Chapter 62: Restrictions are like onions, peeling off one layer and there is another layer...
Yue Ji stood there in a daze, a look of confusion on his face, as if he had not expected to be rejected.
Qi Qing was equally shocked. Would Long Aotian be rejected by the secret realm one day with the excuse of "no destiny"?
Did the secret realm make a mistake?
He quickly took a few steps back and said, "Maybe something went wrong. Try again."
In front of him, Yue Ji threw the spirit stone again, but it bounced back again.
The ban refused to accept his "bribe" money.
Qi Qing found it unbelievable. He gritted his teeth and reluctantly took out a spiritual stone half the size of his palm from his storage bag. He had originally intended to keep it as a family heirloom. "...Use this!"
Yue Ji looked at his painful expression, hesitated for a moment, and finally threw the spirit stone out as he was told.
——The spirit stone was still bounced away, and this time it almost hit Yue Ji’s forehead.
"Strange." Qi Qing frowned, picked up the spirit stone and said, "You are the one who broke the restriction. They can all pass it, but you can't?"
He tried to touch the invisible barrier, but the middle-aged man in front saw that they didn't catch up, so he sent someone over to inquire.
After knowing the whole story, the middle-aged man was also quite surprised.
Fortunately, he is a kind person and came to help.
The group tried various methods, including pulling, hammering, and forcing Yue Ji to pass close to Qi Qing, but to no avail, except for causing Qi Qing to stagger.
Seeing the fog in the center of the lake getting thicker, the monk in white clothes urged anxiously: "Don't delay, hurry up, otherwise the ban will be closed and we won't be able to pass!"
Many people hurried to the island in the middle of the lake after hearing this. The middle-aged man hesitated a little, and Qi Qing said decisively: "You guys go ahead, I will stay with my disciples."
“Big Brother, what are you waiting for? He can’t come over by himself, so do you want everyone to wait with him?” Someone shouted, “Let’s go, everyone has their own chance, don’t force it!”
"That's exactly the truth! Opportunities are determined by heaven. Maybe this fellow Taoist's opportunity lies somewhere else?"
"Don't dawdle, or else people from other factions will get there first!"
Hearing these ungrateful remarks, He Chong felt aggrieved and said sternly: "If it weren't for Fellow Daoist Yue, how would you have had the chance to get to the island? Now that you've crossed the river, you're demolishing the bridge. How shameless!"
"What if he has solved the restriction? He still can't get through?" Someone couldn't stand this and said with a frown, "Besides, this restriction is not difficult to begin with, it's just that we didn't find the right method before!"
The monks chatted with each other, but no one was willing to stop and they all rushed to the island in the middle of the lake without looking back.
Qi Qing was furious when he heard this and was about to explode, but the middle-aged man bowed with a guilty look on his face and said, "My two fellow Taoists, I am really sorry. My fellow disciples are young and ignorant. I apologize to you on their behalf."
Qi Qing sneered, "If apologies are useful, what's the need for Heaven's Law? You don't have to say anything. Just think of us, the master and I, as being kind enough to feed the dogs and help a group of ungrateful wolves."
"Who are you calling an ungrateful bastard?" A trace of anger flashed in the white-robed monk's eyes. "Big Brother has given you enough face, don't be shameless!"
Qi Qing glanced at him and sneered, "Is your senior brother's face a rare treasure? How much is it worth? Do you want me to accept it out of gratitude?"
Seeing this, the middle-aged man hurriedly tried to smooth things over, saying, "Calm down, fellow Taoists. I understand how you feel right now. How about this: if you need anything that doesn't conflict with what we're looking for, I'll send someone to deliver it to you once we get out of the secret realm. Is that okay?"
"Big Brother!" the monk in white robes said anxiously, "Why do you have to be so humble to them! They can't get in on their own, who can you blame?"
One plays the good guy, the other plays the bad guy, they both play the good guy and the bad guy, what a method used by disciples of a big sect.
Qi Qing looked at him coldly and didn't bother to pay any more attention.
The fog on the lake was rolling and getting thicker. The impatient urging voices of other cultivators could be heard from afar. The middle-aged man finally hardened his heart and said with a bow, "I am afraid I have to go ahead. What I said just now still counts. However, before I leave, I would like to ask you two a question. What are your names? Your disciples have great attainments in formations. I would like to make friends with you. Can you tell me?"
"Make friends?" Qi Qing glanced at him, not expecting him to be so shameless, so he answered directly: "He is a disciple of Tiandu Sect, Yue Ji."
Maybe he is unknown now, but Qi Qing is sure that in the near future, this name will be resounding throughout the world of cultivation.
This is the value of Long Aotian.
"Yue Ji." The middle-aged man repeated in a low voice, wrote down the name, and asked Qi Qing: "What is the name of the Taoist friend..."
“Big Brother!” The white-robed monk grabbed him without further ado: “If you wait any longer, even if you have a chance, it will be taken away by people from other sects!”
Qi Qing coldly watched the middle-aged man being dragged away. In the world of cultivation, there were many people who killed people for treasures and were ungrateful. Although he had not seen them often, he was mentally prepared.
But to his surprise, in addition to his senior brother, the brothers and sisters of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect actually came back and stood beside them.
“What are you doing...?” Qi Qing raised his eyebrows slightly.
He Chong snorted and said in a rough voice: "I feel uncomfortable staying with those ungrateful bastards. I might as well follow you. At least I can be free!"
Fu Ling also nodded: "Yes, and Xiaoxue can't fly across this lake. I can't just abandon it, right?"
The senior brother patted Yue Ji comfortingly and said to Qi Qing: "Don't worry, junior brother. I have asked junior brother Jiang to stay inside as an insider. If there is really any good stuff, you will definitely get your share."
Qi Qing was slightly startled, and a warm feeling suddenly surged in his heart.
The senior brother raised his chin again and said, "To be honest, Junior Brother Jiang and I have long been fed up with their behavior. What's so great about a famous sect? Our small sect is just not as profound and powerful as theirs. As for being so arrogant? I think they have no humanity at all!"
Yue Ji suddenly raised his head. He looked calm and didn't seem depressed. He wasn't annoyed by the monk's words. He just looked at the lake and said softly, "The fog is thick."
The figures of those monks who were hurrying on their way had been swallowed up by the thick fog. Their outlines were hazy, like wandering ghosts, with a hint of ominous meaning.
The words on the ban suddenly changed.
"Don't force it if it's not meant to be."
This time even Qi Qing and others were turned away, which completely put an end to their idea of opening the ban and taking Yue Ji in.
Qi Qing didn't show it on his face, but he had other thoughts in his mind.
——Is a place that even Long Aotian can’t go to really a good place?
He was about to suggest leaving when he suddenly remembered something: "Did anyone see the words on the plaque of the stone tower in the center of the lake clearly?"
"What's that a word?" the senior brother asked in surprise.
He was the closest to it just now, and he actually wrote it down. He squatted down, picked up a branch and drew on the ground.
The strokes written by the branches were different from any characters anyone had ever seen. Each stroke was long, thin and twisted, with a complex structure. They didn't look like characters, but more like some kind of ancient totem.
Everyone pondered over this strange symbol for a long time. Yue Ji reached out and touched it. His fingertips traced the twisted strokes and suddenly said, "It's 'Mirage'."
The atmosphere suddenly became solemn.
Before entering the secret realm, everyone had more or less heard about the connection between this secret realm and the Mirage Clan, but no one expected to encounter the legendary holy land of the Mirage Clan - the Mirage Tower that keeps all the secrets of the Mirage Clan.
He Chong asked blankly: "Then...what should we do?"
He didn't mind returning empty-handed, as he had brought his junior sister here for training. But when he thought about those people who had borrowed Yue Ji's hand to get in, while the real person who could break the formation was kept out, he couldn't help but clench his fists.
Before Qi Qing could say anything, the burly man came up with an idea with a gloomy face, saying grimly: "Why don't I and my junior sister go and intercept a few of them when we get out of the secret realm? We will definitely get something. Humph... I remember their appearances clearly."
Qi Qing couldn't help but laugh and said, "No need to do that."
He turned his head and looked at the lake, and said leisurely: "As the saying goes, heaven has forty-nine opportunities, and man escapes one of them. It can be seen that there is no absolute adversity in the world. Our chance is still to come."
These words were said not only to He Chong, but also to Yue Ji who was beside him.
Yue Ji heard the hidden meaning in his words and said with a curved lip: "Master, are you feeling sorry for me?"
He also looked in the direction where Qi Qing was looking and said softly, "Don't worry about it. They are not the ones that Mirage is waiting for."
Qi Qing was stunned for a moment. Just as he was about to ask what the deeper meaning of this was, he suddenly heard the sound of water splashing at his feet.
He looked down and quickly took a half step back.
Seeing that they didn't catch up, the black snake holding the bell swam back to the shore and landed at Qi Qing's feet.
"Little Blackie!" The little girl held up its head, wiped it with her sleeve, and said unhappily, "You sneaked into the water to play again. If you do this again next time, I won't give you a bath!"
The black snake affectionately hooked its owner with the tip of its tail, and the grass it crawled through was wet.
Qi Qing watched as an idea suddenly flashed in his mind. He had an ice blade in his hand and squatted down to start digging the soil where the black snake came ashore.
The soil near the lake was soft and wet, so he dug a few times and soon dug out a small pit. The lake water immediately poured in, forming a small puddle in the pit.
“Junior brother, what are you doing…” The senior brother was a little confused.
"Look here." Qi Qing pointed at the puddle and whispered, "The restriction on the lake surface just now can block everything, even the wind can't get through, but here--"
He dipped his finger into the puddle and lifted it up so that everyone could see the sparkling water on his fingertips: "The lake water can flow freely."
Yue Ji was so smart that before he could continue, his eyes flashed: "Master, what you mean is... the restriction is only on the surface of the lake, but there is a passage under the water?"
"good!"
Qi Qing nodded and said, "We always thought that the ban was a high wall."
As he spoke, he put his hand into the cold lake water.
Sure enough, there was no obstacle.
"But actually - it's more like an upside-down bowl. Maybe the real way is under the water!"
This discovery cheered everyone up, and after trying it out several times, everyone rolled up their sleeves and started digging holes. Even the black snake started rolling in the mud nearby.
Qi Qing dug a few times, then suddenly stopped and turned to Yue Ji and said, "You come, try again."
He gestured towards the lake, not daring to guarantee that he could get through here, fearing that Yue Ji would get hope and then be disappointed.
Unexpectedly, Yue Ji covered his hand with his sleeve, clasped his hands with his ten fingers, and immersed them together in the cool lake water.
Qi Qing didn't expect that he would dare to be so presumptuous in public, and immediately glared at him.
Yue Ji didn't care at all. Instead, he used the waves to protect himself, and rubbed his knuckles with his fingertips intimately, reaching too far into his wrist inside his sleeve.
"Master." He mouthed silently, "You still chose me."
He seemed very happy and satisfied that Qi Qing did not abandon him and leave with the other monks. Even when Qi Qing beat him with ice under the water, he stubbornly refused to let go.
“…This is what a master should do.”
Qi Qing emphasized the word "Master" and warned him not to push his luck. "If you can be a little filial, I will be happier. Do you understand?"
Yue Ji turned a deaf ear to the second half of his words. As the two of them were walking hand in hand through the lake, something strange happened.
Not only could Qi Qing's hand not pass through, but even the lake water stopped flowing.
The restriction seemed to have sensed the loophole here and temporarily patched it.
Qi Qing: “…”
How much does this lake not want Yue Ji to enter?
He took a deep breath and knocked on the restriction a few times. Suddenly he felt the same powerlessness as when he was in school, thinking he had discovered a genius solution to a problem, but ended up with zero points.
Creativity is certainly worth encouraging, but the ability to give up is also a very important quality.
——Is it really true that I will never see a mirage?
Fu Ling suddenly said, "Look, there are words on it again!"
Several people looked up and saw two new lines of small characters appearing on the ban at some point.
"If you don't cross the river without a chance, it's a waste of effort."
"Sincerity of mind and clear aspirations will illuminate the path beyond heaven."
The senior brother touched his chin and thought, "It seems that he didn't say anything definite...but what does sincerity mean? Are you extremely eager to go to the island?"
He tried to touch it, but the restriction not only bounced him back, but also hit him.
"Hiss!" He suddenly pulled his hand back and shook it.
"You must be insincere! Let me do it!" The little girl stretched out her hand excitedly, but was also beaten back mercilessly.
She rubbed her hurt hand and muttered, "How stingy!"
As if in response, the four words "be sincere and clear in your aspirations" were suddenly bolded, as if someone was highlighting them.
At this time, the fog on the lake was incredibly thick, like an airtight white cloth, completely engulfing the island in the middle of the lake. The stone tower and the monks were no longer visible, as if they had never appeared.
Qi Qing suppressed the vague uneasiness in his heart, and thought of the simple answer to the riddle. He frowned and said, "You don't really want us to dig out our hearts to reveal our intentions?"
He Chong stood up suddenly and said, "I'll go hunt a monster nearby and take its heart to try."
"Wait." Yue Ji stopped him, looked at the small words and pondered for a moment, then suddenly said to Qi Qing: "Master, I want to borrow the inner elixir of the Heavenly Lion Beast."
Qi Qing's heart moved slightly, and he took out a purple inner elixir from the ring.
As soon as the inner elixir appeared, it began to tremble. It spun a few times and actually floated in the air on its own, starting to madly absorb the thick fog on the lake.
The mist gathered more and more, and finally it could not be absorbed anymore. It flowed on the surface of the inner elixir in strands, intertwining and entwining, and actually outlined the shadow of a palm-sized celestial lion beast.
The body is made of mist, and the heart is made of inner elixir. It is obvious that the "Sky Lion Beast" still retains the memories of its previous life, and wants to escape after absorbing enough spiritual energy.
Yue Ji was quick-witted and quick-handed. He grabbed it and threw it into the lake without hesitation.
——The moment the inner elixir entered the water, the lake water suddenly boiled!
The water nearby began to swirl and soon formed a whirlpool. The water waves were turbulent and the black snake could not stay in the water, so it hurried to the shore.
In the blink of an eye, a deep passage appeared on the lake surface, extending downwards, and all the original prohibition prompts disappeared, replaced by new prompts.
"The road beyond the sky, the shadow within the mirage."
…
The thick fog covered the lake like a substance. The monks could hardly see the shadows of their fellow travelers and were all very worried.
The fog came strangely and was unnoticeable at first, but when it became thicker it was like being stuck in a quagmire, making it difficult to move forward. Many people secretly cried out in dismay, feeling that they had fallen into a trap.
The monk in white also felt a little uneasy and whispered, "Big Brother, this fog is strange, is there a trick?"
The middle-aged man looked solemn. After sensing for a while, he said in a deep voice, "We have come this far. How can we go back? If I sense correctly, the island in the middle of the lake is not far ahead. Let's go up first."
Although he also felt that it was inappropriate, since he had already come this far, if he gave up halfway, wouldn't he be no different from that master and disciple?
The group struggled forward for another half a moment and saw that they were only one step away from the island in the middle of the lake.
The leading monk was happily landing on the island when he was suddenly bounced back by an invisible barrier.
"Bang!"
He touched his forehead and looked at the land so close in shock, almost unbelievable: "...Why is there another layer of restriction?!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the monks were suddenly in an uproar.
There are restrictions layer upon layer. What on earth is this secret realm trying to do?
Are there any restrictions in the tower?
"Don't panic!" Seeing this, the monk in white hurriedly comforted him, "Big Brother is still here!"
The middle-aged man stepped forward to investigate, observing the surroundings just as Yue Ji had done before, and soon found clues from the numerous stone tablets on the island.
He lightly stroked with his fingers, and after a few breaths, ripples appeared in the restriction and clues began to emerge.
The monks breathed a sigh of relief and started praising him one after another.
"As expected of you, you are the senior brother. Your speed is amazing!"
"How can such attainments be compared to those two Nascent Souls? They should be allowed to open their eyes!"
"It's normal that a small sect has limited resources and cannot compare to our sect."
The middle-aged man smiled kindly, raised his head and waited for a prompt, but saw two lines of small words slowly appear on the ban -
"This is private territory, no one is allowed to enter."
"Return the same way you came and let bygones be bygones."
For a moment, the scene was completely silent.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
The compliments just now were still ringing in my ears, and at this moment it was like a loud slap in the face, with a burning pain on my face.
The monk in white was dumbfounded and said, "This... Senior Brother? What should we do?"
They have come this far, and now you want them to go back?
Treat them like fools!
The middle-aged man's face darkened and he was speechless for a long time.
He remembered something and looked back suddenly.
I don't know when the fog dissipated a little, and I could vaguely see the scenery on the shore where I came from.
Empty.
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