Chapter 247: Chapter 222: Divine Statue Like a Mountain, Secret of the Thousand Eyes

"Teacher Zuo, let’s say—hypothetically!"

"I mean, hypothetically. Suppose there’s a Golden Core Divine Dao Cultivator. He has a Tier Four Divine Statue that has absorbed countless years of incense offerings... If someone were to steal his Divine Statue, what would happen?"

Inside the office, Chen Che carefully chose his words.

Zuo Yishan was a gaunt-faced old man with the air of an immortal sage. His appearance and attire were from the era before the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall.

After listening, he turned to look at Chen Che.

"Hypothetically, if a Qi Refining Cultivator tried to take your Sword Pill, what would you do?"

During the entrance physical examination.

Chen Che had undergone a physical check-up inside the ’Heaven-Filling Map’. The Ancient Seal wasn’t discovered, but the Sword Pill in his sea of consciousness was. A Tier Three Magical Artifact was a controlled item, so he had to register it with the school.

So it wasn’t surprising that Zuo Yishan knew about it.

"I’d fight him to the death!"

Chen Che answered instinctively, but his expression immediately changed.

"So you’re saying... there’s no room for negotiation?"

"You’re trying to take the very source of their power, and you expect there to be room for negotiation?"

Zuo Yishan almost laughed in exasperation, slowly shaking his head.

"If this had happened before the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall, even I would have had to personally intervene and see to it that the thief’s body and soul were utterly destroyed! Do you have any idea how many years it takes to nurture a Tier Four Divine Statue? It’s just like a Celestial and Earthly Treasure!"

’So it’s a fight to the death.’

Chen Che understood.

"Hypothetically—and I’m just saying hypothetically..."

Chen Che continued to press.

"If a friend of mine stole the Divine Statue, and then that friend sold it to me, would the owner know that I have it?"

"Divine Dao Cultivators are still Cultivators. They only seem omnipotent in the eyes of mortals, but their strength is still limited by their Realm. Plus, the Divine Statue was resold. How would anyone know you have it? Before the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall, I had at least several thousand Divine Statues stolen from me..."

Zuo Yishan poured himself a cup of tea. He took a light sniff, and the steam flowed into his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

"Most of those cases fizzled out with no resolution!"

"Without any clues, who’s to know the Divine Statue is in your hands?"

Hearing this, Chen Che felt somewhat relieved.

In other words.

As long as the Major Cultivator from the Ghost Market didn’t fall into the original owner’s hands, he should be fine.

...

...

「Seven days later.」

Hunzhou, Great Chen Dynasty.

Kyoto.

WHOOSH!

A figure wearing a bamboo hat and black robes, dressed like a wanderer from the martial world, stepped into a private room in a tavern.

"Senior Zheng."

All the Cultivators in the private room stood and clasped their hands in greeting.

"Mm."

This man in the bamboo hat was none other than the Cultivator who had sold the Divine Statue.

After leaving Jinyun Valley, he had immediately disguised himself and taken a few detours, only arriving here today. The Cultivators before him were all at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, with a few at Half-Step Foundation Establishment. He had specially recruited them to handle trivial matters for him, such as searching for temples.

And it was these men who had discovered this giant Divine Statue in Kyoto.

"Senior Zheng, take a look... This Divine Statue is about 136 zhang tall and 72 zhang wide. It is complete, lifelike, and carved from the mountain itself, with a Lotus Platform as its base. It’s completely connected to this Holy Mountain!"

"This Divine Statue is not only a place of worship for the believers in Kyoto, but it’s also where the Royal Family performs its sacrificial rites every ten years..."

One of the Cultivators pushed open the window and propped it up with a stick.

Instantly, a giant Divine Statue dominated their view.

It was early morning. The sun was rising from behind the mountain, positioned perfectly behind the Divine Statue. Golden halos of light spread out in circles, making it look incredibly divine.

It even seemed.

As if every one of the thousand-plus eyes on its palms was glowing.

"What a treasure..."

The Cultivator named Zheng couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

One had to understand that the Spiritual Qi in Hunzhou was thin, not as abundant as in places like Yunzhou and Chi State, so Cultivators were unwilling to come here. Before arriving, who could have imagined that such a divine item could be found in this inconspicuous Mortal World?

The words had barely left his lips.

BOOM!

Kyoto, which had been bustling with noise just a moment ago, suddenly fell silent. Everyone, from the common folk to the high officials, stopped what they were doing and knelt in unison toward the Divine Statue.

Millions of people were utterly silent. The scene was beyond bizarre.

"They’re like this every day!" one of the Cultivators interjected.

The others also clicked their tongues in amazement. They had lived in this Mortal Dynasty for several months, and while everything else seemed perfectly normal, the Divine Statues exuded an eerie strangeness.

Even they felt a strong urge to kneel and worship whenever they faced this Divine Statue at sunrise.

"Have you investigated the origin of this Divine Statue?" asked the Foundation Establishment Cultivator named Zheng.

"We have!" one of them replied with a clasped-hand bow.

"It’s said to date back a thousand years!"

"Back then, the people were suffering. The Great Chen Ancestor rose in rebellion, and an Immortal was said to have descended on the moonlight to aid him. From then on, he was victorious in every battle, and after twelve years, he finally conquered the land. To thank the Immortal, the Ancestor summoned all the craftsmen in the nation and, using this mountain as the foundation, spent over 120 years carving this Divine Statue."

"’Some Immortal? Probably just some Cultivator.’"

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator named Zheng looked thoughtful. He himself was a Cultivator who often mingled in the Mortal World. Which of the mortals who saw him didn’t respectfully call him an Immortal?

’But then again, for that Cultivator to be worshipped by mortals for over a thousand years... that’s quite a reputation.’

’We cultivators, even when seeking fame or fortune, seek it from other cultivators. To enjoy the worship of a bunch of mortals... tsk tsk, and it took him twelve years to help conquer the land.’

The Cultivator named Zheng took a drink of wine, speculating to himself.

However, he wasn’t worried. In a thousand years, even a Golden Core Cultivator would have entered the cycle of reincarnation. The Cultivator from back then had probably been reduced to dust, bones and all.

Just then, the same Cultivator continued, "Senior Zheng, through our investigation, we’ve found that aside from the strange Divine Statue, this Dynasty is otherwise ordinary. However, this Dynasty is extremely warlike. Every few years, it launches campaigns in all directions, constantly annexing the territories of other nations."

"Its territory now covers all of Hunzhou. There are no cultivator settlements within Hunzhou; they call all Cultivators heretics. The Cultivators who once lived here in seclusion have vanished after several massacres!"

"The ones who acted were the Chief Priests of the various temples... From what I’ve observed, they are still mortals and have no trace of True Essence in their bodies."

"Tch!"

The Cultivator named Zheng sneered and slowly shook his head.

"Cultivators being wiped out by mortals? That’s the greatest joke under the heavens!"

"Senior Zheng, a Divine Statue this big... are we really going to steal it?" a Cultivator couldn’t help but ask.

"Besides, how would we even carry it away?"

"Yeah, and there are some Chief Priests in Kyoto whose strength is comparable to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Even if we succeed, how do we escape from right under their noses?"

The others nodded in agreement.

This Divine Statue was massive—136 zhang tall! Forget a Storage Pouch, even a Storage Ring couldn’t hold it. It would take all of them working together just to lift it, but if they carried a Divine Statue like that, they’d be hunted to the ends of the earth with no escape.

"If we can’t steal it, we’ll take it by force. We’ll sever it from the mountain at its base!" The Foundation Establishment Cultivator named Zheng made a sharp chopping motion with his hand. "As for moving it, that’s not a problem... I already have a plan. You just need to follow my orders. After this job, you’ll each get five hundred Spirit Stones."

The men exchanged glances.

They were all old foxes; they could naturally guess that this Divine Statue was a treasure.

Otherwise, this Senior Zheng wouldn’t be so obsessed with taking it.

Leaning back against the bench, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator named Zheng gazed out the window, his eyes blazing with fervor, unable to suppress the joy in his heart. ’A Tier Four Middle Grade Divine Statue! This must be worth at least several hundred thousand Spirit Stones! I wonder if that Valley Master Chen is a man of his word, buying as many as I can get...’

’I wonder if Jinyun Valley can even handle a Divine Statue this size!’

’It doesn’t matter. If they can’t take it, I’ll just sell it to someone else. The Spirit Stones I’ll get will be enough for my Cultivation to Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, and maybe I’ll even have a shot at Golden Core!’

...

...

"According to the Primordial Sect’s records, aside from the old ancestor, there are a total of twenty-one Golden Core True Masters, including seven Tributors. I’ve heard a little about the Golden Core True Master you mentioned within the sect. I only know that he calls himself ’Thousand Eyes True Master’."

"As for his origins, no one knows. There’s a rumor in the sect that he’s a contemporary of True Master Chixia, but there’s no way to verify if that’s true."

Xiao Chan, who had received the message, replied immediately.

Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva, Thousand Eyes True Master.

’It matches.’

The last shred of hope in Chen Che’s heart vanished. He had truly fleeced the Ghost-faced Golden Pill.

And on top of that.

He was now planning to get his hands on a Tier Four Divine Statue that also belonged to him.

’Now I can only hope the thief gets scared off and gives up!’

He had asked Zuo Yishan about this.

Generally speaking, temples that produced Divine Statues of this level would usually have powerful experts guarding them.

After all.

For a Divine Dao Cultivator, the location of such a Divine Statue was certainly not far from their own Cave Mansion.

In addition to that, Xiao Chan also passed on another piece of news:

"The Primordial Sect and the Star-Picking Sect have come into conflict. It’s said they discovered an Undersea Palace... The Primordial Sect has been making big moves recently and has already summoned all its subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences. They might be going to war with the Star-Picking Sect. Jinyun Valley is among those being summoned, so be careful."

’Going to war with the Star-Picking Sect?’

Chen Che frowned as he read the message.

He knew of the Star-Picking Sect. It was a Golden Core Major Sect that had always been at odds with the Primordial Sect. It was said that they had a major battle several hundred years ago where even the ancestors of both sects got involved. In the end, because neither side could gain an advantage, they declared a truce.

To this day.

There was still a great deal of friction between the disciples of the two sects.

’What’s this Undersea Palace? Could it be someone’s Cave Mansion... or a Traveling Palace?’

Chen Che’s brow furrowed.

"Master, someone from the Primordial Sect is here!"

Just then, someone shouted from outside the courtyard. Chen Che looked up and saw Rong Zhongxuan.

A thought struck Chen Che, and he walked out.

"They’re in the main hall. Vice Valley Master Hu is receiving them. They don’t seem to be here to cause trouble, but it looks like something important!"

Rong Zhongxuan said in a low voice, a sense of relief washing over him.

Ever since the Ghost-faced Golden Pill had shown up, and with the matter of the Divine Statue, he had been on edge, terrified that the cultivator might suddenly show up and attack. He had also sent people to the Mortal World to search for a hundred-zhang-tall Divine Statue, but there had been no news so far.

Chen Che, who already knew the inside story, guessed their purpose in coming.

"It’s probably about the Undersea Palace."