Chapter 865: Divination

The chaos sparked by the fake Dao Scheme Mysterious Chapter does not end here.

A wandering cultivator in a cave dwelling keeps spitting blood, his surrounding spiritual energy running rampant; an elder of a minor sect howls madly, strange patterns surfacing beneath his skin; and even several disciples of the Fa Tian Sect suddenly bleed from their seven orifices while cultivating, collapsing and convulsing…

"Not chaotic enough," Yan Buji opened his eyes, a cold, forest‑like smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

His figure flashed, vanishing into the depths of the Dark River.

Mysterious Gate Sect, Clear Moon Peak.

Yang Qing stood by the window, fingertips lightly tapping the window lattice, his gaze fixed on the blood‑red clouds churning on the distant horizon. Since the fragment of the Dao Scheme Mysterious Chapter appeared on the black market, the entire Southern Court cultivation world has been thrown into a chaotic mess.

"Senior sister, I've found it," Yang Lan pushed the door open, a jade slip in hand, "This is the 'fragment' bought from the black market."

Yang Qing took the jade slip, infused it with spiritual energy, and an obscure, indecipherable pattern emerged. He scanned it briefly, his brows furrowing deeply.

"There's something wrong with this pattern."

"Of course there's a problem!" Yang Lan sneered, "Over a dozen cultivators have gone mad, two Stewards died on the Fa Tian Sect side, and the people of Listening Rain Pavilion are hunting down anyone holding the Dao Scheme Mysterious Chapter everywhere, stirring up public fury."

Yang Qing did not reply immediately, instead closing his eyes to contemplate. After a moment, he suddenly opened them, a sharp glint flashing in his pupils.

"That's not right."

"What's not right?"

"Listening Rain Pavilion may act ruthlessly, but they never commit senseless killings," Yang Qing said slowly, "When they kill, it's either for a bounty or to silence mouths. This time, however, they have no reason at all to kill those people."

Yang Lan was startled, "So you mean…"

"Someone is framing Listening Rain Pavilion," Yang Qing said, his fingertip lightly tracing a line, the characters on the jade slip peeled away by a strand of sword qi and reassembled in midair.

She stared at the altered key sections, then let out a cold laugh.

"Moreover, this person… we might know him."

Yang Lan's pupils narrowed, "Who?"

Yang Qing did not answer directly, but drew from his sleeve a martial arts manual they had once acquired in a trade with a certain individual.

"Do you still remember that person from five hundred years ago?"

Yang Lan's complexion shifted abruptly; seeing the yellowed book bearing the three bold characters 'Blood Essence Skill', he instantly recalled someone: "Sect Master Ji Bu of the Blood Flow Sect?!"

Yang Qing nodded, his fingertip lightly rubbing the book cover, whispering, "He had a history with the Blood Flow Sect; now he shows up out of the blue. Do you think we misjudged him back then? He could be holding another Dao Scheme Mysterious Chapter in his hand?!"

Yang Lan sprang to his feet, murderous intent flaring in his eyes, "So he figured we possessed another Dao Scheme Mysterious Chapter, ambushed us, and now he's deliberately spreading fake chapters to stir chaos throughout the Southern Court, hoping to fish in the muddied waters?!"

"More than that," Yang Qing sneered, "He's also seeking revenge."

"Revenge?"

"The assassins of Listening Rain Pavilion are hunting him, the Fa Tian Sect and the Mysterious Gate Sect are also after him; he can't face all those forces alone, so…" Yang Qing flicked his fingertip, the full Blood Essence Skill hovered into the air, and under the drive of his magical power a faint, blurry trace began to appear.

"He's forcing everyone to turn on each other."

Yang Lan inhaled deeply, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, "What shall we do now?"

Yang Qing gathered the fragments, his tone icy, "Since he wants to play, we'll see it through to the end."

She turned and walked toward the doorway, her robe sleeve sweeping, a transmission talisman soaring into the sky.

"Send the order: all external disciples of the Mysterious Gate Sect, search exhaustively for Ji Bu's trail."

"This time, I want him… to have no escape, even with wings."

In a small courtyard atop a mountain.

Sandalwood incense curled in the air; at the center of a Bagua formation diagram sat an elderly man with white beard and hair, his aura circulating, his fingertips calculating as if stars were flickering and vanishing.

Yang Qing and Yang Lan stood silently beside him, solemn, their gazes fixed on the yellowed ancient volume hovering before the elder— the Blood Essence Skill.

"Two celestial maidens, is this the person's Martial Dao Profound Skill? It seems to share a source with the Great Demon Wujì?" the elder slowly opened his eyes, his gaze blazing, his voice deep and still as a calm ancient well.

Yang Qing gave a slight nod, his fingertip lightly tapping the book cover, saying, "Exactly. That individual roamed the Eight Dao realms under the name 'Ji Bu', but his true name is Yan Buji, the former Sect Master of the Blood Flow Sect left behind by the Great Demon Wujì as a mortal martial sect. He now stirs chaos in the Southern Court, spreading rumors; we must track his whereabouts."

Yang Qing and Yang Lan had once had a connection with Wu Qun, the Sect Master of the Blood Flow Sect, and had also obtained an Accumulation Device left by Wu Qun that even a mortal could activate.

In truth, both knew that Wu Qun had told them the most important thing in his hand was not the Accumulation Device, but a golden foil! It bore mysterious patterns, though Wu Qun did not know how to use it.

Coincidentally, when Yang Qing and Yang Lan were at the Zhi Sheng Dian, they once found in the sect's Treasure Vault an ancient book recording the subtle patterns…

From that moment, they set their sights on Wu Qun's golden foil. However, after the Blood Flow Sect's destruction, they visited the secret chamber Wu Qun left behind but did not locate the golden foil.

They also failed to notice that the golden foil was actually hidden inside a cushion; they turned the secret chamber upside down, only finding a treasure box containing the Accumulation Device, assuming the foil was inside it, and thus stopped searching, which later allowed Yan Buji to discover it.

Now recalling, Yang Qing and Yang Lan combined past events with recent ones and roughly deduced that Yan Buji must have obtained Wu Qun's golden foil; otherwise how could he have ambushed the two sisters?

As for how they learned Yan Buji's true name, it was by chance that they heard of a Celestial Realm warrior in the Kun Dao realms named Yan Buji, who had slain a Celestial Warrior of the Kun Dao imperial dynasty; from that they guessed that Ji Bu was Yan Buji's disguised identity.

Back to the point, whether it's Ji Bu or Yan Buji is irrelevant; Yang Qing and Yang Lan know that Yan Buji's return is certainly to seize the Dao Scheme Mysterious Chapter they possess!

The elder pondered briefly, his gaunt fingers brushing the leaf of the Blood Essence Skill, then closed his eyes to form a seal, his surrounding spiritual energy surging into the book like tides, attempting to deduce its causality. Yet, the instant his calculative force touched the Dao patterns within—

Boom!

The entire ancient volume shuddered abruptly, pages turning without wind, a ferocious backlash force surged upward, like an angry dragon racing along the elder's fingertips straight toward his spirit platform!

Puff! The elder spewed a gush of fresh blood, his face turning ashen white, his surrounding magical power destabilized, and even the Bagua diagram beneath his feet cracked with several fierce fissures!

"Senior!" Yang Lan exclaimed, rushing forward to support him.

The elder raised his hand to halt, eyes filled with horror, his voice hoarse like grinding stone, "This person's heavenly insight… has been completely obscured!"

"Obscured heavenly insight?" Yang Qing's pupils narrowed slightly, "Has he cultivated some secret art that hides destiny?"

The elder shook his head, his breath waning, speaking with difficulty, "No… it's not a secret art, it's… merely that his Martial Dao realm is high; unless one cultivates Martial Dao alongside him, one cannot deduce his whereabouts!"

"Do Martial Dao cultivators calculate others' martial techniques?"