Wuwangyuan-4

As dawn broke, the fog over the wasteland had not yet dissipated, and everything in sight was a bluish-gray.

Ji Wang had already finished his meditation and felt his body full of spiritual energy, and his spirit was high. Even the fatigue and injuries from yesterday's fierce battle had been mostly healed.

Unable to contain himself, he stood up abruptly and reached out to tug at Bu Jiu's sleeve: "Let's go, let's go."

Bu Jiu seemed to still be immersed in the afterglow of a light sleep or the end of his breathing exercises. He was pulled by Bu Jiu and only then did he drowsily open his eyes a little.

He seemed a little dazed, his reaction a beat slower. He swayed slightly with Ji Wang's pull, letting out two muffled nasal sounds: "Ah...? Ah..."

Ji Wang unconsciously loosened his grip and lowered his voice, which carried a hint of coaxing: "Let's go to Wuwangyuan, you said it last night. Let's leave as soon as possible, maybe we can avoid some trouble."

Bu Jiu finally came to her senses completely.

Listening to Ji Wang's energetic words, and looking at the undisguised excitement and eagerness on Ji Wang's face, he felt a bit of indulgent "I can't do anything with you" and slowly stood up as Ji Wang pulled his sleeve.

Ji Wang had already sensed the desolation of the place when he looked out from the cave entrance.

Beneath our feet lies a hardened soil, scorched by fire and eroded by wind and sand, riddled with cracks and barren of vegetation. Only a few strangely shaped stone pillars or the remains of withered trees stand scattered about.

"How desolate," Ji Wang couldn't help but mutter. He couldn't imagine what kind of power could ravage a piece of land like this.

Upon hearing this, Bu Jiu replied, "It wasn't like this originally."

He looked at a huge crater in the distance that looked like it had collapsed: "That was created when the formation failed to activate back then, the power went berserk and backfired, and then the great fire that followed."

He spoke briefly, without even mentioning who specifically set up the formation or who lit the fire.

But Ji Wang knew. He recalled what Bu Jiu had mentioned last night: "He tried everything but couldn't stop it," and he remembered how Daoist Yun Shen ultimately "burned his divine soul."

That brutal battle left behind only this land, completely burned and unable to recover for three hundred years.

"Fire..." Ji Wang murmured repeatedly, and for some reason, a sharp, throbbing pain suddenly shot through his chest with those two words.

Just then, Bu Jiu, who was walking in front of him, suddenly stopped without warning.

Ji leaned forward and almost bumped into him, quickly regaining her balance: "What's wrong?"

Bu Jiu didn't answer immediately, but simply turned slightly to the side: "Which way do we go?"

Ji Wang was taken aback, looking around at the scorched, desolate, and featureless wilderness: "Huh? Weren't you leading the way?"

Bu Jiu raised an eyebrow slightly and replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Don't you claim to be the successor of Daoist Yun Shen?"

His tone trailed off with a hint of teasing: "You definitely know, right?"

Ji Wang stared with his mouth agape at Bu Jiu's eyes, which were hard to tell whether he was joking or just pretending, then looked around at the scorched earth that made his chest feel heavy.

Seeing Ji Wang speechless, Bu Jiu finally stopped asking: "Since you don't know, just follow your instincts."

He turned around and faced the depths of the wasteland again: "His power and will remain here. Perhaps they can tell you where to go."

After saying that, he fell silent and simply waited quietly.

Ji looked down at his hands. What did they feel like?

Apart from the inexplicable throbbing pain in his chest caused by the "fire" and the lingering sense of desolation that had been lingering since he entered this place, he felt nothing special.

But Ji Wang still took a deep breath, closed his eyes, tried to eliminate distracting thoughts, calmed his mind, and attempted to capture that so-called intention.

The wind howled, carrying dust with it. There seemed to be a faint, almost imperceptible pull, pointing in some direction.

Ji Wang opened his eyes, somewhat uncertainly, and pointed to the area to his left where the fog was thicker and the stone pillars were more densely packed.

"...This way?" His voice was hesitant.

Bu Jiu looked in the direction he was pointing, his eyes narrowing slightly: "Then let's go this way."

Guided by Ji Wang, the two walked into the depths of the wilderness for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Finally, Ji Wang stopped in front of a black stone tablet that was half-buried in scorched earth and seemed no different from its surroundings.

“It’s here…” Ji Wang whispered, his fingers tracing the cold, rough surface of the monument. “Should I try?”

Bu Jiu did not stop him, but nodded slightly.

Only after receiving affirmation did Ji Wang dare to place his palm against the surface of the monument.

In that instant, the wisp of Bu Jiu's original essence within his body and his own revived spiritual power seemed to resonate with the stone tablet.

He followed the faint pull from his bloodline and soul, attempting to infuse his spiritual power into the grooves and indentations of the stone tablet.

"Buzz—" A tremor came from inside the stone tablet.

Ji Wang's fingertips twitched slightly, but he didn't move his hand away. He stared intently as the mottled, charred marks on the surface of the stone tablet receded like the tide, revealing the smooth, mirror-like stone beneath.

The ancient silver patterns lit up one by one from the edges, shimmering and winding, finally converging at a single point in the center of the monument.

Immediately afterwards, the silver light spread out like flowing water, and three feet in front of the stone tablet, it condensed into a hazy but stable light screen, from which a blurry figure emerged.

The person had their back to them, their white clothes were stained with dust, and their dark hair was slightly disheveled. They seemed to be hurriedly saying something to someone behind them.

His figure was ethereal and uncertain, but his voice, tinged with urgency, clearly reached their ears, transcending the barrier of three hundred years:

"...The 'key' is not an external object, but a spark of spiritual light from my soul. This object shares the same origin as the core of the 'Myriad Manifestations Returning to Origin Array,' serving as both the key to opening and the pivot of sealing... What the 'Lord' seeks is nothing more than to use this array to forcibly extract the essence of heaven and earth, breaking through boundaries and transcending..."

"However, this formation is an ancient relic, its foundation long since unstable. Forcibly activating it will inevitably result in a backlash... At that time, the formation will collapse, its essence will dissipate, potentially causing a catastrophe that sweeps across the world... The solution..."

The figure in the light screen suddenly tilted its head as it spoke, as if sensing an approaching crisis in the distance, or as if wanting to take one last look at something.

The light curtain went out, and the stone tablet returned to its original appearance.

Ji Wang remained frozen before the stone tablet, his palm still pressed against the cold stone surface. The voice was so similar to his own, leaving him in a state of utter confusion.

He looked at Bu Jiu beside him, his lips moved, and his voice was uncertain: "This is... Daoist Yun Shen?"

Bu Jiu nodded, the ripples stirred in his heart by the voice of his old friend had quickly subsided.

His gaze shifted from the stone tablet to Ji Wang's face, which was filled with confusion: "You heard everything about the 'key' and the formation."

He took a half step forward, not to pay homage or reminisce, but to reach out and tap Ji Wang's hand, which was still pressed against the stone tablet, with his fingertips, indicating that he could let go.

"How are you feeling?" Bu Jiu continued to ask. He was more concerned about Ji Wang's ability to cope at this moment. "These things have been a big shock to you. If you feel unwell, we can rest for a while. There's no need to rush to process everything."

Ji Wang obediently lowered his hand.

For some reason, he felt that Bu Jiu's reaction was too calm and too self-centered.

He had thought that Bu Jiu would be caught up in the quagmire of memories and would show pain or longing in front of the stone tablet.

But at this moment, all of Bu Jiu's words were to confirm whether he was alright.

This realization acted as an anchor, pulling Ji Wang's somewhat drifting and confused mind back to normal.

"I'm fine." Ji Wang shook his head, took a deep breath of the cold air, and tried to clear his mind. "I just didn't expect that the 'key' was like this."

He looked at Bu Jiu, trying to find more clues in the other's eyes: "What exactly is that 'inspiration'? He didn't finish explaining the method..."

Seeing that although he was shocked, he was still clear-headed and able to think about the key issues, Bu Jiu's eyes flashed with approval: "The specifics are vague in ancient books, and are mostly speculations."

He explained calmly, his gaze fixed on Ji Wang's face, observing his subtle reactions: "But since you have some feeling for it, there is no need to be overly worried. Letting things take their course is what we should do right now."

Seeing that Ji Wang's brows were still slightly furrowed after listening, clearly still processing the information, Bu Jiu slowly reached out and stroked Ji Wang's cheek, tucking a strand of hair that had been ruffled by the wind of the wilderness behind his ear.

This action was performed naturally.

“There’s no need to rush.” Bu Jiu’s voice softened further. “They can’t catch up right now, let’s take it slow.”

He withdrew his hand, his fingertips still warm from Ji Wang's cheek: "I'll help you find it."

All actions, including this brief promise, clearly indicate that Yun Shen Dao Zun is the past, and must bear the consequences and truth.

Ji Wangcai is the "present," the "future" he has chosen to walk alongside, and the specific person he needs to guide with all his might.

Ji Wang looked into Bu Jiu's eyes, which reflected his pale face and the boundless, scorched wasteland behind him.

A sense of trepidation, like the chill seeping from the ground in the wasteland, quietly crept up his ankles.

Those ordinary days, when he was bored out of his mind in the temple and could bicker with his senior brother for half a day over the smallest things, seemed like just yesterday. Back then, that was his whole world—simple, mundane, and even a little boring.

In his mind, he was just a young Taoist priest who had only recently come down from the mountain and was still confused about his own background. How could he suddenly have to play against some "venerable one" and have a heavy responsibility that might concern the lives of countless people? "The Myriad Manifestations Return to Origin Formation", "the fortunes and misfortunes of the common people"... these words were too heavy for him.

These thoughts ultimately coalesced into one very simple question. Ji Wang asked, "No matter what, will you be there?"

Bu Jiu seemed surprised by his sudden question, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly, as if he thought the question was somewhat redundant, even silly: "What kind of question is that?"

But Ji Wang didn't shut him up as usual; instead, he stubbornly repeated, "No matter what, will you still be there?"

Bu Jiu paused in his act of turning around.

He turned back, his gaze landing on Ji Wang's face. The boy's eyes were fixed on him, filled with a fear of the unknown future that even he himself wasn't fully aware of.

Bu Jiu spoke up: "Yes."

As if that wasn't enough, he added, "I've always been here, so don't be afraid."