"Once you locate Master Yin, persuade him and bring him back to Great Qi."
Reading the persuasion brief, which contained only a few sparse sentences, Wang Xuanba could not help scratching his head.
Though he did not quite understand what the words meant, that did not prevent him from trusting them implicitly.
With a low growl, the shadow beneath him began to writhe slowly. Before long, an identical Wang Xuanba crawled out from within it.
This was an ability he had awakened after fusing with and absorbing the strange beast known as Ruying.
The shadow clone possessed half the true body's strength, and its death would have no impact whatsoever on the original.
For an errand fraught with a certain degree of risk, nothing could be more suitable.
With that in mind, Wang Xuanba's shadow clone transformed into a dark dragon and shot through the void.
Ten-odd days later, he finally located Yinyin Island.
The faint, mournful wailing drifting from the island made Wang Xuanba's heart run cold.
He called out several times, but no one replied. Walking into the structures, the bizarre, eerie creatures Wang Xuanba saw made his scalp tingle all the more.
"These things are even more nauseating than the strange beasts I fused with."
Pressing deeper the entire way, he at last found his target before a transparent cage.
"Mister, my master wishes to invite you for a meeting," Wang Xuanba said, neither obsequious nor overbearing.
Master Yin showed no reaction at all.
Wang Xuanba repeated himself several times, but met with the exact same silence.
Seeing this, Wang Xuanba simply followed the Holy Emperor's instructions and said directly, "Does Mister wish to know who created the immortal-mortal miasma?"
Master Yin's body jerked. He slowly shifted his gaze from his test subject onto Wang Xuanba.
"What... did you say?"
The doubled, overlapping voice made Wang Xuanba swallow hard.
Even so, he summoned his courage and repeated it once more.
Then, without waiting for Master Yin to speak, he added, "Does Mister wish to know the perfect method of establishing the foundation with oneself?"
Master Yin's hunched back slowly straightened.
He stared at Wang Xuanba, a dangerous gleam flickering in his eyes. "Who on earth are you?"
Wang Xuanba chuckled. "I am merely an errand runner. If Mister wishes to know the answers, simply come with me."
"Lead the way!"
To Wang Xuanba's surprise, Master Yin agreed with utter decisiveness this time.
A thick mist blasted out from the cage behind him, and several mortals screamed as they perished into nothingness.
Wang Xuanba tensed all over and nodded hurriedly.
"By the way, my master also reminded you not to forget that rib bone—bring it along while you're at it."
Master Yin's gaze turned chillingly cold, the murderous intent in his eyes impossible to conceal any longer.
Yet looking at the unperturbed Wang Xuanba, he forced that killing intent back down.
He searched his person for a moment, but failed to find the rib.
In the end, he retrieved it from the den of that human-handed puppy.
Kicking the dog aside, Master Yin signaled that they could leave.
Wang Xuanba flew ahead to lead the way, passing through the pocket world entrance concealed by formations, and returned to the Great Qi Dynasty.
Master Yin was somewhat surprised by the dense concentration of spiritual energy here, yet his attention soon settled entirely on the tallest tower-like structure in Shengjing.
He could sense that an exceedingly powerful existence seemed to reside there.
Soon enough, Master Yin stood before Li Ping, the Faceless Holy Emperor.
"Fellow Daoist went to such great lengths to lure me here. What is the meaning of this?"
The expression on Master Yin's face was not particularly pleasant.
"I have merely admired Mister's talents for a long time," Li Ping said indifferently, looking down at Master Yin from high atop the Holy Emperor Throne.
"What do you think of this technique?"
Before Master Yin could respond, Li Ping lightly clapped his hands.
A curtain of light unfurled before Master Yin.
At first, Master Yin did not think much of it, but after sweeping his eyes over it and taking in the contents, his expression abruptly turned solemn.
Solemnity quickly transformed into shock.
"This..."
He read through it repeatedly several times before looking up at clone Li Ping in utter disbelief.
"I hear Mister treasures a rib bone?" Clone Li Ping did not explain, asking another question instead.
Master Yin nodded. "It is the bone of the first cultivator in this world infected by the immortal-mortal miasma..."
"Might I borrow it for a look?"
Master Yin hesitated briefly, but in the end took it out and handed it to Li Ping.
Holding the rib in his hand, Li Fan seemed lost in reminiscence.
Then he let out a long sigh, sounding rather lonely and sorrowful.
Afterward, he returned the rib to Master Yin.
Clone Li Ping's behavior left Master Yin uncertain and suspicious.
"You..."
"Seeing an old friend again, only to find him reduced to such a state, has made me rather sentimental. Please pay it no mind, Mister."
When Li Ping's words fell upon Master Yin's ears, they struck like a bolt from the blue.
"What? An old friend?"
His eyes filled with doubt, Master Yin glared fixedly at Li Ping.
Li Ping paid the skepticism no heed, speaking in a low voice. "Heh, aside from me, who else in this world still remembers him today?"
"Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang, the truly perfect person of this world. Su Bai, Mr. Bai..."
As he spoke, a figure manifested before Master Yin.
It instantly drew Master Yin's gaze.
The person in the projection possessed such breathtaking perfection that not a single flaw could be found.
His gaze was filled with gentleness and love; even gazing into a mere illusion, one's heart could not help but tremble upon meeting those eyes.
Master Yin stood dazed for a long time.
Then, recalling what Li Ping had said, his body shook violently as the realization hit him. "What did you say? Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang?"
Subconsciously tightening his grip on the rib, he felt as though struck by lightning.
His eyes turned vacant, and he mumbled under his breath, "Defying the principles of Heaven and Earth... defying the principles of Heaven and Earth..."
"The immortal-mortal miasma, the Twin Heavenly Venerables..."
"Could that truly be how it was?"
...
Master Yin stumbled and collapsed limply to the ground.
As though he had suffered some tremendous blow, he seemed to have lost all purpose, utterly lost and helpless.
Li Ping waited patiently for a long time until Master Yin gradually recovered from his shock.
Only then did he speak again, revealing the dagger at the end of the scroll.
"Ahead, the immortal path cannot be trodden, for the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable looms above."
"Would Mister be willing to help me fulfill Mr. Bai's unfinished wish—to use a new new method to shatter the Dharma-Transmitter's foundation and deliver Xuanhuang from fire and water?"
Li Ping stepped down from his throne, walked over to Master Yin, helped him up, and asked with absolute solemnity.
Master Yin quickly grasped the meaning behind Li Ping's words.
"You are saying... this flawless method of establishing the foundation with oneself was his creation?" Master Yin's voice trembled slightly.
Li Ping nodded, sighing. "Indeed. In the entire Xuanhuang Realm, who else could possibly possess such brilliant talent?"
Master Yin felt an ever-deepening shock wave through his heart.
"Indeed, indeed," he murmured over and over.
Looking once more at the characters floating on the light curtain before him, Master Yin felt as though he were gazing through the words across the ages, his eyes meeting Mr. Bai's.
"Everything I contemplated and pursued... coincided with his thoughts thousands of years ago?"
"And what's more, he surpassed me by far..."
...
Looking at Master Yin, who had now completely lost himself, Li Ping knew that his plan had succeeded.
Chapter 1144