The Three Immortals Set Sail, Turning Their Scheme Against Them

Watching the three San Xiao sisters arrive together, each with her own distinct style yet all equally radiant, Xuanwei felt most of his anxiety instantly subside, replaced by a trace of guilty unease... like being caught doing something bad? After all, beneath his medicine garden, he had hidden an illegitimate egg that could not see the light of day—literally.

"Senior Sister Bixiao, Senior Sister Qiongxiao, Senior Sister Yunxiao." Xuanwei hurriedly set down the "watering can" in his mind and stepped forward to salute them, forcing an expression of surprise—and innocence—onto his face. "What brings you here? Are you concerned about what's happening in the Eastern Sea too?"

"Obviously!" Bixiao was the most impatient of the three and rushed to speak. "Those bald... people from the Western Teachings came to our doorstep to set up an array, claiming they were 'Guiding the Fated.' Do they take our Interception Sect for decoration? Big Sister said we couldn't just stand by and watch. We had to go cause them some trouble!"

Xuanwei was instantly delighted. Just when he needed a pillow, someone brought him one! He had been worrying about how to subtly redirect the disaster toward... no, how to join forces and sabotage the Western Teachings, when three powerful enforcers—who also happened to be devastatingly beautiful—delivered themselves right to his door!

He cautiously turned his gaze toward Yunxiao, who had remained silent. The stabilizing pillar among the three sisters was sweeping her cool gaze thoughtfully across his medicine garden, lingering for a moment over the area he had secretly covered with the Low-Tier Chaos Barrier.

Xuanwei's heart skipped a beat. No way, was Senior Sister Yunxiao's perception really that sharp? Could she even sense something wrong with the Low-Tier Chaos Barrier?

"Junior Brother Xuanwei," Yunxiao finally said. Her voice remained cool, but carried an unquestionable certainty. "You seem especially concerned about the Western Teachings' actions this time."

Here it came! The soul-searching question might have been late, but it had arrived!

Xuanwei's mind spun faster than the currents within the Chaos Bead, but he showed just the right amount of "worry" on his face. "Senior Sister sees clearly. This disciple merely finds the Western Teachings' actions highly suspicious. If they were truly searching for something, they could have done so in secret. Why make such a grand spectacle of it, even laying down such an obvious array meant for 'guiding'? This disciple fears... they may not simply be searching for an object. They may have other intentions—perhaps even a scheme aimed at disciples of our Interception Sect."

He deftly expanded "me" into "disciples of our Interception Sect," hoping to muddle his way through.

Yunxiao looked deeply at him, her gaze seeming capable of piercing through his immortal-energy body and seeing the Chaos Bead in his sea of consciousness pretending to be an ordinary bead.

"Your concerns are not without reason." Yunxiao did not pursue the matter further. Instead, she said, "What Maitreya called 'karma' at Biyou Palace before was no empty claim. The Western Teachings often use such methods to influence people subtly, confuse their minds, and forcibly bind karma. By setting up this array, they may truly intend to use it to forcibly 'guide' those fated to our sect—or rather, those they deem 'fated'—to the West."

A chill ran down Xuanwei's back. Damn, forced teleportation plus mental manipulation? That was even worse than human traffickers!

"Then we definitely can't let them succeed!" Bixiao waved her little fist indignantly. "We have to go tear down that lousy array!"

"Second Sister, don't be hasty." Qiongxiao gently took hold of her and analyzed, "They came prepared. There are at least several Grand Unity Golden Immortals, and perhaps even a Quasi-Saint—Maitreya may be hiding in the shadows. Charging in recklessly is not the best course."

"Senior Sister Qiongxiao is right." Xuanwei quickly picked up the thread and offered his revised plan. "This disciple also believes direct conflict would be unwise. Perhaps we could... turn their scheme against them?"

"Oh? And how would we do that?" A hint of interest flashed through Yunxiao's eyes.

Xuanwei cleared his throat—on a mental level—and began spinning his tale... no, explaining. "If the Western Teachings wish to 'Guide the Fated' with an array, they must rely on some sort of mark or resonance. If we can find the core of that resonance, or... create a false target of 'fate' for them, draw the array's power in the wrong direction, and perhaps even make it cause trouble for them instead, would that not be better than tearing down the array directly?"

"A false target of 'fate'?" Bixiao's eyes lit up. "That sounds fun! How do we do it?"

Xuanwei chuckled, his gaze seemingly casually sweeping over several mutated Spirit-Nourishing Grasses in the medicine garden. He had stimulated them with Chaos Qi, making them exceptionally lush and even giving them a faint Chaos Dao Rhyme.

"This disciple is not particularly talented, but I do have some understanding of cultivating spiritual plants. Recently, I happened to produce some... little curiosities." He put on a mysterious air. "Because this disciple's cultivation method is unusual, these spiritual plants differ greatly from ordinary ones in aura. Perhaps... they can imitate a certain karmic fluctuation that would interest them?"

His words were half true and half false. The true part was that those spiritual plants had indeed mutated after being tainted by his Chaos aura. The false part was that his real confidence came from the Chaos Bead! He could use it to imitate any aura fluctuation he wanted and deceive that array! Using a few blades of grass as a cover was only to conceal the Chaos Bead's existence.

Yunxiao's gaze swept over the mutated Spirit-Nourishing Grasses once more, then settled on Xuanwei. A faint, nearly imperceptible smile seemed to pass over her cool face.

"This method... may indeed be viable." She nodded slightly. "Use their own methods against them. If it succeeds, the Western Teachings will suffer in silence."

"Big Sister, you agree?" Bixiao jumped up excitedly. "Then let's go! I can't wait to see those bald donkeys stare in shock!"

Qiongxiao nodded with a smile as well. "Junior Brother Xuanwei's plan is excellent. It avoids direct conflict while still blunting their momentum."

Plan successful! Xuanwei gave himself an approving nod in his heart.

Time was of the essence. After making a few preparations, the four quietly departed Golden Ao Island and rode their escape lights toward Liubo Immortal Island in the Eastern Sea. To avoid alerting the enemy, they did not use any large flying treasures, instead each using their own evasion techniques.

Bixiao was impatient and flew at the front on the golden light transformed from the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors. Qiongxiao rode a cloud at an unhurried pace. Yunxiao retained her usual cool demeanor, surrounded by the faint glow of the Primal Chaos Golden Dipper, as though she had fused with the surrounding space. Xuanwei, meanwhile, painfully operated his Celestial Immortal-level Five Elements Evasion Technique, giving everything he had just to barely keep pace with his three senior sisters at the peak of the Mysterious Immortal realm. Once again, he grumbled inwardly that low cultivation meant no rights.

Xuanwei did not remain idle along the way. As he flew, he secretly communicated with the Chaos Bead and adjusted the parameters for his simulated bait signal. He decided to go big—since the Western Teachings were interested in auras such as "Chaos" and "innate," he would imitate the aura of a "weakened but incomparably high-grade innate Chaos treasure that seemed to have fled after being damaged"! He refused to believe they would not bite such a massive lure!

Several days later, the four quietly arrived in the waters outside Liubo Immortal Island. From afar, they could see several streams of golden Buddha Light flickering at specific points around the island, vaguely forming the outline of a vast and mysterious array. The air was filled with a gentle yet forcibly attractive strange fluctuation. It was the power emitted by the Guiding array.

"The array has not fully taken shape, but its core has already activated." After observing for a moment, Yunxiao said coolly, "Yaoshi, Riguang, and Yueguang are presiding over it. Maitreya has not appeared. He may be watching from the shadows."

"Who cares whether he's there!" Bixiao rubbed her hands together eagerly. "Junior Brother Xuanwei, hurry up and take out your 'precious grass.' Let's give them a surprise!"

Xuanwei nodded and drew a deep breath. He first took out the most "ordinary-looking" mutated Spirit-Nourishing Grass from his medicine garden, though it secretly contained a trace of Chaos Dao Rhyme—nothing more than a decoy. Then he activated the Chaos Bead in his sea of consciousness with all his strength!

Buzz!

An extraordinarily weak yet incomparably high-grade fluctuation, ancient as though it came from before primordial Chaos had opened, weak yet carrying an irresistible allure—the fluctuation of a Chaos treasure—quietly rippled outward from the Spirit-Nourishing Grass like a stone dropped into a still lake.

To make it convincing, Xuanwei deliberately made the fluctuation intermittent, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, as though a damaged spiritual treasure were unconsciously leaking its aura.

The instant that fluctuation appeared—

Rumble!

The vast golden Guiding array in the distance lit up sharply like a shark that had smelled blood! Its power no longer spread indiscriminately as a guiding force. Instead, like a searchlight, it precisely locked onto the "Spirit-Nourishing Grass" in Xuanwei's hand—or rather, the bait signal simulated by the Chaos Bead!

"It reacted!" Bixiao cried softly, excitement in her voice.

Golden light surged from the center of the array. A gentle but irresistible beam of guiding Buddha Light crossed space and instantly shone toward them! Its target was the Spirit-Nourishing Grass!

"Now!" Xuanwei shouted. At the instant the guiding Buddha Light was about to envelop the Spirit-Nourishing Grass, he abruptly cut off the Chaos Bead's simulated output. At the same time... he secretly gave the poor grass an extra push, sending it shooting like an arrow toward the source of the guiding Buddha Light—the array's core!

That move was equivalent to stuffing a fake lure directly into the fish's mouth!

The next moment, a sudden change occurred!

The Guiding array seemingly had not expected the fated object to be so cooperative, and its power instantly fluctuated violently! The once-steady golden light twisted and shook! And the Spirit-Nourishing Grass, which Xuanwei had tampered with and filled with unstable Chaos Dao Rhyme, was struck by massive Buddha power the instant it entered the array's core—

Bang!

With a muffled blast, the Spirit-Nourishing Grass actually... exploded!

The explosion was not especially powerful, but the trace of Chaos Dao Rhyme within it clashed violently with the pure Buddha power, instantly causing a small-scale energy disruption in the array's core!

"Pfft!"

Yaoshi, Riguang, and Yueguang, who were presiding over the array, clearly had not anticipated the sudden development. The backlash of the array struck them, and all three swayed at once, their faces turning pale. They had clearly suffered minor injuries. The entire Guiding array dimmed and fell into greater disarray, while its powerful guiding force weakened drastically.

"Hahaha! This is killing me!" Seeing this, Bixiao clutched her stomach and laughed. "You tried to steal a chicken and lost the rice instead! That's what you get for guiding people around!"

Qiongxiao covered her mouth and laughed softly as well. A trace of amusement flashed through Yunxiao's eyes, but it soon became solemn. "They will realize what happened soon. We—"

Before she could finish, another change occurred!

Perhaps the explosion of Chaos Dao Rhyme had provoked something, or perhaps the disorder within the Guiding array had touched something deeper—

BOOM!!!

From the deep sea beneath them came a vast, ancient, utterly furious terrifying will! It was as though some sleeping primordial behemoth had been completely enraged!

Immediately afterward, an enormous claw beyond description, covered in heavy black scales and carrying monstrous waves along with terrifying Yi Wood Chaos power, reached up like a demonic hand from beneath the Nine Netherworlds and viciously... slammed down upon the disordered golden Guiding array!

It was that Mysterious Yin Ink Turtle! It had been disturbed again! And this time, its rage was clearly directed at the array that had been making noise at its doorstep while giving off a Buddhist aura it detested!

"Not good!" Xuanwei's expression changed. "Fall back!"

He did not need to warn them. The San Xiao sisters reacted even faster! The Primal Chaos Golden Dipper swept out a stream of golden light, instantly enveloping Xuanwei, Bixiao, and Qiongxiao before transforming into a streak of light that retreated at high speed!

Almost the instant they withdrew—

Crack! Rumble—!

That terrifying giant claw slammed solidly onto the Guiding array!

The golden light shattered! Buddhist chants wailed! Yaoshi, Riguang, and Yueguang were blown away like fallen leaves in a gale, vomiting blood as they flew backward in disarray. The Guiding array, not yet fully formed, collapsed beneath that single claw strike and dissolved into golden light scattered across the sky!

A backup measure left behind by a Quasi-Saint like Maitreya? An array presided over by Grand Unity Golden Immortals? Before a Primordial Remnant Species with the bloodline of the Black Tortoise, at the peak of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm and consumed by fury, it was utterly vulnerable!

In the distance, Xuanwei and the San Xiao sisters hovered in the air, staring at the apocalyptic scene and the Mysterious Yin Ink Turtle's enormous, icy eyes slowly emerging from the sea like a moving mountain range. Their hearts still trembled with lingering fear.

"I overdid it... This time, I may have gone a little too far..." Xuanwei swallowed nonexistent saliva.

However, just as he thought the danger had temporarily passed and he could leave triumphantly with his three senior sisters—

The Mysterious Yin Ink Turtle seemed to have vented its anger. Its icy giant eyes slowly turned. Rather than paying any attention to the three Western Teachings cultivators fleeing in panic, they suddenly fixed on Xuanwei, who had only just stabilized himself!

An even more precise and colder terrifying intent, carrying scrutiny and a trace of... confusion?, pierced through the void like countless icy needles and locked tightly onto Xuanwei!

Xuanwei's entire body stiffened. Even his immortal-energy body nearly froze beneath that intent!

He could clearly feel that the old turtle had targeted him not because of his earlier provocation, but because of the trace of the Chaos Bead's origin fluctuation that had remained on him when he simulated the aura of a Chaos treasure—a trace he had been unable to completely conceal! And because of the power of the Remnant Seed of Jianmu, closely connected to his aura!

It was over! The real owner had come looking for him!