Yan Jinzhou’s tomb was personally built by Ning Buwei back then, and he had stayed inside for a very long time, becoming thoroughly familiar with its formations.
However, he had not returned for over four hundred years, and could not be certain whether the formations had changed. Still, the connection between him and the formations remained, which was why he was not in a hurry to chase after Mingsang.
Ming Sang had only reached the middle section of the tomb chamber.
“Stay close to me,” Ning Buwei said to Chu Jun, and while the people from the Chongzheng Alliance were busy breaking the formation, he plunged directly into the blood sea.
Chu Jun stared at the rotting severed limbs for a moment, and finally pinched a spell and followed behind Ning Buwei.
The moment they entered, a massive suction force suddenly came, and just as Chu Jun stabilized his body, someone reached out and steadied him.
Ning Buwei, seeing him stand firm, casually withdrew his hand and used a spell to create a fire technique, instantly illuminating the previously pitch-black space.
They were in a “tomb chamber” – though calling it a tomb chamber was not entirely accurate. There was a bed against the wall, a small couch beside it, and tables, chairs, and a stove. Although simple, it was clearly not burial accompaniment, but looked more like someone had lived here.
Ning Buwei walked a few steps forward and seemed to step on something. He bent down and picked it up – a wooden carved butterfly so lifelike that it was now broken on one wing where he had stepped.
Chu Jun looked around, his gaze falling on Ning Buwei’s hand, and spoke, “There are no formations here.”
“Hmm.” Ning Buwei cut his finger and smeared it on the wall, and instantly countless golden lights emerged on the pitch-black wall, connecting into intricate patterns. “These are all the formations in the tomb.”
Chu Jun walked to his side and looked at the complex formations, finding he could only barely make out a general outline. “Did you set up all these formations?”
“Of course.” Ning Buwei slapped a talisman paper onto the wall, and the golden formations originally spread on the wall fell off, proportionally reduced into countless three-dimensional formations, with many light points of different colors appearing within them.
“These light points represent the cultivators who entered the formation,” Ning Buwei explained. “Here, you can control all the formations below.”
“What do you plan to do?” Chu Jun asked.
Ning Buwei raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t this what you said about letting them bite each other?”
Chu Jun was stunned.
Ning Buwei crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, speaking in a teasing tone, “What, did you think I was going to kill them all?”
Chu Jun made no comment.
After spending time with Ning Buwei, he naturally understood Ning Buwei’s style of doing things. If one were to say Ning Buwei had no such intention…
“I don’t want these scraps to dirty my master’s tomb,” Ning Buwei gave a light sneer, then mumbled something softly.
That sentence was spoken so softly and blurrily that even with Chu Jun’s excellent hearing, he could not make it out. “What?”
Ning Buwei narrowed his eyes and looked at him, speaking lazily, “Accumulating some good karma for our children.”
Before Chu Jun could speak, he stood up and walked to the formations, looking like he was about to do something serious.
Chu Jun looked at his somewhat stiff back, his eyebrows slightly moving.
Our children?
Ning Buwei stared at the formation for a while. After that body led Ning Fan into the tomb, he made some adjustments to the Union-Separation Formation and let the Chongzheng Alliance cultivators who were running around inside enter as well.
He added a few strokes to several formations and, without turning back, said to Chu Jun, “It’s done.”
Chu Jun looked down and saw the light points in the formation converging in one direction.
“Let’s go join the excitement,” Ning Buwei raised an eyebrow at him.
Chu Jun: “…………”
What happened to not disturbing the peace of the deceased?
****
The guiding talisman floated at the front of the team, its pale blue flame casting an flickering light on Shen Xi’s face.
The tomb passage was heavy with evil energy, especially the numerous formations scattered everywhere, which were intricate and difficult to handle, completely unlike an ordinary tomb.
Chu Bai, standing beside her, was also vigilant.
Shen Xi recalled her master’s instructions before departing.
[Chu Bai harbors ulterior motives. Take the opportunity to find out who is behind him. If he shows any unusual movement, eliminate him when possible.]
Although she had always been at odds with Chu Bai, engaging in various open and hidden conflicts, these were fundamentally disputes between senior and junior martial disciples. Shen Xi had never thought she would one day have to kill him.
But a master’s command was difficult to disobey, especially since Chu Bai had already betrayed their sect.
Chu Bai seemed to sense her gaze and turned to look at her, “Senior Sister has been staring at me. Do you have something to say?”
Shen Xi hesitated, staring at the flame on the guiding talisman, and after a long moment, said, “I remember how we both entered our master’s sect five hundred years ago. Thinking back now, it feels like a lifetime ago.”
Chu Bai seemed surprised she would bring up past events, pausing for a moment before twisting his mouth, “Back then, Senior Sister had extraordinary aptitude with a pure spiritual root, a heavenly spiritual body. In contrast, I was a low-grade mixed spiritual root. If not for a fortunate chance and our master’s kindness in accepting me, I would have been reincarnating countless times in the mortal realm by now.”
Shen Xi lowered her eyes, hiding the complex expression in them. She wanted to ask Chu Bai: Since you know how much grace our master showed you, why did you still betray our master and the entire Wushi Sect?
As the guiding talisman was about to extinguish, Chu Bai opened his hand and released several more guiding talismans, sneering, “Senior Sister was born in the seventeen states and only went to the mortal realm to travel. I, however, grew up in the mortal realm. Famines, wars, floods, epidemics… things that seem insignificant to cultivators can instantly take countless mortal lives. Mortals in the seventeen states are protected by cultivators and nourished by spiritual energy, mostly living to a hundred years. But in the mortal realm—”
Chu Bai suddenly stopped, self-deprecatingly laughing, “It seems I’ve grown old, being provoked by Senior Sister into becoming sentimental.”
Shen Xi’s gaze was dark and indistinct, “I didn’t expect that after so many years, Junior Brother would still think about the mortal realm. This time, the entrance to the Floating Sky Realm is in Li City. Why not return to the mortal realm again when you go out?”
Chu Bai shook his head, “After five hundred years, the mortal realm has changed completely. Going back would only bring more sorrow.”
While the senior sister and junior brother were talking, a commotion suddenly broke out in the team behind them. Shen Xi looked back and saw the disciples from the Xie family and the Qingdan Sect fighting, immediately frowning.
“I’ll go take a look,” Chu Bai’s gaze sharpened, and he turned to walk back.
Shen Xi stepped forward a few steps, suddenly feeling something was wrong. She hurriedly turned to chase after him, but the tomb passage was narrow. By the time she caught up, Chu Bai had disappeared, and the disciples who were fighting had been persuaded to calm down.
Shen Xi frowned, immediately sending a message to Chu Linyuan and Zen Master Mingsang.
Chu Bai had run away.
****
Mingsang looked at the ice coffin before him. Although he knew this was just an illusion within a formation, his gaze still fell on the person lying inside.
The woman in the ice coffin wore a simple black robe, her body slender, with sharper and more intimidating features than an ordinary woman, as if she might impatiently open her eyes and sit up at any moment.
Yan Jinzhou had died at only 125 years old. At this age, among cultivators, she was barely beginning her journey.
She and Ning Xingyuan were both brilliant in their own ways – one incredibly intelligent, the other with extraordinary aptitude – yet both fell early, fulfilling the joking words they once said about heaven envying the talented.
“Bald donkey!” A cold shout rang out overhead, followed by a black-robed man holding a child coldly staring at him.
Ming Sang’s gaze swept over the child in his arms and landed on the man’s face, offering a Buddhist salutation, “Amitabha, Ning benefactor.”
Even with only half his divine consciousness in this body, Ning Buwei’s gaze was unfriendly as he met Mingsang’s eyes, “You still have the face to see her?”
Mingsang slightly closed his eyes, “Past events, this monk has long since let go.”
Ning Fan broke through the formation and arrived immediately, seeing Mingsang there was no surprise. His gaze was mocking, “You’ve all arrived quite fully. Are you here to send Yan Jinzhou on her final journey?”
Mingsang looked at Ning Fan, “Ning Fan?”
Ning Fan spoke with a sarcastic tone, “How rare that Zen Master still remembers me. I’m truly honored.”
“It was you causing trouble behind the scenes all these years,” Mingsang’s expression darkened, “I underestimated you before.”
Ning Fan clapped and laughed loudly, “Being played around by a small character you all used to ignore. It would be great if Sang Yun and Chu Linyuan could come and see this! But no matter, you’ll all gather soon enough, going down to accompany Yan Jinzhou, that self-righteous fool—”
“Ching!” A long sword was drawn, pointing directly at Ning Buwei.
Behind them, hundreds of cultivators from various sects and families of the Chongzheng Alliance stood behind Mingsang.
Shen Xi stared at Ning Buwei in front of the ice coffin and said to Mingsang, “Zen Master, we’re here to help you!”
Ming Sang’s gaze remained locked on Ning Fan, “What do you mean by sending Yan Jinzhou on her final journey?”
Ning Fan let out a strange laugh, “You’ll have to ask Yan Jinzhou’s good disciple Ning Buwei about that!”
As he spoke, he tried to retreat. Ning Buwei decisively returned control of the body to Chu Jun, who wrapped the Taiji seal into Ning Buwei’s formation, completely cutting off Ning Fan’s escape route.
Ning Fan finally realized something was wrong, looking at Ning Buwei with shock and uncertainty. However, his moment to leave had passed in an instant. Now unable to leave in time, Mingsang naturally would not let him go. The Zen staff rose into the air, striking directly toward Ning Fan’s forehead.
“Amitabha, you shall not leave this place today!”
The body controlled by Ning Buwei and Chu Jun was also blocked by Shen Xi and the others.
“Demon, hand over the Linglong Bone!”
Ning Buwei surveyed the Chongzheng Alliance members, communicating with Chu Jun in their sea of consciousness.
‘Do you think that person might be hiding among these people?’
‘Yes,’ Chu Jun replied.
‘Why are you so certain?’ Ning Buwei was puzzled.
‘When Ning Xiu was alone, someone tried to make a move on him. That person’s aura was faint and intermittent, with immeasurable cultivation. It has appeared again,’ Chu Jun’s voice rang in his sea of consciousness.
Ning Buwei narrowed his eyes, scanning the nearly hundred cultivators. He controlled the body, tucking the “child” into his front lapel, and produced a Suzaku narrow knife, speaking arrogantly, “Just a broken bone. Come and take it if you have the ability!”
