Chapter 259: Purple Eyes; True Dragon
...Could this little Corpse Servant really develop consciousness?
Looking at Tu Yue, whose eyes were as lively as those of a living person, Ji Yuan couldn't help but think so.
After reaching Foundation Establishment, not only had Tu Yue's eyes become much more spirited, but even her movements had become far more agile. With a light leap, she sprang out of the coffin and landed steadily in front of Ji Yuan, as though waiting for his orders.
From beginning to end, the breakthrough had taken less than half the time it took for an incense stick to burn.
Ji Yuan couldn't help recalling his own Foundation Establishment.
Including the time spent refining the Foundation Establishment Pills, the entire process had taken nearly a year.
“Damn it, watching this makes me want to refine myself into a Corpse Servant. This breakthrough speed is way faster than cultivating on my own.”
But that was only a passing thought.
If he really became a Corpse Servant, it would only be after he had died and someone else refined him into one.
Looking at the obedient Tu Yue before him, Ji Yuan thought for a moment before taking one item after another out of his Storage Pouch.
“Here, this is for you. This too. And this as well...”
Ji Yuan handed her the Sky-Roving Flying Boat, Bone Claw, Spiritual Robe, and the other equipment he had previously used.
If it had been before, he would have thought about selling these items for Spirit Stones.
But now...
Boss Ji declared that he wasn't short of Spirit Stones.
He might as well use them to arm Tu Yue.
After all, she was now a Foundation Establishment Corpse Servant.
Her equipment couldn't be too shabby, could it?
Tu Yue accepted each item and refined it one by one.
Even so, her expression remained blank, showing not the slightest trace of joy.
“Tidy up the house. Leave the Spirit Field alone for now. Hide anything that should be hidden. After I return, people will definitely come to visit.”
After giving his instructions, Ji Yuan turned to look toward the west.
It was rare for Du Wanyi to be home.
He wondered whether he should go see her first.
...Forget it.
He'd visit his master first.
With the unknown Eye of Divine Truth now on his forehead, Ji Yuan felt uneasy doing anything before figuring it out.
He immediately took out Hua Yaoyue's Messaging Talisman from his Storage Pouch, infused it with spiritual energy, and transmitted,
“Master, I'm back. Are you in the sect?”
Less than a single breath after sending the message, Hua Yaoyue's reply arrived.
“Yes.”
A single, simple word.
Ji Yuan put away the Messaging Talisman, summoned the Wind Locust Flying Boat, soared straight into the sky, and headed northeast.
Before leaving, he swept Fox Moon Island with his Divine Sense and confirmed that Senior Sister Dong truly wasn't there.
‘When I get back, I'll ask Senior Sister Du. If Senior Sister Dong really left, she should know something.’
As Ji Yuan sped through the Water Dragon Sect, he clearly noticed the changes within the sect.
Compared to before, the Water Dragon Sect now felt noticeably deserted.
It was obvious that many Foundation Establishment cultivators were no longer around.
Even the Qi Refinement disciples hurrying to and fro all wore hurried expressions.
None of them stopped to chat or laugh.
...The shadow of the Righteous-Demonic War hung over everyone's heart.
Even these Qi Refinement disciples could clearly feel the mounting pressure.
“Senior... Senior Brother Ji?”
A somewhat hurried voice sounded from behind him.
Ji Yuan first swept the speaker with his Divine Sense.
When he recognized who it was, he couldn't help feeling surprised.
“Fang Jie? What are you doing here?”
Ji Yuan slowed his flying boat and turned around.
According to Yunyu Marsh's usual way of addressing fellow disciples, he should actually have called Fang Jie his fellow entrant, since they had both entered the Water Dragon Sect in the same year.
Thinking back to those days...
The young Fang Jie had been full of spirit.
His single sentence, “Island Master Liu Yuan is my cousin,” had been enough for the two Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Water Dragon Sect to view him differently.
But now?
More than ten years had passed since he joined the sect.
Ji Yuan had even once heard Liu Yuan mention that Fang Jie had failed his Foundation Establishment attempt.
After all, he possessed a False Spiritual Root and hadn't prepared enough Foundation Establishment Pills.
Failing to break through to Foundation Establishment dealt an enormous blow to a Qi Refinement Peak cultivator.
Fang Jie was no exception.
Although his temples had not yet turned white,
several visible wrinkles had already appeared upon his face.
“A disciple within the sect colluded with the demonic path. I've been ordered to investigate the matter and happened to pass by here. I never expected to run into Senior Brother Ji.”
Fang Jie wore a polite smile.
Yet inwardly...
he couldn't help feeling somewhat bitter.
The two of them had entered the sect in the same year.
Yet now, their statuses were worlds apart.
Not to mention that Ji Yuan had already reached Foundation Establishment.
Strictly speaking, Fang Jie should now address him as Martial Uncle Ji.
But the words simply wouldn't leave his mouth.
So “Martial Uncle” became “Senior Brother” instead.
“So that's how it is... You're still in the Enforcement Hall, right?”
Ji Yuan remembered how he had once been taken there because his neighbor had been a demonic infiltrator.
In the end, Fang Jie had personally escorted him out.
“That's right. I've been there so long that I can't be bothered moving elsewhere.”
“Not bad. By the way, how's Senior Brother Liu doing recently?”
Ji Yuan could sense Fang Jie's emotional state.
Thus, he naturally changed the subject.
“My cousin has gone to Shang Mountain. Before long, I also plan to head there.”
Fang Jie had very much wanted to ask,
“Senior Brother Ji... You didn't know?”
But he forcefully swallowed the words.
Such questions couldn't be asked casually.
Besides, even without asking, he had already learned something from Ji Yuan's response.
Ji Yuan clearly hadn't been inside the sect recently.
Otherwise, he would definitely have known the news.
“Brother Fang is truly righteous.”
Ji Yuan praised him sincerely.
Fang Jie smiled bitterly.
“What righteousness? I simply heard that Foundation Establishment Pills can be exchanged for at Shang Mountain. I just want to gamble one more time.”
“That's true. Nothing is more important than reaching Foundation Establishment.”
Ji Yuan nodded slightly.
“Then Senior Brother Ji, please continue with your business. I won't disturb you any longer.”
After speaking, Fang Jie cupped his fists.
“Very well. Farewell.”
After parting with Fang Jie, Ji Yuan continued heading northeast.
This time, he encountered no more acquaintances.
Only after seeing the familiar Wuyou Island did the tension in his heart finally disappear.
It seemed Hua Yaoyue had already been waiting for him.
Before he could even speak, the island's formation automatically opened a gap.
Ji Yuan passed through the formation and headed straight toward the mountain pavilion that had become so familiar.
The surrounding wind chimes rang softly.
Hua Yaoyue still reclined upon the lounge chair Ji Yuan had given her, opening her eyes to examine her youngest disciple as he stepped forward to pay his respects.
After Ji Yuan finished greeting her, she was the first to speak.
“How did your journey go? Was everything fairly smooth?”
Ji Yuan cupped his fists.
“It... both was and wasn't.”
“Hm?”
Hua Yaoyue frowned slightly.
Ji Yuan took three enormous wine jars from his Storage Pouch.
Each jar held twenty jin of wine.
Two were filled with Wishful Wine.
The remaining one contained Peerless Wine.
“These are wines this disciple brewed during my travels. Please accept them, Master.”
Hua Yaoyue sat up slightly as she looked at the wine jars placed before her.
She remained silent for a moment before saying,
“You've been thoughtful.”
Even while wandering far from home, facing life and death countless times,
he had still remembered to brew wine for her.
If that wasn't thoughtfulness, then what was?
After speaking, she stored away the three jars.
“Tell me.”
“What happened during this trip?”
Ji Yuan: “...”
Seeing him remain silent, Hua Yaoyue looked up at him in confusion.
With a single glance,
she immediately rose from the lounge chair.
She stared at the disciple before her in utter disbelief.
Shock filled her eyes.
She even...
rubbed her own eyes,
thinking for a moment that she had seen incorrectly.
She simply couldn't believe it.
For upon Ji Yuan's forehead,
a purple vertical eye had opened,
quietly observing his master.
Hua Yaoyue was astonished.
Ji Yuan was equally astonished.
In fact,
he too found it difficult to believe.
After all,
who could have imagined that a Nascent Soul True Monarch would actually be wearing ordinary clothes?
Not only was it not a Spiritual Robe,
it wasn't even a Dao Robe.
She was simply wearing an ordinary long dress made of common cloth.
After recovering from his panic,
Ji Yuan hurriedly retracted the vertical eye on his forehead.
He was afraid that if he continued looking...
he would expose himself.
“M-Master... Do you know the origin of this eye on my forehead?”
Ji Yuan asked in a trembling voice.
From Hua Yaoyue's reaction,
he already knew...
She recognized the Eye of Divine Truth.
She knew where it came from!
“First tell me.”
“Where did you obtain this thing?”
For the first time,
Hua Yaoyue didn't immediately answer Ji Yuan's question.
Instead, she questioned him first.
“Inside the strange pond on Ice-Fire Island. The Ice-Fire Pool.”
“There?”
Hua Yaoyue seemed somewhat unable to believe it.
She frowned and asked again.
“That's right.”
Ji Yuan then recounted everything exactly as it had happened.
When facing the Ice-Fire Elder,
he had still needed to conceal certain things.
But before Hua Yaoyue,
he hid nothing.
He even explained the exact posture in which he had entered the water.
He also mentioned that the Ice-Fire Elder possessed the same purple vertical eye upon his forehead.
After hearing everything,
Hua Yaoyue fell into a long silence.
Ji Yuan did not urge her.
He simply waited quietly.
After a long time,
Hua Yaoyue finally sighed deeply.
“It is fate.”
“Master... What exactly is this thing?”
Ji Yuan touched his forehead.
He wanted to summon the Eye of Divine Truth again,
but remembering what he had just seen,
he ultimately refrained.
“This vertical eye is called the Eye of Divine Truth.”
...Master truly knew everything!
“What? The Eye of Divine Truth?”
Ji Yuan wore a face full of surprise.
“Yes. You know of it?”
“No. This disciple simply feels the name sounds extremely domineering.”
“Heh. The Purple-Eyed Clan, who are known by the saying, ‘A vertical eye upon the brow; a Sage descends from heaven’—how could it not sound domineering?”
Hua Yaoyue sneered.
...Why did Master seem to harbor some resentment?
Ji Yuan cautiously asked,
“Master... Are you speaking the truth, or... merely venting your anger?”
“The truth.”
Hua Yaoyue took a deep breath before lying back down upon the lounge chair.
The astonishment on her face had already disappeared.
“You only need to know that among all races in this world, bloodlines differ in rank. Take us humans, for example. As long as we possess a Spiritual Root, we can cultivate, and there is no upper limit to our cultivation. However, viewed across the entire world, the talent of the Human Race is actually only average. Even those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots or Variant Spiritual Roots are still born as ordinary mortals.”
Listening to Hua Yaoyue's explanation,
Ji Yuan gradually began to understand.
“So the Demon Race is the same?”
“For example, the Big-Mouthed Devouring Toad can at most become a Second-Tier Demon Beast, whereas the Winged Sky Tiger can reach the Third Tier. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“But in truth, none of that amounts to much. Take a True Dragon, for example. From the moment it is born, it already rivals a Fourth-Tier Demon Beast. Once fully matured, it can contend against our Human Race's Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators.”
“W-What?”
Besides his shock,
Ji Yuan immediately thought of his 【Fish Pond】.
If he kept upgrading it,
sooner or later it would surely be able to raise True Dragons.
And when that day came...
If an entire pond of True Dragons charged into battle,
who under heaven could stand against him?
“The preciousness of the Purple-Eyed Clan's bloodline is sufficient to rival that of a True Dragon.”
Hua Yaoyue narrowed her eyes as she looked at Ji Yuan,
her words carrying deeper meaning.
Ji Yuan: “Huh?”
Just as he thought he was about to soar into the heavens in a single step,
Hua Yaoyue continued,
“But someone like you, who inherited the Eye of Divine Truth without possessing the Purple-Eyed Clan's bloodline... remember to hide it well.”
Without waiting for Ji Yuan to ask,
Hua Yaoyue continued,
“Because in the eyes of the Purple-Eyed Clan, anyone who inherits the Eye of Divine Truth is a thief who has stolen their clan's inheritance. Thus, once they discover someone possessing the Eye of Divine Truth, they will pursue them relentlessly until one side dies.”
After hearing this,
Ji Yuan fell silent.
According to Hua Yaoyue,
the Purple-Eyed Clan's bloodline was comparable to that of a True Dragon.
Born with the power to rival Nascent Soul cultivators.
Fully grown, they stood alongside Tribulation Transcendence experts.
How could someone like him possibly provoke such existences?
“But that's merely their excuse. The Eyes of Divine Truth can actually merge with one another. The more they merge, the stronger they become. That's why the Purple-Eyed Clan's internal strife is especially fierce.”
“And someone like you, who possesses the Eye of Divine Truth but lacks the Purple-Eyed Clan's strength, is the perfect prey. Because you're weak. Kill you, and your Eye of Divine Truth becomes theirs.”
After hearing that,
Ji Yuan quietly uttered two words.
“Raising Gu.”
“Exactly.”
“That's Raising Gu.”
“So although the Purple-Eyed Clan is born powerful, it isn't without reason.”
Hua Yaoyue admitted frankly.
“Then, Master... Is there any way to remove this Eye of Divine Truth from me?”
Now that he understood its origins,
Ji Yuan no longer found it quite so appealing.
There was no need to gain one extra trump card only to place himself in constant danger.
Especially when the Purple-Eyed Clan was so terrifyingly powerful.
“You obtained the original body.”
“Unless you die, this thing will remain with you for the rest of your life.”
Hua Yaoyue looked at her youngest disciple.
For a moment,
even she didn't know what to say.
Should she call him fortunate?
Or unfortunate?
“The original body?”
Ji Yuan vaguely guessed something,
yet still found it difficult to believe.
“So, Master... Are you saying there was an original Eye of Divine Truth beneath the Ice-Fire Pool, and I obtained it? Then what did the Ice-Fire Elder obtain?”
“He merely became tainted with a trace of its divine power. The only reason it lasted so long was because he had remained beside the Ice-Fire Pool, so close to the original body. Now that you've taken it away, before long the vertical eye on his forehead will disappear.”
After saying this,
Hua Yaoyue saw that Ji Yuan still seemed unconvinced.
She simply raised her right hand and reached toward his forehead.
In that instant,
Ji Yuan felt as though even his Divine Soul was about to be pulled from his body.
Then,
the Eye of Divine Truth upon his forehead emerged of its own accord.
It had become enraged.
At that moment,
Ji Yuan felt all the spiritual energy within his dantian being violently drained away.
But what followed
was a dazzling pillar of light erupting from the Eye of Divine Truth upon his forehead.
Just as it was about to strike Hua Yaoyue's chest,
a wine cup glowing faintly with spiritual light suddenly appeared in her hand.
The wine cup shielded her chest
while simultaneously absorbing the beam fired by the Eye of Divine Truth.
The wine cup was naturally Hua Yaoyue's Natal Magic Treasure—
the Amber Luminous Cup.
Just as Ji Yuan thought Hua Yaoyue had effortlessly blocked the attack,
a tremendous explosion suddenly erupted from the boundless marsh in the distance.
Along with the deafening blast,
a colossal water column over a hundred meters tall shot into the sky.
‘It didn't absorb it... it transferred it.’
The moment the explosion sounded,
several streaks of light immediately flew over.
Without even standing,
Hua Yaoyue calmly said,
“It's nothing. I was simply experimenting with a new spell out of boredom.”
“As expected of Senior Sister Wuyou. In that case, this junior brother shall not disturb you further.”
Real Person Xuanshui's voice sounded from the clouds.
The other Core Formation True Persons remained silent,
but likewise departed.
“This...”
Only now did Ji Yuan truly believe it.
What he had obtained
really was the original Eye of Divine Truth.
Otherwise,
how could it possess such overwhelming divine might?
“But... How did the original body end up with me?”
Ji Yuan still found it hard to believe.
“And you're asking me?”
Hua Yaoyue actually pointed at herself.
As for the expression in her eyes...
it wasn't much different from how one looked at a fool.
“Uh...”
Ji Yuan laughed awkwardly.
He truly couldn't figure it out.
Could it also have something to do with his unique Divine Soul?
“In the future, remember never to use the Eye of Divine Truth before outsiders. If you do use it, make sure you silence them forever. As for the Ice-Fire Elder, I'll handle him for you.”
Hua Yaoyue instructed casually.
“Handle him?”
“Handling someone doesn't necessarily mean silencing them forever.”
Seeing Ji Yuan's expression,
Hua Yaoyue found herself rather speechless.
“With your temperament, staying on the righteous path truly wastes your talents.”
“Uh...”
Ji Yuan smiled sheepishly.
“Besides, the Eye of Divine Truth's ability to perceive the truth is actually extremely powerful. If used properly, it may well become one of your greatest assets in the future.”
Ji Yuan cupped his fists in acknowledgment.
Since he couldn't get rid of it,
he could only accept it.
At worst,
he would simply follow Hua Yaoyue's advice and never use it before outsiders.
“I simply never expected that such a tiny place as the Cangluo Continent would also contain such a great opportunity.”
Hua Yaoyue sighed in rare admiration.
She then looked toward Ji Yuan.
“And yet, you brat actually obtained it. If those people ever learned that the Eye of Divine Truth they've searched for so desperately ended up in this godforsaken Cangluo Continent... Heh.”
Hua Yaoyue shook her head,
saying nothing further.
Ji Yuan immediately took the opportunity to flatter her.
“Well, that's because of who this disciple's master is.”
“Hehe.”
“Hmph.”
Hua Yaoyue didn't accept the flattery.
“If you have nothing else to do later, don't rush off. Your Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother have both returned. It's rare for all five of us master and disciples to be together. Let's have a gathering.”
“What? Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother have both returned?!”
Ji Yuan was overjoyed.
Back when he was still in South Sea City,
he had constantly worried about Ran Kui's and Yun Qianzai's safety.
Now that he heard they had both returned,
he naturally felt delighted.
“Mhm.”
Hua Yaoyue lowered her eyelids.
Then,
as though suddenly remembering something,
she looked up and asked,
“I've heard... the Eye of Divine Truth possesses the ability to see through things. Is that true?”