There are no ancestors at all; I made them all up.

Chapter 282 Chen Qiu had doubts and sought help from Li Qing.

The stone bead in my palm was warm and smooth, yet it exuded a chillingly eerie Buddhist aura.

Chen Qing stared at the stone bead that sealed the will of the ring, his eyes flashing with contemplation.

"This fiend claims to be a protector under the Great Free Buddha," he recalled the arrogant words of the phantom. "Judging from all the information, this Great Free Buddha seems to be a title of the Demon Buddha. If the will in the ring is not lying, he, or rather the force behind him, must have a very deep connection with the Demon Buddha!"

A thought flashed through his mind, connecting many clues!
"Yun Wuchen possesses great fortune, and even without the ring, he should have been able to rise to prominence. However, he was guided by the will within it to search for half of the Dao Fruit at Jiming Mountain. This is no coincidence! It is probably a pawn planted by the Demon Buddha or his henchmen, with the aim of pursuing and even retrieving that scattered half of the Dao Fruit!"

Thinking of this, a chill rose from the depths of Chen Qing's heart.
"Now that the Demon Buddha has been revived and his intelligence has been rekindled, even if he has not yet retrieved the other half of the Dao Fruit, it means that his will and tentacles may have already spread in the mortal world! Where is he now? Is he lying in seclusion in some hidden place slowly recovering, or has he already secretly built up his own power?"

He realized a serious problem!
"I went to search for the Dao Fruit in the Immortal Realm of Dreams before him, but as long as I didn't succeed, the current situation wouldn't change, and that resurrected demon would always exist in this era! If he knew that the other half of the Dao Fruit was in my hands..." Chen Qing narrowed his eyes slightly, "with the temperament and methods of such an existence, how could he let it go? He will definitely take action!!"

In the Immortal Dynasty of Dreams, he used the power of the Dao Derivation Record to arrive tens of thousands of years ahead of schedule, which allowed him to temporarily avoid the direct influence of the Demon Buddha's forces and calmly make arrangements to seek the other half of the Dao Fruit.

But what about the present world?

"Such a terrifyingly powerful being, even with an incomplete Dao Fruit and not fully restored strength, still possesses methods, knowledge, and accumulated experience that are beyond the imagination of ordinary cultivators! Gathering manpower and cultivating power in this mortal world would be no difficult task for him! It seems that the matter of the Dao Fruit must be kept strictly guarded and not easily revealed. Even so, it is hard to be sure whether the other party can deduce it."

The more Chen Qing thought about it, the more urgent the situation seemed.

"We still need to improve our strength as soon as possible and find out whether the Demon Buddha's forces exist in the world and what their movements are! Otherwise, we will be too passive with the enemy in the dark and us in the light! By the way, I have been preparing the methods of divination for a while now, and I should choose one and study it carefully."

Chen Qing had actually acquired several methods of divination and prediction. Whether they were inherited from the Hidden Star Sect, obtained from his past travels, or even from the Remnant Scroll Pavilion or Liu Shuang'er, he had come into contact with them and had practiced them in his spare time.

However, this path is vast and profound. Previously, he focused his energy on fundamental cultivation and the struggle for the Dao, and devoted limited energy to the Dao of deduction. He could make some calculations for ordinary matters by relying on his mood and intuition, but once it involved his own major karma, or existences with far-reaching implications and extremely high status such as the Demon Buddha Dao Fruit, he was often powerless and could only see through the fog.

"If in a dream, as the heir of the Marquis of Donghai and the true disciple of the Hidden Star, it would not be difficult to obtain a superior divination method from the sect or the Marquis of Donghai's mansion. Even if we go back to the middle of the Immortal Dynasty, by borrowing Li Qing's identity, we should be able to obtain quite a lot."

Chen Qing's mind raced as he pondered to himself.

"While the methods from the Immortal Dynasty era certainly have their own unique and profound aspects, they are limited by the times and may not be perfect. On the other hand, although the spiritual energy in the present world is declining, many methods have been refined and developed through cultivators' efforts in seeking knowledge in dire straits and studying the details. In terms of ingenuity and cleverness, they may even surpass the former."

Thinking about this, he quickly came up with an idea.

"Perhaps I should find a method of practice that can combine the strengths of the past and present, has a similar core, and can be used for mutual reference and verification. Only in this way can I learn from each other's strengths and make up for my weaknesses, and truly improve my attainments in this area."

Just as he was pondering this, a communication talisman in his sleeve suddenly vibrated slightly.

Chen Qing initially thought the news came from Anning in the Southern Yan Dynasty, and that he had found information about the emperor of the Immortal Dynasty or various Buddhist sects. However, when he took it out to look, he found that the messenger was Bai Shaoyou, who was guarding Mingxia Mountain.

As the divine sense probed in, Bai Shaoyou's voice followed: "Master, the sect has recently been visited frequently by a group of people, almost daily, with each visit more elaborate than the last. The key point is that these are not people from that powerful faction, but high-ranking Buddhist monks they have requested. I dare not act on my own initiative, so I am sending this message to ask for your instructions on how to deal with this."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing frowned slightly.

Although Mingxia Mountain has established a foothold in the South China Sea, it is still a newly emerging sect. How could it have such a deep "relationship" with Buddhism, attracting monks from all sides to visit frequently?

He immediately sent a message to inquire about the details.

Bai Shaoyou quickly reported back, explaining the whole story.

It turns out that the source of these frequent visits was none other than the "Cangming Water Palace"!
"Cangming Water Mansion?" Chen Qing's gaze sharpened as he recalled his encounter with Er Qing, the young master of the Water Mansion, who was shrouded in the Great Sun True Flame, when he first condensed his Yin Spirit at the spiritual vein node of Wanghai City.

At that time, his servants were arrogant, but the young master was relatively polite. He took advantage of the situation to cut off some of the Great Sun True Flame and temporarily suppressed it, but he also made it clear that it was only a temporary solution.

According to the information Bai Shaoyou discovered, after that, Naerqing seemed to think that Buddhism could suppress the True Flame. In order to eradicate the hidden danger in his body, he invited many eminent Buddhist monks to help him.

Initially, thanks to the Buddhist cultivation of the eminent monks, the Great Sun True Flame was indeed suppressed, and the situation was stable for a period of time. However, this did not last long, and the True Flame reignited and became even more stubborn. Even when a high-ranking monk at the Golden Core level was invited to take action, it was difficult to completely eradicate it.

Bai Shaoyou further said, "I heard that the entangling fire is extremely strange, containing an indestructible quality, and its path is so elusive that even a group of eminent monks are helpless. However, after this incident, that young master has become more closely associated with Buddhism. Presumably, he later found out about your background, Master, and was worried that the conflict that day might have offended you, so he asked a familiar monk to come and visit you. His purpose is self-evident."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing thought to himself, "The path of the Great Sun True Flame was severed after the Immortal Dynasty, so it shouldn't be this difficult to deal with. The key lies in its source. You were exposed to this fire in a ruin, so there must be some mystery hidden within that ruin. Moreover..." His gaze darkened slightly as he sensed something unusual.

"The relationship between Cangming Water Palace and Buddhism has become so close in a short period of time that it has even reached the point where it can ask eminent monks from various temples to act on its behalf. This must be more than just a matter of treating illnesses."

Recalling his encounter with "Chen Qiu" in his dream, and the secret collusion between the Five Elements Army and the Buddhist Kuchan Temple behind the Cangming Water Vein, Chen Qing's vigilance suddenly increased.

"After history is skewed because of me, many things will correct themselves. There are many things behind this that need to be thought about and considered more."

Thinking of this, he immediately sent a message to Bai Shaoyou and instructed him: "Receive them according to etiquette. If they ask about me, say that I am traveling abroad, seeking a breakthrough opportunity, and my return date is uncertain. As for Young Master Na'erqing's old ailment, you can say frankly that I was only able to temporarily suppress it by chance and with the help of the location. I am truly powerless to eradicate it, and ask them to find someone more capable."

After dealing with the matter, Chen Qing spent another day recuperating in the courtyard.

He had expected news from Liu Shuang'er or An Ning soon, but to his surprise, there was still no word by the afternoon of the next day.

"It seems that reviewing the files of the imperial court and the Anti-Demon Guard is not an easy task. Perhaps it involves authority issues, or perhaps the files are too numerous and require time to sort out."

Just as he was pondering whether he should try other approaches, he heard light footsteps outside the courtyard.

But it was Princess Qingmu, Mu Qingling, who arrived.

“Young Master Chen,” she said as she stepped into the courtyard, holding several ancient scrolls in her hands, “I asked my father for permission and, with his consent, carefully searched through the secret archives and found some texts that may interest you.”

She placed the scroll on the stone table and said, "Most of the contents here are records about the origins of Buddhism in the Western Wilderness and the various factions. Many Buddhist sects that are now prevalent in the Eastern Spirit Continent can be traced back to their roots in the Western Wilderness. In addition, there are also a small number of scattered records of the emperors of the Immortal Dynasty. The Taijing Dynasty that you mentioned is also included, but the content is not much and is quite brief."

As Chen Qing opened the scroll, he listened intently. When he heard that there was very little information about the Taijing Immortal Emperor, he sighed slightly.

What he urgently needs right now is detailed information about the Taijing Immortal Emperor.

Firstly, "Li Qing" is in the Taijing era and is trapped in the dream of Yujing. If he can understand this opponent and "old friend" better, he may be able to find the key to breaking the deadlock.

Secondly, in order to maintain the misunderstanding of "the reincarnation of the Holy Emperor" and get away with it, the life story and mysterious personality of Tai Jing in the late Immortal Dynasty of "Chen Qiu" were essential topics of conversation, at least to make them seem profound and fool Zhang San and others.

But as he was thinking, he suddenly froze.

"Why should I go to such lengths? I could simply go to the mid-stage of the Immortal Dynasty, borrow 'Li Qing's' body, and ask that incarnation of the Taiyuan Evil Corpse! I could solve the problem facing 'Chen Qiu' through 'Li Qing'! After all, 'Li Qing's' story is not over yet, and his fate has not been sealed!"

As soon as this thought arose, it was as if the clouds had parted and the fog had cleared, and Chen Qing's thoughts became clear instantly!

"Although Li Qing is trapped in the dreamlike Jade Capital, he has the living history book, the Taiyuan Evil Corpse, by his side! Moreover, isn't the Jade Capital in the dream a huge treasure trove of information? Those trapped inside are all real residents of Jade Capital from the Taijing Dynasty, including many royal relatives and high-ranking officials! How could they not know a lot about the past of Taijing and the secrets of the court? Just ask a few people to inquire and collect some anecdotes and rumors, and that will be enough to deal with Zhang San and the others! As for those more core secrets, even if the Evil Corpse doesn't know them, in such a large Jade Capital, surely there are a few royal family members who know the inside story?"

He immediately thought of the twelfth prince, Xu Wenji, who had been quite respectful to him.

Chen Qing's mind raced, and a thoughtful expression inevitably appeared on his face.

Mu Qingling, on the other side, misunderstood. Seeing his slight disappointment at first, followed by silence, she assumed he was not satisfied with the information she had brought.

After a moment's thought, Mu Qingling said softly, "Young Master Chen, you seem to be particularly interested in intelligence about the Immortal Dynasty's royal family. Actually, I have some unverified information here. I was going to tell you after confirming it, but since you care about it, I'll tell you now, so that it might put your mind at ease."

"Oh?" Chen Qing snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Mu Qingling. "Your Highness, please speak."

Mu Qingling composed herself and said, "According to some ancient records left over from my Qingmu Ling Kingdom, the royal family of the Beili Dynasty in the north seems to have a very close relationship with a certain sect from the Immortal Dynasty. In fact... there may be descendants of the Immortal Dynasty royal family in that sect, who eventually evolved into the current Beili royal family."

"Is that so? You mean the Northern Li royal family has blood from the Immortal Dynasty royal family?" Chen Qing's heart stirred, and he asked, "I wonder what the specific surname of the Northern Li royal family is? Is there any more detailed account of their origins?"

Mu Qingling didn't delay and replied, "The royal family of Beili, with the surname Murong."

(End of this chapter)