As for that bronze mirror, it looked no different from ordinary bronze mirrors, but now the mirror surface had been pierced with a large hole by Xiaoxiao, leaving it in shambles.
However, Xiaoxiao discovered that several talisman papers were stuck around the bronze mirror.
But unlike the yellow grass paper talismans of Lingshan Talisman Sect, these talismans were all made from a kind of smooth, delicate skin paper.
Wei Jie touched them and said, “These are all human skin…”
Xiaoxiao frowned in disgust. Fellow practitioners of the Talisman Sect from two hundred years ago manipulated such evil objects.
Looking more closely, she discovered that the talisman inscriptions on the human skin had some similarities to those of the Lingshan Talisman Sect. Although the drawing methods were slightly different, they could be seen as coming from the same origin.
This made Cui Xiaoxiao, also a member of the Talisman Sect, feel deeply insulted.
As members of the Talisman Sect, they were already looked down upon by fellow cultivators as ninth-rate practitioners. People often confuse them with those charlatan fortune tellers who made a living selling talismans for exorcism.
This being the case, members of the Talisman Sect had to maintain proper conduct even more to correct people’s prejudices.
But the mastermind behind their recent encounter had taken the evil path to its extreme. If the Four Great Sects saw these human skin talismans similar to those of the Lingshan Talisman Sect, who knew how they would slander the Talisman Sect!
It was unknown how much true qi the person controlling this formation had absorbed using this bronze mirror.
Just then, Tang Youshu also saw the trick. While supporting his crooked silver helmet, he asked in confusion: “Master, why do these talisman inscriptions look so similar to those of our Lingshan?”
Xiaoxiao looked at him speechlessly, thinking: Master, I’d like to ask you the same thing!
How did you creatively establish the Lingshan Talisman Sect back then?
Regarding Master Tang Youshu’s founding of the sect, he had naturally written extensively about it in his manuals.
This seemed to be related to the mirror city ordeal that Wei Jie experienced before going to the Four Great Sects.
When Wei Jie returned from his adventure, he had once said with feeling to his disciple who lacked spiritual aptitude that rather than cultivating qi, he should switch to studying the talisman path.
If the talisman path could be developed to its extreme, even those with mediocre talent could overcome all schools and reach a state of unrivaled mastery.
It was precisely because of his master’s words that Tang Youshu took it to heart. Combined with several talisman papers Wei Jie brought out from the illusion city, it seemed to open his spiritual aperture.
During Wei Jie’s lifetime, Tang Youshu began studying the talisman path, seeking hidden masters everywhere.
After Wei Jie was killed by Qin Lingxiao, Tang Youshu wandered for ten years and finally established the Lingshan Talisman Sect path.
Now holding these human skin talisman papers, Xiaoxiao had a sudden enlightening feeling: so the seed of her master’s founding of the sect had started from these few evil talisman papers.
However, to abandon the evil aspects of these talismans, Tang Youshu seemed to have made major reforms, making these talismans no longer cold and harmful.
But perhaps precisely because they no longer used human skin but switched to yellow grass paper, combined with Tang Youshu’s modifications, these originally domineering and vicious talismans greatly lost their original power.
Lingshan Talisman Sect naturally followed an unremarkable path, far from the “overcoming all schools, reaching unrivaled mastery” that Demon Lord Wei Jie had described.
However, since this was the case, Xiaoxiao still had to fulfill her duty to Wei Jie. According to the original trajectory, she would plant the seed of founding a sect in Master Tang Youshu’s heart.
So after sighing, she carefully put away the human skin talismans, handed them to Tang Youshu, patted his shoulder, and, following Wei Jie’s original words, solemnly encouraged Master Tang.
Hearing these words, Master Tang was invigorated, his eyes shining with determined light: “Master Ancestor, our Talisman Sect can certainly overcome all schools and achieve unrivaled mastery! Besides, I won’t need to found a sect in the future! You, as the Sect Leader of Lingshan Talisman Sect, broke through this illusion city and should become famous throughout the world! Though your disciple is untalented and not proficient in cultivation, I love writing observations and records, and have some literary talent. Let me record all of Master Ancestor’s great achievements so more people in the world will know our Talisman Sect Leader’s reputation!”
Hearing this, Xiaoxiao panicked. She snatched the notebook he usually used for sketching from Tang Youshu’s hands. After reading a few pages, she said in anguish, “How can you write like this? This… why is it all my name! Am I someone who craves fame and reputation? Those empty reputations are burdens to immortal cultivation… How about this: replace all mentions of my name with your master Wei Jie. His reputation is too bad – just use your Spring and Autumn writing style to salvage it!”
She was someone who had traveled from two hundred years in the future and should leave no trace. If recorded by her master, that would be terrible!
Tang Youshu nodded shamefully, once again discovering the vast differences between himself and his master ancestor, truly like the gap between heaven and a ditch!
Master Ancestor was humble and low-key, inspiring respect beyond reach!
Hearing the master ancestor and disciple arguing over who should wear high hats, Wei Jie smiled mockingly and leisurely reminded Tang Youshu not to write the illusion city incident in too much detail.
Otherwise, if Cui Xiaoxiao in the travel notes was replaced with Wei Jie, when writing about Young Master Qin’s evil thoughts driving the fake body to kiss, it would become Young Master Qin passionately kissing Wei Jie.
Such soul-stirring content might make Wei Jie vomit uncontrollably.
Listening nearby, Qin Lingxiao’s face alternated between green and red from Wei Jie’s mockery. The former world’s strongest forced himself to say: “A fake thing from an evil formation – how dare you attribute it to me! What that evil thing did has nothing to do with me!”
Yu Ling’er, remembering the scene of the man and woman kissing in the illusion city’s Temple of the God of Wealth, felt sourly nauseated and added: “Alright! Didn’t Xiaoxiao also say not to record those messy things? Tang Youshu, you can’t write carelessly. You must show me every day!”
Tang Youshu held his thick notebook and looked at Yu Ling’er in confusion: “Don’t you know how to read? How would you check?”
Yu Ling’er said righteously: “We Fox clan are the smartest! If you teach me a dozen characters every day, won’t I learn?”
Tang Youshu immediately nodded, saying he would take full responsibility for Ling’er’s character learning from now on!
Qin Lingxiao was full of worries and had no heart to listen to their nonsense. He had long known about these Talisman Sect disciples’ idleness.
After such a dangerous encounter, this group only focused on trivial matters.
Qin Lingxiao interrupted the idle chatter of the entire Talisman Sect and directly asked Xiaoxiao: “You seemed to tell Wei Jie that you saw someone behind the mirror when you broke it? Was it Lord Can?”
Xiaoxiao turned to look at him and thought: “I didn’t see clearly…”
Seeing he couldn’t get answers and worried about his father and the others, Qin Lingxiao didn’t want to stay longer. He chanted an incantation to summon wind, took the Lingyun Pavilion disciples into the air, flew over the high city walls, and went into the city to search for his father.
Xiaoxiao watched Qin Lingxiao’s retreating figure in a daze. She had just lied to Young Master Qin. She had seen very clearly.
Just as Xiaoxiao broke the “setting sun” formation, in that brief moment, she saw Qin Lingxiao through the crack…
No! Saying it was Qin Lingxiao wasn’t quite accurate. That… was a face much older than Lingxiao’s.
Xiaoxiao’s intuition told her this person had some connection to Qin Lingxiao, so she had kept quiet about it.
Looking at Luoyi City not far away, although this city wasn’t an illusion, she had a premonition that the dangers inside might not be less than the illusion city…
Thinking this, she took a deep breath and waved: “Come on, let’s enter the city and meet this Lord Can!”
Calculating the time, three days had passed since the birthday banquet at Autumn Water Pool ended unhappily. She wondered how that prince planned to face accusations from all sides.
…
Meanwhile, in the secret chamber of the prince’s mansion in Luoyi City, in the dim light, Lord Can looked at the blood-covered man in the formation’s center, then at the bronze mirror fragments on the ground, and slowly said: “Didn’t you say this formation was foolproof? Why did Cui Xiaoxiao break it so quickly?”
It turned out that in front of Lord Can, there was also a city drawn with talisman ashes.
A hooded man and Lord Can both wore ceremonial robes, sitting cross-legged at the formation’s center. But just a moment ago, the mirror reflected a girl holding a demon-subduing sharp sword who shattered the bronze mirror before them.
When the bronze mirror cracked, the hooded man met the girl in the broken mirror eye to eye. His face was also cut by the flying mirror fragments, now covered in blood.
Fortunately, he pulled Lord Can out of the formation in time. If he had been slower, they would have died under that girl’s sword.
Seeing success slip away, the hooded man wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve and said angrily: “The formation my senior brother set up was originally perfect. However, this formation relies entirely on lamp oil evaporation. If we had added Kaiming Beast’s blood, the power would have been much stronger, and no one would have noticed the light’s flaws. Hatefully, those two beast hunters were so useless, returning empty-handed. If we had the Kaiming Beast and Corpse-eating Beast, everything would have been much smoother… It’s all my incompetence. If senior brother could return in time to oversee the formation, they would never have escaped…”
Hearing the man’s words, Lord Can sighed: “This king also didn’t expect Hunter King and the others to be so incompetent… But when the bronze mirror shattered just now, that Cui Xiaoxiao seemed to see you…”
Hearing Lord Can’s words, the hooded man finally slowly raised his head and snorted: “That was only an instant. She may not have seen me. Besides, I was already infected with poison at the Autumn Water banquet, severely injured and unable to move. The Four Great Sects can all testify. How can the word of a sect leader who came from nowhere, making wild accusations based on illusions seen in a phantom city, count for anything?”
The face revealed under the hood was unmistakably an aged “Qin Lingxiao.”
He was precisely Lingyun Pavilion’s Pavilion Master Qinhe, who had been severely injured at the Autumn Water banquet.
After being severely wounded and carried to a carriage for treatment by his disciples, under the cover of close disciples, he had first come to Luoyi City.
Lord Can still smiled without showing emotion: “But your son also entered the formation just now. If you were soft-hearted toward your beloved son and held back, that would be understandable…”
Qinhe heard the warning beneath Lord Can’s smiling words and immediately knelt in fear: “Your subordinate dares not! Although I use the alias Qinhe, I have never forgotten my true identity, much less the important mission you entrusted to me. Just now, I was truly prepared to sacrifice my son, Lingxiao. But as you saw, Cui Xiaoxiao has too keen eyesight and is too cunning. She ruined the master’s century-long plan overnight. Please grant this subordinate death!”
Lord Can gently encouraged: “Years ago, I had you apprentice to Lingyun Pavilion and marry the old pavilion master’s daughter, hoping you could go further on the cultivation path. If you always speak lightly of life and death, wouldn’t that be wasteful? Besides, that boy Lingxiao has great talent. If we sacrificed him, I couldn’t agree.”
Qinhe quickly knelt: “Your subordinate has never forgotten your great kindness. Everything I have today is entirely due to your cultivation. The century-long plan will never be ruined by a few minor obstacles… Just now in the formation, you absorbed considerable spiritual energy. Unfortunately, it was cut short halfway. If you don’t absorb more true qi into your spiritual platform, I’m afraid there will be qi reversal. But the Wei family has been with the Four Great Sects, and I can’t leave for too long. I may not be able to transfer qi to you later… Isn’t senior brother returning soon? Master, should you have him protect your spiritual platform?”
Affected by the formation’s backlash, Lord Can’s face seemed much more aged and dark, with several new wrinkles around his originally smooth eyes.
Hearing Qinhe’s suggestion, Lord Can said gently: “Such a small matter doesn’t require your senior brother. I have my methods. You needn’t worry too much here. Since Cui Xiaoxiao might have seen you, return quickly so the Four Great Sects can testify for you. You are a thread I painstakingly planted – we absolutely cannot fail at the crucial moment!”
Qinhe quickly nodded in agreement. Before leaving, he whispered, “At this point, we must sacrifice pawns to protect the king. That Wei Di…”
Though he only mentioned it briefly, Lord Can immediately understood his meaning and just smiled knowingly.
After Qinhe disappeared into the secret passage, Lord Can sat properly on the floor cushion again and ordered the hidden door opened.
Soon, a middle-aged strong man entered, knelt on the ground, and cried in grief and anger: “Your Lordship! My daughter also suffered cruelly at the Wei family’s hands. If this revenge is not avenged, I swear I am not human!”
This man was Wei Di, the Wei family’s former traitor. The poison-cultivating woman Zhu’er, who was torn apart and killed by the Corpse-eating Beast at the Autumn Water Pool birthday banquet, was precisely his daughter.
Years ago, he was the right-hand man of former Wei family head Wei Jingling, deeply trusted by Wei Jingling.
Unfortunately, his ambition was great, unwilling to spend his whole life hiding in Qilao Mountain, generation after generation, guarding the Underworld.
So, taking advantage of his three-year rotation duty in the Underworld, he released Numei to seduce Wei Jingling, then secretly entered the Underworld to steal a page from the Book of Life and Death.
This Book of Life and Death could reveal a person’s entire fate just by writing their birth date and name – every sentence was a heavenly secret that could not be revealed.
Wei Di originally wanted to take advantage of Wei Jingling’s relaxed vigilance to tamper with the Book of Life and Death and change his fate.
Though the Wei family achieved enlightenment, they could not live forever. No one understood the despair of the Underworld better than tomb guardians.
Wei Di’s ambition was great. Unwilling to hide for life, he wanted to tamper with fate and secure the opportunity for eternal life without cultivation.
Who knew that the Numei he controlled back then truly fell in love with Wei Jingling and finally revealed the truth to him.
With no choice, Wei Di released the three great fierce beasts from the Underworld, took some Wei family magical artifacts to create chaos, then took advantage of the confusion to flee with that page of the Book of Life and Death and his wife and daughter.
Unfortunately, after leaving that year, to avoid the Wei family’s relentless pursuit, he had to hide constantly at Lord Can’s place. Most critically, the page of the Book of Life and Death he stole was more like a death warrant.
Those who privately hoarded heavenly secrets – how could they not suffer backlash? So this item needed constant nourishment from yin energy, or it would cause backlash. Fortunately, Lord Can generously helped him search everywhere for Underworld objects, shedding blood to nourish that remnant page.
However, his wife had contracted a strange disease years ago and died in agony. His daughter had just been bitten to death limb by limb by the Corpse-eating Beast.
Wei Jingling’s words from years ago – “Those who privately steal the Book of Life and Death will suffer a fate worse than death” – seemed to be gradually proving true.
…It was all because of that Wei family rebellious son Wei Jie, who appeared halfway, and that inexplicable Talisman Sect’s Cui Xiaoxiao, who returned the Corpse-eating Beast to the Wei family. Despite his careful arrangements several times, they were exposed at once.
Now, his beloved daughter’s death was entirely the evil consequence planted by that teacher-disciple pair from the Talisman Sect. Thinking of this, Wei Di was so angry his teeth itched.
Therefore, he had to apologize to Lord Can and ask Lord Can to forgive his inadequate arrangements.
However, Lord Can’s temperament toward wise men had always been gentle.
Facing Wei Di’s apology, he only wiped his face with a handkerchief while saying gently: “These years, you and your daughter have worked diligently for this king without any negligence. What crime do you have? When this king first took you in, I said that I was but a mortal. If I want to achieve immortality, I can only rely on capable people like you for assistance. When one person achieves enlightenment, even chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. This king is willing to give everything to help his subordinate scholars achieve immortality soon. It’s just that we’re temporarily set back by the villains’ obstruction. Poor Zhu’er…”
Speaking of this, Lord Can seemed so sad that his eyes moistened.
Wei Di knew well that he had always been secretly wanted and pursued by the demon-subduing Wei family. Without Lord Can’s strong support and obedience to him, he alone couldn’t have obtained so many magical artifacts to improve his powers.
Now Wei Di still needed this king who wholeheartedly sought the Way, so naturally he was polite.
When he heard Lord Can say his qi was suddenly agitated and he didn’t know how to calm his blood, Wei Di quickly stood up and came over to help Lord Can calm his agitated qi.
These royal descendants were all extremely wealthy and idle.
This Lord Can, influenced by someone unknown, actually fantasized about achieving immortality with an ordinary mortal body, so he spent his days collecting various scholars and absorbing true qi everywhere.
Unfortunately, his leaky spiritual platform was simply not material for immortal cultivation.
Wei Di inwardly despised this mediocre king’s wishful thinking, but showed nothing on his face. Instead, he diligently sat across from Lord Can, preparing to transfer some true qi over as usual, letting this mediocre king feel the pleasure of a full dantian.
But just as he sat down, closed his eyes, and gathered qi, he suddenly felt a fierce killing intent attacking from ahead.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw his chest had been pierced by an arm.
The moment Wei Di’s heart was grasped, the true qi in his body seemed to be continuously absorbed by that arm.
“Your Lordship… you… you…”
Wei Di couldn’t move for a moment, only staring wide-eyed in terror at Lord Can, who smiled at him.
When did this mediocre king acquire such skills? Looking again at his heart-grasping claws, the claws were blackened between the fingers – the appearance of demonic possession…
The mediocre king had broken through a human heart but still smiled undiminished, speaking gently as before: “Since your beloved wife and daughter have already gone to the netherworld, what use is your attachment to this mortal world? This king has noted all your unfinished business. Rest assured, this king will eliminate the Wei family and avenge you!”
Saying this, his sharp claws clenched, and the heart exploded.
Wei Di stared wide-eyed in painful whimpering, finally tilting his head and collapsing to the ground in a pool of blood.
Having absorbed Wei Di’s spiritual energy, Lord Can’s originally aged and dark complexion improved greatly, once again restoring the vigor a middle-aged man should have.
He slowly stood up, kicked aside the obstructing corpse, turned to open a mechanism behind a hanging painting, and followed a secret passage to another secret chamber.
When he entered this secret chamber, the consistently gentle smile on Lord Can’s face slowly faded, becoming dark and unfathomable.
He walked to a bronze water vat in the center of the secret chamber.
Under the candlelight, one could see that the vat was full of deep red liquid. The rich, bloody smell assaulting the nostrils indicated this was a vat of blood.
However, this blood was special – it was heart blood from a yin dragon.
This was the last prey captured by Hunter King before his death. All that yin energy blood had settled at the bottom of the vat.
Because what was being nourished in this vat needed constant Underworld beast blood for sustenance.
Lord Can bent down and concentrated on looking.
Just then, something like white paper slowly floated up from the beast’s blood in the vat. This paper-like thing was like a torn book page, densely covered with tiny characters.
Lord Can had read the characters on this page countless times before and even knew them by heart.
This told the story of a young prince who left the capital, gradually planned and schemed through recruiting scholars, enduring hardships, and finally achieved immortality.
In the story, this prince first achieved eternal youth by obtaining Numei’s blood tears, then controlled the Four Great Sects, using them against the Wei-surnamed youth who had seen through his schemes early. The prince then presented a Kaiming Beast to His Majesty, provoking heavenly wrath that caused successive droughts in Great Qi, destabilizing the imperial position. Subsequently, the prince supported a young child’s ascension, gaining overwhelming power.
By then, the prince already knew something more tempting than imperial power – the path to immortality that ordinary people couldn’t reach.
So the prince’s capable subordinates used illusion cities to absorb the cultivation of the demonized Wei-surnamed Demon Lord, obtaining half his demonic power. Who knew that Wei-surnamed Demon Lord, with someone’s help, actually refined the demon pearl from his body. After purifying his demonic nature, he could transcend tribulation and achieve immortality.
But the prince cleverly used the foresight shown by the remnant page, scheming step by step until finally making that demon lord, who should have achieved immortality, be killed by his disciple, his soul scattered. He then took the immortal position originally belonging to Demon Lord Wei Jie, ascending to heaven in one step.
What a smooth and perfect story! Never tiring to read.
However, Lord Can knew the original story hadn’t been so perfect. This prince’s fate should originally have been like thousands of mortals – muddling through life and finally dying of old age, becoming a handful of ash.
After Lord Can initially obtained this remnant page of the Book of Life and Death from Wei Di, he used clever methods, constantly trying to change fate. After gradual changes, the story on the remnant page would change.
Until finally, he completed this perfect plan of stealing heaven and changing fate to achieve immortality.