Their new cave abode lay beneath an unremarkable volcanic range on the edge of the Southern Jambudvipa Continent. Lava churned below, and the violent fire spirit energy naturally blocked probing divine sense. A trace of baleful earth energy was mixed in as well, effectively disrupting the Heavenly Dao's perceptions. It was an excellent place to hide for the time being.
Tongtian laid down layer upon layer of restrictions, then masked them with the Chaos Bead's aura. Only then did he relax a little. His face remained pale. He had fought several battles in a row, rescued people, and forged a new body; the toll had been immense. Even with the Dragon Palace's resources to support him, he still felt weak.
Yun Xiao meditated within her newly formed Chaos Immortal Body, her aura gradually stabilizing. She had even turned misfortune into good fortune, breaking through directly to Golden Immortal Peak and coming within one step of the Taiyi realm. Even so, grief and hatred remained plain on her face. Wudang stood guard beside her, equally troubled.
Kui Niu lay at the cave entrance, ears pricked in vigilance. Fierce light flashed now and then in his ox eyes, and hot white vapor streamed from his nostrils.
The atmosphere inside the cave was as still and heavy as the lull before a storm.
"Master, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is stationed in the East Sea. He's clearly here to investigate us. The Western Teachings still haven't given up their treacherous designs. How should we respond?" Saint Mother Wudang broke the silence, her voice full of concern. Ksitigarbha, at Grand Unity Golden Immortal Peak, was no easy opponent—especially with the Two Saints of the West standing behind him.
Tongtian slowly opened his eyes. Chaos Color swirled in their depths, cold and unfathomable. "Ksitigarbha? If he wants to deliver souls to salvation, then let him 'save' as many as he likes."
He looked at Wudang and Yun Xiao. "Both of you are skilled in the Array Dao, especially Yun Xiao. Your newly acquired Chaos Immortal Body gives you a keen sensitivity to Chaos Qi. I want you to return to Golden Ao Island at once."
"Return to Golden Ao Island?" Wudang and Yun Xiao were both taken aback. Wouldn't that be walking straight into a trap?
"I'm not asking you to meet him face-to-face." Tongtian's lips curved into a cold smile. "Ksitigarbha is stationed in the East Sea, so his divine sense must be monitoring Golden Ao Island and the surrounding waters at all times. I want you to go back not to hide, but to—set up a formation!"
"Set up a formation?" The two women looked puzzled. "That's right," Tongtian said with a nod. "Not a killing formation, nor a defensive one, but a false formation! A confusing formation!"
Wisdom and calculation gleamed in his eyes. "Ksitigarbha, and the Two Saints of the West behind him, must be full of suspicion by now. They suspect I survived and am in hiding, but they can't be sure. In that case, let's show them the 'truth' they want to see!"
"Yun Xiao, use the power of your Chaos Immortal Body to imitate the lingering Dao resonance from my sermons of old. At several important sites on Golden Ao Island, such as the ruins of Biyou Palace, the preaching platform, and the sword-testing grounds, set up a 'Mirage Array.' It needn't be powerful. Just make it occasionally manifest a faint, illusory vision of a Saint preaching—something that seems real, yet isn't, and will make them suspicious."
"Wudang, use your Water Dao together with the baleful earth energy here to set up a 'Nine Bends Maze Array' on the seabed of the East Sea. Disrupt the Water Element Power and create the illusion of unstable ley lines and chaotic spiritual energy. Make the leaked fluctuations of Chaos Aura appear to be caused by changes in the ley lines and an ancient remnant formation malfunctioning."
"Work together. Make the false seem true and the true seem false. Mix truth with lies, and make sure Ksitigarbha can't figure out what's going on. Keep his attention fixed on the East Sea!"
Wudang and Yun Xiao's eyes gradually brightened as they listened. What a clever plan! Instead of deliberately hiding, they would actively create chaos and illusions, shrouding their opponents in a fog of information and leaving them unable to tell truth from falsehood. Even with Ksitigarbha's formidable powers, he wouldn't dare alarm the various factions without certainty. He could only keep observing, buying Master precious time to recover and make plans!
"Understood!" the two women replied in unison, eager to get started.
"Remember, your safety comes first," Tongtian cautioned. "Once the formations are complete, leave at once. Don't linger. Ksitigarbha's cultivation surpasses yours, so don't confront him directly."
"Yes, Master!"
Wudang and Yun Xiao accepted his orders and immediately set out, quietly leaving the cave abode. Concealed by the baleful energy of the earth fire, they headed toward the East Sea.
Only Tongtian and Kui Niu remained in the cave abode.
Tongtian took out a large quantity of resources from the Dragon Palace and began channeling his power at full strength to heal his injuries and restore his depleted origin. The Chaos Dao Fruit spun as it devoured and refined vast amounts of spiritual energy. His aura quickly grew steady and powerful.
Kui Niu faithfully stood guard beside him.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
On the East Sea Coast, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva sat cross-legged atop a golden lotus, his expression compassionate as he recited sacred scriptures. The golden light of the Swastika Buddha Seal, used to deliver departed souls, continually flowed into the sea, summoning the lingering resentment and fragments of true spirits left behind by the countless former members of the Interception Sect.
This was both an act of merit and an investigation. Through the resonance of his salvific rites, he could perceive even the tiniest movements of energy throughout the sea.
For the first few days, all was calm. Apart from the dense aura of death and resentment, there was little out of the ordinary.
But then, at some point, things began to take a curious turn.
In the central area of Golden Ao Island, indistinct apparitions would occasionally appear without warning. Sometimes immortal cranes seemed to dance; sometimes golden lotuses seemed to bloom. Faint echoes of the Great Dao even seemed to reverberate through the air, like remnants of a Saint's sermon. Yet whenever Ksitigarbha focused his attention on them, they vanished without a trace, as if they had never been there.
Soon afterward, the ley lines beneath the East Sea became unstable, and spiritual energy grew chaotic. Currents of spiritual power would surge without warning, stirring up sediment and even causing some long-dormant ancient remnant formations to emit faint light and release ancient, chaotic fluctuations of energy.
Ksitigarbha's brow gradually furrowed. These phenomena were too deliberate.
The visions of a Saint preaching seemed real yet false, taking on the appearance without the true Dao resonance of a Saint. They looked more like the work of a sophisticated illusion formation.
The disturbed ley lines appeared natural, but the times and places where they flared up seemed to circle Golden Ao Island, as if guided by some force.
"A diversionary tactic?" Ksitigarbha understood. Instead, a faint smile of complete insight appeared on his lips.
"Looks like Fellow Daoist Tongtian, or his surviving followers, really are hiding somewhere near the East Sea. This is meant to confuse us and buy them time."
He didn't act immediately. Instead, he became even more patient. The more they behaved this way, the more it showed they were weak and lacked the confidence to face him directly.
"Very well. Let's see what tricks you can play." Ksitigarbha closed his eyes and recited the scriptures with even greater solemnity. More Swastika Buddha Seals flowed into the sea. His perceptions grew ever more refined as he began to sift through the seemingly chaotic illusions for genuinely useful information—such as the formation-makers' energy trails and the energy core driving the illusion formation...
He was confident that as long as his opponents kept moving, they would eventually slip up. What Ksitigarbha didn't know was that Tongtian had already anticipated every one of his reactions.
Inside the cave abode on the Southern Jambudvipa Continent, Tongtian slowly opened his eyes. Divine light shone in them. His injuries had largely healed, and his cultivation had fully stabilized at Mid Quasi-Saint Peak.
A mirror formed of water vapor floated before him. It showed Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva reciting scriptures beside the East Sea. Tongtian was seeing the scene from afar through the Water Mirror Array Eye Wudang had set up.
"He took the bait, just as expected." Tongtian's voice was calm. "He thinks he's seen through the diversionary tactic, but he's already fallen into an even greater fog. Now he'll only devote more effort to separating truth from falsehood."
"Master, then what do we do now?" Kui Niu came closer and asked in his deep, rumbling voice.
Tongtian turned his gaze westward, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "Ksitigarbha is temporarily tied up, and the old scoundrel Yuanshi's attention is distracted by what happened at Kirin Cliff. Now is the perfect time to rescue them!"
Who was he going to rescue? Naturally, Qiongxiao and Bixiao!
Whenever he thought of how one disciple was suppressed beneath the Pure Glazed Bottle while another had been refined into a vessel spirit, the killing intent in Tongtian's heart threatened to overwhelm him.
"Manjushri, Cihang..." The two names slipped through his clenched teeth, carrying a bone-chilling coldness. "They were respectful enough when they listened to my teachings. But after defecting to the Western Teachings, they became so vicious! Very well!"
He opened his palm, revealing two gray, misty spirit beads the size of dragon eyes. Chaos Qi swirled within them, concealing an extraordinarily terrifying power of destruction.
"Chaos Thunder Beads!" Kui Niu exclaimed, feeling the beads' dreadful power, enough to severely wound a Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
During the brief pauses in his healing over the past few days, Tongtian had extracted the Chaos Bead's origin and combined it with his Slaughter Sword Intent and several fierce materials from the Dragon Palace to forge these single-use weapons of mass destruction. They had been made specifically to break restrictions and destroy treasures!
"Manjushri's Dragon Subduing Stake and Cihang's Pure Glazed Bottle... They're both Innate Spiritual Treasures, with immeasurable power. Taking them by force would be no easy feat," Tongtian said coldly. "Since that's the case, we won't take them."
His words held a chilling resolve. "We'll find a chance to blow them up!"
Kui Niu drew a sharp breath. Destroying an Innate Spiritual Treasure? That would shake heaven and earth! If they did it, they would be at war with the Western Teachings until one side was dead!
But when he saw Tongtian's cold, resolute gaze, Kui Niu immediately snorted. "If you say to blow them up, Master, then we'll blow them up! This old ox has never liked those bald monks!"
Tongtian put away the thunder beads and patted Kui Niu's massive head. "Don't rush. We need to wait for the perfect opportunity. Manjushri and Cihang are currently staying at their Dao Fields, so they're on high alert. We'll have to wait until they leave..."
He looked at the Water Mirror again. Ksitigarbha was still reciting scriptures patiently.
"Before then..." A cryptic glint passed through Tongtian's eyes. "Perhaps we can find the Western Teachings a little 'entertainment.'"
He stirred his thoughts and contacted the system. "System, exchange for an 'Anonymous Communication Talisman (designated target: Grand Master Xuandu).' Message: Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is delivering souls in the East Sea. Moved by the suffering of the ten thousand immortals of the Interception Sect, he happened upon a secret: it seems the two Daoist friends Qiongxiao and Bixiao have encountered another great opportunity. They did not enter the cycle of reincarnation, nor were they placed on the Investiture of the Gods. What a pity."
[Command received. 80 Contribution Points consumed. Anonymous Communication Talisman issued. Message set. Ready to activate at any time.]
A mocking smile tugged at Tongtian's lips. Grand Master Xuandu was Laozi's only direct disciple and the de facto head of the Human Teachings. What would Laozi think when this news was "accidentally" revealed to the Human Teachings? Venerable Lord of Primordial Beginning had dealt with Yun Xiao and her sisters in secret, even keeping Laozi in the dark.
The more muddled the waters between the Western Teachings, the Human Teachings, and the Chan Teachings became, the better!
The instant he activated the talisman, his expression suddenly shifted. He jerked his head toward the void, Chaos Runes swirling rapidly in his eyes.
"Hmm? Another Saint's divine sense swept past? Was that Laozi of the Taiqing lineage?"
"As expected, the matter at Kirin Cliff has finally caught his attention..."
Inside the cave abode, undercurrents surged ever more violently, and killing intent lurked everywhere. Tongtian's plan was already in motion.
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