Zhang Yu reached out and made a grasping motion. Something drifted over from afar and fell into his hand. It was the jade stone Bai Wang had held earlier—the fragment of the Opening Seal. After Bai Wang's death, this object had remained behind.
The key lay in this "Opening Seal."
Bai Wang and Qing Shuo had once studied the Opening Seal together. Though neither could make use of it, they had sensed the "self" beyond themselves through it, and thereby beheld all manner of things in Celestial Xia.
Where intent fell, qi arrived; where qi arrived, spirit endured. Thus, the spiritual qi of Bai Wang and Qing Shuo—or rather, the spiritual qi of their "Upper Selves"—had not completely vanished. It simply no longer existed in this world; it could still be found in Celestial Xia.
Yet he had originally come from Celestial Xia and now stood within this world, so he had no way to perceive or seize it. Only after leaving this world and returning to Celestial Xia could he gather that wisp of Upper Self spiritual qi and make up for the flaw in his Dao method.
Having thought this through, he immediately tore open the formation curtain and met Ying Zhuan, Shi Yanxin, and Yao Zhenjun again, thanking the three for their assistance.
The three exchanged a few words with him. Seeing that nothing remained to be done here, they all departed in streaks of escaping light. Zhang Yu alone remained within the grand formation. Yet he did not leave. With a sweep of his sleeve, he turned the grand formation once more, shielding it from disturbances outside, then returned to the formation nexus and seated himself.
At a thought from him, a vast curtain of light rose up and reflected against the heavens. The Seal of