Chapter 12: The Heart Sutra of Mahayana Buddhism

  The Emperor's Heart Sutra

  The residence of Zhou Tianchen is heavily guarded and no one can enter without being summoned by Master Zhou himself.

  At this moment, however, the lamp inside was swaying gently.

  In front of Zhou Tianchen stood a man who looked like he was less than thirty years old, but those who knew him understood that he was already over forty.

  This man is Zhou Yangsheng, the eldest son of Zhou Tiānchén and the elder brother of Zhou Yuán's father.

  This Zhou Yangsheng rarely appears, usually only when a major family meeting is held. Normally, he cultivates and doesn't ask about worldly affairs. This time, it was also Zhou Tiānchén who called him out and informed him of the news that the Zhou family is about to be destroyed.

  Zhou Yangsheng was tall and majestic, with a handsome face, but at this moment, his eyebrows were furrowed, and he was obviously very upset inside.

  "Father, you chose the third generation of disciples to inherit the family's sacred artifact because the second generation of disciples all need to stay and fight to the death. I don't disagree with this point, but when you let those guest disciples and supplied disciples join in as well, I couldn't understand it. If the champion is a supplied disciple or a guest disciple who gets it, wouldn't the family's sacred artifact fall into an outsider's hands?"

  "Rest assured, I dare to do this because everything is clear in my mind. Don't you have faith in Chao Fan? He's at the peak of the Spiritual Inspiration realm! With my understanding of Zhou Tian Bo, he will definitely exhaust his own vitality to pass on his powers to Zhou Chao Fan. The realm of magic is far superior to the physical realm, and a sacred artifact cannot fall into the hands of an outsider!"

  Zhou Yangsheng shook his head, "What a pity, Chao Fan is the grandson of Second Uncle, but our line has declined. Zhou Liang and Zi Yi, one at the Blood Aperture realm and the other at the Viscera realm, are not enough!!"

  "It won't be, our lineage won't decline, because we still have Zhou Yuan!"

  "Second Brother's son? I haven't seen him for some time, how is it that his strength has also improved? However, no matter how much he improves, at most he'll only reach the Blood Aperture Realm, and won't be able to contend with Zhou Chaofan of the Law Enforcement Realm."

  Zhou Tianchen smiled meaningfully, "Wrong, Zhou Yuan. Now he's at the peak of the Spiritual Inspiration Realm and has even cultivated the family's most secret scripture, the War God Magic Classic. Compared to others in the same realm, he's many times stronger. Perhaps, he can even contend with Zhou Chao Fan who just entered the Law Enforcement Realm!"

  Zhou Yang's face changed greatly, "What did you say? Zhou Yuan has already cultivated to the Spiritual Soul Stage so quickly? And he even cultivated the War God Scripture, is he still the son of my second brother? Is he still that introverted kid?"

  Zhou Tianchen shook his head, "Yang Sheng, how long has it been since you last saw him? He is after all your second brother's son. Your elder brother is dead, and in the family, he suffers from the bullying of Zhou Tianbao's line, even Zhou Liang, and those sons born to your concubines also occasionally bully him. Have you ever managed this?"

  Zhou Yangsheng remembered what his second brother said when he left the Zhou family, "Big brother, I and your sister-in-law are going to hunt down the Second-Ranked Wolf King together. This trip is extremely perilous, I have a bad premonition. If we encounter any mishaps, please take care of Zhou Yuan for me... ... Please treat him as if he were your own!!"

  Thinking back to these years, he had been devoted to his cultivation and although he had broken through to the second level of the Magical Boundary, the Casting Realm, he indeed hadn't fulfilled the promise he made to his Second Brother. For a moment, Zhou Yang felt an overwhelming sense of shame.

  "Second brother, I owe you an apology! All these years, I haven't taken good care of Zhou Yuan, and he's been wronged!!!"

  Zhou Tianchen saw Zhou Yangsheng and knew that his heart must be deeply self-blaming.

  A large and thick hand patted Zhou Yangsheng.

  "Yang Sheng, don't blame yourself. Overly caring for Zhou Yuan is not necessarily a good thing. In these years, he has had his own opportunities and has made rapid progress. If I were to say that among the third generation disciples of the Zhou family, there is one who can rival Zhou Chao Fan, I think it would only be Zhou Yuan. No, I have a feeling that in the future, Zhou Yuan will be even more powerful than Zhou Chao Fan. Perhaps his achievements will be beyond our imagination!!"

  Zhou Yang nodded, "Not bad, it's useless to think about these things now. We still have a tough battle ahead of us. Fortunately, thanks to Zhou Yuan and Zhou Chaofan's presence, the family's sacred artifact won't fall into outsiders' hands."

  At this moment, Zhou Yuan was neither cultivating nor staying in his room to read books. Instead, he walked towards a corner of the Zhou residence, which was precisely the direction of the Zhou family's alchemy lab.

  Before long, Zhou Yuan arrived outside Dan House.

  "Respectfully announcing Elder Zhou Xin Chang's arrival! Elder Zhou Yuan seeks an audience!" Zhou Yuan stood outside the Dan Fang, speaking with reverence.

  Zhou Xinzhen was a Dan refining elder, who was at the first level of Fa Shu boundary, with a cultivation base in Ju Yuan boundary. He was straightforward and didn't like to joke around, so not many people were willing to get close to him.

  However, Zhou Yuan could see that Elder Zhou was a considerate elder for the family, except for his bad temper, everything else was fine.

  After Zhou Yuan finished speaking, it took a good half of the time before any sound was transmitted from inside.

  "Zhou Yuan, which Zhou Yuan, the son of Zhou Chunseng? We don't have any relationship between us, what brings you to see me now? At this critical moment when our family's survival is at stake, I don't have time to see you. I need to refine more elixirs and send them out to maximize our family's power."

  Zhou Yuan couldn't help but feel even more respect and admiration for Zhou Xian in his heart.

  "Zhou Xin Lao, please see me once more. I came to find you today because there is something I want to ask of you. Although we don't have much interaction, I assure you that my coming to find you absolutely isn't for personal matters, but rather for the sake of our family's future!"

  Bang!

  An old man opened the door, closed it again, walked out and stood in front of Zhou Yuan, saying coldly, "You're just a young whippersnapper, yet you dare to say that it's for the sake of your family's future? Alright, I'll see what you can do."

  Zhou Yuandao said, "I have come to request an audience with Elder Zhou Xin and seek the Dan Wang Xin Jing!!"

  "What!!!" Zhou Xin's eyebrows twisted violently, clearly revealing his inner turmoil. "You want the Dan Wang Heart Scripture? Do you know what that is? That's mine! The Dan Wang Heart Scripture was passed down from our ancestors and is a true top-grade alchemy scripture. In the entire Da Qian country, it's a treasure of the highest order. Our ancestors decreed that the Dan Wang Heart Scripture can only be possessed by each generation's Alchemy Elder, and it's been passed down singly, never to be given to anyone outside the family!"

  Zhou Xin's chest was heaving rapidly, clearly enraged by Zhou Yuan. "Is this what you meant? You'd sacrifice the future of our family just to get your hands on my Dan Wang Heart Scripture? Now leave me alone and pretend nothing ever happened!"

  Having said that, Zhou Xin walked towards Dan Fang's place.

  "The day of our family's destruction is imminent, we both know that the Zhou family may not survive this calamity. Many high-ranking officials, even families, elders, and guests will be left to fight to the death, and probably none of them will end up with a good outcome. The Dan Wang Heart Scripture, will it fall into the hands of our enemies?"

  When Zhou Yuan heard this, Zhou Xian suddenly turned his head around, "Just because of you, a fleshly cultivator who has only reached the Spiritual Inspiration Realm, and hasn't even reached the Law Enforcement Realm, dares to talk about the future of the family? What makes you qualified!!!"

  Zhou Yuan suddenly reached out with one hand, spanning a distance of ten zhang, and pointed at Zhou Xian, "With me, the highest ultimate technique of the family, the War God's Magic Classic!!!"

  Suddenly, a huge suction force was transmitted, enveloping Zhou Xin.