Looking out through the puppet's eyes, He Lingchuan took in his surroundings and realized that establishing an abode here had been no random whim of the Dahuan Sect.
So-called blessed lands and grotto-heavens were not always verdant places of abundant spiritual energy and perpetual spring. Ancient immortals had hollowed out abodes atop snow-capped peaks and in worlds of subterranean magma specifically to experience the sheer majesty of heaven and earth, to comprehend the untamed workings of nature.
Those ancient immortals could probably dive into magma for a hot mud bath, but people today would never dare try.
The heat ahead was too searing, so the puppet stopped advancing. It reached into the hemp sack, took out lumps of Shaoling ore, and tossed them one by one into the magma pool.
With each throw, it shouted, "Mountain spirit of Mount Xu, show yourself at once!"
The cavern was empty and vast, amplifying the shout with echoes that lingered long over the molten rock.
The Shaoling ore was brittle and fractured, and He Lingchuan had broken it down further with a hammer. Even the largest chunks were only four or five jin, ideal for an ordinary mortal to throw.
When they plunged into the magma, a few bubbles quickly burped up to the surface.
The puppet maintained a steady pace, pitching a piece every dozen-odd breaths. It was less like feeding—or rather, an offering—and more like pure harassment.
A few decades ago, the mountain spirit wouldn't have spared a second glance for offerings at such pathetic intervals. In a foul mood, it might even have hurled magma back at the offender:
*What do you think you're doing, feeding fish? Get lost!*
But ever since the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation took effect, the offerings this rock-fire beast received had dwindled year after year, leaving it perpetually starved.
Small as a fly was, meat was meat.
So when the Shaoling ore in the sack was nearly exhausted, the magma in the pool suddenly churned, and something surged up from the center, radiating a fiery scarlet glare.
The oppressive blast of heat forced the puppet to squeeze its eyes shut and back up several steps.
Viscous magma cascaded off the rising monstrosity, finally unveiling its true form.
It looked like a massive bear, its torso and limbs short and stout, though it possessed a long tail that cracked loudly against the surface of the lava.
Its arrival multiplied the cavern's brightness several times over. The creature itself was so incandescent it was blinding to look at.
From the public lectures He Lingchuan had attended in Panlong City, he knew that rock-fire monsters like this had no fixed form, much like the Wind Demon; they could reshape themselves at will. The guise it had assumed now was that of a fire armadillo—a type of fire-dwelling rodent that survived in magma—though next time it appeared, it might well take another shape.
The creature was composed entirely of vivid flames, molten rock, and black crag. The moment its front claws stepped onto the edge of the pool, the rock hissed, sending up a puff of blue-gray smoke.
"A mortal?" It snorted contemptuously at the puppet, its booming voice reverberating through the heart of the mountain. "A mortal dares summon me? Hand over more ore, and I may spare your life!"
Those few scraps of Shaoling ore weren't even enough to get stuck between its teeth. If this feeble mortal couldn't produce more, his worthless life would have to quench Lord Juju's wrath at being disturbed!
Conforming to He Lingchuan's will, the puppet spoke: "Mountain spirit Juju, I have come on behalf of my master to confer with you."
"Your master? Who the hell is he supposed to be?" Juju seemed to glare at the puppet and sneered. "Puppetry? Hah! A coward who hides his head and shows his tail thinks he's worthy of negotiating with me?"
It had seen through the trick in an instant, so He Lingchuan didn't beat around the bush. "If you destroy this puppet, the rest of your offerings will vanish. After being mistreated by the Heavenly Palace for so long, aren't you hungry?"
He then added, "Take a good look at where we are. How long has it been since anyone last stepped foot into this abode?"
"Several centuries." Juju shook its neck, sending globs of magma sloughing off in clumps. "What, did you get your hands on a relic left behind by one of the Dahuan Sect's old fossils? Or are you a disciple of the Dahuan Sect yourself?"
The mountain spirit of Mount Xu was clearly well aware of the entry procedure for this abode. The door hadn't been forced open, which meant someone had found the right key and inserted it into the right hole.
A major reason He Lingchuan had managed to lure it out with only a few dozen jin of ore was that the feeding spot—no, the offering spot—was inside this secret abode. That was unprecedented, and curiosity had driven it to investigate.
*A disciple of the Dahuan Sect?* He Lingchuan noted the phrasing, his thoughts stirring.
Was Juju implying that the Dahuan Sect's lineage had not been severed, that disciples still walked the world?
Mm, thinking back, when the northern demon kingdom annihilated the Dahuan Sect, it had not yet reached the zenith of its power. Perhaps its methods were not yet as ruthless as in later times. As a Daoist order, the Dahuan Sect had perished, but perhaps some disciples fled and survived rather than being entirely wiped out?
Juju had been there for the entirety of that war; it surely knew better than anyone.
"Before Venerable Muling passed into meditation, he left me a riddle, asking me to come down and see you."
Instead of saying Venerable Muling gave him guidance, He Lingchuan claimed the venerable one had "asked" him down, deliberately elevating his own status. With a natural-born spirit entity like Juju, courteous humility was useless; it would only take politeness for weakness.
Beings of its kind respected only the strong.
If He Lingchuan wanted to converse on equal footing, he had to present the aura of a powerhouse.
Naturally, the mortal puppet alone would never suffice. So he had the puppet draw out a tree branch and toss it toward Juju.
The creature didn't bother catching it. The branch landed amidst the magma clinging to its body, letting out a wisp of smoke, but it didn't vaporize immediately.
"Eh?" Juju seemed somewhat surprised. It scooped the branch out with a claw and brought it close to inspect.
What was a stout bough to a mortal was no bigger than a toothpick in the mountain spirit's palm.
The branch blackened slowly, smoldering bit by bit at the tip. By all appearances, it would take a long time to burn through.
"Is this a branch from the Jeweled Tree King?" Juju seemed to savor the aroma. "No, that's not quite right either... Why does it have the bitter hint of the Dao-Seeking Tree?"
"How does it taste?" A true connoisseur indeed; it caught the subtleties right away.
"Barely passable."
"Take your time enjoying it." He Lingchuan knew this fellow was ridiculously finicky. If it called something "barely passable," that meant it was top-grade. If it truly couldn't stomach it, it would have spat it out immediately.
So the puppet tossed a few more Juluo tree branches over.
Growing inside the Dafang Pot, the tree not only possessed certain qualities of the Jeweled Tree King, but had also recently devoured the Hundred Faces Nightmare and golden leaves from the Dao-Seeking Tree, fundamentally altering its nature. Even Juju, who had tasted delicacies from across the four seas, encountered a fresh, novel flavor it had never experienced before. Its mood lifted at once, and it looked upon He Lingchuan with newfound respect.
"This spiritual wood..." The lingering aftertaste was superb, though it refused to offer praise. "Where did you get it?"
"A brand-new variety, cultivated by myself." He Lingchuan took credit for the Dafang Pot's work without a trace of guilt. After all, the pot had no mouth to protest. "Yield is low, however."
Juju popped the branch into its mouth, dangling it like a toothpick. "What do you want? Out with it."
"I hear you guard Zhaixing Tower for the celestial gods," He Lingchuan got straight to the point. "I want a treasure from inside the tower, and I ask for your accommodation."
"Which treasure?"
"The one enshrined on the altar." He laid a subtle trap in his words.
"The Splendid Picture of Mountains and Rivers, or the Dafang Pot lid?" Juju tilted its head, and He Lingchuan felt as if it had rolled its eyes at him. "You're not the first. Everyone before you failed."
Sure enough, among the treasures enshrined on the altar, the Dafang Pot lid was truly there!
He Lingchuan drew a quiet breath. He had no interest in any picture scroll; as long as the pot lid's coordinates were confirmed, this piece of intelligence immediately pinpointed the target for his next move!
Juju had no idea how vital its casual remark was, handing He Lingchuan a crucial piece of information for free.
"Others wanted to steal them too? Why?"
"How should I know? Go ask them."
He Lingchuan had a sudden thought. "Was the great demon Chifeng also here to steal those two treasures?"
Juju gave a dry chuckle. "Who can say? Zhaixing Tower holds many secrets. Outside enemies don't come just for treasures."
"Lingxu City claims Fan Long defeated it."
Juju scoffed disdainfully. "If I hadn't stepped in, Fan Long couldn't have defeated jack shit!"
He Lingchuan asked, "I hear that before the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation was rebuilt, even the Heavenly Palace treated you with utmost respect?"
Juju laughed. "No need to try provoking me. Plenty of people come looking for my help, but I have only one thing to say: as long as this Spirit Gathering Grand Formation stands, there's no way I can accommodate you!"
"How exactly does the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation suppress you?" Some questions could only be answered accurately by the victim itself.
"The Spirit Gathering Grand Formation built by Lingxu directly suppresses Mount Xu's earth veins, which in turn suppresses my core source!" Indignation surged in Juju's voice, and the entire magma pool bubbled violently. "They deceived me!"
To construct that grand formation, it had exerted boundless power to shift peaks and move mountains, only to be repaid with this. "Humans, hah! Glib-tongued deceivers!"
It pointed a claw at its neck. Only then did He Lingchuan notice a collar fastened around its throat, wide and thick, etched with intricate patterns.
The Heavenly Palace had truly outdone itself, reducing a mountain spirit to nothing more than a chained watchdog.
The puppet had to take several more steps back to avoid the splashing lava. A single splatter would be enough to destroy it.
"What if the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation were broken?" He Lingchuan asked. "Could you break free then?"
"Broken? Easier said than done!" Juju snorted a plume of white smoke from its nostrils, which He Lingchuan took for a sigh. "This formation resonates with the stars in the heavens; it commands the combined force of heaven and earth. Even I cannot shatter it from within. Especially those mountain peaks—as long as the mountains stand, the formation endures. What could outsiders like you possibly do?"
"What about the formation eye?" He Lingchuan asked. "I've heard that the eye of the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation corresponds to the Tianluo Star, and the singular treasure placed within serves as the bridge channeling the harmony of heaven and earth. If it were removed, wouldn't the formation collapse on its own?"
"You mean the spider molt bearing the Astral Chart?" Juju gave a low grunt. "Quite possible. But two places in the entire Spirit Gathering Grand Formation are guarded most heavily, and the formation eye is one of them. A Lightning Pool is set up there too. How do you plan to retrieve the Astral Chart?"
"If I dare mention the formation eye, I naturally have my own means. Otherwise, why would I come here to waste effort on you?" He Lingchuan committed the term "Lightning Pool" to memory while keeping his cards hidden. "It was because Venerable Muling foresaw today's situation that he directed me to seek you out."
Venerable Muling had lived for eight hundred years and had been the highly respected second-in-command of the Dahuan Sect during his life. Juju was naturally very familiar with him, and knew well that the old man was a master of divination and deductive prognostication.
"Which verse did he give you?"
"The one that helped me enter this abode: 'Dongli enters Kan-water.'"
Juju lay down upon the surface of the magma lake and fell silent.
Right from their very first words, it had been asking leading questions.
Chapter 626