From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

Could these three be the successors of the Xuanmen sect who want to reopen a new path?

Although the Mountain-Moving Taoist was not a true Taoist, Partridge Whistle knew that Taoism was divided into Quanzhen and Zhengyi, and that there were many branches under these two major branches. Moreover, these branches were all established by gifted individuals who were capable of standing alone, perfecting the old methods, or even creating new methods.

Perhaps in less than twenty years, they may witness the emergence of a completely new branch of Quanzhen or Zhengyi!

But in fact--

Jiang Liu is a free spirit.

Lu Jin and Li Muxuan are disciples of the Sanyi Sect. They are neither Quanzhen nor Zhengyi, but form their own lineage and call themselves Xuanmen. However, they are currently only verbally acknowledged by Zhengyi and Quanzhen as a separate branch of Xuanmen that is distinct from these two major categories.

After clearing away the fine threads and insect eggs in the corridor, Jiang Liu took the lead and probed for any remaining dangers at the forefront.

The corridor was winding and hundreds of meters long, seemingly built around the mountain. It felt like they had circled around it about nine times before finally reaching the end.

Jiang Liu pushed open the door at the end and saw that dust was everywhere, so he used his "Reversal of Eight Directions" technique to clean up all the dust in the vicinity.

The group was in an open space with bluestone paving stones and eight tripods standing around it, arranged according to the eight trigrams.

Facing the exit of the corridor, there is a grand hall with a vertical plaque above the entrance bearing the three gilded characters "Wuliang Hall".

"Achoo~ There's a medicinal smell, mixed with the scent of cinnabar."

Jiang Liu sneezed, slowed his breathing, and instead of immediately exploring the Boundless Palace, he walked to a nearby cauldron and tapped it.

Ding--

The bronze tripod, which has stood for countless years, is still golden-red and rust-free. Inside, it contains a murky black liquid that emits a strange fragrance.

A strange fragrance wafted into Jiang Liu's nostrils, making him feel as if he had returned to his past life and seen the bustling modern world. However, the exquisite inner elixir of the relic in his body took effect on its own, stabilizing his five internal organs and regulating his six bowels, thus dissolving the strange fragrance and making his primordial spirit clear.

Therefore, Jiang Liu was only momentarily dazed.

But the others seemed to be drunk, swaying unsteadily. The old foreigner, Hua Ling, and Hong Guniang even fell to the ground, talking in their sleep.

Helpless, Jiang Liu pressed his chest and abdomen, and the exquisite inner core of the relic passed through his esophagus and fell into his mouth. He held it under his tongue, circulated his Qi throughout his body, and activated its effects. He blew a wisp of exotic fragrance into their mouths and noses, which immediately made them jolt and their eyes clear.

"Where are we?"

Partridge Whistle shook his head first, then covered his mouth and nose and said to everyone, "Don't smell it. This is a special kind of drug incense. If you inhale it, it will cause hallucinations. It is said that if you have a certain skill, this incense can be used to enhance your spirit. However, if you inhale too much of it rashly, you will fall into a state of drunken stupor."

Everyone immediately covered their mouths and noses.

Jiang Liu asked, "Is it effective against birds?"

"No."

Partridge Whistle denied it, saying, "This is also a kind of poison, and birds' digestive systems can digest most toxins."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Liu didn't hesitate. With a flick of his wrists, he drew out the black liquid from the eight cauldrons, which circled around his body. Then, with a flick of his arm, the liquid darted out like a black water serpent, entering the corridor they had come from and flowing downwards.

"Consider it an extra chicken treat for us," Jiang Liu said with a chuckle.

"Cattle!"

Seeing Jiang Liu's skill, Partridge Whistle had no choice but to give him a thumbs up.

"Not worth mentioning."

Jiang Liu, modestly, asked again, "Brother Partridge Whistle, you seem to recognize this liquid? Could you tell me more about it?"

"In search of the Muchen Pearl, I've traveled to countless tombs, large and small, and encountered it before, so I'm quite familiar with it. I just never expected to find so many here..."

Speaking of the drug-inducing incense, Partridge Whistle gasped, a lingering fear on his face. "This incense is made from the pollen and nectar of a unique iris from the northern desert region. It can induce hallucinations, making people fall into a state of addiction from which they cannot extricate themselves. It is said that the shamans of the northern desert can also use the unique iris to cast illusions and reverse time!"

"That can't be, right?"

The girl in red's eyes trembled. "If we could reverse time, wouldn't that mean we could change the past?"

To be honest, she was tempted.

If she could go back in time, she might be able to change the tragedy of the Moon Gate being wiped out.

There weren't many people in the Moon Gate to begin with, and now she's the only one left. It's because she was once so strong-willed that when a wealthy merchant tried to force her to become his concubine, she killed his entire family, which forced her to become an outlaw.

Looking back now—

She didn't think she was wrong, but she also felt that there might have been a better choice back then... if only she could go back to the past!

"That's definitely impossible."

Partridge Whistle shattered the illusions deep in Red Girl's heart: "The pollen of the heterochromatic iris can cause hallucinations. Shamans in the northern desert can use special magic to connect with the pollen with Qi, thereby probing the thoughts and feelings of those who inhale the pollen, and thus constructing the past scenes experienced by those trapped in the maze."

Hearing this, Miss Red was somewhat disappointed.

Partridge Whistle continued, "Legend has it that a thousand years ago, there was a strange person in the northern desert region who possessed two souls in one body. He practiced related maze formations and was exceptionally powerful."

However, the bicolor iris has now disappeared from the northern desert region, and the number of shamans is also dwindling. Perhaps only some ancient tombs still contain artifacts related to the bicolor iris.

Speaking of this, Partridge Whistle was also curious about how Jiang Liu had broken free from the hallucinatory effects of the drug. This kind of drug was comparable to Gu poison; even a highly skilled person with extremely strong life cultivation would be disoriented if they were affected! After all, Qi is not omnipotent, and humans are ultimately made of flesh and blood!

But this must involve someone's cultivation, so Partridge Whistle wisely refrained from asking, and simply pointed to the Boundless Hall and said, "I estimate that the tomb of the Yuan Dynasty's great general is inside."

"Senior brother, is the Muchen Pearl inside?"

The old foreigner felt that this place was so strange that the Muchen Pearl might really exist.

"seeing is believing."

Partridge Whistle also hoped that he could find the Muchen Pearl in his generation, so as to end the responsibility of the Mountain Moving Taoist lineage and allow future generations to no longer have to toil for it.

"Brother Jiang."

After regaining consciousness, Lu Jin kept focusing his Qi, creating a thin layer of magnetic field around himself, and sensing his surroundings.

The closer he got to the Boundless Palace, the stronger the magnetic field fluctuations became. He could even vaguely sense the black shadow about ten feet long inside the palace.

That must be the Earth Dragon King!

"I noticed it too."

Jiang Liu lowered his voice, "Later you will point the way for Li Muxuan. His cultivation method of reversing the eight directions is different from yours and mine, so he cannot detect the centipede's location in advance."

"clear."

Lu Jin nodded vigorously.

"cut."

Hearing this, Li Muxuan scoffed, but he had to admit that because his "Reversal of Eight Directions" technique, passed down to Wang Yaozu, was primarily for external use, unlike Jiang Liu's method which could be used for internal cultivation, he couldn't actively sense the biomagnetic fields of other beings. Therefore, in terms of intelligence gathering, he was indeed slightly weaker than these two…

# Chapter 152 The Skill of Lockpicking

The group arrived at the Wuliang Hall, where a dog-head lock was placed on the gate.

"This is a dog-head lock from the Song Dynasty. It is made of red copper and is shaped like a reclining dog. Its head and tail are connected by a copper rod about the thickness of a thumb, which locks the gate."

The old foreigner took out a small hammer from his waist and was about to pry open the dog-head lock—

The techniques used by the Mountain-Moving Taoists to rob tombs, whether it's using armor to burrow through mountains or digging and climbing, are actually not very sophisticated. Therefore, when faced with things like locks, they resort to the simplest and most brutal methods:

smash!

"and many more!"

Jiang Liu and Hong Guniang spoke at the same time.

The two exchanged a glance, and Jiang Liu spoke first: "We have special abilities and have already sensed that the Earth Dragon King, one of the three demons of Ping Mountain, is in this Wuliang Palace. If we forcefully unlock it, the noise will be too loud and may alert it."

We were entrusted with this task and we also have the heart to subdue demons. If we can get rid of it in the least effortful way, it is best not to make a big fuss. Otherwise, we might trigger some mechanism here and cause the entire Bottle Mountain to collapse. We might really end up like Sun Wukong, trapped under the mountain.

Furthermore.

This dog-head lock was, after all, a funerary object, which could have been studied by scholars in later generations. It's a pity it was destroyed like this.

At this point, Jiang Liu suddenly realized that Partridge Whistle and his gang must have violently damaged a lot of cultural relics when they were exploring ancient tombs in the past.

The Mountain Moving Taoists possess skills, but these skills... are only relative to the Unloading Ridge Warriors; in essence, they still rely on brute force to break open tombs.

Upon hearing Jiang Liu's words, the old foreigner immediately put down his hammer.

The Mountain-Moving Taoist really doesn't have the ability to move a mountain. Let alone this Bottle Mountain, he can't even move that small hill that's ten meters high!

At this moment, the girl in red stepped back and said, "There's no need to go to such trouble to unlock it, I'll do it!"

She walked to the palace gate, picked up the dog-head lock, and shook it gently, as if to check its weight. Then she plucked a strand of hair from her head, folded it in half, rubbed it to make it more resilient, and then inserted it into the keyhole.

The girl in red gently fiddled with her hair, and the strands that had been inserted into the keyhole became entangled in the lock cylinder inside the dog-head lock. With a gentle tug, she pulled it.

click!

The sound of the lock cylinder sliding could only be heard by Hong Guniang and Jiang Liu.

The dog-head lock opened with a click.

"high!"

Jiang Liu gave a thumbs-up in praise.

While those skilled in ancient magic tricks may not be able to forge truly magical artifacts that would be recognized by the world of supernatural beings, they certainly excel in the art of mechanisms.

Based on Hong Guniang's lock-picking skills, Jiang Liu was certain that she was familiar with most of the ancient mechanisms used in daily life; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to open this Song Dynasty dog-head lock so easily.

Why add the prefix "in daily life"?

When faced with the traps of the barbican, Hong Guniang seemed somewhat at a loss—Jiang Liu could understand this, after all, the Moon Gate was an ancient magic sect that mostly interacted with living people, especially ordinary people. Their expertise was naturally in everyday life traps, not traps for combat or killing.

However, if this lock-picking skill were used for theft—

hiss!

Jiang Liu suddenly realized why so many of the legendary thieves in history possessed skills such as deception, manipulation, and evasion.

So it's just a skill that comes from being proficient in ancient magic tricks!

Sleight of hand!

Illusion!

Those techniques that dazzle ordinary people!

Even without relying on superpowers, just through skill, an ordinary person can still achieve the ability to steal with nimble hands!

With Hong Guniang's skill in picking locks, as long as one learns the method and practices for a long time, even an ordinary person who does not cultivate Qi can master it.