The Celestial Venerable Lingbao spoke with a grave tone, “The mysterious disappearance of the Lady Bixia is concerning. As fellow members of the Immortal Trace, we should certainly do our utmost to search for and rescue her. Please, both of you, use the Soul Lamp to trace her trail.”
He first proposed the mission, then elaborated, “The disappearance of the Lady Bixia is strange. There are no signs of struggle within the ‘First Family of the Great Sea,’ and until recently, the abductors made no attempt to obscure heavenly omens or conceal the Soul Lamp’s guidance, seemingly unaware that Jiuniang is a member of our Immortal Trace and thus left a Soul Lamp behind.”
The Soul Lamp is a precious artifact crafted using secret methods from one’s own vital blood and spiritual essence. When the person dies, the lamp extinguishes; though complex to create and requiring rare materials, major sects and noble families often prepare one for their powerful external experts and promising juniors, so they can immediately know if something happens.
Using the Soul Lamp, one can employ arcane techniques to trace the last known location, although the results are somewhat vague. The stronger one’s arcane abilities, the more accurate the tracing, but there are also many ways to interfere, mislead, or obscure it.
Since Meng Qi became a formal member and received the “Primordial Eye,” he had already left a Soul Lamp in the Immortal Trace. However, prominent figures like the Lady Doumu and the Celestial Venerable Lingbao already had their own Soul Lamps within their sects and families, and since each person could only have one Soul Lamp, they did not leave another in the Immortal Trace.
“It’s also possible they’re pretending not to know, setting up a trap for us to fall into while we search for her,” Yan Wuwo, though powerful and proud, was no reckless fool.
The Celestial Venerable Lingbao nodded, “Precisely my concern. Plus, I must first meet with Daoist Friend Shoujing, so I’m not pursuing the trail myself for now. I’m sending Su Meng to assist you. He excels in transformation techniques, is skilled in stealth, concealment, and reconnaissance, and can effectively avoid stepping into traps.”
“Very well,” Yan Wuwo had no objection.
The Celestial Venerable turned to Meng Qi, “This mission is dangerous, but I can’t provide you with divine weapons or spirit-possessing artifacts. I can only lend you this Formation Chart, which can rival a peak external expert’s ultimate strike. Combined with the Reincarnation Talisman, unless you directly encounter a Dharma Body, you should be able to escape with your life.”
He took out a Reincarnation Talisman and an ancient, worn Formation Chart. The chart was divided into four colors—cyan, white, red, and black—each occupying a quadrant. It looked like a child’s doodle, but upon closer inspection, one could sense a terrifying danger, as if one’s soul was pierced by countless swords, as if one’s body and mind were shattered into dust!
Could it be a replica of the Sword Array of Slaying the Immortals? As Meng Qi accepted the Formation Chart, he increasingly felt the terrifying sword intent within, and couldn’t help but speculate.
As he speculated, he felt a pang of regret. This Formation Chart was only on loan. After completing the mission, he would have to return it, or use it in an emergency. Either way, it wouldn’t belong to him—it was only temporary.
This made him, a man with a slight greed for treasures, feel even more regretful!
After putting away the Formation Chart and the Reincarnation Talisman, Meng Qi recalled something and took out the mysterious sheepskin and rosary beads he had obtained from the Master Shixin. He roughly described their origin and his suspicions.
Everyone’s gaze immediately turned to the “Old Matron of Lishan,” the Venerable Nun Ming Fa, who was renowned for her profound Buddhist cultivation, far surpassing Su Meng, the half-baked monk, and likely able to discern their nature.
“Besides this one, there’s another bead with no power at all?” Venerable Nun Ming Fa focused intently on the sheepskin.
Meng Qi nodded affirmatively, “It’s on the ‘Blessing Celestial Official’ Zhou Qiushan.”
Ming Fa fell into thought for a moment and said, “It seems to be a mark of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. This hazy and muddled bead represents ‘Ignorance,’ the beginning of suffering. The other one should represent ‘Old Age and Death.'”
“The rosary beads of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination… Could there be twelve places where Buddha Light rises? They probably form a Buddhist barrier, with the ‘General Principle of the Buddha Palm’ as the key node. The Master Shixin of the Joyful Temple must have discovered this barrier in advance, allowing him to predict the next location of the Buddha Light. Unfortunately, he has passed away, otherwise he might have deduced the key node…”
Meng Qi asked eagerly, “Venerable Nun, can you identify which barrier it is?”
Ming Fa shook her head, “There are many Buddhist barriers, and many have been lost over time due to demonic chaos and the turmoil of the Demon Buddha. I cannot immediately recognize it.”
Suddenly, she stood up and murmured a Buddhist chant, “I shall try the Six Paths to identify it.”
In a flash, she disappeared, and soon returned without any sign of joy.
Meng Qi was not surprised by the result. With the Six Paths’ nature as a greedy merchant, it would be strange if it didn’t demand tens of thousands of good karma points and a specific task for something related to the “General Principle of the Buddha Palm”!
“Since Master Shixin discovered the barrier, perhaps other monks from the Joyful Temple might know too. We just need to capture a few…” Meng Qi said solemnly, revealing a plan he had long considered.
He had no qualms about targeting such a notorious group. Hmph, their very existence was an insult to women everywhere!
“Good,” the Celestial Venerable Lingbao agreed without hesitation.
…
The wind carried the sand, stretching for hundreds of miles over the barren sea, within a half-finished, dusty Buddhist temple.
Two monks were busily constructing walls with the rocky debris of the Gobi, one in gray robes, the other in white. Although the wind blew painfully against their faces, both remained fresh and clean, especially the latter, who looked spotless.
“Hongneng Senior Brother, is this your last temple?” The white-robed monk waved his hand, and the rock fragments flew off, transforming into large bricks.
He was under twenty, a handsome and refined young monk, a bit dull, yet always smiling, clearly in a good mood.
Hongneng, a monk from Lankuo Temple, chuckled, “The temple is in the heart, and it can never be completed. After returning to the temple, I will have to make a great vow before the Buddha again.”
Seeing the young monk’s innocent eyes, Hongneng changed the subject, “Zhenhui Junior Brother, why have you come into the Great Sea again? It’s very dangerous here recently.”
Zhenhui smiled, “My senior brother told me to find him after coming down the mountain so we could enjoy good food and travel together, but he’s always running around. Recently, he came to the Great Sea, so I came to travel here.”
He didn’t refer to himself as “poor monk,” showing no monk-like awareness.
Zhenhui scratched his bald head, “I’ve also heard that the area around Yuhai Tanshan is very dangerous, so I plan to stay with you, Senior Brother Hongneng, for a while until this matter is resolved, and then I’ll go find my senior brother.”
He looked up at the swirling sand in the half-sky, secretly thinking, “I wonder if it will be like the stories my senior brother told, where the Buddha Palm will fall directly from the sky into my arms…”
After thinking with bright eyes for a while, Zhenhui put the matter aside and continued helping Hongneng build the Buddhist temple.
…
The rolling sandstorm made it easy to hide, and Meng Qi and Yan Wuwo floated within it.
Yan Wuwo, the “Flying Yaksha,” wasn’t wearing a mask this time, revealing his eerie face with a grayish hue tinged with dark red. In his hand, he held a glass lamp, its flame flickering and emitting the spiritual aura of Jiu Niang.
After secretly employing the “Taiyi Divine Numerology” to calculate for a while, Yan Wuwo changed direction and flew toward the Yuhai Tanshan area.
Meng Qi followed closely behind without saying a word.
After flying for more than half an hour, Yan Wuwo stopped on the desolate Gobi between Tanshan and Yuhai, his voice grave, “It should be around here, but I can’t pinpoint the exact location. We’ll split up and search for anything unusual. If you find something, don’t investigate immediately. We’ll meet back here in an hour.”
Meng Qi nodded slightly, transformed his appearance, changed into different outer garments, and concealed all his weapons. Bare-handed, he flew over the Gobi, where yellow sands and dark gravel dominated the landscape. Occasionally, he encountered powerful cultivators searching for clues about the Buddha Palm, but found nothing unusual.
After an hour, Meng Qi and Yan Wuwo met at the designated location.
“I found something unusual in the area where Jiu Niang’s aura was strongest,” Yan Wuwo said directly, not waiting for Meng Qi to speak.
“What kind of abnormality?” Meng Qi was taken aback.
Yan Wuwo turned and flew forward, guiding the way while secretly transmitting his voice, “I discovered a very well-hidden illusion formation concealing a downward ravine. If not for my recent mastery of techniques that grant me an unusually keen sense of dampness and water, I might have missed it.”
In the vast ocean, underwater canyons often link to subterranean rivers. Meng Qi had once utilized these passages to evade pursuit by the evil An Guo, though unfortunately, he ultimately failed.
“Now that there are so many external experts in this area, it’s normal for someone to set up an illusion formation to investigate the underground river,” Meng Qi said casually.
Yan Wuwo replied briefly and firmly, “That place is not where the Buddha Light rises.”
That was somewhat unusual. Unless it was the monks of the Joyful Temple… Meng Qi’s expression turned serious as he and Yan Wuwo flew to the edge of the illusion formation. The area was covered in sand and gravel, with no sign of any ravine.
Meng Qi took a deep breath, opened his spiritual senses fully, and merged with the surrounding qi, his inner world subtly influencing the outer world.
Within this influence, the outer world changed ever so slightly, seeming darker, except for one place that remained unchanged.
Sure enough, it was an illusion formation!
Meng Qi exchanged a few words with Yan Wuwo. To avoid alerting the enemy or triggering any traps, he decided to investigate first.
The light flickered slightly, connecting with the principles of heaven and earth, and Meng Qi’s figure vanished, leaving behind a fat, chubby sand rat.
The sand rat burrowed straight down, reaching a depth of about ten feet before heading toward the ravine.
As it moved forward, the dampness grew stronger. After about fifteen minutes, Meng Qi suddenly felt his body lighten, indicating he had passed through. The sound of flowing water echoed in the enclosed, empty space.
He climbed up the rock wall, sniffed the air, and followed the trail. Soon, he found several places with lingering signs of life.
He crept forward cautiously, more careful with each step, fearing that the enemy might not even spare a sand rat, or that a Grandmaster might be fully alert.
After carefully moving past several underground rocks, Meng Qi suddenly stopped. He had sensed the aura of Jiu Niang!
He dared not move closer and looked around. Suddenly, he climbed up along the rock wall and glanced back.
There, at the edge of the underground river, where the water occasionally surged, sat three people—two men and a woman. The woman wore a black dress, her face was delicate and beautiful, but her spirit was weak. It was indeed Jiu Niang!
One of the men had a red face and a monkey-like appearance, while the other had a black face with a protruding forehead. Both were unfamiliar to Meng Qi, but their auras were undoubtedly those of external experts, as they stirred the surrounding heavenly and earthly changes!
“Which sect do these external experts belong to?”
“Why have I never seen them before?”
“Why would they capture Jiu Niang?”
Numerous questions arose in Meng Qi’s mind as he tightly gripped the rock wall, deciding to observe for a while.
The red-faced man with the monkey-like appearance seemed restless, standing up and pacing back and forth, as if waiting for someone.
As Meng Qi observed, his gaze swept over Jiu Niang, and suddenly, his heart jolted. He noticed a detail he had previously overlooked.
Jiu Niang had no injuries on her body. Except for her weakened spirit, there were no signs of any harm at all!
Combined with the fact that there were no signs of a struggle within the “First Family of the Great Sea,” Meng Qi suddenly felt the surrounding air grow dangerous.
What kind of power could capture a supreme expert at the fourth heavenly level so effortlessly?
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