Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World-Chapter 1222 - 540: Entering the Great Array, Star Chessboard (Part 2)
Lord Ni Chang looked somewhat dejected: "But we only have the token to enter, not the one to return."
This was indeed a problem.
Zheng Fa turned his head to look, and saw this planet was barren, without a blade of grass, utterly uninhabited, as if it had been desolate for tens of thousands of years.
The two of them found themselves in a place where neither heaven nor earth would respond to their calls.
Zheng Fa sensed for a moment, then heaved a sigh of relief; his connection with the Heavenly Emperor Body remained intact.
After a while, he frowned again.
"What’s the matter, Master Zheng?"
"The time in this place is very odd..."
"Time is odd?" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
"It speeds up and slows down." He paused, then explained, "Compared to Xuanwei, the time here sometimes seems to pause, and at other times, it is a hundred times faster than Xuanwei."
Lord Ni Chang, being present, felt nothing, but Zheng Fa, with the Heavenly Emperor Body to compare, experienced it deeply.
It was as if he was watching two screens, one playing smoothly, while the other was crazily pausing, fast-forwarding, and then slowing down, making it incredibly frustrating to watch.
Lord Ni Chang’s expression changed slightly as she began to find the place increasingly eerie. She frowned as she looked around and murmured, "Lady Water Mother should have also been here, yet we have no idea where they are now, nor have they left any message for us..."
Hearing this, Zheng Fa’s heart stirred, and he offered up the Mandarin Duck Treasure Mirror gifted by the Nine Nether Emperor.
As expected, as soon as the treasure mirror appeared, it seemed to be attracted by some unknown presence and flew off in a certain direction.
Zheng Fa and Ni Chang exchanged a glance and followed the treasure mirror, flying for about an hour. The treasure mirror then stood still in the void, and Immortal Lingxi suddenly walked out from the mirror, landing in the void and bowing forward.
A palace appeared from the void, facing the three of them.
"Lingxi..."
From deep within the palace came a long sigh, followed by two female immortals walking out.
"Lady Taiyin! Lady Qingnv!" Lord Ni Chang exclaimed in delight.
Zheng Fa looked at the two Yaochi Golden Immortals.
Lady Qingnv’s face was that of a young girl, her attire similar to that of Lord Ni Chang, with a tube top and short skirt, she exuded a sense of wildness.
Taiyin Fairy, on the other hand, appeared as a woman in her thirties, bearing an aura of high purity and indifference, her attire ancient and magnificent, looking somewhat aloof and unfriendly.
Taiyin Fairy nodded to the two of them, then looked at the true spirit of Immortal Lingxi, and after a long while, sighed once more: "Indeed, it is false..."
"Lady Taiyin, where is Lady Water Mother?"
Taiyin Fairy did not answer Lord Ni Chang’s question but pointed at Zheng Fa, asking: "Who is he?"
"This is Zheng Fa, the Sect Leader of Jiushan Sect, he..."
"Jiushan Sect? Zheng Fa?" Disappointment appeared deeply on Taiyin Fairy’s face as she waved her hand to interrupt Lord Ni Chang’s words, "What a pity..."
"What is the pity..."
"He is not the one we are waiting for."
Lord Ni Chang widened her eyes in sudden comprehension: "Was it you, Lady Taiyin, who led us here?"
"I was waiting for the true Lingxi." Taiyin Fairy shook her head, her face returning to indifference, and led the two of them inside.
After they sat down in the main hall, Taiyin Fairy explained, "When Lady Water Mother disappeared and Yaochi Immortal Realm was destroyed, we realized there was an issue with Lingxi of that year, hence we came searching."
"I left clues, hoping to wait for the Nine Nether, or even... Tianhe to come."
Only then did Zheng Fa understand.
This Taiyin Fairy had a keen mind; she had likely discerned what Lu Yao had done, thus concluding that only the true Lingxi was trustworthy, and behind the true Lingxi stood the two of the Nine Nether Emperor.
Taiyin Fairy was waiting for these two.
Zheng Fa’s arrival undoubtedly left her greatly disappointed.
"Nine Nether Emperor, Tianhe Venerable?" Lord Ni Chang still couldn’t comprehend, "Lady Taiyin, you are waiting for them? What about Lady Water Mother? What about Lady Rangsui?"
Taiyin Fairy and Qingnv exchanged a glance, their expressions turning somewhat somber.
"Lady Water Mother is trapped within the All Heaven Stars Formation, we haven’t located her." Taiyin said bluntly, "As for Rangsui, we put her into chaos, her whereabouts unknown."
"Thrown into chaos..."
Lord Ni Chang’s face changed slightly.
"Has there been turmoil in Yaochi?"
"Yes, Jile Heavenly Girl has attained the Golden Immortal, and Yaochi has already become a vassal of Leiyin Temple."
"Just as expected." Taiyin Fairy shook her head and said, "Although we can’t sense the situation of Xuanwei, in recent days we have been frequently going off course in our cultivations, feeling restless, with constant chanting echoing in our minds..."
Indeed, the foundation is most emphasized in Divine Dao Skill, and now with Buddhist temples all over Yaochi, Taiyin Fairy and her group have been greatly affected.
"Although the three of us have our own Golden Immortal Daoist Fields and initially could resist, Rangsui was different after all, so affected by the Buddhist Sect that we had no choice but to send her into chaos..."
Zheng Fa thought for a while and understood. Among the Three Immortals of Yaochi, not to mention Taiyin Fairy, Qingnv, an Innate True Spirit, had a different foundation.
But Rangsui Goddess was the purest in Divine Dao Skill, thus the most affected.
"And precisely because of this, we have been severely injured, our foundations unstable, not daring to easily show ourselves, let alone enter the great array."
"Thus, we wanted to wait for the Nine Nether Emperor to come, to resolve our predicament."
Now Zheng Fa fully grasped Taiyin Fairy’s thinking, she didn’t even trust the people of Yaochi anymore, thus went into hiding, meaning only Immortal Lingxi’s True Spirit found her.
Evidently, the arrival of Zheng Fa and Lord Ni Chang shattered Taiyin Fairy’s hope.
Although she had heard of his name, having never set foot in this era of Xuanwei, she couldn’t possibly trust a mere Independent Immortal such as himself.
Lord Ni Chang understood as well, urgently saying, "Lady Taiyin, Master Zheng has exceptional talent; even the Nine Nether Emperor has joined the Jiushan Sect. If he came here, he would definitely be of help."
Taiyin Fairy gave Zheng Fa a glance, shook her head, appearing somewhat skeptical as she suddenly asked, "You came for the Taiyin Moon Laurel, right?"
"..."
"The aura of Fusang Wood on you might fool others but not me." Taiyin Fairy shook her head, "You want to cultivate using the essence of the Taiyin Moon Laurel?"
"The Fairy is correct."
"No." Taiyin Fairy decisively said, "The essence of the Moon Laurel is exceedingly precious, I have never bestowed it upon others, let alone am I now seriously injured, I can’t afford to lose even the slightest bit of essence."
Zheng Fa fell silent.
In her current state, Taiyin Fairy indeed found it hard to agree to this matter.
He did not persist stubbornly but merely asked: "Then why do the two of you not seek out Lady Water Mother?"
"Because of the All Heaven Stars Formation."
Qingnv interjected, "We tried and almost got trapped in the formation... It was still thanks to Taiyin’s deep understanding of the array that we could extricate ourselves."
Speaking of it, Taiyin Fairy happened to correspond to the Moon God, making her connection with the All Heaven Stars Formation significant.
Lord Ni Chang hurriedly asked, "Is the All Heaven Stars Formation really that formidable?"
"This is not the complete All Heaven Stars Formation, but a remnant array, possibly not even a tenth of the original great array. No one knows who shattered it back then."
Taiyin Fairy’s tone was somewhat nostalgic.
"Now, with only thirty-six stars within the array, even we cannot break it."
Hearing this, Qingnv suddenly began to complain: "You talked of breaking the formation? I couldn’t move beyond the fifth move in that chess game."
"Chess game?" Lord Ni Chang was taken aback and asked, "What chess game?"
Taiyin Fairy pointed in the void, and the scenery within the hall transformed. They found themselves seemingly amidst a starry sky, surrounded by thirty-six chess pieces resembling stars.
"This is a starry chess game I deduced while observing the remnant array." Taiyin Fairy introduced, "If one could set these thirty-six stars within, forming an array, and open the Life Gate, we would have a chance to break the array and rescue Lady Water Mother."
Zheng Fa gazed at the thirty-six pieces, noticing the runes inscribed on them varied in size.
"We’ve tried countless times, yet the most we managed was eight moves."
"Breaking the formation remains distant and elusive."
