Merit Stone
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Show yourself!" Lu Zhou said as he raised his voice.
His voice echoed for a long time in the darkness, but there was no response.
‘The seabed?’ Lu Zhou was pretty certain he was supposed to be underwater. However, he was puzzled. Why was he here? He wondered if there was a teleportation rune in the scroll. However, he did not sense being teleported away at all.
Lu Zho continued to observe his surroundings.
Splash!
A huge object cut across the water.
"Fierce beasts?" Lu Zhou sank slightly before he launch a palm seal.
There was no light from the palm seal, and it vanished in just a flash.
Realization dawned on Lu Zhou. ‘I should’ve known it’s just my consciousness entering the world in the scroll."
He looked at the fierce beast’s huge body; it was at least 10,000 feet long. When it moved, the seawater churned.
In order to test his theory, he remained unmoving in his position. After a while, a smaller fierce beast swam over. Then, it swam through Lu Zhou’s body that was in an incorporeal form.
‘As expected!’
Lu Zhou was still wondering about the secrets hidden in the scroll when the deep voice rang in his ears again.
"No one can live forever! No one can live forever!"
Following that, there was a burst of laughter.
The voice grew more and more distant until it vanished completely.
"No one can live forever?" Lu Zhou was reminded of the scroll Jiang Wenxu left behind. In the scroll, there was a sentence: no one can live forever.
‘No way! Is Jiang Wenxu the projection left behind by the Unholy One in the golden lotus domains?’
After a while, Lu Zhou shook his head, dismissing this theory. If that was really true, he would feel quite disgusted. He really had a terrible impression of Jiang Wenxu. Jiang Wenxu behaved like a tyrant in the golden lotus domain for many years, and he was the puppetmaster hidden behind the scene while he pulled the strings. If Jiang Wenxu was the projection of the Unholy One, did it not mean that the treasures he obtained like the Hourglass of Sand and the Brocade Box he obtained in the Emperor Emeritus’ mausoleum had to be thrown away?
However, Lu Zhou thought it was unlikely. Jiang Wenxu was a conservative and liked to stick to the old ways. The Unholy One was called the Unholy One and a demon because he had studied unorthodox subjects and created a new cultivation path.
Lu Zhou collected his thoughts before he allowed himself to sink deeper. Since this was just his consciousness, there was nothing to be afraid of. At this time, he saw faint golden light from the depths of the sea. After a while, he saw that it came from a square golden box.
Lu Zhou was excited that he found a spot of light in the endless darkness. He continued to sink. He did not know how long he had been sinking, but he saw huge sea beasts. They naturally could not hurt him.
Suddenly…
"Don’t touch it!" A voice rang from the darkness.
Lu Zhou spun around and launched a palm seal into the darkness. "Who is it?"
Fear was born from darkness. The bottom of the sea was dark, making Lu Zhou rather tense and on edge.
Lu Zhou inhaled deeply and looked at the square three-dimensional golden box below. Each side of the box had nine small squares. There was a glittering golden letter etched
A few of the letters spelled out a word that caught Lu Zhou’s attention.
"Merit stone?" Lu Zhou asked out loud, "What is this?
Most importantly, what did it have to do with the shackles of heaven and earth or eternal life? He could not figure it out at all.
…
At the same time.
Little Yuan’er and Conch looked at each other in trepidation outside of the eastern pavilion.
"Is master okay?" Little Yuan’er muttered.
"I don’t know either," Conch replied.
Little Yuan’er scratched her head. "Why does he keep saying things we don’t understand?"
At this time, a voice rang from the eastern pavilion.
"Show yourself, Unholy One!"
Little Yuan’er was momentarily speechless. Then, she said, "Look, isn’t this shocking? Master was never like this before!"
Conch spread her arms, indicating her helplessness.
In their hearts, their master had always been tall, mighty, and fearless. It was a bit out of character for him to shout like this.
After a while, Little Yuan’er said, "Let’s go. There’s nothing we can do about this."
"Okay!" Conch agreed immediately.
With that, the duo rushed to the back of the mountain.
…
In the darkness.
At this time, Lu Zhou frowned when he discovered his strand of consciousness was slowly assimilating into the painting.
The world in the scroll was so real that whenever there was any movement, he would instinctively react.
This feeling was rather uncomfortable.
When he tried to get closer to the golden merit stone, he was blocked by an invisible force.
"Don’t go near it! Don’t go near it!"
Lu Zhou asked, "Why?"
"No one can live forever! No one can live forever! No one can live forever!"
"What I want is not eternal life. I only want to bring the dead back to life," Lu Zhou said.
"No one can live forever!"
This was not the answer to the question he asked. It seemed like this voice was part of the remnant energy left in the scroll by the Unholy One.
Lu Zhou shook his head helplessly. ‘Is it possible that this isn’t the Resurrection Scroll?’
However, Chen Fu did not need to lie. Moreover, 30,000 years ago, Lu Tiantong was the only one who dominated the black lotus domain. What went wrong?
While Lu Zhou was still pondering on the matter, the merit stone burst forth with light, and a shadow shot toward the merit stone. Following that, the merit stone exploded with power, causing the sea to shake.
The shadow was sent flying back immediately.
"No!"
Then, the shadow vanished, and the merit stone returned to its original state.
"Are scenes left over from the past?" Lu Zhou frowned. Perhaps, it was like a memory crystal.
"Thousands of laws from the Dao can be used, starting with Venerable Masters."
"Only supreme beings can reverse time, and only supreme beings can bring the dead back to life…"
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhou shook his head. "Only supreme beings can bring the dead back to life?"
Swoosh!
At this time, Lu Zhou’s consciousness was pulled back by force. The world was spinning, and the stars were shifting.
Then, Lu Zhou’s eyes suddenly snapped open after his strand of consciousness was pulled out of the scroll. He felt as though he had just woken up from a dream.
He looked at the Scripture of Sermons before him and found that there were no changes.
What did the remnant voices and images in the scroll mean?"
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Hurried footsteps and an urgent voice suddenly rang from outside.
"Master, this is bad!"
"Come in."
Little Yuan’er pushed the door open and anxiously said, "Seventh Senior Brother is dead! Seventh Senior Brother is dead!"
Lu Zhou did not say anything. He rose to his feet immediately, and with just a flash, he arrived at the southern pavilion.
"Master!"
"Pavilion Master!"
Everyone made way for Lu Zhou immediately.
When Lu Zhou entered the room, his gaze landed on Si Wuya immediately. The aura of death had completely shrouded Si Wuya’s body, however, due to the Purple Glazed Ceramic, there was no rotten stench. However, Si Wuya’s skin color had changed drastically.
"Master, you were cultivating in seclusion for seven days. Seventh Junior Brother, he…" Ye Tianxin started.
Lu Zhou did not let her finish. "Seven days?"
Everyone fell silent.
Lu Zhou did not expect that seven days had passed. With the circulation speed that had been increased to 1,000 times faster, it meant that he had spent 7,000 days inside.
Such a huge thing happened in seven days. Life and death were at stake, and everyone was anxious. Which of the members of the Evil Sky Pavilion did not care about Si Wuya’s life or death?
Lu Zhou said in a deep voice, "Everyone, get out!"
"Understood!"
Finally, only Lu Zhou was in the room. He looked at Si Wuya and sighed heavily.
There were times when there was no coming back from one’s mistakes.
If what he had gleaned from the scroll was true, then… it seemed like he really had no way to resurrect Si Wuya.
The room was silent.
Noon silently turned to evening.
Lu Zhou stood in the room quietly. After an unknown amount of time had passed, he began to talk to himself.
"Only supreme beings can bring the dead to life. There’s nothing I can do," he said in a gentle voice.
In this world, there was no one who could stop life, aging, illnesses, and death.
"You saved Jiang Aijian, but you lost yourself. Do you regret correcting your mistakes?"
"Forget it. I’ll use the most primal method to seal you up."
"If there’s a next life, I’ll accept you as my disciple again."