Shangyi

"Clang!" The long halberd swept left and right, knocking aside the two incoming spirit weapons. The tremendous recoil forced both Zhenxuan Spirit Statues back a step in unison. Yet a golden shadow leapt from the halberd, slamming heavily onto the house-sized head of one statue and whipping up a tempest. A beam of celestial light seized the opening to shoot through the storm, aiming straight for the spirit official shielded behind the two statues. The spirit official possessed considerable awareness and immediately retreated. Still, it failed to reckon with the True Person, who had already summoned forth the Subduing Light, crashing it heavily against its body. White smoke billowed at once. The two Zhenxuan Spirit Statues instantly swung their weapons around to stab at the man behind them. But Li Zhouwei did not manifest his Heavenly Gate, his body already blazing with black flames: Jiazi Soul Refining Halberd Technique! Behind him, black flames surged, sprouting four arms that caught the two weapons—each as massive as roof beams—in an instant. In sheer size, it looked like an ant trying to shake a giant tree, yet he remained motionless. Instead, the two spirit statues staggered, raising clouds of dust from the ground. Gathering his divine ability, his two front hands formed an incantation seal before unleashing it: Audience at the Heavenly Gate! The enormous celestial gate fell from the sky, accompanied by fierce purple flames. It did not drop toward the spirit statues behind him, nor did it strike the spirit official pinned down by the Shangyao Subduing Light before him. Instead, woven of radiance and fire, it descended to suppress the silver-white profound bell in the sky! He had no need to entangle himself in battle with the three Zhenxuan Spirit Statues. Audience at the Heavenly Gate excelled at suppression, and the spirit statues were dull-witted; naturally, he would seize the treasure and depart. His power of Discerning the Obscure unfolded, and in an instant, every trace of spirit thunder across the entire sky was mapped into his mind. "Rumble!" Though the profound bell was indeed a treasure with deep bonds to the spirit official, how could it withstand the full suppression of Audience at the Heavenly Gate? In a flash, its magical glow dispersed and it reverted to its original form—a silver bell no larger than a fist. Li Zhouwei's movements did not slow in the slightest. His golden eyes flared, and the patterns of scales resurfaced across his face. Releasing the hands that had formed the seal to execute the divine ability, he spun around abruptly, pressing one hand in front and one behind against the two weapons! Gritting his teeth, sheets of golden light surged up the weapons like lightning from his hands, swiftly coursing into the two spirit statues. The bodies of the sixteen Zhenxuan Spirit Statues were sturdy, but how could Li Zhouwei's Dharma body fall short? "Rise!" A terrifying plume of dust erupted as the two mountain-sized spirit statues were torn from the earth in an instant, momentarily looking as fragile as toy figures flung from a seesaw. Whistling with air-rending shockwaves, they spun rapidly twice in midair before slipping from his grip, flying into the sky like shooting stars trailing waves of heat. They flew straight toward the thunder-veiled Purple-Gold Profound Mace—and Miao Huanzun, who had just seized it into his hands! Wrapped in flickering flames of light and turbulent air currents, Li Zhouwei had already drawn back the silver bell with his divine ability. Without lingering before the spirit official, having secured the spirit embryo, his form transformed into a streak of golden light and crossed the sky! As thunder churned in the heavens, a chill ran down the spines of the three Violet Palaces surrounding the Purple-Gold Profound Mace and Miao Huanzun. Almost simultaneously, they looked up, but the terrifying sonic boom arrived in an instant, catching them off guard. "Rumble!" The two mountain-sized spirit statues crashed down! The statues were inherently heavy and solid, and the thunder in the sky was instantly shredded to pieces, erupting into a scattered haze of light. Taking the brunt of the impact, Miao Huanzun's pupils dilated wildly. Forcing himself half a stride aside, his thunder dharmic power was blasted apart, dispersing into billowing thunder sludge before recombining. Just as he regained his footing in shock, an even faster golden streak descended from the heavens. The rapidly expanding golden figure and the face covered in golden scales were mirrored in his pupils. Miao Huanzun only had time to retreat, shrieking through his divine ability: "It's the White Qilin!" The black-robed man on the other side reacted the quickest. Raising a hand against the oncoming celestial light, he whipped up a gale of black water straight at the lunging man, shouting with an ugly expression: "How did another one show up?!" The gale of black water surged like sea wind howling against coastal cliffs, carrying a damp, sticky Yin energy as it blew toward the incoming golden light, weaving into bewildering strands intended to push him back. Li Zhouwei snapped his eyes open, and a dense celestial radiance instantly turned his pupils to pure gold: Jun Daowei! Seize the moment of change, and return to the proper course! The billowing black wind seemed to become a stepping stone and an extension of Li Zhouwei's path. His speed only quickened by thirty percent as he trampled across the black water. The halberd enlarged in an instant, bursting with a deafening crash against the black-robed man's frantically raised hands! "Hum..." In a flash, the black-robed man flew backward like an arrow from a bowstring, tumbling down into the sea of clouds. Iridescent light and celestial radiance intertwined across his body. Li Zhouwei did not unleash another divine ability; instead, he snapped his head around, his dark-golden eyes—revealed as the pure gold faded—locking onto Miao Huanzun. Miao Huanzun felt an overwhelming surge of humiliation and fury, a searing thought rushing into his mind: *What an insolent brute! Am I the mid-stage Violet Palace or are you? Do you truly believe no one can put you in your place?!* The most formidable figures in the cave heaven were naturally the Great True Persons, followed by the mid-stage Violet Palaces with three divine abilities. Miao Huanzun considered himself a cut below someone like Tuoba Ci, but outside of the few supreme powers, he was still a figure of renown! *Let me teach you to respect your seniors!* In a single thought, the White Qilin's halberd had already thrust forward, trailing three shimmering, dancing streaks of white light amidst overflowing brilliance. Miao Huanzun sneered inwardly. Flicking his sleeve, he summoned a small purple fork. The fork was about an arm's length, woven of purple and white, imbued with purple-black thunder that made it particularly striking. With a ringing clash, it parried the halberd squarely. Miao Huanzun was about to summon his purple gourd when a chill prickled the back of his neck; someone among those who had previously besieged him had struck again. Forced to parry with his divine ability, his eyes turned to thunderous light to see through the jade-green divine ability flying at him. Taking just that one step too late, another golden beam sprang from the halberd, thrusting straight toward his face. Dasheng's Mimicry! This miraculous effect had achieved wonders time and again, and today was no exception. It caught Miao Huanzun slightly off guard, forcing him to interrupt his movements and spit out a mouthful of thunder to counter it. Yet Li Zhouwei exerted sudden force, gathering his divine ability and twisting his halberd. "Bang!" The purple thunder on both sides shattered instantly. Dasheng pressed forward against the small thunder fork, coming within inches of Miao Huanzun's eyes. The dazzling celestial radiance was already dissipating the divine ability across his face, causing cold sweat to bead on his skin. "You!" Catching him unawares, Li Zhouwei had closed the distance without giving him a moment to react. The radiance between his brows burst forth, slamming hard into the divine ability covering his foe's face! "Rumble!" Miao Huanzun reacted extremely fast. Knowing full well that Li Zhouwei possessed a glabella technique, he had already cloaked his face in thick purple lightning. However, augmented by Jun Daowei, the Shangyao Subduing Light had risen to another level. It knocked his head back, leaving him dizzy and coughing up a mouthful of dark blood. Raising two fingers in cold fury, he circulated his divine ability as well! Right at that moment, a sharp, cold edge emerged from the shadows, pointing straight at Miao Huanzun's glabella! Li Zhouwei did not look back, already knowing who had struck: Chen Yin! One of the three who had surrounded Miao Huanzun! And one of the reasons Li Zhouwei believed he had a chance to seize the prize! With spiritual sense restricted, others might not know who was contesting what, only grabbing whatever was nearest. But Li Zhouwei saw with utter clarity, even able to gauge his exact odds of success before heading to any given location. That was why he had not acted immediately, choosing instead to wait for the opportune moment! The current situation was plain. The cave heaven was vast. Even though this region of thunder created a grand commotion, the most favored contenders in the short term remained Miao Huanzun and Tuoba Ci. Tuoba Ci was clearly more interested in the set of three short swords... So long as Chen Yin was willing to stand on his side, even with a bit of bias, dealing with Miao Huanzun would be no trouble at all! Miao Huanzun was filled with cold rage. Even if Chen Yin had not made a resounding name for himself, he had spent heavily over the years to forge a spirit sword; paired with sword origin, not even Miao Huanzun could afford to ignore him. Finally, purple light flared in his eyes as he roared: "You go too far!" Purple-black light pierced through heaven and earth as silver-white Xuan Thunder plunged from the vast dark clouds. The moment it struck him, it transformed, swirling around him as purple-black thunder while a deep, heavy roar echoed out: "Roar!" Jingping Chi! A surging purple-black radiance swept outward. The spirit sword trembled violently within the thunder, and Chen Yin was thrown back dozens of paces, grimacing in pain as arcs of lightning rippled into his body. Simultaneously, another figure was forced out of the empty air, stumbling several paces back with an ugly expression. Draped in the shimmering Thousand-Eyed Demonic Robe, it was none other than Real Person Luo of the Southern Border. "Clang!" As the purple-black brilliance surged forward, Li Zhouwei planted his halberd heavily into the air. Celestial light and iridescent clouds gathered as Jun Daowei circulated. The talisman qi within him resonated, cleansing and sweeping away all the thunder in his body, forcing him back a mere three paces! A sudden sense of wonder arose in Li Zhouwei's heart. *It actually triggered the talisman qi?* The path of Bright Yang naturally possessed the wondrous quality of breaking demonic evil. Yet the Miao family's thunder was peculiar; although it was tainted with blood qi through a special method, it usually did not fall under the purview of evil-purging methods, which was why they could roam north and south, professing themselves righteous. Bright Yang could not recognize this sinister thunder, yet the evil-dispelling property of the Manifestation of Sun and Moon had reacted! With such a golden opportunity, he had no time to ponder further. The patterns of scales on his face shone even brighter, and the radiance at his glabella grew boundless. Seizing the moment when the man before him thought he had been suppressed by the thunder and lacked dharmic power, Li Zhouwei channeled his divine ability: Di Qi Light. A round void immediately appeared between his brows, murky inside without a shred of light, yet its outer rim shone brilliantly like an omen of a solar eclipse, aimed straight at Miao Huanzun! Miao Huanzun specialized in thunder dharmic power, maneuvering to defeat enemies with techniques, while his Jingping Chi was a clearing divine ability whose power grew the closer the target was. It was ideally suited for use when cornered by someone with a formidable corporeal divine ability. He had waited so long precisely for everyone to draw near before unleashing Jingping Chi so he could make a clean retreat. Having stunned the crowd, he immediately rode the thunder, even finding a moment to raise his purple gourd to leave a burst of lightning for the others. Yet just as his dharmic power circulated, his lifebound divine ability sounded another alarm of danger. "Hm?" The solar eclipse between the man's brows suddenly contracted, and boundless radiance erupted from within. Slender, sharp, and twisting, each ray was golden in front and black behind, trailing a long, thin tail like a venomous snake as they darted toward him in terrifying succession. "What kind of technique is this?!" His calculations had been sound, but who could have foreseen that his divine ability would be neutralized so easily? Fortune and misfortune were intertwined; that slight hesitation plunged him into endless trouble. Caught at such close range, he could not even shift aside in time. He could only raise his sleeve, forcibly aborting the divine ability in his hands to coat himself in lightning, snarling: "How audacious!" The words were barely spoken when the dense Di Qi Light descended like rain, showering over him. These thumb-thick streaks of light, golden in front and black behind, were both swift and piercing. Thunder was inherently unsuited for defense, especially at such close quarters! His body shuddered violently. Though his divine ability continued to operate, he felt as if plunged into an unceasing hell of fire. Puffs of purple blood mist burst from his front and back as streaks of light embedded themselves into his flesh and thunder. Rays of Di Qi even climbed onto the Purple-Gold Profound Mace, forcibly suppressing his lightning and binding the weapon! Even more terrifying to him, Li Zhouwei's eyes lit up once more, and the solar eclipse at his glabella reversed, brightness dawning from the darkness. Shangyao Subduing Light! A single misstep filled Miao Huanzun's heart with boundless dread. He understood instantly: he either had to abandon the spirit weapon and flee, or take this beam of magical light head-on, falling into an even more precarious state and potentially suffering grievous injuries! Amidst such fierce competition, he would surely gain nothing more from the cave heaven! No matter how reluctant he was to part with the thunder implement, Miao Huanzun decisively let go, turning into billowing thunder sludge and drifting away. He did not even leave behind a parting threat, retreating silently and in utter disarray. Only the snake-like, gold-and-black streams of Di Qi Light remained, binding the Purple-Gold Profound Mace as it fell into the White Qilin's hand. Li Zhouwei held his long halberd in one hand while a black-flame arm behind him reached out to take the weapon. He stood amidst the clouds like a wrathful deity. Behind him, two black-flame arms held a cyan cauldron and the thunder mace respectively. His gaze was sharp, showing not the slightest lapse in vigilance as he tilted his ear slightly, seemingly listening for something. "Petty tricks!" With a cold sneer, he suddenly raised a hand and caught something out of thin air with lightning speed. Amidst a grating screech, billowing black qi rose from his palm, faintly roiling with golden energy—it was a speeding divine ability throwing dart! The dart still struggled in his grip. His gaze was not on his hand, but fixed directly on the pale, black-robed man ahead. This Violet Palace had just been knocked from the clouds by him, only to be caught by the falling Zhenxuan Spirit Statue. After being delayed for a dozen exchanges, he had hurriedly suppressed it with a divine ability and rushed back, but he was already a step too late, able only to gaze at Li Zhouwei with wary dread. Li Zhouwei did not ride the wind to retreat as Miao Huanzun had. Miao Huanzun cultivated thunder and could certainly escape the three of them with his flight arts, whereas Li Zhouwei's Jun Daowei was unsuited for evasion, nor did he wish to cause a greater commotion. Thus, his gaze turned ferocious as he watched the man quietly, his hand gripping the other's divine ability tightening slightly. "Bang!" Golden fire erupted and black water rippled; the dart was forcibly crushed in his grasp. As his golden eyes swept across the surroundings, the sword-wielding old man bowed slightly and vanished. The fiend in the Thousand-Eyed Demonic Robe offered an awkward smile and silently stowed his dagger, while the black-robed man sighed heavily and retreated as well. By now, the entire world had gradually quieted down, leaving only the rumbling pursuit of the Zhenxuan Spirit Statues. Across the heavy mist, Tuoba Ci on the other side stowed the three small thunder swords into his robes. Giving Li Zhouwei a deep look, he summoned his chariot, the rumbling of its wheels swiftly fading into the distance. As the cultivators who had obtained the spirit thunders swiftly withdrew, the sixteen Zhenxuan Spirit Statues were rapidly converging. Seeing that Tuoba Ci had already finished packing up and that no opportunity remained, Li Zhouwei did not linger for even a moment, immediately transforming into a streak of celestial light and speeding away. *A rather fine harvest! Miao Huanzun had only just condensed his third divine ability, and two others wished him ill...* The golden light on his face gradually receded, and the eclipse at his glabella faded away. Using his ability to Discern the Obscure, he had locked onto an unexplored direction early on. Only then did he pretend to look around casually, riding the light at an easy pace while raising his hand slightly to reveal the purple-gold mace. The mace was purple-gold, four chi and two cun long, with a short handle and a four-edged body densely carved with patterns depicting the subjugation of demons and the pacification of heaven and earth. It felt numbing to the touch, its silver-white light restrained—truly a fine weapon! Though sealed in the cauldron, it had an owner and could neither be refined in short order nor stowed away. He simply bound it with celestial light and tied it to his waist. Flipping his hand once more, a glint of cyan light manifested. In the previous battle, he had obtained the two most important treasures. This object was the cyan square cauldron that held the treasures of Xinhu Palace—free of any divine ability power left behind by predecessors! As his Bright Yang divine ability poured into it, the cyan square cauldron gradually began to glow. Golden light gathered within its square mouth. First, the dark bird patterns lit up, followed by the turtle patterns on its belly, until the lake patterns also shone with full brilliance. By the time Li Zhouwei halted his escape light before a mountain peak, the spirit tool had finally been refined by him. With a tremor, all its light abruptly converged inward, leaving behind a rich cyan glow: Biting Qingyuan Profound Cauldron! This item was a vessel used in Wanling Heaven to hold spirit items, but it was also one of the ritual implements used for sacrifices. The Wanling Supreme Sect was immensely wealthy, and this object was notably superior to Changxi's Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger. "It's a spirit tool of the Gathered Wood path. This is the first time our family has obtained a Gathered Wood spirit tool... though we don't have many spirit tools to begin with..." Its primary wondrous effect was called 'Renew the Old.' It could take damaged spirit plants, pills, and spirit resources of the same lineage, restoring their vitality and recovering their quality. If placed inside with a large quantity of Violet Palace spirit resources of the same lineage that did not conflict with Gathered Wood, the cauldron would aggregate divine abilities to convert them into spirit extracts. Moreover, this 'Renew the Old' effect possessed another crucial benefit: if what was placed inside was not Water Virtue spirit resources but Water Virtue spirit items of sufficient quality, and it was presided over by a Gathered Wood divine ability, it could even convert them into Violet Palace spirit water! As for Fire Virtue... most conflicted with Gathered Wood and would not work. *This is likely the cauldron's most important function...* Li Zhouwei reflected silently: *Fortunately, spiritual sense is restricted in the cave heaven, and Real Person Luo only saw the spirit thunder when he rushed over. Otherwise, he would have fought tooth and nail for this! In our family's hands, it will be of immense use all the same; at worst, if we ever need to use this wondrous effect, we can invite him over.* It was an item of the Douxuan lineage after all, possessing two additional wondrous effects. One was called 'Primal Prosperity,' which could grant its master a trace of minor good fortune. How much use it could provide remained uncertain, but it seemed to be a method of Auspicious Qi. The second was called 'Assist the Rites,' which could finally be applied in combat. It could continuously absorb thunder, water, metal, and light to suppress an enemy's wondrous abilities. Once fully charged, it could spit out a beam of white light to shield its master. Though the white light was not immensely powerful, the absorption capability was of considerable use. *Next time I run into Miao Huanzun, I can just use this to take in his thunder torrent.* Flicking his fingers, the spirit tool shrank into a finger-sized cauldron. Condensing his dharmic power into a cord, it tied itself to his waist. Li Zhouwei drew the Huayang King's Battle-Axe and raised his brows to look ahead. Before him lay picturesque scenery reminiscent of a secluded paradise, with a stele standing below: Qingyi Peak. The formation here was far inferior to the one at Xinhu Palace, its connection to the cave heaven's profound mantle even weaker. Yet the aura of the formation was rather novel; though he could not identify the lineage, he could vaguely deduce it belonged to one of the Twelve Qi, prompting Li Zhouwei to take a closer look: "Another one... Once inside this Wanling Heaven, there are countless unrecognizable lineages!" Li Zhouwei delivered three axe strikes with Light-Splitting, shattering the great formation to pieces. Above hung a large plaque inscribed in cloud-like white with four characters: Shangyi Tianxiao. On either side stood a large white jade precious vase, its faint patterns spewing forth bursts of spiritual qi. Unfortunately, they were not of the Violet Palace tier, and taking them would only waste space in his storage bag. Li Zhouwei stepped inside, arriving at the inner hall where six large pillars stood in a row. At the very front were two lines of silver characters: *Ponder the Nine Profound Arts across the Four Honored Lands,* *The Six Harmonies Precious Vase commands the Sole Spirit Heaven.* Only then did he notice painted screens flanking the sides, densely covered in golden characters. Li Zhouwei swept his gaze over them and realized the screen recorded a treatise on artifact forging named Treatise on the Six Harmonies Precious Vase, detailing methods for crafting precious vases. Li Zhouwei committed it to memory. With a flick of his sleeve, his divine ability opened several surrounding cabinets, retrieving six bottles of pills in succession. Sweeping his spiritual sense over them, he found that too much time had passed; even with the excellent preservation in the cave heaven, three bottles had gone bad, likely having been left out for some time back then. The remaining three bottles stirred with aura, containing spirit pills of this lineage. Silvery white like refined metal, their auras were already somewhat unstable, devoid of any medicinal fragrance. Stowing them casually, he stepped into the cave mansion's inner sanctum. On a meditation cushion lay a sparkling white skeleton amidst scattered magical light. Its cultivation during life had not been high, likely at Qi Refinement, and death had come by suicide. Cradled in the skeleton's arms were a jade slip, a jade flask, and two magical instruments degraded from spirit embryos. Li Zhouwei collected the items casually, finding the jade flask filled with a light-cloud-like spiritual liquid that carried a taste of transcendent, luminous mystery. *From the same lineage as well!* Even if this item was not a Violet Palace spirit item, it was at least a spirit extract. Li Zhouwei stowed it away, took up the jade slip, and examined it with his spiritual sense: Cuixin Xuanyuan Gong. This was actually a Violet Palace cultivation method complete with a Qi Gathering Art. It was an ancient art, its grade indiscernible, with its latter half missing. It was clear that such great lineages always stored their secret arts separately. The divine ability it condensed was called Mingxin Yan. What stirred Li Zhouwei's heart even more was that this manual proclaimed itself to belong to Shangyi among the Twelve Qi. *The Twelve Qi... only eight are manifest in the present age. Adding Hua Qi, which was claimed by Buddhist cultivators, and Zhe Qi, which sank into the Netherworld, there are only ten in total: as the saying goes, 'Hua, Qing, Xi, Zi, Rui; Zhen, Sha, Sui, Han, Zhe'... Two have almost entirely died out...* *And of those ten, our family has encountered nearly all of them. The feel of this lineage is neither like the boundless radiance of Hua Qi nor the impenetrable gloom of Zhe Qi... That means it must be one of the remaining two.*