Taiyuan

Almost at the exact same moment, the surrounding four figures shifted their gazes simultaneously, looking coldly down upon Li Yuanjiao. Magical light swirled in pupils of various colors, yet every manner of illusion was barred outside the magical mirror. Lu Jiangxian felt as though heaven and earth were crumbling within him, horrified to the absolute limit. *The Qingsong Temple! They set this trap! To lure me here!* Holding his breath, Lu Jiangxian's mind went completely blank, and he did not utter a word. Fortunately, he had not displayed this scene to Li Yuanjiao outside. Utterly unaware, Li Yuanjiao rode the wind back and forth within his palm. Once the initial shock passed, Lu Jiangxian quickly calmed down. *No... not me... They are searching for the successor of the Qingsong Temple, as well as Yingze... I merely stumbled into it by accident... and almost gave myself away to their bluff...* He closed his eyes for over a dozen breaths, until a slightly genderless voice descended, sounding like melting metal and stones, or lead and mercury blending together: "Taiyuan, what is the matter..." The jade crown atop True Monarch Taiyuan's head slowly emanated light. His silver-white circular pupils shifted, and his voice sounded ethereal: "It is nothing... Seeing him scrutinizing from so far away, I merely tested him with a bluff. Turns out he is a descendant of Li Qianyuan, the Mingyang. It is only natural he might sense something." True Monarch Taiyuan's voice was airy, yet Lu Jiangxian felt a bolt of white-gold power strike like lightning into Li Yuanjiao's mind, fiercely sweeping through all his memories. Li Yuanjiao noticed nothing at all. The talisman seed within his qi sea flickered faintly as he rode the wind further into the distance. Lu Jiangxian's panic settled slightly, and fixing his gaze, he saw a golden silhouette gradually emerging among the figures on Taiyuan's shoulder. This figure possessed a face identical to Li Yuanjiao's, except with gold-and-white eyes and an expression of suspicion. He held his longsword tightly, poised as if about to draw it and strike, like a sculpted statue. "Taiyuan!" A muffled voice came from the north. A puff of white vapor suddenly rose from True Monarch Taiyuan's shoulder, striking the figure and reducing it to ash. "Li Qianyuan treated you well." True Monarch Taiyuan's silver-white pupils stirred, and the sound of clashing metal seemed to rise between heaven and earth. He spoke slowly: "Had Mingyang not treated me well, how could there be any Li family in Wangyue Marsh?" As Li Yuanjiao sped away, Lu Jiangxian felt a deep chill. He could no longer hear the words of the five True Monarchs, catching sight only of five figures towering between heaven and earth, watching the bustling cultivators on the island as though watching ants. *Thank goodness I did not let Li Yuanjiao see this scene. Otherwise, those five would have seen right through him... to say nothing of what Li Yuanjiao would have become upon seeing Golden Cores...* Had Li Yuanjiao witnessed this, he likely would have lost his mind on the spot, been discovered by the True Monarchs, and been unable to hide anything. What made Lu Jiangxian even warier was that, in the eyes of the Golden Core True Monarchs, the Qingsong Temple was nothing more than bait to draw out that cultivator with the Daoist name Yingze, who had countless ties to the temple... With five of them holding the field, they were simply waiting for Yingze to walk into the trap. *If that is the case, the surroundings of the Qingsong Temple have long been an inescapable snare. It cannot be entered carelessly.* Lu Jiangxian could already foresee that with the Qingsong Grotto-heaven encircled and watched by five True Monarchs, entering it himself would practically be courting death. The moment Li Yuanjiao took him out, a True Monarch would tear through the void into the Qingsong Temple the next instant, and the Li family on Lake Wangyue would be utterly destroyed. The pupils of those five figures seemed to still waver before his eyes. Lu Jiangxian felt confident he could find the entrance, yet it gave him an immense headache: *Am I supposed to let Li Yuanjiao stroll leisurely into the grotto-heaven right before five True Monarchs, as if walking back to his own home? That is sheer suicide...* This was his only chance to obtain the component from Yu Muxian's hands, and Lu Jiangxian had no wish to give it up. Sweeping his gaze across the island, his eyes slowly settled on a youth carrying a golden hammer. *** Li Yuanjiao was equally troubled. That the Immortal Mirror could not clearly see the situation inside the grotto-heaven meant the plan to enter it together had failed; Li Xuanfeng would have to go in alone. Yet if Li Xuanfeng entered alone, it was truly hard to say whether he could kill Yu Muxian. Li Xuanfeng was not versed in sword arts and could hardly bring out the full sword intent within the Qingchi Sword, and having to constantly draw his bow to suppress his foe would make it difficult to split his attention to land the killing blow. Dejectedly flying while repeatedly scanning with the Immortal Mirror, he suddenly froze, catching sight of a rather familiar youth. "Tu Longjian! He is here!" The youth was no longer dressed in rags. He wore a quite luxurious feathered robe, held a large golden hammer in his hand, and stepped upon a deep-black flying shuttle, appearing far more extravagant than Li Yuanjiao, the head of an established clan. Though his attire had changed drastically, his face remained the same, still retaining a trace of youthfulness. Recalling how the demonic cultivator of the past had been defeated by an unknown rogue cultivator, Li Yuanjiao matched the descriptions from back then and knew it had to be this person. *I spared his life back then... but who knows if the words of these children of destiny can be trusted...* Li Yuanjiao pondered briefly, then gritted his teeth. *As things stand, my only choice is to test this person. I have always wanted to avoid entanglements with their kind... but there is no other way.* Though he intended to call in a favor, Li Yuanjiao still observed proper method. Instead of rashly flying straight over on the wind, he retrieved the Mystic Pattern Bottle from his sleeve. Back then, he had used this magical artifact before Tu Longjian to conceal his figure and obscure his appearance and features. Tipping the jade bottle, he summoned the Mystic Pattern Spirit Mist, enveloping himself thoroughly from head to toe. Feigning complete nonchalance, he floated into the island on the wind, wandering about aimlessly and changing directions from time to time as he gradually drew closer to Tu Longjian. He encountered a few groups of rogue cultivators along the way, but Li Yuanjiao prudently steered clear of them. The Mystic Pattern Spirit Mist was naturally adept at masking presence, so nobody noticed him along the entire path. Once he reached the western part of the island, a patch of gravelly ground suddenly burst open, and a fire vein surged forth, leaping eight or nine feet into the air. Pitch-black earth fire baleful qi and flames spouted out, causing Li Yuanjiao to halt with a peculiar expression. *Estimating Tu Longjian's direction of travel, he will happen to pass right by here...* Only because Li Yuanjiao had the support of the Immortal Mirror and could view the entirety of the island had he managed to spot this small leak in the fire vein. Shaking off his gloom, he drifted over leisurely, arriving a step ahead of Tu Longjian. He sat down cross-legged and produced a jade bottle. Pinching a qi-gathering formula, the flames and baleful qi from the earth vein immediately swarmed toward him, boring into the jade bottle in his hand one after another, trailing long blackish-red plumes of flame to form a slender vortex. He gathered qi at an unhurried pace, quietly waiting in place for Tu Longjian to run into him. After merely a dozen breaths, a figure clad in a dark feathered robe and treading on a flying shuttle appeared not far away. The youth carried a long golden hammer over his shoulder, casting an idle, casual glance over. *Oh! This fire vein happens to be perfect for refining my Baleful Fire Spirit Source.* Taking a few steps forward, he noticed a cultivator already drawing baleful fire beside the vein. The person seemed to be shielded by a concealing treasure, making him hard to spot at first glance. Golden light flowed in the youth's eyes, and he quickly made out a cluster of grayish-white Mystic Pattern Spirit Mist. "Huh?!" Tu Longjian froze for several breaths, his face turning from surprise to delight. "I've finally found this senior!"