Woke up to a wonderful surprise. Big thanks to Alliance Lord Old Horse's Sky for three consecutive banners and a tip of 250,000 Qidian Coins, pushing Martial Peak straight to sixth on the overall sales chart. Alliance Lord Old Horse, your generosity is deeply appreciated — Xiao Mo offers his sincere thanks!
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"What are you doing?!" Ji Ying stared at Yang Kai with a dark expression.
Yang Kai replied, "Nothing much. It's just that since Master Ji is willing to believe every word his disciple says, I feel that no amount of arguing on my end would make a difference. I can't be bothered with that kind of verbal sparring. I simply want to show you something."
"What is it?" Ji Ying furrowed his brow, uncertain what Yang Kai was playing at.
Yang Kai clapped his hands and looked toward the hall entrance. "Come in!"
Everyone turned to look outside. A figure strolled in unhurriedly, stepped to the center of the hall, and cupped his fists. "Greetings, Palace Master!"
"Mm." Yang Kai gave a slight nod.
"You…"
"Master Nanmen! What are you doing here?!"
Mi Qi and Li Jiao both gaped at the newcomer, unable to believe their eyes. As Sect Masters of top-tier sects in the Northern Region, they had naturally dealt with Nanmen Dajun before. They knew the man's attainments in the Dao of formations were extraordinary, and that he was rather proud and aloof. Over the years, both of them had tried more than once to recruit Nanmen Dajun into their respective sects, but none had succeeded.
To see Nanmen Dajun appear here of all places — and treating Yang Kai with such deference — made Mi Qi and Li Jiao feel as though they were dreaming.
Was this really the same Nanmen Dajun? The man who never bowed his head to anyone?
"I am now the Chief Formation Master of Lingxiao Palace. Why wouldn't I be here?" Nanmen Dajun cast the two of them a glance.
"Chief Formation Master?!"
"Master Nanmen, you… Ai!"
Li Jiao and Mi Qi were stunned and dismayed in equal measure. They had tried to win Nanmen Dajun over countless times, only to be turned away every single time. How long had Lingxiao Palace even existed, and it had already secured his allegiance? What sort of methods had this fellow Yang Kai used?
Yang jerked his chin toward Nanmen Dajun. "Master Nanmen, bring it out."
"Yes!" Nanmen Dajun responded crisply. He produced several formation flags from his Spatial Ring and began arranging them around the hall with casual flicks of his wrist.
In short order, a formation had been set up — though it left everyone bewildered. They couldn't fathom what showing them a formation at a time like this was supposed to accomplish.
Nanmen Dajun then retrieved another object from his Spatial Ring: something that resembled a mirror. What was strange was that its surface showed no reflection at all, sending a faint chill down the spines of those who looked at it.
Holding the mirror-like object aloft, Nanmen Dajun said, "This is something I obtained many years ago. It's called a Recording Mirror, and it can capture images. I have no idea how it came into being — I once showed it to several Artifact Refining Masters, and not a single one could identify what material it was made of. It's never been much use in daily life, so today I'll make a humble showing of it."
"A Recording Mirror!"
"Capturing images!"
At these words, the crowd vaguely grasped what Nanmen Dajun was about to do.
Li Xuan's face went white. He stared at the Recording Mirror in a daze, apparently having never imagined that such a wondrous object existed in this world.
Ji Ying frowned and turned to glance meaningfully at Li Xuan. The young man's gaze involuntarily wavered. That only made Ji Ying's expression grow grimmer.
Nanmen Dajun tossed the Recording Mirror into the air, waved a formation flag in his hand, and surged his Emperor Yuan. In an instant, a hazy luminescence rippled through the center of the great hall, and a beam of light refracted outward from the Recording Mirror.
A fairly clear image materialized in midair.
Everyone focused on it and instantly recognized the scene: the mountain gate of Lingxiao Palace. The plaque bearing the three characters "Lingxiao Sect" was right in the center of the image, perfectly legible.
Four figures appeared in the scene.
One of them was Li Xuan himself. The other three were women — two of them the same pair who had just left, and the one called Qing'er among them.
No sound came through. The Recording Mirror could apparently only capture images.
As Nanmen Dajun continued channeling his Emperor Yuan, the image shifted and changed, as though replaying the events of the past in vivid detail.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Li Xuan sidled up to Zhu Qing, grinning and chattering away with whatever he was saying. Zhu Qing kept a cold face and ignored him.
After repeated attempts, Li Xuan actually began getting handsy with her. Zhu Qing's expression turned angry, but she only dodged and avoided him.
A short while later, seeing Li Xuan's behavior grow ever more brazen, Zhu Qing finally struck out with an open palm, sending him flying.
Moments after that, Yang Kai appeared out of nowhere, asked a few questions, then delivered a vicious slap that sent Li Xuan sprawling, teeth scattering across the ground.
……
The image shifted and shifted, presenting every detail of what had happened at the mountain gate that day until Li Xuan slunk away in defeat. Then the scene froze.
Nanmen Dajun retrieved his formation flags and the Recording Mirror, cupped his fists toward Yang Kai, turned, and walked out of the hall.