Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 545 Feed
"Of course, it's not as simple as just looking at an answer." Xiao Yan shook his head and said, "It's because Wu Gu asserted that, based on the conditions back then, it was absolutely impossible to defeat Wu Yang."

"Let me tell you two things simply." Wu Gu nodded and said to Ren Yuan, "First, since the founding of the Great Liang Dynasty, almost everyone's supernatural abilities have come from the Xuanji Tower. Are you aware of the dangers of this?"

“Three Corpses and Nine Insects…” Ren Yuan said in a low voice. He had long suspected that Wu Yang built the Xuanji Tower to raise the Three Corpses and Nine Insects, rather than simply to help people learn supernatural powers.

“That’s right.” Wu Gu nodded and said, “The Xuanji Tower is used by Wu Yang to raise the Three Corpses and Nine Worms. The Three Corpses and Nine Worms contain divinity. The stronger the Three Corpses and Nine Worms are, the stronger their divinity becomes. A master with nine orifices of the Heavenly Stems can extract half a portion of divine fire.”

“This is simply amazing. Divine fire is extremely rare in the world, but a master of the Nine Apertures can be artificially created.” Xiao Yan continued, “The stock in the Xuanji Tower alone could create several demigods.”

"Fuck your mother..." Ren Yuan's eyes blazed with fury upon hearing this, wishing he could strangle the old bastard.

He finally understood how Xiao Yan became a god...

Clearly, what Xiao Yan called the 'stock of Xuanji Tower' refers to the old veterans like the Poison Granny and the Old Hunchback!

"They risked their lives for your Great Liang, which is why they became neither human nor ghost! They hid in the tower because they didn't want to turn into insects, not to be your food reserves!" Ren Yuan grabbed Xiao Yan and slapped him twice across the face!

Xiao Yan's face was distorted from being slapped, and several of his back teeth were knocked out.

But even Chen Qingzhi didn't stop Ren Yuan. The old monsters of the Xuanji Tower were all his comrades-in-arms who had fought alongside him through thick and thin!
He sighed and asked, "Your Majesty, is this how you obtained the half of the divine fire you gave me back then?"

“No, it did come from Pei Sui.” Xiao Yan shook his head and said, “How could I not know that using Wu Yang’s divine fire would be like drinking poison to quench my thirst? I wouldn’t touch it unless absolutely necessary.”

"And what about me?" Ren Yuan pointed to himself.

If his divine fire used the Poison Granny and her people as raw materials, that would be utterly hellish.

“You’re even more useless,” the witch said, shaking her head. “Your half of the divine fire came from the Imperial Seal, and the other half was given to you by the Ghost King.”

"The Ghost King?!" Ren Yuan's pupils constricted sharply, greatly surprised, but upon reflection, it made perfect sense. He had felt that his encounter in the Ghost Kingdom was very strange, as if the Ghost King was helping him become a god.

At the time, he thought the guess was absurd. But it turned out to be true...

"Why did He help me?" Ren Yuan asked.

“Then you’ll have to ask Him.” The witch said vaguely, “I can only tell you that his half of the divine fire definitely didn’t come from the Xuanji Tower, at least not directly from there.”

"..." Ren Yuan remained silent for a long time, then said with a look of disgust, "The so-called gods are truly disgusting."

“You’re right,” Wu Gu agreed. “It’s not only disgusting, but also pitiful—using the divine fire of the Xuanji Tower comes at a price.”

"What price?" Ren Yuan asked.

“Wu Yang’s curse.” Wu Gu said calmly, “During the condensation of the divine fire, He added an indelible curse. As long as He has a thought, He can control us, the false gods He created.”

"No wonder He trusts you so much." Ren Yuan asked with a sneer, "So now you're not afraid of the curse anymore?"

“The curse remains, but the one who cast it has left this world and will never return,” the witch replied. “So at least in this era, there’s nothing to worry about.”

"Then what about me?" Ren Yuan asked anxiously, "Could there be a problem with the half of divine fire that the Ghost King gave me?"

"What do you think?" The witch gave him a look as if he were an idiot...

“Alright, that’s practically a given,” Ren Yuan said dejectedly. “But don’t worry, Wu Xian and Wu Yang are sworn enemies. If you deal with Wu Yang, Wu Xian might even help you,” Wu Gu said meaningfully.

“Okay.” Ren Yuan nodded, then asked, “What about the second thing?”

"The second thing is that simply defeating Wu Yang's human form isn't entirely meaningless, but it's still quite effective," Wu Gu said.

“I know that,” Ren Yuan said. “It only counts if His true form is killed.”

“But His true form lies in eternal slumber in the Palace of Eternal Sleep, you can’t find it anywhere,” the witch sighed.

"Is it the floating island from my dreams?" Ren Yuan's heart stirred.

“That’s right.” The witch nodded. “If He wants, that floating island can appear anywhere in Dreamland at any time. But if He doesn’t want to, even I can’t find that island.”

“But Nangong once led Fifth Brother and the others there,” Ren Yuan said.

“I know,” Wu Gu sighed softly, “That’s because there’s a special bond between Nangong and Wuyang.”

"Moreover, even if you go up to the Floating Island, there are still the Ten Great Divine Generals there, as well as endless nightmares and Berchi. They are almost impossible to kill in the dream world. I'm afraid you will be worn down to death before you even see Wu Yang's true form," Wu Gu added.

"What do you mean by 'almost'?" Ren Yuan asked. "Does that mean there's still a sliver of hope?"

“That’s right. This is the ‘one’ you’ve been searching for,” the witch nodded.

"Hou Jing?" Tao Hongjing, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke up.

“Yes.” Wu Gu nodded and said, “No one expected that Hou Jing would be the natural counter to Wu Yang. When he was still an ordinary god, his Heavenly Slaughter Army could deal with the spiritized soldiers. Once he advances to the Ancient God of Slaughter, the Heavenly Slaughter Army can also advance to the Heavenly Slaughter God Army, which will be able to restrain Wu Yang’s Nightmare Army.”

She paused, then said sarcastically, "It was precisely because he discovered this that Wu Yang completely destroyed the passage connecting to Dreamland and shut himself off completely to avoid being caught off guard."

“But Hou Jing is already dead…” Chen Baxian whispered.

“But His divine core is still there.” Wu Gu glanced at Ren Yuan and said, “Refine it, become an ancient god, and you will be able to restrain Wu Yang.”

"..." Upon hearing this, Ren Yuan turned around and showed the broken divine core, saying, "Hou Jing's divine core is severely damaged. He is far from being able to advance to the rank of Ancient God."

"Yes." Wu Gu nodded and said, "First, we need to repair the damaged divine core. In addition, we need a complete divine fire to help you fuse with the divine core. And it must be compatible with you."

"Alright..." Ren Yuan couldn't help but smile wryly. He was just about to suggest hunting down some gods, but he forgot about the incompatibility of divine fire.

"Speaking of which, I have half a portion here." Chen Qingzhi revealed half a portion of the purple divine fire with a slightly embarrassed expression.

"Isn't this the divine fire from the Imperial Seal?" Xiao Yan's eyes widened immediately. "How did it end up with you?"

"Well..." Chen Qingzhi blushed and said, "It was stolen by your subject."

"Haha, well, I thought you were the last honest one, Ziyun." Xiao Yan couldn't help but laugh. "Turns out you're not so honest after all."

(End of this chapter)