Chapter 435: The Fire Virtue Star Lord Manifests! The Divine Mountain!

That ancient deity, blazing like the sun with his body coiled with fire dragons, had a crimson divine eye at the center of his brow. When that Crimson Heaven Eye swept a single glance over the cultivators within the Blissful Land, everyone’s vision turned blindingly white. An unbearable heat engulfed them, as though they had been cast into a boundless sea of fire.

Just one glance, and the heretical cultivators and demonic monks who practiced vile arts all turned deathly pale. Terror flooded their eyes, their souls nearly scattering in fright.

That terrifying severed hand let out a hoarse, guttural roar, filled with thick resentment and wrath.

“A mere severed remnant dares to break free of its bindings? Insolent!”

At this moment, Li Yanchu had transformed into the Southern Three Qi Fire Virtue Star Lord, his voice vast and commanding. His form was wreathed in coiling fire dragons, as he surged forward with unstoppable might!

Wherever the Fire Virtue Star Lord passed, endless divine flames spread through the void. These were the Samadhi True Fires, born from the Fire Virtue Star Lord Command Talisman, the Heaven-Illuminating Seal, the Five-Dragon Wheel, and those pseudo-mythical artifacts of flame!

Everywhere they swept, all traces of deathly qi, poisonous miasma, and ghost qi in the air were burned clean away. No evil spirit or malicious creature dared come near Li Yanchu in his current divine state.

Roar!

The severed hand bellowed once more. From its center rippled outward a wave of black energy, a sinister, ominous power trying to resist the Fire Virtue Star Lord’s Samadhi True Fire!

It loomed like a vast mountain, its form splitting into thousands of layers. Truly, it was a terrifying presence.

The fact that this severed hand had not been destroyed in the past, but only sealed within this Blissful Land of Mount Taoyuan, was proof enough of how dreadful its original master must have been. Perhaps it was that very being who once shattered this immortal’s Daoist domain.

Boom!

A sea of fire erupted across the land, and it was deafening, soul-rending, and world-shaking. The divine flames burst forth, directly shattering the aura emanating from the severed hand. The sacred fire then surged forward without pause, burning the black, ominous energy into nothingness, and slammed violently against the ancient, dreadful hand.

Boom!

There was another thunderous explosion. Firelight burst outward as the sea of flames engulfed everything nearby, tearing and devouring all in its path. Massive boulders were first blasted apart by the shockwaves, then lifted into the air, only to be consumed entirely by the divine fire and reduced to nothingness.

This was no ordinary battle between cultivators. It was as though a celestial deity of the Celestial Court was waging war against an ancient great demon from the dawn of time.

Just then, the Fire Virtue Star Lord strode forward in great, blazing steps. His radiance grew ever more dazzling, so brilliant it was impossible to look at him directly, like a blazing sun descending upon the mortal world. Blinding light surged from him, exuding an unparalleled divine might and rolling forth like a violent tide as he charged straight toward the severed hand!

The ancient hand transformed into countless overlapping shadows, its aura soaring in an instant, like the colossal Mount Buzhou[1] itself crashing down from the heavens, as if to crush Li Yanchu into pulp.

If an ordinary ghostly cultivator were to face such an ancient, forbidden primordial spirit, they would have no power to resist; their body and soul would both be obliterated beneath that crushing might.

But Li Yanchu was different. Behind him, divine flames swept through the void, manifesting sacred bows and swords, fire dragons and blazing crows, and even a Peach Talisman floated within the sea of fire.

The sight of these divine powers and treasures was enough to make any onlooker’s heart tremble.

With three heads and six arms, he held a mighty bow in one of his hands; his aura was overbearing, and his figure towered like a god.

Drawing the bow, he fired three consecutive arrows straight toward the massive hand, using one of the five pseudo-mythical weapons, the Cloudpiercer.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Blinding divine light exploded across the ancient, forbidden severed hand, unleashing terrifying waves of energy that crashed against the surrounding mountains, which caused devastation on a scale beyond imagination.

The hand’s five fingers reached to the heavens like mountain ranges themselves, stretching across heaven and earth, attempting to block the Fire Virtue Star Lord’s assault.

“Heretic fiend, perish!” Li Yanchu’s voice thundered like rolling storms.

Boom

!

At once, boundless divine fire poured down from the sky, inescapable and absolute. The Fire Virtue Star Lord’s divine eyes blazed like lightning as he commanded his divine armaments and directly refined the severed hand into nothingness. Not even ashes remained; it was completely, utterly annihilated.

Silence fell across heaven and earth. This battle between a celestial god of the Celestial Court and an ancient forbidden being ended with the Fire Virtue Star Lord refining the severed hand into oblivion.

Yet, Li Yanchu’s brows furrowed slightly. He had clearly witnessed the severed hand burned away by divine fire, disappearing completely without a trace.

But, there was no sound of the Great Dao, nor descent of merit or divine reward. Either that severed hand wasn’t truly destroyed... or perhaps, it wasn’t a complete living being to begin with.

The Crimson Heaven Eye on the Fire Virtue Star Lord’s forehead swept across the land once more; indeed, the sinister aura that had filled heaven and earth was now gone. It must have been because it was only a severed hand.

He frowned slightly but didn’t dwell on it. With a single thought, he withdrew the manifestation of the Fire Virtue Star Lord’s Dharma body.

Then, a yellow Peach Talisman appeared in his palm.

“I didn’t expect this talisman could actually summon the Fire Virtue Star Lord’s Dharma body. What a pleasant surprise,” Li Yanchu murmured to himself.

Although refining that terrifying severed hand hadn’t earned him any merit points from the heavens, Li Yanchu was still in good spirits.

He rejoined Zhang Wei, and the two prepared to continue exploring the Blissful Land. But the way Zhang Wei looked at Li Yanchu had completely changed, his eyes were now full of awe and reverence.

“Daoist Master Cao Cao... you’re not secretly some ancient cultivator who’s just been playing around in the mortal world, suppressing your cultivation to enter this Mount Taoyuan’s Blissful Land, are you?” Zhang Wei asked in astonishment.

“Eh?” Li Yanchu blinked, then said with mock seriousness, “Didn’t expect you to see through me. That’s right, this poor Daoist has been cultivating in seclusion under the Five Elements Mountain for the past five hundred years. Only recently did I break the seal and emerge into the world.”

“What!?” Zhang Wei cried out, utterly shocked. “Five hundred years!?”

He had never imagined that this “Daoist Master Cao Cao” was actually a venerable cultivator who had lived for over five centuries!

But... where exactly was this Five Elements Mountain? He had never even heard of such a place.

Zhang Wei suddenly felt painfully ignorant and narrow-minded. Meanwhile, Li Yanchu nodded slightly, smiling as he looked at him.

With a

thud

, Zhang Wei dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around Li Yanchu’s leg. “Senior Cao Cao, I had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai[2]! Earlier, I was arrogant in front of you, please forgive my offense!”

Zhang Wei was mortified beyond belief. Thinking back to how he’d carried himself earlier, with that faint aristocratic pride of his, he wanted to bury his face in the ground.

This “Senior Cao Cao” was a great Daoist immortal who had lived for five hundred years! What could possibly escape the knowledge of someone like that?

Li Yanchu smiled faintly and said, “It’s fine. I’ve been cultivating in isolation for many years, cut off from worldly affairs. There are surely many things about the secret realms of the current age that I’ll need to learn from you.”

Zhang Wei was thrilled.

At first, he’d thought he had met a young Daoist whose power might simply be unmatched among his peers, but now it turned out this was a hidden master, a Daoist immortal at least five centuries old!

His entire mindset shifted in an instant.

This is it,

he thought to himself.

I’m holding onto him for dear life!

“Senior,” Zhang Wei said respectfully, “once this exploration of the Blissful Land concludes, I would like to invite you to my humble home. I’d be honored if my family could also catch a glimpse of your divine bearing.”

Li Yanchu smiled faintly. “For us cultivators of the Dao, everything follows the heart. Let us speak of this matter later.”

Zhang Wei nodded eagerly, excitement bubbling in his chest.

He was already imagining how astonished his family would be when he returned home with the acquaintance of a true Daoist immortal.

I must find out what Senior Cao Cao enjoys,

he thought.

Whatever his interests, I’ll cater to them. I have to win over this Senior Cao Cao no matter what!

The two soon arrived before a towering mountain range.

The journey up to this point had been rather ordinary, but this mountain range was different. It looked as though an enormous dragon was lying prone across the land, emanating a terrifying pressure that made one’s heart tremble.

Li Yanchu frowned, gazing intently at the mountains. “The aura of this mountain... is strange.”

1. Mount Buzhou (不周山 lit. "Unrevolving Mountain") was an ancient Chinese mythological mountain which, according to old texts, lay to the northwest of the Kunlun Mountains, in a location today referred to as the Pamir Mountains. It is the mountain said to have supported the heavens, against which the Chinese water god Gonggong smashed his head in a fit of anger, requiring the goddess Nüwa to repair the sky. Nevertheless, once the spacer between the Earth and Sky was damaged, the land of China was permanently tilted to the southeast, causing all the rivers to flow in that same direction. ☜

2. This is such a classic line in wuxia, that I decided to translate it literally instead of localizing it.

For those of you that don’t know, the idiom “有眼不识泰山” literally means “to have eyes but fail to recognize Mount Tai.” Mount Tai, one of China’s most famous and revered mountains, symbolizes greatness and importance. Thus, the phrase describes someone who fails to recognize a person of exceptional talent, virtue, or status, even though that person is right before them. Figuratively, it refers to ignorance, lack of discernment, or unintentionally offending someone due to not realizing their significance. It’s often used as a humble or apologetic expression, similar to saying, “I didn’t realize who you were” or “I failed to recognize your greatness.” For example, if someone unknowingly speaks casually to a famous expert, they might later say, “我刚才真是有眼不识泰山,” meaning, “I truly failed to recognize greatness.” ☜