From a Zhengyi Taoist Child to a Master of All Laws

Chapter 609 Kunlun Appears

Li Yang left Qingcheng Mountain and rode the wind all the way north.

Kunlun Mountain, also known as Yujing Mountain, is the highest grotto-heaven and secret realm in Taoist legend. It is said that there are hermits and immortals on the mountain, and it was the Taoist temple of the Queen Mother of the West in ancient times.

Kunlun Mountain is the name of a mountain in the mythical Xuandu, a celestial abode of the upper realm. The scriptures say: "Xuandu Jade Capital Mountain, above the Three Pure Ones, is of the color of swallows and dust, upon which dwells the Jade Capital Golden Bright Seven Yin Mysterious Measure, the Purple Palace..."

Li Yang didn't know if the Kunlun Mountain during the time of Emperor Zhuanxu was the same as the Kunlun Mountain in Taoist legends, but there must be a connection between the two, and their legends must also imply something.

The Kunlun Mountains, currently recognized as a hidden mountain range, are located at the border of Qinghai and Jiangxi provinces in China. They stretch for 2500 kilometers and are characterized by towering peaks and extremely steep terrain.

Traveling through clouds and mist, Li Yang arrived above the Kunlun Mountains in just a few minutes. He frowned, landed on the mountain, and...

At this moment, Li Yang was extremely uneasy. The connection between the Ji Sword and the Da Yuan Sword was mostly just his conjecture. Neither historical facts nor the jade slip on Fangzhang Mountain contained any relevant records.

Moreover, even if the conjecture comes true, and the broken Great Abyss Sword is reforged, will it still be the Great Abyss Sword? Will it still retain the characteristics of the Great Abyss Sword and be able to open the ancient path on Kunlun Mountain?

At this time, the Kunlun Mountains were extremely desolate, with almost no trees, only endless grasslands and moss, and large areas of exposed gray rocks. Because of the high altitude, the mountains were shrouded in clouds and mist all day long. Standing in the clouds, all you could see was a gray haze, with dark clouds pressing down in the sky, creating a gloomy atmosphere.

This is a remote, desolate, and gloomy area recognized by the Chinese government. Even though it enjoys the reputation of being the highest Taoist grotto heaven, its spiritual energy is extremely thin. In the years before the spiritual energy revival, countless naive young people would search for treasures and seek good fortune on the mountain, but gradually, no tourists visited anymore.

Li Yang stood on a moss-covered boulder, looking around, and wondered if this was really the legendary Kunlun Mountain.

Li Yang took out the Ji Sword and the Zhuyin Sword from his storage ring and focused intently on observing the movements of the two immortal swords.

There was nothing unusual about them; the two swords, one blue and one black, looked like two pieces of dead iron, without making a sound.

Li Yang frowned slightly, but was not discouraged. The location of Kunlun Mountain has been controversial since ancient times. Moreover, the Kunlun Mountain under his feet is more than 2,000 kilometers long, and the ancient road may be sealed in other locations.

Holding the Ji Sword in one hand and the Zhuyin Sword in the other, Li Yang crossed the two swords in front of him, like a geological compass, and moved forward little by little in the thick fog.

As they traveled further and visited more and more places, Li Yang's heart gradually sank.

Just when Li Yang thought his trip was going to be fruitless, as he passed a mountain peak, the Zhuyin Sword in his left hand suddenly moved.
Li Yang stared intently at the two swords, and after confirming that it wasn't due to his trembling hands, his heart skipped a beat.

They carefully moved their feet on the mountaintop, slowly searching based on the abnormality of the Zhuyin Sword. Later, even the Ji Sword began to tremble!
found it!
Li Yang's heart was pounding in his chest. He immediately sat cross-legged, and his broken and cracked Yang spirit flew out, using his spiritual sense to examine every blade of grass and every tree on the mountain.

However, this time he actually found something unusual!

Because his spiritual consciousness was blocked by something unseen above this mountain peak!

It seemed to be a wall, transparent and empty, more than fifty meters above the ground. Both the spirit and the physical body could pass through it, but when Li Yang focused his spiritual sense on it, it was strangely blocked.

With his divine spirit returning, Li Yang leaped into the air and stopped in front of the wall he had just sensed.

As Li Yang approached, or rather, as the Zhuyin Sword and the Ji Sword approached, the wall became increasingly jarring in Li Yang's perception!

Extending his right hand, he passed straight through without any resistance.

Li Yang frowned and gripped the Zhuyin Sword and the Ji Sword again.

The Zhuyin Sword slashed past, but there was no movement. The Ji Sword slashed past, but the world before them remained unchanged.

After a moment's thought, Li Yang crossed the Zhuyin Sword and the Ji Sword, the sword light forming a cross, and slowly slashed down.

"Stab it!"

Finally, like the sound of a transparent sheet of paper being torn apart, the entire space was cleaved open where the cross-shaped sword passed in front of Li Yang!
The area cleaved by the twin swords gradually collapsed, and then a portal visibly formed, emitting a ghostly light that distorted the surrounding space.

Before he could be shocked by the methods of the ancient emperor Zhuanxu, Li Yang suppressed his complicated and incomprehensible feelings and stepped into the gate.

That's another world!
Two strange beasts, each over a hundred meters tall, flanked him from the left and right, exuding a violent and terrifying aura. This caused Li Yang's Nanming Sword to automatically manifest and protect him.

"Kaiming and Qiongqi, two ancient mythical beasts, I never imagined that even after thousands of years of death, the residual power of their corpses would still be so terrifying."

Li Yang sighed, noticing that both giant beasts were severely injured, especially the one on the left, which had a sword wound piercing through its skull, shattering all life force.

“It resembles a tiger with nine heads, standing facing east on Kunlun Mountain. This must be the legendary Kaiming.”

"It looks like an ox and has wings; this must be the ferocious beast Qiongqi!"

One of Qiongqi's wings was almost completely torn off, leaving it bloody and mangled. Even after thousands of years, Li Yang could still smell the blood in the air.

"These two strange beasts would be at least at the Earth Immortal level in modern times. Just how dark and terrifying was the ancient war that even such behemoths could not save their lives..."

Li Yang shook his head, his eyes filled with admiration. He also admired the loyalty of the two beasts. Even though they were seriously injured and on the verge of death, they remembered the orders given to them by the ancient emperor Zhuanxu and entered this place to guard the ancient road before they died.

Between the two guardian beasts stands a stone platform, which has remained untouched by the passage of five thousand years, standing quietly untouched by the elements.

At the very center of the stone platform was a stone tablet with two notches. One of the notches fit perfectly with the Zhuyin Sword. Li Yangfu, in a moment of inspiration, immediately inserted the Zhuyin Sword into the notch.
The entire space underwent a transformation, constantly shaking, like the first snoring sound of a giant beast that had been sleeping for thousands of years awakening, and the entire space was filled with flowing light.

As for the other slot, Li Yang tried to insert the Ji Sword for a long time but found that he couldn't. He guessed that when Emperor Gaozu forged the sword, he added some materials, and the Ji Sword should be larger than the Dayuan Sword.

However, this final step was no challenge for Li Yang. Without hesitation, Li Yang took the Nanming Sword and plunged it down, widening the entire groove and sending stone chips flying everywhere!

The size was about right. Li Yang retrieved the Nanming Sword and inserted the Ji Sword into the slot.

This caused the entire space to vibrate countless times more violently, and a beam of light rose from the stone platform, shooting straight into the sky.

The ancient road has been started!

As the ancient path was activated, the Ji Sword and Zhuyin Sword, which served as keys, were directly ejected by the beam of light and were once again stored in Li Yang's storage ring.

The beams of light continued to gather, swirling in the space, gradually revealing the phantom of a portal.

"After thousands of years, the ancient road has been silent for too long. Will it take some time to restart it?"

Li Yang calmly gazed at the gate and immediately understood the cause and effect.

"Perfect timing, I also have some things to take care of and some people to meet."

As he watched the portal solidify and restart, and the ancient road faintly visible behind it, Li Yang's expression gradually returned to calm.

Embarking on this path is fraught with uncertainty, and judging from what he intends to do in the Realm of Ultimate Truth, it is almost certain that he will die.

In his final moments, Li Yang was saying goodbye to this world and to some people.

As he slowly stepped out of the space, the crack in the portal was gradually healing. According to Li Yang's observation, it would take about another week.

The anomalies in the space did not seem to affect the outside world. Only the elk and yaks on the grassland sensed something and fled the area in fear.

"How should I say goodbye?" Standing above Kunlun Mountain, Li Yang murmured to himself, a look of melancholy on his face, as his figure gradually disappeared into the thick clouds.

His first destination was Mount Kailash in the western desert.

Mount Kailash remains perpetually covered in snow, with frost and snow as sharp as knives, and icy peaks rising straight into the sky.

This snow-capped mountain holds many legends about Li Yang. In the three and a half years since Li Yang's passing, it has gradually become a sacred place in the hearts of countless ascetics in China.

Li Yang had been through the snow-covered mountains and sensed the presence of many cultivators. Most of them buried themselves in the snow, meditating and regulating their breathing, using the bitter cold of the snow to temper their physical body, mind, and will.

They naturally couldn't sense Li Yang, and Li Yang didn't want to expose himself. With a flash, he skillfully opened the entrance to the Shangri-La Secret Realm in a secluded spot in the snow-capped mountains and stepped inside.

The secret realm was still set up as Li Yang had left it three years ago. Countless five-colored spirit stones were piled up to form a five-colored coffin, in which a female Taoist priest in white robes lay silently. Beside her, a fragment of a wooden sword emitted a green glow, nourishing the female Taoist priest's body.

"As expected of an ancient divine tree, just half a piece was enough to keep Yan Hong's body in peak condition for a long time, as if he had only been sleeping for a short time."

Li Yang became increasingly interested in the tower in the Realm of Ultimate Truth, which was entirely carved from Jianmu wood. Perhaps it truly possessed incredible power and could revive Yan Hong.

"Wait for me to come back, I will definitely save you!"

Li Yang held Chi Yanhong's hand, his eyes firm and resolute.

Because of the passage of time, Li Yang dared not stay in the secret realm for too long. He deeply engraved Chi Yanhong's appearance in his mind and turned to leave.

After leaving the secret realm and standing above Mount Kailash, Li Yang did not leave immediately.

On this mountain, there is another person who is very important to him.
"Little Zhuoma, when you return, your master will have already transformed this world into one without war or the threat of foreign invasion, so that you will always be you, my disciple."

No one responded to him. The little girl Li Yang had watched grow up, always smiling, with rosy cheeks from the high altitude, did not appear.

A wisp of mountain wind blew by, soaring high into the sky and ruffling Li Yang's robes.

Li Yang stared blankly for a moment, then turned and left.

The second location is in western Sichuan, where Sichuan meets the western desert.

There is a Soul-Gathering Lamp there, hidden in the void, constantly gathering the scattered soul particles.

Li Yang stayed by the Soul-Binding Lamp's side, listening to the sound of snowflakes falling all night, his eyes filled with melancholy.

At dawn, Li Yang shook the snow off his shoulders and headed west.

On the third day, Li Yang appeared at the foot of Wudang Mountain in Hubei.

Inside the Jingying Temple, the noise of people was still deafening, with worshippers coming and going in a bustling crowd. The incense ash in the temple's incense burner was rising high and overflowing.

After offering three sticks of incense, as the smoke rose into the sky, Li Yang gazed at the statue of the deity, remaining silent for a long time.

On the fourth day, Li Yang returned to the old site of Baiyun Mountain, where he taught Song Ling and Li Mengyuan, and passed on to Zhao Ziyao the next step of her cultivation as a ghost immortal.

The three were unaware that Li Yang's trip was actually to say goodbye to them. They were all smiles, flattered and surprised that they had actually enjoyed the treatment of a True Lord's personal disciple. They chattered and made a ruckus around Li Yang like three sparrows.

Today, Li Yang is exceptionally tolerant of the three people, and he tries his best to meet their demands as long as they are not too unreasonable.

After the sun set, Li Yang stood silently in front of his own grave, took one last look at Baiyun Mountain, and at midnight, disappeared like a wisp of smoke from before Zhao Ziyao and the other two.

On the fifth day, Li Yang arrived at Qingcheng Mountain, which was also his last stop before his departure.

Zhang Daoling sensed his presence and secretly flew over to meet him.

"Please, Celestial Master, return this Ji Sword to my disciple Liu Ming."

Li Yang calmly took out the Ji Sword and handed it to Zhang Daoling.

“Your three disciples are all very observant; nothing can be hidden from them. These past few days, the three of them have been surrounding me every day, trying to find out about you. They probably already guessed that you have been resurrected.”

Zhang Daoling smiled wryly and accepted the Ji Sword.

Li Yang remained calm and said indifferently, "It's alright. I've already made arrangements at the Baiyun Mountain tomb. They won't be able to detect it. Besides, for a long time to come, there will be no information about me in this world."

"You mean..." Zhang Daoling's eyes widened instantly, staring at Li Yang in disbelief.

Li Yang nodded calmly: "While I'm away, I'll leave this world in your care, Master."

"You've given this old Taoist priest another big problem..."

Zhang Daoling nodded, his smile growing increasingly bitter.

Realizing what Li Yang was about to do, Zhang Daoling's first thought was to stop him. However, Zhang Daoling also knew that, apart from the one lying on Mount Kailash, no one in the world could dissuade Li Yang.

Therefore, Zhang Daoling did not offer any advice, his aged face showing a hint of hesitation.

The two talked for a long time, and then Qi Qianshu also appeared. He was called over by Zhang Daoling to see Li Yang off on his final journey.

"If I find what I want in the Realm of Ultimate Truth and have the strength to launch a counterattack, I will find a way to inform you."

Qi Qianshu asked doubtfully, "Is there any signal that can serve as proof?"

"When that day truly comes, you will know."

"If that day never comes, this world will ultimately depend on the two of you."

After Li Yang finished speaking, he bowed deeply to the two of them.

May the Qi of all heavens be abundant and may my Dao flourish daily!

May the Qi of all heavens be abundant and may my Dao flourish daily!

They said their goodbyes and wished each other well. Just as Li Yang was about to turn and leave, he caught a glimpse of a figure hidden in the clouds a kilometer away.

"Feng Yun?"

Li Yang called out, and the figure hidden in the clouds trembled, then flew out of the clouds and flew towards Li Yang.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(Volume 8: Dragons Battle in the Wilds - The End)
(End of this chapter)