Chapter 574: Heaven-Fleeing Boat

Incense-Enveloping Cauldron (Tier 8)

... A magical treasure forged from the core of the Star Stone and tempered by incense, capable of holding vast quantities of incense without loss; it depicts a deity within and can slowly absorb the corresponding incense from a certain range...

Control Condition: Sixth Stage of the God-Worshipping Method

Control Effect: Tier 8 (Gold): Great Fortune

Inside the fist-sized little cauldron, strands of incense fire light wove together, a pleasing sight to behold.

"The Xieshen Sect's reserves are still substantial. With this stock of incense fire on hand, they can stay in You Jing for many years."

Li Yuan toyed with the little cauldron.

Walking through You Jing required incense fire, otherwise one would surely be eroded by You Jing's aura. He had once asked the little mother dragon; You Jing's erosion was irreversible, and even deities dared not be tainted by it.

He had originally been thinking of asking Qin Yun for a sum of incense fire as travel expenses. Now, well, he still had to ask.

Incense fire was practically a cure-all, circulating among all realms. Long before the Origin Divine Dynasty, it had already been the most widely circulated 'currency.'

The more, the better — he wouldn't turn any away.

"The most incense fire still belongs to the imperial court…"

Turning the thought over in his mind, Li Yuan took out that lump of Hundred Spirit Red Treasure Clay and attempted to draw in incense fire.

Hum~

A wisp of incense fire sank into it, and the Red Treasure Clay trembled slightly, digesting that wisp of incense fire as if alive.

"It'll even take unranked incense fire — not picky at all…"

With a large stock of incense fire on hand, Li Yuan naturally wouldn't be stingy enough to only use unranked incense fire to nurture this spirit clay; he was merely estimating how much incense fire this spirit clay needed.

First-tier, second-tier…

From low to high, Li Yuan invested over a thousand strands of incense fire. The Red Treasure Clay refused none, and eventually its whole body bloomed with a soft glow.

Through that faint glow, one could seemingly see a figure within — half-human, half-monkey — with limbs and torso all present, but its nine orifices unopened.

"Nurture it with incense fire, open its nine orifices, and only then can it be refined into a clone?"

Li Yuan frowned slightly. He had even fed in a wisp of seventh-tier incense fire, but the figure's nine orifices showed not the slightest response:

"Just how much incense fire does this need?"

Seeing that the Red Treasure Clay showed no change after digesting the incense fire, Li Yuan cut his losses in time. Though he had just obtained a fistful of incense fire, he couldn't waste it for no reason.

"There should be incense fire inside the Eight Directions Temple too, right?"

Putting away the Red Treasure Clay and Yun Xiang Ding, Li Yuan opened his eyes. Behind the strange Shi Lin, wisps of cloud and mist swirled outside the ancient temple. Since Dong Dong Ershisan had awakened, the ancient temple was no longer as clearly visible as before.

"Ah!"

At this moment, a low roar came from down the mountain.

"That spirit tortoise of the side hall?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred, and he rose to look down the mountain.

He saw airwaves rolling as a tortoise shell covered in grotesque bone spikes spun wildly under the attacks of Fang Fang Sanyun and Daoist Feng Yuanqing, with someone occasionally groaning and crying out.

"This tortoise shell is truly hard enough."

Li Yuan clicked his tongue.

Nearly everyone down the mountain was joining in to surround and kill the old tortoise. Fang Fang Sanyun and Daoist Feng Yuanqing had even deployed Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing; the latter used the Three-Element One-Qi Stake to pin it at the foot of the mountain.

The former wielded the Tianhuo San Mei Yin, slapping it down without pause. For a time, dust billowed and thunder roared down the mountain.

Yet even so, the tortoise shell remained unbroken, only trembling and cracking ceaselessly. Instead, it was the besiegers who occasionally groaned and screamed in agony, injured by the backlash of those bone spikes.

……

"Want to break Grandpa Tortoise's shell? You're still too green!"

A cold shout came from within the tortoise shell: "Withdraw at once, or don't blame this old man for being ruthless!"

"You really think I can't do anything to you?!"

Fang Sanyuan groaned and retreated, then flew into a rage:

"Go!"

A small crimson seal shot from his hand, spun once in the air, and already carried crimson flames like a dragon as it slammed into the tortoise shell amid the dust.

"Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing!"

Gui Gui Laoxian's heart tightened. This Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, tainted with the aura of the Eight Directions Temple, was far fiercer than any superior-grade dharma treasure he had ever seen. How could he be willing to take it head-on?

But the Three-Element One-Qi Stake had long since pinned him in place. Whether he was willing or not, he could only let out a great shout:

"Let's see if you smash Grandpa to death, or Grandpa's backlash kills you!"

Boom!

A tremendous roar exploded, kicking up billowing dust.

Wild qi crisscrossed and surged. Even several Weida Sect grandmasters couldn't help but pause for a moment. Then, with a muffled thud, Fang Fang Sanyun staggered and fell to the ground sitting, fresh blood seeping from all seven orifices.

"Ah!"

In the dust, Gui Gui Laoxian let out a miserable scream — clearly having suffered no light an injury.

"Still haven't smashed that tortoise shell?!"

"Truly comparable to Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing — this old tortoise's shell is just too hard."

"Hiss, Brother Fang's injuries…"

Seeing the tortoise shell still spinning in the dust, everyone down the mountain found it thorny. This shell was not only hard, but also possessed the ability to backlash.

The harder you struck, the heavier your own injuries — how were they supposed to fight this?

"How can a mere tortoise shell compare to Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing?"

Zhou Ying snorted coldly: "If the Liehai Yu Xuanjing Hammer were here, no matter what armor or tortoise shell, one strike would surely smash it to pieces!"

As he spoke, he suddenly turned his head. Ripples spread across the void, and Li Yuan stepped out from the passage. Hearing this, he drew out the Liehai Yu Xuanjing Hammer without hesitation:

"Senior Zhou, catch the hammer!"

"Roar!"

The crimson-red hand-hammer leapt into the air; the spirit of the Dark Whale that had emerged from the small black room was wildly excited. Zhou Ying caught the hammer in both hands, exhaled, and bellowed—about to bring it smashing down.

"Pfft!"

The heavy hammer rose but had yet to fall when that blast of force came rolling down. Only a series of *crack-crack* sounds was heard, and the turtle shell seemed to let out a wail. Gui Gui Laoxian poked out his ghastly-pale head and spat a mouthful of filthy blood:

"Hold—everyone, hold your hands!"

Whooo—

Zhou Ying sent and recalled at will, stopping the hammer at just the right moment. Together with Daoist Feng Yuanqing and Long Long Yingchan, he surrounded the old turtle in their midst.

"…This old man bears no enmity with any of you—why must you capture and kill me?"

Gui Gui Laoxian's face was bloodless. First he had fought the Qian Yan Fa master for his life, then he had been hammered by Long Long Yingchan and the others. Even though his turtle shell was tough, he had still suffered no light an injury.

"Tie him up first, then we'll talk."

Long Long Yingchan pinched his long brows. Daoist Feng Yuanqing nodded, raised his hand, and sent out a pillar of Qi to bind him. Gui Gui Laoxian clenched his teeth and did not resist; he was tossed aside, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Not far off, Ao Cang, bound beneath a tree, let out a bitter laugh at the sight.

"Is that old ghost Qian Yan dead?"

Long Long Yingchan turned around and asked Li Yuan; the others all looked over as well.

"Not dead."

Li Yuan reached out to take the Dark Whale Hammer and relayed Dong Dong Ershisan's answer.

"A wisp of a remnant divine spirit…"

The crowd exchanged glances, but were not too surprised—after all, the records on that stone stele had been far too chilling.

"I'm afraid that old bastard is more than just a wisp of a remnant divine spirit."

Long Long Yingchan's brows knit:

"This old ghost has lain dormant in the dark for a thousand years; he surely has other schemes… But with that one—ahem, Dong Dong Ershisan here, even if he has any more schemes, they won't come to anything."

Thinking this way, Long Long Yingchan felt relieved again.

With Li Yuan's talent and gifts, he was virtually unrivaled among those of the same realm; Long Long Yingchan simply could not imagine anyone who could overcome him across three realms.

"A divine being, huh…"

Master Master Dading shook out his hand. Earlier his palm had also been jarred by that turtle shell; though no blood had flowed, several finger-bones were exposed:

"No wonder the Xieshen Sect only cares about incense offerings—so that's how it is…"

"Legend has it the Xieshen Sect originated from beyond the heavens. This old man had always thought it was only a legend, but I never expected that this old ghost not only came from beyond the heavens—he is also a divine being."

Daoist Feng Yuanqing stroked his long beard, visibly moved.

He knew a great deal about the Xieshen Sect. Over these past few decades, in order to destroy the Xieshen Sect, he had infiltrated the Xieshen Sect's main altar many times and learned many secrets.

The Xieshen Sect had been cowed by Dayun's founding emperor Pang Pang Wenlong, and fourteen hundred years ago it was formally placed on the imperial court's Register of Gods. But long before that, the Qian Yan Fa master had already existed.

The legend of his coming from beyond the heavens had circulated for a thousand years already; it was simply that few believed it.

"No wonder this old ghost almost never made a move. He was headed for the Eight Directions Temple all along—it's just that…"

Fang Fang Sanyun spat out a mouthful of filthy blood. He opened his eyes and looked at Chi He Lian, who was beneath a nearby tree: "Fang Mou remembers you saying that the Eight Directions Temple is 'beyond calculation,' that even the gods cannot spy on it…"

"That's only what's recorded in the academy. Even if there are inaccuracies, where could I go to verify them?"

Feeling the gazes of the crowd, Chi He Lian's expression was very ugly: "I'm only at the He Yi Jing Fa Jie—how would I know anything about divine beings?"

"The Eight Directions Temple is beyond calculation; she wasn't lying."

At this moment, Gui Gui Laoxian had caught his breath. He squinted his small green-bean eyes, his gaze wandering over the crowd, and finally settling on Li Yuan.

Though this youngster was only at the initial entry into the Dao in cultivation, the people present subtly seemed to take him as their lead.

"Then how did this old ghost know several thousand years in advance?"

Long Long Yingchan and the others frowned.

"All methods of divination require a medium. Each time the Eight Directions Temple closes, its qi is completely dispersed, so divine beings cannot divine it. But what if there were a medium?"

Gui Gui Laoxian paid no heed to the gazes of the others; he only looked at Li Yuan:

"The Eight Directions Temple has drifted through Tian Shi Yuan for far too long. Perhaps some divine being entered the Eight Directions Temple long ago—who can say…"

"Not impossible."

Li Yuan glanced at the stele of Qian Yan. This old ghost's familiarity with the Eight Directions Map far surpassed Qin Yun's, and he had a deep understanding of the Dengshan trial—even of the Dao Soldier Pagoda.

He had harbored doubts before; it was just that Dong Dong Ershisan had avoided the topic, and he had been unable to confirm it.

"Continue."

Seeing Li Yuan had taken an interest, Gui Gui Laoxian's spirits lifted:

"Whether the gods are spying on the Eight Directions Temple, this old man has no way of knowing. But right now, all of you are facing a great calamity—a calamity great enough to destroy the world!"

In fortune-telling, the first three lines are always the most important. If you cannot awe the listener, the deal has nowhere to begin.

Gui Gui Laoxian knew this well, but to his astonishment, once his words fell, the people present showed no reaction whatsoever. Not to mention Li Yuan and Long Long Yingchan—even Ao Cang off to the side was expressionless.

*'It can't be that…'*

Gui Gui Laoxian's heart gave a sudden *thump*. A sidelong glance at Chi He Lian; the latter gave a cold laugh and closed his eyes.

"Do you have a method to break it?"

No matter how great the calamity, once you've heard enough of them, there's no shock left—at least Li Yuan was very calm.

"This calamity originates from the Eight Directions Temple. To break it…"

Gui Gui Laoxian ignored the mocking look in Chi He Lian's eyes off to the side: "Loosen this rope first, how about it?"

"And if we do?"

Before Li Yuan could speak, a voice had already come from behind him.

"Senior Qin."

Long Long Yingchan loosened his long brows.

A figure in a purple robe, Pang Pang Wenlong, stepped out from the void; in one hand he held a token of the Eight Directions Temple, while in the other he gripped a pocket-sized warship that trembled ceaselessly.