Chapter: 726 - Truly Unmatched
Dao Lao Er wore a ritual robe, carried a celestial sword on his back, and sported a fish-tail crown on his head.
Leaning against the railing nearby, his junior brother Lu Chen had a lotus-flower crown atop his head, with a yellow finch perched on his shoulder.
In years past, the Grand Master of the Jade Capital Palace, the first disciple of the Dao Ancestor, would wear a Ruyi crown and suspend a peach-wood talisman from his waist. The reason he could accept disciples on behalf of his master was, of course, because his Dao methods were closest to those of the Dao Ancestor.
At that moment, the celestial sword behind Dao Lao Er trembled and whined incessantly, radiant light overflowing from the scabbard. One by one, golden cloud-seal characters manifesting the Great Dao appeared in the world. Yet as soon as these golden characters emerged from the scabbard, they were immediately constrained by the almost tangible, overwhelming Dao method radiating from Dao Lao Er. Those secret Daoist scriptures, treasured records, and green-word invocations could only flicker into existence and then vanish within a hair's breadth, like countless fish swimming in a mountain stream, their life and death forever confined to the water. Unable to leave the riverbed of heaven and earth, occasionally a fish would leap out of the water, catching but a fleeting glimpse of heaven and earth's true visage before inevitably falling back into the current.
Lu Chen teased, "Senior Brother, with such fierce murderous intent, be careful not to provoke the Great Profound Capital Temple into activating its sword formation and launching a sword challenge against the Jade Capital Palace. That Daoist Sun of ours has been tolerating you for a long time. Lucky for you, I found a little junior brother for you; otherwise, gathering the five hundred spirit officials over on the Fifth World would probably have been delayed for many years—at most three hundred years, at least a hundred. In the end, it would have been less than ideal."
Dao Lao Er made no comment on this. The millennia-old grudges between the Jade Capital Palace and the Great Profound Capital Temple were old hat, lacking any real interest. As for the five hundred spirit officials returning to the celestial ranks, that was only a matter of time. In the next two hundred years, when he would lead those five hundred spirit officials to attack the outer heavens, those Outland Heavenly Demons would truly suffer a grievous blow to their vitality, and the five hundred spirit officials would become all the more worthy of their name.
Regarding those Outland Heavenly Demons that seemed forever impossible to eradicate completely, the three lineages of the Jade Capital Palace had long since diverged. Dao Lao Er's lineage was simple: it advocated killing.
Beyond going to the outer heavens to suppress and slay heavenly demons, preventing some demonic titans from growing and strengthening, Dao Lao Er would also, in the future, personally wield his sword to roam the world, leading the five hundred spirit officials for five hundred years, specifically to slay the heart-devils of Qi refiners. This would force those countless Outland Heavenly Demons to become water without a source, trees without roots, ultimately compelling them to merge into just three entities. Then he and his two fellow disciples would each suppress one, bringing peace to the world from then on.
This feat would be even more monumental than someone on the Haoran World exterminating all the true dragons.
As for that little junior brother with the Dao name Shan Qing (Mountain Green), Dao Lao Er had a mediocre impression of him—neither good nor bad, just passable.
The only thing that earned a second glance from Dao Lao Er was that Shan Qing, in that brand-new world, dared to take the initiative and do things that even the Dao Ancestor's closed-door disciple couldn't use as a protective talisman.
Now, over on that side, Shan Qing had caused the once-dominant Jade Capital Palace forces to increasingly become just a solitary Daoist mountain-sect water in the Fifth World, roughly forming a situation where the Jade Capital Palace stood alone against all the other sects. Precisely because of this, Dao Lao Er found it not bad at all.
This man, hailed as Truly Unmatched and the Second Grand Master of the Jade Capital Palace, merely sneered and said, "It hasn't been just a day or two that I've wanted to cut off the head of the Throne Ox-Dagger with one sword strike."
Back then, the Master intentionally spared its life, using a golden armor manifested from a single Dao-seed Purple-Gold Lotus to restrain it, forcing it to accumulate a bit of spiritual light through cultivation and shed the armor itself. Then, with the heavens high and the earth vast, it might have become a regional overlord in the Barbaric World, preaching the Dao for ten millennia, nearly immortal. But who would have thought it would be so ignorant of cherishing its blessed fate, resorting to such base methods? It wanted to borrow Bai Ye's sword to break open the Dao armor, squandering a precious gift. Such a dull-witted creature, where did it get the audacity to want to be a guest at the Jade Capital Palace?
No matter what his temper was like, in a certain sense, Dao Lao Er was indeed more aligned with the secular notion of respecting the master and the Dao than his two fellow disciples.
"Regarding matters of the Haoran World, I advise you, Senior Brother, not to meddle."
Lu Chen said lazily, "Back then, the First Ancestor of the Military Strategists was how invincible? Yet in the end, his corpse was split into five parts, and he died at the hands of what he considered ants, didn't he?"
Besides his corpse becoming a object of contention, after the military strategist ancestor's divine dissolution, he merged his soul entirely into the world's Martial Fortune, paving a path to heaven for later generations of pure martial artists. This is precisely why none of the worlds deliberately draw in or expel Martial Fortune. That First Ancestor of the Military Strategists had the merit of ascending to heaven but also the fault of dividing the human race. Merit and fault did not cancel each other out; the merit remained great merit, and the faults committed still required punishment for ten thousand years.
As for the five Qi refiners who initially divided the corpse, back in the ancient battlefield, their realms were actually not high. One took the head first, and the remaining four each got something. It was what was called a "joint execution" on a certain page of the old almanac.
A little Daoist boy soared into the sky from one of the Jade Capital Palace's five cities, Emerald Green City, and hovered far away on the sea of clouds. He made a bowing salute towards the heights, not daring to presume to ascend further.
As one of the five cities of the Jade Capital Palace, Emerald Green City was located at the northernmost point. According to Daoist Sun of the Great Profound Capital Temple, the name "Emerald Green City" came from a saying, "The Jade Emperor's plums are truly crisp and green," similar to the Dao Ancestor planting a gourd vine that transformed into the seven Sword-Nurturing Gourds. Of course, the Daoists of Emerald Green City would never admit to this, considering it nonsense.
Nevertheless, within the Jade Capital Palace's orthodoxy, Emerald Green City did indeed have the alternate name of Jade Emperor City. Under Emerald Green City's jurisdiction were seventy-two lands in the Cyan Sky World, including one of the ten great grotto-heavens, two of the thirty-six lesser grotto-heavens, three of the seventy-two blessed lands, and six dynasties. As for Daoist temples on the mountains and below, there were countless. Every sixty years, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, the City Lord of Emerald Green City would present an imperial chariot procession, inspecting the merits and faults of the pure-stream Dao officials across the world's dynasties, and examining and evaluating the earth gods and mountain spirits. The places the procession passed through were all within the scope of evaluation, not necessarily limited to the city's own territory.
Thus, Emerald Green City was one of the five cities and twelve towers of the Jade Capital Palace—a celestial prefecture with low status but immense power.
The reason this city held such an exalted position was that the Grand Master of the Jade Capital Palace had spent an extremely long time cultivating here and often preached the Dao to the world from here. Whether they were Daoists from the three lineages of the Jade Capital Palace, human Dao officials, mountain spirits and monsters, or ghostly shades, all could enter the city to seek the Dao. Hence, Emerald Green City was regarded as the place within the Jade Capital Palace that most fostered good karmic ties with the world.
Lu Chen smiled and waved his hand, shouting, "Yun Sheng, come quickly! Why be so polite?" Only then did the little Daoist boy come to the highest point of the Jade Capital Palace. After landing on the corridor, he again made a bowing salute to the two Grand Masters, not daring to overstep any boundaries even slightly. Cultivating the Dao in the Jade Capital Palace actually didn't have many rules. When the Grand Master governed the Jade Capital Palace, or rather, the entire Cyan Sky World, he truly achieved governance by non-action. Even such important Daoist sites as the Great Profound Capital Temple and the Year-End Palace were completely convinced. Even when Lu Chen, the Dao Ancestor's youngest disciple in years past, governed the Jade Capital Palace, it was done naturally—just more arguments in the world, more chaos, more killings. The eight Heavenly Drum Strikes across the world were beaten almost every year without cease, but the Jade Capital Palace and Lu Chen rarely interfered. However, when Dao Lao Er governed the Jade Capital Palace, the rules became relatively strict.
Dao Lao Er glanced at the Daoist temple on the little Daoist boy's head and sneered coldly.
On Inverted Mountain, it had been the fish-tail crown, probably on the instruction of the old ancestor of the Purple Qi Tower's Jiang clan, which was meant to ingratiate him with this lineage of Dao Lao Er. Now that he had returned to the Jade Capital Palace, Jiang Yun Sheng had changed to the standard crown of Emerald Green City—a Ruyi crown.
If it hadn't been for the face of his senior brother, if the little Daoist boy had instead changed to wearing the lotus-flower crown of his junior brother Lu Chen's lineage, then Dao Lao Er wouldn't have been so easy to deal with.
Both the Jade Capital Palace and the entire Cyan Sky World knew one thing: when Dao Lao Er remained silent and looked on coldly, that in itself was the greatest form of being easy to deal with.
"Yun Sheng, when will you become the City Lord of Emerald Green City? Your uncle has already prepared the congratulatory gift. As a nephew, don't keep your uncle waiting too long with eager eyes; they might get sore easily."
Lu Chen pressed his face against the railing, turned his head, and said with a grin, "I have a good relationship with both your master-ancestor and your master. Even if they don't come for the city lord inauguration ceremony, it's perfectly legitimate for me, your uncle, to conduct it. Besides, your uncle is famous for having the fewest rules. Those ceremonies and rituals that could take several days to mess about with won't even take the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn."
The little Daoist boy still kept his mouth shut, but he once again made a proper bowing salute, as if thanking Uncle Lu Chen and also apologizing to the Second Grand Master Uncle beside him.
Back then, in his youth and ignorance, he had acted against his family and secretly transferred to the lineage of the Grand Master of the Jade Capital Palace. This was actually a grave taboo. The key point was that at that time, the Grand Master was suppressing Outland Heavenly Demons in the highest heavens and didn't even know about it. It was purely that the young master uncle at the time had dragged him secretly to Emerald Green City to offer incense and worship the hanging portrait. For this reason, the family didn't hesitate to quickly "exile" him to the Haoran World, specifically to Inverted Mountain, and insisted that he always wear the fish-tail crown on his head, otherwise they would expel him from the family ancestral hall or simply leave him in the Haoran World for good.
The little Daoist boy was named Jiang Yun Sheng. On Inverted Mountain, he had been neighbors and gate guards for many years with that sword-embracing man, Zhang Lu. This Jiang Yun Sheng, who had the potential to become the City Lord of Emerald Green City, always sat on a cushion with his back to the ox-tying stake on Inverted Mountain, reading tales of talented scholars and beautiful women, and stories of the martial world. Among the lofty Daoist masters of Inverted Mountain, he was the most approachable. Many children liked to go there to play and roughhouse, asking the little Daoist boy to use his Daoist magic to help them ride the clouds and mists.
Jiang Yun Sheng's family ancestor was the Tower Lord of the Purple Qi Tower, one of the five cities and twelve towers of the Jade Capital Palace, at the Ascension Realm.
That Purple Qi Tower was held high by rosy clouds, surrounded by purple qi, and had a dense sword aura that challenged the Dipper and Ox constellations. It was praised as "the sun and moon floating on life, purple qi piled up, the home in the immortal's palm." Moreover, as this tower was located in the easternmost part of the Jade Capital Palace, among the lofty immortals in the celestial ranks, it was already the highest in the clouds, always the first to greet the sunlight and moonlight. The female masters and celestial maidens cultivating in this tower mostly originally bore the surname Jiang, or were granted the surname Jiang, and were often said to wear hibiscus caps and crystal hairpins, and had the fine reputation of Spring Officials.
The Jiang clan of the Jade Capital Palace and the Jiang clan of the Parasol Leaf Continent had similar situations, hitting the same note by different roads.
Emerald Green City was adjacent to Divine Sky City. Both city lords were of the Grand Master of the Jade Capital Palace's lineage; the latter was the Daoist sage who guarded the heavenly curtain of the Sword Qi Great Wall.
The Great Heavenly Lord stationed on the main peak of Inverted Mountain was a direct disciple of Dao Lao Er, responsible for guarding for his master that inverted world's largest mountain character seal, suspended over the Haoran World.
Jiang Yun Sheng was born in the Purple Qi Tower, which was unequivocally of Dao Lao Er's lineage. But when Jiang Yun Sheng was young, instigated by the Third Grand Master Lu Chen, despite being the direct descendant of the Jiang clan of the Purple Qi Tower, he instead defected to the Grand Master's lineage. According to the family genealogy, Jiang Yun Sheng was several generations apart from the old ancestor of the Purple Qi Tower, but according to the Daoist lineage hierarchy of the Cyan Sky World, he thus became the same generation as the old ancestor in the Jade Capital Palace. Therefore, as long as he wasn't in the Purple Qi Tower, if he happened to meet the old ancestor, they would exchange bowing salutes and call each other fellow disciples. When he returned to the Purple Qi Tower, it was a different calculation.
The Heavenly Lord Xie Shi of the North Jambu Continent, the Sect Leader of the Divine Oath Sect in the Vase Bottle Continent, Heavenly Lord Qi Zhen. Originally, there were also the old Heavenly Lord of Taiping Mountain on the Parasol Leaf Continent, and Mountain Lord Song Mao.
They respectively belonged to Lu Chen's lineage, Dao Lao Er's lineage, and the Grand Master's lineage. Among them, the orthodoxy of the Divine Oath Sect was relatively complex. Although the Daoists and female masters all wore fish-tail crowns, they actually had origins with the other two lineages, and could claim some distant kinship with the five cities and twelve towers of the Jade Capital Palace across a world.
Of course, there was also He Xiao Liang, who established a sect on the North Jambu Continent, and the hermit Daoist in the White Frost Dynasty on the Vase Bottle Continent, who used the alias Cao Rong. Both belonged to the direct lineage of Lu Chen.
These Daoist sects originating from the three lineages of the Jade Capital Palace stood in opposition to the Heavenly Master's Mansion of Dragon Tiger Mountain, indigenous to the Haoran World, and the one mountain and five sects where talismanic Yu Xuan served as the anchor.
In the Haoran World, with its three teachings and hundred schools, the Great Paths were manifold, and human hearts were naturally not simply a matter of good and evil.
Dao Lao Er asked, "Back then in the Pearly Bead Cave Heaven, why did you specifically choose Chen Ping An, wanting to take him as your closed-door disciple?"
He heard that now one of his junior brother's direct disciples, the Sect Leader of the Clear Cool Sect, He Xiao Liang, still had some messy entanglements with this Chen Ping An.
In fact, looking at the rare earnestness of this lazy junior brother beside him back then, if Chen Ping An had been willing to bargain, Lu Chen might have even been open to raising his generation status.
Lu Chen smiled and said, "Chen Ping An had already revealed the secret with a single word near the Dragon Lair Trench. I was eyeing that Chen Ping An who had the potential to become my disciple by abandoning his original path. It wasn't about Chen Ping An himself being this or that, or how much favor I, Lu Chen, would bestow upon him. Otherwise, what could a Chen Ping An want and how could he get it? Seemingly giving him many choices, but actually, he had no choice at all. Isn't that how life is? It's not just Chen Ping An trapped in such a predicament."
Lu Chen continued, "Same principle. That unreasonable ancient existence chose him, Chen Ping An, not because of Chen Ping An's own will. What could a naive youth know back then? In fact, it was still Qi Jing Chun wanting to do this. Only, one gives birth to two, two give birth to three, three give birth to all things, and gradually it became considerable. In the end, from a sliver of hope from Qi Jing Chun, it turned into Chen Ping An's entire life. I just don't know what Dao Qi Jing Chun ultimately asked when he traveled far to the Lotus Small Cave Heaven to question the Master. I once asked the Master, but he didn't go into detail."
Thinking back to those days, that straw-sandal boy in the Clay Vase Alley who first stepped on the blue stone slabs of Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Lane, that kiln worker apprentice who subconsciously wiped his palms before taking out the envelope outside the school—at that time, that boy would surely never have imagined his future would be the life he has now. Step by step, he would travel through so many mountains and rivers, witness so many magnificent spectacles, separations, and deaths with his own eyes.
Dao Lao Er asked, "It seems Cui Chan swapped out his trump card to deal with the Barbaric World. Otherwise, relying on the chaotic times, Cui Chan could have avoided many constraints."
Lu Chen smiled and said, "He wouldn't dare. Once he deploys it, it would be even more rebellious and treasonous than betraying his master and ancestors. Besides, things are urgent, time waits for no one, right? What in the world can be properly negotiated?"
Lu Chen sighed, "Early on, Cui Chan got the better of the founding master of the School of Calculation, making the latter realize he had only attained a 'Ten.' Most of the current mountain-top Qi refiners across the worlds have no idea about the knowledge involved. Great knowledge indeed! If the era of the Dharma's End everyone fears should truly come one day, and if no one could stop it, then even if there were no more School of Calculation cultivators, no more Dao-cultivators at all, and everyone was down in the mortal world..."
Lu Chen paused.
"At that time, only the scholarly principles left behind by the School of Calculation could still attain the most Dao through them. It's even possible that the thing Cui Chan is most worried about in his heart—such as the disappearance of the human race, completely becoming new members of the former Heavenly Court's deities—could very well happen. Cui Chan seems to have always believed that day would come. So even though the Vase Bottle Continent's defensive situation is perilous, Cui Chan still dares not truly join forces with the Mohist school."
"So that Mohist master, who was inevitably greatly disappointed, lost face, felt he had been played for a fool by the Embroidery Tiger, and went to the South Pravarsa Continent to help Chen Chun An. But after all, the Mohist school is the Mohist school; their wandering knights have an ancient ethos, and they still didn't hesitate to stake their entire fortunes on the Vase Bottle Continent. Besides, this business deal was indeed profitable for the Mohist school. The Mohist and Merchant schools indeed have much greater boldness than the Agricultural school or the Medicine school."
Dao Lao Er remembered something, "What are you going to do about that Lu clan member?"
The Lotus Flower Blessed Land on the Parasol Leaf Continent of the Haoran World had been split into four parts by the old temple abbot using a magical technique that combined both plain drawing and heavy coloring. Three portions of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land followed the old abbot and ascended together to the Cyan Sky World.
Among them, Lu Tai possessed one of the blessed lands and successfully "ascended" out of it, starting to make a name for himself in the Cyan Sky World. He had an extremely good relationship with that young female master who had directly ascended from the Retaining-Person Realm. They were not Dao partners, but surpassed Dao partners.
Lu Chen said helplessly, "What, you want to take him as a closed-door disciple? Aren't you afraid of letting Zou Zi get what he wants?"
Regarding this disciple's disciple, who had again arbitrarily changed his name to "Lu Tai," possessing the rare and innate Yin-Yang Fish constitution—a truly divine immortal seed—Lu Chen was unwilling to meet him. Later generations often had a half-baked understanding of the term "divine immortal seed," not knowing that it is "divine first, immortal later" that truly makes a Dao seed. It's not that having good cultivation aptitude qualifies one as a divine immortal seed; at most, such a person is just a cultivation embryo.
Jiang Yun Sheng stood by, dumbfounded. Back then on Inverted Mountain, this little Daoist boy had slapped Lu Tai right out of the Incense Offering Tower.
Lu Tai now had a deep connection with that stinky Daoist priest. If he were to become a direct disciple of the Second Grand Master Uncle and later be stationed in one of the five cities and twelve towers, given Lu Tai's petty temperament like his own old ancestor, wouldn't he be locked in a deadly struggle with Jiang Yun Sheng for centuries? In the entire Jade Capital Palace, his own Master had rarely shown his face for a long time, while the two uncles took turns governing for a hundred years, causing more killings and battles throughout the Cyan Sky World. Had it not been for the opening of the Fifth World, Jiang Yun Sheng would have felt that his originally relatively peaceful homeland had become like the Haoran World where Inverted Mountain was located.
Now, that Inverted Mountain had been turned back into a mountain character seal that could be worn at the waist or even refined into a lifebound object.
It was said to have been bestowed upon the little master uncle Shan Qing by the Second Grand Master through someone.
Jiang Yun Sheng was actually quite curious about that little master uncle he had never met, but for the next ninety years, it was destined they would not be able to meet.
Dao Lao Er said, "I've never cared about these things. Let him calculate heaven and earth; I walk my own path."
Lu Chen shook his head, "Zou Zi's thinking is very... peculiar. He considered the current age as the era of the Dharma's End from the very beginning, deducing and evolving from that premise. The School of Calculation can only sit and wait for the era of the Dharma's End to arrive; Zou Zi, on the other hand, began to lay plans early on, even disregarding the three religious patriarchs. This 'not seeing' is not being blinded by a single leaf, but rather... turning a blind eye. So in the Haoran World, it's indeed normal for one man to suppress the entire Lu clan."
Back in the Pearly Bead Cave Heaven, Lu Chen and Zou Zi had actually not faced each other directly. One set up a stall, the other also set up a stall, each calculating their own fates.
On the surface, they seemed like well water not interfering with river water, but in reality, it was like the names of two "lifebound flying swords" belonging to Zou Zi's direct disciple and Lu Chen's descendant: needle point against needle point—a direct confrontation.
The casual chat between the two fellow disciples was pitiful for that little Daoist boy from Emerald Green City. The two Grand Master Uncles speaking of the "era of the Dharma's End" made Jiang Yun Sheng's heart tremble with alarm, and even his Dao heart became unsteady.
Lu Chen suddenly said with a beaming smile, "Yun Sheng, that old ancestor of yours was quite impressive back then when he punched open the sea of clouds and smashed it towards the Pearly Bead Cave Heaven. It's a pity you were far away on Inverted Mountain and lacked the Dao cultivation to see it with your own eyes. No matter, I have here a painting of a stretch of the River of Time that I've treasured for years. I'll give it to you. Take it back to the Purple Qi Tower and have it properly mounted. Your old ancestor will surely be delighted, and his support for your appointment as City Lord of Emerald Green City will no longer be done in secret; he'll do it openly and legitimately..."
The little Daoist boy kept his eyes fixed on his nose and his nose fixed on his heart, pretending not to hear.
Dao Lao Er frowned and said, "Enough. Stop beating around the bush to plead for this little brat. I have no designs on Jiang Yun Sheng or Emerald Green City. As for those who have designs on the City Lord position, let them compete on their own merits. If Jiang Yun Sheng gets it, I don't care. Emerald Green City has always been considered the domain of our eldest senior brother. Whoever guards the door is fine by me. The only thing I would have a problem with is if someone guards it so poorly that they leave a mess for senior brother to clean up."
Lu Chen shook his head, "Senior Brother, Senior Brother, when we two are up here on this height, if we casually twitch our sleeves, furrow our brows, or yawn, the immortals down below will be pondering our intentions for half a day. Compete? How can Jiang Yun Sheng compete? Today, he finally mustered the courage to come and catch up with his two uncles, and from start to finish, the Second Grand Master didn't even spare him a proper glance. How do you think the five cities and twelve towers will view Jiang Yun Sheng? In the end, your casual 'I don't care' is precisely the Grand Dao that Jiang Yun Sheng cannot control, even with his life on the line. Of course, Senior Brother can not care, thinking it's the natural Way, that ten thousand laws return to one..."
Dao Lao Er could least stand Lu Chen putting on this act. It was neither as natural as the Master's way nor as straightforward as the Senior Brother's. So he became a bit impatient and said bluntly, "Are you trying to get Shan Qing to take over Emerald Green City, or do you want Jiang Yun Sheng to take over?"
Jiang Yun Sheng sighed inwardly. Oh great, the Third Grand Master Uncle is talking nonsense over there, and it's dragging me down under the bus with him, isn't it?
He really didn't know if the Third Grand Master Uncle was helping him or harming him. If the Second Grand Master Uncle weren't present, this young master would have started cursing long ago.
In truth, Jiang Yun Sheng truly didn't care about the ownership of Emerald Green City. He had forced himself to come today because he had rarely spotted the presence of Uncle Lu. It would be better if Emerald Green City went to that newest little master uncle; that way, he wouldn't be pushed onto this stool. Because once he became City Lord of Emerald Green City, he would become very busy, with endless disputes. Having spent so long on Inverted Mountain, Jiang Yun Sheng was used to living a leisurely life every day: cultivating when there was work, flipping through books when there was none. Besides, given his realm and reputation, he had no qualifications to stand out and govern Emerald Green City, which was praised as the Little Jade Capital Palace.
Lu Chen chuckled and rubbed the little Daoist boy's head, "Go back now."
The little Daoist boy quickly made a bowing salute, took his leave, and rode the wind back to Emerald Green City.
Dao Lao Er transmitted his thoughts via mind voice, "You're just going to casually place an Outland Heavenly Demon into Jiang Yun Sheng's Dao heart like that?"
Lu Chen smiled and said, "I was bored."
Dao Lao Er reminded him, "You should return to the outer heavens."
Lu Chen just pretended to be dumb and shirked responsibility, remaining silent for a long time, then suddenly said, "Senior Brother, have you ever thought about the day someone might challenge you with a sword?"
Dao Lao Er said, "It's not uncommon."
Even though he was hailed as Truly Unmatched, there were still people in this Cyan Sky World who had challenged this Second Grand Master of the Jade Capital Palace with swords or questions of the Dao.
Lu Chen smiled and said, "I mean the kind of sword challenge that forces you to exert your full strength."
"Ah Liang? Bai Ye? Or Chen Ping An, who has ascended here?"
Dao Lao Er asked, "How long would that take to wait? Besides, whether it even happens is another matter."
Lu Chen raised both hands, lightly tapping his lotus-flower crown with two fingers, looking innocent: "You said it yourself, Senior Brother. I didn't say a thing."
Dao Lao Er smiled, "You truly are insufferably boring."
Lu Chen leaned on the railing, "I'm really looking forward to Chen Ping An's wanderings across this world. Who knows, by the time he sets up his fortune-telling stall, he might be more familiar with the ropes than I am."
Dao Lao Er said, "He probably needs a Ten Realm Divine Arrival martial artist's physique, plus the spiritual qi support of an Ascension Realm Qi refiner, to truly wield the sword and barely serve as a Sword Attendant."
Lu Chen said, "No need for such trouble. Just breaking into the Fourteenth Realm will do. Not as a Sword Attendant, but as the Sword Master's Sword Master. Of course, he needs to stay alive."
Dao Lao Er laughed heartily, "A little bit of anticipation. In eight thousand years of cultivation, I missed the ancient battlefield, and now finding a defeat is difficult."