Along their way to the Grand-Orient Realm, Meng Tingyu's long white dress and hair fluttered in the wind. "Your Majesty, that small country is called Vermillion Bird. However, anyone related to Li Tianming is now within the Grand-Orient Sect's Bloodbane Formation. Even the king of that small country was made an elder of the sect."
The old man beside her was dressed in dirty, tattered robes and had unkempt hair. He looked just like a beggar. The auras the two of them gave off were vastly different. It was hard to imagine why Meng Tingyu would do the bidding of someone like him.
"This Li Wudi is truly careful," said the old man.
"That's right. Dongyang Yun used all sorts of methods to try luring them out of the Bloodbane Formation, but to no avail. With the help of the Decimo Dao Palace, any troops sent to attack them ended up killed."
"For someone to be able to thread the line between life and death for fourteen years is no small feat. It's a shame that while he was born in my Theocracy, he won’t be of good use to me." The old man sighed.
"Your Majesty's grand plan will soon come to fruition. By then, Your Majesty can act in a personal capacity. As long as Weisheng Yunxi falls, both Li Wudi and Li Tianming will be lambs you can dispose of at any time. Your Majesty has picked an opportune time; these two would only be even harder to deal with in a few more years."
"Are you certain that Li Wudi isn't Li Tianming's biological father?"
"I'm not too sure. These matters are obscured by too many rumors and half truths, so certainty is hard to come by. All we know is that his biological father is a mysterious figure."
"Your mission is to infiltrate the Grand-Orient Sect and draw out all crucial personages of Vermillion Bird, especially Wei Jing's father. Perhaps he knows something."
"Understood! In fact, this person is Mu Yang's master; it was he who took him in. Does Your Majesty suspect Mu Yang to be related to Li Muyang in some way?"
"Impossible. I personally killed Li Muyang. His corpse has been sealed up by me for more than four decades, and is now reduced to dust! However, the name can't be just a coincidence. There must be more to it." Though the old man looked a little ragged and tired, his brows were deeply furrowed in thought. It was apparent that such developments were far beyond the limits of his imagination. All of a sudden, he opened his eyes wide.
"The exalted ones of the Ancient Qilin Clan said that they found Li Muyang and the Cyclic Mirror in the Grand-Orient Realm. I wonder if the Li Muyang they mentioned is related to this Mu Yang?"
"I'm not aware. After all, Mu Yang can't possibly possess the Cyclic Mirror, right?"
"Once we return, send someone to get in touch with the Ancient Qilin Clan and ask them all about the details of this matter."
"Understood!"
......
They had arrived at the Grand-Orient Realm. Before them stood the Bloodbane Formation that spanned a mountain range. Outsiders could scarcely see through it.
"My dear Yu, you managed to become an eighth-level sky saint at such a young age. You possess far more talent than my own kin, and stand a chance at becoming an empyrean saint. As I still can't act, I’ll leave this to you. I trust that with your capabilities as a four star patternscribe, you'll easily be able to catch a nameless nobody, right?"
"The Bloodbane Formation is a five-star heavenly pattern formation. While I'm not too familiar with those, I’ll give it a try."
"’Try’ isn’t good enough. Do it."
"Definitely!"
"Now go," he said with a hint of love. "If only Jing'er were as obedient as you are...."
"The Skyfate Princess knows not the true extent of your love for her. It's such a shame."
"Such is life, it always has its ups and downs. An old man like me would know. Now go. Get me Wei Tiancang. I’ll use my secret art to search through his memories."
"Okay!"
Wei Jing had told Wei Tiancang about Li Muyang and Eastgod Mountain before. If he ended up captured, the old man would find out about it.
......
Meng Tingyu was covered in white fog like an ethereal illusion as she floated gently into the Bloodbane Formation. The old man waited outside, leaning against a tree with his eyes closed to rest.
Suddenly, savage laughter came from within the formation. "Where’d this beauty come from? Someone as pretty as you should know that our sect master is maintaining his celibacy! Don't force me to do something nasty to you! Well, since you're already here, you might as well stay and enjoy our hospitality! We have the finest wines here, so do take a sip before you leave! What? You don't intend to humor me? Then kneel and enjoy my touching performance!"
All of a sudden, sounds of battle rang out from beyond the formation. The old man gave it a slightly pained glance.
"Save me!" Meng Tingyu cried in desperation, then the battle stopped. An hour later, nothing could be heard. The old man's gaze didn't waver one bit. By the time he turned around, boundless killing intent gathered around him, causing the greenery in a thousand-meter radius around him to wilt.
......
The Seven Astral Legions spent a day to sweep the Divine Capital of wildbeasts, almost wiping them all out. When it was over, news came from Jiang Ling that the area of the Second Divine Capital at the Abyssal Battlefield had been occupied. In the coming days, their patternscribes would construct new heavenly pattern formations to seal up the path through to the underside, stopping Dongyang Yun from using the wildbeasts. Currently, Dongyang Yun could do naught but wait for his reckoning within the Imperial City.
Tianming's Dark Astral Battalion had returned to the Decimo Dao Palace. Before that, Lan Huang refined the Nightmare Oceanfiend's soul, managing to break some bloodline shackles and awakening a new ability called Azure Oceanic Purgatory.
It was an ability that allowed it to turn muddy surfaces into water like the Nightmare Oceanfiend could. At its peak, it could even turn a landmass into an ocean, and that effect was irreversible.
This ability couldn't be used just anywhere, though—for instance, the tomb. But when it could be, it would be able to unleash even more power than an Oceanspirit Tome.
The Nightmare Oceanfiend had two abilities, the other one a kind of mesmerizing skill. It was a shame that Lan Huang hadn’t managed to inherit it. After all, its voice was so loud that fine tunes like that were unsuited to it.
Lan Huang was a mountain and water-type beast. Tianming figured that it had another ability to make land out of water, but it hadn't unlocked it yet. With that ability, Lan Huang could basically carry around a battlefield most suited for it wherever it went, and that would render the Oceanspirit Tome obsolete.
......
"Tianming, the palace lord wants to see you about your father, Li Muyang," said Bai Zijin, who had been waiting for his return. "Hall Lord, Astral Kings, the Palace Lord also wants the rest of you to follow."
"Alright, lets go."
Tianming, Ye Yi, and the seven Astral Kings sped toward the ten sacred halls while the legionnaires returned to their posts.
"We’re here, Palace Lord," Ye Yi said.
"Come in."
When they entered, they saw Bai Mo and the other Hall Kings there.
"Tianming," Weisheng Yunxi said as she waved at him.
"Is there news about my father?" he anxiously asked.
"Someone sent a message and signed it in the name of Li Muyang. Look." She handed him a strip of paper, which read 'Palace Lord Weisheng, I didn't take the Cyclic Mirror back then. The Theocrats still have it. Please investigate the missing people in the last four decades in the Theocracy. —Li Muyang."
When Tianming finished reading the letter, he handed it to Ye Yi and the rest. Their expressions were grim after they read it.
"So if the Cyclic Mirror is still with the Theocrats, why’d they blame Li Muyang for its theft? What’s their aim?" Ye Yi asked.
"Perhaps they're trying to look like they're no longer using the mirror to boost their cultivation when they're actually still doing it in secret," Weisheng Yunxi said.
Initially, they had thought that the Theocrats would weaken after losing the mirror. It would only be exacerbated by the internal strife between Dongyang Yun and Jiang Ling. However, that didn't seem to be the case now.
"Then, is it now with Dongyang Yun or Jiang Ling?" Ye Yi asked. Everyone shook their heads.
"My guess would be Jiang Ling. That might be the reason Dongyang Yun is trying to have him killed. It might also explain why Jiang Ling dared to accept our help," Bai Mo reasoned.
"We can't be sure of that. It could be that Dongyang Yun has it, since he's more powerful, probably as a result of using the mirror for his cultivation," Ye Yi said.
"There's no point in guessing blind. Let's investigate the missing people within the Theocracy as Li Muyang suggested. Something as large as the Cyclic Mirror is hard to hide. We have to see who did the deed. Only then will we have some answers. The Cyclic Mirror is an incredibly troublesome thing. We have to prepare ourselves to face it."
"Understood!"
"Wait," Tianming said when he got the slip back. "Why does the handwriting look similar to Uncle Yang's?"
Back then, he had gotten a paper slip that came with the box Archfiend was kept in. He took it out and compared it—it was identical.
Who is Uncle Yang?
Tianming then explained it to them.
"He’s Li Muyang, your father!" Bai Mo said agitatedly.
"It can't be. Uncle Yang is only at Heavenly Will. Not to mention, he was raised by my grandfather. That much is certain," Tianming said.
"How could it be?"
"I'm sure of it. He’s my mother's childhood friend."
"What's your mother called?"
"Wei Jing."
Everyone exchanged confused glances.
"What in the world is going on?"
"The cycle of reincarnation? Does it really exist? It can't be," Ye Yi pondered.
"We'll discuss this later. Let's find the missing people, first," Weisheng Yunxi ordered. "Get to it."
"Understood!"
Tianming firmly refused to believe that Li Muyang and Mu Yang were related in any capacity. However, he suddenly recalled what Wei Jing had told him. 'The next time you meet, he'll be your father....'
"Don't tell me it really is him... Now that Autarch Qian has died, nobody in the Divine Capital will be able to subdue him. So why didn’t he just come straight to see me?" Tianming wanted to see him too, regardless of whether he was Mu Yang or Li Muyang. "Palace Lord, please tell me anything you hear about my father."
"Will do. I've already sent people to seek him out near the Divine Capital. Perhaps there’s a reason why he can't just show up now. Don't worry too much about it."
"What about the mirror? Will it be troublesome to deal with?"
"It's fine. I still have a method I can use."
Hearing that relieved Tianming. He returned to his residence and began breaking through to the sky saint stage.