The Wooden Box

One month later.

In a valley on the eastern edge of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.

Miasma filled the air, and poisonous creatures were everywhere.

Within the miasma, a dark-blue figure and two streaks of light, one crimson and one orange, darted back and forth.

They were Su Yao, the Morning Rosy Cloud Duck, and the Azure Empyrean Sparrow: one man and two birds.

After a long while, the rosy light around Su Yao swept away the miasma over a hilltop, and he landed there.

After calming the two birds, Su Yao looked out at the miasma-filled land and sighed inwardly.

A month ago, after descending Qixia Mountain and meeting the mountain god, he had set off for Yongzhou. Without using a Law Artifact, the journey would have taken around ten days while reserving a certain amount of Law Power.

With a Law Artifact, it should have taken only five days.

But two days after setting out, when he was halfway there, he discovered an exotic creature that was well suited for combining with his third talisman. He stayed the night, only for the place to be enveloped in endless miasma the next day. He and the two birds had now been trapped here for over a month. Fortunately, he had plenty of pills on him.

Fortunately, the miasma only surrounded them and did not attack.

Otherwise, he would have succumbed to its poison long ago, let alone been able to protect the two birds.

He looked up. The brilliant sun still hung in the sky, but he could not fly out. Once he reached a certain height, the miasma blocked his way.

He used the prism to investigate and found only that miasma filled the area, drawing in numerous poisonous creatures. There were no traces of any other formation.

Although the prism let him determine the extent of the miasma, he could not escape it, because it moved with him.

He suspected that some important figure had done this to trap him here.

He sighed inwardly.

Just as he pulled a Purple Mansion talisman from his Storage Bag, the pervasive miasma suddenly vanished in an instant.

Su Yao felt no joy at the sight. Instead, his expression grew even more grave.

A figure in purple stood not far away. She had a graceful figure, a purple veil covering her face, and exquisite ornaments in her hair. Her long purple dress swayed in the wind.

In his sea of Qi, the prism warned him incessantly.

Seeing this, Su Yao put away the talisman and bowed with utmost respect. This person was definitely at the Purple Mansion realm, and not the sort who had relied on outside help to rise to that position, like the mountain god whose power was tied to authority over Qixia Mountain:

"Greetings, Senior. May I ask who you are...?"

She gave no answer, merely looking at Su Yao in silence.

Su Yao waited a long time, but the other party gave no response. Unable to resist testing her, he drew the Clear Wind Sword and prepared to turn into a streak of light and leave.

But in the next instant, streams of purple Qi rose and held him firmly in place. Then an ethereal voice came, tinged with amusement:

"Qixia Temple has sealed its mountain for a long time. I had intended to go there to borrow a treasure, but I never expected to meet the Qixia Daozi here."

She paused.

"Forty years ago, a fellow Daoist from the Nanshan Dao Lineage went to Qixia Temple to return a treasure. After coming back, he told us, 'The Qixia Daozi is unruly and mischievous.' Now that I have met you, I see it is true."

Su Yao thought to himself, Forty years ago? He had been in seclusion then and truly had not known anyone had come to Qixia Mountain.

Purple Qi had risen as soon as this person acted, and she had come to Qixia to borrow a treasure. Presumably, she was also a senior who followed the Jade Pure One's path. He already had a guess, and his mind eased somewhat. Grinning cheekily, he probed:

"Might you be a senior from the Laoshan Dao Lineage?"

She laughed softly, neither confirming nor denying it, and asked:

"I was traveling south when I saw miasma filling this place. I had intended to dispel it at once, but fortunately, I carried a spiritual treasure that oversees the heavens and discovered Zhengji within the miasma. That delayed me for a long time, so I purified it instead of dispelling it. I did not expect it to be the Qixia Daozi, holding Zhengji within the formation."

"But hasn't Qixia Temple sealed its mountain for many years? Why is the Daozi here with Zhengji today?"

Su Yao replied:

"Thank you for saving me, Senior. I came down the mountain on my master's orders to handle some business in Yongzhou. When I reached this place, I was suddenly surrounded by miasma."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, then said, "Why would the Qixia Daozheng simply watch the Daozi remain trapped in the miasma? Could it be that the Daozi sneaked down the mountain and angered the Perfected One?"

As she spoke, a white light suddenly flew over and landed in her hand. She crushed it and swept it with her Divine Sense, immediately understanding. She thought, I meant to help the Qixia Daozi, but I never expected my good intentions to make things worse. I hope this doesn't lead to further complications.

She looked at Su Yao, a lingering smile at the corners of her mouth:

"I never expected my good intentions to ruin something so important."

Then she waved a hand, and a cage of purple Qi trapped Su Yao inside. She said:

"Please remain here a little longer, Daozi. It will release you shortly. I shall head to Qixia Temple first."

With that, her figure turned into purple Qi and dissipated.

Su Yao was left behind, frustrated. Watching her figure disappear, he cursed inwardly, You're so noble. You're so impressive.

Three days later, in the same valley, the cage of purple Qi finally dissipated. Once his Law Power returned, Su Yao prepared to continue toward Yongzhou.

But a man and a woman suddenly appeared ahead. The man wore black and held a long flute, while the woman wore red and held a paper fan.

The two stood not far away. Seeing that Su Yao had noticed them, they hurriedly bowed.

"Liu Yunhe of the Nanxiao Liu Household and Li Siyi of the Nacheng Li Household greet the Daozi of the superior sect."

Su Yao saw that both of them had Foundation Establishment cultivation, and after hearing them identify their households, he knew they were from immortal clans affiliated with Qixia, whose mountain gates were indeed nearby. But he had sneaked down the mountain this time without the Daozheng's permission, so he asked:

"Why are you two here?"

The two exchanged a glance, and the man, Liu Yunhe, said with a smile:

"You may not know this, Daozi, but after you came down the mountain, an immortal decree was issued from above, ordering the two of us to follow and attend to you. However, Fellow Daoist Li only emerged from seclusion yesterday due to certain circumstances, so we are sorry to have kept you waiting."

Su Yao snorted and said unhappily:

"So you trapped me here and made this Daozi wait for the two of you?"

The woman, Li Siyi, turned pale and hurriedly explained:

"Please forgive us, Daozi. That is not what happened. Although the miasma was the work of an elder of my household, he was acting on orders from the mountain."

She paused, then continued:

"The mountain was waiting for something. Since it had not arrived in the past few days, an order came down from the mountain not to let the Daozi go to Yongzhou, so we had no choice but to resort to this."

With that, she respectfully took out a wooden box covered with a piece of light-colored silk.

Then she used her Law Power to pass it over.

Su Yao first used the prism to examine it and found that the presence on the silk had also been left by the Daozheng. But if the Daozheng had done this, why not give it to him in person, or have the two birds bring it as before? Why insist on having these two deliver it? He was irritated and could not shake the feeling that something fishy was going on.

Moreover, the prism could not see what was inside the wooden box. This was the first time that had happened.

But how would these two households dare to play such a trick?

After all, the weak points of both households' mountain-protecting formations and the talismans that controlled them were all in Qixia Temple.

Then why was it like this?

He thought for a moment, took the wooden box, and unfolded the silk. As soon as he did, words appeared on it of their own accord:

"Keep this safe. When necessary, this box will provide a prompt of its own accord. Follow the prompt when it appears, then open the box. When it needs to be opened, the secret Incantation will appear of its own accord. Be careful after leaving the mountain. There is no need to hurry to Yongzhou for now; stay around this area and wait for the right opportunity.

"I could not give you this on the mountain, so as to keep it from those with designs. Had you come down the mountain at an ordinary time to resolve your worldly ties, that would have been fine, but it was not wise to come down now. It is not convenient to tell you much about the reasons at present. You will understand in time. Above all, be careful in everything."