Chapter 101

This place is ominous and strange; what the naked eye sees is not necessarily the true scene on the yellow mud ship.

Li Youyi once again employed the Heavenly Vision Mind Technique, and at the same time, all the golden trace veins on his body emerged, breaking through all illusions to strip away the false and return to the truth.

In his field of vision, jade-white auspicious radiance rose up.

The underground riverbed remained dry, but the yellow mud ship beneath his feet transformed into a stainless and flawless jade vessel, over thirty meters long, with shimmering precious light enveloping the surrounding heaven and earth.

The jade vessel was crystal clear and exquisitely structured, with countless artifact scriptures floating within.

"This... this is what a sacred vessel for a figure of the Prefecture Overseer level looks like. The decay of the yellow mud ship was merely an illusion, not its true appearance. This sacred vessel must be of a very high grade!"

Li Youyi suppressed the exclamation in his heart, unable to stop himself from wondering what level of cultivation realm that Prefecture Overseer from a thousand years ago had reached.

Everything seen before was merely an illusion.

The true Prefecture Overseer Seal was not kept inside a treasure box; it was as huge as a millstone, over two meters tall, placed at the bow of the ship, silently releasing a powerful, majestic aura.

The purple cistanche was actually growing on top of the Prefecture Overseer Seal, its medicinal flesh crystal clear and fragrant.

The magic Qi between heaven and earth condensed into visible gaseous streams, flowing continuously toward the Prefecture Overseer Seal, and was subsequently absorbed by the cistanche.

"Swoosh!"

Li Youyi swung his sword, hacking off a piece of the medicinal flesh, and handed it to Yin Twenty-Four: "Take it and feed it to Yao Yin!"

The ancient skeleton sitting on the ground beside the Prefecture Overseer Seal was startled awake; the skull lifted, staring at Li Youyi ahead. Then, the bones of its entire body rattled, and it slowly stood up.

Li Youyi was so shocked his scalp felt like it would explode, and he retreated quickly.

"It really is an ominous thing."

It was absolutely this skeleton that hadn't died completely that had lured him here.

The skeleton, dressed in purple cloud-dragon official robes, did not show a ferocious state after rising, nor did it attack; instead, it tidied its clothes and hat, lifted the official robe's knee-cover with both hands, knelt respectfully before Li Youyi, and said in a loud voice: "Subject, Zhu Qinfeng, Overseer of Yan Prefecture, pays respects to the Son of Heaven."

The skull hit the ground with a thud.

His voice was slightly aged, but it did not come from his mouth; it seemed to come from within the bones, or perhaps from between heaven and earth.

If not for the fact that Yin Twenty-Four and Yao Yin were still on the ship, Li Youyi would have wanted to run for his life; he couldn't even hold the sword in his hand steady. This withered bone with a terrifyingly grand background had clearly mistaken him for someone else!

Yin Twenty-Four could not see the true scene, nor could she hear the true voice; she was holding Yao Yin, feeding her the precious medicine.

Li Youyi slowly retreated toward them, holding his battle sword in a defensive posture.

The skeleton kneeling on the ground lifted its head and said sorrowfully: "In the five-year war, Yan Prefecture fell into the hands of the dead spirits; darkness swallowed the light. I led all the soldiers and civilians to hold the prefecture city, and after three more years of bitter fighting, we never saw reinforcements. The fifteen rescue teams sent out vanished without a trace."

"Three years of siege, one hundred and thirty-two battles, large and small; water and grain in the city were exhausted, and of the million soldiers and civilians, only eighty thousand remained."

"I am guilty! I led the eighty thousand wounded and disabled to flee through the ancient underground river, abandoning the city, and the entire Yan Prefecture fell... Alas... Woe is me..."

Li Youyi felt the desolation and sorrow radiating from the skeleton, hearing the helplessness and pain in its tone.

Infected by its emotions, his fear lessened slightly, and he calmed down, pondering why the other party would mistake him for the Son of Heaven.

This Prefecture Overseer of Yan, named Zhu Qinfeng, had no doubt that the Son of Heaven in his heart was Chan Hai Guan Wu.

Why would the other party think he was Chan Hai Guan Wu?

The skeleton kneeling on the ground continued: "Entering the ancient underground river, we were pursued by the army of Ash Spirits and fled here, where the eighty thousand soldiers and civilians died one after another. As I lay dying from heavy wounds, I left this single thought upon the Prefecture Overseer's official robe, waiting only for the Son of Heaven to come here so I could report everything; even in death, I would have no regrets."

After speaking the last sentence, the skeleton's shoulders and neck bones clicked simultaneously, and it slumped down completely, silent once more.

"So he only had a single thought left, waiting here for the Son of Heaven in his heart."

Li Youyi's fear vanished, filled with deep emotion; he stepped forward, a sense of respect even arising in his heart.

He had already given his all, but Yan Prefecture still fell.

A thousand-year thought, waiting only for the Sovereign.

Only upon seeing the Sovereign would he draw his final breath.

The Spirit Tablet Master had been observing the outside world with mental power, and his voice came from the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish: "If I am not mistaken, Chan Hai Guan Wu left something on you. That is why Zhu Qinfeng mistook you for her."

Li Youyi nodded gently, trying hard to recall his few encounters with Chan Hai Guan Wu, not letting go of a single detail.

Even if she left something, it should have been his own blood that she absorbed.

"What could it be?" he muttered to himself.

The Spirit Tablet Master said: "Chan Hai Guan Wu's cultivation is far higher than ours, reaching a level the three of us cannot fathom. Her methods must be extremely secretive and brilliant. However, she is currently very weak, while your cultivation is rising rapidly; you should be ahead of her. Find her as soon as possible and resolve the hidden danger."

In Li Youyi's mind, the portrait of the fairy in red on the tombstone appeared, followed by the bone demon in the tomb, and finally the figure of Qi Shanshan.

"To think she secretly played tricks on me."

Facing an existence like Chan Hai Guan Wu who stood at the pinnacle of the world, Li Youyi felt significant pressure, viewing her as his greatest enemy. But right now, it was clearly not the time to think about how to deal with her.

How to escape was the top priority.

"I understand, it's the official robe."

The Coffin Master's voice suddenly sounded, adding: "That thought of Zhu Qinfeng borrowed the magic Qi within the cistanche to drive the Prefecture Overseer's official robe, subsequently opening the purple mist passage to guide you here. I once served as a Prefecture Overseer; even if the official robe falls into silence, as long as the fire of the thought within is not extinguished, it can be used once or twice more."

"Youyi, put on the official robe and use your mental power to probe whether there is still any remaining fire of Zhu Qinfeng's thought inside. If there is, use magic Qi to drive it immediately."

Li Youyi put away his Heavenly Vision, and the golden trace veins on his body dimmed and turned dark.

The brilliant jade vessel beneath his feet immediately turned back into the yellow mud ship, making it impossible to tell what was real and what was illusory.

After bowing three times, Li Youyi crouched down and quickly stripped the purple official robe from the skeleton, racing against time, while shouting: "Take Yao Yin and get off the ship to wait for me first!"

Yin Twenty-Four did not understand why, but guessed that Li Youyi must have found a way to escape, so she immediately picked up Yao Yin and jumped off the yellow mud ship.

Li Youyi quickly put on the purple official robe.

Both the chest and back were embroidered with cloud-dragon patterns, the wide cuffs were decorated with silver buttons, and the waist was adorned with a wide brocade belt inlaid with exotic gems and jade pendants.

The official robe could automatically shrink or expand according to the wearer's physique.

"Whoosh!"

Li Youyi put on the official hat, formed finger seals with both hands, and released mental light into the official robe.

Using mental perception, a vast and dark world within the official robe was presented in his sea of consciousness. In the darkness, he could see the scattered, remaining fire of Zhu Qinfeng's thought rapidly dissipating and extinguishing.

"Great! As long as these fires of thought are not completely extinguished, the official robe can be driven one more time."

Li Youyi jumped off the yellow mud ship, not caring about the issue of exposure, and drove the spatial power of the Buddha Relic to collect the entire ship into the blood-mud space.

Seeing the yellow mud ship vanish into thin air, Yin Twenty-Four was naturally stunned.

Li Youyi shook his arms, and magic power surged from the eight springs in his body, injecting into the official robe he was wearing.

The vast world inside the official robe was simply like a bottomless pit, impossible to fill.

Watching Zhu Qinfeng's fire of thought rapidly extinguishing, Li Youyi broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead and shouted: "What are you standing there for? Come help, inject all the magic Qi in your body into the official robe."

Yin Twenty-Four came to her senses, stepped forward without a word, pressed her palm against Li Youyi's back, and injected surging magic Qi.

"It's no use, the Prefecture Overseer's official robe has already gone silent; my magic Qi cannot be injected into it," she said.

"Then why can I?"

Li Youyi muttered to himself, his eyes suspicious, thinking: "Could it be related to what Chan Hai Guan Wu left in my body again?"

There was no time to think; Li Youyi employed the Jade Void Breathing Method, driving the eight springs in his body to the limit, his body completely lit up by magic power, while the magic Qi transformed into brilliant clouds swirling around him.

"His magic power and magic Qi are actually entering the Prefecture Overseer's official robe. Could he be a descendant of Chan Hai Guan Wu? But I've never heard of Chan Hai Guan Wu having a partner, so how could she have descendants?" Yin Twenty-Four was completely baffled.

"Boom!"

Wisps of purple mist overflowed from the official robe, transforming into purple clouds.

Li Youyi's face showed wild joy, and he shouted: "Follow me!"

Pulling Yin Twenty-Four, the three of them vanished into the purple mist.

"Whoosh!"

The next instant, the three returned to the pitch-black spider cave.

The sound of the underground blood river flowed in their ears.

Yin Twenty-Four took out a blood-light gem to illuminate the surroundings and let out a long sigh of relief: "We're finally back! How did you do it? How did you know the Prefecture Overseer's official robe could bring us back? Why could your magic power drive it?"

Inside the official robe, Zhu Qinfeng's fire of thought was completely extinguished, and Li Youyi's magic power could no longer be injected.

The purple mist enveloping the official robe dissipated rapidly.

Li Youyi did not immediately respond to Yin Twenty-Four's questions, but looked around; the ash region had vanished without a trace, as if it had never appeared. If not for the Prefecture Overseer's official robe he was wearing, he would have even suspected that everything was a hallucination.

On the stone wall ahead was a hole the size of a face.

The hole was covered in spider webs.

He could sense the aura fluctuations of the Four-Winged Spider King hidden deep inside.

The Four-Winged Spider King had intelligence; sensing the aura of a Five-Sea realm Wu Xiu, it hid inside, not daring to come out.

Li Youyi shook his head in disappointment; he had originally learned insect language from the Spirit Tablet Master, intending to subdue the Four-Winged Spider King and give it to Senior Sister Cai. But it didn't dare show its head; it turned out that even ominous insects were bullies.

Riding the small boat, driven by Yin Twenty-Four's magic Qi, they returned against the current.

After exiting the spider cave, Li Youyi had already taken off the official robe and folded it neatly, saying in a calm but threatening tone: "Everything you saw today must rot in your stomach. If a third... or fourth person finds out, you should understand the consequences."

Yin Twenty-Four stood at the bow, frowning: "Is that all you're going to threaten me with? I feel that once the secrets on your body are leaked, it will trigger a storm in the martial arts world."

"You can try telling the Hidden Lord! I guarantee I will live well, but you might not!" Li Youyi added: "Not killing you to silence you isn't because I'm soft-hearted, but because I trust you."

Yin Twenty-Four's heart rippled slightly, but she immediately suppressed the corners of her mouth, saying in a deep voice: "I feel uneasy; this matter is strange, especially since that ash region doesn't seem to be too far away. We should report it to the Hidden Lord."

Li Youyi certainly didn't believe that with his current cultivation, plus the power of the official robe, he could cross too far an underground space.

Therefore, he agreed with her point of view; the ash region was very likely nearby.

"Then let's make up a story, align our testimonies first, and then tell the Hidden Lord what we can."

Li Youyi was a bit worried about Yin Twenty-Four, so he added: "The Hidden Lord is the Hidden One of the previous cycle, and I am the Hidden One of this cycle. You must take orders from me, not him."

Yin Twenty-Four rolled her eyes, wanting to tell him that he wasn't the Hidden One yet.

Li Youyi noticed the eyeballs under Yao Yin's eyelids move, so he said: "Since you're already awake, stop pretending. The three of us will align our testimonies together. You are most likely Hidden Twenty-Six, and you must take orders from me in the future. You should know better than I do what happens to those who betray the Hidden One."

Yao Yin sat up; the ice cracks on her skin had completely dissipated, returning to a moist and delicate state. The medicinal power of the cistanche indeed had a suppressive effect on the ice-soul cold Qi in her body. She said in a melodious and beautiful tone: "Very well, Yao Yin swears loyalty to the Hidden One until death."

Li Youyi nodded with satisfaction.

"What grand official authority! No wonder they say that once someone puts on the official robe, they can never take it off for the rest of their life!" Yin Twenty-Four said coldly with sarcasm.