Chapter 756: Bright Moon in the Sky, Shadows of the Past (6000)

February 25th.

The heavy snow that had lasted for nearly two months finally stopped, and the sky cleared up, a rare sight.

In the inner city of Lanling City, a duel was about to begin on Xuanwu Main Street.

Both parties in the duel had significant backgrounds.

One side was a true disciple of the Great Luo Sect, and the other was a high-ranking monk from the Pudu Temple!

Ning Chuan, who had recently broken the historical record, and Ming Qi, the holder of the "previous record," were both present.

However, the two parties in this duel were not these two, but their senior martial brothers.

The person representing the Great Luo Sect was named Ning Qing, and the person representing the Pudu Temple was named Minghui.

Neither Ning Qing nor Minghui were martial artists; they were sorcerers, both being Great Mages at the Possession stage.

The cultivation speed of the sorcery path is slower than that of the martial path, consuming more time, energy, and resources.

The fastest record for breaking through to become a Martial Master is currently 25 years old, while the fastest record for breaking through to the True Spirit realm in sorcery is 37 years old!

Both Ning Qing and Minghui were over 40 years old and were still at the peak of the Possession stage.

Both Buddhism and Daoism have actually always focused primarily on sorcery, and those in charge are all True Lords and Buddhas.

It was just that the Pudu Temple had recently used the National Martial Arts Exchange Tournament to make a name for itself, and took the opportunity to push Ming Qi to the forefront.

Coupled with the fact that Ming Qi had previously broken the martial arts cultivation record during a national broadcast, his fame soared. The Pudu Temple felt such a "spokesperson" was very suitable, so this time they also had Ming Qi represent them in the election for members of the Lanxun Pavilion.

As for the Great Luo Sect, it was entirely because True Lord Qingxu rebelled, implicating the sorcery lineage—those who didn't die fled—and it went into a direct decline!

Now that the Sect Master of the Great Luo Sect had been replaced by the Martial Saint Tai Yu, the disciples of the martial path naturally came out to represent the Great Luo Sect in this election for Lanxun Pavilion members.

That was why Ning Chuan was pushed forward.

The other two Daoist sects, the Shangqing Sect and the Yuhua Sect, both sent True Persons as their representatives.

However, since both Buddhism and Daoism have focused on sorcery for so many years, even though the Great Luo Sect and Pudu Temple sent martial artists as representatives, they still sent disciples of the sorcery lineage to accompany them.

Ning Qing and Minghui had come to Lanling City together with them.

Today's duel was initiated by Ning Qing; he boasted that he wanted to witness the sorcery of the Buddhist school, and thus publicly challenged the Pudu Temple.

The current Great Luo Sect was in urgent need of restoring its prestige, and after Ning Chuan's breakthrough, Ning Qing intended to further build momentum.

And the Pudu Temple, having been silent for many years, was equally unwilling to show weakness.

The two sides could be described as "dry tinder meeting a raging fire"—one spark and it would ignite!

And so, this duel took place.

Xuanwu Main Street was already surrounded by people, leaving a large open space in the center of the street for the two Great Mages to duel.

Although the people of Lanling City were knowledgeable and had seen many martial arts duels, duels between sorcerers were rare.

So, they were all looking on with anticipation.

The two Great Mages did not disappoint them; two sword lights flew out from their sleeves almost simultaneously.

The magic treasures that Ning Qing and Minghui practiced with were both flying swords!

Amidst a chorus of gasps, the red and cyan sword lights collided.

Boom—

The sound was like a great bell, making the thousands of people on Xuanwu Main Street feel deafened!

Immediately after, the two sword lights collided repeatedly at an extremely high speed; Ning Qing and Minghui stood opposite each other, less than fifteen meters apart.

The red and cyan flying swords drew streaks of light in the narrow space between them, crisscrossing, with countless sparks splashing everywhere!

The sharp, piercing sound of the air being torn apart came one after another, causing the onlookers nearby to cover their ears, their faces showing pain.

The howling gale was enough to knock an adult man over!

Ming Qi, standing behind Minghui, put his hands together and chanted a Buddhist mantra.

The next second, all the noise and strong winds were confined within this small space.

Ning Chuan, standing behind Ning Qing, saw this and a burst of internal energy also surged out silently, forcibly pushing aside the barrier constructed by Ming Qi and taking on half of the defense.

Duels between sorcerers are often even more dangerous than those between martial artists.

Especially for two sword cultivators, life and death might be decided in an instant!

Precisely because of this, Ning Chuan and Ming Qi had to stand behind their respective senior brothers to facilitate timely rescue.

Seeing that the two Martial Masters had already set up their "defensive circles," Ning Qing and Minghui no longer held back.

The next second, the red flying sword bloomed with towering flames, and the cyan flying sword brought with it a howling hurricane!

Relying solely on unparalleled speed and indestructible sharpness, flying swords could rank among the top-tier lethal magic treasures.

And these were just ordinary flying swords.

As true disciples of the Great Luo Sect and Pudu Temple, Ning Qing and Minghui's flying swords were, of course, not ordinary.

In addition to speed and sharpness, their flying swords also carried sorcery effects.

The flames and the hurricane collided violently, and a fire tornado with a diameter of more than five meters shot up into the sky, extending straight into the high air over ten meters!

People on several nearby streets saw this spectacular fire tornado and let out exclamations.

In the center of Xuanwu Main Street, Ning Chuan looked up at the crisscrossing sword lights in the sky and frowned slightly.

Senior Brother Ning Qing's flying sword attainments were firmly ranked first among all Possession-stage disciples in the Great Luo Sect!

Because he specialized in swordsmanship, Ning Qing even delayed his own cultivation; otherwise, he could have broken through years earlier.

This time, he took the initiative to provoke the Pudu Temple because he was certain of victory.

As a result, he didn't expect that this previously unknown Minghui would also have such peak-level flying sword techniques.

Ning Chuan had already made up his mind that regardless of the outcome of this flying sword duel, he would challenge Ming Qi!

He had lost to Ming Qi in the semifinals of the National Martial Arts Exchange Tournament.

At that time, he had one fewer implant than Ming Qi, and his realm and cultivation base were a notch lower, so it was normal to lose.

Now that he and Ming Qi were both Martial Masters with a single divine ability, he was confident he could win it back!

Although he had broken through for less than a month, Ning Chuan's mental power had long reached the "Divine Connection realm," and he had mastered Dao energy at the "As-You-Will" level.

Coupled with the legendary-grade Dao foundation 【Ten Thousand Thunder Life-Controller】, Ning Chuan's combat power was already superior to the vast majority of single-divine-ability Martial Masters just after his breakthrough!

Hum—

A sword hum, like a silver vase suddenly shattering, resounded through the sky.

In the air, the fire-red flying sword belonging to Ning Qing bloomed with a thick aura of life, as if it had suddenly come alive, transforming into a fierce tiger draped in flames!

The soul-stirring tiger might made the thousands of people nearby feel terrified!

"A life-bound magic treasure?"

Among the martial arts practitioners who had come to watch the battle in the surrounding restaurants, there were also some sorcerers, and their expressions changed at this moment.

Because the aura blooming from Ning Qing's flying sword at this time was clearly that of a life-bound magic treasure!

This thick life force, unique to an individual, could absolutely not be faked.

After the aura of the life-bound magic treasure bloomed, the speed and power of Ning Qing's flying sword were elevated by a notch, and the temperature of the flames released also instantly increased by several hundred degrees!

"It's True Power!"

Someone exclaimed.

Transforming virtual thoughts into True Power meant that the power would no longer be limited to affecting the mental consciousness of others, but could directly affect reality from the material level.

This power would become similar to a martial artist's internal energy, only the intensity was far inferior to a martial artist's energy, and it needed to be operated through sorcery to summon wind and rain or call down thunder and fire.

Ning Qing's flying sword first released its life-bound aura, then displayed True Power, its might increasing by two notches!

"Building the life bridge, condensing True Power, refining the true soul"—he had already completed the first two steps and was only one step away from stepping into the True Spirit realm and becoming a True Person of the current age!

Seeing Ning Qing display such a realm, many people felt the outcome was already decided.

However, the next instant, Great Mage Minghui put his hands together and chanted a Buddhist mantra.

In the air, the flying sword belonging to him also bloomed with a powerful life-bound aura and True Power!

In terms of realm, he was no weaker than Ning Qing!

Two powerful sword intents stood across the sky, causing many experts to cast their eyes toward them.

Just as the two were about to launch their strongest duel, a sword intent suddenly shot up into the sky from afar.

Immediately after, a thick, incredibly powerful aura of life bloomed and swept across the surroundings!

Ning Qing and Minghui's expressions changed drastically.

If the life aura blooming from their two flying swords was like a lamp in the dark night, visible to anyone from far away.

Then the life aura that had suddenly erupted in the distance at this moment was—

A bright moon in the sky, announcing itself to the world!

Such a thick life aura, let alone a True Person, even a top-tier True Person, or even the life-bound magic treasure of a True Lord, could not reach this level!

This had completely exceeded the concept of "life-bound."

Or rather, this aura was the one that truly interpreted for the world what "life-bound" meant!

Within the inner city, every sorcerer who sensed this life-bound aura was stunned, their minds going blank.

Great Mages Ning Qing and Minghui, who had received the true teachings of both Buddhism and Daoism, were also shaken, and for a moment, even their own flying swords were somewhat out of control.

Anyone who understood sorcery knew how deep the implications were!

The higher the realm, the more one could understand how incredible this life-bound aura, like a bright moon in the sky, really was!

Inside a restaurant on Xuanwu Main Street, a Daoist priest wearing a Daoist robe directly used sorcery to leap onto the roof, looking in the direction where the sword intent had bloomed:

"Who is refining a life-bound magic treasure?!"

At the same time, a few hundred meters away, another Daoist priest in a Daoist robe also leaped onto the roof just like him.

These two were a True Person from the Shangqing Sect and a True Person from the Yuhua Sect, each representing their sect to run for members of the Lanxun Pavilion.

The two had originally come to watch the excitement, never expecting that they would almost lose their Dao hearts at this moment!

In a courtyard within the inner city, a woman with an ethereal temperament and beautiful features, wearing a white gauze dress, was drinking tea.

When that terrifying natal aura swept across from above, the teacup in her hand slipped and shattered on the ground.

Her expression changed drastically, and she stood up abruptly.

"Elder Shen?"

Several martial artists in the courtyard looked toward her one after another.

She was none other than Shen Zhen, the Supreme Elder of the Nightmare Sect.

"You all guard me."

Shen Zhen said quickly, immediately walked into the room, and performed a technique to enter the "Dream Realm."

Xuanwu Main Street.

Ning Qing and Ming Hui both retracted their respective flying swords, looking somewhat dejected.

At this moment, neither of them had the heart to fight anymore; they only wanted to know what exactly that natal aura from just now was about.

A moment later, news came back:

That aura from just now originated from the Jing'an Marquis Mansion.

"Was it caused by that Jing'an Marquis?"

"Has his cultivation of the sorcery path actually reached such a level?"

"It is rumored that he is also attempting dual cultivation of law and martial arts; is this the result of his practice?"

For a time, Ning Qing and Ming Hui were lost in a thousand thoughts.

"It's him?"

Ning Chuan also had a moment of distraction after receiving the news.

He looked up at Ming Qi not far away, and suddenly lost the desire to have a fight with the other party.

"Senior Brother, let's go."

He said to Ning Qing.

"Alright."

Ning Qing followed Ning Chuan, turning to leave in a somewhat absent-minded state.

"Junior Brother Ning Chuan."

"Hmm?"

"I heard you are very familiar with that Jing'an Marquis?"

"Not exactly familiar, just acquainted."

"Then could you help Senior Brother introduce me?"

"."

On the other side, a similar conversation was taking place between Ming Hui and Ming Qi.

Inside the Jing'an Marquis Mansion, Li Fei, who had just finished his cultivation, did not yet know what a great commotion he had caused.

He had just completed the "Life Bridge Construction."

Once the Life Bridge was formed, the dozen or so sorcery-type implants within his body finally merged completely with his physical form.

He had finally refined himself into his own natal object!

A sorcerer's physical constitution is usually about the same as an ordinary person's; even if they refine a magic treasure, with the help of the magic treasure's resonance, the final natal aura formed would not be too powerful.

But Li Fei was different; his vitality was too strong!

Although the Ten Thousand Blood Bead was currently in a "half-blood" state, it still had over 900 blood souls, nearly a hundred times stronger than an ordinary person's vitality!

Plus the blood souls stored within the Blood Spring.

Having not fought anyone for such a long time, the blood souls in Li Fei's Blood Spring had reached 3, 00!

This was the most blood souls the Blood Spring had ever stored, and it had reached its own limit.

Previously, Li Fei had never stored the 【Blood Spring】 to its limit, so he did not know how many it could store at most.

Now he knew.

This was also the reason why he did not immediately perform an enhancement after gaining another opportunity to strengthen his blood soul technique.

The most cost-effective 【Blood Spring】 did not need enhancement for the time being.

With the 3, 00 blood souls in the Blood Spring plus the 900-plus blood souls in the Ten Thousand Blood Bead, Li Fei's total life value was close to 4, 00 blood souls!

Even a Grandmaster did not have such powerful vitality, let alone a sorcerer?

Refining a natal object with such vitality, and then conducting deep-level resonance, created the scene of "a bright moon filling the sky."

In the secret chamber, Li Fei carefully experienced the changes in his body.

After the "Life Bridge Construction" was completed, a sorcerer could resonate with their natal magic treasure at a deeper level, thereby stimulating more powerful strength from the magic treasure.

Li Fei's natal magic treasure was himself, so what he enhanced was not only the power of sorcery, but also the power of martial arts!

The final result was that his "Sword State" was enhanced in every aspect!

"This feeling..."

Li Fei clenched his fists, having an urge to find someone to have a fight with.

He felt that he was terrifyingly strong now.

Suppressing the urge in his heart, Li Fei channeled his enhanced sorcery power to pull on the Heavenly Water Soul Bone within his Dao foundation.

A moment later, he opened his eyes again.

"Still a bit short."

A look of regret appeared on Li Fei's face.

After the "Life Bridge Construction," although his combat power was enhanced in every aspect, the increase in sorcery power was not that great, and it was still a bit short of completely pulling the Heavenly Water Soul Bone within his Dao foundation.

"Then continue!"

Li Fei's gaze sharpened.

Taking advantage of his good state, he simply did not rest, intending to make a one-time effort to continue the breakthrough!

The next step was "True Power Condensation"; this step required maintaining deep-level resonance with the magic treasure through the "Life Bridge" at all times, and then constantly condensing one's own void thoughts, turning the void into truth.

Li Fei was his own natal magic treasure; there was no sorcerer in the world with a closer connection to their natal magic treasure than him.

Therefore, the difficulty for him to condense true power was also very low.

Just like that, Li Fei continued to stay in the secret chamber to seclude himself.

This kept the Marquis Mansion's steward and Lu Wenxing and the others very busy.

After that natal aura startled half the city, one batch of people after another ran to the Jing'an Marquis Mansion, all proposing that they wanted to visit the Jing'an Marquis.

Lu Wenxing could only decline on Li Fei's behalf, claiming that the Marquis was currently in seclusion and it was inconvenient to see guests.

It was not until late at night that the gates of the Marquis Mansion finally became quiet.

Suddenly, the Marquis Mansion's steward ran quickly into the main hall:

"Lord Lu!"

Lu Wenxing looked exhausted: "Who has come again?"

"It, it is someone from the palace!"

The steward had seen some big scenes, but he was still a bit nervous at this moment.

Upon hearing this, Lu Wenxing immediately perked up, stood up quickly, and hurried toward the main gate.

Soon, he saw a eunuch at the gate and could not help but feel a shock in his heart:

"Greetings, Eunuch Feng! Please, come inside."

The person who came was none other than the imperial eunuch Feng Cheng!

"Lord Lu, no need for formalities; I will just ask two questions and leave."

Feng Cheng said with a smile.

Lu Wenxing did not dare to be negligent and asked cautiously:

"Does His Majesty have any instructions?"

He could decline others, but if that His Majesty in the palace spoke, he would have to disturb Li Fei no matter what.

Feng Cheng said in a gentle tone:

"Lord Lu, no need to be nervous; His Majesty just sent me to ask a few questions."

"Please speak."

"Was that commotion today caused by the Jing'an Marquis?"

"Yes, it was caused when the Marquis was in seclusion for cultivation."

"Is the Jing'an Marquis still in seclusion at this time?"

"Yes."

"Is his cultivation going smoothly?"

"Smoothly."

"That is good."

Feng Cheng nodded with a smile, intending to leave.

"Eunuch Feng!"

Lu Wenxing hurriedly spoke to keep the other party.

He knew that after Li Fei came out of seclusion last month, he had been actively requesting an audience with the Emperor, but had been rejected every time.

Now that he had finally waited for that person in the palace to take the initiative, he had to help Li Fei sound out the situation no matter what:

"May I ask if His Majesty is willing to see the Marquis now?"

Feng Cheng smiled slightly: "I dare not speculate on His Majesty's thoughts, but after receiving news about the Marquis of Jing'an today, there was a smile on His Majesty's face."

Lu Wen was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately bowed to Feng Cheng:

"Many thanks, Eunuch Feng!"

If he hadn't known that this Chief Eunuch of the Inner Palace was an unfathomable Grandmaster, and that he himself certainly couldn't produce anything that could move the other party, Lu Wen would have tried to bribe him with something regardless of the cost.

"You are too polite, Lord Lu. I shall return now; His Majesty is still waiting for me in the palace."

"Please walk slowly, Eunuch Feng."

After seeing Feng Cheng off, Lu Wen walked toward the interior of the manor with a look of joy on his face.

His steps were even a bit light.

On the same night, in the outer city of Lanling City.

The outer city was a district expanded later, and it had many more Western-style buildings compared to the old district of the inner city.

There were actually more high-rise buildings.

However, the population density of the outer city was also far greater than that of the inner city, and it was a mixed bag of people.

There were not only people from all over, but also people from the grasslands, the deserts, and even Westerners.

In a small three-story pavilion, two tall men wearing Western formal attire walked up to the second floor and met with two men wearing black robes in the main hall.

"Did you bring the items?"

One of the men in black robes asked.

His voice was low, there was a scar on the back of his right hand, and a powerful aura faintly radiated from his body; he was clearly a martial artist of no small strength.

The two tall men in Western formal attire sitting opposite him were clearly Westerners, with blue eyes, brown hair, and white skin.

One of the Westerners with a high nose bridge spoke in stiff official language of Great Lan, word by word:

"Where are the things we want?"

The scarred man turned his head to look at his companion, who picked up a metal briefcase from the edge of the sofa and placed it on the coffee table.

After dialing the code, this person did not rush to open the briefcase, but instead, a flash of light appeared in his eyes as he injected a strand of mental energy into the case.

The next second, he slowly opened the briefcase and displayed the contents to the two Westerners opposite him:

Stacked in layers, there were at least thirty-some secret manuals!

"I want to verify their authenticity."

The Westerner with the high nose bridge said.

The man with the scar on his hand sneered: "The oath has already been sworn, are you still afraid they are fake? Besides, how could you verify the authenticity of these martial arts manuals in such a short time?"

The Westerner with the high nose bridge looked into the scarred man's eyes, and strange light flickered in his blue eyes.

"What do you want to do?!"

A flash of killing intent crossed the scarred man's eyes, and he became vigilant.

"You, look into my eyes and say it once: all the manuals in the case are real."

The Westerner with the high nose bridge said word by word.

The scarred man sneered upon hearing this, but he still complied, looking into the other party's eyes and repeating the other party's words.

A mysterious aura permeated the room, and the Westerner with the high nose bridge seemed to suddenly transform into a distant star.

After the scarred man finished speaking, he nodded: "Good."

The star-like aura vanished completely.

"Where are the things we want?"

The scarred man asked while signaling his companion to close the briefcase again.

"We didn't bring them."

The Westerner with the high nose bridge looked calm.

"What did you say?"

Astonishing killing intent erupted from the scarred man's body, and he looked at the two Westerners before him with a ferocious expression:

"Playing a double-cross? Just because of you? Do you believe that you won't even be able to walk out of this building?!"

"No, no, no."

The Westerner opposite shook his head with a calm expression, "It's not a double-cross, the transaction can continue, it's just that we learned today that that Marquis has produced an astonishing phenomenon again; it seems he is not far from breaking through his realm."

"What do you mean?"

"In your words—you have to pay more."

"."

The scarred man had not expected this turn of events.

He quickly flew into a rage: "The price was already agreed upon in advance, you dare to play me?!"

"You don't need to act anymore; we have long known that the items are not for you, but for the person behind you, and the goal is to prevent that Marquis from breaking through his realm."

The Westerner with the high nose bridge said with a smile, "We are also considering it for your sake; the target's current strength and realm are much stronger than that person named Hao Yi back then. If you want to stop the target from breaking through, it is best to use many times more 'materials' than before."

"Therefore, you have to pay more!"

Seeking monthly votes.

(End of chapter)