Chapter 480
The sound of dripping water came from the darkness, and the yin and yang fish shifted their gaze, swimming lightly in the sky.
Yu Sui paused the refinement of Zou Qian's Five Elements Qi and said before he asked a question, "Dean Zou, this is not working. Let's try a different approach."
Zou Qian lay on the ground, barely breathing, her eyes bloodshot, yet her expression was manic, as if she were about to unleash a massacre at any moment.
"Didn't I tell you to wash away all my power?" Zou Qian said, panting.
"Don't give up on yourself. Even if you wash away all your power, you still can't break the curse." Yu Sui squatted down to look at him and pointed her index finger in front of his eyes. "Dean Zou, you should also realize that the power that gave you the Heart-Bearing Curse is far above ours."
"...Who is it?" Zou Qian asked in a hoarse voice, her eyes filled with a murderous intent that seemed determined to tear the other person to pieces.
“Yes, we’ll follow this line of thought. Instead of using the Five Elements to break the curse, we’ll find out when you were under the spell.”
As Yu Sui spoke, a faint glow appeared in his extremely dark eyes as he used his Divine Eye to gaze at Zou Qian.
“…I can’t remember,” Zou Qian’s forehead twitched, she suppressed her breath and cursed inwardly, “I can’t remember.”
"If you are willing, I can peer into all your memories and perhaps find the reason, but the premise is that you must completely trust me. If you subconsciously resist, it will cause great damage to your soul."
Yu Sui reached out and tapped his eyes: "Humans are also manifestations of the spirit of heaven and earth, and my Divine Mechanism can dismantle manifestations of the five elements."
"Don't I trust you enough?" Zou Qian asked.
"Everyone has a corner of their heart they don't want others to see," Yu Sui laughed. "Anyway, the worst that can happen is your soul gets hurt, why not give it a try?"
Zou Qian took a deep breath and sat up, supporting herself on the ground: "Stop talking nonsense and hurry up."
The moment Tianmu activated, Zou Qian was struck down by a force, crashing into the cliff edge and creating a deep crater. His mind went blank, and time seemed to freeze.
Yu Sui's hand hovered above Zou Qian's head, and scenes of Zou Qian's memories flashed before her eyes:
From childhood to adolescence, Zou Qian, as the pride of the Zou clan, lived a life of unparalleled glory. From a young age, the Zou clan groomed him to be the future head of the family, and the elders of the clan took him everywhere they went, traveling all over the country.
The young man was knowledgeable, intelligent, and precocious. His awakening of the Nine Provinces Star Sea was the envy of many.
He was exposed to the secrets and powers of the world's center from a young age, and his views on the world were different from many others. As he grew up, he became eccentric, and his peers could not keep up with his thoughts and ideas, which made him somewhat lonely and difficult to get along with.
At the age of sixteen, he met a refugee who was able to discuss celestial phenomena and perform divination with him. Later, this refugee was given a name by the sage Yu Sheng, and was called Changsun Zi.
They would occasionally meet to stargaze and discuss things together.
Zou Qian broke through to sainthood first. On a starless night, with the full moon hanging high, the night sky was as bright as day. The elders of the clan rushed to congratulate him.
The young man, however, gazed silently at the silver moon, his dark pupils seeming to have glimpsed something earth-shattering.
At first, nothing unusual happened. Zou Qian, who became a ninth-rate saint, quickly became famous throughout the Xuan Gu Continent, and countries from all over the world vied to extend invitations to him.
Unlike those Yin-Yang School saints who protect the fate of their country after breaking through to sainthood, Zou Qian often went out to kill Rakshasa sorcerers from various countries, always maintaining a high fighting spirit.
Changsun Zi said that he was caught in some kind of crisis and was always vigilant and murderous, but he didn't know who Zou Qian was wary of.
Zou Qian turned to look at Changsun Zi, who was standing by the sea, and asked, "Then who do you think my opponent is?"
No sooner had she finished speaking than Yu Sui was kicked out of Zou Qian's soul by a force.
A tremendous explosion rang in their ears, like the sound of an icy sea breaking apart, carrying a chilling cold.
Zou Qian suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, her heart pounding wildly.
He Xinsi and Zou Yuan saw Yu Sui's starry sea dissipate, and the girl was knocked back several steps by an invisible force. The two of them moved at the same time and came to their side.
Zou Yuan supported Zou Qian's swaying, weak body with one hand, channeling the five elements of Qi into him to stabilize his trembling soul.
Before He Xinsi could make a move, Yu Sui had already braced herself against the mountains beside her with one hand and looked up at Zou Yuan in surprise.
"Your Majesty, haven't you noticed anything?" Yu Sui suddenly asked He Xinsi.
He Xinsi paused slightly, not answering immediately, but his gaze toward Zou Qian was filled with surprise and contemplation.
He realized that Yu Sui was asking about the reaction of the Earth's core power.
He Xinsi came to Zou Qian's side and examined his condition. Zou Qian opened his eyes with difficulty and looked past He Xinsi at Yu Sui: "...Continue."
He knew that Yu Sui had encountered an accident before she could finish exploring his memories, but no matter what happened, he wanted Yu Sui to start over until the problem was found.
"Rest for a while. If you continue in your current state, I'm afraid..." Before Yu Sui could finish speaking, Zou Qian coughed up another mouthful of blood, and her face turned pale rapidly.
He Xinsi beckoned to Zou Qian, and the two ninth-rank saints were channeling the five elements of energy into him to stabilize his gradually collapsing soul.
Zou Qian fainted.
Yu Sui explained, "Dean Zou asked me to remove the Heart-Bearing Curse, but neither the Nine Mysterious Techniques nor the Yin-Yang Twin Fish worked, so I'm working backwards to figure out when he was cursed."
"Before I could find the memories of being cursed, I was kicked out of his soul."
Zou Yuan said, "What affects the breaking of the curse is not human power."
Yu Sui also agreed with this statement.
It is not caused by human forces, so the scope for suspicion is very small.
Her first thought was the power of the Earth's core.
Judging from Zou Yuan's previous reaction, he knew the secret that Nan Jing possessed the power of the Earth's core. That's why he kept everyone outside when Yu Sui tried to kill He Xin, preventing them from entering the hall.
Yu Sui then asked He Xinsi on the spot whether He Xinsi had noticed the abnormality of the Earth's core power when she was kicked out of Zou Qian's soul.
He Xinsi remained silent, observing Zou Qian for a long time.
Yu Sui said, "If the mysterious power that cursed Dean Zou belongs to the power of the earth's core, then Dean Zou must have discovered something he shouldn't have discovered, which is why he was targeted. The other twenty-four Taiyi Saints did not experience this situation."
She looked down at Zou Qian, who was lying on the ground, her face pale, but her brows furrowed.
"Dean Zou may have glimpsed the secrets of heaven, which is why his memories were sealed by a curse cast by the power above the secrets of heaven."
Neither Zou Yuan nor He Xinsi refuted this statement. The three of them looked at Zou Qian and guessed at the same time: Was the secret Zou Qian glimpsed a vow of non-aggression, or the destruction of the world by a strange fire?
When Zou Qian opened his eyes, he was standing on the beach of Taiyi, walking on the calm, waveless sea towards the deep sea.
In Zou Qian's eyes, the positions of the stars in the sea were chaotic and there was no way out. The sound of the sea breeze carried a warning and a stern admonition.
What sound is stopping him from moving forward?
Zou Qian looked down and felt uneasy at the bursts of light underwater. They were moving very fast, but when they were about to reach him, Zou Qian could not see what was exploding, which made him wake up in pain.
"Dean Zou?"
Zou Qian heard Yu Sui's question, but had no time to respond. He clutched his head, which felt like it was about to explode, and let out a low, hoarse roar.
The sacred wooden talisman that Changsun Zi gave him fell from his bosom and broke into two pieces.
He Xinsi flicked a purple talisman between her fingers toward Zou Qian, and a golden light enveloped Zou Qian, shielding him from the constant explosions in his mind.
"Your Majesty, Elder Sun of Shuizhou has something to discuss," came Yu Yuan's voice from outside.
This is the third night already. In a few more hours, Shui Zhou will activate the six kingdoms' talismanic smoke to conduct divination of heaven and earth.
At that moment, Sun Heng stood in front of the gate of the Institute of Communications. The old man raised his head slightly, his half-closed eyes revealing a hint of doubt.
“If we still can’t find a way to break the curse, he will die from the Heart-Bearing Curse not long after he wakes up,” He Xinsi said to Yu Sui. “This is a real problem.”
Zou Qian is not afraid of death, but if he dies without breaking the curse, Yu Sui is afraid that his overwhelming resentment will materialize and follow him for the rest of his life.
He Xinsi did not explicitly tell Yu Sui whether the power he bestowed upon Zou Qianzhu was related to the power of the Earth's core, but Yu Sui took his silence as an admission.
"I'll keep him from waking up until I figure out a way," Yu Sui said.
"The divination by the Fang family will begin soon," He Xinsi asked before leaving. "Aren't you going to take a look? Once the locations of the five world destroyers are found, all the ninth-rate saints on this continent will be very busy."
“I will go,” Zou Qian said to Yu Sui. “I’m leaving this place to you alone.”
He didn't seem to care much about the life or death of the Zou family's chosen one.
Yu Sui squatted down next to Zou Qian and responded without looking up.
"Aren't you interested in the divination of the world destroyer?" He Xinsi asked Yu Sui again.
“There are limitations in numbers, and limitations in the divine.” Yu Sui stared at Zou Qian with a focused expression and said, “This is the Legalist school’s evaluation of the Fangji school, and I think it makes a lot of sense.”
There are things in this world that cannot be predicted by divination, and there are places where the gods cannot manifest their power.
"So you think the Fangji family won't be able to deduce the information about the World Destroyer this time?" He Xinsi laughed, intrigued, and made a deal with Yu Sui, "Then let me go and see what kind of heavenly secrets we can glean from this world by gathering the divination power of all the Fangji family and sorcerers in the world."
He Xinsi left with Zou Yuan and encountered Sun Heng waiting outside.
The sky was dark, and Sun Heng stood in the shadows outside the lamplight, his aura peaceful and non-aggressive.
“Your Majesty,” Sun Heng said, not inquiring about the unusual situation in the Communications Institute, but instead requesting, “the divination is about to begin, and we only need one last thing.”
He Xinsi walked towards him: "Old Sun, please speak freely."
Sun Heng said, "We need the pagoda to perform divination together."
He looked up at He Xinsi, his eyes, which held a compassion for all living beings, yet revealed an undeniable authority and command.
He Xinsi did not answer immediately, but looked in the direction of the glass platform.
The lights over there were even brighter. In his eyes, the lights roared and howled angrily, trying to dispel the shadows that obscured the light of day and bring everything back into the warm light.
Almost all the sorcerers and magicians from the capital of Nanjing are now located in Liulitai.
Their expressions were solemn, and the wooden divination sticks they held seemed to be communicating silently.
Qin Shan led Zhong Lique to the edge of the highest point of the Liuli Terrace and looked at Changsun Zi on the opposite side.
"Master, won't bringing me here make the prince and the others think too much?" Zhong Lique asked hesitantly in a low voice beside him. "Sheng Fei has been suspicious and testing me."
At this moment, Sheng Fei stood with Nangong Ming under the glass platform, glancing at it from time to time.
Qin Shan did not tell Zhongli Que that he had already made a deal with Nangong Ming. After the divination was over and the identity of the World Destroyer was confirmed, he would have the other nine ranks of saints from the six kingdoms capture the World Destroyer, while Qingyang would use the pretext of capturing Zhongli Ci to enter the six states of Yan.
At that time... Zhong Lique will probably resent him.
Qin Shan consulted the oracle about this matter, and the result was a mixed bag, with the outcome entirely dependent on human intervention.
If he wants to protect Qingyang, he must sacrifice the Zhongli clan. If he wants to protect Zhongli Que, he must put Qingyang in great danger.
"It's nothing." Qin Shan smiled as he met the girl's worried and puzzled gaze. "Changsun Zi's divination incantation is worth the risk of seeing. Perhaps it is the last incantation she wrote."
Zhong Lique looked towards the woman in purple in the distance.
Changsun Zi, who was talking to Su Tong, seemed to sense something and glanced in the direction of the girl.
"Dean?" Su Tong asked, puzzled when she saw that Changsun Zi had been silent for a long time.
Changsun Zi withdrew her gaze from Zhongli Que.
Not long after, Changsun Zi sent Su Tong away, and Qin Shan brought Zhongli Que over. "You should have met before," Qin Shan said as he stepped forward.
Zhong Lique bowed to Changsun Zi and said, "Dean Changsun."
Changsun Zi had already guessed Qin Shan's purpose, but she did not show it in front of Zhong Lique. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Qin Shan sent Zhong Lique away, leaving only the two of them. Only then did Qin Shan say seriously, "I've come to make a deal with you, as you probably already guessed."
“That child is special,” Changsun Zi said. “Last time in Qingyang, it was you who interfered with me.”
“She possesses the Divine Wisdom Heart, which allows her to sense the presence of the World Destroyer,” Qin Shan said humbly. “With her joining the divination, we can learn more about the World Destroyer.”
Changsun Zi looked at him without speaking; her aloof and cold eyes made one dare not be presumptuous.
Qin Shan said frankly, "I hope that when you perform the divination, you will allow me to inquire about information related to Heaven and Earth and Qingyang."
He believed that Nangong Ming's plan was a gamble, and he always had doubts about the results of his divination. Therefore, he wanted to get a definite answer through this divination that brought together all the magicians and sorcerers.
"I won't stop you." After saying this, Changsun Zi turned away and ignored him.
Zhong Lique walked down the glass platform alone. She carefully lifted her skirt and looked around. Her gaze fell on the noisy area and she saw Sun Heng leading He Xinsi into the venue.
He Xinsi wore an inscrutable smile, his gaze casually sweeping over the glass platform before shifting away, seemingly uninterested in what everyone was eagerly anticipating.
Nangong Ming led Sheng Feichao to discuss the use of the pagoda fragments.
Zhong Lique noticed that Mu Mengbai, who had been following Sheng Fei, did not step forward. Instead, he quietly retreated to the edge of the crowd and left unnoticed.
Mu Mengbai planned to find a secluded place to rest, or find an opportunity to leave the palace directly. Just thinking about the chaos that was about to unfold here gave him a headache. His mind was about to explode if he thought too much, so he might as well not think about anything at all.
There are too many capable people in this world. Whether it's the chaos of the Six Kingdoms or the destruction of the Xuan Gu Continent, these are matters beyond his concern. Getting too caught up in one's thoughts can lead to stubbornness, extreme actions, and ultimately, misfortune for oneself and others.
Mu Mengbai kept telling himself as he walked, but as soon as he reached the edge of the mountain path, he was pulled away by someone waiting in the woods.
"Ouch!" Mu Mengbai was about to make a move, but after recognizing that the person pulling him away was Zhongli Que, he released his hand from the sacred wooden talisman. "Miss Zhongli, you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Mu Mengbai looked down and saw Zhong Lique holding his right hand and fastening a black iron ring around his wrist. Both of them heard the click of the iron ring closing.
“This is a secret weapon of the Ghost Daoist, the Soul-Locking Ring. If you are too far away from me, your soul will be severely damaged.” Zhong Li Que released his grip and looked up at Mu Mengbai. “Young Master Mu, I will not harm you because I know you cannot die. But I need your help, so I have no choice but to use this method.”
"You want me to do something and you still put a soul-locking ring on me?" Mu Mengbai raised his hand in disbelief. The slender iron ring was carved with a fierce ghost image, exuding a chilling aura.
He stared blankly at Zhongli Que: "Why are you being so distant with me? Your brother and I are like brothers, we've been through thick and thin together! Zhongli Shan's sister is my sister too, I'll give you anything you want! There's no need for all this trouble, just quickly remove this Soul-Locking Ring, and I'll help you!"
Mu Mengbai's eyes were full of sincerity, and he appeared to be a man of great righteousness.
Zhong Lique knew that once the Soul-Locking Ring was unlocked, the person would immediately disappear without a trace.
“Young Master Mu, you are a person protected by the divine tree.”
Mu Mengbai: "Not at all, I was just lucky!"
Zhongli Que shook her head, took a step back, and bowed to him in apology: "I know you are unwilling to divine the destruction of the world by the strange fire, but I need your help now. Young Master Mu, please lend me your divine wood divination sticks and let's continue the divination together."
After she finished speaking, when she looked up at Mu Mengbai again, the apology in her eyes vanished, replaced by a sharp edge.
"This is no ordinary divination," Mu Mengbai muttered to himself, but Zhong Lique had already turned and left.
After Zhongli Que had walked a distance, the Soul-Locking Ring on Mu Mengbai's wrist flashed with black light. He was suddenly struck by a force and fell to the ground. His soul was struck by lightning, and his hands trembled and spasmed involuntarily.
Mu Mengbai was stunned for at least a few moments, groaning as he scrambled to his feet and caught up with Zhong Lique, who was leaving: "You two siblings both use this trick! I can't take it anymore! Wait for me!"
He caught up with Zhong Lique and followed him deeper into the mountains. Along the way, he received a telepathic message from Sheng Fei, asking him where he was.
Mu Mengbai glanced at the girl walking beside him. She was calm and composed, not afraid of him "telling on her" at all. He gritted his teeth and brushed it off.
"Aren't you going to participate in the divination? The palace is packed with people today, don't go too far." Sheng Fei was afraid that Mu Mengbai would cause trouble.
Mu Mengbai thought to himself, "He doesn't cause trouble, but trouble is causing him trouble."
“You’re surrounded by big shots, I’m scared. I need to find a quiet place to do my divination.”
Sheng Fei didn't stop him.
Mu Mengbai ended the telepathic communication and asked Zhongli Que, "Where are we going?"
“Here.” Zhong Lique stopped and pointed to the waterfall in front of her, saying, “It’s in here.”
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