Chapter 132 Bottle Spirit

Turtle Nine shook his head upon hearing this, reached out, and wrote another line of small characters on the ground.

Liang Yan looked intently and saw the following words:

"A formation of slaughter and conquest, with the vessel as its spirit. If you seek survival, first find the vessel!"

"Seek survival, first find the vessel... Ah! Senior, could you be referring to that bottle of River of Stars Sand?" Liang Yan asked with a flash of sudden realization.

To his surprise, Turtle Nine shook his head again and continued to write on the ground:

"It is the vessel you seek, not the sand. The River of Stars Sand is not worth mentioning; that white jade bottle is the focal point of the formation here."

"But that small white jade bottle was tossed into the mouth of a golden dragon head outside during my teleportation. It has long since left my possession. Where am I supposed to find it now?"

Turtle Nine waved his sleeve, wiped away the writing on the ground, and wrote anew:

"That jade bottle followed you here and tried to flee the moment it arrived, but I trapped it with a restriction spell. It is hidden right here now."

"What?!"

Liang Yan's expression changed. "You mean that small white jade bottle is inside this house right now?"

This time, Turtle Nine did not write, but nodded slightly in confirmation.

"Yet, Junior just inspected all around this thatched cottage. Apart from the walls, there is nothing to be seen at all."

"This jade bottle is no ordinary object, and coupled with the passage of time, it has already developed a trace of spirituality. Although I have sealed it within this thatched cottage, it also knows how to conceal and hide itself."

Liang Yan lowered his head to look at the line of small characters written by Turtle Nine, his brow furrowing slightly.

"So this jade bottle has already birthed a wisp of sentience. Since Senior knows it is hiding somewhere nearby, is there any way to find it?"

Hearing this, Turtle Nine fell silent this time, as if pondering what Liang Yan had said. After a moment, however, he shook his head slightly and wrote on the ground:

"No way at all."

Liang Yan's gaze swept over the words, a wave of frustration welling up in his heart. Before he could speak, Turtle Nine continued to write on the ground:

"I have no way, but you do!"

"Junior has a way?" Liang Yan stared at the script on the ground, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "With my meager skills, I already tried just now and was completely unable to detect a single trace."

What he said was no falsehood. Ever since being teleported into this thatched cottage, Liang Yan had immediately circulated the Chaotic Art. Yet no matter how he enhanced his six senses, he could not perceive any anomaly within the cottage.

By this time, the ground in front of Turtle Nine was covered in writing. However, without a trace of impatience on his face, he gave a flick of his sleeve, and the mottled characters on the ground vanished instantly, restoring the entire surface to a mirror-like smoothness.

Turtle Nine raised his right hand and wrote on the ground again:

"Not through spiritual sense or incantations, but through fate's breath!"

"Fate's breath?"

It was Liang Yan's first time hearing of this, and he asked in puzzlement, "What is that?"

"Fate's breath originates from the school of physiognomy, and everyone's fate's breath is entirely unique. Ever since this small white jade bottle was teleported here along with you, it has been stained with a trace of your fate's breath. Right now, only you can find where it is."

Upon reading this, Liang Yan's spirit was lifted, and he asked, "How should I search for it? I ask Senior to grant me some guidance."

Turtle Nine nodded slightly, though this time he did not write on the ground; instead, he beckoned for Liang Yan to come closer.

Liang Yan felt a slight sense of wonder, but being an exceptionally clever person, he grasped the implication instantly. He walked over to Turtle Nine, sat cross-legged, and wrote on Turtle Nine's palm:

"Is it watching?"

Turtle Nine glanced at him with an expression of approval, and in turn wrote on Liang Yan's palm:

"Everything here is under the surveillance of the vessel spirit."

"How to find it?" Liang Yan wrote.

Without a word, Turtle Nine pressed that mottled tortoise shell into Liang Yan's right hand, and then wrote in the palm of his left hand:

"Grasp the tortoise shell tightly and sense the fate's breath, just as you would perceive your own hands and feet. The jade bottle is hidden in the dark and may move at any moment. Remember to catch it by surprise!"

Liang Yan nodded slightly and said nothing more.

Clutching the tortoise shell tightly in his hand, he closed his eyes slightly and sat cross-legged in place, beginning to try the method Turtle Nine had mentioned to sense the trace of fate's breath he had left on the jade bottle.

Time ticked away, and he had no idea how long he had been sitting.

The two individuals inside the thatched cottage maintained their posture of sitting opposite one another throughout.

Liang Yan sat cross-legged in meditation, resembling an ancient monk entering samadhi, while Turtle Nine sat motionless with a dull expression.

At that very moment, Liang Yan's brow suddenly twitched, and the tips of his ears moved slightly.

He snapped his eyes open, braced himself with one hand, leaped up from the ground, and sprinted toward the western wall of the thatched cottage.

As he drew close to the western wall, something upon it seemed to quiver slightly within the darkness.

How keen were Liang Yan's six senses? Such a slight tremor naturally could not escape his notice. His confidence instantly surged; putting strength into his feet, he thrust his right hand forward, looking as though he was about to grasp the quivering object on the wall.

However, a sudden breeze swept through the room, gently brushing across Liang Yan's brow and causing a strange itch.

Liang Yan's eyes narrowed slightly. When he opened them again, he discovered to his shock that he had somehow returned to the very center of the room.

Turtle Nine was sitting cross-legged before him, while he himself was standing precisely where he had been meditating, his right hand still frozen in a forward-reaching posture, stopping right in front of Turtle Nine.

"What?"

A great shock rippled through Liang Yan's heart. He hurriedly looked toward the western wall, only to find that the fate's breath there was faint and elusive—as if it were still there, yet as if it had vanished entirely...

This matter was far too bizarre. Had he not already stepped onto the path of immortality, he truly would have mistaken it for a mundane mortal "ghost trap."

"The jade bottle is hidden in the dark and may move at any moment. Remember to catch it by surprise!"

The words Turtle Nine had previously written resurfaced in Liang Yan's mind.

"It seems this vessel spirit is indeed a tricky entity."

With that thought, he sat cross-legged once more, gripping the tortoise shell tightly in his hand, and began to quietly perceive the surrounding fate's breath.

This time, not long passed before Liang Yan opened his eyes again. With a push of his feet, he sprinted toward the wooden door.

Seeing Liang Yan about to charge past the wooden door, the door trembled slightly, and a blur of black shadow slipped out from it, speeding along the surface of the wall.

Liang Yan altered his direction, closely pursuing the black shadow, though his speed was slightly inferior, forcing him to trail behind it.

The black shadow led him in a half-circle around the thatched cottage, right as it was about to collide with the western wall once again.

Liang Yan suddenly exerted force with his feet, pushing hard against the wall. Abandoning the black shadow altogether, he leapt straight up toward the top of the western wall.

Mid-air, he reached out and snatched a handful of thatch from a spot atop the wall. The moment the thatch came into his hand, it began to thrash violently, as if desperate to break free from his grip.

"Heh! That black shadow was merely a decoy; this is your true body!"

As if to verify Liang Yan's words, the moment the thatch entered his hand, the black shadow stopped moving. Instead, it pattered down from the wall, revealing itself to be nothing more than a pile of golden sand grains.

As for the thatch in Liang Yan's hand, after twisting and transforming, it slowly morphed into a crystal-clear white jade bottle, though the River of Stars Sand inside had long since vanished.

Right now, upon the surface of the bottle, two eyeballs the size of soybeans were spinning erratically in circles.