Ji Xiang followed the Eight Sect Masters to the so-called Shangqing Secret Realm, where the characters Kunlun were prominently displayed.
"Shangqing Kunlun Cave."
Legend has it that the ancient Daoist masters, Mao Ying, Wang Bao, and Zhang Daoling, along with nine sages and seven true beings, all received the Daoist scriptures and paid homage to the Queen Mother at the Kunlun Que.
The Shangqing Sect also had a divine position for the Queen Mother of the West. As Shangqing, whether it was the Clear Void Patriarch, the Lady of Mount Heng, or the Three Mao True Lords, they all recognized the宗 of Kunlun. This was the fundamental reason for the establishment of Mount Mao.
This was akin to how all the sects and factions of Wudang Mountain would pay homage to Emperor Zhenwu. If the cultivators of a mountain lacked a common lineage or similar internal scriptures, their only commonality would be to venerate a single main deity.
After venerating the Queen Mother of the West of Kunlun, the Shangqing Sect jointly venerated the Primordial Heavenly Venerable. This was not particularly unusual, nor was it special, as the Lingbao Sect of Geping Mountain also venerated the Primordial Heavenly Venerable.
There was a formation operating within. Ji Xiang glanced at it and deciphered it. It was merely an introductory sealing formation, and it had clearly been damaged. After being reactivated, its power was greatly reduced, making it easy to destroy.
"This was destroyed by two Patriarchs. They said that since the lineage was about to be inherited, the formation in front of the Kunlun Cave was useless. From now on, the people of Zhu Huo Palace would enter and exit through the Kunlun Cave. If it were sealed, it would be too troublesome to break it again."
"But for some reason, it was restarted. Perhaps... by the Mountain Master."
The Eight Sect Master made his own deduction, believing that the sudden restart of the formation was due to the actions of the Mount Mao Mountain Master. Ji Xiang asked upon hearing this:
"Is your Mountain Master here?"
The Eight Sect Master replied, "The best, most convenient, and most direct place to suppress the Mountain Master is the Kunlun Cave."
"The methods of the Patriarchs are astounding to gods and spirits. I cannot understand how the Sect Master was trapped within, nor do I know."
"Previously, the Fourth Sect Master came here to investigate and then disappeared. The Patriarchs told us that he had rebelled against Shangqing and had been executed, and that he was to be removed from the Shangqing lineage... and he was a cultivator in the Innate realm."
The Eight Sect Master's expression was complex. The two Shangqing Patriarchs had killed the Fourth Sect Master, who had led the opposition, as a warning. An Innate expert had died without anyone knowing, in front of the two Patriarchs. The other Sect Masters naturally felt a sense of dread, like rabbits mourning a fallen companion. If they did not want to die, they could not oppose the two Patriarchs.
"I am not a coward, but... the most important thing is the inheritance of the lineage."
The Eight Sect Master opened his mouth and sighed, "Although I am impetuous and foolish, I am by no means someone who fears death. However, if I resist, I will be like the Fourth, my sect will be removed from the lineage, my lineage will be destroyed, and all my disciples will disappear without reason, likely all dead."
"I can die. After all, I have entered the path of cultivation. If I truly cannot avoid a fatal tribulation, then there is nothing I can do even if I die. I can only blame myself for insufficient cultivation. But I fear that my lineage will be destroyed."
"I have cultivated to this point and established such a great enterprise in Shangqing. The Shangqing Patriarchs do not care about our lineage, because we are also a branch of their lineage. The lineage of the outer mountains is not important in their hearts, as long as there is enough incense to manipulate. But how can I, out of momentary anger, personally hand over my own lineage for them to destroy?"
The Eight Sect Master was full of bitterness, his face filled with sorrow.
Sometimes, one's own death is not terrifying. What is terrifying is those behind oneself. Therefore, large sects and factions often appear slightly weaker when facing lone cultivators, because lone cultivators have no concerns, while they do.
Reputation, status, and most importantly, often their lineage or blood relatives.
Ji Xiang simply nodded, indicating that he understood his plight. Then, he entered the depths of the Shangqing Kunlun Cave. This place was a world of its own, as if a small world was nested within the earthly realm, much like the Dong Dashang Temple of the White Lotus Sect before.
The formations along the way were weakly operating, all of them having been damaged and then restarted. The Eight Sect Master told Ji Xiang that he only knew that the two Quanzhen Daoists had been thrown in here, but he did not know where they were.
"You say those two Quanzhen Daoists were thrown in here?"
"Yes."
Ji Xiang casually asked, "Then who threw them in? Was it an outer ancestor of Shangqing or the Third Ancestor of Shangqing?"
"It should be the Third Ancestor. The Third Ancestor left from here and casually threw those two Daoists in."
The Eight Sect Master scanned in all directions. He took the lead in exploring, while Ji Xiang saw many formation patterns on the walls.
These formation patterns converged towards a certain place, and there were quite a few broken small formations. Soon, the Eight Sect Master's voice came, saying that he had found the location of the Quanzhen Dao cultivators.
He used a tracking spell. Ji Xiang found it quite effective and asked him for it.
The Eight Sect Master dared not refuse and explained the key incantations.
Ji Xiang learned it and was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked:
"I know that Yuan Guang Shu can show images for tracking, or use divination to calculate positions, or use hundred-mile or thousand-mile tracking techniques, which require the hair, blood, or clothing of the tracked person. Your tracking method does not require any divination or hair, nor does it require displaying images or opening heavenly eyes. You only need to recite a spell and draw an arrow on the ground with blood?"
The Eight Sect Master smiled slightly, "As a great sect of Shangqing, we naturally have some techniques that differ from what is commonly seen. They are unique."
"The incantation is simple, but it is generally not passed on externally. You can try it..."
"Oh, it's just unique, is it..."
Ji Xiang tried it, and indeed, an arrow shot out. Then, Ji Xiang looked at the Eight Sect Master with a calm gaze.
However, the Inner Scene Divine Tablet, as Ji Xiang himself cast this spell, began to reflect. The name reflected was not the Mount Mao tracking method that the Eight Sect Master had mentioned!
[Divine Blood Guiding Technique (Sky Locking Annihilation Escape Great Formation): An induction type spell. The caster sets a target for guidance, and the person casting the guiding technique can find the target location when lost. Its utility is infinite.]
[The current guiding location is the Sky Locking Annihilation Escape Great Formation. When the guide approaches, the target point will perform 'induction'!]
Ji Xiang narrowed his eyes.
When hunters in the mountains capture prey, they often set up inductive traps, waiting for powerful prey to fall into them. To make the prey willingly fall into the trap, they must place some delicious raw meat near the trap and also add some blood. Carried by the wind, the scent of blood drifts, and the prey will naturally take the bait.
"Am I the prey?"
Ji Xiang was truly disappointed. He had just thought of the Eight Sect Master as a capable person, as his previous personality had been straightforward. He truly did not expect that the other party would do such a thing to him after he had killed one and defeated another of the Shangqing Patriarchs.
What gave you such great courage?
And what kind of power drove you to do these things?
"Was I possessed?"
Ji Xiang only thought this, but he could not confirm it. So, he followed the Eight Sect Master forward and soon saw a coffin placed on a beautifully carved white jade platform.
"Xuantian Coffin. Within the coffin lies a world. The two fellow Daoists of the Quanzhen Dao, the ones I found, are in that coffin..."
The Eight Sect Master walked forward proactively, as if guiding Ji Xiang to move forward as well.
But Ji Xiang took two steps and stopped.
"This... Senior?"
The Eight Sect Master was somewhat confused, while Ji Xiang coldly said:
"Your spell just now was not a tracking technique, but an induction technique. It's quite rare. There aren't many people who practice induction techniques in the orthodox path. This type of spell was originally created by the Fa Sect. You... Mount Shang, have you also learned some of the disreputable skills of Mount Xia?"
"Do you think I'm someone easy to deal with? You treated me as prey, lured me here, and then intended to harm me with your own body?"
"You have quite the nerve. Is your entire Shangqing lineage so fearless? I just killed your ancestor, and you immediately jumped out to slap me in the face?"
"Eight Sect Master, your actions make me lose face. I, the dignified Dao Master of the Great Ming, do not wish to kill excessively."
The Eight Sect Master fell silent, then put on a different expression and said fiercely:
"You say the spells of Mount Xia are disreputable, but you yourself know them, don't you? Otherwise, how would you recognize this Divine Blood Guiding Technique!"
Ji Xiang said indifferently, "I know many spells. There's no need to report to an ant like you!"
"Before I kill you, you had better give me a proper explanation!"
The Eight Sect Master laughed heartily, but his expression seemed helpless. In this helplessness, it gradually turned into ferocity and madness towards himself:
"We have no choice! You killed our Patriarchs. After this matter is over, you can leave. But what are we supposed to do?"
"Are we supposed to abandon Mount Shang and go our separate ways? A thousand years of inheritance, you want to give it up just like that?"
"When the Kunlun Platform opens again, and the Patriarchs of Zhu Huo Palace descend, they will surely settle accounts with us useless people. The Third Ancestor had already said something similar before, that if we are useless, they will replace us all."
"But the only fortunate thing is that they will preserve our lineage."
"My lineage, as I just told you, must not be broken."
"Therefore, I took a risk, hoping to lock you here. Even if I can't kill you, at least you won't be able to leave. By the time the Kunlun Platform opens next time, and the Patriarchs descend, it will be an explanation for us if you are dead."
"As for your companions, we will never touch them. Currently, the other Sect Masters should have driven them down the mountain."
"Mount Mao is not a good place. Now, for the Shangqing Ancestral Scriptures, the two lineages have completely disregarded the outer mountain lineage. Orthodox methods and the like have also been cast aside. We cannot understand the thoughts of the inner mountain Patriarchs, but we must follow their teachings... Before your companions went down the mountain, we told them that next time, no matter what happens, they should not come again."
The Eight Sect Master looked at the coffin. Ji Xiang said indifferently:
"You cannot understand the thoughts of the inner mountain, yet you must follow their teachings? The teachings of the Patriarchs are not necessarily correct. As people change over thousands or even tens of thousands of years, their inner hearts have already changed. Most of the people I have seen from the inner mountain are like this."
"It's very strange, but also reasonable. After all, there is a saying in Daoism: 'Tai Shang Wang Qing' (Supreme Being Forgets Emotions)."
"Complete lack of emotion is also a state of Tai Shang Wang Qing. I have not cultivated to this realm, so I cannot understand it for now. I think you should not try to understand it, nor should you follow it."
"Also, I'm afraid this formation of yours cannot trap me."
Ji Xiang raised his hand to cast a lightning spell, but at this moment, he heard some calls from within the Xuantian Coffin.
The Eight Sect Master explained, "I told you, your two Quanzhen Daoist companions are in that coffin. If you want to save them, you must enter the formation and go through it. If you destroy this formation, the Xuantian Coffin will never be opened again."
"This Sky Locking Annihilation Escape Formation is a supreme formation unique to our Mount Mao Kunlun Cave. You can only break it by entering it. But if you enter and cannot come out, then you cannot come out. Only the Mountain Master knows the key to breaking the formation. Therefore, for you, there is basically no way to break it!"
"You will inevitably enter the coffin."
"Dao Master of the Great Ming, I know that the court's lackeys are usually devoid of emotion, but you are still a person of the Dao. If you can stand by and watch these two people die, you wouldn't have come here with me."
"By the way, the Mountain Master is also in the coffin. This is the only way to preserve his life. He cannot let go of the Shangqing Sect. We are helping him let go. After this, as long as the Mountain Master does not die, Shangqing can be rebuilt sooner or later. As for us... we have offended the Patriarchs, and as long as we can leave our lineage behind, it is enough."
Ji Xiang was so angry that he laughed:
"Aren't you afraid that I will go back the way I came, leave this Kunlun Cave, slaughter everyone in your entire Shangqing Sect, and then frame you as fallen and evil?"
"I am someone from the court. Whatever I say will be the truth!"
The Eight Sect Master shook his head and sat down inside the great formation. Ji Xiang put away his previous smile and asked, "So, you came to lure me because your temper is the most straightforward, and everyone won't suspect you?"
The Eight Sect Master nodded. This was obvious.
Ji Xiang also nodded in response, "A good persona often plays a brilliant role in a crucial plan."
"But unfortunately, I am always outside the plan."
"A mere great formation, I will break it for you to see. I will save people without entering the formation!"
Ji Xiang's thoughts raced. At this moment, strange sounds echoed within the Kunlun Cave!
Spirits appeared within the mountains.
With a single thought, ten directions of divine煞 were stirred.
Tong Tian Ming Yan had consumed many formations. Ji Xiang sacrificed these formations and then performed the True Meanings of the Three Teachings to deduce them!
Ji Xiang immediately set up a formation, which stunned the Eight Sect Master: "You actually know how to perform our Mount Mao's formation..."
"What's so difficult about that? I used your Mount Mao's Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Formation to kill your Mount Mao's Pure Yang expert!"
Ji Xiang looked at him coldly, and the Eight Sect Master sighed, "That Pure Yang expert was not an ancestor, but a cultivator in the Spirit Refining realm of our Mount Mao who was enlightened..."
Ji Xiang interrupted the Eight Sect Master's words, "I don't care who he is, he is just an ant to me!"
"You want me to break the formation, don't you? You'd better watch closely!"
Ji Xiang raised his hand and conjured black talismans. The True Meanings of the Three Teachings began to melt and deduce. The formation Ji Xiang was casting instantly disappeared. Then, Ji Xiang sat cross-legged, emitting an astonishing aura!
You said this formation had no way to be broken, didn't you?
I'll make up a way to break it on the spot for you!