Chapter 1000: Chapter 994: Year 815
Li Yaozu sat cross-legged opposite the Sword Venerable. It was no wonder the world placed such heavy importance on fortuitous encounters.
The Sword Venerable had failed four times to break through to the Body Integration realm.
Li Yaozu made a trip to the Sword Pavilion, and the Sword Venerable’s final trace of Dao Rhyme from failing to ascend to Body Integration was used to forge Spiritual power for Li Yaozu.
“You have laid a solid foundation. Although your aptitude is poor, you have nurtured your sword year-round, obtaining a Sword Physique and possessing a Sword Heart.”
The Sword Venerable’s four attempts yielded only half the required laws.
He dispersed the Sword Heart laws Li Yaozu had forged over the years since leaving the snowy plains into the Void Refinement Space.
In just a few days, the Void Refinement Space was filled with various powers of laws, which then transformed into individual swords that pierced into the Void Refinement Space.
Everyone’s dharma methods have their own stark differences, and the same goes for their Dao Hearts.
Those swords appeared perfectly ordinary, yet they emitted a faint, obscure killing intent.
The swords trembled slightly, imperceptible to the naked eye, revealing ordinary iron garments hidden within their ordinary blades.
The Sword Venerable said in surprise, “Hidden killing intent. This is a second-tier Void Refinement Dao that blends Metal-attribute, killing intent, and flaw-finding laws. You’ve hidden your strength deep in your sword bones.”
“He’s the best at pretending!”
Inside the sword box, a beauty sat on a flying sword, swinging her legs.
Her face was calm, yet it was as if she were roaring out of the box.
It wasn’t the first time he had been seen through. Li Yaozu said in a deep voice, “A gentleman holds back and dares not exhaust his limits, to guard against vile characters.”
The Sword Venerable remained silent for a moment.
“Grasp this opportunity well. Use my remaining Dao Rhyme to forge your Void Refinement realm, so you can head to Deston Prefecture.
Regarding the matter at the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, please ask the Li Clan not to take offense.”
Hearing this, a look of realization dawned upon Li Yaozu.
As the Sword Venerable dispelled the barrier of the Body Integration Great Dao within the Sword Mountain, many disciples were also able to leave the mountain.
Among them, Li Yaozu saw the figure of the Sword Master, Fang Yunyu.
During the trip to the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems back then, among the various factions of the Immortal Suppression Department, the Sword Master ran the fastest.
In truth, Li Yaozu didn’t take it to heart.
After all, one of Sword Left and Sword Right sacrificed themselves, while the other’s Dao Heart was damaged.
It was only human nature for the Sword Master to lead his people away to flee and preserve their strength.
However, it was inevitable that the various factions of the Immortal Suppression Department would distance themselves from the Sword Pavilion.
At the very least, Zhangsun Buhuo and Jiang Tianjun harbored grudges.
“This junior understands.”
Li Yaozu merely nodded slightly.
…….
“So that’s how it is. The Sword Venerable saved that final trace of Dao Rhyme just for A’Zu.”
Li Wei took in everything happening at the Sword Pavilion.
Under the Dao Rhyme of the Sword Venerable, the number of longswords piercing into A’Zu’s Void Refinement Space was increasing.
Li Wei didn’t disturb him.
He then returned to Merit City and murmured,
“Regarding the matter in Deston Prefecture, the Heavenly Principle Hall is monitoring the helpers they’ve invited.
A mighty dragon cannot suppress the local snake; that is the territory of the Imperial Protectors Guard, so we must play by their rules.
If Bi Shihu and the Yun Clan make a move, we are acting in self-defense, which makes sense logically.
But if they want to make a move against our Li Clan, we have to give them the opportunity to do so first.”
“The initiative is in our hands.”
As his words fell, Li Wei arrived at Yaoqing’s location.
Smoke drifted from the pill furnace, and a massive amount of Grade 4 and Grade 5 natural treasures floated in the air around her.
Li Yaoqing sat cross-legged, concocting pills with a rare earnestness.
Even the “Heavenly Fire Divine Tree” gifted to Yaotie by his mentor had been lent to Li Yaoqing for pill refinement.
In contrast, over at the Spirit Gathering Cauldron, Li Yaotie was laughing heartily, holding a hammer in one hand and the “Golden Chapter of Enlightenment” in the other as he forged artifacts.
Li Yaoqing’s expression was grave. The higher the grade of the pill, the harder it was to refine.
Concocting a furnace of “Void-Breaking Pills” in two years was only achieved under the extraordinary effects of the Heavenly Fire Divine Tree and her Divine Art; otherwise, it would have taken much more time.
At the same time.
During the period Li Yaoqing was concocting pills, the older generation of the clan suddenly fell silent.
[Year 815]
Another three years passed.
Following the scent of medicine, Li Wei arrived beside Li Yaoqing.
He saw Li Yaoqing open the pill furnace with a face full of apprehension, revealing the pills inside radiating golden light.
Even after several snaps of the fingers had passed, the afterglow of golden light still lingered on the pills.
There were six patterns on the pills. A total of two pills!
Li Yaoqing was overjoyed.
“Old Ancestor, it’s a success! I concocted two pills in one furnace! I’m already familiar with the refinement process for this kind of pill; the next furnace will only take two years!”
[Your descendant, Li Yaoqing, has concocted a furnace of Grade 4 Spiritual Pills: Six-Revolution Heavenly Rainbow Spirit-Gathering Pills (Mid-Grade)]
[Consuming one can increase cultivation base by 500 years.
Being a mid-grade spiritual pill, the cultivation increase remains unchanged.
It will take just under ten years to expel the impurities from the body, though the time required varies from person to person.]
“Good, good, good!”
Li Wei was overjoyed.
In the Ancestral Space, everyone except the three clan members refining the “Void-Breaking Pills” and Li Yaozu in the Sword Pavilion was gathered together.
Hearing the efficacy of the “Six-Revolution Heavenly Rainbow Spirit-Gathering Pill,” everyone’s eyes lit up.
In truth, when Li Yaoqing was a Grade 5 Apothecary and Alchemist, she could also concoct pills that increased one’s cultivation base.
However, those pills could only increase it by a few decades.
For their current realms, it was just a drop in the bucket; it wasn’t even as good as the living Qi they had snatched from Tian Xing.
But after Li Yaoqing became a Grade 4 Alchemist, everything began to undergo a qualitative change!
“Five hundred years of cultivation base.”
Li Dalong let out a long sigh, looking at those two pills with complex emotions. Within a tiny pill lay more than half of the lifetime he had lived.
Li Yaoqing had never thought she could concoct such a divine pill. Having actually done it, Li Yaoqing’s voice trembled.
“I can still make seven more furnaces of this kind of pill. With Yuanshang continuously purchasing natural treasures in the Imperial Capital, there will be even more.
Once I become more proficient with the refinement method, the yield will increase, and the grade will be higher.”
“High-Grade Six-Revolution Heavenly Rainbow Spirit-Gathering Pills will have even better efficacy.
If they reach Top-Grade, the medicinal effect might even increase by half, providing at least seven hundred years of cultivation base.”
“There are also Holy Spirit Pills. One pill grants at least eight hundred years of cultivation base…”
Hearing this, the clan members’ eyes widened.
They realized that the clan’s era of popping pills had arrived.
“Dalong, time to take your medicine.” Unable to suppress the excitement in her heart, Xu Cuihua blurted out a sentence, as if possessed by ghosts and gods.
Li Dalong pondered for a moment and said in a deep voice,
“You and I are currently leading zombies and Hell Layer I: The Silence Maw Ghosts to march into Hell Layer II: The Rending Vows.
As you are also undergoing a transformation, I must guard you. There will be more spiritual pills; let the children eat these.”
The days gradually passed.
Deston Prefecture, within Silver Wolf Lake.
Yun Manlou, who had been frowning in distress all day for the past few years, wore a rare smile on his face.
A clan disciple to his side said,
“Reporting to the Patriarch. The demonic woman Dongfang Xuan, who was permanently stationed at our Silver Wolf Lake, hasn’t come for five years.
The man-eating demon hiding in the dark is also nowhere to be seen.
Recently, the number of fleeing clan members and retainers has been steadily decreasing.
Our clan disciples investigated and found out that Dongfang Xuan has gone to Sunfall City. A few days ago, she schemed for the Spear Saint, killing thirty thousand Wu tribesmen.”
“It’s all thanks to Lord Ba and Mr. Zhou.”
Yun Manlou laughed loudly. But as he laughed, his expression grew complex, and he sighed.
“If I had known it would be like this, it would have been better for the Old Ancestor to release his Half-step Body Integration Spiritual power earlier.
Lord Ba and Mr. Zhou could have also sheltered my Yun Clan, and how could such disasters have happened?”
But where in the world is there a “if I had known”? If it weren’t for the fact that the Yun Clan’s Old Ancestor was only one kick away from crossing the threshold, he probably wouldn’t have revealed his trump card at all.
While he was deep in thought.
More joy was added to Yun Manlou’s face. Outside the door, a bearded man with curly whiskers could be seen striding over.
With an ordinary stride, he could shrink the ground to an inch, leaving only streaks of afterimages where he stood.
In just a snap of the fingers, he was already in the grand hall.
This man dressed casually. The heavily muscled, bearded man sized Yun Manlou up and down and laughed heartily.
“Hahaha, I haven’t seen you in a millennium, Prefecture Lord Yun, yet your bearing remains as grand as ever.
It seems you have expert assistance and will be able to break through to the Void Refinement realm in just a few years. I wonder where Fellow Daoist Yun Hongcai is?”
“Greetings, Senior Jiande. This junior will take you to see the Old Ancestor right away!”
Having been Prefecture Lords of the Yun Clan for tens of thousands of years, with their Old Ancestor having lived for forty-eight thousand years, they had plenty of good friends in the world.
When Shadowfell Prefecture was in peril back then, Yun Manlou sent messages all over the world; let alone his good friends, even the retainers outside had run away.
But upon arriving at Silver Wolf Lake, he sent messages again, merely stating that the Old Ancestor was only one step away from breaking through to Body Integration, and suddenly, he had “good friends” again.
This bearded man was known to the world as the Jiande Heavenly Venerable.
He was twenty thousand years old, at the mid-stage of the Void Refinement realm, and had started out as an assassin.
Back in the day, he had received a favor from the Old Ancestor.
The Old Ancestor once said that under Jiande Heavenly Venerable’s Heaven-Supporting Spiked Club, no one could escape his assassination.
After bringing Jiande Heavenly Venerable to see the Old Ancestor.
He only heard the two inside chatting merrily about their past affection. Yun Manlou left respectfully.
“Even Jiande Heavenly Venerable has come to assist us. More experts will be arriving soon.”
“Azure Cloud Li Clan, Azure Cloud Li Clan… Li Xinnian? Hahaha!”
Yun Manlou laughed out loud.
“You haven’t shown up all these years. I don’t care if you truly didn’t get the news or if you are being suppressed by Lord Ba.
Your threats in front of Lord Ba back then were nothing but a joke!”
“Making an enemy of my Yun Clan over a dead person… your Li Clan is heading towards decline on its own.
With your arrogant and ruthless ways, sooner or later, your Li Clan will be exterminated to the last seed!”
…
[Year 818]
Li Xinnian did not let down the massive Spiritual power the clan elders spent to lay his foundation when he was born, granting him various special physiques, nor did he let down the clan’s “Primordial Blood Fruits.”
“Half-step Void Refinement.”
In the secret room, the blood Qi surrounding Li Xinnian drew into his body, and a majestic Spiritual power rippled out from around him.
Looking into his Soul Sea again, the blood that the “Blood Spirit Dharma Image” had accumulated over many years had been completely refined.
Looking again at his Divinity Transformation Domain, it was gradually expanding; it was only one step away from stepping into the Void realm.
The law Spiritual power of “Devouring,” was gradually forming a whirlpool black hole, poised to forge the foundational barrier of the Void Refinement Space.
“Possessing the Primordial Spirit Body and ancient bloodlines, for hundreds of years, I secretly devoured the blood of the people from the Zhao Clan and the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems through demonic Dao methods.
Everything in the world is nothing more than devouring and refining—big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp.
All things in the world can be refined for one’s own use, turning into the foundation for one’s own evolution.”
“When heaven and earth first opened, the living beings of the world strengthened themselves through the law of the jungle.
It is nothing more than this. This is the Dao of Devouring.”
“Once the space is forged, my Dao of Devouring can devour the Daoist Spiritual power of others to refine Void Refinement laws, and then evolve into the highest tier of Void Refinement Space, and even… step onto the path of the Dao realm.”
Li Xinnian smiled faintly.
“I only need to find a place to attempt a breakthrough. With the Old Ancestor’s great Spiritual power to help me heal, I can give it a try.”
He then headed outside.
But as soon as he got outside, Li Xinnian narrowed his eyes slightly.
He saw that Granduncle Changsheng and Great-Aunt Changyao both had gloomy expressions.
Their faces only looked a bit better when they saw him come out.
“It’s an assassin.”
Li Changsheng said calmly,
“The clan elders sent messages in all directions inviting people to come. Suddenly, an assassin appeared on the way, blocking the Elder arriving from the Eternal Sect.
This person was wary of the Eternal Sect and held back slightly; otherwise, the Eternal Sect Elder wouldn’t have been able to escape at all.
The Eternal Sect Elder didn’t even see the other party’s face; he only saw a Heaven-Supporting Spiked Club.
The Eternal Sect Elder fled. If it weren’t for the Old Ancestor sending a message, we wouldn’t have even known.”
“We are being targeted.”
—
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