Chapter 442: Listening to the Heavenly Sound, the Imperial Guard of Great Fortune

Like leaping down from a towering high building, Li Yuan felt an intense weightlessness.

The next instant, his spirit left his body.

Perhaps because his spiritual power had grown, this time Li Yuan's perception was extremely clear; it seemed an invisible chain was dragging him along, carrying him across at tremendous speed.

Countless streaks of light flowed past like slides in a magic lantern, no more than a few instants. When Li Yuan came back to himself from the weightlessness, all he saw was a sky of gathered gale winds.

Sizzle!

The gale winds swept and churned, tearing the sea of clouds, and from time to time lightning slashed across the vast sky, leaving deep scars.

Li Yuan's heart jolted; a glaring black color rose from beneath his feet, like a sea, like a tide.

Dun Tian Zhou (Eleventh-Tier)

Dun Tian Zhou?

Li Yuan suddenly raised his head and looked around, discovering that he was at this moment standing atop a colossal tower-ship.

Huge!

That was the thought that leapt into Li Yuan's mind.

The ship before his eyes—or rather, the giant warship—was like a mighty city suspended in the gale-wind sky, eighteen tiers from top to bottom, each tier larger than the one above.

Banners and flags rustled like a forest, and thousands upon thousands of elite armored soldiers covered the decks of the eighteen-tiered giant warship, endlessly hurling out iron chains and grappling hooks, as if trying to salvage something from the gale winds.

Vast, majestic, sacred!

A desolate and ancient aura rushed at him, making both Li Yuan's heart and spirit tremble.

This was a fully activated Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing!

Dun Tian Zhou—Li Yuan came to himself in a daze. He was currently on the eleventh tier; hundreds or thousands of armored soldiers moved across the deck, and wherever his gaze reached, there were great swathes of weapon-light.

Imperial Guard Armor (Fifth-Tier)

Imperial Guard Long Spear (Fifth-Tier)

Standard-issue armor, sabers, and swords, and of extremely high grade—all top-grade famous weapons!

Even the chains and grappling hooks they carried and used to salvage things were all top-grade famous weapons, incomparably tough, able to withstand the tearing of the gale winds.

The imperial court's Imperial Guard!

The recognition factor was too high; Li Yuan identified the origin of these armored soldiers at a glance.

The imperial court's three great violent organs—the Zhen Wutang and the Qingping Si targeted the jianghu and the localities—while the Imperial Guard army guarded the imperial clan and the Divine Capital, and was the most elite army of the imperial court, bar none.

Li Yuan's figure rippled as he sensed an extremely powerful aura.

The blood qi of tens of thousands of Imperial Guard soldiers wove together and rose, making him feel tremendous pressure.

According to the records in books, when an army of ten thousand men marches, their blood qi weaves together like clouds, and within a certain range, even a Grandmaster's true qi cannot contend with heaven and earth.

Li Yuan was deeply impressed.

He had seen the Divine Guard army and the Dragon-Tiger army before, but he had never felt it so directly in his spirit state—could this Divine Guard army suppress Grandmasters?

Recalling the records in books, Li Yuan drifted across the tower-ship like a yin wind. These Imperial Guards were extremely elite; tens of thousands of them salvaging, yet not the slightest stray sound.

And what they salvaged—whether star-sand or meteoric iron—was without exception the finest of iron materials; from time to time he also saw some unknown minerals glimmering with faint light.

Mobilizing Dun Tian Zhou along with tens of thousands of Imperial Guards—it wasn't just for salvaging heavenly materials and earthly treasures, was it?

Li Yuan leaned on the rail and gazed out; all he could see was fierce gale wind. By his own reckoning, if ordinary iron ore or a saber or sword were thrown out, it would probably be torn to scrap on the spot.

But at this moment, such fierce gale wind was entirely warded off, unable to leave the slightest mark on Dun Tian Zhou.

At a certain instant, Li Yuan heard the wind howl; he looked up and saw a person leap forth, ink-black true gang weaving behind him, plunging into the sea of clouds like a dark dragon.

Demon-Subduing Dragon God True Gang!

It was too far; Li Yuan couldn't make out who that person was, but the aura was very familiar to him—extremely similar to that ink dragon, yet deeper and more powerful.

Wan Wan Zhuliu!

Li Yuan's form drifted up as he focused his gaze.

He saw Wan Wan Zhuliu striding through the sea of gale-wind clouds, unmoving as endless gale winds tore at him like blades, and in a moment he had already vanished into the sea of clouds.

The imperial court wants to explore

beyond the heavens, or the Eight Directions Temple—Li Yuan mulled it over as he drifted toward the topmost tier of the tower-ship. His state was extremely strange, seeming both illusory and unreal; whether walls, banners, blades, swords, or human bodies, he could pass through them all. Imperial Court Dragon-Slaying Blade (Ninth-Tier)

Just as he reached the eighteenth tier, Li Yuan caught sight of a flash of crimson—a middle-aged man clad in black armor sat cross-legged on the deck, a man-tall giant blade strapped to his back.

Top-grade divine weapon, top-grade divine armor.

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly. Even the imperial court didn't have many top-grade divine weapons; one who could possess both at once, among the Imperial Guard army, was probably only a single person.

Imperial Guard Commander Wang Jin?

Commander, His Majesty has urgently summoned us back to Huicheng, the Prince, he…

The speaker was a young man standing at Wang Jin's side, clad in armor and holding a long spear, also gazing at the sea of clouds: Even when Dun Tian Zhou is half-dormant, it still costs nearly half a year of incense offerings from an entire province every three days.

That is not for you to concern yourself with.

Wang Jin glanced at him, his expression indifferent.

Half a year of incense offerings from an entire province every three days?

Li Yuan's heart skipped a beat. Such a huge expenditure—probably only the imperial court could afford it.

But…

Does fully activating a Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing require incense offerings?

Li Yuan wasn't entirely sure; he had never fully activated a Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing either, but thinking of the incense offerings stuck in the head of that stone statue deep within the Shan Xuan Jing Gate, he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Why does everything need incense offerings?

On the deck, Wang Jin and the young man conversed—about this salvage operation, about intelligence reports from various regions.

Li Yuan was still guessing where the heavenly sound he was listening for this time lay, when suddenly he saw Wang Jin's brow lift. He waved the young man away, then beckoned, and a streak of Jin Guang shot out from deep within the ship's hold. Great Sun Monitoring Heaven Mirror (Tenth-Tier)

Li Yuan instinctively stepped back; that Great Sun Monitoring Heaven Mirror had already burst forth with dazzling light, faintly weaving with shadows.

Your Majesty.

Wang Jin rose and bowed.

Wang Qing.

The Qian Emperor's voice came from the light and shadow: Where is the Zhenwu King?

Reporting to Your Majesty, the Prince just disembarked and went into the Sea of Clouds to search for the Eight Directions Temple.

Wang Jin replied.

Did you gain anything on this journey? the Qian Emperor asked.

Reporting to Your Majesty, we found nothing. The Gales of the Firmament are vast and boundless; it is truly impossible to track down that Eight Directions Temple.

Wang Jin shook his head; he did not really believe in the existence of the Eight Directions Temple. Even if it existed, spending such a huge amount to exhaustively search for something no one has found in thousands of years was extremely unprofitable!

The Qian Emperor said: "When the Zhenwu King returns, tell him to report to me."

"Yes."

Wang Jin agreed, but then asked: Your Majesty, I heard the Prince say there are guests from beyond the heavens in the Divine Capital?

Guests from beyond the heavens?

Listening to the dialogue between this ruler and minister, Li Yuan immediately perked up; he had heard similar news while listening to the sound before, that a person from beyond the heavens had visited the Qian Emperor.

I urgently summoned you all back to the city because of this matter.

The Qian Emperor paused slightly: Not just you; I have summoned elites and experts from all regions back to the city!

"Hmm?"

Wang Jin's gaze darkened slightly: Is this person's cultivation so high that we must join forces to crush him?

It is not to crush him.

The Qian Emperor explained: I paid a tremendous price to reach a deal with this person; if successful, we might comprehend the mysteries of the heavens beyond!

Does Your Majesty trust him?

Wang Jin frowned.

Whether I trust him or not, we must try.

The Qian Emperor's voice was calm: The Bai Shen Fa has endless aftereffects; Chang Sheng has flaws. To break the barriers, there is only this path of the heavens beyond.

Break the barriers?

Wang Jin's frown relaxed: Does this deal require us?

The Qian Emperor did not say much, merely explaining casually: The 'Poison Dragon Academy' where this person resides cannot be contacted without a great affinity; I gathered the imperial family members, but none possessed this affinity.

Poison Dragon Academy. Wang Jin frowned, and Li Yuan also frowned, feeling quite surprised; he recalled the 'Poison Dragon God' mentioned in that Ben Ji Shen Pian.

Beyond the Heavens

sect?

Li Yuan instinctively looked up at the sky; the Sea of Clouds churned. During the day, only the four Great Suns were visible; none of the Daoist Qun Xing could be seen.

Rudao Sect masters, because their true qi contends with heaven and earth, can travel several li in an instant and hover in the air without falling; Grand Masters even possess the ability to unite body and spirit

and fly across the blue void.

Even if there are truly other stars or worlds beyond the heavens, is the distance between them something humans can cross?

Li Yuan murmured.

In his past life, he was a half-baked wild Daoist Priest; his culture was nothing, but even with no culture, he remembered that in outer space, distances are often measured in light-years, right?

How can one make contact?

The light of the Great Sun Monitoring Heaven Mirror dimmed; Li Yuan was still pondering.

At a certain moment, the sound of tides came.

Li Yuan looked up and saw vast swathes of dark light weaving like tides, rolling towards them.

Subduing Demon Dragon God Blade (Level 11)

Suppressing Sea Black Turtle Shell (Level 11)

Layers of gales were casually torn apart; Wan Wan Zhuliu stepped forward, landing on the deck. Intense blood qi spread instantly, blowing a row of banners.

Wan Wan Zhuliu walked with his hand on his sword, silver hair flying, dragon patterns on his brow flashing with dim light.

Li Yuan felt a slight chill in his heart; when the dragon patterns flashed, they overflowed with an extremely bloody scent. Even in this state, he seemed to smell the scent of a mountain of corpses and sea of blood.

Did the Prince fight someone?

Wang Jin was very sharp; he sensed Wan Wan Zhuliu's qi fluctuation. He even felt a wave of heat; this was his mood surging, his will interfering with reality.

There were slight setbacks.

Wan Wan Zhuliu's emotions instantly calmed; he looked at the Great Sun Monitoring Heaven Mirror in Wang Jin's hand: Did Your Majesty send a message?

Wang Jin felt somewhat surprised and suspicious in his heart, feeling that this person's aura was off, but he did not think deeply, instead speaking of the matter just now.

Poison Dragon God, Poison Dragon Academy.

Wan Wan Zhuliu sneered coldly, picked up the bronze mirror, and returned to the cabin.

Li Yuan followed, seeing the bronze mirror emit light. Before he could listen closely, the light and shadow in front of him suddenly dispersed; he only vaguely heard Wan Wan Zhuliu's intermittent voice:

Your subject has seen... the bloodline pulsating. Perhaps there is no need to sever oneself; it could also assist Your Majesty's endowment!

The light and shadow dispersed; the listening ended. Li Yuan felt somewhat dazed.