Chapter 2268: Mirror Lake Compass

“Danger treads in four seasons, officials in eight directions, now I know the south as well.”

When time and space were halted, Jiang Wang’s thoughts still flowed, his immortal consciousness still flickered. This indicated that the terrifying change that had occurred was not yet capable of completely crushing him; the stopped time could not fix his thinking. He thus had intense expectations for the following developments.

With Huang Sheli as a colleague, he was very sensitive to changes in time. At the moment of its activation, he was unable to detect time flowing backward.

Just like on Guanhentai, when Huang Sheli suddenly conceded defeat, he was still stunned for a moment, not knowing that he had already won repeatedly.

Now, this city-wide fixation of time and space, stemming from the power of a great array, cleverly linked to the Yue Kingdom’s protective great array... Activated without form, used without name, prying open such a large area of time and space – it was undeniably powerful. But it wasn't at a level that made Jiang Wang solely want to flee.

Precisely, the puppet master orchestrating this game, without having the grasp to imprison Jiang Wang point-to-point, only chose to act on such a large area of time and space.

Of course, even if he wanted to run, he couldn't move now.

Time and space were both fixed at this moment.

Jiang Wang cautiously waited for changes.

Without the reinforcement of national power, without relying on the protective great array, though he was only one person here, with a sword by his side, it was enough to capture the truth of this world.

He achieved the true realm at twenty-three, and at twenty-seven caused a great commotion in Tianjing City, killing six true experts with one sword.

More than a year had passed since then.

During this year, he was either in a foreign race’s cave realm killing true experts, or on the way to a foreign race’s cave realm to kill true experts.

How strong he was now, he himself couldn't say clearly. But from the demon realm to the border wilderness, from the border wilderness to Yu Abyss, regardless of demons, devils, or Asuras, true experts now dared not go alone to the front lines.

Although he firmly stepped into the trap, stopped Bai Yuxia’s suicide, and showed a momentum of overlooking the Yue land.

But he never truly underestimated Wen Jingxiu.

In his life experiences, those who could sit in the position of State Master and truly wield the highest power were not fools.

The current shocking change was just another verification of his cognition.

He remained silent here, not attempting to resist the suppression of time and space, not pointlessly wasting energy.

He was waiting for the person who triggered this change, waiting for truly fierce methods, even killing methods—

Any method intended to kill him would inevitably ripple within this stopped time and space, and that would be the free moment when Changxiangsi was no longer halted. Then, in the gap between life and death, the truth would be revealed. He had never feared this.

The Yue Kingdom’s protective great array isolated him from contact with the Taixu Illusion Realm. Otherwise, summoning the Taixu Pavilion at this moment would be enough to break the seal on this area of time and space. Or writing a few letters... He, Jiang, just happened to pass through the Yue Kingdom and witnessed some dirty things. The Yue Kingdom’s Emperor just wanted to kill him to silence him. Did he still care about the Taixu Pavilion? Did he still have the Taixu Alliance in his heart?

How could Ju Zhenren tolerate this? How could Cabinet Member Li Yi stand idly by?

It was a pity he couldn't write.

The immortal consciousness, a river of stars, spanned the Yuan God Sea, and Changxiangsi, long silent in the present world, was also waiting for that one sound—

And then the huge Sinan appeared in the sky.

The copper spoon turned, and things shifted, stars changed.

In Jiang Wang’s perception, time at this moment was like water, space like a cage.

That small block of time and space that had sealed him was pinched out of the larger range of time and space by some power and thrown into an unknown other place.

This process was interesting. If the other side were stronger, he probably wouldn't have been able to perceive any of this. Being able to finely read the power of time and space at this moment could also be considered cultivation.

He could continue moving like this, until he comprehended the mysteries of time and space and found his own way back. It was a pity the person controlling the trap from the shadows was not so considerate and very “rudely” threw him out.

Thus, he arrived at the destination of this trip.

“Still within the borders of the Yue Kingdom,” Jiang Wang made this judgment in his heart.

He found himself in a semi-transparent corridor, like an animal thrown into a cage to be viewed. On either side were prison-like rooms, their doors tightly closed.

All sorts of inscriptions were carved on the walls. Every so often on the ground, there was a potted plant, containing flowers and plants he couldn’t name, exhaling an aura named “hidden.”

Above the semi-transparent corridor, one could see the flow of water, even water weeds, shrimp, crabs, and all sorts of messy things. A huge pale white thing was stuck to the top of the corridor. Later it gradually moved away, only then allowing one to clearly see that it was the eye of a giant fish.

Too cramped!

This was the most direct feeling the space of this place gave Jiang Wang.

He spread out his divine sense, activating Qianyang Chiptong, easily exploring to the boundary of this space, but unable to expand further, nor could he capture any useful information. It was as if the existence of “information” had already been cleansed.

As a contemporary true expert, he couldn’t even feel time here—

This might also be considered a clue.

Time was life’s perception of the universe; it didn’t originally truly exist. In other words, he had now lost the feeling of time, rather than lost “time.”

The present world was still flowing, it did not terminate because of his departure.

Jiang Wang observed seriously, supplementing his knowledge. He slowly paced within the corridor, then casually raised a finger and lightly wiped over the inscriptions on the wall.

He confirmed that the effects of these inscriptions were all very singular and did not involve the fundamental nature of this place.

This was all the valuable information.

Jiang Zhenren showed no surprise and casually pushed open the door of a nearby room.

He knew someone was waiting for him, but he had his sword, and he faced everything.

This was a square, narrow room, with all four walls painted white.

The room was bare at a glance, without any decoration, not even a bed—of course, there was no one inside either.

But he could sense human presence.

This explained that at least at some point before, there had been occupants here. They had simply disappeared later for some reason.

This human presence was strange; Jiang Wang was certain he had not encountered it before.

He was even more certain that the person waiting for him tonight was not the same person who had once lived in this room. Because this “human presence” was fierce enough but not strong enough.

At least not strong enough to stand before him.

Jiang Zhenren stood in the empty corridor, looking at the empty room, pressing his sword without speaking, and showing no intention of leaving.

Perhaps a very long time passed, or perhaps in the moment of his gaze—time had, after all, lost its measure here—segment by segment of black lines appeared abruptly on the wall opposite the room door, as if someone were drawing with a pen.

This gave one a terrifying feeling, like being in a painting and facing an unknown gaze.

Jiang Wang leisurely gazed at the changes in the lines.

The messy lines interwoven into a recliner. This chair gave people a truly strange feeling, a kind of illogical conflict that made people annoyed just by looking at it. But studying its texture closely, it was exquisitely woven, embodying shocking calculation—if these black thin lines were viewed as vines, everything might become reasonable.

Successive points of faint light emerged from the white of that wall, condensed on the seat, manifesting a human form.

A female cultivator with a beautiful face and starlight bathing her temples sat quietly there.

Jiang Wang of course didn’t go to calculate the rules of that chair; he only looked at the woman on the chair.

He had never truly seen this woman, but the moment he saw her, he knew who she was.

He didn't immediately draw his sword, because he knew this female cultivator was not in his eyes.

There was one Sinan in the world, and also the South Dipper Hall!

Too interesting.

“Song Zhenjun personally entered Lunxian Forest several months ago...” Jiang Wang looked at this woman who had dropped a piece in the Yue Kingdom’s chessboard and said, “It seems she hasn’t found you all.”

The female cultivator sitting in the room was none other than the world’s foremost true expert in calculation, Ren Qiuli of South Dipper Tianji!

She was very calm. She had been preparing for this situation for a long time, had calculated everything that needed to be calculated beforehand, and was now just waiting for the result.

Finally, meeting the foremost heavenly pride of the present world!

Ren Qiuli said lightly, “Thanks to the complex dangers of Lunxian Forest and the multitude of affairs in the Chu Kingdom, the Dou Clan doesn’t have the talent to carry the heavy burden. Of course, I also hid very hard.”

Lunxian Forest was a place of Saint fate. Even various Saints had fallen in it, so naturally, a true monarch could not traverse it easily. Even a true monarch exploring within it was considered an adventure. Song Botuo wanting to catch people in Lunxian Forest required luck, and was unrelated to strength. The matter with Dou Zhao happened, and the Dou Clan truly needed support. A true monarch like Song Botuo could not spend all his time in Lunxian Forest. Just like Wu Zhaochang initially entered Lunxian Forest to search for a period of time, gained nothing, and only withdrew regrettably.

To say something that shouldn't be said, if Song Botuo also had some accident in Lunxian Forest, the glorious three-thousand-year-old Dou Clan would likely become the first Enjoy Country family to be removed.

Jiang Wang could understand these things, but he only said, “Since I am seeing Tianji Zhenren for the first time, I wonder if Your Excellency can answer me a question that I have wanted to ask you all for a long time—Did Dou Zhao really die?”

Ren Qiuli’s eyes were originally like still water, but at this moment, they moved slightly. She couldn’t help but look up at Jiang Wang, as if re-recognizing him: “I didn’t think that in this situation, you actually don’t care about yourself. The first question is about Dou Zhao.”

“What is there for me to care about?” Jiang Wang said lightly, “My opponent is you.”

This was truly immense contempt!

But his attitude was not condescending, but... as it should be.

All real power figures in the South Domain knew. Ren Qiuli suffered a fatal injury in her early years. Although she survived later using special methods, she also paid a huge price, leading to a congenital defect in her origin, making it almost impossible to derive the Dao.

The reason why it's "almost" is because the path of cultivation is originally a journey of constantly creating miracles. Without the determination to break through the "impossible," there's no need to fight against heaven for life.

Ren Qiuli never gave up, although she had never seen hope. Along this path, other top-level true experts were all paving the way for the absolute peak, overlooking transcendence. She had no choice but to constantly explore within the cave realm.

Her inability to reach extreme combat power in the cave realm was also for this reason.

So when the South Dipper Hall was overturned, Changsheng Jun placed the hope of life on the Heavenly Dao’s ruthless Lu Shuanghe, instead of pinning hope on the still emotional Ren Qiuli within the sect, because the latter could not take that step.

But Ren Qiuli, although blocked at the absolute peak, had also repeatedly proven herself. She was indeed, in this era, the undisputed foremost expert in calculation among contemporary true experts. This time, dropping a piece in the Yue Kingdom's chess game, her single thought shook the heavens, also counted as using an ox knife for a small test.

Jiang Wang once asked Yu Beidou who was stronger, him or Xiang Fengqi.

Yu Beidou said, “In a narrow road encounter, fighting within inches, I am probably not as good as him. If both sides open up the stance, using heaven and earth as the board, mutually dividing life and death, he is certainly not as good as me.”

Jiang Wang felt at the time that this old man was probably boasting, but later he increasingly recognized the gold content of this self-evaluation.

He had never seen a second true expert who could bring people to hide in the river of fate.

True experts skilled in calculation were best at borrowing power and setting up formations, controlling the power of heaven and earth for their own use. The most typical representative of this kind was the former array master of the Xia Kingdom, Taihua—

He had once participated in the siege against Jiang Mengxiong and was specifically hammered to death by Jiang Mengxiong at Jianfeng Mountain.

Jiang Mengxiong choosing to hammer him and not others was in itself proof of his strength.

A true expert like Ren Qiuli, who had arranged this situation for an unknown duration, should absolutely not be underestimated for her danger.

But Jiang Wang was indeed composed!

Because Ren Qiuli was far from Yu Beidou.

And Xiang Fengqi was not his, Jiang Wang's, endpoint.

The pride of prominent figures was sometimes indeed admirable, but to be treated with such pride was absolutely not a good feeling.

Ren Qiuli, who in her younger days was also called “heavenly pride peerless in the world,” was not angry at this moment, but just said calmly, “You knew early on that your opponent was me?”

Jiang Wang shook his head: “Beforehand, I didn’t think of you. When the changes happened, you weren't on my suspect list either. But now that I see you, I feel that everything is very reasonable—"

He looked at this contemporary foremost expert in calculation: “You are afraid.”

“What am I afraid of?” Ren Qiuli asked.

Jiang Wang said calmly, “You are afraid that Lu Shuanghe will die by my hand. You know that if you don’t do something, he will die by my hand.”

Who did he think his opponent was?

What did he consider the foremost killing power among contemporary true experts to be?

Did he perhaps know what it meant for someone to walk out of the South Dipper small world to the present world, break through the innate barrier, and become a true expert of the world?

He knew nothing, yet was so confident.

This kind of confidence was simply unreasonable!

But Ren Qiuli... was unable to respond.

Ren Qiuli, who had directly fought with Dou Zhao, even felt that this confidence was also very normal. Perhaps young heavenly prides nowadays were just like this.

Wasn’t that Zhongli Yan still claiming to be the first in the Chu Kingdom?

Ren Qiuli didn't directly respond to Jiang Wang's sentence, only saying, “The South Dipper Hall has been the supporter behind the Yue Kingdom for several thousand years. Even this seat being here is due to the transaction between Changsheng Jun and Yue Taizong Wen Zhong back then. You are not a stupid person, why did you step into the trap in the Yue Kingdom’s territory and not think of me beforehand?”

The predecessor was the tenth-ranked “Jixuan Dayuan Tian” among the thirty-six small cave heavens.

This piece of cave heaven treasure had always been hidden obscurely and strangely, not seen by the world. Unexpectedly, it was actually in the grasp of the Yue Kingdom.

Jiang Wang sized up the surrounding environment once again, saying with praise, “So this is Mirror Lake!”

After knowing that this place was a cave heaven treasure, he had a further understanding of this environment that was permeated with strangeness everywhere.

Ren Qiuli didn't mind letting him understand, and was even very willing to let Jiang Wang think more. She was confident that she had an absolute advantage in the plan. The more Jiang Wang thought, the deeper he would be trapped.

Cave heaven treasures were only objects that could influence the war situation of high-realm cultivators. The role of cave heaven treasures was absolutely not only in battle.

For example, its main role in the Yue Kingdom was to suppress national power and cut off cause and effect. This resulted in the existence of people like Zhang Jiepu, who were not bound by cause and effect and could not be traced after death.

Of course, there was also now, as a perfect container, forming this "Time Space Mirror River Tianji Array," picking Jiang Wang out of that stopped time and space, jumping him into here, isolating cause and effect, and confusing time. This prevented Jiang Wang’s traces from being captured by any existence.

Thus, she would have enough time to leverage the advantage built with her calculation power and complete this meticulously planned situation.

After praising, Jiang Wang replied, “Because Lu Shuanghe said he wanted to wait until I reached the limit I recognized myself, and then go find him. If I don’t reach that step, it’s meaningless to him. All his waiting for so long would be a joke. I believe Lu Shuanghe’s determination; he would not lay hands on me before this. So I didn’t think of you either. I overlooked one point—a true expert like you, of course, has her own ideas, and you will not completely respect his will.”

Ren Qiuli was silent for a long time, then said, “Who would have thought that in this world, you are the one who believes in him the most!”