Dao Lord's Clear Radiance

"Daoist, what a sharp eye you have!"

Seeing this, the wanderer of the martial world could not help but feel deep regret.

He had thought the bronze shortsword might be something valuable, yet he had failed to recognize its worth and sold it too cheaply!

If it was a magic sword capable of subduing demons and suppressing ghosts, then he had suffered a tremendous loss!

But haggling at a stall had always depended on one's own eye and skill. Even if he had taken a loss now, the wanderer could only hold his nose and accept it.

Li Qingyun was in high spirits. Since there was still some time, he continued "treasure hunting." At an old man's stall, he took a liking to several large lacquered gourds. He bought two and filled them with fresh water for the journey.

By the time Zhao Yifan led the horses over, Li Qingyun had at least made some last-minute preparations.

He casually handed one water-filled gourd to his senior brother.

"Junior Brother Qingyun is certainly thoughtful. My throat was just about to start smoking, though it's a pity you filled it with water instead of wine!"

Zhao Yifan laughed heartily and accepted the gourd without ceremony.

The two mounted their horses and headed out of town along the main street, while pedestrians scattered out of their way.

At that moment, Big Black Cat Yuanbao, who had vanished for half the day, suddenly shot out from a nearby alley and sprang onto Li Qingyun's horse.

His belly was round with food, and he still had a fragrant chunk of cooked meat in his mouth. He gestured for his master to take it—Lord Cat did not eat alone.

"Eat it yourself. We're leaving..."

Li Qingyun was rather speechless. He lightly squeezed the horse's flanks with his legs and urged it forward with practiced ease.

Back at the Marquis's residence, he had thoroughly mastered riding, archery, and swordplay, doing his best to give himself one more means of survival in these chaotic times.

"Your cat is quite something, Junior Brother. I thought he had gotten lost just now!"

Zhao Yifan spurred his horse after him, gazing at the feline lord on horseback with undisguised envy. Unfortunately, Yuanbao could not even be bothered to spare him a glance.

The autumn sun had already dimmed somewhat as the two galloped westward out of town along the official road.

Once they left the town, prosperity vanished. What rushed toward them was a vast desolation like the primordial wilderness, and Li Qingyun suddenly felt as though he could not breathe.

They galloped onward, while mountains and forests on either side flew backward.

Tall trees lining the official road blocked out the sunlight, casting mottled shadows across the path. Carriages, horses, and travelers were sparse along the way, making the road seem cold and desolate.

Before they knew it, dusk was approaching.

The dark places on either side of the road began to draw his attention. His instincts told him that within this broad, dim wilderness, many strange evils had already begun to stir.

When the sun hung high in the day, ghosts and strange creatures rarely showed themselves.

But at night, yin energy revived, demonic qi drifted about, and danger lurked on all sides.

Big Black Cat Yuanbao, sitting on the horse's back, also grew somewhat "serious," his eyes warily sweeping the surroundings.

As the sky darkened, travelers on the road began to panic and quicken their pace. Riders and drivers shouted far more frequently, all trying to reach inhabited villages and towns—safer places—before night fully descended.

Generally speaking, experienced merchant caravans and travelers calculated their timing well. They had long estimated how long it would take to get from one village or town to the next safe resting place, and would not risk traveling at night.

Yet reality always brought unexpected delays.

Dust billowed through the dusk. Li Qingyun saw one or two sizable merchant caravans on the official road, along with scattered groups of three or five travelers. Their steps were hurried, their expressions growing solemn and even somewhat panicked.

"Qingyun, there's an abandoned temple about twenty li ahead. Let's hurry and try to spend the night there!!"

Zhao Yifan was clearly getting anxious as well, and he urged his horse to greater speed.

The third layer of Qi Refining might make one an expert in the eyes of mortals, but in the eyes of slightly more formidable demons, ghosts, and monsters, it merely meant stronger food and more abundant yang energy.

Within a hundred li of Lingbao Temple, this area was considered relatively good. The temple's Daoists frequently patrolled the region, slaying demons and warding off evil, so demons and specters were comparatively few.

The golden crow had just set, and night had begun to stain the sky.

The scattered merchants and travelers still hurrying along the official road began calling out to one another. With tacit understanding, they automatically gathered together and traveled in groups.

"Light the torches!"

"Put on the divine talismans!"

"Invite the Dao Lords!"

Anxious shouts rose one after another. They lit tung-oil torches, and the firelight illuminated the surroundings, startling away some vaguely swaying shadows that had been creeping closer through the darkness.

The martial wanderers, caravan guards, and others all took out Evil Warding Talismans without prior agreement, sticking one onto themselves and another onto the swords and bows they carried for protection. Even as they hastened onward, their eyes watched the dim, blurry shadows with grave expressions.

Others, their faces full of devotion, brought out Dao Lord statues—some wooden, some carved from stone, and others costly idols of gold and jade.

Some placed their Dao Lord statues atop their carriages, while others held them before their chests. The stern-faced statues began emitting rings of clear radiance, possessing a strange power that soothed the heart, calmed the mind, and intimidated demons and evil spirits.

The larger the Dao Lord statue and the finer its material, the wider the area covered by its rings of clear radiance.

"In the past, all Dao Lord statues' clear radiance looked to be the same color. It could frighten away evil spirits and ghosts, but now that I have cultivation, I see that every Dao Lord's clear radiance is different..."

Li Qingyun slowed his horse alongside Zhao Yifan and secretly channeled spiritual power into his eyes.

Within the view of his "Dharma Eyes," rings of Dao Lord clear radiance covered differing ranges, varying in color, brightness, and oppressive presence.

The clear radiance emitted by the statues was not the uniformly pale pattern of light seen by ordinary people. Some gave off yellow gleams, some bloomed with red light, and some shone with golden brilliance.

The luster varied in strength, and the majesty they emitted differed in rank.

Li Qingyun discovered that among all the Dao Lord statues on the official road, the one with the broadest coverage and strongest radiance was the gold-and-jade Dao Lord statue placed atop the merchant caravan's carriage ahead!

That Dao Lord statue was made of gold and jade, clearly expensive, and its craftsmanship was exceptionally refined. The female Dao Lord wore her hair in a high palace coiffure; authority lingered on her jade-like face, faint indifference lay in her eyes, and her pale emerald Dharma robes seemed to billow in the wind.

Her peerless beauty, clothing, and ornamental patterns were all lifelike.

Though she possessed beauty capable of toppling a city, the Dao Lord's inherent majestic spirit made people not dare harbor the slightest irreverent thought!

Perhaps because this female Dao Lord's Dharma might had been extraordinarily powerful to begin with, or perhaps because she had received worship for countless years, or because the statue was usually kept in temples and soaked in incense offerings, that graceful Dao Lord statue gave off a blazing red halo like fire within Li Qingyun's Dharma Eye vision, enveloping the entire merchant caravan.

"This does not seem to be a Dao Lord Dharma Idol of Lingbao Temple..."

He found that she did not match any of the Dao Lords recorded in the Lingbao Dao Lord Explanations kept in the Scripture Repository. There had never been any record of a female Dao Lord in Lingbao Temple's history.

Li Qingyun focused and looked closer. The gold-and-jade idol in his vision suddenly flashed with red light, stabbing his pupils with faint pain. He had no choice but to lower his head slightly and avoid it, unable to continue staring directly at her face.

"This Dao Lord possesses such powerful majesty!"

He silently praised the female Dao Lord's breathtaking grace while sensing that nearly tangible authority. He could not help murmuring softly.

"Junior Brother, she is the Dao Lord Biluo of Biyou Palace, who ascended and integrated with Dao three hundred years ago. She is even the most unfathomable existence in all of You Kingdom's recorded history!"

Zhao Yifan, riding warily onward, had sharp ears. Hearing Li Qingyun's soft sigh, he took the initiative to explain.

"However, ordinary people cannot obtain the protection of the Nine Heavens Azure Dao Lord. To invite even a thread of her Dharma intent to settle within a statue requires meeting all manner of harsh conditions! Look at that merchant caravan ahead—their banner bears a vermilion phoenix. It must be the Four Seas Pavilion. No wonder they could invite the Dao Lord Biluo's Dharma Idol..."

At the mention of the Dao Lord Biluo, Zhao Yifan's expression and tone could not hide his worship and admiration!