“The stone mirror… is a stone mirror.”

Ye Qing examined the stone mirror carefully after the Irontoothed Alligator Turtle was gone.

The stone mirror was only the size of his palm and made poorly, at least on the surface. It looked as if some uncaring craftsman had carelessly polished its surface well enough to reflect a person’s image before tossing it away. It had an outline, but not a shape. It was rather ugly-looking as well. To say that it lacked the ah, “essence” of a mirror would be an understatement.

One thing

was

odd about the mirror, however. It was tough. It was so tough that he could not put a single dent on its surface even with all his might.

After he became a Great Grandmaster and attained the journeyman level in the Earthly Sovereign True Body, his physical strength had reached the level of five Sky Dragons. He could now move mountains, toss elephants, split metals and break rocks like nothing.

And yet, this ordinary-looking stone mirror had stumped him completely. It was astonishing to say the least. Even more astonishing was the fact it truly looked and felt like ordinary stone no matter how many times he examined it.

“What on earth is this thing?”

Ye Qing played with the stone mirror a while longer but could not figure out its origin or usage no matter what. He could not help but mumble to himself, “It’s not used to bash heads in, is it?”

Its toughness was more than sufficient, but its weight left much to be desired. If he was going to use this mirror to bash someone’s head in, he might as well use a brick.

“What are you doing, brother?”

Ye Qing was still researching the stone mirror when a voice came from the distance. It was Yi Pin and Uncertain moving toward him while sitting inside a bubble and enjoying a cup of wine.

“I picked up a fun toy by accident!” Ye Qing looked up and gave them a smile.

After a few days of long rest, both Yi Pin and Uncertain had regained much of their spirits. This was especially true for Uncertain whose energy and spirit appeared to be at tiptop condition. He was more than halfway recovered as well.

“What fun toy? Gimme!” Yi Pin landed beside Ye Qing and snatched the stone mirror over and examined it immediately.

“Congratulations on your recovery, Zen Master,” Ye Qing congratulated Uncertain.

“Thank you for guarding me, benefactor.” Uncertain saluted Ye Qing.

“You’re welcome.” Ye Qing gestured.

Clang!

The duo were still trading pleasantries when the sound of an object hitting something hard came beside them.

When they looked, they saw a stone mirror sitting quietly on a giant rock.

The stone mirror was of course the stone mirror Yi Pin had snatched from Ye Qing’s hand.

Yi Pin was nowhere to be seen, however.

Yi Pin and Uncertain exchanged glances with each other. Both their faces were etched with shock.

Where did Yi Pin go?

How did he just disappear without any warning?

Indeed, Yi Pin had disappeared without any warning whatsoever. Ye Qing was a Great Grandmaster, and Uncertain was a former Sage. Despite this, neither of them detected anything from the beginning until the end. One moment he was there, and the next he was gone. There was no ripple of energy, spirit, or aura. If the stone mirror hadn’t landed on the rock and alerted them, they wouldn’t even realize that Yi Pin had disappeared.

Ye Qing made a grabbing motion and attracted the stone mirror into his hand. At the same time, Uncertain’s eyes turned translucent as he attempted to capture Yi Pin’s energies.

Neither of them found anything.

“There’s nothing. Not even a speck of energy!”

Uncertain shook his head. The visual art he used just now was called “To View Tathagata”. It was one of the ultimate arts of Lanke Temple. It could be used to view the sun and the moon, observe the gods and demons, and see everything within the Nine Nethers like Tathagata, god, or Buddha.

And yet, Uncertain had failed to find anything despite searching the entire pond in the blink of an eye. Forget Yi Pin, he couldn’t even spot a speck of Yi Pin’s energy. It was as if Yi Pin had truly disappeared into thin air.

“It probably has something to do with this stone mirror!”

Ye Qing stared at the stone mirror with a serious expression on his face.

Yi Pin had not disappeared into thin air as a matter of course. He hadn’t used a Magia or a secret art either. The only possible culprit was the stone mirror.

However, he had researched the stone mirror for a long time but could not find anything. For all intents and purposes, it was an ordinary stone mirror.

“Please check this mirror, Zen Master!”

Ye Qing handed the stone mirror to Uncertain hoping that the Sage would be able to find something, anything at all. He was a former Sage and a member of the Lanke Temple no less. His knowledge and experience were much vaster than his. Perhaps Uncertain would be able to find a clue he couldn’t.

Uncertain accepted the stone mirror and began investigating immediately.

……

“The ghost bride was severely injured. Why did we not press the assault and end her once and for all?”

Inside a ruin, Jiang Yunlai, Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial, Supreme Origin Profound Sovereign and Silver Moon Sacred Lord stood facing each other.

The interior of the ruin was filled with the terrifying energies of their battle. Outside, the mountains had collapsed, the earth had split asunder, and everything within a fifty kilometer radius was positively unrecognizable. That was how fierce the battle had been.

“That woman has suffered grievous enough injuries that she is no longer an issue. Do not forget what we came here for. Our first priority remains finding the celestials.”

Jiang Yunlai said in a low tone, “I’ve discussed this with Dao Brother Cyan Radiance already. The four of us will split up and—”

“The Xumi Celestial Mirror! The Xumi Celestial Mirror! I sense the presence of the Xumi Celestial Mirror! Hahahaha!”

Suddenly, Xuanyuan Xi’s agitated cry exploded inside Jiang Yunlai’s head.

“The Xumi Celestial Mirror?”

Jiang Yunlai’s eyes flashed. “Did you truly sense the Xumi Celestial Mirror’s presence, imperial princess?”

“It must be! The Xumi Celestial Mirror is the ultimate treasure of the Kunlun Ruins and passed down to the Imperial Princess of each generation. I am the last Imperial Princess, so it has my personal imprint. Normally, it is undetectable. But if it activates, then I can sense it immediately.”

Xuanyuan Xin sounded beyond excited. “Someone must have entered the Xumi Celestial Mirror. It literally just happened. That is why the Xumi Celestial Mirror became active!”

“Someone entered the Xumi Celestial Mirror? Could it be…”

Xuanyuan Xin did not mean anything by her remark, but Jiang Yunlai immediately thought of the thief who was favored by the celestials.

“It’s in the northeast direction, and it’s not far away from here! Quick! Northeast, now!”

Xuanyuan Xin urged before Jiang Yunlai could think more.

“Dao Brother? Dao Brother?”

Meanwhile, the rest of the Sages were looking confused after Jiang Yunlai suddenly stuttered to a stop. “Did something happen?”

“It’s nothing.”

Jiang Yunlai recovered and continued, “Let’s split up and search for the Kunlun Divine Palace. If you find anything, contact each other immediately and do not try to move alone. Our time is limited, so we need to make sure that everything goes smoothly. That is all.”

Jiang Yunlai then took off toward the northeast direction immediately.

The reason he did not tell the other Sages about his discovery was because he did not want to expose Xuanyuan Xin’s existence nor earn himself an interrogation. He would decide whether to contact them after he found the Xumi Celestial Mirror.

The other three Sages did not suspect anything. They chose a direction and took off as well.

……

“Did you find anything, Zen Master?”

At the bottom of the pond, Ye Qing was looking at Uncertain hopefully.

“My apologies, but I did not find anything.” Uncertain returned the stone mirror to Ye Qing with a look of shame and regret on his face.

Ye Qing accepted the stone mirror and fell silent for a moment. He was recalling what Yi Pin did and said after taking the stone mirror from him.

“True qi?”

“True qi?”

The next moment, Ye Qing and Uncertain recalled something and blurted out at the same time.

That’s right. While they were conversing, they both sensed a faint ripple of true qi before Yi Pin went missing. Therefore, Yi Pin most likely disappeared because he injected true qi into the stone mirror.

The more Ye Qing thought about it, the more likely he thought he was right.

It was a shameful realization. When he first obtained the mirror, he tried nearly everything to elicit a reaction from it such as touching it with his blood, injecting his spirit into it, trying to break it with his strength and so on. However, he never thought to inject true qi into the object. He wondered if he just forgot about it, or the stone mirror had unconsciously affected his thinking and prevented him from making that realization.

There was no point thinking about it. Ye Qing grabbed the stone mirror and injected his true qi into it.

The next moment, Ye Qing disappeared into thin air. The stone mirror fell.