Chapter 73: Enduring for Six Hundred Years
Chapter 73: Enduring for Six Hundred Years
“Master Uncle Zhao, I want to enter through my own abilities,” Zhi Mo refused, his young voice brimming with stubbornness.
“The Headmaster permits direct entry to the Inner Sect.”
Zhao Zheng sighed. Having known Zhi Hua for years, he regarded her family as his own. Her son naturally became his junior.
“Please tell Grandpa Xue I need to prove myself.”
Little Zhi Mo stood firm.
“Good!”
Zhao Zheng said approvingly. Having fought demons in the Border Wasteland for decades, he respected such determination.
“This demon ape illusion tests mental fortitude. The weak-willed succumb to its demonic aura.” Though allowing the attempt, Zhao Zheng disclosed the trial details before leaving. Since the test measured endurance under a demon king’s pressure, revealing this wasn’t cheating—only preparation. True perseverance still depended on the individual.
“Thank you, Master Uncle.”
Zhi Mo relaxed. Zhao Zheng could’ve easily dragged him back otherwise.
Grandpa Xue?
Master Uncle Zhao!
Brother Mo! We promised to stay poor together! Now you’re some big shot’s nephew? Heaven List experts call you family? Secured entry to Tai Chu Immortal Gate? Where’s the trust between friends?
The little beggar stared blankly. He’d only wanted to glimpse a Heaven List strong individual. Now he’d not only met one but learned his roadside friend was connected to such big shots.
“Let’s go. I’ll pass through my own strength.”
Zhi Mo faced the pressure squarely, trudging toward Tai Chu Immortal Gate.
Zuo Meng observed from his high platform as Zhao Zheng returned. He’d founded these clans to usher in cultivation, discarding ancient energies. Now they meant little to him—wealth, fame, status held no value. Only spirit mattered.
The spirit of living beings. Thought.
This era’s discovered power, harvested from Jie Ming’s residual soul. The golden shadow and others likely sought the same essence.
“You didn’t return just for this.”
“The demon emperor found a ten-thousand-foot abyss in the northern wilderness. The court requests your aid.” As Great Chu’s Prince Xing and royal family ancestor, Zhao Zheng outlived all court members except Emperor of Chu and National Master.
Northern wilderness?
Ten-thousand-foot abyss?
Zuo Meng’s eyes narrowed. Normally he’d believe such reports—he rarely interfered with worldly affairs. But who knew this world better than its creator? The northern crack in his memory wasn’t ten-thousand feet deep, nor housed ancient beings. With Zhao Zheng’s half-step harmony with the Dao cultivation, such ignorance was impossible. This went deeper than stated.
After studying his disciple, Zuo Meng spoke.
“I’ll go. Inform me when you depart.”
“Gratitude, Master. I take my leave.”
Zhao Zheng bowed before turning to Du Fan.
“Junior brother, join us. This concerns both court and demon tribe—they’ve ceased war for it.”
Du Fan remained expressionless, ignoring this former friend completely from start to finish.
Seeing Du Fan’s silence, Zhao Zheng said nothing more. He turned and bowed, then mounted his flying sword and vanished into the sky with a whoosh.
“The imperial court has grown more restless these past years.”
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A disciple couldn’t hold back from speaking.
“Senior Brother Zhao might have forgotten he’s a disciple of Tai Chu Immortal Gate.”
While Zhao Zheng was present, his imposing aura had suppressed everyone except Du Fan and a few others. Now that he left, complaints poured out.
“Enough. Silence.”
Du Fan, who had been quiet until now, cut them off. An aura matching Zhao Zheng’s radiated from him, instantly silencing the crowd.
“Master… you should be wary of Zhao Zheng.”
“Did he wrong you? Why not settle the score?”
Zuo Meng recalled his disciple didn’t have this temperament when first accepted. Or maybe he remembered wrong – not that it mattered.
“He remains my senior brother.”
After brief hesitation, Du Fan spoke these words.
This single sentence bored Zuo Meng. The Headmaster dismissed the nameless disciples and returned to being a lazy fish in the mountains. Let acting Headmaster Yu Ruyi handle disciple evaluations – she managed well without his interference.
Zhao Zheng reached the capital swiftly after leaving Tai Chu Immortal Gate.
A peak Transformation God cultivator half-step into harmony with the Dao moved faster than ordinary people, especially as a sword practitioner.
“Well?”
A silhouette emerged from palace shadows – National Master Zhang He. Among the earliest Transformation God cultivators, his potential had dried up long ago, forever stuck at the basic Transformation God level unlike the rising Zhao Zheng.
“I couldn’t gauge his true power.”
Zhao Zheng’s face darkened as he glanced back toward Tai Chu Immortal Gate.
This visit wasn’t just to pay respects – he aimed to measure the former world’s strongest man.
“Our Blessed Ground remains less stable than Tai Chu Immortal Gate’s. I suspect Master Xue found divine treasures back then.” Passing through a moon gate as they spoke, they entered another realm.
The imperial Blessed Ground!
This self-made sanctuary gave the court courage to challenge Tai Chu Immortal Gate’s authority.
“Evading your perception means his cultivation matches yours at minimum.”
“He might’ve achieved full harmony with the Dao.”
The Chancellor and Emperor of Chu appeared in the Blessed Ground. The old eunuch who once delivered messages to Zuo Meng had died long ago, unable to withstand time’s erosion.
“He’s the world’s first Transformation God cultivator. Not an easy foe.”
“Master Xue must die!”
The Emperor of Chu had waited six centuries. Now with accumulated power and Zhao Zheng’s half-step Dao harmony, he’d remove this instability. No ruler tolerates an overlord above them – his patience existed solely for this reckoning.
“While he lives, Great Chu can never rule the cosmos.”
“What’s a high cultivation realm? Killing needs no frontal assault. Superior strategies conquer…” The Chancellor’s whisper hung in the air.