Please call me Huanxian

Chapter 308: Illusions of life and death, only the Tao remains forever

While talking with his apprentice, Xu Yuanchang ordered an incarnation to dig out a simple cave on the stone wall of the valley. He set up a set of formations for protection and cover, walked into the secret room filled with the fresh smell of earth, and took out a cushion and placed it on the ground.

He sat cross-legged, took out an exquisite and ancient glass mirror, and hovered it in the air to observe.

Without any residual soul to disturb, the silver mirror was silent and restrained, and the treasure was hidden.

Xu Yuanchang tried to sense the trace of consciousness that was swallowed by the mirror, but to no avail. He gradually empty his eyes, and there were two points of red and green flames flickering and circling in the depths, entering a state of observing the macro and the micro.

Staring at one point on the mirror, it quickly enlarges. The smooth mirror surface is composed of countless overlapping tiny curved surfaces.

Each curved surface reflects different shades of silver.

Densely packed, sparkling and shining, they are all phantom nodes, embedded like a honeycomb.

Fortunately, most of the tiny curved surfaces are now dormant, and the little bits of light complement each other, forming a complex pattern in which one move affects the whole body.

From the perspective of an observer, Xu Yuanchang browsed through the ingenious structure of the fantasy soldiers, as if appreciating a magnificent painting.

It makes you feel relaxed and happy, but you can't get addicted to it.

He will find the nodes that can most touch his mood and soul, and choose one or two of them as objects of contemplation. The surface seems huge and complex, but in fact there is a thread to follow. Lao Li has taught him the method of "searching one's heart and realizing it until you get to the origin".

He had the Magic Fairy Ring to protect his mind, so he was not afraid of the invisible and traceless effects of the magic weapon treasures on him.

Three days passed by in a flash. Xu Yuanchang turned his gaze away from the surface of the magic glass mirror in the air, closed his eyes and gently rubbed his eyebrows. He took some time to get rid of the strange phantoms from his mind, adjusted his breathing and meditated to slowly recover.

He searched for countless tiny surface nodes, but among the numerous overlapping ones, he only "saw" a tiny one.

It seemed as if he had been going through decades of pain, and his mental exhaustion was so great that he suffered from headaches and fatigue.

When Taoist Master Yanshan explained the word "view", he said, "One can observe the sun, moon and stars in the sky and the earth on a large scale, observe the changes in mountains, rivers and streams on a small scale, and then observe oneself to cultivate the truth and attain enlightenment." He warned him to "observe it repeatedly, trace back to the origin, 'observe one's original mind, and see one's true nature'."

It is similar to the "subtle" observation method taught by Lao Li, and they can verify each other.

Two hours later, Xu Yuanchang continued to "observe" the mirror. He also had to constantly fight against the influence of various strange illusions.

The Fantasy Immortal Ring can help him protect his mind, which is enough.

He is currently on the verge of a breakthrough and it is impossible for him to rely on the Fantasy Fairy Ring to keep out all resistance.

Only after enduring the trials of thousands of illusions and breaking free from them can one feel the touch of reality.

He went through two cycles of cold and hot seasons, and experienced numerous hardships and difficulties. He had to start over twice. With his great perseverance and increasingly tenacious spirit, he "observed" all the illusion nodes on the entire mirror's seven layers.

Close your eyes, and you will see the twinkling lights as bright as the stars in the sky, among which some lights are the most moving.

Xu Yuanchang let go of his thoughts and let his soul and spirit move in harmony with them.

Various phantoms lingered for a long time, and after a long time, they receded like the tide, leaving only a bright and dazzling dot on the lower left, clearly showing the shape of a slender leaf.

Green and purple mist emanated from Xu Yuanchang's body, and he continued to observe the veins of the grass leaves in great detail.

It feels like being on a flat grassland and smelling the fresh scent of grass.

The mood and soul fluctuated faster, the scenery changed with the perspective, and small flowers bloomed, quickly covering the entire boundless grassland.

Xu Yuanchang "saw" a woman who was too beautiful to be real coming towards him. She was wearing a colorful tulle dress and a garland of flowers on her head. She looked like a mountain elf. She left behind a series of afterimages with different expressions in the air, which appeared in Xu Yuanchang's entire field of vision as if they were face to face.

"Welcome to find the 'Boundless Fantasy Origin', the node where the vitality of the Fantasy Glass Mirror converges."

The woman in the colorful skirt looked at the young Taoist priest outside through the mirror, with a slightly puzzled look on her face: "What is your relationship with Li Dan? You practice Li Dan's 'Illusion of the Universe', and the illusion armor you wear is of mixed colors. It is Li Dan's 'transformation of reality into illusion', but there is a fluctuation of the divine light of creation on your body. Don't tell me that Li Dan and Taoist Yanshan have reconciled and joined the immortal forces?"

Before the woman appeared, Xu Yuanchang exited from the subtle state and recalled all the incarnations guarding outside.

He looked at the woman in the mirror cautiously and curiously, and realized that the woman could not pose a threat to him. After he received formal instruction from Lao Li, his understanding of illusion was far different from before.

The altar for summoning gods in the spiritual space vibrated slightly, allowing him to confirm his guess.

"Chang Xu Yuan, a cultivator from the lower realm, greets Madam Yu Cai!"

Xu Yuanchang saluted in a serious manner. The other party was the mark left by the fallen Empress Yu Cai in the magic glass mirror.

The powerful Shinto man is indeed amazing. Even after more than 8,000 years, the mark can still be seen.

The woman in the colorful skirt smiled and said, "You can recognize my image, so you must be the descendant of Li Dan. Tell me, what happened to fellow Daoist Li who always played tricks on the immortals? Did he ascend to the immortal world?"

As the woman smiled brightly, the mirror showed a magnificent and beautiful scene of a sea of ​​flowers.

The illusion blocking Xu Yuanchang's sight disappeared quietly, as if it did not exist. Xu Yuanchang felt more relieved. He did not want to fight with the visible shadow in the mirror. What would it matter even if he won?

Perhaps it is impossible to refine the phantom weapon treasure in front of you, and you have to look for a new opportunity to break through and advance.

How nice it is to be in harmony with each other. He doesn't feel any burden at all when using Lao Li's name.

"Fellow Daoist Li failed to ascend to the Immortal Realm. He was unlucky. As early as eight thousand years ago, he fell into the trap of a villain and went deep into the boundless valley sealed at the bottom of the boundless lake. He was ambushed and captured by masters such as Gao Jianren and Lin Sanren. Later, his soul and body were separated and suppressed in the Wuxian Mountains. It was not until eight thousand years later that Xu, by chance, broke the soul-sealing platform and formed a bond with fellow Daoist Li's soul, and received some of his guidance and teachings."

Xu Yuanchang briefly tells the story using the Spring and Autumn style.

He knew that Empress Yu Cai died before Lao Li got into trouble, and he was not clear about what happened afterwards.

The woman in the colorful skirt frowned and said, "You have inherited Daoist Fellow Li's legacy, but you didn't become his disciple?"

Xu Yuanchang said helplessly: "No, he and I are brothers. He said that illusionists are not particular about details, and all the rules and regulations are bullshit."

The woman in the colorful skirt smiled with relief and said, "That's right. He is unrestrained and unruly. He calls you brother because he treats you as his true successor. Where is he now? Has his cultivation recovered?"

The woman no longer dwelled on the trivial matters of the Taoist priest's faint divine light of creation.

Fellow Daoist Li was plotted by the immortals to have his soul and body separated and suppressed for eight thousand years. There is no possibility of reconciliation between the two sides.

She believed that the successor chosen by Fellow Daoist Li would definitely not make any mistakes.

"Fellow Daoist Li has recovered his cultivation to a certain extent and has gone to another place. He needs a lot of resources to refine phantom weapons and rebuild his body. He didn't say when we will meet. Let's just go with the flow."

Xu Yuanchang helped Lao Li change the ending.

He hopes that one day in the future, he will be able to meet the reincarnated Lao Li.

Return with a bowl of wine, and we meet and chat.

The woman in the colorful skirt did not ask any further questions. She only stopped at the point each time and said, "Eight thousand years have passed. What was the final outcome of the dispute between Shinto and Immortal?" In fact, she had already guessed the outcome by looking at the Taoist priest's attire. It was an obvious fact, and she just asked so that she could give up immediately.

Xu Yuanchang did not hide anything and said, "The Shinto was defeated, the Immortal was victorious, and then a powerful being from the upper realm came forward to mediate. All the masters ascended to the upper realm five thousand years ago. It is said that the Shinto established the Divine Court, but I am not sure about the details."

He then asked a curious question, "You didn't enter the netherworld and reincarnate?"

He meant the original soul of Empress Yu Cai. With the powerful Shinto magic, even if she died, there should be a way to leave a trace of her soul behind for reincarnation, right?

Shinto is best at this.

The woman in the colorful skirt shook her head: "My original body died and I fell into a deep sleep. I don't know what happened afterwards."

She was reluctant to mention certain secrets, and reincarnation was full of surprises and unknown risks.

There are many reincarnated bodies that cannot wake up, and premature death is not uncommon. Moreover, since the immortals have the upper hand, will they allow their opponents who were defeated and died in the past to reincarnate smoothly?

The woman in the colorful skirt changed the heavy topic and said, "Since you are the successor chosen by Fellow Daoist Li, and you have awakened my Yuan Yin by chance, this Illusion Glass Mirror that I have waited for so long will belong to you. Before I disappear from the world, I will fully open the core of the Illusion Glass Mirror, and you can break through and refine the Illusion Glass Mirror in one go."

With her eyes, she could see that the young Taoist priest regarded the magic mirror as an opportunity for a breakthrough, and she casually pointed out a few key points.

No matter how much it has dropped in rank, the quality of the Magic Glass Mirror is still very high.

Even if the young Taoist priest advances to the fifth level, it will be difficult to practice and it will take decades and lose many of its magical powers.

After Xu Yuanchang clasped his fists and thanked him, he said, "You can continue to sleep in the mirror."

"There is no need for that. The divine body has already returned to the heaven and earth. It would be ridiculous for this little Yuanyin to stay in the human world."

The woman in the colorful skirt waved her colorful sleeves twice as she spoke, and the magic glass mirror floating in the air slowly stretched out and spread out. After a while, it turned back into a thin pool of silver liquid, flashing a mysterious color.

The woman walked out from the center of the silver liquid, which was about ten feet in size, and there was a phantom rain of flowers rising and falling.

The woman's body grew from small to big, and when she appeared in front of Xu Yuanchang, she looked like an ordinary person.

Xu Yuanchang bowed and stepped back: "Farewell, Madam Yu Cai!"

"'Illusions arise and disappear, only the Tao remains forever', gone."

The sound disappeared into the air.

Spots of flower rain scattered in all directions, a fragrant breeze blew by, and the colorful light was dazzling for a short time.

Xu Yuanchang stood up and watched all the lights dim and disappear. He guessed that Empress Yu Cai chose to reincarnate only at this moment, long after the war was over?

After confirming that there was no other presence in the secret room, Xu Yuanchang waved his hand and asked the three avatars to go out and guard it.

He carefully observed the glittering silver liquid for a while, and then sent a wisp of spiritual consciousness into the core of the silver liquid, the node called "Boundless Illusion Origin", without any hindrance, and successfully planted the spiritual consciousness seal.

The silver liquid shone brightly, and overlapping illusions spun in the air.

Xu Yuanchang flew towards the silver liquid with confidence. His figure shrank from normal size to a tiny size, and finally disappeared into the silver liquid.

The secret room fell into darkness and silence, empty.

……

Dingzhou, Xiyuan.

Under the clear sky, a man holding a large black umbrella flew to a stop twenty miles away from Gucheng.

A small group of law-enforcing monks blocked the way of the man with the umbrella. The leader looked at the handsome middle-aged man and asked, "Excuse me, where are you from, fellow Taoist? Please show your ID card for routine inspection."

He figured out that the unfamiliar-looking man was a fourth-level cultivator.

The man holding the umbrella casually took out a golden sign from his sleeve and threw it to the monk of the Three-Story Tower a hundred feet away, saying, "I came from Laizhou across the sea and want to join Dingzhou to serve. Can I trouble you to tell Xu Yuanchang of Qingping County in Daning that an old friend has come and would like to see him."

The captain flipped over the golden sign, which read "Xuan Miao Temple, Zeng Mu". He returned the sign to the other party and said, "Elder Xu is in seclusion. I wonder if Brother Zeng knows Elder Xu's apprentice?"

The man holding the umbrella was none other than Zeng Wanglou, who had fled overseas and broken through to the sixth level of cultivation. He had specially gone to Hezhou and used his advanced soul techniques to extract a lot of information from the captured cultivators. He had learned that Dingzhou had actually performed brilliantly in this Dark Realm Gate War, and so far, it had five sixth-level masters, the most powerful force among the four continents of the human race, and so on.

Zeng Wanglou had no choice but to go to Laizhou, which had no alliance and was badly bullied by the Black Spirit, to get an identity card.

He is meticulous in his work and won't let any flaws slip in the details.

Hearing the monk opposite him mention Xu Yuanchang's apprentice, he smiled and said, "You said it was Zeng Shanlang, I know him, it's the same if you ask him to come over."

The captain politely bowed and said, "Please wait a moment, senior. I will ask someone to invite Captain Zeng to come over."

Zeng Wanglou returned the salute, landed on a nearby hill and waited for about half an hour. He saw the strong and burly Zeng Shanlang flying hurriedly from the west. He took out his black umbrella and met Zeng Shanlang face to face.

Zeng Shanlang flew down the mountain, clasped his hands and bowed, "Shanlang greets you, Senior. My master is in seclusion and hasn't come out yet. Can you wait for a few more days?"

Zeng Wanglou helped up the descendant who had cultivated to the third-stage physical cultivation. It was difficult for physical cultivation to advance, and it was extremely difficult for the little guy to have this level of cultivation. He looked him up and down and said with a smile: "Did Xu Yuanchang tell you about me?"

He casually set up a soundproofing barrier to isolate the surrounding area from the outside world to prevent others from overhearing his conversation.

He is not afraid of trouble, but he doesn't want to cause trouble for the younger generation.

Zeng Shanlang said respectfully, "Master has warned me to be polite and respectful when I see you. Please tell me the relationship between us in person."

Zeng Wanglou still held the umbrella, laughed, and said, "Since it has come to this, I will not hide it from you anymore. My last name is Zeng Wanglou. I founded Xianqiao Village in Qingping County, and I installed the stone archway to the west. There is also a treasure buried underneath. I wonder if it is still there now?"

Zeng Shanlang bowed and was about to perform a great ceremony, but was held up by Zeng Wanglou. There were monks watching him from a distance.

"Shan Lang pays respect to the ancestor, and wishes the ancestor the best of health!"

"Alright, respect is in the heart, not in words. You can't call me old man in front of outsiders, just call me senior. There's no need to be so polite. I have a bad relationship with the Daning Dynasty."

Zeng Wanglou pointed out the important relationship involved.

He had heard that Fu Xianzhi, the master of the Sitian Palace of the Daning Dynasty, had already advanced to the sixth floor.

One must be on guard against others. He came here to earn the necessary resources.

……

(End of this chapter)