Li Yan walked slowly along a row of wooden shelves. As he walked between two rows, the yellow and purple light from either side slanted across his body, making him appear somewhat illusory and unreal.
Soon, he arrived in front of Daoist Gong, who had his palm open, gazing at a grey, round bead. The bead was as large as a baby's fist.
"This is the Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle's eyeball. It was obtained by our sect's Nascent Soul Ancestor during an expedition tens of thousands of years ago. The Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle is an ancient Vicious Beast. Legend has it that when it reaches adulthood, its body is hundreds of thousands of li long. A slight shake of its body can shake heaven and earth. It can eventually evolve into Xuanwu, one of the four great ancient vicious beasts. This eyeball is only the size of a baby's fist, which means this Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle likely perished during its juvenile stage."
As he spoke, Daoist Gong handed the grey bead to Li Yan.
When Li Yan took it, a chilling sensation instantly spread from his fingertips throughout his body. He focused his gaze and examined it carefully. The bead, though grey all over, felt and looked exceptionally smooth. Ancient, intricate patterns crisscrossed its surface without any discernible pattern. If one tried to carefully follow one of the lines, even with Li Yan's current cultivation, one would become dizzy and nauseous after just a moment.
If the grey bead was indeed the eyeball of a Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle, it lacked any of the transparency an eyeball should have. It seemed to have been petrified. Besides being exceptionally round, there was a golden sphere in its center, occupying about a third of the entire bead. This made the object look like a golden bead nested within a larger grey one, which did indeed resemble an eyeball.
As Li Yan was observing, Daoist Gong's voice came again. "After our sect's Nascent Soul Ancestor brought this item back, he initially didn't know what it was. But no matter whether he used his powerful Divine Sense to penetrate it or his Spirit Power to probe it, he found nothing. Eventually, the Nascent Soul Ancestor consulted many ancient texts and finally found a similar description in one of them. It was a book written by an ancient cultivator about refining Magical Treasures, and it mentioned using the organs of a Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle as raw materials, including a description of its eyeball."
"Afterward, our sect's Ancestor invited several good friends to help identify it. Even though they were all great Nascent Soul cultivators, some still didn't recognize it. After all, the ancient era was too distant for them. However, one or two of them identified it as the organ of a demonic beast and ultimately agreed with the Ancestor's opinion that it was from a Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle."
"After a series of confirmations, the Ancestor was overjoyed. For an ancient Vicious Beast like this, let alone a whole eyeball, even some fur or scales would be enough to make a Nascent Soul cultivator ecstatic. Even though the eyeball in his hand was from a juvenile Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle, it could still be refined into a great and powerful treasure that even late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators would have to avoid."
"Thus, the Ancestor began to refine this item. But what happened next was completely unexpected. No matter how he refined it, the item showed no change whatsoever. Even when he, at great personal cost, used his Nascent Soul True Fire, it still had no effect on the item."
"This made the subsequent steps of smelting it into a Magical Treasure impossible. But the Ancestor was still unwilling to give up. He later tried various other methods, such as borrowing an Earth Fire Spirit Vein, using Demonic Fire, Demonic Flames, and the water of the abyss to dissolve it, but all were in vain."
"After numerous failures over many years, the Ancestor gradually lost confidence in this item. But this also highlighted its mystery. So, he placed it in the sect's treasury. Many more years passed, and perhaps he had forgotten about the matter. On one occasion when he went out in search of an opportunity for Spirit Transformation, he took many of his treasured items with him but left this one behind."
Li Yan turned the item over and over, examining it several times. He even tried to probe it with his Divine Sense and Spirit Power. But as soon as his Divine Sense and Spirit Power touched the surface of the bead, they were repelled by a powerful force, unable to enter at all.
Seeing Li Yan's situation, Daoist Gong gave a bitter smile. "This bead... it's not just me. Every successive Sect Master and keeper of the Daojing Hall has tried to uncover its secrets, but after tens of thousands of years, this thing remains the same. No one can figure out its secrets. Perhaps after the Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle died, it underwent some strange transformation between heaven and earth, causing this item to become something else entirely unknown," Daoist Gong explained slowly, gazing at the grey bead in his hand.
Li Yan nodded and then said to Daoist Gong, "Fellow Daoist Gong, for Qin Chengyi to have such resources with only a Qi Condensation cultivation, he must have a powerful force supporting him, perhaps even supporting his entire Qin family to obtain this item. In that case, there are two possibilities: one, the other party knows the specific use of this mysterious Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle's eyeball; or two, they heard through the grapevine that your Xuanqing Temple possesses an item similar to what they need. In either case, it shows that they desperately need this item and have a great use for it. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to plot, kill, and steal. They could have negotiated in a more moderate way. This way, they have undoubtedly placed themselves in direct opposition to the Xuanqing Temple, a matter of life and death."
"If we connect this to the bizarre disappearance of the two nearby sects you mentioned, plus the secret order issued by the Malevolent Spirit Sect, and combine all these things, we can roughly conclude that there is one or several powerful forces at play. They are very strong; they possess 'Attacker's Tear,' a heaven-and-earth ultimate poison, and they are so strong that even the four great sects are starting to treat them with caution."
"If the disappearance of the two nearby sects is also related, then those two sects were either targeted by this force, just like the Xuanqing Temple, or they, like the Qin family, were part of this force. In that case, their collective disappearance can be somewhat explained."
"Perhaps they were secretly wiped out by a mysterious force while searching for a treasure similar to this Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle's eyeball, which is what alerted the four great sects; or perhaps they were part of that force, but the four great sects found out and, in turn, annihilated them."
"In that case, the murder of the Xuanqing Temple cultivators is understandable. It's possible the other party already knew the four great sects were on guard, so they didn't try to seize it by force," Li Yan said, looking at the grey bead, his mind racing as he articulated his thoughts.
Daoist Gong grew more alarmed as he listened. If his second-rate sect was being targeted by a force that even the four great sects had to be wary of, how could their Xuanqing Temple possibly resist? Even if his master returned, he would be helpless against such a powerful hidden force.
The more he thought, the more a chill crept up his back, until even his heart began to tremble.
Watching Daoist Gong's ever-changing expression, Li Yan knew what he was thinking and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. When a sect's power is weak, even preserving one's life requires such careful consideration. He thought for a moment and said again, "Fellow Daoist Gong, you don't have to worry so much. The above is just my speculation from forcibly connecting a few events. There's probably only a ten or twenty percent chance of it being true."
Hearing Li Yan's words, Daoist Gong composed himself, a bitter look on his face. "Fellow Daoist Li, you and I both know in our hearts that the probability is much higher than ten or twenty percent. And even a ten or twenty percent chance is not low. It seems that when Master returns, I must have him secretly relay this matter to your esteemed sect. Or perhaps secretly send this bead to your sect for appraisal. With your sect's strength, you would surely be able to see more problems than we can..."
He paused mid-sentence, his brows furrowing. Li Yan was also looking at the bead, having his own thoughts. Seeing Daoist Gong's expression, he didn't speak.
Daoist Gong pondered for a moment before speaking again. "That plan isn't sound either. Even if Master were to send this bead to your sect, if that force truly exists, they will surely be secretly monitoring our Xuanqing Temple. I'm afraid Master wouldn't even be able to reach your sect before being ambushed."
"Instead, we should immediately send messages to your sect through various means. Since the other party is a hidden force, there are many methods they cannot use. Surely one of these messages will reach your sect. For example, if I send people out via teleportation, can they kill everyone? Can they follow everyone? That wouldn't be covert anymore; that would be open hostility."
"Then, starting today, the Xuanqing Temple will be outwardly relaxed but inwardly tense. At all costs, we will activate all our formations and wait for the Malevolent Spirit Sect to send someone. Once they take this item away, our temple's great calamity will be resolved. I believe that with the formations laid down by our sect's Nascent Soul Ancestor, unless the other party brazenly sends a Nascent Soul cultivator of their own to attack, they will be powerless to break through. We can hold out until the Malevolent Spirit Sect sends someone," Daoist Gong said, as if talking to himself. His eyes grew brighter and brighter, though the thought of the daily, river-like consumption of Spirit Stones by the formations made him shudder inwardly. Fortunately, the Xuanqing Temple had made a fortune from its teleportation formations over the years and had a solid foundation.
Li Yan listened, having also felt that directly sending the item away was not a wise move; it would be like playing the role of a delivery boy for thieves. He secretly praised him. 'To be the head of a sect, none of them are to be trifled with. This plan seems like 'diverting the flood to the east,' but it's also an overt scheme. Once the Malevolent Spirit Sect gets the news, they will not let it go. This could be an excellent clue to finding that hidden force. One of the sect's ancestors will surely come in person. When they take the item away, the Xuanqing Temple will lose its value. The force behind Qin Chengyi will either no longer bother with them or will vent all their anger on the Xuanqing Temple. But with the intelligence of Daoist Gong and his master, they would have thought of these two outcomes. With preparations in advance, they would have countermeasures. I imagine they will also directly bring this matter up with the person from the Malevolent Spirit Sect to seek a more comprehensive solution.'
Thinking of this, Li Yan shook his head. The subsequent events were not his to worry about. He handed the grey bead back to Daoist Gong and said at the same time, "Qin Chengyi has been captured. Your esteemed master should be back soon. In that case, please, Fellow Daoist Gong, send me away from here. I have urgent matters to attend to and cannot delay any longer."
Daoist Gong took the grey bead and placed it back on the wooden shelf, his gaze heavy. Then, with a wave of his hand, a low buzzing sound filled the surroundings. The multi-colored lights on the ten rows of shelves suddenly brightened. He had clearly activated the internal formations here. Coupled with the sect's protective grand formation, the external restrictions of the Daojing Hall, and the layers of small formations within, this was far safer than keeping it on any person.
At the same time, he heard Li Yan's faint voice. After forming the restriction seals, he turned to Li Yan, a hint of hesitation in his eyes. Li Yan was a Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivator. Having him here had self-evident benefits, whether it was his unfathomable cultivation or his status for sending messages. In his moment of hesitation, he felt an icy chill wash over him, making his heart tremble. It was Li Yan's gaze, which had turned cold when he didn't answer immediately.
Daoist Gong was a man of the world. He knew he couldn't even bring it up. With a dry cough, he quickly said, "Oh, of course. I was just thinking that if my master saw a cultivator from the Upper Sect upon his return, he would surely be delighted, so I was lost in thought for a moment. Since Fellow Daoist Li has urgent business, how could I dare to keep you? I will go and see you off now. Please!"