Chapter 1285: Pine Snow Asks The Wall (II)

After generations of cultivation by the Ning Family, nearly everyone in Yi Mountain City bore the surname Ning. The cultivators naturally understood the meaning of this snow filled phenomenon. None dared to clear the snow blanketing the city, and they could only gaze uneasily at the heavens.

Within the highest hall, a middle-aged woman in plain robes sat upright upon the seat. Below the steps stood a man clad in armor, his features fierce. He looked difficult to deal with even from afar.

"Mother, the snow has lessened."

Standing at the entrance of the hall, Li Yuanqin looked at the snow falling from the sky and spoke. Ning Hemian rose from her seat. In contrast to her son's calmness, she was visibly uneasy. She stepped out of the hall and said softly, "Let us go to welcome the Daoist Master."

Whether Ning Wan succeeded or failed, this journey could not be avoided. Mother and son arrived together at the outer chamber of the deep cave dwelling. The door was already covered in frost. The stone statue of the Three-Eyed Mount Tiao Beast still crouched before the cave, coated in accumulated frost and snow until it was snow white, with only its three eyes dimly staring ahead.

Ning Hemian reached out and pressed her hand against the statue's long horn. The mechanism that had once been rigid and immovable had loosened. The frost covered cave door opened with a gentle turn, and dense cold frost surged from the gap like a river of pure white.

Li Yuanqin's hands and feet were freezing cold. Though mother and son were both at Foundation Establishment Realm, they still felt a quiet dread before such biting cold. After waiting for the densest surge to pass, they shifted the cave door and stepped inside.

Daoist Master Yuansu had sealed the cave formation. This grand formation, redesigned and reinforced by his divine ability, was now different from before. It now housed a Dry Fire lamp. Only when this lamp was extinguished by the invasion of frost qi could the sealed formation be opened.

This method was ingeniously conceived and resolved nearly every issue. Even if a traitor emerged within the Ning Family, they could not interfere. As long as Cold Essence surged within the cave, entry was possible. If Ning Wan emerged from seclusion, all was best. If she fell, the Ning Family could still enter to collect her remains.

Braving the bone piercing Cold Essence, Li Yuanqin entered. The first thing he saw was a jade lamp placed on a jade table by the inner door of the cave, long extinguished. It left only dim yellow light within the dwelling.

This was where Ning Tiaoxiao had cultivated. The jade platform, soaked year round in spiritual qi, stood quietly in the shadows. Faint glimmers of light flickered along the walls. Li Yuanqin examined it closely and felt a chill rise in his heart.

Dim colors flickered across the stone walls, as though many people were standing upon the surface and gazing outward. Sweat beaded at the back of his neck. Ning Hemian tugged at him and whispered, "This is where a Daoist Master cultivates. Hear less and look less."

Li Yuanqin lowered his head. Ning Wan's cultivation chamber lay on the other side of the cave, only a dozen steps away. He had only taken a single step when he heard his mother drop to her knees beside him and speak with utmost respect, "Greetings, Daoist Master."

He jerked his head up. A moment ago, the jade platform had been empty, yet now a woman in white robes sat upon it. She was tall and slender, her brows and eyes gently curved. Black hair cascaded down her back. A vertical snow-white mark was nestled at the center of her brows. Her features carried a gentle and soft warmth, yet her eyes held a trace of cool detachment that made it impossible to look away.

The woman seemed to only be around twenty. Gold patterns were embroidered upon her sleeves. She sat quietly beside the jade platform, her fair thighs hanging at its edge, bare feet stepping upon pure white mist.

The entire cave dwelling suddenly filled with the scent of pine resin.

Li Yuanqin hurriedly stepped back and knelt behind his mother, listening as the fairy spoke in a cool voice, "Hemian, where is Li Xuanfeng?"

Ning Wan did not ask about Ning Tiaoxiao, as if she had long known the fate of that elder. Though this was the day she achieved divine ability, the sight of the empty cave filled her eyes with sorrow.

Ning Hemian replied respectfully, "My husband died in battle while blocking Buddhist cultivators from advancing south in the war between north and south."

Ning Wan's gaze dimmed slightly as she replied, "That sounds like something he would do."

She then asked, "Chi Zhiyun has not yet emerged from seclusion, has he? He always had a competitive streak and was faster than me in everything. This time, he should be slower."

Ning Hemian answered respectfully, "Daoist Master, Chi Zhiyun has already fallen. The direct lineage of the Chi Family is extinct, and the Azure Pond Sect now has no cultivators bearing the surname Chi."

Ning Wan was finally moved. Once she listened to them recount the events before and after, she fell into a long contemplation and seemed somewhat desolate as she replied, "Tragic. He was also a figure of note."

She calculated carefully, her expression turning solemn as she asked, "With Heyuan fallen, where is the Xinyou Pristine Marsh Seal?"

"Its whereabouts are unknown..." replied Ning Hemian.

Ning Wan gritted her teeth, gave a cold snort, and said, "What an ugly display."

The Daoist Master stepped down from the jade platform through empty air, turned around, and called out toward the dimly colored stone wall behind her, "Who is here?"

Faces began to surface from the stone wall, some indistinct and others clear. Ning Wan stared into a corner of the wall without looking closely. Soon, everything faded away. She seemed to be calculating something, and after a moment she thought,

Nineteen. Two are missing. The elder once said that when the visage fades, it means seeking Fruition Attainment. Excluding Senior Zipei, there is one more. Since there has been no word of anyone achieving True Monarch, that person must have reincarnated through some Metallic Essence.

Coincidentally, the three Metallic Essences of Anhuai Heaven have split off. One should correspond to True Essence. Looking at the position, it must be the one from Mount Changhuai, seeking the seat of True Essence.

She pressed her lips together and pondered for a long time, then gently tapped the jade platform. The platform trembled slightly and split apart, revealing a box inside that contained twenty eight small white banners.

The woman lifted her hand in a light beckoning gesture, and all twenty eight banners rose together, circling around her palm. Ning Wan smiled faintly and stepped forward. The grand formation of the entire cave immediately began to tremble, and countless rays of white light flashed as a massive formation plate covered in profound patterns flew out from the great void.

It was as large as a tabletop. Setting up a Purple Mansion Realm grand formation was always a complicated matter. Even for a Purple Mansion Realm formation plate, deployment and storage were troublesome. Yet Ning Wan handled it as effortlessly as retrieving an ordinary dharma artifact from the great void.

"Let us go and meet Senior Yuanxiu."

The Autumn Lake Fairy rose upon endless flying snow. As she stood amid the snowfall, Ning Hemian suddenly realized something belatedly,

The Daoist Master was not just called the Autumn Lake Fairy in those days merely because of her cultivation. Her innate ability in the Dao of formations was praised by Daoist Master Chi and Daoist Master Yuanxiu alike.