Chapter 142: Shi Yutong’s Dream
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
End of the fifth month.
Accompanying the Summer Sun Prefecture Master's death, and the escape of the Clear Spring Prefecture Master's death, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture's soldiers occupied the entire Summer Sun Prefecture and seemed to be targeting the Imperial City next.
In a short while, Liu Yan's influence grew exponentially and was known as the number one spiritual knight, his infamous name spreading throughout the country.
"Xia Yunqing is dead? Lan Xiaosheng has escaped with injuries?"
As he returned to Qinghe County, Fang Yuan received this news and was in disbelief.
"Impossible! This would only be possible if Liu Yan is in the Elemental Opening Realm! If he was still in the Elemental Gathering Realm, he would be no match against two opponents the same level as him... Unless..."
Fang Yuan sighed and looked at Zhou Wenwu. "Any other details?"
"Reporting!"
Zhou Wenwu bowed. "From our sources, the three Prefecture Masters fought with extreme intensity, especially when Liu Yan struck, the fire burnt the clouds in the sky, making the entire sky a crimson red like it was on fire..."
"After that, Prefecture Master Liu took over Summer Sun Prefecture and gathered the Wu Zongs and spiritual knights within the prefecture to swear their loyalty to him. If they did not do so, they would be severely dealt with!"
At this point, his looked stressed out. "Sir, what should I do?"
"A cloud burnt by fire?"
Fang Yuan twitched his eyebrows. "This is a little weird..."
Based on his knowledge, Liu Yan's spiritual fire was green.
Of course, this was a small detail. The important thing was that Liu Yan had a resounding victory. Why did he not continue and take over the Imperial City and become king, but gather the heroes and martial artists is Summer Sun Prefecture?
'Could it be... that he had not entered the Elemental Opening Realm and only won because he used other improper means... By now he should have run out of energy...'
Fang Yuan was deep in thought, and as he glanced at his worried subordinates, he chuckled. "If anything happens, we'll react to it accordingly. Since Prefecture Master has invited me, I will go..."
After all, the takeover of Summer Sun Prefecture would mean that Liu Yan had gotten his hands on their valuables and treasures. He did not know if he could forcefully achieve a breakthrough, and was rather curious about this.
'Of course, before all this, I should focus on my own cultivation!'
After dismissing his subordinates, Fang Yuan arrived at the meditation room, crossed his legs and sat down. With a flip of his palm, an Elemental Gaining Pill looted from Lu Renjia's secret mansion appeared.
"The medicinal properties of a spiritual pill is extremely strong, and cannot be compared to spiritual rice, which can be consumed daily. However, I still can use it to increase my cultivation once in a while!"
Fang Yuan mulled. "I have already tested these few bottles of spiritual pills on others, and their effects are indeed remarkable, with no side effects, and it should be safe for me to try it... Who would have thought that I will end up taking spiritual pills to aid in my cultivation?"
Without hesitation, his eyes flashed as he popped on Elemental Gaining Pill into his mouth. He shut his eyes as he allowed the pill to take its effect.
Fang Yuan was extremely experienced in taking spiritual objects, but this was his first attempt at taking a spiritual pill.
As the pill entered his stomach, it was a different feeling altogether.
A strong and steady spiritual force was felt, like an awakening dragon swirling within him. His muscles expanded and he felt like his skin was being stretched.
'This spiritual pill is still much stronger than spiritual rice in terms of medicinal properties!'
This spiritual pill was made from the essence of spiritual objects, and therefore should not be compared to a normal spiritual plant.
Based on Fang Yuan's estimation, the spiritual force from one of this pill would be akin to eating 66 pounds of spiritual rice! This was the speciality of an alchemy master.
After a long while, Fang Yuan opened his eyes.
"The Wu Zong elemental force within my Dantian is indeed stronger, what a pity it cannot go any further..."
Feeling the progress in his cultivation, he twitched his eyebrows. "However, there is still little growth in my dream elemental force. It is still stagnant as before, and it seems that it can only be cultivated through dream accessing and dream building!"
As he thought to this point, he used his magical energy to scan through his entire body, and his expression changed again. "Although the spiritual pill is remarkable, there is still the fear of pill poisoning and the problem of increasing dependence on it... However, I still don't have the luxury of having one spiritual pill each day, and that a high-levelled alchemy master made used of nature to produce this spiritual pill, which means that it should not be poisonous..."
...
There was no higher attainment for a Wu Zong, and therefore it did not matter how much more the elemental force was being developed.
Fang Yuan stopped taking the Elemental Gaining Pill as he turned his focus on the Calming Pill.
He first targeted Ling Yin.
This girl was a spiritual disciple and was equivalent to a [Martial Artist (11th Gate)]. However, as of now, she was exhausted by Fang Yuan and was almost on the verge of mentally breaking down.
If Fang Yuan was interested, he could change the mindset of this lady and could make her a loyal servant.
Ultimately, he was not an evil person and did not have the ill intention to change her memory drastically. He only wanted to correct the hostility towards him in her subconscious mind. For instance, he could retarget her hatred onto Liu Yan, before slowly making her loyal to himself.
In the cell, within the Ecstasy Fog, Ling Yin was sleeping soundly and appeared naive.
"A good dream!"
After he made a slight amendment to her memory, Fang Yuan stood up and left the cell.
Changing someone else's memory was a huge process. Even though it was just a minute change, the process could still take up to a day or two.
However, once the process was completed, her loyalty could be assured and she could be part of them now.
"If we're talking about this..."
Walking past a few other cells, Fang Yuan looked at a few familiar faces and thought to himself. "We could try this method on the Lin Family, especially Lin Leiyue and Lin Benchu, and that would save Zhou Wenwu all the trouble as well..."
Regarding the Lin Family's future, although Fang Yuan had left the decision to Zhou Wenwu, it only made him more conflicted.
He could not release them, but could not kill them as well, and could only hold them in the cells.
The hardships that the Lin Family had gone through were enough. If they promised not to create trouble outside in the future, they could actually be released.
As for Lin Leiyue, since Master Wenxin could see her potential, then she should not be as simple as having spiritual abilities?
"Go!"
After leaving the jail, Fang Yuan called for the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and flew to where he captured Shi Yutong.
"You're here again!"
Within the cave, Shi Yutong crossed her legs and was seated, emotionless.
Since the moment she knew that she could not entice Fang Yuan with anything, and could not convince Fang Yuan to release her, she had been like this the whole while.
However, Shi Yutong felt a sense of danger today and tensed up.
'To improve my cultivation and my dream elemental force, I have to access many dreams and build many dreams. Even a spiritual disciple cannot guard against my dream-building abilities anymore, and the next I shall try is a Wu Zong...'
Fang Yuan had a look of determination and waved his hands, as a white fog appeared.
"What do you want?"
Shi Yutong was shocked.
The unknown was the most feared. Her elemental force was already sealed by Fang Yuan, and he could do anything to her. Yet, he was still rather serious, and must, therefore, have an ulterior motive - From the looks of it, her gut feeling was correct, but there was nothing she could do.
She was completely helpless as Fang Yuan had all the control over the situation!
As the Ecstasy Fog flowed, Shi Yutong fought hard but to no avail. Her eyes shut as she fainted
Fang Yuan maintained his seriousness.
If he failed to access a Wu Zong's dream world, the consequences would be dire.
"Hopefully, the Calming Pill would be as effective as it was described, and hopefully it would be able to clear my mind!"
Fang Yuan knew that at his current stage of cultivation, it would still be insufficient to access a Wu Zong's dream, unless he had the help of a spiritual pill.
Therefore, he swallowed the spiritual pill and pointed at Shi Yutong's forehead. "Dream Accessing!"
...
Qinghe County, Spirit Returning Sect.
The doors were tall and majestic.
A group of young children wore martial arts robes and queued up to enter the Spirit Returning Sect.
"Listen up. Spirit Returning Sect is the number one Sect in Qinghe County. It is your honour to enter the Sect. From today onwards, you need to swear your loyalty and promise not to break any Sect rules, otherwise..."
There was a martial artist coach in front lecturing the group. As he approached the end, his tone became stern.
"Now, we will begin to assign you to your coaches. Please come up if your name is called!"
The deacon's voice was heard. "Zhaohu, Wanger, Qiansun... You are under Coach Gui! Come out now!"
"Master!"
Three kids came to the front and kowtowed to a man in brown robes, as he called himself their master.
"Mm, follow me!"
The man in the brown robe looked serious and albeit unwilling, brought the three kids with him.
"The next group, Zhou Luoqiu, Bao Hongyan, Yu Bicheng... You are under Coach Zhang!"
Three other mischievous kids came up and greeted a middle-aged lady.
Their clothing revealed that they were all rather well to do. The lady coach seemed kind and a little more skilled than the previous coach in brown robes, and as she nodded her head she brought the children with her.
"Next group..."
Accompanying this voice, the number of children was getting lesser and lesser, and finally, only a few of them remained.
"This is weird... Why am I here?"
A kid in torn clothes like a little beggar had a doubtful look on his face.
It was as though an Ecstasy Fog was swirling in his head, giving him a headache.
"Who... am I?"
"Fang Yuan! Are you alright?"
At this point, a little girl approached him and asked him nervously.
"Fang Yuan? Fang Yuan! I am Fang Yuan!!"
The little beggar mumbled to himself and smirked. "Thank you, little sister!"
After being lucid, Fang Yuan felt his energy grow like animal instincts and scanned his surroundings. "Mm... This is indeed Spirit Returning Sect. All thanks to the spiritual pill, otherwise I would have been lost in this dream world..."
At his side, the little girl stared at him, clueless.
"Forget about it!"
Fang Yuan was feeling rather disturbed and pinched the little girl's cheek. It felt slightly different from Lanruo, and he asked, "What is your name?"
"Shi Yutong!"
The little girl smiled and passed to him a white handkerchief, "Come, wipe your face!"
"Mm?!"
Fang Yuan shockingly received the handkerchief and was confused.
Were the heavens playing tricks with him?
...