Chapter 1409: My Most Precious Thing

Zu An tried to ask about it more indirectly, but the voice wouldn’t reply no matter what he asked. He knew that subject would be linked to many, many things, so it was understandable that the voice wasn’t willing to reveal everything.

“Then let’s change the topic. Why do the Heaven Devouring Sutra and the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra belong to the White Emperor’s faction?” he then asked curiously. Those two skills were respectively from the Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty. What did they have to do with a White Emperor?”

“I’ve previously seen those of the White Emperor lineage use them before, so of course I know that they belong to the White Emperor,” the voice replied. It sounded a bit stunned, as if Zu An had asked an extremely stupid question. “Actually, there’s a really simple way to determine the differences between the White and Black faction. The White Emperor’s lineage worships the phoenix, so their totems are often different kinds of birds derived from the phoenix. Meanwhile, the Black Emperor’s faction’s emblem is the divine dragon.”

When he heard that, Zu An thought, No wonder dragons and phoenixes always had such a high status throughout ancient Chinese civilization. So it was because of that.

The Phoenix Nirvana Sutra had the word Phoenix in its name, so there was no need to talk about that further.

When it came to the Shang Dynasty, Zu An had been in Yinxu for a long time, so he was very familiar with their affairs. It was rumored that the Shang Dynasty’s ancestor had been born because his mother ate a mysterious bird’s egg[1], and thus the mysterious bird had to be the phoenix.

Yan Xuehen couldn't help but ask, “However, according to what senior has said, Yi already killed those terrifying beasts on his heroic path, so why are they still in this world?”

The voice explained, “You’re looking down on those beasts too much. They’re naturally produced by the world, born from the negative emotions of people. Even if they’re killed, as long as humans still carry all sorts of desires, they’ll be revived again after some time. Now that I think about how long it has been, it’s about time for them to revive.”

The others’ expressions became grave when they heard that. They could revive? Just what kind of creatures were these?

Yun Jianyue asked, “Even if he completed that so-called heroic path, why would he be able to obtain a divine weapon? Somehow, I feel as if those two things aren’t exactly connected.

“That’s a part of the natural laws of this world. As long as you can repeat Yi’s heroic path, you’ll obtain the acknowledgment of this world’s will. Then, you can obtain the divine weapon,” the voice explained.

“What kind of divine weapon is it? Judging from what you’re saying, if Yu could survive until now, he has to be ridiculously powerful. How could a divine weapon alone defeat him?” Yu Yanluo said worriedly.

“That’s not something you need to worry about. With that divine weapon, you’ll have the strength to face Yu. As for what it is exactly, please forgive me for not being able to tell you. You’ll understand when the time comes,” the voice said.

Zu An really found this kind of deliberate obfuscation annoying. He replied, “But what if we really complete the mission and you don’t deliver on what you promised afterward? We don’t have any guarantee at all.”

“If you can complete the mission, you’ll have already received the acknowledgement of the world. Furthermore, you’ll then have a divine weapon and can even defeat Yu. Why wouldn’t you be able to deal with me?” the voice replied with a chuckle.

Zu An was speechless. Bro, you’re making so much sense that I don’t even have anything to say.

“Can senior come out and show yourself to us?” Yun Jianyue asked. She came from the Devil Sect and was used to running into sinister schemes. She still wasn’t fully convinced.

The voice sighed and said, “I would actually like to, but there’s a sealing formation restraining me here. With your current strength, you would only be throwing away your lives without achieving anything if you tried to barge in. You should just do as I say and follow the heroic path first. We’ll talk about everything else after you obtain the acknowledgement of this world.”

Zu An’s group exchanged a look. They had sensed that he was really powerful earlier, but they’d had similar suspicions when they saw that he hadn’t shown himself. Now, their suspicions were confirmed.

Yan Xuehen said through ki, “This cave is indeed covered in rune formations, and whether in terms of their power or their complexity, it far exceeds what we faced in the fiend races’ Imperial Tomb. They are at a level I cannot comprehend.”

Zu An gave the endless Jiuyi Mountain Range a look and added, “It’s not just rune formations, either. This cave draws from the surrounding mountains’ dragon vein. There’s an extreme formation inside that borrows the great power of the world. Even if it were the Fiend Emperor or Zhao Han, they still wouldn’t be able to leave that place.”

He had been studying ‘One Drop of Heaven’s Essence’ for some time and learned quite a bit. He was already able to pick up on some patterns among mountains and rivers.

Seeing that the group was going to continue, the voice explained the heroic path. “Back then, the first one Yi killed was none other than the Yayu… Yayu…”

After hearing that explanation, Zu An asked some questions before saying, “This junior will do my utmost. I definitely won’t let down senior’s trust.”

The beautiful women were shocked. They hadn’t expected him to actually agree so easily. However, they were all composed individuals. Even though they were doubtful, they didn’t ask anything.

The voice sounded grateful as it said, “It’s been so many years. I can finally see hope, hahaha! The heavens have treated me quite well after all.”

Zu An took the chance to say, “Since senior is so happy, could you perhaps grant me some deity or immortal-grade artifacts? Or maybe some kind of skill? That wouldn’t just be for us, it’d also let us complete senior’s mission better. It’s a win-win situation.”

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The voice chuckled and replied, “Kid, you’re quite good at pulling these types of tricks. But that’s also why I feel that you have a chance of success. When it comes to deity or immortal-grade weapons, I don’t have any. As for divine abilities and secret skills, I actually… don’t have any either.”

Zu An was speechless. He had begun to get excited when he heard the first half, but who would’ve thought that it would be such a disappointing result?

He seemed to have learned the lesson that Lu Xun, a famous Chinese writer, had learned: ‘In the courtyard, there are two trees. One is a date tree, and the other is also a date tree.’

You might just get your ass beaten if you talk like this all the time, you know?

As if sensing his discontent, the voice said, “My divine will is incomplete, so I can’t remember any skills. Besides that, my skills are related to my bloodline. Even if I did remember, you wouldn’t be able to cultivate them.”

Zu An thought, That may not be true. I have the cheat add-on of the Keyboard System, so I might pick it up really quickly.

“There’s no need for you to feel despair either. I’ve already given you my most precious possession,” the voice said in consolation.

“Why do I not know about that?” Zu An replied with a strange expression. “Don’t tell me your most precious thing is yourself, because I don’t want that.”

The women all blushed. This guy really deserved a good beating.

The voice was speechless.

You have successfully trolled Shun for +233 +233 +233…

He was finding it a bit hard to keep up with Zu An’s thinking, but he replied, “Hmph, of course not. I’m talking about the secrets of the past that I’ve shared with you. These are things that have already practically been erased from history. After the tampering of those in power, there aren’t that many left who know the truth. Now that you know what happened, you can brush aside the veil and find out what really happened, which will help you complete the trial.”

Zu An sighed and replied, “Senior, your respected self is really the stingiest elder I’ve seen in all my years.”

The reason he had said what he said before was actually just to provoke the voice a bit. After all, they had never even met each other, so how could he be sure whether what it said was real or not? However, through the help of the Keyboard System’s Rage points, he had ended up receiving Shun’s soul power. With that, he felt completely at ease.

“Hmph, ignorant brat. One day, you’ll understand that no divine weapons or secret manuals can compare to the value of the things I shared with you today,” the voice harrumphed in dissatisfaction, clearly a bit annoyed.

You have successfully trolled Shun for +250 +250 +250…

“Keep bragging then,” Zu An said skeptically. “I’m not hoping for anything else either, though. I hope you’ll remember your promise when we complete the mission.”

…

It was meaningless for him to stay there, so he quickly brought the women out of the place.

“Ah Zu, do you really believe what he says? Also, that Yu seems to be an extremely powerful being. Do we really have to provoke him?” Yu Yanluo asked worriedly.

Even though Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen didn’t say anything, the worry in their expressions was clear.

“I didn’t actually accept his request because I believed him,” Zu An explained. “You haven’t entered Unknown Regions before, but every single Unknown Region has something like a main quest. You have to complete that mission to unseal the secret dungeon and be able to leave. Otherwise, you’ll only be slowly waiting for your demise.”

1. The founding myth of the Shang dynasty is described by Sima Qian in the Annals of the Yin. In the text, a woman named Jiandi, who was the second wife of Emperor Ku, swallowed an egg dropped by a black bird and subsequently miraculously gave birth to Xie, also known as Qi. Xie is said to have helped Yu the Great to control the Great Flood, and thus been granted a place called Shang as a fief for his service. ☜