Chapter 738 - 395: Mountain and River Order

This way, his need to grow stronger and Pan Yu’s need to control more of reality no longer conflicted. It was the best possible outcome.

However, just waiting for the incarnations of the Celestial Dao’s will to deliver themselves to his doorstep was too passive.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Yang An didn’t want to wait; after some thought, he decided to take the initiative.

He told Pan Yu and Pan Shi his plan. Yang An’s decision was this: have Pan Yu leave the room to try and lure out an incarnation of the Celestial Dao’s will, after which he would step in and eliminate it.

This way, if there was a Jade Scroll, it would go to Pan Yu, while Yang An would focus solely on absorbing the Spirit Charm to increase his own strength.

"What about me? Fellow Daoist Yang, what about me?"

After hearing Yang An’s plan and seeing that he hadn’t been assigned a task, Pan Shi asked impatiently. He didn’t want to just stand by and do nothing.

"As for Fellow Daoist Pan Shi, don’t you have the mission given to you by the Meat Tree True Master?"

Yang An asked.

Before the Can Meng Daoist left, he had said that the Meat Tree True Master had already planted a seed of the Meat Tree Technique inside Pan Shi. He needed to become the Divine Tree of this world to support its assimilation.

’Although I don’t know why a Divine Tree is needed, or why Pan Shi has to be the one to become it...’

’But since it’s a mission from Pan Shi’s master, he should know what to do.’

But upon hearing Yang An’s words, Pan Shi looked embarrassed.

"Fellow Daoist Yang, I’m still completely in the dark about this whole thing. I can’t make heads or tails of it, and I have no idea what to do. My master didn’t leave me any instructions, either. He just told me to protect my junior sister well, so..."

"In that case, Fellow Daoist Pan Shi, you’ll be in charge of protecting Fellow Daoist Pan Yu. If a situation arises where I’m overwhelmed, be ready to act at a moment’s notice."

Yang An said after a moment of thought.

"That works too. But if we’re relying on you alone, Fellow Daoist Yang, will it be..."

"Don’t worry. If I can’t win, I’ll run."

Yang An said with a laugh, but he wasn’t actually worried about this.

For one, he believed the Celestial Dao’s will wouldn’t deliberately target him; in fact, it was more likely that the Celestial Dao was secretly helping him.

For another, since he could use Spirit Charm to power his abilities, he could unleash his full strength even outside the room. He didn’t have much Spirit Charm, but it would be enough to handle any surprises.

With the decision made, it was time for action. Yang An didn’t want to waste any precious time.

According to the plan, Pan Yu and Pan Shi both left the room and went downstairs, outside the residential building. Yang An waited in the hallway for the incarnation of the Celestial Dao’s will to appear.

Just as expected, in no more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a white shadow flew in swiftly from the distance, quickly entering the area of the old residential building.

Even though Pan Yu had left the room, as its master, she possessed an exceptionally keen intuition for approaching danger.

As soon as the incarnation of the Celestial Dao’s will appeared, she immediately informed Yang An, and Pan Shi began escorting her back toward the room.

Yang An leaped down effortlessly from the upper floor and immediately intercepted the incarnation that was trying to attack Pan Yu.

Like the great tiger from before, the newcomer’s entire body seemed to be formed from drifting white mist. The only difference was that this was a humanoid incarnation.

The white mist formed long hair, and it had a transcendent air about it, like an enlightened master, though its face was not visible.

Without a word, the incarnation prepared to bypass Yang An and chase after Pan Yu.

But just as it moved past Yang An, it was blocked by countless White Feathers falling from the sky.

A longsword formed of white mist appeared in its hand. Facing the incoming White Feathers, it slashed out with its sword.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

It actually produced the sound of striking metal.

A dozen or so White Feathers were instantly deflected by the sword’s edge. That they weren’t sliced apart seemed to surprise it.

At that moment, even more White Feathers shot forward, instantly riddling the incarnation with holes.

With a BANG, the incarnation exploded into a cloud of white mist, unable to reform. It was over.

Delighted, Yang An walked over and began to absorb the Spirit Charm.

Having done it once before, he was more familiar with the process, absorbing it even faster than the first time.

All of the Spirit Charm was drawn into Yang An’s body, entering his Dantian’s Qi Sea and leaving him with a clear-headed and refreshed feeling.

Before long, the Spirit Charm was completely absorbed, and a smooth, pure white Jade Scroll appeared before Yang An’s eyes.

’This must be what Pan Yu was talking about.’ Yang An grabbed it.

In an instant, an information box popped up before his eyes.

"「[Mountain and River Order: Jinjiang Road]: This object belongs to the mountains and rivers. He who obtains this order shall protect the mountains and rivers of a region, command their Spirit Charm, enjoy the faith of its peaceful people, and become the Lord of the Mountains and Rivers.」"

Once again, there was no information about a cost of use or whether it could undergo Purification. This confirmed it was an object from Earth.

But the information on it surprised Yang An.

According to the information box, possessing a Mountain and River Order would make one the Lord of the Mountains and Rivers, ruling over a region and protecting its people.

However, the Mountain and River Order only indicated a single road, not a large region.

’If that incarnation could have spoken,’ he thought, ’it might have announced itself with: "I am the Lord of Jinjiang Road!"’

The scene was amusing enough to make one chuckle.

But that wasn’t the most important part.

What was important was that Pan Yu needed to devour this Mountain and River Order to take control of the corresponding area and turn it from illusion to reality.

’But how is that any different from becoming the Lord of the Mountains and Rivers?’

At this thought, Yang An’s heart jolted. He looked up at the sky, suddenly feeling as if he understood something.

’Of course. The Celestial Dao knows everything, and it already has a countermeasure in place.’

However, without a response from the Celestial Dao, Yang An couldn’t be one hundred percent certain.

Inside the room, Pan Yu had been preparing to use a Technique to observe the situation outside, but the battle had ended in an instant. Yang An quickly returned to the room with the Jade Scroll in hand.

With the Jade Scroll in her possession, Pan Yu didn’t delay. She immediately used her Cultivation Technique to begin devouring it.

And Yang An finally witnessed Pan Yu’s so-called "devouring." A sheet of white paper simply appeared on the wall inside the room. With their room at the center, a nearby road named Jinjiang Road, including the surrounding buildings, lit up on the paper.

"It worked!"

Pan Yu opened her eyes and said joyfully.

"From now on, as long as we’re on this road, we can also freely control our powers without restriction."

With one more place, even if they left the room again, they would have somewhere else to go.

Yang An, however, was staring at the white paper on the wall—one room and one road—which further confirmed the suspicion in his heart.

’If they had to rely on just the few of them to face the entire world, the number of incarnations here holding Mountain and River Orders would be countless. Trying to obtain all of them without the Celestial Dao’s intervention would be unimaginably difficult.’

This was good news for Yang An. He wasn’t acting alone; he had the Celestial Dao. The Celestial Dao wasn’t just sitting back and doing nothing—he just couldn’t say it out loud.

"This is still too slow. Let’s just leave this area entirely. That will definitely lure out more incarnations."

Yang An changed his mind and said to Pan Yu and Pan Shi.

"Won’t that be too dangerous? If too many incarnations are lured out, I’m afraid we won’t be able to handle it with just you alone, Fellow Daoist Yang."

Pan Yu said worriedly.

They had already witnessed Yang An’s combat prowess. Even when his power was restricted and he couldn’t use its full extent, he was still terrifyingly strong.

But as the saying goes, two fists are no match for four hands. If too many incarnations appeared, even Yang An couldn’t possibly be strong enough to fight them all at once.

"It’s fine. Listen to me. We’ll leave this place. I’ll protect you both. Nothing will happen."

Yang An said with complete confidence. To Pan Yu and Pan Shi, it seemed like confidence in his own strength, but in reality, only Yang An knew it was confidence in the Celestial Dao.

He wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but he was eighty to ninety percent certain. Yang An dared to bet that the Celestial Dao would not let anything happen to Pan Yu.

Because this was the Celestial Dao’s plan.

’In fact, after absorbing enough Spirit Charm, he could leave this place without any worry. Pan Yu and Pan Shi would be enough on their own.’