Free Web NovelChapter 178: Chapter 171: A Little Quirk
The ten-day period arrived in the blink of an eye.
Qi Yun arrived at Black Death Peak as promised.
The entire mountain peak was still shrouded in a grim, freezing atmosphere, the very air seeming to carry the tang of rust.
Li Chong was already waiting at the mountain gate. Seeing Qi Yun, he forced a somewhat stiff smile and came forward to greet him.
"Junior Brother Qi, a man of your word, I see. Right on time," Li Chong cupped his hands, his tone formally polite.
"I wouldn’t dare miss an appointment we’ve agreed upon. That would be a sign of bad faith, wouldn’t it?" Qi Yun replied calmly, returning the gesture.
Hearing this, Li Chong’s face twitched unnaturally.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Li Chong led Qi Yun into Black Death Peak, arriving at a relatively secluded Side Hall.
He took out a Jade Box carved with complex Sealing Runes and solemnly handed it to Qi Yun.
"Junior Brother Qi, this is the Three-Life Glazed Treasure Mirror we agreed upon. Please inspect it."
Qi Yun opened the Jade Box and was immediately met with a gentle yet immense aura. Inside, the Treasure Mirror, translucent as glaze and containing three worlds within, lay quietly, emanating a profound Dao Rhyme.
After a careful inspection confirmed it was authentic, he placed it into his Storage Magical Artifact and nodded.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Li. The Treasure Mirror is correct."
Seeing Qi Yun accept the Treasure Mirror, Li Chong relaxed slightly, but his expression immediately shifted to one of carefully crafted difficulty. He spoke as his master had instructed him beforehand:
"Junior Brother Qi, you have accepted the Treasure Mirror.
"It’s just that... regarding the Soul-Shaking Potion... it’s rather inconvenient. Master is in seclusion, helping to conceal the karmic traces from your previous actions. We must wait until he emerges to perform the final refinement and sealing.
"I’m afraid... I’ll have to trouble you to wait here for a while longer, Junior Brother.
"Once my master emerges from seclusion, we can complete the transaction."
He had already rehearsed his lines and prepared for what might come next.
He was ready to face Qi Yun’s potential dissatisfaction, suspicion, or even anger.
After all, anyone would be displeased at being delayed like this over something that had already been agreed upon.
However, to Li Chong’s surprise, not only did Qi Yun show no sign of displeasure upon hearing this, he even nodded cooperatively, a smile of understanding on his face.
"I see.
"Junior Martial Uncle Li’s actions are also for my benefit.
"In that case, I will simply wait here. I’ll trouble Senior Brother Li to arrange a quiet room for me."
Li Chong stared at Qi Yun’s frank, almost "accommodating" attitude, momentarily stunned.
’When did this guy become so easy to deal with?’
But since the man was being so agreeable, he couldn’t very well say anything more. Suppressing his doubts, he nodded.
"You are most reasonable, Junior Brother. I am grateful. Please, follow me."
With that, he led Qi Yun to a quiet room within the Side Hall.
The room’s furnishings were simple, containing only a few tables and chairs, which made it feel chilly and empty.
"You can rest here for now, Junior Brother. I will come and inform you immediately once my master emerges from seclusion," Li Chong said, waving over a servant to serve Qi Yun a pot of Spirit Tea.
"Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother," Qi Yun smiled and cupped his hands.
Li Chong glanced at Qi Yun one more time. Seeing no signs of anything unusual, he turned and left the Side Hall, full of suspicion, pulling the doors closed behind him.
Outside the Side Hall, Li Chong looked back at the closed doors and sighed internally.
’Ah, Junior Brother Qi, Junior Brother Qi... I hope you figure out what’s going on sooner rather than later...’
Thinking of his master’s unfathomable temperament and schemes, he left the rest unsaid. He simply shook his head and hurried away.
He held a personal grudge against Chang Qing, so he was naturally grateful that Qi Yun had killed him.
But faced with his master’s absolute command, there was nothing he could do.
Inside the quiet room of the Side Hall.
After confirming that Li Chong was long gone and there was no other Divine Sense prying nearby, a faint smile gradually appeared on Qi Yun’s face.
He surveyed the empty, silent Side Hall.
Hidden within his wide sleeve, his right hand quietly formed a Spell.
Gathering Form and Scattering Qi.
The next moment.
Qi Yun’s figure rippled like water and began to blur.
A wisp of Pure Qi, so faint it nearly blended into the surroundings, quickly merged into the shadows in a corner of the Side Hall.
It then seeped silently through a crack in the wall, vanishing without a trace.
Meanwhile, in the center of the Side Hall, "Qi Yun" remained seated on the chair, his posture natural. One could even see the slight rise and fall of his chest.
He reached for the long-cold tea on the table, brought it to his lips with a fluid motion, and took a small sip.
His face even maintained the calm and patient expression one would expect of someone waiting.
This "Qi Yun" that remained behind was a perfect imitation in every way—aura, form, even the most subtle movements. It was utterly convincing!
In a silent corridor, Qi Yun looked both ways.
He never planned on obediently waiting for the Black Death Peak Master, who would emerge from "seclusion" at some unknown time.
The Black Death Peak Master wanted to stall and control the situation. But wasn’t Qi Yun just playing along, using this waiting period to do what he needed to do?
...
"That boy, Black Fiend, don’t be fooled by that cold face he wears all day, looking like everyone owes him a fortune. The truth is, he’s full of little quirks and strange habits."
Inside Cyan Mountain Daoist Temple, Elder Master Deng Yin sipped his coarse tea, a knowing, playful glint in his cloudy old eyes, as if he were talking about a disappointing junior.
He lifted a withered finger and pointed it at Qi Yun.
"He has a very private quirk. He gathers all his most beloved and prized treasures into a single room and then lies down right in the middle of the pile.
"Supposedly, it’s so that... the moment he opens his eyes, he can see his entire collection.
"That feeling, he says, is more comforting to him than any Life Elixir."
Qi Yun stood with his hands at his sides, listening quietly, but he couldn’t help but smile to himself.
He’d never imagined that the imposing and solemn Black Death Peak Master, whose Evil Qi was so overwhelming...
...would have such a... unique collecting habit in private.
"Take this."
As the Elder Master spoke, he flicked his sleeve. A streak of Flowing Light landed in Qi Yun’s hand, transforming into a peculiar-looking object. The lenses were clear, but the frames were adorned with ancient cloud patterns. It somewhat resembled the Western eyeglasses Qi Yun had seen in his previous life.
"The Luobao Copper Mirror. It specializes in piercing illusions and identifying Treasure Light.
"Once you’re on Black Death Peak, just head toward the place where the Treasure Light is brightest and most intense. That’s guaranteed to be where that boy Li Hanyan has hidden his private vault."
The Elder Master’s words, filled with unshakable certainty, echoed in Qi Yun’s ears:
"Since he’s already decided to stall and go back on his word, playing these delay tactics with you, he is the one who is unjust first.
"In that case, don’t blame us for being unrighteous. frёewebnoѵēl.com
"If we don’t make that money-grubbing slave bleed a little and learn his lesson...
"...he’ll really think my disciples are easy to bully."
Clearly, the Elder Master knew Li Hanyan’s temperament like the back of his hand.
He had long anticipated that the other party would pull such a move, even preparing countermeasures and specialized "tools" in advance.
Besides the Luobao Copper Mirror, the Elder Master also bestowed several other treasures with concealed auras, all of them wondrous items for assisting with stealth and evasion.
The most important among them was the Formless Divine Talisman.
Once activated, this Talisman could transform its user into a state of Existence and Nonexistence, allowing them to not only ignore Restrictions and Arrays but also resist scrying and Divine Sense probes.
Truly a sacred tool, essential for murder, robbery, and all sorts of clandestine activities.
...
A few moments later, Qi Yun’s figure had already melted like a phantom into the grim, cold shadows of Black Death Peak.
The peculiar Luobao Copper Mirror was perched on the bridge of his nose.
Within his field of vision, the once-ordinary palace corridors and mountain paths were instantly filled with an interwoven network of countless golden threads of light, varying in thickness and brightness.
These were the trails of Treasure Light from various treasures, reflected by the Luobao Copper Mirror.
Ordinary Restrictions and concealment methods were practically useless before it.
His sharp gaze swept across the golden threads, and Qi Yun quickly locked onto one that was the thickest, most solid, and most dazzlingly brilliant.
It was like a rushing golden river, piercing through layer upon layer of walls and Array obstructions, pointing unwaveringly toward a hidden location deep within Black Death Peak.
’This is the one!’
With a single Heart Thought, Qi Yun silently circulated the True Essence in his body. The Formless Divine Talisman in his robes pulsed with a soft glow.
A faint ripple, imperceptible to the naked eye and difficult for even Divine Sense to catch, enveloped his entire body, further reducing his presence to a minimum.
The next instant, he moved.
His figure, like a thin wisp of green smoke, followed the guide of the thickest golden thread, weaving rapidly through the labyrinthine tunnels, caves, and corridors inside Black Death Peak.
Along the way, he encountered several patrol teams of disciples with sharp auras and wary eyes.
He even brushed past a Steward with a cold expression and contained Evil Qi, who was clearly at the peak of Qi Cultivation Great Perfection.
However, under the dual cover of Gathering Form and Scattering Qi and the Formless Divine Talisman, these people were completely oblivious to him.
Their gazes swept over the spot where Qi Yun stood as if passing through empty space, without the slightest ripple of notice.
He passed several key nodes where Restrictions were clearly in place—spying magical eyes hidden behind murals, or invisible spirit-binding traps and warning barriers laid out on the ground and in the air.
These were setups that could instantly expose or even kill an ordinary infiltrator.
But under the profound interference of the Formless Divine Talisman, none of them reacted in the slightest.
Qi Yun moved as if through an unguarded land, smoothly following the golden thread deeper inside.
In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the view before him suddenly opened up. The end of the golden thread was not the magnificent treasure hall or imposing grotto he had imagined, but rather a desolate patch of land on the shaded side of the mountain.
The Spiritual Qi here was thin, the light was dim, and the view was filled with a forest of blackened, gnarled, and bizarrely twisted dead trees, thick with an aura of death. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
It was completely different from the grim coldness of the rest of Black Death Peak, appearing exceptionally desolate and unremarkable.
And that most brilliant and thickest of golden threads pointed with unerring accuracy to a particularly unremarkable small tree in the middle of the dead forest.
It was only about the height of a person, with a slender trunk and cracked, withered bark. It was charred black all over, as if it had been struck dead by lightning years ago. It looked no different from the other dead trees around it, perhaps even more decrepit.
Qi Yun stopped, his gaze falling upon the small tree that looked as if it could turn to ash at any moment. A knowing smile slowly curved his lips.
’Hiding treasure in rotten wood, concealing a vault in a dead land.
’Junior Martial Uncle Li’s method of hiding his treasures has truly mastered the essence of "doing the opposite of the expected," just as my master predicted, without the slightest deviation.’ He praised him silently but also grew more vigilant.
Under the perfect cover of the Formless Divine Talisman, his Divine Sense extended like the gentlest of tendrils, meticulously probing the area around the small tree.
Sure enough, hidden within the seemingly calm ground and air were dozens of extremely obscure, interlocking Restrictions that emanated a dangerous aura.
If triggered, their explosive power would be enough to instantly annihilate any intruder below the Foundation Establishment Realm.
At the same time, an extremely faint but fundamentally extraordinary fluctuation of Cosmic Jade was emanating from within the small tree itself.
If not for the Luobao Copper Mirror’s golden thread of Treasure Light pointing directly to its core, it would have been almost impossible to perceive.
’The entrance really is here.’ A flash of understanding and anticipation crossed Qi Yun’s eyes.
He hesitated no longer. With a slight shimmer of his body, he transformed into a wisp of faint Pure Qi, using the Formless Divine Talisman’s miraculous ability to ignore Restrictions.
Following the subtle fluctuation of Cosmic Jade, he merged without any resistance into the trunk of the seemingly withered and dead small tree.
The next moment, his figure vanished completely from the withered forest.
As if he had never been there at all.
...
