Shadows Cast by Candlelight
"With such a large form as His Majesty, is it possible for him to enter a place like ours?"
"Dragons can be large or small, can rise or hide. When large, they stir up clouds and mist; when small, they conceal themselves. When rising, they soar through the universe; when hiding, they lurk within the waves. Your Majesty possesses many wondrous Divine Ability powers; shrinking your body is but a matter of an instant!"
"Extraordinarily profound!"
The Art of Celestial Magic involves adjusting and enlarging the form to display the most suitable shape for combat.
The Venerable One adjusts his body from large to small, a process that is the opposite of the Dharma Heaven Technique.
Just thinking about the Venerable One's colossal body, hundreds of feet long, hovering in the Xieluosi River Holy Land, filled Zhang Xuezhou with awe.
Lu Baibai and the Feiyu Feather Demon King searched around, while Zhang Xuezhou had a brief exchange with Zou Bugui.
Zou Bugui felt both happy and worried for Zhang Xuezhou. He was happy because Zhang Xuezhou's cultivation and abilities had exceeded his expectations, but he was worried because Zhang Xuezhou was only superficially strong, but in reality, he was rotten inside. The chaos in his body was like a series of knots that were becoming increasingly difficult to untie.
Lu Baibai remained near the bronze gate, listening intently to everything around her, making it inconvenient for the two to discuss private matters.
Zou Bugui diagnosed Zhang Xuezhou's physical condition, while Zhang Xuezhou inquired about Zou Bugui refining external elixirs, and they discussed many related professional topics from the Yin-Yang School.
"Don't talk about herbs, medicines, or ores, let's discuss this formation more," Lu Baibai said, turning to the two of them.
"What's there to discuss about this formation?" Zhang Xuezhou complained. "For the Physiognomy School technique, a formation either gets suppressed or the cultivator is killed by it; there's never a third option!"
"The Yin-Yang School's array Law Technique can only reveal the depth of an array, not its mysteries, and they have no way to break this dead array. Zou Bugui said, shaking his head as well.
What you're saying is making me a little uneasy!
Lu Baibai was a little disappointed.
The stability of the Xieluosi River Holy Land is entirely dependent on His Excellency. Whenever His Excellency is involved in any danger, it means that they lack protection and their lives are far from secure.
But Lu Baibai was also well aware that this risk was unavoidable.
His Excellency is too old, and must seek every means to stabilize his body and prolong his life. However, there are very few methods that can be effective for someone of His Excellency's stature, and none of them can be easily successful.
This also leads to the Lord being tough and even unscrupulous in order to achieve his goals.
It's not surprising that Zhang Xuezhou's body is in disarray. The Venerable One doesn't consider the long term when dealing with Zhang Xuezhou's health problems; instead, he uses whatever symptom is present to address it, even if it's just to temporarily plug the leak.
Sending Zhang Xuezhou into the formation to cast spells would be like sending him to his death, which is why Zhang Xuezhou never voiced his objections, leading to their amicable relationship.
If Zhang Xuezhou were to resist, the situation would be entirely different.
His Majesty treats Zhang Xuezhou in this way, and he himself would be willing to take the same risks whenever needed.
As time went by, Lu Baibai knew very well that the Venerable One was getting closer and closer to Mount Tai.
Exploring the Emperor Qin's tomb quickly is fine, but getting caught in the formation's danger is a major disaster.
The longer the delay, the more likely it will bring unexpected consequences that His Excellency will find difficult to bear.
The world's investigations are not based on what the eyes see, but on many other methods such as deduction, calculation, and perception. If some important figure discovers that Your Excellency is far away from the Xieluosi River Holy Land and plots to target Your Excellency, this is an excellent opportunity to snipe.
Lu Baibai felt restless, her heart pounding, pacing back and forth in the passageway.
It wasn't until a surge of scalding hot air rushed into the dark passage that Lu Baibai suddenly raised her head.
When his gaze fell upon it, he saw a three-zhang-long (approximately 10 meters) long, human-faced, snake-bodied monster wandering in.
"Your Excellency!"
Lu Baibai let out a soft cry.
He looked at the strange human face with two vertical eyes, and then at the clawless body covered in red scales.
Lu Baibai had seen the Venerable One's true form as a dragon before, but this was the first time he had seen the Venerable One in this strange state.
"Um!"
A faint but familiar echo reached Lu Baibai, confirming that she hadn't mistaken him for someone else.
He was about to step forward to politely help him up, but upon seeing the Venerable One's form, he didn't know how to proceed. Just as Lu Baibai was feeling somewhat uncomfortable, the Venerable One's human-faced, snake-bodied body swayed and then transformed into a young white-haired man.
"The passage here is narrow and long, so we'll have to find a way to make things easier!"
The Venerable One pointed at the closed-eyed clone, and a sachet appeared in his hand. He reached into the sachet with his right hand, and a Daoist robe appeared on his body.
When His Excellency reached into the sachet with his right hand, he took out a red candle.
"Xiao Zhou, the core of the array you mentioned starts from here and needs to extend another hundred meters."
After dressing neatly and bowing respectfully with a candle in hand, His Majesty looked at Zou Bugui.
"The core of that formation isn't pointing horizontally, but rather downwards at this angle!"
When Lu Baibai saw that the Venerable One was changing again and again, with his demonic body exhibiting various strange and different aspects, Zou Bugui found it somewhat difficult to understand, but Zou Bugui adjusted extremely quickly.
He quickly drew several lines on the ground as a point of comparison.
"Are you sure?" His Majesty inquired.
"I'm sure," Zou Bugui nodded.
"Alright!"
His Majesty glanced at the lines drawn by Zou Bugui, but did not investigate them further. Instead, he summoned Zhang Xuezhou.
"Take your Dharma body and hold this candle of the Venerable One as you enter the gate, and go to the core of the formation to cast your spell," the Venerable One instructed.
"Can one enter by holding a candle?"
Zhang Xuezhou asked in surprise, wondering why the Venerable One didn't go in with the torch to break the formation himself.
"Go and try it and you'll see," His Excellency replied.
"Become!"
Zhang Xuezhou nodded.
He didn't ask any more questions. As long as he knew that the Venerable One needed him and wouldn't deliberately send him to his death, Zhang Xuezhou cooperated fully with the Venerable One.
Of course, the most important reason is that Zhang Xuezhou knows that nothing he says will make a difference.
He could be a junior treated kindly by the esteemed ruler, but Zhang Xuezhou could also be transformed into a tortured and subjugated prisoner, and once he lost his value, he could even become a corpse.
Compared to the latter, Zhang Xuezhou would undoubtedly choose the former, and he would cooperate fully with all of His Majesty's actions.
He took the candle, still feeling somewhat puzzled, but quickly spat out the pill and then activated the Yang Soul Dharma Body supported by his Law Power.
The Yang Soul Dharma Body, standing a foot tall, held a torch, its body nearly equal to the torch itself.
Just as Zhang Xuezhou was wondering how the Dharma Body and the torch could pass through the copper and iron gate, he saw the Venerable One rub his white hair, and the white hair immediately stood up, with a ball of flame rising from it.
"Downhill quickly!"
His Excellency urged them on, and with a flick of his finger, the candle ignited and flames appeared.
The bronze and iron gate still blocked his way, but Zhang Xuezhou did not hesitate at all. He leaped forward with his Yang Soul Dharma Body, which held the torch.
As if passing through a layer of water, he effortlessly pierced through the bronze and iron gate.
The oncoming rocks were illuminated by the candlelight, but they were like illusory bubbles that he passed through.
"Unheard of!"
Even if Kong Zhong were skilled in Earth Escape Technique that allows one to travel through the earth), he wouldn't have such an easy time. If he encountered metal or stone, he would be badly injured.
Guided by the candlelight, Zhang Xuezhou felt that all obstacles vanished without a trace in its glow.
He seemed to be moving freely through the gate and the rocky hills, as if he were in another level of space, moving without hindrance.
Controlling the Yang Soul Dharma Body, Zhang Xuezhou was amazed, but his speed was not slow. He didn't even glance back at the Venerable One casting the spell.
Although the Venerable One had previously promised him a grand scheme, and Zhang Xuezhou believed that the architecture in the Wudang Holy Mother's underground palace was similar to this place, Zhang Xuezhou was still happy to explore it. Even if he couldn't get a share of the pie, at least he could satisfy the Venerable One's trouble of conscripting him.