The Sage's Gaze

After obtaining the Blue-Collared Fish, Yang Wenqing had Yang Zhong stand guard at the door and forbade anyone from disturbing him. He then locked the cabin door from the inside and raised a hand to form a soundproofing seal, isolating the entire rest cabin from the outside world.

He then cleared the dark gray metal table by the window and took a folded piece of dark yellow silk from his storage pouch. After unfolding it, he spread it flat across the tabletop. Fine golden runic patterns were embroidered along the edges of the silk; it was a simple altar cloth carried by disciples of the Profound Peak Sect, used to set up personal altars in the wilderness or temporary encampments.

Once the silk was laid out, he placed a palm-sized bronze incense burner in the center of the table and inserted three slender incense sticks. The incense was specially made from compressed spiritual wood powder mixed with a small amount of agarwood. Its fragrance was light yet enduring, making it ideal for private prayers.

Behind the incense burner, he took out a palm-sized wooden spirit tablet. The words "Everlasting Purity Sage" were carved on its front and traced in cinnabar, with no unnecessary decorations around the edges.

Personal prayer differed from a national sacrifice. There was no need for extravagance, ceremonial music, honor guards, crowds of priests, or heaps of offerings. A clean table, an altar cloth, an incense burner, three slender sticks of incense, a spirit tablet, and a Blue-Collared Fish as an offering already made for a sufficiently complete altar.

Once everything was prepared, Yang Wenqing sat cross-legged before the table and sent his Divine Sense into the Dragon Pearl inside his storage pouch, using his consciousness to communicate with Ao Guang.

"You said a water-element secret art