Hidden

Li Fan understood after wandering around the secret realm for a while.

Of course, I'm not saying he suddenly leveled up again or anything, I just understand a little better now.

To be honest, Li Fan suddenly felt that he might have been too... presumptuous?

Even if the abbot is truly the Wisdom Dharma King, perhaps, maybe, possibly, he wouldn't harbor any ulterior motives towards 'Qingyue', would he?

After all, what good is Qingyue's talent? What good is being the chosen one? What good are the three ancestors of Tai Su?

What decent person would have nothing better to do than think about possessing another body and leveling up a new character all day long?

Isn't it fascinating to study alien technology? Isn't it fascinating to explore the vast universe? Isn't it fascinating to comprehend the mysteries of heaven and earth?

With so many important things to do, why spend all day leveling up from scratch? That's incredibly stupid!

Besides, even if he possessed Qingyue's super Dao body, with the blessing of Heaven and the boost of destiny, he could unify the world, annex the Three Great Sects, and become the King of Taiji and the Ancestor of Taisu, so what?

Wouldn't that still leave you trapped on the chessboard?

Sigh, what a lack of perspective.

It's not that there aren't smart people in this world, but those smart people waste too much time scheming, fighting for power, and killing each other. They spend their entire lives trapped in the limited, narrow, and hypocritical space on the earth's surface, unable to see through, break free, or understand.

It's pathetic that a genius like Zhang Dali, after all these years of hard work, can't even take down a cruiser!

Therefore, from the perspective of the system and the Tai Su Dao Ancestor, these so-called Three Great Sects, great wars, and tribulations in the Taiji Realm are indeed quite laughable. It's probably similar to watching a group of wild animals fighting over territory.

It doesn't matter if the emperor changes, the sect leader changes, or the Sect Leader changes. Even if you break your head, this world is just a zoo, an amusement park, a reality show simulating life; it's completely irrelevant.

To put it bluntly, a piece confined to the game by rules and regulations will never be able to defeat a player outside the game.

So, looking at the busy cultivators in the secret realm, Li Fan felt that he had gained enlightenment.

Master, if he truly is the Wisdom Dharma King, then his true purpose should not be merely personal honor or disgrace, but rather a larger and broader world.

You can't win by sitting in a well and looking at the sky. To compete with those systems and the Tai Su Dao Ancestor, you have to at least stand on the same level as them.

To win, you must first step outside the framework of this Tai Chi world and see beyond the game, beyond the heavens.

To participate in such a clash between civilizations, it is absolutely not enough to rely solely on the Taiji Realm's once-every-few-thousands-years occurrence of two or three unparalleled geniuses, Immortal Venerables and Dao Ancestors, breaking through the realm and ascending to immortality.

That's far from enough!

Simply ensuring that as many people as possible survive in a chaotic world is not enough!

Simply surviving is not enough! We must enlighten as many people as possible and help them completely break free from the game!

Yes! Only when the entire civilization ascends can it possibly join the competition at a higher level!

Yes! Whether it's the Wisdom Dharma King, the Abbot, the Divine Sect, or the Xuanmen Sect!

Anyone who has the courage to step outside the chessboard and dares to stand shoulder to shoulder with the challenges of extraterrestrial civilizations can be a like-minded ally!

Li Fan understood!

Okay, this time it's not just wishful thinking, he really 'realized' it, and the two epiphyllum flowers he used up before have been refreshed!

Hmm... it's actually pretty easy to refresh these three flowers, you just need to give yourself a little boost...

Of course, given Li Fan's current academic abilities, he's basically useless in contributing to the humankind's ascension plan within this Celestial Immortal Realm, except perhaps causing trouble. He should just stick to his patrol duties...

Having thus solidified his Dao heart, Li Fan stopped disturbing the Xuan Tian Sword-Forging Kun's earth-eating and returned directly to the Ink Bamboo Mountain Grotto-Heaven, heading to the Immortal Prison of the Discipline Institute to interrogate the candidate Saintess Ban Yu.

After all, he had fed Mao a lot of motivational speeches, but in reality, Mao's questions had not been answered, and Li Fan still needed to confirm the information about the Holy Flame.

Compared to improving his academic abilities, Li Fan felt that improving his combat power was more important at the moment. As long as his cultivation level continued to rise, reaching a certain height, he wouldn't need to worry about any schemes, tricks, or even Dharma Kings and Dao Lords.

However, Li Fan has now embarked on the Dao Integration of ancient methods, and his cultivation speed is limited by the Limitless Nascent Soul Stage. The Nascent Soul Stage is not yet fully formed, and he has no understanding of the properties of the True Yang Dao Fire.

If the Holy Flame of the Divine Cult is truly the True Yang Dao Fire, or at least similar in nature, then as one of the Three Great Sects, shouldn't the Divine Cult at least have some experience to draw upon regarding the cultivation Cultivation Method and realm advancement related to the Holy Flame?

If we can find out some clues, it might even be helpful for cultivating the True Yang Technique.

Upon arriving at the Discipline Institute, Li Fan also took out a pile of fresh immortal remains from his sleeve to complete the mission, stating that he had found a North Star Guard assassin and three "divine protectors who infiltrated Ink Bamboo Mountain to cause trouble."

Although the Daoist priests of the Discipline Institute were shocked and puzzled as to why so many 'protectors of the divine sect' were lurking within the Xuanmen, Li Fan said, 'I don't know either,' and the matter was considered closed. In the end, they gave Li Fan a bunch of bamboo talismans as contribution to the sect. However, they refused Li Fan's request to interrogate the Saintess.

"What? The abbot took him away??"

"Yes, the person has been sent to Lou Guan Tower. The abbot said that if the resident immortal has time, he should also go and pay him a visit."

Perhaps realizing that Pei Shiqing and his group were all dead, and that the game between the Hengshan Daoist and the Abbot had just ended, the Hengshan people had already left Ink Bamboo Mountain before sunset. The Abbot, in a very timely manner, issued a decree to take away this candidate Saintess!

Li Fan was completely bewildered. What was going on? Could it be that the Abbot was truly the Wisdom Dharma King? Was he trying to save the Saintess of the Divine Cult's life?

No way... is the plot really going to head towards a bad ending?

Li Fan swallowed hard, feeling rather uneasy. But what's meant to be will be, and he couldn't avoid it. He couldn't keep worrying about it. Things would work themselves out eventually, and even an ugly daughter-in-law has to meet her in-laws sooner or later. He'd better go and see what the abbot has to say!

So Li Fan flew to Lou Guan Tower overnight. He could see the abbot's true qi from afar. There were many Lou Guan masters gathered around, seemingly waiting in line to be summoned. After giving them instructions one by one, he didn't delay and flew away from the mountain.

Li Fan was too lazy to queue, and since the mortuary wasn't far away, he decided to sit down with Old Man Liang and strike up a conversation to ask him about the stone sword box and the sword pellet.

Real Person Liang climbed out of the coffin, looking completely bewildered. "What stone sword case?"

... Well, it seems he's forgotten after all these years.

"It's the sword box found from the remains of Sect Leader Zhao of Qingting Peak! I was ambushed by a Divine Transformation at the entrance of Lou Guan Tower, and it was thanks to your intervention that I was saved. Later, you even took me to the Peach Banquet..."

Li Fan casually explained that he wasn't particularly concerned about the 'Struggle-Type' sword pellet. He wasn't lacking in flying swords anyway; he just wanted to find a topic to ask about his Divine Transformation's background, when he could get revenge, or something like that, and then steer the conversation towards, "Old Liang, you're so knowledgeable, have you ever heard of the Divine Cult's Holy Flame?"

Unexpectedly, as Li Fan rambled on, Real Person Liang's expression changed from confusion to doubt, then to seriousness, and finally even a bit gloomy, to the point that Li Fan couldn't help but shut up, wondering if he had annoyed him.

"What's wrong, Real Person?"

Real Person Liang remained silent for a moment, then climbed out of the coffin, pulled a scroll titled "Yuan Shi" from his sleeve, and said, "Let's go."

"Ah? But it's almost dawn... Okay..."

Seeing how serious Old Liang was, Li Fan followed Real Person Liang to Moon Worship and arrived at the Tai Su Realm in the Abyss of Yuan Shi.

Upon landing, Real Person Liang got straight to the Door Opening.

"I don't remember."

Li Fan, "...?"

Real Person Liang seemed to know that Li Fan hadn't understood, and repeated,

"I don't remember. I don't remember the sword box, the sword pellet, or the incident where I saved you from being ambushed by the primordial spirit."

Li Fan was also stunned, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.

What does this mean?

Real Person Liang said with a gloomy expression, "Someone used a primordial spirit technique on me to erase this memory."

Holy crap? How can the Primordial Spirit Technique even do something this amazing??

"Yes..." Real Person Liang paused for a moment, "At least I know of one person who can."

Li Fan and Real Person Liang stared at each other for a while. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, and Li Fan felt as if he had been struck by lightning. A chill ran down his spine, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

Could it be...?

Real Person Liang stared into Li Fan's eyes, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Yes, you guessed it... But why were you able to guess it? Why do you still remember?"

Li Fan also stared into Real Person Liang's eyes and saw the anger hidden in those bright pupils.

"I... I don't know... But if you 'don't remember'... how do you know he can...?"

Real Person Liang closed his eyes, seemingly recalling something, or perhaps trying to control his anger, but in the end he did not let his anger erupt and regained his composure.

"Because this is my Lou Guan's secret technique! Qingyue, do you know what the Grand Master of Ceremonies of the Immortal Palace did back then?"

Li Fan swallowed hard. "This... observing the stars and studying the qi, knowing the will of Heaven above, and assisting Wang Bi below..."

"Hehe," Real Person Liang sneered, "It seems you haven't even opened the ancient Huashu I gave you. I won't keep you in suspense any longer."

The workings of fate are unpredictable, and the power of stars is elusive. Throughout history, there have been countless astrologers and fortune tellers. Even the abbots of the ancient Lou Guan were not all truly infallible in their calculations and could predict destiny by observing the stars.

But I have a secret method that can make others believe that we can know our destiny! Hehe, this is much more useful than ordinary astrology!

That's why our lineage is able to serve as Grand Masters of Ceremonies in the Immortal Palace.

Holy crap...

Li Fan swallowed hard. "So... this is some kind of... hypnosis? A method of erasing memories from the primordial spirit?"

Real Person Liang was grim. "It's not a simple erasure. Anyone would know something's wrong if there were a memory blank. It's a correction, an alteration. As for what happened that day, I only remember teaching my disciples at the mortuary. It's not that my memory just vanished."

For some reason, you were able to resist this technique and even remember your altered memories. Perhaps it's just your extraordinary talent...

"Wait, wait, wait," Li Fan exclaimed in surprise, "Resistance? You mean the Abbot also altered my memories? No, that's impossible! I have a photographic memory! I remember even the Stone Box Sword Pill incident! And if my primordial spirit technique was used, I should know, right!"

Real Person Liang chuckled coldly, "Is that so? Then let me ask you, did he touch your head?"

Damn it...

Although he had already reached the Dao Integration Realm and possessed the body of an immortal, Li Fan still couldn't help but tremble.

Damn it...

Is this for real...?

Are there still good people in this world?

Why are they all so black when you cut them open?!

Li Fan panicked and couldn't help but exclaim, "Then, does that mean I've already been possessed?!"

Real Person Liang frowned. "Huh? Possession? Possession of what? Who said anything about possession! This technique isn't that miraculous yet! If it were that powerful, why would I have been hunted down and exiled to the South Border?"

I was just keeping it from you like a child, so you don't need to be too alarmed. He only altered our memories and concealed some things; he's not capable of manipulating your soul.

But ultimately, he's been hiding something. Tell me everything you can remember about the whole story.

What's the cause and effect?! I'm so confused! Calm down!

Taking a deep breath and calming down a bit, Li Fan recounted the entire story of Qingting Peak discovering Zhao Jingtai's remains from beginning to end.

Real Person Liang paced back and forth, deep in thought. "I remember Zhao Jingtai, and the Soul Lamp also has records of him. So what he's trying to hide is related to that stone box, or the demon who attacked you at the Divine Transformation stage."

I left you a letter before I went to Emei? Then my memory must have been altered after I went to the Central Plains. And before that, I probably didn't find any information about the stone box at Lou Guan's place..."

Li Fan hesitated, wanting to raise his suspicion that the abbot was the Wise Wisdom Dharma King of the Divine Sect, but upon calming down, he realized that making such an accusation at this time would likely escalate the situation significantly. Therefore, after much deliberation, he held back and instead sought confirmation from a different angle.

"Master, since you are the true successor of the Lou Guan Ancient Path, you should be the direct descendant who inherits the position of sect leader, or something like the senior brother, right? Then why..."

Do you know about the abbot's past experiences? I mean... is the current abbot... really the same abbot as before?

Real Person Liang looked at Li Fan, thought for a moment, and nodded.

"If I remember correctly, the abbot is our junior brother. He was an orphan that our master picked up from a pile of corpses. Our master said that the place where he was found was called Feng Family Village. Later, he took care of our master's mount, the blue ox, so we called him Feng A."

I am a generation younger than him, and I have never paid much attention to this junior brother. I only know that he grew up in the mountain gate, traveled outside the mountain in his youth, studied and served in official positions, and later resigned from his post to live in seclusion. He also traveled to the Central Plains with Mountain Lord.

But after all, it was a chaotic time when the Luo Sect was wreaking havoc on the world. Lou Guan was also working for the Nangong Family back then. My fellow disciples and I followed our master to fight demons in the Ink Bamboo Mountain for many years. Later, our master was killed by the Black Lotus Sect, and I was also seriously injured. At that time, I was still in the Golden Core stage and could not dissolve my body. I almost lost my soul and was buried in a coffin. That's how I cultivated the Gui Xu Nascent Soul.

To get back to the point, when Lou Guan was completely empty, it was A Niu who stepped forward to stabilize the people's hearts. It can be said that the current Ink Bamboo Mountain was rebuilt single-handedly by him. Why would I bother to compete for those empty titles?

If you're worried about someone impersonating the abbot, there's no need to worry Lou Guan's secret techniques aren't something just anyone can learn. If it were someone else, they would have simply killed us; why go through all the trouble of altering our memories?

He's already a Dao Lord, who would dare disobey his word? To still resort to these roundabout tricks is just like that old Ah Niu."

Li Fan hesitated, "If that's the case... could it be that the Abbot is hiding something from us for protective purposes?"

Real Person Liang sneered, "How old am I! Do I still need his protection!"

You have no idea why I'm angry! My junior brother seems gentle and kind, but he's actually incredibly stubborn! He's got a bull's temper! He's extremely headstrong! Once he decides on something, he'll do it no matter what!

So since he altered my memories, it must be because we disagreed on how to handle this matter! So he simply changed my memories and kept it a secret from everyone! Would you be happy about that?"

Holy crap? You can do that? This method is actually quite interesting. Could it be that all those pro-people policies that everyone on Ink Bamboo Mountain opposed but still pushed through over the years were implemented this way? That's... really ruthless...

After all, no one would be happy to have their memories altered and manipulated, right?

But did he really tamper with his memories? Even if Li Fan himself doesn't remember, theoretically the system should remember, right? Looks like I'll have to go back and ask those two fish... Damn it! This messy plot is getting more and more complicated!

Real Person Liang pondered for a while, calculating with his fingers, then shook his head and said, "Something's not right. No matter what, he shouldn't have kept it from me. I've been watching over Lou Guan Tower for many years; something really serious must have happened, otherwise he wouldn't have disagreed with the abbot..."

No! I have to find out what happened! Don't tell the abbot yet. Let me start by investigating Zhao Jingtai's cave. You found him on the Qingting Peak last time, didn't you?"

"Huh... Huh? Hey hey hey! Wait, wait, wait!" Li Fan suddenly realized that the giant gemstone was still in the cave, and hurriedly stopped him, "Master! Master! You yourself said that you investigated once before and found nothing. It's clear that so many years have passed, and there are no clues left. Investigating again now might not only be ineffective, but it might also attract the attention of the Abbot!"

Real Person Liang frowned. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

Li Fan had a sudden inspiration. "I remember the body that the Divine Transformation who possessed me last time had the Dharma name Pu Shan. The Discipline Institute found out that he was a wandering monk from the north, staying at the Iron Buddha Temple in Jiujiang, Xun Kingdom. But when I went to the Iron Buddha Temple later, I didn't find any clues. Instead, I went to Hebei and found that many of Hebei monks and nuns there were remnants of the Death Gate Demonic Path hiding among them!"

Old Liang frowned and shook his head, indicating that he didn't understand what was going on and on.

Li Fan then said, "What I mean is, this person is probably not a proper monk, but a demonic cultivator from the North who practices the Death Gate Dao. Coincidentally, I learned that Tiantai Mountain was also a den of demonic remnants of the Death Gate Dao! So there is a high probability that this Pu Shan came all the way from Hebei to Li Country to make contact with the demonic sects of Tiantai Mountain!"

Real Person Liang said "Oh..." indicating that he understood. "So you suspect that the god who plotted against you back then was also a member of the Death Gate Dao, and that there are probably still remnants of the demonic path lurking in the Li Country. Perhaps this matter can be investigated starting from Tiantai Mountain?"

"That's right! You're absolutely right!" Li Fan breathed a sigh of relief and wiped away his cold sweat.

"... But how did you find out about these secrets? How did you know that the monk was from the Death Gate Dao? And the Death Gate Demonic Path has been wiped out in the North for many years, hasn't it? I haven't heard of that name for many years, how did you know? And you not only know that the remnants of the Death Gate Dao disguise themselves as monks, but you also know that Tiantai Mountain is their lair?"

Li Fan stared expressionlessly at the old man Liang, who was bombarding him with questions. Suddenly, he realized that the Daoist technique of making someone lose their memory by patting their head might actually be quite useful...