Connecting the Dots

The people present were all wily old foxes, so naturally they could not be easily bluffed. Yet the Landou Sect did indeed possess two Nascent Soul Patriarchs, and First Seat Lu had publicly acknowledged that the other man was his senior martial brother from their most mysterious lineage. Moreover, they had no idea what was happening inside the bamboo pavilion. They could only hear the accusations, with no rebukes from First Seat Lu in response. Although the pavilion was engulfed in a sea of blood—hardly the methods of an orthodox path—none of them knew anything about the true inheritance of Douniu Peak. Since it had been kept so strictly hidden, there was bound to be a reason, and even if it involved cultivating some demonic art, it would come as no surprise. With all these coincidences entangled together, they could not help but harbor doubts. If they became entangled in the Landou Sect's internal strife, their own safety was only one concern; should their sects be dragged in, a single misstep could ruin the foundations laid down by their ancestors. With the situation murky, everyone was filled with misgivings. Staring intently at the bamboo pavilion, they weighed numerous possibilities, unsure for the moment whether they should intervene or how to do so. Nor did the youth surnamed Fang expect to keep up the deception for long. As long as he could keep First Seat Lu trapped until his junior brothers succeeded, he would pull out immediately. ... Amid the chaos, no one noticed that Daoist Mingyue had vanished. At that moment, Qin Sang was racing toward his incarnation's location. He held the Qingfu coin in his hand; the child coin had already returned. Before the sudden upheaval in the bamboo pavilion, Qin Sang had sensed an anomaly from the Qingfu coin, realizing his incarnation was sending a transmission without knowing what had happened. Just as he was fretting anxiously, wondering how to slip away, the clash in the bamboo pavilion had erupted. The Landou Sect's internal strife involved Douniu Peak, the very thing he cared most about. Naturally, he was intensely curious about what was happening inside the pavilion, but he had never expected trouble to strike his incarnation right then. For now, he had no choice but to set that matter aside, seize the opportunity to slip away, and prioritize rescuing his incarnation. "My incarnation has the Essence-Devouring Awl and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. What on Dongming Island could possibly threaten him? Yet both sides collided at the exact same time. If I'd known, I wouldn't have let him go out..." Qin Sang sighed inwardly, feeling a twinge of regret. Pushing his movement technique to its limit to race against the clock, he soon arrived near the Landou Sect's territory. Just then, he noticed a chaotic flurry of escape lights flying toward him from ahead; clearly, the Landou Sect disciples had noticed something amiss at the entrance. Merging into the shadows without losing any speed, Qin Sang slipped past right under their noses. Shortly after, he finally sensed his incarnation's position, and his heart eased. The incarnation was unharmed. Flickering forward, Qin Sang silently slipped through the restrictions while synchronizing with his incarnation's thoughts. Learning everything it had just experienced, he was thoroughly astonished. "Go out with them and take the chance to leave!" Qin Sang made a prompt decision, arranging for his incarnation to withdraw. At this point, the incarnation was no longer needed here. Better to have it leave this trouble spot as quickly as possible and seek refuge somewhere safe, avoiding being caught in the crossfire. He was merely a Qi Refinement disciple; as long as he was cautious enough, those experts wouldn't pay him any mind. The incarnation gave a slight nod, turned on his heel, and departed. Standing on the mountaintop and gazing toward the dark forest ahead, Qin Sang still wore a look of astonishment. He had never imagined things would unfold like this—it seemed he had run into an old foe. The incarnation and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had discovered Zhao Songqiao's suspicious behavior and witnessed him releasing a Witch Clan insect gu with their own eyes. This had immediately reminded the incarnation of the Black Snake Mountain cultivators who had infiltrated human territory and nearly trapped his main body. The incarnation thought such a coincidence was improbable, yet one thing was certain: Zhao Songqiao was backed by a faction of Witch Clan cultivators who were also targeting the Landou Sect. It was just unclear what their objective was, or what they intended by planting someone with a gu insect inside the Dark Thunder Wood forest. Therefore, the incarnation had ordered the Heavenly Eye Butterfly not to alert Zhao Songqiao and to wait and see how things developed. After releasing the gu insect, Zhao Songqiao had continued flying deeper into the woods until he reached the very depths of the forest. This was the edge of Dongming Island's grand formation, barred by white mist. Next, he took out over a dozen black banners that the incarnation had never seen before and planted them into a nearby patch of open ground, where they vanished from sight, resembling some sort of restriction implements. Then he stopped moving again, seemingly waiting for the right moment. Meanwhile, the gu insect began flitting all around the forest as if searching for something. Following the gu insect, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly saw it eventually hover over an unassuming pool of water, pause for a moment, and then return to Zhao Songqiao's side. Had the gu insect not led the way, it would have been hard for anyone to notice anything amiss there. Only when the Heavenly Eye Butterfly peered closely at the pool did it discover restrictions sealing the depths, and they were vastly more powerful than the two layers of restrictions seen since entering Dongming Island—in a completely different league. A secret of the Landou Sect was definitely hidden inside! Witnessing this, just as the incarnation was pondering whether to notify the main body, a sudden change occurred. Zhao Songqiao and the gu insect finally made their move. Zhao Songqiao cast incantation gestures toward the clearing one after another. The black banners rose from underground to form a grand banner formation, billows of black smoke pouring from the fabric and growing ever denser. At the same time, the gu insect's wings fluttered, and its form plunged into the black smoke. The gathered black smoke rose slowly, drifting toward the mist above. As the two starkly contrasting vapors converged, it was like pouring oil on fire, erupting into a violent clash. The black smoke seemed to possess a corrosive power, gradually contaminating the white mist. Meanwhile, strange disturbances also arose outside Dongming Island. Seeing this, how could the incarnation fail to understand? They were coordinating from inside and out to breach Dongming Island's grand formation! This formation had been laid down by the Landou Sect Master utilizing the combined strength of several sects; even a Nascent Soul Patriarch would find it difficult to break through. But right now, the formation had been opened for the puja, weakening its power. Moreover, this banner formation seemed specifically designed for breaking wards. From the looks of it, with their inside-and-outside coordination, they might truly be able to breach the white mist and force their way in. Who knew how many people were outside the island, or what their cultivation levels were? Yet there was likely no Nascent Soul cultivator involved; otherwise, they wouldn't need to go to such elaborate lengths to infiltrate. With his cultivation too low, the incarnation worried about exposing himself and dared not linger nearby. He hurried to crush the Qingfu coin to alert the original body, while instructing the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to proceed with caution. After learning everything, Qin Sang realized at once that what was happening in the bamboo pavilion was no sect infighting at all—those three Douniu Peak disciples were acting to coordinate with the outsiders infiltrating Dongming Island! The control plate for Dongming Island's grand formation was held in First Seat Lu's hands. The moment an outside enemy attacked the formation, Lu would notice immediately. With so many Core Formation cultivators on the island, they would never let intruders barge in unhindered. Now, First Seat Lu was trapped inside the bamboo pavilion, sealed within a sea of blood and unable to send any message out. The others' attention was also tied up, making it difficult for them to notice anything amiss here in the short term. By the time things concluded over there, these people would have achieved their objective and fled without a trace. At the same time, Qin Sang connected even more pieces. Witch Clan insect gu, Landou Sect, Douniu Peak, an unknown treasure. The Dark Thunder Wood forest, the restricted pool... Black Snake Mountain. The mysterious figure of unknown origin who could subdue a Kui Dragon and cultivate terrifying lightning arts. Piece by piece, event by event, everything could be linked together!