Wandering Gods of Day and Night

Zhou Xuan once again entered the tomb of South Mountain, and Mu Hua's spiritual torment seemed even more severe at this moment.

When he arrived, Mu Hua was being restrained by Yun Ziliang and Sister Cui.

But even so, Mu Hua seized the opportunity when they weren't paying attention, broke free, grabbed his own hair, and began pulling at it recklessly.

"Hua Zi, Hua Zi, don't do this. The matter of consuming infants is truly not your fault."

Sister Cui tried to persuade him while grabbing the agitated Mu Hua. Lao Yun was also helping as he sighed, and the scene was chaotic.

"Brother Xuan, you dragged me out from the Secret Realm."

It was Peng Sheng speaking.

Peng Sheng's soul resided within Zhou Xuan's Secret Realm.

Without Zhou Xuan's permission, no one could leave this Secret Realm.

Seeing that Peng Sheng was trying to emerge, Zhou Xuan stretched his right hand into his Secret Realm, grabbed Peng Sheng, and forcefully pulled him out.

As soon as Peng Sheng's soul appeared, a powerful aura from the incense suffused and filled the entire tomb chamber.

Huang Xi, who had been standing next to Yun Ziliang, turned her head toward Peng Sheng as the aura emerged, then sensed an intense threat and instinctively stepped back several paces.

"Such powerful energy."

Huang Xi muttered to herself.

Yun Ziliang also sensed the overwhelming aura. He turned his head to look back and, with just one glance at Peng Sheng, many memories flooded his mind.

He remembered the moment he first met Peng Sheng—both were young prodigies: one the youngest High Priest of the Tattoo Tree Clan, the other an extraordinary talent from the Dragon Seeking Hall. They were bowing to each other atop Jiangnan's Water Bridge.

He recalled traveling west with Peng Sheng—a journey filled with endless conversations and exchanges of cultivation insights.

Of course, aside from those beautiful, golden memories, there were also haunting, blood-soaked recollections—horrors best left unmentioned.

He remembered the Hidden Dragon Mountain massacre and, as Zhou Xuan had once told him, envisioned the tragic scenes of Peng Sheng and the Tree Clan being brutally suppressed by Peng Hou.

He and Peng Sheng had once shared moments of glory and leisure among landscapes, but now, the two once-proud young men could only meet in the form of souls, three hundred years later.

Yun Ziliang had so much to say, but in the end, it condensed into one sentence: "Mr. Peng, long time no see."

"Taoist Yun, my respects to you."

Three hundred years ago, during their journey west,

Peng Sheng had addressed Yun Ziliang as "Taoist Yun," and Yun Ziliang had called Peng Sheng "Mr. Peng."

As the old salutations were exchanged once more, both were overcome with tears. Three hundred years of time had fragmented into shards, stirred by memory, and spread out like a tapestry between them.

Zhou Xuan, who had initially mocked Yun Ziliang for being sappy, now quietly watched the reunion of these two figures from three centuries ago, feeling deeply moved himself.

Mountains change and seas shift, but their friendship remained the same.

"Time, it's such a strange thing—it feels like it doesn't exist anymore."

Yun Ziliang turned around, using his sleeve to wipe away the muddied tears at the corners of his eyes.

Peng Sheng, on the other hand, walked toward Mu Hua, crouched down, and carefully examined the "Gate" tattoo on his back.

"Mr. Peng, you still have the same habit as before—whenever you look at something, you always like to crouch down." Yun Ziliang was exceedingly familiar with Peng Sheng's quirk.

Whenever Peng Sheng needed to closely observe anything beneath his own height, he would squat to examine it.

Yun Ziliang had once playfully joked that Peng Sheng, despite being so young, already had poor eyesight.

"I can see everything clearly standing up—these eyes of mine are still bright."

Three hundred years ago, Yun Ziliang teased Peng Sheng about this, and now, seeing Peng Sheng crouch down again, Yun Ziliang was filled with nostalgia.

Peng Sheng merely smiled; he was someone thoroughly engrossed in his work, often oblivious to other matters.

As he studied the tattoo, he reached out to touch the "Gate" tattoo, closed his eyes to sense it, and said, "There's vitality within this tattoo—two forces are entangled within it."

"What's peculiar about this tattoo?"

Zhou Xuan asked.

Peng Sheng stood up and replied, "The tattoos of the Tattoo Clan are varied—they may be crafted with blood, with soul energy, or even with the elemental energy between heaven and earth. They come in all forms.

This young man's tattoo is the work of someone who dispersed their own cultivation, consolidating their Taoist abilities, flesh, and spirit into this 'Gate.'

That's why the tattoo contains living vitality."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then recalled someone—the Yumen High Priest of the Ancient Tattoo Clan—and said, "I once heard that the Ancient Clan's Yumen High Priest disappeared after cultivating the Legend of the Hundred Spirits in East Market Street.

The Ancient Clan sought him but could never find him. Could it be that he transformed himself into the tattoo on Mu Hua's back?"

Zhou Xuan asked.

Upon hearing this, Peng Sheng responded with another question: "The Yumen High Priest you mentioned—how many incense sticks did he possess?"

"Eight," Zhou Xuan replied.

Peng Sheng turned to the "Gate" tattoo again, lightly traced his fingertip through the air, and conjured an image of a mirror within the tattoo.

Within the mirror, a single stick of incense flickered, and through its glow, in the sky above, many figures resembling Gods hovered indistinctly.

After nodding slightly, Peng Sheng erased the mirror with his hand and said to Zhou Xuan, "The tattoo with eight incense sticks represents the Divine Striking Map. It borrows the Divine Aura to aid in overcoming enemies. Although the Tree Clan no longer practices the Divine Image, the opportunity presented by the incense remains the same.

Above the incense, there are faint silhouettes of Gods. This is precisely the opportunity tied to the tattoo with eight incense sticks."

The "Gate" tattoo was formed by a person who used their Taoist abilities, flesh, and spirit to consolidate eight incense sticks of power.