Chapter 788: Jiuli’s Tomb Guardian (I)

High God Jiuli?

The title of "High God" caught Chu Liang by surprise. When people spoke of Jiuli, they usually called him "Evil God Jiuli." Given that Evil God Jiuli's mount had been an iron-eating beast, could this elderly man be a descendant of Evil God Jiuli?

Initially, when Chu Liang saw that the elderly man was gravely injured and on the brink of death, he intended to offer aid. However, the elderly man's words made him hesitate.

Instead of answering the elderly man's question, Chu Liang asked solemnly, "Are you one of Jiuli's descendants?"

"No..." the elderly man weakly replied. "I am a devoted follower of High God Jiuli, the guardian of the High God's Legacy... My name is Tan Qingfeng."

The High God's Legacy?

Hearing that, Chu Liang's interest was immediately piqued.

During ancient times, the Evil God had a tribe of people under his command—the Jiuli Tribe. They were known for their mastery in beast taming and tool-making. They also had a special legacy, the Jiuli Legendary Weapon. The Jiuli Tribe had created numerous hidden realms to store valuable treasures and weapons. Over the course of the Great Dao of Years, those hidden realms had been buried under the sands of history, turning each one into a treasure trove.

Several of those treasure troves had been unearthed in recent years, usually turning the finders of the treasure into affluent people overnight.

The High God's Legacy sounded like a hidden realm that was filled with items much more precious than those other treasure troves.

Chu Liang asked, "How did you end up like this?"

"I—"

Tan Qingfeng tried to speak, but he instead took in two laborious breaths. Then he suddenly stiffened, looking like he was about to take his last breath.

The iron-eating beast hurriedly handed him the spirit plant it had plucked earlier, but Tan Qingfeng remained still. He was too weak to consume it.

It would be bad if Tan Qingfeng were to die now, so Chu Liang had no choice but to get involved. He stepped forward and grabbed the spirit plant from the iron-eating beast's paw, intending to refine and feed it to Tan Qingfeng and keep him alive.

However, just as his hand neared Tan Qingfeng's mouth, Tan Qingfeng suddenly grabbed Chu Liang's wrist. Despite his frail appearance, his fingers were as hard and strong as iron.

Mustering the last of his energy, Tan Qingfeng asked, "You are not High God Jiuli... Who are you? Why do you carry the aura of the High God...?"

Perhaps... it has something to do with the Jiuli Soul Armor?

Chu Liang thought.

He replied, "It doesn't matter who I am. I mean no harm. The iron-eating beast led me here to save you."

Tan Qingfeng looked at Chu Liang warily as his breaths turned into ragged gasps. "

Hah... hah...

"

He was suspicious of Chu Liang, but under the shadow of death, he was left with no other choice but to trust Chu Liang. Finally yielding, he closed his eyes.

Before the iron-eating beast and Chu Liang entered the cave, Tan Qingfeng had his eyes shut, yet he could see his great-grandmother standing there, waving him over. Now that someone had come to save him, it clearly wasn't the right time to be asking so many questions.

Chu Liang refined the spirit plant into a condensed ball of primordial qi, carefully channeling it into Tan Qingfeng's mouth. Without the time to refine it into a pill, this was the most efficient way to utilize the spirit plant's energy.

Moments later, Tan Qingfeng's eyes fluttered open, and this time, there was a sign of vitality in them.

However, his chest injury remained severe. The spirit plant had sustained his life, but it could not treat the injury. Chu Liang could give Tan Qingfeng medicinal pills to treat it, but that would have to wait until he was sure of Tan Qingfeng's identity.

Upon seeing that Tan Qingfeng was awake, Chu Liang said, "Elder Tan, I managed to stabilize your qi, but your injuries are too severe. You need to return with me to my sect for proper treatment. However, before that, I need to confirm your identity. What exactly is the High God's Legacy, and what do you do as its guardian?"

Now that Tan Qingfeng was lucid, there was no room for deception. Chu Liang chose to ask him bluntly.

"What are you talking about?" Tan Qingfeng suddenly turned his head away. "I don't understand."

Chu Liang frowned slightly as he stared at Tan Qingfeng's aged eyes. "But that's what you said earlier."

"I was on the verge of death, rambling some nonsense. I don't even remember what I said," Tan Qingfeng replied firmly.

Chu Liang nodded. "All right, then. Since that's the case, please forgive me for being unable to save you, Esteemed Senior. We're leaving."

He grabbed the iron-eating beast and turned to go.

Little the iron-eating beast clearly wanted to stay by Tan Qingfeng's side, but with Chu Liang gripping the scruff on the back of its nape, it had no way to resist. the iron-eating beast whimpered anxiously, letting out distressed cries.

"You can't take it away!" Tan Qingfeng fumed, but his injured body left him unable to move. He could only slam his palm heavily against the ground in frustration.

"Oh, I forgot to mention," Chu Liang said casually. "This iron-eating beast took three of my spirit plants. I don't just give those away for free. Esteemed Senior, considering that you have nothing on you but wounds and holes, I'll take this spirit beast as compensation instead. Don't worry. I'll take good care of her. It'll have one bowl of water a day and one meal every three days. And I'll try not to beat it to death..."

As he spoke, he dragged the iron-eating beast along. The little creature struggled with all its might, but it was to no avail.

"Stop! Stop!" Tan Qingfeng exclaimed hurriedly. He sighed and replied, "Ask me whatever you want. I'll tell you everything. Just don't take it away..."

Feelings of helplessness were written all over his face.

I'm in such a weak state, yet this boy from Mount Shu is bullying me, openly snatching my iron-eating beast to take back to his sect.

Utterly shameless.

...

"My family has been devoted followers of High God Jiuli for generations," Tan Qingfeng explained slowly. "We have been guarding everything he left behind in the High God's Legacy, awaiting the day of his return. My ancestors called themselves tomb guardians."

"Wait a moment..." Chu Liang interrupted him. "Elder Tan, isn't the High God Jiuli you speak of Evil God Jiuli, who is said to have been born in the Southern Regions?"

"The High God was not an evil god!" Tan Qingfeng immediately flared up. "He is the god of the Jiuli Tribe, and under his rule, the Jiuli people coexisted harmoniously with humans! Those stories in which he was called the Evil God only appeared after his fall. They are nothing but shameless slander!"

Hearing Tan Qingfeng's explanation, Chu Liang gradually pieced together the truth behind his origins.

Just like every Hallowed One who had made contingency plans for themselves, the ancient Evil God Jiuli had also left behind a path of retreat for himself.

The many treasure troves the Jiuli Tribe had hidden across the mortal world were, in fact, resources Evil God Jiuli had set aside for his tribe in case it ever faced decline, intended to be used to revive the tribe. The greatest of those hidden realms was the small world he had created himself—the very place Tan Qingfeng referred to as the High God's Legacy.

Evil God Jiuli had prepared all that in the lead-up to a grand war. Evil God Jiuli then gathered all the Jiuli Tribesmen and took them into battle, leaving behind only a iron-eating beast and his most loyal human followers to guard the hidden realm containing his small world.

However, Evil God Jiuli never returned from that war. And it wasn't just him. Every last Jiuli Tribesman had fallen in battle.

Hearing that, Chu Liang couldn't help but ask, "Who was his opponent?"

Tan Qingfeng shook his head. "I don't know. Our ancestors left no records of the battle or any information related to it. The only thing that was passed on is that High God Jiuli called it the Battle of Ascension."

"The Battle of Ascension?" Chu Liang muttered to himself, deep in thought.

This sounds quite similar to what happened in the Dragon God's Hidden Realm and the Ruins of Return in the South Sea. A Hallowed One sought ascension, only to fall in the end...

Could those mysterious Daoist monks have been involved once again?

"So that legend about a sacred mountain descending from the heavens to suppress the Evil God was false after all," Chu Liang remarked.

"Part of it might be true," Tan Qingfeng replied. "There was no Southern Bastion Mountain in the Southern Regions before that. It only appeared after the Battle of Ascension."

The real and the fake were intertwined, making it impossible to discern the full truth. Regardless, the Tan Family and the iron-eating beast served as the tomb guardians and the guardian beast, waiting patiently in the High God's Legacy for their god to return. They lived isolated from the rest of the world; they were self-sufficient, so they rarely left the hidden realm.

That all ended just two days ago when a mysterious Daoist monk broke in.

"He called us followers of the Evil God and tried to force his way into the hidden realm, so we fought him," Tan Qingfeng said.

The Tan Family had started as a large clan. Over the vast stretch of years within the High God's Legacy, their numbers grew to rival the population of small island kingdoms in the East Sea. Furthermore, every member of the clan was a cultivator, making the clan quite a formidable force.

Yet, that mysterious Daoist monk struck the hidden realm with one finger, and inside it, the sky collapsed, the earth split, mountains shattered, and seas ruptured. The hidden realm was thrown into chaos, and every living thing inside it fell into dire straits.

Tan Qingfeng was the clan's strongest cultivator. He tried to absorb the brunt of the aftershock of the mysterious Daoist monk's attack to protect his people and ended up severely injured.

It was only thanks to the iron-eating beast's quick thinking that he survived. The little creature carried him out of the hidden realm and fled. Fortunately, the High God's Legacy was located in the Southern Regions, not far from Mount Shu. They only dared to stop running when they reached the cloud-covered foothills of Mount Shu, the perfect spot for them to hide.

Unfortunately, Tan Qingfeng was already on the verge of death by that time. The iron-eating beast then stole those spirit herbs in a desperate bid to keep him alive.