"Look closer! Look at these incantations!" Clay Figure Zhang urged.

Hearing this, Young Master Liu immediately paid attention, slowly dredging his memory. After a moment, he finally grasped a thread: "This... this is from that book, the Scroll of Supreme Peace and Pure Doctrine. I remember reading it."

"Exactly!" Clay Figure Zhang enunciated every word: "This is the 'Nine Realms Soul Return Formation' from the Scroll of Supreme Peace and Pure Doctrine, Chapter sixteen, the twenty-fourth passage. I remember it perfectly." At this moment, his lips trembled, his face flushed with excitement, and his fingernails dug into his flesh.

"It seems you've read this book until it fell apart," Young Master Liu chuckled wryly.

"It’s not just that!!!" Clay Figure Zhang ground out through clenched teeth.

"Then..." It appeared Clay Figure Zhang harbored too many secrets.

"Although I haven't deciphered the secret of longevity from the book—what I have is only a fragment—I can be certain that this 'Nine Realms Soul Return Formation' is the final step to eternal life: setting the array to preserve the soul! And the liquid inside this inner coffin isn't ordinary fluid; it's a mixture of Xuan Gui and Qilin blood."

"What?!" Young Master Liu turned pale with shock. If what Clay Figure Zhang said was true, then who was that woman currently submerged in the water?

"The craftsmanship of this mausoleum is so profound in its Taoist mystery that it is beyond anything I've ever witnessed; it defies common sense," Clay Figure Zhang trembled, utterly beside himself with excitement. If true immortality existed in this world, what did his own fate matter? He was thrilled that his conviction wasn't baseless fantasy, and even more so that since the Nine Realms Soul Return Formation was already established here, his current premature aging stood a great chance of being cured.

"The person who established this mausoleum, was it Zhang Jiao?" Young Master Liu inquired.

Clay Figure Zhang shook his head: "Both yes and no."

"What do you mean?"

"Perhaps we have all been misled by the great reputation of the Sage-Master Zhang Jiao. I suspect there was another person behind Zhang Jiao, lending assistance, but for some reason, that aid was later paused, terminated. Otherwise, do you think the main forces of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, which were crushing the Han imperial army just months ago, could be so easily routed now?" Clay Figure Zhang sneered.

"And the one who truly mastered the Taiping Jing wasn't Zhang Jiao, but that person. This formation was also set up by that person for Zhang Jiao."

"Then, then who is the woman in this coffin?" Young Master Liu felt utterly lost, unable to tell north from south.

"Hmph, hmph, do you truly not know who this woman is? An Eight Trigram Purple Ribbon Daoist Robe—in the Great Han Dynasty, besides Celestial Master Zhang Lu, who else could wear one?!" Clay Figure Zhang roared.

"He..." Young Master Liu suddenly understood.

"Precisely, this woman is the true Great Sage-Master, Zhang Jiao!" Even though he had already guessed something, reinforced by the dream from before, Young Master Liu was vaguely aware of the truth, but hearing Clay Figure Zhang state it outright was like a sudden, deafening blow.

"She... she is Zhang Jiao?"

Clay Figure Zhang nodded: "The real Zhang Jiao!"

"Historically, wasn't Zhang Jiao a man? And seemingly an old man."

"Don't trust history; history is all false," Clay Figure Zhang chuckled, shaking his head.

Just then, Uncle Diao interjected: "Regardless of who this woman truly is, I still feel she doesn't look dead; she seems more like she’s in hibernation."

"When the Mawangdui female corpse was unearthed, despite excellent preservation techniques, upon contact with the air, the body slowly discolored, withered, and eventually disintegrated into a skeleton. But this corpse is different; after being exposed to the air for so long, her complexion remains flushed, showing no signs of accelerated decay. Even considering the array you mentioned, it shouldn't achieve this level, right? But if we say the tomb occupant is hibernating, how can one believe someone could lie motionless for nearly a thousand years without eating or drinking? ... Besides, even snakes need to expend energy and have necessary respiration when hibernating, but this golden coffin is sealed tight; no air can possibly enter to supply the required oxygen for a hibernating occupant!"

"That is the profound wonder of the Scroll of Supreme Peace and Pure Doctrine—it allows for nine cycles of reincarnation, ensuring the true body remains perpetually suspended at the moment of simulated death, until a certain day when they automatically awaken. In essence, this is true eternal life—the immortality of consciousness," Clay Figure Zhang explained.

"Such an unbelievable thing truly exists in this world?" Uncle Diao was astonished for the first time.

"Indeed, Elder, this world is far more complex than we currently understand," Clay Figure Zhang stated succinctly: "Now is the time to unravel all the mysteries." With that, he looked toward Young Master Liu: "Brother Liu, we can begin!"

"Heh, very well!" Young Master Liu took a deep breath, calming his agitated nerves, before finally approaching the golden coffin again to examine the figure inside.

"If my guess is correct, this formation provides protection while the master is in this state of simulated death." Clay Figure Zhang's gaze sharpened. The hand hidden behind his back slowly emerged, grasping between his thumb and middle finger a deep crimson Water-Splitting Stiletto. This steel spike had three points—two short ones flanking a longer central tip—and was exquisitely sharp. Strangest of all, faint specks of reddish luminescence occasionally shimmered along the blade's edge, leaking through his fingers, giving off an intensely eerie sensation.

"The Yuyang Thorn?" Young Master Liu narrowed his eyes. Back in Xiushui Village, Zhang Enpu had once mentioned the sects and artifacts of Taoism to him. Chinese Taoism could generally be categorized into two major schools: Zhengyi and Quanzhen. Zhengyi primarily practiced talismanry, Daoist arts, and the basic methods for exorcising ghosts and capturing demons, advancing through the long-term application of Daoist techniques. Quanzhen, however, advocated for cultivating the inner elixir, strengthening the physical body, and achieving breakthroughs based on corporeal progress. The artifacts of the Celestial Master lineage of Zhengyi were the Celestial Master Seal and the Demon-Subduing Celestial Master Sword. The Quanzhen School also possessed two primary artifacts: the Dipper Sutra of the North Star, and the Yuyang Thorn currently in Clay Figure Zhang’s hand. Because Zhang Enpu had described the Yuyang Thorn in considerable detail, Young Master Liu recognized it immediately upon sight.