Breathtaking

The flying boat touched down in the immortal city. Li Zhi stepped off the vessel and looked around. Amid the layered green of cloud-wreathed peaks, countless towers of jasper and halls of jade stood half-hidden, their flying eaves dripping with morning dew and carved roof ridges catching the rosy twilight. Only this was the immortal realm Li Zhi was accustomed to, and the sight brought considerable ease to his heart. All along his journey here, every settlement he had passed had bristled with towering structures—forests of steel and concrete, completely alien to the style of the Native Realm—which had weighed on him with an inexplicable pressure. Seeing too much of such outlandish sights filled Li Zhi with a faint sense of dread, though he had no idea where the palpitations came from. Only now, setting foot in the immortal city, did his heart finally settle, reassured that the world was still the one he recognized. Li Zhi did not rush into action. Instead, he first turned his gaze inward to examine his sea of consciousness. Within the Sovereign of Men Ancient Palace resting there, the figure upon the throne had grown distinctly clear, grasping an ancient sword and leaning upon it against the floor. On the wall behind him was a depiction of Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains formed by natural grains. Flanking the painting were two lines of poetry: *Holding heaven and earth in hand to forge an empire’s base;* *Surpassing ancient sages to crown all past and present.* Outside the Sovereign of Men Ancient Palace stood countless military tents stretching beyond the horizon, all fashioned in ancient design. At the realm’s edge lay remnants of ancient battlefields, strewn everywhere with broken walls, ruined barricades, and shattered war banners, their chilling martial air sweeping across ten thousand li. Li Zhi’s mindscape world was already fully formed; it lacked only one final catalyst before it could summon a heavenly tribulation, perfect the mindscape world, and attain Scenery Command. Reaching Scenery Command before the age of fifty counted among the paramount geniuses under heaven. Yet Li Zhi’s ambition by no means stopped there. When he displayed his dharma idol to others, the Sovereign of Men Ancient Palace was kept entirely indistinct with its gates firmly shut, preventing anyone from catching even a glimpse of the throne, the river-and-mountain mural, or those two lines of verse born naturally from the Heavenly Dao. Originally, the hall within Li Zhi’s dharma idol had been a golden palace—magnificent, resplendent, exhausting every measure of luxury and majesty—housing a throne upon which rested the Sovereign of Men Ancient Sword. But several years ago, spurred by a sudden intuition, he had journeyed far to the State of Ji and obtained a wisp of ancient Sovereign of Men karmic luck. From then on, the golden palace had gradually transformed into the Sovereign of Men Ancient Palace. Within it appeared not only the remnant phantom of the Sovereign of Men upon the throne, but also the rivers, mountains, and the empire-founding imperial poem. That line in particular—*surpassing ancient sages to crown all past and present*—sent waves of tumultuous ambition surging through Li Zhi’s heart. That was the ultimate destiny for any true man! With a changed mindset, one approached many matters differently. Li Zhi had come to Qingming this time precisely for his Scenery Command heavenly tribulation. A heavenly tribulation was a trial, yet also an opportunity. Since he harbored the resolve to surpass past sages and crown all eras, he had to treat every single tribulation with absolute gravity. If designed with sufficient ingenuity and guided by the machinations of a mighty expert, a heavenly tribulation could indeed be chosen. Li Zhi simply did not know that, in Wei Yuan’s hands, a heavenly tribulation could also serve as a tool—and even generate light and heat. Having surveyed the state of his mindscape world, Li Zhi felt his confidence surge once more. Guided by a Qingming cultivator, he made his way to the immortal city’s council hall. He sat quietly for a short while, when suddenly the hall seemed to brighten slightly. A faint prickling sensation brushed over his skin, and within the Sovereign of Men Ancient Palace, the ancient sword began to vibrate uncontrollably, letting out a sharp hum as though facing a mortal enemy! From behind the hall stepped a green-robed cultivator, walking at an unhurried pace to the head seat before sitting down with total composure. Her every move was like walking solitary between heaven and earth, utterly untouched by the world outside. Whether it was Li Zhi, an immortal, or an ancient Buddha sitting in the hall, none could leave the slightest impression in her eyes. Having not seen her for a long time, Li Zhi found himself entirely unable to read Zhang Sheng’s current state; he could not even detect her aura. Zhang Sheng seemed merged as one with heaven and earth, yet she sat there distinctly, making him keenly aware of sword qi even as he had no clue where it originated. Yet Li Zhi could sense that Zhang Sheng’s sword qi embodied absolute destruction. It could only be called the pinnacle of slaughter—a pure sword of killing. As fellow possessors of top-tier sword intents, Li Zhi wielded the sword of the Sovereign of Men; in terms of status and nature alone, it was hardly inferior. Especially after acquiring a wisp of ancient Sovereign of Men karmic luck, Li Zhi’s sword of the Sovereign of Men had transformed into the personal sidearm of an ancient Sovereign of Men, ranking among the world’s most supreme sword intents from that moment on. At present, one could call Li Zhi a Confucian cultivator or a sword cultivator alike. If he wished to switch to the sword path, his qualifications were sufficient to enter under either of the two Palace Masters of the Sword Palace. However, if the sword of the Sovereign of Men were used solely to cultivate the sword path, it would be akin to the Son of Heaven brandishing a blade to charge the front lines—a total waste of rare brilliance. Sitting before Zhang Sheng now, Li Zhi had initially felt a flicker of competitive spirit. But the instant the sword intent of the Sovereign of Men began to stir, sheer terror seized his heart. He could not even steady his own body; turning pale, he began to tremble slightly! Guided by the instinct of his supreme dharma idol, Li Zhi caught the distinct scent of death! Zhang Sheng was already settled in her seat. Somewhat surprised by his loss of composure, she asked, “Did you recall something unpleasant? Looking at your qi, it seems somewhat mixed and impure. Have you absorbed some karmic luck recently that proves difficult to digest?” Li Zhi’s heart jolted again. His attainment of the ancient Sovereign of Men karmic luck was an utmost secret; within the Four Sages Academy, only his patron master knew, while not even Duke Yansheng had been told. He had never expected Zhang Sheng to see through it at a single glance. Furthermore, her words seemed to carry deeper meaning—what did she mean by difficult to digest? The karmic luck of an ancient Sovereign of Men was naturally not so easy to absorb; Li Zhi was merely refining it bit by bit at present. Though he had converted less than ten to twenty percent of it, it had already turned his golden palace into the Sovereign of Men Ancient Palace, complete with the map of rivers and mountains and the imperial verses. Seeing Zhang Sheng inquire, Li Zhi hurried to reply, “Some time ago, I did encounter a great opportunity. But my capabilities are limited, and it has been somewhat difficult to bear, so I am still working hard to digest it. I have made a fool of myself before Master Zhang.” Zhang Sheng frowned slightly. “You call that an opportunity?” Li Zhi’s heart skipped a beat. “Has Master Zhang noticed something? Is there anything amiss?” Sword light swirled within Zhang Sheng’s heart, illuminating the surrounding heaven and earth, yet the faint sense of irregularity she had just caught vanished in a flash, nowhere to be found. Even when she used the Taiji Diagram in the hands of the old Daoist of the Sword Families Under Heaven to illuminate the cosmos, she could no longer recapture that peculiar sensation from moments ago. Yet that sliver of oddity had unmistakably existed. If it could not be traced now, it was very likely that a mighty figure had intervened to erase the karma. However, Zhang Sheng was no longer who she once was. As her cultivation deepened by the day, her sword intent grew ever more piercing and absolute; ordinary karma could hardly cling to her. Just like this moment, when a mighty figure had wiped away the karma, anyone else would have long forgotten that such a thing had even happened. Zhang Sheng, however, remembered it with crystal clarity—she simply could not speak of it, and even if she did, no one else would be able to hear it. Knowing where things stood, Zhang Sheng said, “It is nothing. Why have you come?” Li Zhi said, “I have reached the threshold of Scenery Command. To seek perfection, I came specifically to ask my worthy brother Wei Yuan for help. This matters greatly to my future path and karmic attainment, which is why I have set aside all face to come and plead for assistance.” Zhang Sheng said, “The bond between you and Wei Yuan is far from ordinary. So long as it lies within our power, we will naturally help. However, he is currently stationed in Yizhou, locked in a standoff with a stray immortal. That stray immortal is quite shrewd and refuses to take the bait, so Wei Yuan cannot leave for the time being. If you have business, you may speak to me; it is the same.” *Could this be the will of Heaven?* A hazy thought flashed through Li Zhi’s mind. He straightened his posture, reining in every inappropriate thought and calming his sea of consciousness before looking squarely at Zhang Sheng. Through the probe just now, Li Zhi had discovered that although his sword of the Sovereign of Men was a top-tier sword intent in the world, Zhang Sheng’s sword of slaughter happened to be its exact bane. It was just as if one became an emperor of the ages who could command all under heaven and flatten the four seas, yet would still be decapitated with a single strike by a peerless sword immortal stepping across the void. Looking levelly at Zhang Sheng, Li Zhi said slowly, “I would like to ask Brother Wei to help trigger a heavenly tribulation. I intend to complete my mindscape world within this tribulation. It has existed since antiquity, known as the Turbulent Era Tribulation.” Zhang Sheng’s brow twitched faintly. Her expression finally stirred, and she fell silent in thought. Summoning his utmost resolve, Li Zhi sat motionless, merely looking at Zhang Sheng. In truth, every time he saw her, beyond admiration, awe, and all manner of other feelings, there remained one sentiment that never changed: She was breathtaking.