Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 1273 - 1269: Exchange of Blows

Arriving at Qingyun City, Xiao Ruoling came to a grand courtyard.

Over the entrance hung a plaque with the three characters "Profound Yin Courtyard," elegantly written, obviously the handwriting of a woman.

"This is indeed the palace’s separate courtyard." Xiao Ruoling said, "The message has been sent over, and we should get news soon."

Chu Zhiyuan asked, "How long until we have results?"

"In an hour, the Court will get the news and can handle it swiftly. By tomorrow morning, we should have results," Xiao Ruoling replied.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded slowly.

Xiao Ruoling asked, "Shall we proceed now?"

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, "No rush."

Xiao Ruoling said, "If it’s not urgent, there’s no need to send messages from here. We can return to the Profound Yin Palace, shall we head back?"

"Let’s go back," Chu Zhiyuan said.

From now on, he could teleport here directly, coming at any time he pleased.

The two of them drifted towards the Luo Family.

Xiao Ruoling, facing the gentle breeze and basking in the moonlight, chuckled softly, "Husband wants to wait for him to create a ruckus down below, to put pressure on the Court?"

Chu Zhiyuan chuckled.

Xiao Ruoling turned her head, her bright eyes shining as she looked at him, "If he harms some innocent people because of this, will you feel guilty, husband?"

"My lady," Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Are you trying to persuade me to act quickly?"

"If you act hastily... it will disrupt your plans and won’t place pressure on the Court."

Xiao Ruoling lightly frowned.

She thought to herself that if it were her, she would also find the choice quite difficult.

On one hand, enough pressure must be applied to the Court; on the other, harming innocent civilians would bring about guilt and remorse.

Almost impossible to balance the two, one has to be abandoned.

Ultimately, it might be necessary to eliminate the threat of Zhuo Yifan early to relieve the pressure on the Court.

The Court is unlikely to pass on any secret technique.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "I will think of another method."

Xiao Ruoling stared at him with her bright eyes, "What good method do you have?"

"Let’s first see if it can be done," Chu Zhiyuan replied with a smile.

His heart and spirit concentrated, and he could clearly see the situation on Zhu Lingyun’s side.

Zhu Lingyun was progressing rapidly, and by dawn, he would be able to restore to his peak state.

Xiao Ruoling pouted, "Keeping secrets!"

"I don’t know if it will work. If not, I’ll borrow the strength of your Profound Yin Palace again."

"Then at least tell me."

"Can’t say."

"Annoying!"

Xiao Ruoling glared at him playfully.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and pulled her into his arms, then disappeared in a flash, reappearing in the small courtyard of the Luo Mansion.

Xiao Ruoling left the courtyard to bid farewell to Senior Sister Luo. Upon returning, the two vanished in a flash.

The next moment, they were already in the Imperial City of Biyuan Heaven.

The Imperial City was a city that never sleeps, with clusters of lanterns dispelling the bright moonlight, enveloping the whole city in light.

The streets were bustling, and he and Xiao Ruoling, with changed appearances, wandered the city like an ordinary couple.

...

Wanxiang Cliff

The bamboo forest was like a sea, with green waves surging.

In a pristine small courtyard halfway up the mountain, a handsome middle-aged man was walking with his hands behind his back.

One hand was behind him, while his right hand tightly gripped a half-palm-sized round jade pendant.

The jade pendant was emitting a faint glow,

On both sides of the jade pendant were etched an eye, partially open, partially closed, with light emanating from these eyes.

At this moment, a clear voice came from outside: "Master Zhuo, there’s a letter for you from someone outside the cliff."

The handsome middle-aged man said in a deep voice, "Come in."

He tucked his right hand back into his sleeve, concealing the jade pendant.

The gate to the courtyard opened, and in came a young man of ordinary appearance.

He cupped his fists in salute and respectfully approached with a letter, "A woodcutter from the mountain sent this, asking for Master Zhuo to open it personally."

The handsome middle-aged man glanced at it and pursed his lips.

The young man placed the envelope on a stone table, cupped his fists again, and exited, closing the gate behind him.

The envelope lay on the stone table, with only the words "For Zhuo Yifan’s eyes only" written on it.

The handsome middle-aged man, Zhuo Yifan, stared at those words, examining them closely.

The handwriting was elegant, exuding an unrestrained flair.

He frowned and looked several times, shaking his head.

In his memory, there was no such handwriting, indicating a stranger.

Being a well-known expert on the cliff, it wasn’t unusual for someone to admire him and write.

He drew his sword from his waist, gently cut open the envelope, and removed the letter, unfolding it before his eyes.

His face immediately darkened.

The two characters above struck him as particularly glaring: "Descent".

As long as these two characters were involved, if the sect’s patrols or even other fellow disciples saw them, it meant a fall to the bottom, never to rise again.

So it must not be discovered!

And this guy dared to write a letter threatening him, that was courting death!

His eyes shot out a cold electric light, and he clenched the Jade Pendant tighter in his right hand.

He was secretly annoyed.

This Divine Communication Spirit Jade wasn’t as useful, far more complicated than he imagined.

The Divine Embryo that descended to Biyuan Heaven needed vast power to truly awaken, to fully descend.

His skills could only descend sixty to seventy percent, which was already quite stable, but problems kept arising, especially recently.

He knew there had been two failures already, those two had been discovered by patrollers because of failed descents.

Within the sect, Elder Hu had already mastered a Miracle Technique, able to detect the anomaly during a failed descent, capturing it accurately every time.

So now the risk of descending had increased several times, at any moment facing the risk of cultivation being abolished and expulsion from the sect.

To avoid this, everything must go smoothly.

If he could descend his cultivation eighty to ninety percent, it would be extremely stable, true descent.

The secret technique couldn’t achieve this, but with this Divine Communication Spirit Jade, it might be possible.

But he never expected that the Divine Embryo condensed by this Spirit Jade required such vast power.

Far beyond the vast power he imagined, and still hadn’t been activated to this day.

And now, someone had discovered his descent, using it to threaten him.

Was this extortion?

Had they really discovered his descent, or were they just testing him?

If he went, then it would be equivalent to admitting the descent.

But if he ignored it, what would happen then?

His expression flickered between uncertainty, finally gritting his teeth, holding the Jade Pendant, he floated out of the small courtyard, running southward along the mountain peaks for about fifty miles.

Finally, he stopped at a mountain top, gazed around, and said in a low voice, "Where’s the person?"

Chu Zhiyuan suddenly appeared behind him.

Zhuo Yifan whipped around, drawing his sword to stab.

The sword tip flashed.

Before Chu Zhiyuan’s eyes appeared an overwhelming mass of sword shadows, densely packed, leaving no room to dodge.

Each sword light emitted a chilling gleam, of terrifying power, unbearable.

In an instant, he felt a sense of despair, only able to close his eyes, awaiting death.

He formed a seal with his hands, pressing lightly.

"Bang bang bang bang..."

A mass of Golden Light collided with the sword light, producing a sullen thunder-like sound in the air, continuous and unending.

The sword light carried an Illusion Realm.

And had two layers of illusions.

The overwhelming and densely packed sword light was an illusion, as was the single sword light.

The real sword light, however, was a combination of more than a dozen sword lights, equivalent to stabbing out over a dozen swords at once.

He was experiencing for the first time the full power of the Undying Evil Venerable, and indeed, the power was astonishing, one sword had such might.

But he had mastered the Heavenly Yuan Technique, had three clones, Miao Jing Spirit Water, the Demon Suppressing Divine Tree, and the Power of Merit.

All these combined, his biggest resistance was against Spiritual Attacks.

Furthermore, the Dragon Soaring Bell resided in his mind.

He easily broke through the illusion, then disappeared from where he stood, reappearing behind Zhuo Yifan.

Being in You Meng Heaven, his True Yuan was influenced, but the Earth Origin Technique and Great Demon Suppressing Seal were not.

And Zhuo Yifan suddenly stabbed out more than a dozen swords to the side, eyes fierce.

He had no intention of conversation, only wanted to silence the witness, to kill Chu Zhiyuan.

But the direction he stabbed avoided Chu Zhiyuan.

Chu Zhiyuan formed seals with his hands again, condensing the Great Demon Suppressing Seal, channeling the aura of the Demon Suppressing Divine Tree and Merit.

Chu Liezhao slowly emerged, a cold smile on his lips.

Yet Zhuo Yifan kept stabbing, in an instant forming one sword out of a dozen, then continuing to stab incessantly.

Sword lights interwove densely in the air.

Yet each and every one missed Chu Zhiyuan.

As if intentionally avoiding him, or employing some peculiar and eerie technique.

Chu Zhiyuan stood smiling, observing his moves, his movement technique, calculating his true cultivation and combat strength.

Time rapidly flowed by.

Zhuo Yifan had already stabbed out over a hundred times, Sword Qi crisscrossing, condensed in the air without dispersing.

Chu Zhiyuan marveled at the difference between You Meng Heaven and Biyuan Heaven.

If in Biyuan Heaven, these Sword Qi couldn’t exist for so long.

It seemed as if they would condense and remain indefinitely.

Chu Zhiyuan understood the reason.

It was because the Spiritual Energy in You Meng Heaven was more inert, less easy to dissipate.

At the same time, the spiritual power was strong, mingled in the Sword Qi, causing it to condense, not dispersing, able to exist for a good long while.