Chapter 354: Altar, Curse

The wind was still, the waves had ceased, and the sea surface was calm.

Golden Xihe flowers floated eternally on the water, year-round absorbing the radiance of the Fusang Divine Tree and the Golden Crow, each imbued with abundant fiery essence.

Smaller flowers, only fist-sized and glowing faintly, had grown for only a year or two and contained less fiery essence.

Larger flowers, over ten meters in diameter, shone brilliantly like suns on the water, their heat capable of boiling the surrounding water to create a sea of mist. These had grown for thousands of years.

Even the seven Phoenix-Winged Moth Emperors, with their constitutions, currently only dared to consume Xihe flowers the size of a washbasin.

Tang Wanzhou walked through the golden flower sea, her eyes shimmering with a strange brilliance, filled with curiosity about everything.

She occasionally touched a petal with her finger or flew inside a giant Xihe flower to meditate.

Her gaze gradually softened, and she sighed, "Li Weiyi, you are guarding an unimaginable treasure trove. No wonder your cultivation speed is so astonishing. How did we get here? Was it a spatial teleportation array?"

Seeing her emotions stabilize, Li Weiyi said, "If you wish to return to Lingxiao Shengjing, we can do so at any time. However, Young Mistress, you haven't answered my previous question."

Tang Wanzhou shook her head. "I'm not going back! That blood-mud land we just left contained extraordinary blood energy and spiritual power. It can help me quickly break free from the second Longevity Lock, the Soul-Return Lock."

"And this place can help me break free from the subsequent Longevity Locks."

"For others, achieving longevity within sixty years is a monumental accomplishment. But I aim to reach great longevity, or even transcend, within sixty years. What did you ask just now? My main focus is currently on my inner world, with my soul traversing back and forth, so my reactions to the outside world will be much slower."

Li Weiyi had some understanding of the Martial Dao's Longevity Realm.

Each Longevity Lock broken granted an additional sixty years of life.

Why were those who lived for centuries, achieving Great Longevity, so few?

Because most Longevity Realm grandmasters spent sixty years and still couldn't break a single Longevity Lock.

All Longevity Realm grandmasters were racing against time, constantly being pursued by their dwindling lifespans. Only by cultivating with all their might could they hope to reach the Transcendent Realm, the other shore.

For this reason, Longevity Realm grandmasters generally did not involve themselves in worldly affairs, preferring not to waste their limited energy and lifespan. Instead, they would delegate power as much as possible to "Human Overlords," who were martial cultivators in the Dao Seed Realm.

Even the older Dao Seed Realm cultivators, those in the Seventh Heaven and above, were striving desperately to break into the Longevity Realm.

Consequently, those who ultimately held significant worldly power, including the Ten Thousand Gates, were Dao Seed Realm masters under sixty years old.

This was due to their ample lifespan.

The term "Jia Shou" (First of Sixty) emerged from this.

A Jia Shou thus became the most prominent and powerful representative of each major force.

Tang Wanzhou actually claimed she would achieve transcendence within sixty years. This couldn't be called arrogance; it was practically an insult to all the elder grandmasters in the world.

Li Weiyi said, "Young Mistress, you mentioned earlier that the Fusang Divine Tree is 'not simple.' I asked, in what way is it not simple?"

"Whoosh!"

Tang Wanzhou floated down to the jade boat, finding the address "Young Mistress" somewhat jarring and inconsistent with her memories.

She fixed her gaze on Li Weiyi. "Are my memories and consciousness from the past year truly corrupted? I sense that you are not a deceitful or petty person. Your choice to stay earlier further proves your candidness."

Meeting the gaze of this renowned Young Mistress of the Northern Realm at close range, Li Weiyi felt as though he was confronting a beautiful and formidable adversary, embarking on a unique challenge.

He felt as if he were facing a formidable opponent because no one knew if she would suddenly draw her sword against him again.

He found her beautiful because, in her false memories, there seemed to be a connection between them that went beyond friendship. In this world, if anyone could capture Tang Wanzhou's heart and embrace this Young Mistress of the Northern Realm, it would undoubtedly be an achievement comparable to reaching the Emperor level in martial cultivation.

Beautiful yet dangerous, affectionate yet astute.

Praised by such an adversary, Li Weiyi couldn't help but smile. "Young Mistress, the fact that you can ask such a question indicates significant recovery, and your rationality can now discern reality from illusion."

Tang Wanzhou replied, "My rationality can merely suppress my emotions, and clarity has temporarily subdued the chaos. In that chaos, I glimpsed a sliver of truth within my sea of consciousness."

"It was an altar, suspended in the starry sky, with two identical old men seated upon it. They appeared to be engaged in a struggle with someone and had no spare energy to notice me."

"I cautiously approached, but while still quite far away, I was struck by a wisp of light mist emanating from the altar. My consciousness subsequently vanished, and the truth was replaced by chaos."

Li Weiyi was stunned, realizing that this must be a place Tang Wanzhou had accessed via the spatial teleportation array in the Southern Purity Palace, stumbling upon a major secret of the Twin Rice Sect.

"Were they the two Rice Ancestors of the Rice Sect?"

Li Weiyi used seawater to conjure the image of the Rice Ancestor statue he had once seen.

"I can't recall their faces; everything is blurred," Tang Wanzhou replied.

Li Weiyi asked, "How did you know they were engaged in a struggle with someone?"

Tang Wanzhou recalled, "Because at the center of the altar, there was a female figure made of straw, wrapped in golden rice straw, with mysterious blood-red script covering her palace robes, resembling an ancient curse or Gu-art. Many people had died around the edge of the altar; their fresh corpses were piled high, and their blood had pooled into an endless crimson."

The more she described, the more terrifying it sounded.

If this was true, Li Weiyi strongly suspected that the two Rice Ancestors were using the altar to cast a curse on the Great Palace Lord of Lingxiao City. After all, Tang Wanzhou had experienced a similar situation just from being struck by a wisp of light mist.

Moreover, Fuzhou itself bordered the Cloud Heaven Immortal Plains.

Who knew if the underground immortal mansion extended beneath the Cloud Heaven Immortal Plains?

Of course, it could also be a hallucination resulting from Tang Wanzhou's confused state of mind.

A long silence fell between them as they both sank into thought.

Tang Wanzhou suddenly recalled something. "Below the Fusang Divine Tree, space is active and impassable."

Li Weiyi then asked, "Earlier, you said I underestimated the people of this world too much, 'unless...' What were you going to say 'unless'?"

Tang Wanzhou looked extremely serious. "The Golden Crow flames contained within your spiritual light are indeed very powerful, comparable to a mastered second-tier Grand Art, and you can wield them as you please."

"A Five-Star Spiritual Mentalist corresponds to a martial cultivator at the fifth level of the Dao Seed Realm."

"Let's not even mention those with average aptitudes, like Pure Immortal Bodies and Nine Springs Supreme Beings. We're only talking about those at the Inheritor level or above."

"Inheritors who can cultivate to the fifth level of the Dao Seed Realm, the quick ones, have already practiced in the Dao Seed Realm for fifteen or twenty years. The slower ones, twenty or thirty years. Over such a long period, as long as their comprehension is top-tier, nearly all can cultivate the second tier of a Grand Art to mastery."

"Mastering the first tier of a Grand Art in two or three years indicates extraordinary comprehension. Achieving it in five or six years is merely average. Ten years to master it suggests mediocrity."

"For Inheritors, mastering the first tier of a Grand Art in the lower three realms, the second tier in the middle three realms, and the third tier in the upper three realms—that's considered normal speed!"

"Furthermore, Inheritors never lack top-tier artifacts; they are all key talents cultivated by major forces."

"How much of an advantage do you truly have when facing them?"

"Therefore, your current combat power as a mentalist should be aimed at first defeating Inheritors at the fifth level of the Dao Seed Realm. Inheritors themselves have varying levels; you should have noticed at the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival that they can be divided into at least three tiers."

Li Weiyi's expression was a half-smile, half-frown. He could see that the Young Mistress's standards were alarmingly high. Inferior Root Dao Seed Realm cultivators weren't even worth mentioning, Pure Immortal Bodies and Nine Springs Supreme Beings were considered useless, and only Inheritors were barely worth her attention.

Of course, Li Weiyi was unconvinced. "How about we spar a bit?" he suggested.

Tang Wanzhou slightly turned her face and glanced at him.

Facing a Longevity Realm grandmaster, Li Weiyi held nothing back, eager to use this opportunity to verify the true extent of his mental power in combat.

"Swish!"

He summoned the Myriad Things Staff-Spear from his Fengfu.

Li Weiyi's glabella turned crimson-gold as Golden Crow flames surged forth. Star-track patterns coiled around his body, and the spear thrust out like a dragon.

"Boom!"

Empowered by the Myriad Things Staff-Spear, the might of the Golden Crow flames surged significantly.

The radiance was dazzling, and the air exploded.

Tang Wanzhou blocked it with her protective Dharma Qi. Not only did she remain perfectly still, but the jade boat beneath her feet was also completely steady.

"That's a very good mentalist staff! With it, even if fifth-level Inheritors use top-tier artifacts, you won't be at a disadvantage. But against supreme Inheritors like Tang Wanqiu or Cang Li... it's hard to say!"

"Them? They are all Dragon Seed Dao cultivators, achieving in two years what other Inheritors take over ten years to accomplish. Their physical bodies and Dao arts likely have significant shortcomings."

Li Weiyi raised the Myriad Things Staff-Spear above his head.

Instantly, the brilliance of a myriad of stars descended and converged at the spear's tip.

From his lips, a single word was uttered: "Fight!"

Flames and starlight coalesced around him, forming a wondrous armor over two meters tall. He leaped up, bringing the spear down in a powerful cleave that sent a violent ripple across Tang Wanzhou's protective Dharma Qi.

The glowing spearhead completely sank into it.

This was the most powerful mentalist attack Li Weiyi could currently unleash.

A hint of surprise flickered in Tang Wanzhou's eyes.

Li Weiyi landed back on the jade boat, creating ripples in the water. "How was that move?" he asked.

Tang Wanzhou smiled faintly. "The remarkable ability of that staff to harness starlight for your own use is somewhat beyond my expectations. When combined with that 'Fight' character mental art, it truly ranks as first-class at the sixth level of the Dao Seed Realm. However, to reach the peak or become invincible, your mental power still needs further refinement, as you've only just broken through to become a Five-Star Spiritual Mentalist."

Praised by her with a smile, Li Weiyi put away the Myriad Things Staff-Spear and became modest. "It's merely borrowing external power! If this staff were to be taken from me, I'd instantly revert to my original state."

"For a Mentalist to challenge and defeat opponents across realms, they inherently need to leverage external power."

Tang Wanzhou continued, "Insect Masters rely on swarms, Talisman Masters on talismans, Formation Masters on arrays, and there are also curse arts, beast taming, spirit summoning, and so forth."

"For a Mentalist to be invincible within their own realm, they primarily rely on accumulated resources and external power."

"A Mentalist like you, who has cultivated Golden Crow flames, is one in a million—extremely rare."

"This is what I meant by 'unless'—unless you can prepare a large quantity of talismans, arrays, or insect swarms."

"A Mentalist's true confidence stems from these."

"Given your exceptional talent, if you are adequately prepared, it's not impossible to defeat even those at the sixth, or even the seventh, level of the Dao Seed Realm."