Chapter 35: Gui Xu - Visiting the Bone Scripture
Lu Qingyang stood on the broken rudder of the cloud boat, a wisp of Gui Xu purple Qi entwined around his fingertips. The Lock Dragon Well water that seeped out of the Penglai Mirror last night was now churning in a glazed bottle, but what was reflected on the water's surface was not the moon's shadow, but the seventh chain broken by the imprisoned Dragon within the qingmu spirit pearl. He lightly blew at the mouth of the bottle, and the seal script formed by the condensed mist suddenly came alive, burning out the character '謁' (Visiting) in the morning sun.
"This old man of Gui Xu's etiquette for guests is certainly more refined than Ye Wuchen's." He raised his foot and crushed a food-eating mayfly that had drilled out of a deck crevice. The phosphorescent powder from the insect's burst corpse, mixed with purple Qi, actually drew half a sea chart in mid-air. Yinghuo's silver bells on her wrist rang without wind, and nine layers of tidal sounds surged from the northwest, startling away the Spirit-devouring Crows perched on the tattered sail.
As the three walked in the direction indicated by the sea chart, Lu Qingyang's Nascent Soul Divine Sense suddenly felt a sharp pain—at the entrance to Gui Xu, in the Weak Water vortex, stood three hundred and sixty bronze pillars carved with Heart-gouging Talismanic Incantations. He pried off the peeling bronze rust from the pillar, and the fragments condensed in his palm into a damaged chapter of the Tai Xu Swallowing Sky Skill: "Fairy Su, are your Taiyi Pavilion's scriptures perhaps copied from the Gui Xu execution ground?"
The sound of chains rattling came from deep within the pillar forest. Lu Qingyang pulled Su Li's wide sleeve to wipe away the cold sweat from his forehead, then smoothly tucked the bronze rust fragment into the secret pocket of her sleeve. The blood patterns on the qingmu spirit pearl surged three inches, actually freezing a path of ice on the surface of the Weak Water. He stepped on the ice flowers and leaped towards the formation's core. The dust-avoiding formation patterns hidden in his boot soles resonated with the bronze pillars, awakening the remains of Xingtian lurking beneath the Weak Water.
"Kan Palace Seven Steps, Li Fire give way!" Yinghuo's chensha stone struck the forehead of the remains, temporarily immobilizing the giant axe that could cleave mountains. Lu Qingyang took the opportunity to pry open the hidden compartment at the bottom of the bronze pillar. Inside, pickled not scriptures, but half a jar of blood wine wrapped in spider silk. He dipped his finger in the wine and drew a crooked Talismanic Incantation on the ice. As the wine vapor ascended, it actually revealed a scene of the Taiyi Pavilion's first Sect Leader having his heart gouged out.
The Gui Xu Secret Realm opened at precisely noon, with nine layers of jade steps submerged in an unquenchable Netherworld Fire. Lu Qingyang picked up a flame and pressed it onto the surface of the spirit pearl. The blood patterns, upon encountering the Netherworld Fire, bloomed into a thousand-petaled red lotus: "If I take this kindling back, the Drunken Immortal Pavilion's stove will not go out for ten years..." The lotus petals suddenly surged and wrapped around his wrist, pulling him towards the Bone-Visiting Platform at the end of the jade steps.
Suspended above the platform were three hundred volumes of 《Gui Xu Records》 made from human skin. Lu Qingyang pulled one volume to cover his face, just in time to block the incoming bone-eroding Yin Wind. The moment the skin scroll touched his skin, blood-colored annotations appeared—"The qingmu spirit pearl is forged from gouged Dragon eyes; those who gather them must offer their seven emotions and six desires as a sacrifice." He scoffed, crumpling the skin scroll into a torch. The characters licked by the Netherworld Fire suddenly condensed into chains, wrapping towards the missing part of the spirit pearl.
Yinghuo's silver bells shattered a long-burning lamp in the southeast corner. The lamp oil fell to the ground and formed a spring, temporarily extinguishing the Netherworld Fire. Lu Qingyang stepped on the slippery green bricks and felt for the lamp stand. The secret compartment sealed within contained not a secret treasure, but half a peach blossom buckle that perfectly fit the jade pendant in his embrace. The lingering rouge scent on the buckle suddenly came alive, playing a segment of 《Willow-Breaking Song》 in his Sea of Consciousness.
"This tune..." He pressed his fingers against his temples. The spirit pearl's blood patterns actually transformed the melody into a Divine Sense attack. Su Li's Puppet Silk timely wrapped around his wrist, and a silver needle pierced his Fengchi acupoint, temporarily slowing the backlash: "Daoist Lu, if you keep touching women's tokens, I'm afraid you'll fall into a tender trap."
The Bone-Visiting Platform suddenly collapsed, revealing a formation of bronze coffins soaked in Weak Water below. Lu Qingyang stepped on the falling fragments of the jade steps and leaped towards the coffins. The cold jade marrow hidden in his boot soles reacted with the Weak Water, freezing nine ice lotuses to serve as stepping stones. He pried open the seventh coffin lid. Inside, sealed not with a corpse, but three hundred Nascent Soul pills engraved with the character "Ye."
"The Ye family is going to create a Soul Transformation army!" He patted away the mud seal and sniffed the pill's Qi. His throat suddenly became covered with fine Dragon scales. Yinghuo's chensha stone smashed the hidden compartment at the bottom of the coffin, revealing half a volume of 《Demon-Rearing Secret Record》. Tucked between its pages was a marriage contract, strikingly bearing the names of Ye Wuchen and a certain Netherworld Princess.
At the peak of Yin Qi at midnight, the entire Gui Xu began to collapse. Lu Qingyang pulled the two of them into the Weak Water vortex. The jar of Nascent Soul pills in his embrace suddenly exploded, the pill liquid mixing with the Weak Water to form a soul-eroding mist. He backhanded and scattered Heart-eating Gu towards the pursuers. The Gu worms, encountering the poison, surged into yaksha forms, tearing the Taiyi Pavilion Elder's Dharma form into pieces.
It was five o'clock in the morning when they surfaced. Lu Qingyang collapsed on the whale bone beach to assess his injuries. The blood patterns of the qingmu spirit pearl had spread to his collarbone, but were blocked at his heart by half a peach blossom buckle. He held up the jade buckle to the rising sun. The rays of light passing through the hole projected the character '謁' (Visiting)—the brushstrokes of which were surprisingly from the same source as the Heart-gouging Talismanic Incantations on the Gui Xu bronze pillars.
"This game of chess," he pressed the jade buckle into the missing part of the spirit pearl, "is becoming more and more like Ye Wuchen's wedding dress."