SFS Chapter 97: Foundation
Chapter 97: Foundation
The State of Qin.
Royal Palace.
After hearing Ying Zichu's report, King Ji of Qin nodded slightly, looked at Pei Xiyan beside him, and cupped his hands in greeting:
"Many thanks to the sage for helping my Qin state."
Pei Xiyan waved his hand and said:
"Now that the four powerful cultivators from the Purple Mansion Realm will inevitably be visiting Qin, is the King of Qin prepared?"
King Ji of Qin had a solemn expression and deep gaze, and said in a deep voice:
"Although my Qin Kingdom is now in decline, and the two paths of [Fortune Qi] and [Prosperity Qi] are not as good as before, it is still a thousand-year-old immortal dynasty, and naturally has a foundation."
"Please come with me, sir."
Immediately afterwards, Pei Xiyan and Ying Zichu followed King Ji of Qin toward the national treasury.
The national treasury is located deep within the royal palace, with three layers of restrictions that cannot be opened without the personal presence of the King of Qin.
King Ji of Qin took out an ancient jade seal and pressed it into the groove of the stone door. A dull mechanical sound rang out, and the heavy stone door slowly sank into the ground.
A strong aura of good fortune wafted over, and Pei Xiyan's gaze narrowed slightly.
The treasury contained not gold and silver treasures, but an underground palace a hundred feet in circumference, its walls inlaid with countless jade bricks with flowing spiritual light.
A huge array diagram was carved on the ground, with complex and profound patterns that faintly resonated with the two streams of "blessing energy" and "prosperity energy" between heaven and earth.
"This is the [Great Array for Blessing All People]."
King Ji of Qin stood with his hands behind his back, his voice low, and explained:
"This great formation was set up by two True Lords during the height of Qin's power. It was based on the nation's prosperity and could defend against foreign enemies and protect the people. However, in recent years, the nation's prosperity and the formation's power have declined significantly."
Upon hearing this, Pei Xiyan was quite surprised and pondered:
"This Qin Kingdom truly lives up to its reputation as the first immortal dynasty; it actually has a grand formation set up by a True Monarch."
She stepped forward to examine the great formation set up by the True Lord closely, secretly marveling at its exquisite craftsmanship.
If this formation were at its peak, even a Golden Core cultivator would likely avoid its power and dare not enter.
Although its power has been greatly reduced due to the lack of Fortune and Prosperity Qi, it can still contend with the Purple Mansion True Person if the cultivators of Fortune and Prosperity Qi can fully activate them.
"The grand formation requires auspicious and lucky artifacts as a catalyst."
King Ji of Qin continued forward and arrived at the stone platform in the center of the hall. On the platform were two spiritual artifacts, their spiritual light restrained yet their power profound.
On the left is a bronze square ding (a type of ancient Chinese cooking vessel), with three legs and two handles. The body of the ding is inscribed with dense inscriptions, and there seems to be a golden light flowing inside.
King Ji of Qin respectfully said:
"This is the [Gathering Blessings Cauldron], cast by the first King of Qin. It was nurtured by the nation's fortune over a thousand years and can gather the world's blessings for one's own use."
"If activated by the Ying clan's bloodline, the blessed energy within a radius of a thousand miles can be gathered in a short time, greatly increasing the power of the great formation."
On the right is a jade seal, entirely emerald green, with the seal knob carved in the shape of an auspicious beast, and the seal face engraved with the four characters "禄运永昌" (meaning "May your fortune be everlasting").
This item is a spiritual treasure of the [Lu Qi] path, and Ying Zichu has naturally seen it before.
So Ying Zichu stepped forward and whispered:
"This is the Seal of Fortune and Prosperity, which can bestow official titles and determine one's fortune and destiny. Those who are blessed by this seal will have good fortune and their spiritual practice will be twice as effective. Conversely, those who are repelled by this seal will have their fortune cut off and will find it difficult to make any progress."
Pei Xiyan nodded slightly, his heart filled with even greater amazement at the profound heritage of the Qin state.
"Two spiritual treasures. Among the many forces in the world today, there are probably not many who possess two spiritual treasures."
Spiritual treasures are items used by True Lords; each spiritual treasure possesses the supreme power to seal off a path.
Upon hearing this, King Ji of Qin shook his head slightly and said:
"Unfortunately, neither the [Fortune Qi] nor the [Prosperity Qi] possesses a Purple Mansion True Person, let alone a True Lord. Even with these two spiritual treasures by his side, he cannot unleash two or three tenths of their power."
"However, using these two spiritual treasures is still sufficient to activate the [Blessing All People Array]."
At this point, King Ji of Qin immediately showed a worried expression.
"However... given the current state of the formation, it can only withstand two Purple Mansion True Persons at a time. If the number of invaders from the four kingdoms exceeds this, I'm afraid..."
The four kingdoms have at least twenty or thirty Purple Mansion True Persons. Even if not all of them were to take action, a dozen or so would be more than enough to attack the Qin Kingdom.
Even with just this [Great Array of Blessing All People], it is still insufficient and difficult to resist.
Pei Xiyan waved his hand and said:
"King Qin need not worry. The Shangqing True Man of Sanqing Mountain will arrive in a few days. The Shangqing True Man is a Great True Man who has perfected the Five Methods of the [Pure Qi] Dao and has comprehended the Sword Intent. Ordinary Purple Mansion True Man is naturally no match for him."
"Moreover, Yulin Mountain will naturally not sit idly by and will send another Purple Mansion True Person."
Yulin Mountain and the Qin State have a good relationship. After all, before Ying Zichu went to the [Tai Xu] Secret Realm, it was Mu Yuan Zhenren of Yulin Mountain who first brought him to Yulin Mountain.
King Ji of Qin felt much more at ease upon hearing this, and cupped his hands in greeting, saying:
"Therefore, the safety of the Qin state depends on you, my sages."
…………
Meanwhile, in the vast emptiness of the four kingdoms.
All the Purple Mansion True Persons gathered again to discuss matters.
"Hmph, now that we've reached this unfavorable point, it's all because the Golden Yue Sect failed in its duty to protect the cultivation techniques." A True Person immediately pointed the finger at the Golden Yue Sect.
"First, they took the Qi Refining and Foundation Building chapters of the Jade Pivot Edict to the market and sold them without authorization, creating a group of [Divine Thunder] cultivators. Then, the Dragon Palace Tianxuan devised a plan to steal the subsequent Purple Mansion chapter."
"Fellow Daoist Taixi, are you still going to remain unmoved?"
The speaker was merely a True Person with three supernatural powers, yet he dared to point his finger at Taixi, who had perfected five methods, and curse him. The other True Persons remained unmoved, and some even sided with the other party.
This shows just how angry the other Daoist masters were about this matter.
However, Taixi Zhenren remained unmoved by the accusations from the other Zhenren, his expression unchanged, and he simply spoke calmly:
"The release of the first two chapters of the Jade Pivot Edict on Attacking the Sutra was to resist Shakyamuni Maha. How could you fellow Daoists not know that at the time? Yet you did not come out to stop it. Why hold us accountable now?"
"As for the Purple Mansion Chapter being stolen, I have to ask, why didn't anyone stop Tianxuan when he led over a thousand dragons across the East Sea and entered the territory of the four kingdoms?"
Upon hearing this, all the Purple Mansion True Persons fell silent. The one who had just questioned them turned pale and then red, and immediately retorted angrily:
"Taixi, you!"
"That's enough!"
At this moment, a ball of bone-devouring, spirit-burning flames emerged, silencing everyone and drawing their attention to it.
Xuandu looked at Taixi and said:
"Regardless of the circumstances, the Golden Yue Sect also bears responsibility for oversight. Fellow Daoist Taixi, how about your Golden Yue Sect take the lead in this campaign to destroy the Qin Kingdom?"
Upon hearing this, Master Taixi slowly opened his eyes, looked at Xuandu, and pondered in his heart:
"Hmph, their accusations are just a pretense; they really want my Golden Yue Sect to be their vanguard."
These Purple Mansion True Persons were all shrewd individuals; they naturally knew that the [Thunderclap] cultivator and Jade Forest Mountain would protect the Qin Kingdom.
Even the Shangqing Daoist friends from Sanqing Mountain might appear.