The harmonization of the eight Qi of Taixu was akin to a difficult mathematical equation. However, with enough time and effort, there would always be a solution to it in spite of its difficulty.
Shen Lian found the reason behind the conflict of the eight Qi and the approach to solving it. However, there was still something he needed to breakthrough from; the pivotal point was not on others, but on him.
Shen Lian looked up at the pagoda and noticed a drastic change in the surrounding Qi of heaven and earth.
Zhao Xiaoyu smiled and stared into nothingness. An arrow came piercing through the clouds, headed right at the pagoda. The arrow was spinning non-stop, and it was moving the Qi of heaven and earth. A dragon-shaped air current was formed, and the clouds were drawn in by it, forming a long tail.
The bells chimed, and a bombastic sound of chants and mantras came from the Xiangji Temple.
“Namo Xiangji Buddha, Namo Xiangji Buddha, …”, within the sounds of bells and chants.
A golden glow came from the Buddhist pagoda, and a Buddha statue could be seen in the nothingness. The golden palm took a worship position. The Buddhist light was akin to waves, and it spread out. The dragon made of sword Qi came from the depths of the cloud was blocked.
The strength of the Qi of the dragon impacted the Buddhist light relentlessly.
There was a short standstill between the both of them.
Zhao Xiaoyu’s voice sounded next to Shen Lian’s ear, and there was a hint of pride in it. “There was never any Xiangji Temple here, and there was no Xiangji Buddha. However, back when she was still the Empress Dowager, she conferred the title of Xiangji Buddha by imperial order. As a ruler in the mortal realm, how can she confer a title of deity by imperial order? It was an outrageous treason.
However, as the number of the incense lighted in the mountains grew, a deity was actually born here.
If it was not for the hint of divinity that I have attained, I would not have realized this. That was when I realized what sort of supernatural power she has been cultivating. As for why did she change the name of the dynasty, it was not as simple as her wanting to be the Empress,” said Zhao Xiaoyu.
As Shen Lian listened to her long speech, some changes took place in the standstill between the illusory Buddha on the pagoda and the dragon made of Qi sword.
The arrow burst, and strands of black air fell into the illusory Buddha along with the flying shrapnel. It sounded as though sparks fell into a pot of oil, and “woomph woomph woomph” could be heard from the illusory Buddha after bouts of glaring lights.
The evening wind swept past the mountain stream, and the pagoda still stood. With Shen Lian’s sight, he could see some dents and bumps on it, which seemed to be the aftermath of the blast earlier.
The blast earlier was not particularly impressive; in fact, they did not feel much vibration from where they were.
However, the clash of Dao techniques was an eye-opener for Shen Lian.
From the beginning till the end, the Empress and the owner of the arrow were nowhere to be seen.
The Buddha and the black air on the arrow were very mysterious indeed.
“Our show has ended. What did you notice?” Zhao Xiaoyu started clapping as she spoke.
“Forgive me for not being more learned, but from what you have said earlier, it seemed that this Buddha was not a manifestation of Qi of vitality. It seemed to be an actual deity, yet it was a lot weaker in terms of mana and supernatural powers as compared to other real deities,” Shen Lian replied.
The aura of the Buddha was similar to the Wutong Gods, but it did not have the evilness as strong as that of the Wutong Gods. The discomfort caused was minimal, and it was almost negligible.
The black air from the arrow was too far for him to discern its nature. But he felt that after the black air had appeared, the Buddha degenerated by itself, as though it was met with its predator.
There were a few cruel Talisman and witchcraft that had the similar effect of undoing the supernatural Dao techniques, but the hint of black air seemed to not be as evil.
“I wouldn’t tell you even if you wanted to know,” Zhao Xiaoyu looked at him with her beautiful eyes and said.
Her voice was getting more and more distance; she was right in front of him, and now she was almost completely gone.
The wind and mist dispersed, and Shen Lian stared at where Zhao Xiaoyu was standing. An ant that was curling up had started to crawl up. She was stepping on an ant, and the ant was unharmed when she left.
Moreover, Shen Lian could not tell that Zhao Xiaoyu was doing it purposefully. It would show how scary her state of cultivation was, which explained why she dared to go against the Empress.
If Zhao Xiaoyu refused to talk, Shen Lian could not force her to either. The situation at Shendu was getting more and more unpredictable, and he did not want to fall prey to someone else’s scheme.
He decided that he would leave Shendu. After all, the current state of affair was different from his initial estimation.
He was still one step away from the Taixu Strategy. If he did not take the step, everywhere would still be the same to him.
******
Bai Shaoliu still did not know why would water flow from the top to the bottom. Out of a sudden, the sky that was supposed to be filled with evening mist turned into grey clouds.
The sky darkened, and misty rain followed. Shortly after, the sky started pouring.
He thought of something, as water flow from the top to the bottom, how then did the rain end up in the sky? If there was an endless reservoir of water in the sky and had flowed down to the ground when it rained, how was it that the ground is not flooded with water after hundreds of thousands of year yet?
Of course, he was not stupid. He was not about to ponder the question in the rain. Then, he realized that the lady boss had left really early today and she was still not home yet. He wondered if she would be caught in the rain.
As the sky darkened, it would not be safe to stay out for long.
He saw a paper umbrella in the rain.
Two people were sharing an umbrella under the dark sky, and with the veils of rain, he could only tell that one of them was the lady boss.
The umbrella approached nearer as he spaced out, and Bai Shaoliu finally noticed the other person. She was in white and looked like one of the Bodhisattvas from the paintings.
The lady boss could be considered a great beauty, and yet the other lady was a lot more eye-catching. Bai Shaoliu stood frozen.
A clear laugh rang in the rain, and it sounded so much nicer than the sound of raindrops.
“Senior Apprentice-Sister, your worker looked quite stupid.”
“What are you doing, standing here frozen? Hurry, go get me a bucket of hot water, I want to shower and change,” the lady boss replied coldly.
Bai Shaoliu finally noticed that the lady boss was clothed in grey. Despite his weak memory, he could still remember that the lady boss was not in this outfit when she left.
The grey clothing had a lot of patterns stitched on it, and the patterns were closely formed. Under the dark sky, he could not tell what was with the deal of those patterns.
Moreover, the lady boss gave him a kick. He could not do anything but to go prepare the hot water.
He did not want to keep the lady boss waiting, and even used his inner strength to add on to the flame. Within moments, the water was boiling.
When he finally got the hot water ready, the lady boss went into the room with the lady in white.
He was curious, but he did not have to guts to remain while the lady boss took her shower.
He did not know that the lady boss was lying in the bathtub, and every inch of her skin had black air seeping out.
The lady boss did not seem to be bothered by it. “I have acted in accordance with your request. It’s about time that you pass the token to the divine ruins to me now,” the lady boss said to Zhao Xiaoyu.