Misty Rain of the Old Times

Why would a Buddhist organization create such a scandalous image and cause trouble everywhere? What is their purpose?

He couldn't figure it out for the time being, and he was afraid that only by capturing the core members of the Black Diagram Society could he find out. Chen Xuan didn't dwell on it for the time being. The faint purple halo in his eyes disappeared, and he released the people present from their control.

The conversation with the Black Diagram Society members was unknown to anyone present, including Du Juan and the others. It was not something that those present could interfere with. Therefore, when Chen Xuan released them from control, he only told everyone except Du Juan and Su Roujia to forget about finding the Black Diagram Society members, but he did not make them forget the description of Luo Shi and others' plot to murder Zhou Tao.

They had been controlled by Chen Xuan, but their minds were still clear. After the control was lifted, they were shocked by Chen Xuan's methods and cast incredulous glances at the Luo family.

The entire murder process became crystal clear under Chen Xuan's careful questioning. It turned out that they were the ones who killed Mu Haiwang Zhou Tao. Brothers killing each other, family betraying each other.

Thinking about it, it's not too surprising. After all, the throne is too tempting. What wouldn't one do to get that position?
"Aunt, elder brother, how could you do this? It's outrageous! What has the Prince ever done to wrong you? Green Spirit, I treated you like a sister, and you betrayed me! And you, you damned eunuch, the Prince entrusted his life to you, and you secretly plotted against him! Aren't you afraid of having your entire family executed?" Queen Zhou, who had just regained her freedom, looked at them with red eyes and angrily denounced them.

The truth had been revealed, and the guilt was inescapable. The late king's concubine, Lady Luo, simply went all out and argued, "Why? The throne should have been my son's. He was the eldest son in the family. Why did it fall to Zhou Tao? We were just taking back what rightfully belonged to my son. What's wrong with that?"

Meanwhile, Luo's eunuch brother cried out in despair, "Sister, run! Take your nephew with you! I'll risk my life to fight for you!"

Despite committing heinous acts, Zhou Shi found it incomprehensible that such people had such shamelessness. She turned to Chen Xuan and knelt down, saying, "Uncle, I wronged you before. I deserve to die. The Prince is gone. Please, do justice for me!"

As an outsider, what right do I have to make decisions? Even if I marry the princess, I'll still be related to the royal family. It's really inappropriate for me to interfere in royal affairs. After all, once this kind of thing starts, it's hard not to make people think. If I interfere in royal family affairs today, will I start interfering in politics tomorrow?

To avoid suspicion, Chen Xuan stepped aside and said, "Niece-in-law, there's no need for that. The Imperial Clan Court will decide this matter and will surely give Zhou Tao justice. I won't interfere. Now I'll seal the cultivation of those involved and have them taken away for strict guard while we wait for the Imperial Clan Court to arrive. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."

As he spoke, Chen Xuan raised his hand and made a gesture in the air, which immediately immobilized several people, including Zhou Fuluo and the eunuch. They would then face severe punishment according to the royal family rules.

One act of greed and wrongdoing can lead to the deaths of countless people. Harming members of the royal family is an act of insubordination, an unforgivable crime in any country.

Having done these simple tasks, and respecting the deceased, Chen Xuan bowed respectfully towards Zhou Tao's body in the mourning hall. He then addressed those around him, saying, "This concerns the dignity of the royal family, so I hope everyone will refrain from spreading this. Please also ask the local government and the Imperial Guard to cooperate. The Imperial Clan Court will handle this matter afterward."

Since he had spoken, no one present dared to disobey. They all swore to comply. Although almost no one knew Chen Xuan's identity, the Queen called him uncle, so how could his identity be simple? Coupled with the methods he had shown before, who would dare to disobey?

Then Chen Xuan looked at Madam Zhou and said, "Zhou Tao has already left. Hopefully, he can raise the young master well from now on. Farewell."

With the blame removed and the truth revealed, Chen Xuan no longer needed to stay. Someone would handle the aftermath.

After all, Chen Xuan had known Zhou Tao for a while, even though they had only met once before Zhou Tao died. Moreover, Chen Xuan didn't hold a grudge against Zhou Tao for the slight offense of kicking down the door. He even took the initiative to help collect maps in order to find the Earth Magnetic Essence to share his burden. Therefore, before leaving, Chen Xuan secretly left a strand of true essence in the body of Zhou Tao's young son. If nothing unexpected happened, it would be enough to ensure that he grew up safely and even nourish his body and improve his physique in a gentle way. In the future, if he aspired to martial arts, he might have made good achievements.

It's just something that comes easily, and there's nothing to lose. Giving roses leaves a lingering fragrance, so why not?
As I always say, whenever you can, do more good deeds without expecting anything in return. Even if it only makes you happy, it's worth it. Who knows, an occasional act of kindness might bring you an unexpected surprise in the future.

Who knows what kind of fruit a seed planted casually today will bear in the future...

After leaving the Prince's Mansion, Chen Xuan didn't think too much about what would happen next. He took Du Juan and the others straight to Wanku Mountain. The past few days, they hadn't been well prepared for their underground adventure, so this time they made sure to buy everything they needed.

On the way, Du Juan, who had been silent until now, couldn't help but ask, "Master, is that person a member of the Black Picture Society?"

Although she didn't know what Chen Xuan and the other party said, she had seen the whole process. As a former assassin of the Shadow Assassin Sect, she was classified as an evil path, so she was naturally curious about the mysterious black map.

"Sister Juan, don't worry about it so much. Just pretend nothing happened and our lives will continue as usual," Chen Xuan said with a smile, neither answering nor denying.

Upon hearing this, Dujuan immediately stopped asking questions, realizing that she had overstepped her bounds. She reminded herself that she could never make a similar mistake again, and that she had to suppress her curiosity no matter how curious she was, unless the master told her on his own initiative.

"This is where we came from the other day. We're back here again. When Master was leading us high in the air, I saw that there were more than ten times more people in the Wanku Mountain area than on the first day. They were all rushing to several places," the little girl said, looking around in a daze after landing.

It was the place where they came out of the underground that day. Chen Xuan planned to continue exploring and searching for the Earth Magnetic Essence from where they had stopped last time. That thing was rare and hard to come by. Even though Chen Xuan had seen the maps that were scattered everywhere, he didn't plan to search for it according to the map. There was no difference.

“We’ve already gone deep enough underground last time, so let’s continue from there. There’s no need to find another route to explore. As for the large number of people, the map is scattered everywhere. Of course, people are going there out of curiosity, eager to uncover the mystery of that so-called strange place. That place isn’t my main objective, so let’s not go against it. Come on, I’ll take you down.”

As he spoke, Chen Xuan led them down the tunnel they had dug through the ground last time. They hadn't paid much attention when they came out last time, but when they returned to the cave they had left before, Chen Xuan realized that they had already gone down tens of thousands of feet into the ground.

In such a deep underground place, even in Chen Xuan's hometown, some countries have tried every means to reach but failed, yet he can easily break through the surface thousands of feet deep and travel freely there.

Back in the underground cave, Du Juan drew her short knife, channeled her inner energy to create a beam of light for illumination, and looked around, saying, "Master, that's the direction we came from last time. There are six forks in the road around here. Which way should we go next?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuan snapped his fingers. Based on the sound's propagation, he stepped forward and said, "Three of the forks in the path are dead ends, another one is cut off by an underground river after a few hundred feet, and the remaining two lead to the unknown. Whatever, they're all the same."

As he spoke, he led the way to the left fork in the road, which twisted and turned and went deep underground, but it did not affect their movement.

They searched aimlessly in the dark, sunless places, since they had no specific goal. With the little girls accompanying them, it wasn't boring.

After five days of venturing deep underground, Chen Xuan still found nothing, not even a trace of the Earth Magnetic Essence. The supplies they had collected were almost exhausted, and Chen Xuan's patience was nearly worn out. He had already gone an unknown depth underground, and he felt an urge to overturn the earth, cut it up, and search for everything.

Of course, even with his current strength, it would be easy for him to break through the surface and go outside, but he still couldn't overturn the Wanku Mountain, which spans hundreds of miles, unless his cultivation reaches a higher level, the Tribulation Transcending Realm, which would be an easy task.

Especially when undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation, their power is unimaginable; the heavens and earth are about to unleash a calamity. At that time, their power is even enough to rival that of a Human Immortal. As for undergoing the Human Tribulation, forget about it. Their consciousness is clouded, their cultivation regresses, and they become mortal, no different from ordinary people, not even knowing who they are. If they were at the Human Immortal level, let alone overturning hundreds of miles of land, destroying a star would not be impossible; they truly possess the power to chase stars and seize the moon!
The gap between martial arts realms is truly incredible; it's no exaggeration to say that each step represents a new level of mastery, as the difference in strength is immense.

Human Immortals possess the ability to travel through the starry sky and control the stars. However, the information that Old Liu left for Chen Xuan revealed that he was able to challenge Human Immortals when undergoing the Tribulation of Heaven and Earth. It was just that bizarre. Chen Xuan did not know the principle behind it for the time being. He would only truly understand it when he reached that level.

Anyway, the Tribulation Transcending Realm is a very magical stage. When it is strong, even immortals have to avoid its edge. When it is weak, it is probably difficult to even kill a chicken.

Even with Chen Xuan's talent, he is still a long way from reaching the Tribulation Realm. At his current pace, it will take at least ten years before he can even touch the threshold of the Tribulation Realm. For him, more than ten years is indeed a long time, after all, it has only been about ten years since he started practicing martial arts.

But even he himself had to admit that his cultivation speed was truly astonishing. Ninety-nine percent of martial artists in the world couldn't even touch the Ren and Du meridians after one or two decades.

That day, Chen Xuan and his group were walking through a sloping, downward-facing cave passage when the little girl hesitated and said, "Master, my stomach feels a little uncomfortable."

Chen Xuan immediately understood and nodded, saying, "Let Sister Juan stay with you. I'll go take a look a little further ahead."

"Hmm," the little girl nodded with relief, and then went to relieve herself with Du Juan by her side. It wasn't that she was worried about Chen Xuan seeing anything; she was simply worried that the filth would make Chen Xuan uncomfortable.

Humans have to relieve themselves sometimes, it's unavoidable. Even Chen Xuan has to go through his own bodily cycles. In this dark and chaotic underground place with no toilets, he can only relieve himself wherever he can.

Walking forward alone, Chen Xuan estimated the time in his mind. He figured it should be morning outside. He thought that if he hadn't made any progress today, he would go outside to relax. Staying underground all the time was really getting boring.

After walking several dozen meters, they came to a spacious area with four or five forks in the road. Chen Xuan stopped there to wait, not because he was worried about losing them, but to prevent them from getting lost if they came later and couldn't find him.

Bored and listless, Chen Xuan leaned against the stone wall, feeling melancholy. Why was it so difficult to find a geomagnetic elemental essence? It had taken him more than ten days.

On second thought, he felt a bit amused and exasperated. It seemed that apart from his talent in martial arts, he wasn't particularly outstanding in any other aspect. Even his luck wasn't great. He hadn't had any success in finding the main materials for the previous fog array or the current floating array. Why hadn't he ever had the good fortune of getting whatever he wanted?

Just as he was feeling helpless, he turned around and looked at the stone wall behind him with a slight sigh. He felt the stone wall vibrate slightly. The sound was no different from a needle falling to the ground, but with Chen Xuan's senses, it was definitely not an illusion.

'Here we go again. This commotion isn't natural. Could there be something behind the stone wall?'

Just then, Dujuan and the others caught up. The little girl said apologetically, "We've kept you waiting, Master. Which way should we take next?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Chen Xuan said with a smile.

After a moment of surprise, Dujuan suddenly said, "Is Master feeling bored and wanting to go outside for some fresh air?"

"I've been planning to do that, but not now. There's some noise behind this stone wall. I'm bored anyway, so I'll see what's going on," Chen Xuan shook his head, raised his hand and gently tapped the stone wall to observe its thickness with this barely perceptible sound.

He quickly realized the stone wall was about four or five zhang thick. He placed his hand on the wall and said, "You guys step back a little. Never mind, it doesn't matter."

As he spoke, he circulated his true energy and gently patted the stone wall with his palm. The thick stone wall did not vibrate violently, but centered on Chen Xuan's palm, the solid rock was shaken into fine sand that flowed like water.

Within a few breaths, the shattered sand and gravel stopped flowing, and a two-meter-high passage appeared in front of Chen Xuan. He had directly punched through the rock and created a passage.

Stepping towards the other side, Chen Xuan said speechlessly, "Let's go. I wondered what was going on. Turns out there's someone. I hope they're not one of those who've been trapped underground and gone crazy."

"Is anyone there? Come to think of it, we haven't run into many people these past few days. Master probably avoided them beforehand to prevent a repeat of the last time," the little girl asked curiously.

As they spoke, they had already crossed the passage and arrived on the other side. This was an irregular space of over a hundred square meters, with only one cave leading out and no side paths. If Chen Xuan didn't break through the stone wall, this would be a dead end.

As they approached, a disheveled man stared at them in disbelief. He hadn't seen the sun in ages; his dirty skin was pale, and he looked as if he'd been dead for days.

To Chen Xuan's slight surprise, after a quick glance, he was surprised to find that the man, who had been trapped for an unknown amount of time, was not thin at all, but rather quite robust. Moreover, he showed no signs of cannibalism or bloodshot eyes. It was unclear how he had managed to survive. Apart from being somewhat disheveled, he seemed to be doing quite well.

His cultivation level is only at the Acquired Realm, but his Ren and Du meridians are almost open, and he has a chance to reach the Innate Realm, but it is unknown how long it will take to cross that threshold.

The other man looked at Chen Xuan and the others with disbelief. He hadn't seen sunlight in a long time, and he squinted uncomfortably under the light of the short knife in Du Juan's hand. Perhaps because he was too surprised, a stone he was holding fell to the ground with a thud and rolled towards Chen Xuan.

"How is this gentleman?" Chen Xuan greeted him with a smile.

Even though being trapped underground for a long time can cause psychological problems and even lead to crossing moral boundaries, Chen Xuan still tries his best to be kind as long as others do not offend him.

When greeting him, Chen Xuan noticed the rolling stone out of the corner of his eye and roughly understood how he had survived—by eating a stone. He was certain of this because the rolling stone had teeth marks on it, indicating that it hadn't been gnawed on.

Immediately afterward, a look of surprise flashed in Chen Xuan's eyes. This was no stone at all; it was clearly the Earth Magnetic Essence he had been searching for! And it had appeared before his eyes in such an unexpected way!

...(End of chapter)