Chapter 260: 52: Acquiring the Kunlun Mirror Fragment
Gu Lie, Wen Yang, and Long Xiaoqi were mainly concerned about their secrets being exposed by the mirror monster.
Although only a few words were revealed, who knows how much their teammates guessed?
They’re all millennia-old foxes; why bother pretending to be in a supernatural tale?
Another concern was the mirror monster corresponding to Wei Dongliu that they were theoretically going to encounter next.
Of course, they weren’t interested in whatever secrets Wei Dongliu had, it’s just that the mirror monster reflecting his strength would probably be off the charts and could kill everyone on the spot.
Jiang Liyan was also somewhat worried. On one hand, she feared what secrets her corresponding mirror monster might reveal.
On the other hand, she couldn’t think of any secrets of hers that, if exposed, would cause a devastating social demise…
Though Missy’s actions weren’t always scrupulous, she’d never done anything “not to be shared with others” that was secretive!
Even so, she snuggled up to the Great Demon Lord Wei and said in a delicate voice,
“Wei Daoist, if a twisted version of me appears in the next trial, you must act swiftly to help me kill it!”
“Scram!” Wei Dongliu’s reply was always succinct.
For Jiang Liyan, as long as Wei Dongliu didn’t actually drive her away, all his responses would be interpreted as “Ah yes, yes,” and so she immediately beamed with joy,
“Thank you, Wei Daoist. This little lady has nothing with which to repay you, but when I return to report to my master, I shall offer my hand in marriage.”
“I don’t need cattle or horses!”
Wen Yang, Gu Lie, and Long Xiaoqi walked behind, listening to their sugary talk, and even the usually impassive Long Xiaoqi’s cheeks twitched a bit.
Such sycophancy.
Of course, being a sycophant is not a derogatory term among their Demon Path Cultivators.
Being stupid is.
The reason everyone felt awkward was simply that they couldn’t bring themselves to act like Jiang the Witch, pressing forward despite cold words from the other side.
Wen Yang and Gu Lie were conscious of their gender disadvantage and couldn’t afford to be too intimate; Long Xiaoqi was at an age disadvantage, guessing that Wei Dongliu probably wouldn’t fancy that either.
Only the youthful and beautiful Jiang the Witch, with a face that could launch a thousand ships and a clingy personality, could shamelessly play to her strengths to such an extent.
Passing through the main hall, they came to the inner chamber.
If the main hall is a communal rear hall for immortals, then the inner chamber is often a functional space exclusively used by a certain immortal.
For example, in the rear hall of the Jade Void Palace at the Kunlun Heavenly Pillar, there is a Scripture Lecture Hall, specifically for the Ziwei Master to preach to the generations of Chief Disciples – this Scripture Lecture Hall is a typical example of an inner chamber within the rear hall.
In this inner chamber, there seems to be a Pill Room.
In the very center of the floor was an engraved Xuanji Bagua Diagram. A huge purple-gold Pill Furnace stood right at the center of the Eight Trigrams; it was pitch black inside, as if void of anything.
Both walls were lined with shelves made of coral and bone, holding various Purifying Bottles, gourds, and pill vials, dazzling to the eyes.
Everyone looked on greedily but didn’t move an inch from where they stood—because it was likely all an illusion.
On the wall ahead, a huge mirror still dominated the space.
A shadow appeared on it, and in a flash, it burst from the mirror’s surface—a bloated ball of skin that shot black Qi in all directions before suddenly coalescing into human form.
The features on the human figure’s face were identical to Jiang the Witch: delicate and lovely, except the eyes were pure black like ink, devoid of any iris or pupil. Looking at the terrified Jiang Liyan, it burst into loud laughter and said,
“Dorlodot! Vishelinpo, Vishelinpo!”
The crowd was stunned for a moment. How did it start speaking a foreign language?
Before it could finish its speech, Wei Dongliu pointed a finger, and the Myriad Demons Evil Spirit Sword shot out, piercing through the false Jiang the Witch’s chest.
The imposter Jiang the Witch spat out black blood, then started laughing tragically, pointing at Wei Dongliu and saying,
“In such times, seeing oneself, there is not a single characteristic present! Only emptiness prevails, and even in the ten directions, all is but emptiness!”
After speaking, blue flames suddenly rose from beneath its feet, rapidly engulfing its body, and soon it was burned to ashes.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
The crowd: ……
“Fellow Daoist Gu.” Wen Yang frowned and slowly asked, “What does it mean by what it said? It seems to contain Buddhist principles.”
“Amitabha.” Gu Lie touched his bald head, then suddenly placed his hands together and said, “All phenomena in the world are illusory; all existences lack true substance.”
“Buddhism believes that what we see and hear is actually false and illusory. This is known as ‘no form’ and ’empty purity’,” explained Jiang Liyan.
“So, what does this have to do with you?” Wen Yang asked with suspicion.
“It has nothing to do with me,” Jiang Liyan was also completely bewildered.
Wei Dongliu did not care about these things; he simply threw the golden small sword, which entered the mirror.
Soon, the surface of the mirror suddenly opened up, revealing the passage behind it.
Just as everyone was about to continue forward, suddenly they heard Wei Dongliu say:
“Wait here for me. I’ll go take care of what’s inside and then come back for you.”
Everyone was on the verge of speaking but hesitated, not daring to say a word.
They hesitated because the place ahead might be the final challenge.
What if this Demon Lord cleared out everything inside after breaking through and left nothing for the rest of them?
They stopped because, even if the Great Demon Lord Wei really intended to do that, what could they possibly do?
Could they defeat him?
Rather than plotting against a cultivator they were certain they couldn’t defeat, it was better to bet he wouldn’t stoop so low as to regard his words as nothing more than passing wind.
The Great Demon Lord Wei paid no heed to what they were thinking; holding the Myriad Demons Evil Spirit Sword in his hand, he walked toward the passage ahead.
As he took steps forward, demonic qi poured into the sword.
Once he disappeared from everyone’s sight and entered the innermost room, the Myriad Demons Evil Spirit Sword had completely shed its original dull and unimpressive form, revealing an extremely sinister deep purple blade.
The room turned out to be unexpectedly large, with a sacrificial altar placed in the center, surrounded by Everbright lamps providing illumination.
In the center of the altar lay an irregularly shaped mirror fragment. What could it be, if not a piece of the Kunlun Mirror?
However, there stood a faceless man next to the altar. As he turned his head to look at Wei Dongliu, features suddenly emerged on his smooth face.
It was a face that seemed familiar.
Wei Dongliu finally remembered. Although it had been a long time since he had seen it, he had actually seen that face countless times before.
It was the face of Chen Guanshui, his own original appearance.
“Do you still remember who you are?” Chen Guanshui asked in a ghostly voice.
“How could I forget?” Wei Dongliu said with a cold laugh, “I have not lost my memory.”
“If you wear a mask for a long time, you can’t take it off,” Chen Guanshui said meaningfully.
“Aren’t you going to fight me?” Wei Dongliu said impatiently.
“I’ve got no strength left.” Chen Guanshui shook his head, “Ever since entering this place, she has been continuously suppressing the fragment’s power. By the fourth challenge, the fragment could not even mobilize half of its spiritual power.”
“After all, a fake is still a fake.” Wei Dongliu said contemptuously, taking a step forward.
“I may be a fake, but I’m also a reflection of your inner heart, conjured by the Illusion Technique of Mirror Flower, Water Moon,” Chen Guanshui did not attempt to flee, merely speaking indifferently, “You must have also felt the tender affection between you and that mirror, which is nothing more than a disguise for the nature of mutual exploitation.”
“I have never had any affection for that broken mirror,” Wei Dongliu’s steps did not pause as he directly approached the altar to reach for the mirror fragment, “it won’t stop me from helping it gather the fragments.”
“Remember…” As Wei Dongliu’s hand touched the fragment, Chen Guanshui’s outline instantly began to blur, and his voice became intermittent, “Never… fully trust… that mirror…”
As the voice trailed off, Wei Dongliu absorbed the Kunlun Mirror fragment into his Sea of Consciousness, where Ah Jing completed it.
“It’s finally over.” The voice of the Kunlun Mirror evidently relaxed, then exclaimed with surprise a moment later, “I didn’t expect suppressing it to be so difficult, no doubt because it contained such a vast amount of spiritual power!”
“Pathetic,” Wei Dongliu said disdainfully.
“What’s with you!” complained the Kunlun Mirror, “If I hadn’t suppressed it from the beginning to the end, how could you have passed the last three challenges so easily?”
Wei Dongliu thought carefully and realized that both the Demon Buddha and the Two-Faced Ghost had used Daoist Techniques, yet the Little Dragon Girl did not use Daoist Techniques but relied solely on physical attacks.
By the time it got to the elastic sphere and Chen Guanshui, there were no attacks at all… was it all thanks to Ah Jing’s efforts?