Chapter 519: Selection

Meng Qi asked solemnly, “Besides that?”

The gatekeeper shook his head, “Nothing else was mentioned.”

Just locking me here for a cycle of sixty years…

“What did he look like?” Meng Qi continued to ask, feigning indifference.

The gatekeeper recalled, “Tall and thin, wearing a bamboo hat popular in ancient times, dressed in a water-blue Taoist robe. His eyebrows, nose, and mouth were all very ordinary, but his eyes liked to squint into a line, giving him an indescribable air of elegance…”

Meng Qi repeatedly asked a few more times to ensure the gatekeeper had not omitted any details. Then he glanced at the “chains” that automatically “unlocked” as the gate opened, “You have an agreement with the Ice Fairy. I won’t make things difficult for you. Leave now.”

This was a transmission instruction from Ye Yuqi.

As the gatekeeper was both startled and delighted, Meng Qi paused and said, “I don’t know what you’ve done in the past, nor does it concern me. Your enemies will come for you. But today, you were freed because of me. If you commit grave evils in the future, I will personally eliminate you.”

“Humbly obeying the senior’s command.” Although Meng Qi’s aura had already become ordinary, the gatekeeper still regarded him as a senior expert due to the lingering shock.

That pressure upon the void cannot be faked!

He ran toward the fork in the road with the chains and a feeling of complete relief, disappearing in an instant, clearly eager to leave.

“What were you surprised about just now?” Ye Yuqi, dressed in a water lotus-colored dress, walked out from the painting gate.

Meng Qi did not hide anything, “Junior obtained a piece of calligraphy in the Dongyang Secondary Mansion, left behind by the Dongyang God-King. It reads exactly ‘Who am I, and who is me.'”

This matter had been witnessed by Ruan Yao Guang and others; there was no point in hiding it.

“In the era of the Sage Emperor, the Dongyang God-King was not particularly outstanding…” Ye Yuqi did not continue. In her opinion, even if there were secret techniques that could allow a powerful being to survive to the present, Dongyang God-King would certainly not be able to wield such techniques.

“That’s why it’s strange,” Meng Qi mused, “Miss Ye, have you ever seen a Daoist like that?”

Ye Yuqi thought carefully for a moment and shook her head, “Never seen one.”

Since there was no clue for now, Meng Qi turned his head and stepped back into the painted gate, planning to take all the Carefree Flowers in the valley.

Previously, he had feared that picking too many Wuyou flowers might trigger anomalies and disrupt some dormant seal, so he hadn’t dared to harvest them excessively.

Ye Yuqi did not mention the matter of the Xuan Shui Exorcism Banner and walked beside Meng Qi. Suddenly, she said, “If there are no clues about the matter of the True Martial Evil Thoughts, we can all help.”

Concerning one of the Five Emperors of Antiquity and one of the Nine Reverends of the Daoist Sect, Ye Yuqi took the matter quite seriously. Perhaps eliminating the evil thoughts would not yield much, but the subsequent developments were worth anticipating.

“If there are parts of this matter that cannot be resolved, junior will not hesitate to ask for help,” Meng Qi felt that this chain of tasks might become full of danger by the end and thought it appropriate to show goodwill in advance.

Walking around the stone chamber, still filled with red mist, Meng Qi found nothing else. Reflecting on everything that had happened, he suddenly frowned, “Miss Ye, junior feels there is something odd about this matter. If ‘Yellow Spring’ had escaped, why wouldn’t he take the Xuan Shui Exorcism Banner with him? Even if the item was nearly destroyed and of no use to him, he could have destroyed it to ruin the arrangements of his old rival, True Martial. Why wouldn’t he do that?”

Ye Yuqi was silent for a moment, “The turtle shell inscription next to the Xuan Shui Exorcism Banner made no mention of suppressing Yellow Spring. It was simply left there, waiting for someone to take it.

After the Xuan Shui Exorcism Banner was taken, the turtle shell had already turned to dust.

This matter was truly shrouded in mystery, unless… Meng Qi had some guesses, but none of them had evidence to support them, so he could only suppress his thoughts and head toward the previous stone chamber, rethinking the experience in his mind to find out where he had performed inadequately, for self-reflection and improvement.

To be honest, had he not personally intervened in eliminating Yang Zhenchan, he would never have encountered the deadly Night Demon or the Poison-Handed Devil King, nor would he have uncovered their explorations. Without his involvement, they might not have located the safe passage for quite some time. By the time Jiang Zhiwei arrived, the two of them could effortlessly identify the array nodes that had surfaced after the earthquake in the dense forest and pinpoint the safe route—all without provoking the old bell keeper or the Nether Emperor, thereby avoiding the risk of awakening the National Preceptor.

In other words, under normal circumstances while carrying out the Wuyou Valley mission, the greatest dangers he and Jiang Zhiwei would face would be encountering ancient monsters while searching for the array nodes, being attacked by ancestral spirits after entering the safe passage, and potentially being infiltrated by the cold and damp influence of the national teacher due to carelessness.

If they were well-prepared and cautious, it would not be too difficult.

…

After gathering all the Worry-Free Flowers, Meng Qi and Ye Yuqi returned to the entrance of the Immortal Traces near the Quicksand Collection.

The two changed their clothes in a concealed spot, donned their respective masks, and “Doumu Yuanjun” directly opened the entrance without the need to notify those inside via the Immortal Messenger Talisman anymore.

“Change your insignia later, and you will officially become a member. With the insignia, you can enter from any of the nine entrances,” Ye Yuqi, already transformed into “Doumu Yuanjun,” said indifferently.

Official member… The first thing Meng Qi thought of was the benefits!

“Yuanjun, can junior now receive the ‘Yuanshi Golden Treatise’ External Manifestation Chapter and one or two Dharmakaya techniques?” His eyes lit up with excitement.

The chapter on External Manifestation in the “Primordial Golden Treatise” encompassed all techniques of external manifestation. A rough estimate revealed several sets, including the Three Heaven-Overturning Palms, the Four Wuji Techniques, the Yin-Yang Transformation, and the Primordial Beginning Finger. Of course, more crucially, it also contained Dharmakāya techniques!

Ye Yuqi nodded, “Exactly. You will immediately receive the External Manifestation Chapter and all related techniques. Given your potential and possible contributions to the organization, you don’t have to wait to complete an official member task before obtaining the second Dharma Body technique. You can choose two techniques at once.”

Meng Qi landed in front of the Biyou Palace, initially overwhelmed with joy, then hesitated for a moment before asking, “Yuanjun, may this junior select only one Dharmakāya technique from the ‘Primordial Golden Treatise’?”

“You’re giving it up voluntarily?” Doumu Yuanjun was slightly puzzled.

From any perspective, Kuai Dao Su Meng did not seem like someone who would give up easily.

Meng Qi quickly shook his head, “No, no! Junior just wants to exchange for a Dharmakaya technique from the ‘Eight-Nine Mystical Art.'”

This was his main cultivation technique!

Doumu Yuanjun barely moved her head, “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Other than techniques under your own title, all others must be exchanged with Dharmakaya-level items, obtained through major rewards, or by completing specific tasks.”

“Specific tasks?” Meng Qi was puzzled.

Doumu Yuanjun looked at him and said, “You haven’t exchanged for any Dharma Body techniques, skills, or divine weapons from the Six Paths yet, have you?”

Meng Qi vaguely felt that the Six Paths were going to act like a greedy merchant again. He frankly replied, “No…”

He had only learned and completed some techniques…

Doumu Yuanjun’s voice remained calm, “For items that have surpassed the Dharmakaya threshold, exchanging them from the Six Paths not only requires the necessary virtue points but also the completion of a specific task. The higher the value, the more difficult the task. Among these, the specific tasks for unique divine weapons are the most challenging. Within the Immortal Relic, they are known as solo death missions. So far, no one has completed them except for Lingbao Tianzun. All others have withdrawn midway, forfeiting 20% of their virtue points.”

“The specific tasks for Dharmakaya techniques are relatively easier. The more flaws and costs a technique has, the easier it is.”

“Our Immortal Relic is somewhat constrained by the Six Paths. The same applies to Dharmakaya techniques and skills beyond one’s designated title, though the tasks aren’t overly challenging. However, for you, there is currently no hope. You should consider this only after ascending the first tier of the heavenly ladder, achieving a major accomplishment to earn a reward, or perhaps even through exchanging Dharmakaya-related items.”

Dharma Body items… apart from the Buddha’s Palm, Meng Qi currently only possessed one completed move, “Heavenly Five Thunder Strike,” which was granted by the Six Paths and could not be exchanged with others.

In fact, even if he could exchange it, since it belonged to the True Meaning inheritance, Meng Qi had only just begun to grasp it and couldn’t leave a complete True Meaning before fully mastering it, only a superficial part.

Perhaps with the enigmatic and inscrutable final technique of Ananda’s Broken Precepts Blade, “Adhering to Karma,” once mastered, it could even ascend to the Dharmakaya level… Meng Qi had already entangled himself in numerous karmic complications, yet he still had a considerable journey ahead before fully grasping this unfathomable blade technique.

Meng Qi had always had a good mindset, so he calmed his emotions and said no more. He followed Doumu Yuanjun into the Biyou Palace and handed over his original accessories to her.

After waiting for a while, Doumu Yuanjun came out from the back hall. The accessory had already changed in appearance. It was thumb-sized, with a bluish-green color, covered with ancient and simple runes around it like a water droplet. In the center of the droplet was an embedded gemstone slightly larger than a rice grain, deep and chaotic.

“This is your symbol ‘Yuanshi’s Eye,’ which can be used to open any entrance to the Immortal Relic and contains a trace of primordial chaos energy to aid your enlightenment.” Doumu’s voice introduced it at a moderate volume.

Meng Qi directly stored it into his mustard seed ring, inwardly amazed. Such an accessory must have required considerable effort to craft. The Immortal Relic had immense confidence in him becoming a formal member!

Looking at Doumu Yuanjun’s symbol, the “Mother of All Stars” ring, Meng Qi followed her to the place where he had previously obtained the title and skills.

“Oh, when you’re wearing the Yuanshi Tianzun mask, you don’t have to refer to yourself as junior…” Doumu Yuanjun suddenly spoke, as if she found it particularly awkward, “Moreover, this also makes it easier for probationary members and auxiliary teams to judge your identity.”

Meng Qi was naturally happy to agree. After all, Doumu Yuanjun looked to be in her late twenties, and it felt awkward for him to call her senior.

Wrapped in a haze of yellow and black, with sword qi hidden within, Meng Qi and Doumu stepped into the hall and directly walked to the pavilion where the Yuanshi Golden Treatise jade slips were placed.

“At present, the Immortal Relic contains only three techniques from the Primordial Nine Seals: the Heaven-Overturning Seal, the Boundless Seal, and the Yin-Yang Seal, along with the Virtuous Purple Qi Fist and the Three Treasures Ruyi Fist from the Five Primordials and Five Virtues Fist. Which two techniques will you select?” Doumu Yuanjun stood before the pavilion.

Previously, Meng Qi had trained in the “Three Treasures Ruyi Fist” as an external technique, which originated from the Dharmakāya-level “Three Treasures Ruyi Fist.” Since the training methods were identical, it could be upgraded, hence it retained the same name, “Three Treasures Ruyi Fist.”

For his first choice, Meng Qi had no hesitation and said directly, “Yuanjun, I choose the Yin-Yang Seal!”

His dual sword and blade techniques involved Yin and Yang, his heaven-opening and earth-splitting techniques involved Yin and Yang, and his self-created “Yin and Yang in Threefold Harmony, What is the Origin and What is the Transformation” also involved Yin and Yang. Without the Dao Yi, Heaven Opening, and Infinite Seals, choosing the Yin-Yang Seal was clearly the most helpful for improving himself. Even though the Heaven Flipping Seal had a higher profile.

And with his own combination of Yuanshi’s meaning, he had opened a new path for the Eight-Nine. After obtaining the Yuanshi Golden Treatise’s External Manifestation Chapter and the Yin-Yang Seal, he could officially begin his external manifestation cultivation, no longer just stabilizing his realm and practicing techniques.

“Then pick the Three Treasures Ruyi Fist for the remaining choice. It’s one of the strongest moves in the Five Primordials and Five Virtues Fist, and you’ve also practiced it, so it has continuity,” suggested Doumu Yuanjun.

Meng Qi nodded and began to consider how to exchange or obtain the Five Virtues Qi through other means.