LABMY CH117

Phoenix: “Your master didn’t tell you?”

“The way your spiritual energy flows now is exactly what happens when you cultivate the Dual Cultivation Technique.”

“The technique appears to refine your internal energy, but in reality, it also manifests externally. Before, your strikes were powerful and forceful, but now, it’s completely different.”

“On the surface, he’s the grand and righteous sect master, but in the dark, he’s just a filthy scumbag who treats his disciple as a furnace. Ridiculous, truly ridiculous.”

Mu Jingzhuo immediately refuted, “You’re talking nonsense!”

The phoenix let out a cold laugh, “Am I? Then ask yourself, did your master, the almighty Sect Master Jian, ever tell you that this technique is the Dual Cultivation Technique? If he had nothing to hide, why—”

Jian Yuanbai, who had just arrived and heard the entire conversation, felt his heart sink. He knew he couldn’t let the phoenix continue speaking. With a sudden wave of his hand, the surrounding seawater formed a massive wall, crashing toward “Zhao Ziji” with overwhelming force.

His attack was swift and lethal, leaving the phoenix no chance to speak again.

The phoenix was shocked and quickly retreated into Zhao Ziji’s body, burning its soul as the price to unleash unprecedented power. Like a serpent diving through water, it vanished in the blink of an eye.

“Are you alright?” Jian Yuanbai’s heart pounded with anxiety, but he forced himself to maintain a calm expression. If one looked closely, they could see the tension beneath his concern. However, Mu Jingzhuo was too lost in thought to notice anything unusual.

Mu Jingzhuo shook his head without speaking. His expression was blank, as if something had struck his heart and left him utterly shaken.

Jian Yuanbai swallowed nervously. “They’ve gone down. Should we follow?”

“Did he try to kill you just now?”

Mu Jingzhuo dazedly nodded. After a moment, he suddenly lifted his head, as if finally reacting, “Yes… yes, we need to follow.”

Jian Yuanbai’s heart sank further. The worse thing about this situation was that Mu Jingzhuo’s mind had gone blank. He couldn’t even find the words to ask what Mu Jingzhuo was truly thinking.

The two dove to the bottom of the sea. Along the seabed, a massive black stone gate had already opened. The blood that had once sealed it flowed in two streams, surging forward in a steady cycle. The deep sea was silent and perilous. The crack in the gate was small, and a faint light glowed from within, hinting at the unknown fate that awaited them.

The people who entered earlier were nowhere to be seen. Jian Yuanbai led the way, holding onto Mu Jingzhuo’s hand as they stepped through the gate.

Inside was a long tunnel, smooth and polished like a cave. The path was flat, with none of the uneven terrain of the seabed. It was vast and empty, and their footsteps echoed softly as they walked.

The atmosphere was silent and eerie, making Jian Yuanbai even more anxious. Although they claimed to be chasing after the others, their pace was slow, more like a leisurely stroll.

It wasn’t that Jian Yuanbai didn’t want to move faster, but Mu Jingzhuo was lost in thought, only following Jian Yuanbai’s lead with vacant eyes and heavy steps.

Just as Jian Yuanbai was about to speak, Mu Jingzhuo suddenly asked, “Do you think… my master really made me cultivate the Dual Cultivation Technique?”

Here it comes!

Jian Yuanbai hadn’t thought of a good excuse yet. If he were truly Mu Jingzhuo’s master, he could explain everything. But now, he was playing the role of an enemy!

Damn it! I dug my own grave!

After a moment of silence, he cautiously replied, “Could there be some hidden truth behind this?”

“Although I don’t get along with your master, from what I know, he’s not that kind of person.”

Mu Jingzhuo muttered, “Honestly, I’ve always felt something strange… This technique fluctuates between cold and hot. If it’s truly the Dual Cultivation Technique, everything makes sense.”

He wasn’t looking at Jian Yuanbai when he spoke, more like he was talking to himself.

“But why would my master make me cultivate the Dual Cultivation Technique?”

“Was he really using me as a furnace?”

Mu Jingzhuo quickly denied it, “No… I don’t believe it.”

“My master is already powerful enough to ascend. He crushed the Sect Master of Wenxian Sect, Shi Yun, who was also in the Great Ascension Stage. He has no need to raise a furnace from the Foundation Establishment Stage.”

“Then…” Mu Jingzhuo murmured, “Why did he lie to me and call this technique ‘Nameless’?”

He let out a bitter laugh, “The ultimate path is simplicity, so it’s nameless.”

That was what his master said when he handed over the technique.

Mu Jingzhuo didn’t cry, but he looked utterly lost, like a man standing beneath a crumbling tower, unable to leave and unwilling to escape.

Seeing this, Jian Yuanbai’s heart tightened. He belatedly realized he had made a huge mistake. Even if he had given both techniques to Mu Jingzhuo from the start, he should never have hidden the truth.

If he had explained it himself, it would have been different. But now, hearing it from an enemy filled with malicious intent left Mu Jingzhuo in complete despair.

Jian Yuanbai’s mind raced, trying to come up with something to fix the situation. Suddenly, a thought popped up, and he blurted out:

“Maybe… maybe your master likes you!”

Once the words were out, it was easier to keep going.

“He had impure intentions and secretly coveted your beauty!”

“Think about it. He’s already in the Great Ascension Stage! People at that level are ancient! And you… you’re only seventeen, young and beautiful like a blooming flower. Of course he feels inferior!”

“No… not inferior,” Jian Yuanbai quickly corrected himself, realizing it didn’t make sense for a Great Ascension cultivator to feel insecure. He continued with conviction, “He’s mentally twisted!”

“That’s why he didn’t dare to tell you the truth. Plus, you’re still his disciple. He must have wanted you to cultivate the Dual Cultivation Technique first to change your physique, so he could gradually control you and make you unable to leave him.”

“What a pervert with ulterior motives! Your master—”

The system couldn’t bear it any longer and interrupted with a heavy tone: “Say less.”

“One slap made those who slandered you run away, and now you’re the one slandering yourself.”

“Impressive.”

Jian Yuanbai was on high alert: “Slander? What slander? What does Little Spoon’s master have to do with me?”

He was so nervous that he subconsciously tried to distance himself even in front of the system.

Mu Jingzhu, who was lost in his thoughts, was finally jolted back to reality by Jian Yuanbai’s series of words. His lips parted slightly in surprise, and his beautiful eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Jian Yuanbai, “No… no way.”

Jian Yuanbai said firmly, “It must be!”

“Having such impure intentions toward your own disciple… Pervert!”

He paused and added, “A deeply scheming pervert!”

Jian Yuanbai might be the first person in history to insult himself so passionately.

The system couldn’t bear to watch and closed its eyes. It thought, if someone like Jian Yuanbai could be considered deeply scheming, then there wouldn’t be anyone truly scheming in this world.

Sometimes, he was indeed reliable.

But other times, when he acted foolish, even the system couldn’t watch.

“Aren’t you worried that if the truth is exposed one day, your two identities being the same person will come back to bite you?”

Jian Yuanbai insisted, “Little Spoon won’t find out.”

The system’s tone was eerie: “Last time, when it was the Dual Cultivation Technique, you said the same thing.”

Jian Yuanbai fell silent. Thinking back carefully, he realized that was true.

He cautiously glanced at Mu Jingzhu, who had fallen back into deep thought, and pondered how to patch things up. He tried to backtrack, “Actually, after thinking about it, maybe that’s not the case…”

Before he could finish, the long corridor reached its end, and the scene before them left both of them stunned.

It was an inverted bowl-shaped sinkhole. Though they were under the sea, there was not a drop of water. At the bottom of the massive pit, the cultivators who had just come down from the shore were sitting cross-legged.

In the depths of the pit, the cultivators appeared as small as insects, but the spiritual energy emanating from them was vast and dense.

Jian Yuanbai and Mu Jingzhu stood at the edge of the pit. Logically, the people below should have noticed them at first glance. Yet, not a single person in the pit paid them any attention.

“Mu Jingzhu?”

Suddenly, a voice came from the side. Two elders from the Wangyun Sect, Elder Yan and Elder Xiong, emerged from the shadows.

The two elders glanced at Jian Yuanbai with suspicion. “And this is…?”

Mu Jingzhu replied, “My friend.”

Jian Yuanbai added, “His Dao companion.”

The Phoenix and he shared the same origin, while these two elders had far inferior bloodlines—one was a bird-type demon beast, and the other was a bear. Jian Yuanbai was not afraid they would recognize him.

Under the elders’ doubtful gazes, Mu Jingzhu coughed lightly, “Yes, Dao companion.”

He had just learned that the cultivation technique his master from the Wangyun Sect had given him was the Dual Cultivation Technique. Upon seeing the two elders now, he couldn’t describe his feelings.

Facing the elders’ shocked and bewildered expressions, Mu Jingzhu suddenly had an idea.

He leaned closer to the tall man beside him, tiptoed, and kissed the corner of his lips. Then, he intimately wrapped his arm around the man’s, staring at Jian Yuanbai’s face, which was flushed red to the tips of his ears, and said, “We’re about to officially form a Dao bond.”

Perhaps this way, the news would spread to his master’s ears through these two elders.

He originally wanted to kiss him on the lips but felt too embarrassed, so he settled for the corner of the lips…

Mu Jingzhu’s bold move left Jian Yuanbai stunned. He turned to look at Mu Jingzhu and saw his flushed ears and a face as red as a ripe peach.

Knowing it was inappropriate, Jian Yuanbai couldn’t help but feel a flutter in his heart as he watched Mu Jingzhu’s shy and trembling eyelashes.

The system, being a fragment of Jian Yuanbai’s soul, could almost perfectly guess Mu Jingzhu’s thoughts: “He’s probably trying to use this method to tell his master that he already has a Dao companion, so the master doesn’t need to set his sights on him.”

“For someone as thin-skinned as Mu Jingzhu to kiss someone in public… Tsk.”

The system paused and then concluded coldly, “In any case, when Mu Jingzhu eventually discovers that you are his master, and his master is you…”

It chuckled with a chilling tone: “You’d better prepare a coffin for yourself in advance.”

“If you buy it yourself, at least you can pick a good one that’s comfortable to lie in.”

Elder Yan, with a poker face, said, “Then I wish you two a happy union for a hundred years.”

Elder Xiong elbowed him, “Cultivators live far longer than a hundred years.”

Feeling awkward, Elder Xiong forced a smile and turned to Mu Jingzhu, “Don’t mind him. Elder Yan has always been bad with words.”

Elder Yan: “A thousand years of bliss.”

Elder Xiong: …… A godly “thousand years of bliss.”

Mu Jingzhu felt embarrassed and quickly waved his hand, “No, no, let’s talk about what’s happening here.”

The one who initiated the act was Mu Jingzhu, yet the one who wasn’t embarrassed at all was Elder Yan, making the whole situation awkwardly comical.

Elder Yan explained, “The spiritual energy here is extremely dense. In the time it takes to burn one incense stick, several people have already advanced to a higher realm.”

“Those who come down can’t even be bothered to fight. They just sit and cultivate.”

Elder Xiong sighed, “The density of the spiritual energy here far surpasses any Spirit Gathering Array, even if it were formed with top-grade spirit stones. One can only imagine what’s beneath this pit.”

As they spoke, several cultivators in the pit suddenly experienced surges of spiritual energy, directly advancing in realm.

Jian Yuanbai frowned, “Foundation Establishment breaking through to Golden Core, yet no heavenly tribulation is descending. Interesting.”

Mu Jingzhu was stunned, “They advanced to Golden Core?!”

“In just this short time?”

Jian Yuanbai: “Not just that.”

He pointed to a cultivator in a black robe from the Heavenly Demon Sect: “That one advanced from Golden Core to Nascent Soul.”

Then he pointed to another cultivator from the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect: “Same here.”

Mu Jingzhu was bewildered, “But after Foundation Establishment, every major breakthrough should trigger heavenly tribulation. Even at the deepest part of the Asriga Empire, the tribulation should still descend.”

“When something is this abnormal, there must be something strange going on.”

Mu Jingzhu stared at the meditating cultivators in the pit, utterly confused.

Elder Yan and Elder Xiong exchanged glances. They both knew there was only one place where advancing beyond Foundation Establishment wouldn’t trigger heavenly tribulation.

But that was something they could never reveal to Mu Jingzhu.

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

If the people of the Asriga Empire one day discovered that everything they spent their entire lives pursuing was merely someone else’s starting point, the blow would be devastating.

They had to find a way to return to the sect and report everything to the sect master.

The two elders, unaware that the sect master was right beside them, heard Jian Yuanbai suddenly ask, “Where did the Grand Advisor of the Asriga Imperial Court go?”

These words gave the two elders a sudden shock, and they quickly looked down. However, no matter how many times their eyes scanned the bottom of the pit, they couldn’t find the figure of the Asriga Imperial Court’s Grand Advisor.

The disciples brought by the Grand Advisor were all present, even the Crown Prince was here, but the Grand Advisor was nowhere to be seen.

Elder Xiong panicked, “Impossible! We’ve been watching this place the entire time and never saw him leave.”

Elder Yan furrowed his brows and said, “We came down together. After they discovered this place was extremely beneficial for cultivation and sat down to cultivate, we quietly came back up.”

“From beginning to end, we didn’t see anyone leave. Aside from the two of you, no one else entered.”

Jian Yuanbai glanced at Mu Jingzhuo, and their eyes met. If no one entered or left, then where did Zhao Ziji go?

“Not only is the Grand Advisor of the Asriga Imperial Court missing, but the Sect Master of the Wenxian Sect, Shi Yun, and Shen Zhilan are also not here.”

Jian Yuanbai spoke again, and these words made Elder Yan and Elder Xiong furrow their brows even tighter.

If they lost track of just one person, it could still be explained. But now, three people disappeared right under their noses, and they hadn’t even noticed until someone pointed it out.

Jian Yuanbai noticed the two elders’ tense expressions and said, “It’s not entirely your fault. The Grand Advisor’s strength is unfathomable, and the Wenxian Sect’s Sect Master is also at the Great Ascension Stage. You two are injured, so it’s normal that they managed to avoid your detection.”

Elder Yan and Elder Xiong, who were merely tense before, now turned pale.

Shock, doubt, and suspicion filled their eyes.

Who exactly was this person?

How could he tell at a glance that the two of them were injured?

Before they could probe further, the situation below suddenly took a sharp turn.

The group of people who had been immersed in cultivation stopped absorbing spiritual energy. Instead, their life force began to rapidly drain from their bodies.

Yet, they remained unaware, with joyful smiles on their faces, indulging in the dream of ascending to immortality in one step.

Suddenly, the entire pit trembled violently. The shaking was so intense that Mu Jingzhuo, who was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, couldn’t keep his balance.

Even Elder Yan and Elder Xiong swayed slightly, but Jian Yuanbai stood firm, as steady as a boulder.

Apart from him, the cultivators in the pit remained motionless. They no longer looked like they were cultivating but more like statues fused with the ground.

Elder Xiong exclaimed, “What’s going on?”

“Their life force is draining rapidly, yet they show no reaction. And now, with the ground shaking like this, why aren’t they even opening their eyes?”

“Isn’t a quiet and stable environment essential for cultivation?”

Although Mu Jingzhuo couldn’t see the life force leaking from their bodies, he keenly noticed that some of the weaker cultivators’ faces had already developed wrinkles in such a short time.

And the aging process was still accelerating.

“Go!” Jian Yuanbai suddenly shouted without participating in their discussion.

He pulled Mu Jingzhuo back at full speed, and Elder Yan and Elder Xiong quickly followed suit.

Elder Xiong shouted, “The spiritual energy can’t be used!!”

“Be careful!!”

Countless massive silver boulders, carrying an ominous aura, suddenly fell from above. Jian Yuanbai and the others narrowly retreated to the tunnel entrance, barely avoiding the falling rocks.

However, they saw that the cultivators in the pit did not dodge at all. Just before the boulders completely fell, they finally opened their eyes.

The joy in their eyes had not fully faded before it turned into fear. The cultivators who tried to escape found that their bodies seemed glued to the ground and could only watch helplessly as the boulders drew closer.

With a ripping sound, their clothes and flesh were torn from their legs, and bloody skin peeled off and stuck to their thighs.

Those who managed to stand up and attempt to flee were crushed into a puddle of flesh by the falling boulders with a deafening crash.

It was as if some sinister force deliberately wanted them to wake up at the moment of death, helplessly witnessing their own demise.

They didn’t even have time to scream before their bones shattered and their flesh exploded, turning them into a bloody pulp.

It all happened as quickly as it ended, just like the blood-colored vortex before.

The surroundings fell silent, leaving only the blood slowly seeping out from beneath the boulders, staining the ground red.

Everyone in the pit, regardless of their cultivation level, had died.

It would sound ridiculous to outsiders that several powerful cultivators at the Nascent Soul and Soul Formation Stages were crushed to death by mere stones.

Such an utterly humiliating death.

The silver boulders emitted a strange creaking sound. In front of Jian Yuanbai and the others, the boulders suddenly cracked open, and a strange liquid flowed out.

Inside the boulders was not rock but water—specifically, water from the Fallen Water Sea.

The water diluted the blood and flesh on the ground, but the red stains spread across the surface.

Drip. Drip.

Someone walked through the water and casually tossed an unconscious person into the pool of blood. Then, they threw another bound person beside her.

These three people were none other than the Grand Advisor, Shi Yun, and Shen Zhilan.

The Grand Advisor smiled and looked at Shi Yun, who was struggling in vain, and said, “Don’t waste your energy. This is the supreme magical artifact, the Binding Immortal Lock. You can’t break free.”

Shi Yun glared at him with hatred, “You’ve killed so many people. You will die a horrible death.”

The Grand Advisor chuckled indifferently, “I don’t know whether I’ll die or not, but you’ll definitely die before me.”

“No one can judge my deeds, and you, a mere Sect Master, understand nothing.”

“But don’t worry. Your death will not be in vain. Your flesh and blood will become the key to opening the new world.”

“However, before killing you, I need to deal with a few little rats first.”

The Grand Advisor raised his head and looked towards the tunnel above. “Everyone up there, do you want me to invite you out?”

“Even if you don’t want to come out, you’d better not head for the main entrance.”

He smiled strangely with a hint of malice, “Because the door is already closed.”

Jian Yuanbai stepped out with the others. When the Grand Advisor saw the people in his sight, he was slightly surprised.

His gaze landed on Mu Jingzhuo, who was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, “What? Even a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator dares to meddle in my affairs?”

Suddenly, a chime echoed in Jian Yuanbai’s mind, which only he could hear. His heart tightened.

“Mission time: One incense stick.”

Hearing the system’s words, Jian Yuanbai turned to Mu Jingzhuo.

“Little Spoon.”

Jian Yuanbai transmitted his voice, “Do you remember the promise you made to me?”

“You agreed that as long as it doesn’t violate your principles, you’d do whatever I ask.”

Mu Jingzhuo was confused by the sudden request but still nodded obediently, “I remember.”

Jian Yuanbai placed his hand on Mu Jingzhuo’s shoulder, “I need you to go down there and say one thing to that arrogant trash.”

“Even though I’m only at the Nascent Soul Stage, and you’re far stronger than me, today, you will die by my blade.”

“If I say you’ll die, you will die. Even the immortals can’t save you.”

Because of the butterfly effect, the Grand Advisor’s plan was activated far earlier than in the original storyline. At this point, Mu Jingzhuo should have already been at the Nascent Soul Stage, but he was still at Foundation Establishment.

Jian Yuanbai had no idea what would happen if Mu Jingzhuo said these words now. However, he knew that if he asked directly, Mu Jingzhuo would definitely refuse, so he used the promise from the past.

Mu Jingzhuo’s eyes widened in shock and hesitation.

Was this… his master?

Why… was this man suddenly making the same request as his master?