Juju lowered its head toward the puppet, the heat from its nearing snout curling the puppet's hair. "If you dare make a fool of me..."
"You think I've got nothing better to do than come here to fool around with you?" He Lingchuan interrupted. "Even if I fail, I'm the one who suffers. What could you possibly lose? At worst, you stay here playing with mud and miss a mouthful or two of food. How's that any different from usual?"
Plumes of white steam billowed from Juju's body, whether out of anger or not.
Yet in the end, it dug out a small piece of hard rock from its chest, kneaded it in its claws for a long time, and then took a long, deep breath over it.
With a dull thud, the object landed in front of the puppet.
"Here, take it."
Seeing the puppet move to wrap it in his clothes, it added, "It isn't hot."
The flames and heat had been drawn away, leaving only a dark stone sphere at the puppet's feet.
He picked it up; it felt merely warm to the touch, no hotter than a hand warmer.
Yet along the fissures on its surface, faint gleams of red light flickered from time to time.
"This is an earthfire seed, and an avatar of mine." Juju walked back toward the magma pool and plunged in, vanishing without a trace, though its voice continued to echo: "Keep it on your person. As long as you don't leave Lingxu City's borders, I can speak with you."
The puppet hurried back to the surface.
Once he exited the cavern, clear spring water gurgled and rose rapidly.
In just dozens of breaths, the pool was once again filled with steaming hot spring water.
The gates to the cave abode shut.
Retracing his path back up the mountain, the puppet crossed the stone beam and returned to Tianji Peak.
With his mind enthralled and immune to fear, he crossed the carp-back ridge without the slightest effort.
He stood there blankly amidst the throng of passing tourists, still clutching the earthfire seed in his hand.
Now, however, it was merely a dull gray, rounded stone; no one gave it a second glance.
Suddenly, someone bumped into the puppet from behind, and the stone vanished.
The puppet gave a shudder, snapping back to his senses.
What happened?
He only remembered a strange youth blocking his path and asking for help. How had he ended up on Tianji Peak in the very next second?
He scratched his head in bewilderment, only to find several strands of hair singed and curled.
How bizarre. Could hot spring steam singe hair?
Regardless, he was safe for now. Clenching his fists, the man resolved to hurry down the mountain and settle scores with that murderous, thieving pair of bastards!
A few zhang ahead, He Lingchuan walked with hands behind his back, drifting with the crowd in leisurely ease.
The moment he had approached the puppet, the divine bone necklace had grown warm.
Had the greedy thing taken a fancy to the earthfire seed as well?
But the moment He Lingchuan snatched that round stone egg from the puppet's grasp, he had promptly shoved it into the soul-snatching mirror.
Indeed, after several major supplements, the realm of souls inside the mirror had been partially repaired. As long as it didn't disrupt its workings, tiny objects could now be stored inside.
He hadn't offered the stone egg to the necklace because he feared the Dafang Pot would devour and digest it immediately.
The soul-snatching mirror possessed no such appetite, and best of all, it was obedient—He Lingchuan could deposit and retrieve items whenever he pleased.
Soon after, Juju's voice echoed from within the mirror.
Only he could hear it, of course.
"This is... a realm of souls?" Juju sounded mildly surprised. "You brat, won't you even show your face?"
When this "partner" sent a puppet down into the cave abode, Juju hadn't paid it much mind. Though its true body lurked underground, the earthfire seed given to He Lingchuan was meant to be its eyes and ears; so long as He Lingchuan carried it and conversed with it, Juju would naturally discover what he looked like and where he was.
Little did it expect the true mastermind to be lurking on Tianji Peak, tossing the stone directly into the realm of souls with lightning speed. In this bizarre realm of souls, nothing moved except paper figures fluttering about; not a single living creature was in sight.
Yet through the mirror, it could still converse with He Lingchuan.
The realm of souls also cut off its spatial tracking. It only knew the earthfire seed had last surfaced on Tianji Peak, but with tourists weaving past in endless streams, who on earth had taken it?
"My apologies," He Lingchuan said softly. "Suppressed by the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation and forced to guard the gate for the celestial god, you may not always act of your own accord. It's better for me to exercise caution."
A tactful way of saying, *I'm afraid you'll sell me out.*
Juju snorted, not taking much offense.
The more cautious its partner, the higher the chance of success.
The Heavenly Palace took every precaution to prevent it from contacting the outside world. And yet, they failed to stop it anyway, didn't they?
A thief could scheme for a thousand days, but who could stay on guard against a thief for a thousand days?
...
Returning late in the evening, He Lingchuan used cultivation as an excuse to turn down both Fu Shan's dinner invitation and playtime with Jiao Yu, shutting himself inside his room.
With the doors tightly barred, he casually cast a barrier before addressing the mirror: "I need a word with Juju."
Before long, the murky voice of Mount Xu's mountain spirit emerged from the mirror:
"I was sleeping. You'd better have something important."
"Let's cross-check intelligence on the grand formation," He Lingchuan said quietly. "The plan needs refining."
When he first arrived in Lingxu City, he had only two objectives in mind. As more intelligence came into his hands, a plan had gradually taken shape.
He called this the Mount Xu Plan.
Juju let out a long yawn. "Speak."
"The Spirit Gathering Grand Formation isn't entirely an original creation of the Heavenly Palace. The concept of the Big Dipper array was first proposed by the Dahuan Sect. Throughout the Middle Antiquity, spiritual energy steadily declined, so the Dahuan Sect sought to gather all spiritual energy within five hundred li for their own use. Unfortunately, though they laid out the Big Dipper array multiple times, they never succeeded."
"To borrow the power of the stars, the ground formation must resonate and move in lockstep with the celestial bodies." As an ancient presence of the Dahuan Sect, Juju was uniquely qualified to speak on this. "In High Antiquity, the Dahuan Sect had already utilized spirit gathering grand formations. After the epoch-shattering catastrophe, the celestial alignments were thrown into chaos; most critically, the nine stars of the Big Dipper became ten, with the addition of the hidden Tianluo Star. If the formation failed to align heaven and earth, it couldn't take effect."
"Yet the Heavenly Palace succeeded in constructing the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation because they aligned the formation eye with the Tianluo Star and placed an ancient spider demon's molt inside it as an intermediary linking heaven and earth," He Lingchuan pondered aloud. "The abdomen of the spider molt naturally bears an Astral Chart that reflects the celestial bodies in real time, without the slightest deviation. With it anchoring the core, the Heavenly Palace didn't even need to deduce the shifting of the stars to operate the formation."
Before arriving in Lingxu City, he had wondered why the foremost city under heaven, home to every imaginable treasure, had insisted on seizing Zhu Erniang's molt. Were the nobles here truly so greedy that they would snatch anything precious without second thought?
Now he understood the molt's true value.
Juju sounded surprised: "How do you know that?" So the brat hadn't shown up talking out of turn without preparation after all. "Very few know the origins of the spider molt. Even the officials in charge of constructing the formation eye back then only knew it was an ancient curiosity; fewer than two supervising officials could accurately explain its purpose."
"Then I must have had good luck to have questioned those two," He Lingchuan said with relief. Juju had confirmed his deduction: Zhu Erniang's molt was indeed inside the formation eye.
With the objective confirmed, the next steps would be far easier.
Juju shook its head. "Over the past ten years, one died of illness, and the other met a sudden, violent end. Seven days after his death, someone was caught sneaking onto Mount Xu."
Meaning an intruder had interrogated and murdered that official, extracted intelligence on the formation, and then infiltrated Mount Xu? He Lingchuan's mind stirred. "Do you know who that intruder was?"
Juju countered, "Are you in league with him?"
"Not at all." He Lingchuan sighed. "Truth be told, my information comes from the victim herself—the owner of that molt."
If he wanted genuine cooperation with Juju, he had to show sincerity rather than spouting hollow promises.
Sharing part of the truth, for example.
Juju was thoroughly astonished. "Ha? That spider matriarch is still alive?"
Evidently, it was familiar with Zhu Erniang's name.
Considering both were ancient greater demons, the possibility of some past acquaintance could not be ruled out.
"Free and unrestrained with her own territory, living quite comfortably," He Lingchuan rubbed his nose. "Yet she never forgot the stolen molt. Being a wanted fugitive, she couldn't easily set foot in Beijia, so she entrusted me to find a way to retrieve it."
"First Venerable Muling, and now the spider matriarch... Judging by your voice, you aren't very old, yet you're already running errands for quite a few old fossils, aren't you?" Juju grunted. "In that case, you should know where the real obstacle to breaking the formation lies?"
"The location of the formation eye?" He Lingchuan asked. "I heard it's normally concealed by the formation, revealing itself only when the Tianluo Star shines. Hmm, can't even you find it?"
"The Heavenly Palace's primary precaution was against me." Juju let out a cold laugh. "If I could smash the formation eye, what would they have to suppress me with? Being unable to find it is secondary; the Heavenly Palace had to ensure I couldn't reach it even while bound by the formation!"
Those bastards in the Heavenly Palace truly were cautious to a fault.
He Lingchuan sighed. "So, the formation eye is in the sky?"
Indeed, when he had heard the nightmare recount the intelligence from Zaifu Kua, this point had surprised him greatly.
In this day and age, few likely knew that while the main body of the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation lay on the ground—formed by nine peaks, including Tianshu Peak—its formation eye drifted through the sky, its movements elusive!
"Correct. The Tianluo Star is a hidden star, and the formation eye corresponding to it has always remained concealed within the void," Juju said. "Only when the Tianluo Star lights up does the formation eye manifest."
Had it been on the ground, Juju could have unearthed it even if it had to dig three hundred chi deep!
"Unless the Tianluo Star shines, you won't find the formation eye above Mount Xu at all."
"I recall that during autumn and winter each year, the Tianluo Star shines constantly?" He Lingchuan asked. "What about the formation eye, then? Does it just hang openly in the sky?"
"How could that be?" Juju scoffed. "It's invisible."
"Why?" He Lingchuan pressed further. "Is it still hidden in the void, or has it already surfaced in the sky and is merely invisible to the naked eye?"
Juju fell silent.
On such a pivotal issue, how could He Lingchuan let it brush him off? He asked again.
Only then did Juju answer with obvious reluctance, "Either way, in the dozen-plus years since the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation was completed, I've only seen it twice."
If it was never visible before, there had been no way to strike at it.
"Both times recently?"
"Within the last four months."
He Lingchuan understood: both occurrences had coincided with the leaks of the Dafang Pot's aura.
In other words, Juju had no clear idea of what state the formation eye actually assumed during autumn and winter.
Chapter 628