Two treasure maps

Chapter 108 The Origin of the Precious Lotus Lantern

Nezha's eyes were firm, and he stretched out his hand without hesitation, reaching for the altar of the Tianjie Chenxiang Buddha. His goal was the precious lotus lantern that once belonged to him. Many years ago, Erlang Shen Yang Jian lent a hand in the court of heaven and helped him through a difficult time. In order to express his gratitude to him, Nezha generously gave him the precious lotus lantern. Now the precious lotus lantern was tainted with evil spirits and lost its former purity. He thought to himself that since the precious lotus lantern was already dirty, it would not be wrong to take it back.

What shocked Nezha was that no matter how he used his magic power, the Lotus Lantern seemed to have taken root in the body of the Heavenly Ring Agarwood Buddha, and it did not move at all. He then truly realized that the black-shirted man in front of him said, "For me, nothing below the thirty-layer heaven is above me." Nezha took a deep breath, put away his magic power, and bowed to Guo Xiu beside him, saying, "Please help me, fellow Taoist, and take his life magic weapon."

Guo Xiu shook his head and said calmly: "Although I don't like him, I have never thought of destroying his cultivation."

Hearing this, Nezha sighed softly and explained, "You misunderstood. I am not coveting his cultivation. I asked Uncle Guangchengzi to refine this Precious Lotus Lantern to thank my uncle Erlangshen Yang Jian. But unexpectedly, his mother stole it to the lower world, and later it became his life magic weapon. Now this magic weapon is tainted with evil spirits. I don't want to destroy it, nor do I want to see him become evil because of it. Letting him cultivate here again may be the best choice."

Guo Xiu didn't seem to be interested in Nezha's explanation. He frowned and asked, "You call Guangchengzi your uncle? Then who is your master?" His focus was not on the evil spirit, but he was interested in Nezha's origin.

Nezha frowned slightly and looked at Guo Xiu in confusion, wondering how this man knew nothing about the situation in the world. He said in a deep voice: "The world is about to be invaded by evil spirits, shouldn't you be more concerned about this issue?"

Guo Xiu replied casually: "In our time, the demonic energy was just a kind of gas for cultivation. There is nothing to be afraid of." His words stunned Nezha. This person didn't seem to care about the demonic energy. What surprised Nezha even more was that Guo Xiu seemed to know his name, Erlang Shen Yang Jian, and Master Guangchengzi, but he knew nothing about the situation in the world. He didn't even know who the 72 saviors, the dragon bone treasure map, the Monkey King Sun Wukong, and his master were. What kind of mysterious person is this?

Nezha was filled with curiosity and doubt, but he still bowed his hands respectfully and replied, "My master is Taiyi Zhenren."

Guo Xiu frowned when he heard this, as if he was recalling the name. He said calmly, "The one from Qianyuan Mountain."

Tianjie Chenxiang Buddha beside him couldn't stand listening any longer. He muttered to himself: Where did this hermit come from? Even Nezha's master Taiyi Zhenren didn't know about him? This person's origins are becoming more and more puzzling.

Nezha's eyes flashed with determination, and he said solemnly: "That's right. My master, Taiyi Zhenren, is a unique existence in the world. Could it be that there is another Taiyi Zhenren in this world?"

Guo Xiu smiled slightly upon hearing this, shook his head, and said, "Taiyi is actually a kind of numerology, representing a high level of prediction. In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor fought a great war with Chiyou, and the Yellow Emperor ordered Fenghou to be Taiyi. Therefore, in our era, Taiyi was actually an official position. There are naturally many people named Taiyi. As for the more famous Taiyi Zhenren in the cultivation world, his Qianyuan Mountain is quite famous."

Nezha blinked his eyes, and an inexplicable emotion surged in his heart. He had never heard his master talk about these words. Could it be that this Guo Xiu in front of him was really familiar with his master? Then, could his master be saved?

A strong desire to test him surged in his heart, so he cupped his hands and said, "Please help me, fellow Taoist, to take the Precious Lotus Lantern from his body."

Tianjie Chenxiang Buddha was anxious at this time. He didn't want to lose his life-defining magic weapon, the Lotus Lantern. Even if the Lotus Lantern once belonged to Nezha, so what? He regarded it as his own treasure, and he had already given it to his uncle, and his uncle never cared about him using the Lotus Lantern as his life-defining magic weapon. Why did Nezha take it away just because he wanted to?

He knew that using the Buddha's name was no longer effective, so he simply addressed him as a fellow Taoist, trying to persuade Guo Xiu: "My fellow hermit Taoist, you just said that demonic energy is just a kind of gas used in cultivation, no different from spiritual energy and immortal energy. So, it is understandable that my life-defining magic weapon, the lotus lantern, is contaminated with demonic energy. Nezha wants to take my life-defining magic weapon by force, which is unethical no matter how you look at it."

Hearing this, Nezha sneered and retorted, "Even if the devil energy is a kind of gas used to cultivate immortality, just like spiritual energy and immortal energy, can you control it? If the former Jade Emperor had not fallen into evil, causing most of the immortals in the heaven to be infected with devil energy, how could there be the fake heaven founded by your uncle? And there would not be you, the master of the Heavenly Ring Palace."

Tianjie Chenxiang Buddha also sneered and retorted: "If you hadn't been hot-tempered and reckless, you would have angered the former Jade Emperor in the court, causing him to release the devil energy and let all the immortals be infected with the devil energy. Now you are clamoring here that it is the devil energy that affects the safety of the three realms. Why don't you say that you are just a..."

Before he finished speaking, the ginkgo tree suddenly burst into a dazzling light. This light instantly broke Guo Xiu's illusion, but did not disturb the monks who were practicing in Tiancheng Temple. After the light, the three of them found themselves in an unfamiliar secret place.

An old man appeared in front of them, like a legendary figure from an ancient scroll, making people unforgettable at first sight. He was wearing a black robe with eight trigrams, and the deep black color seemed to contain endless mysteries of the universe, flashing with a faint light. The edges of the robe were embroidered with exquisite eight trigrams patterns, as if telling some ancient and mysterious legend.

His face was thin and resolute, and the years had carved deep wrinkles on his face, but it did not diminish his majestic temperament. His eyes were as deep as a pool, shining with wisdom, as if he could see through the essence of everything in the world. He had a high nose bridge and a faint smile on his lips, as if he had seen through the joys and sorrows of life.

His white hair was as white as snow, and it fell on his shoulders like silver silk, forming a sharp contrast with his black clothes. His white beard fluttered like an immortal's whisk, adding a bit of elegance. Although his figure was thin, he exuded a kind of tenacious strength, as if he had experienced countless wind and rain baptisms, but still stood firm.

The most eye-catching thing was the demonic energy that was faintly emanating from his body. The demonic energy was not a thick black fog, but a faint, looming purple aura. It lingered around the old man like smoke, sometimes gathering and sometimes dissipating. The demonic energy revealed a strange and powerful force that made people feel awe.