Chapter 689: Choice (I)

Jing Xinyue resided in the great hall at the very center of the city. The hall was the core of all the formation restrictions, and powerful formation restrictions guarded its exterior, leaving no need for cultivators to stand watch.

Just as Lin Zheyu arrived outside, the ancient doors carved with a Vermilion Bird wreathed in flames suddenly swung open. A scorching aura surged out from within the hall.

Lin Zheyu let out a quiet breath. After confirming once more that there were no issues with the Heaven-Deceiving Art or his concealment technique, he stepped inside. The hall was decorated in an ancient yet imposing style. The moment he entered, his gaze was drawn to the enormous Vermilion Bird statue at the far end. With his perception, he could tell that this statue was the core of the formation encompassing the entire city.

Jing Xinyue sat cross-legged beneath it, her eyes closed as she cultivated in silence. Her aura was linked to the statue, making her seem as though she had transformed into a Vermilion Bird herself, radiating a terrifying heat.

After entering the hall, Lin Zheyu saluted Jing Xinyue with neither servility nor arrogance. "Junior Xiao Yu greets Senior."

Jing Xinyue slowly opened her eyes, and flames flickered briefly within them before vanishing. "No need for such formalities."

She quietly studied Lin Zheyu, her profound gaze seeming capable of seeing through everything. It left him feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

Lin Zheyu suppressed his discomfort and asked in a solemn voice. "May I ask why you summoned me?"

Usually, he was the one who made others feel as though they had been stripped bare before his gaze. Now that their positions were reversed, he found the feeling deeply unpleasant.

"There is no need to be so tense. I simply need your help with something." Jing Xinyue smiled faintly, and the breathtaking beauty of her face left Lin Zheyu momentarily dazed.

He quickly composed himself, suppressed his curiosity, and cupped his hands. "Please give me your instructions, Senior. So long as it is within my ability, I will do everything I can."

"Rest assured, it is nothing dangerous. I heard that you opened the three great divine repositories and awakened a spirit divine ability. Is it a perception-type divine ability?" Jing Xinyue asked with a smile.

Although she phrased it as a question, her tone carried complete certainty. There was no other way to explain how a young martial cultivator in the Shackles realm could perceive her divine soul unless he had awakened a perception-type spirit divine ability.

"Yes, Senior," Lin Zheyu replied.

His spirit divine ability was far more than a simple perception-type divine ability, but describing it as one was not entirely inaccurate.

"Good. Try to see whether you can make your way over here. If you can, I will give you this Blood Dragon Ginseng," Jing Xinyue said calmly.

With a wave of her right hand, a jade box containing a fiery-red Blood Dragon Ginseng landed about three meters in front of her. Blood Dragon Ginseng was a potent heavenly treasure and earthly wonder produced in the Vermilion Bird Realm. It was immensely valuable to body-refining cultivators and martial artists, as it could temper the physique and strengthen the body.

"Yes, Senior," Lin Zheyu replied.

He knew Jing Xinyue was testing the capabilities of his divine ability. She wanted to see whether his spirit divine ability was powerful enough to help her. He let out a quiet breath, and the Heavenly Eye within his sea of consciousness suddenly opened. Dense patterns of laws appeared in the space before him. It was an immensely powerful illusory formation, and anyone whose perception was insufficient would become trapped within it, unable to escape.

However, this posed no real difficulty for Lin Zheyu. He narrowed his eyes and observed it for a moment before stepping forward with his right foot. He moved as though walking along an ordinary road, encountering no obstruction whatsoever. He even appeared relaxed and at ease. Jing Xinyue watched as he effortlessly reached the jade box and picked it up, a trace of satisfaction flashing through her eyes.

Holding the jade box containing the Blood Dragon Ginseng, Lin Zheyu cupped his hands in gratitude. "Many thanks for the Blood Dragon Ginseng, Senior."

He sensed the age of the Blood Dragon Ginseng within the jade box and was surprised to discover that it was a thousand years old. If it were sold at a market, it would fetch at least twenty to thirty high-grade spirit stones.

"Not bad. Your perception is indeed very powerful. Take this token. You can use it to contact me. To see this token is as good as seeing me in person. The other powers in Great Wei will show me some respect when they see it. The Shi Family, for example," Jing Xinyue said calmly.

Clearly, she also knew of the enmity between the Martial Alliance and the Shi Family. Perhaps she had even noticed Shi Tianyun and the others secretly watching Lin Zheyu. A fiery-red light flashed, and a smooth, warm token landed in Lin Zheyu's hand.

"Refine the Blood Dragon Ginseng as soon as possible and break free of your third shackle. Once you have done so, there is something I would like to ask your help with. When the time comes, whether or not we succeed, I will give you a reward that satisfies you," Jing Xinyue said calmly.

"Yes, Senior!" Lin Zheyu replied.

As soon as he finished speaking, a gentle force enveloped him. Lin Zheyu's vision blurred for an instant, and he found himself outside the great hall. Standing there, he remained dazed for a moment, a complicated look of surprise and vindication passing through his eyes. As expected, an incomplete Heaven-Deceiving Formation was not enough to conceal his strength from a Deity Transformation realm expert.

Did she discover the strength I've been hiding? How much did she see? Lin Zheyu wondered.

Lin Zheyu let out a soft breath and suppressed his unease. He cupped his hands toward the great hall, then turned and left. Inside, Jing Xinyue sensed his departure and smiled with interest.

"What an interesting young fellow. He seems to be hiding quite a significant secret," Jing Xinyue said with a smile.

She had no ulterior motives and merely found him interesting. Nearly everyone without a powerful background who managed to cultivate beyond the Golden Core realm possessed secrets of their own. However, at Jing Xinyue's level, ordinary secrets were no longer enough to attract her attention.

Moreover, as a Deity Transformation realm expert of the Vermilion Bird Sect, one of the four top-tier sects, she had access to an unimaginable abundance of dharma treasures, secret realms, heavenly treasures and earthly wonders, and other resources.

Jing Xinyue had no reason to covet the secrets of a junior like him. Compared with whatever secrets Lin Zheyu might be hiding, she placed far greater value on the powerful perception divine ability he had awakened. The formation she had just laid down was called the Three Lives of Fated Love and Bitter Affection Formation.

It was a powerful illusory formation used by the Vermilion Bird Sect to temper its disciples' hearts through the trials of the mortal world. Even a cultivator who had just entered the Deity Transformation realm could not pass through it so easily without being affected in the slightest.

Only someone whose perception had reached a certain level, allowing them to discern the ever-changing patterns of laws within the formation and identify a safe path through it, could pass through as effortlessly and leisurely as Lin Zheyu had.

Even with my powerful divine sense, I cannot disperse the mist surrounding him and see the full extent of his strength. He is very strong, likely no weaker than a late-stage Golden Core realm cultivator. So long as he does not die prematurely, his future achievements will certainly not be inferior to Qin Hu's. He may truly be able to forge a new path for martial cultivation, whose way forward has already been cut off, Jing Xinyue thought.

She pondered for a moment, analyzing the mist-like aura surrounding Lin Zheyu.

"That feeling should be the aura of a Heaven-Deceiving Formation. Did he cultivate some technique that refines formations into the body and incorporates an incomplete Heaven-Deceiving Formation into himself?" Jing Xinyue murmured softly.

In truth, she could not see through Lin Zheyu's strength either, but she could vaguely sense the aura of the Great Dao contained within him. Regardless of the cultivation system, once someone reached the Golden Core realm or an equivalent level such as the Shackles realm, their body would contain a unique destiny aura. Unlike raw strength, this aura was extremely difficult to conceal with cultivation techniques or secret arts. Jing Xinyue had estimated Lin Zheyu's cultivation level by judging the intensity of this aura within him.