Chapter 620: Incense and Rituals

Wuu~

The gale howled, the sea of clouds churned.

Li Yuan moved with the wind like mist and smoke; before him stood the Daoist Shan Xuan, cloaked in black, and Yu Cang, carrying a bronze bell.

This clan head of the Prison Dragon Clan had chosen not to lend the clan's supreme treasure, yet in the end chose to follow with the bell, choosing to aid Daoist Shan Xuan.

"Daoist Shan Xuan... a Daoist of the Five Great Cavern Heavens of Tian Shi Yuan, or a Holy Land Daoist from another realm?"

"The Evil God Blood Phoenix, the initiation ritual of the Beginning Yellow Heaven... this Beginning Yellow Heaven must be one of the ancient powers vaguely mentioned within Wan Yu Shan Xuan Zong?"

"These ancient powers have no records in the Universal Knowledge Sphere... or perhaps my Universal Knowledge Sphere's grade is insufficient?"

Li Yuan was sorting and analyzing the intelligence he had just heard.

An unknown Daoist Shan Xuan came to the Prison Dragon Clan to borrow a treasure in order to slay a rampaging Evil God Blood Phoenix; his status was revered and his origins shocking, so even the Prison Dragon Clan had no choice but to lend their supreme treasure.

And the reason he sought to slay the Blood Phoenix was to enter the Beginning Yellow Heaven, suspected to be an ancient power?

Wuu~

The two traveled in silence.

Li Yuan's mind churned with various thoughts; at times he drew near to examine the Great Prison God Bell, at times he sized up the mysterious Daoist Shan Xuan through the hood.

Unfortunately, he could not see through that clearly high-grade hood.

"A Divine Treasure-grade hood!"

Although he could not glimpse the hood's complete information, relying on the faintly visible gleam of weapons, Li Yuan could roughly discern something.

The hood's grade was inferior to the Great Prison God Bell, but it likely belonged to the Divine Treasure category as well.

And beneath this hood, there were several weapon gleams, some strong, some weak...

"A sect that even such a figure wishes to join..."

Elder Li's keen senses caught onto a 'thigh', and possibly a thicker thigh than the Five Great Cavern Heavens!

"Perhaps among these ancient powers lies a method to resolve the Calamity of the Sun and Moon?"

As Li Yuan's thoughts turned, they arrived before a purple carriage; he lifted his gaze and saw the eight giants, towering as mountains.

Muscles knotted, pure yang and utterly rigid, vital energy like mountains and seas...

"Great experts!"

Li Yuan's eyelid twitched.

Unlike Daoist Shan Xuan and Yu Cang, whose auras were so restrained they were nearly imperceptible, these eight giants' auras were far more flamboyant and outward, giving him a much clearer sense of oppression.

"Not Unity, not Divine Palace..."

Li Yuan's heart trembled greatly: "These eight people have likely already condensed a 'Jin Dan' and a 'Dharma Ring'!"

Dharma Ring-level experts pulling the carriage!

Li Yuan forcibly suppressed the throbbing in his heart and slowly approached to sense; perhaps because he was before Daoist Shan Xuan, these eight giants had not restrained themselves, and vaguely he could sense the aura of divine patterns flowing.

Behind the skulls of these eight giants, a faint halo of light circled.

"Dharma Ring First Heaven carriage drivers!"

Glancing at these eight giants with teeth slightly aching, Li Yuan followed the two onto this purple carriage.

Hua~

The view flashed from bright to dark, then suddenly opened up.

This carriage contained a cavern heaven!

First to meet his eyes were rolling mountains and an endless expanse of land; after that, a lake shimmering with waves, thousands upon thousands of li across, vast as Wang Yang.

In the lake stood a treacherous peak, its summit blazing with light like the Great Sun.

【Purple Cloud Carriage (Twelfth Grade)】

【... A supreme spiritual treasure forged by the Human Race's Heavenly Artisan 'Ghost Sound' from the celestial body 'Purple Cloud Star', possessing the abilities to cross the void, enter and exit the Netherworld, swallow and emit incense, and change size at will...】

【Control Conditions: Purple Cloud Star Core, Star Body】

【Control Effects: Twelfth Grade (Black): Travel through Xing Xing Tongyou, cross the void, swallow and emit incense, change size at will】

Li Yuan gazed at the treacherous peak in the lake; the gleam of weapons was dazzling.

A Twelfth Grade carriage!

"Divine patterns interwoven, incense flowing from the feet..."

Yu Cang, who had been silent the whole way, was somewhat moved; he looked around, able to sense the thick incense; his gaze followed, landing on the cities situated upon the lake and the land:

"The 'Purple Cloud Carriage' personally forged by Heavenly Artisan Ghost Sound truly holds a world within."

"It is merely a fragment of a Divine Realm, after all; it cannot truly bear the name of a Cavern Heaven."

Daoist Shan Xuan clapped his hands lightly, and two maids shifted forward: "Clan Head Yu Cang, rest for a while first; wait for me to seek out the Blood Phoenix's tracks."

"Thanks, Daoist."

Yu Cang nodded and left with the two maids.

"Spirit puppets of very high grade!"

Li Yuan watched calmly; even though these two spirit puppets were lifelike and contained exquisite divine patterns, compared to this Purple Cloud Carriage, they seemed utterly ordinary.

Ordinary my foot!

"Spirit puppets of this grade!"

Li Yuan felt his mental cultivation was still insufficient; having traveled only half this distance, his red-eye disease was about to flare up.

Compared to this Daoist Shan Xuan, he was simply the poorest of the poor!

Dharma Ring-level carriage driver guards, a supreme spiritual treasure, high-grade spirit puppets, incredibly thick incense...

"Right, incense!"

Li Yuan jolted, finally looking at those cities situated on the plains and outside the lake; the thick incense within this Purple Cloud Carriage originated from these cities.

Buzz~

Li Li Yuanzhong focused intensely, his gaze piercing through the clouds and mist to rest upon those cities.

With a 'Whoosh', various noises surged toward him.

"A sinful woman plucks flowers, praying for the 'Poison Dragon' High God's pity..."

"'Wind' High God, save my child, High God's compassion..."

"'Sword Spirit' High God's compassion, pity the believers; with a heart of utmost sincerity and devout prostration, all hundred calamities will vanish, and all ten thousand illnesses will be cured..."

"'Thousand Eyes' High God, I want to get rich!" "Red-Haired My Buddha..."

"'Thousand Yins' High God..."

Countless voices mingled together, unbearably noisy; in truth, these were not physical sounds, but at this moment, countless living beings in those cities were devoutly worshipping gods.

"Farming believers, huh..."

Li Li Yuanzhong slowly raised his head, watching the incense smoke converging from all directions, finally flowing into the dangerous peak.

This was the power source of the Purple Cloud Carriage, and also the cornerstone upon which this fragmented divine realm existed.

"Poison Dragon, Thousand Eyes, Wind God, Thousand Yins, Red-Haired Buddha, Sword Spirit God..."

Li Li Yuanzhong's brows knitted tightly.

Building temples privately to absorb incense smoke is a great taboo; thus, while Yu Yu Xuanji farms believers, he must also borrow the names of numerous deities to harvest incense.

"Tsk, protection money."

!

Li Li Yuanzhong's thoughts drifted slightly, and he began to understand the relationship between deities and the myriad races.

Whoosh~

The listening of sounds had not yet ended.

Li Li Yuanzhong passively followed Yu Yu Xuanji, watching him patrol the cities; the Yu Yu Xuanji who was aggressive among the Prison Dragon clan now counted his crops like an old farmer.

All kinds of living beings from various races lived in these cities; life was harmonious and surprisingly good, with no harsh taxes or natural and man-made disasters, and apart from daily prayers to deities, it seemed no different from the outside world.

"Venerable One, yesterday a human merged with heaven and earth, entered the Dao and became a True Person, but he resisted fiercely, unwilling to leave the Purple Cloud Divine Realm."

As Yu Yu Xuanji patrolled the city while treading on air, a spirit puppet bowed and reported.

"Knock them unconscious, then send someone to take their family to the nearest human star."

Yu Yu Xuanji gave the order casually.

"Yes."

The spirit puppet withdrew.

"Enter the Dao, become a True Person."

Li Li Yuanzhong watched silently, his understanding of Tian Shi Yuan's rules deepening in his heart.

Farming believers is allowed, but slaughtering is not; gathering incense is allowed, but building temples privately is not... Living beings below the level of entering the Dao can be farmed, but once they enter the Dao, they must be sent away.

"True Person, True Person..."

Until following Yu Yu Xuanji up the dangerous peak, Li Li Yuanzhong was still recalling the sights and sounds along the way; the various rules of Tian Shi Yuan gave him a strange sense of discomfort.

On the isolated peak, spiritual fields were everywhere, palaces formed groups, and various spirit puppets shuttled between them.

In the center of the palace group was a quiet small courtyard; outside the courtyard were a stream and bamboo groves, and within the fence-enclosed yard lay several plots of land planted with strange flowers and plants.

"Blood Phoenix."

Lying on a recliner, Yu Yu Xuanji casually picked up a Juan Sect and began to read.

Li Li Yuanzhong leaned closer; this Juan Sect was written in Origin Divine Script with various fragmented intelligence, all related to that Blood Phoenix, such as what year and month, and where she was suspected to have appeared.

"She really can run."

Yu Yu Xuanji took up his brush to mark and draw; soon, only a few locations remained on the Juan Sect: "Ying Shan Xuan Dragon, 'Fa Huan Yi Tong', 'Feng Wu Ding', 'Phoenix Child'..."

"Do they all want to compete with me?"

Closing the Juan Sect, Yu Yu Xuanji slowly stood up; his black cloak dimmed, and beneath it was a refined young man in a green robe. His face was as calm as water as he pinched his fingers to calculate something.

Li Li Yuanzhong was very close and clearly saw that as Yu Yu Xuanji's fingers closed together, faint divine patterns seemed to flow around him, splashing out tiny ripples.

"Snap!"

At a certain moment, his closed fingers were suddenly forced apart by an alien force; this force seemed extremely great, causing Yu Yu Xuanji's fingers to bend unnaturally, and blood flowed from his nostrils.

"How chaotic has the heavenly mechanism become? Someone is interfering?!"

Yu Yu Xuanji paced back and forth in the small courtyard, his expression changing multiple times; after a long while, he seemed to sense something, raised his eyes to look outside the isolated peak, and an old-looking Taoist priest hurriedly approached.

"There is a master!"

Li Li Yuanzhong was so shocked he felt numb.

The depth of Yu Yu Xuanji's foundation was simply hair-raising; outside were eight great magic rings guarding him, inside were numerous spirit puppet dao soldiers, and this old man...

"His aura is no worse than that of Yu Cang..."

Li Li Yuanzhong was secretly alarmed, guessing that this old man was probably the 'Dao Protector' dispatched by Yu Yu Xuanji's sect?

"Old Li?"

Seeing the arrival, Yu Yu Xuanji's eyes immediately brightened, and he quickly stepped forward to greet him:

"Are you injured?"

The old man looked dusty and travel-worn, with a faint smell of blood that would not dissipate from his body; hearing this, he nodded, somewhat apprehensive:

"That strange place was indeed left by that person; although extremely broken, it was also incredibly dangerous. If I had not brought the Xuanjing Daozi's 'Stabilizing Spirit Bell', not only that squad of dao soldiers, but even I would have fallen inside."

"It is good that Old Li is unharmed."

Yu Yu Xuanji breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately asked: "Did you gain anything?"

"I have not failed in my mission!"

The old man's face broke into a smile; he spread his five fingers and drew out a scroll of unknown beast hide.

"Excellent! That person indeed left behind the ritual. If this ritual were easier, I would have had no desire to contend with Ying Ying Shan Xuan Long and Feng Feng Wu Ding!"

Shan Xuan Xuanjing Daozi's eyes brightened greatly as he reached out and took the beast hide.

The old man, however, stepped back several paces: "Xuanjing Daozi, this is the hide of the 'Lifeless Goat,' inscribed with divine runes that permit only one person to read it. I did not open it the entire journey."

"Hmm?"

Li Yuan, who had been silently listening to the two converse, heard this and hurriedly moved closer.

(End of this chapter)