The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 365 Primordial Candle Dragon
Zhou Yan sensed that terrifying scar that ran across the entire Taishan mountain range.

Sensing the deep, ethereal aura emanating from it, his expression became slightly solemn—when his cultivation level was lower, he was completely unable to perceive the existence of this enormous wound.

At that time, all I knew was that because of the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, the connection between the Duke of Mount Tai and the human destiny was exceptionally close. Li Longji pulled off a shocking act that caused the Duke of Mount Tai's own realm to collapse. At this critical moment, he was assassinated by six figures who seized his Dao fruit.

However, as Zhou Yan's cultivation level improved, he gradually discovered the anomaly.

In any case, Lord Taishan was the "Pillar of Heaven" in the human realm before, the so-called "First-Rank Lord Taishan". Zhou Yan's opponents along the way, all of them at the third rank, were more troublesome than the last.

Transformed into the Jialing River, its raging waves require the sealing of divine consciousness by a dream—the third-rank water god, Qingyuan Jun, the master of the ancient Bashe.

Its vital energy was so immense that it required the seal of King Yu and the Qingqiu Kingdom to suppress it. The very equipment used to seal it contained the ancient dragon turtle, which was said to be a magical artifact of the ancient Heavenly Emperor Di Jun, as recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Both of them were at the third rank, and they both caused Zhou Yan a great deal of trouble.

With thousands of years of accumulated incense and Taoist cultivation, coupled with the fact that Mount Tai is essentially the remaining half of Mount Buzhou after being broken by a collision, the so-called first-rank Taishan Gong, even if it is exaggerated, could not possibly be killed by six fourth-rank individuals.

"Therefore, this is the injury that led to the death of the Duke of Taishan."

Zhou Yan composed himself and decided to investigate the place. He plucked a white hair from his temple and transformed it into an avatar, disappearing into the earth's veins of Mount Tai. He slowly approached the wound, only to find that it was much larger than he had seen before.

Stretching across the entire earth's veins, the fissures exude a cold and profound aura.

Even now, this enormous wound continues to erode the earth's veins, as if the attack that caused the fall of the God of Mount Tai has not yet completely ended.

"This is... the power of the water god?"

When Zhou Yan's clone touched the wound, his true body sensed it; his left arm stung slightly, and the chains of King Yu jingled, tightening subtly. Zhou Yan gazed at the wound, grinned, and said:

"Could this be the scar that Gonggong inflicted on Buzhou Mountain back then?"

"It's been thousands of years, and it's still not over...?"

"No wonder I kept feeling pain in my lower back when I was connecting the central pillar in Langzhong, so that's where the problem lies..."

Zhou Yan heard Chi You's voice in his ear, saying, "That's not right."

In his spiritual realm, Chi You frowned, his tone slow and solemn, no longer the carefree man he had been before, and said, "This is not the only wound here."

"Use my lineage to carefully comprehend..."

Zhou Yan nodded slightly and activated the "Soldiers' Destruction Technique". The true essence of the second peak of the "Soldiers' Destruction Technique" circulated within his body, greatly enhancing his sensitivity to the aura of war and the clash of battles.

"This is?!"

Zhou Yan immediately noticed the difference.

Under the perception of the God of War's divine power, three distinct auras were faintly floating on the massive crack that stretched deep within the veins of Mount Tai, constantly emanating a chilling aura—

One was as fierce as surging lava, another as cold as the winds of the netherworld, and yet the third was as upright and dignified as the sun shining brightly in the sky.

The three malevolent auras were intertwined and well concealed. If it weren't for the guidance of the War Lord, Zhou Yan would have overlooked them and noticed the more profound and dark aura instead.

"Killing intent, and three kinds at that..."

"Was Lord Taishan killed by three beings of divine or immortal level after the An Lushan Rebellion?"

Just gazing at this scene, one can almost see the afterimage of that battle from back then—the fall of the Duke of Taishan, the An Lushan Rebellion was merely a prelude, a grand scheme laid out to weaken the Duke of Taishan and create an opportunity for his execution.

Who killed the Duke of Taishan?

What role did Li Heng play in this process?
Those six figures, An Lushan, Qingmingfangzhu... etc., An Lushan is a pawn of [Shi], and Li Heng's side seems to have the Three Mountains overseas. Could it be that behind these so-called six paths, there are similar beings standing behind them?

Who are these three...? The Eternal Mother, the Three Mountains Overseas, or Shi, or the Gonggong lineage?
Names and titles flashed through Zhou Yan's mind. In a daze, he seemed to see various forces standing on either side of the peaceful land, their eyes filled with greed and hunger as they looked down at him.

Fuxi strengthened the order of the entire world and its resistance to external forces.

Even if they had the means to enter, their strength would be suppressed to the fourth rank.

In this situation, if they wanted to devour and occupy the Divine Land and return to the human world, then Emperor Li Longji at his peak and the First-Rank Duke of Taishan were their two biggest obstacles, and things that had to be eliminated.

That's it, that's it...

An Lushan, Yang Guifei, Li Longji, the Duke of Taishan, the fate of humanity, the Qin Emperor's Dharma realm...

"Hey kid, watch out!"

Just as Zhou Yan realized what was happening, Chi You's fierce shout exploded in his ears like thunder. The three opposing forces that had been locked in a stalemate before him suddenly erupted—

Seemingly sensing Zhou Yan's probing, it instinctively retaliated, like three powerful figures standing at the pinnacle. Zhou Yan's avatar couldn't withstand it for even a moment, and it collapsed instantly upon contact.

At that moment, the earth's veins of Mount Tai responded with a thunderous roar. The immense energy of the earth veins surged forth like an angry dragon, rushing in from all directions to continuously block the three evil energies. Rocks cracked, earth energy steamed, and the entire Mount Tai mountain range trembled violently.

However, blocked by layers of weakened ley lines, it was ultimately a fraction too late—

Zhou Yan felt a blur before his eyes, and the three evil auras broke through the many barriers and leaped out from the throne of the Duke of Taishan. Like ferocious beasts that smelled blood, they tore through the air and rushed straight at Zhou Yan's face!
That bloodthirsty aura assaulted my face, shaking my very soul.

"Is it targeting the God of Mount Tai?!"

Facing the weakened baleful aura, Zhou Yan showed no fear.

He raised his hand and let it fall.

Within his five fingers, he reversed the water and fire to transform into Kan and Li, and Kan and Li to transform into Yin and Yang, simulating the ultimate killing move of his own divine weapon, the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Sword. He raised his hand and struck the void with his palm, not directly contacting the evil energy, but exploding within three feet in front of it.

boom! ! !
The pure water and fire energies exploded in the palm of his hand, creating a torrent of vital energy that momentarily blocked the three streams of malevolent energy that were flying out. However, in that instant, the three streams of malevolent energy had already begun to spread to Zhou Yan's palm along with the ripples of vital energy.

In that instant, Zhou Yan was struck by a residual consciousness filled with malice.

Several fragmented images flashed through my mind: I saw a mountain collapsing, ten great suns shining in the sky, and the earth drying up and cracking, with divine blood scattering across the sky.

"...Divine erosion?"

Zhou Yan let out a muffled groan, his mind now at peace.

The 'world prototype' carried deep within his soul made Zhou Yan's mind far more stable than others in the same realm. On his battle robe, fierce flames rose up, directly protecting Zhou Yan's primordial spirit and burning away all the evil energy that had invaded it.

The Nanyue Battle Robe is specifically designed to counter all attacks that target the spirit and soul.

Zhou Yan channeled the Qi of the Five Elements in his palm and with a flick of his wrist, severed the wisp of malevolent energy.

At the same time, the power of the Taishan earth veins surged out, like an earth dragon coiling around, locking in the evil energy that flew out from the throne of the Taishan Duke. The three evil energies were only three inches away from Zhou Yan's true body, but they could not penetrate and were dragged back into the earth veins.

Three malevolent energies, like surging waves, restrained and controlled the earth's veins of Mount Tai; but the earth's veins of Mount Tai, in turn, imprisoned these three malevolent energies, forming a delicate balance on the wound left by Gonggong on Mount Buzhou in this ancient era.

This caused the Taishan ley lines to be unable to recover for a long time, leading to the tragic situation in the early stages when the demons occupied the mountains. It also trapped the three evil energies, preventing them from dissipating and turning the earth's energy into miasma, turning the entire Taishan area into a dead land. Zhou Yan opened his Dharma Eye and took in all of this.

Then, looking at his palm, he saw that one of the three streams of malevolent energy had been cut off and was trying to scatter. But Zhou Yan would not stand idly by. He used the Five Elements Qi to transform and evolve the [Doushuai Palace], which locked the three streams of malevolent energy tightly.

"What exactly is this……"

But when asked, both Ji Xuanyuan and Chi You, these two ancestors, said they did not recognize them.

After thinking it over, Zhou Yan put the matter aside for the time being and ordered that no one was allowed to approach the core area of ​​Taishan Prefecture. He breathed a sigh of relief, but he was still a little uneasy.

Anyone would feel uneasy if they had a bomb in their old home that had exploded sometime during the day, especially since, strictly speaking, Zhou Yan's predecessor as the Mountain God was killed by this very thing.

"God of Mount Tai..."

Zhou Yan sighed inwardly, feeling that the higher the divine position, the greater the power.

But because of its height, it naturally attracted attention and schemes from all sides.

He thought for a moment, then swept his sleeve, and the heavy armor and cloak transformed into a simple-looking Taoist robe. Reflected in the bronze mirror, he appeared as a handsome Taoist, wearing a dark blue round-necked robe, with a thin lock hanging at his waist, a bronze bell on his side, straw sandals on his feet, and his hair tied up with a wooden hairpin. He looked extremely simple.

"That's good."

Zhou Yan nodded in satisfaction.

Now, with the [Devouring Heaven and Earth] divine power, he wouldn't have to worry about his sleeve being torn. He took out an ancient scale armor and played with it in his hand. The scale was extremely thick and hard, and its entire body was covered in a dark red color. He didn't know whether it was a dragon or a snake.

Ba's voice rang in Zhou Yan's ears, saying, "Yan, aren't you going to interrogate that so-called True Lord Zhongyue?"

Zhou Yan said, "I'm not going."

"At this moment, he might be planning to use the information he knows to bargain with me. If I go now, I might end up being controlled by him because of the information. It's better to let him wait and see."

"It will be more effective to ask him when he starts to feel scared."

"Oh~~"

Ba's voice swirled in my ear: "Yan, you're so naughty."

"It's like touching Miss Li Zhiwei while keeping your eyes open to look at her—that's just as bad."

"Waaaaah, isn't having someone else enough for you?"

The ancient goddess Ba is feigning tears.

Zhou Yan pretended not to hear those words, especially since there was a sour taste in them. He touched the bronze bell at his waist. When fighting the phantom, the bronze bell had demonstrated its extremely strong ability to suppress space.

However, it seems that certain conditions are required to activate this bell, one of which is the Great Sun True Fire of the Three-Legged Golden Crow. But if that's the case, then does that mean we need to collect the remaining nine Three-Legged Golden Crows in order to truly use this treasure?

The three-legged golden crows are currently with An Lushan, but it's still unknown whether Shi has taken them away. If he has, then the trouble is likely to be immense.

Zhou Yan's mind was in turmoil. He kept An Lushan's movements firmly in mind, determined to go to Luzhou immediately after reaching Chang'an and kill the fatso. Then, holding up the ancient scale armor, he said:
Do you recognize this?

Ji Xuanyuan and Chi You were silent for a moment, then Chi You spoke, saying:
"Although I have never seen its true form, there are many records of it in ancient texts. If I am not mistaken, at least this scale belongs to the former [God of Zhongshan] [Zhulong] [Zhujiuyin]."

"The god of Zhongshan sees day when he looks up and closes his eyes when he closes them, blows when he is in winter and exhales when he is in summer. He neither drinks nor eats nor breathes, and his breath is the wind. His body is a thousand miles long."

Zhou Yan toyed with the scale armor, thinking about the phantom he had clashed with once. He paused for a moment, then said, "So, the phantom that bewitched Zhongyue to come to the Taishan ley line several times was Zhulong?"

Ji Xuanyuan said, "It cannot be confirmed. It may be a descendant of Zhulong, or it may be a god or demon who has obtained the power of Zhulong. The only thing that can be confirmed is that this scale armor definitely belongs to Zhujiuyin."

Chi You scoffed at this, saying, "Why think so much?!"

"No matter who it is, if we meet face to face, we have to fight!"

"If he were Zhu Jiuyin, and he planned to attack the human world, would you just stop fighting him? If he weren't Zhu Jiuyin, and he planned to attack the human world, would you just stop fighting him?"

"Since it makes no difference whether it's Him or not, why bother with all this nonsense?"

Chi You's words were quite carefree, displaying a calm and collected demeanor as he fought against heaven and earth. Zhou Yan couldn't help but smile and said, "I was overthinking it. Yes, whoever it is, in the end, we still have to fight!"

Chi You laughed loudly: "Yes, yes, these are my descendants."

"Speaking of which, it's best to deal with these scales. Since that phantom could appear through this thing and even fought with you, there must be his mark on these scales. It's not good to leave them untreated."

"Otherwise, if that phantom suddenly appears while you're cultivating and delivers a brutal blow, you won't be able to withstand it."

"How about we follow my method and mix this dragon scale with some rare materials to forge it into a set of treasures? Although this dragon scale is too small to be made into armor, it should be no problem to forge a heart-protecting mirror."

Ji Xuanyuan said, "I think this ancient dragon scale is full of spiritual energy. We can try to refine it again and turn it into an ancient talisman that can contain the power of the Candle Dragon. Throwing it out in battle would be a great trump card."

At this moment, these two ancestors finally put their knowledge to good use.

Zhou Yan's heart stirred, and he was quite tempted. But after tossing the dragon scales around, he suddenly remembered something and said, "I do have another idea?"

Chi You was enthusiastically talking about his creations when he heard this, and then he was taken aback and laughed.

"Kid, this thing needs to be dealt with. Is there any other method that's more reliable than me creating a method for refining a heart-protecting magic treasure for you?"

"Hahaha, that's really childish."

"Listen to me, refine the Candle Dragon Scales for me!"

Judging from his tone, it was clear that he, as the Lord of War, was getting excited—he had never obtained such a precious material as the scales of Zhujiuyin in his lifetime, and now that he had it in his hands, how could he not refine it into a treasure?!
That thing makes my hands itch!
Zhou Yan pondered for a moment and said, "It was said by the Goddess Nuwa."

Ji Xuanyuan and Chi You exchanged a glance. Upon hearing this name, the two immediately fell silent, signaling Zhou Yan to continue.

Zhou Yan recounts past events.

At that time, he had just learned this method of transformation.

When the Goddess Nuwa admonished him about various rules, she once said that he could transform almost any object in the world, such as the things that come into being, as if he could do whatever he wanted.

However, beings born innately need some special means. At that time, the goddess used the example of Zhulong, saying that if he could obtain a drop of Zhulong's blood, he could also become Zhulong and possess some of Zhulong's supernatural powers.

"Blood might work... but what about this Candle Dragon Scale? I wonder if that would be acceptable..."

"From a purely spiritual perspective, this scale armor seems to be just as valuable as blood essence."

If possible, wouldn't possessing this item mean one could have a top-tier technique of great transformation?

In an instant, Zhou Yan, Ji Xuanyuan, and Chi You all looked at the ancient, dark red dragon scale with extremely intense gazes.

The true form of Zhulong?!
(End of this chapter)