Chapter 1107: Chapter 616: How Is the Great Ming Venerate Buddha (Double-Length) (2)

After settling the women at the inn, leaving behind Sword Intent, and setting up the barrier, Chen Yi chose to go up the mountain alone.

No matter how Zhu E spoke of it, the Demon Sect was ultimately a dangerous place, and he could not pin his hopes on it, so Chen Yi remained extremely cautious.

"Arrived at Gaoliang Mountain, old thing." Chen Yi said.

Along the way, Chen Yi occasionally conversed with the Old Saintess, who also knew he was impersonating a member of the White Lotus Sect; now she knew he was on the mountain road up Gaoliang Mountain.

Encouraging Chen Yi to seek the Body Reshaping technique was her idea from the start.

"Then, hurry up the mountain, we’ll talk when you reach the mountain gate."

"...Won’t you introduce me?"

"I don’t meet with ordinary disciples, I haven’t been back for who knows how long, even if I do come, no one would recognize me."

The Old Saintess brushed it off, but Chen Yi was skeptical; not recognizing her was true, but if she claimed that was the reason for not introducing him, it was undoubtedly an excuse.

Despite her words, Chen Yi had anticipated this, so he was not concerned.

A Great Saintess, well and fit to go up Gaoliang Mountain, yet hiding in a censer, must surely have reasons unknown to others.

While traveling, the Old Saintess released her Divine Sense, inspecting the familiar scenery around, with a tone tinged with nostalgia; after a moment, she recalled something and said:

"Kid, the technique you’re seeking is simply...Body Reshaping, but the entire cultivation technique is vast, profound, and cherished within this sect—it cannot be easily transmitted."

Chen Yi raised an eyebrow and said: "So, you’re saying I must join the sect?"

"Ha, if joining was all it took to practice, wouldn’t this technique be commonplace already?"

After chuckling, the Old Saintess continued slowly:

"Joining is merely the stepping stone. Our Divine Sect has stood for millennia, with strict rules, and the core Secret Techniques aren’t something ordinary disciples can touch. Even among the elders and protectors, learning this technique requires fate, merit, and heart verification!"

From what he heard, Chen Yi already knew that taking the regular route to join and cultivate would take at least ten years—even for him, unless a shortcut was found.

Thus, seeking convenience became necessary.

Along the picturesque journey, the ancient woods towered, and the ravine was deep.

Extending up the long mountain path, underfoot, past the old Saintess’s panoramic mindset of the scenery, nearing the mountain’s gate archway, she lightly exclaimed.

Chen Yi was perplexed, seeing the mountain gate ahead; even if there was a plot, turning back was without reason.

In two or three strides, he leapt and soared.

Upon landing, Chen Yi steadied himself.

No one forcefully obstructed him,

but,

there was nobody.

The vast mountain gate plaza, where afternoon sunlight should be glaring, appeared pale and weak, coldly spilled on the eerily empty blue stone flooring.

At the plaza’s edge, the sun and moon emblem engraving symbolic of Ming’an Divine Sect was veiled in a thin layer of dust, starkly cold amidst the silence.

Chen Yi’s gaze darted like a hawk.

There were no upright figures of guard disciples holding swords, no bustling footsteps of passing jurisdiction agents, nor incense smoke and the pilgrimage of worshipers. Even the servants who should nap in the plaza’s corner or sweep fallen leaves were gone.

In the stone step crevices, a few clumps of wild grass grew unchecked, unsheared, contributing to the desolation.

Too quiet. Quiet like it wasn’t the territory of a renowned Demon Sect, but an ancient ruins abandoned for ages. The emptiness pressed down even more than a forest of swords, enemy all-around fear.

It seemed they knew he would come, with not a soul in sight.

"..." Inside the censer, the Old Saintess fell into unprecedented silence, the nostalgic ease vanished. Her Divine Sense stretched like invisible tendrils, madly sweeping each plaza corner.

Suddenly, she halted.

Chen Yi also sensed something, and his gaze lifted to find a constant light within the depths of the great hall.

Silhouettes passed before the light, a white-robed priest male circling the flame.

Chen Yi paused for a moment.

The fire flickered, reflecting the figure in the pure white priest robe. He moved slowly, holding a fiery torch encircling the giant eternal lamp at the center of the hall, step by step, endlessly repeated. His steps steady, devoid of human aura, as if part of an ancient ritual continuing for centuries.

Ming’an Divine Sect originated from the Fire Worship Sect, at first glance, nothing peculiar. But Chen Yi’s eyes narrowed, his fingers whitening on the sword hilt.

It wasn’t simple walking.

Every step he took seemed to tread upon some invisible rhythm; as his toes touched the blue stone, the surrounding light dimmed subtly, and when his foot lifted, the brightness returned, contrasting sharply, highlighting even brighter. This alternation of light and shadow was extremely brief, so subtle it eluded the naked eye; only Chen Yi, with his supreme perception, would realize it wasn’t an illusion caused by jittering flames.

After a while, the priest stopped, turning towards him.

The Old Saintess’s breaths lightly paused, the priest’s identity became clear.

Chen Yi slowly said: "Mr. Gongsun?"

The Sect Hierarch of Ming’an Divine Sect, Gongsun Guan.

Gongsun Guan smiled and countered: "Should I address you as Sword Armor Disciple or West Factory Battalion Commander?"

Chen Yi returned a smile and said: "How about Great Ming Venerate Buddha?"

His tone seemed to disdain the previous titles for lack of renown.

Whether West Factory Battalion Commander or Sword Armor Disciple, both were Chen Yi’s identities, indisputable and undeniable, only "Great Ming Venerate Buddha," was entirely presumed and unsubstantiated.

Such audacious blasphemy.

If ardent followers overheard, they might already advance to slay this beast.

Surprisingly, this audacious blasphemy, did not provoke the Sect Hierarch to strike him down instantly, nor did it cause a submission and pledge of allegiance—Gongsun Guan merely lowered the fiery torch without mention.

He scrutinized Chen Yi and said, "You didn’t bring Purity Saintess."

Chen Yi knew he referred to Yin Tingxue, shrugged, and responded: "There’s another one here, isn’t it?"

His tone was casual, like jesting, yet Gongsun Guan seriously shook his head, saying, "The timing isn’t right for a return; she needs thirty years to guard the dead tree."

Chen Yi was unfamiliar with sect affairs, thus held no opinion.

What mattered more was the Demon Sect’s Sect Hierarch across him now.

After meeting the tenth Blind Arrow, ninth Zhou Yitang, sixth Broken Swordsman, and now the seventh Gongsun Guan, nearly half of the Martial Arts List’s top ten had crossed his path—for an ordinary martial artist, it’s a lifetime fortunate encounter, yet for Chen Yi, it was daunting rather than thrilling.

The world’s top ten are not merely the highest martial skills; they were also the toughest ten to deal with, Chen Yi mused.

Gongsun Guan watched Chen Yi; the middle-aged man’s eyes were profound like an abyss, also resembling a still ancient well, after a while, he regretfully said: "Somewhat alike, yet not quite."

Listening to such ambiguous speak, Chen Yi waved dismissively, "Let’s not talk about the nonsensical; you knew through divination I’d come, so surely you know what I want."

Gongsun Guan nodded, "I know, but I can’t simply give it to you." The torch flame burned beside him, making his face seem distortedly unclear, he continued: "The ’Body Reshaping technique’ you seek is called ’Morphing Technique,’ one of the core Chapters in the supreme scripture of our sect, ’Proof of the Past Scripture.’ It’s not simply reshaping muscles and bones—it’s based on Light and Dark Qi, seizing the world’s workings, reshaping origins, even...touching a thread of the Yin Yang Birth and Death mystery. Such a magic skill, cannot be easily transmitted."

After hearing, observing Gongsun Guan, Chen Yi captured the crucial point, jested:

"Not easily transmitted, yet transmitted nonetheless?"

"Exactly."