ATAVID CH97

Jiang Qunyu’s entire impression of Su Fuyao was still stuck on those few brief encounters in Mirror Lake City; everything else was just what was mentioned in the original plot.

Because he looked somewhat like Shen Peiqiu, he ended up hooking up with Lan Yuanzhou. Later in the book, he inexplicably lost his relevance. When it came down to it, he was just a tool character used by the author to push the main plot along, serving as an emotional catalyst. Although it wasn’t clear what he had actually catalyzed, it seemed to have been explained as an attempt to force Shen Peiqiu to see his own heart.

Jiang Qunyu didn’t get the logic, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to watch the show.

Besides, Su Fuyao mentioned a “System,” didn’t he? So, Su Fuyao was actually holding a script for a “cannon-fodder awakening”? From the sound of it, he wanted to use the Godly Bones to resurrect Lan Yuanzhou?

Tsk. Jiang Qunyu silently lamented in his heart. As expected of the protagonist’s target, even after a hundred years of being blasted to smithereens, there’s still someone thinking of resurrecting him.

Looking at it that way, Su Fuyao’s love for Lan Yuanzhou was truly heart-and-soul genuine.

Beneath the tree, Su Fuyao did not sense Jiang Qunyu’s presence. He said irritably, “I finally gathered Brother Yuanzhou’s soul pieces. As long as I get these Godly Bones, I can bring him back to life. When that time comes, Brother Yuanzhou will definitely loathe that wretch Shen Peiqiu to death!”

The System said, maintaining its patience: Host, the Godly Bones are showing as being right here. If you don’t find them faster, people will be arriving here before long.

Hearing this, Su Fuyao cried again.

In order to resurrect Brother Yuanzhou, he had spent these past hundred-plus years searching for a way to let him be reborn. But that righteous-demonic war back then had been too tragic. Lan Yuanzhou had died under Wei Xun’s blade, his soul scattered and dissipated, not even leaving behind a single wisp of a remnant soul, completely annihilated between heaven and earth.

Su Fuyao truly loved Lan Yuanzhou with all his heart. Ever since he accidentally awakened and learned about the System he carried—which could steal Shen Peiqiu’s “luck” and bestow a “protagonist halo” upon him—his first thought had been to snatch away everything Shen Peiqiu had so that Brother Yuanzhou’s eyes would only be able to see him.

Therefore, he hated Wei Xun and Shen Peiqiu to the extreme. If Wei Xun hadn’t dealt the killing blow back then, and if Shen Peiqiu hadn’t just stood by and watched without saving him, Brother Yuanzhou would never have ended up like that.

Fortunately, he still had the System. Over these years, every time he gathered one thousand resentful spirits, the System would guide him to obtain one of Lan Yuanzhou’s soul pieces. Though he didn’t know what the System intended to do with those resentful spirits, as long as he could bring Brother Yuanzhou back, what did it matter if those spirits could never step into the River of Oblivion or undergo reincarnation?

He accused the air fiercely: “If it weren’t for Shen Peiqiu and that Demon Lord, Brother Yuanzhou would never have died! System, you are simply useless! Since you can give me a protagonist halo, why don’t you just kill the two of them? Or just have Brother Yuanzhou resurrected directly; why make me suffer so much?”

The System sounded slightly sarcastic: Host, the protagonist halo I added to you can only influence those with unstable minds. Obviously, neither Wei Xun nor Shen Peiqiu fits that description. If I can’t even influence them, how can I fulfill the two conditions you mentioned?

After this, the System clearly didn’t want to get tangled up with him anymore, and it delivered its final sentence in an icy tone: The host should find the Godly Bones as soon as possible; otherwise, the three souls and seven spirits of Lan Yuanzhou that you spent a hundred years of heart’s blood to gather will all end up being a wasted effort.

The voice faded, and the System went completely offline, leaving not a trace of sound behind.

Only Su Fuyao remained, standing on the spot, shaking with rage. His face was as pale as paper, his chest heaving violently, but he had nowhere to vent his anger.

He walked forward, but before he had gone far, his foot was suddenly tripped by an invisible force. His knees went weak, and he fell face-first into the dirt in a pathetic mess.

He cried for a while before getting up again to continue searching for the so-called Godly Bones.

Until the person had walked completely away, Jiang Qunyu slowly let go of the hand covering the small spirit’s mouth.

The small spirit had been smothered for nearly a quarter of an hour. Finally regaining its freedom, its little face was full of complexity as it stared straight at him: “I saw you secretly forming a seal just now. You were the one who tripped him on purpose.”

Jiang Qunyu curved his brows, a faint, lazy smile rippling in his eyes. He leaned back against the tree trunk and responded nonchalantly, “Otherwise, what?”

The small spirit tilted its head in confusion: “Why do you dislike him? Did you have a grudge before?”

Jiang Qunyu yawned: “Yeah. Didn’t you hear him cursing people just now?”

The small spirit: “Oh.”

Jiang Qunyu waited for a while, but seeing the small spirit didn’t continue to ask, he gave it a glance and kindly explained: “The demon lord he was cursing is my partner.”

The small spirit: “…”

It snapped, “I don’t want to know!” It had heard Jiang Qunyu mention his partner so many times! So annoying!

Seeing it didn’t take the bait, Jiang Qunyu clicked his tongue with slight disappointment.

After a moment of silence, the small spirit couldn’t help but speak up again: “Aren’t you going to follow him?”

Jiang Qunyu: “Why would I follow him?”

“He’s going to find the Godly Bones, and there’s something weird helping him all the time.”

Jiang Qunyu felt lethargic: “Not interested.”

If Su Fuyao couldn’t find them even with the System’s help, it would be a miracle if he could. Besides, Su Fuyao’s System looked like it was completely useless; Jiang Qunyu couldn’t be bothered to care.

He counted on his fingers and sighed again: “Eight more days.”

Isn’t this long-distance relationship way too long?

The small spirit gave him a complicated look, then huffed and flipped through the storybook, muttering under its breath: “Not a shred of sincerity!”

Netherworld Abyss.

Xie Chuan had waited for a whole day without seeing Jiang Qunyu, only to be met by a dark and sullen-faced Wei Xun.

Wei Xun’s tone was cold: “Roll down here.”

“Oh.” Xie Chuan jumped down from the tree and stood there struggling for a long moment, not knowing whether to continue calling him “Master” or just call him by his name, Wei Xun. In the end, he honestly said, “Master.”

He felt a bit strange: “Master, didn’t you say you might not be back for a few days?”

Wei Xun lowered his eyes, looking at the voice-transmission jade pendant in his palm.

Jiang Qunyu still hadn’t replied to him.

He smiled in a way that couldn’t be fathomed.

He asked: “Where is Jiang Qunyu?”

Xie Chuan said: “Master said he had things to do and didn’t let me follow him.”

Wei Xun remained silent for two seconds, the air pressure around him growing increasingly heavy. He turned and walked straight toward the West Palace, pushing open the palace doors.

Inside the room, Wen Xingyao had long since left.

“Wasn’t I told to have you watch this idiot?” Wei Xun’s eyes were pitch black, so deep that no emotion could be explored within them.

Xie Chuan’s mind went blank for a buzzing moment. He stood stunned for a long while before saying, “Ma—Master, I clearly always saw someone inside.”

Wei Xun stood quietly on the spot, not speaking for a long time.

After a while, he turned around and ordered with an expressionless face: “Send people to find Wen Xingyao.”

He paused, as if remembering something. A flash of cold light sparked in his eyes, and he added coldly: “And Qin Shiyue.”

Xie Chuan’s face went white as a sheet. He knelt down, bowing his head, a flash of regret in his eyes: “Master, I will accept my punishment after I return.”

Wei Xun curled his lips and smiled. Dense, bitter feelings and malevolence surged in his heart, but in the end, he suppressed it all: “If he wants to leave, you can’t stop him.”

Xie Chuan pressed his lips tight: “Then what about Master? Should I send people to find him?”

The air around Wei Xun turned a few degrees colder. He parted his thin lips and spoke one word at a time: “I will capture him personally.”

He had only been gone for one day.

Jiang Qunyu had disappeared…

He had left him behind again.

But let him leave him behind; he would always be able to find him. As long as he wasn’t hurt, it would be fine.

On the twenty-fifth day of staying in the secret realm, Jiang Qunyu tugged on the small spirit’s wing and said with a foul expression: “So you mean after the secret realm closes, I still can’t go back to the Nine Nethers?”

The small spirit squeaked and screeched as he tugged it, its short legs kicking wildly in the air as it complained indignantly: “Wasn’t I asking you to scratch my itch! You pulled on my wing hard again!”

“Heh,” Jiang Qunyu didn’t care about it at all, threatening, “If you don’t explain clearly, I’ll pull out both of your wings.”

The small spirit treasured its pair of thin, beautiful wings above all else. Hearing this, it instantly wilted, not daring to throw a tantrum anymore, and spoke honestly.

“That’s right! The Place of God’s Fall is unpredictable. Every time the secret realm closes, the people inside are randomly teleported to all corners of the five realms; there’s no way to control the landing point. But you—you didn’t know anything; how did you even get into this secret realm?”

Jiang Qunyu was also feeling incredibly stifled in his heart. He wanted to know too—who exactly had pushed him in!

“Hahaha—” He was out of ideas. “Just go ahead and sabotage me like this!”

The small spirit huffed: “But it’s not like there isn’t a way to get out early.”

Jiang Qunyu stopped pulling its wings and held it up: “Oh?”

The small spirit flapped its wings to steady itself before speaking: “Just find the Godly Bones. This secret realm is supported by the power of the Godly Bones to exist. As long as the Godly Bones are found, the secret realm loses its support and will dissipate ahead of time, and the people inside can leave this place directly.”

Jiang Qunyu: “…”

He remained silent for a long moment, then gritted his teeth: “Damn it, why didn’t you say so earlier?”

The small spirit then saw the person who had been acting lazy suddenly leap off the tree trunk. With a flick of his wrist, he gripped the small, bow-and-arrow-like red scythe and walked forward without looking back.

“Wait for me!” The small spirit was going to die of anger. “You are crossing the river and then burning the bridge! You’re too much!”

Jiang Qunyu: “You were the one withholding information.”

The small spirit: “You didn’t ask me.”

“…”

The human and the spirit bickered and fussed for two days.

Until the twenty-seventh day of entering the secret realm, the small spirit, which had been chattering away, suddenly went quiet. It lay on Jiang Qunyu’s shoulder, frowned, and whispered: “The second Godly Bone has been found.”

Jiang Qunyu hadn’t reacted yet when the secret realm suddenly shook violently. The ground split into hideous patterns, and the blue sky shattered like broken glass, crumbling bit by bit.

The swirling clouds and mist, and the lush spiritual plants, all turned into nothingness amidst the violent tremors. In the span of a single breath, the entire secret realm collapsed and dissipated completely.

A tyrannical and unmatched spatial force suddenly enveloped Jiang Qunyu. Between the world spinning around him, he didn’t even have the strength to resist before he was fiercely thrown into another world.

Under his feet was hot, yellow sand. One gust of wind rolled up sand and dust that filled the sky, making it impossible for people to open their eyes. Looking as far as the eye could see, the boundless desert stretched to the horizon. There wasn’t a single blade of grass or sign of life. The scorching sun hung high in the grey sky, roasting the earth, making even the air twist and evaporate.

When Jiang Qunyu stood steady, he realized there were several other cultivators standing in this desert.

Everyone had a look of astonishment on their faces, obviously also having been teleported here by the spatial energy of the secret realm. Some had chaotic spiritual energy, others held artifacts and looked around vigilantly, whispering and discussing the sudden change in the secret realm.

“This means the Godly Bones were found, right?” one cultivator said in shock.

Another answered: “Which great expert made a move? Could it be that someone is really going to use the Godly Bones to break through and ascend?”

“It’s just a rumor. Whether the Godly Bones can actually allow a Unity Realm cultivator to break through is still up for debate, and even if someone can get those bones, surely they wouldn’t be an ordinary cultivator? In any case, it’s not something we can covet. I had a bountiful harvest in the secret realm this time; that’s enough.”

“That’s true.” The other cultivators echoed and nodded.

Only Jiang Qunyu was left speechless: “…”

So after all that busywork, I’ve been tossed to yet another desolate, godforsaken place?

He had zero affection for this troublesome Place of God’s Fall. With a cold face, he turned around, wanting to find a way to leave, but the moment he turned, his gaze caught a familiar figure not far away.

He raised an eyebrow, thinking it couldn’t possibly be such a coincidence, could it?

“Wen Xingyao?” he tested, calling out.

Wen Xingyao thought he had misheard. He stared blankly as he turned back, and the moment he saw Jiang Qunyu, his eyes turned red. He lunged over, howling mournfully: “Jiang Qunyu!”