Urban Martial Saint

After obtaining the second level of the Innate Nine Diagrams from the stone coffin, Ye Qing felt much more invigorated. The coffin of Ancestor Chen Tuan still contained very practical items; this journey was certainly not in vain.

Ye Qing previously taught the first layer of the Innate Skill to Fu Qingping, who became a master of Unity of Heaven and Man. Later, Ye Qing imparted the Innate Skill to Shen Tianjun, who is also striving to reach the realm of Unity of Heaven and Man. Now, Ye Qing obtained the second level; if he teaches this to Shen Tianjun, who knows if it would make Shen Tianjun’s journey to Unity of Heaven and Man smoother?

Filled with excitement, Ye Qing carefully studied the Nine Charts, firmly memorizing the nine postures. The Innate Skill is actually a series of meditation and Zen postures, and the most crucial point is precisely these postures. A slight error in posture, and it’s no longer the Innate Skill, failing the purpose of cultivation. Therefore, memorizing these must be done without a single mistake.

Confirming the memory of the nine postures was accurate, Ye Qing continued to look down. Actually, these Nine Charts of the Innate Skill’s second level occupied most of the coffin wall; there was not much space left. Ye Qing looked and saw some text behind them.

”Future fortuitous ones entering here will witness a great calamity in the world. This second level of Innate Skill will offer them an arm of aid. There is nothing else in this tomb; once learned, the fortuitous ones should destroy this coffin, lest it falls into other hands.”

Seeing this line, Ye Qing’s heart stirred. So, it seems he is the fortuitous one. From Chen Tuan’s perspective, once Ye Qing masters the second level of these Innate Nine Diagrams, he should destroy the coffin to prevent others from obtaining it. Ye Qing initially did not have this idea, but upon seeing this, he no longer hesitated and picked up the scabbard of The Ancestor of Miao Dao, preparing to obliterate all Nine Charts on the stone coffin. These things, if left into the wrong hands, could indeed be dangerous.

Continuing to look further back, there was only one line left—fortuitous ones must remember, do not disturb the water demon. As the Immovable Bodhisattva Seal departs, the demon shall be freed.

This line puzzled Ye Qing; these are also words left by Chen Tuan. But what does this mean? Chen Tuan is warning him not to disturb the demon in the water? This water demon likely refers to that demon in the pit, right? In truth, without Chen Tuan’s warning, Ye Qing himself wouldn’t dare provoke that demon. That demon entangled several strange waterweed people; Ye Qing was quite shocked himself and wouldn’t dare disturb it.

What truly bewildered Ye Qing was the latter part of the sentence. As the Immovable Bodhisattva Seal departs, the demon shall be freed? What does this mean?

Does the Immovable Bodhisattva Seal leave? Does this mean it will depart?

The demon shall be freed? This part is easy to understand; it means the demon can be freed.

But when these two lines are combined, they become hard to understand. After the departure of the Immovable Bodhisattva Seal, the demon would naturally be set free. These two lines have no logical errors. But the key issue is, if the Immovable Bodhisattva Seal is here suppressing the demon, why would it leave? And since it’s a demon, why does Chen Tuan’s message seem to imply a desire to free it? What does this mean?

Frankly, Ye Qing truly couldn’t comprehend what Chen Tuan was thinking. Anyway, these last two lines genuinely puzzled Ye Qing. As this is deemed a demon and Chen Tuan a high-ranking Taoist Sect member, he surely would take action to eliminate it for future peace. Even if he couldn’t kill it, he should find a way to reinforce its suppression. But why, knowing the demon would escape, does he advise later generations not to intervene?

In this respect, Chen Tuan and the Patriarch Bodhidharma were completely different. Upon knowing the seal was loosening, the Patriarch Bodhidharma immediately took Ancestor Buddha Shakyamuni’s Buddha’s Relic to reinforce the seal. But on Chen Tuan’s side, he not only did nothing, he even advised later generations against intervening; what was his ulterior motive?

Honestly, if these words were left by someone other than Chen Tuan, Ye Qing would surely believe the other party was a demon, but now that it’s left by Chen Tuan, Ye Qing must consider the deeper meaning. Nevertheless, after pondering it thoroughly, Ye Qing was still unable to fathom the reason and ended up letting it go.

Upon examining around the coffin again, there were no other carved words or content inside, so Ye Qing didn’t linger further. He compared the second level of the Nine Charts in the Innate Skill again and then used the scabbard of The Ancestor of Miao Dao to completely flatten the carvings inside the stone coffin. Thus, nothing remained there; even if someone ventured in later, they couldn’t obtain the second level of the Innate Skill’s Nine Charts from here.

Once everything was settled, Ye Qing jumped out from the stone coffin. Since it contained no body, it appeared to be a decoy tomb, which did not bother Ye Qing. However, after coming out, he walked to the side of the coffin lid, intending to push it back. This way, even if someone did come later, it could at least give them a bit of a fright.

As Ye Qing bent down, reaching to lift the lid, he was surprised to find that there were faint engravings on it. Hastily brushing away the dust on the lid, he indeed found a line of carved text.

”There is an Immovable Bodhisattva Seal in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master; could it be entered through the seal? Might as well try.”

This line, written quite plainly, was even more shocking. Without doubt, this line was also left by Chen Tuan. Judging by the carving style, it seems it was left by Chen Tuan after the second level of Innate Skill, and a while had passed before he inscribed this message, noticeably different from his earlier words as if muttering to himself. However, this line reveals a very crucial piece of information, suggesting Chen Tuan possibly followed through to the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master.

Ye Qing remembered that indeed an Immovable Bodhisattva Seal existed in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, and it was suppressing something. It was during that time in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, Ye Qing first learned that the Immovable Bodhisattva Seal was not only suppressing but also protecting something, which left Ye Qing perplexed.

And now, Chen Tuan left such a message. It seems he intended to enter the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master through the Immovable Bodhisattva Seal. Ye Qing wasn’t sure how he entered, but surely Chen Tuan, having thought of this method, would try it; he might have actually gone to the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master. However, why were there no traces of him inside?

Ye Qing explored the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master thoroughly, being very familiar with its conditions yet found no traces of Chen Tuan. Without Chen Tuan’s message, Ye Qing would never have thought he’d been to the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master. According to these ancient characters, once they reached a place, they would leave some form of trace, but why were there none in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master? Did Chen Tuan’s method fail, and he did not enter?

But seriously, considering who Chen Tuan is—a renowned high-ranking figure within the Taoist Sect for a millennium—his methods surely weren’t simple ones. And considering the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, while it seemed inaccessible, Ye Qing found the remains of many Peak Masters and Unity of Heaven and Man masters inside, indicating many had once entered. Moreover, the most crucial part is Old Chen who, by coincidence, entered; so how could Chen Tuan not manage to?

If Chen Tuan did think of a method, he surely entered the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master; yet why are there no traces inside? What is the situation? What happened in this historical period?

Ye Qing merely felt his confusion intensifying, yet he couldn’t unravel it. Ye Qing turned the coffin lid over several times, finding only this one line and nothing more—no other words or markings. It implies Chen Tuan, having left this line, departed to seek the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, leaving only an empty tomb.

Unable to clarify the situation inside, Ye Qing didn’t linger longer in this tomb. He erased that line and then placed the stone coffin lid back on tightly, turning to leave.

Exiting the tomb was relatively simple, as there were no obstructions from the Qing Mang of the earlier Innate Nine Diagrams. The stone corridor was actually short, less than five hundred meters in length. Ye Qing walked through and climbed up a pit, arriving at the cave where the water pit was located.

Upon exiting, the stele gradually shifted again, sealing the cave entrance once more. This way, observing from outside, no one could predict that there was a cave beneath the stele.

Gazing at the stele, Ye Qing felt a bit grateful. He bowed several times towards it, yet this time refrained from performing the ceremonial of three bows and nine kowtows, knowing that the stele would shift again if he did.

After finishing his bowing, Ye Qing turned to leave. As he passed by the water pit, he felt a bit anxious. Honestly, he feared disturbing the creature within the pit. Something suppressed by the Immovable Bodhisattva Seal surely wasn’t a benign presence.