Chapter 124: The Vast Collection and the Twin Lotus Art

Xiaobai turned the corner of Langhuan Pavilion, and the black cat Ajin had already transformed into human form, leaning against the corridor as if waiting specifically for him. He sat down on the railing without ceremony, looking quite at ease.

"It must have been two hundred years since we last met. I thought you had already ascended to the Divine Path; I didn't expect you to still be wandering in the mortal world!"

Ajin was not angry upon hearing this, his golden eyes remaining calm and unruffled.

"I thought you, this fox, only knew how to bring disaster to the women of Chenjian; I didn't expect you to have come to the Mysterious Sect to commit evil."

One sentence made Xiaobai stand up at once.

"What do you mean by committing evil? I just didn't see through things back then. Now that I see clearly, isn't this exactly why I came here to cultivate!"

Ajin looked at Xiaobai, his golden eyes dreamlike and elusive.

"Are you here to cultivate, or to cultivate the heart?"

Once the words were out, Xiaobai immediately sat back down in silence. He came here because of Lingxiang, and for Lingxiang, yet he did not expect this old friend from a hundred years ago to be able to see through him at a glance.

"The girl Lingxiang is indeed excellent, but she is not someone you can covet. Even if she is safe and sound now, her destiny is one of nine deaths and one life, and you cannot provide that only path to survival."

Hearing this, Xiaobai was greatly shocked.

"How is this to be understood?!"

Ajin did not answer, looking at the overlapping mountain peaks before him, his thoughts returning to not long ago.

……

"Ajin." On the bed, Lady Qiao was extremely weak; even the Pill gifted by Lingxiang could no longer help her gather her Qi.

Ajin looked at this gentle woman before him and stroked her forehead, as if just the day before she were still that little girl in the Qiao Family with her hair tied in small buns.

"Ajin, you have worked hard all these years taking care of a sickly person like me. But I am not the one destined for you, and I cannot let you ascend. Yet I am grateful from the bottom of my heart, grateful that you are still able to be so kind to others."

Lady Qiao coughed twice as she spoke, and a trace of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. Seeing this, Ajin hurriedly took a handkerchief to wipe it for her, but Lady Qiao gently turned her head away.

"It is too late; you must listen to me finish. From the time I saw you when I was young, I saw today, and I knew what would happen to you later, but the Heavenly Dao is truly not to be broken. The thing you pursue will come very soon, but before that, I hope you can go to Jiuque Mountain to find him. He is a kind child; apart from my husband, he is the one I cannot let go of most."

"Although it will ultimately be a case of 'no danger despite the alarm,' as a mother, how could I bear to see my own child suffer such hardship? You must promise me to protect Wuyang and keep him safe." As she spoke, Lady Qiao looked at Ajin, her eyes full of pleading.

This was the girl he had watched grow up since she was small! Yet now she had fallen to this state. Although he had seen all of life and death in the mortal world for a thousand years, he had never been able to take it lightly. Especially since she was the most different of all.

She was the only person in thousands of years who understood him!

"Fine, I promise you!"

Ajin spoke plainly, but who could know that after thousands of years, his heart was already surging with waves today.

It was this woman before him who was about to lose her vitality!

"Do not be sad either; just treat me as one of the many people you have encountered. Since the heavens have arranged it this way in the dark, I imagine there must be a profound meaning to it."

Lady Qiao coughed twice more as she spoke, and blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. That red dripped onto the pillow, one drop... two drops... staining it like ink, yet it was like needles and thorns, piercing his heart with pain.

But even he could not save her!

"Lingxiang is a good girl; that you will attain the Heavenly Dao in the future is largely because of her. But her life path is full of twists and turns, with many tribulations. Fortunately, she has the Heart Mansion protecting her nearby. But soon, the Kang Mansion will come to seek her; I imagine you know him too. At that time, you must give some guidance and do not obstruct the Red Phoenix of others, only then can you keep her safe... If..."

Lady Qiao did not finish her words and stopped, just staring at the top of the canopy. That canopy was her dowry when she married, and on the top was the wisteria she had embroidered herself.

"In this life of mine, knowing people and knowing fate, having seen all the Heavenly Dao, it was not a life lived in vain..."

As she spoke, her eyes closed gently and never opened again.

……

Donghui Zhenren truly disliked meddling in trivial matters, but the recent repeated incursions by Bai Wuchang had indeed made him feel somewhat indignant. He still remembered the disaster from many years ago vividly; if one spoke of hatred for the Demon Race, he was no less than his other fellow disciples. Therefore, most of the discussions regarding sect matters in recent days were related to the Demon Race, and Donghui Zhenren had never been absent.

After riding the wind back to the door of Langhuan Pavilion, he saw Muchen sticking his bottom out and lying on the table, not knowing what he was doing.

This little rascal, even in just a short while, had started playing around here; he really needed to be disciplined.

"Ahem!" Donghui Zhenren cleared his throat. "Child, what are you doing if not behaving?"

Muchen was currently gorging himself, but he did not expect his master to return suddenly. He turned around in a panic, his mouth stuffed full, his answers all muffled.

Looking at Muchen, who still had crumbs falling from the corners of his mouth, Donghui Zhenren felt a wave of helplessness, but upon seeing the fruit plate behind him, his gaze immediately turned sharp.

Although that fruit plate was extremely exquisite, it was surrounded by...

Surrounded by bursts of Demon Race Qi!

……

There were indeed many books in the pavilion, with countless strange Witchcraft and Dharma Techniques, Talisman Arrays, and Dao Theory; one could even find many volumes on the techniques for rare weapons. Xin Yi and the others browsed for a long time and actually found many books similar to and connected with their own sect's techniques.

He was a bit puzzled and asked Lingxiang, but Lingxiang gave him a roll of her eyes.

"Speaking of which, Daoist Technique was originally one entity, but because of the long passage of time and many twists and turns later, it split into many schools. Among them, there are countless ones that merged various techniques to form their own schools, but generally speaking, aren't they still the same old things? The so-called 'Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things,' doesn't that just verify this statement?"

"Take your Long, Lu, and Qiao families for example; weren't they also one entity a long time ago? What is so strange about this?"

As Lingxiang spoke, she slid down from a cloud ladder and handed the selected books to Rendong.

Rendong looked down and saw that they were "Runes Essential Techniques" and "Five Elements Method."

"This... didn't you say you were going to find a fan technique for me? Why are you having me look at talisman arts and the Five Elements method?"

"I naturally have my reasons; just read them with your heart. Am I the master or are you the master?" Lingxiang said as she climbed up another ladder.

This time she climbed a bit high, searching on a bookshelf while muttering that she remembered it being here.

Just then, a rolling sound was heard, and they saw Long Qi on the side actually maneuvering another cloud ladder, flying to Lingxiang's side.

Long Qi had originally intended to appear suddenly to scare Lingxiang; if she were unsteady, he would be able to reach out and play the hero saving the beauty, but...

But unfortunately, Lingxiang was unmoved, continuing to search on her own, without the slightest intention of paying him any mind.

Long Qi felt a wave of disappointment, listlessly picking up a book and flipping through it randomly, glancing at Lingxiang from time to time.

"What... what are you looking for?"

Lingxiang searched intently and answered without lifting her head: "A zither score. I remember it being in this area, but I can't find it."

Long Qi felt extremely awkward in his heart upon hearing this. This Lingxiang, why was she so focused? He looked at the book in his hand listlessly, only to see the words "Twin Lotus Art" written on the page in his hand.

"Huh? The name of this technique is interesting."

Lingxiang turned her head to look upon hearing this, and her eyes flashed.

"It looks decent enough, but if one did not love deeply, one would certainly not use this kind of Witchcraft."

Long Qi heard this and was greatly puzzled; he looked down, but his expression darkened.

If it were him, he certainly would not use it, would he...