Embers of Sword

Chapter 68: North Sea Mausoleum
To the outside world, the sound of the tide sounds like thunder, but to the bottom of the river it sounds like the sound of distant drums.

Xie Xuanyi stood in the darkness.

He is probably the person in the world who is most familiar with this feeling... because he has been staying in such darkness for the past ten years.

Black and black are different.

Standing in the dark, whether with my eyes open or closed, I can feel that I am "alive".

But you can stand in the darkness of the Bai Ze secret realm.

Xie Xuanyi recalled the feeling of "death" again.

It's no different here than outside. There's wind blowing, sounds ringing in my ears, and even the sound of water flowing... but the darkness at this moment is like a shadow covering the lake in my heart.

stand right here.

It was like standing in a coffin.

"laugh."

Xie Xuanyi lit the fire.

The golden energy squeezed out from his fingertips burned into flames, illuminating the cramped and narrow dark space in front of him.

This is a wide stone wall with obscure ancient demon language engraved on it.

Xie Xuanyi learned the art of formations in the Taoist Canon of Lotus Peak.

Many large formations were designed by ancient sages. If one wanted to understand them, one had to study those obscure ancient texts… Coincidentally, the text carved on the rock wall at this moment was the kind that Xie Xuanyi recognized.

[“If I could attain enlightenment, I would like to be buried in the North Sea and feed turtles with my body, so that I could obtain great purity for thousands of years.”]

The golden primordial fire illuminated the stone wall, illuminating the line of ancient text that had been preserved for thousands of years.

Xie Xuanyi knew why he was standing in the darkness, and his heart was filled with depression.

It is said that the Great Sage Bai Ze left behind many caves and secret places.

But here...

It doesn't seem to be a cave, but a "tomb".

The reason why it feels like standing in a coffin is probably because this is a coffin.

The coffin that Bai Ze left for himself.

“It’s quite peaceful.”

Standing under the huge wall and looking at it for a while, Xie Xuanyi did not see any remaining bloodstains or signs of fighting... He saw with his own eyes that two groups of people rushed into the Bai Ze Secret Realm.

Or maybe the gentleman's agreement made before entering the river has taken effect.

Or it could be the entrance to a secret realm, with a teleportation array pattern carved on it.

It's obviously the latter.

The Chu family, Baihua Valley, and himself... were sent to different entrances.

The silence here was somewhat eerie, and Xie Xuanyi did not have any other choice because this huge wall blocked the way. If this secret place was the tomb left by the Great Sage Bai Ze, then the line of text just now was like an epitaph... As for this place, it was more like the end of the tomb.

"My illness is not here."

Xie Xuanyi tried to summon the natal flying sword in the lake of his heart.

I never thought that after entering the secret realm.

Instead, my natal flying sword completely lost its sensitivity... This summoning was not as effective as the previous one when I stood in front of the Lichao River.

Xie Xuanyi took out the Ruyi Order again and tried to inject it into his soul.

As expected, this token also "expired".

"It doesn't work...Qin Baihuang needs to practice more."

Xie Xuanyi smiled softly, took the token and walked forward.

Just took a step forward.

Boom!

A loud noise came from the ceiling. Xie Xuanyi frowned. For no reason, the entire secret realm began to tremble, like an earthquake... This earth-shattering tremor lasted for dozens of breaths before it stopped.

The world returned to silence.

Xie Xuanyi narrowed his eyes and looked ahead with some hesitation.

What is this tremor?
Was it caused by the operation of the main formation of Bai Ze Secret Realm? Or was it caused by other unknown conditions?

He took a deep breath, quickened his pace, and walked towards the end of the darkness.

……

……

Deng Baiyi walked with difficulty in the crowded alley.

It is said that this year's flood season is a "rare high tide" that only occurs once in sixty years. It's a pity that Qingzhou is under lockdown and many famous people are stopped outside the city. But even so, the Tide Watching Pavilion has been fully booked long ago.

The city was packed with people, making it difficult to move.

Deng Baiyi felt helpless.

I wanted to squeeze into the east of the city, join in the fun, and see the so-called big tide.

But the current situation may be difficult.

Even if you really squeeze in, you probably won't be able to get a good position after spending a lot of effort.

Deng Baiyi had no choice but to find a teahouse to rest. She opened the window on the second floor, looked up at the flock of birds flying across the sky, and sighed softly in her heart... If she were one of the birds, then she would only need to flap her wings gently to see the entire tide, right?
next moment.

Deng Baiyi's attention was attracted by a familiar figure... a cloth-clad vendor holding a candied haws, squeezed in the crowd, who was exactly the "fly pupil" that Xie Zhen had mentioned to her.

At this moment, the cloth vendor did not follow the crowd towards the city, but walked in the opposite direction.

He seemed to be following a young girl.

Deng Baiyi narrowed her eyes.

Yes... After observing for a while, she was sure that this Fly Eye was carrying out a mission, and the target of the mission was a cute child about the same age as Jiang Huang.

The child was alone, wandering around as if he had lost his way.

And the fly pupil followed closely behind it.

For some unknown reason, Deng Baiyi chose to pay the bill and leave, and then found the girl she had met twice in the crowd.

Of course she remembered Xie Zhen's warning to her.

But for some reason, my body still followed honestly...

Fortunately, I kept my hat brim down along the way and did not attract any attention.

Deng Baiyi took out the talisman, held it in his palm, and followed the peddler with fly-eyed pupils silently.

The mantis stalks the cicada while the oriole follows behind.

The cloth vendor had no idea that he, the "follower", had another "follower" behind him.

Lichao City is very lively, with fireworks shooting up into the sky during the day.

Every street was extremely noisy.

Three figures walked one after another, one after another, winding around most of Lichao City, and finally arrived at a relatively remote and quiet area.

Deng Baiyi stopped in time. She leaned against the stone wall, quietly holding the talisman, and listened to the sounds in the alley beside her through the wall.

Unsurprisingly.

The cloth vendor finally stopped and successfully blocked the way for the young child.

But to Deng Baiyi's surprise, it was the child who spoke first.

"How many people have you arranged in Lichao City?"

The child turned around, leaned his back against the stone wall, and said with a smile: "I can still be discovered in this state."

Deng Baiyi, who was leaning against the stone wall, was stunned.

In her mind, the child was most likely the "victim"...

But now the situation proves that I was wrong.

This child is most likely not a child.

"I also want to ask..."

The cloth-clad vendor placed the straw target of candied haws horizontally in front of him, and then drew out a rapier from it.

Sa.

The sound of the sword tip vibrating echoed in the alley.

He said expressionlessly: "How many people did you arrange? We have been investigating for so many days, but we still can't finish it."

"as well as."

"What do these array patterns carved on the streets of Lichao City mean?"

The child laughed softly when he heard this.

"I've heard that there are a lot of those desperate warriors with flying pupils in Da Chu... But now it seems that there are only so many of them. You don't have that many people either."

She opened her arms and said softly, "By the way, you were ordered to investigate. Didn't the higher-ups tell you what we are?"

The cloth vendor was stunned for a moment.

next moment.

The sound of clothes being torn could be heard from the alley. The girl's body swelled dozens of times in an instant. Wings as thin as cicada wings grew on her back. Her face became hideous, and her pupils instantly became one, two, and four. In just a few breaths, she developed thousands of "compound eyes" squeezed together.

Compared with the fly pupil in front of me...this is the real fly pupil!
"Boom!"

After the girl revealed her true identity, she did not launch an attack. Instead, she screamed and flapped her wings. In an instant, countless flames rolled out from the darkness - she set herself on fire!

The alley was instantly engulfed in flames!

It all happened so fast that Deng Baiyi had no time to react. The moment she turned her head, a pillar of scorching flames passed by her eyes, only millimeters away from her cheek. Her hair, blown by the strong wind, was ignited by the flames, flew through the air, and disappeared into embers... She was stunned for a long time, and walked out of the alley with a miserable face.

The lingering heat in the wind kept blowing Deng Baiyi's clothes.

The seemingly "harmless" child set himself on fire and turned it into ashes, which were evenly scattered in the hot wind rolling in the alley.

She is not human.

It's a demon.

From the beginning to the end, she had only one goal, which was to lure the follower here and complete the "self-immolation".

At the end of the alley, there stood a figure holding a sword.

The man with the fly pupil made a defensive gesture at the last moment, but unfortunately it was of little use. His whole body was burned to charcoal and he had completely lost all signs of life.

Most of the straw target with the candied haws on it was also burned. It was burning and rolling on the ground, rolling to Deng Baiyi's feet.

This scene.

It was even more abrupt than the killing attack by the formation in Xiaohuangshan.

A sudden feeling of nausea caused Deng Baiyi to suddenly bend down.

She squatted in the corner and used a lot of strength to control the urge to vomit...

It took her a long time to come back to her senses. With her vision blurred, she caught a glimpse of the remaining ashes and words at the end of the alley.

This handwriting seems a little strange.

But it's also somewhat familiar.

Deng Baiyi stretched out her fingers and stroked the embers remaining on the wall. If she remembered correctly, she had seen the embers on the wall before when she was in the formation of the Nine Bright Phoenix Fire Refining Void Formation...

She looked pale and subconsciously walked deeper into the alley.

Unsurprisingly.

Saw the second ember.

This seems to be an ancient text about formations... and it is an ancient text about formations that I "know"...

Deng Baiyi was stunned.

The little girl who just blew herself up was a demon, so these words... are actually the ancient texts of the demon clan’s formation?
And the reason why she knew him.

This was because the Divine Soul Dao Zang that Xie Zhen had taught him not long ago contained clear and concise interpretations.

The ashes left on the stone wall, Xie Zhen's departure without saying goodbye, Fly Eyes, Demon Cultivator, these chaotic and disordered information, all poured into Deng Baiyi's heart, and all of this became "traceable" and gradually became clear...

Deng Baiyi seemed to understand something.

She looked pale and slowly looked outside Lichao City.

The roar of the tide is getting closer.

……

……

The evil country, the eclipse lake.

The sky was dark and covered with dark clouds, and a ray of soft light shone into the hall.

Venerable Longmu knelt on one knee, in front of him was a throne of immeasurable height.

This ray of light divided the hall into two parts. Venerable Longmu did not raise his head to see the shadow cut by the ray of light.

"Great Honor."

His voice was very light and gentle: "The Bai Ze Secret Realm has been confirmed to be true."

There was no movement in the shadows over the throne.

"Although I cannot find the legendary [Immortal Fountain], if I can obtain the [Dao Brush], there is a chance that your injuries will be reversed."

Venerable Longmu had a very humble attitude.

Even though there was no reply in the darkness, he still said respectfully: "If you are willing to believe in Long Mu, please give me another 'holy power'. Long Mu is willing to go through fire and water for you, even if it means death."

This time.

The shadows are no longer silent.

The great master sleeping in the throne seemed to have heard the prayers of Master Longmu and responded.

There was a sudden vibration from the dark ceiling, and the ray of light that cut through the hall slowly moved backwards.

Venerable Longmu knelt on the ground with his knees, he tilted his head back and raised his hands with his palms facing up, silently accepting the blessing from the Great Venerable Tunri. This ray of light shone on his body, just like a bath of sweet rain. After raising his head, Venerable Longmu's skin was exposed, and his cheeks were covered with countless dry scars and dry gullies.

But after counting the breaths.

These dry marks and gullies disappeared at a very fast speed.

The entire cheek is restored to a smooth state.

This "holy light" lasted less than a hundred breaths, but Venerable Longmu had been reborn, his entire appearance had changed, and his eyes were shining.

He slowly stood up, bowed and left.

After leaving, Venerable Longmu returned to his palace and took out the "Soul Jade Ring".

He injected his soul into it.

The fog was thick.

Venerable Longmu stood in the sea of souls, waiting quietly.

Logically speaking, apart from the Great Sun-Swallowing Lord, he is the highest-level holder of this "Soul Jade Ring". Once he sends out a signal, he will receive a response immediately.

But this time, after he sent out the signal of spiritual communication.

There was no response from the soul sea.

Except for the last time I met Jia Liu...this situation has hardly ever happened, but this time is different.

This time.

What Venerable Longmu met were not his "subordinates".

So he stood patiently in the soul sea, waiting for the "Soul Jade Ring" to connect.

After half a stick of incense.

A figure finally appeared at the other end of the Soul Sea.

"Longmu."

The figure put his hands behind his back and said in a cold tone: "Have you thought it through?"

Venerable Longmu smiled and looked towards the end of the soul sea.

He bowed slightly and saluted: "Since you are using the 'Soul Jade Ring', you must have thought it through."

"..."

The figure said nothing, but just looked at Long Mu indifferently.

"The Demon Country is willing to provide shelter to all 'people with lofty ideals'. If you are willing, you can come to the Eclipse Marsh at any time."

Venerable Longmu said softly, "I will prepare the bed for you, the Great Venerable, to welcome you."

The figure sneered and disdained it.

Venerable Longmu didn't care either.

He said softly, "However, it's you... have you thought it through? The Tide Sacrifice Blood Refining Technique is truly against the laws of nature. If you take this step, I'm afraid you and Da Chu... will have no chance of turning back."

“No need to turn back.”

The figure said coldly: "I am extremely disappointed in Da Chu. I expected Da Chu to treat me like this."

Venerable Longmu was slightly startled.

He immediately smiled brilliantly and bowed again: "In that case..."

"Then I will give you the main array talisman of the Tide Festival on behalf of the Great Honored One."

Countless obscure and complex lines spread out above the soul sea.

This talisman, which was carved from nearly ten thousand demonic characters, continued to condense and concentrate, and finally turned into a flat piece of soul talisman paper and fell into the hands of the figure on the other side of the Soul Sea.

Venerable Longmu spoke in a gentle voice: "There is one thing that needs to be explained. Even if we use the Tide Sacrifice Formation to melt the souls of tens of thousands of people, it may not necessarily become a 'Yang God'. Whether to set up the formation or not still needs to be carefully considered."

The figure on the other side of the river paused slightly, but the next moment he still held the talisman firmly.

He turned around and was about to release the link with the Soul Jade Ring.

"Your Majesty!"

Reverend Longmu suddenly said loudly: "No matter when, the promise of Eclipse Lake is always valid!"

A scoff.

There was no further response beyond this.

The link to the Soul Jade Ring is disconnected——

Venerable Longmu looked at the empty soul sea in front of him and sighed with regret.

……

……

(It's a little late because it's close to the climax, so I spent a long time revising it. Sorry for the long wait. Tomorrow is the release date, and I will write a thank you note tonight.)

(End of this chapter)