Celestial being

"Did you really find anything?" Xiying said in surprise.

"Give me a moment." After Yuan Ming said this, he jumped into the river.

Unlike the last time he struggled to survive, Yuan Ming fell to the bottom of the river this time and no longer had to struggle like that. His body was like an iron bull holding down the river. No matter how the river washed away, it remained firm.

He walked upstream along the river bed in the opposite direction, and the muddy sand could not block his sight.

Soon, he came to the place where he had picked up the Heaven-stealing Cauldron. After so many years of erosion, there was a round mark recessed on the rocks there. The Heaven-stealing Cauldron was originally embedded there.

And from behind that reef, a few steps further upstream, a white skeleton appeared on another reef in the water.

It happened to be embedded in a groove in the reef, and the robe wrapped around it had not completely rotted, dragging out tattered strips of wadding, swaying in the undercurrent of the river bottom like water plants.

Yuan Ming stepped forward, grabbed the white skeleton, and pulled it out from the crack in the stone. When he was about to take it back with him, he saw the metallic luster reflected under his body.

He immediately leaned down, pushed aside the mud and pulled out a palm-sized golden token from inside.

Yuan Ming frowned and took a look, and saw the word "Double Immortals" written in ancient seal script on the token. Turning it over again, he found that the two words "Katu" were also engraved on the back.

He checked it carefully and found that there was nothing else, so he dragged the white bones to the surface.

After returning to the shore, Xiying first looked at the body, and then looked at the token.

"Did you find anything?" Yuan Ming asked.

After all, his cultivation days were short. Although his time in southern Xinjiang was long, his cultivation level was too low at that time and he was living under the protection of others. After all, the information he could get was limited.

"There is nothing useful on this corpse, but the word 'Double Immortals' reminds me that there seems to be a Double Immortal Sect in the southern and western regions." Xiying frowned and thought for a moment before saying.

"Double Immortal Sect?" Yuan Ming asked doubtfully.

"That force is not very similar to other sects. Instead, it is a bit like a cultivating religion. Their followers believe in two gods, the Turtle Immortal and the Snake Immortal. Although their forces are spread throughout the southern and western regions, they only operate in their own territory and rarely Intervene in outside affairs. Do you think this token, withered bones, and Stealing Heaven Cauldron are related?" Xiying said.

"It's too early to draw conclusions now, but the only two people that can be found in that water area are most likely to be related to the Tianthi Cauldron." Yuan Ming said.

"After the incident on Red Lotus Island is over, we will investigate the Shuangxian Sect again." Xiying thought for a while and said.

"That's what I meant." After saying that, Yuan Ming waved his hand and put away all the tokens and bones.

Afterwards, the two of them continued on their way.

…

More than half a month later.

In an open valley in southern Xinjiang, the vegetation is lush and the scenery is pleasant.

On one side of the valley, a series of terraced fields are spread out one after another. Many of the various spiritual materials planted on them have reached the flowering season and bloomed with large swaths of gorgeous flowers, forming a beautiful terraced field of flowers.

Below the terraces, close to a lake, there is a magnificent villa covering a large area. The buildings are arranged in rows in the courtyard of seven or eight entrances. It is obvious at a glance that this is not an ordinary house.

On the flat road leading to the valley, Yuan Ming and Xi Ying walked side by side.

However, in order to avoid trouble, Yuan Ming used the blood and bone mask early after leaving the river valley, transforming his appearance into a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes.

"Is this really your Xi family's secret stronghold in southern Xinjiang?" Yuan Ming looked at the surrounding scenery and asked with some doubts.

"Why, do you think it's too high-profile and not secretive enough?" Xiying asked with a smile.

"It's a bit." Yuan Ming also smiled.

"As the saying goes, it is hidden in the city. This place has always been a manor for growing ordinary elixirs, and the business it operates is all about elixirs. So even if someone wants to investigate, they can't find anything." Xiying replied.

"After all, hiding your body here is really a bit bold." Yuan Ming did not agree very much.

While the two were talking, they had already arrived at the gate of the manor.

The attendant at the door saw the two people stopping outside the door and hurriedly came up to ask.

"You two look strangers, are you a new merchant?" The attendant stepped forward, bowed, and asked politely.

"Bring this to the owner of our village, he will know of course." Xiying turned over his hand and took out a jade jewel, handed it to the attendant, and ordered.

Hearing this, the latter hesitated slightly, but still said "Wait a moment" and immediately hurried towards the courtyard.

Not long after, a middle-aged man with regular facial features, a slightly thin body, and a short beard under his chin walked out quickly. When he saw the sunset, there was no joy in his eyes, but a hint of joy. A look of doubt.

But after a moment of careful exploration, the confusion turned into surprise, and even his eyes lit up.

"Girl, after so many years of absence, you are finally back." The middle-aged man came up to greet her and said hurriedly.

"I've met my second uncle." Xiying smiled and saluted.

Yuan Ming didn't say anything, but he also cupped his fists and saluted.

When the middle-aged man saw this, he looked at Yuan Ming with a strange expression, but did not say hello to him.

Xiying introduced via voice transmission: "This is my second uncle, Xidongliu. He has been leading several people from the Danjie clan to guard here."

Yuan Ming nodded secretly in his heart and remained silent.

"Come on, let's go in and talk." Xi Dongliu led the two of them toward the courtyard.

Several people walked through the courtyards. The further back they went, the fewer people were in the courtyard and the more restrictions were hidden in the dark.

After passing through the fourth courtyard, there was not a single attendant in sight in the entire courtyard, and the surroundings were surprisingly quiet. The only sounds that echoed in the courtyard were the footsteps of the three of them.

When he walked into the courtyard, Xi Dongliu suddenly stopped, turned around and looked at Yuan Ming again, and suddenly asked confusedly: "Isn't he a puppet?"

Yuan Ming was stunned when he heard this and turned to look at Xiying. He didn't understand why her second uncle asked this question.

"No, his surname is Yuan and he is a friend of mine." Xiying said simply.

After hearing this, Xi Dongliu's frown deepened, as if he had heard something extremely difficult to understand.

"Girl, don't blame your second uncle for imagining things. I know very well that you have been rejecting the opposite sex since you were a child. I have never seen you make a friend of the opposite sex in the family since you were a child." Xi Dongliu couldn't help but say. .

"Second uncle, I just have such a temperament and don't like to make friends with others." Xiying denied.

"That's it." Xi Dongliu said without comment when he heard this.

"By the way, Second Uncle, I remember it was Uncle Chen who guarded this place before. Why is it replaced by you now?" Xiying changed the topic and asked.

"I came to Southern Xinjiang with the clan leader to do some errands. It just so happened that your uncle Chen also wanted to go back, so I will guard him here." Xi Dongliu replied.

"Father is also in southern Xinjiang?" Xiying said in surprise.

"Yes, but he is not here at the villa. If you want to see him, it will probably take some time." Xi Dongliu nodded.

"It's not in a hurry. Second uncle, please arrange a place for this friend of mine first. We need to stay here for about half a month." Xiying said without paying too much attention.

After that, Xi Ying left first and walked deeper into the courtyard, while Xi Dongliu took Yuan Ming to a guest room in the fourth courtyard.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, right? Please rest here for a while. The daily meals will be delivered by the attendants. If you feel bored, you can go to the front yard or the valley to play as you like." Xi Dongliu opened the door of the guest room and said to Yuan Ming said.

The tone was neither salty nor cold, neither enthusiastic nor cold.

But the implication is obvious, that is, let him not go to the backyard at will.

"I'm tired, but I may need to practice in seclusion these days, so I won't go out or eat." Yuan Ming didn't care about this and just said calmly.

"In this case, I will take care of you and prevent others from coming here to disturb you. You can rest assured to retreat." After hearing this, Xi Dongliu nodded and said.

"Thank you." Yuan Ming said, cupping his fists.

Xi Dongliu immediately said goodbye, turned around and left.

After Yuan Ming closed the door, he took out a prohibition talisman and stuck it on the door. Then he made an open space in the house, arranged a prohibition circle, and then sat cross-legged in it.

After he took out the Heaven Stealing Cauldron, he took a closer look at this treasure that had accompanied him all the way to practice, and was filled with emotion in his heart.

This time, he will try to sacrifice and refine the Heaven Stealing Cauldron again.

The previous attempts only allowed him to successfully refine the external restrictions of the Heaven Stealing Cauldron. If he wanted to fully master this treasure, he must also complete the internal restrictions.

After Yuan Ming adjusted his breath for a moment, he held the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron in both hands, opened his mouth and sprayed out a stream of mana, surrounding the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron.

Immediately, he used the secret method of sacrificial refining taught to him by Master Shura and began to try to refine the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron.

The golden lines on the Heaven Stealing Cauldron quickly emerged, but they did not cause any obstruction to Yuan Ming's magic power and penetrated easily.

But at the same time, Yuan Ming's eyes flashed suddenly, and he entered the Heaven Stealing Cauldron on his own and sat cross-legged on the white jade lotus platform.

"I entered the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron? No..." Yuan Ming was startled at first, but soon realized something was wrong.

Although he did appear on the White Jade Lotus Platform, the surrounding area was completely white, which was not the space inside the Stealing Heaven Cauldron at all.

"Now is not the time to think about this." Yuan Ming shook his head, getting rid of distracting thoughts, and immediately controlled the magic power and penetrated towards the white jade lotus platform under him.

The white jade lotus platform was illuminated with light, and denser and more complicated patterns emerged, centered under Yuan Ming's body, spreading out in all directions until they covered the entire lotus platform.

When Yuan Ming's magic power seeped into those golden lines, he immediately felt a blocking force, and it became difficult to move even an inch.