Chapter 643: Thirty Years Later

Chapter 643: Chapter 123: Thirty Years Later

Spring passed and autumn came.

Time always flew by during cultivation. In the blink of an eye, thirty years had passed.

The Zhongzhou World had been peaceful these past years. Daoist Palace outposts were established one after another, and the worship of the various True Monarchs and Lords was restored. The conflicts between sects were quickly suppressed by the Daoist Palace—at least on the surface.

Across the vast land, barren fields were revitalized. Countless settlements grew and prospered, becoming new villages, towns, and even cities.

Thirty years was also the deadline the Daoist Palace had given the Dukes of Zhongzhou. It was a deadline for them to hand over their power, as only the forces of the Mortal World would be allowed to compete for the Divine Artifact in the future.

「The twentieth day of the fifth month, in the thirtieth year of the Daoist Palace Calendar.」

It was the hottest time of year in the south. Around noon, the shade of the trees by the river outside Qianmu Temple was filled with local farmers resting from their labor. From their relaxed conversation and cheerful smiles, it was clear they were living decent lives.

“You know, the world is peaceful, that’s for sure. But it’s been decades since I’ve seen one of the immortals from Qianmu Temple fly across the sky!” an old man said wistfully as he smoked his pipe.

As soon as he finished speaking, another old man on the main road nearby, dressed in a silk shirt, chuckled and retorted, “I think you’re just feeling the heat and wishing an immortal from Qianmu Temple would cast some magic to ripen the crops instantly, aren’t you?”

“And you don’t?”

The first old man didn’t argue.

Before the Daoist Palace was founded, Cultivators from Qianmu Temple flew overhead almost daily. Occasionally, one would casually cast a bit of magic, and crops that would have normally taken months to tend would ripen in an instant, much to the delight of the farmers.

Some of the great families even had retained Cultivators who would regularly cast magic to enrich their crops.

“I don’t want that. Back then, the lords took all the able-bodied men to the battlefield, so we couldn’t manage the fields. That’s why the immortals on the mountain came down to help us. Now my son and grandson are both at home. Every day feels full and rewarding.”

The old man who had spoken first fell silent at this, quietly puffing on his pipe. But some of the younger folk started clamoring, pestering him with questions about what the immortals were like. When he got tired of being asked, the old man just started cursing at them.

Just then, however, an invisible wave of energy washed over them from the opposite bank of the river. Everyone felt a jolt. The old men clearly felt a bit younger, while the young people’s faces flushed with vitality.

They looked up, but all they could see were the overlapping mountain peaks.

On the other side of those peaks, deep in the forests between the mountains of the Wood Institute, a pillar of Wood Spirit Qi shot toward the sky, forming a visible column of light. But in an instant, it was engulfed by a darkness so thick you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.

‘Someone is drawing a Luck-Borrowing Talisman!’

It was Shen Xiaozhu.

After decades in seclusion, Shen Xiaozhu had finally chosen this moment to ascend. At the very center of the encroaching darkness, her figure was nowhere to be seen.

A figure appeared at the edge of the darkness almost immediately. It was Xia Wen Yi. Seeing the situation, he breathed a sigh of relief. The first step of the ascension had been a success.

Just then, Wang Ping’s figure materialized out of thin air beside Xia Wen Yi. Then, Yu Lian’s voice was heard. “Is she alright?”

“There are no problems for now!”

Using the Heaven-Reaching Talisman, Wang Ping could see Shen Xiaozhu’s condition perfectly clearly. The Heaven and Earth Fortune showed no signs of chaos. Xiaozhu had successfully used the Wood Spirit Qi to suppress the locust tree’s rampant consciousness and was now merging with its spirit. This had plunged Xiaozhu into a state of confusion.

As long as she could emerge from that confused state, this ascension would be a success!

“You can go back to your duties,” Wang Ping said, dismissing Xia Wen Yi.

Three days passed in a flash, but Shen Xiaozhu showed no signs of waking. The Luck-Borrowing Talisman she had just drawn was growing restless. If she didn’t wake up in time, she would likely suffer a backlash from it.

The only thing Wang Ping could do was call out to her with his Primordial Spirit, but he had been trying for a full day with no response from Xiaozhu.

Yu Lian, meanwhile, was communicating with Shen Xiaozhu’s Spirit Cat, hoping it could awaken her. This method proved effective. Xiaozhu woke up at 7:00 AM on the fourth day.

Wang Ping immediately warned her, “Quick, use your Spirit Vein to suppress the Luck-Borrowing Talisman!”

By now, Shen Xiaozhu’s Luck-Borrowing Talisman was nearly out of control. Wang Ping had been forcibly suppressing it with Wood Spirit, but doing so for too long would damage the talisman. In a worst-case scenario, it could even cause Shen Xiaozhu to perish on the spot.

Shen Xiaozhu snapped to her senses and did as she was told, suppressing the talisman’s restlessness in just a moment. The next step was the growth of the Spirit Vein within her body, which simply required a period of waiting.

Given Shen Xiaozhu’s level of cultivation, completing the final stage of her ascension would likely take at least ten years. Wang Ping recalled that this step had taken him five. With a light tap of his right hand, four specially-made puppets appeared before him. They then landed around Shen Xiaozhu’s Dao Field to act as her Guardians.

“Let’s go. Her ascension is as good as successful.”

“I want to watch a little longer!”

Yu Lian didn’t leave.

Wang Ping didn’t insist. The hand seals he was forming changed, and his figure silently vanished.

‘That was actually his Primordial Spirit!’

A year ago, his Primordial Spirit’s cultivation progress had already reached (100/100). It could cast magic just like his physical body. Using his Primordial Spirit to activate a Transfer Talisman was even stealthier; a single thought was all it took to conceal himself.

Back in the cavern beneath the Mountain Peak Dojo, Wang Ping didn’t rest. He was setting up the array to refine the last part of his physical body. He had managed to get its stability to (88/100) or higher, but the light screen panel required at least (90/100).

However, Wang Ping’s Primordial Spirit had already observed the entire process from start to finish and had refined the array’s precision down to the millimeter. The only thing left was to increase the strength of the materials used to draw the Array Runes—which meant he needed more gold for the refining process.

This was yet another huge expense. Wang Ping’s expenditures had been enormous these past few years, amounting to tens of millions of taels of silver annually, sometimes even over a hundred million. The bulk of it was spent on constructing the Qi Fortune Array. The thing consumed resources with every use, but the returns were substantial. The current calculation progress he had gathered had already reached (88/100).

The main issue was that in the last year or two, each calculation had failed to increase the progress. Otherwise, it might have already been completed.

Wang Ping suspected the puppets weren’t strong enough. He now planned to enslave a Third Realm Primordial Spirit to create one or two new puppets, which he would use to perform the calculations while they attempted their own ascensions.

He already had four Third Realm Primordial Spirits on hand. Two of them had been successfully refined last month, and their puppet bodies were also complete. But Wang Ping didn’t rush to animate them, because he hadn’t sorted out the Qi Fortune Array yet.

This time, he had placed the Qi Fortune Array in the East Sea Region, using Jiangcun’s Dao Field. The condition was that he would help Jiangcun hold a lecture at Zhonghui Academy to popularize the new teachings of the Human Dao he had compiled.

And so, Wang Ping took out the gold ingots that Xia Wen Yi had delivered up the mountain just yesterday and began the refining process.

「One month later.」

After Wang Ping re-strengthened the runes of the Refining Array, its stability increased from (88/100) to (96/100).

In other words, he could now begin the final refining of his physical body.

Once this step was complete, he could attempt his own ascension.