The Relic

Only one Venerable remained at Zhulan Temple. After conferring together, Qin Sang and Liuli decided to seize it by force! Liuli used the Moonlight Bodhisattva to pique Venerable Chengyuan's interest, drawing him to the front temple while secretly preparing the Ice Soul Divine Light. Invisible and intangible, the Ice Soul Divine Light was among the cultivation world's best divine abilities for an ambush. Liuli kept the divine ability poised but unreleased. Even though Venerable Chengyuan commanded Zhulan Temple's protective spirit array, he failed to detect anything amiss about her. The moment Venerable Chengyuan appeared, Liuli struck without a word. The Ice Soul Divine Light erupted! Crack, crack! The sharp sound of freezing rang out through the void. It was instantly drowned out by Venerable Chengyuan's furious roar. Yet by the time he heard it and noticed something wrong, he had already fallen into the trap. Without the slightest warning, the void around Venerable Chengyuan solidified. Teleporting here from the cliff carving, he had practically walked into a net, casting himself right into the heart of the Ice Soul Divine Light. Venerable Chengyuan had never expected anyone to be audacious enough to attack within Zhulan Temple. Drawing upon the protective spirit array, he could exert power well beyond his cultivation realm! Blue light burst forth. A piercing chill surged as ice condensed out of thin air, spreading at terrifying speed. Venerable Chengyuan's figure was encased within the ice. Furious, his wrinkles deepened, but distorted through the frozen layer, his body and features warped into something almost comical. Holding nothing back, Liuli pushed the Ice Soul Divine Light to its absolute limit. With premeditation against someone caught off guard, Venerable Chengyuan had indeed been trapped. Within the ice, frigid qi took visible form, spreading rapidly and closing in from all sides, poised to engulf Venerable Chengyuan whole. Once sealed by the Ice Soul Divine Light, he would be at her mercy. Crack! A thin sheet of frost spread over Venerable Chengyuan's kasaya. The chill had already pierced his protective true essence, invading his body. Venerable Chengyuan seemed to have no way of escape! Dire as the situation appeared, not a trace of panic flickered in his eyes. His opponent possessed profound cultivation and a peerless divine ability, but she had chosen the wrong time and place. Unless she had a way to disrupt the protective spirit array or cut off his control over it, such a move could never pose a fatal threat to him. Venerable Chengyuan believed that for this Daoist nun to reach such a realm, she was certainly no fool. Had she truly failed to consider the influence of the protective spirit array? If she was doing this, there had to be a reason! As danger closed in, Venerable Chengyuan analyzed the situation with cold detachment. Zhulan Temple's alliance with the six other temples held the seven great oases of the Vast Sea and had expelled other factions. They had made plenty of enemies, but in reviewing their adversaries, this Daoist nun was nowhere among them. There was no grudge between them. Nor did her intention seem aimed at taking his life. In a flash, an epiphany struck Venerable Chengyuan's mind. "The Scripture Depository! The treasury!" This person was bait! Venerable Chengyuan instantly realized that the nun must have an accomplice lurking within Zhulan Temple! She had not come for revenge, but to lure him to the front temple, coordinating with her partner to steal treasures. Qin Sang and Liuli's plan was indeed straightforward; they had never harbored delusions of deceiving Venerable Chengyuan for long. Yet even though Chengyuan saw through their intentions, his immediate thoughts went to the Scripture Depository housing cultivation methods and secret arts, and the treasury storing valuable treasures. Who would ever imagine that their true target was the pagoda forest enshrining past eminent monks? "Scoundrels!" Enraged, Venerable Chengyuan unleashed a resonant hum from within his body, ringing out like a great temple bell across Zhulan Temple, rattling the souls of all who heard it. Dense Buddhist radiance surged from Venerable Chengyuan, faintly revealing the phantom of a bronze bell engraved with thirteen horizontal bands, each filled with images of buddhas and bodhisattvas. As the bronze bell phantom burst from his body, the icicles encasing him instantly shattered. Yet the Ice Soul Divine Light was not so easily dispelled; after all, the bronze bell phantom had been conjured in haste, and a layer of white frost rapidly blanketed its surface before hairline cracks spread across it, threatening to shatter at any moment. Still, the time bought by the bronze bell was enough for Venerable Chengyuan to activate the grand array once more and teleport away to safety! "Return to the mountain! Seal the temple!" Venerable Chengyuan's roar reverberated through all of Zhulan Temple. The monks of Zhulan Temple, hearing the successive shouts and booms, were entirely bewildered. In their panic and confusion, upon hearing their patriarch's command, they rushed toward the rear mountain. Venerable Chengyuan vanished into thin air before Liuli. The Ice Soul Divine Light struck empty space. Having anticipated this, Liuli ignored the terrified prior standing nearby, glanced toward the pagoda forest on the rear mountain, and instead of retreating, bolted up the mountain. Venerable Chengyuan reappeared above the Scripture Depository. The temple's treasures took precedence. Thus, without waiting to decide the battle with Liuli, he decisively teleported back to the rear mountain to prevent any thieves from looting amidst the chaos. The Scripture Depository sat atop the mountain peak, with the treasury adjoining it. The moment he appeared, Venerable Chengyuan shook his sleeve, sending a streak of golden light soaring into the sky with a shrill whistle like a sword's cry before bursting high above. In an instant, layers of golden clouds billowed outward, bathing the earth in Buddhist radiance, resembling the descent of the Buddha as described in scriptures. Mortals throughout the entire oasis could see the golden glow, and devout Buddhist followers fell to their knees in ecstasy, prostrating themselves and praising the Lord Buddha. In truth, this was Chengyuan's warning signal. The six other temples in distant oases would see the heavenly omen and rush to reinforce them. It had not been used for a very long time since the alliance of the seven temples. As he sent the signal, Chengyuan swiftly scanned below. His reaction could not have been faster, yet the outcome defied his expectations: everything around the Scripture Depository was normal, with no sign of an infiltrator. He froze. By his reasoning, at least one of the nun's accomplices—perhaps more—should have slipped into Zhulan Temple, or they wouldn't dare act so brazenly! The enemy was in the dark while he was in the open. Targeted by Nascent Soul cultivators of unknown origin who had clearly premeditated this, alarm bells rang loudly in his heart, prompting him to send the warning without hesitation. Yet no one had infiltrated this place. Just then, a tremendous crash erupted from the pagoda forest, and demonic fire soared into the sky! *** High noon. The blazing sun hung overhead in a cloudless sky. Scorching sunlight bathed the pagoda forest, unable to dispel its chilling gloom. The moment Liuli struck, Qin Sang launched his own operation. In Zhulan Temple, enshrining past patriarchs gave the pagoda forest a transcendent status, affording it heavy protection. Yet what was enshrined inside were ultimately mortal relics; its defenses could never match the Scripture Depository's rigor, which spared Qin Sang a great deal of trouble. With the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's assistance, unraveling such restrictions was no great hurdle. The restrictions of the pagoda forest had long been etched into Qin Sang's mind, deduced and rehearsed countless times. Qin Sang quietly materialized at the edge of the pagoda forest, faced with an invisible barrier. Trusting Liuli's abilities, he cast aside stray thoughts and focused wholly on the barrier. His pupils appeared somewhat unfocused, for his mind had linked with the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, fully unleashing the Heavenly Eye divine ability. In the butterfly's vision, the barrier materialized—the void ahead transformed into a golden net. Golden threads crisscrossed into a dense web enclosing the pagoda forest, its strands extending outward until they vanished into the void, merged with the protective spirit array. Only during grand Buddhist sacrificial festivals would the three Venerables open the pagoda forest. Under normal circumstances, the pagoda guards dared not disturb the ancestral patriarchs and lacked the knowledge to open it. Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly. His divine consciousness surged out from his purple palace. The fire lotus flew out from between his brows. Guided by his divine consciousness, it split into wisps of docile demonic fire that drifted toward the golden net ahead. The demonic fire settled gently onto the golden net. Qin Sang's control over the demonic fire had reached exquisite precision. Every contact point was a critical node of the barrier, chosen after countless deductions. Silently, the demonic fire began to melt into the golden net. Qin Sang remained utterly focused, daring not allow a single distraction. This step was the most crucial link of the entire plan. Right now, having just suffered Liuli's ambush, Venerable Chengyuan was sure to have reacted and moved to protect the Scripture Depository. Should Qin Sang make a misstep and draw Chengyuan to the pagoda forest prematurely, all their efforts would likely come to naught. While it appeared as though golden threads were merely being dyed black and supplanted by demonic fire, the reality of breaking the restriction was breathtakingly fraught, posing a severe test of Qin Sang's mental fortitude. He had not carved an opening straight through the barrier, as doing so would inevitably alert Chengyuan. His plan was to proceed with caution, dismantling several key nodes to weaken its defense to a certain threshold, and then burst through into the pagoda forest in one fell swoop, leaving Chengyuan no chance to intervene. Just as Venerable Chengyuan appeared above the Scripture Depository and golden clouds cloaked the sky, the golden net seemed to rot, developing several unsightly black patches. From beginning to end, the disciples tasked with maintaining the spirit array failed to notice Qin Sang's actions. Qin Sang's gaze sharpened, eyes flashing with brilliance, and he thrust his palm violently against the golden net. Whir! Whir! Demonic banners flew forth, and demonic fire materialized instantly. Muscles knotted along Qin Sang's arm as a dragon of demonic fire coiled around it, slamming into the golden net alongside his heavy fist. Boom! A thunderous explosion shook Zhulan Temple. Within the pagoda forest, pagodas swayed violently, the Buddhist radiance at their summits flickering erratically. A breach was torn wide open in the barrier! Amidst the swirling demonic fire, a figure shot into the pagoda forest like lightning, hurtling straight toward one of the pagodas. The pagodas of Zhulan Temple were built from a yellow mineral stone said not to exist in the Vast Sea, brought along by the monks from their ancestral homeland during their migration. Varying in height, the pagodas were arranged orderly and shared a uniform appearance, all hexagonal dense-eaved pagodas. Depending on the monk's contributions to the temple during their lifetime, the pagodas had at least five tiers and at most nine tiers. The pagoda enshrining Venerable Hongyi's relic boasted nine tiers of eaves, standing as one of the highest-ranking pagodas in the forest. Swish! Qin Sang appeared at the top of the pagoda. The relic was within arm's reach. Even with his calm temperament, his lips curled into a smile. Without hesitation, he reached his hand into the Buddhist light, grasping the relic. "Put it down!" A furious roar descended from above. A shadow cast over the pagoda forest. Sensing the abnormality, Venerable Chengyuan had teleported over, yet he was already too late to stop Qin Sang. Warm and smooth to the touch, like a gemstone. Qin Sang seized the relic and retreated instantly without so much as looking up. At the same time, his divine consciousness coalesced in his palm into an ethereal talisman seal that wrapped around the relic, adhering to its surface before vanishing in a flash. This was the secret art passed down by Xiaoxiangzi. If the relic unfortunately proved to be a fake, he would have no choice but to clash with Venerable Chengyuan and forcefully storm the Scripture Depository and the treasury. After today, Zhulan Temple would be heavily guarded; there would never be a better opportunity. As the talisman seal sank in, Qin Sang immediately discovered the relic's extraordinary nature, sensing an enigmatic power within it through the talisman seal. This power lay dormant within. Without Xiaoxiangzi's guidance, Qin Sang would have overlooked it even with the relic in hand—no wonder Zhulan Temple had never noticed. "It's genuine!" Qin Sang felt a surge of joy. Just as he was about to withdraw his divine consciousness and make his escape, he suddenly "heard" a faint sound. It seemed as if something had cracked. It wasn't something his ears heard, but something his divine consciousness perceived, coming from deep within the relic! Immediately after, Qin Sang's expression tightened. For some reason, the relic in his hand suddenly grew scalding hot, as though an original seal had inadvertently been breached by Qin Sang's probing, and the power inside began stirring—even erupting! Xiaoxiangzi had never mentioned such a development; it was entirely unexpected. Qin Sang had not executed the full secret art to refine the relic; he had only used the first half, terminating it as soon as he confirmed the presence of that power. By all logic, the relic should not have gone wild. In Qin Sang's perception, the relic was not originally a unified whole. Recalling how the relic had formed, Qin Sang realized the truth, vaguely deducing the reason. Back then, Venerable Hongyi had failed to break through using the exotic treasure and perished. The outer "seal" was likely formed from his own vital essence upon his passing, merging with the exotic treasure whose power had not yet been exhausted, thereby sealing it and preserving it across time. With the passage of time, the seal had gradually decayed, growing increasingly fragile. Because of this, the moment Qin Sang probed and touched that power, it caused an anomaly within the relic; the seal could no longer restrain the exotic treasure's might, and after dormant centuries, it was beginning to awaken. Even without Qin Sang, as time wore on and the internal balance collapsed, the exotic treasure's power would have erupted all the same. For Qin Sang, this was an unforeseen crisis. Anywhere else, he could have sat down in meditation to refine the relic immediately. But meditating inside Zhulan Temple was no different from seeking death. Qin Sang's expression changed slightly. Divine consciousness surged into his palm in layer upon layer to envelop the relic, yet it could not halt the bursting force. Naturally, he would not sit idly by. His thoughts flashed, urging the fire lotus to construct a seal of demonic fire. Fortunately, the relic's seal had not completely shattered. Qin Sang's effort proved effective, temporarily steadying the seal, but it would only buy him a little time. He had to escape immediately and find a place to refine it. Qin Sang breathed a quiet sigh of relief. At that moment, Venerable Chengyuan's gaze shifted from Qin Sang to his palm, sensing the fluctuations of the relic. How could he fail to realize that Patriarch Hongyi's relic was an exotic treasure? How ridiculous that Zhulan Temple had enshrined it for so long without knowing a thing! The thieves had deployed two experts at the middle Nascent Soul stage and gone through such elaborate efforts; the value of this relic was bound to be beyond imagination. "Thus have I heard!" Venerable Chengyuan clasped his hands together, his voice low and solemn. By some unknown secret art, the bones and sinews within Venerable Chengyuan snapped and cracked, his aura skyrocketing!