Outside the battlefield.
The very moment the teleportation jade slips shattered, the gatekeeping Grandmaster of the Mysterious Divine Path Sect immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Although the Dao Domain left behind by Mu Zhao could envelop the entire Ancient Battlefield of Meditation, severing almost all means of external observation, the Grandmaster, being the direct custodian of the jade slips, still experienced a vague and ominous premonition when the teleportation array lost effectiveness.
This Grandmaster of the Mysterious Divine Path Sect was named Ling Yazi, and the Dao he cultivated was Impartial Rectitude. Precisely because of this, he had been chosen to oversee the operations of the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation.
He abruptly opened his eyes and swiftly formed a series of hand seals, attempting to reestablish a connection with the teleportation jade slips.
But after three attempts, still nothing.
Ling Yazi's abnormal actions quickly drew the attention of the other Grandmasters present, who turned to him and asked:
"What's the matter? What happened?"
Ling Yazi rose to his feet, took a deep breath, and announced:
"The teleportation jade slips... have failed!"
"What?!"
All present were stunned and alarmed, each of them standing up in shock.
The failure of the teleportation jade slips, this was no minor matter!
While it did not necessarily mean that all those who entered the battlefield had perished, the loss of the jade slips meant they now had no way to exit until the full seven-day duration had passed and the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation closed on its own.
And if, during that time, anyone entered a battlefield involving combatants of the upper third grade or higher, they would be utterly trapped, with no path to heaven and no door to hell.
Aside from Shen Xingzhu and Yan Hui, both of whom were Master Realm cultivators, perhaps only Jiang Yunqing had a slim chance of making it out alive. The others... would likely meet a grim fate.
"But weren't these jade slips crafted personally by the Heavenly Sage Dao Sovereign? How could they possibly fail?"
"Was it only some of them that failed, or all?"
"If it were only a partial failure, Ling Yazi would've said so immediately. Clearly, this is a complete failure."
"Is there any way to forcibly reopen the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation?"
"If we could do that, then why would we even need the teleportation jade slips to begin with?"
Voices overlapped as panic and tension mounted.
Ling Yazi calmed himself and tried a few more times. But not only had the connection been lost, he couldn't even locate the remnants of the jade slips.
This meant... they had been utterly and instantly destroyed.
The jade slips had been handcrafted by the Heavenly Sage Dao Sovereign. To destroy them so completely, only an upper third-grade existence could achieve such a feat!
Furthermore, since all the jade slips were destroyed at exactly the same time, and according to the rules of the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation, every participant should currently be in a separate battlefield, this all but ruled out the possibility of a traitor among them.
Ling Yazi's expression darkened. Who did this? Who could have pulled off something like this?
The jade slips had remained in his possession the entire time. He was certain that no one else had touched them.
If the jade slips weren't the problem... could it be that something was wrong with the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation itself?
Ling Yazi's heart skipped a beat.
If there was a problem with the Ancient Battlefield, then someone must have tampered with it directly.
And there was one person... who had both interacted with the battlefield and had the strength to alter it.
Mu Zhao, the Martial Saint!
Ling Yazi's thoughts turned sharply. He looked toward the Grandmaster from the Martial Saint Pavilion who was present.
But that man's expression was just as bewildered and tense as everyone else's. He truly seemed to know nothing of what had happened.
Meanwhile, the Grandmasters from the Zhou Imperial Court and the Three Calamities Sect were beginning to lose their temper.
After all, one was a princess, and the other was the adopted son of a sect's Supreme Elder. Now they were completely unreachable, how were they supposed to explain this?
The Three Calamities Sect Grandmaster glared at Ling Yazi, shouting angrily:
"You were the one safeguarding the jade slips. If something went wrong, that is the responsibility of your Mysterious Divine Path Sect! If any harm comes to those inside, we of the Three Calamities Sect will demand full accountability!"
The Grandmaster from the Zhou Imperial Court, a pale, beardless eunuch, narrowed his eyes and said in an eerie, cold voice:
"How could a perfectly functional jade slip suddenly fail? If you ask me, there must be some clue we've overlooked. Looking back, the only sect that acted unprovoked was Liberty Mountain. Could they be hiding something?"
He suddenly turned and cast a sinister look toward Xu Datong, who had stood up earlier for Chen Kuang, implying something without saying it outright.
Xu Datong gave a long, mocking laugh:
"The sages say: 'A gentleman keeps his blade hidden and acts when the time is right.' Since someone dared to make an unprovoked move against a disciple of Liberty Mountain, naturally I acted in a direct and honorable manner. That is called repaying injustice with righteousness."
"Unlike certain people, who only know how to sneak around and throw shade. No wonder they're called yin-yang freaks!"
The eunuch's face twisted violently, but then smoothed back into an expressionless calm. He ignored Xu Datong and instead raised his voice for everyone to hear, his tone sharp and cutting:
"Gentlemen, I have already dispatched investigators, "
"And it turns out, Liberty Mountain... doesn't have any disciple named Chen Ruogu!"
"You Mysterious Liberty Mountain people have presented someone who doesn't even exist. What is your true intent?"
At these words, the others all fell into suspicion.
They trusted the Zhou dynasty's intelligence network, of course they did. And truthfully, they themselves had never heard of any Chen Ruogu from Liberty Mountain rising to prominence lately...
Especially suspicious was the fact that this Chen Ruogu had exhibited abnormally low cultivation from the very beginning.
Initially, no one had questioned it, relying on Liberty Mountain's consistent reputation. But now that something had gone wrong, it was inevitable that suspicion would follow.
Ling Yazi hesitated briefly, then said:
"Let us not jump to conclusions just yet. Why don't we have Daoist Xu explain? Perhaps this is a direct disciple whom the Master never formally announced?"
Xu Datong, feeling the intensity of the crowd's gazes, gave a cold snort on the surface, but was secretly inwardly cursing his luck.
The moment Chen Kuang arrived, he knew that senior brother of his was stirring up trouble again.
Because, truth be told, Xu Datong didn't know who Chen Kuang was either... but the man radiated that unmistakable aura of Haoran Righteousness, which meant that the Master had approved of his presence.
Xu Datong had a bandit's temper, he simply could not tolerate seeing one of his own being bullied.
He had stood up for Chen Kuang without hesitation. Never did he expect that his righteous act would now make him the center of suspicion.
And the worst part? He couldn't even refute it, because he truly didn't know who Chen Ruogu was.
The eunuch Grandmaster from the Zhou Imperial Court sneered:
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"
Xu Datong had just opened his mouth to retaliate when he was interrupted by a horrified gasp from the Three Calamities Sect's Grandmaster:
"H-How could this be?!"
Everyone turned sharply to look, he was holding a life token, which had clearly split apart!
And the name carved into that token was none other than Yan Hui!
A collective shock ran through the gathered sects.
Yan Hui, a cultivator at the peak of the Grandmaster Realm, one whose strength could rival even Shen Xingzhu, and widely considered one of the most unlikely to die...
And yet, he was the first confirmed casualty!
But this, was only the beginning.
With another sharp crack, the Grandmaster from the Martial Saint Pavilion froze, eyes wide. In his hand, the life token of Wen Yao, had just split cleanly in two!
Wen Yao, the sole remaining true disciple of the Martial Saint, and the son of the Pavilion Master of the Martial Saint Pavilion, was dead!
The faces of everyone present changed dramatically.
Back when Li Hongling had died, the Martial Saint had descended into the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation despite being in secluded cultivation, sending his divine will to personally smite her killer.
And now, another true disciple had perished. Who knew what kind of madness would follow?
"Th-this..."
Even Ling Yazi was completely stunned. He had never imagined things could spiral out of control like this.
He quickly said:
"Fellow Daoists, please remain calm! I will now summon Earth-Spirit Dao Lord to come forth and examine the jade slips and the battlefield anomaly!"
With the situation descending into chaos and beyond his ability to manage, Ling Yazi could only turn to reinforcements.
Moreover, with Wen Yao and Yan Hui already confirmed dead, the next likely to be in peril were Shen Xingzhu and Jiang Yunqing.
The Mysterious Divine Path Sect could no longer afford to sit idly by.
The Earth-Spirit Dao Lord was none other than Shen Xingzhu's master, and he just so happened to be in the vicinity, he was the most appropriate person to handle the matter.
As for why they didn't call the Heavenly Sage Dao Sovereign... well, it was common knowledge that His Venerable Lordship never involved himself in such affairs.
...
Thousands of li away, atop a remote hillside.
Though now unremarkable and overgrown, few knew that this place had once been the homeland of the Saint of Music, and the very place where the Earth-Spirit Dao Lord had secluded herself shortly after stepping onto the path of cultivation.
At this moment, a stunningly beautiful Daoist nun, robed in dark Daoist garb, was strolling across the desolate hillside. Her gaze fell on the ruined courtyard before her as she sighed deeply.
A gentle breeze stirred the withered grasses into green waves. Her feathered robe fluttered lightly about her body, as though she might ascend with the wind at any moment.
Silence surrounded her.
She stepped into the ruins and saw, lying broken in two on the ground, a wooden zither long abandoned and untouched. She let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"Two thousand years have passed, like waves over stone... I come here every year to see this place again. And yet, what's the point?"
He's not coming back. Why can't you understand that?
Lu Zhexuan spoke these words inwardly, to herself.
Twenty years could carve itself into the soul.
Two hundred years could solidify belief.
Two thousand years... was pure, deluded obsession.
Her time with him had lasted but a single fleeting year. Compared to the two thousand years that followed, it was a mere drop in the endless ocean of time.
She didn't even know his name.
She had never seen his face.
Why, then.. could she never let it go?
Perhaps... it was just her being willful.
Just like how she could have used her cultivation to preserve this courtyard perfectly, and yet had allowed it to rot and decay, secretly hoping that, one day, he would return and see the mess he left behind for himself.
Yes. You left it all behind. So why, won't you come back and look at it?
Lu Zhexuan stood motionless for a long while, then finally waved her hand with an impassive expression.
The ruined courtyard in front of her instantly disintegrated into ash, scattering upon the wind...
She exhaled slowly, as though laying down a burden of two thousand years.
She turned, preparing to leave, but suddenly furrowed her brow.
With a flip of her palm, she retrieved a communication jade slip and sensed the message it contained.
Lu Zhexuan's expression instantly changed, and the very next moment, she transformed into a streak of light and sped toward the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation.