Chapter 858 - 846: The Cause
By the shores of White Bird Lake.
Chen Mu looked toward the horizon; that huge eyeball had already been burned to ash by the Seven Emotions Flame.
Lan Zhang's avatar had also been killed by his Netherworld Qi.
But…
Chen Mu raised his head to look at the sky, his brows tightly furrowed.
At some unknown point, the Soul Nourishing Lamp that had been hanging in the heavens had already vanished without a trace.
"No wonder Lan Zhang insisted on tangling with me for so long."
"Putting on that whole show of courtesy before force, negotiating first then striking—turns out it was all for the Soul Nourishing Lamp!"
"Even in the middle of the fight he didn't forget to split his focus and secretly whisk it away."
Looking again at the blood-colored Black Wind Demons rampaging through every corner of White Bird City, Chen Mu's expression grew even uglier.
"His avatar blew out a swarm of blood-colored Black Wind Demons even as it died, just to cause chaos—afraid I'd track him?"
Chen Mu couldn't help grinding his teeth.
Nightmare Victory!
An unseen ripple swept across White Bird City.
The blood-colored Black Wind Demons whirling everywhere were rapidly locked down by the Dharma Curse.
Immediately, the Seven Emotions Flame surged forth along the Nightmare Victory Spell.
Boom!
Across the whole of White Bird City, no matter where they were, the blood-colored Black Wind Demons were at once shrouded in colorless flame.
Accompanied by shrill, miserable screams, in just a few breaths they turned to handfuls of ash and vanished completely.
"An avatar alone can cause this much of a stir—what if his true body comes?"
"I can't stay here. I need to get the hell out fast!"
...
More than twenty days later.
On the edge of Mist Ridge, beneath a certain snowy mountain. On what had once been a flat, desolate plain, a huge city had appeared.
By White Bird Lake, Chen Mu had Xu Gui find people to put up an entirely new wooden house.
The old wooden house that had accompanied him for many years had already been destroyed by the aftershocks of his battle with Lan Zhang.
The new wooden house was more spacious and open; a small part of its main structure came from the remnants of the old house, but most was sourced on the spot, including the two Moonlight Trees in front of the door that had likewise been snapped by the battle's aftermath.
At this moment, Chen Mu sat on a meditation cushion at the edge of the wooden veranda, smelling the faint scent of timber and staring dazedly at the distant snowy mountains.
"So the one behind those blood-colored Black Wind Demons was Lan Zhang, not the Mist Ridge Commander I guessed before?"
What surprised Chen Mu even more was that what had attracted Lan Zhang here was actually the Soul Nourishing Lamp.
"How did that thing end up drawing Lan Zhang's covetous gaze?"
"I only just created it not long ago." Chen Mu was puzzled.
The Soul Nourishing Lamp's effects were marvelous, but its structure was simple. The only things that could be called truly arcane were the Linglong Celestial Secret Spell and the Yama True Ghost Pattern.
Lan Zhang's origin was among Yin Spirits, an old ghost who had likely long since cultivated into a Yin God. Having passed the Fetal Breathing Nine Orifice Realm, he should be familiar with the Yama True Ghost Pattern by nature.
"So it's the Linglong Celestial Secret Spell?"
Chen Mu was lost in thought.
Lan Zhang definitely didn't care about that tiny bit of Heavenly Mechanism the Soul Nourishing Lamp stole.
But his assault was certainly related to the matter of Stealing Celestial Secret.
Over the past year or more, every time Chen Mu arrived somewhere, after just three or four months a crisis would appear. If the ones behind these crises had all been Lan Zhang, then…
"The Soul Nourishing Lamp stealing too much Heavenly Mechanism in the same place causes some sort of change."
"And that change can be captured by Lan Zhang, allowing him to break the void and arrive."
"He seized the Soul Nourishing Lamp for the sake of that change?"
Chen Mu felt he'd guessed the cause.
"Seems the Heavenly Mechanism really isn't something you can steal so easily." He couldn't help sighing.
No wonder the Ancient Linglong Dao had been wiped out. A single Linglong Celestial Secret Spell that steals Heavenly Mechanism was enough to draw Lan Zhang in, let alone other deeper secret techniques.
"Good thing that before Lan Zhang came, I hadn't had time to lay out the White Jade Array and cultivate Qi."
"Otherwise, those Exquisite Jade Plates would probably have been whisked away by him too."
Chen Mu looked frankly relieved.
"If the Soul Nourishing Lamp is gone, then it's gone. Maybe that's actually a good thing."
"Lan Zhang has the Soul Nourishing Lamp now; as long as I don't refine and use them on a large scale anymore, he likely won't be able to track me through it again."
The only drawback was that without the Soul Nourishing Lamp, he could no longer use the Seven Emotions Curse to trigger people's seven emotions, and the amount of Divine Power he could harvest would inevitably be affected.
Fortunately, he no longer needed to unfold the Divine Soldier Barrier, which saved a large portion.
Adding it all up, it should be about the same as when the White Bird Divine Soldier hadn't yet been placed into Thousand Lanterns City.
"In that case, it's still acceptable." Chen Mu shook his head helplessly.
"What's the deal with that Cloud Mirage Pearl the eyeball monster mentioned?" He thought of another matter.
"A Divine Weapon?"
With just a bit of thought, Chen Mu arrived at a guess.
"So the Divine Weapon is called the Cloud Mirage Pearl."
"Cloud Mirage, Cloud Mirage… Before, I guessed the Mist Ridge Divine Weapon might be a Heavenly Demon Root Device. Now it seems the Divine Weapon should be the root device of a Cloud Mirage Heavenly Demon instead."
Chen Mu suddenly understood.
The Cloud Mirage Heavenly Demon was a special Yin Spirit bearing a Heavenly Demon Bloodline. In that case, it made sense that within the Divine Weapon there existed some secret scripture akin to the Demon Path.
"My coming here might well be because of this Heavenly Demon Cloud Mirage." A thought stirred in Chen Mu's heart.
His own Heavenly Demon Body's true form was precisely Cloud Mirage; Mist Ridge might very well be the place where some Cloud Mirage Heavenly Demon fell, otherwise there wouldn't be a Divine Weapon formed from a Cloud Mirage Pearl.
Back when he was exiled from Mistaken Heaven by the divine skills of the Three Daoist Ancestors, it was very likely that he had been sent here because of this compatibility.
"And Lan Zhang even calls Mist Ridge the Yama Cave Heaven."
"Listen to that—Yama, Yama; my Five Ghosts Divine Power just happens to be called the Yama Emperor's Command. Chances are it's related to Ghosts."
"Looks like I really am fated to be here."
Chen Mu shook his head in helpless resignation.
...
On the edge of Mist Ridge, deep within a certain empty grassland.
A blood-colored beam of light descended from the sky, and the Vigorous Qi surging out instantly blew a vast swath of man-high grasses flat.
Lan Zhang stood at the center of the leveled ground, points of phosphorescence lighting up in the palm of his right hand, within which seemed to lie boundless worlds.
The next moment, twenty-four round beads the size of human heads flew out of his palm, drawing whole ranks of Soul Nourishing Lamps up into the air.
Lan Zhang gave a slight beckon, and one Soul Nourishing Lamp dropped down before him. He stared at the patterns on the white-skin lantern, his face full of interest.
His shadow writhed behind him, slowly stretching into a vast patch of pitch-black darkness. With a sudden swipe, countless pairs of eyes snapped open.
One massive eyeball half as tall as a man rose from within the shadow and circled around the Soul Nourishing Lamp.
"This thing is what caused the fissures around the Cloud Mirage Cave Heaven?"
"Can't see anything that special about it."
"The special part isn't the lantern, it's this base." A hint of surprise showed in Lan Zhang's crystalline red eyes. "There's a Linglong Path secret curse inside it that can steal Heavenly Mechanism."
"The Cloud Mirage Cave Heaven has been eroded by the Blood Sea for years and is badly worn down."
"This thing constantly steals Heavenly Mechanism; with the cave heaven itself having no time to recover, fragile fissures will appear." Lan Zhang explained.
"Linglong Path, eh—tsk tsk, interesting."
He had cultivated the Blood God Scripture to this day and not only hadn't gone mad but had greatly advanced his Dao, relying on Linglong Path's Linglong Golden Chapter for assistance.
"Who put these lanterns here, and why do they keep running around?" The big eyeball was full of confusion.
Lan Zhang cast a sidelong, half-smiling glance at Wu Mu, then raised a hand to point at the sky.
"I don't know who placed the lanterns, but the reason they move is those twenty Bright Pearls above our heads."
"They're inscribed with a bit of the Star Battle Technique. Once they're stimulated, they move on their own according to the heavenly timing."
"Is that so?" The big eyeball looked up at the sky, then back at Lan Zhang, half believing, half doubting.
"Why do I feel like I've forgotten something?" Uncertainty flickered within its gaze.
"What are you thinking so hard for? Don't you still want the Cloud Mirage Pearl?" Lan Zhang's voice cut off its train of thought.
"Hurry up and use these Soul Nourishing Lamps to open a larger fissure and draw the Blood River down."
"My desire for the Yama Spirit Mechanism isn't that great, but can you give up the Cloud Mirage Pearl?"
"If Mo Nuo General snatches it first, don't come crying to me."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to work!" The big eyeball immediately began urging him on.
Lan Zhang cast Wu Mu another glance and couldn't help laughing softly.