Chapter 1786: The Nether Ruins
Fang Chen had never expected to see Li Daoye there. However, he had made several guesses regarding Li Daoye's current circumstances. Now that he had seen him in person, those suspicions were confirmed, and Fang Chen found himself genuinely delighted.
Li Daoye picked up the small dishes and tea from his own table and moved them over to Fang Chen's side.
Daoist Yun Que curled his lips in disgust and stood up. "I won't stay here any longer. I'll take my leave first. If there's any news, I'll notify you."
Fang Chen rose and bowed. "Take care, Senior Yun Que."
After Daoist Yun Que left, Li Daoye could not help shaking his head. "That Senior Yun Que always looks disgusted whenever he sees me. I don't even know what I offended him with in my previous life."
Fang Chen sat back down, poured Li Daoye a cup of tea, and smiled faintly. "You were the Heavenly Dao in your previous life, weren't you?"
Li Daoye's expression turned strange. "That's what they say. But I don't remember anything about my previous life."
"When you suddenly gained the ability of deduction back then, did you truly encounter some opportunity, or did you comprehend it yourself?" Fang Chen asked.
Li Daoye smiled awkwardly. "I probably comprehended it myself. I was just afraid that if others found out, they'd capture me and search my soul, so I told everyone I had encountered an opportunity and inherited some mysterious Dao lineage.
"How could I have known that once this technique reached a profound level, it would become so mysterious? By merely looking at someone, I could see through decades of their future life, even hundreds of years in the future."
Fang Chen smiled. "That's the special nature of Heavenly Dao. Senior Yun Que dislikes you because he once had a chance to attain the Dao himself, but the position was occupied by you instead."
Li Daoye suddenly understood. "So that's how it is!"
Fang Chen's brows raised. "You couldn't deduce even that?"
Could it be that Li Daoye's methods had certain limitations?
Li Daoye smiled. "Senior Yun Que is now a Yang God. Naturally, I can't see through him. It's like the Yang Gods don't belong to the world of the living at all. Their path is entirely different from the Immortal Path."
Then he blinked and looked Fang Chen over several more times. "No wonder Yang Gods are called anomalies. Even the false Heavenly Dao cannot see through them. That certainly makes acting much more convenient."
Fang Chen's thoughts stirred slightly. Seeing Li Daoye continue staring at him, he asked curiously, "What did you see from me?"
Li Daoye hurriedly shook his head. "Can't say. If I say it, it'll reduce my lifespan. The Taicang Realm war has already greatly reduced my lifespan."
"Mm. Then don't say it."
After a pause, Fang Chen asked curiously, "What exactly happened back then? And what about the other reincarnated Heavenly Daos?"
"It went like this. I was originally cultivating in seclusion within the Nanqing Constellation when suddenly an expert arrived. He claimed to be the Palace Master of the Enlightenment God Palace and said he knew you too. He wanted to bring me somewhere to handle an important matter."
"So you simply went with him?"
"Of course not. I tried to run, but I couldn't escape, so he grabbed me and whisked me away. And then I arrived at a place called the Xie Zhi Division, where I met several major figures from the Nine Mortal Realms. After that, I was sent somewhere else. That place was extremely mysterious. There, I waited for the other reincarnated Heavenly Daos. The Heavenly Dao spiritual essence within them ultimately gathered into my body.
"And because of that, my deduction arts reached their absolute peak. For one brief moment, I even felt like I had gone insane. I could clearly see the traces of the world's fundamental laws in operation."
Li Daoye looked deeply emotional. "It took me a long time to adapt. After I absorbed the spiritual essence of those reincarnated Heavenly Daos, they themselves were not abandoned either. They were taken in by various great experts and sent to cultivate in different places. I imagine their future accomplishments will be extraordinary."
After a pause, he added, "There's one named Zhang Shaoming. He was accepted as a direct disciple by the Enlightenment God Palace Master. I estimate that in another few thousand years, that kid will definitely step onto the stage."
Fang Chen nodded. "That's indeed a good thing."
He poured Qing He out of the Yin Gourd.
"Abbess Qing He!?"
"It's you?"
When Li Daoye and Abbess Qing He saw each other, they were taken aback.
"Take a look at her current condition," said Fang Chen in expectation.
With Li Daoye's unique abilities, perhaps he truly could see through Qing He's present state.
A trace of emotion appeared on Li Daoye's face. "She... she is already a ninth-transformation immortal."
He turned to Fang Chen. "Lord Fang, Abbess Qing He's situation is rather special, but there is nothing bad about it. She was able to advance to the ninth transformation because she had accumulated merit. And it's not the work of a single lifetime."
He glanced in a certain direction.
Fang Chen immediately understood. He was looking toward Great Thunder Sound. Perhaps what Li Daoye saw was the Ghost Mother of Self Transformation.
Qing He sighed softly. "Fellow Li Daoye, you're very different from before now. I'm not even confident I could defeat you anymore."
Li Daoye grinned smugly. "That's only natural. You weren't my match before, and naturally, you still aren't now."
Then he looked around at the bustling scene, the endless stream of guests coming and going. He suddenly sighed emotionally. "It's been a long time since the three of us gathered together like this. Do you still remember the Hall of Compassion in Grand Xia?"
Qing He smiled faintly. "I remember. There was no compassion within the Hall of Compassion. If Lord Fang hadn't intervened back then, the two of us might have died there."
Li Daoye sighed. "That's true indeed. We were originally supposed to die there. We also shouldn't have met each other in this lifetime."
He quickly changed the topic as quickly as it came up and enthusiastically continued chatting with Qing He.
After chatting for a while, Qing He suddenly looked toward the sky.
Li Daoye casually picked up a peanut and flicked it out with his finger. That ordinary peanut pierced through the heavens and instantly shot into a rapidly condensing vortex.
The vortex was immediately dispersed, leaving behind only a few wisps of green smoke and a soft exclamation of surprise.
"Abbess Qing He, that Heavenly Demon seems to have set its eyes on you. Be more careful," Li Daoye warned softly.
Qing He nodded. "Whenever I appear in the Mortal Realm for even a short while, I end up attracting its attention."
Fang Chen had seen Li Daoye flick the peanut, but he had no idea what happened afterward. He could only vaguely guess the reason.
"With your methods, can you deal with that Heavenly Demon?" Fang Chen casually asked.
"Still a little short of it. My main strength lies in deduction. If we truly fought, it would probably end in mutual destruction," Li Daoye replied. After a pause, he carefully examined Fang Chen from head to toe before smiling. "Lord Fang, your cultivation has already reached the peak of the fourth transformation. As long as you consume the fifth-transformation immortal herb, you can advance. But such an immortal herb is difficult to find. You may need to make a trip into the History Immortal Book."
"A trip into the History Immortal Book?" A flicker crossed Fang Chen's eyes. "In your opinion, entering the History Immortal Book won't be a problem for me?"
"No problem at all. Neither fully mortal nor fully extraordinary. It is already detached from the Three Realms. This is the unique method of your sect."
After Li Daoye spoke, white qi suddenly began winding around him. Only Fang Chen and Qing He could see that white qi. Several breaths later, Li Daoye's appearance visibly aged by a few years.
He dipped his finger into the tea water and wrote two words upon the table.
The Nether Ruins.