"How is it off?" Wei Yuan asked, curious.
Wang Hu looked around, leaned closer to Wei Yuan, and sniffed forcefully, like a bear scenting honey. After sniffing for a long while, the certainty on Wang Hu's face deepened, and he said, "I smell the stench of the Shamans on you!"
Wei Yuan had wondered what it could be, but it turned out to be the Shamans. He chuckled and said, "That's only normal. I fight the Shamans every day and have been hit with who knows how many curses. It would be strange if there weren't a stench."
Wang Hu shook his head. "The stench here is different. It isn't a literal smell, but a feeling. How should I put it? The moment I catch this stench, I just want to run as far away as possible. It's like... who knows what creature dropped a massive pile of dung, or whose corpse is rotting away."
Wei Yuan grew serious and pressed, "Can you be more specific?"
Wang Hu's expression turned grave and rather sickly. "To be precise, it smells like a butcher shop falling into ruin."
Wei Yuan was taken aback. What kind of description was that?
Wang Hu continued to search for the right words and impressions. "It's like a shop with no more customers, on the verge of going out of business, where the meat inside is beginning to rot, so even if customers did come, no one would buy it anymore."
"Decline and fall!" Wei Yuan blurted out.
"Yes, exactly that! You really are smart!"
Wei Yuan furrowed his brows in thought. How could anyone perceive an air of decline and fall around him? Everything was currently on track and accelerating.
Qingming was running at full capacity. From weapons and armor to military rations, tools, gunpowder, clothing, and housing, everything could be produced domestically. Aside from silk and cotton, it did not even require raw materials imported from outside.
With each passing day, Qingming grew stronger, its supplies more abundant, and the people's cultivation advanced further. In steel production alone, Qingming—a mere speck of land—already surpassed both Western Jin and the State of Zhao individually, falling only slightly short of the two countries combined.
The war against the Shamans was arduous, but the situation had stabilized. Given enough time, Wei Yuan could train tens of millions of troops, but he did not believe the Shamans would be willing to throw nearly a hundred million soldiers into Qingming. That was a staggering number; the karmic fortune and karmic debt generated would be enough to sway an immortal's status and fruit, potentially elevating them higher or dragging them down from Immortal Heaven.
At a time like this, Wang Hu could actually see decline?
Seeing Wei Yuan's expression, Wang Hu also came to an understanding. "I get it now! Some big shot must have wanted to give you a warning, so they deliberately guided me to Qingming to find you."
"The Lord of the Hall of the Bright King?" Wei Yuan asked.
Wang Hu shook his head. "Definitely not Patriarch. Patriarch doesn't have that kind of skill. Nor could it be Palace Master Yanshi; if it were him, he would just send word directly. Maybe that big shot couldn't openly intervene, or perhaps they simply didn't want to see the other side succeed, so they picked me."
"What is so special about you, Senior Brother?"
"Me? I inherited a sliver of Master's trait of being beyond calculation. Divinations and deductions from ordinary people can't calculate me, and even premonitions don't work. All kinds of death-substituting and auto-triggering defensive Dao arts are useless against me."
Wei Yuan was greatly astonished. Such defensive Dao arts were extremely sophisticated techniques that only someone with an immortal foundation like Ji Liuli of the Heavenly Mechanism Hall could wield with ease. Moreover, such arts were exceedingly rare and widely claimed to have no counter, yet they were completely ineffective against Wang Hu.
One look at Wang Hu was enough to tell his dharma body was formidable and his physical lethality immense. With no defensive Dao arts able to constrain him, he was practically an unstoppable killing machine.
Understanding Wang Hu's trait of falling outside calculations, Wei Yuan was now inclined to believe that some immortal had indeed used Wang Hu to warn him that the Shamans had already made their secret move.
Yet where would the Shamans strike? Wei Yuan pondered the question, but found no answer. Qingming currently possessed virtually no flaws—unless something had gone wrong with Immortal Monarch Yanshi.
Wang Hu's mood had shifted; he was growing increasingly restless. Before long, he began pacing back and forth across the room. "Junior Brother, I'm afraid I have to leave."
Wei Yuan was taken aback. "Why is that?"
Wang Hu's face was twisted in discomfort. "The stench here is getting worse and worse. I'm not afraid of mountains of daggers or seas of fire, but I really can't stand this smell. The Heavenly Shaman who set up the scheme must have noticed interference and started striking back. By telling you all this, I've already stepped into the game. I might already be a thorn in the Heavenly Shaman's side. If I don't leave now, I'm afraid I'll be cursed to death."
"Let me see you off, Senior Brother. I haven't even properly thanked you for your help." Wei Yuan escorted Wang Hu out of the immortal city.
As they chatted along the way, Wei Yuan learned of the three great traits of the Lord of the Hall of the Bright King: touching no karma, falling outside calculations, and an instinctive avoidance of tribulations. In his cultivation so far, Wang Hu had only inherited the trait of falling outside calculations—and even then, only when someone harbored malice toward him. When used by an immortal solely to deliver a message to Wei Yuan, as had happened today, the trait did not activate.
Wei Yuan felt that the Lord of the Hall of the Bright King was the true child of karmic destiny, progressing near to ascension without ever having to exert his brain along the way. With a dharma body as tough as his, unless the heavens prepared some extraordinary methods for his Ascension Tribulation, the Lord of the Hall of the Bright King would probably pass it with nothing more than superficial flesh wounds.
Wei Yuan asked further, "What trait did Feng Tingyu inherit?"
Wang Hu scratched his bald head and thought hard. Only then did Wei Yuan realize he was bald; somehow, that detail had been overlooked until now. Looking closer, Wang Hu had no hair on his head, nor did he have eyebrows, eyelashes, or a beard. Perhaps his physical body was so powerful that hair simply could not grow.
After thinking for a long time, Wang Hu finally said, "Little Junior Sister didn't seem to inherit any traits related to karma or heavenly mechanisms. Master seemed to mention that Junior Sister's sole path is slaughter. She's exceptionally good at fighting and excels at overcoming the strong from a position of weakness. Back when I was already a Dharma Idol and she had only reached perfection in the Dao Foundation—a whole major realm apart—I still had a tremendously hard time fighting her. Now that she's formed her Dharma Idol, I'm no match for her at all."
"Her dharma idol truly is troublesome..." Wei Yuan agreed wholeheartedly. Being enveloped in Feng Tingyu's darkness was far more terrifying than having a kidnapper throw a burlap sack over one's head; it truly severed all five senses, leaving behind only the sense of physical touch.
Wang Hu added that once his Mountain-Moving Great Ape dharma idol reached perfection and his mindscape world began to take shape, multiple Heavenly Eyes would open across the ape's body. When that time came, he would no longer fear Feng Tingyu.
Soon they reached the edge of Qingming. Wang Hu had grown intensely nervous, sweating from head to toe. Not daring to linger a moment longer, he sped away like the wind.
Returning to the immortal city, Wei Yuan summoned cultivators including Ji Liuli, Bao Yun, and Feng Chutang, and also invited True Monarch Xuanyue and the Lord of the Hall of the Bright King to join them. Having two True Monarchs presiding gave them a great deal more confidence.
Once everyone had gathered, Wei Yuan said, "Senior Brother Wang Hu of the Hall of the Bright King was just here. He discerned that the Shamans have laid a hidden hand, and it may be triggered soon. I don't know where the Heavenly Shaman will make their move, so I invited everyone here to discuss and see if there are any oversights."
The Lord of the Hall of the Bright King immediately boomed, "Wang Hu? That brat was here? Why didn't he come pay his respects to me? Is he trying to rebel?"
"Senior Brother Wang Hu said the stench here was too overwhelming and he couldn't bear to stay. He left as soon as he delivered his message," Wei Yuan explained on his behalf.
The Lord of the Hall of the Bright King's face darkened instantly. Slamming the table with a heavy thud, he roared, "He thought it was exceptionally foul? That boy walked straight into an immortal's scheme! If I find out who used him as a pawn behind my back, I'll never let them off!"
True Monarch Xuanyue said, "Old Ming, calm down—"
"My surname isn't Ming!"
"Old Zhang—"
"Fart if you must, but don't call my name!"
True Monarch Xuanyue said, "Wang Hu has already received your true teachings, and the immortal who sent him has incurred karma. He should be able to keep him safe."
The Lord of the Hall of the Bright King sneered coldly, "He'd better be safe, or someone will have hell to pay!"
"Right now, the Heavenly Shaman's scheme is targeted at Wei Yuan. Why don't you take a look around and see where the Shamans' hidden hand might fall?"
The Lord of the Hall of the Bright King nodded. "I'll go take a look. But don't worry too much. This is the Shattered Lands, after all, and you and I both know what those Heavenly Shamans are capable of. If nothing else, even if a Heavenly Shaman takes action in person, in these Shattered Lands, they would likely suffer at our hands. Besides, the one who came is Huiye. Her specialty is curses, not direct combat."
Xuanyue felt slightly reassured and asked Wei Yuan about his corresponding arrangements.
Having survived a Karma Great Curse once before, Wei Yuan had grown exceptionally cautious, and he now had the Peerless Dao Domain protecting him. To curse Wei Yuan was equivalent to cursing all of Qingming; unless the curse matched the power of that previous Karma Great Curse, it could not possibly succeed.
At the same time, to prevent the Shamans from secretly setting up formations within Qingming, the Great Array of the Zhou Celestial Stars maintained surveillance. The Shamans' undercover agents could at most lay down small formations within their own rooms and do nothing beyond that.
Now that the immortal city was completed, only immortals of the Palace of Grand Beginning could freely enter and leave; no one else could come and go at will.
With such arrangements in place, it could be said to be foolproof. Wei Yuan did not believe the Shamans had any tricks left other than launching a great curse from afar. Even True Monarch Xuanyue and the Lord of the Hall of the Bright King could find no vulnerabilities. In the end, they could only agree to let the Lord of the Hall of the Bright King and Ji Liuli roam the territory to see if they might discover anything.
Since the discussion reached no conclusion, the meeting adjourned. True Monarch Xuanyue suddenly asked, "Where is Zhang Sheng?"
"Master is at a critical juncture in his breakthrough, just one step away from the Dharma Idol realm. He has been in secluded cultivation lately."
True Monarch Xuanyue stroked his beard in deep satisfaction. "This child broke through after destruction, cultivating a Dao Foundation of five hundred and twelve immortal swords—truly unprecedented and never to be surpassed! For teachers of our generation, to have a disciple like this leaves no regrets in life."
The Lord of the Hall of the Bright King's face sank. "Feng Tingyu and Wang Hu are hardly inferior!"
True Monarch Xuanyue shook his head. "Compared to others, Feng Tingyu and Wang Hu are indeed quite good. Old Ming, you are a blessed man. However, I still have a question that I cannot fathom no matter how hard I ponder. I wonder if you can enlighten me?"
The Lord of the Hall of the Bright King sneered. "There's actually something you can't figure out? Speak."
The moment the words left his mouth, the Lord of the Hall of the Bright King instantly regretted them.
Sure enough, True Monarch Xuanyue said, "Tell me, why is this boy Zhang Sheng's Dao Foundation made of exactly five hundred and twelve immortal swords? Not one more, not one less. Truly strange and wondrous."
Chapter 859