Chapter 610: Two Banners Meet

Ji Yuan looked up at the sky, and the feeling in his heart became even stronger. The onlookers, still in shock, instinctively followed his gaze upwards. The sky appeared so close that it felt as if one could reach out and touch the clouds, or as if the clouds were drifting like mist—a sensation only experienced when one is very near them.

"Immortal Master, what are you about to do?"

"It's not something I can explain in a few words. Just consider it a historical investigation. Tonight, dusk falls precisely at 7:45 PM. We have half an hour left, so please meditate."

With that, Ji Yuan flicked his sleeve. Five prayer mats appeared around the floating Star Banner in the courtyard, making his intention clear.

When Ji Yuan was the first to sit on the rightmost mat, Yan Fei glanced at the three Taoist priests, young and old, then promptly sat down to Ji Yuan's left. Zou Yuanxian and the others naturally followed suit, taking their places to Yan Fei's left.

Ji Yuan offered no further explanations. His eyes were already slightly closed, his consciousness drifting, as he used the Star Banner in the courtyard to remotely sense the Cloud Mountain Temple. However, he felt no distinct connection.

The Star Banner, like the one previously at Cloud Mountain Temple, appeared to be just an ordinary cloth banner at first glance. But Ji Yuan now knew it was far from ordinary.

"It seems it still needs to be dark..." Ji Yuan mumbled to himself, then looked at Zou Yuanxian.

"Daoist Zou."

"Yes, I'm here!"

"From what you mentioned earlier, no precious Taoist texts have been passed down, and you likely don't perform morning or evening rituals with this Star Banner daily. However, since this banner belongs to your lineage, I ask that the three of you calm your minds, focus your spirits, and quickly enter a state of meditation to perceive the Star Banner and the stars in the sky."

Enter meditation? In their current state of excitement, how could they possibly meditate? But he couldn't say that.

"Yes, I will try my best. Ru Ling, Li Bo, meditate, all of you!"

The three Taoists immediately closed their eyes and sat in meditation. But Yan Fei, watching from the side, shook his head. They had only closed their eyes; from their breathing and the frequent twitching of their eyelids, he knew none of them had truly entered a state of meditation. As a martial artist, the state of cultivating internal energy was also a form of meditation, so he understood this well.

Yan Fei didn't dwell on the others. The opportunity to observe Mister Ji's spellcasting was incredibly rare for him. So, he calmly sat down, closed his eyes, and was the first to enter a state of stillness. As he meditated, Yan Fei felt his perceptions sharpen. His surroundings were far quieter than he had imagined, as if he were the only one sitting atop a high mountain, able to reach out and touch the vast sky.

Ji Yuan naturally wouldn't let Zou Yuanxian and his disciples remain in such a "slacking" state. He extended a hand and pointed towards them. Moments later, their breathing became smooth and deep, clearly indicating they were gradually entering meditation with Ji Yuan's assistance.

Afterward, the small courtyard truly fell silent. Ji Yuan didn't rush to cast his spell; instead, he sat quietly, awaiting nightfall. Half an hour passed quickly. By the time Ji Yuan had finished pondering a minor issue in his mind, the sky had already darkened. Only the lingering afterglow of sunset remained on the horizon, and the stars in the sky were now clearly visible.

Ji Yuan's gaze fixed on the floating Star Banner. Although it appeared unresponsive, a faint shimmer occasionally flowed across the embroidered constellations. This was starlight so weak it was almost imperceptible, easily overlooked even by him if he wasn't paying close attention.

No wonder Zou Yuanxian's group had been using it as a blanket; it was likely a practice passed down from his master's generation, or even earlier. Sleeping with it for years on end might slowly enhance their magical power, but such usage would surely enrage their ancestors enough to rise from their graves if they knew.

As night had fallen, Ji Yuan closed his eyes and began to cast his spell. His artistic conception slowly unfolded, gradually merging with the formation set up in the courtyard. At this moment, Ji Yuan, along with Yan Fei and the others who were already in a state of stillness, felt as if their bodies were endlessly ascending with the Star Banner, as if their prayer mats were slowly flying up into the heavens.

This sensation was like soaring aimlessly through the sky, yet simultaneously, they felt what seemed like snowflakes constantly falling around them. Initially, it was a light, fine snow, then it grew heavier, eventually resembling large goose-feather flakes. Then, in the darkness behind their closed eyes, they seemed to "imagine" this scene, and the colors in the darkness began to brighten. They could "see" the falling snowflakes as individual specks of fluorescent light descending from above.

This feeling was, in a sense, accurate. Due to the grand formation, the small courtyard was now effectively detached from Twin Flower City, suspended high above the heavens.

If they could open their eyes and look closely, they would find that everything outside the courtyard appeared extremely hazy, as if concealed behind a veil of mist, while only the courtyard itself remained clear.

The four powerful statues glowed with a faint yellow light, emitting a low, muffled thunder-like hum. The Array of Characters was already fully activated, and a blurry river of stars seemed to flow through the small courtyard, carrying it up into the heavens.

With the aid of the four powerful statues' Array of Characters, combined with Ji Yuan's Dream Wandering Art and Creation of Heaven and Earth, the courtyard was, at this very moment, both within and outside Twin Flower City. Only Ji Yuan and the others could perceive this wonder; all other beings in the city, including ghosts and spirits, remained unaware, merely finding the night sky unusually bright.

Sometimes, a long time could pass in meditation while only an instant elapsed in the outside world; conversely, a mere instant in meditation could mean a considerable time had passed externally. Just as Yan Fei and the others were experiencing this novelty in their stillness, a gradually glowing Star Banner began to slowly materialize in Zou Yuanxian's mind's eye.

In the outside world, it was now midnight. Ji Yuan opened his eyes, bypassing the others, and saw that both the Star Banner and Zou Yuanxian were emitting a faint glow. This sight somewhat relieved him; at least one of the three Taoists had some connection with the Star Banner, whether through devoted worship or by simply sleeping soundly with it.

'It's time.'

With a thought from Ji Yuan, the next moment, a downpour of starlight intensified from the heavens. The river of stars in the courtyard surged like a river swollen by heavy rains, instantly becoming wide and tumultuous, and the Star Banner on its surface grew increasingly bright.

"Daoist Zou, repeat after me: 'Stars rise in the Northern Sky, calling out to the Southern Sky; the Milky Way as intermediary, for the two banners to meet.'"

Zou Yuanxian was in a semi-conscious state, neither fully dreaming nor fully awake. Although his eyes were closed, the Star Banner hovered before him, and beyond it was nothing but the starry sky. He felt as if he were sitting upon a surging river of stars, his body gently swaying and rocking with its flow. At this moment, Ji Yuan's voice seemed to emanate from the edge of the sky, carrying an boundless, majestic quality.

"Stars rise in the Northern Sky, calling out to the Southern Sky; the Milky Way as intermediary, for the two banners to meet."

Zou Yuanxian repeated Ji Yuan's words, his voice echoing within the river of stars and carried far away by its current.

The moment Zou Yuanxian's voice faded, Ji Yuan unleashed his magical power. The river of stars immediately blazed with light. This river, itself controlled by the small characters, was then pointed by Ji Yuan towards the north.

In Bing Province of Da Zhen, within Cloud Mountain, the previously inactive river of stars formation suddenly lit up. Starlight continuously descended from the sky, and within a very short time, a faintly visible river of stars flowed through Cloud Mountain. Inside the main hall of the old Cloud Mountain Temple courtyard, the Star Banner also abruptly illuminated, forming a gateway of light. This gate, receiving the celestial stars, rose directly from the banner, piercing through the hall's roof and pointing towards the heavens.

At Cloud Mountain Temple, the Taoist disciples, including Abbot Qingsong, were all startled awake. Qingsong immediately sat up in bed, and in a flash, he was already in the new temple's courtyard, having quickly donned his outer robe.

"What's happening? The Star Banner?"

"Master!" "What's wrong with Master's side?" "Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

"Daoist!"

Sun Yaya and others also gradually awoke from their rest or cultivation, coming into the courtyard to look towards the old Cloud Mountain Temple courtyard.

"I'm not sure, let's go check!"

Before they could move, the river of stars in the mountain "surged." They vaguely saw a beam of starlight in the distance, also shooting towards the high heavens, and voices carried from afar.

"Stars rise in the Northern Sky, calling out to the Southern Sky; the Milky Way as intermediary, for the two banners to meet."

Following the flow of the starlight river, two pillars of starlight, one thick and one thin, from the two Star Banners seemed to twist and collide high in the sky. Then, the distant Star Banner appeared to be slowly pulled closer.

"Meditate, everyone meditate and enter stillness!"

At Daoist Qingsong's command, the people of Cloud Mountain Temple awoke as if from a dream, swiftly sitting down where they were and entering a state of cultivation and stillness.

While everyone else seemed to have entered a dream, Ji Yuan was the most lucid among them, and his vision was the clearest. He felt as though he was sitting to one side, between the two Star Banners, watching the distance between them diminish from infinitely far to infinitely near, until they finally aligned, one behind the other.

"Boom..."

The entire river of stars began to shake violently. Zou Yuanxian and the others in meditation, as well as Daoist Qingsong and the disciples far away at Cloud Mountain Temple, swayed uncontrollably, as if on a boat about to capsize.

The two Star Banners overlapped for only an instant. The constellations on them became richer and more complete, shimmering with various colors, yet they were extremely unstable.

"A groaning and creaking sound..."

A strained creaking sound began, as if something was under immense pressure. Ji Yuan instantly broke into a sweat, stood up, rushed between the two Star Banners, and with a fierce flick of his sleeve, "severed" them apart.

A flash of light, as if from an explosion, erupted from where the two Star Banners had been. The entire river of stars trembled, then instantly shattered, and all celestial phenomena vanished.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

The entire Cloud Mountain subtly trembled...

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

The entire Twin Flower City also swayed slightly. In the small courtyard, the four powerful statues were all bent over, as if bearing an immense weight, before slowly straightening up moments later.

All those meditating, except for Ji Yuan, tumbled haphazardly to the ground. Ji Yuan glanced at the Star Banner in the courtyard, then looked up at the sky, where, almost like an illusion, he seemed to see the starlight subtly trembling for a brief moment.