EFB Chapter 2276 There's an insider here.
Chapter 2276 There's an insider here.
Chapter 2276 There's an insider here.
He Lingchuan then said to Dong Rui, "For the past ten years or so, Bega and the Heavenly Demon have been trying to raid the immortals' caves. Do you know how they usually do it? Actually, breaking into the caves is not the best option; it's too dangerous. To ensure safety and preserve spiritual energy, the immortal sects usually choose caves that are enclosed spaces. That is to say, once the entrance is closed, people outside can't get in, and people inside can't get out. Miao Zhantian's direct invasion of the Inverted Sea was actually an exception, and a last resort, because True Person Qianhuan was too powerful, and other methods were not effective."
Dong Rui asked curiously, "Could it be that they're using a stupid method, waiting for the rabbit to run into a tree stump?"
Yes, the Heavenly Demon is the most experienced at digging holes; Cang Yan should learn from him.
Liu Qingdao explained: "That's right. The most common methods are either to lure the snake out of its hole or to wait for the rabbit to come to the tree stump, waiting for the immortals and immortal sects in the cave to come out on their own. In order to maintain the operation of the immortal cave, it needs to constantly consume spiritual energy, so they must come out of seclusion every once in a while to obtain spiritual energy or Xuanjing, otherwise they will be worn down to death."
Countless cultivators have died over the past three thousand years due to the exhaustion and depletion of spiritual energy in their small grotto-heavens and small worlds.
“To wait for them to come to you, you first need to know the location of the Immortal Sect’s entrance, then you need to know their exit time, and third—” He Lingchuan held up his third finger, “you can’t let them know that you’re already waiting at the entrance and have prepared an ambush.”
“Every immortal sect that goes into seclusion is particularly concerned about the security of the entrance to their cave. The number of these entrances cannot be increased or decreased arbitrarily; they can't just open as many as they want. Look at the prisoners' testimonies; after the Heavenly Centipede was captured, the Qixia Sect closed one entrance for safety reasons. This matches the facts we have. So, the Qixia Sect only has one entrance left, and we know its exact location, then—”
Dong Rui quickly answered, "Then there's only one thing left: before the Qixia Sect comes out of seclusion, we need to set up an ambush at their doorstep without letting them notice, right?"
“You got it right. Your last sentence is especially important.” He Lingchuan snapped his fingers and said to Liu Qingdao, “Yuan Xilin was able to release an illusion to talk to you, which means they have been closely monitoring the situation around Luohe and Xunyang Mountain. They probably used surveillance-type magical artifacts, supernatural powers, or demonic beasts.”
The Emperor was unfathomable, so Liu Qingdao could only continue, "However, since the Wei'an City Marshland cannot monitor Xunyang Mountain, they cannot find any surveillance methods used by the Qixia Sect. Oh, right—"
He suddenly remembered something: "Xu Wenqin's disciple also mentioned a detail: the spiritual energy of heaven and earth has been recovering for many years, but Qixia Sect has never left its small cave heaven. This is because Yuan Xilin has been in seclusion for more than ten years. Therefore, the disciples of Qixia Sect can only observe the outside world, namely Xunyang Mountain and Weian City, through the water mirror. But these disciples do not know what methods the sect uses to monitor the outside world."
“That thing exists very stably outside the small cave, and can remain effective for many years.” He Lingchuan immediately analyzed, “To meet these three conditions at the same time, we can basically rule out monsters such as birds, beasts, insects and fish; if it is a magic artifact, unless it can absorb the free spiritual energy in the air on its own and the amount used is very small, it will not be able to pass the hurdle of regular maintenance.”
During the Qixia Sect's closed-door cultivation period, no one can leave. Who will maintain the external magical artifacts? Furthermore, the Spirit Gathering Array was rendered ineffective by the Black Dragon Totem a few years ago, yet the Water Mirror can still operate continuously, indicating that the external force it relies on is very stable.
Dong Rui said angrily, "There's no time. Stop keeping me in suspense."
“It wasn’t sold. There are countless wonders in the world, and you can’t deduce this just by reasoning.” He Lingchuan couldn’t narrow down the possibilities any further after this deduction. “Fortunately, there’s still someone in the know we can ask.”
An insider?
Lingguang looked inside the snail-toad and counted, "One, two, three, four, five... there aren't many people here."
But its gaze immediately fell on the unconscious Xu Wenqin: "You mean, Elder Xu?"
“Elder Xu is an immortal. Although he is seriously injured, how could he have really fainted?” He Lingchuan produced a small incense burner from somewhere, lit an incense stick, and placed the incense burner next to Xu Wenqin’s head, close to his Baihui acupoint.
The snail-like creature traversed the underground, where there was certainly no wind. The lone wisp of smoke rose straight up, but after a few breaths, it condensed above Xu Wenqin, turning into a cloud of smoke.
Then, the smoke quickly gathered, forming a small figure.
Its body shape, appearance, and facial features are exactly the same as Xu Wenqin lying on the ground, and even its facial expressions are very flexible.
So everyone saw its undisguised surprise.
The little man looked down at himself, then at the crowd, and suddenly spoke:
"My primordial spirit did not leave my body, so what kind of supernatural power is this?"
His soul was still inside his body, in his sea of consciousness, and had no energy left to expand outwards.
He Lingchuan pointed to the incense smoke above his head: "This is soul-soothing incense, also called resurrection incense. It is incense that can be lit on the seventh day after a person's death."
Xu Wenqin was taken aback, and his expression changed slightly.
On the seventh day after death, some souls have the chance to return to the vicinity of their body and take one last look at the mortal world. People like Fu Liushan would make incense to help the deceased have a brief reunion with their family, to say a final goodbye or give some words of advice—of course, this service was not free, and it was very expensive.
The fact that He Lingchuan lit the incense for the seventh day after death, and that it was effective on Xu Wenqin, meant that he was about to die.
However, Xu Wenqin was currently focused entirely on battling his injuries and had no energy left to condense his primordial spirit from his body. He Lingchuan, of course, wouldn't tell him that he had used the first seven incense offerings combined with the Great Evolution Heavenly Pearl to enable Xu Wenqin to converse with them.
It wasn't that Xu Wenqin's primordial spirit left his body, but rather that the Great Evolution Heavenly Pearl created an illusion as a platform, pulling all of them into it to have a conversation.
The scene was so realistic that even Dong Rui and Ling Guang thought they were still in reality.
Only Liu Qingdao showed a slight surprise, having noticed something amiss. After all, he was an elder of the Illusion Sect, and blurring the lines between reality and illusion had always been Master Qianhuan's forte.
But of course he wouldn't say it out loud.
"Time is of the essence, let's get straight to the point." He Lingchuan's words extinguished Xu Wenqin's curiosity. Indeed, he was near death; why should he be concerned about other people's supernatural abilities?
"Although Elder Xu closed his eyes to rest, he should have heard about 90% of our conversation." The primordial spirit of an immortal is so powerful that Xu Wenqin closing his eyes does not mean that he is unconscious.
"If I'm not mistaken, although you're on the verge of death, you still retain a bit of strength to fight back," He Lingchuan said, looking at him. "Elder Xu, you want to fight to the death in the end, don't you?"
What?! Ling Guang and Dong Rui's expressions changed drastically, but Liu Qingdao and He Lingchuan remained calm.
(End of this chapter)