Chapter 368: All Rules Are No Rules (Part One)

Long Long Yingchan flicked a finger, and a phantom shaped like a pill furnace flashed once before sinking into Long Xi Xiang's brow.

"To be safe, you'll take charge of the Yangsheng Furnace on my behalf."

"Very well."

Pinching his brow, Long Xi Xiang was somewhat expectant: "Sitting in meditation for over forty years, I really am getting rather itchy for action."

"Strike only when the time is right."

Seeing him in this state, Long Long Yingchan grew a little uneasy again:

"Don't take the chance to kill Xie Xie Tongzhi. You've already broken through the Tiangang barrier; there'll be plenty of chances to settle accounts with him afterward…"

"I know the measure of things."

Long Xi Xiang's expression was calm, indicating he still knew what mattered.

'I hope you truly do."

Long Long Yingchan glanced at him, then set the matter aside for now, and drew a secret letter from his robe:

"This letter comes from the shores of the Eastern Sea, about a month or so ago. Apparently someone spotted the Dun Tian Zhou, and around the same time, that spirit tortoise bearing the hall on its back vanished without a trace."

He paused as he spoke: "You still remember that spirit tortoise, don't you?"

"The one that fell from the sky?"

Long Xi Xiang was also a little uncertain. After breaking through the Tiangang barrier, he was no longer forgetful, but the things he'd forgotten before were truly gone.

"…Yes, that one."

Long Long Yingchan handed him the letter and briefly recounted the cause and effect: "Eight years ago, that spirit tortoise descended from the heavens, shaking the world. A swarm of experts rushed to the scene…"

"In the end, that old tortoise set a ten-year pact, saying that once the ten years were up, each faction could send its young disciples to climb onto its back and enter the hall to explore…"

Long Xi Xiang flipped through the secret letter: "And now the ten-year pact is almost up, and that old tortoise has vanished?"

"At the time, the six of us couldn't do anything to it, but who would've thought Wan Wan Zhuliu alone actually scared it off…"

Long Long Yingchan frowned slightly.

If it weren't for the All-Paths Martial Exhibition being imminent, he would have set off immediately to investigate. Unlike the dubious Eight Directions Temple, that old tortoise had truly fallen from the sky.

Setting aside the great hall it carried on its back, the creature itself was immensely valuable.

Long Xi Xiang, however, didn't quite agree: "It may not be that Wan Wan Zhuliu scared it off. It's also possible the old tortoise was heavily wounded at the time and was deliberately stalling."

"Whether it is or isn't, the old tortoise's escape is real."

Long Long Yingchan felt a pang of regret.

He'd rushed off in too much of a hurry at the time, and the Dragon-Tiger Yangsheng Furnace couldn't be moved lightly; otherwise, he really would have liked to try taking down that old tortoise.

"It couldn't match you all back then. Why didn't you join forces to take it down?"

Long Xi Xiang flipped through the secret letter once more, then pulled a thick stack of papers from his sleeve and sorted out the information related to that spirit tortoise.

"We were afraid that fighting would get out of hand and destroy the palace on its back."

Long Long Yingchan offered an explanation:

"You weren't there at the time, so you didn't see it. I saw it clearly. The palaces on that spirit tortoise's back stretched on for over a dozen, their treasure-light weaving together and shooting straight into the clouds. Even from dozens of miles away, you could smell a strange fragrance…"

Long Long Yingchan described the scene at the time, and his two long brows couldn't help but twitch a few times — a sign his emotions had stirred.

Falling from the heavens, treasure-light like clouds — not only was he tempted, the other five were tempted too. How could they bring themselves to fight?

"Strange fragrance?"

Long Xi Xiang couldn't imagine it. In his view, something not yet in hand was no great loss to break; better that than empty hands.

"In short, if you'd been there, you absolutely wouldn't have wanted to smash the spirit hall. Besides, that old tortoise's cultivation was extremely high, and its shell was as tough as the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing — how easy would it be to smash?"

After chatting a few more words, Long Long Yingchan told him to familiarize himself with the Dragon-Tiger Yangsheng Furnace. They were not its true masters; only by channeling the will left behind by the ancestors could they indirectly activate it.

Long Xi Xiang pinched the secret letter and suddenly spoke.

"That dog from Wind-Thunder Valley has an astonishing sense of smell. Should we catch it and use it to track down that spirit tortoise?"

"Mm, then send a few disciples to make the trip."

Long Long Yingchan didn't refuse, but he didn't hold out much hope either. The world was vast; no matter how keen that winged mastiff's nose was, how far could it really sniff?

Watching him dissolve into a wisp of cloud and vanish, Long Xi Xiang looked up at the sky — four bright moons.

Hung high, stars scattered like specks.

"Falling from the heavens…"

Since ancient times, there had been no small number of recorded incidents of treasures falling from the sky. Across every dynasty, there had been no lack of people who wished to ascend to the heavens to seek treasure.

Especially the successive masters of the Dun Tian Zhou.

Above lay nine layers of Gang Wind, which even Grand Masters couldn't withstand for long. Only the Dun Tian Zhou could traverse through the Gang Wind, but to this day, no one had ever found the so-called 'Heaven Beyond Heaven.'

"There's no land or Wang Yang up in the sky — where exactly did that spirit tortoise fall from?"

Long Xi Xiang was also a little curious, but Yu Yu Xuanji he no longer paid it any mind. He tucked away the secret letter, entered the temple, sat cross-legged, and began attuning himself to the Dragon-Tiger Yangsheng Furnace.

He concentrated with great enthusiasm, calling out to it actively, but the furnace's response was very lukewarm. He tried several hundred times in succession and only got back a sliver of acknowledgment.

And that was only thanks to the will left behind by the two ancestors, combined with years of incense offerings.

"A Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing has a spirit; without recognizing a master, it's truly hard to get close."

Long Xi Xiang sighed inwardly.

But he didn't mind too much. Ever since the two ancestors had passed on, for two thousand years, every generation of ancestors had licked their way through it the same way.

………

Hum~

Under the old tree, Shi Shi Zuzu sat for an entire night, until the next day's noon when the sun had already tilted west, before slowly opening his eyes. The true qi radiance flickering over his body gradually converged.

"Hoo~"

After holding his breath for a long time, Shi Shi Zuzu expelled this mouthful of stale air for several minutes, like steam from a boiling kettle, shrouding the entire small courtyard.

This was the gas produced after the intense operation of his internal organs; its temperature was very high, and the branches and leaves of the old tree above his head visibly yellowed and withered.

"The internal organs have become translucent, and very heavy."

Li Yuan eased his muscles and bones, feeling the changes in his internal organs.

Translucent yet heavy — that was his sensation.

After the Thunder Dragon true Qi merged into his internal organs, he felt that every one of his viscera had undergone changes to varying degrees, as if draped in iron armor, or as if they had gained spiritual intelligence, actively welcoming the true Qi's scouring and tempering.

And manifested externally, Li Yuan's perception was even more obvious — his senses had grown sharper.

"Hoo!"

Li Yuan pressed his chest; a wisp of Thunder Dragon true Qi roamed within it, and with the slightest movement, his heart immediately began beating at several times its normal speed.

In an instant, his qi and blood boiled, and his skin flushed a sheet of crimson.

At a turn of thought, everything was once again restrained.

"According to the teachings from my previous life, the internal organs relate to metabolism, endurance, physical strength, senses, neural response, digestion… and so on. Refining the viscera is indeed very important."

Feeling the powerful heartbeat, Li Yuan only felt his mood was very good; he could sense that this pleasure came from his internal organs.

When the body is strong, even the mood improves.

After feeling it for a while, Li Yuan was driven to the kitchen by a wave of intense hunger; the strengthening of his stomach and intestines gave his digestive ability an immediate, visible boost.

Normally one pot of spirit rice could last him two meals, but now one meal took a whole pot, and he was still only half full.

"Food intake has tripled!"

After a long while, looking at the big pot that had emptied again, Li Yuan easily reached a conclusion: this was still spirit rice and Nuqing eggs; if it were switched to ordinary rice and flour, it would multiply several times more.

"No wonder Hundred Herbs Hall has a 'Grain Grain Grain Grain Bigu Pill'; a martial artist who has achieved Great Success in Blood Exchange wouldn't have a smaller appetite than mine, and the Dao Master of Dragon Tiger probably eats even more."

Tch — eat a lot, poop a lot.

Li Yuan had never bought a Grain Grain Grain Grain Bigu Pill, but had heard people say that eating one means no hunger for three days; it should count as the 'compressed rations' of pills?

A big appetite is a good thing; eating more spirit rice is no inferior to spirit pills, and moreover it nourishes the body better.

The Dao Master of Dragon Tiger had agreed in person — he could eat as much spirit rice as he wanted.

"Originally I thought Grain Grain Grain Grain Bigu Pills were useless, but looking at it now, that was biased; you really have to be at a high realm, otherwise a lot of one's understanding will be off."

Two big pots of rice down the belly — even after digesting eighty or ninety percent, the remaining ten or twenty percent still had to come out. Li Yuan patted his belly, feeling some different realizations in his heart.

Just imagine — the master of a Dao, a great Grandmaster with a name on the Divine Ranking, running to the latrine three times a day… the very thought is unbearable to look at directly.

"What is this kid grinning about?"

At the window-ledge, the little tiger cub looked up discontentedly; Li Yuan had sat the whole night, and she had waited the whole night, and was now catching up on sleep.

"Don't glare, I saved some for you."

Li Yuan's perception was extremely sharp; with a glance at the little tiger cub, he saw he had left two bowls of spirit rice — one bowl each for the cat and the mouse.

The little tiger cub lay down again; she had eaten a bellyful of spirit herbs last night, and now only wanted to lie flat.

The little mouse wasn't around either — no one knew where it had slipped off to.

"Long Hu Longhu Dadan is really a fine thing."

Li Yuan tidied up the bowls and chopsticks, came to the courtyard to stand. Over the past twenty days, he had maintained high-intensity Wu Gong practice and forging, but the medicinal power of Long Hu Longhu Dadan had not weakened by half.

In fact, as his viscera-refining bore results, the medicinal power grew even richer and mellower; this flavor was far better than any spirit pill.

After eating, Li Yuan pushed open the door and went out.

The old Dragon Head's temple gate was tightly shut; he glanced at it, then took his hammer and headed to Surging Waves Hall.

The Pure Yang sword that Nie Xianshan wanted forged was extremely complex; the four great master smiths plus several dozen disciples had spent months preparing for it.

"Junior Brother Li."

By the pool, Xin Xin Wenhua gave a slight nod.

A dozen or so furnaces burned with Wu Gong; a bunch of burly men were blowing and hammering. Lin Tingfeng was working very hard — since that day, he had been there almost the whole day, and Wan Chuan and Jiang Xie had tacitly accepted it.

"Can't steal the craft this way."

Amidst the rising and falling hammer sounds, Lin Tingfeng's face was wooden; he had already listened to the sound of forging for a whole month, yet stubbornly failed to hear anything out of it.

Previously he had seen Li Yuan listen for a while and gain enlightenment; he reckoned his own talent was inferior, but it had been over a month now — was the gap really this huge?

Catching a glimpse of Li Yuan from the corner of his eye, he hurriedly set down his hammer and quickly went to greet him.

"Senior Brother Lin's hammer technique grows ever more exquisite."

Li Yuan returned the courtesy. A few days earlier Lin Tingfeng had come to ask him about the key to it, and he had not concealed it, stating plainly that it was related to visualization.

But even with the pointers, achieving it was very hard.

A big question one doesn't understand at all — even if you're shown the answer, how can you fully comprehend and solve it?

"Sigh."

Lin Tingfeng sighed at length; after chatting with Li Yuan for a while, he only then went back to forge iron in low spirits.

"Weapon-crafting is harder than practicing Wu Gong."

Xin Xin Wenhua felt some sympathy; back in his own day when his Wu Gong had failed, watching Long Long Xinglie advance by leaps and bounds, the sense of frustration in his heart was no weaker than Lin Tingfeng's.

"Pill-crafting is even harder."

In the year-plus since coming to Dragon Tiger Temple, Li Yuan had also tried gathering medicinal ingredients to refine ordinary pills, but even for Zeng Xue Dan, he had failed several times in succession.

After that, although he still read books related to medicinal theory, he did not try pill-crafting again.

"None of it is easy."

Xin Xin Wenhua did not continue this topic; if the conversation turned back to Wu Gong, he would be the one feeling uncomfortable.

When Li Yuan first entered, he had achieved Yi-Xing; he had achieved Success in Marrow Refining. Now Li Yuan had achieved Success in Viscera Refining, while he still had not achieved Great Success in Marrow Refining — at the slightest comparison, his state of mind became somewhat unsteady.

"In a few more days, we can begin forging the Pure Yang sword, right?"

Li Yuan did not step up; he sat down with Xin Xin Wenhua to drink tea.

"Close enough."

Xin Xin Wenhua reached out and handed the Pure Yang Sword blueprint to Li Yuan; this was no longer the earliest one, as the four great smiths and Li Yuan had all added annotations.

Li Yuan flipped through the blueprint.

This sword greatly resembled the Pure Yang Sword left behind by Patriarch Pure Yang, but it was only superficially similar; for the most part, it still bore Nie Xianshan's own marks.

This lord of Tiger Gate, in terms of talent, fell slightly short of Long Xi Xiang, and was also no match for Long Long Yingchan, but as the fifth on the Hero List, a grand master at the pinnacle of Tiangang, he was nonetheless a peerless figure.

This sword involves the two great Wu Gong of Dragon Tiger Temple, the "Dragon Tiger Mysterious Scripture" and the "Pure Yang Nurturing"; man is dragon and tiger, sword resembles pure yang.

"Da Shen Gong."

After a moment, Li Yuan closed the scroll of the blueprint, his thoughts drifting slightly; his Long Xiang Heliu was also nearly complete, so he could begin learning the "Dragon Elephant Vajra Heaven."

He could learn the "Dragon Elephant Vajra Heaven."

Before nightfall, Li Yuan returned from the library, having borrowed another batch of books, including several Wu Gong meant to be paired with his body-shifting combinations.

"The night is deep~"

On the windowsill, the little tiger cub had lain there for a full day, waiting for Li Yuan to fall fast asleep before finally lifting its head.

"It should still be quite a bit short…"

She hesitated briefly before leaping onto the bed's headboard, but Yu Yu Xuanji she had already collapsed onto the headboard.

Whine~

A wisp of cloud drifted over.

"That old Monk is here again!"

The little tiger cub cursed inwardly; she feared this old Monk would discover her, and dared not resist, and before her head could shake, she was already asleep.

"Her injuries are truly severe; it seems I must give her some healing spirit pills."

Long Long Yingchan murmured to himself; regarding this Tower Master of Qin, he held her in high regard, feeling she could serve as a trump card when necessary.

Not to mention borrowing her strength, even pushing her out would instantly draw away the attention of half the jianghu, the attention of the imperial court.

"Long Hu Longhu Dadan won't do, but the other few healing spirit pills can each be given to her a portion."

Having made up his mind, the Dragon Temple Master cast another glance at Li Yuan sleeping soundly on the bed, then vanished from the room.

Absolute-learning level post-standing Wu Gong aren't that easy to practice, let alone two of them.

"Hoo~"

Between half-sleep and half-wakefulness, Li Yuan waited for the Bronze Tower Master, but even after waking, he had not sensed any guidance from the Dao Shen Jing.

"She couldn't have left in a huff, could she?"

Muttering to himself, Li Yuan opened his eyes:

"No, she's been here!"

In the corner, the little mouse was sleeping soundly, but before sleep he had specifically woken this little fellow up.

"She came, and left again?"

Reaching out to pick up the cat, Li Yuan sat up cross-legged; the sky had not yet brightened, but he was no longer sleepy, and gently closing his eyes, he entered the Mysterious Whale Mi Jing.

Whine~

Behind Inverted Hanging Mountain, Li Yuan strolled through the archway; spiritual energy swirled, yet no passage appeared—clearly, the inner sect trial required an interval of time before it could continue.

But he did not mind; he had come this time to see whether his own talent had surpassed the category of "unparalleled through the ages."

"Unrivaled……