As Xu Qi’an’s vision shifted from blurry to clear in less than a second, he found himself at the mouth of a mountain valley. The valley was tranquil, with withered flowers and grass, and bare trees, desolate and quiet.
Xu Qi’an closed his eyes, sensing the temperature and humidity of the air. He let out a slight sigh of relief – the climate wasn’t much different from the capital, indicating that the first Overseer hadn’t taken him out of Great Shang or to the border.
For most high-rank cultivators except martial artists, distances of tens or hundreds of miles were just a step away.
The white-robed Cultivator raised his hand, pressing his middle finger against his thumb, and flicked out a drop of blood. With a “hum”, the blood droplet collided with an invisible air wall, causing ripples in the air.
“This is a secret place I spent considerable effort creating years ago. Only I, or those of my bloodline, can enter. Even the Overseer can’t come in. Forcibly breaking in would only cause this place to collapse.”
The white-robed Cultivator grabbed Xu Qi’an and stepped through the barrier.
As Xu Qi’an passed through that thin, transparent air barrier, the scenery before his eyes completely changed. The valley was still a valley but without vegetation. Instead, there was a huge stone disc covered in various incantations.
The stone disc was ten zhang in diameter, almost covering every inch of the valley floor.
As soon as he saw the stone disc, Xu Qi’an once again felt that familiar dizziness, like a pregnant woman unable to resist the urge to vomit.
“This formation, I carved intermittently for over thirty years. A total of one hundred and eight formations combined into one, unparalleled in both offense and defense. Apart from the first-rank Overseer, it would be difficult for anyone to break through this place.”
The white-robed Cultivator explained in a gentle tone.
Why is his secret place not far from the capital… Xu Qi’an frowned, this question flashing through his mind.
Xu Qi’an didn’t think much about it, as his attention was drawn to a mummified corpse sitting cross-legged in the formation.
The clothes on the mummy were rather strange, made of cloth and animal skin sewn together, with colorful stones hanging from the waist, and a layered sweat towel hat on the head.
A southerner?
This was typical of the Southern clothing style.
“He, he is the former leader of the Insect Tribe?!” Xu Qi’an’s heart stirred, voicing his guess.
“That’s right, he is the Insect Elder who stole Great Shang’s fortune with me.”
The white-robed Cultivator answered every question, calm and unruffled as if everything was under his control.
“How did he die here?”
Xu Qi’an stared at the first Overseer’s blurred face, full of doubt, as if saying: Did you have internal strife?
“He didn’t have much life left to begin with. Plotting to steal Great Shang’s fortune with me, he suffered a backlash. Not long after the battle at Shanhai Pass ended, he passed away.”
The first Overseer sighed: “Stealing national fortune naturally incurs backlash, including now as I extract your fortune, I will also suffer backlash. This is the price that must be paid.”
Lina had said that the Insect Elder’s purpose in seeking Great Shang’s fortune was to repair the statue of the Confucian Sage and reseal the Shaman God… Xu Qi’an pondered:
“Would he be willing to be your stepping stone?”
A powerful figure capable of plotting for Great Shang’s fortune couldn’t possibly be unaware of his own lifespan and physical condition. How could he do something that would only benefit others?
The white-robed Cultivator stood shoulder to shoulder with Xu Qi’an, looking at the mummy in the center of the formation, and said:
“This gift requires a price to be paid. The price is sealing the Insect God. This is the karmic connection between him and me, you don’t need to worry about it.”
Xu Qi’an was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice: “Do I have to die?”
The white-robed Cultivator remained silent.
Xu Qi’an turned his head, looking at him sincerely: “I don’t care about this fortune, it was yours, to begin with, I can return it to you.”
The white-robed Cultivator slowly said:
“When you reach the second rank and become a Dao-united martial artist, you’ll be able to withstand the consequences of having your fortune extracted. But I can’t wait that long.
“Wei Yuan is dead, Jeanne d’Arc is dead, the dragon vein has scattered. These are all part of the great trend. A Qi Practitioner needs to follow the trend. If we don’t seize this opportunity, by the time you advance to second rank, the timing will have passed.
“To achieve great things, one must seize the opportunity. You should understand this.”
After a pause, he sighed: “Moreover, by the time you become a Dao-united martial artist, I may not be able to subdue you anymore.”
A flash of sadness appeared in Xu Qi’an’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed his emotions and asked:
“How did you hide the fortune in me without the Overseer noticing?”
This question had troubled him for a long time. The Overseer was a first-rank Cultivator, no one understood fortune better than him. How did the first Overseer manage to quietly let the fortune sleep in him for twenty years?
The white-robed Cultivator looked at the mummy and said calmly: “This wasn’t my ability, but the Insect Elder’s method. Back then, it was the same method that successfully deceived the Overseer and stole the fortune.”
What method… Xu Qi’an waited for a moment, but the white-robed Cultivator didn’t explain.
“It takes a thief to catch a thief. Extracting your fortune requires his help, as well as this grand formation.”
The white-robed Cultivator placed Xu Qi’an in a certain spot, seemingly casually but actually with hidden meaning, directly facing the mummy.
He needs this formation’s help to extract the fortune, he’s been planning this for thirty years… Xu Qi’an marveled inwardly at the old schemer’s long-term plotting.
He didn’t resist, nor could he. After obediently standing in place, he asked:
“I’m quite curious, can shielding Heaven’s Secrets erase my name?”
The white-robed Cultivator paused for a moment, then said: “Why do you ask?”
Xu Qi’an smiled without much expression:
“Just personal curiosity. To what extent can one shield a person? Can they be completely erased from the world? If you shield someone known to all, how would people react? For example, the emperor, or me.
“Would people completely forget, or would their memories be jumbled? If a person whose Heaven’s Secrets have been shielded reappears in people’s sight, what would happen?
“What would be the difference between the closest relatives of the shielded person and others?”
The white-robed Cultivator looked at him and remained silent for a long time.
Xu Qi’an calmly met his gaze, “If things were written down on paper beforehand, if close relatives see content that doesn’t match their memories, what then?”
…
On the official road in the outskirts of the capital.
Xu Pingzhi rode his horse toward Cloud Deer Academy, while the great scholar Zhang Shen took large strides, leisurely keeping pace with the horse.
Ahead, a figure appeared amidst swirling clear energy, wearing a scholar’s cap and old scholar’s robes, unrestrained and carefree.
“Principal?”
Zhang Shen was stunned for a moment, saying in a rather surprised tone, “What are you doing here?”
Principal Zhao Shou ignored him and took out three paper slips from his bosom. He unfolded one of them, which read:
“If tomorrow I forget to save (blank), please give the second paper slip to Xu Pingzhi.”
There was a blank space in the middle. Save who? The paper didn’t say, or perhaps it had been written but erased.
“What does this mean?”
Zhang Shen looked at the content on the paper slip, seeing Zhao Shou’s face more serious than ever before. This made him realize that the principal seemed to have encountered some trouble.
Sitting on horseback, Xu Pingzhi frowned. He had also seen the paper slip Zhao Shou displayed. Although Second Uncle Xu hadn’t been educated, he held an official position and had been eating the emperor’s food for many years. He would inevitably come into contact with books and writing in his daily life, so it was impossible for him not to recognize any characters.
He recognized most of the characters on the paper slip, with only two or three he couldn’t identify.
“I just experienced a great battle, but I can’t remember who I fought, nor why we fought. Until I found these three paper slips on me.”
Zhao Shou said, unfolding the second paper slip, which was written in vermilion:
“Second Uncle, save me!!”
The four bright red characters entered Xu Pingzhi’s pupils, making his pupils contract suddenly as if hit by a strong light.
It made his facial muscles twitch slightly, and large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Xu Pingzhi clutched his head, howling in pain. Veins bulged on his forehead one by one. He fell from his horse, holding his head with both hands, rolling on the ground in pain, roaring incessantly.
Zhao Shou said in a deep voice: “Everything will pass!”
His words became law.
Second Uncle Xu’s headache indeed eased considerably. He gasped for breath, his face no longer contorted with pain, his whole body drenched in sweat as if he had just been pulled out of water.
Xu Pingzhi slowly got up, his lips trembling. His rugged face was now covered in tears, though he didn’t know when they had appeared.
“It seems you’ve remembered something.”
Zhao Shou’s voice was gentle as he unfolded the third paper slip. It read: “Go to Quanrong Mountain in Sword Province, find the old ancestor of the Martial Arts Alliance. You’ll know when you get there.”
…
Inside the stone gate on Quanrong Mountain.
Several writhing flesh lumps surrounded a paper slip, which had a line of text:
“Wait for Cloud Deer Academy Principal Zhao Shou to come, go with him to save someone, this is very important.
Wait for Cloud Deer Academy Principal Zhao Shou to come, and go with him to save someone, this is very important.
Wait for Cloud Deer Academy Principal Zhao Shou to come, go with him to save someone, this is very important!
Important things must be said three times.”
In the dim stone cave, an old voice echoed:
“Why is there a paper slip here, I seem to have forgotten something. I’ve been in seclusion for many years, how can I easily come out? This will consume what little lifespan I have left.
“Wait…”
One of the flesh lumps wriggled, unrolling a letter from the corner. The letter read:
“Senior, shortly, I will face a great calamity. I hope you can lend a hand. As payment, I promise to send you a section of nine-colored lotus root within half a year, to help you step into the second rank of Dao unity.”
The old voice echoed again in the stone cave: “Whose letter, whose letter?”
The voice sounded a bit excited.
“I can’t remember, but the fact that I kept this letter is telling enough. I seem to have forgotten something. Right, Zhao Shou, wait for Zhao Shou…”
The old voice muttered to itself.
…
The white-robed Cultivator smiled and said:
“Very interesting. I’m somewhat surprised you could think of these questions. But it doesn’t matter. Extracting the fortune from your body only takes half a quarter-hour. Even if the Overseer were to repel Saren Agu and rush here now, he couldn’t break the formation I’ve spent over thirty years carving in half a quarter-hour.
“Moreover, there are methods left behind by the Insect Elder here, with properties of being unknown.”
Properties of being unknown… Is this why the fortune hidden in my body wasn’t discovered for twenty years? Xu Qi’an suddenly realized. He sighed and said:
“It’s truly watertight.”
The white-robed Cultivator didn’t speak anymore. He lightly stepped, and a clear light lit up from the sole of his foot, instantly “igniting” the entire grand formation. The clear light spread like ripples in water, illuminating the incantations.
At this moment, Xu Qi’an felt an immense sense of crisis. Every hair, every nerve was transmitting signals of “danger”.
This was the warning feedback given by a Spirit Tempering realm martial artist to a crisis.
But no corresponding images appeared in his mind. This crisis was profound and elusive, seemingly impossible to capture in an image.
In the unseen realm, he felt something inside his body moving away, rising bit by bit, about to come out from the top of his head.
The formation is extracting my fortune… Xu Qi’an had a sudden realization.
At this point, the extraction of fortune stopped, as if encountering an insurmountable barrier.
Just then, in the center of the formation, the mummy slowly opened its eyes.
Those eyes had only whites, no pupils, seemingly containing a terrifying vortex.
Crack!
Xu Qi’an seemed to hear the sound of shackles breaking. Some shackle that had locked the fortune in his body had broken, and nothing could hinder the peeling away of fortune anymore.
Seeing this, the white-robed Cultivator finally smiled.
Twenty years of planning, today it was finally complete, a great achievement.
But the next moment, his face which had just begun to smile froze.
That immense, boundless fortune, invisible to ordinary people, just as it was about to leave Xu Qi’an, suddenly solidified, then slowly sank back into his body.
“You have another fortune on you, not belonging to Great Shang!”
The white-robed Cultivator said. His tone betrayed no joy or anger but had become low.
“It seems I guessed right.”
Xu Qi’an was drenched in cold sweat, feeling a fatigue of both physical and mental exhaustion, though he hadn’t expended any physical energy. He panted heavily, laughing between breaths:
“I’m now certain of two things. First, the fortune you hid in my body has been refined by you through Qi Practitioner methods. But the other portion of fortune in my body hasn’t been refined by you, it doesn’t belong to you.
“Second, you’re different from the Overseer. The Overseer’s infallible calculations are based on his ‘Heaven’s Mandate’ rank abilities. But you, as just a second-rank Qi Practitioner, are still within human limits. You don’t know everything. For example, you don’t know that I once had an extraordinary encounter and obtained a fortune of unknown origin. It seems the two fortunes have merged, so you can’t extract the portion that belongs to you.
“Ha, haha, hahaha…”
His smile gradually became exaggerated, with the joy of surviving a close call, and the fear of having walked through the gates of hell!
The white-robed Cultivator didn’t refute, as if acknowledging, and smiled:
“It just takes a bit more time, for a Qi Practitioner to refine an extra portion of fortune, this isn’t difficult. On the contrary, I should thank you for the gift, letting me obtain a generous fortune.”
“Haha, hahaha, hahahaha…”
Xu Qi’an was still laughing there, laughing like a madman.
As he laughed, tears came out.
The white-robed Cultivator frowned, his tone showing rare displeasure: “What are you laughing at?”
Xu Qi’an wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, looked at the white-robed Cultivator, somewhat desolate, somewhat hateful, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth:
“Should I call you the Overseer’s top disciple, or the Wenqu Star of the Xu family, Lord Xu? Or should I call you father?”