Seeing the translucent figure, Wei Yuan's first reaction was that it was a natural spirit. Yet a spirit capable of tending Spirit-Attracting Golden Dew was something Wei Yuan had never heard of, nor was there any record of such in the archives of the Palace of Grand Beginning.
Wei Yuan immediately channeled the power of the Pure Land Grotto-Heaven. A gentle, harmless strand of Dao power descended, enveloping the translucent figure. Startled, it struggled desperately to escape, but Wei Yuan subdued it with his Dao power.
Stepping closer, Wei Yuan was shocked to discover that the figure was a young girl—and her features bore a thirty percent resemblance to True Monarch Huangyun!
In this world, such coincidences simply did not exist. Wei Yuan's heart stirred, and he resonated with the Pure Land Grotto-Heaven.
At this moment, within the small shrine of the Pure Land, a faint, wispy figure already sat upon the lotus pedestal. As the figure slowly opened its eyes, an archaic depth entered Wei Yuan's gaze. Looking at the translucent girl, in an instant, he saw countless threads of cause and effect. The vast majority of these karmic threads were unfamiliar, but a few carried a sense of familiarity.
In merely an instant, an immense deluge of information converged upon him. In the past, even if he had seen these karmic threads, it would have been useless; there were too many, too chaotic, and vital clues would only flash by in a blink.
Now, however, Wei Yuan was no longer who he used to be. The archaic glint faded from his eyes as he directly engaged Splendor of the Many Realms to analyze the data. Within a few breaths, several conclusions emerged. Wei Yuan then focused on the one that seemed the least likely of all:
This spirit entity was True Monarch Huangyun's reincarnation. The three drops of dew she used to water the Spirit-Attracting Golden Dew were actually her own spiritual fluid, the equivalent of a cultivator's essence-blood. If she continued watering them, she would eventually dissipate entirely, and all the karma and cultivation of her previous life would come to naught.
A sudden dull ache gripped Wei Yuan's heart. Such an intuitive premonition told him that this was almost certainly the truth.
On the day True Monarch Huangyun passed away, perhaps she had already sensed that such a calamity awaited her, which was why she told Wei Yuan to use the method of karmic luck angling to seek out her reincarnated form once he had the ability. But at that time, Wei Yuan lacked the power. Subsequently, Lu Changhe somehow captured her reincarnated self and used her to water and nourish the three stalks of Spirit-Attracting Golden Dew.
Had Wei Yuan come ten years later, he would never have seen True Monarch Huangyun again.
The translucent girl trapped in the Buddhist light continued to struggle, her face filled with panic; clearly, she had not awakened her past-life wisdom.
Initially, she must have looked like an ordinary young girl. Her current translucent state meant she had already lost more than half of her past-life wisdom and true spirit. By now, she was bound to the three stalks of Spirit-Attracting Golden Dew; even if she no longer watered them actively, she would still be slowly drained to death by them.
Furthermore, if she moved too far from the Spirit-Attracting Golden Dew or severed the connection through techniques spanning two realms, she would instantly perish.
Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, combing through all he had learned, only to find there was no other way: he had to send True Monarch Huangyun into reincarnation once more. At the thought of reincarnation and the cycle of rebirth, Wei Yuan's heart stirred; it felt as though he had stepped into familiar territory.
After a brief thought, Wei Yuan circulated the Indestructible Dharma of Emptiness and Form obtained from the Lotus Lamp. The Buddhist intent rippled across him like flowing water of light. He then reached out and tapped the girl's forehead between her brows, leaving behind a golden mark.
This was a higher-level profound meaning of the Indestructible Dharma of Emptiness and Form. With the protection of this golden mark, the girl would be shielded in her next cycle of rebirth, turning misfortune into blessings, ensuring that her past-life wisdom and spiritual awareness would not be extinguished.
In truth, the original scripture of the Indestructible Dharma of Emptiness and Form obtained from the Lotus Lamp could only protect oneself, uniting internal and external into a seamless whole—as long as the physical body was not destroyed, the primordial spirit would not perish, and as long as the primordial spirit endured, a glimmer of vitality remained in the body. Such an exquisite dharma was a perfect match for exploring secret realms requiring the primordial spirit.
However, nine sticks of pure incense now burned in the small shrine of the Pure Land, and a golden phantom had manifested upon the lotus pedestal. Wei Yuan's comprehension of the Indestructible Dharma of Emptiness and Form had advanced further, surpassing the scripture's original meaning. Normal comprehension alone could not have attained such a realm, but relying on the analysis of Splendor of the Many Realms, Wei Yuan had forcibly pushed it a step further, elevating the Indestructible Dharma of Emptiness and Form to the realm of immortals, allowing him to confer its blessing onto others.
Yet True Monarch Huangyun's cultivation had been formidable and her past karma ran deep. Now that she was in an extremely weakened state, Wei Yuan felt that a single golden mark was not entirely secure.
Pondering for a moment, Wei Yuan withdrew his divine sense into Splendor of the Many Realms and communicated briefly with the shadow in the moon. In his hand appeared a wisp of otherworldly fortune resembling a black pearl.
This time, Wei Yuan had asked for otherworldly fortune with complete confidence and far more daring; he no longer bothered with ordinary otherworldly fortune. Sure enough, he procured a pearl-like fortune. Though not as good as the naturally sentient wisps Zhang Sheng possessed, it was far stronger than the advanced version of otherworldly fortune, worthy of being called high-tier fortune.
Once his divine sense returned to his physical body, Wei Yuan held the black pearl in his hand. He placed the pearl into the girl's mouth, instructing her to hold it under her tongue. Protected by this otherworldly fortune, her next reincarnation should proceed smoothly, blessed with endless fortuitous encounters.
The final step was to send True Monarch Huangyun back into the cycle of rebirth.
Searching through everything he had mastered, Wei Yuan naturally thought of the Red Lotus Universal Deliverance True Words. This had originally been a method for Wei Yuan to attack enemies with karmic fire, but at his current level of cultivation, he discovered that karmic fire could also deliver souls.
Karmic fire incinerates the causes and effects of the true spirit, serving as a supreme method for purging karma. If used to send an ordinary mortal into reincarnation, it would naturally reduce them to nothingness. But for someone like True Monarch Huangyun, with her profound cultivation, complex karma, and great fortune, it was like refining pure gold in a raging furnace, capable of burning away all the suffering endured in this lifetime.
With his plan set, Wei Yuan wasted no more time. Silently chanting the Red Lotus Universal Deliverance True Words, he blew a wisp of karmic fire from his lips, igniting the girl in an instant!
The girl had only a sliver of a spiritual body left. Engulfed in karmic fire, she was instantly refined into calamity ash. Amidst the blazing karmic fire, True Monarch Huangyun's figure suddenly emerged. With an expression of relief and release, she bowed to Wei Yuan, then dissolved into the karmic fire, embarking once more upon the cycle of reincarnation.
A gentle breeze stirred, scattering the calamity ash.
Wei Yuan suddenly felt a certain burden vanish from deep within him, replaced by a wave of lightness from the inside out. He smiled faintly. At long last, another lingering concern had been put to rest.
Yet Lu Changhe had committed countless evil deeds. Who would have thought he had done so many vile things in secret, daring even to kidnap True Monarch Huangyun's reincarnated self, not to mention scheming to interfere during Wei Yuan's heavenly tribulation and push him into a fatal impasse. A pity that for all his clever scheming, he had ended up falling by Wei Yuan's hand.
Next, Wei Yuan thoroughly searched the entire secret realm. Sure enough, in obscure corners and places others would never expect, he uncovered a wealth of fine treasures—all varieties of spirit pills, precious medicines, and natural treasures, worth nearly five hundred million Qingyuan in total. It gave Wei Yuan a brand-new understanding of an immortal's wealth.
Moreover, there were a few pleasant surprises in the secret realm: not everyone was dead. For instance, in a certain secret chamber, a pair of twin sisters was still alive, though on the verge of dying from starvation.
Wei Yuan had actually met these sisters once before, and had spared their lives at the time.
Seeing Wei Yuan again, the two sisters' eyes lit up. Dragging their weak bodies, they crawled toward him. The girl with black hair and a black dress rasped with difficulty, "Immortal Brother, fate connects us!"
The girl with silver hair and a white dress said, "Setting us free can happen once, but never twice!"
Looking at the two girls hovering on the brink of starvation, Wei Yuan felt not the slightest shred of pity. He merely sneered inwardly: *Hmph, petty tricks! Trying to test me with this? Who wouldn't be able to withstand such a test?*
A moment later, Wei Yuan walked toward the secret realm's exit. The two girls looked considerably refreshed, following on his left and right like two little kittens.
Wei Yuan was laden with gold and pearls, peerless beauties at his side, an old friend sent to the West, and an enemy slain. His mood was exceedingly fine.
He asked offhandedly, "The two of you, your names wouldn't happen to be Huang and Cang, would they?"
The black-robed girl was taken aback. "No, but..."
The white-robed girl was quicker on her feet, saying at once, "Since Master likes them, those will be our names from now on!"
Wei Yuan did not reply. Naturally, the two girls had no idea that what he was thinking of were two lines of poetry passed down from the world beyond:
*Leading Huang on the left, holding Cang on the right.*
Chapter 1158