Chapter 301 - A Page of Scripture
Demons were demons because of their inherently many and messy thoughts.
A cultivator once said that all sentient beings were demons.
As all sentient beings had these inherently messy thoughts which were hard to manage, all sentient beings were bound to these thoughts and would never be free.
Demons did not need to be set free. The world was the joyful land on the other side despite it being full of sufferings.
With Shen Lian"s methods, it was not difficult to overcome the Sky Demon who once swallowed all former elder teachers in Qing Xuan, including his master, Biyun who he had no chance to ever meet. It would be difficult to be able to catch her.
It was because her existence was seemingly uncertain. She could go through the void of the boundless universe and had no fundamentals. She was a collection of thoughts and hence could not be harmed or eliminated by any techniques.
Shen Lian once found out that Tai Wei, an instrument while not having special powers, could calm the soul.
It could calm the soul, and also the thoughts.
There were a lot of instruments in the world which shared the same function, but Tai Wei was fundamentally different.
It used to be something a Daoist Master carried. While it had never undergone ceremonial cultivating, it had listened to lectures that could even make someone who was as stubborn as a rock to comply. It followed the Daoist Master for a long period of time.
Under the influence of the Daoist Master, even though it was just an instrument, the pounding sound it made could even influence the master of Sky Demon, not to mention that this Sky Demon had not reached the state of celestials and Buddha.
When he found Tai Wei, it was already too late. While he went through the memories of many people in Qing Xuan, n.o.body had any knowledge about Tai Wei.
Even within Qing Xuan when it was still around, not a lot of people knew about it. When it was lost, n.o.body had any idea anymore.
When Kuhui pa.s.sed it to Shen Lian, it was then when the item was returned to Qing Xuan. Shen Lian recently was approaching the state of celestials, hence he managed to discover some of Tai Wei"s history through its aura.
The crisp sound coming from Tai Wei was heard throughout Taiwei Pavilion, and it created a peaceful atmosphere. Shen Lian gazed at the Sky Demon coldly as she m.o.a.ned in great pain and begged for forgiveness. Her begging sound could have melted any stone-cold heart in the world.
He was not affected as he continued to pound on Tai Wei. The rhythm, strength, and mana were not even slightly disturbed.
Her shriek became even more piercing, and it went straight through Shen Lian"s bier. It then dispersed like dust, in an attempt to spot any opening in Shen Lian"s mind.
Shen Lian sighed. He then activated the Mastery of Senses and he visualized the image of the deity. Even with Sky Demon"s pervasive peep, when she saw the deity, the groaning body in Taiwei Pavilion was lit and clouds of black smokes came out. Her long black hair, her delicate face and snow-like skin all seemed as if they were burnt.
It got easier for Shen Lian to visualized the deity - it was as easy as breathing. His spirit was growing continuously. As the spirit dispersed, it was not that much different from immortal Zhenren.
With his tyrannical strength, it would be appropriate to describe him as having half of his foot into the path of celestial.
As his spiritual opportunity circulated, he could feel that it was not as smooth as he wanted it to be. It was because after he understood the Dao of the five elements, he still lacked some divine essence which prevented him from achieving success. He could not make full use of the Qi of Dan of the five elements.
If this was not successful, even if he could break away from whims and cultivate the Primordial Spirits, his Dao foundation would be lacking. As such, it would be an obstacle to his supreme Daoist result. Because of that, he would rather stop here and not move forward in order to wait for the opportunity to make it happen at one go.
It was possible. Since ancient times, there was n.o.body that could be in such a flexible state before achieving Daoist immortality. If others knew that he could break away from the whims, cultivate his Primordial Spirit and achieve immortality anytime but he did not, they probably would wish that a lightning could strike him to death.
The Sky Demon in front of him was begging him with a sad and moving voice, "Please let me go. Can you please just let me go? I will do everything you want me to as long as you stop."
Shen Lian indeed stopped the pounding and visualization.
He walked in front of her and asked, "I would like to ask you one thing, how did the City of Vain Deaths come about?"
"I don"t know."
Shen Lian sighed, "You"re not being honest."
His piercing gaze fell on her, and it immediately made her groan in pain.
She wanted to escape, but it was as if she was trapped in a quicksand. She could not make use of her Sky Demon power due to the influence of Tai Wei. Under the influence of such horrifying spiritual power, she almost could not move an inch.
A trail of darkness appeared all in a sudden. It swallowed the Sky Demon, who then disappeared entirely.
Shen Lian stood silently in Taiwei Pavilion, and spoke, "I know you did it. Regardless of the reason you stayed here, whether as a spiritual consciousness or an incarnation, please tell me what is this for. As the Chief of Qing Xuan, I have the right to know."
n.o.body could answer him. There was only silence.
As usual, Shen Lian tried to look for it in every corner of Qing Xuan. He knew that it was impossible for anyone in the world to create something out of thin air. Regardless of how crafty the person was, there would be evidence left behind.
The old Daoist"s cultivation experience had reached a level that not even he could find the trace he had left behind.
Regardless of the relations.h.i.+p between the Sky Demon and the old Daoist, the City of Vain Deaths was the link between them.
He did not believe the old Daoist would want to bring harm to Qing Xuan, but it was yet another unexplained mystery.
A page of golden scripture descended from the sky. It had little light dots. The mysterious aura made Shen Lian"s heartbeat increase. On top of it, there were countless tiny ancient symbols. They were densely packed on the scripture.
By the time Shen Lian got held of the scripture, the person had already reached for an escape.
He did not have time to look at the scripture in detail. His body moved as fast as lightning in the void. He was chasing after the smell that remained until he almost broke through the atmosphere, the smell disappeared.
At the last moment, Shen Lian grasped that the vital force came from the old Daoist. If he could catch it, he could then find out where the old Daoist was and get his questions answered.
Even though it happened slowly, it was just in time.
The page of golden scripture in his hand recorded a dense amount of wriggling ancient symbols.
The symbols were called "tadpole writing". With Shen Lian"s knowledge, to be able to transcribe the densely packed pa.s.sage would take a long time.
Perhaps the scripture was a form of compensation from the old Daoist, and it was also for him to stop asking questions.
Despite Qing Xuan having one hundred and eight techniques, the mysterious aura of the scripture amazed Shen Lian. It was not the Qi of Dao one could observe often throughout one"s life.
He could see there was endless Qi of vitality which was gathering towards the scripture which then formed into the shape of dragon and tiger. The page of scripture was still swallowing the Qi of Vitality of heaven and earth and it almost flew out of his hand. It seemed to have gained humanity. The tadpole writing inside began to come alive. It released thousands of white rays, achieving Baoguang"s heaven shaking effect.
Shen Lian could not help but to make use of the forbidden technique to seal the page of scripture.
Fortunately, he was at a height of several hundred thousand feet. Some slight disturbances would not attract too much attention, not to mention it was still within Qing Xuan"s territory.