Start with a photographic memory and build a memory palace

Chapter 226 Energy Transformation
……

The city gates were wide open.

Everyone was stunned by Wu Wen's terrifying methods.

Grandmaster Zhiyuan was also surprised, wondering how long it had been since Wu Wen's strength had improved so much!
With light, slow steps, Wu Wen strolled into the city.

He turned his head slightly, looked at Ma Daxiong, the leader of the Li people, who was now slumped against the city wall in fear, and beckoned with his finger.

At this moment, the other party had no thought of resistance left. He was completely subdued by Wu Wen's terrifying aura and scrambled to his side.

"Say it again, where is this?" Wu Wen asked in a gentle voice.

"This is Panyu City!"

"Hmm?" Upon hearing his answer, Wu Wen's expression changed, his gaze sweeping over him like a knife.

Ma Daxiong trembled and quickly changed his words: "This is... Panyu City of the Tang Dynasty."

"Yeah~!"

Wu Wen nodded in satisfaction, a cold glint appearing at his fingertips as he touched the boy's brow: "Remember, if anyone asks you this again in your next life, you must answer in the same way!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Daxiong immediately kowtowed heavily to the ground, begging for mercy: "Spare me! I know I was wrong, please spare my life!"

Seeing his cowardly appearance, Wu Wen couldn't help but shake his head slightly. After all, the other party was a clan leader, yet he was so afraid of death and made such a disgraceful spectacle of himself.

Just as Wu Wen was about to give him some face, Lü Cai's voice came from behind:
"Please wait, my lord!"

Wu Wen turned his head and saw Lü Cai walk quickly behind him and say, "Since he has begged for mercy, let's spare his life for now and give him a chance to redeem himself."

As he spoke, Lü Cai leaned close to Wu Wen's ear and whispered, "This man is the leader of the Li people, and he has been entrenched in Panyu for many years. Keeping him around will make it easier for you, my lord, to take control of Panyu next."

Wu Wen thought for a moment.

Judging from the current situation, keeping Ma Daxiong alive is indeed more useful than killing him.

Seeing the change in Wu Wen's expression, Ma Daxiong realized there was a chance of survival and immediately beamed with joy.

At this moment, Li Chunfeng and Master Zhiyuan also walked towards Wu Wen.

Seeing Wu Wen preparing to kill Ma Daxiong but then not doing so, Grandmaster Zhiyuan asked, "Wu Wen, why haven't you made a move yet?"

Lu Cai stepped forward and explained to Master Zhiyuan, "This man is the leader of the Li people. Killing him will cause a rebellion among the Li people of Panyu. Keeping him alive will be more useful."

"Humph~"

Upon hearing this, Grandmaster Zhiyuan flicked his sleeve and coldly snorted, "They are merely barbarian tribes. Their entire clan should be exterminated, and their heads should be used to build a Jingguan (a mound of heads) to intimidate the Baiyue!"

Wu Wen glanced sideways at his grandmaster, Zhiyuan, his eyes filled with surprise. He never would have guessed that his usually harmless grandmaster could harbor such a murderous intent!

Kneeling on the ground, Ma Daxiong's pupils dilated as he looked at Master Zhiyuan in terror, speechless with shock at his words about exterminating his clan.

But Wu Wen still calmly considered the matter.

Then, he withdrew his hand and pondered, "I will spare your life for now and see how you behave. If you harbor even the slightest disloyalty, I will exterminate your entire clan."

Upon receiving forgiveness, Ma Daxiong immediately kowtowed in gratitude.

He then personally led Wu Wen and the others to the royal palace in the city.

This palace was built by Zhao Tuo, the King of Nanyue, and has been in use ever since.

Therefore, when Wu Wen looked around this magnificent palace, he noticed that the eaves and brackets were full of the style of the Qin Palace.

Enter the palace.

Wu Wen ignored everything else and first asked Ma Daxiong to present a map of the mountains and rivers of Lingnan.

Without the slightest hesitation, Ma Daxiong immediately retrieved the most complete map.

The map was a silk scroll laid out on the table.

Wu Wenhe, along with his master Li Chunfeng, Grandmaster Zhiyuan, and Grandmaster Guo, stepped forward to watch.

The terrain of Lingnan is complex, and only the Li people, whose ancestors have lived here for generations, could have such a detailed and complete topographic map.

Wu Wen looked at the mountains and rivers on the map. The map not only recorded their shapes, appearances and trends in detail, but also marked some passable roads with fine lines. These must be the roads that the Li people explored when they walked in the mountains.

Master Li Chunfeng, guided by the celestial signs, pointed out the location of Phoenix Mountain, where Zhao Tuo's tomb was situated, on the map, and asked Ma Daxiong:
"This is where?"

“This…is the location of the sacred mountain of the Pantheon,” Ma Daxiong replied thoughtfully.

“Take us there!” Li Chunfeng said.

Upon hearing this, Ma Daxiong seemed to realize something and immediately refused in fear, "We can't go here!"

“Why can’t we go!” Wu Wen asked him.

"That's the sacred mountain of the Pantheon, it's a forbidden area."

Not to mention that trespassing here would result in being hunted down by the Pantheon and subjected to all sorts of tortures, making it impossible to die even if one wanted to, this forbidden area is also a dead end.

Even members of the Pantheon would surely die if they went in, let alone outsiders.

As he spoke, Ma Daxiong gave Wu Wen a detailed introduction to the Pantheon.

The Pantheon was actually a very loose organization, a sect formed by many mountain villages in the Baiyue region.

Normally, they don't contact each other, but they gather together to hold sacrificial ceremonies on major holidays.

The deities worshipped are the many mountain gods and tree spirits in these forests.

Therefore, their sect is known as the Pantheon.

Because these Baiyue villages, located deep in the mountains and forests, rarely interact with the outside world and each has its own way of life, they are extremely xenophobic.

Whenever an outsider gets close, even someone like Ma Daxiong, who is also a Li person from Lingnan, will be alarmed.

Because the Li people had also left the mountains and forests and interacted with the outside world, the Pantheon would reject them.

The sacred mountain of the Pantheon, the place where they hold their sacrifices, is an extremely mysterious place.

Because this place is extremely dangerous, it is surrounded by miasma all year round, and various strange and poisonous insects and plants live around it, so even the people of the Pantheon dare not approach it.

They always performed their sacrifices at a temple built on the outskirts of the temple, never daring to venture deeper inside.

“I once overheard a friend mention that the sacred mountain of the Pantheon is something that very few people have actually seen.”

Besides being shrouded in miasma, making it impossible for people to approach, it is also shrouded in mist year-round.

Only when the Pantheon performs a ritual will this mist spread out in the sky, revealing a corner of itself.

"When the sun shines on the sacred mountain, it emits a dazzling array of colorful light, as if the mountain god has manifested himself," Ma Daxiong explained in detail.

Hearing his words, Wu Wen and the other three exchanged glances.

From this one piece of information, the four of them could confirm that the sacred mountain of the Pantheon was the Phoenix Mountain they were looking for.

"Take us there!"

Master Zhiyuan gave Ma Daxiong a warning look and gave the order.

Faced with this threat, Ma Daxiong resolutely chose to die there rather than die now. Just then...

Li Chunfeng then looked at a place on the map.

That was the location of the dragon vein they had seen on their way here.

Li Chunfeng pointed to the mountain peak and asked, "Where is this?"

Ma Daxiong looked over upon hearing the sound: "This is Baiyun Mountain!"

Baiyun Mountain points directly towards Panyu City, and between them there is a small mountain peak, like a dragon pearl, spitting out of the dragon's mouth towards Panyu City.

Li Chunfeng then pointed to the small hill and asked, "Where is this?"

“This is Yuexiu Mountain!” Ma Daxiong replied.

Li Chunfeng pointed to the location of Yuexiu Mountain with his finger: "Send people to build a Baiyun Temple on this mountain. It must be completed within six months!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Wen turned to look at his master, Li Chunfeng, and seeing his serious expression, Wu Wen immediately gave the order to Ma Daxiong:

"Did you hear me? Build me a White Cloud Temple within six months!"

"Yes!"

Although he didn't understand why a Taoist temple had to be built on this small mountain peak, and why it had to be completed in just six months, Ma Daxiong immediately agreed.

We found our destination.

Wu Wen planned to rest for two days before setting off to find Phoenix Mountain.

The affairs of Panyu City are temporarily entrusted to Lü Cai.

“Lu Cai, I have high hopes for you. I will entrust the management of Panyu City to you for now.”

"You want to keep those Li people, so I'll hand them over to you. If they disobey or have ulterior motives, leave them alone for now and protect yourself. When I return, I will deal with them myself."

"Yes, rest assured, my lord, I will never let you down."

Upon receiving such an important task, Lü Cai answered with a firm expression, vowing in his heart that he would do his utmost to govern Panyu City well.

At the same time, Lü Cai asked in confusion, "My lord, could you please tell me why you insist on going to such a dangerous place?"

Wu Wen reached out and gently patted his shoulder, saying calmly:

"There are some things you don't need to worry about, so you don't need to ask. I'll tell you what I need to know, understand?"

"Yeah, I got it!"

Upon hearing this, Lü Cai immediately shut up and asked no more questions.

Two days later.

Wu Wenhe, his master Li Chunfeng, and three others, along with a group of Li people led by Ma Daxiong, the leader of the Li people, set off from Panyu City to the sacred mountain of the Pantheon.

The journey involved traversing mountains and valleys, and the roads were rugged.

Fortunately, none of them were ordinary people.

Traveling through these deep mountain forests where there are no roads at all, sometimes climbing cliffs, sometimes leaping over jungles, and sometimes wading through rapids, we encountered countless snakes, insects, rodents and ants along the way.

"My lord, the road I'm taking you on is a bit difficult, but it's the fastest route."

Moreover, it would allow them to avoid the mountain strongholds along the way, preventing the Pantheon from noticing.

During the journey, Ma Daxiong said to Wu Wen with a smug and confident expression.

Wu Wen didn't really care about this at all; the Pantheon was nothing to him.

In his mind, he only wanted to reach Phoenix Mountain, where the sacred mountain was located, as soon as possible.

In just seven days.

The group then came very close to the location of the sacred mountain.

"arrive!"

"My lord, look! That's it!"

On a mountaintop, Ma Daxiong excitedly pointed ahead.

Wu Wen and the others looked up and saw a basin surrounded by towering mountains on all sides, shrouded in fog all year round. The thick fog covered the basin like clouds, making it impossible to see what was below.

"That is where the sacred mountain is!"

As Ma Daxiong spoke, he added nervously and fearfully:
"My lord, we cannot get any closer. From here down, it's all miasma. Forget about getting close to the sacred mountain; we'll probably die in it before we get very far."

"I think we should go back!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Wen merely turned and glanced at him, and Ma Daxiong was immediately frightened into shrinking back, no longer daring to speak.

Wu Wen and Master Zhiyuan stepped forward at the same time, gazing at the sea of ​​clouds ahead.

Under his insight.

Wu Wen discovered that the place in front of him was like a volcano, accumulating a large amount of energy, as if it could erupt at any moment.

However, at that moment, a miraculous scene suddenly occurred.

As the air currents calmed down, the sea of ​​clouds in front of us suddenly began to churn, as if something was about to burst out from within.

Upon seeing this, Wu Wen immediately focused his attention on observing.

A moment later, he saw a giant bird with outstretched wings and a body length of more than 20 meters rolling in the sea of ​​clouds, its shape vaguely revealed.

Upon hearing this, Wu Wen immediately showed a shocked expression.

Because in his perception, the giant bird in the sea of ​​clouds was not a real object, but an image manifested when a huge amount of energy was flowing!

"It manifests in the heavens and takes shape on the earth!"

Upon seeing this giant bird amidst the sea of ​​clouds, Wu Wen suddenly understood why Taoist scriptures always describe the magical arts performed by immortals and gods in the form of divine beasts.

Wu Wen initially thought it was a metaphor, describing the power of immortal magic.

But now it seems he was wrong.

Once the immortal magic is unleashed, it takes the form of various mythical beasts.

This wasn't just for show; it was a deliberate act to condense the immortal magic and spells used into the shape of a divine beast, thus giving it a sense of power.

Rather, it is determined by the trajectory and manner of energy flow itself.

Just like when thunder strikes, the patterns formed by the current channels of lightning in the sky, presenting a fractal structure, are like the extended, growing shape of a tree.

The giant bird in the sea of ​​clouds before Wu Wen's eyes, its shape is what makes it appear this way.

It's because of this sea of ​​clouds in front of us, which is teeming with enormous energy.

When the energy pressure inside is unstable, various energies flow and interact with each other. The pattern outlined by the energy channels formed by these interactions is the shape of a giant bird!
……

(End of this chapter)