Chapter 4000: Under The Tree

With the presence of such a massive spirit treasure formation and so many spirit treasures, Silent Death had clearly used certain channels to obtain them all. There also had to be a process for them to enter the Blackmarsh. Some of the steps were completely hidden, but others had occasionally been somewhat exposed. By backtracking through those exposed steps, an entire group of people was immediately captured.

Regardless of whether they were connected to Silent Death, they would be seized and interrogated first.

It was also at that time that Greater Sancte Awe Gate understood how Yong Heng had managed to find the underground chamber beneath the Blackmarsh; he had tracked down those channels.

Gods had their paths, humans had theirs, and even rats had their own.

Yong Heng was too familiar with how those in the shadows survived, and he also had an excellent understanding of Silent Death. He had picked up on Silent Death’s goal far earlier than anyone else, and he had simply followed the flow of the spirit treasures being moved around the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. In doing so, he had naturally found the hidden chamber.

One by one, Spirit Treasure Formation Grandmasters arrived in the Blackmarsh and started to study the enormous formation.

They were stunned to discover that someone had gathered so many spirit treasures to construct such a formation, and they were also curious as to just what kind of formation could possibly require such a vast number of spirit treasures. Even if all of these spirit treasures were used in a single formation, this project was at least as difficult as the spirit treasure formation created from the nine Night Pillars.

Li Guo eventually arrived. As he stared at the impressive spirit treasure formation before him, he finally understood why he had been attacked. He was looking at it.

“Once this formation’s purpose is understood, Silent Death will be exposed, and we will be able to see certain truths.” Greater Sancte Awe Gate’s voice was heard.

The Spirit Treasure Formation Grandmasters all bowed. “Greetings, Greater Sancte Awe Gate.”

Among those who had been gathered were Jue Ling and Yu Jing. Most people present were cultivators from the West Domain, but there were even some Spirit Treasure Formation Grandmasters from the Spirit Nidus.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate looked around at the crowd. “I leave this to you.”

The people bowed again. “We will not fail your trust, Greater Sancte.”

She soon disappeared, but she left behind multiple gates to protect the area. Additionally, anyone who learned something about the formation would be able to immediately access the Frightened Sparrow Terrace.

In the underground chamber, Li Guo let out a breath before looking back at the enormous spirit treasure formation. Was this Silent Death’s goal? Understanding this formation would also allow them to understand Silent Death.

Yu Jing and Jue Ling were standing nearby, but they walked over to stand in front of Li Guo.

He looked at them with cold eyes.

The two exchanged a glance before bowing low to Li Guo. “The Jue family and Yu family apologize to Grandmaster Li Guo. We do not ask for your forgiveness and simply hope to make amends and ease the hatred in your heart.”

The others present stared in silence.

Everyone was fully aware of the hatred that Li Guo held for Skyveil City’s three great clans. If not for how they had pushed and threatened him, Li Guo would have never accepted a Seed Transfusion, and his peak would have been far more incredible.

After joining Deathmound and accepting a Seed Transfusion to become a peak Dukkhan, Li Guo had settled on Cragpeak to keep an eye on the three clans. For years, they had felt stifled by his presence, and nothing that they did had gone smoothly. In particular, he had worked to save many people that the clans had targeted, which had led to an entire host of enemies about whom nothing could be done.

He had even forced the three clans to keep constant watch over every irregular lockbreaking attempt, which turned their secret manuals into shackles. If those were ever exposed, disaster would follow, and the pressure left the clans gasping for breath.

It could be said that Li Guo had achieved his revenge. He had caused the three clans to suffer immense losses, but the fact that he had been forced to accept a Seed Transfusion was something that could never be undone.

No one had expected that a day would come when any of the three clans apologized to Li Guo.

The man himself had never expected it. He frowned as he looked at the two patriarchs. “What? Did you two take the wrong medicine?”

Neither got upset. Yu Jing just sighed as he looked at Li Guo with a complicated expression. “Wrong is wrong, and past debts must be repaid. Our apology is not for the conflicts that we have had over the years, but rather for the arrogance and oppression our three clans demonstrated in the past. There’s no other reason; we were simply wrong.”

Jue Ling nodded. “Yes, we were wrong.”

Li Guo had anticipated a show of false magnanimity from the two and grand speeches of standing united for the sake of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and uncovering the purpose of the spirit treasure formation.

That did not happen.

They only apologized for the past and mentioned their clans’ wrongs. Everyone could sense that the apology was sincere.

Li Guo stared at the two with growing intensity. “What changed you?

“For all these years, no matter how much pressure I put on you, your clans never once bowed your heads. You could be manipulated, forced to accept losses, but never to apologize. I really want to know, who managed to change you?”

Yu Jing showed a bitter smile. “It’s not that anyone changed us. We were living in a corner, looking down on everything, but when faced with a war between civilizations, we were simply too small. We were nothing but frogs in a well.”

Fighting with the Nine Odysseys in an expedition to destroy a foreign megaverse was completely different from fighting a war to prevent one’s own civilization from being destroyed.

One gave the participants a feeling of absolute superiority, or even cruelty.

The other made those fighting nervous, on edge, and even more cruel.

Li Guo was taken aback. He stared at Yu Jing for a moment and then looked at Jue Ling. The man said nothing more, instead turning to walk closer to the spirit treasure formation.

Yu Jing and Jue Ling stared at Li Guo’s back and then glanced back at each other again. At that moment, their breathing grew easier.

Only after seeing a broader world could one understand just how childish their previous actions had been.

To the south of the Blackmarsh lay the Hundred Cities Assembly. At this moment, the city lord of Dayi City, Yu Mi, was personally headed for Blackmarsh City. He had not expected such a massive event to occur there, but he did not care about any of that. His only concern was his daughter. As long as she was safe, it would be enough.

He needed to first take his daughter away from that place.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

Cheng Xue had spent this time moving in a general direction, though at times she took detours, and at other times, she hid to rest.

The Great Master, with Lu Yin’s guidance, had been following Cheng Xue the entire time, preventing her from escaping.

Yu Mi arrived in Blackmarsh City, and he declared his intentions of taking Yu Xiang'er away.

“Father, I cannot leave,” Yu Xiang'er insisted.

Yu Mi glanced around before whispering, “Don’t say something so foolish! Do you think that things here are over? Silent Death was hiding beneath the Blackmarsh! This is not something that you or I can get involved in. Why should you stay?

“If not for the fact that my second brother is unable to leave Blackmarsh City, I wouldn’t have come here myself. Behave, and come away with your father.”

Yu Xiang'er looked over at the city lord’s manor. “We were toyed with, and I must know why.”

Yu Mi let out a helpless sigh. “My dear daughter, the reason is simple: Mr. Lu hid his identity because he was afraid that Silent Death would flee. That is quite easy to understand. You never cared about such things before, so why now?”

Yu Xiang'er looked at Yu Mi. “He made me feel guilty. I caused him to be targeted by my senior brother, and when that happened, I grew restless. You know me; usually, nothing matters to me, and yet that unease tormented me.”

Yu Mi stared at Yu Xiang'er in a daze while feeling a growing sense of remorse. “This is your father’s fault. If I hadn’t pushed you, you wouldn’t have resorted to such a plan.”

Yu Xiang'er shook her head and muttered, “Why did I choose him at that time?”

“Young lady, didn’t you choose him simply because of his plain name?” Her maid quickly offered a reminder.

Yu Xiang'er directed an intense gaze towards the city lord’s manor. She had thought so before, but as she recalled the past, ever since she had first seen Fugui while wandering about the Blackmarsh, he had somehow lingered in her memory. She had not been attracted to him; they had not even interacted during that time, so how could she have liked him? That was what puzzled her: why had a random man left such a deep impression on her that she had specifically gone to the city wall to choose him for a night-long candlelight chat?

There had to be a reason. She usually did not care about anything, but not even she could accept being manipulated by some form of unseen power. That was what concerned her the most about the incident.

Little Lotus King and the others had gathered outside the city lord’s manor, and they stared at it while waiting for Lu Yin to appear.

They also refused to leave. The time that they had spent with Lu Yin had left them questioning their own cultivation.

Fugui had been a very, very ordinary person, and he had granted them one insight after another, only for them to eventually learn that Fugui was actually Lu Yin in disguise. In that case, what had been the true inspiration for their insights: the common Fugui, or the invincible Lu Yin?

Was the distinction between the ordinary and the extraordinary really what they believed it to be?

They had been sent to the Blackmarsh, and there was no doubt that Lu Yin had been behind that. In that case, had he also deliberately guided their insights?

They had become lost. If they could not understand this matter, then even if they eventually succeeded in becoming Ortusers or even Dukkhans, they would never be able to take that final step into the Immortal realm.

Becoming an Immortal was exceedingly difficult, but having a one-in-hundreds-of-millions chance was different from it simply being impossible.

As long as they had even a sliver of hope, they would strive for Immortality.

However, if they could not make sense of their recent experiences, even that sliver of hope would vanish.

Their dignity would not allow them to be toyed with, and their future cultivation would not allow them to simply walk away.

That did not change even if they were facing Mr. Lu, the man whom even the Greater Sancti treated with respect.

Someone from Deathmound arrived, and it was someone who was regarded as a legend. It was the master of Deathmound’s first peak, the one who was known as the Living Lucky Charm, Xiang Siyu.

Blackmarsh City grew chaotic as countless people moved closer to the city lord’s manor, eager to see the woman.

The rumors said that Xiang Siyu possessed an unearthly beauty and was, aside from the Great Master, the only member of Deathmound who had managed to become a peak Dukkhan through her own efforts. She was a person who had met practically no struggles or hardships in her life, and she had always received great fortune.

Her arrival instantly set Blackmarsh City ablaze with excitement.

Yu Mi, Yu Sheng, and the others hurried to pay their respects to the woman.

Even Little Lotus King and his peers were extremely respectful towards Xiang Siyu.

At the moment, she was the size of a normal human, and yet her beauty slightly surpassed even that of Yu Xiang'er.

From the city wall, Ling Guang stared across the distance.

“Brother, stop staring! He’s not the same kind of person as us,” Ling Shu said.

Ling Guang reacted with a wry smile. “I didn’t expect it, I truly didn’t. Fugui, who once fought and bled with us, turned out to be Mr. Lu. Little Sister, we never spoke ill of Mr. Lu, did we?”

Ling Shu thought for a moment. “Probably not...? I don’t remember.”

Ling Guang rubbed his head. “We better not have. If we did, if Mr. Lu so much as sneezes in our direction, we’re both doomed.”

Ling Shu rolled her eyes. “Don’t exaggerate things. Mr. Lu isn’t a bad person. I think that he’s actually quite nice. Maybe he’ll even help us to rise up with one leap.”

Ling Guang shook his head. He did not dare to harbor such hopes. Still, their brief experience in Blackmarsh City would undoubtedly be something that they remembered for the rest of their lives. They had a story that they could tell forever.

A few more days passed. One day, Cheng Xue’s skeleton arrived in a mountain village. The air was filled with birdsong and the scent of flowers. Some people were working out in the fields. Children played, and the elderly sat in the shade of the trees, some chatting and reminiscing while others played heated games of chess.

Cheng Xue did not reveal herself and simply stood quietly in the shadows beneath the mountain. She stayed there until darkness fell and the villagers returned to their homes. Only then did she step out and approach a secluded tree, despite there being nothing there.

The Great Master watched from outside of time itself, just to prevent Cheng Xue from sensing her.

The white skeleton stood beneath the tree, not moving at all.

If an ordinary person saw this scene, they would be scared to death.

Suddenly, the large tree split open, and a skeleton fell out. It abruptly embraced Cheng Xue’s bones. A dark-red energy, like molten lava, spread out and wrapped around the two skeletons.

Startled, the Great Master instantly attacked, her oar slamming down hard. “Behave yourselves!”