Mutated Tao

“…Glory over 18,000 lands, all earth turning golden. All life in six realms under a single light... free from the dust of the mortal world. Today, hearing this scripture chanted in person, realize that every verse is a treasure...”

In the deepest part of the hall belonging to the White Lotus Sect, the 36 White Donkeys chanted continuously. Amidst them, Bai Lingmiao sat upon the enormous lotus throne, her legs crossed in a meditative position.

She was utterly transformed from her earlier demeanor with Li Sui. Now, her face was filled with compassion and divinity, and even the Second Deity’s fearsome face was the same.

She had two torsos, with four gracefully extended arms. Her twenty slender fingers were positioned in lotus seals, resembling the branching of a tree.

The white lotus marks on Bai Lingmiao’s forehead flickered amidst the chanting, and her consciousness drifted beyond.

Bai Lingmiao sensed the emotions of the Heavenly Mater. She opened her heart completely and strove to merge her compassion with the Heavenly Mater’s boundless mercy.

Bai Lingmiao began floating in the air, exuding compassion that radiated outwards and enveloped the White Donkeys nearby. They now wore expressions of pure benevolence.

In the chaos, Bai Lingmiao felt a deep connection with the Heavenly Mater. Their emotions blended into one, becoming indistinguishable from each other.

Unlike before, the overwhelming sense of death that had almost materialized vanished, leaving only compassion.

Bai Lingmiao carefully gathered her memories of today’s events and offered them reverently to the Heavenly Mater.

She hoped to reestablish contact and attempted to implore the Heavenly Mater to intervene with divine powers. That way, the White Lotus Sect could help fend off the Tianchen Kingdom.

Tianchen Kingdom harbored a deep-seated enmity against the Heavenly Mater and mobilized a massive force specifically to fight her.

The Heavenly Mater would surely act out of self-preservation, but Bai Lingmiao remained uncertain without any explicit confirmation.

Despite her pleas, Bai Lingmiao received no concrete answer from above, only some vague emotional feedback.

There was neither explicit acceptance nor rejection—it seemed as though the Heavenly Mater was distracted.

Bai Lingmiao tried to push further, but her connection with the Heavenly Mater began to fade. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself back inside the hall.

Looking around at the gazes of the White Donkeys, she took a deep breath. With her four hands raised, she proceeded to attempt another ritual.

The Tianchen Kingdom and the Heavenly Mater shared a deep grudge. Bai Lingmiao needed to ensure that the Heavenly Mater would lend her assistance when the kingdom launched an attack.

Somehow, the Heavenly Mater of the past seemed different from the one now.

A voice suddenly interrupted Bai Lingmiao’s ceremony. “Saintess.”

Bai Lingmiao sensed who it was and realized it was Lian Zhibei. She had helped her ascend to the position of Saintess.

With the growing influence of the White Lotus Sect, Lian Zhibei’s status had also risen, and she was now Bai Lingmiao’s right-hand woman within the sect.

Though Lian Zhibei appeared to be a woman in her 30s or 40s, she showed no disrespect toward the young Bai Lingmiao. She bowed deeply. “Saintess, there’s news regarding the Strayed Ones. There are four of them, and I’ve already sent people to bring them back.”

Bai Lingmiao nodded lightly, “Good. Don’t use force right away. Speak to them gently first. Tell them there’s a way to help them find clarity and rid themselves of their bewilderment.

“If they still refuse to listen, we’ll think of other methods to bring them back.”

This would actually benefit both sides, but the living Strayed Ones were unlikely to fully believe it. Even Senior Li would probably have doubted them.

“Yes,” Lian Zhibei replied with a bow.

“Still, to mobilize the entire White Lotus Sect and only find four Strayed Ones… I wonder how many Suisui has found. It still doesn’t seem like enough.”

Four Strayed Ones might not be sufficient for the seven chakra points of “Truth” cultivation to succeed.

Upon hearing this, Lian Zhibei hesitated momentarily. “Saintess, some of the disciples have heard rumors from the elders. It is said that some of the Strayed Ones have conspired together to go into hiding.”

“Hiding? Does that mean there are more?”

“There may be more, but their hiding place is very difficult to locate. I’ve heard they’ve concealed themselves within the karmic obstacles of a Muddled One.”

“Muddled One?” Bai Lingmiao’s heart skipped a beat. The Muddled One was not easy to deal with—they belonged to the same family as the Strayed One.

They had a unique ability: forgetfulness. They could make people vanish entirely from the recollections of every person in the world, banishing them to a lost realm.

That place was not good. It was utterly dark, with no Heavenly Dao of Death. No matter what happened there, one would never die. More importantly, once someone was forgotten by the Muddled One, it was nearly impossible to escape.

They had to be remembered by someone. Otherwise, even killing the forgotten individual wouldn’t release them.

Communication with the Muddled One was nearly impossible—they would forget everything even as they spoke.

However, Bai Lingmiao was vastly more powerful than before. The Muddled One was troublesome but no longer so dangerous.

Bai Lingmiao just hadn’t expected that some of the Strayed Ones had voluntarily chosen to be forgotten by a Muddled One to survive.

The Second Deity cut in from behind. “Is the information reliable?”

Lian Zhibei carefully explained, “Yes, I confirmed it with the masters of the Fangxian Sect. It’s true, and several others have heard the same.”

Bai Lingmiao pondered the matter carefully. “There’s one issue. Even if we know the Strayed Ones are hidden, we still don’t know which Muddled One has forgotten them.”

Lian Zhibei hurriedly explained, “Saintess, that’s not a problem. All the realms of forgetfulness of the Muddled One are interconnected. No matter which one we use, it’ll lead to the same place.”

“Interconnected?” Bai Lingmiao was surprised. If that were true, then being forgotten by any Muddled One would result in banishment to the same realm.

Bai Lingmiao thought seriously for a while. “Do we have a Muddled One?”

“We don’t, but the Surveillance Bureau has one. They captured a living Muddled One two years ago. With the relationship between Saintess and the Surveillance Bureau, we should be able to borrow it.”

Bai Lingmiao rose from the lotus throne without hesitation. “Go to the Surveillance Bureau and borrow the Muddled One. We’ll retrieve those hidden Strayed Ones.”

The Tianchen Kingdom could attack at any moment. The sooner they acted, the better their chances.

“Yes, Saintess,” Lian Zhibei said, then bowed deeply with both hands raised above her head.

Bai Lingmiao glanced at the 36 White Donkeys, her demeanor completely different from when she was with Li Huowang. “Prepare your weapons and artifacts. We’re going to claim the Strayed Ones.”

“Yes, Saintess!”