The sun had begun to dip in the west, and the light inside the room was becoming dim.
Abbot Xuan Si stood up, put his hands behind his back, and began pacing back and forth in the room.
"The female demon will definitely return, but how should we deal with her when that ti cos?"
"Fighting alone is certainly not an option! Neither is setting up a formation! All the elders and disciples charging together, using a swarm tactic... such a move would surely result in nurous disciples dying... the disciples of Myriad Buddhas Sect are all carefully nurtured, losing even one would be painful..."
"This won't work, that won't work! What should we do?"
"Could it really be that there's no solution?"
"No! There must be a way! There has to be!!!"
"Right, how could I have forgotten about that thing!"
Slapping his forehead, Abbot Xuan Si said, "My mory really is terrible, to actually forget such an important matter, damn it." Abbot Xuan Si hurriedly made his way to the top floor, and then pressed on a spot on the wall, "Creak creak creak..." The wall, which seed to be one piece, cracked open from the middle, revealing a small box. Abbot Xuan Si carefully removed the box, then reached out and pressed the wall again, "Creak creak creak..." the split wall closed up again, leaving no trace of a seam, an ingeniously designed chanism indeed.
The small box was made of wood and emanated a refreshing fragrance.
This box was handed over to Abbot Xuan Si by the seven Great Elders. At the ti, they told him if he encountered an insurmountable problem, to open the box, and its contents might be able to assist him. In other words, it was an amulet the seven Great Elders had left for Abbot Xuan Si.
It had been a century since then, and because so much ti had passed, Abbot Xuan Si had forgotten about it until now.
"What could be inside the small box?" Abbot Xuan Si opened the lid full of anticipation: "Eh? Just a talisman?"
"Whiz!"
A piece of talisman paper flew out of the box, circled in the air, and ignited without wind, turning into a pile of ash in an instant and slowly falling to the ground.
"Huh?" Abbot Xuan Si was dumbfounded: "What... what's going on here? How co a perfectly good piece of talisman paper just burned to ashes? Could it be... it deteriorated due to being stored for too long?" This was no ordinary piece of talisman paper, it was handed to him by the seven Great Elders, it was his amulet for solving difficult problems! And now it's gone just like that, Abbot Xuan Si couldn't describe how heartbroken he was.
After stabilizing his emotions, Abbot Xuan Si began searching the box to see if there was anything else, but to his disappointnt... he searched the inside and outside of the box thoroughly and found nothing.
"Bang!"
The box slipped from Abbot Xuan Si's hands, fell to the ground, and made a dull sound.
"It's all over, it's completely over," Abbot Xuan Si muttered to himself: "The amulet is destroyed, what should I do now?"
...
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew outside, opening the tightly shut windows.
"Swish!"
A figure flew in through the window.
"Who's there!" Abbot Xuan Si was startled and quickly looked up: "Ah? The Great Elder? How did you... co here? Weren't you in closed-door cultivation for life and death?" Standing opposite him was an old monk with a height of five feet, white eyebrows, a face covered in wrinkles, and a stooped body, appearing very old.
The old monk seed ordinary, but his identity was extraordinary. His Dharma na was Hui Ming, one of the seven Great Elders, and moreover, he was the first among them, known as the Great Elder.
"Myriad Buddhas Sect has encountered difficulties?" Elder Monk Hui Ming asked in a calm tone.
"Ah? How do you know that?" Abbot Xuan Si was very surprised.
"The mont the Communication Talisman burned, I was awakened," Elder Monk Hui Ming said. "I knew that you must have encountered an insurmountable problem, so you opened the box containing the Communication Talisman. After I received the ssage, I ended my Closed-door Cultivation and ca out to see you."
"Communication Talisman?" Abbot Xuan Si was stunned. "That destroyed piece of Talisman Paper was just a Communication Talisman? It wasn't an Amulet?"
"It was just an ordinary Communication Talisman, but it contained a thread of my Divine Sense, so as soon as the Talisman burned, I imdiately knew," Elder Monk Hui Ming explained succinctly in two sentences. "Tell , what difficulty have you encountered?"
"Here's what happened…" Abbot Xuan Si detailed the events. "Soone suggested waking the seven Great Elders in Closed-door Cultivation, which I rejected. Before you entered Closed-door Cultivation, you repeatedly emphasized not to disturb you unless absolutely necessary. I have always rembered that…"
"Did that demoness really say… she has lived for hundreds of thousands of years?" Elder Monk Hui Ming asked in a deep voice.
"Yes, I heard it clearly. At first, I thought she was spouting nonsense, but after careful thought, sothing seed off..."
"Ancient Tis were the golden age for Cultivators of Immortality. Many astonishing geniuses erged during that period, inventing many miraculous Spells. It's possible that among those, there was a Spell to indefinitely extend lifespan."
"So, that demoness is truly a Great Cultivator from Ancient Tis?"
"I haven't seen her, so I dare not make a hasty judgnt. However, I am sure of one thing, the origins of that demoness are extraordinary, definitely not soone ordinary. Right, did she ask you for Spiritual dicine of the Defying Heavenly Level?"
"Yes."
"How did you respond to her?"
"Of course, I flatly refused. Defying Heavenly Level Spiritual dicine is so precious, how could I give it to her?"
"What does she want Defying Heavenly Level Spiritual dicine for? Such dicine can heal injuries and also extend lifespan. If I'm not mistaken, she urgently requested Defying Heavenly Level Spiritual dicine to prolong her life, which suggests her life may not be much longer," Elder Monk Hui Ming conjectured, his eyes sparkling with insight. As a creature who had lived for thousands of years, his analytical ability was impressive indeed.
"Yes, that must be it," Abbot Xuan Si nodded in agreent.
"She broke the Eighteen Arhats Formation alone? And erged unscathed?"
"Yes."
"After breaking the Formation, she hastily left?"
"Yes."
"Why did she leave?"
"I'm not sure. I've thought about it for a long ti and still can't understand it. She seed… as if she was frightened by sothing…"
"Frightened?" Elder Monk Hui Ming furrowed his white eyebrows. "What could possibly frighten such a powerful being?"
Abbot Xuan Si shook his head, indicating his uncertainty.
Elder Monk Hui Ming pondered for a mont. "From your description, that demoness is very strong. I'm afraid I'm not her match," he stated. This was not modesty, he was speaking honestly from his heart. He truly was not confident in facing Duanmu Hong. A wise man knows his own limitations. Those who are blindly arrogant never end well.
"Great Elder, you..." Abbot Xuan Si started to speak but was interrupted by Elder Monk Hui Ming.
Elder Monk Hui Ming waved his hand and said, "To be safe, I need to call two helpers. Hmm, number three and number five have been quite free lately, it's ti for them to get so exercise." The 'number three' and 'number five' he referred to were the Great Elders ranked third and fifth.
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