A shocking turn: twenty-eight days

The Celestial Master's Ordination was omniscient and omnipotent. If its power were a vast treasure vault, Chinese characters were the key that opened its doors.

Questions ending in "yes or no" could barely pry open a crack, but it was like cutting flesh with a blunt knife—laborious and inefficient.

Things in this world had more than just "yes" and "no" to them. Suppose, for instance, that Zhang Xuan wanted some tofu pudding.

If he asked a yes-or-no question, he could only ask, "Is there a shop selling tofu pudding within a hundred li, yes or no?"

The Celestial Master's Ordination would answer "yes" or "no."

If it answered "yes," he would have to scour every town within a hundred li. Not only would that take time and effort, but the shop he finally found might even serve savory tofu pudding...

But if he understood Chinese characters, the question became entirely different: "Celestial Master's Ordination, tell me the quickest, easiest way to get some tofu pudding. Sweet tofu pudding."

Every word went straight to the heart of the matter.

Only by understanding Chinese characters could he wield the full power of the Celestial Master's Ordination.

At this thought, an image surfaced in Zhang Xuan's mind: the Old Celestial Master standing beneath the blazing sun, brow furrowed, asking "yes or no" over and over as he tried to squeeze limited information out of the Celestial Master's Ordination.

He, on the other hand, could use Chinese characters as a key to unlock the true power of the Celestial Master's Ordination and glimpse the boundless mysteries hidden behind that blazing sun.

"No wonder..." Zhang Xuan murmured, understanding flickering in his eyes. "Could it be that none of the Celestial Masters throughout the generations ever fully controlled the Celestial Master's Ordination? Could it be because they lacked this key—Chinese characters?"

For a moment, Zhang Xuan was so inexplicably exhilarated that his whole body trembled uncontrollably!

But he soon calmed down...

He was an amnesiac who had somehow become the person of this generation able to access the Celestial Master's Ordination, and he just happened to recognize the Chinese characters on it. But was this truly a stroke of fortune, or had someone secretly plotted against him, leading him here step by step?

These coincidences were far too outrageous. Zhang Xuan even suspected that someone was controlling everything from behind the scenes, deliberately drawing him into a situation that seemed perfectly logical but was, in truth, riddled with suspicious details.

At that thought, Zhang Xuan's gaze grew deep.

For a moment, Zhang Xuan felt surrounded by an enormous conspiracy. It was an awful feeling, chilling him to the bone when he already felt so unsafe!

Outside, the night deepened.

Something seemed to stir in the shadows of the Celestial Master's Mansion, waiting to devour him whole.

Zhang Xuan forced himself to rally. He began questioning everything he had experienced!

Had my spiritual consciousness really been damaged, causing my amnesia, because I voluntarily dispersed my cultivation in preparation for receiving the Celestial Master's Ordination?

With no clues to go on, Zhang Xuan helplessly pinched the bridge of his nose. "The first thing I need to do now is escape this damned place!"

Everything he currently remembered had been forcibly fed to him by the Celestial Master's Mansion.

The Way of Great Peace, the foremost righteous order, the fourteenth Celestial Master—he did not believe a single word of it.

Could the note and porcelain bottle in my possession also have been planted to frame me?

If I could spot the mechanism in the clothing chest, couldn't anyone else?

Keeping the tools of the crime after poisoning someone—would I really have been that careless before losing my memory?

Staying here, he felt like a lamb in a pen, thorns digging into his back, thin ice beneath his feet.

In Zhang Xuan's eyes, the Celestial Master's Mansion had become a true breeding ground for trouble.

Now that he had obtained the Celestial Master's Ordination, he, an amnesiac, had little attachment to the Celestial Master's Mansion.

"I'm leaving!"

Zhang Xuan rose and pushed open the door. Cold wind rushed into his face. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

In a daze, the world spun around him. Zhang Xuan's vision went black, and he nearly toppled backward.

Fortunately, at the last instant, he bit through the tip of his tongue. The taste of blood filled his mouth, and the searing pain dragged him back from the brink of unconsciousness.

Though he stepped back in time and barely steadied himself, he staggered backward a few paces and ultimately fell to the floor.

The door stood open. The ink-black darkness outside loomed over him like a ravenous beast that could swallow heaven and earth. A few shrill bird cries pierced the silence.

Cold wind poured inside and struck his body, actually bringing a measure of relief to his groggy head.

His clothes were soaked with sweat, clinging stickily to his back in unbearable discomfort. But Zhang Xuan could not spare that a thought. He struggled upright with the wall for support and staggered over to the bronze mirror.

The mirror reflected a horrifying face—sunken eyes, blood streaming from all seven orifices.

"Damn it!"

He had no idea what was happening to him!

Zhang Xuan clenched his teeth, veins bulging at his temples. Blood seeped from his seven orifices, trickled down his cheeks, and dripped onto his collar, blooming into glaring crimson flowers.

The next instant, the Old Celestial Master's bleeding face flashed before his eyes, black blood winding across it like venomous snakes.

His heart tightened. Could it be... I've been poisoned too?

As soon as the thought flashed through his mind, Zhang Xuan shook his head and dismissed it.

"No, Master's blood was black, but mine..."

Both were bleeding from all seven orifices, but the blood seeping from the corners of Zhang Xuan's eyes and his nostrils was red.

Once the bout of dizziness passed, his seven orifices stopped bleeding. He grabbed a towel and wiped haphazardly at the blood on his face, then staggered over to shut the door. His body went limp, and he collapsed onto the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Zhang Xuan's thoughts raced. He took apart and reassembled every detail of the past two days until, finally, his gaze sharpened and he reached a decision.

He imitated what the Old Celestial Master had done before. "Inner Landscape!"

The world spun.

When he opened his eyes again, a Blood Moon hung high overhead, staining the night sky an eerie dark red.

Sinister...

That was the first word that surfaced in Zhang Xuan's mind upon seeing the Blood Moon.

He instinctively retreated two steps. The moment he moved, Zhang Xuan realized he was not standing on solid ground at all, but on the surface of an ink-black lake.

As his feet moved, ripples spread across the still water beneath him, unfolding like countless scarlet eyes.

He gazed into the distance. Everything around him was pitch-black, with no end in sight...

Was this his Inner Landscape?

Why was it completely different from the Old Celestial Master's? The Old Celestial Master's Inner Landscape held a blazing sun, displaying the resplendent divine might of the righteous path. Why did his have this eerie, sinister Blood Moon instead?

Zhang Xuan remembered the Old Celestial Master saying that the Celestial Master's Ordination was the key to the Celestial Master's Mansion's succession. But did this sinister Inner Landscape mean that the Celestial Master's Ordination he had received had undergone some kind of mutation?

He drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his unease.

"System, what's wrong with my body? If there's a problem, what do I need to do to turn danger into safety?"

The Blood Moon remained silent, giving no response.

After a long while, Zhang Xuan tentatively tried asking again. This time, however, he did not call it "System," but "Celestial Master's Ordination"!

"Celestial Master's Ordination, answer me!"

The instant his words fell, the crimson on the Blood Moon seemed to come alive, writhing like earthworms and intertwining into several lines of small characters:

[Name: Zhang Xuan]

[Age: 20]

[Status: Dying]

[Remaining lifespan: Twenty-eight days]

Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted, and his fingertips trembled slightly.

"Twenty-eight days..."

He repeated it softly, his voice seeming to squeeze out from deep in his throat.

The Blood Moon's red light shone on his face, casting his expression into a hideous, terrifying mask.