Master of Strange Dao

In the dark underground chamber, it was cold and chilling, without even a candle lit.

One person sat there, quietly feeling everything around him.

Once, this was the environment that made him most uncomfortable and despairing, yet now it brought him peace of mind.

He raised his head, his gaze fixed on a painting hanging on the wall.

It depicted the back of an old man, sketched with just a few strokes, portraying an elder with difficulty in his steps, moving hesitantly.

Beside this painting, several other paintings hung, each one showing only a back view.

But in those other paintings, the figures seemed as though they might turn around at any moment, so vivid and full of intent.

However, the intent within the old man, slightly crooked in body, had already vanished, leaving only a somewhat lifelike painting.

The person stared at this painting for a long time, with doubt and bewilderment in his eyes.

He could not understand at all what this situation was.

He had been there for several days, trying various things, and finally had to admit one thing.

One of his incarnations had lost contact with him.

He looked at the soul lamp placed in front of the painting, which had already gone out.

He still could not confirm with absolute certainty whether this incarnation was dead or alive, because the soul lamp was not that reliable, especially for the powerful, where it could only serve as a reference.

Because he sensed nothing, he didn't even feel the fall of the incarnation; the connection in the unseen had just been severed.

Even though he understood in his heart that the incarnation was most likely truly fallen.

What he cared about wasn't the incarnation; it was destined to be sacrificed.

He cared about what kind of power could sever the connection between him and the incarnation.

In the Dadui seal, was there really some terrifying force that could cut this connection?

He pondered for a long time, then sighed softly.

He thought of the Evil Dao worker for hire, that guy, who was almost killed from afar, locked by someone via the connection with his incarnation.

The fearsome grandmaster, who needed an entire layer of the Abyss to suppress, could do these things, which he could accept.

After all, no matter how perfect an incarnation technique, it could never break free from its own framework.

Now, within the Dadui seal, some absurd things had appeared that could sever the connection between the incarnation and the main body, which was actually within his expectations.

But this was far less than the terrifying grandmaster who directly used the connection through the incarnation and the main body to lock onto the main body.

It was because of the Primordial Spirit Evil Dao's experience that he used a Secret Technique to outline these paintings.

Let the place the incarnation directly connected to become the paintings.

To avoid the enormous risk of being locked from afar.

Although leaving behind these paintings themselves came with great risk, this risk was much smaller compared to being directly locked from afar.

He looked at the side wall, where a painting had completely dimmed, its essence utterly dispersed, not even giving a lifelike feeling to the artwork itself.

That person was also a back figure, beneath massive waves, surrounded by torrents of rain, representing Cui Changping.

An incarnation that had completely fallen.

He actually didn't care much about a mere incarnation; he only minded that someone found out Cui Changping was an incarnation.

He had never thought that in the Wilderness, someone could create something as absurd as the Jinlan Compass.

To be honest, he himself didn't know how to distinguish who had practiced the Langya Incarnation Technique besides himself, who was the Langya incarnation.

He always thought that such secrecy was the strongest aspect of the Langya Incarnation Technique.

To this day, he still didn't understand why Jinlan Mountain possessed such a capability, and others didn't understand either.

Among the things they didn't understand was why Jinlan Mountain, with a mere Seventh Tier Body Cultivator, could beat to death a Ninth Tier, even if it was only a first tribulation, it was still a Ninth Tier!

He even knew more than others.

Cui Changping wasn't killed on the spot but died days after the battle had concluded.

These things, he completely could not comprehend.

To this day, he still felt.

For the sake of important matters, sacrificing a Ninth Tier incarnation was something he could fully accept.

Being pressured by the people of Jinlan Mountain, he could also accept.

He also acknowledged that in resolving the Dadui Seal, for some reason, the people of Jinlan Mountain were much stronger than others.

As long as they could resolve the Dadui Seal, for the future, now he would accept anything.

What others saw as humiliation, he long saw through, possessing no sense of honor or disgrace, in this world, power and authority were fundamental.

Now whatever he pursued, Jinlan Mountain was indeed strong, so he accepted it.

But clearly, his acceptance was useless; not everyone would take insults in stride.

Even his incarnations weren't necessarily willing to take insults in stride.

Every incarnation had a complete body, a complete Divine Soul, just like a normal person.

...

Yu Ziqing had always been very curious, Xia Shuang, who on the surface appeared to be a beauty as long as she didn't open her mouth, how she managed to have such a thick skin.

What others found embarrassing, she didn't, what made others feel embarrassed, she didn't either.

Beaten until her skin was torn and her flesh gaping, swollen unevenly, like a monster, she could still laugh and joke, calculating how today she managed to last for one incense stick's duration before collapsing.