Chapter 540 - 20: Xiu Yu’s Dao Field
Zi Luan and Wang Ping met at Xiu Yu’s Dao Field, a meeting Zi Luan had intentionally arranged.
In the second year after the Shangjing City incident, the disciples of Xiu Yu’s Dao Field had all departed. Most went to Hai Zhou Road, while a small number vanished without a trace.
The Dao Field now looked completely dilapidated from the outside. Weeds overran the corners of the courtyard, both inside and out. Due to neglect, most of the planted Spirit Wood Trees had withered and died. The only survivors were a dozen or so at the center of the Spirit Gathering Array, and even those had grown crooked. Their trunks were tightly bound by rings of vines that appeared to be absorbing the Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Wood Trees.
Zi Luan and Wang Ping were standing right beside these Spirit Wood Trees. Staring at the vines wrapped around the trunks, Zi Luan said, "Xiu Yu used these vines to forge Sealing Arrays. They have incredible vitality. When refined with Wood Spirit Qi, they become extremely resilient. What’s more, they can survive even if their surfaces are covered in carved runes."
Hearing this, Wang Ping reached out and tore off a piece of the vine. Yu Lian, perched on his shoulder, instinctively sniffed it and said, "You used this kind of vine for your Sealing Array, didn’t you? I still don’t know its name. What’s it called?"
Zi Luan laughed. "It never had a name!"
"No name?"
"Whether or not it has a name is irrelevant. That doesn’t stop us from using it."
"That’s true."
Zi Luan turned, inviting Wang Ping to walk toward the Dao Field’s main gate. "I heard you’ve been in seclusion recently?" he said.
He looked Wang Ping up and down. "I almost forgot. It’s only been thirty-some years since you broke through to the Third Realm, yet your Primordial Spirit must be close to fully fusing with the Heaven-Reaching Talisman, right?"
"Probably another ten years or so."
"That’s incredibly fast. After I advanced to the Third Realm, my master ordered me not to leave until I finished fusing with the Heaven-Reaching Talisman. I was in seclusion for ninety-three years and even had to take a Nine Revolutions Pill to strengthen my Primordial Spirit before I barely managed to get it done."
Zi Luan led Wang Ping into the Dao Field and stared at the screen wall by the courtyard entrance. A landscape painting was carved onto it, depicting a winding stream with a thatched cottage beside it. In front of the cottage, a master was teaching two disciples how to cultivate.
He reached out his hand. A stream of Wood Spirit Qi flowed over the carving, erasing the thatched cottage and the master and disciples in front of it. Then he chuckled. "Back then, my junior brother, Xiu Yu, was an exceptional genius. It only took him eighty years to complete this step. Our master was incredibly fond of him because of it."
It was unclear if he was talking to himself or trying to tell Wang Ping something. When he finished, he gestured and said, "This way!"
The two of them went around the screen wall and saw a courtyard overgrown with weeds, flanked by a dozen or so side rooms. The doors to the main hall ahead were wide open, and inside they could see the memorial tablets of the Six Heart Sect’s past elders.
Zi Luan extended his left hand and quickly formed a Spell—a new type of magic combining a Wood Spirit Technique with a ’Cleansing Spell’. The moment the magic took shape, the weeds in the courtyard instantly withered away, then vanished completely along with all the dust.
"He usually preferred the back courtyard. Come on, follow me."
An impatient urgency filled Zi Luan’s voice. He led Wang Ping around the main hall and into a spacious courtyard that was surprisingly clean. A simple isolation array was still active, preventing weeds from growing and dust from settling.
The first thing they saw upon entering was an Eight Trigrams Array in the middle of the courtyard. At its center lay a pale yellow meditation cushion. To the south was a pond, now dry; to the true north, a side room; and to the east, a medicinal herb garden that had been completely abandoned.
"How tasteless."
Muttering the complaint, Zi Luan strode to the center of the Eight Trigrams Array. He raised his foot as if to kick the meditation cushion aside, but for some reason, he changed his mind. Instead, he just stood at the center and glanced around.
Wang Ping walked over with Yu Lian to stand at the array’s center. Yu Lian’s eyes scanned the Eight Trigrams Array as she remarked, "I feel a pleasant, cool breeze cleansing my body and Primordial Spirit." As she spoke, her Primordial Spirit Consciousness surfaced to observe the state of the Inspiration Realm.
Inside the Inspiration Realm, the Spiritual Energy within the Eight Trigrams Array was forming a small Energy Vortex.
"It’s just a cheap trick."
Zi Luan stowed the meditation cushion in his storage bag. He then gathered a wisp of Wood Spirit Qi in his right hand and shattered the flagstone that had been underneath, revealing a gray crystal. He reached out his hand, and the crystal floated up on the current of Wood Spirit Qi, settling into his palm.
As Wang Ping and Yu Lian examined the crystal, he said with a laugh, "Dozens of Spiritual Creatures are sealed inside, all of them Wood Spirit-aligned."
"How disgusting. It makes my Primordial Spirit recoil!"
Yu Lian likely spoke because she had just pictured Xiu Yu meditating on a cushion placed over dozens of twisted Spiritual Creatures.
Zi Luan burst out laughing, and his laughter echoed for a long time.
After laughing to his heart’s content, he said, "My dear junior brother always loved to do things that normal people couldn’t comprehend. And our master was exceptionally lenient about it all, which only fostered his increasingly unrestrained personality."
Wang Ping said thoughtfully, "Perhaps Xiao Shan Lord did it on purpose." He looked at Zi Luan, his tone shifting. "I’m sure you’ve made similar attempts, Fellow Daoist."
Zi Luan met the topic with silence before letting out a scoff. "Do you really have no news about Xiu Yu?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"Fair point. What about the assassin you hired?"
"No news there, either. I even asked the Jimin Association and ’First Day’ to investigate their whereabouts, but there’s been nothing for years."
"What do you think?"
"Xiu Yu must have been seriously injured, which is why he’s gone into hiding."
Zi Luan nodded. "Setting his problems aside, what’s the deal with that woman, Zhi Gong? What is her goal? I heard you’ve even formed an alliance with her."
In response, Wang Ping calmly explained Zhi Gong’s plan.
Zi Luan fell silent again after listening. Then he remarked, "Another courageous Fellow Daoist. The Fourth Realm of the Earth Scripture is difficult. I heard from another Daoist that one must mobilize the full power of their Spiritual Body, and even awaken the consciousness of their Spirit Vein, just for a chance at success."
He held a deep respect for any Cultivator who dared to take such risks.
After this moment of admiration, he added, "I support her plan for Hai Zhou Road wholeheartedly. It might even force Xiu Yu out of hiding. I just don’t like the idea of him lurking in the shadows. It feels like someone is constantly watching you."
As he spoke, he looked at Wang Ping and saw the worried expression he was intentionally displaying. "You need my help with something?" he asked.
"As a matter of fact, I do."
"What is it?"
"Can you replicate Xiao Shan Lord’s compound array?"
Zi Luan’s heart skipped a beat, but then his expression relaxed with understanding. "You want to use the compound array to help your master cultivate faster?"
Wang Ping looked at Zi Luan with hopeful expectation. "Precisely. Is there any way for you to replicate it?"
A myriad of thoughts flashed through Zi Luan’s mind in an instant. He shook his head regretfully. "I’m afraid I can’t."