A dozen years ago.
During a patrol, the Li family's law enforcement team accidentally caught a young demon cultivator couple.
The demon cultivators were the public enemies of the orthodox monks, so the Li family would not be polite. They would capture them, lock them up, and torture them to extract confessions and interrogate them about the purpose of sneaking into Li Kingdom.
Unexpectedly, this torture turned out to be an unexpected surprise.
The demon cultivator couple actually came from the distant Jing Kingdom in the Central Plains. They spent several years traveling through most of the southwest countries, crossing thousands of rivers and mountains, and going through many hardships before arriving at the Li Kingdom.
And their goal in lingering in the Li Kingdom is to obtain the inheritance of an elder of the clan, and use this as an opportunity to achieve foundation building——
The elder in their clan was the famous Master Wan He in the Li Kingdom.
"The demon cultivator couple..."
Zhang Yao's expression moved slightly, and he instantly thought of the pair of male and female monks back then.
At that time, it was those two people who first came to his shop and showed the incomplete second-order formation diagram, and then within a few days, the Li family invited him over.
Now it seems that his original judgment was correct. The male and female monks did indeed die in the hands of the Li family. However, Zhang Yao did not expect that they were also demon cultivators and came all the way from Jingguo.
"You go on."
Zhang Yao raised his chin and motioned for him to continue.
"More on..."
Li Changlin paused and continued:
"After interrogating the location of Master Wanhe's cave, I went there myself and confirmed that the news was true."
"Immediately afterwards, I silenced the demon cultivator couple and teamed up with my cousin to try to break through the formation protecting the cave. However, I was repulsed by the formation and was almost injured."
"Later, we found several formation masters, trying to figure out the complete formation diagram of the Dongfu formation and how to crack it..."
When he said this, he suddenly got stuck and his heart was shocked.
He suddenly remembered that the Li family was not the only one who knew about this——
The Tiandun Sect has always been well concealed by them, but among the formation masters they recruited back then, one named 'Zhang Qing' ran away early, and he might have guessed part of the truth.
This is the only outsider outside their control who might know.
"Could it be...that this person was brought here by Zhang Qing?"
Li Changlin had some guesses in his mind, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He could only continue to recount his experiences over the years.
The protective formation in Zhenren Wanhe's cave was even more powerful than they expected.
It took more than ten years to crack almost half of it, but it was still far away from breaking the entire formation.
"Is it……"
After Zhang Yao heard what he said, his eyes flashed and he asked:
"Then the demon cultivator couple you caught back then, don't they know more clues to break the formation?"
"they do not know."
Li Changlin shook his head and said:
"They said he was a descendant of Taoist Wanhe. In fact, they have never met Taoist Wanhe, but they only knew about such an uncle from his family."
"The situation of those two people in Jingguo was not very good. They originally planned to come over to seek refuge with Taoist Wanhe, but unexpectedly, Liguo learned the news that he was dead."
"So they changed their plan temporarily and planned to find the inheritance of Zhenren Wanhe, use it to build the foundation, and then return to Jingguo."
When Zhang Yao heard this, he suddenly understood.
The demon cultivator couple originally had a good plan, but unfortunately they were too unlucky and fell into the hands of the Li family, ending up as desperate mandarin ducks.
However, he still had a doubt in his mind:
Jing Guoyuan is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, which is almost two hundred thousand miles away. There is still a high chance that the two Qi Refining monks successfully crossed south and did not die on the way.
But Wanhe Zhenren ran away from Dali more than a hundred years ago, went to Li State incognito, and remained hidden in the cave for many years after his death.
It stands to reason that all traces of him have been almost eliminated long ago, and it is difficult for anyone to trace him after a hundred years.
How did the two Qi Refining Demon Cultivators track them all the way to Li Country, and even find the cave he left behind so smoothly?
After he asked this question, Li Changlin immediately explained:
"Is such that."
"According to my original interrogation, I learned that not only do they come from the same family, but they also come from the same demon cultivator organization - the 'Illuminati'."
"Although Zhenren Wanhe has basically severed contact with his family, he still maintains close contact with the Illuminati and left many clues."
"They followed the relevant traces in this area and tracked them all the way to the real cave of Master Wanhe..."
After saying that, Li Changlin paused and added:
"But that couple of demon cultivators are just low-level minions of the Illuminati. They rely on their family connections to get into the group. They don't know much about the Illuminati."
"After we determined that no new information could be obtained through torture, we silenced them..."
His voice became weaker and weaker, and finally he couldn't help it, and he begged in a low voice:
"Fellow Taoist, I've told you everything you want to know. I don't dare to hide anything!"
"I hope fellow Taoist fellow Taoist can spare me and the Li family for once, and show your noble hand. Fellow Taoist Taoist can take all of the hundreds of years of accumulation and wealth of my Li family."
Zhang Yao was noncommittal and slowly said:
"You are a person who appreciates promotion, which is good."
"Next, I will search your soul. As long as I verify that you are not lying, I will naturally spare your life."
After the words fell, the light of the lost soul reappeared, and before Li Changlin had time to react, he passed out again.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Yao put a hand on his head and used the secret soul-searching method. His powerful spiritual thoughts penetrated into the sea of consciousness and read through his memories.
"Well...yes, it's all real information."
Zhang Yao quickly verified the authenticity of the information and showed a satisfied smile.
In Li Changlin's memory, there are more details about Wanhe Cave Mansion, including detailed records of previous breakthroughs, which also brought great convenience to Zhang Yao's subsequent breakthroughs.
I have to say that the two foundation-building monks of the Li family still have their own tricks.
By using substitutes, disguises, and taking turns to sit in charge, they managed to hide it from the Tiandun Sect and their own family for more than ten years without making them suspicious.
Given time, as long as no accidents occur, after they break through the formation of Wanhe Cave, they might be able to use this wave of accumulation to soar into the sky, defeat their rival Tiandu Sect, and truly dominate a country.
Unfortunately, all this became a dream after Zhang Yao arrived.
"Go!"
Zhang Yao shook his sleeves and casually produced a spell.
The five-color haze spurting out from his sleeves instantly condensed into a five-color rope, which automatically flew up and tied Li Changlin tightly.
This is the rope of life and death that he simulated with the "Thousand-Change Glazed Qi". While the binding power is stronger, the effectiveness of suppressing vitality is also about 90% of the original version. It is naturally more than enough to control Li Changlin in the early stage of foundation building. .
"gone."
Zhang Yao put Li Changlin into his storage bag and quietly left the meditation room deep in the mansion.
He ignored all the formations, sneaked into Li's treasure house, picked out a dozen of the most precious treasures and put them in his bag, then fled away.
More than an hour later, Zhang Yao crossed more than two thousand miles and arrived in the vast mountains in the southern part of Li Kingdom.
Following Li Changlin's memory, he quickly crossed the majestic mountains and arrived at the sky above an unknown valley deep in the mountains.
In the valley:
Three small thatched cottages stand beside the stream, leaning against each other.
In the tallest thatched cottage in the middle, a middle-aged monk with a dark complexion and a slender figure was sitting cross-legged, meditating and breathing in refining energy.
In the thatched cottages on both sides were Li Yuanhui, who belonged to the Mangshan Li family, and Zhuo Taoist, who once served for the Wanhe League.
More than ten years have passed, and Li Yuanhui has not changed much. On the contrary, Taoist Zhuo has become increasingly old and lifeless. It is obvious that his lifespan is not far away.
"Why……"
Taoist Zhuo was sitting cross-legged on the cloud couch, but he was not meditating and refining his Qi. Instead, his mind was surging:
"If I had known earlier, I should have stayed far away and should not have been involved in this muddy water."
He was in a depressed mood at the moment, regretting that his intestines were blue:
"Maybe I should learn from Zhang Qing and run away from Li State as soon as possible. Isn't that like letting the birds fly?"
"It's okay now, I'll pay for the rest of my life!"
More than ten years ago, after he received the instructions from Li to build the foundation, he did not dare to disobey and could only come obediently.
But who knows:
Zhang Qing's sudden escape made the Li family very angry and at the same time alert. They first sent people to control him, and then directly placed him here avoiding the eyes and ears of Tiandu Sect.
After arriving here, he finally knew that the Li family's goal was the cave left behind by Taoist Wanhe, but it was obviously too late to regret it at this time.
For more than ten years after that, he had no freedom and was imprisoned here, literally becoming a broken slave.
"Um?"
At this moment, Taoist Zhuo's expression suddenly changed, and he felt frightened.
"what happened……"
Before he could react, a forest-white light fell from the sky, instantly shocking his soul, causing his vision to go black, and he fainted completely.
"Crunch."
The wooden door of the thatched cottage was pushed open, and Zhang Yaoshi walked in. He held his head with one hand and used the secret soul-searching method.
"Hmm, not bad."
After a while, Zhang Yao removed the secret technique with satisfaction and took back his palm.
After more than ten years of painstaking study, this Taoist Zhuo's formation attainments have finally broken through the bottleneck and reached the second level, which is completely different from what he was more than ten years ago.
From this point of view, his previous estimate was wrong. After Zhuo Taoist breaks through the formation level, the speed of breaking the formation will be greatly shortened, and it may only take a few years.
"It's better to come early than to come by chance."
Zhang Yao sighed with emotion, turned around and left, going to another thatched cottage to search for souls.
Two quarters of an hour later:
Li Changqi, Li Changlin, Zhuo Daoren, and Li Yuanhui were all lying neatly on the ground, with their eyes closed and unconscious.
"Uh-huh!"
Zhang Yao cast a spell, and the five-color rope suspended in the air changed again. After stretching to an extremely long length, the four people were tied up together.
This is the power of Qianbian Liuli Qi. It can be changed at will and used to deal with various different situations.
The original life-and-death rope can only bind one person at a time. Although its effectiveness is more targeted, its flexibility is far inferior to the imitation made of Qianqian Glaze Qi.
After dealing with the four people, Zhang Yaofei took off and rode the light to the depths of the Nameless Valley.
"Rumble..."
On the cliff more than ten feet high, a small waterfall crashed down. The lake surface was churning, rippled, and there were a lot of white foam and water mist spray.
On the other side of the small lake, there is a natural jade that is about three people high and two people wide. It looks flawless and amazingly crafted, which is breathtaking.
"It's really rare for Master Wan He to find such a treasure."
"Although there is no spiritual vein, there should be a small spiritual spring. Coupled with the beautiful scenery here, it is indeed a good place for retirement and seclusion."
Zhang Yao made some comments, came to the jade, and gently stretched out his palm.
"boom!"
There was a sudden thunder on the ground, and layers of bluish-white luster spread out on the jade, and it struck like angry thunder.
Zhang Yao looked calm, and he casually pushed out a palm, powerful magic power swept out, and instantly eliminated most of the blue and white lightning.
The remaining lightning struck Zhang Yao's palm, only sparking a speck of golden light, which was then feebly eliminated.
"Well, yes, the formation circulation here is indeed..."
With the help of this test, Zhang Yao penetrated the formation with his spiritual thoughts to observe and check the operation of the spirit pattern formation.
With his strength, if he holds the Thousand Changes Glazed Qi and is at full strength, even if he breaks through this formation, he is sure to be able to break through it. Naturally, he will not be as fearful as the two of the Li family, and they will move step by step, resulting in a slow advancement speed. speed.
However, the method of violently breaking the formation is likely to trigger the self-destruction mechanism, resulting in a complete failure. Therefore, if you are not completely sure or the situation is urgent, you should not use it easily.
Therefore, the method he used to break the formation was still the same as that of the Li family, but the speed of advancement was completely different.
"Rumble..."
Waves of lightning flashed, and the roar resounded throughout the valley, continuously.
Zhang Yao quickly figured out the formation operation of Wanhe Cave Mansion through repeated trials and combined with the achievements of the Li family for more than ten years.
Just half a month later, Zhang Yao had obtained the complete formation diagram that the Li family had failed to obtain after more than ten years.
After possessing the complete formation diagram, it was considered that he had passed the most important hurdle. Zhang Yao devoted himself to the deduction for more than ten days and finally deduced a feasible strategy to break the formation.
Just that evening:
"Boom!"
With a thunderous roar, the natural jade stone shattered and disintegrated, revealing a deep cave entrance.
Zhang Yao showed a faint smile, put away the magic formula, waved his sleeves and robe, and strode into the cave.
Inside the cave:
After passing through the entrance passage, there are exquisite and elegant grottoes. It can be clearly seen that they are divided into different functional areas such as treasure room, classics room, quiet room, alchemy room, etc.
Zhang Yao's spiritual thoughts scanned the interior of the cave meticulously inch by inch, trying not to miss any detail so as not to miss the hidden treasure.
"Huh? Found it!"
His expression soon moved slightly, and in his spiritual feedback, he discovered the body that was suspected to be Zhenren Wanhe.
Zhang Yao quickly walked through the passage of the grotto and came to the interior of the grotto that was supposed to be a meditation room. He saw an old Taoist figure with white hair and a childish face and a rosy complexion.
The old Taoist priest sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, as if he was asleep.
But in Zhang Yao's spiritual induction, his body was completely empty. His magic power had dissipated, his energy and blood had dried up, and he had long since lost his vitality.
"A powerful man in the late stage of foundation building would actually die in this kind of horned gada..."
Zhang Yao shook his head secretly, and when he took two steps forward to take a closer look, he suddenly discovered something.
"Huh? This is..."
He looked down and found that something had slipped through his mind.
It was an ancient classic that Taoist Wanhe held tightly in his hands, and he did not let go before his death.
The material of the classic seems to be ordinary mortal paper, but it has survived for hundreds of years. Five large characters are engraved on the cover -
"The Theory of Spiritual Roots".
(End of chapter)
