The corners of Wei Yuan's mouth curled slightly as he stepped out of the secret realm, reappearing in the native world. Looking up, he immediately caught sight of a stream of azure sword qi hovering in midair.
Even if it were reduced to ashes, and even if he forgot Zhang Sheng's other three immortal swords, Wei Yuan would never fail to recognize this Azure Silk Rain.
After achieving a dharma idol, Zhang Sheng's immortal swords had become ever-changing, no longer bound to physical form.
Judging solely among all the immortal swords that had ever emerged from the Palace of Grand Beginning, Azure Silk Rain could not even rank within the top thirty, and barely within the world's top fifty. Furthermore, after manifesting a dharma idol, Zhang Sheng had gained countless profound arts, making Azure Silk Rain even less necessary. Yet this was the first immortal sword Zhang Sheng had ever cultivated, and the very same Azure Silk Rain that had once stood up for Wei Yuan, subduing every dissident with a single strike.
Thus, the moment Wei Yuan saw Azure Silk Rain, it was like a bucket of icy water dumped over his head. He instantly snapped out of his triumphant complacency, inwardly crying out in dismay!
He immediately wanted to tell the two sisters behind him not to rush out. But with the secret realm divided from the outside world, Wei Yuan lacked the divine sense necessary to pierce between two realms.
In the brief span of that thought, two wisps of black and white cloud qi shot out from the painting in the hall, condensing into the two sisters.
Wei Yuan sighed inwardly. He could only stand ramrod straight, facing his fate with grim resignation.
A faint thought resonated from the Azure Silk Rain in the air: "My cultivation has merely advanced again, so I specifically came to let you know."
Wei Yuan hurriedly said, "Hear me out..."
Yet Azure Silk Rain had already dissipated back into heaven and earth, clearly having no desire to hear his explanation.
Wei Yuan stood frozen for a moment before muttering to himself, "Everyone else inside was dead! Only these two were left, really..."
The cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning stood quietly, staring at Wei Yuan with expressionless faces.
In the end, it was Xiaoyu who stepped forward first. He glanced at the pair of sisters, patted Wei Yuan on the shoulder, and said, "Good eye. You've fed them well."
"What do you mean by that!" Wei Yuan glared furiously at Xiaoyu.
Xiaoyu merely said, "Nothing. I'm off to fight," and turned to leave, not caring in the least to hear whatever Wei Yuan had to say.
Wei Yuan turned his gaze to Old Daoist Chuhe. "There are three stalks of Spirit-Attracting Golden Dew in the secret realm. Be careful when transplanting them; they carry some of Patriarch Huangyun's karmic ties."
Old Daoist Chuhe's eyes had been darting between the two young girls all along, unwilling to miss even the subtlest shift in expression. He knew full well he would never read anything useful on Wei Yuan's face, but these two girls made an excellent opening; one could glean plenty just from the way they looked at Wei Yuan.
Those two pairs of large, watery eyes remained fixed on Wei Yuan, completely blind to everyone else, their gaze clinging so tightly it practically drew threads. And those two flushed little faces were brimming with vital qi and blood from the inside out.
Only upon hearing Patriarch Huangyun's name did Old Daoist Chuhe's expression turn solemn. Without another word, he plunged straight into the secret realm.
Only then did the other Palace of Grand Beginning cultivators stop playing statues, their eyes lingering on Wei Yuan with all sorts of peculiar undertones.
Feng Chutang stroked his chin. "For someone under Lu Changhe to slip through the net is truly unfathomable."
Xu Henshui said wistfully, "When an immortal falls, the secret realm should cease functioning. Yet their vitality looks fresh as new; they are truly gifted by nature."
Sun Yu murmured thoughtfully, "Fresh it may be, but fresh on the outside and scorched within. It looks like they were only replenished just now."
Cui Yu failed to hold his tongue in time. "That word 'replenished' carries deep meaning..."
Wei Yuan felt an enormous headache coming on and quickly shouted, "Stop! There's still plenty to haul out of the secret realm. Don't just stand there dazed—get inside and work!"
The cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning swarmed into the secret realm all at once. Inside an immortal's secret realm, merely looking around yielded immense rewards, so everyone temporarily let Wei Yuan off the hook and went to explore.
Just as Wei Yuan let out a sigh of relief, an intuition struck him. Turning to a corner, he realized someone was still standing there—Feng Tingyu!
Feng Tingyu glanced at Wei Yuan twice, then repeatedly looked the two sisters up and down. "There are plenty of valuables inside, including three stalks of Spirit-Attracting Golden Dew, yet you carried the two of them out first? Are they really that precious?"
"No, I..." Before Wei Yuan could finish, an azure light flashed in the corner of his vision. Another Azure Silk Rain, which had been floating silently nearby, dissipated back into heaven and earth.
Wei Yuan was at a loss. Whatever he said now came too late. Stepping out of the thatched cottage, he was just about to take flight when he saw countless people pouring out from all directions, gathering toward the ancestral mountain square.
Several army commanders at the dharma idol stage flew over to report to Wei Yuan: these people were all remnants of the Lu clan, either holding high rank and power or possessing rich immortal bloodlines.
This crowd numbered over ten thousand, the very last elite bloodline of the Lu clan. Because no ancestral land of the Thirteen Prominent Clans had ever been captured in over a millennium, and because Wei Yuan had briefly slowed and even halted his offensive, the Lu clansmen had harbored the illusion that Wei Yuan would not dare break a thousand-year-old iron rule. Many who had initially planned to flee had stayed behind as a result.
Who could have guessed that after being ambushed, Wei Yuan would fly into a rage and restart the offensive? Furthermore, he had dispatched a flanking force north along the border of the two Jins, directly severing their escape route into Eastern Jin.
Now, the south and west of the Lu clan's ancestral land were occupied by the Qingming army, and to the north lay the Liao Clan. If the Lu clansmen wished to escape, their only path led to Northern Liao. But falling into Qingming's hands at least offered a chance of survival; falling into the hands of an alien tribe would be a fate worse than death.
Thus, once the Lu clansmen understood their predicament, they had nowhere left to run. Only a handful of dharma idol elders, relying on their powerful cultivation, managed to cross the ten-thousand-li snowfield and flee into Eastern Jin. Apart from dharma idol experts, the vast majority of Dao Foundation cultivators could never cross that frozen expanse alive.
How to handle these Lu clansmen was a major matter, but in Wei Yuan's eyes right now, those two streams of Azure Silk Rain were the true emergency. He grabbed Feng Tingyu and instructed, "Keep a close watch on these people first. Don't let anything go wrong."
With that, Wei Yuan leapt into the air, launched his dedicated high-speed missile mid-flight, stepped onto this unique mount, and streaked away like the wind.
Half a day later, Wei Yuan had returned to the immortal city and arrived outside Zhang Sheng's courtyard.
The courtyard gate swung open on its own without any wind. A stream of Azure Silk Rain floated over, nodding toward Wei Yuan in greeting. Wei Yuan had never expected a strand of sword qi to be so sentient; though it was merely a wisp of azure qi, it gave him the fleeting impression of seeing a young girl in azure robes.
Wei Yuan followed the sword qi into the courtyard, passed through the main hall, and entered the rear garden.
A clear spring had appeared in the rear garden at some point. Zhang Sheng sat by the water, fishing rod in hand, angling in the pool.
Around Zhang Sheng, heaven and earth shifted occasionally. Several immortal swords would sprout from the ground from time to time, lingering for a moment before abruptly vanishing.
These were the signs of a heart-image world already formed but not yet fully consolidated. Wei Yuan was no stranger to this and asked in astonishment, "You reached Scenery Command?"
The world within the courtyard transformed entirely. Three cloud-soaring treasure halls loomed faintly amid the skies above, while the earth below held mountains, rivers, and lakes in abundance. Yet flowing through those rivers and lakes was pure sword qi, and across the mountains and plains, immortal swords were thrust haphazardly into the ground.
Each immortal sword carried an archaic aura. Many were mottled with rust, and some had even lost their hilts, leaving only a fragment of broken blade protruding from the soil. In the center of the land stood a ten-thousand-zhang sword burial mound, confronting the three treasure halls in the sky from afar.
Wei Yuan had seen this realm before, but now it was far more grand and imposing, saturated with an austere presence. Wei Yuan could tell at a glance that every broken and shattered blade across heaven and earth could be unleashed to strike enemies. As Zhang Sheng's comprehension of the sword Dao deepened, the ancient swords filling this world would only multiply.
None of these swords were conjured from nothingness. They were weapons that had once existed in the mortal realm, leaving behind their mark upon the Dao of Heaven and Earth, and even upon the grand river of the sword Dao—swords of renown that had shaken their eras.
The ancient swords reflected in Zhang Sheng's heart-image world were naturally not a fraction as powerful as the original immortal swords right now. Yet as time passed, their mirrored might would gradually approach that of the originals.
Deducing along this path of cultivation, Wei Yuan's expression suddenly turned rather strange.
If Zhang Sheng's dharma body was robust enough to bear the weight of all swords under heaven; if her comprehension was high enough to grasp the sword intents of all eras, past and present; if her lifespan was long enough to endure through eternity...
Then theoretically, every renowned sword that had ever appeared between heaven and earth would reappear within Zhang Sheng's heart-image world. This was Zhang Sheng's Dao path: Where Ten Thousand Swords Return.
Wei Yuan was thoroughly startled. His own Splendor of the Many Realms currently encompassed six and a half grotto-heavens, which was already extraordinarily ostentatious. Yet even that fell short of Zhang Sheng's audacity in claiming all renowned swords of past and present for her own heart.
One could only say that she truly lived up to the name Zhang Sheng, truly lived up to being the pinnacle of the sword Dao.
Wei Yuan even felt that, setting aside raw slaughter and judging purely by this heart-image world, it would not be the least bit excessive for Zhang Sheng to sit as vice master of the Sword Palace. Considering the long term, it was not even impossible for her to shove Old Bai off the palace master's throne right now.
Without realizing it, the master of the Sword Palace had shifted in Wei Yuan's mind from Senior Bai to Old Bai.
The surrounding world shifted, returning to the rear garden once more. Zhang Sheng retracted her heart-image world and continued to fish.
Wei Yuan suddenly recalled the matter of True Monarch Huangyun. His heart stirred, and he asked, "Why aren't you reading history books anymore? What are you fishing for?"
Zhang Sheng said calmly, "I finished reading them long ago. Having just reached Scenery Command, my karmic ties are manifested outward, and my connection to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth is at its strongest. It is the perfect time for fishing. As for what I am fishing for, even I do not know. Something will surely be hooked, won't it? Perhaps some immortal's secret realm treasure, for instance."
"I didn't do anything..." Wei Yuan wanted to weep, but had no tears.
The corner of Zhang Sheng's mouth curved upward slightly into a faint, elusive smile. "No need to explain. Whatever you want to play at, play your fill during this period; only now will it truly feel like play. Once the King Buddha returns to his throne, playing then won't be playing anymore."
Wei Yuan sighed inwardly, naturally understanding what Zhang Sheng meant, but still defended himself: "I really didn't do anything..."
Zhang Sheng's smile grew even more pronounced.
Left with no choice, Wei Yuan dropped his explanations and asked, "When did you reach Scenery Command? What about the heavenly tribulation?"
Zhang Sheng said indifferently, "That strike from the Glazed Immortal Lord that day was my heavenly tribulation. I withstood that strike and did not die, so I became Scenery Command."
Only then did Wei Yuan understand. That strike from the Glazed Immortal Lord had originally been intended to annihilate them both. It was vastly more powerful than any Scenery Command heavenly tribulation, far more terrifying even than most ascendance tribulations. Under normal circumstances, an immortal would perish, and anyone in Scenery Command would surely die.
For Zhang Sheng, as a dharma idol, to endure such a blow and survive showed how terribly high her dharma idol rank truly was. Thinking back, the old, middle-aged, and young incarnations must have all acted together.
A wave of lingering fear suddenly washed over Wei Yuan.
Composing himself, he pondered for a moment before saying, "When it comes to the affairs of the world, having me is enough. I will keep striving forever, never slacking off, and I will surely walk all the way to the end of the immortal path, to the pinnacle of all heavens. So there is no need for you to be so unyielding. As long as you ascend to immortality in an ordinary way, so that we can keep each other company for ten thousand years and wander immortal skies and the mortal realm together, that will be enough."
Zhang Sheng finally turned her head, looking at Wei Yuan with a half-smile. "So, upon my initial entry into Scenery Command, having achieved the peerless 'Where Ten Thousand Swords Return,' your blessing to me is..."
"Just slack off and lie flat; I'll handle everything!" Wei Yuan declared word by word.
Chapter 1159