Two full shichen had passed since entering the secret realm.
Wei Yuan already had the supplies of six people in hand, and the surveillance stones scattered everywhere were compiling an increasing amount of information. Aside from the Bao family, five Eastern Sea rogue cultivators, three people from Qiongshan Immortal Island, five Bao family retainers, and five clan descendants had been discovered. So far, however, the only one seen from the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land was that bizarre monk; no one else had appeared yet.
Wei Yuan had already scouted out a good deal of terrain. He was currently in the secret realm's central zone, inching closer toward the depths bit by bit.
Wei Yuan paused here briefly to lay down a feng shui formation and bolster his karmic luck once again before continuing deeper.
This time, he had not gone far when an intuition struck him. Turning to look, he saw a small silver-gray beast crouched by a cave entrance, quietly watching him.
The Shadowless Flying Marten!
Wei Yuan made no sudden move. The Shadowless Flying Marten could shuttle through the void, coming and going at will underground. In an instant, it could flee several li away, whereas Wei Yuan would have to dig his way through bit by bit to reach it.
Wei Yuan crouched down, took out an exquisite orb, set it gently on the ground, placed a wisp of aura from the Langya Divine Wood upon it, and slowly backed away.
Shadowless Flying Martens loved to feed on spiritual energy, with a particular fondness for metal-element things. Sensing the Langya Divine Wood's aura, its nose twitched, and one little paw crept forward a single step.
Wei Yuan sent over a mental thought proposing an exchange, then waited for its decision.
The Shadowless Flying Marten hesitated for only a breath before raising a paw, signaling for Wei Yuan to back up further—having him so close made it feel unsafe.
Wei Yuan was taken aback, not expecting this little creature to be so intelligent. He immediately backed up several more zhang, only to see the little marten flash directly above the orb, swallow the Langya Divine Wood aura in a single breath, and then exhale a puff of white vapor.
Yet after absorbing the wood's aura, it did not leave. Instead, it spat out two more puffs of white vapor and stared eagerly at Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan chuckled and flicked over two more wisps of Langya Divine Wood aura.
The Shadowless Flying Marten gulped them down and, thoroughly satisfied, vanished on the spot. Wei Yuan could not even see how it had left.
Wei Yuan felt a jolt of awe. The Shadowless Flying Marten's escape art was formidable indeed. Had he not happened to possess the spiritual energy of a metal-element immortal tree to trade, he truly would have been helpless against it.
With this crucial item—the marten's scent—now in hand, the crouching dragons and fledgling phoenixes had room to display their talents once more. That was right: among the mortals, there was now more than one pair of crouching dragons and fledgling phoenixes, and the sheer audacity and cunning of their schemes had broadened Wei Yuan's horizons as well.
Wei Yuan picked up the sphere from the ground. This orb was the Beast-Taming Immortal Heart researched and developed by Old Daoist Chuhe. Its effect was unmistakable, noticeably bridging the distance between Wei Yuan and the marten.
The flying marten was quite pleased as well. Today, a two-legged beast had actually paid homage with food, and the earnest supplication radiating from that sphere had put it in high spirits. In the end, it casually spat out a few mouthfuls of saliva as a reward, and the two-legged beast was overjoyed.
Passing through the midsection of the secret realm, Wei Yuan formally entered the deep zone. It became noticeably damper here, and various foul, pungent odors began to permeate the air. These were left behind by the ferocious beasts active in this subterranean area to assert dominance and mark their territory.
Not wanting to provoke these beasts yet, Wei Yuan reined in his aura and carefully skirted their territories, pressing deeper along the way.
The terrain sloped downward, and the moisture in the air grew heavier. Pools of water appeared regularly across the ground, some bottomless.
As Wei Yuan pressed onward, his vision suddenly widened. He had arrived in a vast, magnificent subterranean cavern. The vaulted dome of this expanse was well over a thousand zhang above the ground. Below rose solitary peaks and sheer cliffs, sliced through by bottomless chasms.
This area did not appear on any map. Wei Yuan scanned the entire expanse from left to right. In Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, the panoramic map expanded upward by over ten zhang to display the newly added region.
Wei Yuan surveyed the area back and forth several times, filling in the terrain details. As he pondered his next move, a section of the map suddenly lit up, assessed as likely containing a spiritual vein.
This area was not far ahead, so Wei Yuan sprinted toward it. In such an open space, he dared not fly heedlessly. Most flying ferocious beasts possessed terrifyingly sharp vision, making them the natural bane of anyone who relied on concealing their aura to sneak around.
Soon, Wei Yuan reached a rocky hill. He leaned down, picked up several stones, and crushed them to inspect them closely. When one crumbled, several tiny, blue, star-like fragments spilled out from within.
A spirit ore vein indeed.
Wei Yuan noted down the location and continued exploring deeper. Several tens of li away, he suddenly stopped and crouched down, studying marks left on a rock. Reaching out to wipe them, he found his fingertips coated in slick, greasy mucus. Wei Yuan brought it to his nose and sniffed; there was a faint, bitter-fishy smell of seawater, though very subtle.
According to the records, these were signs of Sea Li activity. The mucus not only allowed the Sea Li to move swiftly underwater, but also possessed a certain spell-warding effect, reducing the power of any Daoist technique that struck it by thirty percent.
Wei Yuan scouted several tens of li further into the depths. He found no Sea Li lair, but the traces they left behind increased noticeably. It seemed this place was not far from the region under Sea Li control.
All the conditions were met; this was the right place. Wei Yuan immediately returned to the spirit ore vein, summoned all dozen-plus enlightened Dao Foundation warriors, opened storage containers one after another, dumped out vast quantities of materials and supplies, and set to work.
The warriors had already reviewed the blueprints. With clear divisions of labor, they swiftly erected fortifications and traps one after another.
Moments later, another cultivator entered this expanse. This was an uncharted area lacking detailed markings on the map, so he advanced with extreme caution. Suddenly, he froze in his tracks. Ahead, upon a rugged rocky peak, sat a small silver-gray figure.
The Shadowless Flying Marten!
Just as surprise and delight surged through him, a huge net sprang up from the ground, trapping the Shadowless Flying Marten in an instant! Next, a cultivator camouflaged as a rock appeared, grabbed the net, and made to run.
Without a second thought, the first cultivator pointed a finger, sending a bolt of water lightning crashing down from the sky toward his rival. At the same time, his dharma idol materialized: a two-headed, two-clawed sea serpent.
The sea serpent continually spat water lightning at the man to keep him from escaping with the marten. Meanwhile, the cultivator brandished his Qiongshan token, lifted a pair of greataxes, and flew straight toward the rocky peak.
The cultivator carrying the marten fought desperately to hold him off as he fled, darting directly into a cave atop the peak, only to scramble back out an instant later—the cave was evidently a dead end.
The Qiongshan cultivator's spirits surged, his speed increasing by another thirty percent as he lunged straight for his target!
Yet right then, a sharp, piercing pain flared from behind his flank! Alarmed, he spun around, catching only a burst of firelight in the corner of his eye before an object hurtled toward him at unbelievable speed. He twisted with all his might, barely managing to interpose a greataxe before his chest.
With a deafening boom, a violent storm of radiant light erupted across the greataxe. Cracks splintered across the axe head in an instant, tearing it from his grip!
Unable to withstand the tremendous force, the Qiongshan cultivator was thrown backward. Then came another roar. This time, he could not even make out what was coming; his protective dharmic power managed only to deflect it slightly. In the next moment, his left shoulder shattered, and an arm was ripped from his body.
Then, countless flying swords shot out simultaneously from three directions. With his protective dharmic power already shattered, the Qiongshan cultivator was riddled into a sieve in an instant.
Quiet descended on the area. The cultivator who had pretended to flee set down the flying marten and cautiously crept toward the corpse. Just then, a streak of light broke through the air. The cultivator leapt backward violently, and three long arrows instantly sank into the ground where he had just stood.
A cultivator in rogue attire stepped out from the shadows, bow in hand. A serene, peaceful smile sat on his face, but in this environment, that smile looked unspeakably eerie.
One by one, more cultivators emerged from the darkness. Clad in different robes, they clearly belonged to various factions; two even wore the colors of the Bao family. None of them spoke. Every single one wore a smile as they closed in on the cultivator step by step.
The scene was downright bizarre. Terror surfaced on the cultivator's face as he slowly backed away toward the netted marten.
At that moment, a soft, pleasant voice rang out: "The sea of suffering is boundless; turn back and the shore awaits. Benefactor, please step away from this poor monk's flying marten."
"So that's how you want to talk..." Concealed in the shadows, Wei Yuan's mood instantly soured. He picked up a specially crafted long gun, loaded a projectile into it, stuffed in three propellant charges, and closed the bolt.
This gun was the mortals' latest design, inspired partly by Xu Wenwu's notes and mostly by their own ingenuity. Six feet long, it featured a bolt-action mechanism and required a projectile and propellant charges to fire, its power scaling with the number of charges loaded.
The gun packed tremendous power; a single shot could injure a dharma idol. But after hearing the monk speak, Wei Yuan silently shoved in an extra charge. Now, a single shot could severely wound a dharma idol.
Having finished loading, Wei Yuan silently brought out a second gun and began loading it, followed by a third and a fourth.
Until the crouching dragons and fledgling phoenixes came up with a better solution, Wei Yuan relied primarily on having a surplus of guns to solve the issue of sustained lethality.
While Wei Yuan lay in wait inside the bunker, glaring like a tiger eyeing its prey, the monk finally appeared. Dressed in a cyan monastic robe, he was as handsome as jade, with an extraordinarily striking presence.
Right then, another resonant, booming voice—like rolling ocean waves and mountain torrents—rang out: "Monk, if that's the way you're going to talk, then I'm wide awake."
The monk turned, his expression turning somewhat grave. Pressing his palms together, he said, "So it is Benefactor Zhao Fusheng. Could Benefactor Zhao also be here for this poor monk's flying marten?"
Zhao Fusheng, who stood a full head taller than ordinary men, stepped into view. He barked at several cultivators beside the monk who wore Qiongshan robes, "A bunch of useless trash! Get over here!"
His voice rumbled like thunder. A flicker of struggle crossed the faces of the Qiongshan cultivators, but it was quickly replaced once more by peaceful, serene smiles, and they remained standing where they were.
The monk said, "All things of yesterday died yesterday. They share an affinity with our Buddha and have devoutly taken refuge. Benefactor Zhao ought to possess the magnanimity to help others attain virtue."
Killing intent flared in Zhao Fusheng's eyes. He sneered, "Snatching a flying marten wasn't enough—now you've set your sights on my men?"
The monk said, "This marten shares an affinity with me, and Benefactor's men share an affinity with me as well."
"Then do I share an affinity with you as well?"
"Benefactor Zhao is dull of wit and your spiritual altar is clouded with dust. You will find it difficult to achieve true attainment and cannot enter our gate. Benefactor has no affinity with our Buddha, so it would be best not to indulge in wishful thinking."
Zhao Fusheng burst out laughing. "You monks truly have a way with words. Normal people probably couldn't do a damn thing to you. Too bad your luck has run out, running into me, Zhao Fusheng! I don't give a damn about the flying marten—I just want to beat you into the dirt. Once I take out a half-man, half-woman freak like you, flying marten or not, I'm the one who wins!"
Zhao Fusheng strode forward and threw a punch at the monk, roaring, "I might not be able to solve the problem, but I can solve you!"
Hiding in the dark, Wei Yuan felt his blood surge, itching to jump in.
Chapter 397