In the Nether Cold Realm, Zhang Sheng held a longsword shimmering with eerie blue light and slowly ran a finger across its blade. The sword was of supreme yin and supreme cold, carrying within it an underlying intent of annihilation; even among Earth Tier treasures, it ranked as a high grade.
These days, Zhang Sheng spent several hours in the Nether Cold Realm almost every day. Sometimes she meditated to comprehend the world, and sometimes she helped excavate nether iron and Nether Crystals. Her disposition grew ever more profound, gradually becoming unfathomable.
"Fine sword!" A shout of praise rang out.
Zhang Sheng turned her head to look and saw Long Wushuang's eyes shining brightly, staring fixedly at the sword in her hand. Han Li stood a short distance away, likewise gazing at the blade. The two watched unblinkingly, their focus almost deliberate.
Zhang Sheng naturally knew their origins and backgrounds, which piqued her curiosity. "Tell me then," she asked. "Where does its excellence lie?"
Long Wushuang took the lead, saying, "This sword is supremely yin and supremely cold. In its annihilation and stillness, it marks the end of all things."
Zhang Sheng was rather surprised. Speaking of annihilation and stillness was already impressive, but she had not expected him to even come out with 'the end of all things.'
This was the sword's latent true intent, something that would only manifest if it advanced to the Immortal Tier in the future. For Long Wushuang to see through to that point showed extraordinary discernment.
Zhang Sheng turned her gaze to Han Li. Han Li had always held the upper hand over Long Wushuang and maintained his position as hall master, so he was naturally no ordinary figure. But with Long Wushuang having already seen through the sword's future true intent, she wondered what insight Han Li could offer.
Han Li pondered for a moment, then said, "The sword has already birthed spirituality. Its future may hold boundless possibilities, and it does not necessarily have to follow an established path. If nourished with karmic luck, it might even be possible to give birth to a sword spirit."
Zhang Sheng was thoroughly surprised and reexamined this immortal sword.
The sword was named Guiji. When it had advanced with the aid of the Nether Cold Realm, Zhang Sheng had already sensed it was somewhat extraordinary. Now that Han Li had laid it bare with a single phrase, she realized just how immense its potential was. If it could truly birth a sword spirit, it would rank near the forefront even among immortal swords. Back then, among Zhang Sheng's four immortal swords...
Zhang Sheng nodded slightly and said calmly, "A fine insight."
Han Li and Long Wushuang each offered a bow and returned to their tasks. However, Long Wushuang could not resist stealing another glance, whereas Han Li never once looked back.
Just then, Wei Yuan appeared like a ghost. The moment he materialized, he looked around in all directions with a suspicious frown and took a deep sniff—detecting nothing, of course.
Zhang Sheng raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are you looking for?"
Wei Yuan furrowed his brows. "I have an ill premonition, as if something is targeting me. But it's very faint and obscure; I can't tell where it's coming from. I wanted to see if a Shaman scout slipped in, or if that fellow Shu Li is secretly working some occult art again to harm me."
Zhang Sheng said, "I don't feel a thing. If some secret art is indeed brewing, it isn't directed at me."
Although Zhang Sheng's karmic luck was not equal to Wei Yuan's, her Lucid Sword Heart was near flawless, making her perception of malice and hostility not the least bit inferior to his. At her level of cultivation, virtually no one could launch a sneak attack against her.
The two exchanged a look and instantly understood the crux of the matter. Whether hostility or malice, it might simply be that something disadvantageous to Wei Yuan was likely to happen. In short, whatever ill fortune awaited would affect Wei Yuan, but not Zhang Sheng.
Having sorted that out, both were still thoroughly mystified. If it were a scheme by the Shamans, there was no reason to target only Wei Yuan; they would certainly try to wipe out everyone who entered the Nether Cold Realm in one sweep. Yet if it was not the Shamans, then beneath Nether Mountain, aside from Zhang Sheng, everything else was part of Wei Yuan's Dharma Idol—there could not possibly be traitors or anything of the sort.
Surely his own Dharma Idol wouldn't rebel against him, would it?
Wei Yuan initially found the thought amusing, but upon further reflection, his smile gradually faded. Truth be told, among hundreds of thousands of mortals, there were at least eight or ten thousand born rebels. Not long ago, someone had even shouted the slogan: 'The Immortal Venerable is dead; the Celestial Toad shall rise!'
Zhang Sheng suddenly said, "Could it be a demon, or an otherworldly monstrosity?"
Wei Yuan thought for a moment and said, "That is actually possible. If an otherworldly monstrosity like the one I saw last time were passing by, there would indeed be a reaction."
The otherworldly monstrosity Wei Yuan had once seen was as immense as Heaven and Earth, so enormous that a single paw striking downward seemed larger than Shu Li's entire realm. If such a creature were passing by, since Zhang Sheng had never seen it, she naturally wouldn't have sensed it.
The otherworldly monstrosity was like a phantom projection, overlapping with the Nether Cold Realm yet seemingly without tangible intersection. Still, whenever they passed, they truly affected the Nether Cold Realm, leaving behind torn, ragged scars.
Wei Yuan did not wish to dwell on such vague, intangible matters, so he said to Zhang Sheng, "Any progress with your cultivation?"
"Quite good progress. This sword has advanced a tier." Zhang Sheng manifested Guiji and displayed it before Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan glanced at it and remarked offhandedly, "It's passable."
Zhang Sheng's brow twitched upward, seized by an urge to cut down this rebellious disciple with a single sword stroke. Everything about the boy was fine, except that sometimes his mouth was simply too Sky Azure Hall.
"How is it just 'passable'?" Zhang Sheng pressed.
Unsurprisingly, slight ripples of Dao power emanated from Han Li and Long Wushuang; they were clearly eavesdropping.
Wei Yuan did not find their behavior unusual. In the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, at least half the people now harbored thoughts of their own. Han Li and Long Wushuang were among the very first to gain names, so they were no longer merely endowed with spirituality; their responses were indistinguishable from those of genuine cultivators.
Seeing Zhang Sheng ask this, Wei Yuan assumed she was testing him, so he said, "You have more than five hundred immortal swords. No matter how formidable one of them becomes, it won't play a decisive role. There's no need to pour too much thought into a single sword; advancing several more would be far more practical. Even if it ascends to the Immortal Tier, it still can't match a sword array of sixty-four Mortal Tier swords. Teacher, you are currently walking the majestic, orthodox path of overcoming others by sheer force. Who could stand against a swarm of immortal swords hurled at them? Having one more or one less fine blade among them really makes no difference. So rather than that, it would be better to focus your energy on elevating your Dao power to bring out the full might of your Dao Foundation. This is like two armies clashing. What does it matter whether the enemy has three thousand or five thousand elite troops? I have an army of a million—I can just sweep right over them! What need is there for tactics?"
Zhang Sheng had originally intended to devote more effort to Guiji, but hearing this, she fell into deep thought. Wei Yuan had reminded her not to lose sight of her current Dao path.
Wei Yuan did not leave immediately, staying by Zhang Sheng's side to meditate. While Zhang Sheng cultivated her Dao power, Wei Yuan attended to affairs within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
At that moment, the black pool atop Jade Mountain began to boil. The souls Wei Yuan obtained from refining eight hundred thousand Shamans had finally completed their transformation, and a spiritual creature was about to be born.
It was just that the souls of the two hundred thousand elites and the thirty thousand soldiers of the Marsh Crocodile Legion had all been reclaimed by the Ancestral Shaman. In the later stages, Wei Yuan had kept Maiden Yin-Yang firmly suppressed, preventing her from showing herself to compete with the Ancestral Shaman. Getting away with snatching once was fine, but snatching too much made Wei Yuan fear the Ancestral Shaman might wake up in a fit of rage.
Still, the eight hundred thousand Shamans refined by karmic fire had all been collected by Wei Yuan's Gate of the Many Realms.
The pool's waters churned more and more violently as something slowly surfaced.
At first, Wei Yuan could not tell what this bizarrely shaped creature was. His heart tightened, fearing that the first Shaman had finally appeared in the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. But as more of the monster emerged from the water, he gradually discerned a massive, ferocious beast head, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Otherwise, if Shamans or other alien races truly appeared in his mindscape world, it could hardly be called the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World anymore.
Zhang Sheng also noticed Wei Yuan's unusual reaction and cast an inquiring glance his way. Wei Yuan shook his head, signaling that all was well, and continued to watch the giant beast emerge from the pool.
It slowly crawled out of the pool. Behind the immense beast head was a body like that of a colossal serpent. More and more of its length emerged from the water, followed by two hind claws rising to the surface.
It looked as though it were formed from aggregated shadows, with only two points of ghostly light gleaming where its dragon eyes were. It was actually a shadow dragon!
Each of its four claws had three toes, meaning it was still a flood dragon. At this moment, its strength was at perfected Dharma Idol.
Although this shadow dragon had only three toes and was merely a flood dragon, it still belonged to the line of true dragons and should never have been below Scenery Command. The reason it was only at perfected Dharma Idol was likely that Wei Yuan held it back, as the upper limit of his mindscape world was currently perfected Dharma Idol.
However, the soul power of the eight hundred thousand Shamans did not seem entirely exhausted; the dragon still held something clutched in its foreclaws.
Emerging from Jade Mountain, the shadow dragon immediately soared into the sky, flying straight into the cloud layer above without pausing for a breath, vanishing from sight.
Yet as the master of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, Wei Yuan knew it had chosen a spot above the clouds to make a nest.
Only, the location of this nest was rather remote, lying a full thousand li away from the central city.
Hiding away in such a desolate place, it seemed less like it liked the area and more like it was fleeing from something. Wei Yuan fell into thought. What in his Dharma Idol could possibly terrify a shadow dragon to such a degree? Longying? Certainly not.
At the center of the central city's Yin-Yang Furnace, the young maiden opened her eyes. Devoid of the slightest emotional ripple, her gaze pierced through layers of obstacles and fell upon the shadow dragon.
The shadow dragon let out a low roar as if facing a mortal foe, instantly curling its body into a tight coil.
Just then, the shadow in the full moon overhead came alive, revealing the head of a three-eyed bird. It opened one eye, peering down at the tiny shadow dragon below as if inspecting the quality of its meat.
The shadow dragon let out a whimper and froze completely still, seemingly playing dead.
The shadow in the moon shifted once more. The bird's head grew larger and larger until the entire full moon turned into a single pupil of that three-eyed bird!
The full moon was like a window, and the three-eyed bird in the moon had drawn close to look down upon the shadow dragon. A moment later, the full moon returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.
This series of developments baffled Wei Yuan more and more. The Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World was gradually slipping from his control, beginning to evolve on its own. Moreover, even now, the souls of the humans who died in the final battle had yet to reincarnate from the Gate of the Many Realms. He had no idea what complications had arisen.
In that final battle, thirty thousand Qingming elites had fallen. The souls of these people were naturally powerful; once reincarnated, the mortals they became would very likely possess all sorts of innate gifts.
At this moment, Wei Yuan's heart stirred as he received a message. Another baby girl had been born in Xu Family New City—the very infant whose growth had been accelerated by gathering the qi of several thousand babies.
Back when her gestation was being hastened, she had absorbed only slightly fewer infants than Xu Shiba. Wei Yuan had therefore kept a close eye on her all along, specifically leaving behind a Dao Foundation warrior to protect her at all times.
However, the other maidens in Xu Family New City were quietly gestating, unlike the first time when all the infants were absorbed by the final three, who then fought one another to the death. Although the other two infants had survived initially, both died prematurely not long after, and following their deaths, Xu Shiba's growth accelerated once again.
Wei Yuan bid farewell to Zhang Sheng and left the Nether Cold Realm to head for Xu Family New City.
After he departed, Han Li and Long Wushuang quietly exchanged a glance. Countless subtle flecks of information flickered in their pupils, exchanging thoughts without a sound or movement.
Regarding Wei Yuan's earlier appraisal, Long Wushuang thought little of it, but Han Li considered the Creation Immortal Venerable unfathomably deep.
Chapter 565