darknovel Chapter 1123 Ba Chu
Chapter 1123 Ba Chu
Clouds and seals float above the land, displaying ever-changing scenery and revealing the magnificent landscape of immortals.
Inside an elegantly furnished pavilion, two people sat facing each other. A water mirror hung on the table, reflecting twenty-four giant ships that traversed the sky, skimming over the land and mountains, and flying into the distance.
One of them appeared to be around fifty years old, wearing a yellow robe embroidered with nine five-clawed golden dragons. His face was dignified, like a king or emperor who held great power in the mortal world, and he sat upright.
The other man had white hair and a youthful face, wore a loose Taoist robe, was barefoot, and had a flowing white beard, exuding an air of otherworldly grace.
Suddenly, a figure slowly walked up the stairs, making no sound. With one step, the figure was beside the two people.
This man, dressed in a blue robe, with a handsome face and a slender build, was none other than Master Fu, who had disappeared after leaving Donghua City.
The old man in the Taoist robe stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to Master Fu, and said with a smile, "This must be Fellow Daoist Fu. I pay my respects."
"I have long admired your name, Fellow Daoist. After you attained the Dao, you established your own sect and wielded the Xuan Tian Ling Bao. Ten thousand years have passed, and you have begun to conquer the Great Thousand Worlds. You are expected to ascend to immortality in the future."
Master Fu returned the greeting with clasped hands and smiled, "Fellow Daoist Zhang is too kind. My cultivation is shallow; how can it compare to your profound accumulation?"
"I, Fu, have gathered my disciples, affiliated sects, and other ethnic groups, which has taken a while. I'm sorry to have kept you two waiting."
The old man in the Taoist robe laughed heartily: "I'll take this opportunity to tour this Cloud Script Floating Land and then sit down with the Prince of Jingjiang to discuss the Tao. It will be a leisurely and carefree experience. Please have a seat, fellow Daoist."
After the two sat down, the man in the dragon robe finally looked away from the water mirror in front of him and said calmly, "I have been discussing the Dao with Fellow Daoist Zhang for several years and have gained a lot."
He bowed to Master Fu, his every move exuding an air of nobility: "Fellow Daoist Fu's cultivation has become increasingly profound. I only noticed you when you arrived a hundred miles away from this building, so please forgive my failure to greet you from afar."
Master Fu smiled and returned the greeting: "I cannot disperse my divine sense in this Cloud Seal Floating Land. If I were elsewhere, my presence would have already been detected by you two."
Those who can address Master Fu as fellow Daoists are naturally Mahayana cultivators.
The Taoist priest rose to greet him with impeccable manners, but the middle-aged man in the dragon robe remained seated, which was somewhat impolite.
But Master Fu knew that he had always been like this, so he didn't hold it against him.
This Prince Jingjiang is the sect leader of the Ba Chu Sect in the Chu Ling Domain of the Dao Yun Continent, a Mahayana cultivator who has been famous in the Spirit Realm for a long time.
The title "Prince of Jingjiang" was not only his Taoist name, but also his noble title before he embarked on the path of cultivation.
The spirit realm is vast and boundless, divided into four continents, each of which is further divided into several spirit domains, with countless cultivators and mortals as numerous as ants.
Once a cultivator embarks on the path of cultivation, they have only three choices: either join a sect, be born into a family of cultivators, or become a rogue cultivator. There are no other options.
However, the various sects and families have a wide variety of ways of governing the mortals under their jurisdiction.
Some sects directly govern mortals, while others allow mortals to establish dynasties. In any case, they all need to establish government offices and courts.
The Prince of Jingjiang was born in a mortal dynasty in the Chu Ling region called Great Chu. He was an illegitimate son of the emperor and was enfeoffed as the Prince of Jingjiang after his birth, and was deeply favored by the emperor.
But fate is unpredictable. In Shenzhou, where the Great Chu was located, there were many mortal dynasties that fought each other, and the Great Chu was defeated by another dynasty.
The sect that governs Shenzhou adheres to the principle of survival of the fittest and does not restrict mortal dynasties from attacking each other. They believe that only mortals who survive in chaotic times are more intelligent and stronger, and that the proportion of their offspring with spiritual roots is higher, and their spiritual root aptitude is also better.
Only a minority of sects in the spirit world adhere to this philosophy. Most sects and families still restrict mortals from fighting each other, encourage mortals to reproduce, and seek out talented cultivators from among more mortal youths.
It remains to be seen which of these two ideas is right or wrong, but the Great Chu was destroyed by other dynasties under the indulgence of this clan. The emperor hanged himself, the royal family was scattered, and the young Prince Jingjiang was adopted by a eunuch and lived among the common people.
Later, the Prince of Jingjiang, through some unknown fortuitous encounter, embarked on the path of cultivation, still using the title of Prince of Jingjiang and wearing a yellow robe with nine dragons, to show that he had not forgotten the Great Chu.
The Prince of Jingjiang was exceptionally talented and rose to prominence like a meteor, shining brightly. He slaughtered the royal family of the dynasty that destroyed the Great Chu, and then achieved the Great Ascension. He also slaughtered the medium-sized sect that allowed the mortals of Shenzhou to fight each other, creating boundless bloodshed.
This action was too violent, but the Prince of Jingjiang was already a Mahayana cultivator at that time, so he had a legitimate reason for killing people. In the end, the Fatian Pavilion could only let the matter drop.
After avenging his father, the Prince of Jingjiang founded a sect named Ba Chu. He was also the only Mahayana cultivator to use the title of an emperor, and no one knows his real name anymore.
It is said that after the fall of the Great Chu, the eunuch who raised him continued to treat him with the respect due to an emperor. This fostered in him an air of nobility and an extremely domineering personality that he never lost. For hundreds of thousands of years, he remained unchanged. Even when facing fellow Mahayana cultivators, he only slightly restrained himself.
At first, some people fell out with the Prince of Jingjiang because of this, but he was quite powerful and treated everyone equally, so gradually no one bothered with him about these trivial matters anymore.
Although Master Fu had only recently attained Mahayana enlightenment, he had extensive connections in the spirit world due to the Myriad Stars Compass. He had long heard of the Jingjiang Prince's experiences and temperament, so naturally he wouldn't fall out with him over such a trivial matter.
Moreover, since the Tai Xuan Sect intends to build a city on Ba Gui Island, they still need the assistance of the Prince of Jingjiang, and they will not care about such formalities.
The Prince of Jingjiang looked at the water mirror on the table again and said calmly, "Fellow Daoist Fu has done his best, which will make our battle less worrisome."
"Our understanding of the laws of space is not deep, so we will need Fellow Daoist Fu to lend us more help in finding that spatial rift."
Master Fu nodded: "Of course. You two only need to stop the Great Sage of the Burning Demon Realm when he makes a move, and leave the spatial rift to me."
Zhang Daoren's expression was slightly solemn as he stroked his beard and said, "The Great Sage who currently rules over the demon race of Tyrant Turtle Island in the Burning Demon Realm is the Great Sage Who Suppresses the Sea. It is said that he has lived for three million years and is unfathomable. He is one of the five True Spirit Great Sages in the Burning Demon Realm."
"If the Great Sage of Zhenhai were to personally take action, the three of us alone would likely be unable to cope."
Master Fu's eyes flashed, and he smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhang is overthinking it. Although the Great Sage Zhenhai is strong, Fellow Daoist Wuyuanzi is currently guarding Tyrant Turtle Island, so naturally he will not have the opportunity to interfere in this battle."
"Fellow Daoist Wuyuanzi is actually on Turtle Island?" Daoist Zhang was taken aback, then laughed. "I am used to being a carefree wanderer and have little knowledge of the world. I hope you two will forgive my ignorance. With Fellow Daoist Wuyuanzi here, everything is naturally foolproof."
Master Fu knew that Master Zhang's words were true; not all Mahayana cultivators in the Spirit Realm had established sects.
Among the more than one hundred Mahayana cultivators, more than twenty were reclusive and did not appear in the world. They were "unaffiliated cultivators" among the Mahayana cultivators. Zhumingzi, who was on good terms with him, was one of them, as was Zhang Daoren.
Like the Prince of Jingjiang, Zhang Daoren's real name has long been forgotten, and he doesn't even have a Daoist name. All that is known is that his surname is Zhang, and over time, he has come to be referred to as Zhang Daoren.
Zhang Daoren had a long lifespan, at least six or seven hundred thousand years, but Mahayana cultivators do not judge strength by the length of lifespan.
There are few Mahayana cultivators in the Spirit Realm who have lived longer than him, but in terms of strength, Zhang Daoren is not particularly outstanding; otherwise, he wouldn't have remained without establishing a sect. No Mahayana cultivator in the Spirit Realm doesn't want to ascend to the Immortal Realm, and no Mahayana cultivator doesn't want to establish a sect.
Over the long years, no one knows which continent Zhang Daoren came from, or how he cultivated to the Mahayana realm. Master Fu only knows that his cave dwelling is located on the Mingze Continent.
Each of the four continents in the Spirit Realm has its own advantages and disadvantages. The greatest advantage of the Mingze Continent is that its spatial barrier is weak, making it easy to travel through the myriad worlds.
This is precisely why Zhang Daoren chose to establish his cave dwelling on the Mingze Continent. He did not establish a sect, and therefore rarely participated in the Spirit Realm's conquest of other realms. Instead, he traveled alone through the myriad realms, seeking opportunities to advance further, just like Zhumingzi.
Master Fu didn't know why Daoist Zhang would suddenly agree to Tianrui Palace's offer of assistance. Based on his past actions, he would never have paid attention to such matters.
The Tai Xuan Sect built a city on Ba Gui Island, which seems to have nothing to do with Tian Rui Palace.
However, Yu Qingzi, the current head of Tianrui Palace, is now the head of Fatian Pavilion, in charge of the power to conquer other worlds in the spirit realm. All sects must obey his orders, so he naturally has to assume the responsibilities of the head of the pavilion.
Master Fu paid a considerable price to obtain permission from the Fatian Pavilion to build a city on Tyrant Island.
The Fatian Pavilion naturally had to protect and support the Tai Xuan Sect's city construction, which is why Yu Qingzi invited Zhang Daoren to help.
Not only was Zhang Daoren unaware of the situation on Tyrant Island, but he probably didn't even know much about the affairs of the spirit world.
A Mahayana cultivator's seclusion can last for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. Apart from his own cultivation, there is probably nothing else in the world that Zhang Daoren would care about.
But this time, he left the Mingze Continent and came to the Yunzhuan Floating Continent, which he had never set foot on before, and even offered to help in the battle, which greatly surprised Master Fu.
However, this was a matter between Tianrui Palace and Zhang Daoren, and Master Fu would not delve into it further.
At this moment, in the water mirror, twenty-four giant ships arrived on a vast and boundless wasteland, their speed gradually slowing down.
A massive teleportation array was carved into the ground, ten times larger than the teleportation array in Donghua City that connected other worlds and various spiritual domains. The cultivators flying around it looked as insignificant as ants.
Zhang Daoren watched with great interest as the giant ship slowly descended to the ground, from which cultivators as small as dust flew out. Suddenly, he spoke up and said, "As far as I know, the spatial rift that appeared on Tyrant Turtle Island this time was more than three thousand years ago, and the one before that was twenty thousand years ago, more than seventeen thousand years ago. Is that right?"
Master Fu's heart stirred, and he said, "What you say is correct, fellow Daoist. The interval between the appearance of these three spatial rifts has indeed shortened considerably."
Master Zhang nodded slightly, stroking his beard thoughtfully. Prince Jingjiang slowly rose and said calmly, "We should also set off. It seems that Fellow Daoist Zhang is restless and ready to take a gamble."
Zhang Daoren laughed heartily and stood up: "This humble Taoist is almost buried. Over the years, I have traveled to many realms and gained some knowledge. Before I pass away, I still have a chance to make a final push."
"To be honest, I also asked Fellow Daoist Yuqingzi for this opportunity. Within a thousand years, I will establish my own sect."
"Even if I don't live to see that day, I can still leave behind some legacy, so these hundreds of thousands of years will not have been in vain."
Master Fu was taken aback by Zhang Daoren's candor before saying, "When you establish your sect, I will certainly pay a visit to offer my congratulations."
The Prince of Jingjiang gave Zhang Daoren a deep look and said calmly, "I will also be there."
Master Zhang laughed heartily, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to the two men, saying, "Thank you very much."
……
When the enormous teleportation array was activated, Chen Yuan experienced the same feeling he had when he first used the ancient teleportation array to escape from Donghua Continent to Jiuxian Continent.
The immense spatial compression force came from all directions. Even though Chen Yuan's physical body was comparable to that of a mid-stage Fusion Realm Demon Saint, he could hardly withstand it. Fortunately, he had prepared in advance and condensed a true essence shield to resist it. He survived the ordeal without serious injury, but he was still quite disheveled.
On the contrary, the Nascent Soul cultivators, Core Formation cultivators, and even Foundation Establishment cultivators with lower cultivation levels had an easier time. The spatial compression they experienced was much less than that of the higher-level cultivators, and with the protection of teleportation talismans, they all entered Tyrant Turtle Island safely.
Those cultivators at the Integration Stage, whose cultivation level is higher than Chen Yuan's, seem to experience less spatial compression and can withstand it easily.
When the 15-minute teleportation ended, Elder Yuan, Wei Wushang, Bai Zangzhou, and the others around them saw Chen Yuan's pale face and their eyes were filled with surprise.
Chen Yuan didn't explain, but silently put away his true essence. Xu Zhi, who had been teleported with him, gave him a deep look and smiled, "Junior Brother Chen is indeed extraordinary."
There were too many cultivators from the Tai Xuan Sect who went on the expedition, and even that incredibly large teleportation array couldn't transport them all at once.
The army of over 100,000 cultivators and alien races was divided into four groups and took several hours to enter Tyrant Turtle Island.
In this legendary, incredibly brutal battlefield, the sky was azure, and mountains and rivers were all present, making it seem no different from the spirit world.
Tyrant Turtle Island, like the Mysterious Realm, is a secret realm comparable to a small world.
The Spirit Realm and the Demon Realm have been fighting each other in this beautiful world for countless years, continuing to this day, seemingly without end.
The corpses of the fallen cultivators from both sides nourished this land, giving Chen Yuan the illusion that the vegetation on Tyrant Turtle Island seemed greener and the flowers more vibrant than those in the Spirit Realm.
At the other end of the teleportation array was a magnificent city that Chen Yuan had never seen before, even larger than Donghua City, which amazed all the cultivators of Tai Xuan Sect.
The walls of this colossal city are taller than mountains and more imposing than palaces. The walls, hundreds of feet high, encompass an area of hundreds of miles, forever shrouded in a thick protective barrier.
Inside the city are magnificent buildings that rival the city walls, standing densely packed like a forest, enough to accommodate a million cultivators.
Compared to this colossal city, Donghua City, which the cultivators of the Tai Xuan Sect were so proud of, seemed like the difference between a mortal city and a city of cultivators.
However, the group did not stay in the giant city for long, nor did they have a chance to explore it thoroughly. The next day, they left through the teleportation array and headed into the wilderness.
To guard against the beast tide, the giant city did not build city gates. Normally, people could only enter and exit through a teleportation array. Only in the most critical moments would the array be dispelled, allowing cultivators in the city to fly over the city walls.
On the city wall, which was over a hundred feet wide, were rows of giant crossbows and cannons, but they were much smaller than the ones Chen Yuan had seen on the World Destroyer Warship.
Before leaving the city, Chen Yuan learned the name of the giant city from a Void Refinement cultivator who greeted them—Ba Chu City. (End of Chapter)