The Lord of Xuanwu Palace, Lianling Immortal, ultimately left in a huff. Li Xuan had no choice but to tidy himself up and follow Master Liuru to the Duchenghuang Temple.
Zhonglie Duke Wen was already waiting for him there. When Li Xuan stepped into the Duchenghuang Temple, Duke Wen imdiately appeared in his full deity form.
Li Xuan promptly paid his respects, "Disciple Li Xuan, pays homage to Zhonglie Duke Wen."
"Get up, neither of us are ones for formalities. There’s no need for all this. The etiquettes of Confucianism are to uphold laws, maintain principles, follow norms, and emphasize hierarchical order, but not in this context."
With a wave of his sleeve, Duke Wen lifted Li Xuan up with his divine power, "Moreover, I have not taught you much all along. On the contrary, you, Li Xuan, have done many favours."
Li Xuan shook his head, "Without your ’The Song of Integrity’, I would have died in Nanjing long ago. As a disciple, it’s my duty to serve you. And these small achievents of mine are the results of your strategic arrangents, just like water flowing along the canal."
If it hadn’t been for the original version of ’The Song of Integrity’ in his hands, which allowed him to sense and mimic it at all tis, Li Xuan would not have been able to cultivate his ’Liuli’ Hao Qi, which is almost equivalent to the divine level of Martial Law.
"I’m not that capable." Duke Wen gave a wry smile, his voice tinged with self-deprecation, "If you want to talk about strategizing, that’s Lv Qiluo’s rit. Apart from the path of literature, I don’t have any significant talents. If it hadn’t been for you this ti, I would’ve been toyed around by that Master Zhongliu."
Li Xuan’s brows perked up, "Do you know the origin of Lv Qiluo, sir?"
After hearing this, Duke Wen remained silent and simply looked at him with an ambiguous smile.
At this point, Lv Qiluo, who had appeared behind Li Xuan, watched its back with an amused look.
Li Xuan imdiately realized that he wouldn’t get an answer, so he changed his question, "The person who destroyed the Tiandi Altar, said to be known as Master Zhongliu, is he the sa Zhongliu from the saying ’Rowing Against the Current’?"
In fact, he had suspected this before because the ’Rule of Extre Heaven’ exhibited by the black-robed, one-ard man was strikingly similar to that of Zu Shizhi, the man famous for ’Rowing Against the Current’, as recorded in history books.
"I can’t tell you about the identity of Lv Qiluo’s friend for now, the ti isn’t right. When you have control over the ’Rule of Extre Heaven’ and can conceal it from the senses of the mighty heavens, you will naturally know."
Duke Wen first explained in response to Li Xuan’s previous question, then he said solemnly, "The man who destroyed the Tiandi Altar is indeed Zu Shizhi, just as you suspected. However, you can say he is Zu Shizhi, but he can also be deed otherwise."
Upon hearing this, Li Xuan was perplexed, sowhat confused by Duke Wen’s words.
Duke Wen continued to explain, "During the chaotic tis when the Xianbei disrupted Middle Earth, Zu Shizhi led a lone army to the north and seized a large part of Henan from Emperor Shi Le of Later Zhao. Unfortunately, plagued by the suspicion of his Emperor, and the unfortunate timing, Zu Shizhi was critically injured by Shi Le and his nephew, and subsequently died of heartbreak."
Before his death, witnessing the massacre of the Central Plains and the lantable fate of the common people reduced to slaves, he worried about the lack of strong support in the Southern Dynasty, which would inevitably lead to the complete fall of Central Plains into the hands of the Xianbei. Hence, he collaborated with Taichi Immortal Ge Xuan’s creation of secret techniques and turned his all-consuming obsessions and a fragnt of his Primordial Spirit into the current Master Zhongliu.
"So that’s how it is." Li Xuan responded, his expression finally seed to understand. He knew of Taichi Immortal Ge Xuan, the founder of the Zhengyi Sect of Taoism, and one of the Four Great Heavenly Masters.
Legend has it that he had lived for thousands of years and was proficient in divine transformations. His skills and abilities were enough to rival Zhang Daoling, the ancestor of the Tianshi sect.
Li then asked in confusion, "But if he is a manifestation of Zu Shizhi’s persistence, why would he act against the Tiandi Altar of Jin Dynasty?"
Duke Wen sighed slightly, "It’s because of his obsession, it has driven him mad. Although Master Zhongliu is not ntioned in history books, over the past few millennia, he has dedicated himself to resisting the Xianbei and preserving the Taoist tradition of Central Plains."
Unfortunately, despite his efforts, the Xianbei line of Sui Dynasty first unified the world, followed by Liao and Jin’s successive invasions into the Central Plains. The existence of Forr Yuan established by the Mongols dealt a severe blow to his Primordial Spirit and broke him. At the ti, I noticed sothing was wrong with him when we were fighting against the Forr Yuan, but I didn’t expect that he would lose his mind this much three hundred years later."
Duke Wen frowned at this point, "The Jinque Palace’s influence must also be taken into account. When Master Zhongliu learnt that the future history written by the Qianqiu Brush predicted that the reign of Jin Dynasty could last another nine hundred years, he couldn’t bear it."
He found it particularly unbearable that, this ti, not only would our Chinese lineage be severed, but the people of Central Plains would also change their customs and attire, and henceforth, wear loose hair and unrighted robes. As a result, Master Zhongliu ca up with a different idea. Instead of letting Jin be destroyed by foreigners, he’d rather destroy it with his own hands and then recreate the country within Central Plains. At the very least, it would not deteriorate to the state it would be in six hundred years.
Hearing this, Li Xuan asked in confusion, "But the history books of Jinque Palace should not be circulated outside, right?"
"They shouldn’t, after all, if these history books were released, it could lead to changes in future history. The people of Jinque Palace are bound by the Book of Jinque and are restrained by cosmic rules and regulations, they dare not violate the Qianqiu Brush."
However, two thousand years ago, Master Zhongliu sohow obtained so fragntary pages of the history book from within the Palace. These fragnts contained bits and pieces of information that revealed the trajectory of future events."
With a stern voice and a cold expression, Duke Wen continued, "At first, Master Zhongliu didn’t care. He believed in overcoming fate. However, continuous defeats shattered his confidence and will."
"However, even then, Master Zhongliu had no intention of bending with the wind. This ti he ca up with another idea. Since the carriage is destined to roll forward, if he can’t stop it head-on, then he will give it a push from behind and make it go so fast that it flips."
At this point, Lv Qiluo chid in: "Actually, this plan doesn’t seem unfeasible to . He is very clever, and this is the most plausible thod I’ve seen to fight against fate. But the price would be the death of countless common people in this world."
Zhonglie Duke Wen then said with a bitter smile: "I also wouldn’t want to witness the future six hundred years from now. What Master Zhongliu does is too extre."
"And over these centuries, I’ve felt that the barrier sealing heaven and earth, set by that unparalleled great power a long ti ago, is getting weaker and weaker. All sorts of deities and buddhas are interfering with this world, either overtly or covertly. "
"The Jin Dynasty was founded only three hundred years ago, and we have wise rulers and able ministers in office. But now, the state’s fortune is on the brink of collapse. The actions of Master Zhongliu, who might just be falling into the trap of so deity or buddha, seem to have been deliberately guided. I digress. Let’s put these historical ancedotes aside for now—"
At this point, he beca serious: "I summoned you here for two reasons. Firstly, to express my gratitude. Secondly, to entrust you with a heavy responsibility."
"A heavy responsibility?" Li Xuan answered without hesitation: "I would like to hear more."
"Wait a mont—"
Zhonglie Duke Wen did not answer imdiately. Instead, he raised his hand and beckoned to the front.
Li Xuan was bemused when suddenly a ball of light, radiant like colored glaze on the surface but infused with the vitality of blood within, was summoned from a distance.
"What’s this?" Li Xuan asked curiously.
"It’s my loyal-hearted token." Zhonglie Duke Wen gave the light ball a complex look. "Back when I was beheaded at Yuan’s court, my Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart turned into this token and fell into an open market, impossible for anyone to obtain. The Mongolian Shaman, Basiba, tried to claim it but was unsuccessful."
"After my death and divine enthronent, I was afflicted by seven types of poison which disrupted my spirituality, preventing from reclaiming it. Now, I don’t need it anymore."
Then he turned his gaze to Li Xuan: "Now bring out that divine treasure’s prototype that you obtained from the Leshan Giant Buddha."
"This—" Li Xuan had an inkling of what Zhonglie Duke Wen wanted to do. He hesitated a little, "This is your precious artifact made from your spirit and blood. Isn’t it inappropriate?"
"I need you to do sothing for , how can I not offer you so benefits? Moreover, amongst everyone in the world, only you and Yu Jie can handle this artifact."
Zhonglie Duke Wen smiled, "This loyal-hearted token contains most of the Rule of Extre Heaven. Yu Jie can’t use it as he doesn’t have a suitable object to contain it."
"Your Huntian Zhenyuan Tripod, when it eventually becos a fully-functional tool, will contain the ’Zhenya’ (suppression) of the Rule of Extre Heaven. If my ’Shouyu’ (defence) is added to it, it would be like a tiger with wings. Don’t you want it?"
Li Xuan thought, how could he not want it? He was rely being modest.
However, this ti Dugu Biluo didn’t co along, so Li Xuan had to send a ssage to her, asking Dugu Biluo to hurry to Chenghuang Temple.
Once Li Xuan placed the "Huntian Zhenyuan Tripod" in front of them, Zhonglie Duke Wen imdiately pressed his loyal-hearted token directly into this three-legged small cauldron.
He would just violently press his "loyal-hearted token" into the core of the "Huntian Zhenyuan Tripod".
With a boom, countless vermilion patterns started to sprout and spread on the "Huntian Zhenyuan Tripod".
What’s astonishing is that, although these threads covered the entire tripod, they didn’t have any substantial connection with the original formation of the "Huntian Zhenyuan Tripod". Yet, they coexisted harmoniously, not only without any interference but even complented each other, enhancing the overall effect.
The whole "small Ding" emanated a peculiar sense of beauty.
About two hours later, when Zhonglie Duke Wen saw that these threads had stabilized, he frowned, "This should be the limit of what the ’Huntian Zhenyuan Tripod’ can hold. There’s still a considerable amount of my loyal-hearted token left. Take out all the magical and immortal artifacts that you will not be replacing in the near future."
Li Xuan imdiately understood what Zhonglie Duke Wen wanted to do. A complex expression appeared on his face as he wondered if this was his destiny.
After hesitating for a quite a while, he placed his two immortal artifacts as well as the Wenshan Seal, the pair of Dari knives, Dayan Divine Shield, Xuanwu Heart-protecting Mirror, Yangyan Divine Gloves, Light-Thunder Wing, Infinite Ice Heart, Four Images Refining Primordial Furnace and so on, in front of Zhonglie Duke Wen.
Zhonglie Duke Wen gave a faint smile. With a raise of his hand, he transferred the remaining parts of his loyal-hearted token into all these immortal treasures and magical artifacts.
At this mont, including the bracer "Taotie" and "Wuqu Pojun", they suddenly exuded an overwhelming aura, shining brilliantly.
Watching this scene, Li Xuan was far from pleased. He knew this was nothing more than his third version of the "Righteousness" Suit arranged by destiny.
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