Chapter 1555: Strange Array Pillars

Before heading north, Bai Ziqi left two divine attendants in Xun City, instructing them to thoroughly investigate Nangong Yan's actions during his lifetime.

"Assuming the person who killed Nangong Yan was Emperor Jiuyou, then Nangong Yan and Emperor Jiuyou likely had a personal grudge. Furthermore, Nangong Yan and his men were merely exposed at the city gates; Emperor Jiuyou himself did not appear in public, did not wear his signature battle armor, nor did he publicly try and execute Nangong Yan. What does this indicate?"

While everyone was pondering, Bai Qi said, "Is this truly Emperor Jiuyou's first crime scene? Chronologically, the Rashomon Armor from Keling Ruins hadn't even appeared yet."

"Precisely! The Emperor Jiuyou who killed Nangong Yan outside the city gate at that time wouldn't have created such a spectacle. It's even possible he confronted Nangong Yan with his true face!" Bai Ziqi stated gravely. "Therefore, you must meticulously investigate everything Nangong Yan did and everyone he offended in the five — no, ten days before his death!"

The country's coup had only occurred half a year ago, so there should be many clues available for them to pick up.

"Nangong Yan's former close associates might even still be in Xun City," Bai Ziqi ordered. "Find them and extract information!"

"Understood!"

Afterward, Bai Ziqi set off for White Fur Mountain.

That was the territory of the Carefree Sect, where idlers were forbidden. After Bai Ziqi learned the origin of White Fur Mountain's name change, he had Guide Liu wait in the small town at the foot of the mountain, taking only a few divine attendants with him up the mountain.

For this kind of mission, bringing too many people into the mountain would be useless.

He had initially disdained the Carefree Sect's restrictions at the mountain entrance, but then discovered they were quite subtly placed. Once triggered, they would not only unleash a powerful counterattack but also alert the Carefree Sect.

A small local Taoist sect could set up such advanced formations? Bai Ziqi was pleased rather than worried.

He had originally worried that God Puyin's intelligence was inaccurate, but such advanced restrictions at the mountain entrance indicated there was truly something significant on White Fur Mountain.

Otherwise, why would the Carefree Sect put so much effort into an empty mountain?

Oh, wait, this matter is significant. It's likely not the Carefree Sect controlling the situation anymore.

After understanding the nature of the restrictions, the divine attendants took out pills, each taking one. Then they pulled out wolf fur cloaks and put them on.

The medicine had a very interesting effect: it could shrink the user's body to half its original size within fifty breaths, accompanied by a strong feeling of discomfort.

Bai Ziqi, who was six feet tall, quickly shrank to three feet after taking the medicine, becoming a standard dwarf.

After donning the special wolf fur cloaks, everyone lay down on the ground and transformed into living wolves!

Or rather, their appearance was at least similar to wild wolves; they could run on all fours like wolves and even wag their tails like wolves.

Upon closer inspection, there were still many imperfections; it was a bit crude, and young children might easily have nightmares after seeing it.

However, it was sufficient to deceive the restrictions.

White Fur Mountain was vast, with countless wild animals. If one or two animals could trigger the restrictions, the Carefree Sect would be constantly overwhelmed.

Therefore, no matter how these restrictions operated, they certainly made exceptions for wild animals.

With the lamp spirit's help to mask their magical energy fluctuations, Bai Ziqi and his group smoothly passed through the mountain gate's restrictions.

White Fur Mountain was very large, a truly majestic mountain range. In the past, King White Bear made it his lair, commanding thousands of bear soldiers, wolf generals, and animal troops, which attests to the vastness of White Fur Mountain.

With such a large area, they no longer needed to worry about triggering restrictions. But how were they to find the Illusory Master's formation?

This was a true case of "hiding a tree in the forest."

"We need to find one formation pillar first; the rest will be easier," Bai Ziqi ordered. "God Puyin said there's one eighty zhang directly north of the mountain gate. Let's go quickly while it's still early."

The group bypassed the mountain gate and entered the dense, impenetrable jungle.

The sky was cloudless today, making it easy to determine the true north direction based on the sun's position through the leaves.

Before long, Bai Qi, who was scouting ahead, ran back. "Found it! Straight ahead!"

In fact, it would have been hard not to find it; this thing was truly massive!

With Bai Ziqi's experience, it was his first time seeing such a peculiar formation pillar:

It was neither metal, nor stone, nor wood, but an enormous cluster of incredible, curled fern fronds!

Brownish-red and harder than stone, from a distance it looked like a cluster of giant question marks crammed together, or like the bent tentacles of an octopus. They rose from the ground, reaching about fifteen zhang high (nearly fifty meters)!

White Fur Mountain had many giant trees, but this bizarre-looking giant fern-wood still stood out like a crane among chickens.

No wonder the Illusory Master had to disguise it; otherwise, it would have been conspicuously obvious.

This cluster of giant fern-wood was thirteen people thick when embraced, and quite magnificent whether viewed from afar or up close. Its trunk was covered in moss and intertwining vines, along with scarred mossy patches, giving it the appearance of having weathered many years.

Bai Ziqi stepped forward and knocked on the bark; it sounded solid.

"The outer layer has petrified," he observed.

Bai Qi wondered, "There's an endless array of strange things in the world. Why would the Illusory Master use something like this as a formation pillar?"

"Wouldn't rare stones be better, lasting ten thousand years without decay?"

Bai Ziqi leaned his ear against the trunk and listened for a long moment: "Although its outer layer has petrified, there's still activity inside. This giant fern-wood is still growing."

"Perhaps this state of being half-stone, half-fern, both living and dying, is most compatible with the earth's energy of White Fur Mountain?" He mused, then added, "Immortals setting up spirit-gathering formations always adapt to local conditions. The Illusory Master's choice of material must be the most suitable for White Fur Mountain."

"Alright, our current task is to find the remaining pillars of the Spirit-Gathering Formation."

Over the many years, the Carefree Sect had not discovered the existence of the Spirit-Gathering Formation, undoubtedly because the Illusory Master had disguised these giant fern-woods, making them appear like ordinary large trees, just a bit bulkier and taller.

Now that the formation had inexplicably ceased operation, its disguise was broken, and the giant fern-wood was finally revealing its true form.

While the daylight was still strong, Bai Ziqi took out a pale gold candle, waved it in the wind, and the lamp spirit appeared.

He pressed the candle onto the giant fern-wood: "Go into the mountain and search for giant trees that look like this. Mark each one you find."

The lamp spirit flew back and forth around the giant fern-wood, seemingly observing it closely, even burrowing into its crevices.

After a while, it returned to Bai Ziqi.

Reconnaissance complete.

He blew a long breath towards the lamp spirit.

With that breath, the fist-sized lamp spirit burst into thousands of tiny sparks, flying in all directions!

The sight was like a swarm of fireflies descending.

Each tiny spark was a clone of the lamp spirit.

They began a thorough search of the vast mountain, leaving no giant tree unchecked.

Otherwise, with White Fur Mountain being so immense, even a thousand more people wouldn't be enough, let alone just a few.

"Let's see their findings," Bai Ziqi said, taking a circular purple-gold shallow tray, about five feet in diameter, from an attendant.