Chapter 173 – Primordial Lord, Realm Master of the Yuluo Realm
In the Shangqing Mountain Range, high above the Yuluo Realm, there was an enormous floating island drifting amidst the clouds and fog. There were spiritual beasts and exotic birds flying above, and people with terrifying cultivations were coming and going from the floating island.
“Junior Martial Brother Zhang, it’s been over 20 years, hasn’t it? Has the pain of the Burning Heart Sword Poison gotten any better?” Zhu Yingyue, dressed in a body-length snow white dress, asked. She was standing beneath an ancient apricot spirit tree, smiling as she watched a youth land on a Scarlet Flame Phoenix.
The fire phoenix beneath him let out a sonorous cry, and scarlet flames began to roil around its body. The flames licked and raged, but gradually the phoenix and its flames receded into the void surrounding the youth’s body.
“A blink of an eye and 20 years go by, but I see Senior Martial Sister Zhu is as peerlessly beautiful as ever,” the youth said. There was a conspicuous red sword-shaped mark on his forehead. As he put away his Scarlet Flame Phoenix spirit beast, he gave the beautiful woman in the snow white dress a slight bow.
Zhu Yingyue looked a bit regretful as she looked at him. She waved her hand and said, “If you didn’t have the Burning Heart Sword Poison holding you back, you would have long been a Divine Core Spirit Master with your talent. Then you and I wouldn’t have had to deal with formalities between one another.”
Hearing her bring up the Burning Heart Sword Poison twice in a row, a hint of gloominess flashed through the youth’s eyes. “From the moment I was born, this Profound Treasure has been in my body. While it does cause me constant torment, I am able to find joy in my life in spite of the suffering. In all these years, I’ve received large benefits from it after all.”
Zhu Yingyue gave a light sigh, but she didn’t pursue the matter further. Instead, she said, “Junior Martial Brother Zhang, did you come to the Suppressing Fortune Domain to have an audience with Primordial Lord Qingfu?”
In spite of her words, she had been waiting here for a while now. She clearly had been expecting Zhang Yangui’s arrival.
“Precisely. I came to see Ancestor. Could I trouble you to notify the Primordial Lord?” Zhang Yangui asked. His eyes were directed downward slightly, avoiding the woman’s gaze.
“You grew up in the Suppressing Fortune Domain, and I even used to bring you to the Sea of Tranquility to play. Back then, you were so clingy and intimate with me. Why have you turned into a complete stranger in the last 20 years since leaving the Yuluo Realm? You’re acting all courteous towards me,” Zhu Yingyue said in a casual, joking tone. She made a complex hand seal, which dissipated into the void.
Now that Zhang Yangui was about to see Primordial Lord Qingfu again, his mood couldn’t help turning a bit complex, even with his temperament.
He straightened the hem of his Daoist robe and gave a bitter smile. “The rites can’t be neglected,” he said.
Zhu Yingyue turned around, the hem of her snow white dress sweeping up a gentle fragrant breeze. “The Primordial Lord wants me to show you in,” she said.
“Okay,” Zhang Yangui said, following Zhu Yingyue. They walked out from under the ancient apricot tree and into the Suppressing Fortune Domain.
The Shangqing Sacred Sect had a total of 36 Secret Realms. Aside from the 27 Mortal Secret Realms, there were 9 large-scale Secret Realms, each one possessing its own miraculous aspect.
The Yuluo Realm was located in the Shangqing Mountain Range, and there were many Primordial Lords in secluded cultivation within. There were several dozen domains of various sizes spread across its extremely vast territory, and could be considered the center of genuine authority in the Shangqing Sacred Sect’s Eight Mountains.
Primordial Lords from every Mountain Range, and even the grand elders of Affairs Hall, Disciplinary Hall, and other major influences in the sect would establish domains in the Yuluo Realm.
Even the Mountain Masters of each of the Eight Mountains would rotate out every so often, handing off their roles to other Primordial Lords in the Yuluo Realm when their term was up. The Clone Avatar stage greater lords and Saint Lords wouldn’t leave the Yuluo Realm. Those existences were undoubtedly the core of the sect, and were essential to its operation.
Zhang Yangui followed Zhu Yingyue into Tranquil Spirit Hall. When he looked up and saw the wizened old man, he felt his eyes grow hot as tears nearly threatened to spill out.
He came forward and knelt on the stone brick floor of the hall. When he spoke, his voice was choked with emotion. “Respectful greetings to Primordial Lord Qingfu.”
When the old man opened his eyes and closed them once more, his profound gaze seemed to embody the life and death of all beings. Although his appearance was haggard, he seemed to become filled with vitality once more. The aura surrounding him wavered and fluctuated indeterminately.
He opened his eyes and looked at the sword-shaped mark between Zhang Yangui’s eyebrows, then said, “Over twenty years ago, I sent you to Red Lotus Primordial Lord’s place so he could use his Samadhi True Fire to resolve your Burning Heart Sword Poison. But I see it didn’t help very much.”
A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled.
Shedding tears, Zhang Yangui replied, “Because of the Burning Heart Sword Poison affecting my body, Ancestor has wasted so much time on me that could have been spent progressing your cultivation. Even in thousands of years, I could never hope to repay this favor to you. Red Lotus Primordial Lord treated me like one of his own. Whenever he had free time, he would use his Samadhi True Fire to expel the poison. In the last few years, the pain that the Burning Heart Sword Poison brings me has already lessened quite a bit.”
Primordial Lord Qingfu shook his head. “Your father was always stubborn and mischievous. I was never able to deal with him. Although he has already departed, this karmic tie must be resolved.”
Zhu Yingyue came forward and helped Zhang Yangui to his feet. Wiping the tears from his face, she said, “In these past few years, Junior Martial Brother Zhang has carved out quite the reputation for himself. Many people are calling him the number one genius at the Sea of Qi stage.”
Zhang Yangui stood on his own. Once he regained his composure, he said, “This reputation means nothing.”
Primordial Lord Qingfu seemed oblivious to this. He addressed the woman in the snow white dress and said, “Zhu Yingyue, pass on my decree to the domains of the fifteen Mountain Masters of the Eight Mountains.”
When he finished speaking, fifteen lights formed from spiritual essence appeared, hovering in the air.
Zhu Yingyue bowed. “As you command, master.”
With a few swipes of her fair, delicate finger, the spiritual essence lights flew towards her, which she stored in her sleeve. Her figure blurred, and she vanished a moment later in a wisp of mist.
That stunningly beautiful woman in the snow white dress was unquestionably a Divine Core stage Spirit Master!
Her waiting under the ancient apricot tree for Zhang Yangui was because Primordial Lord Qingfu had figured out when he would arrive and sent her to wait for him.
Seeing Zhu Yingyue leave with his order, he said, “I called you back because I found a method to cure you of the Burning Heart Sword Poison. The method will allow you to not only be free of it forever, but also to obtain an intact Profound Treasure.”
“Ancestor, are you serious?!” Zhang Yangui exclaimed, his voice trembling. His eyes were brimming with disbelief and complex emotion.
Only after the words came out did Zhang Yangui realize that he was being improper. He looked up at Primordial Lord Qingfu, and saw that he was slightly furrowing his eyebrows at him.
There were only a few dozen Primordial Lords in the Yuluo Realm. Of those, three of them were in charge of ruling the realm. In handling the matters of the Yuluo Realm, their authority exceeded that of the other Primordial Lords, and they held an inconceivable amount of power.
Primordial Lord Qingfu was one of those three Realm Masters of the Yuluo Realm. In terms of cultivation, he was only one step away from the Clone Avatar stage. He had already cultivated his primordial spirit to perfection. In the Shangqing Sacred Sect, he had a staggering amount of authority.
Naturally, it wasn’t appropriate to speak so carelessly against someone like this. Even for someone like Zhang Yangui, who was his direct grandson, his tone was a bit improper, and his words just now even somewhat implied that he doubted what the Primordial Lord had said.
But Primordial Lord Qingfu didn’t get angry, as if he suddenly thought of his long departed son. “There is a spell, a grafting technique, that can be used on the Burning Heart Sword Poison.”
Because he misspoke earlier, Zhang Yangui didn’t dare to speak again, but his gaze was filled with excitement.
Before Zhang Yangui’s father passed away, he used a Profound Treasure, the Burning Heart Sword, to plant the Burning Heart Sword Poison in his body. It caused him to experience a constant searing agony, making his life even worse than death.
However, this sword poison didn’t kill him. It simply absorbed the energy of his Spiritual Root and used it to nourish itself.
Zhang Yangui was an unparalleled genius with a Rank 3 Spiritual Root, but in all this time, he had never been able to break through into the Dao Foundation stage because of the Burning Heart Sword Poison.
If he were to break through into the Dao Foundation stage, the sword poison would immediately erupt in his body and begin to drain the energy of Zhang Yangui’s Spiritual Root even faster, to the point that it would leave him completely disabled!
A Profound Treasure was a rank higher than a Psychic Magic Treasure. Every Profound Treasure possessed a might that could shake the heavens!
Even though Primordial Lord Qingfu had already cultivated his primordial spirit to perfection, he couldn’t guarantee that Zhang Yangui wouldn’t suffer any harm if he tried to completely remove the Burning Heart Sword Poison in his body.
That was why twenty years prior, he had sent Zhang Yangui to the domain of Red Lotus Primordial Lord, who used his Samadhi True Fire to help resolve the sword poison.
