Exquisite

Wei Yuan stood tall in the center of the wilderness, his figure appearing exceptionally imposing amidst the forest of lightning. Yet everyone nearby, including Ji Liuli and Feng Chutang, stood far away, quietly watching Wei Yuan get struck by lightning. Eight full lightning rods stood around Wei Yuan, and he himself was balanced upon a stool fashioned from spiritual wood. Only in this manner could he stand safely amidst the heavenly tribulation, though he dared not shift in the slightest. Just then, the young cultivator appeared before Wei Yuan. Glancing over the metal lightning rods dancing with electric arcs, he praised, "Fascinating! Not a bad idea at all, but don't do it again. If you evade heavenly tribulations like this, the Heavenly Dao will remember it. Each time you use it, the next tribulation will be thirty percent stronger. If you keep this up, you won't even have to wait for ascension—you won't survive the heavenly tribulation when breaking through to Scenery Command." Wei Yuan was shocked. Heaven and earth actually held grudges? Then again, thinking back carefully, the world really seemed to bear grudges. Wei Yuan hurried to salute, though against the backdrop of heavenly tribulation lightning flashing across the sky, his posture looked rather bizarre. He could not help but gaze up at the sky. All he had done was breach a minor promise, and they hadn't even stipulated what would happen upon breaking it. The part about lightning striking down had been uttered by Wuchi, so why was this tribulation dragging on without end? Could this really be the "blessings" he had accumulated in the past? Fortunately, the lightning rods were of fine quality and managed to hold out until the very end. However, by the time the heavenly tribulation cleared, they were already in a half-melted state. The young cultivator had remained standing right in front of Wei Yuan the entire time, yet not a single bolt of heavenly lightning struck him; every strike concentrated entirely on hammering Wei Yuan. Only when the tribulation clouds dispersed did Wei Yuan breathe a sigh of relief. "It was just killing one dharma idol—did heaven and earth really need to mobilize such a fanfare? Could this fellow truly have been the foremost dharma idol of the Liao Clan?" The young cultivator said, "Those who claim to be the foremost dharma idol used to die by the half-dozen each month. Cultivating a momentum of invincibility has become quite fashionable in Northern Liao, after all. Still, that boy truly was a child of karmic destiny, so heaven and earth's reaction isn't an overstatement." Wei Yuan understood at last. No wonder he had kept feeling that something was lacking about Wuchi, that his reputation exceeded his reality. It turned out he was merely cultivating a heart of invincibility and styling himself as the foremost dharma idol. Cultivating a heart of invincibility actually involved a knack: even if there were people in this world stronger than me, as long as I never crossed paths with them, I remained invincible. Hence, those who successfully nurtured a heart of invincibility were exceedingly adept at avoiding truly formidable experts. Moreover, it was far easier for a child of karmic destiny to practice this, as their inherent karmic luck helped them steer clear of awkward encounters. The young cultivator added, "That boy was also the youngest son of the Great Chieftain of the Golden Tent Tribe, the Worthy Prince of the Left of Northern Liao. You'll have your hands full after this." Wei Yuan was taken aback. That guy was also the son of an immortal? "What do you plan to do?" the young cultivator asked, studying Wei Yuan. With a solemn face, Wei Yuan asked, "Could his dharma body be bestowed upon me?" Wei Yuan wanted to see whether the son of an immortal would generate more spiritual energy than an ordinary person. The young cultivator burst out laughing. "You've become quite adept at these scandalous, atrocious deeds! Take this." Wei Yuan received two sheets of jade paper, each depicting a schematic design. Combined, they formed the Turtle-Snake Immortal Refining Diagram. The young cultivator said, "Refining with the Turtle Array can sever karmic ties. Refining with the Snake Array does the exact opposite, strengthening karmic ties. Feng Chutang's cultivation is still lacking, so the Samsara Furnace he designed for you remains somewhat crude. With such top-grade materials, one must be meticulous." Overjoyed, Wei Yuan quickly accepted the sheets. Only then did he realize he had been conversing naturally with this young cultivator for so long without even knowing who he was. He saluted respectfully and asked, "May I inquire after Senior's name?" The young cultivator replied, "My surname is Zhu and my given name is Yan. Quite a few fellow Daoist immortals also call me Zhuyan, which was a pseudonym I used when traveling and training in the past. I am rarely in the palace and only returned a few days ago, so it is only natural that you have not seen me. At present, I temporarily oversee Haotian View." Wei Yuan was stunned. The young cultivator standing before him was the Master of Haotian View? The very master spoken of in the same breath as Yanshi, who stood poised to step onto the immortal path at any moment? The young cultivator said, "This is no place to linger. If the Worthy Prince of the Left arrives, even I will find it troublesome. Let us return!" Without any visible movement on his part, everyone materialized in an instant within the garrison commander's manor in the border town and took their seats in a side hall. The young cultivator asked, "There is one matter I do not understand: why did you trade a longevity pill for those hurricane heavenly crystals? It seemed rather superfluous." Wei Yuan explained, "That Liao man was determined to win, so he was bound to offer something more valuable than a longevity pill as collateral; trading for it would be no loss to me. That was the first reason. The second was that after the exchange, he would firmly believe this disciple intended to honor the agreement and fight him with all my strength, suspecting nothing else. "Yet this disciple had already arranged two trump cards—Eldest Senior Sister and Martial Uncle Feng—and never intended to fight him one-on-one. The exchange was primarily meant to put his mind at ease and prevent him from fleeing at the first sign of trouble. This is a war between two nations, not a personal duel. As the saying goes, all is fair in war; winning is all that matters." The young cultivator was at a loss for words. In the end, he could only remark, "It truly is a pity that you did not join my Haotian View." Wei Yuan asked curiously, "Isn't Patriarch Yuanjin the only one in Haotian View who hailed from... that kind of background?" "Indeed. However, many of Yuanjin's ideas proved exceptionally effective for winning duels. Over time, everyone followed the good examples and learned quite a bit. Some junior martial brothers and nephews have even surpassed the master." This time, it was Wei Yuan's turn to be speechless. Seen in this light, Sky Azure Hall conducted itself quite uprightly; Patriarch Xuanyue merely enjoyed sitting down for a heart-to-heart chat with people after beating them up. As for the opponent flying into a rage mid-conversation, that merely showed their Dao heart lacked sufficient cultivation. Finally, the young cultivator said, "I have observed that although you possess many methods, you seem to lack a decisive, overwhelming art. Human strength has its limits, and various Dao arts and battle techniques inevitably carry one restriction or another. Thus, the most practical means remain external treasures and artifacts. "It just so happens you acquired several hurricane heavenly crystals. In Northern Liao, they are used to forge spirit treasures. We humans do not possess the Liao Clan's innate wind-and-earth physique, so their effectiveness would be compromised in our hands. But if they are refined into single-use treasures, that problem vanishes, making full use of their properties." Delighted, Wei Yuan recalled something, retrieved Brutality, and offered it up. "This disciple also has a gun that I find quite handy. Could you perhaps temper it together with them and forge those heavenly crystals into bullets?" The young cultivator took the weapon and examined it repeatedly. "Hmm, this bears the hallmarks of the Hall of Heavenly Craft. Quite innovative, but it lacks Scenery Command techniques; it must have been made by Yu Zhizhuo. That lad is indeed a genius in the art of weapon crafting, but his line of thought is somewhat flawed. "When your gun's divine ability is triggered, it expends spirituality. In truth, after three shots, its power diminishes sharply, rendering the remaining thirty to forty percent of its spirituality useless—a sheer waste, in effect. How about this: leave the gun with me for now. Allow me to ponder it, and I shall return it to you in three days." Wei Yuan naturally had no reason to refuse and rose hastily to offer his thanks. Three days later, the Master of Haotian View sent someone over with a long case. Wei Yuan slowly slid open the lid, and a chilling, lethal aura surged skyward, lingering for a long time without dispersing! Inside the box lay a long gun whose outward appearance was completely transformed. Its entire barrel was inscribed with array patterns formed from natural Dao charms, appearing magnificent beyond compare. In terms of aesthetic appeal, it was vastly superior to the original, bringing joy to Wei Yuan's eyes. Using this gun to slay enemies, any images preserved for posterity would surely draw multiple viewings—possessing the same marvelous appeal as the Qingming military uniforms. This gun was named 'Kshana', possessing only a single divine ability dubbed 'Suppression'. At the cost of consuming all of its spirituality, paired with specialized 'Xun Wind Calamity Bullets', a single shot could annihilate an early-stage Scenery Command cultivator. Three rounds of ammunition also lay within the gun case. Two of them glowed with swirling radiance, each refined from a single hurricane heavenly crystal. Firing them would not deplete the gun's Suppression spirituality, and a single shot could severely wound a late-stage Dharma Idol expert. The final bullet was dim and somber in light—the Xun Wind Calamity Bullet. Refined from three hurricane heavenly crystals combined, it required the Suppression divine ability to be discharged. Two hurricane heavenly crystals could serve as the primary material to forge a Scenery Command spirit treasure. Meanwhile, the long gun Kshana was presently equivalent to half a Scenery Command spirit treasure. In other words, this shot's underlying design traded the cost of two complete spirit treasures for the power to obliterate an early-stage Scenery Command expert. Through this gun, the difference between the Hall of Heavenly Craft and Haotian View became readily apparent. The Hall of Heavenly Craft emphasized making full use of materials over a long span, thoroughly exploiting every trace of a substance's properties. Haotian View, on the other hand, stimulated their absolute potential, converting all material properties into raw power to unleash all at once—naturally yielding peerless might. With this gun in hand, Wei Yuan turned solemn as well. He felt the Turtle-Snake Immortal Refining Diagram needed to be put on the agenda immediately, lest he squander the materials about to come into his grasp. Just as Wei Yuan was brimming with confidence and preparing to strike out once more, Feng Chutang rushed over in a hurry, with True Monarch Feng Yuan surprisingly following behind him. Feng Chutang wore a look of shame, and after taking a seat, he hesitated for a long while before speaking: "Wuchi's dharma idol... I'm afraid it cannot be returned." Feng Chutang then manifested his dharma idol. Amidst a stretch of ruins coiled a colossal black dragon, its body half-incorporeal and half-substantial, bearing three claws. The former Shadow Qiu had now transformed into a Submerged Flood Dragon.