Chapter 368 - Shen Lian Here
The jade tree kept growing until it reached a height of ninety feet. Qing Xiao sat underneath the jade tree.
The silver flowers of the jade tree were not comparable to the beauty of Qing Xiao. They were enhancing by contrast.
She sat cross-legged underneath the jade tree and rested her hands on the knees. Her face had no expression, and it was not muddled by any dust. Her clothes were no longer green but were, instead, greenish purple.
Shen Lian could not tell whether the person here was Qing Xiao or Ziling.
He never considered himself someone who was fond of women, but at that moment he was infatuated with the grandmaster's beauty.
Beyond her, there were just ten thousand feet of the secular mortal world. In contrast, it enhanced the grandmaster's nobleness.
She was not affected by Shen Lian's infatuation. She said, "Shen Lian, for the following three days, please don't let anyone walk up the altar."
Shen Lian nodded, and he turned to look at the palace which was approaching from far. He then rose slowly, to the front of it. At the back of him was the Milky Way water curtain. The Milky Way was born from the void, and it flowed underneath the feet of Shen Lian. It then blended into the Milky Way water curtain of the altar.
Shen Lian finally understood one thing, that the vastness of the Milky Way was beyond anyone's imagination. It could flow to any corner of heaven and earth.
The Milky Way Sword Seed could help him get into the real Milky Way channel. Using the channel of Milky Way, he could go to other places which were once conquered by the heaven courtyard. He need not transcend beyond the mortal world to leave.
This was not any less precious than the Jinque Jade Booklet.
The grandmaster did not have any hesitation before handing the sword seed to him.
The palace kept shrinking, and then it fell on the hand of a sage-like middle-aged man. He did not have to get angry to show his authority. The flow of his superb mystique was akin to playing a chilly ancient music.
The middle-aged man was not just anybody, but the most outstanding person from Guangqing Celestial Sect, or so-called Yuming the Honored Celestial.
While the immortal Zhenren had taken steps to becoming a celestial, the honored celestial was not something every immortal Zhenren could become. One could only imagine how powerful this person was.
On his sides stood an elderly and a beautiful Daoist nun.
The three greeted Shen Lian, and the elderly said, "My friend Shen, are you going to stop the three of us from going forward?"
Shen Lian spoke softly, "What if I am going to?"
The beautiful Daoist nun spoke coldly, "Then today we will resolve the conflicts between the two sects."
Shen Lian smiled, "Okay, my friend Lingguang. I like your frankness."
Yuming the honored celestial said nothing, the Lingxiao Hall in his hand was beaming.
All of a sudden the weather changed and a loud explosion was heard. A gigantic palm appeared, the grappling hand transformed from Qi of Xuanqing was trying to get hold of Shen Lian.
The hand-formed from Qi of vitality could be achieved by any cultivator who had reached Qiaodong. The power depended on how much mana one possessed. The technique was of a similar level to the Thunder Palm of the martial art world, which was not highly looked upon.
However, for Yuming the Honored Celestial's level every movement of his could have the mana which could turn the world around. It was not logical.
This time around the grappling hand transformed from Qi of Xuanqing was different from what Shen Lian had seen at Mount Taicang.
After Yuming the Honored Celestial completed the Lingxiao Hall, he managed to overcome the situation where his mana was at a decline. He entered a new level and no one could underestimate that.
There was no reason for Shen Lian to be ignorant. The five fingers of the grappling hand were not only formed from mana, they contained incomparably sharp Daoist meaning. It turned the grappling hand transformed from Qi of Xuanqing into a killing method.
As the gigantic hand approached, the Qi of vitality from heaven and earth it gathered acc.u.mulated, growing, like a snowball. It also made the gigantic hand slow down. It was like the acc.u.mulation of a flood, which made people aware of its horror, but at the same time could be avoided.
The profoundness of Yuming the Honored Celestial was that he was sure that Shen Lian could not escape.
Shen Lian was calm, and he knew that the being and non-being of sword aura could not be of use now because Yuming the Honored Celestial was much more powerful than Wu Qingzi. The difference was huge.
Furthermore, he had more than one enemy, and the being and non-being of sword aura was not as simplistic as to just be an assassination method, but now there were no other opportunities for him to explore the other uses of this technique.
Shen Lian did one thing only - he used his hand as the sword finger, and a sword gleam that was like the Milky Way appeared. It was only two-finger wide and three feet long.
When the gigantic hand was almost there, it moved and pointed at the core of the gigantic hand.
When the gigantic hand was about to grapple and crush Shen Lian along with the sword gleam, the endless Milky Way sword aura did not stop. The three feet sword gleam planted itself at the core of the gigantic hand. As the gigantic hand grasped, it released even more Milky Way sword aura. As the power of the gigantic hand increased, increasing amounts of Milky Way sword aura was released. The gigantic hand began to turn illusory.
With a crisp explosion, only the Milky Way stood between Yuming the Honored Celestial and Shen Lian.
While they were separated by just a way, but it was as difficult to cross as the heavenly moat.
The waters of the Milky Way was never kind. The calmness was just the surface. The three of them were clearly aware of the surging power underneath.
Lingguang said, "What a great distance separated by the Milky Way. Senior Apprentice-Brother, let me try out how great our friend Shen's Milky Way swordsmanship is."
The beautiful Daoist nun smiled and she stepped forward with an ink-colored long sword. Every step forward, the water of the Milky Way took a step back. By the time she got to where it originally was, the water of the Milky Way had disappeared.
Shen Lian looked at the Daoist nun Lingguang, he spoke slowly, "My friend Lingguang, your Milky Way Swordsmanship is better than mine."
Lingguang smiled, like a shallow river, but colder than before. It made people feel more comfortable, but at the same time more terrified. She said, "The Milky Way Swordsmanship you practiced is from our sect. You have to know that while I am not as talented as you, my friend Shen, but I have practiced this swordcraft for three hundred years. Even the immortal Zhenren of Tianhe Daozong can't teach me more."
Shen Lian knew clearly that if she had spent three hundred years practicing the Milky Way Swordsmanship, even if she did not have the core Milky Way Sword aura, with the knowledge of an immortal Zhenren, she could have fixed the weakness, and completed it to her own innovated Milky Way Swordsmanship.
This was, of course, logical, as none of the immortal Zhenren could achieve Daoist immortality with their ancestors' blessings. All of them were exceptional and there was no exception.
It was also because the Milky Way Swordsmanship of Daoist nun was unique, hence she had the basis to challenge Shen Lian.
There was no need to fear destiny, and there was no reason why she needed not to challenge the ancestors. This was the kind of behavior a Daoist like her possessed.
With her newly completed Milky Way Swordsmanship, if she could beat Shen Lian who had obtained the original essence of the Milky Way Swordsmanship square, there were countless benefits for herself. It could even help her improve even further to achieve the success of her own technique. It allowed her to take a peek at the celestial state, which could allow her to be the unfettered celestial who had transcended beyond the mortal world.