The Old General on the Opera Stage (Bonus Chapter for "Medicine Master's Treasure Mirror" Alliance Leader)

The mountainous region around Azure Firmament Lake had become a vast flooded land that blotted out the sky and covered the earth.

To leave, there were two routes: one north and one west.

To report to the Purple Firmament Sect as quickly as possible, the western route was the shortest.

Wanting to leave as soon as he could, Qin Tao chose the mountain path to the west.

Lei Jun watched as the other man chose the route mentioned by the Lower Middle Auspicious Sign, but said nothing.

According to this Sign Fortune's description, danger lay on more than one road.

Go west: Lower Middle Auspicious Sign, misfortune.

Go north: Lowest Auspicious Sign, great misfortune.

Remaining where they were under a Middle Middle Auspicious Sign was hardly ideal either, but avoiding those first two enormous pits was already quite good.

Let Qin Tao, so eager to flee, scout out something first.

Lu Zhaoqing suddenly looked uncertain. "Azure Firmament Lake's talisman array was only reset last year. This old Daoist personally inspected it a few days ago, and everything was perfectly fine. How did something suddenly go wrong today? Could someone have sabotaged it deliberately?"

Luo Haoran frowned. "I'm afraid... someone really has! Martial Uncle Lu, Junior Brother Lei, come with me."

He brought Lei Jun and Lu Zhaoqing to inspect several locations, and they were startled to discover signs that the talisman array had indeed been deliberately damaged.

"Judging by the traces, it was done by a Body Refinement Martial Arts cultivator," Luo Haoran said gravely.

Lu Zhaoqing recognized it as well. "It resembles the inherited secret art of the Dong Clan in the lower reaches of the Green Orchid River!"

The Green Orchid River was a major waterway running through the Cloud Firmament Mountain Range and was intimately connected to Azure Firmament Lake. Its lower reaches lay east of the Cloud Firmament Mountain Range.

The Dong Clan was a powerful local clan that had passed down martial arts through the generations.

Physical martial arts was another path of cultivation, distinct from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. As its name suggested, Body Refinement Martial Arts focused all one's effort upon one's own flesh and blood, thereby gaining unimaginable explosive power and destructive force.

A martial artist could stand against a nation within arm's reach.

But Lei Jun and the others were not concerned about the Dong Clan.

To the Purple Firmament Sect, the Dong Clan might be a formidable enough opponent. But to the Celestial Master Mansion, they were not worth mentioning.

What caught Lei Jun and the others' attention was the rumor that the Dong Clan had close ties with the Jiangzhou Lin Clan, one of Great Tang's prominent clans.

Among Great Tang's Five Surnames and Seven Clans, the seven great Prominent Clans—including the Jingxiang Fang Clan and the Suzhou Chu Clan—were relatively friendly with the Celestial Master Mansion.

But some were not.

The Jiangzhou Lin Clan and the Celestial Master Mansion of Xinzhou Dragon Tiger Mountain were one of Great Tang's most notorious pairs of bitter enemies.

The reason was nothing more than their proximity. Neither family could sleep soundly with the other so near.

Over the years, conflicts between the two had never ceased, with casualties on both sides. Their grudges had thus deepened more and more, and only a few years ago, a major dispute had erupted between them.

"The Lin Clan ordered this?" Lei Jun asked.

Lu Zhaoqing said, "It could also be the Dong Clan acting on its own, but even if the Lin Clan knew, they would only be delighted to see it happen."

The Dong Clan was located downstream along the Green Orchid River.

If Azure Firmament Lake upstream burst its banks and released the floodwaters, it would inundate the upper reaches while easing the threat to the downstream banks.

Conversely, if Azure Firmament Temple upstream reinforced the lake dikes, the waters would continue pressing downstream. The Dong Clan would then have to put serious effort into flood control as well, or bear the pressure of the flood crest.

Luo Haoran raged, "And for that, they would destroy the upstream waterworks?!"

Lu Zhaoqing was somewhat unsure as well. "The Jiangzhou Lin Clan is the Lin Clan, and the Dong Clan is the Dong Clan. Do they truly have the nerve to come here themselves and stroke the Celestial Master Mansion's tiger whiskers?"

Lei Jun remained silent.

His thoughts had drifted far away for a moment.

The Contemporary Celestial Master had entered seclusion, emerged, and entered seclusion again over the past few years. His condition was somewhat unusual, and it was difficult for the outside world not to notice.

The Jiangzhou Lin Clan bore an old grudge against the Celestial Master Mansion. After several brief years of peace between them, the other side might have begun making moves again.

Perhaps the Dong Clan had been sent to cast a stone into the water and test its depth...

For now, Lei Jun stopped dwelling on it. Aside from remaining alert to every rustle of wind and blade of grass around them, he joined Luo Haoran and Lu Zhaoqing, who had also stayed behind, in maintaining the remnants of the talisman array, patching and reinforcing it.

The three each took responsibility for a stretch of the lake dike.

Lei Jun carefully reinforced the talisman array, using the power of Spirit Talismans to hold back the overflowing floodwaters.

The floodwaters had mingled with turbulent spiritual energy, gaining terrifying destructive force as they repeatedly battered the array's spiritual radiance. Danger filled every inch of the place.

Yet amid this peril-ridden flooded land, Lei Jun's heart suddenly stirred.

He could faintly sense that both his Fire Marrow Yang Fish and Unfinished Vessel had been touched by something.

Lei Jun searched carefully, and in the end found a peculiar Spirit Stone beneath the lake dike.

The Spirit Stone was half black and half white—or rather, black above and white below.

Yin and yang intertwined within the stone. Its spiritual aura and artistic conception somewhat resembled the Cauldron Lei Jun had once named for his Master, Yuan Mobai: the Both Crossing Cauldron.

The Both Crossing Hexagram: water above, fire below.

It was directly opposite the Unfinished Vessel.

"When Azure Firmament Lake's talisman formation was first constructed, fire-attributed spiritual objects were placed within it to maintain the balance of Water and Fire..." Lei Jun mused.

The talisman formation had previously been damaged, throwing Water and Fire out of balance and plunging everything into chaos.

Now, the formation had been barely repaired and was maintaining a fragile balance once more, but it could capsize again at any moment.

Perhaps amid this cycle of chaos giving way to order, while containing the seeds of fresh chaos, a Both Crossing Stone had accidentally come into being?

The Middle Middle Auspicious Sign mentioned a Sixth Grade Opportunity and a Seventh Grade Opportunity. This should be one of them...

With much to do at present, Lei Jun did not dwell on it. He put away the Spirit Stone and continued inspecting the reinforcement work on the lake embankment and talisman formation.

After a round of work, all three had suffered tremendous losses of Magic Power and energy.

Following a brief period of seated meditation and breath regulation, Lei Jun and Luo Haoran had recovered more than half.

Lu Zhaoqing still appeared weak.

Usually blessed with white hair and a youthful face, looking every bit the immortal Taoist Priest, he now revealed an uncontrollable air of age.

"I'm old. I can't compare to you young people anymore," Lu Zhaoqing sighed.

Lei Jun and Luo Haoran both said that they could handle the rough work, while Martial Uncle Lu only needed to offer guidance from the side.

Though in theory, Lu Zhaoqing possessed the highest cultivation among the three.

But Lei Jun knew that the man was already over one hundred and fifty years old.

For an Altar Realm cultivator with a Lifespan of two hundred years, this meant Lu Zhaoqing had entered the final twilight of his life.

Not only had all hope of rising to the next level long since been completely cut off, but his condition in every respect would rapidly decline, perhaps even causing his cultivation realm to fall.

Even if his major realm did not drop, his abilities in every area could no longer remain at their proper former level.

Although Lei Jun had once nearly choked Qin Tao to death with his words, he would not say the same things before Lu Zhaoqing.

This old Taoist Priest gave Lei Jun his first close, firsthand glimpse of how even cultivators could grow old and frail.

Cultivation had to be pursued early.

Compared to the decrepit Lu Zhaoqing and Yuan Mobai, Li Ziyang, and the others in the full bloom of their youth, the contrast was displayed in all its vivid fullness.

"Senior Brother Luo, it seems your Water Aversion Talisman is exceptionally powerful?" Lei Jun changed the subject.

Luo Haoran smiled. "There's nothing to hide. For my third Natal Talisman Art, I chose the Water Aversion Talisman."

Lei Jun and Lu Zhaoqing had both suspected as much earlier. Now that Luo Haoran openly admitted it, they both thought, Just as expected, but were even more curious.

True Disciples of Celestial Master Mansion had all kinds of spirit talismans. The Water Aversion Talisman was not particularly obscure, but most people regarded it as a functional—or rather, utility—talisman.

They had never heard of anyone refining a Water Aversion Talisman into their own Natal Talisman Art.

After all, for a Third Layer Altar Realm cultivator, there were only three slots for Natal Spells, while the options included the Thunderstrike Talisman, Wind Riding Talisman, Golden Barrier Talisman, Spirit Invocation Talisman, Heavenly Star Talisman, Evil-warding Talisman, Blazing Flame Talisman, and a whole heap more. There were few pits and many radishes.

Under such circumstances, wasting one slot on a Water Aversion Talisman was practically unheard of.

"When I was a child, my hometown often suffered floods."

Luo Haoran explained simply, "Didn't I mention to you before, Junior Brother Lei, that my family nearly went to Guanlong to seek refuge with relatives? That was the reason."

Lei Jun said, "So Senior Brother chose the Water Aversion Talisman as your Natal Talisman Art in order to control floods?"

He recalled that when he was still at the Dao Child Courtyard, one of his dealings with Luo Haoran had been going to Green Cloud Ripple River Beach for disaster relief and plague prevention.

It had also been the flood season at the start of summer then, with flooding plaguing the people.

"Yes, you could call it a small aspiration of mine."

Luo Haoran raised his head to look at the talisman formation before them. "At least it's proving somewhat useful."

Lei Jun and Lu Zhaoqing both nodded.

The old Taoist Priest sighed. "Junior Luo, we have you and Junior Lei to thank for today."

Luo Haoran modestly demurred several times, repeatedly saying he dared not take the credit.

Feeling that his Magic Power and energy had mostly recovered, he rose to his feet again. "We still can't let our guard down. I'll take another look around. We need to guard against the Dong Family coming back to sabotage things."

Lei Jun said, "I'll go with you."

Lu Zhaoqing said, "You can rest assured on that point. This old Taoist has placed several Spirit Sensing Talismans nearby as warnings. If the Dong Family attacks, we can prepare in advance."

(PS: This book has gained its first alliance leader, and I'm truly delighted. I'm adding a chapter to celebrate alliance leader "Apothecary Treasure Mirror." During the new book period, I can't update too quickly, so any further bonus chapters will be added after it goes premium.

This chapter is the bonus update. There will also be the second regular update at around six this evening. Please give lots of support and keep following along. My thanks in advance.)