Daojun, start from Penglai foundation building

Hidden Light!

Jiang Sheng looked up and saw that the sword sheath was about two feet seven inches long, covered in rust and mottled, and had little of its magic. The sword sheath itself was also damaged in many ways.

On this scabbard, Jiang Sheng could even clearly distinguish the marks caused by many kinds of magical weapons: stab marks from swords, cuts from knives, tears caused by whipping with a whisk, and dents from heavy hammer blows.
There are at least seventeen different types of traces!
This sword sheath alone reveals just how dire the situation the Three Mysteries Dao Sect faced at the end of the last Yuanhui.

One can imagine the predicament that Tai Xuan Daojun faced back then; even the phrase "ambushed on all sides" wouldn't be enough to describe it.

From its peak of power dominating all the heavens to its decline and being devoured by wolves and tigers, Jiang Sheng witnessed firsthand the tragic state of declining fortune and the terrifying power of wolves and tigers devouring each other through this sword sheath.

"This is the scabbard of the sword of the Tai Xuan Sui Chen Heng Ji Dao Jun, the head of the Three Mysterious Dao Sects in the previous Yuan Hui?!"

Jin Zhao, the Demon Lord, cautiously stepped forward to examine the relic.

The Bull Demon Lord's eyes widened even more, as if he were looking at some rare treasure: "This is truly extraordinary!"

Looking at the two demon lords' behavior, Immortal Lord Fuyun leaned close to Jiang Sheng's ear and said, "Brother Lingyuan, do you believe it or not, if that wasn't the sword sheath of Daoist Taixuan, but mine, these two old ghosts definitely wouldn't be looking like this."

Jiang Sheng nodded without saying much. He could tell from the faces of Jin Zhao Demon Lord and Niu Fen Demon Lord that these two had not seen the mystery and value of this relic at all. They had only approached it because they thought, "This is the sword sheath of the Pure Yang Sword of the Daoist, so it must be extraordinary."

"Go! Go! Go!"

"Can you two demons understand this mystical treasure?"

"If you're not human and don't cultivate the mystical arts, then don't come any closer."

Immortal Lord Guangyuan said irritably, pushing aside Demon Lord Jinzhao and Demon Lord Niufen, and leaned closer to look at the rusty, scarred scabbard that looked like it would shatter at the slightest touch: "What a fine treasure."

"You managed to find such a treasure, you old water ghost, you're really lucky."

Zuo Miao Immortal Lord didn't care about the praise from Jin Zhao Demon Lord and Niu Fen Demon Lord, since these two demons wouldn't have recognized the treasure if he hadn't introduced it.

But Immortal Lord Guangyuan was different. As a member of the same Xuanmen sect and the same sect leader, Immortal Lord Guangyuan was knowledgeable and experienced, and also the one who loved to compete with him the most.

Therefore, the praise from Immortal Lord Guangyuan, which carried a hint of envy and jealousy, made Immortal Lord Zuo Miao extremely proud.

"Make way, make way, let this old man take a look."

Immortal Lord Fuyun also stepped forward. To be honest, this was the first time Immortal Lord Fuyun had seen a relic of this rank up close. However, looking at the mottled and almost broken scabbard, which had no magical properties, Immortal Lord Fuyun couldn't help but sigh at the changes of time and the vicissitudes of life.

"Brother Lingyuan, what do you think of this treasure?"

As he spoke, Immortal Lord Fuyun turned to look at Jiang Sheng, only to see Jiang Sheng with a slight frown, as if he had seen something surprising.

"Brother Lingyuan?"

Unaware of what had happened, Immortal Lord Fuyun tentatively inquired.

Jiang Sheng snapped out of his daze and shook his head: "It's nothing."

Immortal Lord Zuo Miao laughed and said, "Heavenly Lord, the origin of this treasure is quite mysterious. Come closer and take a look, and I will tell you about its origin."

Jiang Sheng nodded and stepped forward to look at the tattered scabbard, while Immortal Lord Zuo Miao recounted the scabbard's origin: "Your Majesty, you may not know, but this treasure was unearthed from a small world beyond the Three Realms, a minor world called the Hidden Light Realm."

The way this sword sheath ended up in the hands of Immortal Lord Zuo Miao was incredibly convoluted. Originally, the sword sheath was located outside the Three Realms, in the Hidden Light Realm within the Chaos, and had not been discovered by anyone for tens of thousands of years.

However, later, changes occurred within the Hidden Light Realm. Several major cultivation families and sects fought each other, causing mortals to be displaced. A country boy named Shi Zhen was forced to become a beggar because his parents and fellow villagers were killed in the war among cultivators. Shi Zhen then vowed to become a cultivator to avenge his parents and fellow villagers.

After many twists and turns and overcoming countless difficulties, Shi Zhen became a cultivator. However, he offended the scions of powerful families by saving someone. As a rogue cultivator with inferior skills, little calligraphy, and no magical weapon, Shi Zhen was no match for cultivators from powerful families and sects. In the end, he was knocked off a cliff, but found this broken sword sheath at the bottom of the cliff.

Since then, Shi Zhen has become increasingly extraordinary, seemingly blessed by heaven, advancing triumphantly all the way. Anyone who tried to stop him was defeated, and his vigorous and courageous momentum was unstoppable.

Just as Shi Zhen was about to kill his enemy, the aristocratic families and sects of the Hidden Light Realm asked the patriarchs of the Middle Thousand Worlds who had ascended to the realm of Void Refinement to take action. The True Monarch of the Void Refinement Realm suppressed Shi Zhen, found the sword sheath on Shi Zhen's body, and determined that it was a lost treasure. He planned to take it back to his own Middle Thousand World, but unexpectedly, his whereabouts had already been discovered. His enemy set a trap while he was away. When the True Monarch of Void Refinement was about to take the treasure back to the Middle Thousand World, he was ambushed and killed by his enemy. In the end, the sword sheath fell into the hands of his enemy.

Later, this sword sheath circulated among various forces. The Middle Thousand Realms was engulfed in war because of this treasure. Finally, Immortal Lord Zuo Miao heard the rumors and went to the Middle Thousand Realms to suppress everyone and seize the treasure.

At this point, the smug Immortal Lord Zuo Miao stroked his beard and laughed, "It's just a pity that Shi Zhen was also a child of destiny. He rose to prominence because of this thing, and he also fell because of this thing. The concept of fate is truly mysterious and unpredictable."

"Your Majesty, what do you think?"

However, Jiang Sheng didn't listen to what Zuo Miaoxianjun said at all.

In fact, just as Immortal Lord Zuo Miao was showing off the sword sheath, the candle flame on the precious lotus lamp placed on the Azure Lotus Platform in Jiang Sheng's sea of ​​consciousness began to burn fiercely. A mysterious feeling surged into Jiang Sheng's heart, as if the precious lotus lamp and the sword sheath had some connection.

This is why Jiang Sheng frowned in surprise earlier.

Upon reaching the scabbard, the seemingly rusty and scarred scabbard took on a strange quality. A wisp of light rose from the scabbard and appeared before Jiang Sheng. However, neither the eloquent Immortal Lord Zuo Miao nor anyone else noticed anything amiss. The wisp of light circled around Jiang Sheng, as if trying to enter his body.

After some thought, Jiang Sheng accepted the wisp of light, which immediately entered Jiang Sheng's brow. As Jiang Sheng released his sea of ​​consciousness, the light flew into his sea of ​​consciousness.

Within Jiang Sheng's sea of ​​consciousness, wind, thunder, water, and fire surged in the four directions: east, west, south, and north. The four swords of annihilation, trap, and destruction hung in the four directions of Jiang Sheng's sea of ​​consciousness, suppressing everything. The Qingping sword hung high in the center, purifying the pure energy. Blue and black lotus flowers clustered together to form a sea. In the very center of that blue and black lotus sea, on a blue and black lotus platform, Jiang Sheng's true spirit and life soul resided. Apart from Jiang Sheng's true spirit sitting cross-legged on the huge lotus platform, there was only a faint blue lotus lamp on the left front.

At this moment, as the stream of light flew into the sea of ​​consciousness, it circled around in all directions before passing through the Azure Lotus Sea and leaping onto the lotus platform and the blue lamp, making the precious lotus lamp shine brightly.

The original lotus heart flame on the Lotus Lantern emitted a wondrous light, as if surrounded by nine-colored radiance, forming a triple halo.

Even Jiang Sheng was immediately drawn to the unusual appearance of the Lotus Lantern and began to pay attention to the changes in this magical artifact.

At that moment, Immortal Lord Zuo Miao said, "Heavenly Lord, this sword sheath is useless to me. If you like it, why not give it to me?"

Jiang Sheng was focused on the changes within his sea of ​​consciousness when he heard Zuo Miao Xianjun's words. Jiang Sheng snapped out of his reverie and laughed, "One cannot accept a reward without merit. How can one take away another's love without cause?"

"Since this item belongs to the Immortal Lord, the Immortal Lord may take it."

However, Immortal Lord Zuo Miao insisted on giving it to Jiang Sheng. From the moment Jiang Sheng came to the scabbard, Immortal Lord Zuo Miao had been paying attention to Jiang Sheng's expression. When Immortal Lord Zuo Miao found that even as he was telling the story of this treasure, Jiang Sheng was still staring intently at the scabbard, he subconsciously concluded that Jiang Sheng liked this item.

A sword sheath that has lost much of its divine power and is useless to a Mahayana Immortal Lord is, in his hands, an experience he can boast about, or a collectible.

But if it were given to Jiang Sheng, it would be a favor from the Heavenly Lord of Justice.

Compared to a pure Yang relic, the favor that Jiang Sheng, a true disciple of Penglai in the Eastern Heaven, received from the Heavenly Court's Judicial Lord was undoubtedly more important to him and to the Left Immortal Sect.

At least with Jiang Sheng's reputation intact, the Zuo Xian Sect wouldn't encounter hostility from pure Yang holy lands like the Zhenxiao Dao Sect, Tianlong Temple, and Jinchan Temple in the Nanxiao Domain.
Therefore, Immortal Lord Zuo Miao closed the sword box and handed it directly to Jiang Sheng: "Heavenly Lord, since you like it, there is no need to be polite with this old Taoist."

"This thing is no different from a treasure gathering dust in my hands. I know very little about the events of the previous Yuanhui. The only thing I know is from Fuyun. This thing is really useless to me."

“But you are different, Heavenly Lord. You are a renowned swordsman in all the heavens, and you are learned in both ancient and modern times. Only in your hands can this thing be worthy of your name.”

Although Guangyuan Immortal Lord also liked this item, he chimed in, "Heavenly Lord, this old water ghost is just trying to be helpful. If you really feel bad about it, just give him three or five talisman coins."

Immortal Lord Fuyun stroked his beard and smiled, while Immortal Lord Zuomiao and Immortal Lord Guangyuan kept urging Jiang Sheng to accept it. At this moment, in Jiang Sheng's sea of ​​consciousness, the glimmer of light that had landed on the Lotus Lantern also stirred slightly, its meaning clear: Take me away. Jiang Sheng pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Since Immortal Lord Zuomiao is so kind, I will accept it."

As Jiang Sheng put away his sword sheath, Guangyuan Immortal Lord and the others began to reveal their treasured possessions. Guangyuan Immortal Lord showed off a divine seal, Tianyun Emperor took out a Destiny Stone, and Zhenxing Star Lord was even more extraordinary, displaying a scroll of Heavenly Decree.

After everyone had finished showing off, they imprinted their contact information with communication jade talismans, and then agreed that Immortal Lord Floating Clouds would arrange for them to gather again after the Peach Banquet.

After everyone left, Immortal Lord Fuyun laughed and said, "Brother Lingyuan, I didn't expect this thing to end up in your hands. This is fate."

Jiang Sheng remained noncommittal: "This is not what I wanted, but rather what Immortal Lord Zuo Miao insisted on giving it to me."

Immortal Lord Fuyun comforted him, "That old water ghost Zuo Miao has no bad intentions. At most, he just wants to use your name to give Zuo Immortal Sect a place in the Southern Sky Domain so that it can develop in peace."

“My name is enough to govern the Zhenxiao Dao Sect, but not other forces in the Nanxiao Domain. But you are different.”

"Whether it's my Zhenxiao Dao Sect or the Buddhist Tianlong Temple and Jinchan Temple, they all have to give you face, brother. With your reputation, that old water ghost's Zuoxian Sect won't be suppressed too much by these holy lands."

"Of course, if you feel it's inappropriate, you can just ignore him."

Jiang Sheng glanced at Immortal Lord Fuyun and laughed, "Brother Fuyun, you're the one who brought me here, and you're the one who told me about this sword sheath. You didn't stop Immortal Lord Zuo Miao from forcing it on me, but now you're telling me it's not suitable and ignoring me."

"Then what kind of person have I become?"

"Well, at least that Immortal Lord Zuo Miao has put all his thoughts out in the open, so it's fine to accept it."

"What I'm curious about is, Immortal Lord Zuo Miao gave me a pure Yang sword sheath from the previous Yuanhui, but what did he give you, my brother?"

Immortal Lord Fuyun froze, his old face flushing slightly: "How could I possibly take anything?"

Jiang Sheng remained silent, only smiling as he stared at Immortal Lord Fuyun. Feeling a chill run down his spine under Jiang Sheng's gaze, Immortal Lord Fuyun whispered, "It's nothing, just an evergreen fruit from an evergreen iron pear tree."

The Evergreen Iron Pear Tree is a spiritual root. It flowers once every 1,500 years, bears fruit once every 1,500 years, and takes another 1,500 years to mature. In total, it takes 4,500 years to produce four or five fruits, and each fruit can extend one's lifespan by 4,500 years.

Four thousand five hundred years old!
Everyone desires longevity, but the highest age in the six realms of mortals is no more than three thousand years, which is the realm of Dharma form. For those who wish to prolong their lives, four thousand years is the limit.

This single Evergreen Fruit grants 4,500 years of lifespan, making it an invaluable treasure for cultivators in the Refinement and Integration realms who are unable to advance further, essentially a way to rejuvenate.

The three realms of the Upper Realm, the three calamities of the Refining Void, and the five tribulations of the Integration Realm—each level can increase one's lifespan by more than a thousand years. However, without reaching the Great Ascension Realm, one can never achieve a lifespan equal to that of the heavens. Therefore, treasures like the Longevity Fruit, which can increase lifespan and consolidate one's origin, are considered invaluable treasures to non-Great Ascension Immortal Lords.

Even among the Mahayana Immortal Lords, aside from those with divine duties, other Mahayana Immortal Lords, even if they can avoid the decline of their lifespan, will find it difficult to escape the calamity of their destiny.

If a Great Vehicle Immortal Lord like Floating Cloud Immortal Lord, who comes from the True Cloud Dao Sect and has a Heavenly Duty, is already as old as Heaven and is not afraid of ordinary tribulations, what use would Floating Cloud Immortal Lord have for the Evergreen Fruit?

Jiang Sheng looked Floating Cloud Immortal up and down, making Floating Cloud Immortal a little uneasy: "Besides prolonging life, I remember that the Evergreen Fruit of the Evergreen Iron Pear Tree also has uses such as returning to youth and making the iron tree bloom, right?"

Immortal Lord Fuyun was stunned for a moment, then simply turned his head away from Jiang Sheng.

Jiang Sheng gave a light snort: "Immortal Lord, let's go."

When Immortal Lord Fuyun and Jiang Sheng left Anle Pavilion, the manager of Anle Pavilion never showed up. He only gave them a cup of Heavenly Music Spring Sprout at the beginning, which made them seem particularly mysterious.

After leaving Anle Pavilion, Jiang Sheng did not linger in Dragon Palace Ward and returned directly to Heaven.

After bidding farewell to Immortal Lord Fuyun and returning to the Palace of the Heavenly Lord of Justice, Jiang Sheng immediately summoned Shen Yao.

"Master, is something the matter?"

Shen Yao looked at Jiang Sheng, who seemed to be deep in thought, and asked curiously.

Jiang Sheng nodded slightly: "Previously, when I went down to the mortal realm with Immortal Lord Fuyun, I heard a piece of news in the Dragon Palace Market of the Southern Sky Domain that I have shares in that Dragon Palace Market."

"As the Lord of Shenxiao Palace, you also have the ability to supervise. Investigate for me in the Three Offices and Five Capitals and in Xiaopenglai to see if it is the Dragon Palace that is impersonating me or if someone is really using my name to show off."

The Dragon Palace Market earns more than ten thousand gold mountains annually.
Jiang Sheng was determined to find out what was going on in such a place where money flowed in like mountains and seas every day.

Shen Yao nodded to indicate that he understood, asked Jiang Sheng for the jade token, and then hurriedly left.

After Shen Yao left, Jiang Sheng returned to his palace and immersed himself in his sea of ​​consciousness. In his sea of ​​consciousness, Jiang Sheng's true spirit raised the one-foot-tall Lotus Lantern. Looking at the Lotus Lantern, which shone with nine colors and was surrounded by three layers of light, Jiang Sheng finally spoke: "What are you? Why have you come here?"

Within the Lotus Lantern, the stream of light trembled slightly, eventually transforming into a tiny figure the size of a thumb: "I appeared because I sensed something from the Three Mysteries Dao Sect."

As for who I am?

The little man said with great pride, "My name is Cang Guang."

Hidden Light!

The sword sheath of Tai Xuan Sui Chen Heng Ji Dao Jun is called Cang Guang, and the small world where the sword sheath was buried is also called Cang Guang.

Jiang Sheng looked at the little figure and couldn't help but laugh: "So, you are the spirit of the sword sheath?"

The little man shook his head: "How could a sword sheath possibly have a spirit?"

"Only magic swords have spirits. What use is spirit to a hidden blade?"

The magic sword has a spirit, but the scabbard does not!
Jiang Sheng paused for a moment, then said, "So, you're not the spirit of the sword sheath, but..."

The little man looked arrogant, head held high: "My name is Cang Guang, and I am the spirit of the magic sword Liu Sui!"

The Tai Xuan Dao Jun's magic sword is named Liu Sui, and the sword spirit of the magic sword is named Cang Guang!
Jiang Sheng was startled. He didn't know much about the Three Mysterious Dao Sects of the previous Yuan Dynasty. At least, there were no records of them in the memories of Immortal Lord Baoyu. But now, he found a sword spirit on a relic that looked like the scabbard of the Tai Xuan Dao Lord. It was a sword spirit named Cang Guang, who claimed to be the spirit of the Pure Yang Dharma Sword Liu Sui.

"Are you the sword spirit of the Sword of the Flowing Years?"

Jiang Sheng found it hard to believe. Hadn't the Sword of Flowing Years already reincarnated with Daoist Tai Xuan? How could the sword spirit still remain in the mortal world?!
The little man hummed, "Of course, why would I lie to you?"

“Those guys are all blind and ignorant. They don’t even know I exist. If I hadn’t sensed a trace of the Three Profound Dao Sect’s influence in your aura, I wouldn’t have bothered to show myself to you.”

Jiang Sheng couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this. Years ago, during the Xuanmen Calamity, he entered the depths of chaos and encountered the Jade Immortal Lord, who found this Lotus Lantern. That was the first time Jiang Sheng had any interaction with the Three Profound Dao Sect.

Later, during the Xuanmen Calamity, Qian Tian Dao Jun and his group were unwilling to accept defeat and used the Wanfa Xuantian Array Plate of the Sanxuan Dao Sect to fight the Dongtian Dao Family to the death. That was the second time Jiang Sheng had an encounter with the Sanxuan Dao Sect.

Now, because of Immortal Lord Fuyun's words, Jiang Sheng entered Anle Pavilion in Dragon Palace, obtained the sword sheath of Immortal Lord Taixuan from Immortal Lord Zuomiao, and also encountered the sword spirit named Cangguang.

This is the third time Jiang Sheng has crossed paths with the Sanxuan Dao Sect.

Once, twice, and again, how could the karmic ties between myself and the Three Mysteries Dao Sect be so deep?
Jiang Sheng fell silent as he gazed at the tiny figure, no bigger than a thumb, standing proudly atop the Lotus Lantern.

For the first time, he felt that his karmic ties with the Three Profound Dao Sect were far too numerous. (End of Chapter)