Chapter 278: Chapter 278: Summoning the Lord to Descend Here
“Oh?” Yuan Zhizi looked at Zhou Yin, chuckled lightly, and said, “I didn’t expect you to recognize me. Indeed, as a reincarnated saint, you really are extraordinary.”
“What, no, what do you all really want to do?” Zhou Yin tried to suppress the panic in his heart, and looking at Yuan Zhizi, he said sternly, “What kind of deal did you make with Tang Kaiyun and the Zhao Family?”
His demeanor did not resemble that of a typical person at the Peak of the Seventh Rank when facing a Celestial Man; he seemed to have some reliance and was not too afraid of Yuan Zhizi.
But in reality, it was indeed just a “seemed.”
Zhou Yin was well aware that the only thing that could make Yuan Zhizi wary was his identity as the reincarnation of a saint and the possibility of his past life’s contingencies erupting at any time.
Therefore, to save his own life, he had to make Yuan Zhizi utterly convinced of his reincarnated identity, at least without revealing any flaws in this regard.
As a true reincarnated saint, one should not fear a Celestial Man.
Moreover, while adjusting his own performance, Zhou Yin also carefully observed Zhou Heng’s state, drawing from his experience.
After all, Zhou Heng was a true reincarnation of a great power.
Learning from him was definitely correct.
Yet Zhou Heng himself was also astonished, thinking to himself, “Is this what a true reincarnation of a great power looks like? Despite lacking external aid, he could still face a Celestial Man so calmly and fearlessly; it’s truly exceptional.
“Maybe I should interact with him more in the future, secretly learning how to act more like a reincarnated great power… But, that will have to wait until after dealing with this Yuan Zhizi.”
Zhou Heng was contemplating how to deal with Yuan Zhizi.
Meanwhile, Yuan Zhizi glanced at Zhou Yin, then at Zhou Heng, and suddenly burst into laughter, saying, “Hahaha, the purpose of my visit has been achieved, so I shall not disturb you two reincarnated saints any longer.”
Before his voice had faded, he transformed into a purple-black streak of light, shooting up into the sky, and attempted to take away the collapsed shrine and the statue within it.
But as soon as his purple-black light touched the shrine, an incredibly pure green radiance burst forth from the statue, repelling Yuan Zhizi’s power.
“You still refuse to accept me?!” Yuan Zhizi became somewhat frantic and was about to continue his efforts when he suddenly noticed a change in the color of the sky, “Damn it, sooner or later, you will have to hand over what is mine!”
Immediately afterward, he turned completely into a purple-black rainbow, shooting towards the sky, and swiftly created a gate of light in the void which he entered and then disappeared.
Yuan Zhizi had left this Cave Sky world.
At the same time, the originally azure sky started to display a spot of purple-black that rapidly spread—like a drop of purple-black fuel falling into a pool—staining the normal firmament.
“What’s going on?” Zhou Heng’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, as he looked at the expanding purple-black in the sky, he instinctively felt that something was amiss, as if an extremely dangerous event was about to occur.
And the aura being emitted by this purple-black also gave him a familiar feeling, akin to ghosts or evil creatures, ambiguous yet tangible.
“The situation seems quite grim,” Cheng Jianjian came over and pointed at the purple-black aura in the sky, saying, “I can sense an aura there similar to a mix of the essence of evil creatures and ghosts, it’s very dangerous.”
As the two were conversing, the sky suddenly darkened as if transitioning from day to night, and the purple-black above spread even further.
“We should think of a way to leave this place first,” Zhou Yin hesitated for a moment, but still spoke up, saying, “Before I came here, I found an archive. The exit from this Cave Sky world is right here.”
“Archive?” Cheng Jianjian looked at Zhou Yin, his gaze somewhat doubtful. Although it seemed this person was also calculated against, since he was from Southern Jin, he was still quite suspicious.
“Let’s search around first,” Zhou Heng was very decisive, not entangled in the question of Zhou Yin’s identity, as the priority was to find a way out of this Cave Sky world.
Otherwise, once that swath of purple-black descended, they all feared the end would come.
The first place he began searching was the collapsed shrine and the somewhat damaged statue within it.
Right before Yuan Zhizi left, he seemed to want to take the statue with him.
It was only because of the anomaly in the sky that he gave up.
What was inside this statue?
Is there any way to leave this world?
Zhou Heng casually threw out a paper figure, leaning in to investigate, but no matter how he looked from the left or the right, he could not find anything unusual.
Cheng Jianjian was also sizing up the god statue, furrowing her brows in thought. Suddenly, as if she had realized something, she looked at Zhou Yin and said, “This saint reincarnation of the Zhou Family, did you say earlier that the Primordial Spirit of the Celestial Man revealed after Tianyizi was killed was the sect leader of the Zhi Xu Sect from the end of the Tai Yang era?”
“That’s correct,” Zhou Yin nodded and said, “Before coming here, I found some clues. That person is undoubtedly Yuan Zhenzi.”
“If that’s the case, then this must be the mysteriously vanished location of the Zhi Xu Sect’s mountain gate.” Cheng Jianjian looked back at the shrine and said, “Judging by the location, this should be the main hall at the front of the mountain, and this statue should be of the Zhi Xu Sect’s third generation sect leader, ‘Daoist Qing Yu’.”
“If so, let me try ‘The Zhi Xu Sutra’.” An idea struck Zhou Heng, and he manipulated the paper figure in front of the statue to start reciting ‘The Zhi Xu Sutra’.
‘The Zhi Xu Sutra’ is a Taoist classic that all disciples of the Pure Yang Palace must read upon entry. It is said to be written by Daoist Shou Jing, a good friend of the founding ancestor Pure Yang Zi during the ancient mythological era.
The entire text is composed of eight thousand words; each word is like a pearl or a gem, conveying profound meanings. It contains the essence of the supreme Dao, and even just reciting it normally has the effect of calming the mind and nurturing the divine soul.
Initially, as the sutra was recited, nothing out of the ordinary happened, and the statue of Daoist Qing Yu did not respond at all. However, as the recitation of the entire scripture neared its end, a cyan light began to emerge from the statue.
As Zhou Heng had the paper figure finish reciting the entire ‘The Zhi Xu Sutra’, the statue immediately rose with a pure cyan brilliance, enveloping the paper figure in its light.
Immediately afterward, this cyan brilliance flowed and transformed over the paper figure, bursting forth with countless rune messages, flowing into the paper figure like a torrential flood.
A short while later, the cyan light faded, and the paper figure shrunk back to its original palm-sized form, falling back into Zhou Heng’s hand, but its appearance had undergone an earth-shattering change, including its material.
Originally, this paper figure was just cut out of ordinary paper.
But now, touching the paper figure felt like stroking jade, and the entire figure was radiating a cyan glow, each strand of which had runes flowing within it.
Contained within were massive amounts of information.
Among them was the martial arts legacy of the Zhi Xu Sect, but Zhou Heng discovered he could only see a very small part of it.
There were just three Sect Fifth Rank martial arts, one Celestial Third Rank martial art, along with some details about the Zhi Xu Sect.
There was also the method to leave this Cave Sky world.
It seems that the cyan light emerging from the statue had detected that the paper figure was not a descendant of the Zhi Xu Sect, and therefore restricted access to the legacy information, but it had deliberately left a reward as well.
That was normal enough.
“Is this statue trying to have me return the Zhi Xu Sect’s legacy to its rightful heir?” Zhou Heng mused over the spiritual charm flowing through the paper figure, chuckling as he said, “This reward is indeed quite generous.”
Not to mention anything else, just one Celestial Third Rank Divine Skill was enough to support a thousand-year noble house.
“But the most joyful thing is the method to leave this Cave Sky world.” Zhou Heng smiled as he put the paper figure away and said to everyone, “I have found the way to leave this place…”
Buzz!
Just at that moment, a tremor suddenly echoed through the void, and Zhou Heng’s words came to an abrupt stop; his whole body suddenly froze, unable to move.
The purple-black color in the sky had, unknowingly, spread downward, and a sinister force landed behind Zhou Heng.
At the same time, behind Zhou Yin, too, was enveloped in purple-black.
The two seemed to have been targeted by the same extraordinarily sinister force at the exact same moment.
…
In the Imperial City of Zhongzhou, within the Palace of Divine Light.
Zhao Zhen, who was worshipping a god statue and reciting a sacred decree, suddenly became excited and laughed loudly, “Haha! There, there! Zhou Heng and Zhou Yin have finally met!
“Soon we will be able to offer the divine souls of these two saint reincarnations to our lord, please our lord, and invite our lord to descend upon this place! Hahaha!”