Chapter 266: 242 Hope, Part 2

Half a month later…..

Great Spirit, extreme north, Celestial Solitary Mountain.

Vast snowfields cover the land.

On the snowy mountain where the gray-black stone ground looms, at the very top.

There is a cluster of black stone architecture, quietly standing among the mountains, bathing in wind and snow.

The architectural complex has slightly upturned eaves, sharp black tile roofs, and walls frozen with large chunks of ice and frost.

From afar, these buildings resemble a large bunch of black lotuses clustered together.

At the heart of these lotuses, is a square nine-tiered pagoda.

Most of the pagoda’s structure has already frozen, merging with the snowy mountain like a bas-relief sculpted from the rock wall.

This is the headquarters of Snow Rainbow Pavilion.

Also the place storing the most martial scriptures in the entire Great Spirit.

At this time, the wind and snow are intensifying, avalanches occurring at some places on the snowy mountains.

Animals surviving in the northern regions have long found their caves to hide, to escape the harsh climate.

Yet from Snow Rainbow Pavilion, three figures ignore the snow and wind, swiftly descending the mountain along stone steps that resemble ice sculptures.

On one side of the stone steps is a bottomless abyss, on the other is a towering snowy mountain.

The edge near the abyss on the steps is adorned with rows of crystalline icicles.

As if water lines about to drip after melting, again freeze solid in mid-air.

These stone steps, so congealed, should be incredibly slippery.

Yet the three figures emerging from Snow Rainbow Pavilion stride as if on flat ground, swiftly and nimbly.

All three are cloaked in black capes, and even their heads are concealed.

The cloak is as wide as two meters, blown fluttering by the cold wind, constantly flying backward, revealing a glimpse of the gray-black military leather armor worn by the trio.

But the cloak can only conceal body contours, not height.

The person in the middle of the trio stands at over two meters and thirty centimeters tall.

The other two are also over two meters tall.

Imposing a formidable and robust impression.

Ka.

Suddenly, the trio slows their steps, pausing on the steps, looking downward.

In the view of the trio.

A chubby figure is steadily ascending the stone steps, heading towards the mountain.

The person seems to have just noticed the trio, raises his head, revealing a chubby and amiable face.

“Ah, isn’t this General Zhou Yan? What a coincidence to meet you here.”

The newcomer is none other than the Sect Leader of Great Dao Teaching, the current Daoist Chongxuan, Yue Dewen.

“General Zhou, in such a rush, must be heading off to accomplish some major task?” Yue Dewen asked with a smile.

“Sect Leader Yue, after so many years, you remain as sprightly as ever.” The person in the middle of the trio raises his head, lifts the hood of his cloak, revealing his face.

It is a face adorned with a dark metal forehead ring, cold and indifferent.

His entire body is exceptionally broad and strong.

Even his facial features are larger than average.

His eyes, black and white, remain still like a sculpture amid wind and snow, gazing downward at Yue Dewen.

“General Zhou flatters me. I’m just slightly more adept at maintenance compared to the average person.” Yue Dewen replied with a smile.

The two eye each other for a few moments.

Zhou Yan’s physique is nearly twice the size of Yue Dewen, standing at a higher position.

But strangely, their confrontation exudes an aura of equal intensity.

“General Zhou, not cultivating within the pavilion, being dispatched this time, should be under orders to head to Citong, correct?” Yue Dewen abruptly remarked.

“…..” Zhou Yan remained silent.

As part of Snow Rainbow Pavilion, he takes orders only from the royal family, disregarding any other forces.

The earlier politeness was merely out of lingering respect for the second-best martial arts master in the world before him.

But that’s all.

After all, the esteemed master is already over ninety years old.

Yue Dewen unapologetically continued with a smile.

“Speaking of which, my household also has a foolish lad currently in Citong, and I came this time for him.

The incident that occurred in Citong, the Commandery Princess’s disappearance, I am certain has nothing to do with my lad.

So I ask General Zhou to be merciful when dealing with this matter.”

“I will act according to the law, disappointingly for Sect Leader Yue.” Zhou Yan replied solemnly.

“Of course, of course. Should my lad actually be at fault, naturally, justice must prevail.

But….” Yue Dewen’s amicable smile slightly paused, a hint of coldness flashing in his small eyes.

“Only in cases where General Zhou must personally assess, I ask for your consideration.”

He instantly resumed his amiable smile.

“After all, in these times, finding a suitable and satisfactory successor is no simple task…. I have been searching for twenty full years…”

“I understand Sect Leader Yue’s intentions.” Zhou Yan’s pupils slightly contracted, feeling a tingling sensation on his skin from that gaze.

“That’s good, that’s good~~~” Yue Dewen smiled, “Speaking of it, I believe my lad won’t be involved in anything. After all, he’s still young, still a child. Sometimes, children being unwise is quite normal. But should it be said he could accomplish major feats, create major troubles, that would be unjust.

In this day and age, if any adult is petty towards a child, that’s quite lacking in grace, isn’t it?”

He continued ascending, step by step, the stone steps.

“By the way, I heard the right military chief of Snow Rainbow Pavilion has already traveled to King Zhending’s residence, General Zhou must not take the wrong path…. This edge on the steps, tsk tsk tsk… so high, so high…”

He theatrically glanced at the edge of the bottomless abyss, his tone exaggerated.

The two brushed past each other.

Soon, Yue Dewen’s figure disappeared at the end of the stone steps, approaching Snow Rainbow Pavilion.

Zhou Yan said no more, merely donned his cloak again.

“General, what about us…?” the adjutant beside him asked in a deep voice.

“Since Grandmaster Yue is personally guaranteeing, we’ll just give him some face then,” he replied quietly.

Even in the last incident involving that Daoist, Yue Dewen hadn’t protected him so fiercely. This time, it seems Great Dao Teaching is not planning to back down.

And that new Daoist is definitely not as simple as the surface information suggests.

Moreover…

The Right Army Commander and King Zhending… compared to the struggles and games between these two great figures, his side is merely a small ripple.

The pressure from above is relentless; now it depends on how King Zhending responds.

*

*

*

The disappearance of Princess Yongxiang did not cause a commotion immediately.

After all, returning from Citong to Great Capital, traveling slowly, would take more than a month. Half a month is far from enough.

It was only due to someone using special methods to send information back early to Great Capital.

After Zhang Rongfang returned to Far Star Residence, he no longer continued living there, instead finding an abandoned Daoist temple near Citong, renovating it, establishing it as Great Dao Teaching’s headquarters in Citong.

Externally, after communicating with the Prefect’s office, he received silver coins allocated from Citong and began hiring craftsmen to build the Dao Palace.

The Rebel Sect gradually calmed down, White Ten Sect suffered heavy casualties, and their sole Archbishop fled overseas in terror after the last siege.

The entire Citong returned to tranquility, seemingly regaining peace.

But all the higher-ups understood, that this is merely the calm before the storm.

Princess Yongxiang’s serious injury and disappearance will inevitably provoke the Spirit Court’s fury, and when the time comes…

It seems to avoid trouble, Taizhenzi has disappeared too, not sure whether escaped or went abroad.

For a moment, Citong ushered in its best period of law and order ever.

Ding.

Inside Agarwood Temple in Citong.

Zhang Rongfang sat cross-legged quietly in front of the Pill Furnace, his face flushed red from the flames inside the furnace.

The Western clock beside him emitted a crisp chiming sound, indicating the scheduled time had arrived.

Picking up the spatula, Zhang Rongfang stood up, removed the lid with thick insulated cotton, and stirred vigorously inside with the spatula.

The black paste inside kept bubbling densely.

Bubbles rose, burst open, splattering drops of black paste around.

The spatula stirred again and again inside, emitting waves of white steam.

Zhang Rongfang skillfully turned off the flame, lifted the basin, and placed it into the cold water pool.

Hiss.

White steam surged upwards.

Taking a bit of the ointment with a wooden spoon, he blew on it to cool it, and tasted it.

“Finally done…”

This batch of ointment needed for the third level of Golden Toad Skill was finally completed.

Despite having all the materials needed, he had ruined five batches before finally completing it.

In half a month, Zhang Rongfang had accumulated three attribute points, adding to the previous three points.

Now he had six points.

This time, he did not use them all on martial arts.

It’s not that he didn’t want to, but….

With the decline in life value, he couldn’t increase the number of Super Grade External Medicine attempts anymore.

Simply put, he had previously relied on high life value to increase martial potential, allowing him to break through to more than five External Medicine attempts.

Otherwise, even with attribute points, he would face the same awkward situation as before: physical talent at its limit, attribute points unable to enhance martial arts.

Originally, with the rapid increase in life value, Zhang Rongfang had almost forgotten his previous mediocre aptitude.

Anyway, Cultivation of Literature increases life, and sufficient life value can increase the martial potential limit.

But Golden Toad Skill’s significant depletion of life forced him to face the problem again.

’I can only halt improving martial arts and fully focus on enhancing Golden Toad Skill!’

This was his decision.

His martial arts had reached seven times of External Medicine attempts, combined with numerous Limit-Breaking Skills and Extreme State, could basically contend against internal methods.

Actually, it was temporarily enough.

In a place as abnormal as Great Capital, this level of strength naturally didn’t amount to much.

But this was Citong.

As long as he didn’t stir up trouble… everything was peaceful.

More crucially, after opening the hidden stash, Zhang Rongfang increasingly sensed a possibility of severing ties with the Spirit Court.

Therefore, he must seize this stable period and quickly max out Golden Toad Skill!

“Chen Han, go and bring me the smallest balance scale,” he called out, turning his head to the other side.

The pills were fine; next came the real deal.

“Yes.” After resting for some time, Chen Han’s strength had returned to normal.

It seemed that the spiritual line damage wasn’t truly permanent.

Zhang Rongfang noted this pattern to himself, planning to revisit Rebel Sect’s side to examine their research records.

Of the three Spiritual Veins of Princess Yongxiang captured earlier, two had been killed so far.

Also, one was on the verge of death.

In the past half month, Zhang Rongfang had revalidated many experiments from Eastern Sect.

He confirmed certain details of the spiritualization individuals.

’I hope the third level will reduce life value less… this cultivation technique truly isn’t suited for humans….’

Taking the balance scale, Zhang Rongfang began carefully weighing to determine the consumption amount.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep