Existence and Traces
Su Yao had no idea how far he had escaped.
Golden Light Across the Land for five days and five nights. The third "Drinking from the Marsh and Bearing the Abyss" talisman in his Qi Sea was like a source of living water, continuously replenishing his nearly depleted Law Power.
Otherwise, he would have collapsed long ago.
But the mortal world behind him always followed him like a shadow.
Cang Lan's voice came calmly and steadily, passing through layers of Great Void and landing steadily in Su Yao's ears:
"Five days have passed. The Abbot's Law Power has not yet reached its limit; it is I, Cang, who underestimated the foundation of the Jade Pure One Purity lineage."
Su Yao did not answer, and golden light flashed again beneath his feet.
Cang Lan suddenly stopped at this moment.
He gazed at the golden light receding into the distance, sighed softly, flicked his green robe sleeves, and the aura of worldly dust around him vanished instantly. He stood still, no longer giving up the chase.
Su Yao felt a chill run down his spine. Instead of relaxing, he felt an even greater unease.
"That's enough."
Cang Lan's voice suddenly turned cold, losing the gentleness and mockery he had displayed along the way.
"I originally intended to save face for the abbot, but now it seems that's no longer possible."
Before he finished speaking, he flipped his hand and took out an object.
It was a worn-out winnowing basket.
It is crudely made, with some broken edges and corners, and grayish-brown all over, like an ordinary thing that a farmer used for half his life, holding countless grains and sifting through countless chaff.
But the moment Su Yao saw the winnowing basket, his pupils suddenly contracted.
The winnowing basket looked worn, but it wasn't actually worn out.
Every line and every imperfection on it was surrounded by a very faint warm yellow halo, as if millions of tiny points of light were flowing, colliding, and filtering between the lines.
Cang Lan gently tossed the winnowing basket upwards.
"Ten Thousand People Sieve!"
The winnowing basket, suspended in the Great Void, swelled with the wind, instantly transforming into a hundred-zhang square, like a Heavenly Net woven from the wishes of the common people, descending upon Su Yao.
Without a second thought, Su Yao unleashed another burst of Golden Light Across the Land.
But this time, the golden light had just appeared when it was blocked by the Daoist's net.
The net was not a physical entity, but a mortal web woven from the wishes of billions of people. The golden light was the ultimate speed of the Immortal Dao, but the net was omnipresent, like cooking smoke, like mist, like a boundless, all-encompassing dream, completely enveloping Su Yao within it.
Su Yao felt his whole body freeze.
The radiant light surrounding him sizzled as it touched the warm yellow net, like boiling water pouring over snow. His Law Power, Sword Intent, and inspiration were all rapidly dissipated under the sifting of the net.
Even more terrifying was that the Divine Ability within his Rising Yang Mansion began to tremble slightly, as if they were being sifted away bit by bit by that "sieve".
"The Ten Thousand People Sieve." Cang Lan's voice came from outside the net, calm as still water, "This is Spirit Treasure of Human Dao, using the wishes of billions of people as its threads and the essence of the mortal world as its eyes. It can sift through all things and filter out spiritual energy. Although the Abbot cultivates the Rainbow Clouds Path, as long as he remains in the Human Dao world, he cannot escape the tribulation of this sieve."
The warm yellow giant net slowly tightened, like an invisible giant hand, trying to "sieve" Su Yao out of this world bit by bit.
Su Yao stopped trying to escape.
He closed his eyes.
The next moment, the Great Yin Feather Robe moved.
Greater Yin is the first treasure of the world.
The essence of this feathered robe lies in the ultimate principle of "concealment" since the beginning of time. It is not about hiding or evading, but about completely concealing oneself from the world.
Su Yao's figure quickly faded away within the net of Ten Thousand People Sieve.
It's not that it disappeared, but rather that it "hid" itself.
Once the moon disappears into the clouds, it leaves no trace in the world. Its light, its shadow, its breath, its thoughts—all are hidden away by the Greater Yin. The Ten Thousand People Sieve continues to turn slowly, but it can no longer find anything to filter.
Su Yao's figure seemed to have been erased from this Great Void.
"The Great Yin Feather Robe." Cang Lan murmured these four words softly, a hint of regret in his voice, "The Greater Yin Dao is the greatest treasure under heaven. It's quite fitting that this treasure has fallen into the hands of the Abbot."
He paused, his gaze falling on the empty Great Void, and then suddenly smiled.
"Unfortunately, the abbot forgot."
"The hidden essence of Greater Yin is 'existence.' Yet, in this mortal Human Dao, before becoming True Lord, one will ultimately leave 'traces.'"
"If the abbot relies solely on the Greater Yin, it is insufficient."
Cang Lan's voice fell, Ten Thousand People Sieve suddenly trembled.
The giant, warm yellow net stopped tightening and began to spin faster and faster, stirring up a huge vortex in the Great Void. Traces of Su Yao's past appearances in the outside world appeared within the vortex.
The Ten Thousand People Sieve involves more than just screening people.
It filters out the "traces" people leave behind in the world.
Although Su Yao's figure had already disappeared into the Greater Yin, his "traces" remained.
Those traces were sifted out bit by bit from the Great Void by the Ten Thousand People Sieve, like sifting chaff, and he was "sifted" out again from the Greater Yin Treasury.
Su Yao felt his body freeze for a moment.
The "hidden" aspect of Greater Yin is still present, but its "traces" have already been exposed.
The "existence" can be concealed, but the "traces" cannot.
"The Greater Yin can conceal Heaven and Earth, but it cannot conceal the mortal realm," Cang Lan's voice softly drifted over. "If the Abbot only possesses the Greater Yin, he will not be able to leave today."
Su Yao remained silent upon hearing this. If he were cultivating the Greater Yin Dao, he wouldn't be afraid of the other party, but he cultivated the Rainbow Clouds, and this treasure also possessed the Spring and Autumn Divine Mystery!
The next moment, the darkness on the Great Yin Feather Robe, as thick as night, suddenly changed.
It was no longer just pure darkness, but possessed an extremely ancient and profound aura.
The Spring and Autumn Period.
The Spring and Autumn Period is history.
The Greater Yin Dao (the Way of the Moon) is inherently in harmony with the mysteries of the Spring and Autumn Annals, after all, the Heavenly Venerable of the Laurel-Breaking Household originated from Greater Yin. However, the Spring and Autumn Annals is never just about "the changes of Yin and Yang". The Spring and Autumn is history, a record, and a historian's writing style that implies praise and criticism in a single word.
The style of writing in the Spring and Autumn Annals is subtle yet profound, meaningful yet obscure, elegant yet complete, thorough yet untainted.
A single word of praise is like a gift of fine robes; a single word of criticism is like execution by axe.
It hides another layer of "trace" after "in" in "Greater Yin".
Tibetan history.
Su Yao's aura changed once again within the Greater Yin Treasury.
This time, he didn't just disappear from the world, but from "history".
His past, his experiences, every footprint he left in the world, every trace he left behind, every cause and effect, all seemed to be gently erased from the records of the mortal world by an invisible pen of history.
The vortex of the Ten Thousand People Sieve suddenly stopped.
Those "traces" that were filtered out fell like autumn leaves, returning to nothingness.
Ten Thousand People Sieve could not find any trace of Su Yao.
Because that "trace" has already been hidden within the Spring and Autumn.
It is hidden in the deepest and darkest part of the long river of history, hidden in the blank spaces where the pen of history never leaves its mark.
The Greater Yin is hidden in the earth, and the Spring and Autumn conceal traces of it.
Su Yao has completely disappeared.
Cang Lan gazed at the empty Great Void for a long time before gently nodding.
"The Greater Yin hides beyond the world, and history is hidden within the Spring and Autumn Annals. This feathered robe of the abbot is indeed an extraordinary item. It is worthy of being a great gift from Zhegui Su Household, who received the laurel, to Qixia Temple."
He paused, then slowly raised his right hand.
"Unfortunately, the abbot ultimately did not cultivate the Greater Yin or the Spring and Autumn."
"The Greater Yin the greatest treasure trove under heaven, capable of storing history in the Spring and Autumn. But in this world, there is something else called the Great Yang."
"The Great Yang is the most radiant thing under heaven. No matter how deeply the Greater Yin hides, or how cleverly the Spring and Autumn conceal themselves, they cannot hide from the Great Yang."
Before he finished speaking, a halo of light slowly appeared in his palm.
It was a ring no bigger than the palm of your hand, made entirely of pure gold, with sharp edges, yet inside it contained a flowing, intense light that was almost tangible.
The moment that halo appeared, the Great Void, spanning tens of thousands of miles, was instantly illuminated as if it were daytime.