Chapter 148: Me?

"Wasn't that demonic artifact given to Senior Brother Yunchang's disciple?
That child managed to subjugate this demonic artifact back then.
Senior Brother Yunchang even treated us to wine to celebrate."
Frowning as he recalled, Daoist Yunxiong spoke up.

"That child died two years ago." Raising his eyelids slightly, Daoist Yunyang murmured softly.
"Dead?"
"Yes, two years ago, while undergoing the blood-stained tribulation during his travels, he was ambushed by eighteen blood-stained demons.
Only the demonic artifact returned, wrapped in a piece of blood-stained clothing.
Not even his bones were left..."

With his brows drooping, Daoist Yunyang's tone was calm, yet a trace of pity was unmistakable within it.
To be able to subjugate a demonic artifact like the Two-Mind Mirror meant he was naturally a person of extraordinary talent.
Had he survived the blood-stained tribulation, wielding the Two-Mind Mirror, he would surely have become a pillar of strength for the Divine Firmament Sect in the future.
Unfortunately, heaven plays with mortals.
Even the most peerless geniuses can perish and vanish.

"If that is the case, then it is indeed feasible.
It's just... Senior Brother Yunchang..." Daoist Yunxiong's expression turned hesitant.
"You needn't worry about Yunchang; I will speak with him.
Qixiu, is it? Come over here."
Daoist Yunyang beckoned, signaling Qixiu to approach.

"The Two-Mind Mirror is an ancient demonic artifact treasured by our Divine Firmament Sect, originating from the Hell Path, one of the top ten demonic sects of the Middle Ages.
When our sect exterminated the entire Hell Path, most of their artifacts were destroyed under the might of the lightning arts.
Only a few magical treasures managed to survive by chance.
The Two-Mind Mirror is one of them.
This mirror possesses no other miraculous abilities, except that it allows a person's mind to split into two, creating a second avatar.
This avatar shares your thoughts and is connected to your Dao arts.
You are him, and he is you.
The two of you practicing together is like being a single entity.
If you can subjugate this mirror, you can become two, which may solve your dilemma of being unable to multitask.
However, this demonic mirror is extremely ferocious.
Although after years of baptism by our sect's lightning arts, eight or nine-tenths of its ferocity has been purged, it still must not be underestimated.
Moreover, the agony of a divided mind is difficult for ordinary people to endure.
If you are willing, the old Daoist can arrange for you to try.
Even if you fail to subjugate it, it doesn't matter; you can choose another reward then."

Divided mind, a second avatar?
Hearing the miraculous effects of the Two-Mind Mirror, Qixiu was instantly tempted.
Although he now possessed the *Mystic Principles of the Primal Chaos Dragon and Tiger Scripture* to command all sorts of arts, profound skills such as calligraphy, alchemy, and painting still required him to practice stroke by stroke, step by step on his own.
If the Two-Mind Mirror truly possessed such divine efficacy, having this second avatar would at least double his current cultivation speed!

Thinking this, Qixiu hesitated no longer, nodded, and replied:
"This disciple is willing to try."
"Good, disciples of our Divine Firmament Sect must dare to fight and strive. We do not even fear the might of the thunder, let alone a mere demonic artifact."
Nodding slightly, Daoist Yunyang said:
"In that case, go back and prepare. In a few days, I will take you to subjugate the Two-Mind Mirror.
Junior Brother Yunxiong, Junior Brother Yunqing,
you two will likely have to trouble yourselves to guard this child at that time."
"Xiuer is my disciple; it is only natural."
"Xiuer is my eldest nephew; it is only natural."
"Why are you copying me?"
"Are these words exclusive to your Yunti Peak? I'm breathing too; am I copying you then?"
"Oh, you old mountain goat, I see you didn't win last time. If you're unconvinced, let's go outside and fight one-on-one!"
"One-on-one it is! Do you think I'm afraid of you?"

***

Watching the two old daoists bickering and grabbing each other by the collars in an instant, Daoist Yunyang wore a helpless expression, shaking his head with a light chuckle at Qixiu:
"You'll get used to it. They've been fighting since childhood, and now that they're hundreds of years old, they still haven't changed a bit."
Watching the two old daoists wrestling playfully, tugging at each other's beards with tears and snot streaming from the pain, Qixiu smiled faintly:
"Actually, this is quite nice too."

***

Three days later.
Daoist Yunyang, Daoist Yunxiong, and Daoist Yunqing—three mighty beings of the Dao Body Realm—led Qixiu before a stone forest shrouded in dense clouds and mist.
In this hell-like stone forest, an oppressive, murderous atmosphere enveloped the entire area.
Over a thousand huge, sharp rocks gathered together, resembling a grotesque creation of nature.
The stone forest towered into the clouds with overlapping peaks, inevitably evoking a sense of oppression and fear.
The rocks were hard and sharp, like the fangs of a giant, radiating a suffocating aura.
The cliff walls were covered in pitch-black moss and swaying gray vines, forming shadows and realms of gloom in areas lacking light.
When a few sparse rays of sunlight filtered through the clouds, they cast eerie, desolate, and spine-chilling mottled shadows upon the rock walls.

The paths between the rocks were narrow and winding, resembling a labyrinth.
A heavy, bone-chilling cold permeated the air, accompanied by the occasional echo of approaching footsteps.
"This place is called Hell Forest, and it was the headquarters of the Hell Path.
Back then, our sect annihilated the entire Hell Path. Before dying, their sect master, the Hell Lord, uttered a great curse, vowing to return as fierce ghosts accompanied by all their sect members and swearing to eradicate every single member of our Divine Firmament Sect.
To eliminate the Hell Lord's malicious curse and deny the Hell Path even a sliver of a chance of resurgence, the grandmaster of that generation simply moved this entire Hell Forest back into the sect.
He wanted to watch the embers of the Hell Path be completely extinguished under the gaze of generations of our Divine Firmament Sect."

Standing beside Qixiu, Daoist Yunxiong slowly explained the origins of this terrifying stone forest.
Gazing at the stone forest filled with infinite cold and eerie aura, Qixiu felt a chill run down his spine, even while standing just outside.
Deep within this stone forest, something seemed to have sensed the arrival of outsiders.
Countless untraceable figures paused, their cold, resentful gazes all converging in this direction.

"It's the little daoists of the Divine Firmament Sect..."
"They actually dare to come in. Let's eat them."
"Yes, yes! Make them like us, wandering in this stone forest for eternity, unable to live and unable to die!"
"Attack! Attack!"
"Kill!"

Rampant roars and battle cries echoed by his ears, seeming to have reached his very side. Qixiu lifted his eyelids slightly, instinctively wanting to dodge.
*Acroos—*
At that moment, the ink flood dragon in his sea of consciousness suddenly raised its head and roared long, ripples of sound waves echoing and vibrating through his mental realm.
The lingering, whispered murmurs suddenly vanished.
And the fatal attack that seemed poised to descend dissolved into thin air in an instant.

An illusion?
With a slight flicker of his expression, Qixiu remained silent and continued to follow his master, Daoist Yunxiong, forward.
Passing through countless sharply jagged boulders standing in spine-chilling silence, a patch of stagnant lake water appeared before the four of them.
The lake water was bizarre indeed.
Half crimson, half pitch-black.
The two colors sometimes coalesced and blended, and sometimes repelled each other.
The entire lake surface was sometimes surging with fierce waves, and sometimes still and heavy like a mirror.
It was as if two completely contradictory existences had gathered together in a bizarre posture.

"The Two-Mind Mirror is within this lake water.
If you wish to subjugate this demonic artifact, you must leap into the lake water and endure the artifact's attacks.
If you triumph, you will have subjugated this demonic artifact and will be able to command it at will henceforth.
However, if you fail, while it won't be fatal, you will lose the qualification to ever subjugate this artifact.
Remember, you only have one chance."

After explaining the process of subjugating the Two-Mind Mirror, Daoist Yunyang turned to Daoist Yunxiong and Daoist Yunqing and said:
"When Qixiu enters the lake, he must not suffer the slightest interference.
You two guard the eastern and western sides respectively.
I have already notified the sect that aside from us, there are no other senior or junior brothers in the Hell Forest today.
Therefore, if anyone dares to approach,
don't worry about anything else—strike them down and kill them first!"
"If we strike them down and kill them all, what's there to discuss?" Stroking his chin, Daoist Yunqing muttered softly.
"If he tells you to strike, then strike, why so much nonsense? Haven't you understood Senior Brother Yunyang's meaning yet?
If they get killed, it's all on him anyway."
Kicking Daoist Yunqing, Daoist Yunxiong explained with a serious expression.
"Oh, oh, oh, I understand now."

Smiling at each other, the two old daoists transformed into flashes of thunder and sped off to guard the eastern and western flanks.
Left behind, Daoist Yunyang shook his head with a helpless sigh.

With three Dao Body grandmasters guarding him, Qixiu steadied his mind, bowed respectfully to Daoist Yunyang, and stepped forward toward the eerie, ominous black-and-red lake water.
*Splash—*
Almost the moment he touched the water, Qixiu sank directly to the bottom of the lake.
It was as if some miraculous force was pulling him down.
Surrounded by murky, dark lake water, Qixiu narrowed his eyes, a purple glow shimmering within them as he slowly swept his gaze across the malevolent lake.
*Hum—*
Hearing a strange sound behind him, Qixiu whipped around instantly. The lake water surged, and his gaze instantly locked on.
Behind him, at some unknown point, had appeared a mirror about a person's height, its edges forged from bronze and covered in rust, engraved with ancient and mysterious patterns. Its mirror surface, however, was as pristine as new, almost bizarrely bright.
Was this the demonic artifact, the Two-Mind Mirror?

Staring at the Two-Mind Mirror before him, just as Qixiu was bracing himself for a potential attack from the artifact, a figure suddenly appeared within the bright, pristine mirror surface.
"This is..."
Seeing the figure in the mirror, Qixiu's expression changed slightly.
"Me?"

***
*(End of this chapter)*