Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Dark Nether Ancient Sovereign

With the help of the Vajra Sect ancestor, Xu Qing found a storage bead hidden on the ancestor’s body, buried inside his flesh and blood. It didn’t have too many items inside, only three.

The first was a spirit ticket worth 500 spirit stones.

The second was a jade box that seemed to have the ability to nourish pills. There was a purple pill being nourished inside.

The third was a set of three jade slips, which recorded the Vajra Sect’s cultivation techniques as well as the incomplete spell the Vajra Sect ancestor had mentioned before.

As for the storage bag used as a front, there were still some miscellaneous items inside, worth around a hundred spirit stones.

Seemingly worried that Xu Qing would be dissatisfied, the Vajra Sect ancestor hastily whispered from the side.

“I spent too much to appease the second highness last time, so there’s only these left now.”

“The storage bag in the Treasure Pavilion at the sect’s former location was also a front?” Xu Qing asked slowly.

"Yes..." The Vajra Sect ancestor trembled and responded in a low voice.

Xu Qing fell silent. After getting rid of the corpse, he went to the ruins of the Vajra Sect to look around and found the hidden vault that the Vajra Sect ancestor had mentioned. It was also pretty much empty, aside from a crossbow that looked like a magic tool[1].

This thing was indeed specially made for use on a magic boat, and it needed to be connected to a specific array formation in order to activate. Xu Qing glanced at it once before putting it away.

After that, he went back and searched through the Vajra Sect again, but this sect was just too poor. There was nothing valuable on the dead disciples, and even the sect master and elders were only a little better.

“Master, good job killing them. These traitors had secretly joined forces and planned to betray the sect once I went into seclusion. I was originally going to clean them up myself in a while.”

Xu Qing didn’t care about the authenticity of the Vajra Sect ancestor’s words. After scouring the sect, he left in a flash and gradually disappeared into the blizzard.

Countless snowflakes filled the night sky, falling from the heavens and spreading throughout the entire Red Plains. The original red expanse on the ground had long disappeared and been covered in white.

The wind became even more bone-chilling, sweeping up the snow as if trying to spread its cold to every corner of the earth.

Many people would die this winter.

Xu Qing tightened his collar and sped through the wilderness. Rather than return to the scavenger camp, he ran overnight all the way to that city at the edge of the Red Plains.

“I have to return to Seven Blood Pupils as soon as possible. I can’t stay here for long.” Xu Qing muttered softly. A dark light flashed through his eyes, and he glanced at the leather bag that had the black skewer inside.

Xu Qing hadn’t yet decided whether or not to spare the Vajra Sect ancestor, who had turned into an artifact spirit. As he moved through the wilderness, he weighed the matter in his heart while calmly asking about the Departurist Church.

Realizing that his life wasn’t guaranteed yet, the Vajra Sect ancestor felt bitter and anxious. He didn’t dare to conceal anything at all, quickly blurting out everything he knew.

“The Departurist Church is a massive force in the South Phoenix Continent that’s as famous as Seven Blood Pupils, Purple Earth, and True Spirit Words. It’s based in the Ancient Hope Mainland, and the force in South Phoenix is just a branch.”

“Based in Ancient Hope?” Xu Qing glanced at the Vajra Sect ancestor. Although he knew about the major forces of South Phoenix, he clearly wasn’t as knowledgeable as a Foundation Establishment cultivator like the Vajra Sect ancestor.

Hearing the hint of puzzlement in Xu Qing’s words, the Vajra Sect ancestor suddenly felt that it was time to show his worth, so he hurriedly continued to speak.

“Master, of the four major forces in South Phoenix, only Purple Earth is a true native force. The others aren’t actually based here.”

“Your Seven Blood Pupils is the best example. The seven peak seem to be united, but in reality, they’re mostly autonomous. However, all of them follow the rules of Seven Blood Pupils and gradually fused together after many years.”

“This is because the seven peaks of Seven Blood Pupils area actually branches of the seven largest sects in the Seven Sects Alliance that’s located on the Ancient Hope Mainland. They joined forces to establish Seven Blood Pupils on South Phoenix!”

“Similar branches have been established on other islands with human presence on the Endless Sea, but South Phoenix is one of the largest islands, so the branch here is very strong.”

“As for True Spirit Words, they’re extremely mysterious, so I don’t know much.”

Xu Qing's eyes narrowed. This was the first time he had heard of these things.

"Seven Sects Alliance of the Ancient Hope Mainland?"

The Vajra Sect ancestor continued to speak.

“The Ancient Hope Mainland is too big, and the human race only occupies a small portion. Even so, that small portion is already enormous. I don’t know just how big it is because I haven’t been there, but I’ve heard that the Seven Sect Alliance is only considered a local superpower. I think… across the entire territory of the human race, it’s not among the strongest forces.”

“Of course, this is just relatively speaking. To this little one, a single peak of Seven Blood Pupils is already a giant…”

As he listened to the Vajra Sect ancestor’s words, huge waves rose up in Xu Qing’s mind, and he raised his head to look into the horizon. His understanding of the world had increased once again.

“However, I know a little more about the Departurist Church. It has believers in countless races throughout the world, and its influence is extremely far-reaching. All of this is because of the doctrine of Departurism…” The Vajra Sect ancestor continued.

“The Departurist Church’s doctrine is to depart from this cruel world. They fanatically believe in the ancient sovereigns and overlords who left when the fragmented face of God arrived in ancient times. They believe that one day, the Holy Land established by the ancient sovereigns and overlords will descend and bring them away.”

“And the reason why the Departurist Church has so many branches is because their scriptures record a total of nine ancient sovereigns and overlords who departed from this world in ancient times and created the Holy Land.”

“Thus, the Departurist Church is itself divided into nine major factions. Each of them believes in a different ancient sovereign or overlord who they insist rules the Holy Land. The factions all disagree with each other, believing that only the supreme one their own faction puts their faith in will be able to bring them away.”

“And those great ancient sovereigns and overlords weren’t only humans. They also rose out of various alien races, which is why the believers of the Departurist Church are extremely diverse.”

Xu Qing’s heart shook when he heard these words. As he digested the new information, he asked the Vajra Sect ancestor a question.

"What kind of existences are the ancient sovereigns and overlords?”

The Vajra Sect ancestor was taken aback. He himself didn’t know the answer to this question, but he didn’t want to show ignorance while Xu Qing was deciding whether or not to keep him around, so he could only think rapidly before opening his mouth to speak.

“This little one can’t fathom the realm of the ancient sovereigns and overlords, but I’ve seen some descriptions in ancient books… An existence that unified the Ancient Hope Mainland and suppressed the myriad races was called an ancient sovereign.”

“And there were also existences who, although they didn’t unify Ancient Hope, had heaven-defying might and could fight against ancient sovereigns. These were called overlords."

Fascination appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes, but he didn’t speak.

Seeing the look on Xu Qing’s face, the Vajra Sect ancestor breathed a sigh of relief. Actually, he didn’t know whether these statements were true or not. After all, most of the ancient books he read were fictional stories…

He quickly changed the topic and continued to talk about the Departurist Church.

“The highest existence in the Departurist Church is called the Fate Arbiter. According to the legends, they aren’t a cultivator of this world and actually come from the Holy Land. They are the spiritual leader of the Departurist Church and are extremely mysterious.”

“The leaders of the nine major factions call themselves Saints.”

“The branch in South Phoenix is just a small branch of the Dark Nether faction. The real Dark Nether faction is in the Ancient Hope Mainland. They believe in the ancient sovereign of our human race, the Dark Nether Ancient Sovereign!”

“It’s recorded in ancient books that before the fragmented face of God arrived, there was a period of time called the Dark Nether Epoch. That epoch was founded by the Dark Nether Ancient Sovereign when he led the human race to unify the Ancient Hope Mainland.”

Xu Qing’s thoughts whirled as he listened to the Vajra Sect ancestor’s words, but he continued to speed through the wilderness all the way until the morning sun began to rise in the sky. As the morning glow cast forth from the horizon, Xu Qing saw his destination in the distance.

It was a city full of dilapidated buildings, the only city in the Red Plains with a teleportation array.

Now that he was here, Xu Qing had already made up his mind on how to deal with the Vajra Sect ancestor.

“What kind of pill is it?”

“Ah, it’s a Spirit Whale Pill. It can’t be swallowed immediately after it’s refined. You need to nourish it in a jade box for a hundred days first and wait for it to melt. Looking at the time, there should still be three days left.” Looking at the city in the distance, the Vajra Sect ancestor quickly answered.

“I like quiet.” Xu Qing suddenly said after asking about the pill.

The Vajra Sect ancestor trembled. Just as he was about to speak, a wave of suppression originating from his life soul suddenly arrived, directly injuring him before sealing him away.

After applying the first layer of seal, Xu Qing still felt worried, so he sharpened his perception and added more and more layers to the seal. Only then did he feel safer.

Under the countless layers of suppression, the sealed Vajra Sect ancestor was extremely weak, seemingly on the verge of dissipating. He fell into a deep sleep.

In the end, Xu Qing didn’t choose to kill the Vajra Sect ancestor. An artifact spirit was extremely valuable, so he decided to keep him around to improve his black skewer.

However, before he had more methods to keep the Vajra Sect ancestor in check and before his own cultivation had reached Foundation Establishment, Xu Qing didn’t plan to wake him up. At the same time, he wouldn’t hesitate to erase the Vajra Sect ancestor if he was disobedient.

Xu Qing took a deep breath after dealing with this matter. Instead of walking into the city up ahead, he turned around and sped away in a different direction.

He had muttered about going back to Seven Blood Pupils in order to fool the Vajra Sect ancestor. Although the other party had already turned into an artifact spirit and seemed very honest and sincere, Xu Qing wouldn’t believe him so easily.

Thus, the question about the pill was for verification, and the sentence about Seven Blood Pupils was misdirection.

If the Vajra Sect ancestor lied about the pill, Xu Qing would kill him immediately. And if the Vajra Sect ancestor had some hidden means to expose Xu Qing’s whereabouts… after the misdirection, they wouldn’t be as effective.

That was because Xu Qing actually didn’t plan to return to Seven Blood Pupils for the time being.

In the raging blizzard, Xu Qing accelerated, using all of his flight talismans to increase his speed as he sped away.

Finally, when the day had passed and night arrived, he found a secluded cave in the ground and squeezed in, sprinkling poison powder all around the entrance before sealing it up. Sitting down cross-legged, he took out the jade box that had the Vajra Sect ancestor’s pill inside.

“Your life and death depend on whether this pill is as you said!”

Xu Qing placed the jade box on the ground and moved back a few steps. He observed the surroundings closely before pointing at the box.

Immediately, the jade box opened slowly with a click, and a strong medicinal fragrance rushed out.

[1] – Reminder that a magic tool is NOT the same as a magic treasure.

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