Chapter 154 Both Breakthrough to a Higher Level: Shangci Zhenren
Shi Heming stood in the middle of the line, walking with his head down like the others. This time, he would not only meet the Venerable Shangci, but also find out the details of the Taiqing Sect, which would make it easier for him and Yinyin to act.
On that day, he and Yinyin plotted in the underground palace.
"...In short, you infiltrate the Taiqing Sect's camp, I'll distract them, and after the battle, you'll go to the Taiqing Sect with them. I'll also disguise myself and hide in a city near the Taiqing Sect to meet you."
"Those who know the truth must not be allowed to live; we will work together from the inside and outside when the time comes."
...
The procession within the Taiqing Sect halted, and Shi Heming stopped as well, ending his recollection.
"Fellow disciples, you should all know that Elder Shangci has been in a bad mood recently because of his beloved disciple. So when you see Elder Shangci later, you must be careful and not make him angry, understand?"
"Understood," the disciples waiting in line to enter replied in unison.
The barrier in front of them was opened, and the array cultivators entered in an orderly fashion, their steps light.
The place where Master Shangci lived was clearly different from the outside. After passing through the barrier, the spiritual energy became abundant. This was because Master Shangci had set up a spirit-gathering array throughout his cave.
Shi Heming secretly memorized the layout of this place.
Then he shifted his gaze to the people beside him. They were all survivors from the underground palace who had returned to the Taiqing Sect and received treatment, recovering in no time.
But now their faces were pale, clearly showing their fear of being questioned and reprimanded by Master Shangci. The great formation was almost complete, and in the blink of an eye, over a hundred years of hard work had been in vain. Although they were alive, they didn't know how to explain themselves to Master Shangci, or how to bear his wrath.
The door to Master Shangci's room was tightly closed. The disciples lined up outside did not knock, but instead stood in a neat line and said, "Disciples pay their respects to Ancestor Shangci."
The voice of Master Shangci came from inside the gate: "Survivors of the Netherworld Black Corner Palace, step forward."
They've arrived, and their first act is to put them on trial.
Several people beside Shi Heming stepped forward with him, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. Shi Heming also imitated their trembling.
"Who can describe the detailed scene at that time?"
The dozen or so Foundation Establishment stage cultivators looked at each other, but none of them stepped forward to describe what happened that day.
Master Shangci's words fell to the ground and no one responded.
Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly tense, and realizing that he couldn't rely on these timid disciples, Shi Heming let his voice tremble with fear as he recounted the details of that day. "Everyone was working diligently that day, but some cultivators inexplicably fell from the sky. When we flew over to investigate, we found that they had already died, with identical bloodstains on their necks."
"Uncle Pan noticed the commotion and rushed over to investigate, but he was also attacked. His cultivation was higher than ours, so he received more attacks, but the person next to Uncle Pan couldn't dodge and died. Immediately afterwards, a female cultivator suddenly appeared in everyone's sight, holding a sword. She destroyed all the stone pillars in a few moves, and everyone, including Uncle Pan, was stunned."
"At this time, Uncle Pan realized that the female cultivator had the cultivation of the Nascent Soul stage. Taking advantage of the chaos, Uncle Pan sent me to the upper part of the underground palace to ask Ancestor Yu Ling for help. I don't know what happened in the underground palace after that. Only my fellow disciples know."
With Shi Heming taking the lead, several disciples gradually calmed down, and some even bravely stepped forward to add details about what happened after Meng Duan left the underground palace, resulting in a lot more to say.
"You mean, this nameless Nascent Soul cultivator was probing the secrets of the formation? And that Nascent Soul sword cultivator from the Rising Sun Sect told the truth?"
Shi Heming and the others couldn't detect any anger in Shangci Zhenren's tone, but Lü Junxuan, who was familiar with Shangci Zhenren's spirit, knew his master's temper very well.
Master was angry, very angry. Only he knew the core of the formation, and he considered the core of the formation extremely important, while his disciple himself didn't even know what the core of the formation was.
Lu Junxuan's spirit floated beside Shangci Zhenren, "Master, the best we can do now is to capture that nameless Nascent Soul cultivator. You are the only Nascent Soul stage array cultivator in the Nine Spirits Realm, capturing her will be a piece of cake."
Flattery will never fail you. One of the reasons why Master Shangci liked Lü Junxuan was that Lü Junxuan was very good at talking and always knew how to hit the nail on the head. However, Lü Junxuan was not a brainless arrogance. He would deliberately act obsequiously and flatter in front of his master, while using his master's power to do all sorts of evil things when dealing with outsiders.
In Master Shangci's eyes, Lü Junxuan was a disciple who knew how to read people's expressions, spoke nicely, and was very obedient. That was the reason why he protected Lü Junxuan.
“Reporting to the Ancestor, because I was nearby, I heard the name of an unfamiliar Nascent Soul sword cultivator. She said her name was Song Le.”
Master Shangci: "Song Le... I've noted it down." The door creaked open. "Come in, all of you."
"Thank you, Ancestor."
Shi Heming finally saw the Venerable Shangci in person. He looked old, with skin as rough and wrinkled as a book cover, and his eyes were not as bright as those of a young man, but rather cloudy. It was completely different from deliberately aging; this Venerable Shangci was probably nearing the end of his life, and aging was merely an outward manifestation.
The only way to return to normal is to break through a higher realm and extend one's lifespan.
"The enemy destroyed the great formation. Did you put up any resistance?" Master Shangci asked kindly.
No, his change in attitude is too obvious. I need to be careful with my answer, or better yet, I shouldn't answer at all.
"Reporting to the Ancestor, this disciple resisted and attempted to protect the great formation, but alas, my strength was too weak, and I was no match for the enemy," a male cultivator stepped forward and said. The Ancestor asked this question probably to reward the disciple who fought to the death.
“Reporting to the Ancestor, we all resist.” Several more people stepped forward.
Master Shangci asked those who hadn't answered, "Are you silent because you offer no resistance?"
"Reporting to the Ancestor, we were immediately struck unconscious. It was our fellow disciples who saw that we were still breathing, so they brought us back to the sect." The female cultivator was sweating profusely, and her expression revealed deep remorse.
She knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly until her forehead was red and bleeding. "It's our fault! We failed to protect the Ancestor's life's work. It's all our fault! We are deeply sinful and unforgivable! We dare not ask for the Ancestor's forgiveness, but we beg to spend the rest of our lives rebuilding the Great Array for the Ancestor!"
Master Shangci: "Very good, get up. We will do as you say. You will spend the rest of your lives atoning for my sins."
As soon as the words were spoken, the heads of those disciples who claimed to have resisted fell to the ground, blood spurting from their necks and splashing onto the faces of the disciples who did not answer.
Shi Heming calmly avoided the splattered blood.
An array appeared beneath everyone's feet, teleporting the corpses away. Then, the array's light faded, and all was quiet. Only the remaining bloodstains testified to the vanishing of several vibrant lives.
Master Shangci handed everyone a thin booklet. "Previously, each of you was responsible for a part of the construction. This time, I'm giving you all the blueprints. Return to the Youluo Black Corner Region and secretly rebuild the great formation. Understand?"
All the disciples agreed, and soon each of them took their books and left respectfully.
After leaving, Shi Heming quickly flipped through the book and immediately noticed that it didn't contain any information about the core of the great formation. Ha, he's certainly cautious.
The surviving disciples walked away in silence before speaking.
"Thank you so much, Senior Sister, for speaking up for us and saving our lives." The surviving disciple thanked the female cultivator and took out some pills. "Although this bottle of pills isn't of high grade, it can heal your forehead injury without leaving a scar. Please take it."
"You all did a good job just now, not jumping out to refute me when I lied and said we were unconscious. We all deserve credit for avoiding death today." The female cultivator accepted the pill. "Thank you, junior brother."
"Hey? Where's Meng Duan?"
"Where is he? He was just following behind us, and then he disappeared in the blink of an eye."
Shi Heming quietly left halfway and returned to the residence of Master Shangci. Using a variety of high-level seventh and eighth-tier talismans and spells, he completely concealed his aura. Even if the other party was also at the Nascent Soul stage, they would have difficulty detecting him.
He hid in a tree, analyzed all the formations in the area, then avoided the points that would trigger them, and secretly modified some of them to make them invalid. Then he flew in through the open window and hid on the roof beam.
Shi Heming was like a ghost unseen by mortals, secretly watching Shangci Zhenren's every move.
Master Shangci looked up as if sensing something. There was nothing on the roof. The wind blew in from the window, causing some of the gauze curtains inside to flutter. He used magic to close the window and discussed the grand formation with Lü Junxuan, as well as how to find a body for Lü Junxuan to possess.
At the same time, he also planned to find time to go into seclusion, because the great formation had been destroyed and it would take time to rebuild it, and he needed to break through his cultivation level as soon as possible to extend his lifespan.
...
Song Yin stayed in a city near the Taiqing Sect for two months.
In the past two months, no other news has come out of the Taiqing Sect, and everyone is still discussing the death of the Spirit Control Ancestor.
"Old You? I thought you were never coming back after not seeing you for months. Didn't you leave the Taiqing Sect? Why are you here again?" A commotion came from downstairs at the inn. The person speaking saw an acquaintance enter the inn.
Song Yin, who was meditating cross-legged indoors, twitched her ears and continued listening.
"Don't even mention it. My daughter went missing a few months ago and we still haven't found her."
“We are friends, and I understand that this matter is indeed the fault of that person from the Lü family. However, that person from the Lü family died more than two months ago, so your daughter’s matter should not be related to him. If you keep looking, you will definitely find it.”
"I had no other choice but to come back here. I was thinking of finding a fortune teller to help me predict the safety of my child."
"Alas, the hearts of parents are all the same. I happen to know a fortune teller, let me introduce you to him."
"Thank you! Thank you! Um... how is Elder Shangci doing lately?"
"You've come to the right person! I just came out of the sect. There's news that the Elder Shangci is going into seclusion. I heard from some fellow array cultivators that the Elder went into seclusion yesterday. This matter hasn't spread yet; only a small number of people in the sect know about it."
Seclusion? Song Yin stopped her meditation, slowly opened her eyes, and at the same time, the communication stone made a sound.
Holding the communication stone, Song Yin asked, "How is the situation?"
Shi Heming's voice came from the communication stone: "Shangci Zhenren announced his seclusion. When he informed the Taiqing Sect's higher-ups to begin his seclusion, I used the Illusionary Heart Demon Pill to awaken his inner demons and killed him in his seclusion cave. However, I also found something else in his seclusion cave, which had the same cloud pattern as the one on your wrist."
The Taiqing Sect members knew that Master Shangci was in seclusion, so it was normal that they hadn't seen him for a long time. His secluded cave was heavily fortified with arrays, and his mastery of arrays was unmatched in the Nine Spirits Realm. Therefore, no one could have imagined that someone could break through his arrays and kill him in his secluded cave.
"At the same time, I also discovered the soul of his disciple Lü Junxuan, which I have now stored in a magic artifact. I think Gu Tongguang will like this gift."
Song Yin was both surprised and unsurprised by the death of Master Ci. She was astonished when she heard the cause of death, but felt it was normal when she learned that it was Master Heming who killed him.
Song Yin: "Take me to see the secluded cave of Master Shangci. It's the safest place right now, with no one to disturb us. We'll have plenty of time to study what's inside."
Shi Heming: "Okay, I'll come pick you up right away."
Shi Heming didn't keep Song Yin waiting for long. After picking her up, he led her away from everyone in the Taiqing Sect and to the secluded cave of Master Shangci.
Some of the formations here were destroyed by Shi Heming, and some were modified by Shi Heming. At the same time, Shi Heming added several new formations and set them up, making this place safer than it was thought.
Song Yin entered the cave, where many candles flickered. In the corner, she saw the corpse of Master Shangci, his hair disheveled, lying on his side on the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his eye, his mouth slightly open, his eyes vacant and unseeing.
Shi Heming: "Originally, I planned to destroy his body to cover up the evidence, but then I thought it would be better to keep his body. If anyone finds it in the future, they can just assume that he failed in his seclusion to break through to a higher realm and died in his cave after his lifespan had run out."
Song Yin: "Where is his soul?"
Shi Heming: "It was wiped out at the time."
Song Yin: "Well done."
Shi Heming smiled, his heart filled with joy.
"Where is the thing with cloud patterns you mentioned?" Song Yin looked around the cave but didn't see what Shi Heming had described.
Shi Heming turned the jade artifacts on the display cabinet, and the door to the secret chamber opened.
“When Master Shangci was in seclusion, he was in a secret chamber. I left his body outside the chamber.” He knew that Yinyin would definitely be interested in the things in the secret chamber, so he specially cleared out the chamber.
Upon entering, Song Yin saw a round object marked with cloud patterns, about half a meter in diameter, standing upright on a base.
"A bronze mirror?" Upon closer inspection, it didn't seem like one, because it didn't reflect any image.
Shi Heming: "He probably obtained this thing in the Youluo Black Corner Valley, or more likely he found it in the underground palace."
This object is round like a bronze mirror, with intertwined patterns around it. The back is engraved with constellations, and cloud patterns occupy only one corner.
Song Yin felt heat on the inside of her wrist. She raised her wrist, and cloud patterns appeared on their own. She reached out and brought the two cloud patterns closer together.
One second passed, two seconds passed, three seconds passed... half a minute passed...
Song Yin: "The cloud pattern on my wrist feels hot, but it doesn't change when I get close. Maybe I need to use another method?" There must be a connection between the two, otherwise it wouldn't feel hot.
"Hot?" Shi Heming took Song Yin's left hand and pressed the pad of his thumb against Yunwen's skin. Yunwen's skin was indeed hotter than other areas.
As the two were talking, the constellations behind them changed, and the points representing the stars began to move.
Song Yin stared intently at the change, "Stop looking at your wrist, look at this."
Shi Heming glanced sideways, then his eyes widened. Both of them were watching the scene unfolding on the divine artifact. The various patterns on it were clearly engraved and shouldn't have changed, but now they seemed to have "come alive."
The pattern kept changing, finally settling into a fixed shape, and bursting with light!
However, the light was soft and not dazzling. The surrounding environment began to change beneath their feet; the secret chamber disappeared, replaced by the celestial constellations.
Song Yin looked around, looking down and then up; it was as if they were in the starry sky.
"This is too much..."
Shocking? Magnificent? Or mysterious? Song Yin couldn't find a precise adjective.
Shi Heming: "These stars have started moving again, just like before..."
The scene before them seemed magical, drawing both of them in and making them gaze at it with complete absorption.
At this moment, in the distant and unreachable Nine Heavens Dao Palace.
"Dao Lord! Dao Lord! The Reincarnation Mirror has been activated!" An old man dressed in a wide-sleeved robe ran quickly to the pond in the Dao Palace.
The Nine Heavens Dao Lord was fishing in his Dao Palace pond when he heard this and replied, "There are so many Dao Lords in the Immortal Realm, and you are also a Dao Lord. Who knows who you are calling? The Mirror of Reincarnation has been lost for tens of thousands of years. How come it has been activated again now? That thing cannot be opened by anyone other than the people of my Dao Palace. Go and investigate one by one to see who stole the Mirror of Reincarnation."
The old man said, "Nine Heavens Dao Lord, the Mirror of Reincarnation has truly been activated! All the magical treasures that come with it have resonated with it! These magical treasures are yours, and only you can sense their exact location the moment they are activated!"
The Mirror of Reincarnation allows one to observe the past, present, and future, revealing the cycle of reincarnation and reflecting the changes in the world. An observer with an unstable mind is easily misled and disturbed by these changes, ultimately becoming mentally unstable; however, if the observer's mind is steadfast, they can comprehend the Great Dao!
The cultivation methods in the Immortal Realm are no longer about absorbing spiritual energy, but rather about comprehending the power of the Great Dao Laws. The Mirror of Reincarnation is a magical artifact that can assist the Dao Lords of the Immortal Realm in their cultivation.
"You scared the fish away again, never mind..." The Nine Heavens Dao Lord focused his mind, sensing the location of the Reincarnation Mirror.
Not long after, he got up and walked out, muttering to himself, "So it was in the Nine Spirits Realm. It seems that it was accidentally lost when the Nine Heavens Secret Realm was set up in the Nine Spirits Realm back then."
The old man's brow twitched. They had searched for so long, thinking it had been stolen, and the Dao Lord had been furious for years. And it turned out the Dao Lord himself had lost it? Not angry, not angry… not angry my foot! Dao Lord, can you be a little more reliable?!
Now that the Mirror of Reincarnation has been activated in the Nine Spirit Realms, it's unknown which unlucky soul activated it, but for those with cultivation levels in the lower realms, the only path left is to become mentally impaired.
No, this is a magical artifact that only people from the Nine Heavens Dao Palace can open. How could someone from the lower realm open it?
Could it be...?
The old man strode after him, shouting, "Nine Heavens Dao Lord! You're secretly recruiting people for the Dao Palace again! You can't recruit them ahead of time! You have to wait until people from the lower realms ascend to the immortal realm before you can recruit them! You're breaking the rules!"
The Nine Heavens Dao Lord chuckled lightly: "It's not like only the Nine Heavens Dao Palace is secretly breaking the rules." The fisherman was neither convinced nor indignant.
No, do all of you top-tier Dao Lords secretly cheat and break the rules?
The Nine Heavens Dao Lord bypassed the Heavenly Dao of the Immortal Realm to leave, and then bypassed the Heavenly Dao of the Nine Spirit Realms to enter this realm. With just a thought, he could appear anywhere.
"It's you again. No wonder you were able to activate the Mirror of Reincarnation..." Daoist Jiutian appeared in the secret chamber.
The two were so absorbed in what they saw that they were unaware of anyone else's presence.
The Mirror of Reincarnation that had been activated was closed and taken away by Daoist Jiutian. "So deeply involved? That's perfect. Let's see if my judgment is still good enough. Being able to touch the laws of the Great Dao ahead of time is also your opportunity. It's up to you to see if you can seize it."
The fisherman was drawn to the two "little men" and disappeared from the spot, yet he could always see them again.
Without the Mirror of Reincarnation, the two were still not awake.
Time flies, and more than a hundred years have passed.
For mortals, a hundred years is enough time for black hair to turn white and for dynasties to rise and fall; for the Dao Lord of the Nine Heavens, a hundred years is but a fleeting moment, like morning dew.
The two, as if in deep meditation, had a thick layer of dust on their shoulders, the candles had long since burned out, and cobwebs covered every corner.
The two, who hadn't changed in a century, now had their bodies surrounded by swirling dust, and with the blessing of the spirit-gathering array, all the surrounding spiritual energy surged wildly into their bodies.
The pressure from the Nascent Soul stage cultivator suddenly filled the room, and some of the furnishings couldn't withstand the weight and turned into powder.
Shi Heming was the first to awaken, and at the same time, an aura even more terrifying than the pressure of the Nascent Soul stage appeared, spreading outward through the layers of arrays in the secret chamber.
Birds and beasts began to scatter and run wildly, and even the usually inconspicuous little insects rushed around, some even crawling onto the sidewalk.
"What's going on? Why are these creatures so restless today?" Some Taiqing Sect disciples noticed the anomaly and asked those around them.
"Everyone, come quickly to the Beast Garden to help! Those domesticated beasts have gone mad! They've smashed up a lot of things and are attacking anyone they see!" The cry for help, imbued with spiritual energy, echoed throughout every corner.
"Come on, let's go help!"
Disciples flew to help from all directions, only to find that many trees and flowers around them had been broken and trampled into the mud.
"That's really strange..."
The Nine Heavens Dao Lord, whose whereabouts were unknown, raised an eyebrow. "Facing the Mirror of Reincarnation, you were able to remain steadfast and awaken on your own before ascending, and even comprehend a trace of the power of the laws. Not bad. It's a pity that the one I have my eye on hasn't awakened yet. You won't disappoint me, will you?"
Shi Heming awoke, his cultivation level leaped several levels, and he entered the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. At the same time, dark thunderclouds formed above the Taiqing Sect.
The disciples who rushed to help in the Monster Garden all set up spiritual energy shields. Suddenly, a strong wind blew up, and their hair got all over their faces.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! My hair's all blown into my mouth! What's with the sudden change of weather?"
"I don't know."
Ding ding ding—
Ding ding ding—
The urgent tolling of the bell resounded throughout the Taiqing Temple.
"This is the sound of the bell signaling that the sect is in danger!"
In an instant, the Taiqing Sect was thrown into chaos, and the disciples began to scatter and flee in all directions like animals.
The cities near the Taiqing Sect have activated their protective formations.
Unbeknownst to the fleeing disciples, the trees that had been broken began to sprout new buds and grow rapidly; the grass trampled into the soil stood upright again, then began to shrink, and finally returned to the earth as a seed.
Song Yin woke up.
This time, the Nine Heavens Dao Lord didn't just raise an eyebrow; he was genuinely astonished. "This guy has given me a wonderful surprise! I knew I hadn't misjudged him..."
Song Yin's understanding of the Great Dao Laws far surpassed that of the boy next to her, and she had even already found her own direction.
When Song Yin woke up, she was startled by the mess in the room. Then, looking at herself, she exclaimed, "Holy crap! My cultivation has jumped to the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage?!" She turned to Shi Heming, "Your cultivation has also reached the Middle Nascent Soul stage!"
Shi Heming: "This place belongs to the Taiqing Sect. The combined lightning tribulations of the two of us are enough to cause heavy losses to this sect. Let's leave first."
Song Yin became serious again: "You're right, let's find a place to undergo the tribulation first... Wait, where's that thing that looks like a bronze mirror?"
Shi Heming extended his divine sense, "It seems to have disappeared."
Song Yin couldn't find it even with her divine sense: "It's not around. If it's gone, it's gone. Let's retreat first."
Stepping out of the secret chamber, Song Yin's heart stirred. She flicked a spark from her fingertip, which landed on the remains of Master Shangci. "The tribulation clouds are probably gathering outside. They'll follow us as we leave. If they see any more corpses here, it'll be troublesome. It's better to avoid trouble and burn them all."
Shi Heming: "Yinyin, I've finished all the formations, let's go!"
As Song Yin stepped out of the cave, a strong wind lashed at her head. She squinted, her hair flying wildly behind her. "Let's go!"
-----------------------
Author's Note: Song Yin: Who understands? I just went outside and got slapped several times by the wind! The worst part is that I've aged over a hundred years without even realizing it! (Confused)
Other cultivators: We can help you endure being slapped by the wind and waking up a hundred years old, just let us break through to a higher level! [Please!]
-
[Empty bowl]
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