Heaven-Connecting Path Appears

Central Capital, Wenchang Pavilion.

"Virtuous Teacher?" Chancellor of Literature Yan Baichuan smiled faintly as he looked at the message jade slip he had just received. "Qingwei, that old Taoist, has too small a scope. Why not give him the title of Great Virtuous Teacher!"

Wei Yan, sitting opposite him at the chessboard, replied with a smile, "According to Daoist records, only four Great Virtuous Teachers have ever appeared, all of whom rendered immense service to the Daoist sect. That brat doesn't deserve it!"

Yan Baichuan casually messed up the chessboard and said, "I assume the person sent to fetch that brat has been detained by the Daoist sect. Wei Yan, you go make a trip."

Wei Yan asked, "What's our approach?"

Yan Baichuan smiled faintly, "If we cooperate, we both benefit. If we split, we both suffer. The Daoist sect wants face, and the imperial court wants substance. I will personally visit Xuantan Palace later to negotiate with old Qingwei!"

Wei Yan nodded and got up to leave.

Watching Wei Yan's departing back, Yan Baichuan's gaze fell back on the disrupted chessboard, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close. Without using Confucian supernatural powers, I almost lost to him..."

Unbeknownst to him, Wei Yan, who had left quickly, also breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close. I almost accidentally beat the Chancellor of Literature..."

Floating Cloud Market, Money Falling Pavilion.

Chen Luo, led by a maid, walked towards his new residence. Regarding the title of Virtuous Teacher, Chen Luo had not given a definitive answer, as he needed to consider it carefully. After all, the Daoist sect believed they only had Zhong Kui, but Chen Luo knew that in his dream library, there were legends of many Daoist figures not present in this world...

For example, the Eight Immortals, the Ten Kings of Hell, the Heavenly Court, the Investiture of the Gods...

Could one Virtuous Teacher be exchanged for so many things?

He needed more money!

As Chen Luo was lost in thought, he followed the maid into a new small building, which was quieter than his previous residence.

"Perfect, I'll completely open the last meridian today," Chen Luo thought. He had previously sensed a mutation in his Red Dust Qi, which had significantly sped up his meridian-opening process. Only the last part of the Yin Wei Meridian remained.

Strangely, this last part of the meridian seemed to have a distinct barrier, consuming a lot of his time. Chen Luo vaguely felt that breaking through this barrier and fully opening the Twelve Main Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians would lead to something significant.

"You don't need to bring food," Chen Luo instructed the maid and prepared to begin cultivating. Suddenly, he noticed the maid acting strangely, showing no intention of leaving.

"Miss... Sister?" Chen Luo tentatively asked, "Is there something else?"

The maid looked at Chen Luo, "This servant does have something to trouble Lord..."

Upon hearing this voice, Chen Luo's guard shot up. Just as he was about to shout for help, the maid exhaled a breath towards him. Instantly, a cold air enveloped Chen Luo, and frost formed all over his body. In a flash, Chen Luo was encased in a block of ice.

The maid's face blurred, revealing her true form: it was the Great Yin Cold Toad—Ning Bing.

Ning Bing quickly walked to the ice-bound Chen Luo, placed one hand on the ice, and raised the other. A Daoist talisman appeared in her hand. Ning Bing channeled her Demonic Power into the talisman, which shattered, releasing a spatial force that enveloped Chen Luo and Ning Bing, making them vanish from the spot.

A Daoist sect Talisman—Thousand Mile Wind Talisman!

The moment the talisman activated, Granny Jin, who was sitting by Jin Guagua's bed, seemed to sense something. She glanced in the direction of Chen Luo's residence and lightly raised her bamboo staff. With a single thought, she could activate the formation of the Money Falling Pavilion and stop this spatial fluctuation. However, her gaze swept over Jin Guagua, and she finally sighed heavily, striking the bamboo staff down. She wasn't stopping Ning Bing's escape, but rather disrupting Dao Lord Tian Ling, who was preparing to pursue.

"Jin Sanshun!" Dao Lord Tian Ling's roar echoed, and a beam of light shot into the sky—it was Dao Lord Tian Ling. But before he could confront Granny Jin, a grand laugh echoed from afar—

"A friend comes from afar, is it not a joy!"

"Daoist friend Tian Ling greets me with such fanfare, Wei is ashamed..."

Wei Yan had arrived!

Although Chen Luo was frozen in the ice, his consciousness remained clear. He felt the space around him distort. After an unknown amount of time, the sensation of weightlessness disappeared, and he and Ning Bing appeared in a secluded mountain forest.

Ning Bing put Chen Luo down and, without a word, summoned the Soul Shaking Pagoda. She cast several seals, and the Soul Shaking Pagoda, just like before, flew above Chen Luo's head, emitting a suction force. However, unlike before, it seemed no one would come to rescue him this time.

Wei Yan's face was cold, and the Righteous Qi around him was like a tangible substance, enveloping the entire Money Falling Pavilion. Dao Lord Tian Ling was constantly performing divination, while Granny Jin sat in her chair, eyes closed, appearing as if none of this concerned her.

"Master, Ning Bing is sensible and will not harm the Virtuous Teacher's life," True Person Yuanxia said, trying to intercede for Jin Sanshun.

"She dares to!" Wei Yan snorted coldly. "If anything happens to young Chen, she can forget about her centuries of cultivation!"

True Person Yuanxia frowned slightly, bowed to Wei Yan, and said, "Great Scholar Wei, your Confucianism values human relationships the most. Sanshun and Ning Bing only made this mistake for Guagua. Even if we take a step back, Guagua saved Chen Luo's life. Ning Bing is merely retrieving what Guagua gave. While the Soul Shaking is improper, it's better than Soul Splitting. Otherwise, what would you suggest? Is saving someone supposed to create a family feud?"

Wei Yan glanced askance at True Person Yuanxia. "You're twisting words and speaking sophistry. The one who saved Chen Luo was Jin Guagua, and the one who performed Soul Merging was also Jin Guagua. If Jin Guagua stood before Chen Luo and said, 'Dissolve the Soul Merging,' then even Soul Splitting would be their own affair. If Chen Luo agreed, he could even give his life, and no one would say anything."

"What angers me is that you are using familial ties to coerce him with kindness, and now you are openly abducting him. Yet you act as if you are doing something incredibly righteous. Is Chen Luo truly an ungrateful villain? ... Who turned an act of saving a life into a cause for enmity?"

True Person Yuanxia opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but Granny Jin suddenly interjected, "Great Scholar Wei is right! Earl of Wan'an never refused any responsibility. This is purely a matter for the younger generation; we have overstepped. It's pointless to say more now. We should find Ning Bing and the Earl of Wan'an's whereabouts as soon as possible."

At this moment, Daoist Tian Ling, who had been performing calculations, paused and looked at Wei Yan. "Found them!"

Chen Luo felt as if he had entered a void, with no up or down. Just as Chen Luo was trying to find an exit, a deafening roar suddenly echoed through the void. The sound waves were almost tangible, and Chen Luo's vision blurred. He felt countless thoughts surge and dissipate in his mind, leaving him in a state of near shutdown. In this state, Chen Luo dimly felt something loosen within his body.

It was his Divine Soul!

Another deafening roar exploded above Chen Luo's head. The loosened Divine Soul trembled again, as if falling into a perfectly fitting groove.

In this moment of perfect alignment, Chen Luo experienced a brief moment of clarity. He instantly understood that he had transmigrated, and there was still a slight gap between his Divine Soul and his physical body. This gap was the sense of detachment he had felt when opening the last part of his meridians. Now, under the Soul Shaking, it was as if his Divine Soul had been fine-tuned, finally achieving perfect alignment.

In fact, Chen Luo didn't know that only in the womb, when the Divine Soul is first born, does it perfectly align with the body. Once born, both the Divine Soul and the body experience slight deviations. Children who maintain perfect alignment between their Divine Soul and body after birth are called 'Wen Qu Descended' by the Confucian sect, 'Innate Dao Body' by the Daoist sect, and 'Pure Soul Infant' by the Buddhist sect.

In this brief moment of clarity, Chen Luo mobilized the last wisp of Red Dust Qi remaining in his body and channeled it into the Yin Wei meridian. The Red Dust Qi, regaining its previous momentum, broke through the final section in one go.

Thus, the twelve main meridians were open!

The eight extraordinary meridians, open!

The Meridian Opening Realm, perfectly achieved!

Chen Luo sensed a majestic and powerful force traversing space, surging into this void and stabilizing the entire space.

At the same time, Ning Bing, who was controlling the Soul Shaking Pagoda in the outside world, was also suppressed by a powerful force, unable to move. Slight cracks began to appear on the Soul Shaking Pagoda. Ning Bing wanted to continue activating the pagoda, but she was powerless against that force. The feeling was exactly like the one she experienced two hundred years ago when she followed Granny Jin to witness Qingwei Daoist's tribulation.

Heavenly Might!

Just then, a strange sound echoed from the sky. The sound was peculiar, as if it contained cheers, or perhaps the gratitude of countless people, interspersed with the chanting of scriptures.

At this moment, whether it was the thirteen prefectures of Great Xuan, the Barbarian Plains of the Northern Territory, the Demon Lands of the Southern Border, or the Star Sea of the East and the Buddhist Kingdom of the West, countless humans, demons, and barbarians were drawn by the sound and looked up at the sky.

Wei Yan, Tian Ling, and Granny Jin, who were flying rapidly through the air, were suppressed by the Heavenly Might the moment the sound erupted and fell to the ground.

They looked up at the sky.

The starry night sky seemed to be torn open, revealing a seven-colored celestial river that stretched to the horizon. The stars dimmed, and the bright moon hid behind dark clouds, making the seven colors even more dazzling in the night sky.

"Heaven-Connecting Path!" Wei Yan exclaimed, "This is the Heaven-Connecting Path!"

Dao Lord Tian Ling also couldn't hide his astonishment, murmuring, "It's actually the Heaven-Connecting Path!"

Granny Jin's usually calm gaze also showed shock. A Heaven-Connecting Path was a path of cultivation. Since ancient times, the Heaven-Connecting Path had only appeared three times.

A Sage lectured, and green filled the sky, opening the Confucian sect's Heaven-Connecting Path.

The Dao Ancestor preached the Dao, and purple qi came from the east, opening the Daoist sect's Heaven-Connecting Path.

The Buddha Ancestor expounded the Dharma, and golden lotuses sprang from the earth, opening the Buddhist sect's Heaven-Connecting Path.

Now, the stars have lost their luster, and the bright moon has retreated, as a great sage has opened the fourth, seven-colored Heaven-Connecting Path!

Granny Jin peered intently, her heart trembling again, and stammered, "Two seniors, the place where the Destiny is descending seems to be where Chen Luo and Ning Bing are..."

A lone crane soars through the clouds, its name entering the rankings.

Due to the recent European Cup, my sleep schedule has been a bit erratic, so the update times are not very stable.

However, two updates per day are guaranteed.

Please vote for monthly tickets and recommendations