Master of Strange Dao

"Alright, you better pay attention to this matter, if it's not resolved, it will affect you sooner or later."

The Evil Lord solemnly nodded. If not for fear of this, he wouldn't bother running around.

As the pioneer of the Qi Refinement branch of the Evil Dao path, it was virtually impossible for him to completely sever ties with the Evil Dao.

The Evil Lord quietly left.

Yu Ziqing continued to sit in place drinking tea. On the surface of the table, suddenly some marks became conspicuous; Yu Ziqing looked over — a message from the table monster.

These were messages conveyed by the Riddler; they found those old lairs of the Evil Dao at Dazhen, as well as one Riddler who discovered where the target from the execution field used to live.

There, they found a stone shard of the same material as the one in Yu Ziqing's hand.

And the Riddler confirmed, in that small town, within hundreds of miles, there are no stone materials of the same kind.

Yu Ziqing sensed something, suddenly taking out the Sixty-four-sided crystal.

From the very first sight on one side, he randomly viewed sixty-four sides and obtained a phrase.

"The god is undying, the sea bears the earth."

No surprise, Yu Ziqing couldn't interpret such headless and tailless words correctly.

He put away the Sixty-four-sided crystal and took out that powerless stone shard, on which were also eight characters.

"Following heaven, what is home."

At this moment, Yu Ziqing recalled the style was rather similar, and both phrases were eight characters long.

Moreover, Yu Ziqing was certain the counterfeit Sixty-four-sided crystal he released definitely hadn't landed in these people's hands.

Furthermore, the counterfeit's style isn't like this.

Yu Ziqing gazed northward, feeling suddenly, an impulse within his heart, not accidental.

This ability naturally emerged after his Dayan Preface cultivation gradually reached mastery.

After some contemplation, Yu Ziqing carried his belongings, heading north.

Once he began traveling, Yu Ziqing thought of the teleportation gate he longed for.

The Evil Lord, that scoundrel, surely used the Yin Devil Nest as a transit point, swiftly traversing long distances.

Speeding ahead, he discreetly arrived south of Dazhen, Yu Ziqing, in a plain robe, transformed into an ordinary cultivator, entering that small town.

In the small town, one could still see the collapsed area, with many cultivators assisting in repairs.

He traveled to the courtyard where the Riddler was, gently knocking.

"Who is it?"

"Guess?"

"I guess it's your granduncle."

"I'm your seventh uncle's second granduncle, Toad skin flop."

Upon hearing this, the Riddler's expression changed, hurriedly opening the door.

"Oh my, it truly is second granduncle, how come you're out strolling, sir?"

"Business ran into problems, I had to come."

The pair exchanged banter and entered the room; the Riddler lightly kicked the threshold, revealing a small hidden chamber formation.

"Subordinate Ding Sansan doesn't recognize the lord as..."

"Yi Sijiu." Saying this, Yu Ziqing took out the stone shard from before.

Seeing the stone shard, the small accountant no longer doubted this unfamiliar Riddler superior.

Today's passphrase, the stone shard, and the records seen in relation to Yi Sijiu indeed matched.

He took out another stone shard, saying.

"The subordinate invited a Hungry Ghost Manager from the Hungry Ghost Trading Company to examine it.

This is some kind of special material, not ordinary stone.

And among all the materials handled by the Hungry Ghost Trading Company, none resembles this one."

"Have you conducted a power experiment?"

"No, there's only one piece, the subordinate wouldn't experiment recklessly."

Yu Ziqing nodded, scrutinizing; indeed it was the same material.

Moreover, it showed no reactions to Qi-Blood, True Yuan of Qi Refinement, power of Refining God, or Hungry Ghost forces.

Yu Ziqing took out a Jade Scroll, casually tossing it on the ground, which formed a small formation with strands of Evil Qi swirling within.

He tossed in both stone shards.

That previously unreactive item, seeming like ordinary stone, immediately responded.

The Evil Qi acted as a bridge, or adhesive, connecting the two stone shards.

At first glance, it appeared as a single stone shard with some curvature.

At the stone shard's edges, strands of Evil Qi, like waving tentacles, explored in another direction.

"Go take a look."

Yu Ziqing commanded, and Ding Sansan immediately followed the guidance, digging beneath a brick in the house more than three feet deep and found another stone shard.

Throwing the stone shard in, this time it wasn't fused but connected by a strand of Evil Qi over a foot long.

"Has the background of the prior beheaded Evil Dao cultivator been fully ascertained?"

"So far, that Evil Dao cultivator's ability was average, and among the Evil Dao ranks, his status isn't high."

The ancestral roots are near this city, but his bloodline relatives seem to be gone.

In the past, the White Sun Evil Cult ravaged the land, followed by battles between Dazhen and Dali, repeatedly changing hands.

He must have stumbled upon these stone fragments by sheer coincidence.

This residence is close to the underground hideout, but the evil cultist doesn't reside here often.

This place is already the ground-level base for those cultists.

He probably employed deception, hiding important items here.

Yet the most crucial catalyst was taken thousands of miles away to other lands.

Without the piece in the adults' hands, the other stone fragments are mere stones."

Yu Ziqing listened, feeling somewhat dazed.

In his heart, he more or less understood why there were so many cultists here.

To say there's nobody in the city's upper echelon secretly providing facilitation would be folly.

None in the city ever seem to notice evil lurking here.

Yu Ziqing simply doesn't believe it.

During chaotic times, the number of lower-class people suffering is unimaginable.

Just like when the White Sun Holy Mother wreaked havoc here back then, those who couldn't survive cared little about cults or anything else.

If Yu Ziqing hadn't helped Dazhen, large supplies of basic materials wouldn't have been sent there.

The cultists can easily recreate the debut of the White Sun Holy Mother.

Now the city is capturing cultists, merely because Emperor Zhen has invested the materials traded with Dadui, and the resources needed for transactions require locals from Dazhen for mining, refining, etc.

Seeing the evil qi extending from the formation, directing to another place.

Yu Ziqing roamed the city with Ding Sansan.

Upon encountering people, he displayed the token from King Xiang, using it to gain privilege.

Quickly, among the various remote corners of the city, such as stinking gutters, wells, and collapsed caverns, they found dozens of stone fragments.

Like shattered pottery, these fragments slowly coalesce into a "person" shape under the influence of evil qi.

Like a part of some component.

Yu Ziqing reached out to gently touch them.

Yang God opened his eyes, staring at those few words for a long time.

Suddenly, a vision appeared.

Flames and black water formed an upright eye.

The eye was cold and indifferent, staring ahead.

In an instant, it vanished completely.

"Let's continue searching for the other stone fragments."

Yu Ziqing commanded and stood up to leave.

He swiftly headed south toward the Mountain Abyss.

For in the eye, he saw some vague reflections.

Other reflections were too blurred, but one was clear, a bald human.

Yu Ziqing couldn't believe that within the world's top figures, there couldn't be several bald people.

Straight south, he arrived at the Mountain Abyss.

"Big brother, I've brought you stuff."

Yu Ziqing took out his stockpile of new jade tablets, tossing down over a hundred, enough for the Mountain Lord to thrive for a while.

If a radio-smashing person eventually creates TV, imagine the chaos.

After dropping a pile of goods, the Mountain Lord felt satisfied.

"Speak, what brings you here?"

Yu Ziqing took out a stone fragment and tossed it.

"Big brother, please take a look."

The stone fragment floated before the Mountain Lord's vast eyes, disintegrating into thousands of layers in an instant.

The Mountain Lord's pupils flickered slightly.

"Where did this come from?"

Yu Ziqing explained the origins.

The Mountain Lord chuckled.

"These guys, dogs can't stop themselves from eating feces, always playing the same tricks, nothing novel.

This thing is just a portal.

Not shattered, but fragmented from the start.

Requires someone to repair it before it opens a door to another place.

Just a glance tells me this is connected to some deity.

Reeks of an ancient, decayed stench, truly overpowering."

"A portal?!?" Yu Ziqing startled, immediately thinking of the Dadui Arch.