Zhu Youmu told Jiang Xuejun that Chan Master Bai Mei's alms bowl had been taken by an outsider. "Master's robe and bowl must not pass into outsiders' hands! If it had fallen into the hands of a Buddhist Sect disciple, that would be one thing, but it went to a young Daoist instead. As Perfected Bliss's disciple, he certainly won't abandon Daoism for Buddhism, so we must get the bowl back. But before Master left, he told me to cultivate in seclusion on Stone Tiger Mountain for ten years. I cannot leave, so I can only ask you to make the trip for me and retrieve it."
After hearing him out, Jiang Xuejun found his reasoning perfectly sound. A Buddhist treasure taken by a Daoist was a bright pearl cast into darkness. An ordinary magic treasure would have been tolerable, but a purely Buddhist object could never display all its wondrous powers in a Daoist's hands. Giving the Muni Concentration Pearl to Li Yingqiong could still be explained by her connection to Li Ning, but giving the alms bowl to Chen Yan truly made no sense.
Having agreed, Jiang Xuejun told Zhu Youmu to rest assured. She would certainly retrieve the bowl.
Shi Sheng possessed Heavenly Immortal cultivation and had set off for the South Sea with Chen Yan well before her. Ordinarily, Jiang Xuejun could not have caught up.
Jiang Xuejun knew this too. Her plan was to reach Copper Coconut Island in the South Sea and openly request the bowl on Zhu Youmu's behalf. If they refused to hand it over, she would resort to other means.
Yet after performing a divination, she found reason to rejoice.
As it turned out, after recovering his memories of his previous life, Chen Yan was reluctant to go to the South