Chapter 45: Signs Emerge from the Spirit Hidden in the Dry Well

Page 1

“The Bone Secret Realm is another matter; it is a rare opportunity, and possessing a Bone Token does not guarantee entry. Moreover, the Bone Token itself is a precious spiritual artifact, especially invaluable to the aberrations.”

“You must know, Wanjie Yin Spirits struggle to attain sanctity; though aberrations are strange and their strength unpredictable, advancing further is no easy feat.”

“Through the Bone Token, they can possess a body, subtly and gradually overtaking the vessel, ultimately causing the soul to perish and the spirit to transform. For an aberration, this is akin to rebirth, a second life. In this respect, your swift action in eliminating the threat was wise. Had you hesitated and allowed them to return for vengeance, it would have been far more difficult to handle.”

Ye Chen fell silent. If it were merely an aberration possessing the Ebony, then it would simply be Ebony’s misfortune. But could matters truly be so simple? What troubled Ye Chen was not that alone, but the possibility of an unseen thread connecting all the events, hinting at deeper dangers, only the tip of the iceberg revealed.

His heart was filled with worries, tangled and unraveled, like a ball of knotted yarn impossible to sort out. After pondering, Ye Chen asked, “Ebony’s fortune appears abundant. If he had long been dead, how could a corpse possess any fortune?”

The dead are finished; they cannot be considered living beings, and thus have no fortune. Fortune belongs only to the living.

“You can see fortune?”

Ning Peach Blossom was surprised. Fortune is mysterious, generally only accessible to those of profound cultivation. For someone as weak as Ye Chen to see fortune was truly rare.

Could this be the unique ability of the Great Dream Immortal Butterfly? Or perhaps a gift bestowed upon him after forging a new path? Though it draws the ire of Heaven and Earth, its benefits are considerable.

Ning Peach Blossom thought much but revealed nothing, smiling as she said, “The dead naturally have no fortune, but the fortune you saw may not belong to Ebony. It should be the fortune of the aberration. Though aberrations are strange, they are still living beings.”

“Aberrations do possess fortune, but it should be pure black. Yet what I saw was golden, indicating that the fortune favored them, extraordinary indeed.”

Ning Peach Blossom laughed softly at these words and sighed, “Under normal circumstances, fortune would indeed be pure black, signifying great peril. But if favored by Heaven’s will, that is another matter.”

“You see, according to Heaven’s scheme, if all living beings perished, it would be ideal. Aberrations proliferate across the land—have you never found that odd?”

Ye Chen was stunned, thinking carefully before he asked, “Why is that?”

“Because aberrations may be valued by Heaven and Earth as the sprouts of the next generation of all living things, while we are meant to be eliminated by the era. We merely cling to the stage of Heaven and Earth, unwilling to depart.”

Page 2

“Long ago, during the great war of cultivators, the devastation of Heaven and Earth left the world broken, and the fortune of all living beings collapsed entirely, condemned by Heaven, never to be redeemed.”

“The only reason we linger is that the vitality of the world has yet to recover.”

Ye Chen felt a deep sense of unease. Life was hard indeed. Though his strength was currently low, it didn’t mean Heaven wouldn’t catch him and punish him. When Ye Chen forged his new path, he was struck by thunder, nearly destroyed.

“If this world is gradually recovering, does that mean only a dead end awaits?”

Once Heaven and Earth are restored, the stragglers will surely be wiped out.

Ye Chen felt uneasy. “Does that mean the road ahead is bleak, devoid of hope?”

“If you manage to reach the shore before the world recovers its vitality, and possess power strong enough, then even if Heaven and Earth oppose you, so what? It is always the weak who perish. If you are strong enough, there is nothing to fear.”

Ye Chen’s lips twitched. That sounded easy, but how could he grow stronger? He had no answer, and didn’t dwell on it, but instead focused on the Bone Token, asking in a deep voice, “The Bone Token has been tampered with. Is there a way to cleanse it?”

“There is no way.”

Ning Peach Blossom shook her head. “It’s not that the Bone Token was tampered with; the token itself is inherently problematic. Unless it is destroyed outright, you must remain vigilant.”

“This dream is unusual; keeping the Bone Token here, you need not worry about its energy leaking and attracting enemies.”

Ye Chen was deeply disappointed. “It seems the Bone Token cannot be used lightly.”

He had hoped to use the Bone Token to seize some fortune. If he sought strength, the Bone Token seemed promising, but the risks were too great; it would have to wait.

“If some sinister hand schemes to pit us against the Dove Tribe, it can only be the influence of that place.”

At this moment, Wu murmured, “I don’t really believe in such a possibility, but after eliminating all other answers, however absurd the result, one must accept it.”

Page 3

Ye Chen’s eyes flickered, his face calm but his heart deeply shaken.

“How strange. I have thoroughly searched Wu’s memories—what place does Wu know that is unremarkable, yet holds many secrets, so easily overlooked?”

He pondered in confusion, yet no clues appeared. Indeed, while he knew most of Wu’s memories, it was like viewing them in passing, always separated by a layer; they never struck deeply. To Ye Chen, those memories were mere pages in a book, rarely leaving a mark.

Wu seemed to have found his target; his thoughts adrift, he walked toward his destination.

Ye Chen lowered his gaze, sending a strand of divine power onto Wu, using him as a medium, seeing through Wu’s eyes as he approached a bamboo house.

Ye Chen’s pupils contracted sharply; this bamboo house was peculiar, and he was not unaware of it.

For instance, as a totem, attempting to spy inside the bamboo house was always a difficult task.

From this, it was clear that distrust of the totem had long existed, and the chieftain’s actions to separate from the totem, choosing not to share life and death, was not so strange after all—there had always been signs.

But after Ye Chen became a deity, the bamboo house was completely unguarded against him. Of course, Ye Chen himself never paid much attention to it; the house’s furnishings were simple, nothing odd catching his eye.

Wu entered the bamboo house, which was not large.

In the courtyard, aged medicinal herbs exhaled their fragrance. Wu walked straight to a well.

It was a dried well.