Chapter 1407: Inheritors of Buddhism

As long as an immortal cultivator avoided backlash, the bond with a life-bound insect gu was far closer than with any other spiritual insect, comparable to the intimacy of a life-bound astra.

And the closer and more trusting a spiritual insect was toward its master, the higher the odds that the Spirit Elevation Rite would succeed. One could say the rite was tailor-made for life-bound insect gu, which meant it too must have originated from the witch race.

Does the witch race of Canglang Sea know the Spirit Elevation Rite? The thought flashed through Qin Sang's mind.

He knew very little about the witch race's inheritance, but he could still tell that the Spirit Elevation Rite was extraordinarily intricate, no ordinary secret technique. With the rite in hand, this trip was worthwhile whether or not he ever entered Pure Sea Sect.

After swallowing a Heart-Calming Pill, Qin Sang turned to the Three-Spirit Coiling King Array. It was not complicated. The three spiritual insects merely had to assume a Three Talents Formation, though the person presiding over the array had to control it with precision.

There was one more requirement: the three insects could not violently resist while the array was active, which was why Qin Sang needed to soothe the Fire Jade Centipede. The array also required an altar, which could be prepared in advance and simply set in place when the time came. But an altar could only be used once, and the previous one had already been spent on the Jade-Carrying Bee.

Over those three days, Daoist Qi made a trip out and brought back the necessary spiritual materials. Valley Master Mu had refined a small portion, but finishing the whole altar would take more than ten days. After briefly studying the method, Qin Sang flew over to help.

***

While they busied themselves, far away beneath an empty stretch of water, a man lay silently in wait. He too was within Ethereal Sea, but he was exceedingly careful, hiding at such a distance from Qin Sang's group that even the Sky-Eyed Butterfly had failed to detect him.

He wore a black robe, and on his right thumb sat a yellow jade thumb ring engraved with two large, square characters, "Nine Precepts." This man was none other than the current island master of Nine-Precept Island, the Precept-Keeping Sage!

The thumb ring had been passed down from his master, the Nine-Precept Sage. Both master and disciple bore rather odd Dharma names, and some guessed that the name Precept-Keeping Sage came from the fact that he held the Nine-Precept Ring. But no one dared question a Spiritual Infant cultivator to his face.

The Precept-Keeping Sage sat cross-legged and motionless underwater, his aura fully withdrawn, hands crossed on his knees and cradling a round yellow bead. Within the bead rippled a watery scene, and deep within those ripples appeared the busy figures of Qin Sang's group.

The image was blurry and distant; the Precept-Keeping Sage clearly feared discovery and dared not spy openly. But it was enough.

He stared fixedly at the bead, and as he watched the scene, a trace of anxiety crept into his eyes.

"Do they really have a way in?" he murmured.

His gaze shifted to the new face, Qin Sang. Then, with a sigh so faint it was almost imperceptible, he suddenly withdrew without a sound. Soon, he shot out of the sea and sped north.

After leaving Ethereal Sea and making certain nothing could go wrong, the Precept-Keeping Sage halted his evasion light and took out a black command token, a hint of struggle flickering in his eyes. The token bore no ornamentation other than two characters, "Chaotic Devil."

Gritting his teeth, he abruptly poured his true essence into the token. Black light blazed! The token shook violently, and thick devilish qi came pouring out. The two characters twisted and warped, gradually becoming a vortex of devilish qi that gave off a chill, sinister pulse.

Crack!

His expression shifting slightly, the Precept-Keeping Sage flung the token away. It shattered at once, dissolved into a cloud of devilish qi, and vanished into thin air, leaving the surroundings as they were. He then cast a silent glance northward and remained where he was, seemingly waiting for something.

Several days later, a black evasion light appeared on the horizon, wreathed in towering devilish qi and heading straight for him. Startled out of meditation, the Precept-Keeping Sage flew into the air, and at the sight of that earthshaking light his face lit up. He hurriedly straightened his robes and bowed with utmost respect toward the newcomer. "Greetings, Senior."

The arrival was none other than the master of Chaotic Devil Island, the Chaotic Devil Elder! Though both were Spiritual Infant cultivators, the Precept-Keeping Sage received him with the courtesy of a junior.

Boom! The sound of splitting air was deafening.

Making no effort to conceal himself, the Chaotic Devil Elder crossed the distance in the blink of an eye. An icy voice rang out from within the evasion light. "Precept-Keeping, that Chaotic Devil Token was a gift from me to your master. You dared use my token. Do you know the consequences?"

The Precept-Keeping Sage's eyelid twitched, but his voice remained remarkably calm. "I understand. Unless one received the Chaotic Devil Token from you personally, any outsider who uses it must pay the corresponding price!"

"Good that you know!"

Before the words had faded, a figure landed before him. It was an old man in a gray robe, white-haired, with kind brows and gentle eyes. It was hard to imagine that Chaotic Devil Elder, whose power shook Boundless Sea and even the entire North Sea, looked like this.

His back was slightly bent, and he gripped a black bamboo staff. The instant he withdrew his evasion light, his aura vanished along with it, leaving not a shred of overwhelming presence, as if he were nothing but an ordinary old man in his final years.

Yet the moment he laid eyes on the Chaotic Devil Elder, even someone as strong as the Precept-Keeping Sage felt his heart clench, and his movements grew more careful still.

The Chaotic Devil Elder's eyes seemed somewhat clouded as he regarded him. He said flatly, "In consideration of you being Nine-Precept's sole successor, give me a reason that satisfies me, and I will let this pass."

"Thank you, Senior!" The Precept-Keeping Sage showed no joy at the reprieve. His expression turned solemn. "I discovered the relic of an ancient sect containing something of great importance to me. But others discovered it at the same time, and they have the advantage of numbers. I could only presume to ask you to intervene."

"A mere ancient sect's relic?" The Chaotic Devil Elder snorted coldly.

Seeing his displeasure, the Precept-Keeping Sage's heart raced, and he hastened to add, "This sect is of no common origin. It was a Buddhist sect, a rarity in the immortal cultivation world, called Pure Sea Sect!"

At the mention of Pure Sea Sect, the Chaotic Devil Elder's eyes flashed, but he said nothing.

Not daring to keep him in suspense, the Precept-Keeping Sage pressed on. "Many years ago, my master had the fortune of obtaining part of Pure Sea Sect's inheritance and thereafter regarded himself as its successor. He later claimed Nine-Precept Island precisely to search for the sect's relic. He knew only that Pure Sea Sect lay somewhere in Ethereal Sea. He spent countless years without finding the slightest clue and died with that regret. I believed Pure Sea Sect had vanished completely, but then a strange phenomenon suddenly appeared. I was about to investigate when others beat me to it..."

"Nine-Precept! Precept-Keeping! So that's it!" The Chaotic Devil Elder looked toward the Ethereal Sea and chuckled. "In the entire Boundless Sea, there are less than ten who know Pure Sea Sect ever existed, and as for knowing it lay in Ethereal Sea, I thought I was the only one left. So you and your master were inheritors of Buddhism. To think I never noticed back then. Nine-Precept hid it well."

He actually seemed quite familiar with Pure Sea Sect. Surprise flickered through the Precept-Keeping Sage's eyes as well.