Chapter 751: Three Saints Records, the Sky-Spanning Law Net (Combined Chapter)

Behind the solemn divine statue was a mural, long since completed and bearing the marks of considerable age, inscribed with the Diagram of the Three Teachings' Stations and Ranks.

Occupying the highest position were three exceedingly ancient runes.

Among the intelligence Li Yuan had gathered were corresponding records: the center one was Hongmeng, the right was Jieyun, and the left was Suming.

These corresponded to the Three Saints of Xuanhuang.

The five runes beneath the Three Saints corresponded to the Five Emperors of Xuanhuang.

"The Three Saints of Xuanhuang—Hongmeng, Jieyun, Suming; the Five Emperors of Xuanhuang—Yonglie, Jinshi, Lushen, Chengjie, Guizang; the Twelve Immortals of Xuanhuang—Yuyi Immortal, Caizui Immortal, Zhiming Immortal, Jingming Immortal…"

Li Yuan committed this Diagram of Stations and Ranks to memory; outwardly he only cast a casual glance, unremarkable among the throng of worshippers.

The temple had nine stories, enshrining the various gods of the Three Teachings, arranged precisely to match the Diagram of the Three Teachings' Stations and Ranks—only this temple was a touch too small, possessing only the principal sacrifices and no accompanying offerings.

What was truly complete were only the chief deities of the upper three tiers, namely the Three Saints, Five Emperors, and Twelve Immortals.

He had looked specifically and found no Yanbo Diaosou, clearly indicating that after leaving the realm, he was no longer among the Twelve Immortals.

【Three Saints Temple Front Incense Burner (Fourth-tier)】

【Three Saints Temple Plaque (Third-tier)】

【Three Saints Temple Wooden Fish (Third-tier)】

Before long, Li Yuan had made a full circuit, reviewing the information on the various Gu Gu Shentong artifacts one by one.

Toward evening, he walked out of the temple and headed straight for the largest tavern in Heishan City, securing a seat by the window, where he listened to the discussions of patrons on every floor while gazing down at the ancient city outside.

"There's only that one cultivator…"

Li Yuan leaned against the window and looked out, yet felt a twinge of doubt and suspicion in his heart.

Although he had restrained his qi and divine sense, he had walked the entire city over the course of a day, yet stubbornly failed to spot a second cultivator.

Neither the Heishan City Lord's Manor nor the Three Saints Temple showed any trace of cultivation qi…

"Something's not right."

Li Yuan looked up at the firmament; the three great suns had not yet set, only the light and heat had shifted, transforming from sun to moon, still hanging high in the sky as if unchanging since time immemorial.

The intelligence regarding the Xuanhuang Realm flowed through his mind.

The Xuanhuang Realm ranked among the nine supreme Weitian, capable of bearing more than one Heaven Lord-tier supreme existence, and throughout the Primeval Epoch and the Seventy-Two Epochs of Origin, it had been among the most active of the Weitian.

Master Master Fufa had passed him intelligence containing numerous records: the Xuanhuang Realm was extremely fond of plundering living beings from the present world.

Before the Origin Divine Dynasty had been established, a supreme overlord had even employed supreme divine Gu Gu Shentong to drag thirty-two star domains—billions upon billions of stars—into the Xuanhuang Realm!

Consequently, in the nine Opening Wars of the Divine Dynasty and Dao Sect, the Xuanhuang Realm had repeatedly been the first to bear the brunt; needless to say Dao Lord-tier, even Heaven Lord-tier supreme overlords had fallen in numbers exceeding one.

Among the Three Saints of Xuanhuang, aside from Saint Hongmeng, the other two had attained the Dao later.

"The great Xuanhuang Realm is exceedingly warlike, stemming from the instinctive drive of the Xuanhuang World Tree to inhale external matter and nourish its own Weitian; thus, cultivators of this realm are not only fierce and fearless of death, but also extremely numerous…"

Chewing over Master Master Fufa's intelligence, Li Yuan frowned inwardly—was it because the place he found himself in was too remote, or had this realm undergone some unusual changes after its sealing?

"Can't rush things…"

Letting his thoughts churn, Li Yuan settled into his seat and began sampling Heishan City's local delicacies.

The taste was quite ordinary, nowhere near comparable to the spirit cuisine of Mount Mount Dongxuan; its only merit lay in novelty, but he was not picky, eating his meal at an unhurried pace.

Li Yuan planned to blend himself completely into the living beings of this realm; whatever grand undertaking the Heaven Lords intended, all a mere Fourth-realm cultivator like himself could do was protect his own well-being.

Thereafter, he would adapt as circumstances dictated.

……

……

"Hum~"

In the Great Luo Hall, light and shadow interweaved.

Within a curtain of light, it seemed as if ten thousand curtains of light and shadow were shifting and flowing, corresponding to all cultivators who had entered the Xuanhuang Realm through the Great Luo Records.

The Weitian Martial Exhibition encompassed a broad scope; besides Dao Sect cultivators, it also included disciples taken in by various true inheritors, as well as cultivators ranked high on the Combat Rankings of the various realms.

"Everyone's being very cautious."

Daoist Daoist Tianyun observed the curtain of light; though he occupied the humblest seat, his realm was by no means low—a sweep of his divine sense brought every curtain of light into view.

"This exhibition totals six hundred seventy-four thousand three hundred sixty-two people…"

"In recent years, every faction has noticeably increased its recruitment of disciples; this scale is several times larger than what it was in our day."

"Though the number is not small, scattered across the Xuanhuang Realm, it's like drops of water into the sea—truly worthy of a supreme Weitian!"

"Strange and bizarre—why are the cultivators of this Xuanhuang Realm so few?"

In the Great Luo Hall, divine sense avatars occupied fully half the cushions; the assembled Great Luo Heaven cultivators were all watching the exhibition, chattering animatedly—some astonished, some perplexed and doubtful.

"Something's a bit off."

It was not only Daoist Daoist Tianyun; quite a few in the hall frowned.

They were all major cultivators of the Qi Jing and above, with deep understanding of the Nine Realms of Opening Gui Xu; most had dealt with Xuanhuang cultivators before, and many had even personally visited the Xuanhuang Realm.

Yet what was reflected in the ten thousand curtains of light differed vastly from their understanding.

"The upheaval should stem from the sealing of Xuanhuang."

Someone spoke; Daoist Daoist Tianyun looked over and saw it was Daoist Wang Xuanying, seated in the second row—a formidable figure who had in life Xiu Zhi Shi Jing peak, just one step short of ascending to Dao Lord.

"The source, I suspect, is still Heaven Lord Daoist Yuan Ming transmitting the Dao into Xuanhuang…"

The cultivators in the front rows had broader vision; even separated by unknown hundreds of thousands of li of void, they had faintly glimpsed something unusual.

"The Virtue and Dharma and the Dao Essence of the Xuanhuang Realm, even its heaven and earth spiritual qi, are all covered by a great 'net'—this should be to suppress the upheaval caused by Heaven Lord Daoist Yuan Ming transmitting the Dao?"

The speaker was Dao Lord Baigu.

This Dao Lord, who bore the name White Bone, appeared instead like a refined scholar, his aura pure and his voice gentle.

"It is more than mere covering…"

On the high platform, the purple-robed Daoist shook his head; he gazed toward the Xuanhuang Realm deep within Opening Gui Xu, as if he had long known of the Xuanhuang Realm's upheaval:

"In years past, when the Lord of Primordial Brightness transmitted the Dao to Xuanhuang, he nearly tore apart that Weitian. The Three Saints of Xuanhuang all struck at once, causing the Xuanhuang World Tree to fall silent…"

"After the realm was sealed, that Hongmeng Daoist who had fled far into the Dun Hun Dun Fa Jie seemed to manifest his Dao-transformed body, and joined forces with the Two Saints of Fate and Calamity, refining the entire Xuanhuang world into a single dharma net…"

The purple-robed Daoist spoke calmly.

"A dharma net?"

A disciple asked in confusion: "May I ask the Master, what power does that dharma net possess?"

"Spiritual Qi as its source, the laws of magic as its foundation, the Daos of the Three Saints and Five Emperors as its medium… the Xuanhuang realm, the San Qian Shi Fa Jie, and even the countless lesser worlds within them, all fused into one."

The purple-robed Daoist showed a measure of admiration, and also of regret: "Once this dharma net was formed, no one could ever transmit the Dao within Xuanhuang again."

"This…"

The disciple who had asked was utterly baffled.

"All Daos return to the one. That Hongmeng Daoist truly lives up to his name as the foremost Saint of Xuanhuang; his realm is likely no less than the Di Tian of the Wu Shen Fa Jie, or the Mu Mu Xiantian Demon Emperor of old."

The Dao Lord of Yujing clapped his hands and sighed, as if he had already glimpsed the wonder of that dharma net.

The other Dao Lords all nodded as well, several of them wearing rather Solemn expressions.

"Three thousand six hundred have already perished."

At this moment, Fayin Fayin Tongzi suddenly poked his head out of the void, a touch of annoyance on his face:

"That old tree is utterly unreasonable—it actually cut off all the world's spiritual energy. The moment anyone draws in spiritual Qi, cultivators of the Three Saints' Church immediately come to hunt them down!"

"Cut off spiritual Qi?"

Within the Da Luo Hall, quite a few cultivators drew sharp breaths.

How vast was the Xuanhuang world?

The San Qian Shi Fa Jie was merely a figurative number; in truth there were far, far more than three thousand. To cut off the spiritual Qi of so many Ci Yuan Shi Fa Jie—even a Lord of Heaven might not be able to manage that, might they?

"This, then, is the power of that dharma net."

The purple-robed Daoist was not surprised; the agreement of the various Lords of Heaven to hold the martial trial in Xuanhuang was naturally connected to this dharma net.

Within the Da Luo Hall, discussion broke out everywhere.

The purple-robed Daoist glanced at Lord Lord Tianyu; the latter said nothing, merely watching the shifting light and shadow within that screen of light.

"Lord Tianyu, what do you make of this dharma net?"

The Dao Sovereign spoke to ask.

"Magnificent."

A flash of baleful Qi passed through Lord Lord Tianyu's brow: "With such a dharma net, the threat of this realm is no less than that of the Tian Mo Fa Jie. The next time we open a new world, Xuanhuang must be the first to be destroyed!"

In that instant, the entire Da Luo Hall fell silent, sensing the grim killing intent.

"The various Lords of Heaven share this view as well."

The purple-robed Daoist gave a slight nod: "The potential of this dharma net is immense. If it can spread to other realms such as Opening Gui Xu, in the future Xuanhuang may have the possibility of surpassing the Wu Shen Fa Jie!"

The hall fell even quieter.

The cultivators of Da Luo Heaven naturally did not doubt the Dao Sovereign's words; all fixed their attention on the various images within the screen of light, seeking to glimpse the wonder of that dharma net.

They saw that within the screen of light, images would at times flicker out—the speed far surpassing any previous martial trial. The earliest to enter, Taihuang Heaven, had even lost a true disciple!

"It's only been a few days…"

Daoist Daoist Tianyun watched, his heart pounding wildly.

One had to know that cultivators able to participate in the Weitian martial trial were, at the very least, those with fifth or sixth-grade talent, geniuses whose names appeared on their respective realms' combat rankings.

But that dharma net was truly bizarre—the moment one drew in the world's spiritual energy, Xuanhuang cultivators would immediately detect it, followed by an overwhelming pursuit and slaughter.

That true disciple had been a Great Vajra who had cultivated eighteen rings of Dao, and was surrounded and killed outright.

'The world's spiritual energy he drew in actually affected his magic power, and even his spells and Gu Gu Shentong…'

Daoist Daoist Tianyun was shaken; he looked toward the disciples of Da Luo Heaven. Perhaps because they had only just entered, everyone was being very cautious, and no casualties had yet appeared.

But which cultivator did not draw in the world's spiritual energy?

Once they did, they would surely be detected by that dharma net…

"Is that brat really so leisurely?"

Daoist Daoist Tianyun looked toward Li Yuan.

The latter had not taken a single step since entering that small city, and had even rented a civilian house, looking as though he meant to settle down in that Heishan city.

"To think this Junior Nephew Li would be so cautious?"

Those watching Li Yuan were hardly limited to Daoist Daoist Tianyun; most of the cultivators in the hall could not help but glance at him a few times, including several Dao Lords in the front row.

The one speaking now was the White Bone Dao Lord.

"Having just entered a strange realm, one ought to be cautious."

Dao Lord Yuanhuang gave a slight nod of approval: "When I watched Junior Nephew Li ascend to the peak of the Sword Realm in the past, I thought his temperament was fierce and bold. I did not expect him to combine firmness with gentleness—rare indeed."

Once he said this, the expressions of quite a few cultivators in the hall grew somewhat odd.

Li Yuan's fame within Da Luo Heaven was considerable; most of the cultivators present had also challenged the Sword Realm in those years, and knew well the difficulty of reaching its peak.

And the scene of the former reaching the peak while bearing Yang Jian Kang Zhong on his shoulder was still fresh in many people's memories.

"Indeed rare."

Dao Lord Yujing expressed his agreement.

He took very few disciples—only those of the deepest talent. Li Yuan naturally qualified; had he not been a disciple of Mount Mount Dongxuan, he would even have wanted to snatch him into his own tutelage.

Lord Lord Tianyu did not answer, merely glancing at the martial trial rankings.

This ranking originated from the Da Luo Records; its rules of evaluation came from the wars of realm-opening, judging solely by the influence the trial disciples exerted upon the realm being opened.

Among more than six hundred thousand names, Li Yuan drew no attention at all.

……

……

In a remote corner of Fenshui Street in Heishan City, a new medical clinic had just opened.