Such a Method

"Put me down this instant! Keep this up, and your master will be seeing your health bar next!" Seeing an immortal sword descending right above his head, Wei Yuan had no choice but to set Zhang Sheng down. Suspending the sword between her brows, Zhang Sheng said, "This is a Dao Sword. I plan to name it Qingping. Once the refining process starts, it cannot be stopped. So empty your mind of all stray thoughts right now, or it might just slice something off you." Wei Yuan looked skeptically at the unassuming immortal sword. "This sword gets jealous that easily?" Caught between laughter and tears, Zhang Sheng asked, "Get serious! Why did you go out of your way to provoke the Buddha? Disgusting as many of the Pure Land's deeds are, their targets have always been cultivators. They haven't wronged mortals." Wei Yuan replied, "Though those deeds were committed by subordinates, even if Great Sun Tathagata was unaware, tolerating it is equivalent to endorsing it! That is the first reason. Second, those folks in the Pure Land already call me the Enemy of Buddha. I have to genuinely possess the ability to stand against the Buddha; otherwise, things will turn truly dire." Zhang Sheng finally nodded. "Fair point. By the way, that world-opening merit of yours—share a bit with me." Wei Yuan was taken aback. "How do I share it?" "Open a pathway for me. I'll head over in my true body." Wei Yuan was startled. "How could I allow that? Those otherworldly beings of the Xing family are formidable, and stronger figures will definitely come after them. I only suppressed and killed them by relying on merit. No, sending your true body is far too risky!" Zhang Sheng said, "It is precisely because they are hard to kill that I must go. If my true body crosses over, this Qingping sword can be put to good use. Once I slash them with a strike, those Xing Linye or Xing Luyue fellows will take only ten or twenty percent of the merit originally needed to suppress and kill. Heaven and earth merit is exceptionally precious, and you will rely on it when you ascend to immortality in the future. Save whatever you can." "No!" Wei Yuan answered unequivocally. Zhang Sheng smiled faintly. "Aren't you just afraid that if my true body goes, I will be tainted with karma and targeted by those otherworldly beings?" Before Zhang Sheng, Wei Yuan could speak his mind openly. He nodded. "Those people destroyed that world once, and they will certainly do it a second time. They will never let it go. Relying solely on the current dharma body puppets, I have little confidence in holding them off..." "And the worst-case scenario?" Zhang Sheng asked. "I sever all karma with this realm, detach my mindscape world and leave it behind, then run as far away as possible with the World Seed. The karma of that world will rest on me, so they won't find this realm. And with the Splendor of the Many Realms here, it will be enough to help you all smoothly ascend to immortality." Everyone knew that without his mindscape world, no matter how far Wei Yuan ran, the only end awaiting him would be to return to silence. Zhang Sheng looked at Wei Yuan. "You run alone?" "Yes." Zhang Sheng patted Wei Yuan on the shoulder and said, "Open the pathway! If that day truly comes, I'll run with you." "This..." Zhang Sheng glared at him. "Your master cannot bring herself to drag out an ignoble existence alone—got a problem with that? Leave that mindscape world of yours for Little Bao and the others to enjoy. Quit the chatter and open the pathway already. There's a reward in it for you." With things having reached this point, Wei Yuan had no choice but to open a pathway leading to the otherworldly realm specifically for Zhang Sheng's true body to pass through. Having done so, he looked expectantly at Zhang Sheng, waiting for his reward. Zhang Sheng rolled her eyes at him. "Can't you refine avatars? They're just not quite clean, easily attracting dirty things. I pondered it for a long time afterward and finally came up with a method that can cleanse your avatars thoroughly." "There's actually such a method? Teach me, quickly!" The corners of Wei Yuan's mouth—and his dharma body—could barely be kept in check. A pitch-black little streamer appeared in Zhang Sheng's hand, ringed by numerous swirling specks of white light. She said, "Look at your master's Myriad Soul—" Looking down at the streamer, Zhang Sheng realized something was amiss and hurriedly gave it a shake. The small streamer immediately turned bright yellow bordered in radiant red, and the white specks shifted into clear qi. Only then did she continue: "...this Human Sovereign Banner is adept at refining souls and divine senses. Roll your avatars in it for a bit, and I guarantee no one's divine sense will be able to hide." Wei Yuan's eyes shone brightly. "A fine treasure indeed! When can I use it?" Zhang Sheng gave him another roll of her eyes. "Serious business comes first. Wait until my Qingping Sword is finished." "Understood!" Extraordinarily obedient, Wei Yuan stepped meekly out of the seclusion chamber. After walking out, he suddenly recalled something. Why had Zhang Sheng suddenly taken such an interest in his avatars? Could it be that one of him wasn't enough? A shadow crossed Wei Yuan's heart. "Envoys from the State of Song have arrived!" "Envoys from Southern Jin have arrived!" "Envoys from the State of Zhao have arrived!" "Great Tang envoys have arrived..." Wei Yuan taking a direct palm strike from the Buddha immediately produced results. Envoys from every nation flocked to Qingming to express goodwill. Their requests varied. Most normally requested to remain brotherly states for eternity. The abnormal one was Eastern Jin, which submitted a memorial begging to serve as a vassal 'son emperor.' Just thinking of King Xuan of Eastern Jin's wizened old face gave Wei Yuan the creeps. Great Tang governed the world through ritual and founded its nation on virtue; after several thousand years, it had finally managed to virtue itself out of existence. Yet the ritual system remained deeply ingrained in people's minds. Every nation understood courtesy well, recognizing that one should never arrive empty-handed. Thus, some sent princesses, some sent beauties, and others even sent their own favored concubines—evidently having heard rumors from who-knew-where. That was bad enough, but several states went so far as to send princes as handsome as women! This was more than Wei Yuan could bear. He immediately ordered an investigation to see what new rumors had cropped up. The arrival of Great Tang's envoys was somewhat unexpected. Had they not come knocking on his door, Wei Yuan would have almost forgotten such a place still existed in the realm. The Tang dynasty now held only nine thousand li of territory, less than a quarter of Qingming, not to mention the vast expanse of Yizhou. As for Great Tang's so-called elite soldiers, Wei Yuan couldn't even be bothered with them. When the time came, there wouldn't even be a need to fight; sending someone over to read an edict would guarantee that their entire army would revolt on the battlefield. Even now, the letters of surrender piled high on Wei Yuan's desk formed a thick stack. Yet Great Tang was still Great Tang, with a foundation unmatched by the nine states. For example, the envoy who arrived this time was actually a woman dressed in men's clothing, claiming to be Great Tang's Crown Princess—which made her Emperor Zhao's daughter-in-law. This status finally prompted Wei Yuan to grant a personal audience and take a good look at her. Having observed her, Wei Yuan had to admit that ever since Martial Ancestor, though Great Tang could neither govern nor wage war, its aesthetic taste had consistently remained second to none in the world. Take this Crown Princess: she was fair and slender, yet delicately framed, enveloped in a tender layer of supple softness so that a firm grasp would find no hard bone beneath. Her countenance alternated between innocence and allure, her large, innocent eyes gazing around with a hint of fright as she shivered delicately. Wei Yuan even wondered if a mere breath from him might blow her right over. To evoke such thoughts even in Wei Yuan, this Crown Princess was clearly an exquisite rarity among mortals. One wondered where on earth the Tang imperial house had found her. It seemed that in all his years as regent, the King of Jin had devoted most of his energy to pursuits like this. To display proper demeanor, Wei Yuan inquired after the Crown Prince's daily life. Keeping her head bowed, the Crown Princess answered softly and delicately, "The Crown Prince is only six years old and by nature a bit... playful. He often acts up, but he is still young, after all, and his mischief never amounts to anything real." Wei Yuan drew in a sharp breath, thinking to himself that Great Tang's imperial clan truly was something else. In a secluded secret realm, several extraordinarily striking sword cultivators sat gathered in a hall. Stroking his long beard, the leading cultivator said, "The general trend cannot be defied. This matter must be done!" At these words, everyone turned their eyes toward a young, breathtakingly beautiful female sword cultivator seated below. The female sword cultivator gritted her teeth and said, "But..." Another sword cultivator interrupted her, saying, "This concerns the rise and fall of our Shangguan clan for the next thousand years; there are no 'buts.' Qianmo, you stepped on his foot back then—that is a tremendous opportunity, a great karmic bond! With his temperament, he is bound to hold it close to his heart and never forget." The female cultivator struggled, "What if the rumors are mistaken?" The Patriarch of the Shangguan clan in the center said unequivocally, "If the whole world is saying it, it must be true!" Another elder remarked thoughtfully, "Perhaps he had people spread it himself so everyone wouldn't send things that don't suit his fancy." The oldest sword elder nodded. "Sparing everyone useless effort—what a decent, generous man!" Her face filled with helplessness, the female cultivator tried to make one final struggle: "But we are sword cultivators..." "Sword cultivators have to eat too!"