Chapter 364: Golden Light Breaks Over Qingwei Peak

Long Qi was certain that Lingxiang would not harm him; he believed that everything Lingxiang did had a reason, and if he wanted to know exactly what that was, the answer must lie within Qingwei Peak.

Liu Xia had initially wanted to stop him, but seeing the resolute look in Long Qi's eyes, he could only give up.

It was not that Liu Xia did not trust Lingxiang; on the contrary, he also felt that everything happened for a reason, but as Long Qi's brother, his worry was only natural.

Long Qi glanced at the group, then resolutely stepped toward the mountain.

As he drew closer to the Dharma Array, the scorching heat around his body did not diminish in the slightest, becoming even more searingly painful. But Long Qi had no intention of stopping; even though his steps were difficult, he still gritted his teeth.

As if sensing Long Qi's determination, the water sphere at the tip of the long staff in his hand suddenly expanded, wrapping around Long Qi in an instant.

The Water Spirit Pearl circled around Long Qi like a bird, following him step by step. And within the swirling of the Water Spirit Pearl, the Water Shield revealed ripples like ocean waves.

With the expansion of the Water Shield, Long Qi no longer felt the scorching heat of the Dharma Array; a wave of coolness washed over him, making his whole body feel refreshed.

So this was the logic behind the key that Luoli had spoken of!

Long Qi suddenly realized, but he did not linger, hurrying toward the mountain.

The three people outside the array saw this scene clearly. Lianqiao felt it was strange; seeing that the Water Shield was not small and could easily accommodate them, why did it only allow Long Qi to go up the mountain?

Hearing Lianqiao's question, Liu Xia pondered for a long time, but he could not guess the reason either, so he could only say, "It must be that Miss Lingxiang gave instructions, and there must be a deep meaning behind it," and said no more.

Watching Long Qi walk further and further away, Lianqiao just curled her lips—this fellow Liu Xia probably didn't know either and was just using that line to brush her off!

With the protection of the Water Shield, Long Qi found it quite easy. Along the way, seeing the lush green plants all around confirmed Lianqiao's statement, but Long Qi couldn't help but wonder: could the golden light of this Dharma Array really hurt people?

Even though he thought so, Long Qi did not dare to let his guard down.

The journey was not easy; the Water Shield seemed to always be a step slower than Long Qi, so every few steps, Long Qi had to wait for the Water Shield to catch up.

After all, water flows to lower ground, and now that Long Qi was going up the mountain, protected by the Water Spirit Pearl, it could be considered going against the natural Dao.

However, the closer he got to the peak, the more blinding the golden light became. Long Qi could only cover his face while feeling his way forward. By the time Long Qi reached the top of Qingwei Peak, the horizon was already the color of a fish's belly—the mountain journey that used to take only a moment had actually taken him a whole day and night!

Fortunately, inside Xianyun Abode, it was as normal as the outside world, as if a shadow had blocked the golden light, and even his vision became incomparably clear.

Xianyun Abode was just as it had been, but now it was terrifyingly quiet, devoid of the usual noise of the past. Looking at the familiar scenery around him, Long Qi couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy.

But before Long Qi could think too much, the shadow beneath him began to sway.

Long Qi was shocked at the sight and looked up, only then seeing that something was suspended in mid-air, blocking that blinding light.

So that was how the shadow of Xianyun Abode came to be! But what was that object? And where did this light come from?

During the years of cultivating with Wuji, Long Qi had also dabbled in Array Formations; although he could not be called an expert, he understood quite a bit. From the foot of the mountain to the top, he had not discovered any traces of a Dharma Array, so the golden light shrouding Qingwei Peak was definitely not the work of a Dharma Array.

But if it wasn't a Dharma Array, what was the reason? Could it be some kind of Spirit Treasure?

Perhaps in response to Long Qi's thoughts, the shadow of Xianyun Abode gradually shrank, the circle of light constantly closing in, and the shadow was visibly about to disappear.

Just at this moment, the Water Spirit Pearl surrounding Long Qi suddenly flew out of the Water Shield, and the Water Shield, following the departure of the pearl, returned entirely into the Water Spirit Pearl.

Pain struck suddenly, scorching every inch of Long Qi's skin; he hurriedly pinched a Water Art to protect his body.

But Long Qi was a Fire Spirit Root by nature, and although he could use techniques outside of the Fire Element, it was ultimately twice the effort for half the result. Moreover, this light was no ordinary light; how could his half-baked witchcraft deal with it?

The water shield hissed with steam, instead making Long Qi feel like he was being boiled in a hot pot.

And it was at this moment that the surrounding golden light gradually dimmed, and the heat also dropped rapidly.

This...

What is going on?

Looking up again, he saw the Water Spirit Pearl circling around the object in mid-air, as if suppressing it, and also as if soothing it. And as the Water Spirit Pearl coiled around it, the object gradually descended. Only when it reached before his eyes did Long Qi discover that the object was actually a Lotus Platform, and upon the Lotus Platform was...

"Fire Spirit Bead!"

Isn't this the Five Elements Fire Spirit Bead that Lingxiang often took out to show off when she was Spirit-Refining?

At this moment, the Fire Spirit Bead and the Water Spirit Bead were intertwined, inseparable, as if they were lovers who had not seen each other for a long time. One blue and one red, the Five Elements that should have been mutually destructive were actually incomparably harmonious.

Long Qi did not know what he was thinking; he stared at the two beads in a daze, and unconsciously raised his hand, gathering the two beads together.

It was also at this moment that an object fell into Long Qi's arms; it was actually a mirror.

This mirror was very strange; one could not tell what material it was made of, but it could be seen that it was a very ancient relic.

Even though it was an ancient relic, its mirror surface was like water, without a single scratch. On the back of the mirror, however, two people were carved. One had a human face, bird head, and tiger tail, bare-chested, carrying a black bear; the other had a leopard tail and tiger teeth, disheveled hair wearing a diadem, with flowing light wrapped around the body, leaning against a phoenix. Between these two people were two Taiji fish patterns, one intaglio and one relief.

It was the God-Man Tiger Pattern Mirror; Lingxiang had previously used it to subdue Guihua, but Long Qi did not know that.

One look at this object and it was clearly no ordinary item. Linking it to the golden light that had just disappeared, Long Qi suddenly realized—it really wasn't any Dharma Array.

It was said that Lingxiang was only at the Foundation Establishment Condensing Pill Realm, so how could she have set up a Dharma Array that even Fuyin Zhenren could not break? So that was it!

But why did Lingxiang do this?

At this time, the morning sun was gradually rising in the sky, and the sunlight was growing stronger. Long Qi was holding the God-Man Tiger Pattern Mirror, examining it for a while, when he was caught off guard by a ray of light reflecting off it, making him hurriedly squint his eyes.

But at the very moment Long Qi squinted his eyes, he saw Lingxiang in the mirror!

Long Qi hurriedly focused his eyes on the mirror again, but the mirror surface was as still as dead water. No matter how Long Qi searched for the light to look, he could no longer see the slightest shadow.

He anxiously fiddled with the mirror; although it was only for an instant, Long Qi was certain that it was Lingxiang!

Just at this moment, the door to Lingxiang's room suddenly opened, and an invisible force, carrying accumulated dust, rushed toward his face.

Long Qi hurriedly covered his face with his sleeve, and when the flying dust dissipated, he looked into the room.

How could the door suddenly open? Could Lingxiang be in the room?

Thinking this, Long Qi hurriedly ran toward the veranda, but suddenly stopped.

At this moment, Long Qi's heart was pounding like a drum, and his fingers, holding the two spirit beads, were turning white and trembling uncontrollably.

He really did not dare to step into the room; perhaps he was afraid of disturbing the person inside, or perhaps he was afraid of a hollow joy.

After a long time, Long Qi finally gathered his courage, closed his eyes, and entered the room.

Sure enough, the room was empty...

The furnishings in the room remained as they were, but the dust was thick, and one look showed that no one had lived there for a long time.

Long Qi let out a long sigh, stood blankly at the door for a long time, and then moved to push open the wooden window.

In the past, Lingxiang often leaned against the window, either pointing fingers at them in the courtyard or sighing while looking at storybooks; that way she had of pretending to be sentimental was extremely cute.

Just at this moment, a gust of wind blew in from outside, and a muffled sound suddenly came from within the room.

Long Qi hurriedly turned his head to look, only to see that beneath the wooden table in the room, a hanging scroll had fallen to the floor, half-unfurled.

It was a Painting Scroll.

Long Qi felt that this Painting Scroll was very familiar, yet for a moment he could not recall where he had seen it. He hurriedly picked it up and spread it out, only to see a woman strikingly on the paper; looking closely, her brows and eyes were somewhat similar to Lingxiang.

It was just that the woman on the paper was even better-looking than Lingxiang, and Long Qi even thought that this painting had only captured one or two tenths of the woman's beauty.

The woman in the painting was graceful and ethereal, holding an incense burner in her hand and standing upon a lotus, while a dark shadow could be vaguely seen at her side, coiled and lying at her feet like a long Snake. And on the right end of the Painting Scroll was inscribed a poem—

"Asking of the climbing rose in the night rain at the west window, the cold wind trims the candle, the green smoke is so magnificent it refuses to depart. The pure and subtle do not ask of worldly affairs, white hands hold the incense, in the fading lamplight there is nowhere to seek."

Long Qi then remembered, wasn't this the treasure Lingxiang used to suppress the Snake demon when they were in Longqiao Town!

Lingxiang cherished this treasure dearly, so how could she have left it behind at the Xianyun Abode?

But just as Long Qi was feeling strange, he saw the woman in the painting open her mouth.

"Child, we meet again."

The voice was extremely pleasant, and Long Qi nearly lost his composure; just as he steadied his mind, he suddenly felt the world spinning around him.

A flash of spiritual light streaked by, and Long Qi disappeared without a trace, leaving only that rolled-up Painting Scroll lying on the ground.

And that Painting Scroll actually tied its own ribbon!