Chapter 47: Bowing Down to the Dust

From this, it was clear that Fang was indeed fortunate enough to break through his restraints with ease and step into the realm of the extraordinary. His strength had not seemed to improve by much, but his path ahead was promising and his potential profound; that was a fact.

One could not envy such things. And now, riding this favorable wind, Wu’s aged body seemed to have been infused with new vitality, as though reborn. How could that fail to stir the heart?

With a thunderous crash, Ye Chen drew upon divine power and blasted a deep pit into the dry well, searching for the source of the spiritual vein.

Earth and stone flew everywhere, while spiritual energy rolled like a tide, thickening into mist and gathering without cease, eventually flowing like liquid.

This dry well was brimming with spiritual energy. Could it be that, in the end, it would give birth to a spiritual spring?

No, something was wrong. Why could this spiritual energy not escape the dry well?

It was not that none leaked out at all, but the vast majority of it remained沉lating within the well. That was highly unusual.

By rights, the spiritual energy should have rapidly diffused outward. Realizing this, Ye Chen lowered his gaze and looked around, thoughts turning in his mind.

Could it be that there was something special about this dry well itself?

Wu shook his head. “I don’t know. Since the tribe was founded here, this dry well has actually already existed. It was not dug out later.”

“If there is any hidden secret, that would make sense too. The spiritual energy has difficulty dispersing, most likely because this dry well itself is an incomplete formation.”

Ye Chen’s eyes flickered. It seemed this dry well was an old relic left behind by the passing ages, a weathered thing with the antiquity of time. It was an antique, one that had once known a glorious history. Perhaps it had not been famous in those days, but after heaven and earth fell into ruin, its survival to the present could still be counted rare indeed.

The longer such a thing existed, the deeper its foundation.

Ye Chen did not think the dry well truly had a great origin, but since it involved a spiritual vein, it was only prudent to assume the worst and never let down his guard.

He remained vigilant and dared not be careless, but as for running away outright, that was even more impossible. Rooted in the Bamboo Tribe, a single retreat would cost him dearly.

The hidden danger behind this had to be uncovered by all means. He must never wait until a critical moment later, only to have everything fall apart. That would kill people.

Ye Chen no longer acted through Wu’s vision. With greater caution in his heart, he watched as a spirit butterfly danced gracefully into the bamboo house.

Then it flew into the dry well. Bathed in spiritual radiance, the butterfly swept through the crystalline, shimmering mist.

The area beneath the dry well was not large. Ye Chen’s destructive power was considerable; earth and soil were blasted aside, revealing gleaming white bones.

Ye Chen was startled. What was going on? Was this a burial pit beneath the dry well? That was highly unusual.

Do these white bones have some remarkable origin?

Ye Chen saw the bone token within the void realm tremble violently, as if eager to flee from the void realm itself. Had it been stirred up?

Was the allure of those bones really that great?

Not simple. The bone token was tied to the Bone Demon, and if that was so, could these bones be fragments shed from the Bone Demon’s body?

Ye Chen did not care for all that. Even if there truly was some connection, he would never allow the two to meet so easily. He dared not take out the bone token, and if it intended to turn on him, that would be even worse.

The power of the void realm surged up all at once, like a towering mountain grinding down.

The bone token trembled, struck so hard that it let out a great booming sound and shook violently. The brilliant halo flowing over its surface flared brightly, then gradually withdrew and returned to calm.

Only after a beating does one learn obedience; without the stick, there is no memory.

Do these bones really have a connection to the bone token?

Ye Chen’s thoughts went very far. The dry well had an extraordinary origin, and the Bone Demon had once been mightily formidable. In such circumstances, the ancestors of the Bamboo Tribe had truly possessed immense courage to choose such a feng shui treasure land. Could it be they thought the tribe’s people were not dying fast enough?

If the place where the Bamboo Tribe stood was truly of great importance, then being plotted against would not be so far-fetched after all.

It was blocking the road. If death could not be avoided, then it would come easily enough. On the contrary, the fact that the Bamboo Tribe had survived to this day was somewhat unbelievable.

If they were truly being targeted, then with the Bamboo Tribe so weak, it looked as though they would not live long.

It seemed that even if someone wanted the Bamboo Tribe reduced to ashes, they would not dare strike personally and crush them outright.

There were reservations. Otherwise, a single breath might have swept the Bamboo Tribe clean away.

“One cannot act without restraint. There is no need to panic over this.”

Ye Chen steeled himself and forced himself to calm down somewhat, then looked closely at the crystal bones. They were as warm and smooth as jade, flowing with brilliant light. There was not the slightest trace of sinister aura about them, as though they had been carved from fine jade.

There was even a faint sense of sanctity to them. Though Ye Chen was no connoisseur of appearances, he did feel somewhat more at ease.

After all, things that looked righteous might not necessarily be good, but things that looked evil were usually crooked and vicious.

“Why are there still bones here?”

Wu murmured to himself. “Impossible. The dry well isn’t large. If there were bones here, they should have been discovered long ago.”

Ye Chen channeled his divine power. As it condensed, it formed a giant hand that spread open and clenched hard. The bones were like divine iron, incomparably sturdy. Even with divine power swirling through his fingers, not a trace could be left upon them.

“From this, it seems that some recent change in the dry well must have exposed these bones.”

Ye Chen’s eyes flashed as he said in a low voice, “Eliminating the dry well itself as the cause, then the change must have something to do with the tribe.”

“No one in the tribe tampered with the dry well.”

Wu shook his head. “Before this, the spiritual energy in the dry well was nearly exhausted, and it was of little use. No one thought of relying on the spiritual energy there to make a breakthrough. In truth, this place had been forgotten for a long time.”

If he had not painstakingly searched for the tribe’s special places, Wu would likely never have thought of this dry well.

Though the dry well was inside the bamboo house, it was actually tucked away in a corner and was inconspicuous. Under normal circumstances, no one would pay it the slightest mind.

“No one in the tribe tampered with this dry well—can you be certain of that, Wu?”

Ye Chen said solemnly, “We are fighting the Feathered Sparrow Tribe in life-and-death combat. Any extra chance of victory is good. If someone in the tribe wanted to release the spiritual energy hidden in the dry well and use it to break through, that would be perfectly normal, wouldn’t it?”

Wu fell silent for a moment and thought carefully before saying, “That is possible, but this dry well has existed for a very long time, and its secrets have never been unearthed. Let alone placing last-minute hopes on the spiritual energy inside it to break through—that is far too difficult. It is nearly impossible to achieve.”

“Back then, it took a great deal of time just to allow the spirit bamboo to transform and become a totem. Some things are not so simple as merely wanting to do them.”

Wu sighed. In his view, even Ye Chen’s breakthrough with the spirit butterfly was also a gift drawn from the dry well. But such gifts were the result of long accumulation, and once exhausted, there was little hope of getting more.

Though Wu said this, Ye Chen did not fully believe it. It was not that Wu was lying, but that there were some things even Wu might not know.