43: The Three Caves are not scriptures, they are living coffins.

The moment the second gate swung open, a frigid, sinister Evil Qi transformed into invisible blades that rushed towards their faces.

This was no longer ordinary low temperature, but a deathly stillness capable of freezing the Soul.

Su Qingzhu instinctively shivered, feeling the flow of her blood slow down.

Gongshu Yin's expression turned even more grave. His profound expertise in mechanical arts granted him a perception of Qi far surpassing ordinary people. This chill did not originate from nature, but from the breath of some colossal existence—cold, deathly silent, and imbued with a malice that sought to strip away all life.

Within their line of sight lay a deep passageway.

The walls on either side were no longer rough rock, but had been polished to a mirror-like smoothness by some bizarre craftsmanship. Within these mirrored surfaces, thousands upon thousands of crystal skulls were densely embedded.

Each skull was translucent and crystalline, as if carved from the purest crystal in the world, yet their eye sockets flickered with an eerie blue phosphorescence.

The instant the group stepped inside, all the skulls' eye sockets swiveled to face them in unison. Countless lips silently opened and closed, their faint yet distinct whispers converging into a torrent of psychic energy that exploded violently within everyone's minds.

"The Three Caverns are not false, the True Liquid reverses the calamity..."

The voice was like a demonic incantation, repeating over and over, carrying a power that bewitched the heart, as if proclaiming some supreme truth.

Right then, the recording pen Su Qingzhu held in her hand suddenly and inexplicably began playing on its own.

After a raspy burst of static, the strange poem by Mr. Mengbi sounded once more, each word seeming like a precise annotation of the scene before them.

"The liquid is not nourishment, the Dao is not the Master, the cloth has eyes, the people have no path."

Zhang Xuanyi's gaze was fixed intently on the unremarkable Stall Cloth before him. The silhouette of a figure on it now seemed to come alive, the ink lines on the cloth's surface shimmering with light like flowing water.

He finally understood the poem's most bizarre line and couldn't help but murmur to himself: "So 'the cloth has eyes' isn't a metaphor... it truly has eyes."

Before his words faded, the silhouette figure on the Stall Cloth underwent a startling transformation.

Its originally hanging left hand slowly rose, piercing the boundary between reality and illusion, pointing straight ahead into the deepest part of the cold mist.

Following the direction the figure pointed, everyone's hearts constricted violently.

At the end of that cold mist, a magnificent bronze hall hung suspended.

Bizarrely, this bronze hall was inverted—its foundation pointed upwards, its roof pointed downwards, like a reflection from another world.

Its doors were tightly shut, inscribed with four large characters in ancient Seal script: 'Three Caverns True Ruins'.

Threads of blood, black as ink, slowly seeped from the cracks of the tightly shut doors, dripping into the endless abyss, emitting a nauseating stench.

"Elder Brother... my Elder Brother is inside!" Xuan Weizi looked half-mad, his eyes bloodshot, his voice hoarse and torn. "He has waited for me for three hundred years! He's waiting for me inside!"

Unable to restrain his three centuries of obsession and guilt any longer, he staggered, about to charge towards that inverted bronze hall.

"Stop!" Zhang Xuanyi grabbed him, his grip so strong it sent Xuan Weizi stumbling.

"What are you doing?! Let go of me!" Xuan Weizi roared.

Yet Zhang Xuanyi's gaze was exceptionally calm. Staring at the door seeping black blood, he said word by word: "It's not waiting for you. It's waiting for this liquid."

He opened his palm. Lying in it was a simple jade bottle.

This was a new bottle of 'Pseudo-Liquid' the System had just generated within his Sea of Consciousness.

However, this 'Pseudo-Liquid' was completely different from before.

The medicinal liquid inside the bottle was no longer still, but was spinning rapidly on its own, forming a small vortex, as if possessing its own life and consciousness.

Almost simultaneously, a cold System prompt sounded in Zhang Xuanyi's mind:

[Traceability Complete: The Qi meridians of all 'Pseudo-Liquid' users have established resonance with the 'Three Caverns True Ruins'.]

Gongshu Yin, listening nearby, heard it clearly. He looked at the swirling liquid in the bottle, then at the bizarre bronze hall in the distance. The color drained from his aged face as he exclaimed in horror: "Resonance... a key! This isn't medicine... this is a key to open that hall's doors!"

All those who had consumed the 'Pseudo-Liquid'—their Qi meridians had become part of the key!

This discovery sent chills down the spines of everyone present.

"Crack... crunch..."

A grating sound of shattering came from the bronze coffin beside them.

Everyone turned sharply to see the stone skin on the surface of the Coffin Guardian Ghost, which had been guarding the gate, peeling off inch by inch, like dried mud clods.

Beneath the stone skin was revealed an emaciated, skeletal body.

It was an old man dressed in tattered apothecary apprentice attire. He slowly opened his turbid eyes, his throat emitting a dry, raspy sound like two pieces of sandpaper grinding together: "The Three Caverns... are not a scripture... they are a living coffin..."

The old apprentice's gaze swept over the group, finally settling on Zhang Xuanyi. His withered finger trembled as he pointed towards the inverted bronze hall.

"Three hundred years ago, what the Tianshi Mansion exhausted its full strength to Seal here was never the Old Ancestor of Quanxing... but the 'heart of dao market'."

"'heart of dao market'?" Zhang Xuanyi frowned.

"It... wants to be Reborn." The old apprentice's voice carried endless weariness and despair. "It intends to use the 'Three Caverns Forbidden Scripture' as its bones, and ten thousand Souls as its flesh and blood, to reshape its true form. And what you call the 'Pseudo-Liquid' is precisely the 'invitations' it spread, used to collect flesh-and-blood sacrifices capable of bearing its power!"

He suddenly turned his head, staring fixedly at the Stall Cloth before Zhang Xuanyi, his eyes erupting with a mix of terror and sudden realization: "This cloth of yours... is the Mortal Slough-Garment it shed that year!"

Boom——!

As if to confirm the old apprentice's words, the massive doors of the inverted bronze hall suddenly swung inward!

Endless black mist gushed forth, instantly engulfing the entire space.

Within the black mist, a blurry human figure slowly coalesced into form.

His features were handsome, clad in black robes, a gentle, spring-like smile gracing his face—it was the remnant Soul of Xuan Mingzi.

"Young Taoist, I must thank you, actually." Xuan Mingzi's voice was gentle and magnetic, yet it chilled the listeners to the bone. "You performed better than I imagined. What you sold were not Talismans, but hope. That sliver of hope grasped by people in despair is the most delicious, purest sacrifice in this world."

He waved his hand gracefully.

Instantly, within the black mist surrounding the bronze hall, seventy-two withered skeletons materialized.

They were precisely the corpses of his Seventy-Two Disciples!

These skeletal remains still maintained their meditative postures from life, but now they uniformly knelt and prostrated towards Xuan Mingzi, ghostly flames igniting within their empty eye sockets.

Their withered hands stretched forward, palm up. Within their palms, faintly glowing specks of 'Power Of Will' appeared, flying towards Xuan Mingzi like fireflies.

That was their most devout faith and trust in their Master during life. Now, it had become nourishment for a demon.

Seeing this scene, Xuan Weizi's eyes nearly burst from their sockets, and he spat out a mouthful of blood: "Beast!"

Xuan Mingzi savored it all. Looking at Zhang Xuanyi's calm face, he smiled. "See, what a beautiful sight. Now, it's your turn. The Power Of Will of all those who found hope through your Talismans will become the cornerstone for the Rebirth of the 'heart of dao market'. You are the final, most crucial key."

Yet, facing this desperate scene, the corners of Zhang Xuanyi's mouth slowly stretched into a brilliant smile.

"I'm afraid I must disappoint you." He flicked the dust off his Stall Cloth leisurely. "For all your scheming, you miscalculated one thing—my stall never accepts money."

Before his words finished, he tore three blank sheets of 'photocopy yellow paper' from his chest.

Qi flowed at his fingertips as he swiftly wrote three large characters on them in bold strokes.

The first sheet read 'Do Not Believe'. He slapped the yellow paper onto his own forehead!

The second sheet read 'Do Not Fear'. He slapped the yellow paper onto his own chest!

The third sheet read 'Do Not Seek'. He pressed the yellow paper firmly onto his left palm!

Do not believe in gods or ghosts, do not fear hardships or dangers, do not seek external things! This was Zhang Xuanyi's Dao!

The instant the three yellow papers touched his body, the Stall Cloth before him erupted with a blaze of glorious light!

The silhouette figure on the cloth seemed to let out a silent roar!

[Protector Power Of Will Pool, Activated!]

Instantly, within a hundred-mile radius, all those who had ever received Zhang Xuanyi's free Talisman gifts—whether meditating Martial Artists, traveling merchants, or the elderly on sickbeds—felt a sudden warmth in their hearts.

An indescribable warm current surged from the depths of their hearts. It was not a transaction, but the purest gratitude, the most sincere well-wishing.

"May that young man have a lifetime of peace."

"Thank you, Immortal Elder, for the life-saving grace."

"If there are gods, please protect that kind-hearted person..."

Hundreds, thousands of such pure, benevolent thoughts converged into a mighty, surging river of Power Of Will, breaking through the barriers of time and space, converging like countless rivers flowing into the sea, and madly pouring into the Stall Cloth before Zhang Xuanyi!

This Power Of Will contained no Impurities of transaction, no desires of demand. It was as pure as the first ray of light at the dawn of creation!

The smile on Xuan Mingzi's face instantly froze, replaced by unprecedented terror.

The 'hope sacrifices' he had collected were like sewage from a gutter encountering the surging Yangtze River before this pure 'Power Of Will of gratitude'!

The light from the Stall Cloth grew brighter and brighter. After absorbing the endless Power Of Will, that silhouette figure finally... slowly turned around.

It had no fixed face!

On its face, it seemed as if a thousand faces were rapidly flowing—old and young, male and female—precisely all those who had received Zhang Xuanyi's kindness!

Finally, all the faces merged into one, solidifying into a face that was ninety percent similar to Zhang Xuanyi's, yet carrying a trace of eternal antiquity.

That face was the visage of all living beings, and also the 'Dao' visage of Zhang Xuanyi!

"Impossible!" Xuan Mingzi let out a shrill scream. "The heart of dao market is formless and shapeless, only attracted by desire and obsession! How could it choose a vessel like you, who desires and seeks nothing?! This defies all reason!"

Before his voice fully faded, the System prompt in Zhang Xuanyi's mind exploded like heavenly thunder!

[Detecting 'Heart Anchor Resonance'—the 'Dao' of seeking nothing and the formless 'Market' have achieved synchronization.]

[Initiating 'Reverse Fate-Alteration' Program!]

[Judging Fate Attribution...]

[Judgment Result—Fate Attribution: Not Xuan Ming, Not Tianshi, Not You. Belongs to... the Cloth.]

"Belongs to... the Cloth?" Zhang Xuanyi's pupils constricted sharply.

The next second, the figure on the Stall Cloth suddenly opened its mouth.

An irresistible suction force erupted from its maw!

The inverted bronze hall let out a mournful cry and began to violently collapse and disintegrate!

The black blood that had flowed for three hundred years reversed course like weary birds returning to the forest, completely sucked into the figure's mouth!

Xuan Mingzi's remnant Soul didn't even have time to scream before it was torn asunder by the suction, transforming into the purest Soul Power, also devoured completely!

With a thunderous crash, the bronze hall utterly turned to dust, vanishing into the Void Realm.

The entire world instantly fell silent.

The cold mist dissipated; the killing intent vanished.

Zhang Xuanyi looked down to see that within the jade bottle in his hand, the 'Pseudo-Liquid' that had been spinning endlessly, filled with ominous aura, had now transformed into a pool of clear spring water, limpid and bright, pure as the eyes of a newborn infant.

The Stall Cloth before him had also returned to its original appearance, quietly spread on the ground. Only the ink-black silhouette seemed slightly deeper than before.

Ancient, as if it had existed here since time immemorial.

A line of cold System text slowly surfaced in his Sea of Consciousness, serving as the conclusion to all this.

[The next drop of liquid shall be chosen by It.]

"It?"

Zhang Xuanyi's gaze fell upon the cloth.

He saw that after devouring everything, the silhouette figure on the cloth slowly made a gesture of pressing its palms together.

As if... bidding farewell to the world.

Everything had ended, yet it also seemed to have just begun.

Zhang Xuanyi stood in place, silent for a long time. Only the spring-like liquid in the bottle reflected his complex gaze within the silent passageway.

The end of this night heralded an even more insane dawn.