"Although this meeting had yielded quite a bit, strictly speaking, it hadn't gone as well as hoped. They had learned something about the Immortal Dynasty, but the information was too vague and didn't focus on its early years..."
When Chen Qing left Five Qi Pavilion, the street vendors were already packing up. As he walked, he pondered his next move and decided to look for a pill—or a pill recipe—that could suppress his mixed bloodline.
At the street corner, the lean man who ran the bookstall was bent over, gathering his books. The moment he saw Chen Qing passing by, his eyes lit up. "Fellow Daoist! Back to hunt for books again?"
Chen Qing stopped and asked, "Do you have any pill recipes for sale? Or any ancient books about the Immortal Dynasty?" As he spoke, he casually flipped through the tattered scrolls on the stall.
"I don't have either at the moment. If you need them, I can keep an eye out. But this time, I've got something else good!" The man furtively pulled a yellowing booklet from inside his robe. Four faded gold characters, Sha Men Secret Records, could just be made out on the cover. "You know the fellow at Five Qi Pavilion is fond of ancient secrets. This booklet records the origins of Buddhism. I guarantee he'll like it!"
Chen Qing immediately asked, "When did Buddhism originate?"
The man paused, then said, "That was ages ago. I hear humanity had only just begun to rise and was still searching for the path to the Dao."
"The Dao Seeking Era..." Chen Qing flipped through a few pages. The text inside was obscure, and every person mentioned was a stranger to him. He frowned. "How much?"
The man held up five fingers. "Five Spirit Marrow. Firm price."
"Too expensive." Chen Qing closed the booklet and put it back. "Try someone else."
"Fellow Daoist!" The man quickly pressed a hand down on the book. "My sworn elder brother risked his life to bring this out of an ancient temple ruin!"
Chen Qing shook his head and laid his offer on the table. "Half a piece."
The man nearly choked!
Who bargained like that?
That wasn't just cutting the price in half—it was chopping it down to the ankles.
"Four and a half!"
"Goodbye." Chen Qing turned to leave.
The man hurried after him. "Three! I can't go any lower!"
Chen Qing flicked his sleeve to shake him off. "Another time." His mind was full of other matters; he truly had no inclination to haggle.
After he had walked a few steps, the man's frustrated shout came from behind him. "Fellow Daoist! I'll keep the book for you!"
Without turning around, Chen Qing waved a hand. His figure soon vanished into the shadows at the street corner. A few steps later, he reached Green Pouch Pavilion.
Chen Qing pushed open the door and saw the shopkeeper, Old Daoist Sun, hunched over as he weighed a few vine leaves on a small scale.
Hearing the door, the old Daoist looked up, his cloudy eyes brightening. "Zhou Yuanjing's disciple? What brings you here this time?"
"Senior Sun." Chen Qing crossed the threshold and cupped his hands in greeting, getting straight to the point. "I'm looking for pill recipes or medicinal ingredients that can suppress or regulate a mixed bloodline. It would be even better if they could curb or even cure bloodline backlash."
The small scale in Old Daoist Sun's hand stopped. He squinted at Chen Qing. "Who needs it? Don't tell me you've taken on an outsider as a disciple?"
"Not a disciple," Chen Qing said, shaking his head. "A fellow Daoist needs it."
Old Daoist Sun nodded. "It's good of you to go to such lengths for a fellow Daoist. But..." He shook his head. "Balancing yin and yang and sorting out the origins of a mixed bloodline is no easy task. Just the few main ingredients that come to mind would be hard to find even across the whole Eastern Spirit Continent, let alone in the southern coastal region. Some of them have even vanished since ancient times."
Chen Qing listened without a hint of worry. Perhaps those vanished herbs still existed in the Immortal Dynasty of his dream!
As they spoke, a boy of seven or eight suddenly crawled out from under the counter. His face was round and his eyes bright. Tugging at the old Daoist's sleeve, he said, "Grandpa! Didn't you say a few days ago that the root of Moon Seeing Grass, combined with Profound Yin Cold Marrow, could also regulate bloodlines? You even said it was a pity we couldn't find Red Vein Stone."
Old Daoist Sun chuckled and rubbed his grandson's head. "You little rascal, eavesdropping on the grown-ups! Those are just records from an ancient recipe. They can't be trusted." Turning back to Chen Qing, he sighed. "Many medicinal herbs have long since vanished. The main ingredients listed in the recipe, Thousand Year Snow Lotus and Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Grass, are also hard to find..."
But Chen Qing said, "Please tell me the recipe, Senior!"
Old Daoist Sun waved a hand. "Very well. It's just an ancient recipe that's no longer useful. What harm is there in telling you? It's called Taiyin Pure Filth Powder."
Dipping his finger in tea, he wrote a few lines on the counter:
Three qian of Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Grass, one Thousand Year Snow Lotus, seven Red Vein Stones...
Chen Qing committed each herb and its properties firmly to memory, then took out a piece of Spirit Marrow and placed it on the counter.
Old Daoist Sun frowned. "Your master and I discussed the Dao and gathered herbs together back in the day. How could I take your Spirit Marrow just for telling you about a useless recipe?"
"Then consider it a gift for your grandson." Chen Qing smiled. He took a step back, and the aura around him suddenly drew together. His figure drifted backward like smoke, and in the blink of an eye, he had vanished.
Old Daoist Sun stared at the empty doorway and murmured, "Moving like flowing clouds? Old Zhou's disciple... has already reached that level? His progress is far too fast!" He looked down at the Spirit Marrow, then at his bewildered grandson beside him, and let out a long sigh. "If you had even half his talent, Grandpa could die happy."
The boy pursed his lips in defiance. "I'll definitely be stronger than him one day!"
Old Daoist Sun laughed heartily, though a trace of sadness flickered in his eyes.
"The recipe's taken care of. A few of its ingredients have long since vanished, but luckily they're recorded in the Record of Absolute Items. Perhaps I can find them in the dream."
By the time dusk had settled, Chen Qing had wandered over to the pastry shop, only to find the stall packed up and the people gone.
He shook his head with a quiet laugh, then bought a few copybooks and left Lesser Yingzhou.
"If the pastries are gone, so be it. I can't do without the copybooks."
Night deepened. Chen Qing walked slowly along the mountain path, reviewing the day's findings one by one.
What he'd learned today had filled in some of the gaps in his knowledge of the Immortal Dynasty and even given him a fresh understanding of the Grand Void Dao Evolution Record. But his dream self was trapped in the treasury, and the outside world was changing by the day. Knowing about Void Abyss Floating Li wouldn't help him.
"Now that I think about it, with the Grand Void Dao Evolution Record in hand, even if I'm driven to the brink, I can abandon the identity of Chen Xu, spend some Dao Marks to invent a new ancestral master and history, and start over."
But his brows soon furrowed as he recalled everything he had experienced in the Immortal Dynasty of his dream.
"No!" Chen Qing's gaze suddenly sharpened. "Having a way out is precisely why I shouldn't go against my true nature! If I retreat whenever disaster strikes, how am I any different from Liu Wang?"
He drew in a deep breath of the mountain's cold, clear air. The Turbid Qi in his chest streamed out, and his eyes cleared once more.
A way out was a trump card, not a tortoise shell, and certainly no excuse to run away.
Fight for what must be fought for; protect what must be protected. Entering the dream was meant to temper the heart!
Just as his thoughts grew clear and his mind settled—
"Master Chen, you seem troubled. Are you worried about Sea Abyss Temple?"
A cool voice came without warning from the shadows a few feet away!
The hair on Chen Qing's body stood on end. He had been incredibly cautious on this trip, guarding against assassins, avoiding ambushes, and watching for tails, yet someone had still managed to approach within a few feet without a sound!
He spun around and saw a tall, straight figure standing in the shadows.
The newcomer carried an ancient sword case on his back. Its surface was dark and subdued, yet it radiated a keen edge.
"It's you?" Chen Qing's pupils contracted slightly. He recognized the young man who had earlier been beside Mo Huaiyong, carrying the sword case!
"Indeed. I am Ling Wufeng." The young man stepped out of the shadows, moonlight illuminating his handsome features and the blood-red cinnabar mark between his brows. Seeing Chen Qing's sharp gaze, he didn't beat around the bush. "Master Chen, there's no need to be on guard. I came for two reasons: to deliver a message and to give you something."
"Oh?" Chen Qing's aura gathered and settled, while Supreme Harmony Qi lay hidden in his Yellow Court, ready to burst forth.
"First," Ling Wufeng said in a calm voice, though his words struck like a thunderclap. "Sea Abyss Temple is no longer a threat. They can barely protect themselves, and their destruction is imminent."
"What?" Chen Qing's pupils contracted sharply!
"That sect acts perversely and without restraint, and harbors ambitions it shouldn't have. They provoked someone they shouldn't have." Ling Wufeng's tone remained perfectly even. "They must be beset by trouble now, with no time to concern themselves with anything else."
A chill rose in Chen Qing's heart. A sect that might have a Third Realm cultivator in charge had provoked someone they shouldn't have, and now could barely protect itself?
The brutality of the cultivation world seemed far worse than he'd imagined!
He had to lie low!
Suddenly, the thought had never been clearer in his mind.
With the Grand Void Dao Evolution Record as his channel, he could obtain a steady stream of spiritual energy feedback and cultivation secrets, and even trade for the resources he needed. But for that very reason, he had to keep his feet on the ground in the real world, quietly build his strength, and never become the bird that stuck its head out first!
Taking a deep breath to suppress the turmoil in his heart, Chen Qing looked at Ling Wufeng. "And the second?"
With a turn of his palm, Ling Wufeng produced a gleaming white jade disk about the size of his palm. A faint light flowed across its surface, while points of starlight flickered within like a miniature cosmos.
"I hear Master Chen is devoted to the history of the Immortal Dynasty." Ling Wufeng held out the jade disk. "This is an imperfect rubbing of the Myriad Phenomena Star Disk. It contains scattered records and star charts from the early years of the Immortal Dynasty. Martial Uncle Mo said they might be useful to you."
Chen Qing was taken aback, then delighted.
It was just like having a pillow handed to him when he'd been nodding off!
He had been fretting over how little he knew about the early years of the Primordial Immortal Dynasty. Acting in the dream had been like a blind man trying to feel an elephant. He didn't suspect anything—the other man wouldn't need to go to such lengths if he wanted to harm him.
"Please thank Senior Mo for me. I'll remember this favor." He didn't stand on ceremony and reached for the jade disk. It felt smooth and cool to the touch. Then, almost by instinct, a wisp of pure Supreme Harmony Qi flowed down Chen Qing's arm and into the disk, probing its mysteries.
"Wait!" Ling Wufeng's expression changed. "This item was forcibly copied, and the information within is vast and chaotic. You need a Clear-Mind talisman to protect your mind. If you probe it without one, you may—"
Before he could finish, something went wrong!
"Bzz—!"
The jade disk blazed with dazzling white light as soon as it was struck by the Supreme Harmony Qi!
A flood of chaotic, discordant, twisted thoughts surged along the wisp of Supreme Harmony Qi and poured into Chen Qing's Sea of Consciousness!
In an instant, illusions erupted before Chen Qing's eyes!
Stars collapsed in an apocalyptic scene. Agonized howls rang out across an ancient battlefield. Cultivators shrieked in madness as they lost control of their cultivation! The visions sought to tear his consciousness to shreds and make it one with them!
Ling Wufeng's expression changed drastically. This was bad!
He knew better than anyone how dangerous the copied jade disk was. Even someone of his cultivation needed a senior from his sect to protect him, along with a secret treasure for calming the mind, just to endure his first contact with it. How could the master of Hidden Star Sect, who had only just entered Foundation Establishment, withstand it?
"Even the rubbing of the Myriad Hard Disk can temper the divine sense! But even the eldest senior brother nearly lost control of his cultivation the first time. No matter how fortunate or talented this master of Hidden Star Sect may be, his inheritance is still shallow..."
Ling Wufeng was about to intervene when he suddenly received a transmission. His movement stalled.
At that critical moment—
"Boom!"
Deep within Chen Qing's Sea of Consciousness, the Samadhi True Fire Talisman suddenly blazed to life!
Red-gold flames swept outward, pure and scorching, burning away every evil influence!
The moment the surging chaotic thoughts touched this supreme Yang flame, they shrieked and hissed like snow meeting boiling water, instantly purified into wisps of smoke.
Red-gold flames roared through his Sea of Consciousness, burning away every foreign influence and protecting the single clear light in his mind.
Chen Qing's eyes refocused. His aura had steadied, and his gaze was once again clear as spring water.
"Whew—"
He breathed out a plume of white mist that carried a scorching heat, then looked down at the jade disk as its light faded. His heart still pounded with fear, but there was also a hint of excitement.
The Samadhi True Fire Talisman truly was wondrous!
But he couldn't be so reckless next time.
Raising his head, he said to Ling Wufeng, "Thank you for the warning, Fellow Daoist Ling. You gave me time to react."
Ling Wufeng stood frozen in place, staring intently at Chen Qing. Even the cinnabar mark between his brows trembled with shock!
Before you continue