Chapter 156: Zhu Country
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The world was huge, even Fang Yuan at his cultivation level could not comprehend the vastness of the world.
As he examined the rough drawing of the map, his fingers ran through the Yuanrong Grasslands, and as excitement filled his eyes, he let out a long sigh.
To reach the Da Qian Empire, he had to traverse through this grassland, and it was still unknown what troubles or dangers he might face.
Furthermore, based on his current cultivation, it was still not very safe.
He was also not in a hurry to go there too.
"Take your leave!"
As he waved, he dismissed Yu Xinlou and Huang Fu Renhe. With the flip of his palm, the treasure map from the Five Ghosts Sect appeared in his hands.
This was so secretive that he did not intend to let anyone else know about it.
At this point in time, the three-pieced treasure map was combined into one, forming an intricate drawing of mountains. There was also an obvious spot which caught his attention.
"This Five Ghosts Sect ancestor from the Da Qian Empire is not simple..."
While examining the treasure map, he had a complicated look on his face.
After all, this treasure had so much affinity with him. Even though it was split into three pieces and circulated far and wide, he could still gather them together, which made him believe that it was fate.
The 'master's' true identity was also very suspicious.
The three of his disciples had their own accomplishments. The Xuan Yin Metal Corpse Spell could develop the Five Ghosts Sect to such a stage, and as for the Blood Demon, his inheritance was of immoral ways.
"An extremely strong immoral demon? That escaped here after failing in the Da Qian empire..."
Fang Yuan touched his chin. "From the act of not directly passing down this treasure to his descendants, I can infer that there must be risks in this... Of course, treasures can only be obtained from risks, and if it was safe, I'll rather not try!"
...
He was an extremely decisive person. Since he had decided, he delegated the internal affairs of the Prefecture down to his subordinates and split his power, and he seemed unafraid that they would go against him with their power.
Afterwards, Fang Yuan rode the Red-eyed White King Bird back to Green Peak spiritual land.
He wanted to settle the minute stuff before putting down everything to look for the secret place in the treasure map.
As Fang Yuan left the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City, many carts contain valuables and gifts were delivered into the city.
If Daoist Mu Li was still here, he would be speechless. Fang Yuan had already left, so what was the point of delivering all these gifts?
Outside the city gates, in a restaurant's private room, there was complete silence. There was a spread on the table, and a 15-year aged wine was opened as its fragrance filled the entire room.
"The Royal Family of the Xia Country have put in quite a lot of money!"
From a window opening, a pair of eyes stared at the carriages of valuables entering the city, as it laughed.
It was a young man in silk robes and was around 25 years of age. He had definitive facial features and would leave a strong impression on those who looked at him.
As he said, there was a hint of anger on his face. "Xie Lingyun did not honour her words and caused my army to be destroyed. She deserves to die!"
"Be cautious with your words, prince!"
At the table, there was another person in green clothes. He had a cloth tied around his hair bun, and although his clothes were plain, there seemed to be extremely clean. He appeared to be about 40 to 50 years old and was originally closing his eyes to rest. As he opened his eyes, he had a warm gaze. "This lady has a marriage agreement with our king. Based on the rituals, she is your unwedded sister-in-law!"
As he spoke, the surroundings shook as his energy spread across the room, as though his instructions were absolute.
His level of cultivation was definitely in the realms of elemental force.
"Hehe... My brother wanted to marry this lady in order to facilitate his future plans and make it official... It seems that this lady is immature and does not have a sense of gratitude. Luckily, we will not sit back and do nothing..."
The internal conflict in the royal family might just kill the new bride.
After all, Wu Country only needed an excuse to invade.
"Even if this is so, you should restrain!"
The middle-aged man shook his head. "Considering the fall of our army and the shock it brought to our country, it would be unwise to create more trouble. Even if Xie Lingyun were to delay the date of marriage, our king can only hold himself back and wait..."
"Delay? This lady is full of pride, that might just happen..."
The young prince smiled. "Compared to her, I am more interested in that young Wu Zong. Cultivating his magic and the path of martial arts at the same time, and is even able to have control over spiritual plants? Wiping out tens of thousands of soldiers?"
"I have done the investigation, it is indeed true... Although there are some restraints on that prefecture, they are nonetheless a force to be reckoned with."
The middle-aged man sighed again. He knew the value of such power. Even the Imperial Advisor, Elder Daoist Xuan Sheng and General Fei Long cautioned against Fang Yuan when they returned to their country.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be here as well.
"The new Prefecture Master's tactics are mysterious, but what is his true cultivation? Based on his progress and potential, he might be at the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm at 50 years old, and able to reach the bottleneck to the Elemental Opening Realm!"
The young prince rubbed the ruby ring on his finger, appearing solemn.
"This talent cannot be comprehended with common sense. However, since they have made the 100-year agreement, it would be impossible to send in large amounts of troops to take over them. The only way is to slowly plot against the prefecture!"
The middle-aged man answered in a serious tone.
No matter how much these two people estimated Fang Yuan's abilities to be, they would never have guessed that he was already at the peak of the Elemental Gathering Realm, ready to break through to the Elemental Opening Realm.
"Sir!"
A shopkeeper entered, and in a serious and respectful tone, said, "We have news that the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master has left the Prefecture City a few days ago. The internal affairs are now handed over to Leader Niu Dingtian, Zhang Qingfeng, Yu Xinlou and a few others to settle!"
"This is... weird!"
The young prince hands shuddered. "There is such a person in this world? Who would give no regard to absolute power? Is he not worried that his subordinates would overthrow him?"
"Maybe... Only by doing this would he have accomplishments...."
They were all rather impressed at Fang Yuan.
However, both of them looked at each other, speechless.
Since Fang Yuan was not in the Prefecture City anymore, what use did their preparations here and the spies have?
...
As the news spread, Fang Yuan had already left the Green Peak Spiritual Mountain, riding on the Iron-tailed Black Eagle's back, flying freely in the sky.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
The black eagle was unhappy that the Red-eyed White King Bird took over its role, and used this opportunity to showcase its ability. Its speed was indeed as quick as an arrow, and they flashed across the clouds.
"Now, my influence, martial arts, spiritual spells and even my prestige are at peak levels, or should I say bottlenecks!"
Fang Yuan crossed his legs and sat down, staring into space.
Even though the wind was strong, his clothes did not sway a single bit, which appeared weird.
"Being the Prefecture Master of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture is already my limit, and I have attracted many spies as well. I would sooner or later have to reveal my true strength..."
"The only solution is to keep improving myself!"
He clenched his fist and his blood almost boiled.
Xia Country, Wu Country, Zhu Countr and even Yuan Country all did not have obvious Elemental Opening Realm spiritual knights coming from them.
If he spearheaded and entered this realm first, he could have ultimate control and a firm footing. He would not have to worry about others plotting against him anymore.
"The equivalent of the Elemental Opening Realm of a dream master is the Illusionary Divine Stage. It is incredibly arduous to achieve this stage. One would be required to reproduce something from the dream world in the real world. Even if it was a grain of sand or a spiritual spell, it would still be counted as an overall success!"
The path of making visions into reality as a dream master was the hardest of all.
"Based on the theory of my 'past life', there is a fixed cycle in everything, but as for the Prominent Divine Stage of the dream world, it is to make 'something out of nothing'!"
Fang Yuan bit his lip. "Maybe not really something out of nothing, but based on my current cultivation, I am unable to understand the mystery of the highest stage."
The end goal of a dream master was always to turn vision into reality.
But in order to make objects and beings with souls, and subsequently the world, such power could not be harnessed by ordinary dream masters. Every object had their own law of nature to follow.
To Fang Yuan, however, this exploration was too deep for him now. He could only follow the instructions from Master Wenxin to slowly enter the Illusionary Divine Stage.
He would only slowly unravel the other mysteries after attaining the highest cultivation level possible.
"To attain the Illusionary Divine Stage, I just need to reproduce some part of my dream world into the real world to be considered a breakthrough!"
"Based on the experience of my master, it would be the hardest to reproduce living beings, followed by spiritual objects, then normal objects. The easiest would be to harness the flow of energy from spiritual spells!"
Even if both were to be constructed by sand, Fang Yuan understood that a body of energy would be easier to create than a real physical body
A dream spells master was very common in the Illusionary Divine Stage.
A dream spells master would create spiritual spells in dream worlds and transfer them into the real world.
Since they create the spiritual spells in their dream world, the elemental energy required is far lesser; they could create any type of spiritual spells and could be conversant in all 5 elements, and were especially good in casting illusions and confusion arrays.
This power would overwhelm the others in the same realm.
But a dream spells master would be the easiest path for a dream master to take to enter the Holy Stage!
The path of a dream master is countless, and the possibilities were endless!
Only now did Fang Yuan truly understand the true meaning in Master Wenxin's inheritance.
...
"Chirp! Chirp!"
While Fang Yuan was deep in thought, the seated Iron-tailed Black Eagle let out a long chirp.
"Mm? We have arrived at Zhu Country?"
Fang Yuan looked down in anticipation.
Zhu Country was a small country. It had 10 counties and were neighbouring countries with Xia Country and Wu Country. However, they were slightly weaker and in the past 10 years, there was no news of any new elemental force martial artists, as though they would be a weakening force.
In comparison, it was rather similar to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture which Fang Yuan was in charge of.
"The 'master's' treasure map points towards the middle of the Drunken Moon Lake in Zhu Country!
Fang Yuan's eyes glittered.
His cultivation had already reached the peak, and any additional consumption of spiritual pills or spiritual rice would not be beneficial to his cultivation. Only by breaking through would his cultivation improve further.
This treasure might do all the difference!!!