Chapter 157: Shen Luoyan, Whose Beauty Overshadows Fish and Geese

Clear blue skies and wonderful weather.

Upon reaching the official road outside the city, Zheng Jian stopped riding and handed his horse over to Shan Wanqing to lead, choosing instead to use the opportunity to practice the "Illusionary Magic Body Art".

Since it was the only manual obtained from a ten-consecutive draw and happened to be the high-tier movement technique Zheng Jian currently lacked—especially with opponents growing increasingly stronger—he needed to patch up this shortcoming as quickly as possible.

The formula and key points of the "Illusionary Magic Body Art" flowed through his mind once, and Zheng Jian had already committed them thoroughly to memory.

"Indeed, the 'Illusionary Magic Body Art' is completely compatible with the 'Imprint of the Immortal'. The Evil King Shi Zhixuan is truly a generation of supreme talent! In the world of Twin Dragons, this fellow undoubtedly belongs to the protagonist of his era..."

Zheng Jian thought to himself, then quickly cast aside these distracting thoughts and began practicing the "Illusionary Magic Body Art".

On the official road, Zheng Jian's figure flickered uncertainly, appearing one moment dozens of yards away from Shan Wanqing on the road, and the next moment upon the branches of a roadside tree. Phantom after phantom vanished abruptly and appeared abruptly.

Shan Wanqing rode her horse, looking at Zheng Jian's phantoms in astonishment.

Zheng Jian, however, paid her no mind, and within roughly a single hour, he had already achieved mastery.

In fact, when one's level is already sufficiently high, learning other martial arts becomes a matter of commanding a high position to survey the lower, making the learning curve extremely fast. After all, Zheng Jian possessed the complete manual, and his comprehension stat had by now been boosted by 4 points; he was merely practicing, not creating.

Much like taking the "Five Years of College Entrance Examination, Three Years of Simulation" test papers, working backwards from the reference answers naturally makes solving the problems much easier.

Furthermore, since he already mastered the "Imprint of the Immortal", learning this completely compatible movement technique was naturally effortless and came as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

The more Zheng Jian practiced, the more satisfied he became. By the end, Zheng Jian was able to effortlessly integrate the life-and-death dual qi of the "Imprint of the Immortal" into the shifting and replacement of the Illusionary Magic Body Art, rendering his figure even more mercurial...

Well, the kind of movement that would make Newton want to strike someone!

It was not until the sky grew dim that Zheng Jian, having practiced the "Illusionary Magic Body Art" for an entire day, finally stopped. A thought suddenly popped into his mind: "Damn, now that I possess both the 'Imprint of the Immortal' and the 'Illusionary Magic Body Art', if I manage to acquire the 'Seven Illusions of the Immortal' later on, wouldn't I directly become the new generation of Evil King? When I fight Shi Zhixuan in the future, wouldn't that be a scene of 'True and False Shi Zhixuan'?"

At this thought, Zheng Jian couldn't help but chuckle dumbly. One couldn't really blame him for having such thoughts; in fact, didn't Xu Ziling later disguise himself as the Hegemonic Blade Yue Shan precisely based on his mastery of the "Sun-Swapping Great Law"...

However, Zheng Jian was merely entertaining the thought. What fun would there be in impersonating Shi Zhixuan? By now, his strength had firmly stepped into the Grandmaster realm, and as for combat experience, Zheng Jian lacked none, meaning he was not truly inferior in any aspect. Right now, armed with the "Heaven-Transforming and Earth-Striking Mental Great Law", the "Imprint of the Immortal", and the "Illusionary Magic Body Art", with the option to redeem the "Holy Spirit Sword Art" down the line, what was there to fear from the likes of Shi Zhixuan, Song Que, or Bi Xuan?

Moreover, as Zheng Jian delved deeper into practicing the "Heaven-Transforming and Earth-Striking Mental Great Law", he also discovered that this mental-realm-focused cultivation method had a marvelous effect on complementing the "Imprint of the Immortal".

Previously, Zheng Jian had worried that practicing the "Imprint of the Immortal" might cause him to develop the same symptoms as Shi Zhixuan, turning him into a schizophrenic patient. Yet now, Zheng Jian found that the "Heaven-Transforming and Earth-Striking Mental Great Law" allowed him to point directly to his original mind and comprehend his true self.

To put it simply, because the "Imprint of the Immortal" was formed by fusing two completely opposing martial arts—the Inter-Sect and the Mending Heaven Pavilion—Shi Zhixuan possessed a dual personality: one being a benevolent and virtuous holy monk, and the other being an evil and vicious evil king. However, Zheng Jian now relied on the "Heaven-Transforming and Earth-Striking Mental Great Law" to point straight to his original mind, establishing an "anchor" belonging to his own ego. Within the sea of consciousness, sitting high in the infinite heights and overlooking all his various selves, apart from this self-anchor, everything else was illusory, everything else was merely a reflection.

In this way, even if the "Imprint of the Immortal" were cultivated to a profound level and mental entities other than his true self emerged, they would still revolve around the "anchor". As long as his true mind was not lost, he would not suffer from schizophrenia.

...

Meanwhile, after being defeated by Zheng Jian, Yuwen Wudi grew more furious the more he thought about it, and more unwilling the more he contemplated it—especially given Zheng Jian's completely dismissive and even ignoring attitude, coupled with Yuwen Wudi's deep-seated inferiority complex regarding his own appearance, making it utterly unacceptable to him.

To put it simply, Yuwen Wudi's ego had been wounded...

"No, I, Yuwen Wudi, must avenge this grudge!" Yuwen Wudi growled in a low voice. After pondering from all angles, Yuwen Wudi intended to call for backup!

There was no helping it; he simply couldn't beat Zheng Jian, and the gap in strength was too vast...

"According to the intelligence gathered, that person should be the recently prominent 'Heaven-Reversing Swordsman' Zheng Jian, and the one accompanying him is Shan Wanqing of the Dongming派!"

"To capture him, Chengdu alone is probably not enough; I must ask Elder Huaji to make a personal trip!" Yuwen Wudi calculated Zheng Jian's strength in his mind. Thinking it over and over, his only option was to ask Yuwen Huaji to step in.

Yuwen Huaji was the second greatest expert of the Yuwen Clan, second only to the Clan Master Yuwen Shang, having successfully mastered the clan's secret art, the "Ice Profound Force". His strength was solidly that of a Grandmaster-tier powerhouse!

Thinking of this, Yuwen Wudi hesitated no longer, and immediately penned a letter, transmitting the intelligence regarding Zheng Jian and Shan Wanqing...

...

In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.

As Zheng Jian and Shan Wanqing journeyed along, they eventually arrived at Xingyang, which was now occupied by the Wagang Army, with rebel forces entrenched both inside and outside the city.

Inside Xingyang City, Zheng Jian and Shan Wanqing once again found an inn.

Business at the inn was quite brisk. Under the management of Li Mi and Shen Luoyan, the Wagang rebel army could still be considered to commit no violations against the common people; otherwise, establishments like this tavern and inn would never have been able to remain open.

Finding a seat by the window, Shan Wanqing looked curiously at the bustling crowd coming and going, and smiled, "Along the way, everywhere we looked presented the tragic sight of marauding soldiers passing through. Arriving here, it really can be considered quite pleasant."

Zheng Jian smiled. "That's only for now! Earlier, when the Wagang rebel army and the Sui army were locked in a major battle here in Xingyang, it was hardly this kind of scene... One can only say that Wagang's Li Mi is indeed an peerless overlord."

As the two were sitting and eating, a sudden commotion arose at the entrance, immediately followed by the sound of heavy footsteps ascending the stairs. With these footsteps, the entire tavern fell silent.

At the top of the stairs appeared a graceful figure. One could only say she possessed an appearance capable of causing fish to sink and geese to alight, and startling birds into clamor, fearing that even the closing moon and shy flowers would tremble. With a heroic and dashing bearing, every step she took revealed an enchanting grace, her eyes smiling, filled with a strong sense of self-confidence.

After ascending the stairs, this stunning woman glanced around before her gaze finally landed on Zheng Jian and Shan Wanqing. She smiled slightly, stepped forward, and said, "Hearing just now that the 'Heaven-Reversing Swordsman' and the 'Princess of Dongming' had graced Xingyang with their presence, Luoyan is overjoyed and has come uninvited. The two of you won't mind, will you?"

...

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There will be two more updates tonight. As familiar friends all know, they are basically updated at 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock.

(End of this chapter)