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"Good, I agree to it!"
Hearing that George—a cultivator whose strength was clearly no lower than his own—was willing to help, Shen Gongbao felt that the chances of success had risen significantly, so he finally agreed.
However, being a naturally cautious man, he still asked, "I just don't know... what benefits does this hold for you?"
"Actually, it is not as if I have no requests," George said with a smile. "I am a rogue cultivator from outside these parts. I have been in closed-door cultivation for a thousand years, yet my cultivation base has stagnated. Recently, I was practicing a displacement technique, and for some unknown reason, I ended up inside this Map of Mountains and Rivers."
"Meeting you all must be a stroke of fate. If this matter succeeds, I hope you two fellow Daoists from the Chan School can make an introduction. I wish to see if I have the opportunity to take the Heavenly Lord as my master."
"No problem, no problem at all! When the Heavenly Lord comes out of seclusion, this poor Daoist will introduce you."
Taiyi Zhenren waved his hand nonchalantly; for him, this was a trivial matter.
Shen Gongbao's mouth twitched upon hearing this.
For him, seeing the Primal Heavenly Lord was as hard as ascending to the heavens; without a specific summons from the Heavenly Lord, he couldn't see him at all. Yet, Taiyi Zhenren could see him whenever he pleased. This was the gap between them.
"If this succeeds and the Dragon Race is freed in the future, we will definitely offer a generous gift to you, Fellow Daoist!"
Shen Gongbao wasn't qualified to promise an introduction, but he made a promise of material wealth, hoping George would exert a bit more effort later on.
With everything settled, George returned the Divine Brush to Taiyi Zhenren. Taiyi immediately prepared to draw a circle to lead everyone out of the Map of Mountains and Rivers first.
However, George raised his hand to stop him.
"Go out and tell the people outside to move further away. We aren't going out. We will wait for the Heavenly Tribulation right here inside the Map of Mountains and Rivers."
"Wait for the Tribulation in here?"
Taiyi Zhenren froze, unable to grasp Taiyi Zhenren's meaning immediately, while Shen Gongbao stammered an explanation:
"G-g-good idea! This is Master's t-t-treasure..."
"The Map of Mountains and Rivers is a magic treasure bestowed upon you by the Heavenly Lord. It possesses infinite power. Although it is mainly used to trap enemies and for cultivation, its physical defense is naturally not weak," George interrupted, explaining quickly.
"Perhaps it cannot completely isolate the Heavenly Tribulation Curse, but it can at least block a significant portion of its power. Therefore, facing the Tribulation inside the Map is definitely much easier than facing it outside."
By the time the stuttering Shen Gongbao finished explaining, the Tribulation lightning would probably have already struck, so George explained it rapidly himself.
According to his knowledge, the Map of Mountains and Rivers was transformed from a petal of the Chaos Green Lotus.
The Chaos Green Lotus was the supreme Chaos Treasure that nurtured Pan Gu. Later, because it could not withstand the force of Pan Gu splitting the heavens, it shattered.
One mature lotus seed became the Thirty-Six Grade Creation Green Lotus.
The Creation Green Lotus split into three: The Red Flower became the Panlong Bian Guai (owned by Taishang Laojun), the White Lotus Root became the Three-Jeweled Jade Ruyi (owned by Yuanshi Tianzun), and the Green Lotus Leaf became the Qingping Sword (owned by Tongtian Jiaozhu).
The saying "Red flower, white root, and green lotus leaf; the Three Religions were originally one family" came from this.
The other three immature lotus seeds transformed as follows: The Twelve-Grade Golden Lotus of Merit (owned by the Daoist Receiver of the West), the Twelve-Grade Red Lotus of Hellfire (owned by Old Ancestor Ming He of the Blood Sea), and the Twelve-Grade Black Lotus of Destruction (owned by the Demon Ancestor Luo Hou).
There was also a half-mature lotus seed that remained unknown to most; it was the White Lotus of Purification, which later transformed into the Lotus Lantern (owned by the Goddess Nüwa).
The five lotus leaves transformed into the Innate Five-Direction Flags: The Central Apricot Yellow Flag (owned by Yuanshi Tianzun), the Oriental Green Lotus Banner (owned by the Daoist Receiver), the Southern Off-Ground Flame Flag (owned by Taishang Laojun), the Western Cloud Border Plain Cloud Flag (owned by the Queen Mother of Yaochi), and the Northern Black Origin Water Control Flag (owned by Old Ancestor Ming He).
The lotus petals transformed into: The Book of Heaven (Investiture of the Gods + Instructions to the Gods Whip: owned by Yuanshi Tianzun), The Book of Earth (Classic of Mountains and Seas + Earth Membrane: owned by Zhen Yuanzi), The Book of Man (Book of Life and Death + Judge's Pen: owned by the Ten Yamas; Marriage Book + Red String: owned by Nüwa), The Map of Mountains and Rivers (Nüwa), The River Chart and Lo Shu (Fuxi), The Seven-Treasure Wondrous Tree (Daoist Zhunti), The Red Hydrangea (Nüwa), and the God-Slaying Spear (Luo Hou).
The lotus pod transformed into the Qiankun Cauldron (owned by Ancestor Hongjun).
So, normally speaking, the Map of Mountains and Rivers belonged to the category of Innate Spirit Treasures, ranking highly in the entire Honghuang world.
Even if this was a parallel world with some differences, its grade absolutely wouldn't be too far off.
With such a powerful treasure available, wouldn't it be too foolish to use one's physical body to tank the Heavenly Tribulation?
"Makes sense!"
Taiyi Zhenren's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this. He drew a circle, poked his head out, and quickly explained the sequence of events to Li Jing, who was anxiously waiting outside the Map.
Just as he finished speaking, the sky above the entire Chentang Pass was shrouded by terrifying Tribulation Clouds.
"The Heavenly Tribulation has arrived! Retreat quickly!"
"Immortal, you must save Ne Zha!"
The Li Jing couple were not overly sentimental people at a time like this. Despite being worried to death, they immediately organized the soldiers to evacuate the citizens, moving far away from the Li Manor.
Taiyi Zhenren also instantly pulled his head back in.
"Master above! What a powerful barrier!"
In just that short moment, he discovered that the interior of the Map of Mountains and Rivers had changed appearance.
A massive barrier based on the principles of the Five Elements now covered the area where they stood.
Just by feeling it, he knew this barrier's defensive effect was far, far stronger than the barrier set up by his Barrier Beasts.
This was precisely the strongest defensive barrier created and improved by George himself: The Five Elements Kabbalah Defense Barrier, Supreme Version.
"I didn't expect you to be proficient in arrays and barriers as well, Fellow Daoist," Taiyi couldn't help but exclaim.
With the Map of Mountains and Rivers added to such a powerful barrier, he felt George's plan just now already had an eighty percent success rate.
"I know a little, just a little."
George made a humble Daoist bow, then continued his preparations.
Besides the Map of Mountains and Rivers and the powerful defensive barrier, he had prepared a third effective method to deal with lightning tribulations.
He was seen quickly utilizing Transfiguration to conjure one of the strongest metals from the Marvel Universe: Uru metal.
Then, using his ability to control metal, he shaped it into a giant birdcage. Using the methods of artifact refining and alchemy, he further strengthened the birdcage, making it difficult to destroy.
Indeed, he made this birdcage precisely to utilize the Faraday Cage principle to further reduce the power of the Heavenly Tribulation.
However, considering the sheer power of the Heavenly Tribulation, it was likely that a standard Faraday Cage would be melted into a puddle of liquid metal before it could even function. Thus, he used his own artifact refining and alchemy skills to drastically reinforce it.
Although Uru is one of the strongest metals in the Marvel Universe, he dared not underestimate the Heavenly Tribulation Curse set personally by the Primal Heavenly Lord to destroy the Demon Pill.
"Fellow Daoist's artifact refining skills are also quite impressive!"
Taiyi Zhenren didn't know what use the birdcage served, but he could deduce from some of the techniques used during its creation that George possessed remarkable refining skills.
This was because Taiyi himself was proficient in refining; not all the magic treasures on his person were gifts from the Heavenly Lord—many were refined by himself.
Of course, when it came to the art of refining, the most skilled was still that senior brother from the Jie School.
"I know a little, just a little."
George smiled humbly as before, then gestured for everyone to enter the cage together to await the Heavenly Tribulation.
(End of Chapter)