Approaching the New Year, Zhangling County was adorned with colorful lanterns and garlands.
A magnificent scene of boiling oil over fierce flames and flowers adorned with silk.
However, everyone personally knows that the Tang Dynasty is on the verge of collapse.
Governorships in various regions were seizing control, and the so-called prosperity was merely a final stubborn reflection of the peak years of the Tang Dynasty.
When a nation is about to perish, monsters must arise.
At the end of the third lunar term of the third year of the reign of Yuan Zongming, rumors circulated that Chen Jingzhan, brother of Tian Lingzi, had promised to make Gao Renhou the ruler of the Eastern and Southern Yannan Circuit. This greatly displeased Yang Shi Li, who was then serving as the ruler of the Eastern and Southern Yannan Circuit. He repeatedly sent letters to the court and sent numerous people to deliver gold, silver, and precious jewels to Tian Lingzi in an attempt to retain his position as ruler of the Eastern and Southern Yannan Circuit.
Hmm, Tian Lingzi was given his name by the imperial court, and his original surname was Chen, hence his eldest brother was named Chen Jingxuan.
Who would have thought that Tian Lingzi completely disregarded Yang Shili.
Therefore, Yang Shili secretly recruited troops and purchased weapons, gathering extraordinary people and talents from all over the country, secretly preparing for a rebellion.
Among the oddities and talents Yang Shili recruited was a remnant from the Williang law destruction period of Manichaeism. This person was named Wu Kejiu and secretly self-styled himself as the "Tangland Manichaeist," or the spiritual leader of the religion.
This man was originally from Chang'an, and his wife, Wang Shi, followed him. After the destruction of the Manichaean religion, he had been in hiding for decades. Now, upon hearing that Yang Shili was recruiting troops and horses, he promptly responded and declared that he would seize a shocking Manichaean artifact hidden in Sichuan to help Yang Shili succeed.
As Wu Kejiu self-proclaimed himself as the Manichaean teacher, his magical powers would naturally be extremely powerful.
However, during the retrieval of the holy artifact, he inadvertently encountered the ghost commander from Baofengshan and his troops of over ten thousand ghosts.
As a result, Wu Kejiu failed to obtain the artifact and was chased away by the ghost commander and his troops, fleeing with his head down in disarray, narrowly escaping from being buried in Baofeng Mountain.
Suddenly, the ghostly atmosphere filled Liuzhou, and living beings were suffering greatly.
For a moment, the earthquake in Beichuan frightened the people, who were in danger, and the government sought help.
Countless people from both the Buddhist and Taoist realms saw an opportunity to become famous and establish their own laws, and they all rushed to Liuzhou to subdue demons and ghosts, spreading their own religions.
...
Qingcheng Mountain, Dama Peak.
Chen Yun didn't know about the ghost commander's uprising in Beichuan, and was immersed in practicing spells and techniques.
In the early hours of the morning, just after absorbing the medicinal effect of "Lianjing Huaqi Tang."
He opened his eyes and couldn't help but sigh, "As I have cultivated to the level of a medium-grade wizard, the true qi generated by the primary Lianjing Huaqi decoction becomes increasingly scarce. However, my teacher has ordered me to practice in Sichuan for three years, and I cannot defy my master's command to go out and seek the necessary herbs."
Chen Yun knows that his teacher ordering him to practice in Sichuan for three years must be for a reason.
He can roughly guess it.
It's simply because his cultivation has progressed too quickly.
His mental state and the application of power have not kept up.
Additionally, there is also the reason of the desire tribulation.
"Since the generation of true qi is becoming slower, I will consider practicing spells and techniques."
Chen Yun's first reaction was to practice the Golden Light Mantra, but he soon rejected the idea.
"The Golden Light Mantra is a truly great technique, and it will take some time to master. For now, I'll focus on what I can learn."
He took out the jade slab left by his teacher, which recorded hundreds of spells, and found the Cloud-Walking Technique.
After only a short while, Chen Yun had a general understanding of the principles behind Cloud-Walking, which is similar to the Wind-Riding Technique.
It sounds very simple. By sensing the heavens and earth with one's spirit, one pinches the Gathering Cloud Seal with the fingers and simultaneously recites the Gathering Square Seal, mobilizing one's own true qi. At this moment, a cloud of mist will come floating over, and then one can use the Cloud-Walking Technique to climb onto the cloud head, and then drive it with one's spirit.
"Although this method may seem simple, the amount of cloud gathered and its speed are related to one's own cultivation."
Chen Yun reached out and pushed a window open with his mind, revealing the moonlit and starry night sky.
He held the Gathering Cloud Seal in his hand and recited the incantation: "Heavenly nature, Huang Lang Tai Yuan, clouds and mists elusive, gather a little, transform the intangible into the tangible, swiftly manifest. Swiftly as commanded!"
The moment he finished speaking, a cloud of mist surrounded him.
Chen Yun controlled it with his spirit.
His body gradually drifted upwards towards the window outside.
This movement brought him to over 30,000 meters in the sky.
Chen Yun tried to increase the speed again.
It might be because this was his first time using it and he wasn't quite proficient yet.
At first, his Cloud-Walking speed was relatively slow, similar to the Wind-Riding Technique.
However, as his proficiency grew, the speed also increased significantly.
Chen Yun flew from Qingcheng Mountain to the Jinqüan Mountain, which was tens of thousands of miles away, and then returned, covering a total distance of over twenty thousand miles, in just half a night.
When he returned, the sky had already dawned.
Back in the East Side House, Chen Yun was quite satisfied with the speed of Cloud-Walking. "When I use the Wind-Riding Technique, I can travel up to 35,000 miles a day. Now that I have practiced the Cloud-Walking Technique, it takes half a day to reach 30,000 to 60,000 miles a day."
The speed is indeed incredibly fast.
The consumption of true qi is also incredibly fast.
He consumed about 60% of his true qi just by coming and going from Jinqüan Mountain.
"In the future, as my cultivation improves, my flying speed will become even faster."
Chen Yun compared the Cloud-Walking and the Impassible Golden Light techniques.
The Impassible Golden Light technique is fast, but it consumes a lot of energy, making it unsuitable for long-distance travel.
The Cloud-Walking technique is much slower than the Impassible Golden Light, but it has the advantage of being less energy-consuming.
If you need to travel long distances, this technique is very suitable.
He pondered if he should find an opportunity to pass this technique to his mount, which would save him some effort while traveling.
Thinking about it, Chen Yun began to study the other spells recorded in the jade slab.
It turns out that there are a lot of different spells.
Some of the spells are quite interesting.
For example, there is a spell called the Animal Language Technique.
Once this spell is cast, one can communicate with birds and beasts.
There are also spells for the five elements, freeze spell, invisibility spell, and so on.
Most spells can be used simply by holding the magical seal, reciting the incantation, and driving true qi.
Only a few advanced spells require active cultivation.
Two advanced spells require the use of talisman in combination to work.
Since the cultivation of these advanced spells is quite cumbersome, Chen Yun merely glanced at them and did not spend much time learning them.
Chen Yun plans to learn all the simple spells first before diving into the more difficult ones.
"By the way, let's take a look at the Pot-Heaven Technique."
Chen Yun was very interested in this technique.
Since the confrontation with Yin Wuji and the destruction of his storage ring, he realized that storage-type magical artifacts are not reliable.
Who knows if the storage artifact might get damaged during combat, causing a burst of "equipment"?
The Pot-Heaven Technique is a technique that must be learned.
He picked up the jade slab and injected true qi to quickly understand how to cultivate the Pot-Heaven Technique.
"This technique is really complicated to cultivate."
Chen Yun couldn't help but furrow his brow, "I need to sense the void, and then use profound magical power to connect the void with reality, thus opening up a certain space?"
He finally understood why his teacher had said not to be obsessed with this technique.
If he dedicated himself entirely to the cultivation of this technique, it might take several centuries before making any significant progress.
"However, this technique can be combined with some special magical artifacts, such as the Treasure Armor."
Chen Yun pondered silently, "If I carve the Pot-Heaven Technique onto a treasure armor with incredible defense, and open up space day and night, I could create a pseudo 'treasure in my sleeves'."
The defense is not good enough.
The clothes were instantly blown apart by someone, and what's the point of a pseudo 'treasure in my sleeves' then?
Chen Yun pondered whether to collect some materials for forging magical armor and then carve the Pot-Heaven Technique onto it.
By then, the magical armor would be both offensive and defensive, with terrifying defense and the ability to capture enemies with 'treasure in my sleeves'.
With just one sleeve, you can subdue demons and ghosts, it has the demeanor of a celestial being.
After some idle thoughts, he couldn't help but sigh again, "My teacher has ordered me to focus on my cultivation. I have no good reason to wander around, so let's not think about these useless things for now. Instead, let's concentrate on improving our internal Dan Technique."
...
He continued to practice the Dragon Slaying Technique.
After the Dragon Slaying Technique practice was over, Chen Yun also guided the magical steeds and demons under his door in their cultivation.
Of course, he also taught for a while to Wang Siyan.
As soon as Wang Siyan was here, Chen Yun felt a lot more relaxed. He didn't have to worry about his army of soldiers, magical beasts, and demons.
At this moment, he was chatting idly with Wang Siyan.
Suddenly, a leopon rushed up the mountain in a hurry.
"Teacher!" The leopon's voice had a hint of urgency.
Chen Yun looked over, "Old cat, what's wrong?"
The nearby animals, such as the public fear, white monkey, tiger spirit, and Wang Siyan, all turned to look.
The leopard demon, brown bear demon, monkey demon, and rhinoceros demon were responsible for patrolling the mountain.
Seeing the leopard demon looking anxious, everyone guessed that something must have happened.
As expected, the leopard demon said quickly, "Just now, I saw the county magistrate of Qingcheng County at the foot of the mountain. He has an urgent matter and wants to meet Teacher."
The county magistrate of Qingcheng County wants to see me?
Chen Yun couldn't remember any connection between himself and the official system.
In fact, he didn't even know who the county magistrate of Qingcheng County was.
Then, what does he want to see me for?
Chen Yun did not decide to see him or not, but asked instead, "Has he said what he wants to meet me for?"
The leopard demon said with a serious expression, "The County Magistrate Li said that an angel came to deliver the imperial edict of ennoblement, and when passing through Baofeng Mountain of Lizezhou, he was engulfed by a rebellious ghost general into the mountain, and his fate is unknown. He has come for help."
In ancient times, messengers sent by the emperor were generally referred to as angels.
Not the kind of genderless angels from Western mythologies.
Chen Yun was not quite clear, "An angel came to deliver the imperial edict of ennoblement?"
The leopard demon nodded and said, "Yes, I didn't understand what was going on at first either, but the County Magistrate Li informed me that the court wanted to bestow a title on Teacher, so it dispatched an angel to deliver the imperial edict, but unexpectedly it was taken by a rebellious ghost general."
Ah?
The court is preparing to bestow a title on me?
Now the angel has been taken away by the ghost general?
Upon hearing this, Chen Yun couldn't help but get angry.
He realized that he had not achieved immortality yet, and the bestowment might not be useful.
However, he had the Great Immortality Elixir, and becoming an immortal was a matter of time.
If he was bestowed with a title at that time, he could directly become a deity.
And obtain a divine position in the War of Divine Appointment to distribute faith, then he would truly become a god.
Now that the rebellious ghost general has taken the angel who delivered the imperial edict, isn't that equivalent to disrupting my chance of becoming a god?
Chen Yun furrowed his brows slightly and said, "How long has it been since the angel was taken by the ghost general?"
The leopard demon said, "According to what the County Magistrate Li said, it seems to be yesterday. After the official news was received in Lizezhou, they immediately activated the Move Array and dispatched someone to deliver the message."
Chen Yun asked again, "Do you know how powerful the ghost general is?"
The public fear, tiger spirit, and others all looked over. They were all beasts that had become spirits, but their wisdom was not inferior at all. Of course, from the dissatisfaction in Chen Yun's words, they might very well start a great war, so they naturally wanted to know about the ghost general's strength.
The leopard demon recalled for a moment and said, "I'm not sure of his specific strength, but I've heard that there's a rolling black mist that blocks the sky and the sun, which estimates him to be at least comparable to the realm of an upper-class wizard."
Upon hearing this, the Public Fear's eyes sparked, knowing that it was an opportunity for him to gain merit and be admitted to Chen Yun's school.
He smiled and said, "Teacher, the ghost general is not a problem for me. I will take care of it and definitely bring him back to the mountain."
Chen Yun was about to speak.
The leopard demon quickly added, "Brother, although the ghost general's strength is likely far less than yours, I've heard that he has over 10,000 ghost soldiers under his command. If you go alone, it might not be easy to deal with them."
Upon hearing that there were over 10,000 ghost soldiers, the Public Fear couldn't help but furrow his brows.
He was capable of taking them all out at once, but he might sustain some injuries.
As the Public Fear was deep in thought, Chen Yun immediately spoke up, "The fact that there are over 10,000 ghost soldiers is not a problem. I have here tens of thousands of divine soldiers and yin-soldiers as well. We will go together."
"Yes, Teacher."
"Yes, Master."
The Public Fear, Cui Ming, Qin Liang, and Ji Xin, as well as other monsters, divine weapons, and yin-soldiers all answered in unison.
Chen Yun gave Wang Siyan a piece of advice and then rode on the tiger spirit, taking with him Gong Jiu and the statues, ghosts, and tablets.
As for the four monsters, the leopard demon and the brown bear demon, he did not take them along.
The main reason is that their flying speed is relatively slower.
And Wang Siyan was in Qingcheng Mountain, needing someone to protect her safety.
For other matters, Chen Yun would definitely not have gone out of the mountains.
Just that the ghost general dared to block his opportunity for becoming a god, and he could not possibly care less about it.
Regarding whether or not he would gain more fame, Chen Yun did not care at all.
He only wanted to subdue the ghost general severely and rescue the angel, so that he could successfully obtain the opportunity to become a god.
(Chapter complete)
