This place was ominous—what one saw with the naked eye might not be the true face of the Yellow Mud Ship. Li Weiyi once again invoked his Heavenly Insight Mind Technique. At the same time, all the golden scarlet meridians on his body appeared, shattering illusions and returning all falsehoods to truth.
In his field of vision, a jade-white auspicious glow started to rise. The underground riverbed remained dry as ever, but under his feet the Yellow Mud Ship transformed into a pristine, immaculate magical tool—a Jade Boat. The boat was over thirty meters long, its gleaming, precious light enveloping the surrounding heaven and earth.
The Jade Boat was crystal clear and intricately constructed, with countless magical instruments and mystical inscriptions shifting inside.
“This… now this is truly the sacred vessel used by a provincial governor-level figure. The decay of the Yellow Mud Ship was mere illusion, not its true form. This sacred grand boat must be of very high rank!”
Suppressing the astonishment in his heart, Li Weiyi couldn’t help but wonder what level of cultivation that governor from a thousand years ago might have reached. What he had seen before were all mere phantasms.
The true governor’s Seal wasn’t kept in a treasure box at all—it was as huge as a grinding bowl, over two meters in height, placed at the prow. It silently released an imposing majesty. The purple flesh cactus, in reality, grew at the tip of the governor’s Seal, its nourishing flesh gleaming and fragrant.
The magical energy of heaven and earth condensed into streams visible even to the naked eye, ceaselessly converging toward the governor’s Seal and then being absorbed by the flesh cactus.
"Swish!"
Li Weiyi swung his sword and chopped off a piece of the medicinal flesh, handing it over to Yin Ershisi.
“Take it and have Yao Yin swallow it!”
Near the governor’s Seal on the ground lay an ancient skeleton that stirred from its sleep. Its skull lifted, fixedly staring at Li Weiyi. Then, its bones creaked loudly as it slowly rose.
Li Weiyi’s scalp almost burst from shock and he stepped back quickly.
“Surely it is a malevolent creature.”
It must have been this living skeleton, not completely dead, that had led him here. The skeleton, wearing a purple Yunlong official robe, did not show any vicious intent upon rising, nor did it attack. Instead, it tidied its official attire, raised both hands to cover its knees, and respectfully knelt before Li Weiyi.
In a loud, earnest voice, it declared, “I am Zhu Qinfeng, Governor of Yanzhou, humbly paying my respects to the Son of Heaven.” With a heavy thud, its skull hit the ground.
Its voice, slightly aged though it did not come from a mouth, seemed to emanate from deep within its bones or perhaps from the very space between heaven and earth.
Had it not been for Yin Ershisi and Yao Yin still on the boat, Li Weiyi would have wanted nothing more than to bolt away; his sword nearly slipping from his grasp. This skeletal remnant, emanating terror through its mysterious origin, had clearly mistaken him for someone else!
Yin Ershisi, unable to see the true scene or to hear the true sound, held Yao Yin in her arms, feeding her precious medicinal pill. Li Weiyi slowly began to retreat with them while keeping his battle sword ready and assuming a defensive stance.
The skeleton on its knees lifted its head and lamented in a hoarse, sorrowful tone, “In the five-year great war, Yanzhou fell into the hands of the departed spirits of the dead. Darkness swallowed the light. I led all the military and civilians to defend the governor’s city, fighting bitterly for yet another three years, always awaiting reinforcements.
But the fifteen rescue teams we dispatched never returned word.”
“For three years of siege, with one hundred and thirty-two battles of various scales, the city ran out of water and provisions. Out of a million citizens, only eighty thousand remained.”
“I am guilty! I led those eighty thousand wounded and fleeing from the Ancient Riverbed beneath the earth, abandoning our city, and Yanzhou fell… Alas… woe is me…”
Li Weiyi felt the desolation and grief emanating from the skeleton; he could hear the helplessness and pain woven in its tone. Touched by that sentiment, his fear gradually lessened as he wondered why the man had mistaken him for the Son of Heaven.
That governor of Yanzhou, Zhu Qinfeng, surely held in his heart a Son of Heaven—undoubtedly it was Chan Sect Guanwu. So why would he think that Li Weiyi was Chan Sect Guanwu? The kneeling skeleton continued, “After entering the Ancient Riverbed beneath, our forces were attacked by the charred spirit armies.
We fled here; one by one, all eighty thousand perished in battle. At my final, gravely wounded moment, I left behind this single strand of intent within the governor’s official robe, waiting for the Son of Heaven to come and receive all the truth. Even in death, I would have no regrets.”
After finishing his last words, there came a sharp cracking of bones in his shoulders and neck, and then he collapsed, completely silent.
“So in the end, he only left behind a strand of thought, waiting for that Son of Heaven in his mind.”
All fear drained away from Li Weiyi. With overflowing emotion, he stepped forward, suddenly feeling a certain admiration in his heart. Even after exhausting everything, Yanzhou had still fallen.
A thousand-year-old strand of thought awaited only the sovereign. Only upon seeing the sovereign would the skeleton draw its last breath. The spiritual position master, who had been monitoring the outside world with mental energy, spoke from within the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish, “If I’m not mistaken, Chan Sect Guanwu left something on you.
That is why Zhu Qinfeng mistook you for her.” Li Weiyi nodded slightly and strained his memory to recall every encounter with Chan Sect Guanwu, not letting any detail slip by. Even if something had been left behind, it must be his own blood essence absorbed by her.
“What could it be?” he murmured.
The spiritual master continued, “Chan Sect Guanwu’s cultivation far surpasses ours, reaching a level that the three of us cannot even begin to fathom. Her methods are exceedingly secretive and ingenious. But at this stage she is extremely weak, while your cultivation is rapidly advancing.
You should be ahead of her now. Find her quickly and resolve the hidden threat.” Images flitted in Li Weiyi’s mind—first, the portrait of a red-robed immortal maiden on a tombstone, then the bone demon within the grave, and finally Qi Shanshan’s figure.
“So she secretly tampered with me.”
Facing Chan Sect Guanwu—the one who stood proudly atop the world—Li Weiyi felt considerable pressure. She was his most formidable enemy, but now was obviously not the time to ponder how to defeat her. The urgent matter was how to escape.
“I understand now, it is the official robe.”
Then Father Coffin’s voice suddenly rang out, “Zhu Qinfeng’s strand of intent borrowed the magical energy within the flesh cactus to activate the governor’s official robe, which then opened the Purple Mist Passage to lead you here. I once served as a governor too.
Even if the official robe falls silent, as long as the fire of intent within it hasn’t been extinguished, it can be used once or twice more.”
“Unique, put on the official robe and use your mind energy to probe whether any spark of Zhu Qinfeng’s intent remains inside. If there is still even a trace, immediately use your magical energy to activate it.”
Li Weiyi withdrew his Heavenly Insight and the golden scarlet meridians on his body faded into darkness. Under his feet, the dazzling light of the magical Jade Boat instantly turned back into the Yellow Mud Ship, blurring the line between reality and illusion.
Only after he had bowed three times and then squatted down did he quickly remove the purple official robe from the skeleton’s body. Every second was precious, and he shouted urgently, “You take Yao Yin and get off the ship—wait for me!”
Yin Ershisi didn’t quite understand, but guessing that Li Weiyi had found a way to escape, she immediately scooped up Yao Yin and jumped off the Yellow Mud Ship. Li Weiyi quickly donned the purple official robe. It was embroidered with cloud and dragon patterns at the chest and back, with wide sleeves decorated with silver buckles.
A broad woven belt, inlaid with rare gemstones and jade pendants, encircled his waist. The official robe could automatically shrink or expand to suit the wearer’s physique.
“Whoosh!”
He put on his official cap and, with both hands forming finger seals, released his mind energy, which flowed into the official robe like spiritual light. Using his mind to sense, he instantly saw that the inside of the official robe was like a vast, dark cosmos.
In his mental vision, amid the darkness he could see scattered sparks—the remnants of Zhu Qinfeng’s intent, quickly dissipating and extinguishing.
“Excellent! As long as those sparks haven’t completely died out, we can activate the official robe once more.”
Li Weiyi leaped off the Yellow Mud Ship. Disregarding concerns about exposure, he summoned the spatial power of the Buddha’s Relics to draw the entire ship into a realm of blood and mud. Yin Ershisi was stunned as she witnessed the Yellow Mud Ship vanish into thin air.
With a sudden shudder of his arms, Li Weiyi’s eight spring-like energy centers burst forth with magical power that streamed into the official robe on his body. The vast, empty space within the robe was like a bottomless pit that could hardly be filled.
Watching the sparks of Zhu Qinfeng’s intent quickly extinguish, sweat beaded on Li Weiyi’s forehead as he shouted, “What are you waiting for? Get over here and pour all your magical energy into the official robe!” Yin Ershisi snapped back to attention and wordlessly approached him, pressing her palm against his chest to channel her surging magical energy into him.
“No, the governor’s official robe has already fallen silent. My magical energy just isn’t enough to reinvigorate it,” she said.
“Then why can I do it?”
Li Weiyi muttered to himself, his eyes flickering with doubt as he wondered, “Could it be that this is related again to what Chan Sect Guanwu left inside me?” Without time to ponder further, Li Weiyi employed the Jade Void Breathing Technique, driving each of his eight energy springs to their utmost, his entire body illuminated by magical energy.
The magical qi turned into a brilliant halo of clouds that surrounded him.
“His magical power and qi are really entering the governor’s official robe. Could it be that he is a descendant of Chan Sect Guanwu? But I never heard that she had a partner—how could there be offspring?”
Yin Ershisi pondered in disbelief.
Boom!
Strands of purple mist spilled over the official robe, transforming into clusters of purple clouds. Li Weiyi’s face broke into ecstatic joy as he shouted, “Follow me!” Grabbing Yin Ershisi by the arm, the three of them vanished into the purple mist.
Whoosh!
In the very next moment, the three returned to a completely dark spider cave. The sound of an underground blood river flowing reached their ears. Yin Ershisi produced a Bloodlight Gem, illuminating the surroundings, and let out a long sigh of relief, “We’ve finally come back!
How did you manage that? How did you know the governor’s official robe could bring us back? And why can your magical power activate it?”
Inside the official robe, Zhu Qinfeng’s intent had completely extinguished, and Li Weiyi’s magical power could no longer be infused into it. The purple mist that had enveloped the robe quickly dissipated. Li Weiyi did not answer Yin Ershisi’s questions immediately; instead, he looked around.
The Grey Ash Region had vanished without a trace, as if it had never even appeared. Had he not been wearing the governor’s official robe, he might have suspected that everything was merely an illusion. Ahead on the stone wall lay a cave roughly the size of a face.
Cobwebs filled the area around it. He could sense the fluctuations of aura from the Four-Winged Spider King deep inside the cave. The intelligent Spider King, having detected the presence of a martial cultivator from the Five Seas Realm, had hidden deep within, not daring to show itself.
Li Weiyi shook his head in disappointment. He had even learned the insect script from his spiritual master, planning to capture the Four-Winged Spider King and give it to Senior Sister Cai. But it hadn’t dared to show its head—clearly even fierce insects could be cowed by strength.
Riding a flat boat, driven by Yin Ershisi’s magical qi, they traveled upstream. After emerging from the spider cave, Li Weiyi removed the official robe from his body. Carefully arranged, he said in a calm yet menacing tone, “Everything you saw today must remain dead in the water.
If a third… or a fourth person finds out, you know the kind of consequences that will follow.” Standing at the bow, Yin Ershisi furrowed her brows, “That’s all you have—just one threat? I feel that if your secret gets out, it will trigger a storm in the martial world.”
“You can try telling Lord Yin! I promise I will live well, but you… you might not!”
Li Weiyi added, “I won’t kill people to silence them. I trust you with it.” Yin Ershisi’s heart stirred a little, but she quickly suppressed the lift at the corner of her mouth and said in a solemn tone, “I do feel uneasy.
This matter is strange, especially since that Grey Ash Region did not appear to be very far away. It should be reported to Lord Yin.” Li Weiyi did not believe her.
With his current cultivation and the power of the official robe, he could easily traverse the vast underground space. In agreement with her deduction, the Grey Ash Region was likely nearby.
“Then let’s make up a story first. We’ll coordinate our testimonies, and only tell Lord Yin what he needs to know.”
Li Weiyi looked at Yin Ershisi with concern and added, “Lord Yin was the clandestine figure of the last Jiazi cycle, and I am the clandestine figure of this Jiazi cycle. You must obey me and not him.” Yin Ershisi rolled her eyes inwardly, wishing she could tell him, “You’re not even the clandestine person!”
Li Weiyi noticed a subtle movement in Yao Yin’s eyes beneath her lids and said, “Since you’ve awakened, stop pretending. Let the three of us give a joint account. Most likely, you are Yin Ershisi Twenty-Six, and from now on you’ll be under my command.
You all know better than I do the fate that awaits traitors of the clandestine sect.” Yao Yin sat up. The cracking patterns on her skin had completely disappeared, her skin returning to soft, moist delicacy.
The medicinal power of the flesh cactus had indeed suppressed the icy aura of her inner spirit. In a sweet, melodious tone she said, “Very well, I, Yao Yin, pledge my life to serve the clandestine master.” Li Weiyi nodded in satisfaction.
“What a grand display of official authority! No wonder they say that once you wear the official robe, you can never take it off for life!”
Yin Ershisi commented in a wry tone.
(End of Chapter)