of the twelve strongest in the world over the past two centuries.

Earthly Immortal!

Only a fool wouldn't flee!

Boom!

Behind him, thunderous roars surged, wind like a furious tide spreading outward.

Fang Fang Chaotong's heart jolted—he sensed disaster. A massive figure, like a door slab, blocked his path.

"Get out of my way!"

Fang Fang Chaotong's eyes bulged, the "Blood, Flesh, Sinew, Bone Four-Method Armor" on his body creaked "click-click," divine armor manifesting—he raised his palm to crush the roadblock.

Amid rolling dust, Monk Douyue's gaze burned like fire.

The Master Gate is called the Dragon Gate—cross it, and you become a dragon or serpent; fail, and you remain a fish or snake. In thousands of years of records, only a handful of Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing masters had ever fought a Master to a standstill while still in Blood Exchange.

"Kill!"

Monk Douyue stomped his foot, raised his arm to the sky.

In that instant, his blood and true qi surged forth, forming behind him the shadow of a dragon and elephant—the azure dragon roared, the white elephant stomped.

All beast forms are divided into aquatic and terrestrial.

Among aquatic forms, dragon power is supreme; among terrestrial forms, elephant power is supreme.

"Dragon-Elephant Union, Utterly Yang, Utterly Rigid!"

Boom!

In the flash of an eye, save for Long Xi Xiang, who had flown in and halted at a distance, almost no one could see Monk Douyue amid the rolling dust.

Only rolling waves of qi, accompanied by thunderous sound, echoed through the city districts.

A hundred-meter street trembled as one, visibly sinking over a foot; buildings on both sides shuddered violently, tiles flying everywhere.

"Puff!"

Amid the explosion of qi, Monk Douyue sank chest-deep into the ground with a "squelch," spewing a mouthful of dark blood—yet he showed no despair or rage, only burst into loud, wild laughter.

"Douyue!"

Fang Fang Chaotong's eyes nearly burst, his palm unharmed—but that moment of delay, that bone-deep cold, had now fully descended.

Half of his true qi, formed into the "Great Vajra Shape," shattered instantly beneath the dragon's claw; then, a dull yellow palm appeared before his eyes.

That palm was long and full, its hue like ancient elephant ivory, pressing lightly yet firmly against his face:

"Slap!"

As his five fingers closed, Fang Fang Chaotong instantly lost control of himself—his true qi, true essence, perception, and spirit were all crushed under suppression.

Ooo~

In the next instant, before the horrified eyes of the martial artists gathered beyond the street, his figure shot skyward, leaving a long trail of bursting air, vanishing into the clouds.

Only the echoing booms of displaced air remained.

Huh-huh~

When Monk Douyue struggled to his feet from underground, he looked around—the dust within and beyond the street rolled thick and refused to settle.

Countless martial artists from the Jianghu watched from afar, some shocked, some horrified; even those with mediocre Wu Gong had not yet reacted to what had actually happened.

"Long Daozhu..."

Carrying the pale-faced, gritting-teeth, eyes-shut Lin Lin Chonghu, Han Tong walked slowly forward with his hand on his sword, his eyes surging with indescribable excitement.

Fang Chao, ranked second among the Eight Great Protectors of the Xieshen Sect, was a figure famous over a hundred years ago, an old grandmaster who cultivated the 'Worship Flesh, Blood, Bones, and Sinews Great Vajra Dharma', possessing extremely high Wu Gong.

Yet this supreme expert was captured in a single move, while the Long Daozhu had merely extended a palm through the air from a distance from start to finish.

Not seeing the person made it even more terrifying and fearsome.

"A Land Immortal."

Dou Yue shook his limp arm, feeling somewhat sighing, somewhat awed and yearning.

Land Immortal is not a realm; just as Grandmaster and Master are not realms, those are honorific titles.

The world universally acknowledges that a Master is the peak of the human world, while a Grandmaster is transcendent, a living immortal in the mortal realm.

"Seal the city!"

Han Tong turned his head and saw Lin Jia arriving late not far away, reprimanding a group of disciples and soldiers while sealing off Mount Hengshan City.

"This Lin fellow."

Han Tong's expression was somewhat unfriendly, yet he did not explode.

He exchanged a glance with the Monk Dou Yue, and without prior agreement, both headed toward the mountain gate to pay respects to the Long Daozhu, which was a serious matter.

"Too fierce, too fierce..."

At the main peak of Longmen, Li Yuan rubbed his neck, which was sore and numb from looking up for too long, his heart filled with shock.

With his keen eyesight, he had only seen the faintly visible dragon eyes from start to finish, and the dragon claw extending beyond the clouds.

In the blink of an eye, a Zun Sect Master was captured and taken into the sky.

This was a powerhouse beyond his current understanding.

"Dragon-Tiger Long Daozhu, Long Long Yingchan!"

Li Yuan lowered his head, flexing and extending his five fingers, resembling an eagle, a tiger, and a dragon; with every flicker, a sound like tearing silk emerged, as if the air itself was being ripped apart.

Relying on his once-in-a-millennium talent, though it was merely a fleeting glimpse, he had comprehended a move from a technique of at least the Supreme Art level of grappling.

"Supreme Art? Perhaps even more..."

Li Yuan exerted force in his five fingers; under the infusion of true qi, a casual claw strike left five claw marks several meters long in the air, lingering for a long time without fading.

"It is said the form the Long Daozhu cultivates is 'Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon'; this claw..."

Li Yuan murmured to himself.

The booklet left behind by Old Han had mentioned this matter; he remembered well the yearning and ambition Old Han revealed between the lines.

The scene on Mount Hengshan City had left Li Yuan shocked, and he remained dazed for quite a while.

"No wonder Grandmasters are called Land Immortals..."

In the small courtyard, Li Yuan repeatedly flexed and extended his five fingers, recording the comprehension from that fleeting glimpse, his heart truly shaken greatly.

Sitting high in the clouds, casually extending a hand to awe the multitude; this truly prevented him from remaining calm.

"If I could cultivate to this level, where would I fear the Xieshen Sect?"

Li Yuan had intended to wait for Old Dragon Head to return and inquire, but after a while without seeing him return, he could only temporarily suppress the throbbing in his heart.

He assumed a stance and practiced various standing stances in the courtyard.

Over these ten-plus days, his progress had been extremely obvious; with the enhancement of the Split-Sea Dark Whale Hammer, how much had his speed in learning Wu Gong increased?

The eleven light-foot step techniques he borrowed from the library had all entered the realm of mastery; the eleven hammer techniques had all reached great completion, and were even about to touch perfection!

Under the enhancement of his once-in-a-millennium talent, he could master any Wu Gong with extreme speed, and his hammer techniques were even faster, astonishingly so.

"A lower-grade hammer technique, even without the Commanding Fundamental Diagram, would take at most ten days for me to push from nothing to great perfection!"

At most ten days, or even seven days would suffice; and this was without counting the enhancement of the Commanding Military Talisman; if that were included...

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly; this speed made him feel somewhat startled himself.

For a disciple with normal medium bone quality, even with no shortage of pills and guidance from a famous master, being able to cultivate a lower-grade Wu Gong to great perfection within twenty years was already not slow.

This was a difference of hundreds or thousands of times!

"Hoo!"

Li Yuan relaxed his muscles and bones; the various standing stances flowed like waves, naturally, without any obscurity or stiffness.

The enhancement of his cultivation talent and hammer talent was immediately effective; his physical body talent was the same.

Three days ago, his Ten Thousand Blades Spirit Dragon Thirteen Forms had already broken through to the fifth stage; with a slight exertion of force, patterns resembling dragon scales had completely covered his four limbs and torso, as if wearing a heavy armor of the famous artifact grade.

"The last two stages of the Ten Thousand Blades Spirit Dragon Body: one is to cover the head, the other is to extend inward until the internal organs... if cultivated to the seventh stage, I cannot speak of divine weapons, but it would at least be equivalent to wearing a top-grade famous artifact armor, covering the entire body with no blind spots!"

Practicing the Xu Tui standing stance, Li Yuan exerted great effort to force himself to temporarily stop thinking about the shocking scene he had just witnessed, calculating his own cultivation in his mind.

Once the Ten Thousand Blades Spirit Dragon Body reaches great perfection, it means he will once again transform into thirteen spirit forms.

Adding the twenty-two lower-grade and mid-grade Wu Gong he has learned, at most two months, and he will gather ninety forms!

"The progress of the Long Chan Vajra Sutra and the Dragon-Tiger Hun Tian Hammer is slightly slower, but if either is achieved, then, one can gather a hundred forms!"

The names of Supreme Arts mostly come from the forms they can transform into after perfection; these two Supreme Arts, if either reaches great perfection, will yield at least thirteen spirit forms.

The Dragon-Tiger Hun Tian Hammer has more; Li Yuan estimated himself: thirteen dragon forms, six transformed Bai Hu forms; this one Supreme Art alone comprises nineteen spirit beast forms.

"A hundred forms is not far away!"

At this thought, Li Yuan felt excited, and his movements became faster and faster.

He remembered that, on the surface of the Dragon-Tiger Temple, it seemed only three people had transformed a hundred forms?

"Hoo!"

As the sky grew dark and the sun set behind the western mountains, Li Yuan slowly settled his stance, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and his whole body steamed with sweat.

He raised his eyes to look not far away, where an inner sect disciple hurried over, his face bearing respect and envy:

"Junior Uncle Li, the Dao Master wishes to see you!"

Whoosh!

The golden giant eagle spread its wings and vanished into the sea of clouds, as if patrolling the Dragon-Tiger mountain range, or perhaps searching for prey.

Inside Dragon-Tiger Temple, all was in an uproar.

Countless disciples surged out, their voices shouting "Dao Master" echoing through the mountains, startling countless birds and beasts into chaotic flight and flight.

On the mountain path of Dragon Mountain, Long Long Yingchan walked slowly, speaking with Long Xi Xiang; behind him, Nie Xianshan dragged the unconscious Fang Chao.

Monk Douyue, Han Tong, Lin Jia, Gong Gong Jiuchuan, along with a host of deputy hall masters, helmsmen, and others accompanied and attended from behind, reporting.

"Shortly after the Dao Heir emerged from seclusion, hearing that Wan Wan Zhuliu's disciple Yan Yan Chunyang was coming to participate in the Assembly of Dao Martial Arts, he rose to welcome him and has not yet returned."

"Senior Brother Chu failed to break through to Grandmaster; after his qi and blood both declined, he was assassinated outside his residence. This disciple is incompetent and failed to capture and kill the thief!"

"Nine days ago at night, the Dragon and Tiger appearing together manifested for the second time on the Ancestral Master's stone plaque; unfortunately, the person who triggered the phenomenon has still not been found."

When Lin Jia reported to this point, Nie Xianshan raised an eyebrow and looked at Long Xi Xiang, but the latter seemed unaware.

"Li Yuan, Great Perfection of Meridian Opening, ranked thirty-first on the Dragon List, age twenty-one..."

Suddenly, Long Long Yingchan stopped walking and examined the Dragon Stele beside the mountain path.

"Junior Brother Long has taken in a fine disciple."

Long Long Yingchan nodded slightly and raised his head to look at the Dao-robed youth hurrying down the mountain.

After glancing briefly, his two long Bai Mei suddenly shot up.

"This boy."

Nie Xianshan narrowed his eyes slightly; before he could take a proper look, he saw Long Xi Xiang's back.

Li Yuan hurried forward and bowed deeply from afar:

"Disciple Li Yuan pays respects to Master, pays respects to the Dao Master..."