The sudden appearance of such a peerless cultivator instantly shook all of Qingming.
He was a middle-aged man, plain and unadorned. His clothes bore patches, and his cuffs and lapels were frayed all over. As he walked, neither wind stirred nor rain fell, neither birds took flight nor beasts took fright—it was as though no such person existed under heaven and earth.
Yet in the minds of every grand cultivator across Qingming, his silhouette appeared simultaneously. No matter what they were doing, this figure barged in without warning. Some panicked, while others were instantly and severely injured. The Twelve Celestial Idols all attempted to resist, each meeting a different fate.
The Bell Orchid Black Immortal pointed a finger, immediately causing black rain to pour across the heavens in an attempt to drown the intruder. But that figure rose step by step as though borne aloft by invisible stairs, drawing farther and farther away from the sea formed by the black rain. In truth, it was not that he had climbed higher, but that the sea had been trampled downward underfoot. Xu Henshui instantly spat a mouthful of blood and slumped over, incapacitated.
In another stretch of the realm, a colossal mecha titan reaching from earth to sky raised its cannon barrels. An autocannon in its left arm, a heavy cannon in its right, missile pods on both shoulders, and nest after nest of vertical launch tubes along its back—in an instant, it carpeted the sky and earth ahead in a sea of fire.
Yet the figure walked leisurely out of the inferno, strode right past the mecha giant, and drifted into the distance. The mecha titan furiously pouring out firepower was instantly made to look like an utter fool. Xu Wenwu was dumbfounded, and the giant mecha ceased firing. Still, back when he had lived in the otherworldly realm, he had already learned not to judge heroes merely by success or failure. Thus, he was able to face the scene calmly, unlike Xu Henshui, who had been enraged to the point of coughing blood.
In a serene grove, a young woman stood alone beneath a towering ancient tree, watching the approaching man with curiosity. The middle-aged man paused slightly here, looked the girl up and down, and gave a rare nod of approval before continuing toward the distance.
The young woman raised her hand, but made no move, allowing the man to walk away.
From his appearance at the horizon, in just a few strides, the man had intangibly surveyed all the dharma idols of Qingming. He merely looked; none of the dharma idols were qualified to obstruct him.
Yet just as he stepped into Qingming, an old Daoist appeared before him holding a wooden staff, with three bundles of medicinal herbs hanging at his waist. Cloaked in five-colored qi, the old Daoist said pleasantly, "This path is closed. Fellow Daoist, please turn back."
The middle-aged man's brows stirred slightly, and he praised, "What profound merit! Before you, people like us truly possess shallow attainments."
"Then please turn back."
"The path I, Tuoba Dafeng, choose to walk has never seen a retreat."
"Then step over this old Daoist's corpse..."
Before True Monarch Chuhe could finish speaking, a wooden spear suddenly thrust straight toward him! Far from being alarmed, the old Daoist was overjoyed and threw his entire body into it! Yet the wooden spear slipped with pinpoint accuracy beneath his armpit, flicked gently, and shifted the old Daoist from front to rear as smoothly and tenderly as a devoted maidservant supporting her master.
True Monarch Chuhe was utterly dumbfounded. He dove headfirst toward Tuoba Dafeng's back. With this strike, if he so much as grazed Tuoba Dafeng's skin, the old Daoist would collapse severely wounded, and without expending substantial foundation, nobody could dream of saving him.
Yet Tuoba Dafeng's pace did not change in the slightest, and the old Daoist missed by a hair's breadth, colliding with empty air.
Tuoba Dafeng said, "You came here for Wei Yuan's sake. Even if you were to die by my hands, he would have to shoulder at least forty percent of the karmic consequences converted from all this merit of yours. Aren't you confounding friend with foe?"
Chuhe paused. "Is that so?"
Tuoba Dafeng said, "Let merit do what merit is meant to do. Do not meddle in matters of combat. To heaven and earth, a single one of you is more useful than ten of us. Why act on rash impulses?"
Before Chuhe could think of an answer, Tuoba Dafeng had already vanished before his eyes. The old Daoist suddenly shuddered as understanding dawned on him. Just now, Tuoba Dafeng had warped the world around him with earth-shattering power, suppressing time in his immediate vicinity to an agonizing crawl. That was why, to Old Daoist Chuhe, he had appeared to be walking slowly right in front of him the entire time.
And once Tuoba Dafeng released his suppression of time, everything snapped back to its original trajectory. Propelled by the torrent of time, he surged away in an instant, finishing the journey he was meant to walk, and was already a thousand li away.
Chuhe naturally could not have deciphered this on his own; Tuoba Dafeng had transmitted the insight into his mind. So when Chuhe had lunged just now, he had actually been aiming at Tuoba Dafeng three hundred li away, and by the time he understood, Tuoba Dafeng was already twelve hundred li away.
Across the lush green earth, a small expanse of golden-red Yangming domain suddenly appeared. Glazed flower trees bloomed everywhere, enveloping Tuoba Dafeng within. Tuoba Dafeng slowed his steps and walked through this glazed world. Suddenly, the clothes and shoes on his body caught fire, burning away completely in the blink of an eye to reveal his dark dharma body, weathered by wind, sun, and rain.
In the next instant, another set of garments appeared over Tuoba Dafeng's dharma body. But these clothes were actually manifested from his physical body and could burn no more. In moments, the temperature within this glazed Yangming world rose to rival the surface of the sun, yet it still could do nothing to Tuoba Dafeng.
The Yangming world was not vast, extending only several li. Tuoba Dafeng did not walk quickly, yet after a brief moment he reached its edge. He paused and praised, "Such ingenious design is truly rare in this age. A person of peerless mathematics like you is of immense value to this realm, so I will not strike against you. And as you wished, I have expended some Dao power. Let us leave it at that. When the day comes that your Scenery Command reaches perfection and the Great Dao is thoroughly illuminated for you, if I am still alive, we can have a fair duel. But not today."
The Yangming world slowly faded. Ji Liuli appeared and bowed to Tuoba Dafeng.
Tuoba Dafeng chuckled. "That won't work! No matter how polite you are, I won't hold back against that lad. Besides, I already waited two months for him so he could finish refining his new immortal treasure, and then had my momentum dampened by that old Daoist just now, followed by you burning away one strand of my Dao power. That is more than fair." Ji Liuli furrowed her brows, then stepped aside.
Tuoba Dafeng continued forward. After a few paces, he saw a small pavilion by a stream beside the hills ahead, where a black-robed cultivator sat observing a sword.
For the first time, gravity appeared on Tuoba Dafeng's face. Gazing at the three Daoists flickering in and out of view above her head, he said slowly, "Fellow Daoist, this presence of yours illuminates the past and present—it is truly astonishing. It is a pity your time pursuing the Dao has been too brief and you have yet to reach perfection; otherwise, you and I could have debated the Dao today. Do you wish to make a move as well?"
The person sitting in the pavilion was Zhang Sheng. Setting down the immortal sword in her hand, she said, "I will not test you. The person you seek is in that direction. If you win, I will naturally avenge my disciple. If you lose, I will pull out the roots, leaving no weeds behind—I will not let you leave Qingming alive."
Tuoba Dafeng's interest was piqued. "Why so resolute? Have I offended you in some past encounter?"
Zhang Sheng said flatly, "You carry the foul stench of bald heads. Coming to duel Wei Yuan at a time like this makes you nothing more than a bald lackey. Even if you talk until flowers bloom from your tongue, it makes no difference."
Tuoba Dafeng was dumbfounded. "But..."
But Zhang Sheng's gaze had already returned to the ancient sword; she had no intention of hearing any explanation from him. Tuoba Dafeng's lips moved, murmuring in a voice only he could hear, "This old man indeed carries karmic ties to the Pure Land, but it is not what you think, little girl..."
He shook his head with a sigh, feeling there was no point in explaining; even if he did, Zhang Sheng wouldn't listen.
He continued forward. A thousand peaks and myriad waters flashed past beneath his feet until that lone silhouette entered his sight.
Jagged crags rose steep and rugged, gnarled branches jutted askew, and a solitary figure stood like a sword piercing the sea of clouds. Heaven and earth abruptly grew intensely bright, intensely quiet. Wei Yuan stood atop the precipitous peak, one hand held behind his back, the other gripping a spear. The wind blew right through him, flapping his sleeves like banners. He did not move, nor did he lift his eyes; half of his foot hung suspended in empty air, appearing as though he might ride the wind away, yet also seeming seamlessly fused with heaven and earth.
This magnificent bearing was something Wei Yuan had forged through decades of tireless effort and relentless polishing, culminating in a state of mind and presence that verged on the Dao itself.
Chapter 1234