Zong Chang's words echoed into the night. His white robes fluttering, Wei Xuanyin looked at her quietly and said softly:
"Since you have brought up Martial Nephew Qi... there is no need to probe me."
"Qi Lanyan is indeed my martial nephew and a cultivator of Zhixuan Pavilion, but he is also the head of the Qi family. What he does and how he ought to do it are his own affairs. You know that Li Zhouwei occupies the position of Mingyang and cannot help himself, but how many people on either bank of the river truly have control over their own fates? Everyone is bent on fulfilling their own Dao; how could there be so much freedom?"
"As for his arrangements along the riverbank, I learned of them only a step earlier than you did."
The State Preceptor of Great Zhao stepped forward, a rare hint of complexity finally surfacing in his expression as he said pointedly:
"He obtained the opportunity meant for him and wished to change something, which might well be helping me. Yet from the perspective of people like us... what we seek is far too precious. If it can be achieved, so be it; if not, we perish. Amidst thousands of karmic causes and conditions, the foundation lies only in oneself, unchanged by external things."
"As for Li Zhouwei..."
His expression was solemn, his voice calm:
"He will eventually reach the stage where I now stand, perhaps even striving for Gold a step faster than me. Of course, I know he is doomed to die, but the value of heavenly secrets lies in that sliver of variable. If by some slender possibility... he truly succeeds under the eyes of all and brings light to the world, that is his capability, his Dao. I would even congratulate him on achieving the true fruit, accepting my defeat without a shred of resentment."
Zong Chang looked at him coldly, her lips parting, yet she spoke no words. Wei Xuanyin shook his head and chuckled:
"You are cultivating Jueyin, while I am pursuing the Dao—this is the difference between you and me. I intend to seek a Dao where Yin and Yang complement each other and the world is brought to peace. If Li Zhouwei achieves the Dao, all the better. Never mind Li Zhouwei achieving the Dao; even if Li Qianyuan were resurrected, I would still seek it all the same."
Silence hung over the mountains. Wei Xuanyin took another step forward, gazing quietly at Zong Chang:
"Fellow Daoist Zong, the Dao of Jueyin is the Mother; it should not poison living beings. I understand that you wish to turn to the Buddhist path, but the Buddhist path is one of great indulgence. Outwardly, it seems to cast aside sin and desire, but in truth, it clutches the greatest sins and desires deep within the heart. If you enter it, you will merely become someone else's blade and spear..."
"Better to cultivate the orthodox immortal arts. Perhaps there is still a chance to redeem yourself."
Zong Chang stared blankly at him for a moment before letting out a scornful laugh. She replied:
"Wei Xuanyin, aren't you exalting that heart of yours for immortality a bit too high? Do you think everyone is like you, born into a great sect, cultivating in Zhixuan, perusing scriptures of the Great Dao, and enjoying boundless immortal resources? Every word and action of yours today is utterly carefree, but beneath your feet lie nothing but the flesh and blood of clans, common folk, and minor sects that your Guanxie faction has squeezed dry in Jizhong for a thousand years! Both you and I hail from the State of Chen. Who do you think you can fool with your Guanxie faction's foul hypocrisy?"
"Back when I cultivated in Longdi, I was merely a minor cultivator who wished for nothing more than peace for my family. Yet every Hesang flower I grew was bought up at dirt-cheap prices by your bullying might! Forced to flee my homeland with no way out, I had to kill for blood just to survive, walking step-by-step to the position I hold today. Had it not been for my master's guidance, I would still be nothing more than a demonic cultivator clinging to life in Longdi. When you Guanxie cultivators spoke grandly of seeking immortality, I, Zong Chang, kept my silence—do you think it was because I didn't want to?"
"Now you dare stand there reproaching me for poisoning living beings... Could it be that the seat of the righteous path has been occupied by you lot for a thousand years, held so tight and firm that not a breath of air can pass through! That people under heaven turn to Buddhism and demonic arts is precisely due to the incompetence of your so-called righteous path and so-called immortal Dao!"
Her face icy, the woman tossed aside the wine flask in her hand. Her pretentious airs vanished completely as she rose in silence, cursing:
"Wei Xuanyin! If you fail to attain your Dao, what face will you have left to meet anyone?! All that will remain of Guanxie are useless gluttons—creatures like Qi Lanyan and Yin Baiyue, lording it over others in vain for five hundred years! What good will that do for this world?"
With a sweep of her sleeve, the woman departed, leaving behind a faint demonic wind swirling through the air. Wei Xuanyin looked desolate, standing quietly in the mountains as moonlight bathed his sleeves.
Every ray of brilliance was gathered into his sleeves one by one. After an unknown amount of time, his figure also vanished.
...
Mount Dayuan Guangyin.
Temples stood in dense clusters amidst misty iridescent light. The lowest flight of stairs was utterly deserted, shining with colored-glaze hues as two monks, one tall and one short, walked up the steps.
Mohe Minghui wore an odd expression, hands tucked inside his sleeves. He smacked his lips, tasting nothing but bitterness:
*What a grueling ordeal...*
Beside him, Mingxiang stood a head taller, his jade-like face flickering with a faint crimson glow. Caressing his cheek as if nursing a sting, he looked at his junior brother's distracted demeanor, shook his head, and laughed:
"Minghui... look at your senior brother. I took a halberd strike from Li Zhouwei, and Mingyang is still burning on my cheek! But you have it nice and easy—safe and sound."
Minghui turned to look at him, thinking with exasperation:
*Why didn't he stab you to death...*
Thoughts aside, Minghui also shook his head and asked, "How is the White Qilin doing? His injuries looked quite severe to me."
Mingxiang stroked his chin and replied, "Far from it..."
A hint of shock showed in his eyes as he continued, "My Three Dao-Protecting Treasures have been refined in the incense burner for over three hundred years. Master once said these three items are no ordinary Buddhist instruments; combined with my cultivation and arts, ordinary mid-stage Violet Palace cultivators are no match for me... Yet he withstood them with ease. Even if he was suppressed by that Lihuo spirit treasure, it is still enough to prove how powerful his dharma body is."
Mingxiang looked somewhat regretful:
"Somehow, he managed to learn a dharma body of the Tuoba family. It looked familiar... Three of the Twelve Demon-Contemplating Dharma Bodies belong to the Tuoba family, so it should be an evolution of one of them..."
"This dharma body can suppress Xi Qi. Otherwise, with a treasure as renowned as the Xiguang Fenyi Treasure Terrace—beneath which even Li Shu died—how could it merely leave him draped in Xi Qi?"
He lamented greatly on his end, while Minghui listened with deep grief, as if mourning his own parents. Mingxiang, however, laughed and sent a voice transmission:
"Didn't I wrap things up nicely? I even vented your anger against Daixi for you... He isn't having a good time right now! It's just a pity I couldn't snatch back a spirit tool or two..."
"Things are best as they are now. Although the White Qilin was backed into a corner and forced to endure blades and spears, he wasn't driven to fight for his life, while Daixi suffered all the setbacks... We're living quite comfortably."
Minghui pressed his palms together, silently crying 'sinful' in his heart. After a couple of steps, Monk Yanbai descended from the mountain, nodded to the two of them, and said in a low voice:
"Thank you both for your hard work!"
Minghui felt slightly guilty and nodded silently. In truth, with the Star of Xiuwu blazing and the troops storming the riverbank belonging to the Dayu Dao, his actions had not significantly influenced casualties on either side. But being thick-skinned, he felt no qualms and returned the courtesy with a smile.
Yanbai, however, remarked casually:
"The lord in the hall met with me just now to inquire about the affairs on the lake shore. Now it is your turn, Fellow Daoist. Please."
Hearing this single line, Minghui's eyes widened abruptly, realization hitting him like a thunderbolt:
*A lord? An emissary has arrived? They want to question me?*
Horrified, he forced a smile and replied, "Thank you for informing me, Mahasattva..."
Yanbai remained expressionless. "All eyes are on you. Go on in."
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Minghui's back. Beside him, Mingxiang's gaze turned sharp as he whispered:
"Which lord? And why would he need to see my junior brother?"
Without uttering another word, Yanbai strode away. Minghui could only push his senior brother aside and say with a wry smile:
"Fortunately, this won't drag you down."
He strode forward, passing through the brilliantly gleaming corridor. Pushing open the massive golden doors, he saw golden pillars soaring to the ceiling beneath a radiant canopy. The floor was crystal clear. In the center sat a copper cauldron, flanked on both sides by dense rows of dharma bodies of various sizes and postures, manifesting in scale according to status and rank, stretching from both flanks all the way to the highest seat of honor.
The gravity of the occasion was clearly on a vastly different level from when Zhelu presided. The golden body at the very peak bridged heaven and earth, its upper half seemingly fading into the clouds. A gigantic palm was raised high like a small mountain, its jade-white lines clear as ravines.
On a slightly lower seat to one side, atop a towering golden lotus, sat the only man of normal stature, holding an alms bowl and examining it closely as if no one else were present.
*A connection has been established with the Buddhist Lands... Chief Jiang is here as well. This is trouble...*
With just that single glance, Minghui dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed:
"Minghui pays respects to the Great Virtues!"
Silence reigned above, broken only by the bubbling and churning inside the copper cauldron. After an unknown time, the colossal golden body finally hummed, its voice reverberating through the great hall:
"Chief Jiang... this is Minghui."
Minghui knew full well that the one seated in the primary position was none other than Yuhai Mohe Liangli, the head of the Dayu Path—Tianlangzhi... Minghui's underhanded tricks against Daixi had not been obvious, but there was no way Tianlangzhi remained ignorant of them!
He could not resist slightly raising his brows. Only then did he see that inside the copper cauldron before him, oil was boiling furiously, and someone was lying in the cauldron, flesh ripped open and skin torn, rolling incessantly amidst billows of white smoke.
*Five-Eyed.*
The one inside the cauldron was none other than Five-Eyed Lianmin!
This cauldron was no ordinary object; once cast into it, all divine abilities were sealed. Reduced to the state of a mortal, one could not use arts to protect the body, making the agony of being deep-fried cut straight to the marrow! Minghui's eyelids twitched violently at the sight:
*He was slacking off and scheming too... But I have Master and the Shanle Path behind me. No matter what, there has to be a proper judgment... As for Zhelu, he is incompetent, so how could he protect him? Naturally, into the frying cauldron Five-Eyed went!*
As Minghui pondered this, after a short while, the man seated above said indifferently:
"Liangli is too polite. I know of him."
Tianlangzhi chuckled, his tone calm:
"The battle went poorly... It is bad enough that we gained no benefits, but to think we even lost a Mohe of the Kongwu Path. From what I hear of the situation, it turns out Mohe Minghui held a grudge against him and harmed him behind the scenes."
"I have long heard that the subordinates of that venerable one from Lotus Temple are each friendlier with immortal cultivators than the last. They were reprimanded back at Mount Dayang, and it seems nothing has changed today. It is Lotus Temple that is incompetent."
At these words, Chief Jiang raised his brows, looking down from his high perch as he said indifferently:
"Mingxiang at least put in some effort. As for this Minghui... he is notorious for running wild. Back at Mount Dayang, he should have been punished at the foot of the mountain and forbidden from returning... or executed to humiliate Jinlian. Now that he holds the rank of Mohe, he counts as a major figure of the Shanle Path, so executing him would not be easy."
Minghui felt both terrified and bewildered. He didn't dare think too deeply, feeling panic rise within him:
*How strange... What is going on here? Why are they talking about executions over this?!*
What the two said was not wrong—Minghui had engaged in plenty of underhanded trickery. Yet although the Kongwu Form was now jointly managed by various forms, the loss did not strike at the foundation of the Dayu Path, so why be so petty about it?
*This doesn't look like punishment for slacking off; it looks more like someone's grand scheme was spoiled... Qi Lanyan... Qi Lanyan's unprompted reshuffling of personnel probably wasn't without reason. There are likely the schemes of many figures woven into Mount Dayuan Guangyin. Whose interests have I damaged this time...*
However, Tianlangzhi did not care for Chief Jiang's remarks and fell silent for a moment. But then the emissary from Mount Dayang smiled, lowering his voice until it resonated only between the two of them as he murmured:
"Liangli... do you know of what happened at the Liao River? Of all the Liao River disciples back then... the sole survivor, after winding and wandering across the world, has actually returned to the Liao River."
Tianlangzhi's expression shifted, turning a shade bleaker and sharper as he asked:
"Him? Bearing a karmic destiny that even the Dharma Manifestations cannot divine, how could he walk straight into the net like this?"
Chief Jiang shook his head with a somber face and replied:
"It is a long story... Back then, that fool of the Wrath Manifestation... chased after him all the way, only to be used to calculate the state of the Wrath Dharma Manifestation. My lord joined in the scheme, and that venerable one seems to have passed on..."
"Now that he is gone, matters are entirely different. My lord and that member of the Murong family acted together, and for now, they have temporarily stabilized the location of the Buddhist Land. At present, it all comes down to who will inherit this colossal opportunity..."
Tianlangzhi's heart pounded with excitement, and realization dawned on him. He replied:
"No wonder... I suppose the venerable one of our path is busy with this as well. Otherwise, why would Peacock be allowed to... Sigh!"
Chief Jiang curled his lips cryptically and answered:
"There are currently several candidates. The meaning of the lords is... Wrath has been vacant for so long, and this matter cannot be publicized carelessly. But whoever is sent in must be capable... As for me, I still feel Yaosa Chengmi could give it a try..."
Tianlangzhi caught on immediately and smiled:
"At the next Dharma Assembly, I will certainly recommend him."
Chief Jiang chuckled, shook his head, and smoothly continued:
"It was precisely that fool's actions that brought about a profound change in the Liao River successor. Now, not only is the Precepts Path protecting him, but the Damu Dharma Realm also values him greatly. Two venerable ones went to the Liao River in person, throwing the entire situation into turmoil..."
"Think about it: how many matters are churning right now? Gao Fu seems to have seized an opportunity and entered seclusion; after the hurdle of Canzi held him back for so many years, he has finally crossed it. The might of the Qi lands is bound to rise again... and his relations with our paths have never been good..."
"The Dragon race has clashed with Compassion again over the matter of Harmonizing with Heaven. Although Compassion has been quite formidable in recent years, they still flinch before the dragons. The Damu Dharma Realm is in an awkward, middling position. Without the Shanle Path making a move, things going forward will truly be difficult to handle..."
Tianlangzhi shook his head slightly, a flicker of anger in his eyes as he replied in an equally hushed tone:
"Manpower is indeed needed at such a juncture, but why would we need him? Gongsun Bei is inclined toward us, and I went to great pains to persuade Qi Lanyan. Now that this business has been bungled so disgracefully, how am I to give the two of them an explanation?!"
Chief Jiang's gaze was cold as he said indifferently:
"Even Qi Lanyan isn't in a rush, so what is Liangli in a rush for! You want to kill the White Qilin, but how could you do so without one or two lords holding down the fort? Right now, all the lords are tied up and unable to pull away. With such tremendous stakes involved, do not offend people heedlessly!"
Hearing this, Tianlangzhi finally held his tongue. Chief Jiang placated him:
"It is not that he cannot be killed—at most, we would have to clash with Jinlian once... It's just that Mingxiang is diligent. If Shanle throws up its hands and walks away, we will be the ones who lose out."
Tianlangzhi closed his eyes for a long while, then suddenly let out a sigh and said:
"If the mountain ignores this matter, where there is a first time, there will be a second. Today's events will definitely reach the ears of the various paths. When the time comes, people from every faction will arrive. Won't we have merely served as stepping stones for others? I fear that all our efforts will be in vain... only to benefit someone else in the end!"
His eyes turned cold, and he sighed:
"Do you believe me? Once the Murong family finishes handling the affairs at hand, even they will march south. With their strength, if they cannot convert Li Zhouwei, could they really fail to convert the likes of Li Jiangqian?"
Chapter 1036