The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 216 Breakthrough! (Third update, please vote!)
Li Zhiwei's thoughts froze. After realizing what had happened, the usually open and generous Li family daughter, after thinking for three breaths, closed her eyes and chose to play dead.

The petite Miss Li fainted on the spot.

Zhou Yan noticed that the girl's breathing was even and paused slightly. He supported Li Zhiwei with both hands and felt that Li Zhiwei had consumed a lot of energy. Indeed, even though the girl was under Yang Taizhen's guidance and had also observed Fuxi's painting, she was able to break through to the eighth rank.

However, painting this picture was extremely mentally taxing.

Zhou Yan exhaled, supporting Li Zhiwei's back with one hand and lifting her legs with the other, and with a change of mind, he conjured a Taoist robe from his spiritual energy and put it on, then took Li Zhiwei to a side room in the courtyard of the Old Mother of Lishan.

"Did he faint from exhaustion?"

Zhou Yan placed Li Zhiwei on the bed. Looking at the girl's pale face, which was almost bloodless, and with tear stains on her eyes and face, he sighed, wiped away her tears, and after a moment of silence, said, "You scared me just now."

As Zhou Yan thought of the girl who had helped him draw the divine intent, the exhausted girl collapsed into his arms. The warm touch on his chest and the cool scent emanating from her hair made his heart skip a beat.

Zhou Yan got up and went out to see the Old Mother of Lishan.

A breath passed.

Two breaths passed.

Li Zhiwei opened her eyes, exhaled, and lay quietly. She felt a sense of exhaustion and despair, as if the world was spinning. She thought about her mother's safety, her insights from painting, and finally, Zhou Yan's words.

Li Zhiwei closed her eyes and asked, "What exactly does it mean?"

She felt that she could have faced Zhou Yan openly and honestly.

But now she felt a strange, complex feeling, different from that of friends and allies, creeping into her heart. It was complex and subtle, but she couldn't shake it off. Li Zhiwei lay on the bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Half-asleep, Li Zhiwei suddenly realized something, abruptly opened her eyes, raised her hand to cover her mouth, and exclaimed, "Oh no, lip rouge!!!"

Lord Zhou, upright and dignified, was kindly laughed at by the Old Mother of Lishan for a while with the lip print on his chest. The young Taoist wiped away the lip print, and as he brushed it away, he thought of the feeling on his chest just now, and how it felt like he was holding a fallen leaf when he carried Li Zhiwei back.

He banished these distracting thoughts from his mind.

The Old Mother of Lishan smiled and said, "Turn around, let me take a look." Zhou Yan turned around, and the Old Mother of Lishan looked the young Taoist up and down, her fingers brushing over the [Warlord's World-Suppressing Map] with its gold and red colors facing each other, and exclaimed, "Good, good."

Zhou Yan said, "Miss Li's painting is quite good, isn't it?"

The Old Mother of Lishan said, "How can you say it's not good? It's simply the best." The old lady said, "It's not just a divine image, but it goes a step further. This picture is almost equivalent to a temple of the God of Mount Tai."

"Use your body as a mountain, and use your brush and ink to create a view."

"She is very quick to understand."

"The causal connection between us is also deeper than I thought."

"Since the divine will has sealed it off, then, be prepared." The Old Mother of Lishan raised her cane, then suddenly turned it and pointed it down at the painting on the young Taoist. Ripples instantly spread across the painting, which was a blend of gold and red.

Om-! ! !
A deafening roar of weapons suddenly exploded in Zhou Yan's ears.

First came the faint clanging of metal against metal, which gradually coalesced into the charge of a thousand armies, interspersed with roars of defiance and cries of the dying. He felt as if he had been dragged into an ancient and brutal battlefield, the boundless bloody aura rushing towards him, scalding his skin, yet his muscles and bones, under the wash of this bloody aura, faintly stirred with an itchy surge of power.

Countless scenes of battle flashed through his mind, and his control over the weapons unconsciously increased. But at the same time, the madness and ferocity belonging to the Chi You Weapon Master also followed this control over the weapons and entered his mind.

At that very moment, a clear and melodious dragon roar rose up.

The ancient dragon's roar echoed, confronting the killing intent of the War God.

Gradually, both voices disappeared from Zhou Yan's ears. The scrolls of the Warlord and the Ancient Dragon on his body also slowly disappeared, turning into golden and red light that merged into his body. Zhou Yan raised his palm and felt the difference.

"This is--"

The body is transforming at a perceptible pace.

The essence and blood of the ancient warlord and the ancient dragon Buddha flowed like two warm currents, slowly nourishing his bones, flesh, and meridians. His originally ordinary bones and muscles gradually became stronger than divine iron under this power, and even the strength of his arms seemed to have increased several times over.

He suddenly threw a punch, which faintly emitted a deep and chilling sound as it pierced the air.

At the same time, the "Devouring Heaven Technique of War and Myriad Karma" also appeared completely in Yan's mind. His own vital energy would naturally circulate, absorbing the karma contained in the essence blood of the War Lord.

The "Destroying All Businesses and Devouring Heaven Technique" requires mastering karmic power.

In other words, he was currently absorbing the karma of the warlord Chi You to practice this method.

The hidden dangers were intercepted by the essence and divine will of the monk Kongkong.

"Is this... the beacon fires disappearing?"

The beacon fire power of the military lineage within Zhou Yan's body flowed and changed, merging with the karmic power drawn from the essence of Chi You, the military lord. Or rather, the beacon fire power of the military lineage was actually devoured by Chi You's karmic true essence!

The beacon fire, which originated from the humanistic fortune, absorbed the calamity and drought fire, and even the karmic fire of the hungry ghost jade talisman. These three flames converged, flowed and changed, and finally condensed into a very special power.

Its weight is like jade. In its flow, the forces of war, battlefield karma, and human destiny converge and transform into the methods of human warfare, and into the so-called true essence of the military master.

From then on, Zhou Yan's lineage of military strategy was completely replaced!
It transformed into the power of the ancient warlord.

Of course, the magic power is further reduced.

Zhou Yan stretched out his hand, and the concentrated and refined true essence of the War Lord swirled in his palm. Zhou Yan felt that this wisp of the War Lord's true essence, combined with the "War Lord's World-Suppressing Chart" drawn by Nuwa and Li Zhiwei, actually evolved into a wisp of the War Lord's power.

Zhou Yan beckoned with his finger, and the Earth Soul Skyward suddenly roared, spiraling on its own and landing in front of Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan could clearly feel that the Earth Soul Skyward had become more intimate with him. He reached out and grasped the hilt of the sword, feeling a sense of oneness between man and sword.

"The power of the military is paramount..." Zhou Yan murmured softly.

The ancient military lord cultivated a different path from the contemporary lineage, and with each breakthrough, a great supernatural power would naturally evolve.

The military leader holds supreme power and possesses a natural affinity for and deterrence over all weapons.

Affinity means that all weapons can be used as easily as one's own limbs; while deterrence means that all weapons will feel fear and submission, and even turn against their master.

"Although it is not a method of direct combat, it is still a kind of offensive divine power."

Zhou Yan sensed his own transformation, and at the same time became even more wary of the War Lord's bloodline incarnation on An Lushan's side. That one was pure hatred, resentment, and twisted power, and possessed all the great supernatural abilities of the War Lord.

The "Heaven-Swallowing Technique" has seven levels.

Basically, only those at the sixth rank in the current cultivation system can begin to cultivate. I wonder how terrifying all the War Lord's divine abilities would be; that's a human War Lord capable of defeating the Yan Emperor, a feat that required the combined efforts of the Yan and Huang Emperors to defeat—a true master of combat.

The voice of the Old Mother of Lishan rang out at the right moment, her eyes full of satisfaction, and she said:
"It seems to be working well."

"Since we're already here, let's break through here."

Zhou Yan sat cross-legged before the Old Mother of Lishan and felt that he could concentrate his spirit more easily than before. His own spiritual energy flowed and changed, transforming into a virtual Dao foundation made of the Imperial Seal of the State. The Dao foundation was filled with flowing light and was extremely real.

Having broken through to the sixth rank, I wonder if the Imperial Seal of the State can lead to the fifth rank.

If he could truly reach the fifth rank, wield the power of a military lord, and possess the various abilities of the Lord of Mount Tai, along with a full set of immortal artifacts, Zhou Yan could roam freely in this world as long as he didn't encounter the military lord Chi You.

With eyes closed and mind stirred, his own Dao fruit changed. The condensed Dao foundation suddenly shone with boundless light. The Daoist sect attained the Yin-Yang primordial state, the Buddhist sect suppressed demons, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas, and knew the laws of the Womb Realm; the military strategist quelled the fifth calamity, and the mountain god dismissed the True Lord of the Western Peak.

All the lineages have been perfected!
Faced with the threat of An Lushan and the incarnation of Chi You, as well as the looming Kunlun Calamity, there was no time to hesitate.

Zhou Yan's mind was like a sword, sweeping away hesitation. His own vital energy gathered in front of the Old Mother of Lishan, and Zhou Yan's Dao Foundation entered its most perfect state, constantly becoming real. With his true body, he broke through and entered the sixth rank realm.

The foundation of the Dao has been completely condensed and perfected!

From then on, it transformed.

Zhou Yan's perception was clearer than before, and his control over power and his connection with the earth were also stronger than before. Even the upper limit of his own magical power had been increased.

A true sixth rank, a successful breakthrough.

However, this is only the beginning, not the end. In Zhou Yan's hand, the Imperial Seal of the State slowly rotates, with clear flowing light inside. Based on Zhou Yan's current state, he deduces the next step.

The lineage currently being deduced still consists of four paths, but the military lineage has been completely replaced, transforming into the lineage path of the ancient military lord. The flowing light within the jade seal is clearly extremely heavy and laborious.

And in the path of deduction.

The brilliance represented by the lineage of the military master suddenly shone brightly.

The power represented by the Buddhist lineage is not to be outdone. The Taoist lineage, though free from contention and conflict, has never retreated or disappeared. However, the power of the mountain god lineage, despite possessing the authority and power of the Lord of Mount Tai, has not been fully utilized.

Zhou Yan understood the reason for this situation to some extent—although he used the power of the Lord of Mount Tai to dismiss one of the Five Sacred Mountains, he did not appoint any of the Five Sacred Mountains.

There were no rituals or rules established with their own mountain range as the core.

The Mountain God Taishan Fujun did not use his power enough, which made this path not very solid and its foundation unstable. Compared with the strength of the other three veins, it was obviously not strong enough. Just then, the earth veins under Zhou Yan suddenly changed!
Strands of earth-yellow vein energy surged from the ground, clustering and flowing into the Imperial Seal in Zhou Yan's hand, filling the gaps in the path of the Mountain God and Earth Deity's authority.

"This is... the Zhongnan Mountain range?!"

Zhou Yan saved this vast land three times.

The first time it broke the drought, the second time it cut off the bad luck.

The third time, they reclaimed the Zhongnan Mountain veins from the Western Peak True Lord, Golden Heavenly King.

Therefore, having already received the favor of this land vein, when it sensed that Zhou Yan lacked the power of the land vein, this thousand-mile land vein surged in an instant and came towards Zhou Yan, using the recognition of Zhongnan Mountain to fill the gap in the insufficient and incomplete power of Mount Tai.

The massive flow of the earth's veins instantly alleviated the stagnation in the calculation of the Imperial Seal. The light emanating from the seal grew even more intense, almost bursting open, before slowly stabilizing after a moment.

Fifth-grade Dharma lineage, deduction begins!
boom! ! !
Within this small courtyard, the earth's veins, stretching for thousands of miles, converged, their density almost impossible to conceal. A yellowish-brown aura swirled like clouds and mist, spreading in all directions. Inside the courtyard, the white jade lion cat wanted to ask when it would be almost time.

Furthermore, how could the body of Fuxi appear? Wasn't he dead?
Haunted?

Or is it a zombie?!

It was thrown off its feet by this heavy and massive earth vein energy.

The white jade lion cat's fur was blown about wildly, and it clung to the cracks in the blue bricks to avoid being swept away, staring in astonishment:

"This, this is..."

The handsome young man, his hands tucked into his sleeves, let the earth's energy flow through his clothes and said lazily, "The so-called Four Spirits are those who have made great contributions to heaven and earth and are therefore favored by heaven and earth. This kid's path is similar. If Zhongnan Mountain could transform into a woman, I'm afraid we would have to snatch him away and make him the mountain lord."

"Now, all the power of the earth's veins is helping him break through."

"Although it is a reward for his previous good deeds, why did he have to break through here? If I hadn't been here, this courtyard would have been exposed."

The transparent figure cast a spell to protect the courtyard, or rather, to hide the aura of the Lishan Old Mother within it. Raising an eyebrow, it looked outside. Such a commotion naturally attracted several uninvited guests.

The lion cat suddenly understood why this guy had appeared.

He said, "You, no, you, no..."

The white jade lion cat lay softly on the ground: "The first of the Three Sovereigns, the ancestor of mankind, the Supreme Emperor, Fuxi, why didn't you stop Zhou Yan from coming here?"

The transparent figure said calmly, "He needs to break through to better protect Awa. Besides, he is still just a junior. It's fine to joke around on ordinary days, but at such a crucial moment, how can we really treat him as a stubborn pawn and kick him aside?"

"What did you just call me?"

The lion cat ignored the many suspicious points surrounding his 'usual playfulness' and said:

"The progenitor of Chinese civilization".

The handsome young man replied calmly, "Yes."

"The matter between me and him is the matter between me and him. We can settle this score one by one later. I still remember everything. It will take a long time."

The white jade lion cat hunched its neck.

As expected, I still remember.

"But this small piece of land is not for outsiders to interfere with."

"Zhou Yan, you can break through however you want."

The handsome young man said calmly, "I will cover for you here today."

(End of this chapter)