“Yes, this is the great thing we are going to do!”
“The heavenly court has become corrupt, wielding power arbitrarily, seizing resources, oppressing the path of advancement for immortals and deities, and even orchestrating the divine war to mislead and pit immortals against each other, causing mutual destruction and weakening their strength. Such immoral and unjust actions are nothing short of bestiality. We do not want such a heavenly court. We want a just and enlightened heavenly court that treats all immortals kindly.”
“Little brother, I used to be cautious around you, but now, sister has decided: I will help you unreservedly. Even if something happens to me, you must persist on this path!”
Mother Shuitianyi spoke with increasing passion. She knew this path was difficult. If successful, it would bring blessings to all beings in the three realms. If it ended in failure or tragedy, reflecting on this endeavor would still be worthwhile.
“Alright! Sister, I promise you, I will definitely try my best.”
Words are not important; what matters is firm belief.
Shui Miao paused, then changed the topic, seeking guidance. “Sister, I’d like to know how you transformed into a butterfly. Why couldn’t they detect you once you became one? Perhaps there’s a way to counter the Five Path Punishment Deities in this. Could you tell me about it?”
“Of course… Actually, transformation techniques aren’t as mystical and magical as they seem. The most important aspects are concealing your aura and altering the distribution of your energy. Additionally, you must know how to use people’s perceptions to create illusions. In the current situation, the Five Path Punishment Deities are focused only on powerful individuals with strong auras. No one pays attention to a weak, almost negligible butterfly. Add to that my speed and flying posture mimicking a butterfly so perfectly, they naturally don’t notice me.”
“Now, I will pass on to you both the chessboard formation technique and the method of transforming into a butterfly. Study the mysteries within carefully. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”
As Mother Shuitianyi spoke, she imparted a vast amount of memory to Shui Miao.
Ordinary transformation techniques are usually very easy to detect.
However, an exceptionally refined transformation technique cannot be uncovered unless an extremely powerful expert uses a magical artifact for detection.
Mother Shuitianyi’s greatest skill was indeed transformation.
After receiving the memories, Shui Miao immediately entered the Time Tower, reversed time, and began to research transformation techniques and the chessboard formation.
At first glance, transformation techniques seemed complex and difficult to understand, but once Shui Miao grasped their underlying principles and techniques, he felt relieved.
Immortals differ from mortals; their bodies can change form according to their will.
The essence of transformation lies in imitation—completely mimicking the appearance and aura of the animal being transformed into. The more realistic the imitation, the harder it is to distinguish from the real thing.
Mother Shuitianyi was a master of this; her butterfly transformation was indistinguishable from a real butterfly in both appearance and aura.
To master transformation techniques, one must spend a long time studying the target animal and altering one’s physical form accordingly.
Imitating the aura of an animal was not difficult for Shui Miao.
However, suppressing his immortal body to be identical to that of an animal while maintaining full control required extensive practice. A day or two would not suffice to achieve this goal.
Shui Miao temporarily set aside transformation techniques and turned his attention to studying the chessboard formation.
The chessboard itself was a supreme divine artifact. Each of the black and white pieces consisted of sixteen divine artifacts, making a total of thirty-three divine artifacts, which required an enormous amount of refining materials.
Shui Miao estimated that even if Mother Shuitianyi had a sufficient supply of imperial energy, the materials he currently possessed were barely enough to forge about ten divine artifacts. To complete all thirty-three divine artifacts, he would require a vast amount more of refining materials.
Obtaining materials was difficult, so he needed to refine and condense the formation techniques.
Thus, Shui Miao calmed his mind and began studying the functions of each divine artifact in detail.
As time passed, Shui Miao eventually completed his study of all the formation techniques within the divine artifacts. He found that these formations were indeed difficult to modify. Each had its own unique function and brilliance, interconnected to form a synergistic and powerful system, making the entire set an invincible supreme treasure.
“Sister, who set up this chessboard formation? It must have been an extremely powerful formation master. It’s so profound!”
Shui Miao’s thoughts stirred, and he instantly communicated telepathically with Mother Shuitianyi outside. At this time, Mother Shuitianyi had already returned to a secret chamber in her palace, discussing ways to obtain more materials with her subordinates.
Sensing Shui Miao’s voice, Mother Shuitianyi’s heart stirred, and she quickly responded telepathically: “This is an ancient chessboard passed down from antiquity. I don’t know who originally set it up. I discovered it by accident in a ruin long ago. At first, I thought these formations were useless, but later, after extensive investigation, I learned that this chessboard is called the Hongyu Chessboard, possessing the power to destroy heaven and earth. Once completed, its power will be boundless, making overthrowing the heavenly court effortless.”
“So powerful…”
The idea that it could easily overthrow the heavenly court astonished Shui Miao, but it also raised doubts in his mind. How could such a powerful chessboard formation be so easily discovered?
“Sister, I have a few questions I don’t quite understand. In what kind of ruin did you find this chessboard? What was your cultivation level at the time? And how did you come to know it was the Hongyu Chessboard?”
Having experienced many things, Shui Miao’s instincts told him that such an important chessboard should not be carelessly left in the open. If its origins were not thoroughly investigated, it could be a trap set by someone, possibly a grand scheme with devastating consequences.
By asking these questions, Shui Miao naturally suspected the chessboard’s origins.
Mother Shuitianyi was extremely intelligent and immediately understood Shui Miao’s concerns. “Little brother, I know what you’re thinking, but rest assured. When I found this chessboard formation, I was already a sixth-heaven Immortal Emperor. However, that ruin was extremely mysterious and ancient, a place that ordinary people could not even enter, let alone a mere Immortal Emperor. If the Heavenly Emperor had known about it, he would have already taken the chessboard formation for himself. Therefore, it couldn’t possibly be a trap set by someone powerful. Moreover, I’ve possessed it for several thousand years. As for how I learned it was the Hongyu Chessboard, that’s not a big issue. The forger who told me about the chessboard’s secret has already died.”
“…”
Shui Miao furrowed his brow, feeling that Mother Shuitianyi’s explanation was not entirely reassuring.
Wait!
Suddenly, a thought struck Shui Miao. If there were indeed problems with the chessboard formation, then someone must have tampered with these divine artifacts. Thinking of this, Shui Miao recalled that within the formation of each of the thirty-three divine artifacts, there was indeed a small, obscure, and highly variable formation connected to the main formation.
At once, Shui Miao followed this formation technique to create a protective artifact at random.
“Sister, let me out. I want to conduct an experiment.”
“Alright… Little brother, what is this you’ve forged?”
“Come, wear it and perform a blood oath to bind it to you.”
Shui Miao activated the artifact and handed a top-grade immortal artifact to Mother Shuitianyi.
Mother Shuitianyi scanned it with her divine sense and found no issues, so she followed Shui Miao’s instructions.
Then, Shui Miao activated his will, connecting with the formation inside the artifact.
Suddenly, the formation changed, instantly destroying the divine consciousness Mother Shuitianyi had left within the artifact, transforming it into Shui Miao’s artifact, which flew into his hands.
“Haha! So there really was a problem!”
“Sister, you said the chessboard wasn’t tampered with, but each of the thirty-three divine artifacts contains such a formation. That means, if we forge all these artifacts, anyone could simply activate their will and snatch away all the treasures we painstakingly forged.”
Shui Miao felt a surge of excitement—not just because he had uncovered the hidden mechanism within the divine artifacts, but because he had gained a superb formation technique that could instantly turn another’s artifact into his own.
“This, how is this possible?”
“That doesn’t make sense! If it were really the heavenly court’s doing, why would they wait until now?”
“If it were that Tianji Zunzhe secretly interfering, why would he steal my forging materials? That doesn’t fit!”
Mother Shuitianyi was shocked. This was truly a shocking conspiracy, something she had never imagined—that for thousands of years, she had been manipulated by someone behind the scenes.
“Hehe…”
Shui Miao, who had been cultivating the Zhongheng Jing and Zhuge Heart Method, had now become extremely intelligent and perceptive. He smiled faintly and rubbed his chin, saying, “This is called mixing truth with falsehood and falsehood with truth. If I’m not mistaken, the mastermind behind this is definitely not the Heavenly Emperor himself, but rather his cousin, Tianji Zunzhe. In fact, Tianji Zunzhe has long known of your ability to gather forging materials. He simply wanted to use your hands to obtain the chessboard. Now that he has stolen the forging materials, he will surely find ways to make you retrieve them again. Once the chessboard is finally completed, he will make his true move, seizing the chessboard and completely annihilating us.”
Shui Miao even suspected that his consistently good fortune and smooth progress up to this point had all been orchestrated by Tianji Zunzhe behind the scenes.
“But why would he do this? He’s already the second most powerful figure in the immortal realm. Does he want to become the Heavenly Emperor?” Mother Shuitianyi followed Shui Miao’s line of thought, and the more she considered it, the more plausible it seemed.
Shui Miao confidently nodded and affirmed, “Yes, the fact that he stole your forging materials proves he is definitely not an upright person. Someone who acts secretly and furtively cannot have pure and noble morals. Therefore, it’s quite reasonable for him to want to usurp the position of the Heavenly Emperor.”
“Hu!”
“Huhuh…”
Suddenly, the female immortal officers Da Da and Xiao Xiao hurried back.
Mother Shuitianyi, sensing their arrival, activated a technique to let them into the secret chamber.
As soon as they entered, Da Da excitedly said, “Master, we’ve found a way to obtain a large amount of forging materials.”
“Yes, Master. My sister and I investigated and found that the richest immortal merchant in the immortal realm is currently commissioning someone to build an immortal city. One can imagine how many forging materials he must possess,” Xiao Xiao eagerly added.
“…”
Upon hearing this, Mother Shuitianyi’s heart suddenly jolted, and she quickly looked at Shui Miao…
Shui Miao shrugged slightly and sighed softly, saying, “Obviously, he has been secretly manipulating everything. I’m a bit worried that the words we’ve spoken here in hiding might have been overheard by him through some special means.”
As he spoke, Shui Miao carefully examined the secret chamber’s surroundings.
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