The Mirror Legacy

Chapter 1497: Mysteries Of Profound Light (II)

“Rest easy, Fellow Daoist. First let me refine the supporting medicines.”

Li Ximing lightly struck the furnace body, and the lid flew up at once. All manner of supporting ingredients shot from his sleeve, pouring into the furnace like a waterfall, and True Fire flared instantly.

The [Aspiration Ascension Profound Pill] was, after all, a spirit pill built around two great medicines, making it extremely difficult. There were over three hundred and seventy preparatory supporting ingredients alone. Only when the pill furnace held nothing but pale golden pill liquid did the two golden caskets appear in his palm.

The lid opened, and the first thing that met his eyes was that box of golden clouds.

They drifted in fine threads, trembling without rest. It looked outwardly unremarkable, yet the moment he laid eyes on it, Li Ximing felt a tremor surge through his heart, along with the overwhelming sense that a great opportunity lay before him.

Looking deeper into the golden cloud, all manner of visions flickered in and out. At one moment it was the gleaming [Radiant Sky Stone], the next the brilliantly shifting [Boundless Water-Fire].

What a spirit item!

Using divine ability alone, Li Ximing guided the [Undeclining Golden Cloud] into the furnace. As the flames bathed it, the spirit item grew restless, its visions becoming ever more numerous and precious. But Li Ximing did not spare it another glance. He opened the second golden casket, revealing a gleaming golden point of light the size of a chicken heart, with currents of mana flowing over it that were astonishingly similar to those upon Fuxun himself!

With that single glance, the last piece of doubt in Li Ximing’s heart disappeared. Li Zhouwei had spoken to him before of matters at Mount Dali, and his understanding of Bright Yang was far from shallow. In this instant, all became clear.

The [Profound Vault Golden-Winged Bat]… must be Fuxun’s own kind. This heart was carved out of his father’s generation! The reason he rejoiced at seeing me was because the sign of Bright Yang upon me aligned exactly with his act of the son devouring the father!

For Purple Mansion Realm cultivators, symbolic imagery was of the utmost importance, much less for someone like Fuxun, whose Fate Divine Ability reinforced destiny itself.

Sure enough, as soon as the heart was taken out, Qingyan lowered his eyes at the side. Li Ximing sighed inwardly and placed the heart, which was as heavy as a mountain, into the furnace. At once, the [Eastern Fate Flowing Water] in his qihai began to rise. As though inspiration descended from fortune itself, Li Ximing poured in his divine ability and began refining the pill.

The [Aspiration Ascension Profound Pill] was unlike any pill he had refined before. This heart was tougher than iron or stone. Even with divine ability reinforcing it and blazing True Fire melting it down, it was difficult to merge with the other medicinal liquids. Li Ximing let all of his divine ability descend, while all the mana in his body poured into it as well, surging and receding like the tide.

————

Golden Feather Sect, Purple Smoke Cave.

Billowing purple smoke drifted and flowed over steps like black jade. At the mountain summit, a talisman said to have sealed six strands of Supreme Yang Sun Essence blazed with light, casting down a field of gold-white radiance.

It was said this talisman was something beyond the Purple Mansion Realm. Even those six strands of Supreme Yang Sun Essence were merely sealed within it and nourished through its power. The true object itself was even more mysterious and difficult to trace. As for how wondrous the sigils drawn upon it truly were, that was something none below Golden Core Realm could know.

A man with flying-sand spiritual flames painted upon his golden sleeves sat on the lowest step, letting the purple smoke drift through his sleeves as he gazed into the far distance, looking somewhat melancholic.

On the other side stood a broad-shouldered strongman, his brows sharply raised, his eyes beneath them carrying a trace of anger as he stood with hands clasped behind his back.

“Have you seen anything?”

The seated man raised his head, revealing a face of easy grace and charm. It was Daoist Master Tianhuo. Before him sat a thin white round porcelain dish, as large as a washbasin. A thin layer of watery golden sand lay across its surface, and at the center of the dish rested a tiny Daoist temple.

This Daoist temple was exceedingly strange. Beyond the main hall, there were side halls, sleeping chambers, pavilions, storehouses, and towers, nine structures in total, with yellow tiles and crimson eaves. There were also steles standing in clusters, all half-buried in sand, like an Exalted Immortal temple upon a desert.

Daoist Master Tianhuo merely maintained his divine ability and waited for a long while before saying, “For now there is no trace, nor any unusual phenomenon… Martial Uncle worries too much.”

The burly man at the side was naturally Daoist Master Tiangui, long stationed in Wu State for the Golden Feather Sect and famed for his fiery temper. He frowned and said at once, “That Xue Yang[1] comes and goes as he pleases, while we are left living in fear for who knows how long? A Grand Daoist Master at the peak of Purple Mansion Realm, with perfected divine abilities, wandering Jiangnan at leisure. How many people can sit easily with that?!”

Daoist Master Tianhuo looked somewhat awkward and tried to persuade him. “Xue Yang does not seem the sort for hidden schemes, and Yao Guanyi would not press against our house either. If anything, he fears our True Monarch may be plotting against them… Martial Uncle worries too much.”

In these long-inherited Golden Core Realm powers, there were often great age differences within the same generation. Tiangui was clearly much older than Tianhuo and stronger in cultivation, yet his rank in the family was much the same. Though called Martial Uncle, within the family they were even of a brotherly generation, both bearing Dao titles beginning with Tian.

At this moment, Daoist Master Tiangui sighed. “Worry too much? How can I not worry? That one from Mount Changhuai has already returned. If I guess right, Suiguan has also emerged from the grotto heaven. Yet our True Monarch remains nowhere to be found… At a time of such upheaval, how can one help but worry?”

His expression remained uneasy as he continued, “And who can say the matter of Congge[1] cannot happen again? There are many who covet the seat of Geng Metal. I fear only that they may seize the chance to strike while there is weakness.”

Tianhuo shook his head and smiled. “With the [Unified-Stored Interlocking Seal], there is none but Geng, Dui, and Xiao in the world. Though the Xiao Metal True Monarch is formidable, and one of the few surviving ancient True Monarchs… he refuses to enter the mortal world in the end, and he and our True Monarch simply take what they each need. So who would scheme for the Geng seat?”

Though Tianhuo sounded optimistic, Tiangui clearly did not agree. Just as he was about to speak, Tianhuo said, “Besides, [Nine Gates Temple] has already been refined into a spirit artifact, and the [Sand of Numeral-Counting Heart] is formidable too. But if Xue Yang truly wishes to hide, no one will find him. And if he is not one to hide in order to plot in secret, then why go looking for him at all? Rather than worrying over him, Martial Uncle would do better to think about the matter of [Profound Light Qi].”

Tiangui shook his head. “Suiguan took a portion of [Profound Light Qi], which ended up in Pristine Water’s hands, different from what should have been delivered. Xue Yang said nothing of it, which most likely means there is an understanding between Luoxia and Pristine Water.”

Tianhuo only smiled, finally lifting his gaze from the Daoist temple in the dish and turning it toward his Martial Uncle, his expression somewhat uneasy. “Does Martial Uncle remember… more than a hundred years ago, there was a disturbance in Purple Smoke Cave? That fragment suddenly flared up, showing signs of breaking free and escaping?”

Tiangui frowned and replied, “Of course I remember… I was there at the time… Has this not already been settled by many parties? It was Liu Changdie. That lucky fellow received a summons from the great void. One could say the Mandate of Heaven came upon him.”

Tianhuo’s expression grew grave as he replied, “Correct… The True Monarch said it was a summons from the [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture] within [Wanglin Heaven], which bestowed fortune upon him and caused the fragment of that immortal artifact with powers of observation to react. Everything afterward also proved those two things truly had no master.

“But think of it another way. If the fragment in our hands could be stirred, does that not also mean the broken main body of the immortal artifact in [Donghua Heaven] must have reacted as well?”

Tiangui fell into thought as Tianhuo continued, “And do not forget, the [Profound Light Qi] extracted from this fragment is the only thing capable of resonating with the immortal artifact. If this time there has been some connection with the outside world, and the Lord of Moonlight Origin Mansion had close ties to that Immortal Yingze who held the Supreme Yang principal seat, both coming from Qingxuan, then the things in that mansion… would those few above not want them?”

Tiangui fell silent. Though he too was a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator, he was far beneath Tianhuo in terms of status, and naturally knew much less. After a long hesitation, he asked, “You mean…”

Tianhuo lowered his voice and said, “Do not be fooled by all the noise around Li Qianyuan. The hearts of the various True Monarchs are still fixed on the Origin Mansion. Though the lord says little, the fact that those things could be taken already shows they too wish to probe the matter.

“And now it is settled. [Jade True] has been attained, which means that one truly was willing to abandon Fruition Attainment and depart. There was no game of feints and bluffs, not even the slightest hidden scheme. One more obstacle standing ahead has fallen away…”

A strange look crossed his face, touched by both shock and fear, and his tone turned cold with awe. “But who is leading this matter? Who dares lead it? That is where things become tangled! Luoxia is no fool. The mansion lord back then was suspected to be a reincarnated Immortal Lord, so tell me… How much dread do you think even those few above in heaven must feel?!”

1. Congge (从革) is a classical Five Phases term associated with Metal, literally following transformation or yielding to refinement. It is traditionally tied to metal’s nature of being shaped, hardened, and made fit for use. ☜

1. Previously known as Xueyang.