Chapter 118: There’s no way back now
With a “plop,” Qi Xuan and Sunday suddenly appeared in place.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
As soon as he landed, Qi Xuan couldn’t help but cough.
BYD was too heavy-handed.
Even if he was hit just once, his shoulder felt like it was about to break.
Damn, he had attacked with a Great Fireball Talisman.
There was even a 【Flowing Form】 helping to reduce the damage.
Even so, he was almost beaten to death on the spot.
And from beginning to end, he didn’t seem to be putting much effort in.
Is this the power of the Foundation Stage?
Isn’t it a bit too strong?
Qi Xuan was complaining in his heart; he finally understood why that Qi Condensation stage cultivator was crushed without any resistance.
This was completely a difference in quality.
The gap was too big!!
After complaining in his heart, he looked at Sunday, who was groaning beside him.
Although Sunday was also seriously injured after taking a palm, it wasn’t as serious as he had imagined.
Mainly because Sunday’s Realm was higher than his, almost Third Rank, and he was thick-skinned and fleshy, with stronger endurance.
Of course, the most crucial thing here was the Demon King Fruit he gave it back then, which brought it an essential improvement; otherwise, even if that Six-Clawed Black Serpent, which had broken through to the Third Rank, was on the scene, it still wouldn’t be able to withstand a casual blow from the Four-Armed Figure.
After taking several Green Wood Pills and Spiritual Grass for healing, and drinking a large bowl of honey each, one person and one pig were recuperating from their injuries on the spot.
After about an hour, the position of the palm strike was finally barely recovered, but only the internal organs still retained some slight pain.
“Fortunately, I awakened the 【Refining Essence】, which greatly accelerated the speed of injury recovery; otherwise, just this injury alone would probably take several days to recover.”
Looking at the last two Green Wood Pills left in his inventory, Qi Xuan couldn’t help but feel very emotional:
“I originally thought it was a bit wasteful to always get Green Wood Pills from the Lottery, and even thought this thing was too cheap, but when it was urgently needed, I really didn’t think it was too much.”
After moving around a little and confirming that his body was fine, Qi Xuan looked at Sunday again.
This guy was still groaning, but his condition was good, and he was no longer able to lie on the ground like before.
It seems that being fat also has its advantages.
“I spent a lot of my trump cards to save you, otherwise I would have used Teleportation and run away on the spot. You have to be more promising in the future, and don’t die so easily.”
Qi Xuan patted its head.
Sunday groaned twice, and a wave of joy came from its mind.
“The injuries are temporarily healed, let’s take a look at the surroundings first, lest we encounter that kind of ghost thing again.”
Although the Teleportation Talisman could take them away from the scene, and the distance of the teleportation was also extremely far, reaching ten thousand zhang, far beyond the Earth Escape Talisman’s one thousand zhang, but there was a disadvantage: it couldn’t lock the position in advance; it was a real random teleportation.
So it was possible to be accidentally teleported to a dangerous area.
Only a more advanced Teleportation Talisman could lock the approximate direction and position, and the distance of the teleportation would be even farther, but that wasn’t something he could get now.
“Anyway, the 【Spiritual Sense】 hasn’t sent any warnings, and the Warning Talisman is also fine, which means it should be safe here for the time being.”
“Let’s check what’s going on, this Small Wooden House isn’t something that formed naturally.”
Yes, he and Sunday were teleported into a Small Wooden House.
But this Small Wooden House was in a semi-collapsed state; half of the wall had fallen to the ground, the rafters were broken, and the Roof had several large holes.
The not-so-bright light shone in, and the surroundings looked very old; the corners of the walls, the ground, and even the decaying wooden bed were covered with moss and grass, looking like it had been abandoned long ago.
He approached the large hole by the wall and observed for a while, confirming that there was no danger, before he and Sunday came out of the cabin.
Looking around, there was a lush Woods, but between the Woods, he could vaguely see large areas of broken walls and ruins.
The damaged and collapsed cabins and stone houses were not few in number; most of the raw materials were very tough. Not to mention the more common Iron Core Wood and Qinggang Stone, even relatively scarce Spiritual Plants and minerals were used to build houses.
The sizes of the various houses were different. The small ones might only accommodate one or two people, while the larger ones could accommodate hundreds or even thousands of people, which were very magnificent and very wide, revealing a domineering and stern aura.
It’s a pity that they have all turned into ruins at this moment.
But whether it was the carvings and decorations on the cabin, or the ability to build houses with a whole piece of huge Qinggang Stone, all proved that this place should be a gathering place for Cultivators.
The most crucial thing was that the Nangong Token was lying in his hand at this moment, and the location of the tribe indicated in the token completely overlapped with this place.
This place is the Nangong Tribe.
Upon realizing this, Qi Xuan did not feel too disappointed; rather, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
As early as in the previous exploration, he had suspected that the Nangong Tribe had been destroyed. After all, too much time had passed, and there were also many Cultivators who had encountered misfortune along the way. Coupled with the previous Sun Collapse, he would not be surprised even if he came over and saw corpses everywhere.
And after experiencing the battle with the Four-Armed Figure, he only felt very apprehensive about the Nangong Tribe. Fortunately, this tribe had already been destroyed, so he didn’t have to worry about being besieged by the other party later, or even being captured.
He didn’t have a second arbitrary talisman to use.
After roughly looking around, Qi Xuan began to walk around the scene.
This tribe should have been abandoned a long time ago. Just looking at those rampant Vines and tall Woods, one could tell that these could not have grown in a short period of time.
As for the collapse and even the collapse of the various houses, it should be related to the Sun Collapse event that occurred not long ago.
After the Sun Fragments landed, the Terrain changed drastically, as if recreating mountains and seas. It would be strange if the houses built in place were not affected, not to mention that these houses had already been abandoned.
Then the question arises, why was the Nangong Tribe abandoned?
Where did the people inside go?
Could it be that, as previously speculated, those unfortunate Cultivators all escaped from the tribe?
Then what were they escaping from?
Could it be that they were escaping that Four-Armed Figure?
Why would there be a Four-Armed Figure, this kind of ghost thing?
……
All kinds of doubts entangled into a ball of yarn in Qi Xuan’s mind.
All the secrets had long been buried by time, and it would be difficult for outsiders to discover the truth of two hundred years ago.
But fortunately, he had already arrived at the tribe site, and he could find some clues related to the disaster of that year from the original place, right?
Qi Xuan began to search on the spot, occasionally entering a house, or turning over some wooden beams, and letting Sunday open up some ruins.
As a result, he really found a lot of things.
First of all, Corpses, a large number of Corpses.
Of course, after so much time had passed, all the Corpses were only left with Skeletons.
Even those Skeletons were mostly broken.
However, the traces of the battle at the scene were pitifully few.
“Internal strife?”
“Or was it an invasion by another tribe?”
No, it shouldn’t have anything to do with a tribe invasion.
Because many of the Cultivators at the scene were fleeing outwards.
If they were invaded, even if they couldn’t compete, they should have contracted their defenses and retreated inwards, or retreated in a certain direction.
This scene of fleeing in all directions was enough to prove that the disaster suddenly happened inside the tribe, and it made all the Cultivators unable to resist and had to flee in panic.
They didn’t even make a symbolic resistance, but just kept running away.
This was enough to prove that the source of the disaster was something they were not strong enough to resist.
“Qi Condensation Complete couldn’t resist?”
Looking at the half-skeleton of a Qi Condensation Complete, Qi Xuan immediately thought of the Four-Armed Figure he encountered in the woods.
Indeed, with the other party’s strength, even if the Qi Condensation cultivators swarmed forward, they would probably be defeated on the spot.
Could it be that he is the Culprit of all the Disasters?
Did he cause the complete destruction of the entire Nangong Tribe?
But where did he come from? Why did he become what he is now?
Those four arms, including the dispersing Mist… what exactly is going on?
What is the source of all this?
Qi Xuan frowned and continued to carefully search the scene after the Tribe collapsed.
This search really led him to find something.
He found a Corpses.
But unlike the other Corpses, this Corpses committed suicide.
And left a will.
Although the will was written on Demon Beast skin, because too much time had passed, many places became blurred and difficult to recognize, so that only the general original meaning could be pieced together:
“Qing’er, I can’t bear it anymore, you don’t need to persuade me anymore, it’s time to leave here.”
“Remember when you and I, plus Big Brother Feng, were adventuring outside together, how carefree, how happy.”
“We once thought that the problems encountered by the family could be solved.”
“Not to mention that there are Great Beings from the upper sect studying, comprehending, and occasionally providing support to our family.”
“The Clan Head and the Elders were also very optimistic, claiming that everything would be fine, and there was hope for everything.”
“But now, you and I both know that the so-called hope is just a fascinating illusion.”
“From the moment we embarked on this path, there was no way to turn back, everyone either goes mad or dies, there is absolutely no third possibility.”
“The advice in the family seems so hypocritical and ridiculous in the face of so many Tragedies.”
“Especially Big Brother Feng, who has taken care of us for many years, he has begged me many times to let me kill him.”
“But how could I bring myself to do it?”
“Like you, I have been comforting him, trying to find all kinds of medicines for him, and I even gave him the hallucinogenic and poisonous Extreme Bliss Pill.”
“I only hope that he can persevere and live well.”
“Then when I went to visit him that day, I saw his Corpses.”
“Unrecognizable, a Tragedy to behold.”
“Everyone said that Big Brother Feng died of Illness, but that was a gag order from above, to avoid the family falling into further turmoil.”
“Do you know how he died?”
“As a complete Qi Condensation, one of the three seeds that the family considered to have the most hope of breaking through to Foundation Stage, he was bitten to death by the Heart-Eating Worm.”
“It’s strange, right? The Heart-Eating Worm is so terrifying, no one can avoid the pain of being devoured by it, many cultivators with firm will often collapse under the torment of the Heart-Eating Worm, but he fed himself the Heart-Eating Worm, and through this method, he forcibly broke free from the seal placed on him by the Elders, and ended his own life on the spot.”
“Maybe you will think that the bite of the Heart-Eating Worm is very terrible, and no one can bear it, I also couldn’t understand it, and I couldn’t tell you this truth, because this matter is too bizarre, even if I told you, no one would believe it.”
“But now, when I am also in the same situation, I finally understand why Big Brother Feng did this.”
“Because the pain of the Heart-Eating Worm’s bite may not even be one ten-thousandth of the pain when the Bone-Spur Disease strikes!”
“When the Bone-Spur Disease strikes, letting it bite and die is simply a relief!”
“I will tell you all this because I will choose to walk the same path.”
“I’m sorry, I broke my promise, I couldn’t marry you, and I couldn’t become a Foundation Stage in the future.”
“But even if we become Foundation Stage, we still can’t get rid of this Illness, the road ahead is the deepest despair, I can’t see any light.”
“Please allow me to take the lead, I only wish you a good life, a healthy life, and a life without Illness or Disaster.”
“——Nangong Lie.”
After reading the entire will, Qi Xuan stood in place, unable to recover for a long time.
Nangong Lie’s will provided him with a lot of information.
The good news was that the Nangong Tribe, no, it should be called the Nangong Family, the Cultivators of this family should all be normal people like him. The bone spurs that grew on various parts of their bodies were probably caused by the 【 Bone-Spur Disease】.
The bad news was that more than one person was sick. The entire Nangong Family seemed to have contracted this disease, and even the Foundation Stage couldn’t avoid it, and the condition might even develop more seriously.
He couldn’t help but think of the Four-Armed Figure he had met before.
Those extra two arms did not originate from evolution or secret techniques, but were very likely the extra limbs that grew from the 【 Bone-Spur Disease】.
Considering that contracting this disease seemed extremely painful, even Qi Condensation Stage cultivators would rather commit suicide, then that Four-Armed Foundation Stage cultivator was probably driven mad by the pain.
“No, it’s not just being driven mad.”
“That Foundation Stage cultivator was very likely already dead.”
Thinking of the light reflected by the Spirit Arrow Talisman and the Great Fireball Talisman before, the Four-Armed Foundation Stage cultivator was covered in wounds, and his heart seemed to have been broken open, but he could still move and attack. It felt like he was being manipulated by the Dragon Hunter Grass, but now it seemed that he was probably affected by the 【 Bone-Spur Disease】.
Even the mist that constantly diffused from his body might also be related to the 【 Bone-Spur Disease】.
Perhaps only this kind of bizarre Illness would make Qi Condensation Stage cultivators unable to bear it, to the point where they had to commit suicide.
Then the question arose, was the 【 Bone-Spur Disease】 a hereditary family Illness of the Nangong Family? Or was it a large-scale infectious Illness?
Were there only one patient like the Four-Armed Foundation Stage cultivator who was still active after death? Or were they widely distributed throughout the world?
What about the Golden Core? What about the Nascent Soul? Would they also be infected and even fall ill in some way?
Since he had transmigrated to the present, had he also been infected with this Illness, but it hadn’t yet manifested?
Were the four suns hanging in the sky also related to this disease?
In an instant, Qi Xuan thought of a lot.
He even remembered the Bloody Handprints he had seen on the Cliff back then.
Those abnormal and deformed hands were enough to prove that similar Illnesses existed elsewhere.
The source of these Illnesses was very likely to have already spread throughout the world, and when he transmigrated, he might have been hit from the start.
If he hadn’t discovered the scene of the Nangong Family’s demise, one day he would suddenly fall ill, and he might not even know what he had encountered.
But this was also the worst-case scenario.
In case the 【 Bone-Spur Disease】 was only a disease that would form under special conditions, there was no need to worry.
But the mystery of the Sun Collapse was unsolved, and now the ghost of the 【 Bone-Spur Disease】 had appeared, making him feel that the world was increasingly dangerous.
Now, even if a Nascent Soul-level Monster suddenly appeared, he wouldn’t be surprised.
“I still have to find a way to do more investigations, find a way to collect more information.”
“Not to mention solving the mystery of the Illness, at least I have to figure out why the sun will collapse, when will it collapse next time, and how to avoid being harmed.”
“Otherwise, the last time the collapse happened at close range, even the Foundation Stage couldn’t survive. If the next collapse upgrades to the Golden Core or even the Nascent Soul, then everyone should just stop playing and perish together.”
Qi Xuan continued to explore forward.
Until it was dark, he had a new harvest in a Small Wooden House not far away that had collapsed completely.
First was a half-rusted blade.
Unlike the other broken weapons in the entire family’s residence, this was a genuine Magic Artifact.
Although it was only a remnant, and it was also rusted, the material was still extremely sharp, and even the extremely hard bones of the Golden-Eyed Winged Dragon could be easily cut off.
For him, such a weapon was just right.
Because with his current strength, he couldn’t control a real Magic Artifact at all, and the destructive power he could exert might not be as good as this broken weapon.
Besides the Magic Artifact remnant, he also obtained a Jade Token.
The material of the Jade Token was very special, and it should be from the same source as the Nangong Token before.
Looking at the entire family’s residence, there were only these two of the same kind of token, which showed its rarity.
And after touching the Jade Token, he found some information attached to it, which was a bit like the original owner’s notes:
“…The resources demanded by the upper sect are increasing, but the supply of Tranquility Pills is constantly decreasing. How can my Nangong Family survive in the long run?”
“……The clan leader went to the upper sect to plead for mercy, but since then, they never returned. Did they escape? Did they die? Or did they go mad?”
“……The upper sect closed its mountain gate, and contact was completely cut off……”
“……The family’s situation is getting worse and worse……”
“……The Clarity Spirit Trees planted everywhere have died one after another. Now only the Mother Tree can still produce Clarity Spirit Jade Dew……”
“……The First Elder went mad, the Second Elder died, the Third Elder was killed by me, and there’s only one Foundation Stage cultivator left in the family, which is me……”
“……I sealed the Mother Tree and had the only remaining dozen Qi Condensation Geniuses in the family enter the Mother Tree. Many people opposed me, and I killed many people again……”
“……Someone stole the Jade Void Token that could enter the Mother Tree. I had the Enforcement Team go after them, but the Enforcement Team didn’t dare look at me. Are they coveting the only Jade Void Token left in my hand?”
“……The family members in the resident are getting fewer and fewer. Why don’t you all understand my good intentions?”
“……Traitors! Scoundrels! Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill! I will purge the entire family! I will guard the entire family! The Nangong Family will surely grow stronger in my Nangong Wuji’s hands!”
……
Seeing the various information recorded in the Jade Token, as well as the Aura remaining on the Jade Token, he finally knew the name of the Four-Armed Figure in the forest——
Nangong Wuji.
The Fourth Elder of the Nangong Family.
A Foundation Stage late-stage Great Cultivator.
However, judging by the strength he displayed at the time, he shouldn’t have been at the late Foundation Stage, at most the early Foundation Stage, otherwise, he and Sunday would never have been able to escape.
It seems that these two hundred years haven’t been without an impact on his strength.
Perhaps after a while, he will regress to Qi Condensation, or even completely perish.
Looking at the Jade Token in his hand, Qi Xuan only felt a sigh.
The Elder who wanted to revitalize the entire family, but in the end, destroyed the entire family with his own hands. This has to be said is a kind of irony.
But looking at the whole world, similar events may not be in the minority.
So what’s next?
What should he do next?
How can he survive for a long time in this dangerous world?
Qi Xuan couldn’t help but look at the Jade Token.
There was a flickering light spot inside.
The position marked by the light spot was, without a doubt, the Nangong Family’s last secret treasure, the Clarity Spirit Mother Tree.
