Pingyang City is located in the north, where dense forests are filled with towering, impenetrable trees such as pines and firs. Even during the day, the forest is dark, let alone at night.
Lu Zhaozhao took out the Mermaid Candle from her Qiankun Bag. Her senior brother Ying Che had explained it to her in detail before she left the sect. This item was made from the skin fat of overseas mermaids, and once lit, it would burn for a thousand years without being extinguished by wind and rain.
The soft candlelight enveloped her, but outside the light was complete darkness, with layers upon layers of dense foliage all around, rustling at the slightest movement. Dark shadows occasionally flashed past her, but Lu Zhaozhao couldn't tell whether they were animals or something else.
Surrounded by similar trees, Lu Zhaozhao couldn't tell which way to go, so she focused on the direction of the constellation. But after walking for a long time, she still saw no change.
"I'm not slow, so even if I've gone the wrong way, I should be out of this forest by now," Lu Zhaozhao thought to herself.
After walking for a while, she saw a yellow talisman hanging on a tree not far away. She had put it up when she first entered the forest, and now the talisman was in front of her again.
The Yuanxu Mirror hidden in her sleeve fell silently into her palm. Lu Zhaozhao stepped forward, removed the yellow talisman, and then threw it into the air after activating the incantation.
"As darkness and light shift, all things tremble in fear. I command you to appear, and all evil and filth will vanish. Break!"
Lu Zhaozhao shouted, activating the talisman. She had sensed something amiss when she entered the dense forest, or more precisely, when she was ambushed outside. The Yuanxu Mirror, with its four engraved plates, usually moved according to the time, but hadn't moved since she arrived. The reason she had gone through all this trouble was to determine what was causing this strange commotion.
The moment she saw the yellow talisman, she understood.
There is a huge maze set up here, and time flows extremely slowly within the maze.
"The woodcutter returns home, his axe handle rotten in the wind." Legend has it that a woodcutter once passed through a place and watched people playing chess. When the game was over and he returned to the mountain, a thousand years had passed in the human world.
Lu Zhaozhao didn't know if this was true or false, but in her inherited memories, she had asked her master, Yunxian, about it. She remembered that her master's answer was that the woodcutter might have walked into a maze, where time was frozen and all sorts of illusions could be created.
This talisman technique was a method she had specifically learned to break the curse. It was originally just a spur-of-the-moment thing, but she never expected it to actually come in handy.
She remembered her master saying that as long as the core of the formation was found, the formation could be broken.
From the direction of "Taibai Jingtian" to the appearance of this yellow talisman, it is undoubtedly proven that this place is the key point of this maze.
The yellow talisman flew forward to a certain point, seemingly encountering a barrier. Then, the Four Symbols appeared, the Dao Disc emerged, and the talisman ignited. A barely perceptible fine line appeared from its edge.
In a short while, the fine lines spread rapidly.
"Smack—"
A cracking sound was heard, followed by more sounds at the same time.
"Splash—"
The yellow talisman burned out, and the formation broke.
At the same moment the formation broke, the Yuanxu Mirror in his hand shifted its direction.
Lu Zhaozhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but her nerves became even more tense.
She encountered such a large-scale maze as soon as she entered the forest. She didn't believe that the people or things behind this were up to no good!
As the smoke cleared, a stone gate about two people tall appeared before her.
Two candles hung on the door, which appeared to be mermaid candles, but seemed to be older than the one she was holding.
"What a grand gesture!" Lu Zhaozhao thought to herself. She remembered her senior brother saying that these mermaid candles were extremely rare and hard to come by, even for a fortune. Yet, this was just a door, and they only had two of them. This was hardly a grand gesture.
But the moment she opened the door, that idea vanished completely.
Behind the door was a long corridor that seemed to have no end. Every two steps along the corridor was an intricately carved candlestick, depicting various mythical beasts and birds of prey, and the candlesticks burning on them were all mermaid candles.
This can no longer be described as a grand gesture.
Lu Zhaozhao glanced at the candlesticks; she didn't recognize most of the patterns on them.
She then fixed her gaze on the endless depths of the passageway, and stepped through the stone gate.
The moment she stepped inside, the stone door behind her slammed shut.
Does this mean I've cut off my escape route?
This thought popped into Lu Zhaozhao's mind at an inopportune moment.
She shook her head gently and smiled, clearing her mind of those thoughts, and continued walking forward.
Upon entering the passageway, she discovered that the walls were made of white jade, adorned with various bas-reliefs. No wonder the light in the passageway dazzled her when she opened the door.
I don't know how long I walked, but gradually, a stone gate appeared before me, just like the one I had entered at the beginning.
The moment she stood in front of the door, it opened automatically, and rows of candles were lit inside. Only after the last row was lit did Lu Zhaozhao see the entire stone chamber.
The stone chamber was incredibly spacious, far surpassing even the council chamber of Emperor Huizong of the Qing Dynasty, which could accommodate a thousand people. Bronze sculptures were everywhere, their subjects seemingly similar to those in the passageway she had just walked through. Before her feet was a staircase paved with white jade, at the end of which was a high platform upon which something was placed, its surface faintly glowing with an emerald green light.
The interior was quiet, yet the decor was incredibly luxurious.
Lu Zhaozhao gripped the Yuanxu Mirror tightly, not daring to relax for even a moment.
She hadn't encountered anything unusual along the way, which made her nerves twitch slightly. She didn't believe that the eerie place that had suddenly appeared in the dense forest was just a maze at the entrance.
However, you can't tell anything just by standing here. After taking a deep breath, Lu Zhaozhao stepped onto the first step.
As you move forward, the reliefs along the steps begin to change content; with each step you ascend, a new relief appears.
Halfway there, she roughly guessed what it was about.
The story goes that long ago there was a cultivator who was born on a day when Venus, the sun, pierced the sky and crashed into the mountain near his home. This child, born amidst this extraordinary phenomenon, was born with innate intelligence and displayed extraordinary talent for cultivation from a young age. He could replicate any martial arts technique he saw after just one viewing.
Such talent attracted the attention of major cultivation sects, who all extended offers to him. However, unexpectedly, he rejected all the sects and then ventured into the Western Regions alone.
Demons ravaged the western border, but he possessed extraordinary talent. After severing the head of a demon, he obtained a secret manual.
The relief didn't mention the contents of this secret manual, but Lu Zhaozhao thought it must be an unparalleled book, because the later content showed that this genius's peaceful life was thus disrupted.
The secret technique attracted countless covetous individuals, and he was constantly in danger, with the slightest mistake costing him his life.
He cultivated and defended in this way, and soon his swordsmanship became unparalleled, and his cultivation level reached at least the Void Returning stage.
No one in the world could surpass him, and logically his life should have returned to peace, but an unexpected event occurred.
The secret comes from a demonic dragon, who was born with the ability to bewitch people. In addition, he has been forged in blood all along, which has made his violent nature more and more serious. His inner demons have even reached the point of controlling people's hearts.
In the end, he found a way to suppress his inner demons, but it was not said whether he succeeded.
After reading the whole thing, Lu Zhaozhao couldn't help but feel a little emotional. His life had been full of ups and downs, beginning with a secret teaching and ending with it; he didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse.
However, she doesn't have much time to feel sorry for others right now.
Before her was a platform containing a box that shimmered with a faint, emerald-green light.
The moment she reached out to touch the box, the entire stone chamber trembled violently, and a powerful attack sent her flying. She only managed to regain her footing when she reached the last step.
At the same time, a deep voice rang out: "Ignorant junior, how dare you lay a finger on my things!"
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