Inside the Biyou Heaven, Meng Qi, wearing the mask of “Yuanshi Tianzun,” descended from the clouds and landed in front of the palace. Imitating Qu Jiuniang, he searched the back hall for emergency talismans, ignited them with true fire, and urged the Lingbao Tianzun to return as soon as possible—since the immortal traces were half of a Reincarnation Plaza, they could be entered multiple times, but each stay could not be too long.
Meng Qi did not return the way he came. Instead, he chose to abort the mission early, knowing this would be judged as a failure and result in no rewards, but it was faster without wasting time traveling back and forth. The matter at Kunlun was somewhat strange, and it was better not to delay, to avoid unexpected complications.
The medicinal essence in the form of a branch was not taken out by him, as it was considered a “living being.” Unlike other spiritual herbs or treasures, it couldn’t be incorporated into his own collection or stored in a Ji Zi Ring. Instead, he had to seal its soul and leave it under the watch of Zhang Yuquan.
Who knows how much time had passed when Chong He, wearing the mask of “Lingbao Tianzun,” suddenly appeared directly inside the Biyou Palace, seemingly without going through any entrance.
After inquiring about the details, Lingbao Tianzun remained silent for a long time, gazing at Meng Qi as if pondering something deeply.
Suddenly, he sighed deeply: “This old Daoist has searched for years without discovering any clues or finding any signs of seals. Yet you, on your first attempt, encountered something. It’s truly thought-provoking.”
His voice turned solemn: “While one might attribute this to the karma and fortune carried by cultivating the Yuanshi Jin Zhang, it still seems too coincidental…”
Carefully choosing his words, he continued: “Your fortune is too strong, filled with extraordinary encounters and coincidences. Even when we were competing for the core principles of the divine palm, you managed to find an opportunity from thousands of miles away. For a cultivator, this is not a good sign. It exceeds your ability, doesn’t belong to you inherently, like water without a source or a tree without roots. If you become dependent on it, disaster will eventually come.”
Seeing that Meng Qi showed no emotional reaction, he felt reassured and continued: “The most concerning question is: where exactly is this fortune coming from? Are these encounters and coincidences natural, or have they been arranged by someone?”
“Thank you for the warning, Senior,” Meng Qi bowed respectfully, his tone calm and his voice steady. “This junior has long been aware of this issue, always feeling uneasy and striving to find ways to prevent it, or at least prepare for the day it must be faced.”
Repeatedly reminded by Master Lu and the Heavenly Fate Daoist, along with a series of events involving the Little Jade Buddha, the lamp before the Buddha, the Lengyan Palm, and even the bandits of the Evil Ridge—which ultimately triggered the Zhenwu Chain Task—coupled with A-nan’s constant presence and his ever-recurring “Ah, I see!”—all of this had left Meng Qi deeply vigilant. Once or twice might be coincidence, but three or four times would send chills down anyone’s spine!
Therefore, having already prepared mentally, Meng Qi was not startled by Lingbao Tianzun’s words.
“You’re still level-headed,” Lingbao Tianzun said with slight relief. “What preventive or countermeasures have you thought of?”
Meng Qi’s heart leapt with joy. Seizing the moment, he replied: “Since this is related to karma and fortune, I believe the solution must come from there. Therefore, I have collected various secret techniques related to karma, and after many efforts, I have preliminarily mastered the true ‘Karmic Adhesion’ sword technique. However, this sword move is deeply connected to A-nan and the Demon King. I plan to collect more karma-related techniques, study the ‘Root of All Effects,’ and combine it with this sword move to create my own karmic sword technique. In the future, I will sever these connections and achieve true independence!”
“An excellent idea… Unfortunately, the three seals of Fantiandao, Wuji Dao, and Yin-Yang Dao do not involve the Dao of karma. Otherwise, with the profundity of ‘Root of All Effects,’ you would have enough momentum to create your own karmic sword technique,” Lingbao Tianzun sighed, then seemed to be muttering to himself: “As for other karmic techniques and secret arts…”
“Do you know of any? Do you know of any?” Meng Qi stared intently at Lingbao Tianzun.
“This old Daoist doesn’t have much knowledge in this area, but I will pay more attention if I encounter any in the future,” Lingbao Tianzun finally said.
Meng Qi quickly bowed again, sealing the promise: “Thank you, Senior!”
With no time to waste, Lingbao Tianzun grabbed Meng Qi’s shoulders and extended his left hand like a sword finger.
The void split open, a brilliant sword light erupted, and everything turned white. Meng Qi felt himself passing through layers of thick water curtains, traveling through darkness.
Lingbao Tianzun had chosen to force his way in!
…
In front of a lush valley, two figures wearing the masks of “Lingbao Tianzun” and “Yuanshi Tianzun” descended from the sky.
The medicinal essence in the form of a branch glanced nervously at Lingbao Tianzun, its leaves trembling as it pointed toward the valley: “The seal is here.”
Lingbao Tianzun’s vast spiritual power, like an ocean of self-generating primordial energy, spread out. He employed various secret techniques and divine abilities, but the valley remained unchanged.
“I cannot find the seal,” his voice was calm as he turned to the essence.
The essence shivered, stammering: “If there’s no token, only a legitimate disciple of the Yu Xu Palace who activates their cultivation technique can see it. It must be a legitimate heir! Only those with Yuanshi Jin Zhang, Bagua Xuan Gong, or Guangcheng Tu Lu!”
Bagua Xuan Gong works too? Meng Qi had been worried that his Yuanshi Jin Zhang was simulated and might not deceive the seal related to the Kunlun Yu Xu lineage. Now reassured, he activated his technique, still using Bagua to imitate Jin Zhang, careful not to reveal anything to the essence.
A vast, ancient, and primordial aura surged forth, and the surroundings instantly became dark and shadowy, as if returning to the dawn of existence.
At that moment, a faint golden light appeared, and a golden gate emerged at the valley entrance, finally showing an anomaly.
“There really is a seal…” Lingbao Tianzun’s voice carried either admiration or a sigh.
The two walked side by side through the golden gate. The light inside shimmered like water waves. Soon, a valley filled with lush vegetation, hundreds or even thousands of times more vibrant than outside, came into view.
Ancient trees towered, green grass blanketed the ground, strange flowers bloomed, and vines coiled around—everything was lush and vibrant, yet seemingly ordinary.
“Master, aside from us few who came from Kunlun, none of these plants are useful!” the essence boasted proudly.
Meng Qi ignored it and pressed on: “Where is the deeper seal?”
The essence quickly led them, guiding the two past areas filled with common ginseng and lingzhi mushrooms, arriving at a stone tablet covered in the marks of time.
Meng Qi, still simulating Yuanshi Jin Zhang with Bagua Xuan Gong, effortlessly activated the faint golden gate behind the stone tablet!
“There’s indeed a deeper seal…” Meng Qi was still marveling when he suddenly heard Lingbao Tianzun softly exclaim.
What had happened? Following his gaze, Meng Qi looked toward the stone tablet.
The tablet emitted no aura of rare treasures, nor did it show any signs of intricate magical laws. The ancient seal script carved on it was plain and unremarkable:
“This place shall have no medicinal herbs or rare flowers taking form.”
This… Meng Qi’s eyes widened, feeling an inexplicable sense of eeriness.
If he had seen this elsewhere, he wouldn’t have felt anything at all. At most, he might have thought it was a commemorative inscription. But in this valley, according to the essence, aside from the few Kunlun medicinal plants, there truly were no medicinal herbs, rare flowers, or ancient trees formed!
Was this a prediction, or a “rule”?
“Senior, do you notice anything unusual about it?” Meng Qi turned his head to ask.
Lingbao Tianzun shook his head: “This old Daoist sees nothing unusual. There’s no sign of it drawing upon the power of heaven and earth. It’s normal and ordinary.”
Yet this was a seal of unfathomable power. The tablet’s ordinariness was its greatest peculiarity!
They both turned to the essence, which trembled in fear: “I… I don’t know either!”
Focusing again, they passed through the faint golden gate. Inside was a gray-white stone ground, tens of feet in diameter, barren and lifeless, with only another stone tablet similar to the one outside, bearing the same plain inscription:
“Beings of this world shall not be able to cross the first tier of the heavenly ladder.”
This! Meng Qi couldn’t suppress his inner shock as he turned to exchange glances with Lingbao Tianzun.
Indeed, no one in this immortal trace’s world could truly cross the first tier of the heavenly ladder. At best, they could use clever methods to gain similar power!
Lingbao Tianzun had always found this strange but could never find the reason. Now, this stone tablet stood quietly, its ancient script clearly stating the matter, like a curse or a decree!
Could it really be because of this single sentence, this single stone tablet, that beings in this world were restricted and unable to break through no matter how hard they tried?
If that were truly the case, it would be truly astonishing!
A single word deciding the limits of heaven and earth—what kind of supreme being could possess such power!
The two fell silent, and even the essence dared not speak. Behind the stone tablet, another faint golden gate still stood.
Continuing through, Meng Qi’s eyes fell upon a small field about ten feet in diameter. Nothing was planted inside, only the third stone tablet:
“This world shall have abundant primordial energy, with common rare treasures and medicinal herbs, but its cultivation techniques shall not be of high quality, and its refining methods shall be crude.”
Another seemingly ordinary rule, yet it perfectly matched the outside world!
Was this a Daoist wish-fulfillment technique, or the decree of the Jade Emperor?
Meng Qi and Lingbao Tianzun each pondered silently, inspecting the tablet separately. It remained ordinary, with no power evident.
Passing through the golden gate again, they arrived at a small hall. Before it stood another stone tablet, bearing the same indifferent tone:
“This world shall have a Sea of Chaos, filled with mists that confuse the mind, unceasing lightning punishment, hidden whirlpools, and cracks in the void. It can only be crossed for three months each year, separating the two shores.”
After seeing this tablet, Meng Qi’s previous vague impressions solidified into a clear thought: this felt like a programmer setting rules for a “world” he had created!
The creator god of this world?
“Not the original,” Lingbao Tianzun finally spoke after a long silence. “The tablets appeared later than the world itself. They were forcibly imposed as rules.”
He could roughly judge the era of the inscriptions, which were younger than many mountains in this world.
“Later rules? Why would someone impose such rules…” Meng Qi was filled with doubts, but the power of whoever had erected these tablets was evident. All the strangeness in this world seemed to stem from these tablets and their words.
Passing through several more golden gates, the rooms became smaller and smaller until they reached a tiny chamber. In the center, as always, stood a stone tablet. Its inscription was in the same calm, unemotional style:
“This place can only be entered by those cultivating Yuanshi Jin Zhang, Bagua Xuan Gong, Guangcheng Tu Lu, Jiuzhuan Xuan Gong, or those holding the token.”
There was no sign of any formation, yet everything seemed to follow the tablet’s description, as if they were the ultimate laws of heaven and earth, superior to all other rules!
“Just slightly less vast and profound than what I felt when I first obtained the Biyou Palace,” Lingbao Tianzun murmured in admiration.
There was still a door behind the tablet. Following the pattern, this must be the last one. Holding their breath and steadying their hearts, the two, along with the medicinal essence, stepped through slowly.
Behind the door was only a space of three feet. A stone tablet stood as always, but this time, instead of the previous words, it was blank, except for a signature in the lower left corner. It bore no sign of overwhelming power, yet it simply and plainly declared itself:
“Yang Jian, Disciple of Yu Xu Gate!”
Yang Jian, the Second Prince Erlang? Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun? Meng Qi’s pupils contracted, and he stood frozen like a wooden chicken!
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