Chapter 458: Chapter 176: Destruction of Emperor Yan’s Statue
At 5 to 7 AM, two intangible waves manifested simultaneously within the chambers of the residence; almost concurrently, two Tao Primordial Spirits returned to their respective bodies.
Jiang Li opened his eyes, as the Three Elements returned to unity, the Three Flowers appeared at his crown, and a golden light enveloped him, quelling a trace of stabbing pain atop his Primordial Spirit.
Engaging in a soul fight, he admittedly gained some advantage, but he also paid a price.
"And moreover," Jiang Li reflected on the preceding exchange without changing his expression, "the true reliance of a Form Tomb practitioner lies in the Physical Body—not merely the Primordial Spirit, which cannot exhibit the full strength of Yun Jiuye. Fortunately, the same applies to me."
Yun Jiuye had not demonstrated his full strength, and neither had Jiang Li. As he advanced in the Three Elements holistically, his solitary Soul Emergence naturally could not exhibit his complete power, not to mention he had held back in his Primordial Spirit as well.
In his Sea of Consciousness, a soul body identical to his physical one emerged with a green light, and the acupoint on Jiang Li’s forehead flared wide open, resembling an eye opening at the center of his brow.
A faint green light seeped through the eye-like fissure, tinting the golden light as it gently rose, instilling one of the Three Flowers with a hint of blue.
Originally, from the Demon Refining Pot spilled a thread of Fuxi’s Blood, which tempered Jiang Li’s bloodline and also merged into his Primordial Spirit, laying a foundation for it. After familiarizing with it over time, Jiang Li had gradually grasped the subtle uses of Divine Essence. As strands of green light converged, the subdued stabbing pain began to lessen.
Time gradually slipped away, the Divine Essence Flower among the Three Flowers was now coated in a layer of green light, resembling a green lotus. And Jiang Li’s Primordial Spirit also pulsed faintly, dispelling the injury and advancing to the next level, becoming more rounded and harmonious.
When the sky outside transitioned from darkness to gloom, with a sliver of light appearing, Jiang Li reined in the green light, the slit on his forehead slowly closed, and the Three Flowers dispersed back into three strands of Qi, returning to his body.
He had recovered.
Injuries to the Primordial Spirit are more difficult to heal than those to the Physical Body, with even the slightest damage capable of causing days of dizziness and blurred vision. However, under the influence of the green light, Jiang Li had not even spent half an hour before his injury was healed.
It was unknown how Yun Jiuye fared in his recovery.
He too had been struck by Jiang Li, not severely, but injured nonetheless.
"Yun Jiuye suspects that there’s more than one Lawless Freedom character. He must have considered me a suspect too, hence the consecutive attempts to test me. It seems the Yin Law Department is quite anxious," Jiang Li pondered.
The more anxious they were, the more it indicated the Yin Law Department’s demand for the Book of Luo River Map. Unable to defeat the Great Venerable, they couldn’t directly attack him, so they had to seek through other means.
Even though they knew the chances of obtaining the Book of Luo River Map were slim, they still pursued it eagerly.
"If the Book of Luo River Map is a Dao Artifact, then it must carry the Dao Fruit of the Fuxi Sect. Does the Yin Law Department wish to acquire the Book of Luo River Map for the Fuxi Dao Fruit? And Fuxi’s power, it is of the same origin as Heaven..."
Ideas flashed through Jiang Li’s mind, and he seemed to grasp a certain inspiration.
To this day, he still did not understand why Fuxi’s power shared the same origin as Heaven, but one thing was clear: the Book of Luo River Map could perhaps influence Heaven.
And speaking of Heaven, one must mention the oaths on Jiang Li.
The oath between the Ji Family and Jiang family, along with his own vowed promise to He Feng, made Jiang Li pay considerable attention to any existence related to Heaven.
Moreover, since Yun Jiuye was an enemy to Jiang Li, it was natural to clarify his motives for targeted action.
As he contemplated, Jiang Li casually picked up Xiao Tian and stroked the dog’s head while awaiting the passage of time.
Daylight began to brighten, though gloomy as ever, it was at least no longer pitch black.
About an hour and a half passed when Jiang Li suddenly sensed a burst of Qi mechanism erupt like thunder, carrying with it a heavy aura of destruction.
Then, he heard Elder Tianpeng’s voice in his ear, "Jiang Li, come to the main house."
The voice was laced with obvious fury, clearly, something had infuriated Elder Tianpeng.
Jiang Li’s body floated up from the bed and the wheelchair automatically came forward, allowing him to sit down securely. The door opened to let him pass.
At the same time, the sound of a door opening came from the room next door.
Jiang Li, just leaving his room, turned toward the sound and saw Yun Jiuye walking out, his expression unchanged, giving no clue whether his Primordial Spirit had healed.
"Elder Yaoguang has erupted in anger; something big must have happened," Yun Jiuye said calmly as he met Jiang Li’s gaze.
"Indeed," Jiang Li nodded in response.
Neither showed any sign of hostility, as if the two had not clashed in a battle of Primordial Spirits on the street the night before.
They went to the main house together and saw that two elders and Ling Wujue were already there.
Ling Wujue and Elder Kaiyang resided in the wing rooms on the other side. It was said that Elder Kaiyang wanted to keep a close eye on his foolish disciple and intentionally had him stay nearby, away from Yun Jiuye.
At this moment, Elder Kaiyang’s face was stern, while Elder Tianpeng’s expression was so dark it seemed water could drip from it; the air around him carried a peculiar scent—that of the aftermath of a thunderstorm.
Clearly, the so-called big incident had made Elder Tianpeng so mad he seemed ready to strike.
Upon seeing the arrival of Jiang Li and the other, Elder Tianpeng spoke with a dark face, "The statue of Emperor Yan in the Two Saints Temple outside the city has been destroyed."
Hearing this, Jiang Li too showed anger, and even red patterns emerged on his face, "Disciple remembers that the adherents of the Taiping Sect are currently occupying the Two Saints Temple."
As the mainstream conduit for the teaching of the Three Emperors Sect, the Taiping Sect had adherents serving as temple priests in more than half the temples in the Nine Provinces, including Shu County.
The Taiping Sect was the prime suspect in the destruction of the statue of Emperor Yan.
"That’s right," said Elder Tianpeng heavily, "even before this, Divine Farmer Hall, where Emperor Yan’s statue stood, was already forbidden to devotees for worship. The Taiping Sect has shown intentions to abolish the statue of Emperor Yan and change the Two Saints Temple into the Yellow Heaven Temple."
These words seemed to confirm that the incident was, indeed, the work of the Taiping Sect.
And such an act by the Taiping Sect was a grave offense to Jiang Li, Elder Tianpeng, and the members of the Jiang family.
Emperor Yan was the ancestor of the Jiang family, to abolish his statue was like knocking down the ancestral tablets, and now the Taiping Sect had done more than that—they had outright destroyed it. And destroying this one icon was just the beginning; with the first incident, there would be a second. The Taiping Sect intended to establish the age of Yellow Heaven and the first step was to eradicate the faith in Emperor Yan.
This move was tantamount to a declaration of war against the Jiang family, and even now with the Jiang family’s waned influence, they had to make the Taiping Sect pay a heavy price.
"Then let’s go, to the Two Saints Temple."
Jiang Li collected his anger, but the red patterns on his face were now fully revealed, his skin clear as crystal, evidently displaying the appearance of the Divine Farmer.
"Such a great vengeance must be avenged with the blood of the Taiping Sect."
A deep murderous intent appeared between his brows, and it seemed as if the wind and rain outside had surged into the room at that moment, bringing with it the piercing chill of a lamenting storm and the grim cold of winter.