Cultivation: Fortune by Lots-Chapter 497 - 253. The Great War Begins (Combined Chapter)_4

Chapter 497: 253. The Great War Begins (Combined Chapter)_4

He Dongxing said, "If the Ye Clan Chief couldn’t secure the Jinzhou Ye Clan Ancestral Land, then he would lose for sure,

But if he found a way and avoided following in the footsteps of the North and South Lin Clans, then there would still be a fight to be had,

As for who would win or lose, that would depend on the current situation of the Ye Clan Chief."

Xu Yuanzhen was dazzlingly talented; not only did her cultivation advance quickly, but her true combat spellcasting skills were even more extraordinary.

Previously, she had even injured the Youzhou Lin Clan Chief, Lin Huan, right in front of Ye Moquan by force.

However, when the gap between both sides wasn’t obvious, the one attacking always had more initiative.

Now that the two faced one another head-on, things were naturally different.

Xu Yuanzhen had just entered the Ninth Heavenly Layer, and even among cultivators of that realm, there were differences,

In this world’s cultivation, customarily, the Ninth Heavenly Layer was divided into five minor realms,

The Taoist Talisman Sect generally called them the Five Qi Towards the True,

The Taoist Alchemy Cauldron Sect called them the Five Qi Towards Primordial,

The External Alchemy School called them the Five Qi Toward the Mysterious,

Other cultivation Dao systems were essentially the same, 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The last time Ye Moquan had fought, he had already shown strength at the third layer of the Ninth Heavenly Layer,

While Xu Yuanzhen had just set foot into the Ninth Heavenly Layer,

In terms of realm, Ye Moquan clearly had the upper hand,

Xu Yuanzhen’s real advantage, in fact, lay in...her youth,

Ye Moquan belonged to the same era as the former Supreme Elder Li Song of Dragon Tiger Mountain, and he was even older than Li Song by quite a bit,

By now, he had long ago passed four hundred years of age,

No matter how careful his preservation, he could only just barely slow his decline,

*Just how much of this Jinzhou Ye Clan Old Patriarch’s former strength he could still preserve was the key of all keys in this battle,*

"They’re here..." Wei Qiyue hadn’t participated in this topic of conversation,

She was much more enthusiastic about seeking her own target, but unfortunately had gained nothing,

And today, the true lead had arrived,

On the distant horizon, a pitch-black thundercloud, which looked to be neither hurried nor slow, in fact sped across the sky and instantly arrived above the Jinzhou Ye Clan Ancestral Land,

Atop the blood-black thundercloud, a woman sat cross-legged, clad in purple robes, draped in black, her face pale and features delicate,

It was, strikingly, Xu Yuanzhen,

"Senior sister!" Tang Xiaotang called out to Xu Yuanzhen, but she didn’t approach,

This was a battle arranged between Xu Yuanzhen and another,

Tang Xiaotang, though unpredictable in the everyday, possessed a clear sense of priorities in such matters; save for some huge unexpected event, she wouldn’t interfere in Xu Yuanzhen’s fight,

*Though, honestly, some accident seemed highly likely...*

Atop the black thundercloud, Xu Yuanzhen turned her head, nodding toward Tang Xiaotang in greeting,

Then she lowered her gaze, looking again toward the Jinzhou Ye Clan Ancestral Land below,

Just then, from inside the Jinzhou Ye Clan Ancestral Land, an enormous brilliance lit up, centering upon a resplendent beam of Wenhua Light shooting up from the ancestral grounds, which wove together and intensified,

Like the Jiangzhou Lin Clan’s ancestral land before, Jinzhou Ye Clan Ancestral Land was vast, nearly the size of a fortified city,

Now, as the light expanded and intensified, it covered the compound,

It almost sounded like drums and music resounded from within, solemn and majestic,

At the central heart of the ancestral land, a cluster of pavilions and courtyards, the front gate slowly opened, swinging wide without a breeze,

The entire Ye Clan manor welcomed today’s guest in the gravest fashion,

But far away, Tang Xiaotang, Chu Yu, and the others peered into the distance and soon noticed something odd,

Though the Jinzhou Ye Clan’s formalities were perfect,

Right now, inside the vast ancestral grounds, there wasn’t a single Ye clan member to be seen,

The ancestral land was completely empty,

There was only one person present,

The other party to today’s duel,

The Old Patriarch of Jinzhou Ye Clan, Ye Moquan,

The old man spoke, "A friend coming from afar, what a joy, but unfortunately we are foes, not friends,"

"It’s fine as it is," Xu Yuanzhen was calm, stepping down from the thundercloud, passing through the Ye Clan’s great gate and heading straight to stand in front of Ye Moquan,

The two cultivators of the Ninth Heavenly Layer sat facing one another,

"Master and Grandmaster both received your help back in the day," Xu Yuanzhen said,

Ye Moquan replied, "Without this old man, given the talents of the various Taoist Li, things wouldn’t have turned out much differently,"

"Sooner or later, one’s mentality and attitude all change, as do the people around them," Xu Yuanzhen said, "Let alone, what you’ve done wasn’t limited to just that,"

Ye Moquan’s gaze turned south, toward the faraway direction of the Celestial Master Mansion,

After a long pause, he drew his gaze back and said serenely, "However careful one may be, the more things one does, the more traces are left behind in the end. As the saying goes, ’If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it yourself,’"

Xu Yuanzhen said, "Let’s begin,"

It wasn’t discussed—it was simply a notification,

And so, the Battle of Jinzhou officially began,

.........

Lei Jun, however, temporarily halted his own journey toward Jinzhou,

From the imperial court, he had just received wind of two pieces of information worth noting,

First, the Qingzhou Ye Clan Chief, Ye Yan, had left Qingzhou’s ancestral land, his whereabouts unknown,

Second, the Suzhou Chu Clan Old Patriarch, Chu Xiuyuan, had left Suzhou ancestral land, his destination also unknown,

Would these two Nine Heavens Great Scholar type cultivators also aim for Jinzhou, aiming at Xu Yuanzhen?

And what would the Empress and the Tang Imperial Court’s response be?

Other messages arrived in quick succession; Lei Jun sifted through them rapidly,

Although both Ye Yan and Chu Xiuyuan had left the Qingzhou and Suzhou ancestral grounds, the Qingzhou Ye Clan and Suzhou Chu Clan still had cultivators at the Eighthfold Heaven Complete level holding the fort,

Meanwhile, each clan’s heirloom treasures hadn’t been taken out lightly,

So at the very least, they could hold out for a time waiting for aid, giving no opportunity for foreign invaders to take advantage,

Judging by their defensiveness, the Four Surnames, Six Prestigious Clans had already found ways to break or ward off the Barbarian Spearhead,

At least, they seemed confident in their assessment,

*So then, what was the current state of affairs at Jinzhou Ye Clan Ancestral Land?*

Lei Jun pondered as he continued forward,

But just then, a bead of light suddenly flashed in his mind with words floating up,

[Spanning mountains and rivers, all four corners complete the ritual, poised for action, moving against the current]

Upon seeing this, Lei Jun’s brow twitched slightly,

This time four lot readings burst forth from the bead of light,

Lei Jun read them one by one,

[Moderately good lot, travel to the Zezhou Gao Family Ancestral Land for a chance at a Fourth Rank Opportunity. There may be some trouble, but it can be resolved. Auspicious.]

[Perfectly neutral lot, travel to Yunzhou Xuantian Temple for a chance at a Fifth Grade Opportunity. There is some risk—proceed with caution. Even.]

[Perfectly neutral lot, travel to the old site of Zhongzhou Bodhi Temple. Nothing extra to be gained, but though there is a disturbance, it will pass swiftly. Even.]

[Moderately unlucky lot, go spectate at Jinzhou—no extra gains and the battle is perilous. There is some risk. You must deal with care. Inauspicious.]

Given his own increasing cultivation strength, and with the Celestial Master Seal in hand, Lei Jun now had far greater risk resistance,

The fact that the lot still warned of risk in such a scenario proved that whoever or whatever caused the threat was not to be underestimated,

*Judging from the implications of that moderately unlucky lot, it could be inferred that while the Battle of Jinzhou might start between Xu Yuanzhen and Ye Moquan, it definitely wouldn’t end with just the two of them—other top experts would inevitably get drawn in,*

The three remaining lots—one moderately good, two perfectly neutral—the one that caught Lei Jun’s attention first was one of the perfectly neutral lots,

Xuantian Temple of Yunzhou, one of the Four Sacred Grounds of Buddhism, was likely about to face monstrous change,

"The best way to handle this kind of thing is...report it to the authorities," Lei Jun said coolly,

As for the phrase in the bead—’all four corners complete the ritual, poised to act’—it most likely meant that the four locations mentioned in the lots were interconnected in some larger arrangement,

Ye Moquan’s arrangement?

If so, then there was no need to risk going to the Jinzhou battleground,

If any of the other three places were destroyed or removed, the grand setup as a whole would change, perhaps even unravel,

In such a situation, Lei Jun naturally chose the moderately good lot,

The Zezhou Gao Family, staunch supporters of the Jinzhou Ye Clan. For generations, the Gao Clan Chief sought marriage with Ye Clan women; in some ways, the Gao Family was almost like a branch of the Ye Clan...

Lei Jun recalled how he had been ambushed by Gao family disciples years ago in Qiluo Valley,

That incident had also involved a monk named Dexiang, ironically a Xuantian Temple true heir from the Gao Family of Zezhou,

In the end, Lei Jun had sent the whole lot of them to the West together,

This time, just as well—an official visit, then...Lei Jun nodded slightly and set off toward Zezhou,