Chapter 494 - 129: Heaven-Stealing Realm
The Fifth Realm of cultivating the Taiyan Talisman is also known as the "Heaven-Stealing Realm." It is rumored that one can steal the power of the Celestial Dao.
Xiao Shan Lord did not immediately draw the "Heaven-Stealing Talisman." His memory seemed to fall into a brief state of confusion. Only when his eyes, filled with the golden light of the Divine Technique, looked toward Min You did he seem to remember Wang Ping and the others.
"Come here!"
Xiao Shan Lord extended his right hand and tapped lightly on the Divine Country Map encircling the area below the golden hall. The barrier Min You had constructed instantly collapsed. Wang Ping felt a warm aura wash over him, and his body flew involuntarily toward the golden hall.
"Don’t worry, and don’t overthink it."
Xiao Shan Lord’s voice drifted over, devoid of its initial cold rationality. Instead, it carried a human-like warmth.
Wang Ping’s perspective changed in that instant. From the outside, the golden hall flickered between illusory and real, yet it was also as transparent as a mirror. You could feel its presence, but it was fundamentally ethereal. And yet, it could block a Thunder Tribulation.
If one used the methods of the Yuqing Sect to perceive it with their Primordial Spirit, their consciousness would see only a void. Not even the most basic energy particles existed there. In other words, it could not have been constructed with conventional Magic.
Upon entering the golden hall, Wang Ping’s vision was filled with wondrous Divine Technique Spells. They clung to the four illusory-yet-real walls of the hall. He found he could memorize the spells as he observed them, but in the blink of an eye, he would forget everything completely and have to start over.
Looking again at the Divine Country Map below the golden hall, the mountains, rivers, towns, and all living things on it were even clearer than when he had observed them from the outside.
Wang Ping even saw that at the center of the Divine Country Map, there was a golden hall identical to the one he was in, as well as the surrounding figures of Wan Zhi Daoist, He Feng Taoist, and the others. However, their figures were illusory and extremely unstable.
At this moment, Xiao Shan Lord was like a god upon this Divine Country Map, able to decide anyone’s fate at will!
"You need not trouble yourselves with too many thoughts. After I suppress the Wood Spirit’s rampage, I will personally see you out. After that, you just need to watch from a distance. Regardless of my success or failure, you will all receive what I promised you. If you are lucky enough, the benefits you receive..."
Before Xiao Shan Lord could finish, his tone shifted. "Xiu Yu, I know you intended to draw a ’Heaven-Covering Talisman’ during my advancement, while the Celestial Dao’s gaze is upon me. But that would be incredibly foolish. The Celestial Dao is not as simple as you imagine. For instance..."
As he spoke, he reached out and tapped a finger. Xiu Yu’s entire body trembled as if he had been electrocuted.
It wasn’t just Xiu Yu; even Wang Ping felt a shudder wrack him from the depths of his soul. He glanced at the "Heaven-Covering Talisman" floating beside Xiao Shan Lord, then quickly lowered his head.
’The "Heaven-Covering Talisman," as its name implies, obscures heavenly secrets. Just now, it had completely obscured Xiu Yu’s heavenly secrets. In other words, to the Celestial Dao, the Xiu Yu of that moment had ceased to exist!’
’But that wasn’t Xiao Shan Lord’s goal. The truly terrifying part was the instant the "Heaven-Covering Talisman’s" aura dissipated and he was recorded by heaven and earth once more. It was as if an invisible consciousness between heaven and earth was watching him.’
Yu Lian spoke softly in his Spirit Sea, "What terrifying power. I feel like I could be erased by the Celestial Dao at any moment."
A series of questions arose in Wang Ping’s mind. ’You can feel the Celestial Dao? Does It truly exist? In what form?’
Yu Lian’s emotions were complex at this moment. She then replied, "I can’t put my feelings into words, but It doesn’t truly exist. Ruan Chunzi’s previous explanation was very fitting!"
Just as Wang Ping was about to recall his previous conversation with Ruan Chunzi, Xiao Shan Lord’s voice came from the front. "Can you feel it?"
"Thank you, Master!"
Xiu Yu performed a deep, formal kowtow.
Xiao Shan Lord didn’t reply. He reached out to touch the blank Talisman before him, then turned to gaze outside the golden hall and chuckled. "Some old friends have arrived."
His smile was fleeting, and then his entire demeanor once again became cold and rational.
As Wang Ping followed his gaze, his vision passed through the peculiar Spells on the golden hall’s walls, penetrated layers of golden halos, and saw three figures suspended in the western sky under the azure heavens.
One Monk, and two Daoists.
"It’s Master Kaiyun, the abbot of Vajra Temple!" Zi Luan’s tone was filled with disbelief. He found it incredible because the Master Kaiyun he knew should not have been involved in today’s events, yet here he was, right before his eyes.
"The world you see is still too narrow. You lack true courage."
Xiao Shan Lord discerned the meaning in Zi Luan’s tone and offered a word of guidance to this disciple who had lost his spirit. His current state was like he had a split personality; he was a gentle master when facing Zi Luan and Xiu Yu, but cold and rational when facing his enemies.
Zi Luan responded with silence.
At this, Xiao Shan Lord glanced at Wang Ping and said, "If any of you manage to reach my stage in the future, you should know who your enemies are, and who your allies are, shouldn’t you?"
As he spoke, he gazed at Master Kaiyun and the two Daoists suspended under the blue sky to the west. "The other two," he said, "one is Cang Ji of the Taiyin Sect, and the other is... the South Sea Taoist I mentioned to you before. Since he has appeared, that Wu Ma who is entrenched in the Southern Islands will most likely show himself as well."
By pointing out their identities, Xiao Shan Lord wanted to tell Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu who these people represented.
"There are others who, I’m afraid, will not show themselves until I take the final step. So be it..." Xiao Shan Lord turned to Wang Ping and the others. "You will all calm your minds and quiet your spirits!"
Upon hearing this, Xiu Yu was the first to sit cross-legged, followed by Zi Luan, and then Wang Ping. As they calmed their minds, Xiao Shan Lord brought out the core of the composite Array they had all built together. Then, the Arrays on Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu’s bodies activated in succession.
In that instant, Wang Ping felt Xiao Shan Lord’s surging Primordial Spirit Consciousness. His immediate impression was that the Xiao Shan Lord of this moment was even more powerful than before.
After the Array activated, Xiao Shan Lord extended his right hand and pointed. Six "Soldier Talismans" appeared before him and transformed into six puppets filled with a Wood Spirit Aura. They held large green banners with flagpoles over twenty feet long and positioned themselves at six points surrounding the meditating Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu.
The faces of these great banners were inscribed with the complex patterns of a Wood Spirit Array. As the patterns activated, they formed a massive Wood Spirit formation, fixing Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu within the Array.
"Do not be alarmed. This is a necessary measure!"
While in meditation, Wang Ping sensed that his physical body and Primordial Spirit were fixed in place. There was no harm, but he was completely unable to move. This was one of the most basic talismans recorded in the Taiyan Talisman: the Body-Stabilizing Talisman.
After the "Body-Stabilizing Talisman" activated, Xiao Shan Lord, holding the Array Core, once again looked toward the three figures in the distant sky. He then looked at Wan Zhi, who was not far away. Wan Zhi was also looking at him, and when their eyes met, they nodded to each other.
Then, Xiao Shan Lord looked down at the Divine Country Map below the golden hall. He manifested his Primordial Spirit, which had already evolved into a state of pure energy, and projected his Primordial Spirit Consciousness into the Divine Country, using it to connect the composite Array with the Divine Country itself.
HUMMM—
Ten "Celestial Swords" manifested from the Divine Country Map, forming a Divine Technique Formation inside the golden hall. A Divine Technique Light Pillar shot up from the center of the Array, soaring toward the heavens.
At that moment, Wang Ping, who was meditating within the Array, suddenly felt hundreds of consciousnesses connect to the Array from within his own Sea of Consciousness.