Two treasure maps

After the Northern Emperor Heavenly Master Kou Qianzhi was sent away by the invisible force, the hall returned to peace. Guo Lingli looked around, and her eyes finally fell on the remaining two cushions. She walked to one of them without hesitation and gently picked it up. The red Taoist robe originally thought that she would kneel down and worship the Lord devoutly like everyone else, so she was not in a hurry to hide.

But Guo Lingli's next move surprised him. She held the mat in her left hand and tapped it gently with her right hand, as if testing its texture. Then, she put the mat on the ground and rolled it gently, carefully observing every detail of it. Seeing this, the red Taoist robe couldn't help but feel a little puzzled, but he didn't say anything, just quietly disappeared.

The hall was silent again, with only the old man with white hair and beard at the end. Guo Lingli stared at the old man, and a strange feeling surged in her heart. She always felt that the old man seemed not to be a real person. He had been sitting there motionless, like a sculpture in the temple. However, when she looked closely, she felt that the old man's eyes seemed full of vitality, deep as the sea, wise as the abyss, as if he could see through everything.

In addition, she noticed that there seemed to be figures swaying on both sides of the hall, but they were all shrouded in mist and were blurred. However, she could see the old man sitting on the golden throne farthest from her very clearly. The old man's face was kind and solemn, as if he was a supreme god, which made people feel awe.

Guo Lingli couldn't help but feel a strange feeling in her heart, as if she had really entered a temple. She calmed down and then looked at the futon in her hand again. She was still most interested in the seeds inside the futon.

Taoist Shanlan gently took off his tattered green robe, revealing an indescribable sense of vicissitude and helplessness in his movements. He carefully folded the robe and placed it neatly on the ground, then gently placed his whisk beside it. Then, wearing only his middle clothes, he slowly knelt on the remaining cushions, and each time he kowtowed, he looked so proper and solemn. After kowtowed seven times, he straightened his back, knelt there, and said nothing, with an expression of expectation and nervousness on his face, as if he was waiting for some important question.

At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared on a platform below the golden throne. The Taoist was wearing a blue Taoist robe with a crane in the shape of a crane and holding a whisk, looking mysterious and majestic. He stared at Taoist Shanlan with a sharp gaze and asked in a deep voice, "Report the losses of this mission."

Taoist Shanlan took a deep breath, calmed himself, and then replied respectfully: "There was no loss during the entire mission. It was only on the way back that I lost the immortal robe, whisk, and jade hairpin."

The man in the blue robe seemed surprised by this answer. He pondered for a while before asking again, "Was it lost in Daoyuanzhou?"

Taoist Shanlan shook his head and said, "Not entirely. From down here to Daoyuanzhou, I lost my immortal robe..."

Before he finished speaking, five or six voices rang out at the same time, "This is impossible." Someone else exclaimed in surprise, "No one in the lower world can damage the immortal robe."

Seeing this, the man in the blue robe flicked his whisk, and everyone immediately fell silent. He looked at Taoist Shanlan and motioned him to continue.

Taoist Shanlan nodded and continued, "In Daoyuanzhou, I lost my whisk. There, I also saw the golden dragon. On the way back, I unfortunately lost the jade hairpin."

After listening to this, the man in the blue robe pondered for a moment and then asked, "Since the mission has been completed, where is the treasure map?"

Taoist Shanlan quickly took out something like parchment from his arms. This treasure map seemed to have a spirit, floating towards the man in the blue robe. The man in the blue robe took it in his hand, but was not in a hurry to open it and check it. He just said lightly: "Tell me about the process."

Taoist priest Shanlan nodded and began to narrate the entire mission: "I went down to the mortal world with Qingyue Tianguan to search for the treasure map. After we arrived at the territory of Xiuguo, Qingyue Tianguan took the lead in contacting Prince Jiangshan. Through him, we learned that the reincarnated fairy who brought the treasure map down to the mortal world received an order midway and went to the home of Prince Jingyuan's reincarnated brother. Although Prince Jiangshan later realized that something was wrong and tried to gather thunder to cast a warning of heavenly punishment, it was too late."

"At that time, Prince Jiangshan accidentally exposed his whereabouts while pursuing the reincarnated fairy, and was severely injured. When we arrived, he was in seclusion to recover from his injuries, and he looked extremely weak. After a careful investigation, we found that he was injured by a twin formation from Zhang Tianshi's lineage. This surprised us very much, because such formations are usually extremely rare and powerful. What shocked us even more was that we learned that the reincarnated fairy's mortal mother was actually surnamed Zhang. This made us suspect that Zhang Tianshi's lineage had a great connection with this incident."

Taoist Priest Shanlan paused, as if recalling the scene at that time, and then continued: "So, we decided to use the disappearance of the spiritual energy in the Red Dragon Pond in Panshan Fairyland as an excuse to go down to the world to investigate. We passed through the thick fog and came to the home of the reincarnation of Prince Jingyuan. Everything there seemed so ordinary, but it hid a shocking secret."

He took a deep breath and continued, "The process of exchanging the treasure map was full of twists and turns. During this period, we encountered various cultivators, including Buddhist cultivators, demon cultivators, and even cultivators from the pseudo-heavenly court. They were all secretly observing us, trying to find out the whereabouts of the treasure map. But fortunately, we successfully exchanged the treasure map, and in the whole process, no one noticed that the treasure map had been replaced. I can assure you that there is absolutely no problem with this."

After listening to Taoist Shanlan's story, the man in the blue robe frowned and asked, "Since we have found out that the mother of the reincarnated fairy is a daughter of the Zhang family, have you checked with Master Zhang Tianshi?"

Taoist Shanlan nodded and said, "We did check. After investigation, we found that it was Zhang's grandfather who learned about the news that Fairy Tuyuan, a maid of Fuluan Palace, had brought the treasure map to the lower world. In order to obtain this treasure, he did not hesitate to spend fifty years of power to transform Fairy Tuyuan's reincarnated mother into his own offspring. In this way, the reincarnated fairy became the bloodline of their Zhang family, and they can naturally own the treasure map."

The man in the blue robe asked again, "If that's the case, they only need to replace the mother, why do they need to use such a complicated twin formation?"

Taoist Shanlan looked strange, as if he was having difficulty speaking. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "This is because our Prince Jingyuan submitted a petition to the Jade Emperor, declaring that he would only marry one wife in this life. And this wife happened not to be a daughter of the Zhang family. What's more coincidental is that she was also pregnant. In order to ensure that the bloodline of the Zhang family could smoothly inherit the treasure map, and also to cater to the wishes of Prince Jingyuan, they used this twin formation. In this way, they could both protect the interests of the Zhang family and not violate the Jade Emperor's decree."

After listening to Taoist Shanlan's explanation, everyone suddenly understood. They lamented that this prince of heaven was trapped by love and could not bear the responsibility of heaven. And Zhang Tianshi's lineage was willing to use such complicated means for the treasure, which was really amazing.