Su Fu activated the Taiji Diagram. In an instant, Yin Hong, who was inside the diagram, was turned to ash.
Subsequently, she tucked the Taiji Diagram away with satisfaction. From this day forward, this treasure belonged to her!
Almost at the same moment, the secrets of heaven in this realm were shielded by a vast Saintly power.
Lady Nuwa’s gaze pierced through the endless void and landed on Su Fu. Her eyes were filled with tenderness. With a gentle brush of her hand, all traces were completely erased.
Chesia flicked her tail and looked up. *Hiss hiss…*
Why did it feel like Lady Nuwa’s expression was saying, ‘My kid is really impressive!’
Su Fu bowed deeply toward the sky. “Thank you, Lady Nuwa, for your protection.”
If Lady Nuwa hadn’t shielded the heavenly secrets, Laozi would likely have come knocking the moment she stole the Taiji Diagram.
A Saint’s supreme treasure like the Taiji Diagram couldn’t be carried around like the Sea-Fixing Beads or the Coin of Falling Treasures. Su Fu followed her usual routine and stored it in the Shen Yan Space.
After all, the original owners of those other two treasures had already fallen. Taking masterless objects was one thing. But this Taiji Diagram was Laozi’s sacred object; the Saint surely had special methods to track it. It was better to be safe.
‘Yin Hong’s plot is over. Next, I’ll wait for Yin Jiao to descend the mountain to avenge his brother, bringing Guangchengzi’s Heaven-Turning Seal with him.’
Su Fu thought to herself that although the Heaven-Turning Seal and the Sea-Fixing Beads had somewhat overlapping functions when it came to smashing people, who would complain about having too many treasures?
She rode her Somersault Cloud and leisurely returned to the Xiqi Military Camp to wait for news.
***
On Mount Taihua, Chijingzi was woken up by the pain.
“Hiss—” He gasped, feeling as if every bone in his body had been crushed.
He opened his eyes, and the stinging sunlight made his vision go dark. He shook his head and saw Cihang Daoren lying nearby in an equally wretched state.
“Not good! Where is Yin Hong?” He suddenly reacted. “Wait… where is the Yin Yang Mirror? Where is the Taiji Diagram?!”
Chijingzi struggled to climb up and looked toward the spot where Master Laozi’s Taiji Diagram had been floating.
It was now completely empty.
Chijingzi’s legs instantly went weak. “It’s… it’s over…”
Cihang Daoren also regained consciousness at this moment. She hurriedly checked her magical treasures, only to find they were all gone. Most importantly: “The Taiji Diagram… is gone?”
Master Laozi’s Taiji Diagram… was gone?
The two looked at each other, their hearts simultaneously sinking. It was over!
That was a Saint’s treasure. Borrowing it to subdue Yin Hong was already a massive favor. Now, it was actually lost?
“Quick! Quickly return to the Yuxu Palace and report to Master!” Chijingzi’s voice trembled as he scrambled up and ran.
They couldn’t care less about Yin Hong anymore. The two of them flew toward Kunlun Mountain in a state of utter disarray.
***
Yuxu Palace.
After hearing the report from the two of them, Yuanshi Tianzun’s expression was grim.
“You are saying that while you were subduing Yin Hong, someone suddenly used the Sea-Fixing Beads to knock you all down? And then the Taiji Diagram was lost?”
Chijingzi knelt on the ground and said in terror, “This disciple is incompetent. Please punish me, Master!”
“Punish you?” Yuanshi Tianzun gave a cold snort. “Come with me to the Bajing Palace.”
This matter had to be handled by his Senior Brother personally.
With a wave of his long sleeve, he took Chijingzi and Cihang Daoren directly to Master Laozi’s Daoist field.
***
Inside the Bajing Palace, the scent of pill incense drifted through the air.
Laozi was currently refining pills. He was somewhat puzzled to hear that Yuanshi Tianzun had come to visit. Since one didn’t visit the Three Treasures Palace without a reason, was it possible that Yuanshi needed his help with something again?
He let out a soft sigh and eventually went out to greet them.
However, as soon as he stepped outside, he was met with disastrous news. He froze in a rare moment of shock and repeated, “You mean to say that you went out for a trip, were knocked unconscious by the Sea-Fixing Beads, and the Taiji Diagram was stolen?”
Chijingzi and Cihang Daoren knelt on the ground, not daring to lift their heads. “Grandmaster, please see clearly! Every word your disciples say is the truth! We were just about to capture Yin Hong by setting up the Golden Bridge with the Taiji Diagram when we were suddenly ambushed! Twenty-four Sea-Fixing Beads flew out at once—*thud, thud, thud*—hitting us until our heads spun.”
“When we woke up… the Taiji Diagram was gone…”
“That thief’s methods were ruthless. We didn’t even have a chance to react…”
Laozi: “…”
The two of them continued to kowtow while speaking, the rhythmic *thud, thud, thud* echoing through the palace. Laozi looked at their terrified expressions and did not fly into a rage. He didn’t ask because he doubted them; he was simply stunned for a moment.
Were petty thieves so brazen these days? They even dared to steal a Saint’s treasure?
“Senior Brother, please calm your anger. I will definitely take full responsibility for this matter,” Yuanshi Tianzun said in a heavy voice.
Laozi waved his hand. “Rise.”
He comforted the two of them. “This is not your fault.”
Chijingzi and Cihang Daoren felt as if they had been granted a grand amnesty. They hurriedly stood up but kept their heads lowered.
Laozi muttered to himself, “Let me see just what kind of divine being is so bold.”
To even covet his Taiji Diagram!
With that, Laozi closed his eyes and focused his mind, beginning to calculate the heavenly secrets.
A Saint could perceive the Three Realms in a single thought. Logically, no act of theft should be able to escape his eyes. However, after a moment, a flash of surprise crossed Taishang Laojun’s eyes, and his expression became subtle.
“…”
Chijingzi and the others looked at each other, not understanding what the Saint had seen.
Yuanshi Tianzun seemed to sense something and asked tentatively, “Senior Brother, have you discovered something?”
Laozi looked at Yuanshi with a gaze that was difficult to describe. He had actually seen the figure of Shen Gongbao again!
He held back his anger, but in the end, he couldn’t resist snapping, “Look at what kind of good disciple you’ve taught!”
Yuanshi Tianzun was shouted at and left bewildered. “???”
‘What do you mean, Senior Brother? Didn’t you say you didn’t blame Chijingzi and the other? Why are you scolding me?!’
He felt wronged.
Laozi never expected that the theft of the Taiji Diagram would be linked to Shen Gongbao again. Shen Gongbao had betrayed the Chan Sect and led Grandmaster Tongtian to strip Yuxu Palace clean—oh, that’s not right, even the mountains of the Twelve Golden Immortals had suffered. That was one thing.
But now, he had actually stolen from him?
“Tongtian must be the one behind this…” Laozi felt a headache coming on.
He knew he shouldn’t have gone during the incident with the Three Xiao Sisters last time. But he had no choice; he had to go. The Three Xiao Sisters had set up the Nine-Bend Yellow River Array and stripped the Twelve Golden Immortals of their cultivation. If he hadn’t intervened, the great plan for the Investiture of the Gods would have been affected.
How would he have explained that to his Master?
Now, Tongtian certainly held a grudge against him too. Laozi smiled bitterly. Although he had found the mastermind, he wasn’t happy at all.
“How has my Junior Brother turned into this?”
‘If you’re truly angry or upset, you can come debate it with me. Why start this sneaky, thieving business at the drop of a hat? It’s a bit beneath your status, isn’t it?’
While he was lost in thought, Yuanshi Tianzun also reacted. ‘Good heavens, the disciple Senior Brother is talking about couldn’t be Shen Gongbao, could it?! So it was Shen Gongbao leading Grandmaster Tongtian to steal from Senior Brother?!’
“Senior Brother! So it was Shen Gongbao who stole the Taiji Diagram?!”
He couldn’t lower his voice in time. “That scoundrel Tongtian has gone too far!”
Laozi’s eyelid twitched. He raised his hand and waved it, setting up a soundproof barrier.
“Keep your voice down…”
“Is this something to be proud of?!”
Yuanshi Tianzun finally realized he had lost his composure. He coughed lightly and waved his hand to signal Chijingzi and the others to leave. Chijingzi and the others bowed respectfully and quickly exited the hall.
Once they were gone, Yuanshi Tianzun immediately donned an angry expression. “Senior Brother! Tongtian is simply bullying people too much! We absolutely cannot let this matter go!!”
The more he thought about it later, the angrier he became. He had acted against the Three Xiao Sisters and broken the agreement, so he was partly in the wrong. But he was only acting according to the Investiture of the Gods.
Tongtian, on the other hand, had gone straight for the throat. Not only did he steal everything from his treasure pavilion, but he didn’t even spare the grotto-heavens of the Twelve Golden Immortals. No matter how you calculated it, he was the one who lost more, right?!
No, he thought about it over and over and simply couldn’t swallow this insult. His treasures had to be recovered.
Laozi remained silent for a moment and looked up at him. “What do you want to do?”
Although it was obvious that Tongtian was behind it, the key was that they had no concrete evidence. Relying solely on the identification of Shen Gongbao wouldn’t hold up. If Tongtian insisted it had nothing to do with him, the two of them really couldn’t do anything.
What’s more, they couldn’t even find Shen Gongbao.
Yuanshi Tianzun had already thought of a plan and smiled. “Senior Brother, I have a strategy. This plan is called ‘Luring the snake out of its hole.'”
***
Xiqi Military Camp · Hundred Grasses Hall.
Su Fu was leisurely drying newly gathered herbs. This batch was of good quality, and she planned to refine a batch of Spirit-Returning Pills—divine medicine that could quickly recover Divine Power.
‘Since there’s such extraordinary wool to be plucked, I might as well pluck it.’
Chesia lay lazily on a rock in the shade. As the cool breeze blew past, she was almost comfortable enough to fall asleep.
Just then, Su Fu’s movements suddenly paused. She looked toward the distance.
“There’s movement at Mount Jiuxian.”
As soon as she said this, Chesia instantly became energized. “Does that mean Yin Jiao has descended the mountain?! Does that mean he’s coming down with the Heaven-Turning Seal and the treasures gifted by his master? Let’s act quickly! We’ll follow the old routine: first, let Shen Gongbao persuade him to defect, then wait for Jiang Ziya’s side to borrow treasures, and then we’ll follow our usual rule—take them all at the first opportunity!”
She swayed her head, having planned the process clearly. “Perfect!”
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