187: Dragon Vein Baptism

Great Chu Academy, Emperor Mountain.

This place is a Forbidden Ground of the academy, guarded by layers of Formations on ordinary days, and cannot be entered by just anyone.

Today, however, it is bustling with people.

When the figures of Chu Yuehua and Qin Wushang stepped out from the Void Realm and appeared before the altar at the summit of Emperor Mountain, the crowd that had been waiting there long since cast their gazes in unison.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

A chorus of shouts rose like a mountain, and the crowd bowed in salute, the scene solemn.

Qin Wushang stood quite naturally half a step behind Chu Yuehua's side; this positioning was subtle in itself.

He swept his gaze over the dense crowd below and suddenly raised his right hand, waving it casually.

That posture, that expression, looked just like a monarch inspecting their territory and receiving the homage of their subjects.

Many experts from the Noble Families and Elders of the academy who were bowing their heads caught a glimpse of this movement from the corners of their eyes, and their faces turned black!

This bastard, how dare he!

They were bowing to the Empress; what airs was he putting on?

Chu Yuehua, standing to the side, naturally noticed this little action, and her cold, elegant brows twitched imperceptibly.

"Rebellious Disciple, what are you doing?"

She asked via voice transmission, her tone devoid of emotion, while simultaneously raising her hand to gesture for everyone to rise.

"I'm not doing anything, Revered Master."

Qin Wushang's voice transmission immediately rang in her mind.

"I was just suddenly experiencing what it feels like to be below one person and above ten thousand; it's quite novel."

Before Chu Yuehua could respond, he muttered to himself again.

"Ah, no... that doesn't seem quite accurate."

"Thinking about it carefully, most of the time last night, I was the one on top, right? If you calculate it that way, I'm not really below one person..."

"..."

Chu Yuehua's breath hitched, the lines of her beautiful profile tightened instantly, and a cold chill surged forth.

Qin Wushang immediately felt a chill run down his spine and hurriedly shut his mouth.

"Your Majesty."

At this moment, Dean, dressed in plain Daoist robes, stepped forward.

He bowed respectfully to Chu Yuehua, his voice calm yet carrying across the mountain peak.

"The auspicious time is approaching. Please, Your Majesty, open the Dragon Vein to assist the talents of our Great Chu in bathing in the national fortune and cleansing themselves."

Chu Yuehua nodded slightly, suppressing that bit of personal emotion completely.

She took a step forward, her figure soaring into the sky, and in an instant, she reached a great height above Emperor Mountain.

She stood in the air, her black-based, gold-patterned imperial robe fluttering in the gale, her dark hair flying.

Her pair of phoenix eyes slowly swept over the sprawling Emperor Mountain below, as well as the vast, faintly visible mountains and rivers of Great Chu in the distance.

In her eyes, the light of moonlight gradually brightened, clear and majestic, as if reflecting the entire Empire.

"Hum!"

A terrifying Imperial Might emerged.

That was the majesty unique to an Emperor, an overbearing aura that governs mountains and rivers and controls the universe!

The Imperial Might was like a tide, sweeping in all directions; all living beings within the Great Chu Academy felt their Souls sink, giving rise to an urge to prostrate themselves in worship.

"Clang!"

A clear, ringing sword chime resounded through the nine heavens!

An ancient and heavy longsword slowly emerged from the Void Realm in front of Chu Yuehua.

The Great Chu's national treasure, the mountain and river emperor sword!

Once this sword appeared, the Dao of the Desolate Heaven Domain seemed to tremble slightly, and the far-reaching Imperial Might spread out.

"Boom!"

Chu Yuehua pressed her fingers together like a sword and gestured vaguely towards the direction of Emperor Mountain.

The mountain and river emperor sword suddenly unsheathed three inches!

In just those three inches, the world lost its color, winds rose and clouds surged, and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi surged wildly!

On Emperor Mountain, countless ancient runes lit up automatically, emitting a buzzing sound like a resonance.

"Roar!"

A Soul-shaking Dragon roar sounded from within the sword!

A massive phantom of a five-clawed Dragon soared from the mountain and river emperor sword, its body winding and instantly obscuring half the sky!

The Dragon might was vast, intertwining with the Imperial Might, causing all things to bow their heads.

Dean did not dare to delay, respectfully holding up an ancient, cyan seal with both hands!

That was the seal of the head of the Great Chu Academy.

He chanted ancient incantations, and the seal rose into the air, spinning rapidly, suddenly transforming into a fist-sized, dazzling orb.

"Go!"

The orb turned into a stream of light, shooting straight at the Dragon.

The five-clawed Dragon opened its giant mouth and accurately swallowed the orb into its belly.

"Roar!"

Having swallowed the orb, the Dragon's body instantly became several times more solid, every scale clearly visible, reflecting dazzling golden light as if cast from pure gold!

It let out another roar that shook the world, then swung its head and dove down towards the Emperor Mountain below!

"Rumble!"

The massive Dragon phantom merged into the body of Emperor Mountain without obstruction; in an instant, the entire Emperor Mountain shook violently, and endless seven-colored rays of light erupted from within the mountain!

The rays of light first filled Emperor Mountain, then seemed to trigger a chain reaction, spreading from Emperor Mountain as the center towards the outside of the academy and into the wider world!

It was as if all the mountains and earth veins within the territory of Great Chu were awakened and connected at this moment!

The rays of light gathered above Emperor Mountain, intertwined, rotated, and finally turned into a colorful rain of light, brilliant to the extreme, falling down in abundance.

Rain of Luck!

"Prodigies, enter the Formation quickly and receive the baptism of the national fortune!"

Dean shouted loudly.

The many Prodigies, who had long been unable to hold back, immediately turned into streams of light and rushed over upon hearing this.

Qin Wushang was the fastest; with a flash of his figure, he had already appeared in the core position first.

The colorful rain of light fell on him, bringing a warm feeling, as if every pore was cheering, and his Divine Soul felt waves of comfort and clarity.

"So this is the baptism of Luck? It feels... not bad."

He was a bit surprised; this was much gentler and more comfortable than he had expected.

Lin Ziyao followed closely behind, landing not far from his side.

She sat cross-legged and smiled at Qin Wushang, her smile sweet and pure, but a flash of cunning and affection that only Qin Wushang could understand crossed her eyes.

Immediately, she calmed her mind, circulated her family's Cultivation Technique, and began to actively absorb and refine the colorful rain of light around her.

Qin Wushang also sat cross-legged, silently reciting the incantations of the Great Dao Scripture in his heart.

Once this Cultivation Technique obtained from the System was activated, his body immediately burst forth with brilliant golden light, making him look like an immortal deity cast from gold.

However, the changes had only just begun.

Seemingly stimulated by the pure national fortune and Spiritual Qi from the outside world, the seed of life deep within his dao palace world trembled gently, and a crack opened at its top.

It had sprouted!

Qin Wushang began to derive his own Dao!

At the same time, the Primordial Dao Diagram, which had been floating quietly above the dao palace world, emitted a clear, ringing hum!

"Swish!"

The Primordial Dao Diagram actually flew out from Qin Wushang's body automatically, unfolding above his head and turning into an ancient scroll with natural dao rhyme.

"Boom!"

The Laws of the entire world emitted a strong resonance!

The colorful rain of light falling from the sky instantly changed its originally uniform trajectory, crazily gathering towards the Primordial Dao Diagram above Qin Wushang's head!

Through the traction of the dao diagram, the colorful rain of light became even purer, pouring down like a waterfall, completely submerging Qin Wushang!

"Hmm?"

Chu Qingming, not far from Qin Wushang, was the first to notice something wrong.

The Cultivation Technique he cultivated contained a devouring attribute and was most sensitive to energy flow.

Just a moment ago, the originally dense rain of light around him suddenly became thin, all taken away by an irresistible traction!

"How is this possible?"

Chu Qingming's expression changed drastically, and he looked sharply towards Qin Wushang's direction, only to see that the other party was already enveloped in a colorful beam of light, his aura climbing step by step.

"Heaven-Swallowing Art, devour for me! Take it back!"

He let out a low roar, frantically circulating his Cultivation Technique regardless of the cost, a distorted devouring vortex appearing on the surface of his body, wanting to snatch food from the tiger's mouth from Qin Wushang.

However, it was useless!

The traction of the Primordial Dao Diagram on the power of Luck was incredibly overbearing, like a whale swallowing water; the Heaven-Swallowing Art simply could not compete with it.

It was not just Chu Qingming; all the other Prodigies were the same!

The vast majority of the rain of light was forcibly plundered by that strange dao diagram and poured into Qin Wushang alone!

"Damn thing! How dare you steal my Opportunity!"

Ye Jingfeng's face was livid, the sword pattern on his chest glowing brightly, a phantom of a miniature sword Formation appearing behind him, Sword Qi cutting through the Void Realm, attempting to sever that invisible traction.

But everything was in vain; it was like an ant trying to shake a tree; the Sword Qi sank into the colorful torrent, not even stirring up a ripple.

Of all the Prodigies, only Lin Ziyao was in a slightly better situation.

Her own Cultivation Technique was special; although the rain of light around her had also thinned, she could still maintain stable absorption.

"Your Majesty! This... this is not according to the rules!"

On the observation platform, Murong Yan was the first to be unable to hold back; he stood up abruptly, pointing at Qin Wushang in the beam of light, his face extremely ugly.

Their Murong Family had three carefully cultivated Prodigies enter this time, but now they could barely absorb any national fortune; this loss was too great!

"That's right! The Dragon Vein Baptism is meant to reward many talents; how can one person be allowed to be so overbearing and monopolize the Opportunity?"

"Absurd! Your Majesty, please see clearly! This child does not know what evil method he used to forcibly plunder all the Luck; where does this leave the other Prodigies?"

"Please, Your Majesty, stop him immediately and expel him from the Formation!"

"Please, Your Majesty, uphold justice!"

With Murong Yan taking the lead, several other heads of Noble Families whose interests were also damaged spoke up one after another, extremely dissatisfied.

Were the spots their clan's Prodigies had worked so hard to earn just to watch Qin Wushang perform alone?

High in the sky, Chu Yuehua looked down at the scene below, a trace of surprise flashing across her beautiful face.

She knew the Primordial Dao Diagram was miraculous, but she hadn't expected that it could display such overbearing ability to gather Luck at this moment.

"The Primordial Dao Diagram is worthy of being the companion object of the Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo, actually possessing the ability to govern all kinds of Luck..."

She whispered to herself, her eyes deep.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

Chu Tianhai could not sit still either; he suppressed his hatred for Qin Wushang and put on a worried appearance.

"The Dragon Vein Luck concerns the foundation of the state!"

"If this child is allowed to absorb it all alone, I fear it will not be a blessing for the country! Please, Your Majesty, consider the big picture and stop his baptism!"

He said this in a high-sounding manner, but in reality, what he was most worried about was that with the Luck added to his body, Qin Wushang would be even harder to kill later.

Luck is mysterious; this child was already troublesome, and if he became one with great Luck, his desire to avenge his son would be as difficult as ascending to heaven!

Facing the surging public sentiment below, Chu Yuehua's expression did not change.

Her cold, clear gaze slowly swept over those heads of Noble Families who had spoken, finally resting on Qin Wushang, who was enveloped in the beam of light, for a moment.

"The path of cultivation is to defy Heaven and fight for one's fate."

"I opened the Dragon Vein and gave the Opportunity; that is already a grace."

"Whether one can seize the Opportunity and how much fortune one can obtain depends on one's own ability."

"If he has the ability, even if he absorbs all the national fortune in the sky, that is his ability; what wrong is there in that?"

"If you have any objections..."

Her gaze swept over Chu Tianhai and the others again, her tone flat, yet it made the few of them instantly feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

"Go back home and hide under your covers to cry."

As her words fell, the whole place was dead silent.

Those heads of Noble Families who had originally been indignant opened their mouths but dared not make a single sound.

Chu Yuehua was too much of a Prodigy!

A Quasi-Emperor Expert over a thousand years old, with the Taiyin Immortal Body; that was not someone they could defy at will.