Chapter 189: Scouting, the Fortune Jade Disc's Warning

Three streams of light flew past beside Mount Buzhou, clearly seen by a person walking on the ground; after the lights disappeared, he said: "What exactly do these three intend? Over these ten thousand years, they have almost circled the entire Mount Buzhou, yet they never enter the mountain—truly strange."

This person is about one zhang tall, with a green snake hanging from his ear and a red snake in his hand, covering his lower body only with animal skin, his upper body bare and feet bare, walking on the earth.

Seeing the three depart, he grew a pair of wings again, flapped them, and flew off into the distance.

"Xizi, did your territory also see them appear?"

The speaker wore black hemp clothing, his exposed skin like red fruit; from afar he looked like a ball of burning flame.

"Big brother, I saw them in my territory; within ten thousand years they flew around Mount Buzhou once. Do you think we should stop them and ask what their purpose is?"

While replying, Xizi retracted his wings, letting them become like a tattoo, adhering to his shoulder blades.

The one who asked, whom Xizi could call big brother, was naturally the wizard god, Di Jiang.

Di Jiang pondered for a moment, then still refused:

"Forget it, let them go; as long as they don't affect us, I can't be bothered to manage them."

After waiting for Xizi to leave, Di Jiang silently returned to his dwelling, rested his head on a large stone, and after a long while sighed: "Indeed, it's a troubled autumn; I thought after the great calamity ended, we could have a period of peace."

Thereafter followed a long silence, until snoring gradually rose, and heaven and earth returned to tranquility once more.

Mount Buzhou.

"Mount Buzhou now actually has more vitality than before; along this way, more than ten probing gazes have appeared, forcing us to be on guard."

Taiyi's expression grew slightly solemn; Mount Buzhou is not vast, and it can be circled in just ten thousand years.

Yet within that ten-thousand-year span, there have actually been more than ten instances of probing that drew their attention; it seems that not having visited Mount Buzhou for a long time has left them with little understanding of it.

"It seems we need to slow down our subsequent affairs; with these neighbors, we should first pay them a visit."

Fuxi said, he too had not anticipated the changes occurring around Mount Buzhou.

Although he and Nüwa rarely return, they never expected that in less than a great calamity's time, Mount Buzhou would have gained these many innate deities.

Moreover, their strength is certainly not lacking; the probing of those with low cultivation cannot attract their notice.

What the three find hard to accept is that they have not detected where the probes are coming from, nor do they know the cultivators' level—indeed, not a trace of spiritual light has leaked out.

Nüwa's face bore a hint of heaviness as she said: "This visit should still be made with caution; if it truly cannot be done, we can wait for Qi and Di Jiang to arrive and go together."

Besides his solemn expression, Taiyi's eyes revealed excitement and conflict; he both hopes for a clash between the two sides to gauge his current strength.

He also wishes for peaceful development between the parties, so as not to disrupt everyone's plans, allowing the scheme to proceed smoothly.

"Never mind those; first send the information back to Cloud Dream Marsh, letting Di Jun and Qi decide what attitude to adopt."

"Of course, the preliminary visit is also indispensable; if we can talk amicably, it's best to avoid conflict."

Fuxi added.

"That's natural." Nüwa didn't object either; after all, as beings of Mount Buzhou, fewer conflicts are naturally good.

The three said no more, flying toward the waist of Mount Buzhou; they still have unfinished business and cannot spare the leisure to focus on probing.

Jade Capital Mountain.

At this moment, Hongjun felt a sense of foreboding, thinking that some major event must be occurring in the Wilderness, yet the hint from the Fortune Jade Disc was exceedingly vague, making it hard to guess.

Within the gleaming purple light, Hongjun sat cross-legged on a futon; his struggle with Rahu, though he did not expend his full effort, still yielded an extremely rich harvest.

Besides the two spirit treasures that suppress the demonic path's qi flow, Rahu's remaining storehouse all fell into his hands—whether the Slay Immortal Four Swords or the Primordial Twelfth-Grade World-Annihilating Black Lotus, they are rare treasures.

It's a pity that both were damaged; the demonic qi is too heavy, so Hongjun could only re-refine them, removing the demonic components.

This caused the quality of both to decline; the Primordial Twelfth-Grade World-Annihilating Black Lotus fell further to ninth grade, becoming a Primordial Ninth-Grade Merit Golden Lotus.

Fortunately, if merit is poured in, the grade could still recover; but it requires much merit, and Hongjun also lacks no protective spirit treasures, so he lets it remain at ninth grade.

The Slay Immortal Four Swords and its formation diagram are likewise; with much damage, Hongjun re-refined them—though the damage was repaired, they can no longer exert the power they had in Rahu's hands.

They became a mere sword array and spirit treasure, losing the function to absorb calamity, resentment, and killing qi; the lower limit rose considerably, but the upper limit fell by more than one measure.

At this moment, the Slay Immortal Sword Array operating at full power might only reach seventy percent of its former strength, but fortunately its destruction of heaven and earth is not as tremendous as before.

Moreover, Hongjun obtained the spirit treasures of the Five Elements Old Ancestor, the Heaven-Earth Old Ancestor, and the Yin-Yang Old Ancestor; whatever enters his collection are all supreme goods of the world.

For example, the Yin-Yang Old Ancestor's original protective treasure, the Taiji Diagram; the Heaven-Earth Old Ancestor's Qiankun Cauldron; and the Five Elements Old Ancestor's Pangu Banner—all are top-notch under heaven.

The Taiji Diagram and Pangu Banner are themselves innate supreme treasures, transformed from Pangu the Great God's heaven-opening divine axe; the Qiankun Cauldron also possesses the ability to reverse innate principles, making it a supreme innate spirit treasure.

Likewise, the Five Elements Old Ancestor's metal, wood, water, fire, earth— the Small Five Elements Banner—when combined, also becomes a supreme innate spirit treasure.

Furthermore, such as the Map of Mountains and Rivers, the Kunlun Mirror, and other supreme innate spirit treasures have entered his hands.

Rahu's collected treasures are likewise; aside from the Slay Immortal Sword Array and the World-Annihilating Black Lotus, there are also the Punish-Plague Seal, Halt-Plague Sword, Plague Bell, Plague Splendor Umbrella, Scatter-Plague Whip, Headache Soothing Incense, Slay-Eye Pearl, and so on.

These past accumulations have come into his hands, making him in one fell swoop the wealthiest person in the Wilderness; yet now these things cannot ease the worries in his heart.

The Fortune Jade Disc continually gives him warnings, but no matter how he searches the Wilderness, he ultimately finds no abnormal place.

Now that the Heavenly Dao has emerged, the Fortune Jade Disc has long been the Wilderness's premier strange treasure, making it easy to scout the world; yet these causeless warnings make him feel terribly uneasy.

"You foolish thing, if a major event is occurring, why not speak plainly, letting me wander randomly in the Wilderness? The Wilderness is vast—how could I possibly find it?"

Hongjun rarely opened his mouth to curse, saying he had searched the Wilderness for tens of thousands of years, having nearly explored it completely; aside from those places not yet born, the world lies within his sight.

Yet even so, the purple light of the Fortune Jade Disc continues to flicker, even intensifying somewhat.

"If you keep concealing it like this, I will no longer care; at worst I'll just add two more cracks—I have enough merit to afford the repair!"

The purple light of the Fortune Jade Disc ceased flickering; in response to Hongjun, a crack on its surface began to spread.

(End of chapter)