“Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun…” the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao murmured, “He was the most outstanding among the third-generation disciples of the Jade Ruins Palace, one who attained sainthood through his physical cultivation. No wonder he possesses such great abilities.”
Having obtained the Bizarre Palace and repeatedly entered and exited the world of the Investiture of the Gods, he had a general understanding of Yang Jian’s deeds. Now, fearing that Meng Qi might not fully grasp the true magnificence of Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun, he deliberately expressed his admiration.
However, Meng Qi needed no reminder. The glorious deeds and image of Yang Erlang had long been engraved in his mind, becoming the very vision he had aspired to when choosing the Eight-Nine Mystical Art!
Taking a deep breath, Meng Qi suppressed his shock and carefully examined his surroundings, attempting to find clues.
Yang Jian would not have erected this stone tablet here without reason, setting limits upon this world with a single word. What exactly was he trying to accomplish?
Suddenly, Meng Qi noticed something faintly protruding from behind the stone tablet. It was pitch-black, square-edged, and in his perception, it existed in a state of nothingness!
Hmm? Meng Qi stepped forward and got a clearer look. It was a wooden plaque, palm-sized, black in color, with golden seal script inscribed upon it: “Disciple of the Jade Ruins.”
“A disciple’s identification plaque from the Jade Ruins Palace!” “Yaocai” blurted out before Meng Qi or the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao could speak.
After a thorough inspection, the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao found nothing unusual and signaled Meng Qi to pick it up: “This item is connected to the Jade Ruins Palace and inexplicably left here. It may have some connection to you. Keep it for now; it might prove useful in the future.”
Meng Qi nodded. With so many troubles already, what was one more? Perhaps they could even cancel each other out!
As he examined the plaque, the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao began inspecting the surroundings, starting with the pale golden gate through which they had entered.
After a long while, he sighed: “Without you guiding me, even if I stumbled upon this place by chance, I fear I would not be able to pass through the seal. Any attempt at trickery would be futile. This is the ultimate truth of this world.”
Meng Qi smiled: “The Five Governors still hope to exploit underhanded methods to sneak in. Hmph, even if they truly managed to find a loophole, there would be nothing they desire inside.”
He discovered that the “Disciple of the Jade Ruins” plaque, aside from blocking spiritual perception, had no other special properties, so he placed it into his mustard-seed ring.
“They have obtained the first plaque left behind by Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun. Perhaps their underhanded methods aren’t entirely useless…” Yaocai weakly offered.
Meng Qi and the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao ignored it and turned their attention back to the stone tablet.
In their perception, the tablet remained ordinary, with no other peculiarities—just like clouds in the sky or water in the sea, omnipresent, natural, and mundane.
With the plaque blocking spiritual perception, both Meng Qi and the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao instinctively reached out and touched the stone tablet.
As the cold, hard sensation registered in Meng Qi’s mind, he suddenly felt as if his soul had left his body. It was as though he were gazing down upon this world, watching the sun and moon revolve, the seasons change, and the water cycle. These phenomena seemed like threads, harmoniously weaving into a whole, revealing the principles governing the universe.
Among them, there stood nine stone tablets, seemingly integrated with the fabric of the world, smooth and flawless, yet appearing to transcend it, embedded from the outside inward!
“These nine stone tablets seem to be suppressing and limiting this world…” Suddenly, the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao’s voice reached Meng Qi’s ears.
Suppressing this world? Why would they suppress this world? Meng Qi was filled with confusion.
The Heavenly Venerable Lingbao was equally perplexed: “If the seal were lifted, what would happen to this world?”
He activated his cultivation technique and silently sensed the environment. After a long while, he sighed deeply: “Even if I were to employ the technique of Manifesting the Three Pure Ones from Primordial Unity and set up the Sword Array of Slaying Immortals, with my current cultivation, I could not budge the stone tablet in the slightest.”
It seemed they would not figure out Yang Erlang’s intentions behind erecting these nine tablets anytime soon. Meng Qi once again gained a profound understanding of the vast gap between ancient great cultivators and current Law Bodies.
In his understanding, if Chonghe were to unleash his full strength, he would undoubtedly be among the most formidable of Law Bodies, perhaps even slightly surpassing Master Lu.
Meng Qi had never witnessed a peerless divine artifact. Based solely on the fact that Daoist Shoujing briefly suppressed the White Tiger Demon King with the Blade of Time, it was difficult to accurately determine who was superior between G’uld and Chonghe, both wielding the Axe of Heaven’s Wrath.
Of course, he had never seen Master Lu unleashing his full power either, so such a judgment was not reliable.
“Perhaps the plaques and records obtained from the Five Governors can provide some clues,” Meng Qi suggested. Suddenly, he glanced at “Yaocai” and transmitted a secret message using the Eight-Nine Secret Art: “Heavenly Venerable, this spirit monster speaks evasively. It pretends to be frightened merely by cultivation techniques, which is quite strange.”
“Just think, why would Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun go to the trouble of moving several medicinal plants from Kunlun Mountain to this place? They serve no purpose in the seal. Except for the outermost layer, there has never been anything other than the stone tablets inside.”
The plaque must have been left by Yang Jian, so it was an exception.
The Heavenly Venerable Lingbao nodded slightly: “I feel the same way. This ‘Daqinggen’ may know more than it lets on. Perhaps we should immediately take it back to the Immortal Trace and request the Six Paths to identify it.”
Yaocai seemed to be a monster formed from a root of Daqing.
“Fine.” Without further delay, Meng Qi and the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao took the seemingly oblivious Yaocai and quickly exited, leaving the seal behind. They planned to identify it and then search for the plaques, records, and other medicinal spirits.
Once outside the valley, the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao tore through space again, carrying Meng Qi and “Daqinggen” through the darkness, directly returning to the Bizarre Heaven.
As they descended and saw the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao and Meng Qi heading toward the central jade pillar, Yaocai suddenly froze and nervously asked, “Masters, where are you taking me?”
“Nothing much. Just for a ‘check-up.'” Meng Qi smiled, fortunate that his mask concealed his expression, or else the image of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable would be ruined.
“No! Please, no!” The “Daqinggen” Yaocai seemed to imagine its own gruesome fate of being slowly dissected and boiled into soup, desperately resisting.
“What’s there to fear?” Meng Qi asked with a half-smile.
With Yaocai’s power, how could it resist the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao? It was carried away without the slightest ability to resist.
“No!” it cried out like a slaughtered pig, “I guarded the mountains of Kunlun! I watched over the gates of the Jade Ruins! Master, spare me!”
Meng Qi slightly furrowed his brows. Was this thing really that scared? Could it be hiding some secret, fearing exposure through identification?
Wait a moment, how did it know what awaited it? An examination wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Why resist so desperately?
The Heavenly Venerable Lingbao shared similar doubts. He paused mid-air, hovering, and looked at the trembling branches and leaves of “Daqinggen,” solemnly asking, “What exactly are you afraid of?”
“Daqinggen” cowered: “I… I don’t want to go there. I know His secret. He will take the chance to kill me!”
“Who? Whose secret?” Meng Qi seemed to sense something, his speech quickening, his breath held in anticipation.
The branches and leaves of Yaocai pointed toward the central jade pillar: “Him! I remember His aura!”
The Six Paths? The Master of the Six Paths of Reincarnation?! Meng Qi felt as if struck by lightning, his entire body numb, his mind stunned and sluggish. Had Yaocai truly encountered the Master of the Six Paths of Reincarnation before? Could it really remember His aura?
This was simply unbelievable!
Would the long-mysterious Six Paths finally reveal their true identity?
The Heavenly Venerable Lingbao also remained silent for a long time, clearly shaken. After a while, he directly took Meng Qi and Yaocai back to the Bizarre Palace, activating numerous protective barriers.
“When did you see Him?” the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao asked Yaocai.
Yaocai cowered: “I hadn’t fully awakened my intelligence yet when I sensed Him visiting the sealed location. Whether He went deeper or what He did there, I don’t know. Given His mysterious state at the time, if He discovers through the examination that I know of Him, He might ruthlessly eliminate me!”
The Six Paths visited Yang Jian’s seal upon the world? Meng Qi and the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao grew even more puzzled. Would the aloof Master of the Six Paths of Reincarnation really inspect a sealed location?
What was His true identity?
“He still conceals many truths. Perhaps he hides many secrets. Why not leave him to me for careful interrogation and testing?” the Heavenly Venerable Lingbao sought Meng Qi’s opinion.
Meng Qi had no objection. This Yaocai was suspicious and possibly harbored ulterior motives. Keeping it close would only endanger himself. If he handed it over to the Six Paths, he would lose valuable clues and secrets. Thus, the Heavenly Venerable’s willingness to take over was exactly what he desired!
As for the other medicinal spirits and plaques and records, one task need not burden two people. He would leave them all to the Heavenly Venerable’s care.
“I will re-enter that world later to retrieve the other medicinal spirits, plaques, and records. Once we uncover some clues, I will leave a message for you. You should continue your cultivation without distraction. It may take some time before we have further opportunities.” The Heavenly Venerable Lingbao felt this matter required careful investigation and long-term planning; it was not something that could be resolved in a day or two.
Meng Qi shared a similar view. With his current cultivation level, it was better not to get involved in such matters if possible. After all, the Heavenly Venerable would handle the rest. Thus, he nodded, leaving behind “Daqinggen,” and flew toward the central jade pillar, throwing in the swordsman’s sword, Chen Wendeng’s Sun Crown, and Fang Butong’s fan:
“Qingli Sword, Divine Artifact (Lower Grade)… made from Middle-Grade materials, but poorly crafted, only worth one thousand four hundred Virtuous Merits.”
“Sun God Crown, Divine Artifact (Lower Grade)… a divine item capable of gathering offerings’ power… only worth one thousand six hundred Virtuous Merits.”
“Xiaoyao Fan, Divine Artifact (Lower Grade)… only worth one thousand one hundred Virtuous Merits.”
A simple mission, a benefit granted by the Immortal Trace to Meng Qi. In just over ten days, he had gained four thousand one hundred Virtuous Merits. Combined with his previous reserves, he now had a total of four thousand three hundred Virtuous Merits.
Meanwhile, the rare treasures Meng Qi had listed for sale, priced fairly, had already seen some transactions, including several rare items he needed.
After calculating their worth, Meng Qi unhesitatingly took three items as his rightful reward and flew toward the exit of the Immortal Trace leading to Jiangdong!
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage