Ye Jinglan looked at Ye Chen as though he were looking at a fool and said, "This fool... I mean, brother, I know a physician who specializes in brain ailments. His skills are superb, and he lives in Kite Alley in South City. I suggest you go see him!"
Ye Chen said, "There's nothing wrong with my brain..."
"Is that so?" Ye Jinglan asked with a look of astonishment. "Brother, you've hidden it deeply enough!"
Ye Chen: "..."
Gu Mo very much agreed with Ye Jinglan's assessment. He too felt that this Ye Chen had something wrong with his head. As someone who had awakened past life memories and possessed an absurdly powerful cheat, he had never imagined that he was one of those protagonists from storybooks.
The kind who merely shook their tiger-like body and leaked the aura of a king, making everyone who saw them bow their heads in worship. Yet he had never expected that one day, he would encounter someone who truly thought this way.
Seeing Ye Jinglan and Gu Mo looking at him as though they cared for an intellectually disabled person, Ye Chen waved his hand and said, "Great Hero Gu, Lord Ye, don't misunderstand. I mean no harm. It's just that I don't have any particular strengths, except for one—I'm lucky. Lucky beyond imagination. How should I put it? Even those protagonists in storytellers' tales don't have luck as good as mine!"
Ye Jinglan said, "So what?"
Ye Chen continued, "My luck is so abundant I can't use it all up. It radiates crazily onto the people around me." As he spoke, he pointed at Chang Qi and Chang Liu and said, "Take these two, for example. Back in Chu Kingdom, they were just ordinary martial artists of the jianghu. But ever since they followed me, opportunities have been endless. In just two or three years, they became Jianghu Grandmasters.
There are plenty of examples like this. I have friends everywhere in Chu Kingdom, and countless people fight to become my friend. Anyone who becomes friends with me will have better luck, while those who follow me can casually stumble upon opportunities, their cultivation soaring higher and higher. If they want money, it comes breeding like rabbits, one litter after another..."
Ye Jinglan interrupted Ye Chen and said, "I know the rumors concerning Ye Chen the Chosen One, so there's no need to keep emphasizing them. Brother Gu is now Number One Under Heaven. He lacks neither money, martial arts, nor opportunities. He himself is the greatest opportunity under heaven. Why would he need to follow you?"
Ye Chen hurriedly said, "Don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand. I don't mean to force anything. It's just that I don't know why, but the instant I saw Great Hero Gu, I was deeply stirred. I actually felt, for no reason at all, as if my luck had materialized, as if it were moving. Don't you think that's strange?
"So I felt that Great Hero Gu and I must be fated. Of course, it's perfectly normal if Great Hero Gu doesn't wish to follow me. I'm merely asking. But with Great Hero Gu's talent and brilliance combined with my luck, the result would definitely be extraordinary. Even Number One Under Heaven needs to keep improving, doesn't he?"
Gu Mo smiled faintly and said, "Thank you for the kind offer, but I have no need for it."
Ye Chen sighed, his face full of sorrow, and said, "What a pity. What a terrible shame. Then I'll be leaving!"
Immediately,
Ye Chen left with Chang Qi and Chang Liu.
However, just as he reached the entrance of the karst cave, he suddenly turned around and asked expectantly, "Great Hero Gu, are you really not going to reconsider? I'm not joking. Right now, I truly feel as though my luck has turned into water and is bubbling out. There's so much that it keeps spilling out. You really don't want it?"
Gu Mo chuckled. "Then you'd better be careful. Don't let it all drain away and turn you unlucky!"
Ye Chen said, "My luck is merely overflowing. It won't drain dry."
"Take care, then!"
"Farewell!"
Ye Chen left regretfully. Once outside the cave entrance, he grabbed the rope and climbed up.
Watching Ye Chen leave, Ye Jinglan said, "Brother Gu, although there is more or less something wrong with Ye Chen's head, I have to admit that this man is truly strange. His luck is really defying heaven.
"I first heard about him from the Crown Prince. While the Crown Prince was held hostage in Chu Kingdom, he heard many rumors about Ye Chen. After returning, he mentioned many times that this man might become a great threat to Gan Country.
"So I investigated him as well. The result was simply astonishing. Whenever he fell off a cliff, he would surely obtain a great opportunity. He casually gave alms to an old beggar, only to discover that the beggar was a martial world expert wandering the world in play, who insisted on passing down all his lifelong knowledge to him. Whenever he went out for a casual excursion, he would inevitably return with a huge pile of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures...
"It is simply ridiculous beyond belief. And he wasn't lying either. Those who follow him genuinely have better luck. Even just becoming his friend can bring enormous gains. As for those who offend him, they don't even need him to retaliate—they naturally end up cursed with terrible bad luck. That is why the jianghu calls him a Chosen One, saying he is an Innate Sage born with heaven's mandate!"
Gu Mo nodded slightly. "It is quite ridiculous."
Ye Jinglan said gravely, "To be honest, I never believed in things like fate or luck. But this man's experiences truly cannot be explained. Still, he is pretty good at bragging. He actually claimed he could sense his luck materializing and even moving! That stuff isn't something tangible. How could anyone possibly sense it?"
Gu Mo shook his head slightly. "No, he wasn't bragging."
"Hm?" Ye Jinglan asked doubtfully. "What do you mean?"
Gu Mo said gravely, "I just saw a special kind of qi on him that had indeed materialized. But it was qi on the same level as Nascent Soul Power, so you couldn't see it. However, that thing should not be luck."
Gu Mo was not joking. He had genuinely seen something on Ye Chen.
Ever since he had mastered the God of War Catalog, his Life Level had risen beyond the Ascension Realm. He could see the workings of the world's laws and many things that did not exist within the ordinary world, including luck.
Luck was an exceedingly profound thing. Even Diviners with deep attainments could only use special methods to glimpse the trajectory of another person's fortune and infer whether they currently had good luck, ordinary luck, or bad luck.
However,
Gu Mo's current Life Level transcended the Ascension Realm. Since he could see the workings of the world's laws, he could naturally see luck as well. Yet in his eyes, luck resembled fireflies drifting across the heavens, its birth, extinction, rise, and fall entirely without fixed pattern. It could neither be accumulated through cultivation nor maintained through techniques for long.
At its root, luck was not an actual form of energy. It was an abstract concept. Unlike perceptible "qi," it had no measurable standard and did not follow the laws of energy gathering and dispersing. It would only affect people and events unpredictably at particular moments.
It was something impossible to grasp or touch. Moreover, although different people had differing degrees of good and bad luck, luck itself did not have differences in quantity, because different people displayed the same luck in different ways.
For example, if someone was blessed by fortune during the same period, an ordinary person might merely make some money and remain free of illness and disaster. A merchant, meanwhile, might rake in money every day and see his business flourish from then on. An official might rise steadily through the ranks and eventually use that momentum to reach the pinnacle of power.
Thus, although luck existed, it was not qi. It was fortune!
But,
Gu Mo had just witnessed something very strange on Ye Chen.
Ye Chen's luck was different from everyone else's.
Other people's luck was a line of law with no concept of measurable size. It was fortune. Yet Ye Chen's was a mass of qi—true qi—and it was continuously growing.
Therefore,
Gu Mo became curious. He mobilized the "Origin Qi" born from the workings of the world's laws and tried to move that special mass of "luck" within Ye Chen. The result was that the luck had truly materialized, and Gu Mo pulled it out, making it flow.
Thus,
Ye Chen had not lied. His luck really had materialized and really did flow out like water.
The only thing he got wrong was that it had not overflowed because he met Gu Mo. Gu Mo had pulled it out.
"You can seize luck?"
After hearing Gu Mo's explanation, Ye Jinglan was filled with shock—one could even say terror.
Gu Mo waved his hand and said, "No, I can't seize luck. This thing isn't qi. It is a concept, fortune. I can only seize Ye Chen's luck. His luck differs from everyone else's. Other people have intangible fortune, while his is truly a mass of qi. It's very bizarre!"
Ye Jinglan asked curiously, "Then... can I see it?"
Gu Mo slightly raised his hand, looked at the sphere in his palm that he had compressed to the size of an egg, and shook his head. "You can't see it, because your realm isn't high enough!"
Ye Jinglan rolled his eyes. "You only needed to say the first half. There was no need to deliberately emphasize the second half."
Gu Mo chuckled. "Wasn't I worried that after you refine the Kirin Bone in a while, you'll swell with confidence again and come looking for a fight? So I'm appropriately reminding you that there's still a huge gap between us."
Ye Jinglan said, "Oh, thank you. You don't need to say any more."
"No need to thank me. It's what I should do."
Ye Jinglan curled his lips, then returned to the main topic and asked, "Then what will happen to Ye Chen now that you've stripped away his luck?"
"I don't know," Gu Mo said. "I've never seen luck like this before. It's my first time seeing it. But according to conventional theory, he should become very unlucky, right?"
Ye Jinglan raised a brow, a wicked smile appearing on his face. "Serves that smug bastard right if he suffers terrible bad luck!"
Gu Mo shook his head. "I can't be certain for now. This is my first time encountering such a situation. I'm not even certain whether this mass of qi truly is luck. I'll take it back and study it slowly first!"
Ye Jinglan gave a heh heh laugh. "Fine. Let's move the things first. I'll send people to follow Ye Chen and see whether he really becomes terribly unlucky!"
Meanwhile,
Ye Chen, who had already returned to Corpse Cocoon Cave Market Town, suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body. Then he sneezed several times in a row.
Chang Qi hurriedly asked, "Young Master, have you caught a cold?"
Ye Chen shook his head slightly. "No. I just suddenly felt as if my clothes had been stripped off!"
Brothers Chang Qi and Chang Liu both looked utterly bewildered.
"It's nothing," Ye Chen said with a wave of his hand. "It's just that today feels a little strange. According to past conventions, that karst cave should have been a place where I encountered an opportunity. How did I end up getting nothing?"
Chang Qi asked, "Young Master, could it be that it was originally your place of opportunity, and Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan came to take advantage of it? Perhaps you were the one who triggered it?"
Ye Chen waved his hand and said, "We were trapped by a Ghost Wall earlier, and it was only lifted after Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan arrived. It should have been a backup plan they left in advance."
Chang Liu also said, "They did not happen to come by. I saw it clearly outside. Gu Mo and his group brought many tools and headed straight there. They obviously had a purpose."
"This is strange," Ye Chen said. "I actually got nothing. Where exactly did things go wrong..."
"Young Master, be careful! This bridge doesn't seem very stable!"
Lost in thought, Ye Chen heard Chang Qi's warning and only then realized that he had walked onto an old wooden bridge with his head lowered.
However, he did not take it seriously. He smiled and said, "Don't worry. Nothing will happen. There have never been accidents around me!"
After thinking about it, Chang Qi and Chang Liu found that this was indeed true.
They had followed Ye Chen for years and had witnessed no shortage of bizarre events around him. Never mind this bridge, which was still in use—they had seen many bridges on the verge of collapse somehow hold on until Ye Chen passed by, only to collapse at precisely that moment.
One had no choice but to submit to Ye Chen's luck.
The two said nothing more and followed Ye Chen onward.
Just then,
With a crack, a wooden plank suddenly broke.
Fortunately, all three were skilled martial artists. They immediately used their movement techniques to leap onto the next plank. Yet the instant they landed, that plank broke as well. The three hastily grabbed the bridge railing, preparing to use it for leverage.
However, in that instant,
The railing broke too. Before the three could borrow force from anywhere else, the entire bridge collapsed.
Accompanied by a rumbling boom, all three fell directly into the rushing river.
"Don't panic," Ye Chen said, still completely composed. "It seems this river contains an opportunity for me..."
Before Ye Chen could finish speaking, a crocodile suddenly pounced at them.
Chang Qi hurriedly drew his sword and slashed.
But in the next moment, densely packed crocodiles emerged from the river's surface. There were at least two hundred of them, all crazily surrounding them.
"Go!"
Ye Chen, Chang Qi, and Chang Liu simultaneously struck the water's surface and circulated their inner force, launching themselves from the river. They barely avoided the crocodile swarm's attack.
Even now, Ye Chen remained calm. He smiled and said, "Looks like this opportunity is no small matter. I will..."
Boom! Boom!
At that moment, the mountain stones above the river suddenly collapsed. Huge boulders crashed down like hail, smashing the three directly into the water. The enormous force piled upon them endlessly, pressing them toward the riverbed.
Fortunately, the river was deep. Pinned beneath the boulders, the three were not crushed directly into the bottom. As they sank, they found chances to escape, swimming rapidly while continuously dodging the falling mountain stones.
After struggling for a long while, Ye Chen finally surfaced from the riverbed. Yet before he could even catch his breath, an iron chain carried by the river suddenly wrapped around his legs. His heart immediately leaped with joy as he said, "Sure enough, there is a great opportunity. I..."
He immediately reached out to grab the iron chain.
At that instant, another huge boulder fell from the sky and struck him squarely on the head.
With a clang,
Blood instantly sprayed from Ye Chen's head. His mind became muddled in an instant, and he muttered, "This time, it is definitely a heaven-shaking opportunity..."
Then he passed out.
"Young Master..."
Brothers Chang Qi and Chang Liu hurriedly swam over. But just as they were about to grab Ye Chen, the iron chain around his feet was suddenly tugged by the rushing current, and his entire body sank at once.
"Young..."
Then he floated back up.
"...Master..."
Then he sank again.
"Young Master..."
He floated up again.
"..."
Then he sank again.
"Young..."
Up.
"Master..."
Down.
"..."
He drifted into the distant darkness, constantly rising and sinking. Brothers Chang Qi and Chang Liu chased wildly after him.
The Plague God had left behind a great many valuable things: all kinds of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, pills, poisons, and more. Quite a few existed only in legends.
Under Ye Jinglan's arrangements, everything was smoothly brought out of Ghost City.
Gu Mo selected some pills and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures useful for Ye Jinglan's cultivation and gave them to him. He kept the useful remaining items for himself, while entrusting Ye Jinglan to sell the useless ones in exchange for money.
However, for Gu Mo,
The most valuable things were still the books left behind by the Plague God. Although the most important Heavenly Will Poison Scripture created by the Plague God had already been taken away by him, given the Plague God's level of medical expertise, the other medical books he collected were naturally no ordinary works.
Gu Mo already possessed medical skill and poisonous art nearly at the Grandmaster level, giving him an exceptionally solid foundation. With the aid of his current cultivation realm, learning the Plague God's medical skills and poisonous arts was very easy.
However, for the time being,
What attracted Gu Mo more was the mass of "luck" he had taken from Ye Chen.
After returning to Ye Jinglan's Manor,
Gu Mo began studying that mass of qi.
He even tried cutting it apart and merging it into other people, only to discover that it simply could not be merged in.
He continued this experiment until nightfall. The reason he stopped was not because night had come, but because Su Ziyou had arrived.
The moment Su Ziyou entered the room, he wore an aggrieved expression. Grabbing Gu Mo, he began tearfully recounting his hardships, snot and tears flowing together.
But Gu Mo did not fall for it. He directly pushed Su Ziyou away and said, "Brother Su, if you have something to say, say it directly. Don't pull this act in front of me. You claim you've suffered? You are the dignified Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and everyone in the Imperial Court knows that you and Ye Jinglan are the emperor's Heng Ha Er Jiang, receiving endless favor. You may nominally be the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, but the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review practically does not handle affairs. If you stand here crying to me about how difficult your life is, it will be far too fake!"
Su Ziyou gave a heh heh laugh and said, "Wasn't I just pretending to be pitiful first, laying the groundwork before asking you for help?"
"The Flesh-Eating Ghost Case?" Gu Mo asked.
Su Ziyou nodded and said gravely, "Originally, although this case was severe, it was not yet urgent. After all, the most pressing matters at present are ensuring the Succession Ceremony proceeds smoothly and finding the Cold Mountain Treasury. Everything else can be pushed back.
"Brother Ye is mainly responsible for inspecting security and ensuring the Succession Ceremony proceeds smoothly, while I am responsible for finding the Cold Mountain Treasury. But at noon today, you had Brother Ye send someone to remind me that you sensed the Evil Ghost's identity might not be as simple as the Flesh-Eating Ghost Case. That made me worried.
"You compared the Evil Ghost to wanted criminals on the level of the Grand Manager and the Human-Faced Demon Beast. Then this is absolutely not just about some commoners dying. I have reason to suspect it is aimed at the Succession Ceremony. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence?
"If anyone else said the Evil Ghost deserved to be treated with the same seriousness as the Grand Manager and the Human-Faced Demon Beast, I would definitely scoff at it. But if those words come from you, Gu Mo, then they are authoritative. Perhaps there are people in this world who would question Number One Under Heaven's judgment of wanted criminals, but no one would question Wanted Criminal Bane, the great hero of Gan Country, Gu Mo's assessment of wanted criminals!"
Gu Mo curled his lips. "Don't flatter me like that. There's no skill in it at all."
Su Ziyou grinned.
Gu Mo added, "Since you only came to find me now, you must have already screened through things during the day, right?"
Su Ziyou nodded. "Based on the signs from the Flesh-Eating Ghost Case, it can be determined that this Evil Ghost is a master of disguise, capable of passing false for true. Starting from that angle, and comparing his influence to that of the Grand Manager and the Human-Faced Demon Beast, there isn't a single match.
"If we consider influence alone, there are currently five within Gan Country's borders. But either they do not meet the conditions, or it can be confirmed that they are absolutely not within the Capital City."
Gu Mo asked doubtfully, "Then why are you asking me for help? Help with what? If even you can't investigate it, can I?"
Su Ziyou chuckled. "You are the Wanted Criminal Bane. Any wanted criminal targeted by you will definitely be unable to escape."
"That is merely a joke among fellow jianghu people," Gu Mo said. "Besides, even if no wanted criminal truly can escape from my hands, no one said it would be quick, did they? There is only half a month left until the Succession Ceremony!"
"I know." Su Ziyou nodded and said, "I came to ask for your help for two main reasons. First, I really was just trying my luck. When it comes to wanted criminals, there's something downright uncanny about you.
"Second, among the wanted criminals I screened, it wasn't as though none fit the criteria. But I couldn't verify whether this person was real or fake. He was in the Capital City, his influence could rival the Grand Manager's and the Human-Faced Demon Beast's, and he truly was a master of disguise."
Gu Mo asked doubtfully, "Then isn't that obvious enough?"
Su Ziyou said gravely, "But there's one point where he doesn't fit the criteria: he's currently in prison, so he doesn't have the conditions to commit crimes."
"Then what do you mean?"
Su Ziyou said gravely, "I want to ask you to verify whether he's real or fake. I suspect the one in prison may be a fake, but Six Doors, the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and even the national preceptor, Old Celestial Master Zhang, have all personally verified his identity."
"Who is it?" Gu Mo asked.
"Demonic Monk Dabie, who stirred up enormous waves in Chang'an City twenty years ago!" Su Ziyou said. "He was the previous abbot of the Great Bright Light Temple in the Chu Kingdom. Under the pretext of exchanging Buddhist teachings, he came to Chang'an City of our Da Gan.
"Back then, Demonic Monk Dabie's standing in Buddhism was equivalent to Old Celestial Master Zhang's influence in Taoism today. Though Taoism flourished in our Gan Country, Buddhism's influence was not weak either. When this demon monk came to the Capital City, it naturally became a grand occasion of the highest order among Buddhist believers.
"Who could have imagined that this dignified Buddhist virtuous one, who had arrived with such fanfare, harbored sinister intentions? He bewitched believers throughout Chang'an City, many of whom were court ministers or their family members, intending to shake the foundations of Da Gan's imperial court.
"When he was finally exposed, he even drove his followers into a frenzy, persuading them to launch a tragedy in which several thousand people committed suicide under the excuse of following the Buddha into ascension. In the end, numerous court experts joined forces to capture him, and he has been imprisoned ever since!"
Gu Mo asked in confusion, "So vicious? Why not kill him?"
Su Ziyou said, "There are two reasons. First, he knows the truth about the Immortal descendants of the Chu royal family, and the court wants to pry it from his mouth. Second, for a figure of Dabie's level, his value alive will always exceed his value dead.
"For example, we are currently fighting the Chu Kingdom on the frontline, while Buddhism thrives in Chu and holds tremendous influence. If we make use of Demonic Monk Dabie, the Chu court will have to pay a price to soothe public sentiment.
"For this Succession Ceremony, the Chu Kingdom sent Princess Xiao Ziyin in person. Her main purpose is to negotiate the exchange of battlefield captives for Demonic Monk Dabie. One Demonic Monk Dabie could bring back hundreds, even thousands, of Da Gan's sons!"
"So that was it." Gu Mo came to a sudden realization.
Su Ziyou said, "But after analyzing this Flesh-Eating Ghost Case, it actually seems possible that it was Demonic Monk Dabie. That's why I'm a little uneasy. I want to ask you to verify it. You are the present Number One Under Heaven; your methods surely surpass anything the court possesses!"
Gu Mo said slowly, "Fine. I'll go through it with you."
That was what he said, but Gu Mo already knew clearly that the Demonic Monk Dabie in prison was fake.
Because the system had already issued a prompt:
[New target detected] [Wanted target—Dabie? Evil Ghost?] [Mission level—Six Stars] [Mission reward—Full-Level One Sword Separates Worlds] ...
The wanted information for Demonic Monk Dabie and the Evil Ghost overlapped.
However, Gu Mo did not know how to directly explain to Su Ziyou that he already knew the demon monk in prison was fake, so he agreed to go through it with him.
At once,
Su Ziyou led Gu Mo away.
However,
To Gu Mo's surprise, Su Ziyou did not take him to the Court of Judicial Review, the Ministry of Justice, Six Doors, or any other place with prisons. Instead, he brought him into the imperial city and headed straight for the Directorate of Astronomy.
Su Ziyou explained, "Demonic Monk Dabie's identity is anything but ordinary. It isn't safe to imprison him anywhere. It's not that we fear the Chu Kingdom could arrange for someone to storm the Heavenly Prison, but that they might use methods such as poison to kill the demon monk. After all, a living demon monk is of the greatest value to our Gan Country, but that may not be the case for the Chu Kingdom.
"And if he is imprisoned in the Directorate of Astronomy, it is unlikely anyone could guess it. Even if they do guess, it would be useless. For all these years, the Old Heavenly Master has been suppressing the Directorate of Astronomy. Even now that he has stepped down from the post of Director, he recommended another Taoist expert to come and hold the fort."
"Who?"
"The number one expert of Cangzhou, fifth on Gan Country's Heavenly Ranking, Lingxu Zhenren of Pure Yang Temple!" Su Ziyou said.
Gu Mo froze slightly. He had not expected it to be an acquaintance.
But on second thought, it was only natural.
Now that the Dragon Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master's Residence had sealed its gates and the Old Heavenly Master had retired, there was indeed no one more suited to serve as Director of the Directorate of Astronomy than Lingxu Zhenren, the second leader of Taoism.
Back when they had gone to Cangzhou to investigate the Green Leaf Hall Master, the trail had eventually led to Old Madam Lin of the Seven Great Families. Gu Mo had fought a hard battle at Pure Yang Temple, and it was there that he acquired the raw materials for the Grand Void Flying Sword. Gu Chundong had even treated the spirit pills worth a fortune in the martial world like candy at Pure Yang Temple.
After that incident, Pure Yang Temple had spared no effort in singing Gu Mo's praises throughout the martial world. If the Azure Wave Sword Sect was Gan Country's number one Gu Mo-praising sect, then Pure Yang Temple was the second.
Unfortunately, after asking around, he learned that Lingxu Zhenren was not at the Directorate of Astronomy at the moment.
Very soon,
Led by an official of the Directorate of Astronomy, they arrived at the underground palace prison on the fifth level beneath Star Plucking Tower. Within a waterborne prison cage built with especially sturdy bronze walls and iron barriers, along with all manner of special formations, Gu Mo saw the fake Demonic Monk Dabie.
The other man wore an exceedingly tattered monk robe and sat cross-legged within the iron cage, his eyes shut as he chanted scriptures. His white beard had grown so long that it hung down to his belly.
What Gu Mo found rather admirable was that after being trapped for a full twenty years in such a sunless, soundless underground place, the man's mental state seemed not to have broken down. It was simply outrageous.
Although he knew this was a fake, Gu Mo was still curious how this man had managed to deceive all the experts of Gan Country, even fooling Zhang Daoyi.
At once,
Gu Mo employed the Dao Heart Seed Demon Great Technique, directly entering Fake Dabie's Sea of Consciousness with Nascent Soul Power and controlling his Divine Sense.
However,
In that instant, Gu Mo discovered in shock that this Fake Dabie was actually a Peerless Master just one step away from condensing a Nascent Soul. His Spiritual True Intent was no weaker than that of the current experts in the top ten of the Under Heaven Martial Ranking List.
"How is that possible?"
Gu Mo was greatly alarmed. If even a fake possessed such cultivation, did that not mean the real Dabie was in the Half-step Ascension Realm or the Ascension Realm? Up to now, Gu Mo had only encountered four such experts. One was Ling Xiao, the Previous Generation Number One Under Heaven. The other three were on Penglai Island: the Great Island Master and Second Island Master, who had now changed their identities to Red Clothes and the Qin Player, as well as Yu Jinghong, who had left behind a strand of memory.
Even Su Qianqiu, the publicly acknowledged Number Two Under Heaven, and Zhang Daoyi, Number Three Under Heaven, had not reached the Half-step Ascension Realm.
In other words, Demonic Monk Dabie back then could not possibly have reached that realm. At most, he should have been on the same level as Zhang Daoyi, Su Qianqiu, and the others.
But the problem now was,
The man before him actually possessed a realm on the same level as Su Qianqiu and Zhang Daoyi.
"This isn't a cultivation realm a fake should possess."
Puzzled, Gu Mo pointed through the air, sending a strand of true qi into "Fake Dabie." It instantly entered his limbs and bones, his Extraordinary Meridians and Eight Vessels.
What surprised Gu Mo even more was,
Although this man's internal energy had been sealed and his dantian blocked, leaving him unable to cultivate for a full twenty years, the true qi sealed within his dantian remained exceptionally pure—Prajna Immeasurable Sutra internal energy, which only an abbot of the Great Bright Light Temple could cultivate.
Gu Mo recognized it because he had discussed Dao with Dharma Master Liansheng many times and was very familiar with this internal energy.
Moreover, Gu Mo himself had mastered several Buddhist martial arts and was extremely familiar with the aura of Buddhist internal energy.
Not only did this "Fake Dabie" possess the Prajna Immeasurable Sutra's internal energy, it was also vast and surging. Even after losing twenty years of cultivation, it still ranked among the foremost in the world today. Though it might not enter the Top Ten Under Heaven, it was not far off.
At that moment, "Fake Dabie" slowly opened his eyes, smiled, and said, "Benefactor, there is no need to test me. This humble monk is Dabie, and Dabie is this humble monk!"
Before you continue