Translator: CinderTL
After a long moment, the old woman set down her ceramic bowl, her face radiating kindness as she turned to Xu Sanyan and beckoned him over. "Come, sit."
"Yes," Xu Sanyan replied obediently, pulling up a stool and settling down.
"You say you're from the outside world?"
"That's right."
"Hmm... Years ago, others like you came here, but that was centuries ago." The old woman retrieved a walking stick from the corner and slowly lowered herself into a wooden chair.
"Centuries..." Xu Sanyan frowned, sensing a discrepancy.
In the previous secret realm, the ghost city, he had learned from the Old Ghost of the Brokerage Firm that everything within the realm remained frozen in time until trial-takers like them arrived.
But the old woman's words suggested otherwise.
Even without the trial-takers, the secret realm continued to function normally?
Could it be that each secret realm operated under different rules?
"What did they come here for?" Xu Sanyan asked, his voice tense.
"They come for all sorts of reasons," the old woman said, her gaze lingering pointedly on Xu Sanyan. "Some marry into the tribe to gain blessings, others steal Earth Vein Stones to study the principles behind those blessings. And then there are those driven by simple lust, seeing the tribe's maidens as easy targets."
"Uh... don't worry, I'm not like them," Xu Sanyan assured her earnestly.
"Heh..."
The old woman didn't argue. "But they also bring valuable things. Take these..." She gestured to the medicinal herbs. "Some trade herbalism for blessings, while others share different skills. Each takes what they need, and there's nothing wrong with that."
Xu Sanyan pressed his lips together, pondering which of his skills didn't require spiritual power.
Nearly all his mystical arts relied on spiritual power, except for the Lu Clan's Spirit Refining Force.
Even that technique required spiritual power in its early stages. Without it, one couldn't introspect their divine soul, making even the initial steps impossible. Since these natives couldn't sense their divine souls, they naturally couldn't cultivate it.
Xu Sanyan opened his panel and glanced at the dense array of mystical arts—over a dozen in total. He barely needed to look at most of them before they were recorded on the panel.
The arts that required no spiritual power were all mundane martial techniques, such as the Three Tigers Subduing Dragon Saber he had mastered during his early days roaming the Northwest Desert. He doubted she would find such techniques worthy of her attention.
"Sigh..." Xu Sanyan sighed softly. Has losing my spiritual power reduced me to nothing more than a pretty face?
The old woman didn't press him. She simply said, "If you agree to marry into our Dog Clan, we can bestow a blessing upon you once, as is our custom. All we require is that you leave behind offspring."
Xu Sanyan frowned slightly, his pride bristling at the thought. I, whose name once shook the cultivation world, hailed as the foremost young cultivator of my generation, reduced to nothing more than a breeding stud?
"Is there truly no other way?" Xu Sanyan asked, clinging to a sliver of hope.
A dark glint flickered in the old woman's cloudy eyes. "There is one other method..."
"Please, tell me."
"I've heard outsiders like you excel in Divine Soul Arts?" The old woman's smile remained, but it no longer held the same warmth as before.
Xu Sanyan secretly tensed, unable to discern the old woman's true intentions.
Within this secret realm, Divine Soul Arts still functioned normally. He could effortlessly conjure divine soul spikes at will.
While the natives here possessed formidable physical bodies, their divine souls might not be equally strong. If pushed to the brink, he had a desperate measure at his disposal.
Moreover, since breaking through to Soul Refinement, his divine soul had grown significantly, further refined by the Nether Phoenix. It was now a formidable weapon, far surpassing its former state.
However, he would only resort to it as a last resort.
Depleting his divine soul power would require an agonizingly slow recovery. Though he carried soul crystals, absorbing them still required spiritual power as a catalyst, which he currently lacked. His only option was to rely on his divine soul's natural regeneration.
"What do you mean? Just say it directly," Xu Sanyan said, unwilling to play games.
"Heh, very well, I'll be blunt."
A nostalgic glint appeared in the old woman's eyes. "About three hundred years ago, when I was still a child, a group of people appeared here, just like you."
"Among them were several skilled in Divine Soul Arts. Though their overall strength was weak, their Divine Soul Arts were truly impossible to defend against, causing us to suffer heavy losses..."
"You're standing so close to me. Aren't you afraid I might suddenly attack?" Xu Sanyan quipped, his joke ill-timed.
"Heh heh..."
The old woman chuckled and shook her head. "This old one's time is near its end. What is there to fear? Besides, if you were to kill me, you'd likely meet your own death soon after. Divine Soul Arts may be profound, but they're difficult to sustain. Am I wrong?"
Xu Sanyan narrowed his eyes. This old crone knew more than he'd expected.
Indeed, as she said, Divine Soul Arts were effective for ambushes but impractical as a regular tactic. Even with his abundant divine soul power, he couldn't afford to squander it recklessly.
To illustrate, if his total divine soul power was one hundred, he could conjure one hundred divine soul spikes with a mass of 'one' each, but their power would be negligible.
If he focused his power into ten spikes with a mass of 'ten' each, their potency would be considerable.
However, to shatter an ordinary person's divine soul with a single strike, he'd need to condense five spikes with a mass of 'twenty' each.
Even if Xu Sanyan gave his all, he could only kill five people at most.
"What do you mean?"
After all that, Xu Sanyan still didn't understand her point.
"Help me kill two people." The old woman's smile remained gentle, as if she were casually inviting someone to dinner rather than discussing murder.
"Kill?" Xu Sanyan raised an eyebrow, speaking slowly. "As you can see, I'm a kind-hearted person by nature. I dislike violence and can't even bear to step on roadside flowers and grass..."
The old woman dismissed his words as nonsense, slowly extending two fingers. "Two blessings."
"Three," Xu Sanyan countered, looking up.
"Hmm... acceptable."
"And I want the blessings first," Xu Sanyan added, wary of her reneging on the deal later.
The old woman shook her head. "At most, I'll grant you one blessing beforehand."
"Two."
"Very well."
Xu Sanyan grinned. "Who do you want killed?"
"The clan chiefs of the Bear Clan and the Snake Clan." The old woman leaned on her cane and rose to her feet, pacing slowly. "I'll create the opportunity for you."
"Good," Xu Sanyan nodded. "When can we start the blessings?"
This was what truly concerned him.
The old woman pondered briefly. "We need some preparations. Let's begin the first blessing ceremony in two days."
"Very well."
Xu Sanyan rose to leave, but suddenly turned back. "Why do you want to kill the clan chiefs of the Bear Clan and Snake Clan?"
The old woman strained to lift her eyelids, a cold glint seeming to flash through her cloudy pupils. She sighed.
"This old body has few years left, while they were still so young."
"Young people have ambition..."
Leaning heavily on her cane, she hobbled over to the clay pot and resumed arranging the medicinal herbs.
Tch...
Xu Sanyan shook his head. The old hag was on her last legs, yet she wanted to drag others down with her before she died. Truly venomous.
As he emerged from the cave, Xun Ancai seized his arm, her face flushed with excitement. "Did the clan chief agree to let you marry me?"
Xu Sanyan slowly withdrew his arm, avoiding a direct answer. "I'm hungry."
"My family has food!" Xun Ancai immediately offered.
"I have nowhere to stay."
"My family has room!"
Xu Sanyan nodded, inwardly pleased. A proper lapdog.
(End of the Chapter)
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