The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 256 How could one not kill?

The counterfeit Bai Ze Book turned into streams of light and was completely devoured by Zhou Yan. He could feel his clones taking control, like tributaries of a river, surging and converging to form himself. Meanwhile, in his overall sea of ​​consciousness, his own jade book devoured the fragments of light.

Ding Liu's dying gaze focused intently on Zhou Yan.

He saw the young Taoist priest extend his hand, clench his five fingers together, and suddenly, specks of light appeared on the body of the dead Xu Fengxiao, as if drawn by an invisible force. These lights, like rivers flowing into the sea and weary birds returning to their nests, all converged in Zhou Yan's hand.

Then, in his palm, it transformed into a jade talisman emitting a hazy white light.

Plunder the Bai Ze Book and condense it into a jade talisman?!
You, it's actually you—?!
Ding Liu stared intently at Zhou Yan, his eyes surging with intense resentment, disbelief, and deep-seated hatred. He murmured, "You...it's you...you're back..."

His eyes quickly dimmed, and his life force was completely extinguished.

Zhou Yan grabbed Ding Liu by the collar, lifted him up, and said:

"What did you say?!"

"say clearly!"

However, the man was already lifeless, his breath gone. Zhou Yan's fighting style was extremely violent and domineering. Under the suppressed anger in his chest, he killed him almost effortlessly, leaving him without even a complete sentence.

Zhou Yan's eyes shifted, revealing a turbulent undercurrent of emotion.

What did that person mean by their last words?! Did they recognize me?!

Could it be that I am not just the way I remember falling off Mount Tai?
It's not that simple at all!

Zhou Yan felt a slight stinging sensation on his forehead. He exhaled and suppressed the distracting thoughts. From the bushes over there came rustling sounds. Kai Ming, dressed in a blue robe and with a stubble beard, emerged from the bushes, brushed off the branches and fallen leaves covering him, and approached with small steps.

"Hiss—you brat, you have quite the murderous aura."

"You...you just killed him like that?!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, is Chi You's training really that effective? Immediate results, kid."

Kaiming walked around the corpse, his face full of amazement.

Zhou Yan glanced at him and said, "If you want to go, I can find a way to let you go and keep the Lord of War company."

"Well, I'd better decline."

Kaiming chuckled twice, his gaze falling on the jade talisman power condensed in Zhou Yan's hand. This was the source of Xu Fengxiao's formidable strength, but now that it had been re-condensed, it was still difficult to take shape.

Kaiming pulled out the spear. The spear was mottled and full of marks from countless battles, but now it was sharper than ever before, as if the blood and lives of his enemies had tempered and sharpened it anew. Its cold gleam was as menacing as ever.

Kaiming couldn't help but exclaim, "What a fine weapon!"

Then, dragging the weapon back to Zhou Yan's side, he also dragged Xu Fengxiao, who had been beaten into a 'nascent human form,' back with him, leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

Zhou Yan and Kaiming tidied up a bit, touched the corpse, and found some loose silver and an ancient book.

Kaiming, without batting an eye, pocketed the silver.

Unfolding the ancient scroll, blowing away non-existent dust, several large characters were revealed—【Primordial Golden Body Technique】. Kaiming and Zhou Yan quickly flipped through it; this was a secret text of the 【Celestial and Human Lineage】.

The aim is to imitate the many mythical beasts that roamed the land in ancient times.

It is a divine skill that uses spiritual energy to gather magical power and continuously temper one's body, ultimately aiming to completely transcend the realm of humanity. According to this book, once this divine skill is mastered, one will be able to withstand fire without burning, walk on water without drowning, be unharmed by swords and blades, and be immune to all poisons.

Furthermore, they possess unparalleled power, and every gesture they make is like a divine power.

Zhou Yan pondered and said, "The Heavenly Human Lineage... Among the seven major lineages, the one that values ​​one's own physique and strength the most does not value the supernatural powers that other lineages rely on, such as magic power. The Heavenly Human Lineage values ​​the pure power of flesh and blood."

"However, it seems now..."

He and Kaiming exchanged a glance and both fell silent.

Judging from the way the battle just took place, the so-called "Celestial Lineage" seems more like a meticulously designed consumable—abandoning other supernatural abilities in cultivation, purely tempering one's qi, blood, and physique to the extreme, solely to bear the power of past heroes within the jade talisman.

For example, wanting to bear the power of Zhao Zilong.

If one were to practice the military lineage, the requirements would be extremely rigorous.

Those cultivators of the military lineage who are qualified to bear Zhao Zilong's blood and skills are themselves top-notch Xuanguan generals of this era, and their experience is enough to allow them to roam freely in all directions.

So, by cutting off these trivial details and not pursuing the comprehension and understanding of the Dharma lineage, we can purely create a Dharma lineage that allows us to wholeheartedly temper our Qi and blood and body, and use this shortcut to carry the power of the jade talisman.

Kai-ming's lips twitched, and he muttered, "There's a problem!"

“This [Celestial Lineage] has serious problems.”

"By harnessing the power of Qi and blood, and relying on the strength of the jade talisman, this lineage was created almost entirely for the purpose of the [Bai Ze Book], thanks to this physical body and the support of ancient heroes."

Zhou Yan recalled what Wang Ben had said when they were at Mount Li: back then, the Qin Emperor burned all the mixed magic arts, killed a group of Xuan officials, and swept away the many mixed magic lines that remained in the world, standardizing them into the Ten Great Magic Lines to be passed down to future generations.

But now, it's not just the seven major lineages that remain in the world. Looking at it now, the [Celestial Lineage], one of the seven major lineages, is actually a purely distorted creation of the enemy.

After deliberately disrupting the Qin Emperor's arrangements, the distorted inheritance was then spread throughout the world. Doesn't this mean that all the Xuan Officials who cultivate the Heavenly and Human Dharma Lineage are hidden 'seeds' and 'materials' that the other party can use?

Therefore, the people of Yan and Huang were to nurture the enemy's backup plan.

Zhou Yan had glimpsed the other party's hidden skill.

This heinous method alone intensified his killing intent, while at the same time, he felt admiration. He wondered what kind of monsters Zhuge Liang and his men had been fighting against back then, without any intelligence whatsoever.

Kaiming's lips twitched, his face bitter, and he said, "...It seems that only the four orthodox lineages—the academy, the battlefield, Taoism, and Zen Buddhism—are considered relatively righteous."

"These three outer gates are probably all problematic."

"At least, it's not very clean."

Zhou Yan nodded, then thought of something and said, "I encountered the royal family's Plum Blossom Guard at the Hedong Beach meeting before. Among them, there were cultivators with the Heavenly Human Lineage, as well as those with the Yinshan Lineage and scattered sect sorcerers."

"Humanity's destiny..."

Kaiming and Zhou Yan exchanged a glance, both realizing that the problem was serious.

Within the royal family's power base, there are many Xuanguan cultivators with the Heavenly Human Lineage—whether the royal family knows the truth about the Heavenly Human Lineage or simply doesn't, the fact that these lineages have been planted in them doesn't signify a very optimistic outlook.

Zhou Yan reached out and lifted Ding Liu, intending to see what this guy looked like, but he saw a twisted black aura on his face.

Ding Liu's soul spontaneously dissipated, his spirit scattered and gone.

Kaiming sized it up, poked the guy's body with his foot, took a breath, and muttered, "This is bad, this is bad, this is bad..."

Zhou Yan asked, "Were these agents of history subjected to some kind of manipulation?"

"Once you die, your soul will be scattered?"

Kaiming shook his head: "No."

"They are people who specialize in making 'original vows,' making great oaths and vows to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, and then using this to rapidly increase their own strength and break through their realms. However, they fail to fulfill their vows, and that's when they suffer the backlash of their 'original vows.'"

Kaiming murmured in a dreamlike tone: "The physical body upon which the [Celestial Lineage] is based, and the Xuanguan cultivator who made the [Oath of Original Vow] acts as its agent; from this perspective, the former has a deep connection with Taoism, while the latter is close to the Buddhist vow cultivation."

"From these two points, it can be seen that the authority and subordinates of [Shi] have become as deeply rooted as trees, closely integrated with all aspects of this world, especially the field of cultivation."

"If my guess is correct, I'm afraid that the two orthodox lineages, the Academy and the Battlefield, will also have corresponding branches or variants that have been distorted, altered, and deliberately spread by the people on the History side."

"It looks fine, but when a real fight breaks out, it will be exploited immediately."

Kaiming felt that the situation was in complete chaos. Even the cultivation system was in trouble. This was the very foundation of the world and the era, and even this place was being shaken...

Kaiming felt that this was a dead end in a game of endgame, with almost no solution.

He began to seriously consider the idea of ​​hanging himself back up in the tree.

They even felt an incredible sense of admiration and respect for Fuxi, who, under such circumstances, was still able to both seal the gate to the concept of the Age of Gods that he himself had blocked, and at the same time reach out to restrain [Shi].

This guy is so resilient!
Zhou Yan condensed the jade talisman in his hand. Although he didn't know what it was for, he still put away the jade talisman he had taken from Xu Fengxiao's body and said openly, "Now that Jiang Boyue's body has been taken away and two important pieces of information have been obtained, the purpose of coming here can be considered to have been achieved. Kid, let's go."

He did not receive a positive answer.

Zhou Yan reached out and grasped the bright silver spear that had been passed down from Zhao Zilong and Jiang Boyue. With a flick of his wrist, the ancient weapon emitted a deep whistling sound. He held the end of the spear shaft with his right hand and ran his left hand along the shaft.

A chilling aura emanated from Zhou Yan.

Kai-ming felt a chill run down his spine and asked, "What are you planning to do?"

Zhou Yan said in a calm voice:

"There's still resentment in his heart, and unquenched anger in his eyes. Isn't there another one in the village?"

Kaiming felt a chill run down his spine and said in a low voice, "I've only trapped him, trapped him! What if the one we lured away comes back too?! Hey, kid, calm down, calm down."

Zhou Yan replied, "I am very calm."

Reinforcements are on their way, and the three forces representing the mountain god, the Taoist sect, and the Buddhist sect are also approaching. Under such circumstances, why should we be timid and fearful?
The young Taoist priest rolled up his sleeves and with a flick of his wrist, the Water God's authority transformed into dark blue armor covering his body, while his battle robe became blue and white alternating sleeves for both civil and military purposes.

A man should be self-respecting and act boldly!
With the spearhead pressed against the ground, the young Taoist replied, "The enemy is already ahead."

"How could this be—"

"The principle of not killing!"

(End of this chapter)