Twelve-Hour Sundial

"What a pleasant surprise! What a pleasant surprise!"

The bearded man stroked his beard as he spoke, then moved his body and rose with the current, swimming quickly upwards out of the deep ditch. He saw the school of fish in the water and became even more delighted. Finally, he broke through the water's surface, soaring into the air for a moment, but soon fell back down with a splash into the water.

"What a powerful Source of Order! It's impossible to fly with divine power alone. Only with Method Formula and Law Treasure can one possibly break free for a while, and even then, one cannot fly high. This shows that the Source of Order in this Spirit Land has hardly been developed! It truly is a wonderful place!"

"Jia Shen, don't be too happy yet. Although the Source of Order has not been developed, it does not mean that no external forces have intervened." Beside him, a handsome man in a yellow robe also emerged from the water, stepping forward as if there were ladders in the water.

"Liyuan, you're right," the bearded man known as Jia Shen nodded, then said, "However, there's a place where our plans should be changed."

"Oh? You're planning to use that treasure?"

Another burst of water rose from the surface, and an old woman with a cane emerged from it, walking on the water as if it were flat ground.

"Grandma is right," Jia Shen nodded, sheathing his long sword on his back. With a flick of his sleeve, a round basin appeared in his hand. "Using this will activate the Source of Order here, causing the Order Fruit ripen faster and be harvested sooner!"

He was holding a stone plate with a copper needle in the center. Twelve characters were engraved on the edge of the plate: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai.

This is a Sundial.

The sun is the sun, and the gnomon is the shadow. The purpose of this object is to use the sun's shadow to determine the time; it is a timekeeping tool.

However, the Sundial in the hands of the burly man from Jia Shen's reign constantly emitted bursts of energy, causing fluctuations. As soon as it appeared, even the surrounding scenery showed signs of distortion, clearly indicating that it was unusual.

A red shadow flashed on the water's surface, and the woman appeared, but remained silent.

"Well said!"

A childish voice rang out from the water, followed by a whirlpool that revealed a toddler wearing a bib. He was lifted up by the whirlpool and slowly rose. His hand was still gripping Luo He's, and he had a grinning expression on his face.

"Jia Shen's plan is good. Using this treasure, we can obtain what we need in just a few years. Now we are alone, and the Heavenly Court's pursuers may appear at any time. It is precisely at times like this that we cannot hide. Instead, we must seize every opportunity to strengthen ourselves!"

The child suddenly changed the subject. "However, we must not let our guard down either. Just as Liyuan said, there are other cultivators here, so we must investigate the situation. We must not underestimate this small world, and even less so the natives. You must know that in history, there are many examples of deities who descended to earth being killed or annihilated by top figures among the natives."

"Don't worry about Sudhana, I know what I'm doing." The Jia Shen man nodded. "Wait, we'll split up and scout the area. It would be best if we could capture a few natives and question them!"

"How can I be at ease with your actions?" Sudhana boy narrowed his eyes, smiled slightly, and waved his hand. "Isn't there readily available intelligence here? First, digest the information in his soul, get a general understanding, at least understand the division of power, before you take action!"

"Uh, you're right, I was careless." Jia Shen scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly.

Sudhana shook his head, then squeezed his hand, and Luo He, who had already shriveled up, trembled, and a Divine Soul flew out from it.

This Divine Soul was already listless and trapped by several strings of coins, unable to break free even if it struggled.

"Let me go? I have no grudge against you! Why must you resort to such cruelty? Besides, you are gods, and I am a cultivator; we should keep to ourselves..."

Sudhana sneered, "Don't pretend to be so innocent. Your Divine Soul is full of Karmic Sin, Heart Fire is dark and faintly red. You've probably sacrificed many lives, haven't you? Even if I destroy you, it'll be a meritorious deed. What's wrong with that?"

As he spoke, a glint of silver flashed in his eyes, and he uttered a sentence—

"Treasured memories are like dirt, scattered across the world into the mortal realm!"

Upon Divine Soul these words, Luo He let out a miserable scream, his voice filled with despair. His entire Divine Soul suddenly swelled and expanded rapidly, seemingly without end, enveloping the five figures, including the Sudhana Boy.

Immediately afterwards, the light and shadow within his Divine Soul shifted, bringing to life Luo He's memories.

A large part of these memories are about the outside world.

The five deities looked at the scene with a strange expression in their eyes.

"This is a world where Human Path is perfected, and it has not been completely tainted by the Divine Path, establishing Sage Order," said the handsome Pear Liyuan as he looked around.

"Indeed, the Way of the Sages is the essence of Human Path and can prevent the erosion of the Divine Path. We have found a place to go." Sudhana nodded. "In this Continent, the Divine Path does not have absolute power. We can find a place called 'the land of the four barbarians' by the Confucianism, which will be enough to settle down, hmm?"

Suddenly, he frowned.

At the same time, the visions within his Divine Soul developed to the point of the Great Qi's collapse.

Luo He did not enter recently, but rather when the previous dynasty collapsed. He stumbled upon the Land of the Divine Remains along with others searching for a paradise, which is why he has memories of the collapse of the Great Qi.

Seeing the endless battles in his memory, the burly man from the Jia Shen year shook his head. "Indeed, it is ordained by Heaven. Although the Divine Path way cannot cover the sky with one hand, it is influencing this Continent, gradually leading Human Path towards stagnation! If there is no turning point, and if there is no more Hundred Schools, this Continent will not escape the control of the Heavenly Court..."

As the scene changes, the outside world disappears, replaced by the scene within the Land of the Divine Remains.

These were the details that truly concerned the gods present. They all stared intently at the exhibit, and after learning about the legend of the Nine Suns and the purpose of the Totem Pillar, the old woman couldn't help but exclaim, "Could it really Ancient God's Remains? That's a priceless treasure! But judging from this person's memories, the Star Lord in charge of this area should also know about these remains. Why hasn't he taken any action?"

As she spoke, the memories gradually shifted to the Lianxi Tribe.

Seeing the bustling scene in the Lianxi Tribe, with some people carrying polishing tools and others moving stones and timber, working together in a division of labor, and fertile fields appearing all around.

Sudhana's eyes widened. "Hmm? This tribe has already started dividing up the work? No, that's not all. Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, there's definitely something wrong with this tribe! There are other people behind those three guardians!"

As he was still in surprise, a thought suddenly struck him, his eyelids twitched, his expression changed drastically, and he reached out to grab, unleashing a surge of divine power that rushed towards a corner of his Divine Soul!

Click!

A crisp sound came from the corner, clearly indicating that something had broken.

With a surge of divine power, he grasped a trace of residual energy, and the Incense Faith within surged forth, quickly analyzing it.

"This is... Heart Demon! Heart Demon is lurking within this person's Divine Soul." Sudhana's expression turned slightly solemn.

"Heart Demon?" The handsome man, Liyuan, frowned. "The Source of Order here is so powerful that even divine power is suppressed. The Heaven Beyond Heaven has no direct connection with this place, so how could Heart Demon appear here?"

Sudhana said, "Heart Demon don't appear on their own, but if someone controls them, that's another story. This Spirit Land is not simple; clearly, a deity has already taken action, laying the groundwork for Order. The Heart Demon we just saw was very likely one of its subordinates, used to gather intelligence. We've probably been exposed."

"In that case, we'd better hurry!" The Jia Shen immediately became nervous, fearing that this Spirit Land would be snatched away.

Sudhana nodded. "That's right, but before that, we still need to explore the surrounding areas and gather another group of people before we can activate the Sundial. Here, neither gods nor cultivators can replenish their power, which is actually an advantage for us. No matter how strong a person is, they will be severely weakened by such restrictions. Only we have elixirs to replenish our power, so we don't have to worry about running out of strength."

At this point, his eyes changed, and he sent several streams of Divine Sense into the minds of the group, solemnly saying, "Being able to come here is a fortuitous opportunity, but you must seize it yourselves. There's no time to lose, everyone, let's split up and get going!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the lake surface rippled, and several figures dispersed, leaving only a withered corpse on the lake surface. Blood continued to flow from the corpse, staining a patch of water red.

"The Divine Path, destiny, the stagnation of Human Path, the control of the Heavenly Court... This is exactly what I was thinking about! The identities of these descending deities are quite intriguing, and the structure of the Heavenly Court is also very intriguing, but it's still too far away for me."

Inn in Eastern Capital.

Qiu Yan had returned to his room and changed his clothes. The damaged Mechanical Puppet was not with him; he had placed it elsewhere. At this moment, he sat cross-legged on the bed, closing his eyes to sense and comprehend the information discovered by the Heart Demon Fragment.

Before this, Luo He attacked Lianxi. On a whim, Qiu Yan summoned some Heart Demon Fragment. When the guardians, including the Poison Insect God, made their move, Qiu Yan was caught in the process and ended up on Luo He.

After Luo He's defeat, he was restless and unaware that he was being invaded by Heart Demon. However, the Heart Demon remained dormant and did not erupt. It was only by chance that he encountered the event of the Divine Descent and learned some information from them, which surprised Qiu Yan.

As he pondered, a thought suddenly struck him, and he narrowed his eyes.

"Oh? It seems the uncle and nephew have reached their destination, but it's just a hiding place; we can't get any more information."

Thinking this, Qiu Yan's thoughts shifted, and the Incense Faith within his body surged, enveloping the aura originating from Tian Zhun and sending it into the Li Trigram Talisman.

"However, even though it's just a branch, by combining these auras and making calculations, we can still gain something. Speaking of which, I once attached my consciousness to the World-Troubling Copper Furnace, hoping to take the opportunity to explore the Spirit-Sealing Dao, but I was directly discovered by that Flying Tiger Daoist, and all my efforts were in vain. The current situation is somewhat similar. If this uncle and nephew really return to their old lair, it may make my efforts all for nothing."

ps:

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