For a million years the lineage had been handed down. Louguan Dao—once the very fountainhead of the Daoist orthodoxy in this world—was now a sea of fire, as clusters of thunder-light rampaged on every side and blasted apart the ancient temple of Louguan atop Zhongnan Mountain.
No inheritance, however ancient, escapes the winds and rains of millions of years; there are always rises and falls. Louguan Dao now had only a handful of Daoist hermits in secluded cultivation—the whole sect numbered barely a dozen souls, long since sunk into decline—and today they had been wiped out to the last man.
Two streaks of bloody light shot skyward from the ancestral ground of Louguan Dao……
One of the two figures fleeing in those streaks was wrapped head to toe in bloody radiance, with only a pair of sinister, narrow triangular eyes showing; demonic aura coiled thickly about him, and he plainly looked no honest man. Gritting his teeth, he grudgingly fished a golden talisman from his bosom, its runes ancient and abstruse, spiritual light condensing over its surface.
"Now is no time to be stingy!" someone shouted urgently from within the other streak of bloody light.
"Easy for you to say. This is an Earth-Racing Golden Light Escape Talisman I traded three hundred Merit for—it drained every scrap of the Merit I'd saved up to forge my natal treasure." Even as he spoke, the man resolutely crushed the golden talisman; at once a shaft of golden light surged up, sweeping the two of them into the void, and they vanished without a trace.
Only then did several figures arrive in the sky above Louguan Dao. Among them was an old man with white hair and long eyebrows, five wisps of beard drifting down from his chin to his chest. He looked upon Louguan Dao, now nothing but ruins, and loosed a furious roar.
"You dare, you villains!"
The old man swept his sleeve, and boundless auspicious clouds came surging up; a single downward press was enough to snuff out the raging demonic flames below. That azure cloud churned and heaved, carrying boundless might; the balls of thunder-light—enough to level mountains and shatter cities—and the Nine Netherworld demonic fire, which burned all things it touched, no sooner met this cloud than they were ground to nothing, without stirring so much as a whisper of sound. Such auspicious clouds were by nature a gentle, harmonious energy; that they now roiled like a tribulation cloud showed plainly the fury in the old man's heart.
Another middle-aged Daoist was likewise grim of face. To those around him he said, "Louguan Dao is one of the three great sects of our Taishang orthodoxy—a heritage the Dao Ancestor once expounded and handed down in person, its standing far from ordinary. Today these two devils, their cultivation meager as it is, were bold enough to wipe out an entire sect. And then they produced a true talisman of high antiquity to make their escape. The whole affair is deeply suspicious."
"Let me use the Taiyi Six-Yao divination method to trace where these two villains have fled. I will most certainly dig out whoever stands behind them!"
"We of the Taishang lineage must stand as one. Even if we must tear a hole through the heavens, we shall have our revenge!"
The assembled Yuanshen True Immortals were one and all filled with towering rage, nodding in agreement. Even if the masterminds behind this turned out to be the two supreme chieftains of the demonic path—the Blood Sea Dao and the Nine Netherworld Sect—they would make them pay blood for blood!
With that, the middle-aged Daoist began pinching his fingers to cast a hexagram. His right hand burst forth countless intricate seals, a dizzying stack of interweaving finger-shadows, until at last, as though cupping something unseen, he abruptly spread his palm and lifted it upward.
"Boom—"
Boundless spiritual light came pouring out……
This middle-aged Daoist was already a grandmaster of the diviner's art in this world; to casually cast a hexagram and read a fate should have been a light, traceless thing, wearing the air of one returned to plain simplicity. But today Louguan Dao had been exterminated and he had sensed nothing at all—he was furious beyond measure. Now he no longer held his power in check but exerted himself to the full. Within a thousand li the vital energy of heaven and earth churned and seethed, and the Great Dao made itself manifest.
All the Yuanshen True Immortals were cast in the glow of that streak of spiritual light; gazing through its radiance, their faces seemed to blur. Overbearing auras swept across the eight directions. In a deep, abyss-like place thousands upon thousands of li away, an eight-armed demon god materialized out of empty air, roaring up at the heavens, seeking to stand as this aura's equal.
Upon Spirit Mountain in the far west, where countless temples stood in ranks, the moment that rolling pressure swept over, a golden lotus bloomed atop the peak; encompassing Mount Sumeru, it gently held the pressure at bay and sheltered a pure land in the west.
A Taiji diagram appeared, rolled up the eight-armed demon god with a single sweep, and dashed it down beneath the Nine Netherworlds, then moved to force open the golden lotus.
From a tiny shrine atop Spirit Mountain—one that could barely hold a single body—came a long, drawn-out sigh: "Fellow Daoists of the Taishang, this matter has naught to do with my Buddhist gate." With that, it willingly released the golden lotus, letting the Taiji diagram inspect the aura.
The great savage mountains of the south……
The three immortal isles of the Eastern Sea……
The seat of the imperial house's fortune in the Central Plains……
In the four quarters countless wondrous portents manifested, all faintly pitting themselves against this aura that swept across all under heaven. At that moment, atop the Kunlun Mountains a white-jade ruyi scepter appeared, and over the isles beyond the seas an immortal sword rose up. Joining the Taiji diagram formed by the gathered Yuanshen True Immortals of the Taishang, they bore down upon every portent of the four quarters……
The fortune of the three lineages loomed from on high, as though looking down upon all the living beings of this world. The auras of the Yuanshen True Immortals were stern and cold; borrowing this might, they searched exhaustively for every stirring of energy across all under heaven, drawing it out to manifest as the threads of Heavenly Secrets.
That boundless spiritual light slowly gathered itself, and at last transformed into the runes of the Eight Trigrams. Resonating one with another, they gave rise to countless golden yao lines. The Yuanshen True Immortals each drew the golden yao into themselves, calculating the grand Heavenly Secrets of what was to come. This time the Taishang had made so grand a show of force—even inviting the Yuanshen true immortals of the two sects, Yuanshi and Lingbao, to take action—not only to seize the killers, but the more to use the occasion to divine the Heavenly Secrets of the next five hundred years.
"There are omens of a great tribulation drawing near! Could it be that the extermination of Louguan Dao—an inheritance a million years old—is the very harbinger of the Great Tribulation about to rise?"
"Within five hundred years there are indeed signs of a great calamity at hand. Yet a Great Tribulation is cruel and long in its ravaging; a single calamity dragging on for ten thousand years is reckoned a mere trifle. It comes on slowly and departs in fury; even with a few omens, it may be thousands of years before it can truly be roused. Besides, every four hundred and ninety years there comes a lesser Four-Nines Tribulation, and every ten thousand years a Great Tribulation of the Assembled Immortals. This may well be no omen of a Great Tribulation at all—perhaps only a Four-Nines Tribulation, or a Great Tribulation of the Assembled Immortals……"
While the Yuanshen true immortals debated among themselves, the middle-aged Daoist suddenly opened both eyes, and there was something shaken and uncertain in them.
"How can this be? I cannot even divine the karma of those two villains." His face was grave. "It is as though they lie outside this world, beyond the reach of Heavenly Secrets. The extermination of Louguan Dao has thrown the Heavenly Secrets into disorder as well—it seems some being of great divine power has hidden the karma away."
"But this power that blocks the Heavenly Secrets will last only two hours."
In an ordinary house within Guangling City, the two killers gazed at that terrifying aura sweeping across the world, both startled and afraid. One of them, a Daoist in a black robe, said to the fierce-faced man with the triangular eyes, "Miaokong, didn't you tell me Louguan Dao had already fallen into decline—that the highest cultivation in the whole sect was a single Golden Core cultivator, and a mere Dao cultivator at that, easy to take down? Yet look—this has drawn so many Yuanshen True Immortals. That aura is so vast I'd wager it outstrips every Yuanshen in our whole world put together!"
"Tongshen, what are you afraid of? Haven't we already taken Louguan Dao? However vast the powers of a Yuanshen True Immortal, can they possibly calculate the karma that the Lord of Reincarnation has hidden away? What manner of great being is the Lord of Reincarnation? He sent us down into this world to accomplish our task, and long ago suppressed every thread of our karma. Not even a Heavenly Immortal Dao Lord could calculate it……"
Though lingering fear gnawed at Miaokong as well, he still put on a bold front.
"I don't care about any of that. Just don't forget what you promised me." Thinking of the Lord of Reincarnation's might, Old Daoist Tongshen calmed himself somewhat.
"And another thing: your own karma has been suppressed by the Lord of Reincarnation—but the thing you snatched from Louguan Dao has not. Once these two hours pass and the task is complete, the Heavenly Secrets that the Lord of Reincarnation blinded will gradually clear. I fear that in the very next instant a Yuanshen True Immortal will come to take your life—and under a Yuanshen True Immortal's hand, you won't even be able to beg for death."
"I advise you to throw that thing away as soon as you can. Better to save your life first!"
"Damn it……" A wave of impotent fury rose in Miaokong's heart. How could the extermination of Louguan Dao have stirred up such an uproar? That item he'd originally prepared to suppress the Heavenly Secrets was probably worth less than a scrap of waste paper before so many Yuanshen True Immortals. He had thought Louguan Dao long fallen—yes, its ancestors had once been grand, but these days even the sect master was only a Golden Core cultivator. With a backer as great as this had turned out to have, how could it ever have come to such ruin!
So the thing he'd prepared to hide from the divination of Yuanshen immortals was nowhere near enough now.
Even if he had imagined Louguan Dao was a hornet's nest that could stir up so many Yuanshen, he could never have found anything capable of shielding against the calculations of grandmasters like these.
Now this thing has become a hot potato! Miaokong thought darkly, fingering the pearl in his bosom.
Old Daoist Tongshen was still jeering at him. "Who knows what treasure it is, worth staking such a huge sum on—your whole fortune must have gone down with it. And now, with success within your grasp, to have it all fall apart at the very last step. I imagine you're sick enough to cough up blood over it!"
"What treasure?" Miaokong sneered inwardly. This is no mere treasure—this is one of the Three Great Treasures of the Taishang! Had I not once leafed through an ancient scroll of notes—which recorded few useful methods, yet told of a legend from the Taishang's days of revival—I would never have known. It said that in this era Louguan Dao had already fallen into decline; only five hundred years hence would its Patriarch of Revival comprehend the long-lost true teachings of the Taishang within the sect's heritage treasure, the Taishang Dao Dust Pearl, and so attain Yuanshen—indeed, in the midst of a great tribulation, he would reach the Fruit of Dao Lord in a single stride and raise Louguan Dao to towering glory.
On my previous mission, of all things, I came to this very era.
I gave up my mission reward to keep the chance to enter this world again—worked myself to the bone, spent my entire fortune, laid every scheme, and only then wiped out Louguan Dao to the last man and got my hands on this treasure.
And…… Miaokong's heart blazed. If the leads I dug up later were right, the origins of this Dao Dust Pearl are more astonishing than I imagined. Legend says that before the Taishang Ancestor attained the Dao, he was but a cowherd boy of the countryside. One day, driving his cattle up the mountain, he saw a shooting star cross the sky and chanced upon a wisp of spirit light from another world. From that spirit light he awakened to the foundational scripture of the Taishang Dao, the Dao De Jing. Through ten million tribulations he attained the Great Dao, opened the way of the Daoist gate, and raised up two other Dao Honored Ones.
After the Taishang attained the Dao, that wisp of spirit light had long since become dispensable to him. To commemorate the road by which he attained the Dao, at the moment of his enlightenment the Taishang cut the spirit light free and transformed it into a single spirit pearl—none other than the Taishang Dao Dust Pearl, one of the three great treasures that stand for the Taishang lineage. Whoever holds this pearl finds their comprehension greatly heightened, able to grasp the supreme wonders of the Dao.
It is the heritage treasure passed down through every generation of Louguan Dao, the very symbol of the Taishang true lineage. If I can obtain this pearl, Yuanshen is a smooth road, and even Dao Lord is no dead end!
Miaokong trembled inwardly. Come what may, he could not give up this chance—and besides, he had staked far too much to get here; he had even schemed against several great powers he could never hope to provoke. To lose this pearl would be a road to death all the same, only a slower one—and no less hideous.
Torn every which way, Miaokong saw at last that there was nothing else for it. Gritting his teeth, he hauled an unconscious youth out from behind the house.
The youth was perhaps fourteen or fifteen, fair and delicate as carved jade, with handsome, refined features—at a glance, clearly the child of a wealthy household.
Seeing what Miaokong was about, Old Daoist Tongshen hurried over to stop him. "Are you mad? That's our mission target!"
Miaokong paid him no mind. A cruel glint crossed his face; with a backhand he drove a streak of spiritual light into the youth's body. Tongshen's expression turned strange. "Since when are you so kind as to hand your prize to someone else?"
"Or do you mean to hide it on him, and come back for it when the chance arises later?" Tongshen jeered. "Don't forget—once the two hours are up, the Yuanshen True Immortals of this world will be able to calculate the whereabouts of the treasure you seized. This youth's background is clean; perhaps nothing will happen to him—he may even catch the eye of a true immortal of the Taishang, be taken back and carefully taught, taken as a disciple."
"But the treasure on him will certainly be stripped away by the Taishang."
Before Tongshen had even finished, he saw Miaokong's face twist into a mocking look as the man produced a jade token.
"A Reincarnation Guide……" Tongshen's tongue clucked in astonishment. "Miaokong, you truly have staked everything—to actually part with a Reincarnation Guide, of all things, something next to impossible to come by even in the Reincarnation Grounds of the myriad heavens. And you use it on a nobody."
Miaokong sneered. "Once one enters reincarnation, all karma is erased."
"I have used a secret method to fuse this youth with the spirit pearl. Once he becomes a Reincarnator, every trace of his karma is wiped clean; none of his prior causes can be calculated. And with the pearl turned into a part of him, it too becomes impossible to divine—which makes it the perfect wrapping for my treasure. When the time is ripe…… I tear open the wrapping, and isn't the thing in my hands?"
"By giving him a Reincarnation Guide, you become his guide. The rest hardly matters—but a guide holds one privilege: to follow the one he has guided and be reborn with him across three worlds." Tongshen's praise was grudging. "Brilliant! But to work such a trick right in front of this old Daoist—aren't you afraid I'll get to him first?"
"Time is short. No trick of mine could hide from you anyway. And when I asked for your help, didn't you already swear a Dao oath before the Lord of Reincarnation, that you would never by any means seize this thing for yourself?"
If I hadn't sworn that oath, I'd have made my move long ago! And a petty man like you will surely never set your mind at ease—I'll have to watch my back against you in the days to come, too. But outwardly Tongshen betrayed nothing. "Once he becomes a Reincarnator, in three days he'll face a trial mission. If this boy dies in some world along the way, you won't even have time to weep."
"I can search out his trial world and find a way in."
Miaokong's face was wooden. From his bosom he drew out a cosmos pouch, and his features slowly twisted. "The talisman goes in here. And these magic treasures cost me no small risk to lay hands on…… Bah! Next to a supreme treasure, what are these? Life-saving spirit pills as well…… what's left of my fortune, I'll just let you have. These Daoist texts, though, I can't give you—for if you truly had some great fortune of your own…… and snatched my opportunity away, and your cultivation shot up like a rocket, what then?"
"But these killing arts I can leave you."
He filled the pouch to the brim with treasures, and looking down at the youth's unconscious face, grinned savagely. "You'd best come back alive, kid…… and just to be safe……"
Miaokong forced out a drop of his own essence blood, transforming it into a handful of five-colored silk threads, upon which coiled all manner of venomous curse-powers.
"The Secret Demon Soul-Binding Curse of Three Lives." Tongshen clicked his tongue. "Against a mortal with no cultivation at all—is such a thing really necessary?"
Miaokong drove the curse into the youth's body and said harshly, "Better one precaution than a thousand regrets. The way this kid sits at home and has treasure fall from the sky into his lap, he looks like he's got some measure of fortune about him. To keep myself from becoming the errand boy who delivers the treasure straight into another's hands, I need to lay something vicious on him."
Two hours later, Miaokong and Tongshen confirmed something with their divine sense, and in that same instant the Yuanshen true immortals at Zhongnan, who had been combing heaven and earth with their search, calculated the karma of the Taishang's heritage treasure and sped to Guangling City on their streaks of light. By then Miaokong and Old Daoist Tongshen were already deep in the wild mountains ten thousand li away.
They waited three quarters of an hour, and only then did their figures abruptly vanish, departing from this world.
Outside Guangling City, in a small county town within the commandery of Guangling, the youth slept half a day before he came slowly awake in a certain residence, letting out a long breath. "The Reincarnation Grounds of all the heavens, the Lord of Reincarnation…… I've finally been reborn as a human again! And to think that a grand Transmigrator like me would end up playing the Golden Finger for some native—reduced to the sleeping old grandpa……"
And this body of mine is a fine mess too—used as the wrapping to seal away a treasure, and saddled with a curse for good measure.
When that Reincarnator fused me and him into one, some flaw must have crept into the secret method: his true-self consciousness was replaced by mine, and so this vicious curse passed to me along with it. I woke the very moment it happened; with two killers right beside me, all I could do was sink my consciousness into the pearl and hold still, not daring to stir. They should be gone by now!
Qian Chen rubbed his belly; it felt like a full day had passed without a bite of food or a drop of water.
He forced himself to endure it; he could not eat just yet. After examining the original owner's broken remnant of consciousness within his sea of mind, Qian Chen frowned to himself: apart from a full store of common knowledge, all the rest of the memories were damaged and gone.
Before leaving, for fear I would get in touch with the boy's family, he even used that curse to destroy every memory this body held. He's left me not even knowing the name of the body I'm in. Were my own consciousness not something other than this body's own, that one stroke alone would have left me without the slightest hope of the Great Dao in this life. Truly venomous.