Chapter 480

Hum!

In the ancient temple, light blazed forth!

One strand after another of light surged from the eight-armed crocodile deity statue enshrined within the temple and hovered before Li Yuan!

【Reward: Whale Battle Hammer, Shan Xuan Whale Divine Mark, Shan Xuan Whale Longhu Dadan

Formula.】

Hum!

Under Li Yuan's gaze, the three strands of light trembled like living things, then transformed into a Handle-heavy hammer, one

pill formula!

And the final strand landed in his palm, instantly entering the Niwan Palace, that field of spirit arms!

"Shan Xuan Whale Divine Mark?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly; he focused his perception and faintly saw a tiny Shan Xuan Whale swimming within the field of spirit arms!

The field of spirit arms feeds on divine marks; this combination of marks is the optimal nourishment, nurturing the field's growth, which in turn nourishes the cultivation of the Spirit Arms Scripture!

【Shan Xuan Whale Battle Hammer (Ninth Rank)】

……All refined metals melted into liquid, within a Tenth Rank field of spirit arms, forged into a supreme divine weapon, already sentient, with immense potential, poised to become Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing!

【Control Condition: Shan Xuan Whale Xuanjing Daozi】

【Control Effect: Tenth Rank (Purple): Hammer Talent Ninth Rank (Red): Killing Talent, one and a half Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing!】

"Good stuff."

Li Yuan's eyes gleamed slightly; both enhancements of this half-Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing hammer were extremely useful to him, and even more rare—his conditions were fully met!

And yet…

"Sentient?"

Li Yuan merely thought it, and the massive hammer trembled softly, then dissolved like ripples into his body!

This is possible?

Li Yuan was startled—this was the realm of unity between man and weapon; normally, it required long years of refinement and nurturing to achieve!

More importantly, the body he was currently walking with was not

flesh.

"You…"

Watching Li Yuan casually playing with his reward as if no one else were present, Zhou Ying's suspicion did not fade—it grew heavier!

For a moment, he sensed the boy's Shen Jing—weak, tiny, its rank pitifully low!

Could this be the Shen Jing of a world-class genius?

"Thank you, Elder Zhai, for letting me pass!"

After playing with the reward for a while, Li Yuan bowed in thanks; having passed this trial, he now understood much about the three trials along the Shan Xuan Whale Path!

Just like the True Disciple Trials and Xuanjing Daozi Trials, the three trials along this path

also had two ways to break through!

Either supreme talent, or unmatched combat prowess!

"Your talent is sufficient—it has nothing to do with me!"

Zhou Ying stilled his mind; his attitude changed markedly—he returned the bow, a smile appearing on his face: "To be honest, I was blind—I never realized your innate gifts were so extraordinary!"

Able to yield and adapt—truly a great man!

Li Yuan regarded him with new respect,

and immediately stowed his rewards, engaging him in polite conversation!

This time, Zhou Ying's attitude shifted drastically; in response to Li Yuan's questions, he was openly forthcoming!

"This Shan Xuan Whale Path has only three stations—each is a strange place unearthed from You Jing by the Shan Xuan Whale Sect, combined with the sacrifice of the sect's own experts' Shen Jing!"

Zhou Ying glanced at the ancient temple!

"Strange place?"

Li Yuan looked at the eight-armed crocodile deity statue enshrined within the temple!

"Ji Shen Jing!"

Zhou Ying explained: "According to the Shan Xuan Whale Sect, these strange places are the Shen Jing left behind by ancient sages who passed away, corrupted by You Jing's influence—often possessing unpredictable, bizarre, and dangerous transformations, hence called strange places!"

"Shen Jing?"

Li Yuan looked at the stone tablet beneath the tree: "Shen gui yu You?"

"Correct—Shen gui yu You Jing!"

In Shan Xuan Whale Sect scriptures, You Jing is called the "Yin Realm"; it is said that after a living person dies, their heart-spirit's Shen Jing is gradually absorbed by You Jing, ultimately becoming a strange place!

At this point, Zhou Ying paused slightly

: "But to preserve the clarity of a Shen Jing, one must…"

"Incense offerings?"

Li Yuan mused—the Shan Xuan Whale Sect calls it "Yuan Huo!"

Zhou Ying answered openly, answering every question: "The Shan Xuan Jing Sect used vast amounts of Yuan Huo to bind these three strange places—they are trial grounds, and also the three markers of the Shan Xuan Whale Path, guiding later seekers toward the Eight Temples!"

But as time passed, the Yuan Huo has been consumed, and now stands on the brink of extinction… Speaking of this, Zhou Ying sighed—he clung to life through this trial ground, yet would inevitably perish when the trial ground vanished!

"You Jing, strange places, Yuan Huo, markers…"

Li Yuan listened quietly, committing each detail to memory; after Zhou Ying's explanation, he now had a preliminary understanding of You Jing and the Shan Xuan Whale Path!

"Thank you, Elder, for your clarification!" Li Yuan bowed in thanks!

"Since you've passed my trial, these rewards are yours by right!"

Zhou Ying did not take credit either. With a wave of his hand, strands of light streamed from within the temple… condensing in his hands into scroll after scroll of books: "These are the texts left here by the Shan Xuan Jing Gate. Though they contain no divine arts or secret manuals, they can still broaden one's horizons!"

"Thank you, Senior!"

Li Yuan reached out to take them, stored them away, and expressed his thanks. He prepared to take his leave, but before departing, he naturally asked about the remaining two stations!

At this, Zhou Ying shook his head. It had already been over a thousand years since he walked this Shan Xuan Jing Path!

"This ancient temple has been nourished by the incense offerings I brought, so it has not yet undergone mutation. Whether the other two stations have mutated, I truly do not know!"

Zhou Ying thought for a moment, then still offered a reminder: "If those two stations show not the slightest light, then you must be extremely careful. Within a corrupted land, there are often many strange beasts that dwell alongside!"

"Strange beasts?"

Li Yuan was startled!

"When a divine realm is invaded by a You Jing and becomes a corrupted land, the spiritual manifestations of those who came before within that divine realm will naturally mutate as well. Beast-type spiritual manifestations often become strange beasts, and weapon-type spiritual manifestations often transform into strange weapons!" Zhou Ying explained.

This was something he had read in the texts of Shan Xuan Jing Gate. In truth, he had never seen it himself. Fifteen hundred years ago, those two trial grounds of Shan Xuan Jing Gate had not yet "corrupted"!

"Thank you for the guidance, Senior!"

Li Yuan committed it to memory, rose, and took his leave!

"I wish you smooth passage all the way, Little Friend, and a successful arrival at the Eight Directions Temple!

"

Zhou Ying wanted to say something, but in the end merely watched Li Yuan depart into the distance. His figure returned to beneath the tree, his spirit merging back into the boundless darkness!

Neither living nor dead!

Whoo!

The light and shadow shattered. Li Yuan collected himself for a moment. The surroundings had once again grown dim, and from the darkness came sounds that seemed to be there and yet not!

"You Jing, corrupted land!"

Li Yuan took out the Rift Sea Shan Xuan Jing Hammer. The gaze of the stone statue immediately projected forth, guiding his path!

But beyond that, the surroundings remained a heavy blackness, making one's hair stand on end!

"The next two stations…"

Li Yuan thought for a moment, did not rush to leave, but instead flipped through the various texts Zhou Ying had left him!

Relying on his photographic memory, he had soon read through most of them. After pondering and digesting for a while, the texts left here by Shan Xuan Jing Gate—rather than calling them texts, they were more like Shan Xuan Jing Gate's records of exploring the You Jing. Most were about the You Jing—some experiences, some rumors, some speculations!

Among them, the descriptions of corrupted lands were very detailed!

"When a person dies, their spirit returns to the You Jing. Without incense offerings, they will surely become lost within. Divine realms become corrupted lands, spiritual manifestations become strange manifestations…

"

"Strange manifestations differ according to the divine realm—be they beasts, weapons, people, or…"

Strange manifestations, invaded by the You Jing, are even more bizarre than they were in life. Defeat them, and you may obtain traces left by those who came before!

"The You Jing contains many strange and wondrous lands. It is said that through some secret method, one can traverse ten thousand rivers and mountains in an instant, shuttling between the stars…"

After quite a while, Li Yuan stored these texts away. With a flick of his wrist, that quasi-Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing-grade Shan Xuan Jing Battle Hammer was already in his hand!

This hammer weapon was connected to his heart and spirit. Its size shifted boundlessly. He only needed to weigh it once to know this was a hammer weapon of the very finest grade!

"The trip was not in vain!"

Li Yuan was in a good mood, but what he wanted even more was a weapon with the enhancement effect of "Fifth Heavy of the Soldier-Nurturing Scripture!"

"Still have to keep walking and see!"

Li Yuan sighed inwardly. With the true inheritance trial unable to be farmed, he could only seek out this final trial!

Before leaving, he left a good deal of incense offerings in that incense burner, to maintain this ancient temple and prevent it from corrupting!

Of course, they were all low-grade incense offerings. Yuan Fire would have to be at least seventh-grade incense offerings—he couldn't bear to waste them here!

After a brief tidying, Li Yuan followed the guidance of the stone statue, passed through the ancient temple, and continued his solitary trek through the darkness!

"According to the records in Shan Xuan Jing Gate's texts, they cleared this Shan Xuan Jing Path very thoroughly…"

Turning the thought over in his mind, Li Yuan was also very cautious. The darkness around surged like a tide, with strange sounds echoing from time to time. No one would be able to relax!

After a long while, Li Yuan's footsteps paused slightly. He looked down. About three chi away, a broken stone stele stood, the characters upon it long since blurred beyond recognition!

Damn!

Li Yuan inwardly cried out that things were bad. He had walked this close, yet still hadn't seen the outline of the second station of the Shan Xuan Jing Path!

This meant that what Zhou Ying had said was true—this place had truly corrupted!

Hum!

The very next instant, Li Yuan retreated, simultaneously producing a wisp of incense offering and hurling it forward with all his might!

Whoo!

Like a torch streaking across the night sky, in that momentary flash of light, Li Yuan's scalp exploded with shock. Without a second thought, he seized a path and fled!

Within that darkness stood a ruined ancient pagoda. Beneath the pagoda, shadows gathered in swarms. A giant serpent coiled around the pagoda's body!

And atop the pagoda, a blurry ghost shadow stood prominently… Just that one glance, and Li Yuan felt his very heart and spirit trembling!

This ghost shadow held a square-halberd, looking exactly like the one he had encountered in the true inheritance trial—the 141st generation Shan Xuan Jing Lord, Ying Ying Xuanpeng!

"Shit."

Hearing the spine-chilling sounds coming from behind, Li Yuan's hair stood on end!

These strange manifestations were at least things left behind by Great Grandmasters. How would he dare to touch them?

Taking advantage of not having been discovered, he sprinted all the way back to the ancient temple where Zhou Ying was. After calming down a little, he grabbed his hammer and headed back in the direction the stone statue's gaze indicated, ending his first final trial journey!

"I've seen a ghost—such a huge pack of them."

In the great hall of Shan Xuan Jing Gate, recalling what he had just seen, Li Yuan still felt lingering fear. If what was in that corrupted land was truly Ying Ying Xuanpeng's strange manifestation, then the problem was serious!

Based on the fragments he had seen before, this former Shan Xuan Jing Gate Lord was at least at the level of a Supreme-grade Great Grandmaster!

"Even Wan Wan Zhuliu probably couldn't fight his way through, right?"

Li Yuan sighed and began tallying his harvest!

A quasi-Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing-grade Dark Whale Battle Hammer, the Dark Whale Divine Pattern, the formula for the Dark Whale Longhu Dadan, and a pile of texts left behind by the Dark Whale Sect — the most valuable among them being the Dark Whale Longhu Dadan formula!

The Dark Whale Longhu Dadan is the unique king of spiritual pills of the Dark Whale Sect; its medicinal potency even surpasses the Long Hu Longhu Dadan. Though it has no wound-healing effect, it can nourish the spiritual phase divine realm!

Next in value was the Dark Whale Divine Pattern!

This divine pattern can nourish a weapon-nurturing ground, and with it, he could gather heaven-gifted treasures and grow Dark Whale Battle Hammers in his own weapon-nurturing ground!

"What a pity, missing a blade that has been mastered and blessed to the 'Fifth Level of the Weapon-Nurturing Scripture'…" Li Yuan sighed inwardly. He looked toward the stone statue; it had long since withdrawn its radiance and fallen into silence!

He looked at the Dark Whale Hammer Spirit. The little fellow trembled lightly, but when questioned, knew nothing at all!

"At the second stop, beneath the ancient tower, there seem to be quite a few strange weapons? I wonder if there's such an item?"

Li Yuan muttered to himself!

But at this moment his stamina was greatly depleted, and he truly had no mind to challenge this Dark Whale Path again!

He sat down on the ground, browsed through the Dark Whale Sect's texts for a while longer, and only then

withdrew!

Perhaps because his stamina had been greatly depleted the night before, Li Yuan slept straight through till broad daylight, and even after waking still felt somewhat weary!

Walking in this You Jing seems to demand extremely high spiritual power?

Li Zhou loosened his muscles and bones, took a spiritual pill, and rose to stand in a stance!

The spiritual pill's efficacy fell far short of the Long Hu Longhu Dadan, but those two Longhu Dadan were being saved by him for blood exchange, so naturally he was unwilling to use them now!

"Hoo—"

After pushing through several sets of stance work, Li Yuan's spirit recovered. Just then, a knock came from outside the door!

A masked middle-aged man set down a food box and said in a low voice: "Elder Wang Chang wants to see you!"

Having said that, he left at once, not pausing in the slightest!

Li Yuan opened the food box. The fare at Plucking Stars Tower was not bad — three dishes and a soup first thing in the morning!

After finishing his meal, Li Yuan at last stepped out!

In last night's small courtyard, Wang Wang Wenyuan was practicing his stance. Li Yuan did not disturb him, and simply stood to one side watching!

Wang Wang Wenyuan's movements were slow, yet between the forms there was a certain rhythm — seemingly gentle, but in truth violent in motion. After one set was pushed through, steam was already rising from his sweat-soaked body!

However, Li Yuan could keenly detect a trace of bloodiness — this Teacher Wang's injuries were severe!

Could it be that he too was wounded by Wan Wan Zhuliu?

Li Yuan was muttering to himself!

Wang Wang Wenyuan had already slowly gathered his stance: "Sorry to keep you waiting, let's go!"

"This junior has only just arrived as well!"

Li Yuan followed at a leisurely pace!

Plucking Stars Tower was very quiet; beneath the great tower there was almost no one. Wang Wang Wenyuan, thoroughly familiar with the way, led Li Yuan to the front of the tower!

"The Eight Directions Tower is where the true main altar of our Plucking Stars Tower lies. Many people spend years in closed-door cultivation within it!"

Wang Wang Wenyuan took out a token and handed it to Li Yuan. The latter received it with both hands, gave thanks, and then walked toward this great tower!

Hum!

Amid a faint, almost imperceptible trembling sound, Li Yuan entered the Eight Directions Tower. Just as when he had entered the Dark Whale Mi Jing, there was only a slight strangeness!

Whoo…

In an instant the light and shadow shifted, and Li Yuan opened his eyes!

Unlike the Dragon Tiger Tower, before him was a layout just like an ordinary wooden tower!

Wooden floorboards, spacious, with stairs in the corners leading to higher floors. The only difference from an ordinary wooden tower was that this place was larger!

However, this was only appearance — this Eight Directions Tower was not made of wood at all!

"…There's even dried rations!"

Catching sight of the dried rations on a corner table, Li Yuan was dumbfounded. And just as he was looking around, a flash of light and shadow also appeared within the tower!

Li Yuan gathered his thoughts, picked up a hammer-type weapon from the weapon rack, and headed toward where the light and shadow was, beginning to climb the tower!