Chapter 263: The Mountain God, Ten Dragons Ten Elephants

After more than three months, Li Yanchu had finally returned to Wei City. Seeing this, the innkeeper was overjoyed. She immediately ordered the kitchen to prepare a lavish table of dishes to welcome him home.

Fang Qinglan, now serving as head constable at the Wei County

yamen

, had not left the inn either, choosing instead to remain.

As she gazed at Li Yanchu’s travel-worn figure, the innkeeper kept serving him food. “Eat more.”

Fang Qinglan, however, simply studied him with a subtle, indescribable look in her eyes.

The atmosphere at the table was warm and easygoing as Li Yanchu briefly recounted his journey beyond the pass, speaking of the Shaman Sect, the ferocious Bei beast from the

Classic of Mountains and Seas

, the Ba snake, and more.

The innkeeper and Fang Qinglan listened with rapt attention. “You’re saying that little girl called Feng Jiu was taken away by the Mountain God of Mount Qianyuan?” the innkeeper asked.

“Yes, though to be precise, it’s likely Feng Jiu sought out the Mountain God of Mount Qianyuan on her own,” Li Yanchu explained.

The innkeeper lowered her head and said nothing more. This time, Li Yanchu had returned to Wei City alone. Bai Hongtu had gone to Jinchuan, while Feng Jiu had embarked on her own fateful path.

Along the way, aside from killing a few blind bandits and fierce ghostly wraiths, nothing else of note occurred. The main reason was that the three of them had been traveling nonstop, making long-distance sprints at high speed, and only pausing briefly wherever they stopped.

Mount Qianyuan was a towering, rugged peak within Beifeng Prefecture, its slopes steep and majestic. It was there, in the mountains, that the three encountered the Mountain God.

The Mountain God of Mount Qianyuan appeared as a beautiful woman, clad in a thin hemp winter robe, her long hair tied into a coiled bun. Her demeanor was calm and serene.

After some thought, Feng Jiu chose to stay with the Mountain God of Mount Qianyuan, and Li Yanchu made no move to stop her.

The Lantern Festival was on the fifteenth day of the first month

After parting ways with Feng Jiu and Bai Hongtu, Li Yanchu activated his Cloud-Riding Immortal Physique and headed straight for Wei City.

He managed to return precisely on the day of the Lantern Festival.

What surprised him was that three days earlier, on the twelfth of the first month, Celestial Master Zhang of Mount Longhu had left Qingyun Temple, saying he had business to attend to.

He still had not returned.

According to the innkeeper and Fang Qinglan, during this period Wei City had seen no shortage of supernatural disturbances, all of which had been dealt with by this seemingly unkempt old Daoist.

With a yellow paper umbrella, shifang shoes, and a blue Daoist robe, though this Mount Longhu elder was not well-known in Wei City, to the eyes of demons and heretics he was a towering figure.

Because of his presence, incidents of evil spirits and malevolent forces in and around Wei City had greatly decreased in recent days.

Li Yanchu was happy to enjoy the peace and quiet, though for three days straight he still had not seen this cheap senior uncle of his return.

In the temple courtyard, Blackie the donkey remained lively and full of spirit, his spiritual aura even heavier than before, yet outwardly still just an ordinary donkey, neither bigger nor tougher in appearance.

The old Daoist’s quarters were a bare, single room, with no possessions to speak of.

Li Yanchu’s life returned to tranquility.

***

In his room, Li Yanchu sat in meditation with his palms and soles facing upward, and his mind united with his core.

During the days of hurried travel, although he had little time to practice martial arts, his Daoist arts had advanced greatly.

He had finally caught a first glimpse into the mysteries of Mount Longhu’s Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram Visualization Method!

His primordial spirit had grown much stronger, something that closed-door cultivation alone could not have achieved.

This primordial spirit visualization could be used both for magical duels and to temper the soul. He had not yet had the chance to engage in a battle of primordial spirits with anyone, so he could not test the true power of this visualization method.

In addition, his mastery of Daoist arts had made great strides; his

Qi Sight

,

Telekinetic Retrieval

,

Flame-Sitting Art

,

Sun Veil

, and

Fasting Art

had all deepened in comprehension.

He had also become far more adept at wielding the Eight Great Daoist Divine Mantras.

The

Calming Heart Mantra

could break illusions, while the

Mouth-Cleansing Divine Mantra

could interrupt an opponent’s casting of dark sorcery. Both were extremely practical mantras of true Daoist magic.

Li Yanchu had not begun learning any new Daoist arts, but instead took out three martial arts manuals to enhance: Primordial Chaos Technique, Divine Astral Hands, and Six Yang Saber Art.

The power of these three martial disciplines was already at the level of Daoist arts; in fact, many Daoist techniques were not as formidable as these three!

They could both harm and defend against demons and monsters, their potency reaching the tier of

arts

.

“Enhance!”

As Li Yanchu spoke the word, a surge of the Great Dao’s tide swept over the Divine Astral Hands manual, and the words and illustrations on its pages began to shift and transform.

The martial art’s level rose once again.

This time, Divine Astral Hands gained twelve exquisite new moves, encompassing the essence of fists, palms, fingers, and kicks. It also contained methods for tempering muscles, bones, skin, and membranes, greatly strengthening one’s vital energy and blood.

If he mastered them all, Li Yanchu’s physique and vitality would rise to an entirely new tier.

- 1,000 merit points!

Unlike talisman enhancement, the last time he enhanced this martial art it had also consumed 1,000 merit points.

Divine Astral Hands could be cultivated to produce the power of Ten Dragons and Ten Elephants.

However, Li Yanchu wasn’t entirely sure what that “dragon-elephant strength” truly entailed.

Next, he proceeded to enhance Primordial Chaos Technique and Six Yang Saber Art.

Primordial Chaos Technique was a defensive art, and this enhancement primarily enhanced the power of his Qi Shield. Li Yanchu had a hunch that if he mastered the enhanced Primordial Chaos Technique to its peak, even those special techniques that broke through defenses would no longer be able to pierce his shield.

For example, Xiao Ce’s lightning-fast saber, or the claws of that demon wolf.

I should stack defense,

Li Yanchu thought to himself.

After all, his body’s muscles, bones, and skin were already extremely tough and impervious to sabers and spears, as well as resistant to spells.

And with the divine Daoist artifact talismanic armor protecting him...

Yet he still couldn’t resist the urge to “stack shields.” He wanted to pile on the thickest armor, take the deadliest hits!

As for the Six Yang Saber Art, this was an extremely fierce and pure-yang saber art. Its power was immense, capable of producing Six Yang Force to burn away monsters and demons.

After enhancement, its consumption of vitality was much reduced, while its body-forging effect increased severalfold.

By Li Yanchu’s rough estimate, if he mastered all three enhanced martial arts to perfection, even without using the talismanic armor, he could defeat Xiao Ce, who had mastered the Six Yang Saber Art.

Previously, when they sparred in the Daoist temple without the armor, they had been evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand.

After enhancing the martial arts manuals, Li Yanchu also enhanced several batches of blood-replenishing and vitality-boosting pills.

These were based on Daoist alchemical formulas; not particularly miraculous, but far superior in effect to the tonic soups and medicines of the mundane jianghu. They did, however, require some skill in alchemy to refine.

Now that Li Yanchu had already reached the second realm, he refined two furnaces of these vitality pills.

After enhancement, these pills were more than enough to meet the immense vitality demands of practicing such peerless martial arts, ensuring his body wouldn’t be destroyed by the training.

When all was said and done, he had spent a total of five thousand merit points! In the past, that would have been an astronomical sum for Li Yanchu.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

But now, with over two hundred thousand merit points in his possession, he was wealthy beyond measure, and not the slightest bit pained by the expense.

In the days that followed, he devoted himself daily to cultivating the

Yellow Court Classic

, deepening his comprehension of Daoist arts, and training in those three peerless martial disciplines.

It was not until the seventh day after his return to Wei City that the old Daoist from Mount Longhu finally came back to Qingyun Temple.

His aura was withered, his face haggard, and he looked like an old man in his final flicker of life.