Cultivation: Fortune by Lots

Lei Jun nodded lightly.

This was not a good sign.

As the National Master of Great Tang, Tang Xiaotang could draw a trace of the fortune of mountains and rivers, the Earth Vein Qi of the realm.

She was therefore extremely sensitive to the course of the earth‑vein dragon riders of the Tang Dynasty Mortal World.

Right now she was drawing upon the Global Spiritual Qi, communing with the earth veins, to suppress and seal the Void Gateway.

Although they currently stood in the Western Regions, not within the inherent territory of Great Tang, many things could be inferred by analogy for Tang Xiaotang.

At present, the difficulty of guiding the earth veins to suppress the void far exceeded what it had been before.

This indicated that the national fortune of Great Tang had declined compared to the past.

Even leaving aside the situation here in the Western Regions, just looking at the Northern Border, their great victory against the Solitary Eagle Khanate’s incursion had unquestionably bolstered the morale of the Tang people and soldiers.

For the Great Tang Imperial Dynasty’s national fortune to still be falling under such circumstances, the likeliest possibility was...

The Empress’s condition was indeed unsound.

The injury might be feigned, baiting the hook.

The decline of the national fortune could trigger a chain reaction.

As for the Void Gateways, brand‑new ones were not so easily opened, but those older portals that had previously been sealed by members of the Tang Imperial Court, in the face of declining national fortune, could very easily rupture once more...

Beside them, Xiao Hang stared at the spot where the Mount Sumeru Portal had vanished, pondering in silence.

In the distance, the senior artisan of Pure Yang Palace, Elder Lü Jinduan, stepped forward.

With him was another middle‑aged man in armor, a veteran of the Divine Strategy Army of Great Tang—General Lu Zhen.

He too was part of the column that pursued the westward retreat of the Solitary Eagle Khanate, rushing all the way to the Western Regions.

Zhang Ying, Zhang Junhai, Yue Xiling, Xu Duan and the others had scattered to hunt down remnants of the Solitary Eagle Khanate, Three Springs Palace, and the Vajra Division.

Xiao Hang, Lu Zhen, and Lü Jinduan—three cultivators of the Eighth Heavenly Layer—remained at the Vajra Temple Ruins to receive Lei Jun and Tang Xiaotang.

Aside from them, several Seventh Heavenly Layer and Middle Three Heavens cultivators stood guard nearby.

Lei Jun and Tang Xiaotang saw their fellow sect disciple, Chu Kun.

"This time you and Celestial Master Lei have labored hard, National Master Tang." Lu Zhen and the others saluted Lei Jun and Tang Xiaotang.

Then Chu Kun, dressed in a purple Taoist robe, together with several other Elders and a neat line of Celestial Master Mansion Talisman-Instructed Disciples in dark‑red Taoist robes, all saluted Lei Jun and Tang Xiaotang in unison:

"Sect Leader Brother, Tang."

Lei Jun sized them up from head to toe, nodded slightly, then asked, "Where are Zhang and the others?"

Chu Kun said, "Zhang is injured. Hua Jie has taken two other junior nephews to escort her back to the mountain ahead of us."

Lei Jun said, "The injury is not serious, is it?"

Looking at his own Second Brother wearing the appearance of another casualty, Chu Kun thought to himself that Senior Sister Zhang Jingzhen’s injuries ought to be more genuine than yours, Brother.

But his expression did not change; he answered solemnly, "Zhang is fine. Please be at ease, Sect Leader Brother and Tang."

Tang Xiaotang then asked, "What about everyone else?"

On her way here she had scarcely paused, and knew little news.

Of course, it was far better than with Vajra Sect Leader Garuda.

When she had trapped him within the Great Vehicle Taoist Scene, he had been completely cut off from the outside, and only upon leaving the Great Vehicle Taoist Scene had she gradually learned of some matters in Yunzhou and Vajra Temple—but sadly, all of it was bad news.

"Prince Huayang has fallen; Prince Weiyang’s old injuries have flared up again; in the Youzhou Forest Clan, Elder Lin Li Yun is gravely injured; in the Jingxiang Fang Clan, Great Gentleman Fang Huansheng is wounded..." Chu Yang first explained the situation of the Eighth Heavenly Layer cultivators.

The casualties below the Seventh Heavenly Layer were even greater.

In the battle at Yin Mountain and the subsequent retreat, the cultivators of Great Tang suffered heavy losses.

Fortunately, the situation reversed after the battle of Yunzhou.

Afterward the Tang cultivators pressed the advantage, pursuing and cutting down the enemy; casualties were much lighter, though there were still losses to some extent.

"Prince Zhao and General Xiao Xueting are leading the army and have already chased them to the foot of Boyan Mountain." Chu Kun said, "The Void Gateway there has not yet been sealed, because one battalion of Divine Strategy Army soldiers has charged onto the enemy tribe’s grasslands and has not yet returned."

His expression was somewhat odd: "The commander is that General Shen Qubing. Communications are heavily obstructed for them right now; much of their battle situation and results remain unclear. But there is one matter... they have sent back a group of prisoners, and also a large number of Exotic Beasts—beasts that have already been tamed!"

Lei Jun and Tang Xiaotang’s eyes lit up. "Oh?"

The two of them both took keen interest in all kinds of Schools of Dharma.

In the earlier engagements, Great Tang had gleaned a few scraps of information about the enemy Cavalry Commanders and their cultivation methods from captured foes, but it was far from systematic, especially gravely lacking any methods for the mass taming and civilizing of Exotic Beasts.

This time Shen Qubing had gone over there, and aside from killing the enemy, had also seized a large batch of "horses" to bring back?

The only question was whether any methods of beast‑taming—or people who understood those methods—had been captured along with them.

The Yellow Dragon Whistlewind Beasts, Green Dragon Wind Beasts and other Exotic Beasts were extremely wild by nature; if not properly tamed they might rebel.

But if they were properly tamed, it would mean that the Martial Tao heritage of the Great Tang Imperial Dynasty would from now on gain a new branch—the Riding lineage.

At this point Lu Zhen spoke: "With victory in the north, as for matters here in the west, we owe much to everyone of the Celestial Master Mansion."

Lei Jun said, "General Lu, you overpraise us. We relied greatly on every fellow Daoist’s full cooperation."

Lu Zhen asked, "Do you know what the situation is inside Sumi right now?"

Tang Xiaotang smiled. "The Vajra Division is completely finished. Sumi is in chaos."

Lei Jun said, "There should be no concern in the short term, but in the long run, it is still too early to speak definitively."

Lu Zhen and Lü Jinduan both gave a full‑body shudder.

In the meaning of National Master Tang’s words, at the very least Vajra Sect Leader Garuda was already dead.

A master of the Buddhist Handprint Lineage, with a Ninth Heavenly Layer Dharma Body at Perfection, had fallen before the Celestial Master Mansion.

And the phrase "Sumi in chaos" carried equally heavy weight.

Ever since people of the Sumeru Lotus Sect had appeared in the Tang Dynasty Human Realm and the existence of the Lotus Division had been confirmed, Great Tang had easily inferred that all five of the legendary Vajra Realm Five Vajra Sects indeed existed.

Thus it could truly be called a realm with experts as numerous as the clouds.

Under such circumstances, the two of the Celestial Master Mansion had still charged into Sumi, forcefully slain Vajra Sect Leader Garuda, thrown Sumi into chaos, and then withdrawn whole; it was hard not to be astonished.

The impact on Lü Jinduan was even deeper than on Lu Zhen.

In recent years, when people spoke of the Celestial Master Mansion holding the leading rein of the Great Tang Taoist Sect, they often added in passing that Pure Yang Palace and the Mount Shu Sect had both suffered great calamities.

Especially decades ago, when Pure Yang Palace was at its peak, it had been hailed as the foremost Sacred Land of the Taoist Sect in the present age.

Nowadays, when people mentioned it, there was no shortage of regret and hypothetical sighing.

But at this moment Lü Jinduan looked at Tang Xiaotang, then at Lei Jun.

Even leaving aside the others within Sumi, even leaving aside the rest of the Sumi Vajra Division.

In this one battle alone, at least the Vajra Sect Leader, the Four‑eyed Python Emperor, and that Zhao You’an—the Sect Leader of the Mount Shu Taoist Alchemical Cauldron Sect Holy Land Three Springs Palace—three Ninth Heavenly Layer powerhouses in total, had one after another fallen to Tang and Lei’s hands, among them even the Vajra Sect Leader, such a Ninth Heavenly Layer Perfection master.

And this was with the other members of the Celestial Master Mansion not participating.

With such strength...

Even if Pure Yang Palace had not split, had not suffered calamity, even if it were still in its flourishing state of decades past, or had even advanced further, compared to today’s Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Mansion, it would likely still have to bow its head.

With Sumi returning to the Mortal World, the Buddhist Sacred Land Vajra Temple had turned into the Sumi Vajra Division and leapt forward by great strides, yet in the end its fate was annihilation.

And moreover, annihilation at the hands of the Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Mansion.

The rise of Dragon and Tiger should lie within the Celestial Master Mansion itself; it is the trend of the times, not to be altered by the rise and fall of other outside powers... Lü Jinduan thought to himself.