284: Chapter 44: Where Are the Gods_2 284: Chapter 44: Where Are the Gods_2 At the entrance of Snow Mountain, Xie Xuanyi used his Divine Thought to peer into the scene he saw.
In the void, fierce winds howled.
A golden gleaming fruit hung suspended in the pitch-black expanse, like an infant in the middle of the night sky.
“This object is known as the ‘Divine Fruit,'”
Xie Xuanyi slowly began, his expression solemn, “If one obtains this item, one can forge the body, cast a Golden Body, and nurture a Divine Embryo.”
Shan Man looked at the fruit, her eyes first sweeping across with puzzlement, then with incomprehension.
The puzzlement was about this so-called Divine Fruit.
Clearly, she did not recognize this fruit.
The incomprehension was about Xie Xuanyi’s actions.
The elder fell silent for a moment before sighing, “For such a thing…
do you willingly come here?”
“This fruit is very important to me.”
Xie Xuanyi asked, “Have you seen this ‘Divine Fruit’ before?”
“I have not seen it.”
Shan Man said calmly, “But I know…
everything you desire lies at the center of the ancient city, within the Great Yue Well.”
Xie Xuanyi paused for a moment.
“You all?”
He noticed the wording Shan Man used.
“Before you stepped into Great Yue Kingdom, there were not just one breath of life that descended here.”
The old man said softly, “In these past hundred years, I have laid down many array patterns in the surroundings, capable of sensing the locations at the fringe of the Black Evil…
If I remember correctly, there were three breaths of life, as young as you.”
Xie Sheng?
Xie Xuanyi’s thoughts stirred, and he asked, “Where are they now?”
“They were transported to the north, in the opposite direction to you.”
The elder shook his head, “My array patterns only glimpsed the fleeting passage of their presence…
As for their current whereabouts, I have no knowledge.
What, are these people your friends?”
“Friends is not the word, I have no real connection with them.”
Xie Xuanyi gave a faint smile, “I just do not wish for anyone to beat me to it.”
“What you just mentioned, the Great Yue Well in the center of the ancient city, what’s in there?”
Xie Xuanyi inquired further.
“That was the site of the battle to slay the dragon in bygone years.”
The elder pointed at the ancient book in Xie Xuanyi’s hand, signaling him to open it, and then said with a mocking smile, “The Sky Dragon was imprisoned within the Great Yue Well, and the Country Master mustered the power of the whole nation to slay it…
This battle exhausted the national power of Great Yue Kingdom, and though they emerged victorious, it turned all the citizens, all living beings of the ancient city, to ash.”
Xie Xuanyi looked at the ancient book.
This ancient history recorded the final dragon slaying battle of Great Yue Kingdom.
“The Country Master of the ancient kingdom, ‘Yelv Jundao,’ slain the Sky Dragon in the Great Yue Well, with the blood of the Dragon Descendants spilling over the well.”
He murmured softly, reciting the story written in the ancient book.
“This is the ending written in the book.”
The old man said calmly, “In order to slay the evil dragon, the Country Master sacrificed himself, the nation perished…
within that well, lie all the treasures of Great Yue, whether it be the Secret Treasures of the Dragon Descendants or the ‘Divine Fruit’ you seek, they should all be within the well.”
Xie Xuanyi gazed at the depiction of the dark well in the ancient book.
Indeed.
The birth of the Divine Fruit requires extremely harsh conditions.
The current Great Yue Kingdom, in its state of complete disrepair, could not possibly nurture such a divine item.
But the Great Yue Well, sitting at the epicenter of the dragon slaying battlefield…
was a different case.
With the fall of the Sky Dragon and the burial of the Great Yue Country Master, it was highly possible, under the nourishment of the blood of these two great powers, that such a precious fruit could be born!
“The ending written in the book…”
Xie Xuanyi raised his head, looking at the elder before him.
He spoke earnestly, “Predecessor, does this mean there is a second ending?
Is this book not written by the Historian of Great Yue Kingdom?”
“This book was left by my father.”
Shan Man said calmly, “The one who gave me life told me that my father roamed Great Yue Kingdom for a long time with this book.
The one who truly recorded the history was supposed to be my grandfather…”
The time when the Great Yue Kingdom met its doom.
The family that served as Historians was completely destroyed.
A few residual souls.
In the long posterior age, they slowly revived, passing down “history” in another manner.
“I am the last one.”
The old man’s eyes held no sorrow, but rather a relief of liberation.
When the Great Yue Kingdom perished, she was just a child.
Li Mei, especially those who survive in such a Yin Evil environment, are incapable of reproduction or creating offspring…
If she were to die.
The line of Historians of Great Yue Kingdom would truly come to an end.
“These past few days, the reason I kept you in Tiesuo Alley…
is because…”
The elder pondered before speaking slowly, “I wanted to understand you.”
This statement was somewhat peculiar.
Xie Xuanyi and the old man locked gazes, their eyes touching, and within the latter’s murky vision, he felt the other’s heart open.
There was no malice, no intent to kill.
It was like the calm surface of a lake.
This feeling was very familiar.
He had felt a similar calmness in Qing Li.
Xie Xuanyi didn’t like to beat around the bush, “You want me to help you?”
“Helping me…
can also be understood as helping yourself,” the old man said seriously.
He continued earnestly, “The ancient history of Great Yue Kingdom, the methods of cultivation, are all in this wooden house.
After I die, these ancient texts will all be yours.
You can choose to take them with you or to destroy them.
Don’t worry about the issue with understanding ‘ancient texts’; I will leave behind a Spirit Jade Scroll.
Xie Xuanyi glanced at the wooden house and said seriously, “This is actually a very tempting offer, but sorry, I really don’t like reading…”
The old man fell silent for a moment.
She continued, “If you want the Divine Fruit, you need to know how to get close to the Great Yue Well.”
A slight ripple appeared in Xie Xuanyi’s eyes.
“There are four entrances to the main city, east, south, west, and north, each guarded by a great general.
These defenders are not like Li Mei from Tiesuo Alley…”
The old man spoke softly, “The core array patterns of the Great Yue Kingdom are designed to extract Black Evil Energy and forcibly support the operation of the iron cavalry.
The combat power of the defenders is extremely high, far beyond what you’ve seen of the iron cavalry.”
“Yin God Realm?” Xie Xuanyi raised an eyebrow.
“…At least,” the old man said.
He added, “With your current realm, entering the city like this will definitely not go smoothly.”
“Since it’s supported by the Great Yue Kingdom’s array patterns, there must be flaws…”
Xie Xuanyi narrowed his eyes, “To enter the main city, one only needs to find the flaws in the array patterns.”
“Correct,” the old man said as he looked at the young man in black with approval.
This young man was even smarter than he had imagined.
“I asked you to stay in Tiesuo Alley in part because I hoped you could settle down and not be hasty, and on the other hand, because I wanted to see your ‘soul’,” the old man said slowly.
He went on, “Xie Zhen…
here’s a deal you can consider.
You help me with a few things, and after you’re done, I can help you enter the main city.”
“Let’s not make hasty deals,” Xie Xuanyi said with a smile.
“Senior, what can you see in my soul?”
“…”
The old man said meaningfully, “Your soul is too complex, I cannot see through it.
But I can tell, we are ‘similar kind of people’.”
Similar kind of people?
Xie Xuanyi’s smile froze for a moment.
He was a proper living person, and had nothing to do with these Li Mei.
“The ‘Soul Reading Technique’ of Great Yue allows me to recognize souls, and I felt ‘warmth’ in yours,” the old man said softly.
“Perhaps it’s because we get along, or perhaps it’s because of some other connection…
I always feel that I should help you,” she sighed deeply.
Shan Man no longer hid anything, choosing to be frank.
“Young man, I’ll tell you the truth,” she said, fixing her gaze on Xie Xuanyi’s eyes, “I hope you can give up the pursuit of the ‘Divine Fruit.’ Even if I help you enter the main city, do not go into the Great Yue Well…”
Xie Xuanyi was puzzled, “Why?”
He could sense that the old person bore him no ill will.
“Are you sure what you saw was real?
Does the so-called ‘Divine Fruit’ truly exist in this world?” the old man exclaimed.
“All I know is that every person who has tried to enter the Great Yue Well ultimately met with misfortune!”
Whoosh!
A stack of ancient books in the corner of the wooden house trembled at that moment, controlled by Shan Man’s Divine Thought, floating in front of Xie Xuanyi, flipping through pages that recorded various deranged cases.
Over the years.
The family of the Historian had recorded the aftermath of the Great Yue Kingdom’s fall.
Shan Man’s father had lingered near the Great Yue Well for a long time…
“Some searched in this well for the secret treasures of the Dragon Descendants.”
“Some looked for the remains of the Country Master.”
“Some sought the elusive Divine Beings, praying for the restoration of the kingdom…
“In the end.”
“It was all just an illusion.”
The old man’s expression was one of despair, muttering, “My father leapt into the well, ending his sad life…
He was the madman seeking the ‘Divine Being.’
Xie Xuanyi silently watched these blood-stained ancient texts.
The final ancient text turned to its last page.
A blood-soaked handprint was pressed onto the yellowed paper.
At the end, four words were inscribed.
Where is the Divine Being?