Chapter 1811: Primordial Heart (I)
Chapter 1811: Primordial Heart (I)
Li Zhouwei could not tell how many meanings lay behind the opportunity Qingyu Qian spoke of. After a moment's thought, he went straight to the point. "What signs mark someone favored by the Heavenly Plain Scripture? How powerful must a divine ability be, and what sort of mystic would one need, to identify every person it favors? I fear I might be harmed by someone with such an ability."
The question was pointed enough to leave Qingyu Qian silent for a moment. He pondered it for quite some time.
Li Zhouwei appeared to be asking how the Heavenly Plain Scripture's favor revealed itself. But how could any cultivator below the rank of True Monarch perceive the subtleties of an Order? Li Zhouwei already knew the answer.
First, he wanted Qingyu Qian to rule out, in his own words, the possibility that he had detected Li Suining with some treasure of the [Heaven-Governing] Dao lineage. That would force the foxes to acknowledge that a powerful figure truly stood behind them.
To the fox demon, the question carried another meaning, Did the powerful figure behind you tell you that Li Suining and Liu Changdie were favored by the Heavenly Plain Scripture?
And beneath that lay a still sharper question, If so, has this powerful figure of the foxes been watching the Li Family closely for more than a century? And what part have you played in that, Qingyu Qian, with your ability to hear from afar?
Qingyu Qian knew how much people feared his [Morning Listening]. Even in ancient times, when formidable figures abounded, the Dao lineage behind this divine ability had been regarded as frighteningly insidious. A cultivator with divine abilities might have nothing to fear for themselves, but whose family did not have juniors or loved ones they needed to teach in private? A single lapse could let an outsider overhear a family's weaknesses or some vital cultivation art.
Now that the pressure bearing down on the world had grown heavier, [Morning Listening] posed an even greater threat to the Li Family. Brushing the matter aside years ago with an excuse about seclusion had not satisfied the White Qilin. If the foxes wished to work with the Li Family, they had to address it.
Qingyu Qian paused, then said by way of explanation, "Those favored by the Heavenly Plain Scripture are naturally hidden from divination. It is more than a matter of failing to divine them accurately. Divination cannot make sense of them at all, because they fall outside its reach. No matter how powerful your divine ability is, you would not even notice anything unusual.
"I do not know which faction handled Liu Changdie's case. The situation was tense then, but the great figures agreed on one thing, Jade True had yet to be settled, so Anhuai and Wanlin could not be opened. Yet they did not trust one another. None of them would allow Liu Changdie to fall into another's hands, and they could not simply dispose of him. No one knew what state Wanlin Heaven was in, after all, and keeping him alive could prove useful. So they pushed him into [Stored Metal].
"[Stored Metal] means keeping something suspended in storage, without putting it to use. As far as those great figures were concerned, they had locked him away in a treasury."
Qingyu Qian's expression tightened as he spoke. Beneath his even tone lay something closer to hatred than mere unease. "But that arrangement still left one problem."
He continued softly, "The Heavenly Plain Scripture has now fallen into Banished Essence and become entangled with darkness. It can no longer affect the present world. But things were different back then. The scripture was still in Wanlin. No one knew then how much power it had, nor what state it was in. The [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture] could set a hundred pieces across the world in motion with a single piece. Thus, the most urgent task was to sever Liu Changdie's connection to it!
"Those great figures wanted the key that Liu Changdie represented. They wanted the Douxuan treasure trove he could open as he traveled the world. They had no intention of letting the scripture place its pieces wherever it pleased. So they needed something powerful enough to contend with the [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture], something that could sever Liu Changdie from it completely without bringing the resulting karma down on themselves.
"That is how Liu Changdie came to Moongaze Lake! Of all the treasures they could have used, the one at Moongaze Lake was by far the best suited to the task."
Li Zhouwei raised his brows and narrowed his eyes. An answer came naturally to mind, though it brought a host of new doubts with it. He listened as Qingyu Qian continued, "Only one other treasure could contend with the [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture], Mount Dali's [Azure Attainment Primordial Heart Instrument]!"
Li Zhouwei felt a measure of relief, though he was still uncertain what to make of it. He asked, "An Immortal Artifact?"
"An Immortal Artifact!" Qingyu Qian closed his eyes briefly. His voice grew colder as he said, "It makes diviners miscalculate and observers overlook what lies before them. Its rank is beyond description. Even the [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture] cannot divine it, much less through a grotto heaven.
“Liu Changdie could not have been deliberately sent to the lake by the scripture. Nothing could have suited their purpose better. After his visit to the lake, the light of Great Expansion faded from him, and his ability to disrupt fate was severed. He could still glimpse the future, but that ability had fallen to a lesser level. His connection to the [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture] had been broken, and even the favor it had bestowed upon him vanished.
"Moreover, after so many powerful figures had turned their attention to him, the weight of his fate had grown immense. Without that favor to conceal him, he looked like a monster to anyone who observed him with a divine ability. Purple Mansion Realm cultivators could no longer divine what he was.
“Only then did he become someone whose abnormalities even they could readily detect. He went on to Jiangnan and blundered into the larger plans of the Golden Feather and Azure Pond Sects. Xiao Chuting, Chi Buzi, and Zhang Qiushui were likely the first among the Purple Mansion Realm cultivators to learn of him.
"After all, to a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator, the greatest cause for suspicion is someone they cannot divine."
Understanding dawned on Li Zhouwei, and he replied, "So that is why our divine abilities reveal nothing unusual about Suining, while Liu Changdie became known to every Purple Mansion Realm cultivator at the time!"
Qingyu Qian nodded, then said with a hint of apology, "The timing was wrong that day, so I did not explain it fully to you. With the [Azure Attainment Primordial Heart Instrument] on Mount Dali's northern slope, I know nothing of what happens across most of southern Moongaze Lake. Apart from you, no one in the world knows what goes on there!
"The immortal power of the [Azure Attainment Primordial Heart Instrument] is so great that even the [Star of Cultivation and Martiality] cannot pass through it, and its profound light cannot descend. If Great Song's Profound Holders came to Moongaze Lake and ventured even a little too far south, it would immediately strip them of their cultivation!"
There was a note of wonder in his voice. Li Zhouwei set down his jade cup. "So that was the real reason..."
He raised a brow. Still puzzled, he asked, "The [Azure Attainment Primordial Heart Instrument] belongs to your own people, senior. Can you truly not see through it?"
Qingyu Qian fell silent for a moment before answering, "It is a treasure left behind by the Origin Mansion. Even the lord I serve cannot touch it, and can only shelter under its protection while confined to the lake. What chance would a lesser demon like me have?"
That answer made everything clear!
Li Zhouwei lowered his eyes and took a sip of wine.
The lord behind Qingyu Qian is most likely someone from the Origin Mansion, though not one of its highest figures. Perhaps they lack the standing or cultivation to control this Immortal Artifact. Or perhaps something else is wrong with their condition. That would explain why they are confined to the lake.
This may be the great one Chi Buzi is so devoted to... But which Dao do they belong to? [Heaven-Governing]? The Three Yin? [Mansion Water]?
Years ago, Chi Buzi had met Li Qinghong in the Eastern Sea and, mistaking her for a member of the foxes, had passed a message through her. In that message, Chi Buzi had mentioned three names!
She Immortal, Mansion Water, and Yingze... The latter two make some sense, but why would there be an immortal of Sheji as well?
He said nothing as his thoughts ranged further. At last, his mind settled, and the deep sense of danger that had risen within him finally receded.
The Yang Family spoke true. They really do not know what is happening at the lake. That is why they do not know my family has four cultivation lineages!
Relieved, he remained silent for a long time. Yet he did not believe Qingyu Qian's claim to know nothing at all.
The great figures cannot probe the lake, and Purple Mansion Realm cultivators cannot divine it, but cultivators below the Golden Core Realm can still look with their own eyes! Other factions may fear provoking the lord behind the foxes and hesitate to send people here openly. Qingyu Qian, though, cannot be as ignorant as he claims. He must have noticed something unusual below the mountain. That is why he sent White Banyan out!
What could it be...
He quietly worked through it. His family's Immortal Mirror was constantly watching. Since Qingyu Qian knew that a great figure had made arrangements below the mountain, he was unlikely to come in person. Something unusual must have drawn his attention...
Li Zhouwei thought it over, and the pieces gradually fell into place.
The Supreme Yin Profound Light? That wolf demon mentioned in the Family History... Or did it begin even earlier?