Spirit Vessel

This mountain range spanned for several tens of thousands of miles. There were many wondrous peaks and sacred grounds as well as strange beasts that towered at hundreds of feet tall. They presided the jungle and filled it with their cries.

The Divine King stood on top of the Martial Tower while looking at the sky full of stars. A divine essence drop trickled down from his eyes that were capable of seeing through the void to look at the vast territories miles away.

His age was nearing the end and his blood was not burning like when he was younger. He wanted to retire in order to research the grand dao and give back the stage to the younger generation.

“The dragons will devour the sky while the Red Planet protects.” He glanced at the millions of stars and their movements. There was a complex emotion in his heart as he murmured: “The dynasty cannot fall. The dragons will rise and bring chaos to this world. Someone else must rise and slay these dragons to protect this land.”

“The key is when the Red Star will come. Does master think that Feng Feiyun is this Red Star?” Zhang Badao was also standing at the top of the tower. He paused for a bit before commenting: “Why do I feel like he is part of the dragons?”

Zhang Badao reached out and pointed at the stars. There were more than ten big stars in the direction where he pointed. All ten were recently born and had finally displayed their skills while surrounding the palace.

Only one faint Red Star was protecting the palace. Although this star was faint, it also had the biggest change. Once it started to shine, it would be able to compete against the sun and moon as well as illuminate this whole realm.

The Divine King stroked his beard and smiled: “I have met the Treasure Seeking Tower Master. We have discussed this and thought that Feng Feiyun is the best candidate.”

“Why?” Zhang Badao knew that the Treasure Seeking Tower Master’s background was not ordinary. It was normal for the Divine King to seek her counsel.

“Because he has no ambition and is only aiming for the dao. Plus, his aspiration is not to become an Imperial Emperor but that of an Immortal Saint.” The Divine King also went to find Scholar Heaven Calculating to determine Feng Feiyun’s intentions.

The scholar lost ten years of life before being able to come up with a prediction. However, the future was empty. Feng Feiyun was someone who couldn’t be divined, as if there was a vast and mysterious power helping him block others from seeing his fate.

Because of this result, the Divine King finally felt safe enough to pass down the Dragon King’s Saber Art to him. Otherwise, how could the supreme technique of the imperial family be passed down to an outsider so easily?

“I see!” Zhang Badao finally understood. The question lingering in his mind was dispelled, so he burst out in laughter.

He was a frank person and spoke what was on his mind without holding back.

The stars continued to change endlessly up in the sky dome. These astronomical phenomena were part of the heavenly images. Meanwhile, heavenly images illuminated earthly images and the earthly images illuminated the images of men. [1. Beats me. This goes deeper into Chinese fortune reading than my knowledge.]

Heavenly images were often before the earthly and mortal images, thus those who could read astronomical changes could predict some changes regarding the momentum of this world as well as the trends of the dynasties.

“Master, I’m afraid it won’t be calm tonight. Princess Luofu’s camp has been quite rowdy as of late!” Zhang Badao smiled and gazed towards the mountain range over yonder: “Should we interfere?”

The Divine King smiled and shook his head: “It seems like a lot of people know that Feiyun cultivates the saber art so they have commenced their own plans! There’s no need to worry about Luofu. Her actions are within my expectations.”

Zhang Badao was a bit surprised: “Princess Luofu doesn’t want Feng Feiyun to be the next successor?”

“If an outsider wants to be bestowed the King title, they have to marry a princess — this is a rule created by our ancestors. The Divine King status cannot be passed to an outsider.” The Divine King laughed cheerfully then freely walked outside. He stepped on the void to go back to the 99th floor of the Martial Tower.

Zhang Badao was wide-eyed. He took a deep breath and repeated: “My boy! Marrying a princess, haha, who would motherfucking want to marry a princess! Haha! No wonder why Princess Luofu is reacting this way. It is hard to be a eunuch, but it is even harder to be a princess’ groom! Haha!” [2. This is a popular phrase. Depending on the dynasty, it was not easy to be the emperor’s son in law. During the more open dynasties, princesses had decent sexual freedom. Their grooms weren’t allowed to have concubines and couldn’t hold court positions. The princesses were pretty much in charge and could have boy toys.]

***

The starry sky was blocked out by the surging dust, resulting in a thick layer of clouds. Feng Feiyun stood inside this dust storm with both hands grasping his blade and continuously unleashed the first slash technique. His whole mind was hellbent on understanding the intent of this saber technique.

A heavenly manual like the Dragon King’s Saber Art was created by countless wise sages from the imperial family. After relentless research and improvements, it became truly profound and complex. Although Feng Feiyun’s sense of the heavenly dao was quite high, he still needed more time to learn as well as actual battle experience.

Feng Feiyun only knew thirty percent of the essence of the first slash prior to this. After fighting against Dongfang Mu, he had unleashed another 300 slashes. After each slash, his understanding of the art increased a bit and its strength would rise as well. At this moment, he was able to unleash forty percent of the first slash’s power.

“Boom!”

Dongfang Mu was indeed a grand achievement God Base cultivator. The spirit energy in his body was endless. The ninety-nine meridians could devour the world while his black spear continued to spew out black beams, causing Feng Feiyun’s stone saber to shake.

Meanwhile, Feng Feiyun was trying to sense his saber art. The biggest difference between a sword and saber was that swords were about flexibility while sabers strived for a domineering momentum.

“Boom!” Feng Feiyun went on the offensive. With every single step, he would unleash another slash in the shape of a dragon. Eventually, the aura on his body grew stronger and stronger as if it was turning into a dragon, giving the sense of invincibility.

The stone saber was taken from the Immeasurable Tower, and it had quite a great origin. It was definitely not just a simple stone saber. Feng Feiyun had studied it before and he could feel an aura from ancient times within the blade. However, this aura had been sleeping for many moons and couldn’t be awakened so easily.

Dongfang Mu became more astonished as the fight went on since he could feel Feng Feiyun’s aura becoming stronger. The power of his saber technique was also increasing with each step as if there was no limit.

“He is using me to practice his blade, how outrageous!” Dongfang Mu retreated more than ninety feet away to maintain a gap between them. His dragon-like black spear thrust forward more ferociously than the last. He used the momentum of his entire body to spew out another black beam.

Feng Feiyun suddenly stopped, but he didn’t try to avoid it. He tightened his waist while he strengthened his grip on his blade. He lifted it up high then slashed downward. A light that resembled white dragon scales appeared on the blade’s body.

“Rawrrr!” A white dragon cried out as it took the form of a real dragon.

This blade energy contained fifty percent essence of the art and had reached the level of materialization. It directly shattered the black spear in Dongfang Mu’s hand, rendering it into countless steel bits that were blown away like stardust.

After hearing the dragon roar, Princess Luofu — inside her imperial carriage — was caught off guard: “It hasn’t even been two months of training yet he actually trained the first slash to fifty percent essence... Is his comprehension ability really that frightening?”

In her mind, the person with the strongest comprehension ability was Crown Prince Long Shenya of the imperial family. He was her half-brother with a different mother, and he was given a devilish gift at a young age. He was the bright sun in the sky, one of the eight Grand Historical Geniuses.

However, it seems that even his comprehension ability was not as heaven-defying as Feng Feiyun’s. At the very least, he wouldn’t be able to reach fifty percent of the first slash within just two months.

Physique wise, Feng Feiyun naturally was still one level lower than Long Shenya. He was only equal to Shi Yelai.

“Feng Feiyun actually managed to break Dongfang Mu’s spear. It seems like the power of the demon’s son is not all talk.” Mu Tantian, who was sitting on a boulder, laughed heartily.

“The two had exchanged 732 blows. Feng Feiyun is at peak level with seven divine intents while Dongfang Mu is at grand achievement with ninety-nine main meridians.” Mu Yuedi’s bright eyes didn’t blink once the whole time. She was presenting her analysis to everyone here.

“Dongfang Mu is also a heaven-defying genius, so why is he so weak? Aizz! So disappointing! Shit, this is making the Yin Gou Clan look bad!” A young man with messy hair sat down next to Mu Tantian and almost knocked him down to the ground.

“How are you gonna boast so shamelessly? If you are so courageous, then go try Dongfang Jingshui on and find out if the Yin Gou Clan is weak or not!” Mu Tantian angrily retorted.

“Well... that Jingshui guy is too badass right now, so I won’t bother facing him. Hehe, I am actually more interested in his little sister… Keke…” The messy haired boy rubbed his palms together and laughed. His dark face lit up due to his snow-white teeth. His scoundrel’s smile would even creep out a burly man.

“Shit, Bi Jicui, why is it you? Which motherfucker let you out?” After seeing the guy with the dark face sitting next to him, Mu Tantian immediately jumped up and checked his pockets to see if he was missing anything. This guy was a notorious thief!

“Cough! Of course, only a noble daughter full of beauty and nobility like Princess Luofu would be able to invite me, who else in this world would have this great privilege?”

He suddenly shouted after realizing something afterward: “Also! Please call me Bi Ningshuai, not Bi Jicui.” [3. Shuai is handsome/dashing, Cui is weak. Cui and Shuai are similar.]

His face as black as the bottom of a pot was very creepy, especially when he smiled due to the contrast of his shiny white teeth.

Suddenly, there was a miserable scream. Mu Tantian checked his pockets for a while and sure enough, he found out that some things were missing: “Motherfucker, I knew you were up to no good. Did you just steal my Sky Jewel Bell?”

“No, absolutely not.” Bi Ningshuai outright denied it.

“Fuck you, I can’t find three of my True Mysterious Spirit Stones either, you must have snatched them as well!” Mu Tantian really wanted to cry. He pounced at the black-faced young man: “Motherfucker, not only is your face black, so is your heart. Give me back my spirit stones and pavilion!”

“No, I really don’t have them. Check if you want.” Bi Ningshuai was very calm and voluntarily lifted his arms.

All the geniuses here, including Shi Yelai, felt unsafe. They quickly checked the treasures in their pockets to see if they were still there before moving them to a safer location.