Chapter 128 – Formation Within a Formation

“What is this?” Wei Yang was somewhat stunned as he looked at the object lying in the pit.

Just moments ago, when he plunged the dagger into the soil, a flash of golden light had erupted from beneath the ground, and the triangular military knife in his hand had snapped in response. Luckily, Yao Wei had quick reflexes and pulled him back, preventing the light from touching him. However, as the two were still in shock, Lao Ye had already scurried over and began digging within the area where the golden light had flashed. Knowing the extraordinary abilities of this turtle, Wei Yang hesitated for only a moment before joining in. Soon, they had completely dug up the ground, revealing what was buried beneath.

In the shallow pit before them lay a bronze mirror, its surface facing upward. Despite the passage of countless years, the polished mirror surface remained smooth and reflective, clearly showing their images. However, if it were just an ordinary mirror, how could it produce such an effect? It wasn’t even a Yangsui.

While Wei Yang was still puzzled, Lao Ye, who was lying beside him, let out an impatient “ah” and tapped the mirror surface with its claw. This action startled Yao Wei. The earlier phenomenon clearly indicated that this was a ritual instrument, so how could this old turtle just casually touch it? Just as Yao Wei was about to scoop up the turtle, Wei Yang had already reached down and picked up the mirror.

“Damn it, Ah Yang, this thing might be dangerous!” Yao Wei was instantly anxious. These two—man and turtle—were really reckless. How could they just pick up such an eerie object with bare hands?

Wei Yang shook his head and said, “It’s fine. If Lao Ye let me pick it up, there won’t be any problems. Brother Yao, look at the back of this mirror…”

Seeing that Wei Yang had taken the mirror, Lao Ye let out a satisfied hum, turned its backside, and strutted off to eat the remaining red grass from earlier. Yao Wei was momentarily stunned before he realized what had happened. He took the mirror from Wei Yang’s hand. Unlike ordinary bronze mirrors, the back of this one was not engraved with various divine beasts or birds but with a diagram of King Wen’s Eight Trigrams. Near the bronze handle, there were faintly carved two seal script characters. Yao Wei carefully traced them with his fingers before he could make them out: Vermilion Bird?

Yao Wei’s expression suddenly changed. He rushed over to his backpack, pulled out a high-powered flashlight, and without hesitation, shone the beam onto the mirror’s surface. Strangely, as the light hit the mirror, the pattern on the back of the mirror was projected onto the opposite rock wall. In the center of King Wen’s Eight Trigrams, there was an additional image of a Vermilion Bird spreading its wings as if about to take flight.

“Is this a phantom mirror?” Wei Yang was shocked. Such mirrors were recorded in ancient texts like The Record of Ancient Mirrors and Dream Pool Essays. Legend had it that they were a unique craft from the Western Han Dynasty. When light was shone onto the mirror’s surface, the pattern on the back of the mirror would be reflected on the opposite wall, hence the name “phantom mirror.” They were extremely rare treasures.

Yao Wei, however, let out a light snort. “This isn’t an ordinary phantom mirror. It’s called the King Wen Black Bird Mirror. It’s said to be a treasure passed down through the Quanzhen lineage. Although there are records of it in Daoist texts, it’s been missing for nearly a thousand years. Who would have thought it was buried here! Damn it, could it be that this True Yang Position wasn’t naturally formed but was created by a ritual instrument?”

At this thought, Yao Wei immediately realized that this mirror was inherently a Yang object, and it also had the ability to stabilize earth energy and alter fate. Burying such a mirror in a suitable location would naturally allow it to absorb the power of the heavenly Yang, generating Li Fire and creating a True Yang Position. The Snake Husk must also be connected to this formation, though it was unclear whether it was a guardian placed by the person who set up the formation or an evil entity that had accidentally arisen. The fact that someone had buried a Quanzhen treasure in such a remote mountain valley was a testament to their grand ambition.

This must have been Sun Yunhe’s doing! Wei Yang also realized that he had once again dreamed of the scene where Sun Yunhe set up the formation. The golden light from earlier must have been the manifestation of the formation’s activation. But why would Sun Yunhe have set up such a thing near the spiritual aperture of Mount Xian? Moreover, in his dream, he had seen three flashes of golden light. Where were the other two?

Yao Wei, however, wasn’t thinking as deeply as Wei Yang. He tightly grasped the mirror. “The Yang energy of this thing is even stronger than top-grade Yangsui. It’s perfect to take with us to help them out! Huh? Wait, something’s wrong! Why has the Yin energy over there suddenly dissipated?”

No matter what, Yao Wei was someone with the gift of spiritual vision. At a glance, he could see that the Yin energy in the direction where Zeng Jingxuan’s team had gone had completely vanished. But just moments ago, they had been in grave danger. How had the situation suddenly improved?

In that brief moment of hesitation, the sound of rapid footsteps suddenly came from the forest. Yao Wei’s expression turned serious, and he raised the stun baton that had fallen to the ground, ready to face the threat. Wei Yang, however, immediately called out, “Brother Qi!”

Sure enough, it was Zhang Xiuqi himself who came running. Seeing that the two at the campsite were unharmed, he slowed his pace. Despite his formidable agility, running through this undeveloped mountain range in the middle of the night had exhausted him. As soon as he stopped, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Wei Yang’s expression darkened. He rushed over and grabbed the Little Celestial Master’s arm. “You’re injured!”

The wound from the Suihou Sword’s slash had not yet stopped bleeding, and drops of blood were still falling. It had only been a few hours since they entered the mountains, and yet they were already in such a sorry state. Without a word, Wei Yang dragged Zhang Xiuqi over to the backpack to tend to his wound. Meanwhile, Yao Wei averted his gaze, hesitated for a moment, and then quickly walked in the direction Zhang Xiuqi had come from. Sure enough, he hadn’t gone far before he saw Zeng Jingxuan walking slowly out of the forest.

Yao Wei immediately asked, “Did you run into trouble? Are you injured?”

“Someone set up a Nightmare Wood Formation. It took some effort to deal with. What happened on your end?” Zeng Jingxuan didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point.

Hearing his voice, Yao Wei’s brow furrowed. Had he used True Saliva? But the injury on his tongue wouldn’t heal so quickly. Still, the matter at hand was more important. Without hesitation, he handed over the bronze mirror he had been holding. “Wei Yang dug this up from over there just now. It’s likely the King Wen Black Bird Mirror. It seems someone set up a grand formation here.”

“What?” This was beyond Zeng Jingxuan’s expectations. He immediately took the mirror, examined it closely, and then strode over to Wei Yang. “Ah Yang, what exactly happened just now?!”

After bandaging the wound on Zhang Xiuqi’s arm, Wei Yang finally felt at ease. He carefully recounted the dream he had just experienced, including the words he had heard.

After listening, Zeng Jingxuan frowned. “You dreamed of Sun Yunhe setting up a formation here? Could it be that he knew this spiritual aperture would undergo a change and deliberately set up this formation? But this formation doesn’t seem like an evil one…”

Not to mention the phrase “A thousand years later, there should be no major issues.” Looking at the ritual instrument that had been buried, this was clearly a formation meant to stabilize earth energy. If the formation had functioned normally, it should have prevented the transformation of the spiritual aperture. But Sun Yunhe wasn’t that kind of person. How had he suddenly changed his ways?

Yao Wei, however, furrowed his brow. “Are you saying that this Sun Yunhe guy set up a formation to prevent the transformation of the spiritual aperture? Then why did the formation fail? Could it be the work of those people?”

Zeng Jingxuan gently shook his head. “The situation might be the opposite. The formation lost its effectiveness first, and then the spiritual aperture underwent a qualitative change, which those people discovered and exploited. As for why the formation failed…”

He glanced at the distant mountains and let out a sigh. “It was probably due to the tourism development.”

Everyone present was smart enough to immediately understand what he meant. Feng shui and fortune were most susceptible to environmental changes. There was no such thing as an eternally auspicious site. Mountains could collapse, rivers could dry up, and a single earthquake could completely alter the landscape. Thus, no matter how powerful a dragon vein was, it couldn’t ensure the eternal existence of a dynasty. This was why there was a saying in feng shui that “fortune changes every three hundred years.”

The same principle applied to this grand formation. No matter how much effort Sun Yunhe had put into it or how much earth energy he had altered, once the construction teams entered the mountains for tourism development, all of it became as fleeting as the moon’s reflection in water. When the formation he had set up was broken, the spiritual aperture that had been suppressed naturally underwent a transformation, and over the course of a few years, it experienced a Yin-Yang reversal, which was then discovered and exploited by those people. This was how such a bizarre situation had arisen.

After listening to Zeng Jingxuan’s explanation, Wei Yang pondered for a moment. “But the items Sun Yunhe used to set up the formation should still be here, right? Like the Black Bird Mirror we just dug up? If this mirror can counter the Nightmare Wood Formation now that it’s been unearthed, wouldn’t digging up the other two items allow us to destroy the Soul Stealing Grand Formation?”

“That should be possible,” Zeng Jingxuan replied with certainty. “After that earlier incident, the other side has likely already discovered our presence. There’s no way to take them by surprise or set up an ambush now. Our only option is to confront them head-on!”

But to confront them head-on, they needed the means to do so. With just the four of them, they had all suffered injuries just dealing with a Nightmare Wood Formation and Snake Husk, let alone facing off against an old monster skilled in the Jiangtou arts. Only by obtaining the treasures Sun Yunhe had left behind would they stand a chance.

“Where are the other two items? Did you dream of them, Ah Yang?” Yao Wei pressed.

Wei Yang shook his head. “No, I only saw two flashes of golden light, roughly in the north and west.”

Zeng Jingxuan and Yao Wei exchanged a glance and let out a sigh. “It seems we’ll have to split up and search…”

&&&

Suddenly, a sense of unease jolted Luo Jin awake from his sleep. The chain tied around his wrist had broken—a sign that the Nightmare Wood Formation had been destroyed!

Startled, he quickly got up and was about to report to his master when, just as he stepped out of the tent, he saw a figure standing in the center of the campsite. He couldn’t help but call out, “Master, have you noticed? There seems to be something happening in the outer mountains!”

“I know,” the man he called master chuckled. “I didn’t expect there to be someone capable of breaking the Nightmare Wood Formation. I wonder if it’s the same person who killed your junior brothers.”

Though he was speaking of the deaths of his disciples, there was no trace of sorrow or anger in his voice—only a hint of curiosity. A chill ran down Luo Jin’s spine, as if he were sympathizing with the dead rabbits. But this thought quickly vanished. After all, he was still alive, and being able to participate in this Soul Stealing operation was his guarantee for the next decade. His master had treated him well, and even if he harbored resentment, it wasn’t his place as the survivor to express it.

The master, however, paid no mind to Luo Jin’s thoughts. He simply said, “Since they’ve come, take some men and go greet them. We can’t let these flies ruin our grand plan.”

Luo Jin immediately nodded. “I understand, Master. Please rest assured. I’ll deal with these people as quickly as possible.”

With that, he quickly turned and ran toward the other tents, his speed belying his age. Watching the back of his eldest disciple, the man smiled slightly and leisurely walked toward a nearby clearing. Not far from the clearing was a small lake. Despite it being early summer, the surface of the lake seemed to be covered with a thin layer of ice, obscuring what lay beneath.

He stood by the lake, quietly gazing at the water, then looked up at the sky. Although it wasn’t yet the night of the full moon, the preparations were already complete. Regardless of whether Luo Jin could truly eliminate those people, he should begin the ritual to avoid any unexpected complications. After all, this was a spiritual aperture that had undergone a Yin-Yang reversal—a once-in-a-century opportunity.

Just wait two more hours. With a cold smile, the man turned and walked back toward the campsite.