True Lord Wanlü Chiming

Zhang Yuan slowly extended his hand.

A shifting, unfathomable haze appeared in his palm, sometimes turning into iron chains coiling like dragons and serpents, sometimes becoming light and shadow flowing like iridescent clouds. Its imago encompassed physical forms, consciousness, and karma.

"Heaven and Earth are one with me, and all things coexist with me. This divine ability shall be called [Myriad Coexistence]." Understanding dawned in Zhang Yuan's heart.

As its name suggested, this divine ability could link him to a person or an object, establishing a symbiotic relationship. When one prospered, both prospered, but when one suffered, the other did not necessarily share the loss. Used well, it could win a battle through surprise.

Beyond catching enemies off guard, [Myriad Coexistence] had another use. By linking himself to someone with deep karmic ties to him, if that person practiced qi refining on the Gang Sha Path and had a higher cultivation realm, he could mount one of their divine abilities!

Ability mounting.

No wonder Xiao Yuanjun had told him to refine those three earthly baleful forces.

The doubts in Zhang Yuan's heart instantly cleared. With a stir of his divine sense, the haze in his palm became an invisible iron chain, wound around Xiao Yuanjun's wrist, then vanished completely into Heaven and Earth.

In an instant.

Zhang Yuan felt a mysterious connection form between himself and Xiao Yuanjun. At the same time, a divine ability imago sprang into existence.

[Severing Past and Present, Leaving No Trace].

Xiao Yuanjun smiled at Zhang Yuan. This was the divine ability she had mounted for him.

Unless something unexpected happened, a fight was certain to break out next. Mounting this divine ability for Zhang Yuan would make his escape easier.

Li Houjin watched it all calmly, without the slightest ripple in his eyes.

Though he did not know what they had done, his dao domain was already open. Whatever methods or divine abilities the two possessed, they would be unable to use any of them.

An unbridgeable chasm lay between a Qi Refinement Perfected and a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being.

Li Houjin took a step forward.

With a thunderous surge, a pressure appeared above the Third Princess's Residence, instantly bearing down on everyone's hearts.

It pressed especially heavily on Zhang Yuan, as though a mountain had been set atop his head. Had he not just broken through to six-turn qi refinement, he would already have been flattened against the ground.

He wants to crush me to death!

Zhang Yuan's gaze turned savage, and the taste of blood seeped into his mouth. His internal organs were bleeding. If this continued, he would certainly die.

"Enough. Causing trouble right before me? I almost thought the Bian Kingdom had already changed masters and taken the name Li."

The serene, dignified Bian Empress had risen at some point, and she spoke slowly.

As her words fell, all the pressure abruptly vanished. The [Eternal Present Tranquility Domain] covering the entire residence shattered with it.

Li Houjin's pupils contracted. He involuntarily stumbled back two steps and spat out a great mouthful of blood.

This was the backlash from having his dao domain forcibly broken.

She had shattered a heavenly being dao domain with a single sentence. The Demon Empress really was a Golden Core True Lord!

"Boy, you want to kill Cai'er's consort? Have you asked my permission?" the Bian Empress continued.

"I..."

Li Houjin's head rang. His calm eyes became bewildered, and his aura gradually weakened. The boundless vitality of a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being withered away, leaving him gaunt and haggard, like a man on the verge of death.

"Insolence!"

Just as Li Houjin was about to die, a rebuke rang out.

True Lord Xuanqing Tianhua appeared above the Third Princess's Residence, his Daoist robe snapping in the wind, a fly-whisk in his hand and auspicious clouds beneath his feet. He looked every inch an enlightened master.

"Whether the Bian Kingdom bears the name Dongfang or Li, whichever family ascends the imperial throne, a womb-born and egg-hatched monster like you, fur-clad and horned, has no right to point fingers and give orders."

So said True Lord Xuanqing Tianhua.

The Bian Empress frowned.

She had known that Golden Core True Lords from the Li and Chu Clans would appear today, but True Lord Xuanqing Tianhua had arrived too early.

By her calculations, True Lord Xuanqing Tianhua should not have appeared until after the second wedding bow to the elders.

"Xuanqing, have you come to stop me?" the Bian Empress asked, raising her chin.

True Lord Xuanqing Tianhua shook his head slightly and answered with an unrelated question. "Truth-seeking is no easy road for monsters to begin with. Why seek out suffering here, Daoist Wanlü?"

[True Lord Wanlü Chiming].

This was the Bian Empress's True Lord name.

"Xuanqing, surely you don't think you have me in the palm of your hand?" the Bian Empress said with a radiant smile.

With a movement of her hand, the Bian Emperor, seated before Zhang Yuan and Dongfang Caibai, instantly burst into a mist of blood. A gust of wind swept it away, scattering him completely between Heaven and Earth.

With the emperor dead, the Bian Kingdom's national fortune, which had been slowly drawing away, began pouring into Zhang Yuan and Dongfang Caibai at tremendous speed, even as the Bian Empress continuously devoured it.

In mere moments, twenty to thirty percent of the Bian Kingdom's national fortune was gone.

The Bian Empress smiled brightly. Countless snow-white fox tails emerged beneath her phoenix robe as she rose into the air to confront True Lord Xuanqing Tianhua.

Her Daoist attainment was roughly equal to True Lord Xuanqing Tianhua's. Ordinarily, neither could do much to the other in a fight. But now she had the Bian Kingdom's national fortune. Once she swallowed half of it, he would no longer be her match.

"Alas."

True Lord Xuanqing Tianhua sighed.

Kind words cannot dissuade a ghost bent on death.

Zhang Yuan looked up.

As the Bian Empress rose into the air, a veil of mist seemed to cover the sky, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

"Still watching? Hurry up and run." Xiao Yuanjun jumped up and patted his shoulder.

Zhang Yuan nodded at her words.

True Lord Xuanqing Tianhua would deal with the Bian Empress, and Li Houjin had just been severely wounded by her. This was the perfect chance to escape!

If he did not run now, what was he waiting for?

"What about you, Master?" Zhang Yuan asked.

"Do you really think Li Houjin can't deal with you just because he was injured? Heavenly beings have boundless vitality. He recovered long ago. Besides, he isn't the only heavenly being here. I have to cover your retreat," Xiao Yuanjun said.

It was not only Li Houjin who would refuse to let Zhang Yuan escape. [Heavenly Being Miaoyou] Chu Miaofu, and even Dongfang Caibai, would refuse as well.

"Can you hold off so many heavenly beings, Master?" Zhang Yuan asked in astonishment.

Xiao Yuanjun's fourth divine ability could bring her close to a heavenly being, but close was all it was. Even taking three blows from a genuine Foundation-Building Heavenly Being would be a struggle.

"Half-step foundation establishment certainly can't hold them off. But all I have to do is attain heavenly being status!"

Xiao Yuanjun brimmed with spirited confidence.

The second Heaven-and-Earth Trial was the [Disciple Trial]. To pass it, the disciple chosen for the trial had to reach nine-turn qi refinement and condense three life-bound divine abilities.

Although Zhang Yuan had only just broken through to six-turn qi refinement, he possessed three divine abilities, barely meeting the conditions for passing.

In other words, Zhang Yuan's dao status at this moment was false ninth-turn qi refinement.

"The second trial is finally over."

At this moment, the sky was divided into two layers. The highest held True Lord Xuanqing Tianhua and the Bian Kingdom's Demon Empress. The second, directly above Zhang Yuan and the others, was thick with black clouds. Thunder rolled, serpents of lightning flickered, and Heaven-and-Earth pressure seemed almost solid.

The [Beggar Trial] and [Disciple Trial] had both been passed. Next came the third Heaven-and-Earth Trial.

Unless something unexpected happened, this final Heaven-and-Earth Trial should be the [Heavenly Punishment Trial].

Heavenly punishment meant punishment by lightning.

As long as she survived the tribulation lightning, she could attain heavenly being status!

Among the many Heaven-and-Earth Trials, the [Heavenly Punishment Trial] carried an exceptionally high risk of death. It had barred the way of countless nine-turn qi refinement cultivators seeking to become heavenly beings.

But the [Heavenly Punishment Trial] is dangerous for nine-turn qi refinement cultivators. What does that have to do with me, a tenth-turn qi refinement cultivator beneath the heavenly being realm?

The corners of Xiao Yuanjun's lips lifted slightly. Her robes rustled in the wind as she looked up at the sky, her eyes filled with confidence.