After the Great Dao died

Chapter 99 Star Marking Names, Plague of Ants

A murderous intent flashed in Chen Ling's eyes.

He took a deep breath and held the Star Stone in his palm.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, activating the spiritual pool in his dantian.

As the spiritual liquid surged, a wisp of extremely fine and pure spiritual energy rose from the pool, traveled upwards along the meridians, and emerged from his fingertips, silently flowing into the Star Stone.

The Star Stone trembled slightly.

An ancient aura emanated from the stone, filling the entire cave.

The aura was extremely heavy and profound, carrying an inexplicable sense of destiny, as if the stone itself carried some unspeakable cause and effect.

Chen Lingxi no longer hesitated.

He raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers joined together like a sword, the spiritual energy at his fingertips pulsating, the hazy blue light dazzlingly bright in the dim cave.

He used his fingers as a pen and spiritual energy as ink to carve strokes on the Star Stone.

【Rong Chun】.

The moment those two words were uttered, the ancient aura on the Star Stone suddenly intensified.

The aura, which began as a faint breeze, instantly transformed into an invisible storm that swept wildly through the cave.

The stalactites on the cave walls vibrated and hummed from the aura, and Chen Lingxi's tied-up long hair was blown back and her robes fluttered.

But he paid no heed, only lowering his head to look at the Star Stone in his palm.

He learned Consort Chun's real name from Xiao Changlu.

On that day, Xiao Changlu leaped high from the shattered mountain peak, traversing several miles of sky, and landed on the banks of the Zhuzhao River.

His fierce roar, like a tiger's roar, still echoes in Chen Lingxi's ears.

"Rong Chun! I, Xiao Changlu, have kept my promise and come to kill you!"

Chen Lingxi always kept this in mind.

He then placed the cup on the Star Stone.

The cups and saucers slowly melted, as if they were being swallowed by the Star Stone.

Just then, the two characters engraved on the Star Stone suddenly lit up.

The light was initially just a very faint and thin point, but then it shot out from the strokes of the writing like a spark that had been ignited, growing brighter and brighter.

Immediately afterwards, an extremely wondrous spiritual light emerged from the Star Stone.

The light, like the stars in the sky, illuminated the entire cave, turning it into a dazzling galaxy.

Chen Lingxi felt her mind was captivated by the starlight at that moment.

"The Illusory Realm of the Cauldrons —"

Chen Lingxi seemed to have realized something.

He seemed to see two stars in the sky suddenly flash with light.

Those two stars hung in the depths of the boundless night sky, one in the east and one in the west, facing each other from afar.

Two stars shone brightly at the same time, vying with each other for brilliance.

The starlight was so intense that Chen Lingxi could barely open her eyes.

He felt the light from the two stars pierce through the cave ceiling, through the mountain of Qiaoji Mountain, through all obstacles between heaven and earth, shining directly on him and into the depths of his mind.

Then, he seemed to fall into a dream.

Without any warning!

Just a moment ago, he was in a cave on Qiaoji Mountain, sitting cross-legged on a blue stone, holding the Star Stone in his palm.

The next moment, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar place.

"Is this a palace?"

The palace was magnificent and majestic, standing at the end of the void. Its eaves and corners were upturned and golden, making it look like a celestial palace built of pure gold and jade, so dazzling that it was impossible to look directly at it.

Before the palace stand a thousand jade steps, each step paved with a single piece of white jade, its surface as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the shimmering glow of the sunset above the palace.

The palace was extremely tall and vast, far more magnificent than any other palace Chen Lingxi had ever seen.

Compared to it, the main hall of the Baosu Marquis's mansion looked like a humble thatched hut, and even the beast-fighting palace on Mangyang Mountain paled in comparison.

A plaque hangs above the gate of the palace.

"Mirror Palace? This is Consort Chun's palace!"

Chen Lingxi immediately understood: "I used the Star Stone to make Rong Chun my nemesis. The power of the Star Stone allowed me to see this palace."

Chen Lingxi's perspective was drawn by an invisible force, falling into the depths of the palace.

Then, he saw an extremely bizarre scene.

Surprisingly, there were many flower arrangements displayed in this palace.

Those flower arrangements were found in every corner of the entire palace.

It can be found everywhere: on both sides of the jade steps of the main hall, at the corner of the corridor, on the stone table in the courtyard, and in front of the windows of the warm pavilion.

Inside the palace, many palace maids and eunuchs were serving the flower arrangement, some were pouring water, some were pruning branches, and some were moving ceramic vases.

Busy, busy, busy.

"There are so many flower arrangements in Rong Chun's Mirror Palace."

Chen Lingxi was amazed.

His gaze continued forward, eventually arriving at the innermost palace within the palace complex.

The palace was enormous, with a high dome, huge brocade curtains hanging on the four walls, and the floor paved with whole pieces of mutton-fat white jade bricks.

The palace was filled with the fragrance of ambergris, its smoke curling upwards and lingering, enveloping the entire sleeping quarters in a subtle, rich aroma.

And the flower arrangements became even more numerous in the palace.

Every corner of the palace was filled with flower arrangements, and these flower arrangements somehow created a strange mist.

"There is something strange about Consort Chun's flower arrangements."

Chen Lingxi sneered inwardly.

Then, deep within the foggy sea, inside the palace, Chen Lingxi saw a person.

The man sat cross-legged on a low couch carved entirely from sandalwood.

A thick brocade cushion was laid on the low couch, and she wore a moon-white gown. The fabric of the gown, of unknown origin, shimmered with layers of rosy light under the mist.

Her hair was styled in a high bun, exuding an air of elegance and nobility that was impossible to look directly at.

It was Consort Chun.

At this moment, Consort Chun's face was completely bloodless.

Her brows were slightly furrowed, and there was a very faint and thin scar between her brows. The scar had scabbed over, but still retained a faint trace of life.

Although its aura was extremely faint, its power was terrifying, as if it could kill Consort Chun by revealing even a trace of its might.

"This should be Xiao Changlu's vital energy."

Xiao Changlu attempted to assassinate Consort Chun and even injured her.

Several months have passed, but the vital energy left by Xiao Changlu has not completely dissipated, which shows how powerful Xiao Changlu is.

at this time----

What caught Chen Lingxi's attention even more was the thing placed in front of her.

That was a precious mirror.

The mirror was about the size of a palm, cast entirely from some unknown ancient bronze. The back of the mirror was engraved with countless intricate and strange patterns, and among them seemed to be some kind of extremely profound magic array slowly operating.

The mirror was as smooth as water, and its surface was so bright that it reflected one's image, but what was reflected in the mirror was not the scene inside the palace.

Fog swirls within the mirror.

Meanwhile, the strange mist created by the flower arrangements in the palace was continuously flowing into the precious mirror.

Chen Lingxi had some guesses.

"She is gathering spiritual energy through flower arranging, and then refining this spiritual energy with the magic mirror."

"But where does the inspiration for these flower arrangements come from?"

Just then, a brilliant ray of light shone down from the sky.

The radiant light came without any warning.

The palace's dome was originally sealed, with layers of curtains and white jade bricks fitting together perfectly.

But that radiant light seemed to pierce through everything tangible in this world, shining straight down, passing through the dome, through the curtains, through the surging sea of ​​fog, and landing on the palace where Consort Chun was located.

The radiance is a bright white, warm and clear, yet not dazzling.

The radiant light fell upon Consort Chun, enveloping her in a hazy and sacred glow.

Under the radiant light, the blood and qi between her brows seemed to show faint signs of healing.

The remaining vital energy and power were gradually melted and dissolved by the radiant light, just like solid ice meeting spring water. Although extremely slow, it was indeed dissipating little by little.

"Is someone in the palace helping her heal?"

Chen Lingxi speculated: "Besides the Imperial Concubine and the Crown Prince, there are other cultivators from the Great Heaven and Earth realms in this palace."

The radiant light circulated around her for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before slowly dissipating.

Consort Chun opened her eyes.

The light in her eyes, which had been dim, had brightened somewhat.

She exhaled a long breath, stood up, walked to the precious mirror, and examined its surface for a moment.

Then, seemingly extremely tired, she slowly walked to the low sandalwood couch, got on the bed, pulled the brocade quilt up to her chest, and fell into a deep sleep.

Chen Lingxi's perspective suddenly changed at this moment.

Originally, he was observing the scene in the palace from the perspective of Su Xing Shi, but the moment Consort Chun closed her eyes and fell asleep, his perspective was drawn by an invisible force and he sank into Consort Chun's dream.

Correct.

Dream.

Various messages emanating from the Star Stone told Chen Lingxi that this was Consort Chun's dream.

The dream was extremely hazy, like an endless wilderness shrouded in thick fog.

There was no sun or moon in the sky, only countless stars twinkling and shimmering against the dark backdrop.

The arrangement of those stars was extremely peculiar, as if someone had used the stars as chess pieces to set up an incredibly vast and complex chessboard on the sky.

Consort Chun stood in the very center of a star.

She still had that girlish face, but her eyes revealed a sense of vicissitude and weariness that was completely different from her appearance.

She raised her head and looked up at the sky.

Above the sky, she seemed to see a star gazing back at her.

On that star, a shadow sat cross-legged.

The shadow was extremely blurry, and it was impossible to tell whether it was male or female. Only a vague outline could be seen, sitting upright on the star, like a statue enshrined at the top of the stars.

The shadow seemed to be holding something in its hand. The thing was extremely long and thin, vaguely resembling some kind of weapon, but its exact nature was unclear.

But the shadow's aura was extremely astonishing.

The shadow exuded murderous intent and a heavy aura, like a peerless ferocious beast lurking above the stars, coldly looking down at her!

That murderous aura pierced through the mist of the dream, through the cold light of the deep purple star in the sky, and landed directly on Consort Chun.

He wanted to kill her.

Then, she woke up.

Consort Chun suddenly opened her eyes, sat up from the couch, and her forehead was covered with a fine layer of cold sweat.

"Who wants to kill me?"

"A dream that foretells misfortune must be some kind of ingenious method, perhaps even a powerful artifact."

She caught her breath for a moment, and once her breathing had calmed down, she rolled over and got out of bed.

She walked barefoot on the white jade bricks to the precious mirror.

She raised her right hand, her index and middle fingers joined together like a sword, and a faint, fine light shone from the tip of her finger. The light was azure in color, flickering and undulating, and she lightly touched the surface of the precious mirror.

The swirling mist on the mirror surface suddenly stopped at that moment.

Then, ripples appeared on the mirror surface.

The fog in the mirror dissipated completely, replaced by an extremely clear view.

[Listen with the mirror!]

The sight made Chen Lingxi's pupils shrink suddenly!

Because he saw many ants.

Then, a beam of light fell from the sky.

The light was a blinding white, like a shrunken sun falling from the sky, growing brighter and closer. When the light was almost upon him, Chen Lingxi could see that it was actually a foot.

A foot wearing embroidered shoes stepped down on the swarm of ants.

The ants all died.

Then, the foot lifted up, rose back into the sky, and disappeared at the edge of the mirror.

All that remained were the corpses of ants scattered everywhere.

Consort Chun looked at the reflection in the mirror and remained silent for a moment.

Then, a smile appeared on her lips.

There seems to be a condescending, indifferent disdain in his demeanor.

It's like watching a play that has nothing to do with you.

"Did the murderous intent fall on these trampled ants?" she murmured to herself, then shook her head and removed the finger that was glowing with spiritual light from the mirror.

The ripples on the mirror slowly dissipated, and the scene of ants being trampled to death gradually blurred, eventually being swallowed up again by the surging mist, restoring its original deep and unfathomable appearance.

She seemed completely oblivious to the murderous intent emanating from her dream.

Consort Chun turned around, walked slowly back to the low sandalwood couch, and sat down on the edge of the couch.

"What do I have to fear if someone who is enraged by an ant comes to kill me?"

Her tone was flat and indifferent, as if she were talking about something completely unrelated to herself.

It seemed to her that the shadow sitting cross-legged on the stars, wanting to kill her, was nothing more than a mediocre person who was angry at the death of an ant.

Why worry unnecessarily?

The palace returned to silence.

At this moment, the illusory scene of the star slowly dissipated.

Chen Lingxi suddenly opened her eyes.

He was still sitting cross-legged in the cave on Qiaoji Mountain, holding the Star Stone in his palm.

The name of Rong Chun is already engraved on the Star Stone.

Chen Ling squinted her eyes.

"Ants—" he repeated the two words under his breath, his brows furrowing.

Then, he began to reminisce about many things he had with his parents.

Those memories, which I hadn't revisited for a long time, surged into my mind like a tidal wave.

He remembered that when his father returned from his shift at the yamen, he would always buy two freshly baked steamed buns from the steamed bun shop at the alley entrance, one for himself and one for the youngest daughter of the Xi family next door.

I remember my mother sitting by the window embroidering, sunlight filtering through the paper window and falling on her dark hair, making the silver hairpin sparkle.

I'm reminded of many things.

That was the first thing he possessed in this world.

Even after awakening his memories of his past life, he never forgot them.

But later, all those people died.

My father knelt on the yellow mud ground of the execution ground as the executioner's blade fell, and his head rolled far away.

The mother followed closely behind and also collapsed on the same patch of yellow mud.

He could only watch.

Watching the blood being washed away by the rain, flowing out a long red channel all the way to his feet.

Consort Chun, who had done all this, had just looked at the ants trampled to pieces in the precious mirror in her palace, but she only smiled lightly, shook her head, and didn't care at all.

Chen Ling closed her eyes, and her parents' faces reappeared in her mind.

My father's thin face, my mother's gentle eyes, the small courtyard in Liujie Lane, and the well.

Those images that he had buried deep in his heart and never easily brought up now flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.

His expression gradually became serious.

He pursed his lips, swallowing back the breath that had risen to his chest.

Then Chen Lingxi held the Star Stone and murmured to herself.

"Even the smallest calamity can lead to a fatal disaster."

The golden light on the Star Stone shimmered, making the two characters "Rong Chun" even clearer.