Chapter 536: The Secret of Fuhong

Mentioning the Second Sister Lidao made the atmosphere turn serious at once; Bilong Yuanbo hiding behind the scenes left him dissatisfied, and he felt a bit of jealousy toward the Storm Dragon—confronting the Chaos powers who had converted to the Four Gods was a greater display of merit and ability than cleaning up a bunch of livestock.

In a long speech, the Torch Dragon enumerated the Naga, the Tiger Leopard, and the Monkey Demon; most of their leaders were at the peak of mortality, at the level of the Threshold of Demigod. This was no weaker than the Greater Daemons weakened by the Great Vortex, and the most outstanding Taibao among the Dragon-Blooded could not handle them.

Over thousands of years, he had carved out a fearsome reputation as the Lord of Burning Wind, but his enemies were not fools. They learned to unite and coordinate, invading in waves, each time leaving Lidao overwhelmed and filled with towering rage.

Under the instruction of the Blood Ancestor, the Thirteen Taibao and Chan Master Kongxing surrounded Sinuoli, making small talk, and the Dwarf King never found a moment to ask about the details of the Meihouwang rebellion. Under the deliberate concealment of the various Dragons, only bizarre and outlandish rumors remained among the common people of Zhendan.

"Great King, please! This humble general dares to ask: how does one attain this transcendent power?"

When the banquet reached its peak, the Great Taibao named Licunmao fidgeted for a long time before finally asking the question the mortals present cared about most—Lidao also wanted to know the answer, as her twin sister Yin Yin had been the first to come into contact with Sinuoli and had a clearer estimation of his strength growth curve.

"Good lad!"

Sinuoli cursed inwardly; how did he attain it? He attained it by coaxing and tricking Latong's Beast-Taming Collar onto Miaoying's neck! Was this something he could go around proclaiming everywhere in Zhendan?

"Accumulating strength and waiting for the right moment, it is merely a natural result."

Thinking this while letting out a laugh, he noted that in terms of area and population, Zhendan was as large as the Empire of Man and Bretonnia combined, yet since its founding, it had produced far fewer mortal demigods than the two of them.

Sinuoli had once analyzed that the transcendents born on the human side were never without the shadows of gods behind them. The True Dragon of Cathay did not deify themselves, and Haotian Longdi rarely cultivated personally; as demigods, the Dragon-Blooded locked the upper limit of the Dragon-kin.

Beyond the Yin and Yang systems, the Dragon-kin mastered spells derived from their bloodlines, but those lucky ones who cultivated them to the extreme would find many people blocking the path to further progress—the Authorities that pointed directly to the Eight Winds, such as water and fire, had long since been carved up.

"The subtlety of this can be understood, but cannot be expressed in words!"

How to cross the mortal boundary and open the path to godhood was a top secret for any race. A single piece of experience was not replicable; it required generations of inheritance and accumulation to provide any guidance to those who came later.

"Enough, enough! This Commandant is tired; we shall discuss this again tomorrow. Someone, bring the tablets for me to flip!"

Lidao waved his hand; he knew that he couldn't extract useful information with empty words, and this time could only count as a familiarization contact. A Jade Blood Clan attendant brought over a tray of face-down jade tablets, and he grabbed a handful at random before rising to see his guests out.

"Master, why have you come to me in the middle of the night instead of returning to meditate?"

"Great King, this old monk is concerned for the million commoners of Weinan Province; even after chanting sutras a thousand times, I cannot rest easy."

Returning to the guest room and about to sleep, Chan Master Kongxing flashed in through the window. Facing the old monk who wanted to engage in Zen riddles, the Demigod lacked patience and gave a light huff to express his dissatisfaction.

"Weinan Province holds the Dragon-kin in high esteem, and the burden of taxes and labor on the common people is beyond words. Every time I plead for the people, I find my words carry little weight..."

"My experience may not necessarily apply to you. Besides, what can you give me? Explain it clearly in the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, and I will not keep you any longer."

"The Five Elements Warriors of my sect are spread across the world; seeing this token is like seeing me in person. I hear you are quite concerned with the secrets of Zhendan; the Scripture Repository in my temple holds many, and you may read them at your leisure."

Kongxing bowed and handed over a token inlaid with five-colored precious jade, immediately revealing the powerful intelligence network of the Five Elements Temple. Only the most gifted mortals in Zhendan had the chance to join the Jade Blood Temple, while the Five Elements Temple taught without discrimination, providing cultivation opportunities to every upright youth.

"Your Five Elements Temple is also a giant sect that has been passed down since before the Chaos invasion; you must have your merits. Tell me about your situation, and what attempts at breakthroughs you have made, so I can prescribe the right medicine."

Stroking his beard, Sinuoli's mouth curled upward, and Kongxing's hard-cultivated Zen heart could no longer remain calm. He was certain the Dwarf before him had a special method; otherwise, how could he have gone from being only slightly stronger than himself to making the Storm Dragon fearful and the Torch Dragon respectful in such a short time?

"Duang! Duang!"

Accompanied by the melodious morning bell, Sinuoli climbed the Heavenly Mountains through the morning mist. At the highest point of Fuhong City, a statue of a crimson divine bird was eye-catching—the Cathayans also called the Vermillion Bird a phoenix.

"Great King, please! This Fuhongsi is the ancestral home of our sect. Grandmaster Rama faced the wall here for nine years, achieved great enlightenment, and opened the altar to preach the Dharma and save all living beings. After he entered Nirvana, his immortal golden body was enshrined here."

Kongxing waited at the mountain gate with a group of bald monks and lay disciples who practiced while keeping their hair; not sleeping all night did not affect the spirit of the peak mortals in the slightest, and he followed Sinuoli step by step, acting as a tour guide.

"Thank goodness there are no Undead here; if a Necromancer saw this room, they would go crazy with joy."

On the lotus platform in front of the Great Hero Hall sat two golden, glittering remains that could be called solemn, and in the two corridors were a dozen more mummified corpses wrapped in cassocks of different colors, adding a touch of gloom to this place of purity.

"Who are these?"

"High monks and virtuous ones of past generations who attained the Innate realm."

The Western Lands didn't have so many twists and turns, but Zhendan had a detailed division of power systems: after the four realms of Body Tempering, Bone Forging, Qi Gathering, and Gang Condensation, one could be called a Grandmaster and rank on the Heavenly List. Beyond that, opening the Ren Du Meridians was the Innate realm, which was what the Old World called the peak of mortality.

Grandmaster Rama broke through through the form of sudden enlightenment, and after him, the Sixth Patriarch Shenxiu took the path of so-called Five Elements Unification—all five major methods pointed directly to the Innate realm, so what would happen if one mastered them all?

Later high monks believed that Shenxiu was a reincarnation of a great power with innate wisdom, and those who imitated him could at most cultivate three paths. No matter how one preserved their health, the peak of mortality was only 120 years of life; Kongxing had just finished cultivating the second path, and it wasn't certain he would live long enough to finish another life.

"You even cultivate other races?"

"Grandmaster Rama taught that anyone with a heart of kindness and upright character is welcome."

On the training ground behind the main hall, Sinuoli saw Ogres and Tiger-men; the large tiger standing on two legs looked just like the "Tigress" from the movies of his past life. Now that True Dragons walked the world, he wouldn't be surprised if there were pandas practicing martial arts.

"We have arrived at the Scripture Repository. The first floor contains ordinary books, the second floor is mainly martial arts, and the third floor contains some secrets."

"At the end of the Changyuan, the Long River may not be crossable. Many have tried, but the ancestral spirits in the river lead them astray, and all who cross fall into it. Some say the Soul Dragon lies within the river; the Soul Dragon is the Imperial Princess of Haotian, sleeping beneath the water, and the wandering souls follow her dreams to where they belong."

Waiting for Sinuoli on the third floor were sets of scrolls written by the heads of past generations, among which the materials on "Tang Zedong" caught his attention, as they discussed the Dragon-nü who had faded from history.

(End of chapter)