Nanzhu, Zhan Renjie and other leaders' faces changed slightly. They took two steps forward at the same time, but then realized something and stopped.
In an instant, the surroundings fell silent.
Lord Pingcang coughed twice and shook his head at Nanzhu, breaking the tense atmosphere: "Duan Liu left this thing behind, clearly intending to frame Sect Leader Gu."
Everyone had no doubts. This time it was Gu Pinglin who took the initiative to ask to come to his room to see, and no one would deliberately expose themselves.
Gu Pinglin frowned and looked gloomy. Seeing that everyone's eyes were fixed on "Nine Chapters of Spirit Refining", he couldn't help but think to himself that it was bad.
Duan Qingming had never come back! He left the spirit stone formation behind just to make everyone think he had come back. The appearance of "Nine Chapters of Spirit Refining" was like throwing a stone into still water, not only to contain himself, but also to contain everyone.
Who wouldn’t be greedy when it comes to profit? This person is playing tricks on people’s minds again.
He took the stone lotus seeds to delay time!
Gu Pinglin's mind turned, and he said sternly: "This person wants to frame me, why would he leave the real "Nine Chapters of Spirit Refining"? Everyone must not fall into his trap!"
Shun Shigong came to his senses and said: "Yes, this thing must be fake."
"It must still be in his hands," Wei Changqing snorted coldly, rolling his eyes, "I don't think it's a good idea to keep looking like this, why don't we split up and act separately, what do you think?"
Zhan Renjie's eyes flashed, "Elder Wei's words make sense. This person is hiding in Penglai, and there may be accomplices in the Demon Realm to help him. The South Island Master must not be careless. We are grateful for the hospitality of the Island Master, how can we sit idly by and watch? We are willing to do our best."
Everyone agreed loudly, and some even went out to search.
Nanzhu sneered.
It is not difficult to deal with a seriously injured external alchemy monk. They proposed to search separately. It is unknown whether they really want to kill Duan Liu or for the "Nine Chapters of Refining the Spirit".
No one would easily compromise when it comes to interests. Nanzhu knew that she couldn't stop it, but fortunately Penglai also had a chance, so she bowed and said, "In that case, thank you all."
Shun Shigong hurriedly said, "I don't know the situation on Linggui Island. Let me take my leave first." With Nanzhu's consent, he left in a hurry.
Wei Changqing stared at the "Nine Chapters of Spirit Refining" on the table: "What should I do with this?"
Gu Pinglin said: "It should be destroyed."
Someone asked: "What if... it's true?"
Gu Pinglin laughed twice and stared at the man: "If it is true, it should be destroyed. Do we want to let the Demon Ancestor's inheritance remain in the world and harm the cultivation world?"
The man was speechless.
Gu Pinglin slapped the air with his palm, and the "Nine Chapters of Spirit Refining" was instantly reduced to ashes.
Everyone cried out, their pupils shrank, and several Inner Alchemy masters couldn't help but raise their hands, but they didn't stop him. No matter how many calculations they had in their minds, they always regarded themselves as righteous and could not show their covetousness for the magic skills. Moreover, this thing was very likely to be fake, so it didn't matter if it was destroyed. As long as Duan Qingming was captured, they would definitely get the real thing. So everyone quickly dispersed and searched on their own.
Nanzhu sighed towards Gu Pinglin: "I didn't expect... Are you okay?"
Gu Pinglin shook his head.
Lord Pingcang's eyes were like torches: "If the island master is interested, why not help the Lingxin Sect catch the rebels first, and search the Biyou Palace as well."
Nanzhu was unwilling to miss the opportunity after all, so she comforted Gu Pinglin with a few words and then led her men away.
The courtyard became quiet again, and Jiang Ruoxu, Leng Xu and others stepped forward and said, "Master."
Gu Pinglin ignored everyone and walked quickly into Duan Qingming's room and looked around. However, the room was simple and clean except for the abandoned spirit stone array, and there was nothing there that he was looking for.
He should have thought about the problem of the soul stone, but it did not threaten himself, which shows that the two wisps of soul are not in him. So, where did they move to
Gu Pinglin walked out of the room with a serious expression.
Jiang Ruoxu thought for a moment and said, "Junior Brother Duan..."
Gu Pinglin raised his hand to interrupt him: "From today on, he is no longer a disciple of the Lingxin Sect, nor is he your junior fellow apprentice."
Jiang Ruoxu was shocked: "But..."
"Who said it wasn't!" Bu Shuihan's voice rang out.
Gu Pinglin knew that he had woken up, so he turned around and said, "Senior Brother Bu."
"I dare not. Master, you calling me senior brother is too much of an embarrassment to me." Bu Shuihan walked out of the room, his handsome face as cold as ice.
Gu Pinglin remained calm and said, "Brother, what are you talking about?"
"Master valued Junior Brother Duan more at the beginning and intended to pass the position of the head of the sect to him," Bu Shuihan's eyes were red, "Even if you feel resentful, you shouldn't..."
Gu Pinglin said, "Brother, you are overthinking. This person practiced magic without permission, which is equivalent to betraying the sect. I had no choice but to expel him from the Lingxin Sect."
"I have never seen him betray his master. I only know that he came to save you today," Bu Shuihan gritted his teeth and raised his head, "When I was poisoned by the Long Night Sword, he saved my life. No matter whether he follows the righteous path or the evil path, as long as I am here, he is my junior brother!"
Gu Pinglin put his hands behind his back and said calmly, "It's easy. If you insist on doing this, you can leave the Lingxin Sect with him and enter the Demon Realm."
"You!" Bu Shuihan had never been treated so coldly by him before, and he was immediately choked.
Jiang Ruoxu hurriedly pulled Bu Shuihan back and said to Gu Pinglin, "Junior Brother Duan has never done anything that is detrimental to the Lingxin Sect. Perhaps he was just confused for a moment..."
"Whether he is confused or not, it is a fact that he is practicing the Demon Ancestor's inheritance. Master would not want you to associate with demon cultivators. Brother, please make your own decision," Gu Pinglin said, and then turned to Xin Ji, "I have something to say to you, senior. Follow me."
Xin Ji quickly agreed and followed him.
Bu Shuihan's angry snort and the sound of wood and stone breaking could be heard from behind.
Gu Pinglin paused slightly. Duan Liu was cold-hearted and had never trusted anyone, but he had deceived so many people. It was ironic. Gu Pinglin shook his head and continued to walk around the rockery until he stopped at the sea-viewing corridor.
Xin Ji smiled and said, "Master Gu, the matter has been settled. The soul stone..."
"It's been done. Who was it done for?" Gu Pinglin turned around and looked at him. "Did Duan Qingming ask you to tell him?"
Xin Ji was surprised: "What does Master Gu mean by this?"
Gu Pinglin didn't bother to argue with him and went straight to the point: "He asked you to remind everyone to search other rooms."
Duan Qingming set up the spirit stone array and put the "Nine Chapters of Spirit Refining" in his room before dusk. He waited in the courtyard, not to wait for me to go to the moon-viewing banquet together, but to stop me so that I would not find anything unusual when I returned to my room. He deliberately asked Xin Ji to remind everyone to search other rooms. If he had not noticed it first, and really waited for Xin Ji to say it, he would probably be in trouble at this moment, and at least he would have to spend more time to clear his suspicion.
Being exposed by him, Xin Ji restrained his expression and said, "I can't hide it from Master Gu."
"He threatened you with the Soul Stone," Gu Pinglin observed his expression and knew he was right, "He made you believe that the soul I exchanged was fake."
Xin Ji sighed: "Yes, I really have no choice."
Gu Pinglin said: "If your soul is really still in his hands, he should threaten you directly and put forward more important conditions instead of just a few words. You will not fail to think of the strangeness in this."
Xin Ji was silent for a moment, then smiled bitterly, "Life and soul are important. I know he is 90% lying, but I dare not bet on that 10% possibility. What's more, his conditions are too easy to fulfill. I thought I would not lose anything if I agreed to him, but I did not know that he left something in your room."
Gu Pinglin closed his eyes slightly.
This condition is only useful to Xin Ji, who is suspicious. It is different for Yan Sen. He only uses one possibility to lure Xin Ji into the trap, and the conditions he proposed are just acceptable to Xin Ji. If he directly asks Xin Ji to give up the action, Xin Ji will be cautious instead. This degree is just right. In a word, it is absolutely safe to change. Compared with the possibility of death, Xin Ji does not need to consider how to choose.
Gu Pinglin opened his eyes: "You really don't know?"
Xin Ji said with a stiff face, "I really don't know, Master Gu knows it well."
Gu Pinglin stared at him with a slightly cold look.
Whether it was Duan Qingming or himself, they were all using him. He didn't mind framing himself and the Lingxin Sect in the end, not to mention the excuse of "being threatened by Duan Qingming". No matter who had the soul stone in the end, he had completed the task on both sides and did it perfectly.
Xin Ji was sweating coldly when he was looked at. He was about to plead for mercy, but Gu Pinglin suddenly asked, "When did he negotiate with you?"
Xin Ji didn't understand why he reacted so strongly, and after a pause he said, "Yesterday."
Gu Pinglin's heart was pounding.
Xin Ji tried to find out: "Master Duan said that if someone searches his room in the future, he will let me say a word. If nothing happens, he will return the Soul Stone to me. I really don't know anything else..."
"I won't bother with you this time. Whether you know it or not, this matter ends here," Gu Pinglin suddenly threw the soul stone to him, his voice cold, "I can let you go, but I can also prevent you from leaving Penglai. The Demon Realm is still looking for you, I hope you take care of yourself."
Xin Ji's expression changed slightly, and then he laughed and said, "Mr. Gu is indeed straightforward. I admire him."
The soul stone was crushed and his soul returned. He relaxed his brows, bowed to Gu Pinglin, said "goodbye", and then fled.
Gu Pinglin stayed alone on the corridor, paced a few steps, and finally couldn't help but slapped the corridor pillar heavily with his palm.
Yesterday! Duan Qingming had already noticed his plan! He had already discovered that the soul in the soul stone had been replaced!
Soul stone!
Gu Pinglin suddenly remembered something and took out two soul stones, which were the two he had borrowed from Duan Qingming before.
There is nothing unusual about the black soul stone.
Gu Pinglin concentrated on observing for a moment, then suddenly condensed his true energy and slowly injected it into the soul stone that he had used to lure the Moon-Swallowing Beast.
The purple forbidden seal flashed and disappeared.
His hands trembled slightly, Gu Pinglin pursed his lips and continued to release the seal.
The unique restrictions of the Lingxin Sect were released, and a familiar, warm feeling spread throughout the body, which came from the connection between the souls.
Two faint green lights appeared in the originally dark and empty soul stone. They were the lost souls.
"Brother Gu!" Nanzhu hurried over.
Gu Pinglin quickly shook his hand and turned around.
Nanzhu said: "We haven't found any clues outside yet. Where is Duan Liu hiding? Do you have any idea?"
"He..." Gu Pinglin stopped.
He used his own judgment to lead everyone to the Fairy Snake Island, and set up a spirit stone formation in advance, leaving behind a fake "Nine Chapters of Spirit Refining" to confuse everyone, which only proved that he did not return to the Fairy Snake Island at all.
Where is he? If she finds out that he has escaped, she will definitely ask Nanzhu to order a search of the island, and he will naturally be in a place that Nanzhu cannot find.
He is on the main island of Penglai.
Nanzhu ordered all places to guard the veins of the earth and forbid everyone to leave the island to facilitate the search. Duke Pingcang would definitely execute the order, Duke Shunshi was wavering in his attitude, but Lady Ming had already planned to submit to Nanzhu and would not disobey the order. Only the main island of Penglai controlled by Duke Liuyu Guo Feng was beyond Nanzhu's reach. Guo Feng left after Yan Sen showed up, and even if he learned the news later, there was a time difference in between, which was enough for Duan Qingming to teleport to the main island of Penglai and hide.
Nanzhu saw this and asked, "But what did you think of?"
Gu Pinglin turned sideways and said, "I have no clue yet. He should still be on Penglai Island."
"He chose the cultivation method himself, so you don't have to be too sad," Nanzhu sighed, patted his shoulder, and suddenly said seriously, "I won't say polite words to you, but you made a mistake this time. Even if you want to deal with him, you should get the "Nine Chapters of Spirit Refining" first, which is better than letting it fall into the hands of outsiders. Now you can see that I can't stop them. Only you and I brothers can work together. If the Demon Ancestor's inheritance is obtained by Penglai by chance, I will definitely share it with you."
Gu Pinglin held the soul stone tightly: "Pay more attention to those children from noble families, he has many friends."
Nanzhu breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, I'll go take a look."
The footsteps gradually faded away and disappeared. Gu Pinglin stood alone on the corridor, facing outside and looking into the distance.
The sky was already bright, birds were flying out of the forests, the fishing market at the foot of the mountain was gradually becoming lively, the morning breeze brought a faint salty smell, the azure sea was connected to the light blue sky, and one part of the sea surface on the horizon was particularly bright, as if something was struggling underneath, trying to break out of the sea.
Between his fingers, green light jumped in the soul stone, and his soul was eager to return to its place.
At that time, he proposed to check the soul stones of Yan Sen and Xin Ji, and used the excuse of hunting the Moon-Swallowing Beast to borrow soul stones from him. In fact, he took the opportunity to transfer the souls of Yan Sen and Xin Ji into the new soul stones, and then separated two strands of soul from himself to replace them, and sent them into the original two soul stones respectively, and returned them to him.
In order to deceive him and to give him a chance to set up a teleportation array, he went to Chess Reef specifically to hunt and kill the Moon-Swallowing Beast. In order to lure the Moon-Swallowing Beast out, he needed his soul. Two strands of his soul had already left his body and could no longer be separated, so he intentionally showed signs of fatigue to lure him into helping him. However, he didn't know that he took the opportunity to return his soul to him, but he set a restriction on the soul stone, which he didn't even notice.
"I admit defeat in this round, but you may not win either." So this is what it means.
He had long known that the soul in the soul stone had changed. Even though he was not clear about the specific layout, he had already sensed his murderous intent and still walked in. He probably wanted to know whether he would really do it and wanted to try to trust himself.
I know the answer, but I just want to see the inevitable result.
Perhaps he hesitated, but he had been lonely for too long and began to want to trust others, so he decided to gamble his life on an answer. He was originally a madman who loved adventure.
This is exactly what I intended.
Putting aside the revenge for the master and enduring his threats, all the deliberate ambiguity was just to gain a little trust from him, just a little was enough - once the cold-blooded venomous snake began to yearn for warmth, it would have weaknesses and would be doomed to lose.
"You control people's hearts, and I use their emotions. This is a method that you and I both know. You are the only one who blames yourself for being stupid," Gu Pinglin turned the soul stone. "You helped me to be reborn. I can let go of the hatred in my previous life, but I can't forgive you for the humiliation in this life. However, I, Gu Jiu, don't want to owe you anything. I have done my best to leave you a glimmer of hope this time."
Trapped in Penglai, he was seriously injured and his attempt to get the skin of a tiger was futile.
The soul stone shattered, the soul returned, and the heroic spirit became even brighter. Gu Pinglin sneered coldly, casually brushed away his cloak, and walked out of the corridor steadily.
A guard hurried into the courtyard and said, "Master Gu, the island master has received news that Young Master Duan Liu escaped to the main island and killed the guards of the land vein over there. He was discovered by Young Master Liu Yu and the head of the Duan family. The head of the Duan family personally knocked him off the Zizhi Cliff. Now the island master and Young Master Liu Yu have ordered people to search for the body."
Gu Pinglin waved his hand: "Got it."
In the distance, the red sun breaks out from the sea, shining with golden light for thousands of miles.
The body fell into the sea and was not found, but Nanzhu's wedding was held as scheduled. The wedding ceremony was very lively, but because everyone had their own thoughts, the atmosphere was always a little awkward. Ji Qi Niang entered the Biyou Palace and became the hostess of Penglai Island. Unexpectedly, she was very polite and unfamiliar to the people of Lingxin Sect, completely unlike the friendliness in Haijing. Bu Shuihan was a little dissatisfied, but Gu Pinglin understood the reason and didn't care.
Three days had passed, and the guests had not left. To be more precise, they would not leave Penglai until Duan Qingming's body was found.
To teleport to the main island, it is necessary to set up a formation map on the main island's earth veins. This seems difficult, but the Duan family, who was invited by Guo Feng to live on the main island, can do it. Duan Pin left early just to rush back to the main island to set up the formation map. Duan Qingming delayed time not only to let the sons of the noble families go to the bottom of the pond to set up the formation map, but also to buy time for the Duan family. It was not him who killed the guards of the earth veins, but the Duan family. Duan Pin may not care much about this son. Compared with the genius, he should want to erase the family scandal of "Duanxiu", especially when the genius has been exposed, but he will definitely care about "Nine Chapters of Refining the Spirit". There is no doubt that Duan Qingming has insight into people's hearts and uses this to negotiate with him, but Duan Pin seems to have noticed his intentions, or his whereabouts may be discovered by Guo Feng, so he has to give up the plan.
Would Duan Qingming die so easily
He should be dead for sure, but his body has not been found yet, and he hasn't returned in the past few days, which makes things uncertain again.
After all, nothing is impossible.
At the desk, Gu Pinglin picked up his pen, dipped it in ink, and carefully copied a piece of calligraphy.
The first half of "Ode to the Spiritual Heart" is neatly laid out, with rigorous and regular writing style, and can be regarded as a masterpiece. However, the second half suddenly changes style, becoming unrestrained and free-flowing, with a sense of elegance and refinement. From the writing style, one can tell that it was written by a son of an aristocratic family who had been instructed by famous masters since childhood.
No matter how similar the imitation is, it is still different. Gu Pinglin stood up and saw a waiter appear outside the door.
"Master Gu," the waiter said cautiously, "The island owner asks you to go to the main island, where... the body has been found."
Gu Pinglin said "hmm" and slowly put down his pen: "Are you sure it's him?"
The waiter replied, "The face is still recognizable. Everyone has checked it, and the head of the Duan family has also personally confirmed that it is the Sixth Young Master Duan."
Duan Qingming is dead
Gu Pinglin was a little dazed, feeling inexplicably absurd, as if he was dreaming.
The monster who can always turn the situation around, is he really going to die just like that
The Dao meridian is half destroyed, no one can escape, death is inevitable, this was originally his purpose.
Gu Pinglin came back to his senses and couldn't help but laugh at himself. This was probably what he meant by "can't bear to let go". It turned out that he really felt sorry for his old enemy and didn't want him to disappear so easily.
Gu Pinglin rolled up "Spiritual Heart Fu".
The waiter breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Master Gu must be most familiar with him. Island Master, please go over and confirm it. I hope it is him."
Gu Pinglin stopped.
The trouble caused by the many cultivators staying on Penglai Island has exceeded the temptation of "Nine Chapters of Spirit Refining". Nanzhu should be the most troubled at the moment. I hope to confirm it as soon as possible.
As for myself, do I hope it's him, or do I hope it's not him? Thinking carefully, there is no answer.
Whether it is true or false, the result cannot be changed, and you cannot go back to the past. This game is over, and there is no point in confirming the result.
The barrier of cultivation was still stuck, not only did he not break through, but it became even more difficult than before. Duan Qingming's fate did not erase his obsession, and his knot in his heart remained unresolved.
Although the journey was difficult, Gu Pinglin was calm instead.
Bu Shuihan rushed in quickly, his eyes red: "Gu... has the master heard about it?"
Gu Pinglin said: "Master Duan has personally confirmed it, so it must be true. You guys go ahead, I won't go to see it."
"you… "
"I will leave for Lingxin Sect tomorrow. I plan to go into seclusion after this."