Madam, please ascend.

Chapter 196: Qingming Mirage
Sitting outside the clouds, I forget three thousand thoughts, while the worldly affairs of firewood and rice are locked in the south window.

Ever since Su Qing returned to the Great Xia court, he felt restricted in every way, and even had less and less time to concentrate on studying alchemy.

The court is now divided into two, half supporting Prince Duan Su Cen and the other half supporting the young emperor Su Rui.

Su Cen is in charge of the Ministry of War and has the support of the Tiancan Sect, so he has the strongest military strength and speaks more confidently.

Su Rui has the help of Prime Minister Qin Dingfeng, but unfortunately, although Qin Dingfeng was born in Tianshu Academy, he cannot seek help from his master.

For Tianshuyuan, Daxia was just a chessboard, not a place to return to. Qin Dingfeng's position as prime minister was just a test, and he would leave sooner or later.

Therefore, the heavy burden finally fell on Su Qing's shoulders, making her feel suffocated for a while.

She even thought about using her cultivation level of Return to Void Realm to directly massacre this filthy court with blood and start all over again.

It’s a pity that overly rough measures will only make the situation worse. Now Da Yan is eyeing us covetously. If a bloody suppression incident occurs in Da Xia, no one can guarantee that they will not lead troops eastward.

Su Qing thought about it and decided that the power behind Prince Duan was the key. If he could sever his connection with Tiancan and Dique, it would be like cutting off both of his arms.

Therefore, Daxia began to clear out the people who were collecting life-collecting materials from the land. Those people were not upright in the first place and were doing all kinds of sneaky things. After they were caught, they found that the people had been riddled with holes by them.

Since most of the people in the Dique Sect are cultivators, and they are backed by the cultivators of the Tiancan Sect, the arrest operation was not smooth, and it was very difficult to actually find their stronghold.

Just when Su Qing was in trouble, a hero suddenly appeared and destroyed several strongholds in succession with thundering means.

This person's identity is a mystery. Every time he clears a stronghold, he will send a message to the Great Xia court and ask them to send people to clean up the aftermath.

Su Qing was quite interested in this person, so he ordered his subordinates to pay attention to the matter, but not to investigate rashly so as not to upset the righteous man.

Today, the government office received a message from a righteous man, and Su Qing happened to be investigating a missing person nearby.

So not long after, Su Qing personally rushed to the deserted Wangyou Temple.

Requiem incense is often sold here, and the buyers will die suddenly shortly afterwards. Moreover, the people used to buy the requiem incense are "humans", so it has long attracted the attention of the government.

But no one expected that the mysterious man would be one step faster and be the first to break through the stronghold.

Blood spread in the cracks of the bluestone slabs. Su Qing checked the three Taoist corpses in the temple, but unfortunately he found nothing.

The three men died so quickly that no clues were left.

Su Qing only had a preliminary judgment, that is, the mysterious person who secretly helped was most likely a sword cultivator.

"It seems someone has escaped." Su Qing ordered the accompanying monks from the Imperial Observatory to survey the area and follow the trail to see if they could find the person who had escaped alive.

The rest of the people entered the secret passage behind the statue and began to carry out the aftermath work.

One of the pregnant women said that she had seen her benefactor. She described many details about the man's appearance, which made Su Qing even more confused.

Why do I feel that this person looks somewhat similar to Yun Yi the more I listen?
Little did they know that Yun Yi and Zhu Que had just left shortly before Su Qing arrived.

……

Paradise Gate, Qingming Cliff.

Ever since the Burial Sword Valley destroyed the Paradise Gate, Song Xinci really hated this place, so he had all the treasures moved away and then ignored it.

However, the fact that the Hehuan Sect and the Jile Sect were established here successively shows that this place is extraordinary, and there are still many doubts that have not been solved.

The bottomless Qingming Cliff is one of them.

Song Xinci had been waiting at the top of the cliff for a long time. When she saw Yun Yi and Zhuque arrive, she said, "There's a big commotion at the Tiancan Sect. They're probably heading for the underground palace." Yun Yi said, "If that's the case, we should make some preparations."

Suzaku asked, "How?"

Yun Yi: "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Let the Tiancan Sect find the treasure. We just need to destroy them."

"But the question is where is the treasure? If we don't know where it is, we can't set up an ambush first."

"The treasure is right beneath your feet and mine."

Upon hearing this, Zhuque looked towards the bottomless depths and suddenly understood what Yun Yi meant by his previous words.

He once said that the treasure was in the Hehuan Sect before, then in the Jilemen Sect, and now in the Burial Sword Valley. In fact, to put it bluntly, they are all in the same place.

Zhuque said in disbelief, "The Hehuan treasure has actually been hidden underneath this all along?"

Yun Yi smiled and said, "Not too stupid. As far as I know, the underground palace is just a decoy. The real location of the treasure and the method to open it are hidden inside."

Song Xinci asked, "The Paradise Gate has occupied this place for many years, why didn't they notice it?"

Yun Yi said, "They did find something strange here, but they didn't consider the treasure. You will find out if you follow me down."

The three of them flew towards the bottom of the cliff. The further they went down, the thicker the fog became. In the end, all they could see was white and they could hardly see anything.

Suzaku was puzzled and said, "Strange, this white mist doesn't seem to be fog."

Yun Yi warned, "This is mirage energy. Be careful to hold your breath and concentrate. Don't inhale too much, otherwise you will fall into an illusion."

A three-inch green light suddenly burst out from between Song Xinci's fingers, like a sharp blade splitting through the thick mirage.

The mother-of-pearl mist actually made a sound like a baby crying, and distorted to reveal thousands of blurry human faces.

The moment the fog dissipated, a mottled oyster, tens of feet tall, revealed itself. Its two massive shells, covered in warty protrusions, glowed pale, and countless shrunken eyeballs, naturally grown on its surface, were turned in unison toward the intruder.

At this time, its huge mouth was tightly closed, but a steady stream of mirage gas continued to pour out from the gap in its mouth.

Suzaku was startled and almost cried out.

Song Xinci remained calm and weighed the opponent's weight. He thought that although the shell was hard, it could only withstand three of his full-strength swords at most.

Yun Yi signaled the two not to panic and said, "This mirage demon has been cultivating here for thousands of years. The Bliss Sect has lived in peace with it all these years and often uses its mirage energy to assist in cultivation."

Suzaku asked, "Could the treasure be in its mouth?"

"Yes and no. There is a teleportation formation in the mouth of the mirage monster. Only after passing through it can we find the treasure of the Hehuan Sect."

This was the ingenuity of the Hehuan treasure; it was placed within a living body. Furthermore, this mirage demon was extremely old, with a long lifespan, and its shell was incredibly hard, making it difficult to open with force.

The most crucial thing is that if the mirage monster is really killed, it will immediately destroy the teleportation array in its body, and the Hehuan treasure will never appear in the world again.

The ancestor of Bliss also realized that the mirage monster must be hiding a secret, so he kept it here and did not destroy it.

It’s a pity that he never understood the secret until his death.

Song Xinci asked: "How can I open the entrance to the treasure?"

Yun Yi replied, "The 'Love Note' is hidden in the underground palace. It is the token of the Hehuan Sect Master, and it can command the mirage monster to open its huge mouth."

(End of this chapter)