Chapter 617: Merge Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing?

"According to what?"

Li Yuan froze for a beat.

His moral bottom line wasn't high and was quite flexible, but since they'd agreed in advance that it was a loan, he couldn't very well borrow it and never return it.

'So this is what Old Pang was after.'

Glancing at the intelligence on the Eight Directions Temple he'd organized on the stone beside him, Li Yuan's thoughts shifted slightly, and he understood at once.

Pang Pang Wenlong summoning Fang Fang Sanyun and the others over wasn't just for them to watch the fight…

"If the Catastrophe of the Sun isn't resolved, then any talk of inherited sects, of disciples and mountain gates, of a sect's foundation—all of it is empty."

Pang Pang Wenlong's expression was calm:

"On this trip to Tian Shi Yuan, the dangers along the road are truly hard to gauge. One more Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing might mean one more measure of certainty. Now that they understand this, as long as they aren't fools, they'll know what to do."

"…Thank you, Senior."

Li Yuan drew a deep breath and bowed in thanks.

"Forget it."

Pang Pang Wenlong waved a hand: "If you die on the road to Tian Shi Yuan, then under the Catastrophe of the Sun, everything ends—who owns the Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing hardly matters.

But if you come back alive…"

"Then naturally it returns to its rightful owner."

Li Yuan went along readily.

"Mm."

Pang Pang Wenlong nodded in satisfaction—Ruzike Sect indeed.

The two exchanged a glance; everything was understood without words.

Pang Pang Wenlong picked up that Juan Sect, his expression inevitably turning a touch complicated:

"As this intelligence states, the calamity of the Eight Directions Temple is truly hard to resolve, but we have no path to retreat. Whether it succeeds or not, we can only try."

"This junior will do his utmost."

Li Yuan knew what he ought to say, but in his heart he truly had no certainty—the intelligence on the Eight Directions Temple was still too sparse.

"Mm."

Pang Pang Wenlong looked at him deeply, then suddenly reached out a hand and seized a bronze mirror from the wind and snow.

This bronze mirror radiated a crimson glow; the moment it appeared, the wind and snow across the whole barren mountain seemed to vanish in an instant.

"The Great Sun Monitoring Heaven Mirror!"

Li Yuan recognized the mirror—after all, he himself held one just like it.

"In years past, following the guidance left by my Master, I scoured the world for divine materials and strange stones, using a sea of incense and offerings as a primer and a host of Xieshen Sect as kindling, seeking to forge a divine weapon that could rival—or even suppress—a Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing."

Stroking the mirror's surface gently, Pang Pang Wenlong's gaze grew nostalgic as he recounted for Li Yuan the full story of his forging.

After the fall of the Great Zhou imperial capital, beacon fires rose across the land; heroes contended without cease. Pang Pang Wenlong, who had spent many years in devoted Wu Gong training, emerged from seclusion at the right moment, swept across the realm, fought ten battles and won ten victories, crushed every contender, and secured the great fate of the empire.

He followed the guidance of the Dragon Demon Daoist, intending to forge a divine weapon.

"I once wielded the Rending Sea Shan Xuan-Whale Hammer, and from it obtained the inheritance of treasure-forging arts. After years of cultivation, I judged myself capable of forging a Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing. Unfortunately, I failed."

Pang Pang Wenlong spoke of the past without much ripple: "The twists and turns in between I'll skip. In the end, the Great Sun Mirror couldn't be forged whole. With no recourse, I could only split it into nine, forging nine sub-mirrors—one of which you hold."

Li Yuan nodded and took out his own Great Sun Monitoring Heaven Mirror.

"These nine Great Sun Mirrors contain the Great Sun spiritual aspect I cultivated. Perhaps stained by incense offerings and certain traits of those Xieshen Sect, they can hold a measure of incense and illuminate the path within a You Jing."

Pang Pang Wenlong took the one from Li Yuan's hand, pressed his palms together, and with a sharp *crack*, the two mirrors merged into one amid a burst of red light.

'The Great Sun Mirror's light is purer now—similar to merging weapons…'

Li Yuan focused his perception, his mind stirring slightly.

"Do you know why I forged this mirror?"

Pang Pang Wenlong asked.

"The jianghu rumors say it was to suppress the host of evil spirits of the Xieshen Sect, but given your Martial cultivation realm, that's clearly just rumor."

Li Yuan shook his head, indicating he didn't know.

"It's not entirely rumor. When I forged this mirror, I did have some thought of targeting Thousand Eyes and that old ghost Cloud Demon, but they aren't worth me pouring a nation's strength into forging a treasure."

Pang Pang Wenlong didn't play coy: "The real reason was to merge Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing."

"Merge Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing?"

Li Yuan's heart gave a jolt; he suddenly recalled what he'd heard from the Heavenly Sound years ago.

The listening-sound had mentioned that someone wished to gather twelve Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, intending to merge weapons…

'Could it be him?'

Li Yuan felt a flicker of doubt within, yet sensed something didn't quite fit. He kept his face neutral, merely looking puzzled.

"The origins of the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing you presumably know."

Seeing Li Yuan nod, Pang Pang Wenlong toyed with the bronze mirror: "My Master once said that if one could merge twelve weapons, one could open the Eight Directions Temple. Whether true or not I don't know, but now that the temple has already opened, there's no need to consider that."

The Dragon Demon Daoist?

Li Yuan's thoughts shifted; his impression of the Dragon Demon Daoist ran deep. That supreme grand master was not one to speak idly—after all, he was the ruthless figure who had dissected countless strange beasts for Yi Wan Xing.

Since he mentioned merging weapons, he had clearly attempted it.

"These past few years, besides searching for those two old ghosts, I've also been considering how to lend you a hand…"

Pang Pang Wenlong paused before continuing:

"The Dun Tian Zhou?"

Hum—

Li Yuan's mind stirred, and he released the Dun Tian Zhou from his Armament Space. A dazzling streak of light flashed as a miniature boat leapt into midair, growing with the wind,

In the blink of an eye, it had already grown to the size of a small hill.

The Dun Tian Zhou was small like a boat when shrunken, and large as a tower-ship when expanded, eighteen layers from top to bottom, its entire body a blue-black as if forged from refined iron, but in truth far harder than refined iron, able to withstand gale winds, water, and fire, and difficult for even divine weapons to scratch.

"Follow me." Pang Pang Wenlong leaped onto the ship, and Li Yuan followed step for step, entering the tower-ship with him.

Inside the eighteen-layer tower-ship, rooms large and small stretched beyond the reach of a single glance; the Dun Tian Zhou possessed the ability to contain space, its interior far vaster than what could be seen from outside.

Pang Pang Wenlong went straight to the eighteenth layer.

The eighteenth layer had one and only one room, vast and empty within, with only a massive three-legged bronze furnace standing at its center, inside which flickered scattered sparks of firelight, and the scent of incense could be detected.

"This bronze furnace is the hub of the Dun Tian Zhou. If enough incense is fed into it, even if the Dun Tian Zhou has not acknowledged a master, it can still be driven to cross the void."

Pang Pang Wenlong lightly stroked the bronze furnace; regarding Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, he understood them in considerable depth.

"Even after acknowledging a master, it still needs incense—and a lot of it."

Li Yuan added a sentence.

For three years, he had almost never driven the Dun Tian Zhou to fly; the reason was simple—the incense consumption was too great, he simply could not afford it.

"That is because the Dun Tian Zhou is incomplete."

"Incomplete?"

!

"Exactly!"

Pang Pang Wenlong nodded: "It is not only the Dun Tian Zhou—other Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing are likewise incomplete… Mm, in my master's words, the twelve Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing have closely matching natures and complement one another."

"Does the senior know how to merge weapons?"

Li Yuan's eyes lit up; if the Dun Tian Zhou did not need to consume incense—or consumed far less—then he would be far more at ease on this journey.

To go to Tian Shi Yuan, You Jing is the only option. If one chose instead to break through the Nine Heavens Gale Winds and cross horizontally through the starry sky, let alone reaching Tian Shi Yuan, whether one could fly out of the range shrouded by the Sun-Devastation within a hundred years would be hard to say.

You Jing is extremely perilous, yet no realm ever abandons its exploration; the reason, apart from the various strange lands and fortunes within, is that passage through it also occupies a great part of the consideration.

The starry sky of the present world is vast and boundless; the distance between two neighboring life-stars is so great it could make any being beneath a god despair.

But within You Jing, perhaps only a few days—or even a single shi-chen—are needed.

"Burn."

Pang Pang Wenlong did not keep them in suspense.

"Burn?"

"Mm, burn."

Pang Pang Wenlong casually tossed the merged Great Sun Mirror into the furnace.

Woooong~

Accompanying a muffled hum, dazzling firelight rose within the bronze furnace; the firelight pierced through the furnace walls, causing the entire room to grow sweltering.

An invisible ripple spread from the bronze furnace to the room, and even to the entire Dun Tian Zhou.

"The Great Sun Mirror possesses the ability to inhale and exhale incense, transforming it into purer flame essence. Derived from incense, it can temper Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, and can also cause two—or even several—Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing to merge into one!"

Pang Pang Wenlong paused briefly: "Of course, the Great Sun Sky-Surveillance Mirror has not truly been forged, and even if nine were merged into one it would be difficult to smelt and cast the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing. However, if the Huo San Mei Yin were added, it should be about enough."

"The Huo San Mei Yin, this…"

Li Yuan frowned.

Fang Fang Sanyun was not nearly as easy to talk to as Great Enlightenment Master; borrowing the seal from him would not be easy.

Pang Pang Wenlong, however, did not share this concern; he turned and asked:

"Merging Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing requires not only other Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing but also a vast quantity of incense. How much incense do you have on you?"

"Not much either."

Li Yuan somewhat reluctantly produced a fist-sized incense burner.

Over these three years, with the support of Pang Pang Wenlong and the Dragon Dao Lord, and the tacit approval of the other Dao Lords, the incense he had gathered was indeed considerable.

But merging weapons had consumed a batch, Ling Yin had consumed a batch, and he still had to reserve what was needed for Xing Zou You Jing; he did not know how long it would take to reach Tian Shi Yuan, so naturally the more incense the better for this portion.

Running out of incense while traversing You Jing would surely mean a death without a burial place.

"Seven-tiers incense, two hundred and ninety-six wisps; eight-tiers incense, nine wisps; nine-tiers incense, one wisp…"

Li Yuan silently took stock in his heart.

"That's a bit little. Probably only enough to merge two or three Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing… Mm, reserving what's needed for Xing Zou You Jing, at most only two can be merged in."

Pang Pang Wenlong calculated briefly and frowned, but soon smoothed his brow, a scheme flashing through his mind:

'The imperial court is not short on incense; if it is still not enough, then those sneaky ghosts of the Xieshen Sect will be dragged out as well!'

Li Yuan did not know what he was thinking; both reluctant and somewhat expectant, he said:

"When does the senior plan to merge the weapons?"

"Mm, the sooner the better."

Pang Pang Wenlong came back to himself: "The nine Great Sun Mirrors, the others—including the three in the hands of the little Emperor and Wan Wan Zhuliu—I will retrieve them all…

Mm, and while I'm at it, I'll go borrow the Huo San Mei Yin!"

As he spoke, he patted Li Yuan's shoulder: "The journey to Tian Shi Yuan is fraught with peril; this old man cannot be of much help, but as for these other miscellaneous matters, you need not trouble yourself over them.

You are to travel far after the new year; whoever you should see, go see them."

"This junior understands…"

Li Yuan cupped his fist in thanks; before he could raise his head, he had already been sent out of the divine realm, and Pang Pang Wenlong's figure was gone from before his eyes.

Whooosh~

A light snow drifted over Dragon Mountain.

"Old ginger is still the spiciest."

Reaching out to take the Dun Tian Zhou, Li Yuan sighed, then quickly steadied his heart.

Although he clearly knew Pang Pang Wenlong was bestowing a favor, he still had no choice but to accept it.

For one, he already had ties here—his second brother's family, Old Han, Old Lei, his martial brothers and sisters of the Divine Arms Valley, and Old Long Head were all here.

Moreover, what he offered was simply too much.

Even Daoist Li could not refuse.

(End of chapter)