Chapter 340: Chapter 252: Secret Gathering: Seeing a Lotus in the Marketplace
The sensation of every cell in her body seemingly burning with elation was unforgettable.
She knew this was Yi Beidou’s special way of guiding her cultivation.
This was another application of Yi Beidou’s "Penglai Flame."
When applied to another person, it also stimulated the body and unlocked potential. However, since it was not his own body, the effect was a far cry from the level of the Penglai Technique.
But even so, it was immensely beneficial for anyone below the level of Ascension.
"Keep your physical energy reserves high. This state can be maintained for seven days. Use this time to focus on your cultivation."
"Also, give the item I gave you to Wei Cheng. Have the Saint Experts go to the island to study it. Just share the research materials with me afterward."
Just then, Yi Beidou’s voice sounded in her ear, and Zhou Baiwei felt a flash of panic. She knew he was about to leave.
"Sir!"
She hurriedly called out, trying to make him stay. There were still so many things she wanted to say to him.
However, some things are simply beyond one’s control.
The Demon Flame receded, and the doorway was empty. It was as if the whole thing had been a dream.
He was gone, and she had no idea when she would see him again.
Zhou Baiwei suddenly recalled Yi Beidou’s last words.
’An item? When did he give me an item?’
As if acting on a hunch, she reached into her pocket and found a hard object that hadn’t been there before.
She reached in and touched it. Sure enough, a smooth, warm object—a Jade Pendant, it seemed—had appeared in her pocket at some point without her knowledge.
’So I’m supposed to deliver this Jade Pendant to Wei Cheng?’
’If you didn’t have this errand for me, even if you returned to Modu and could sense my location, you probably wouldn’t have even thought to come and see me, would you?’
For some reason, Zhou Baiwei looked at the empty doorway and couldn’t help but bite her lip, a hurt expression on her face.
「Meanwhile, elsewhere.」
With Yi Beidou’s departure, the Demon Flame covering the eyes and ears of the wailing recruits on the floor vanished. Their sight and hearing returned to normal.
’Huh? Where’s Instructor Zhou? When did she get over to the doorway?’
Someone noticed Zhou Baiwei had moved and glanced in her direction.
The next moment, an expression of utter disbelief appeared on that person’s face, as if they had just seen a ghost.
’Holy crap, what’s with that lip-biting, hurt expression?! Where did the brave, cool, and merciless Instructor Zhou from just a moment ago disappear to?!’
"Hey, hey, stop your whining! Look, what’s with that expression on Instructor Zhou’s face?!"
Someone kicked the teammate beside them. That person looked over and immediately froze on the spot as well.
This reaction spread from one person to the next. Everyone seemed to forget their pain, and the room fell completely silent.
Zhou Baiwei seemed to sense something. Her expression changed in an instant, the hurt look on her face vanishing completely. She whipped her head around, her gaze so sharp it seemed to glow.
"It seems you all haven’t been beaten enough."
In an instant, the training room was once again filled with miserable wails.
After leaving the Special Security Bureau, Yi Beidou had no intention of staying in Modu any longer. His gaze turned to the west.
He had imbued the Jade Pendant he’d just given Zhou Baiwei with a trace of the magnetic aura from Penglai Immortal Mountain. A spiritually keen Saint Expert would be able to follow this aura to find the location of Penglai Immortal Mountain.
He couldn’t stay on the Immortal Mountain forever. The mountain still held many secrets and assets that could be uncovered, and it would be a terrible waste to let it lie deserted.
He was no Ancient One; he had no intention of turning it into some kind of secret base. Allowing more people onto the island to conduct research might lead to even greater discoveries.
The wisdom of the masses should not be underestimated.
That was why he had decided to inform Wei Cheng of the Immortal Mountain’s location.
This was his very reason for seeking out Zhou Baiwei.
Now that his business was concluded, it was time for him to depart.
A journey from Modu to the Mediterranean Sea, spanning the entire continent of Eurasia, now began.
「Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean Region—France.」
A handsome, middle-aged white man walked down the street, observing everything in the city.
Suddenly, as he passed a flower shop, he paused. His gaze was drawn to a flower on display outside.
The flower was still a bud, but in the man’s eyes, it suddenly released a faint golden light. The bud trembled slightly, then burst into full bloom.
It was a sacred Lotus, wreathed in golden light and looking utterly mystical.
And yet, the passersby on the street were completely oblivious to this mystical scene, as if the phenomenon were visible only to the man’s eyes.
The man’s eyes narrowed. He closed them and opened them again, only to find the flower shop perfectly normal. There was no blooming Lotus at all; the bud was still just a bud.
But causing a man of his caliber to see an illusion was no simple feat.
He extended his senses and confirmed that no one was secretly watching him.
He reached out, made a slight grasping motion in the Void, and then opened his palm. A miracle occurred.
Blooming in his palm was a Lotus identical to the one he had seen at the flower shop.
Or rather, he had plucked the Lotus from the Void and now held it in his palm.
The man knew perfectly well that this was not a real flower. Ordinary people couldn’t see it. It was merely a magnetic field, an anchor point.
Its appearance here was more like a silent invitation meant for him.
"Knowledge Prohibition? It seems they’ve used a special method to scatter ’flower seeds’ in various places. There aren’t many people in this world capable of such a thing."
"The Pioneer Group... Lotus?"
"Very well. I suppose I’ll see what you’re planning."
The man didn’t destroy the Lotus in his hand. Instead, with a mere thought, he wrapped a wisp of his own magnetic aura around the illusory flower.
The illusory Lotus flickered a few times before returning to normal.
With a subtle flick of his wrist, the man sent the illusory Lotus shooting from his palm. It attached itself to a conspicuous spot on a tall building.
He then walked away as if nothing had happened. A few hundred meters away, he checked into a hotel. After confirming there were no surveillance devices, he sat by the window and began to drink coffee.
He appeared to be admiring the view, but in reality, he was observing the location of the Lotus he had thrown.
He was well aware that this Lotus was an anchor point. Through this anchor, the person behind it could use the power of Knowledge Prohibition to pull someone into a dreamscape.
It was, in a way, a clandestine method of contact.
An ordinary person would be completely unable to perceive this illusory Lotus. Even a Saint Expert could easily overlook it if they were not paying attention.
Only someone of his caliber could discover it so easily.
Clearly, the individual from the Pioneer Group codenamed Lotus was trying to use this method to contact other hidden figures like him.
The Lotus remained completely still, but the man showed no signs of impatience. He was extremely patient.
It wasn’t until around nine o’clock the next morning that the Lotus finally changed.
Even from hundreds of meters away, the man’s hawk-like gaze immediately noticed the Lotus begin to flash.
His expression shifted slightly. He stood up, casually walked out of the hotel, and approached to within about fifty meters of the Lotus.
He reached out and grasped.
The Lotus was once again in his hand.
He continued to stroll casually, returned to his hotel, and sat on the bed. Spreading his palm to reveal the Lotus, he linked his consciousness to it. Following the connection created by the flashing, he actively traced it back to its source.
The world seemed to spin. He felt his consciousness link with an unknown magnetic field. After a brief frequency adjustment, his senses of touch and sight became as complete and real as in a dream.
Everything around him was dim. He felt as if he were enveloped in something, and he could smell a peculiar fragrance.
Soon, the thing enveloping him made a soft sound and split open. Only then did the man realize he was sitting atop a blooming Lotus.
This was a Lotus Platform.
He looked out upon a world made of lotuses. Rosy light suffused the air, making it feel like an Immortal Realm.
But when he looked down toward the roots of the lotuses, he discovered that these sacred, beautiful flowers were, in fact, blooming upon a foundation of countless corpses and mangled flesh.
Around him were other blooming lotuses, upon which sat blurry, cross-legged figures. Their heads were turned, apparently looking at him.
The man paid them no mind, instead turning his gaze to the center of this Lotus True Realm, where a figure sat cross-legged upon a Golden Lotus.
"Lotus," the man asked coolly. "What is your Pioneer Organization planning now, contacting us in this manner?"
