Chapter 625: Han Han Chuijun Ascends the Tower

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Beams of firelight shot skyward, exploding one after another in the night sky, a dazzling array of five colors, quite beautiful to behold.

With a light snowfall, another year's end had arrived.

Inside the Dragon-Tiger Tower, a grand banquet was held, with fully a dozen tables.

The elders and true disciples of the Dragon-Tiger Temple, along with some inner disciples famous on the Dragon-Tiger List, were all present; the atmosphere was lively, and by the time the banquet dispersed, most people were drunk.

"Why didn't Senior Pang come?"

After the banquet, as most people departed, Li Yuan glanced around and looked at Dragon Daoist.

"Where would Senior Pang find the time?"

Long Long Yingchan pinched his long eyebrows; ever since Pang Pang Wenlong clarified his identity, the task of contacting the various Dao Sects had been taken over by him, leaving little free time.

"Ready to make a move?"

Li Yuan's gaze tightened slightly.

"The Calamity of Sun and Moon will erupt in as little as a few decades, or at most a century; time is short, leaving us no choice but to act with haste rather than plan slowly."

Long Long Yingchan sighed and replied:

"Fortunately, preparations are nearly complete; if we can fight swiftly and decisively, we may avoid war breaking out in various places."

"Fight swiftly and decisively? I fear it won't be that simple!"

Nie Xianshan set down his wine cup:

"Ever since Senior Pang defeated those two old ghosts, the entire imperial family led by the Qian Emperor has gone into hiding; Shen Shen Qisheng, Wang Jin, Wu Wu Yingxing, and Yan Yan Tianxiong are also nowhere to be found..."

Perhaps due to the alcohol, Nie Xianshan talked a lot.

Li Yuan lightly rotated his wine cup.

Over the past three years, he had done nothing but practice martial arts, but Pang Pang Wenlong, Long Long Yingchan, and others had not been idle.

They had sealed temples across the land, cut off communication between the imperial court and local regions, hunted down the Zhenwu Hall, and suppressed armies in various places... In short, they had done everything possible short of striking directly at the imperial court.

But the Qian Emperor was far more composed than imagined, not appearing until just before the year's end.

"The imperial family has vanished without a trace, yet those ghosts and wild spirits of the Xieshen Sect are very active; Senior Pang has already killed quite a few of them, and hearing that several of the Nine Great Dharma Lords have appeared a few days ago, he has gone after them again."

Long Xi Xiang added a sentence.

In fact, only the three of them were relatively idle, and that was because Li Yuan was at the Dragon-Tiger Temple.

"Once the incense offerings are cut off, those evil gods naturally cannot remain hidden."

Li Yuan was not surprised; this news was actually something he had reminded Pang Pang Wenlong about.

"The true threat has never been these ghosts and wild spirits; Senior Pang captures them to force those two old ghosts and Wan Wan Zhuliu to emerge."

Long Long Yingchan paused slightly while speaking, then said:

"You need only focus on your cultivation; these matters are not for you to worry about."

"This disciple understands."

Li Yuan nodded, offered no argument, stood up, and left the main hall.

After watching him depart, Long Xi Xiang sighed: "What lies beyond the You Jing, where exactly is Tian Shi Yuan? We know nothing of these things; sending him there alone truly makes me uneasy..."

"This young man is far more steady than you."

Glancing at Long Xi Xiang, who seemed to wish he could take Li Yuan's place in going to Tian Shi Yuan, Long Long Yingchan was quite speechless.

"The Calamity of Sun and Moon..."

Nie Xianshan sounded somewhat melancholy: "Senior Brother, do you truly believe Li Yuan can find the Po Fa Jie Zhi Fa?"

"Only Heaven knows."

Long Long Yingchan fell somewhat silent.

In fact, not only Fang Fang Sanyun and Great Master Master Dading had lost hope; the few of them held no great expectations in their hearts either.

How vast is Tian Shi Yuan?

In comparison, whether a few decades or a hundred years, it is truly too short.

It is merely that, compared to the other Dao Sects, their acceptance is higher.

For no other reason: even if Li Yuan fails to find the Po Fa Jie Zhi Fa, as long as he lives, it means the lineage of the Dragon-Tiger Temple still exists!

"That Yellow Dragon Master..."

Nie Xianshan looked at Long Long Yingchan, wanting to speak but stopping short.

He knew very well that, given his senior brother's nature, he must have secretly met with that Yellow Dragon Master, and perhaps even struck some kind of deal.

"Let's talk about it later."

Long Long Yingchan frowned and interrupted.

"Leave the future to the future."

Long Xi Xiang, on the other hand, seemed to have come to a realization; glancing at his two silent senior brothers, he said:

"For now, let us think about how to slay those two old ghosts and Wan Wan Zhuliu!"

Li Yuan returned to the small courtyard on Dragon Mountain; in the yard, two little ones were tirelessly venting their energy, while Li Lin stood practicing stance nearby.

Under Li Yuan's strong insistence, his martial arts practice had been diligent; combined with an ample supply of medicinal baths and pills, his progress was quite rapid, having just barely achieved Inner Fortification completion.

Playing a huge role in this was the Bai Xing Dan, which had gradually become widespread throughout the Dragon-Tiger Temple.

Possessing the Hundred Forms allows one to clearly perceive progress in martial arts; this is the greatest driving force for practicing martial arts.

As usual, he instructed his second brother on stance practice, then pulled the two little ones over to give them guidance as well, only then returning to his own room.

"Squeak squeak~"

The moment he stepped inside, Li Yuan heard the familiar sound.

A glossy, sleek, puppy-like large rat leapt straight into his arms, nuzzling his hand affectionately.

"And you actually know how to come back?"

Li Yuan glared at it a few times. Ever since this little thing had entered the mountain, it would vanish for months at a stretch, utterly lost in its own army of mountain rats. Over the past three years, the matter of the rat infestation at Longhu Temple had once caused quite a stir; if not for him, this little rat would long since have been caught and skinned by the disciples of Longhu Temple.

"Squeak squeak~"

The little rat hopped down in some grievance, squeaked once toward the corner of the wall, and a group of field mice immediately squeezed out from a crack in the wall, dragging all manner of spirit herbs behind them.

"You do think of everything."

Looking at the spirit herbs covering the floor, Li Yuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Over these three years, the little rat had sent him no shortage of all sorts of medicinal ingredients, spirit pills, even broken divine weapons — quite a few of which came from Longhu Temple's herb garden.

He had scolded it plenty, but every time the little thing would look pitifully wronged, then go right on delivering more.

"Squeak squeak~"

The little thing stood upright on its hind legs, looking quite smug and pleased with itself.

"Alright, off you go and play."

Li Yuan rubbed its head. The little thing let out a satisfied squeak and vanished into the darkness.

!

"Damned Ba Fang Temple, won't even let me take a single rat with me!"

Watching the little thing depart, Li Yuan ground his teeth. The restraints of Ba Fang Temple exceeded all imagination — a kind of power he currently couldn't comprehend at all.

Whether the little rat or anyone else, none of them could see the road that led out of this realm.

"Huu!"

Calming his emotions, Li Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and entered meditation.

He circulated his true Qi, held his meditation, and mulled over the still-not-fully-mastered Wu Gong such as the Dragon Demon Heart Sutra and Bai Shen Fa, until deep in the latter half of the night, when he slowly opened his eyes.

With a single thought, he used the newly born Mi Jing within Dun Tian Zhou as a relay and teleported into Ba Fang Temple.

Hoo~

Yi Ru Wai Fa Jie, the Ba Fang Mi Jing at this moment was also Daoist Qun Xing Feng Feng Mantian, the curtain of night hanging high.

Without disturbing the Grandmasters and Great Grandmasters of the Yigan Sect who were comprehending the Ba Fang Tu down the mountain — over the past three years, Grandmasters of several great Dao Sects, even true disciples, had entered Ba Fang Temple more than once.

The instant he entered Ba Fang Temple, Li Yuan immediately sensed the spying gaze coming from Dong Dong Ershisan.

"Old bastard."

Coldly snorting in his heart, Li Yuan had absolutely no mind to exchange pleasantries; he lightly pinched the Ba Fang Token.

With a 'shua', light and shadow wove around him, and he had already arrived upon a stretch of scorched earth. In the distance, an intense great battle was erupting — thirty-six black-clad spirit puppets, each wielding blade and weapon, fought fiercely against a man.

It was an old man with grizzled hair and beard, wearing a ghost-face mask, gripping a Subduing-Demon Pestle in his hand.

The old man advanced with thunderous steps, his strikes broad and powerful; even as thirty-six spirit puppets of the same rank swarmed to kill him, he stood immovable as a mountain. A single Subduing-Demon Pestle swept in all directions, deflecting wave after wave of fierce attacks.

That old man was none other than Han Han Chuijun!

Over the past three years, Han Han Chuijun had spent the vast majority of his time locked in bitter fighting within the Dao Soldier Pagoda; the remaining time was either spent consuming pills or cultivating the Dragon Demon Heart Sutra.

After Pang Pang Wenlong had permitted the transmission of the Dragon Demon Heart Sutra to Old Han, he had become the greatest beneficiary of Yi Bai Xing Dan besides Li Yuan himself; his Wu Gong had advanced by leaps and bounds, and he had already achieved Great Completion of Marrow Refining.

If not for his intention to gather enough Thousand-Beast Thunder Dragons, he could already have undergone Blood Exchange.

"Peng!"

Li Yuan had not watched the battle long when, accompanied by a violent tremor, the surrounding spirit puppets vanished one after another. Han Han Chuijun staggered back and coughed up a mouthful of black blood.

"Still can't beat them."

Wiping the filthy blood from the corner of his mouth, Han Han Chuijun turned to look at Li Yuan: "Fighting evenly-matched opponents one against ten is already no easy feat — how did you, boy, fight your way up to the thirty-sixth floor?"

"I got there by trickery."

Li Yuan did not say it outright, merely glancing at the Subduing-Demon Pestle in Han Han Chuijun's hand. The latter's mind moved, and he immediately understood: 'The Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer?'

"The thirty-fifth floor of the Dao Soldier Pagoda requires defeating one hundred and five same-rank spirit puppets — the difficulty is too great."

Li Yuan spoke tactfully; he was on guard against Dong Dong Ershisan and that human-headed monster bird.

In truth, the difficulty of climbing the Dao Soldier Pagoda was enormous. Even for the current him, without relying on the augmentation of the Soldier-Roster, he had no certainty of reaching the thirty-sixth floor.

Let alone reaching the top of the Dao Soldier Pagoda.

"One against a hundred…"

Han Han Chuijun was somewhat speechless.

Climbing the Dao Soldier Pagoda varied from person to person; the Dao Soldiers one encountered were all very close to the climber's own strength. One against ten could still be called Liu Liu Jingshan killing, but one against a hundred — that absolutely could not be a conventional method of fighting.

"You needn't be so fixated on climbing the tower, Elder. I've already gathered the complete Kun Peng True Form Map; if you're interested, I'll give you a copy."

Glancing at the human-headed monster bird in the distance, Li Yuan pretended he hadn't seen it.

"This old man's climbing the tower for more than just the True Form Map."

After resting for just this short while, Han Han Chuijun had already recovered his vigor: "This pagoda itself, to this old man, is already a stroke of fortune!"

Although he did not possess the Long Hu Longhu Dadan, he did have the various spirit pills provided by Li Yuan on his person; such an injury was not worth mentioning.

"The Martial Dao — the Way of killing and combat. This place is inexpressibly wondrous!"

Han Han Chuijun stroked his long beard. He was not climbing the tower for the True Form Map, but had truly lost himself in it.

Out in the outside world, where else could he find so many evenly-matched sparring partners?

"…You should still take it easy, Elder."

Li Yuan could only express his admiration.

He too was Liu Liu Jingshan killing, but he had no particular fondness for fighting and brawling. Old Han was different, however — he could sense the old man's spiritual delight.

"Enjoying the slaughter?"

He glanced again at the distant human-headed strange bird, Li Yuan thoughtful, perhaps this was the real reason the human-headed strange bird—or Dong Dong Ershisan—had tacitly allowed Old Han to freely enter and exit the Daobing Tower?

"Let's not talk about this."

Han Han Chuijun waved his hand, he had no mind to listen to a disciple's instruction, even though this disciple's Wu Gong had now surpassed his own.

"Come, suppress your realm a bit, and spar with this old man for a round!"

(End of this chapter)