Could the Xuanwu Pendant be the key to opening this painted door? As Meng Qi touched the pendant, corroded by yin energy, this thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Should he try it in front of Doumu? Or leave first and secretly return later? Many thoughts surged through his mind, but Meng Qi quickly made a decision—to try it now!
Firstly, he had no idea what lay beyond the door. He might not be able to handle it alone, and having the “Doumu Yuanyun” nearby would make things much safer. Secondly, Old Zhong might have secretly sent word before entering the haunted temple. It wouldn’t be long before people from Myth arrived, and all his efforts would be wasted, benefiting others instead!
Anyway, he could attribute the origin of the Xuanwu Pendant to the time he acquired the relevant scriptures from Wuyou Valley!
“Miss Ye, I have a jade pendant that seems to perfectly fit the indentation,” Meng Qi said.
He deliberately omitted its origin, leaving Ye Yuqi to guess.
Ye Yuqi glanced at the pendant in Meng Qi’s hand, engraved with the image of Xuanwu. She did not ask any questions, merely nodded, allowing Meng Qi to give it a try.
As he approached the stone wall, Meng Qi quieted his mind and harmonized his inner world with the vast universe, heightening his perception. Suddenly, ancient, distant whispers resonated in his ears and consciousness—faint, ethereal, and indistinct. Among them, he barely discerned a soft, rhythmic splashing sound. Merely hearing it evoked an overwhelming sense of the King of Hell claiming lives and the spectral enforcers of death reaping souls!
“Truly the voice of the Yellow Springs…” Meng Qi murmured gravely.
Ye Yuqi walked to his side and, after a moment’s silence, said, “Its voice lingers through ten thousand eons.”
Should he open it? Meng Qi hesitated. If the ancient Great Being “Yellow Springs” was truly waiting for someone to open the “painted door,” then this would be a huge mistake!
But they had thoroughly checked every place they had passed through earlier—there was no trace of Zhenwu, no hidden paths or secret chambers. To advance the chain quest, it seemed they had no choice but to open this door.
Ten thousand eons had passed. Either the Yellow Springs had barely survived or it had already perished into oblivion. What was there to fear? With a determined bite of his lip, Meng Qi inserted the Xuanwu Pendant into the indentation.
He held his saber in his right hand, the Flowing Fire blade at his waist, and stepped slightly back, waiting for the result.
Turtle and snake entwined—this is Xuanwu. The jade pendant, severely corroded by yin energy, fit the indentation perfectly.
Suddenly, streams of black water and ghostly light emerged. The images of the turtle and snake seemed to come alive, exuding a vast and boundless aura, like an endless ocean.
The Xuanwu Pendant emitted a clear emerald glow, growing brighter and brighter until it became dazzling. With a sharp crack, it shattered into dust. At the same time, the painted door outline on the wall became distinct and sharp, transforming into a real door!
Meng Qi extended his left hand and pushed forward with force. The stone door opened effortlessly, as though weightless, revealing the scene beyond.
Dense red mist, thick like condensed droplets, shrouded everything, making it hard to see clearly.
Meng Qi raised his saber and sword, stepping inside together with Ye Yuqi. Instantly, their senses felt muffled, their minds clouded. Ancient, distant voices echoed in their ears, and their souls swayed repeatedly, as if being washed by the waters of the Yellow Springs.
He opened his acupoints. The great sun and golden crows soared alongside stars and primordial chaos. The myriad heavens loomed high above, while his soul resided at its origin, the Unyielding Primordial Form manifesting within, barely stabilizing his body and mind.
Whispers continued in his ears, like ghostly voices. Enveloped in the red mist, Meng Qi felt as though he bore the weight of ten thousand tons of water, moving forward step by step. Meanwhile, behind Ye Yuqi, specks of starlight swirled into snowflakes, forming a starry nebula. Radiant and dreamlike, the red mist could not touch her, making her appear relaxed and at ease.
After walking for a while, they reached a place where the red mist had condensed into waves. Within, a black coffin lay!
The coffin seemed extremely heavy, its weight cracking the grayish-white ground beneath. Black mist surged upward but failed to breach the red waves.
Meng Qi felt a chill at first sight, speculating on the state of the “Yellow Springs.” Suddenly, his gaze froze. He saw an inscription carved on the front of the coffin—an ancient seal script:
“Zhenwu seals the Yellow Springs here!”
“So it’s indeed the Demon-Slaying Heavenly Venerable,” Ye Yuqi whispered softly.
Even someone as formidable as her instinctively lowered her voice, as if afraid of awakening the sealed “Yellow Springs.”
Meng Qi exhaled slightly in relief. Finally, they had found a trace of Zhenwu’s legacy.
The two advanced a few steps. Their pupils suddenly constricted—because the coffin lid had, at some unknown moment, opened a tiny crack!
A chill surged through Meng Qi’s body, making his scalp tingle. Countless guesses and horrifying thoughts flooded his mind.
Ye Yuqi’s dharma image behind her spun increasingly slowly, its majestic power pressing upon the void. She quickened her pace, reaching the front of the black coffin.
Meng Qi, ever the bold type, gritted his teeth, tightly gripped his saber and sword, and advanced. He extended his spiritual sense through the narrow gap, sensing the interior.
A silent, blood-yellow river flowed within. Its rolling waves were utterly silent, carrying countless souls drifting up and down, their eyes dazed, having forgotten all past lives… Such a scene appeared in Meng Qi’s mind, shaking his soul and making it hard for him to maintain his composure. His perception immediately blurred.
Retracting his spiritual sense, Meng Qi heightened his vigilance to the maximum. He thrust his long saber into the crack and pried hard. With a heavy sound, the coffin lid shifted aside.
Looking inside, the coffin was filled with a blood-yellow mist. Yet beneath it—there was absolutely nothing!
“Did the ‘Yellow Springs’ escape long ago?” Meng Qi murmured.
At that moment, he felt something within his Ji Zi Ring violently striking its inner walls, indicating an anomaly!
What’s going on… Carefully probing with his spiritual sense, Meng Qi discovered the mysterious hand bone he had obtained from Old Zhong. It was pitch-black but concealed a pale whiteness within, seemingly stolen from the Temple of Impermanence!
After a moment’s thought, he took it out.
Suddenly, the blood-yellow mist surged toward the bone. Like a great whale drawing in water, the bone absorbed all the mist!
Could this actually be the Yellow Springs’ hand bone? How did the Temple of Impermanence obtain it? Meng Qi’s heart pounded violently.
The blood-yellow mist soon vanished entirely. The hand bone returned to normal, once again appearing as an ordinary bone that Meng Qi could find nothing unusual about, no matter how closely he examined it.
Ye Yuqi lightly furrowed her brows: “Could it be that the Temple of Impermanence inherited the Yellow Springs’ lineage?”
She, too, suspected the bone might belong to the Yellow Springs.
Thinking of the living dead of the Temple of Impermanence and those within Zhenwu’s false tomb, Meng Qi vaguely felt it wasn’t that simple. He waved the bone around a bit, but nothing else happened.
He turned his gaze back to the coffin. It was now completely empty, rotting from the inside, soon turning into mud.
Where was the clue to Zhenwu? Meng Qi bared his teeth in frustration, put the bone away, gripped his saber in one hand and his sword in the other, and stepped forward again.
After walking for a while, they encountered a cliff face ahead. On it was another painted door, again entwined by turtle and snake.
Before the door stood a small flag, dark black in color, emitting red mist. Flowing water sounds surrounded it.
Beside the black flag lay a tortoiseshell, seemingly inscribed with ancient seal script.
“Could all the red mist throughout Bomi be drawn to this small flag?” Meng Qi gazed at the tortoiseshell, trying to decipher the ancient characters.
Before he could see clearly, Ye Yuqi read them aloud:
“When calamity arose, I clung to a sliver of hope and sought the elusive path. This journey may have no return. With no time to deal with my evil thoughts, fearing they might one day bring disaster to the mortal world, I leave the Xuan Shui Flag here. If any future traveler reads this, please take the flag and destroy my evil thoughts. Old Daoist Zhenwu bows in gratitude.”
The Supreme Emperor Zhenwu did not indicate the location of his false tomb, seemingly calculating that whoever could read this inscription must already possess the Xuanwu Pendant deliberately left behind in the false tomb—no further explanation was needed.
Meng Qi’s heart leapt with joy as he focused on the small flag. He saw two indescribable characters on its front and back. Though he could not recognize them, he could strangely understand their meaning:
“Demonslaying!”
“This must be the ‘Xuan Shui Demonslaying Flag,’ said to have been destroyed by the Minghai Sword,” Ye Yuqi remarked with a hint of confusion.
Examining it carefully, Meng Qi noticed countless cracks on the black flag, suspecting it might only last a few more uses before disintegrating completely.
“Perhaps the Demonslaying Venerable merely performed a temporary repair before placing it here. After countless eons of erosion and energy leakage, it has deteriorated to this state,” Meng Qi said without disappointment. As long as it still worked, that was enough!
He composed himself and approached the Xuan Shui Demonslaying Flag, solemnly bowing:
“Your humble junior, having come here with the Xuanwu Pendant, shall sincerely destroy your evil thoughts.”
After completing the bow, Meng Qi reached out and pulled the small flag. It was icy cold to the touch but came out easily with little effort.
As soon as the flag was in his hand, the surrounding red mist violently churned, like boiling water or a sea before a storm. The red mist throughout Bomi surged similarly, causing ancient experts to tremble in fear, unsure of what strange change had occurred.
Holding the Xuan Shui Demonslaying Flag radiating powerful energy, Meng Qi appeared extraordinary, almost exuding an aura capable of suppressing all realms.
As its energy manifested, the painted door on the wall emitted light.
“Clue to Zhenwu’s Legacy—Fourth Step Completed.”
“Fifth Step of the Mystery of Zhenwu’s Demise: Return to Zhenwu’s False Tomb, destroy the evil thoughts, and obtain Zhenwu’s possible whereabouts from them.”
…
Following the Gatekeeper into a cave, the Seven Luminaries evil deity descended deep underground after several twists and turns. The red mist began to thicken.
After walking a while, he saw the Gatekeeper stop. Ahead was a dead end.
On the grayish-white stone wall at the tunnel’s end was a roughly painted door, resembling a turtle and snake entwined. Nothing else was present.
“This is it,” the Gatekeeper muttered resentfully.
The Seven Luminaries evil deity scrutinized it carefully but found it impossible to breach, even when exerting his full strength. In the end, he simply dissipated into the crimson mist “waves.”
“It’s useless,” the Gatekeeper sighed. “In the beginning, I could occasionally hear a lion’s roar and distant human voices from inside. Later, only the human voices remained…”
His foot chain extended behind the stone door.
The Seven Luminaries, the malevolent deity, paced back and forth with a furrowed brow, deep in thought. Suddenly, he sensed the red mist seething once more, manifesting bizarre anomalies.
Before he could speak, his gaze froze, pupils contracting violently. He saw the painted door on the wall glowing with dark light, slowly opening. A terrifying aura emerged, and a tall, dark shadow faintly appeared!
A Great Being! Without hesitation, the Seven Luminaries—the Evil Deities—turned and fled.
The Gatekeeper also tried to follow in flight but found his iron chain pressed down by the terrifying aura, unable to extend.
“Brother Qiyao!” he cried desperately for aid, but the Seven Luminaries Evil God vanished in an instant.
The Gatekeeper turned in terror, seeing the painted door widening. A figure stepped out, its aura pressing upon the void, exuding immense majesty.
“Mercy… mercy…” he instinctively pleaded.
Suddenly, his voice stopped. The figure from the painted door halted before him. Cloaked in white, with a cold demeanor, it held a crimson jade sword, its blade seemingly flickering with flames.
“It’s you!” he exclaimed in shock. “Who exactly are you?”
Earlier, it had completely felt like a Dharma Body Sage!
Meng Qi had already put away the “Xuan Shui Demonslaying Flag” and smiled at the Gatekeeper: “We meet again.”
The Gatekeeper didn’t know how to respond and could only remain silent.
“Tell me, why do you guard this place?” Meng Qi casually asked.
The Gatekeeper repeated the same words he had spoken to the Seven Luminaries.
A mysterious young Daoist… Could he be part of Tianming’s group? Meng Qi frowned: “What nonsense was he spouting?”
“Something about waiting for a destined person, about ‘Who am I, and who is me…'” the Gatekeeper tried to recall.
“Who am I, and who is me?” Meng Qi’s expression turned serious. He thought of the calligraphy scroll he had obtained from Dongyang’s Villa.
Was Dongyang Divine Monarch still alive?
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