Chapter 565: Ewu (I)
Ewu had lain in ambush near Golden Sack Island for several years, but his senior brother, Mutuo, still had not emerged from the island.
Both he and Mutuo had originally been monks at Qinling Temple in Youxiang Prefecture. After the Maha's fall, the temple collapsed, and Mutuo and Ewu fled Zhao Prefecture, each going in a different direction.
Qinling Temple's lineage had already been in decline; without even a protector like The Merciful One, and after the fall of the Wrathful One, the lineage had weakened more considerably. Many of their methods for divination and combat were now ineffective, forcing them to hide in various places.
Mutuo, though not skilled in combat, had managed to retain the temple's Dao lineage which allowed him to calculate others' movements, enabling him to live in relative comfort. Ewu himself, however, despite being stronger, lacked comparable divination skills which made his years rather difficult in comparison.
He had fled Zhao Prefecture to the Eastern Sea, passing through the Scarlet Pristine Sea when he sensed that something was wrong. Setting up a high altar for divination, he discovered that his senior brother's physical body had been shattered, and he was so wounded that he did not even dare reincarnate back in Zhao. His heart stirred at this revelation, "In normal times, you can hide your aura, preserve the lineage, and evade my searches… But now that your vial qi is depleted, the opportunity has finally come for this old monk!"
Over the years, Ewu had encountered a few fortuitous events. Combining these new skills with his knowledge of the Dao, he managed to divine Mutuo's location after vomiting three mouthfuls of blood, tending to his wounds before setting up his ambush.
The inheritance of Buddhist cultivators was tied to destiny, and Qinling Temple's Dao lineage was intricately linked to Mutuo's fate. As Mutuo's junior brother, if he could kill Mutuo and absorb his essence, the lineage would naturally fall into his hands.
However, despite lying in wait for several years, Mutuo had yet to appear. Instead, Ewu sensed the presence of a treasured artifact. The Buddhist cultivators of Zhao Prefecture were not known for much, but they were unmatched in survival techniques. Bold as ever, Ewu decided to investigate first, rushing off on the wind.
Meanwhile, Li Xuanfeng was standing still, cultivating on the sea, awaiting news from Golden Sack Island to the south when he saw a flash of golden light racing in from the north.