met free Chapter 78: Growth
Chapter 78: Growth
"No wonder he was able to kill thirty-six Foundation Establishment cultivators all by himself."
Li Chong's expression shifted uncertainly, while the high priest continued to add:
"Does Your Majesty still remember the scene captured on the memory stone? Willow shoots grew from the bodies of all the cultivators he killed."
Li Chong nodded. "You mean, his cultivation technique is related to the Immortal Willow of Shuitian Village?"
"Indeed, this young man initially called himself Immortal Willow, and also known as Heavenly Dao Immortal Venerable."
I suspect that his cultivation technique originates from the same source as that willow tree, or rather... he is the incarnation of that willow tree.
This conjecture startled Li Chong. After all, the Heavenly Dao's restrictions on the short-lived realm could not be escaped even by spiritual beings. If he were truly an incarnation of a willow tree, wouldn't he really be an immortal from the long-lived realm?
He had originally planned to seize the willow tree in Shuitian Village that could enlighten mortals in order to strengthen the dynasty's power, but now it seems unlikely that he could do so.
"So, the boy's transformation into human form and his travels through the world were indeed for the purpose of spreading immortal techniques."
Both of them recalled that wherever Ye Xuan went, he would first take control of the local county government, then change the ancestral hall, and finally preach the Dharma to the people... This was clearly establishing his own lineage.
In this way, it is not only the ancestral hall that is facing a crisis, but the rule of the capital is also in jeopardy.
Li Chong suddenly realized that he naturally did not want to see any kind of immortal sect or Taoist lineage come to control the royal family and ride on his head after the ancestral hall was built.
But what can he do now? What are the chances of success for a mortal fighting against immortals?
"My king, I have a plan."
The high priest suddenly spoke, his expression becoming unusually serious, as if he were saying, "It's all or nothing."
"Since the willow tree in Shuitian Village is the boy's true form, why don't we use all our strength to eradicate it!"
Li Chong was still worried about how mortals could fight against immortals. The 36 Foundation Establishment cultivators in the ancestral hall were the best test results.
But the high priest told him, "Your Majesty need not be so pessimistic."
"Anything that is divided into two will inevitably have its power dispersed."
Moreover, judging from the strength displayed by that transformed youth, he clearly possessed most of the willow tree's power.
He spoke with absolute certainty, which, in the understanding of mortals, was indeed an ironclad law of nature. The high priest always believed that as long as the royal family and the ancestral temple truly united, without suspicion or concealment from each other, it would be possible to eradicate that immortal willow.
"So, what are the High Priest's plans?"
After a moment of contemplation, Li Chong finally spoke, expressing his greatest concern about how the high priest would arrange things and whether his arrangements would shake the foundations of both sides.
"Five people were appointed to serve the royal family, and thirty more were appointed to protect the temple."
The excitement in Li Chong's eyes quickly faded. "With such a force... I'm afraid going there would just be suicide."
He knew that the ancestral hall could only summon protectors from various places, but those people were at most at the early stage of Foundation Establishment and were not worth using.
Moreover, the high priest demanded that all five members of the royal family be present, while he only sent those of the level of a protector of this hall, which was inherently unreasonable. Li Chong secretly felt that something was amiss.
"Your Majesty does not believe me? I have already dispatched the guardian deity of the ancestral hall near Shuitian Village to go there."
Before he could finish speaking, the high priest was about to take out a bronze mirror from his robes, but Li Chong quickly waved his hand.
"What if the high priest fails in doing this?"
"If we fail... we still have to take some action, right?"
Li Chong remained silent for a long time. What he said was indeed reasonable. If they did not take any action, they would have no choice but to rely on the city's protective formation and fight Ye Xuan to the death in the capital.
Li Chong was originally confident, but after witnessing his strange skills, he lost much of his confidence.
"Very well, we will do as you say. I will send people out shortly."
"Yes."
The high priest bowed and then turned and left, and the temple returned to calm.
Li Chong stood alone by the window, his gaze piercing through the night, looking towards the distant mountains.
Meanwhile, amidst towering mountains and treacherous paths, beside the Cleansing Spirit Pool.
Ye Xuan slowly opened his eyes, and the blue and white aura around him gradually receded into his body, while the spiritual energy glowing from the spiritual spring also dissipated.
"My lord, have you finished your cultivation?"
Chen Qinghe, who was standing to the side, quickly stood up. Ye Xuan nodded slightly and glanced around.
The mountains and forests were silent under the cover of night, with only the sound of the waterfall echoing in their ears, but their perception of the capital had already captured the scene they were talking about.
"Let them be."
Ye Xuan spoke to himself, showing no concern whatsoever for Xianliu, who had taken root in Shuitian Village. Chen Qinghe, on the other hand, was taken aback.
But Ye Xuan pointed to the side, "There's a guest who's been following us all the way there. You can go and meet him."
A guest? Chen Qinghe was puzzled, but he still ran in the direction Ye Xuan pointed.
But when he looked around, he found nothing. A few breaths later, a bolt of lightning struck a bush.
A person dressed in black, holding a bronze mirror, was struck by lightning blasted from the mirror by Ye Xuan.
Seeing this, Chen Qinghe roughly judged from the black-clad man's instantaneous release of spiritual power that it was probably similar to his own.
He immediately became alert, and while circulating his internal energy cultivation technique, a wisp of blue flame condensed in his palm.
The two locked eyes. Realizing he had been exposed, the Night Guardian immediately raised the bronze mirror in his hand, adjusted the angle, and reflected the moonlight from the sky onto Chen Qinghe.
However, Chen Qinghe had already witnessed the methods of these ancestral hall protectors in Jiangning County. He followed Ye Xuan's steps and quickly moved through the forest at night.
As they gradually approached the black-clad protector, flames emerged from Chen Qinghe's palm and adhered to the bronze mirror in the man's hand.
The terrifyingly high temperature instantly scorched the area around the bronze mirror black, and with a crisp "crack," the smooth mirror surface shattered in an instant.
He decisively discarded the magical artifact in his hand and clashed with Chen Qinghe's physical body.
The two exchanged blows, but the black-clad protector was not only two minor realms higher in cultivation than Chen Qinghe, but also much taller. The young man quickly found himself at a disadvantage.
As the saying goes, "an inch longer, an inch stronger," and Chen Qinghe had never practiced any martial arts, so he immediately avoided the protector's position and stopped fighting with him.
The boy dodged backward while pondering a solution.
On the other hand, the black-clad protector always believed he had the upper hand, so he followed Chen Qinghe's footsteps until the surrounding fog became thicker and thicker, at which point he noticed that his own strength was constantly being lost.
"not good!"
The black-clad protector was currently surrounded by heavy miasma, while Chen Qinghe, who was also in the miasma, seemed to be unaffected.
Just as the protector was about to leave the miasma area, a bolt of lightning suddenly exploded above his head. It was Chen Qinghe's lightning-summoning finger that he activated!
The boy's fingers kept gesturing in the air. His lightning-summoning finger technique was far less proficient than Ye Xuan's. He could only barely use it because of the thunderclouds that had been summoned here earlier.
Chen Qinghe knew himself perfectly well. He flew to the front of the Southern Protector, and a flame spread into his body.
The black-clad protector, whose spiritual power had been largely depleted by the strange miasma, was naturally unable to withstand the attack. His clothes burst into flames, and in his panic, he plummeted heavily off the cliff, gradually fading into silence...
Chen Qinghe let out a long sigh of relief.
"Not bad, you've made great progress compared to when you were in Shuitian Village."
You have to think about the young man in front of you. Just a few days ago, he couldn't even defeat the big fish in the lake, but now he can defeat the ancestral hall protector who is much stronger than him. Ye Xuan is quite satisfied with this.
Although Chen Qinghe tried his best to hide it, a look of joy still appeared on his face. He was so happy to be praised by the Immortal Venerable that he almost jumped for joy on the spot.
"This journey is almost over. The capital city ahead has already laid a trap."
You may return to Shuitian Village. If you continue to stay by my side, I'm afraid you will not be safe.
The smile on Chen Qinghe's face disappeared. He hadn't expected even the Immortal Venerable to say such a thing.
"Qinghe is not afraid! Following the Immortal Venerable on this journey, I have no regrets even if I die!"
Perhaps the young man before him didn't understand what it meant to die without regrets, but at least at this moment, he didn't care about preserving himself or whether he would become a burden; he was just saying it from the bottom of his heart.