Shaoyang

Hearing these words, Minghui only shook his head and sighed, lamenting bitterly, "There is something you do not understand, True Person. This path of death is no true death... Sometimes the path of death is the only road to survival. If I do not 'die' now, I will truly fall later!" True Person Changyun was calculating by nature. Hearing just this one remark, he formed an estimate of Minghui's situation. Lowering his gaze in thought, still somewhat uncertain, he merely said, "If you have such considerations, Fellow Daoist... it is not as if there are no Purple Mansions of the Song State before Shanji. I hear you are dispatched on errands daily—what difficulty could there be in finding an opening to meet your death?" Minghui shook his head. "There is something you do not know, True Person. Xuanyue now has Gongsun Bei and Qi Lanyan. Though they have not taken the field, their eyes are fixed on my clashes with Tinglan. At most, this humble monk can sustain a few injuries; how could there be any chance to seek death... Yet failing to seek death and suffering all those wounds, when the great calamity arrives, will not my chances of survival be even slimmer..." Changyun nodded slightly. If there really were an escape method, how could he know more than Minghui, an eminent Buddhist cultivator? The other was merely looking to entrust him with something, so he asked, "How can this Changyun be of service to the Mohe? Pray tell." Sure enough, Minghui nodded and lowered his voice: "Back then, when I journeyed south to this place, it was in response to the request of the Damu Dharma Realm. Now that I cannot extricate myself, I naturally turned to them to resolve this tribulation. Yet after waiting and waiting, the one who came from the Damu Dharma Realm... was actually... Guangchan..." At the mention of Guangchan, Minghui's expression turned somewhat grim. Changyun looked thoughtful and asked, "Is that the Mingyang descendant after Bright King Shengming Jin... seated in the Baoya Golden Ground?" Minghui stared blankly at him, seemingly a bit surprised, before suddenly recalling that the man before him had already visited Zhixuan Pavilion and had likely come into contact with quite a few Buddhist cultivators. He nodded and said, "It is him... After the Damu Dharma Realm acquired the Baoya Golden Ground and expanded the Buddhist lands, he became a favorite under the Great One's seat... And precisely because his Avaivartika stage is rooted in the Baoya Golden Ground, he feels little kinship with the Damu Dharma Realm and rejects their doctrines... I simply have no common ground to speak with him!" He showed signs of distress. Changyun shook his head and said quietly, "I suspect it is more than that... You are set on self-preservation, and your honored temple has no desire to participate in the fall of Mingyang. He came south specifically for the White Qilin—how could the two of you ever see eye to eye? He would like nothing more than for you to perish at southern hands and drag your honored temple down with you." Seeing that Changyun saw through everything, Minghui said no more along those lines and flattered him, "The True Person has discerning eyes... Right now, I am in the most difficult position... Seeing you head south, I finally felt there was a turning point. I hope that once you join Qi Lanyan's command, even if you cannot ask to have me transferred over... you could at least lend a hand or two when battle breaks out with the south." Moved by his own words, his voice trembled with fear, and he sighed, "I have only the True Person to rely on!" Changyun made no commitment, merely casting a deep glance at him. *Now the general trend is only just rising, and the time has not yet arrived. Jiangbei appears impregnable, while the south can only defend and not attack. Yet human strength has its limits—how could it contend with the Great One's methods? Once the True Qi continues to surge upward and Mingyang is shaken ever more violently, Jiangbei will be difficult to hold. The Great One arranged things early, and my opportunity will surely come...* *Yet before that, I will inevitably have to bow my head to Zhixuan Pavilion... If I rely on myself alone, who knows how Qi Lanyan might scheme and frame me? The Lotus Temple has no desire to stir up the world, only wishing to retreat to the north. Drawing them in as an ally is quite convenient...* He pondered for a moment, then rose and said, "You and I are friends of many years... It is not that I cannot help you with this matter, but I too have my own plans. If I save your life on this excursion, you will have to yield to me in the future." The two competed to sound closer than the other—speaking of being friends of many years and sharing deep ties—yet both understood each other's temperament. They knew that pure friendship rarely existed among divine ability Purple Mansions, not to mention that they belonged to different camps; at bottom, it came down to an exchange of interests. Because they knew each other inside and out, Changyun was blunt, and Minghui was all the more solemn. Raising a hand, he said, "If you save my life, Fellow Daoist, karmic bonds will be established—how could I ever leave you in the lurch! Today I swear by my Great Compassion Joyous Lotus Aspect that there shall be a generous reward in the days to come!" "A generous reward..." Changyun's expression turned peculiar, and he shook his head. "The 'generous rewards' of you Buddhist cultivators... I hardly dare believe in them. Back when the master of the Kongwu Path failed in seeking the Dao, various houses looted the burning house and the Buddhist lands crumbled. Zhelu fled along the Long Path... receiving kindness from Bianjia Gate. Once he became the master of the Kongwu Path, he hurried to forcefully convert their entire sect, high and low... That was quite the 'generous reward' indeed..." After all, Buddhist cultivators had a poor reputation and such incidents were common. Minghui was thoroughly embarrassed by the remark and cursed Zhelu soundly. Changyun, however, did not care: *Once the Great One's scheme draws its net and I reveal my identity, I won't have to worry about you failing to make good on your word!* Yet Minghui was equally calculating in his heart: *Master told me to seek out Changyun, so this fellow must have something good on hand that can protect me when the time comes... After all the maneuvering, if there really is no way out, Master will also intervene. I must find a way to thoroughly disgust those two beasts...* The two hit it off, each harboring his own motives. Minghui said in a low voice, "I considered this long ago. Once the strife between north and south erupts, the crux lies in only two people: first... Yang Ruiyi; second, Li Zhouwei." Though this monk usually seemed frivolous and uninhibited, his eyes were clear right now. "As for me, I might be sent to fight Yang Ruiyi, or more likely, placed alone directly along the path Yang Ruiyi must take! And as for you, Fellow Daoist... your assignment will probably also concern Yang Ruiyi." His expression turned gloomy. "After all, as things stand, Qi Lanyan has designs on Li Zhouwei. Those sent to fight him will surely be figures like Gongsun Bei and Guangchan, whose hatred with him is irreconcilable. If he sent you, he would surely worry you wouldn't do your utmost... Against Yang Ruiyi, on the other hand, you would have to fight for your own survival." Changyun nodded and listened as Minghui continued, "Yang Ruiyi commands Banished Qi and is very likely to seal away all traces, reaching the north without anyone knowing, to strike me down with ease. My master will observe the Great Void with great supernatural power; though he will not be able to discern the movements of the Banished Qi, he can keep watch over me. The moment my trace is lost, he will immediately send word to you! I am confident I can preserve myself for a time. You must come to my rescue..." Changyun nodded slightly, settling the matter. Only then did Minghui take a jade slip from his sleeve, hand it to Changyun, and raise his brows at him. "True Person Qi instructed me to bring this." Changyun raised an eyebrow. Unfastening the jade slip, he found it completely blank under his spiritual sense, without a single word. Only when he opened the slip physically did he see a line written in ink on its bright white surface: *The carving of fiefs and domains lies in this very day; hiding within your sect, how can you repay your superior's grace?* Changyun sneered inward: *You, Qi, have started playing with fire too. By 'superior,' you must be referring to my True Monarch! Fine, fine, indulge in your mockery today. Wei Xuanyin will inevitably attain the Dao; let us see who protects you then.* Minghui kept his eyes lowered, staring at the desk in silence, watching as the True Person laughed, "Rare indeed! True Person Qi is actually considering my interests, worried that I might fail Lord Wei's trust!" Minghui likewise had no desire to get involved in their dispute. He assented meekly and did not linger, stating the deadline for Changyun and the Chengyun Gate disciples to travel south before stepping into the Great Void and departing. Watching him vanish into the distance, Changyun stood upon the terrace for a long while, thinking to himself, "Li Zhouwei already has two divine abilities... Zhixuan Pavilion struck too ruthlessly this time; he won't recover without five or six years... Qi Lanyan clearly intends to delay the fall of Mingyang..." Beside him, Zhong Qian heard the news of the Li clan and wore a complicated expression, offering no reply. Changyun paced across the terrace, remaining silent for a long time: *Back then, when I saw Li Tongya, I only thought his destiny was extraordinary, never expecting him to be an orthodox Mingyang descendant of Wei. Thinking on it now, it makes sense. The Great One's schemes run deep indeed...* *Emperor Wei... Emperor Wei...* Those under heaven who wished for Li Qianyuan to fall were not few. He did not know what the Great One above thought, but in Changyun's view, it would actually be better if something went wrong with this affair: *Luoxia's power today is too immense... so vast that it suffocates the rest of us. If only something went awry with this matter... We wouldn't even ask for Li Qianyuan to reclaim his fruit status; even if he merely drags out his feeble existence for another century or two, that would be good...* *Back when the State of Wei held hegemony, the Great One cultivated the Dao on Mount Guji. When Wei soldiers entered the mountain, Emperor Wei met with the Great One and left behind the treasure Qingxin Stone... The relationship between the State of Wei and our Jinyi Shangqing was originally very close...* Later, when Emperor Wei fell ill, Changyun's Great One sent an avatar down into the mortal realm, stirring up worldly storms and personally trapping and ruining Emperor Qi. Even if done for their own interests, in Zhang Yun's eyes, it had already repaid the old friendship. Otherwise, had Emperor Qi truly attained the Dao and aided Luoxia's tyranny down to this day, Li Qianyuan's plight would be unimaginably more miserable. As for the slaughter of Emperor Wei's blood descendants in Guanzhong, Zhang Yun had also heard of it and thought nothing of it: *They were bound to die in the end; what difference does it make whose hands killed them?... Once someone becomes a True Monarch, would he truly care about the life or death of a few bloodline descendants?* Pondering back and forth, he stroked his beard in secret: *I see Qi Lanyan has intentions of putting Li Zhouwei to death, but that will not be easy to pull off—the Seven Aspects are immensely powerful with numerous Dharma aspects, and they are still probing the waters even now. How could a petty cultivator like him figure it all out?... I can easily watch from the sidelines. The Seven Aspects cannot suppress their covetousness toward the sons of Mingyang; once the right moment comes, that can certainly be turned to my advantage...* His thoughts wandered deep as he mused: *True Qi is of immense aid to the path of Complete Dan. Looking across the realm, few Complete Dan divine abilities remain... If the Old Ancestor succeeds, our Jinyi lineage will finally gain a bit of breathing room beneath the glow of the clouds...* *Still must wait... Back then, the Complete Dan True Monarch perished in the East Sea, and the Miaoquan Root Nature fell into the hands of Beijia, forcing the Great One to compromise with the dragon race...* He stared intently at the desk, his expression calm: *At this point, whichever side it is... none of us can afford to lose.* *** Zhentao Prefecture. The ocean waves surged, and the sky was dim. Li Quewan stood on the shore fraught with worry, feeling the sea wind buffeting her face. Having waited and waited, she grew hesitant. *That Demon King Fuxun has already entered the formation. The anomaly on his body is plainly nothing good. If someone directed him, I fear Zhentao Prefecture might fall...* Li Quewan employed the Immortal Mirror and found that the monstrosity was still scanning in every direction, wandering about the cave dwelling. Under the vision of the immortal artifact, she could even see a hazy golden radiance cloaking the entity, illuminating the entire island and penetrating deep underground, occupying every blind spot one by one. It was precisely because of this illusory radiance that even now Li Quewan could not confirm whether she was within the anomaly's sight... which also made her afraid to crush the jade talisman. *With the talisman seed present, at least this thing cannot discern what I am thinking. But if I crush the jade talisman without being able to explain why... it will certainly draw attention...* After all, this thing had attached itself to a full-fledged Purple Mansion, and Fuxun was completely oblivious. No amount of caution on Li Quewan's part was excessive. Had Li Ximing not also possessed the protection of the immortal artifact, she would even faintly worry that something might happen to him if he came! Li Quewan stood quietly for a long time before she finally caught a faint glimpse of golden light appearing on the horizon. In the blink of an eye it reached her, revealing a True Person clad in white-gold Daoist robes, with a spot of light shining between his brows. Who else could it be but Li Ximing! The first reaction in her heart was not delight, but dread. An expression of excitement surfaced on her face, making her look merely like a young girl who had not seen an elder in many days. Riding the wind, she immediately vaulted beyond the array! This action appeared quite natural, yet it conveniently cut off any inclination Li Ximing might have had to proceed forward. Yet Li Ximing had stopped where he was without entering the array out of wariness to begin with; how could he have moved forward? He looked at her with a beaming smile, his gaze not landing on the island, while his spiritual sense linked with the immortal artifact. In an instant, the scene of the entire island appeared before him, and Li Ximing felt a sudden jolt of shock. He immediately noticed Fuxun in seclusion within the cave dwelling. Behind the demon's head were golden lips and white teeth, inexplicably grotesque. Its eyes were tightly shut, and a pale golden hue surged forth, almost submerging everything. *What kind of monster is this...* Yet at the very instant Li Ximing appeared off the island, those eyes snapped open, revealing pure white pupils that stared at him with keen interest! A chill ran through Li Ximing's heart: *It could detect me from afar right through a Purple Mansion grand array... This thing is far too terrifying!* At first glance, he had thought it might be some Dharma body the other had cultivated, or perhaps some peculiar injury, but with just this single look, Li Ximing was chilled to the bone. He spoke with natural ease, "Has True Person Yuanbian gone into seclusion?" Li Quewan was very sharp and nodded repeatedly. Knowing this was no place to talk, Li Ximing immediately concocted an excuse, laughing, "My trip out this time was to pay a visit to Jiuqiu. It just so happens I can take you along, so let us not disturb him. Come, let us go!" Li Ximing had her leave a handwritten note, then took her hand and, braving the danger with an air of nonchalance, rode the wind away. He watched as those pure white eyes slowly shifted, silently gazing in the direction of his departure. Only after Li Ximing vanished from sight did the pair of eyes slowly turn back. Those pale golden lips clicked together, and their mumbled, slurred raving suddenly turned distinct: "Ming... yang... Li..." The lips contorted continuously. It looked as if many different people were manipulating the flesh of the mouth, twisting into an unnatural curve, knocking and clicking until it grew practiced. Only after quite a while did it form the mouth shape again: "Mingyang is useless... need... Shaoyang..." These words acted like some sort of command. In an instant, Fuxun opened his eyes and subconsciously rose to his feet, about to stride forward. But as his hand touched the door of the cave dwelling, he snapped awake as if from a dream. Yet he could not detect the slightest abnormality. Instead, he lowered his head, his eyes clear and calm, and murmured thoughtfully, "Indeed. Grave though my injuries are, if a Shaoyang cultivator were to examine them for me, it would surely be far better than wasting years in futile effort!"