The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 328 Making the Move (4k)

The universe continues to evolve, and the furnace has finally been completed.

In an instant, the vast city of Kyoto collapsed and disintegrated from the outside under the immense force of the furnace, with fragments flying into the "heart of the furnace" above.

At the same time, beneath Kyoto, the Yakushi family's dragon vein emitted a mournful wail, causing the entire city to tremble violently.

Although this furnace did not directly refine the dragon vein, it clearly skinned and gutted it alive.

Having long since severed his connection with the dragon vein, Yaoshi Yuan gripped a sword in each hand and cried out to the heavens:

"Your Excellency is capable of displaying such extraordinary power, you must be an unparalleled master. If that's the case, why do you want to slaughter so many people under my rule?"

"I humbly request that you appear before me! If you have any requests, I will grant them to you, even at the cost of my own resources!"

He didn't curse, because he knew all too well that the being capable of such methods was far beyond their ability to handle.

Rather than continuing to provoke and anger the other party, he could only pin his hopes on a slim chance that even he himself had no hope for.

But high above, all was silent and there was no response.

Silence is the greatest irony.

Seeing this, the pharmacist could only lower his head and let out a heavy sigh.

The next moment, he stepped forward, handed over the sword, gripped the two heavy weapons, Ren and Ding, tightly with both hands, and thrust them straight towards the heart of the furnace in the sky.

The sword energy still pierced the sun like a rainbow, its power shaking heaven and earth.

This scene instantly ignited a frenzy among the people on the mountain who were trapped in the situation, like stray dogs:
"The Ding Sword and the Ren Sword have actually come together!"

"What a heroic emperor! Today we still have a glimmer of hope!"

"Fellow Daoists, stop holding back! Use your supernatural powers and magical treasures to your heart's content. Whether we live or die today depends on this gamble!"

It has to be said that fate is sometimes truly unpredictable.

Previously, they all wished they could devour the flesh and blood of the pharmacist and absorb everything the pharmacist wished for.

But now, trapped in the same deadly trap set by others, they are "standing together".

In an instant, countless rays of light accompanied two soaring sword energies into the sky, determined to shatter that colossal furnace of heaven and earth.

Unfortunately, despite this all-out attack, Zou Zi remained seated before the chessboard, calmly observing from the sidelines.

He was the founder of the Yin-Yang School, capable of calculating the heavens and the earth, and exhausting the mysteries of the world.

Among all the heavens and the myriad realms, he never dared to claim himself "invincible," and he might not even be among the top five.

But once you're caught in his trap, even if the three founders of religions were to personally intervene, you might not be able to escape unscathed!

So why bother with the futile struggle of a group of chess pieces?

The combined attack of the cultivators and the pharmacist failed to budge the furnace in the slightest.

Even at the very moment it was about to touch the core of the furnace, just like the previously collapsed Kyoto, all supernatural powers and magical treasures were absorbed into the core of the furnace and instantly refined to nothing.

Even those two earth-shattering sword energies were no exception!

Seeing this, the cultivators turned ashen-faced and collapsed to the ground.

Even the Medicine Master could only let out a long sigh, then look up to the sky and lament, "Emperor Taizu, I truly made a mistake in choosing this person."

But given the tense situation at the time, what could have happened even if they had believed the old imperial uncle?
These 'Zouzi' things in the sky didn't give them the slightest chance at all!
Upon hearing this, the old imperial uncle beside him also said bitterly:

"Your Majesty, this old minister is incompetent. If only I could find the person that the founding emperor spoke of!"

"In that case, the situation today might be quite different!"

The pharmacist stood still and shook his head, saying:
"Uncle, this is not your fault, nor is it anyone else's fault."

The pharmacist was willing to lay down the cauldron and sword, then raised his hand and grabbed the old imperial uncle, saying:

"Uncle, if anyone is to blame, it's the people in the heavens, who weren't willing to leave us even the slightest chance!"

The Emperor Taizu appeared to me in a dream just two days ago. In such a short time, where can we find the gentleman that the Emperor Taizu mentioned?
There's practically no chance.

The apothecary shook his head and sighed. After the apothecary family's dragon vein let out another mournful cry, it fell completely silent and then plummeted straight down from the clouds to the earth.

It didn't stir up a single speck of dust, yet it shook the entire land.

Outside the city, the tea shop owners, a husband and wife, witnessed Kyoto suddenly soar into the sky. Terrified, they clung to each other tightly.

Just a few steps away from their small shop, the entire city of Kyoto, along with the land beneath their feet, rose straight into the sky!

The city was still being pulled and worn down by the furnace in the sky. Such a cataclysmic event was something that the two ordinary people had never seen before.

The two trembled for a long time before the shopkeeper, under the bewildered gaze of his wife, hurriedly took down the calligraphy scroll that Du Yuan had left him, which read "Good Fortune Upon Opening," and urgently shouted:
"Quick! Wife, run with me! Don't pack anything, just run!"

His wife instinctively grabbed him and said, "At least give me some money!"

"What money! This is our only lifeline! Let's go, it'll be too late if we wait any longer!"

The shopkeeper raised the calligraphy copybook in his hand, and without saying a word, dragged the woman, whose legs had gone limp with fear, behind him and ran away.

The couple usually have his wife in charge, but at such a crucial moment, he still demonstrated all the decisiveness expected of the head of the household.

He was even more certain that if Du Yuan hadn't left behind this calligraphy copybook, his whole family would have been swept into that furnace!

Indeed, that was the case. After they had run a short distance, they looked back and were shocked to find that the area around the shop had been deliberately cleared out!
Looking to the left and right, a perfectly neat circle had been cut away, leaving only their small piece intact.

If they hadn't dared not linger, the shopkeeper would almost have knelt down and kowtowed desperately to the calligraphy scrolls in his arms.

Otherwise, why should we?
Besides this treasure, what right do they have to be left behind alone?

Meanwhile, in Kyoto, the priest sat in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, looking utterly astonished.

The imperial guards and attendants around him were just as bewildered as he was.

At that moment, they didn't even engage in looting, arson, or vandalism, because—what they saw was far beyond their comprehension!

Feng Si glanced at the ever-burning lamps inside the ancestral temple, which were gradually going out, without any apparent reason.

Finally, his gaze settled on the memorial tablet of Emperor Taizu, Yaoshi Wuji.

In a daze, he suddenly remembered what his wife had said that morning, and the old imperial uncle's instructions. They both mentioned a swordsman...
Should I have told Prince Ning about this at that time?
At that very moment, Zou Zi, who was sitting high above the clouds, finally 'picked up' him and turned him into a black piece, which then blocked one of the white pieces' paths to survival and created a large area of ​​dead land out of thin air.
-
Inside the Tiannan Sect, the master of ceremonies and the sect leader looked at their empty hands and both gave a bitter smile.

Just now, they naturally followed the many cultivators and joined the Pharmacist in making moves to try to break the deadlock.

In the end, however, all of their most prized possessions were taken away by others, and now they are probably in some furnace, turned into a pool of molten iron!

After a moment of wry smile, the Sect Master of Tiannan Sect couldn't help but say to the master of ceremonies:
“If you hadn’t fallen short in the past, my brother, you might be able to fight your way out with your three-foot-long sword now!”

These words are full of regret.

In such a deadly situation, if even one member of the Tiannan Sect has a chance to survive, that would be an incredibly good thing.

Because that signifies the continuity of his Tiannan Sect's lineage!
Unfortunately, not only did Tiannan Sect fail to produce any more Great Sword Immortals that night, but now they are all destined to perish in this deadly predicament.

The emcee, however, was more open-minded than him:
"Sect Master, we've already discussed this. The failure that night was entirely my own fault! After all, it was my own hesitation and overthinking that led to the near miss. Otherwise, even if it turned out to be a false alarm, wouldn't it have been accomplished much sooner?"

The more carefree he was, the more bitter the Tiannan Sect Master looked.

After all, both of them knew that if he hadn't been worried about the Tiannan Sect being implicated that night, he would have left with his sword long ago!
On the chessboard, Zou Zi picked up another black piece and placed it on the board.

It wasn't as crucial as the previous black piece, which completely blocked one of the white pieces' escape routes.

But this move also made his dragon formation even more stable.

And the instant the piece fell, an invisible chain suddenly descended from the sky behind Zou Zi, precisely reaching for him.

It seems they're about to bring him to justice!
But just as they were about to touch it, it suddenly veered off course by a hair's breadth and then drifted away completely.

The imminent calamity above his head subsided once more, returning to its previous state of being neither fully formed nor broken.

Zou Zi remained unharmed, simply observing the chessboard before him. The master of ceremonies, however, felt a void above his head, as if something had vanished completely.
-
Inside the Cui family mansion in Qinghe, the nobles of the clan were in complete chaos, having lost all their former elegance and prestige.

They were all terrified and looked like stray dogs.

Especially those in charge, after meeting those "immortals," turned ashen-faced and could barely stand.

In a courtyard, a high-ranking elder of the Cui clan was kneeling and kowtowing, pleading with the ethereal cultivator before him:
"Immortal Master! Immortal Master! Can't you really save my Cui family? Even if it's just me, even if it's just one of you, please!"

The cultivator, however, was filled with impatience, kicking him to the ground and cursing sharply:

"You dare to beg me? I ask you, I specifically gave you the tools to do it, so why did you still let that brat deliver the divine wine? Do you know that if we could have obtained that divine wine, neither of us would be out of a job now!"

"Now look what's happened, you can all just wait to die!"

In reality, he is the only one who should have a way out.

He was a person from before the Great Era, and had no connection with that thing. As long as such a rare treasure as the divine wine is offered, Master Zou might be willing to separate him from the list.

Anyway, one more or one less makes no difference, it's like farting, you can just let it out casually, right?
The Cui clan elder, who had been kicked to the ground, wanted to explain that the insect had disappeared on its own for some reason.

But how could an old man with one foot in the ground withstand the cultivator's angry kick? He was already barely breathing on the spot, his eyes rolled back, and he was gone.

The monk, seeing him dead, showed no pity whatsoever, only spitting out a curse:
"Can't even withstand a single kick, truly a piece of trash!"

He was filled with resentment—that killing god was too bloodthirsty, and although he was lucky enough to know that there was still a jar of divine wine in the mansion, he dared not show himself.

I originally intended to use a few poisonous insects from the Western Regions to disguise it as a sordid squabble among mortals, thus avoiding the karmic consequences of killing the god. Little did I expect that this good-for-nothing would be no match for me!
It's probably too late to do it yourself now.

After all, Cui Shilu had already given away the divine wine.

I heard that the other party is a descendant of a novelist, whose lineage is best at avoiding cause and effect and escaping with their lives. They probably already exchanged the divine wine for their own survival!
"One wrong step, all wrong!"

He pounded his chest and stamped his feet in fury, smashing the table and chairs in front of him with a single blow, but what good would it do? Even if he destroyed the entire Cui family, he still couldn't escape this crumbling capital!

In the garden, the dead insect still lay there.

Even high above the clouds, Zou Zi couldn't help but frown slightly.

This poisonous insect was originally another one he had chosen, intended to help him kill another person's "dragon".

Despite all the careful planning, the outcome was still ruined by that one unexpected factor.

As a result, not only did numerous variables arise, but the kid also managed to escape unscathed.

Now, when I try to find it, there's no trace of it left.

After all, he failed to make the crucial move to kill that man's dragon.

After a moment of melancholy, Zou Zi shook his head and said:
"That's enough, that's enough. It's so low-class, let it go!"

In the Cui family mansion, Madam Wang walked out of her room in a daze. Looking at the strange changes in the sky, she cried out in panic:

"What's going on? What on earth is happening?"

But no one replied to her. Everyone was in danger these days, so who could care about anyone else?

Fortunately, a moment later, Cui Shilu suddenly burst in with a large number of guards, all armed with swords and knives. Upon entering, Cui Shilu shouted:

"As long as the Cui family is still alive, no one should panic. I will make arrangements for you all and will not let anyone die here. But if anyone spreads rumors or disrupts my family's order, they will be executed without mercy!"

Seeing this, Cui's servants not only had a leader to rely on, but also felt fear.

They know to obey and know not to rebel.

Having said that, Cui Shilu quickly walked to his aunt, sword in hand, and said:
"Don't worry, Aunt. Please sit here for a while. As long as I'm alive, I will make sure you're safe!"

Looking at her nephew before her, and then thinking of her own child, Lady Wang couldn't help but ask:
Where is your cousin?

Cui Shilu shook his head and said:
"I couldn't find my cousin or aunt. The situation is urgent. I've heard that some villains are taking advantage of the chaos to endanger the capital and harm the people."

"I plan to visit the Wang family and ask my uncle to transfer the Imperial Guards and yamen runners from the capital to ensure the capital remains peaceful and the people are safe!"

"I wonder if Aunt would be willing to return with her nephew?"

Madam Wang glanced at the sky with some surprise and said:

"My son, why are you still doing these things now?"

Cui Shilu was silent for a moment, then cupped his hands and said:
"Aunt, the more difficult the situation, the more I must stand up!"

He asked the master how to ensure the safety of the Cui family, and the master replied, "Ask Wang Cui," and also, "Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you."

He thought it over and over, and felt that now was the time!
(End of this chapter)