Chapter 2806 Eternal Night Divine Emperor

West of the city, Silent Night Range. Under the inky night, this mountain range wound across the landscape like a snake. Below it were rows of houses, sparsely lit with lights, creating a dappled effect of light and shadow.

This area was close to the Fortune Starry Firmament, but due to the thin aeth qi and barren landscape, the cultivators who lived here were mostly below the Emperor stage.

Lin Xun had arrived less than half an hour earlier. To avoid attracting attention, he had concealed his aura, and not a single person had followed him along the way. However, he couldn't help but wonder who had called him here.

He followed the winding path at the foot of a mountain, seemingly moving slowly but actually quickly. Soon, he had reached the midpoint of Silent Night Range. Beyond that, the darkness of the night descended.

A cold voice suddenly called out, "No one is following you?"

Lin Xun immediately looked up, gazing into the darkness high up the mountain. He could faintly make out the outline of an ancient temple.

His spiritual sense spread, but it was soon blocked by a mysterious force within the darkness, preventing Lin Xun from seeing the owner of the voice. However, he was certain they must be hidden within the ancient temple.

"No," said Lin Xun. "Why did you send a message to me so late at night?"

"Come in and talk." The voice then fell silent.

Lin Xun pondered for a moment, then continued forward. When he reached the dark and murky area, he felt an invisible, mysterious force sweep over him, but he didn't feel any discomfort. He stepped into the darkness without hesitation.

Stars twinkled in the sky, casting a clear glow, but the area seemed swallowed by darkness with no light or shadow visible. Thankfully, his spiritual sense remained, allowing him to clearly sense the ancient temple, which looked dilapidated and desolate.

Then, Lin Xun ‘saw’ a figure. He stood before the palace gate, a gaunt figure clad in tattered armor. His hair and beard were dishevelled, his face was a shadow of desolation, and his eyes were as cold and sharp as a blade.

Lin Xun's eyes instantly narrowed. "Thirteen?"

Earlier, when he had been in front of that dark hall in the Flowing Light Forbidden Realm, Lin Xun had witnessed scenes from long ago. He had seen the wounded Thirteen address Xia Zhi as ‘Lord’!

"Why isn’t your great-grandfather, Luo Tongtian, here?" The figure's voice was stern, but he didn't deny that he was the person called Thirteen.

Lin Xun frowned and asked, "Could it be that my great-grandfather had promised you that he would come back?"

"Didn't he tell you?" Thirteen's eyes grew colder as he glared at Lin Xun, resembling a terrifying sword on the verge of being unsheathed.

Lin Xun was silent for a moment, then said, "He can't come."

Thirteen asked, "Why?"

Lin Xun realized that if he didn't tell the truth, it would be difficult to earn this person’s trust. After a brief pause, he explained candidly, "Long ago, while on his way to the Eternity Door, he was ambushed by his enemies who were taking advantage of the situation. His whereabouts remain unknown."

Thirteen fell silent for a long time, then he turned and walked into the hall. "Come in."

At that moment, Lin Xun felt a rare surge of nervousness. Thirteen had followed Xia Zhi's true form in the past, so surely he could learn about her true identity and past from him!

The truth would have faced us sooner or later...

Lin Xun took a deep breath and walked into the ancient, dark hall.

"Sit." Thirteen was already sitting cross-legged on a cushion.

Lin Xun sat down on the mat across from him and asked, "Senior, why did you want to meet me this time?"

"The Eternity Coffin." Thirteen, no longer trying to hide anything like he was before, stated frankly, "That is my master's hidden treasure. When Luo Tongtian left the Fortune Dominion, he had promised that if he could find a way to revive my master, he would bring this coffin back to the Fortune Dominion."

Lin Xun's heart trembled, and a complex expression surfaced in his eyes. He realized that Taixuan was right. Xia Zhi...was most likely the life soul of the person in the coffin!

"Senior, can you tell me how you met my great-grandfather?" Lin Xun asked.

Thirteen was silent for a moment, then he said, "It all happened a very long time ago. I was being hunted down by my enemies. Shortly after escaping to Fortune Divine City, I fell into a coma. At that time, the situation was critical. If the enemy had discovered me, I would have been dead meat.

"It was also around that time that Luo Tongtian, who had just arrived at the Fortune Dominion, rescued me. Later, he was being hunted by those enemies, causing chaos in Fortune Divine City.

"I thought that since we had only just met, and in such a dangerous situation, he would have handed me, a mere stranger, over in order to avoid implicating himself. After all, those enemies were really powerful...

"I really didn't expect that Luo Tongtian would refuse to give up. He continued to fight and run from those enemies, defending me with all his strength. When I regained consciousness, he was seriously injured and on the verge of death..."

At this point, Thirteen's cold eyes flickered with a hint of reminiscence and regret. "At the time, I was completely shocked. I couldn't imagine how such a person could exist in this world. He didn't even know me, yet he stood up for me, even at the cost of his own life.

"Later, I took the severely injured and on the verge of dying him away, escaping that calamity. I asked him why he did it, and even suspected he was a spy sent by the enemy to gain my trust and steal the Fortune Sword from me.

"But your great-grandfather simply said, 'Do I really need a reason to save someone?’” Thirteen then revealed a dazed expression, and the hard, cold lines between his brows softened. "It was a very simple explanation, yet it’s something I can never forget.

"When his injuries healed, I planned to give him the Fortune Sword and take him out of the Fortune Dominion. To my utter surprise, he refused. He said he didn’t save me for the sake of getting anything in return.

"In the past, I would have scoffed at him, but then I believed it. Even though I considered him to be of lowly cultivation and unsightly at the time, his character was truly one of unwavering courage and generosity. He had a magnanimous spirit and a noble character that was incomparable to those of the vulgar creatures of this world."

Thirteen's tone was filled with pure admiration now. It was clear how magnificent Luo Tongtian was back then. He had a magnificent breadth of spirit and generosity! That description alone made Lin Xun realize just how remarkable his great-grandfather had been in his youth.

"Later, after arriving at the Flowing Light Forbidden Realm, Luo Tongtian sensed the mark left by my master on the Eternity Coffin, and thus gained the taboo innate talent, Grand Abyss Heaven Devourer."

Thirteen continued, "Afterwards, I asked him to help me take both the Fortune Sword and the Eternity Coffin out of here. He promised me that he would return to the Fortune Dominion once he found a way to revive my master. I never imagined that, countless years later, it would be you who would return."

He then fell silent.

Lin Xun was also feeling restless after hearing all that. He now had a vague idea of what his great-grandfather had experienced upon arriving at the Fortune Dominion. He also finally understood why his great-grandfather had told Mister Lu that he had been tainted by karma when he obtained the Eternity Coffin.

His innate talent, Grand Abyss Heaven Devourer, had come from the Eternity Coffin, which was a fortune that had originally belonged to Xia Zhi herself! Thinking of this, Lin Xun finally asked, "Excuse me, Senior, what is your lord’s identity?"

Thirteen said, "Don't know."

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Lin Xun was stunned, almost thinking he had misheard. "You don't know?"

Thirteen responded, "Only she knows who she actually is. As a subordinate, I've never asked."

Lin Xun was speechless for a moment. Despite feeling disappointed, he couldn't help but feel an inexplicable sense of relief, as if...at least he no longer had to face a difficult decision.

"So, what do you know about your lord, Senior?" Lin Xun asked.

"Long ago, the lord traveled through the World of the Divine. When I met her, she was already the legendary Eternal Night Divine Emperor of that era..."

Reminiscence flickered in Thirteen's eyes. "During those years, the lord seemed to be constantly avoiding something, yet also searching for something, always alone in silent contemplation.

"Eons later, the lord brought me out from the World of the Divine and was on her way to take me to this Fortune Divine City. She said she wanted to discover who had created this Fortune Starry Firmament and perhaps find the answers to the questions she had."

At this point, Thirteen's eyes shone with undisguised hatred and a hint of unconcealable fear. "However, on the way to Fortune Divine City, the master suffered from a great calamity! That calamity came silently, before I even noticed. All I remember is a mysterious dao bell tearing through space and time, hurtling towards the master..."

Hearing this, Lin Xun's heart trembled, and a memory struck him.

Long ago, his great-grandfather Luo Tongtian, while on his way to the Eternity Door, had been blocked by a golden figure. After he finally slew the golden figure at a terrible cost, a mysterious dao bell, shrouded in the aura of chaos, appeared within the Eternity Door.

A single ring from the bell had repelled Luo Tongtian! Now, according to Thirteen, the terrifying catastrophe Xia Zhi herself had endured was also linked to a dao bell. Could it be the same dao bell?

Seeing Thirteen lapse into silence, Lin Xun couldn't help but ask, "And then?"

"Although the lord survived, she was severely injured. Even her supreme power, which was enough to rival the gods, couldn't repair her injuries... Then, a terrifying group of beings from the World of the Divine appeared, demanding that the master leave behind her good fortune..."

As Thirteen spoke, his eyes filled with deep hatred and anger.

"Another act of taking advantage of the situation!" Lin Xun frowned.

Thirteen said, "In the past, the lord’s strength alone was enough to easily suppress those terrifying beings, but the damage she sustained during that calamity was too severe, giving them an opportunity to exploit. Thus, the lord led me on a journey to the Flowing Light Forbidden Realm.

"She sacrificed her own dao, harnessing the power of spacetime to seal the Flowing Light Forbidden Realm, thus stopping the enemy. However, this also worsened her injuries, reaching a point of no return.

"Later, the master ordered me to depart with the Fortune Sword, while she placed herself in the Eternity Coffin..."

Hearing this, Lin Xun understood completely, recalling the scenes he had witnessed before the dark hall in the Flowing Light Forbidden Realm.