Chapter 1370

"Not bad. Originally, the siege that would only appear tens of thousands of years later, even the rumored war of the hundred tribes might break out because of this." The old monk murmured.

"Brother Jin Yue, why beat around the bush? I already know all these things. But what does this have to do with what we just discussed? Aren't all the tribes now trembling with fear, afraid of being dragged into this?" The Daoist priest still looked somewhat puzzled.

"Afraid of being dragged in? Hehe, since this matter has appeared, which tribe can possibly avoid it? According to the convention of the appearance of the Xuan Tian treasure in the past, every time it brings about a bloody storm before it truly manifests. And the tribe that ultimately obtains this treasure can, by offering sacrifices to it, invite a True Spirit-level existence to become their guardian, instantly becoming a powerful tribe in the Spirit Realm. Such True Spirit-level beings can contend on equal footing with immortals of the True Immortal Realm. Of course, before a powerful True Spirit appears, the tribe that obtains this treasure must also have the ability to retain it; otherwise, they will only be making wedding clothes for others. If the tribe that first obtains this treasure is too weak, they may panic and offer it to a stronger tribe for protection, or simply discard it far into the barbaric lands to avoid extermination."

The Daoist priest still did not understand, but at this moment he did not speak up to interrupt the old monk's words.

Indeed, the monk paused only briefly before immediately continuing:

"Logically speaking, which tribe the Xuan Tian treasure appears in was originally hard to predict with our two tribes' strength. But this time, a being at the Body Integration stage with some prophetic divine ability in the demon tribe, knowing they had no hope of surviving this heavenly tribulation, actually stimulated their potential and used their lifetime magic power to divine the approximate location of this treasure. The divination showed that this Xuan Tian Slaying Spirit Sword is located in the northwestern corner of the Wind Yuan Continent where our human tribe resides. Although the Wind Yuan Continent is the smallest of the three known continents, the number of tribes there far exceeds that of other continents. The so-called northwestern corner includes our human tribe, demon tribe, spirit tribe, wood tribe, Winged Yecha tribe, Shadow tribe, and several other small tribes, about six or seven in total. Thus, this newly appeared Xuan Tian treasure might also appear among our human tribe. For now, only the human and demon tribes know this news, but it cannot be concealed for long, as there must be spies from other tribes among us, and there is no impenetrable wall in this world. Once other tribes learn of this, the consequences will be clear to you."

When the old monk finished speaking, his face bore a bitter smile.

"What? Such a thing exists? Isn't it saying that our human tribe might easily be exterminated by accident?" The Daoist priest's face turned dark green.

"According to ancient legend, if a large number of powerful beings are exterminated in a certain area within a certain time, one can forcibly summon the Xuan Tian treasure located in that area through a mysterious blood sacrifice method. With our several tribes' strength, those powerful tribes would not mind exterminating our few tribes entirely to use them for the summoning blood sacrifice. Was not the previous war of the hundred tribes exactly like the current fourth-ranked 'Heaven-Shielding Shield,' whose original owner brought it fleeing across three continents for ten thousand years, nearly dragging seven or eight out of ten tribes on the continent into it, while those exterminated weak tribes almost became the blood sacrifice targets? Moreover, no matter which tribe holds this treasure, if our northwestern tribes know it is in this area, to escape the fate of blood sacrifice, they will immediately erupt into war, striving to make other tribes become the blood sacrifice targets."

"Ah, I see…… You let those newly ascended cultivators suddenly leave Tian Yuan City and go to foreign tribes' lands—could it be that you suspected……" The Daoist priest suddenly seemed to realize something.

"Exactly! What kind of thing is this Xuan Tian treasure? It is a heaven-defying treasure capable of reversing the power of a realm's laws, but it is not necessarily from our Spirit Realm; it might also be a Xuan Tian treasure brought from the lower realm. Although this possibility is slim, in the past hundred years, every ascended cultivator with even a hint of suspicion has been sent by me to foreign tribes to perform the most dangerous missions. Regardless of whether the mission is completed, they will ultimately find they cannot return to Tian Yuan City in a short time. Of course, cultivators from our native land with even a hint of suspicion have also been transferred outside Tian Yuan City and forcibly exiled to the barbaric world for various reasons. Besides this group, another group of exceptionally talented and astonishingly promising individuals will also be dispatched to the barbaric world. The benefit of this is that if someone truly carries the Xuan Tian Slaying Spirit Sword, they can shift the disaster eastward. If, in the war below, our two tribes should happen to suffer a major defeat, this group could still be the hope for our two tribes to continue and rise again."

"Why go through all this trouble? If we want to verify whether this Xuan Tian treasure is truly in these people's hands, we can simply……"

"We can simply use the mysterious soul-control technique to search their divine senses one by one. But even if we truly find that the Heaven Xuan Slaying Spirit Sword is in our tribe's hands, what good would it do? This thing is nothing but a hot potato! You cannot guarantee that the executor or even the elders are free from tribe-changing lurkers. Once this news leaks, not only will our human tribe immediately become the target of public criticism in a short time, but even the demon tribe, for self-preservation, might possibly withdraw from our alliance. By then, our human tribe will surely perish."

"We are not a powerful tribe; we cannot hold this treasure until a True Spirit-level existence comes knocking, nor can we imagine offering it to those powerful tribes for protection—estimates suggest the Shadow tribe and others would not even leave us this opportunity. Instead, we should feign ignorance and first deal with the impending war. Before it is confirmed which tribe ultimately holds the Xuan Tian treasure, the most likely attackers on us are only the Wood and Shadow tribe alliance. With our human and demon tribes and the existence of Tian Yuan City, we can completely withstand it. The Spirit tribe and Black Yecha tribe are fighting happily; upon hearing this news, they will only fight more fiercely. At worst, our several tribes may suffer heavy casualties, but that would be enough to meet the conditions for the blood sacrifice summoning of the Xuan Tian treasure. No matter which tribe originally held this treasure, as long as it is summoned away, we will have endured this calamity. But to determine the outcome before those powerful tribes arrive here, we estimate this war will differ from previous siege battles that often lasted over a hundred years—once it begins, it will likely yield results within a few years, with a cruelty far beyond comparison."

"Hehe, the masters of the other tribes probably think much the same. Otherwise, have you heard of any tribe's people truly devoting themselves to searching for this Xuan Tian Slaying Spirit Sword? They are all just actively preparing for war." The old monk said this at ease.

"When did you learn this news? Why did I receive no news before? Did the Elder Council intentionally conceal it from me?" After hearing these words, the Daoist priest's eyes flashed, he stood dazed in place for half a day, then asked somewhat displeased.

"Quite simple. I only did this after discovering your identity was problematic. I do not know whether I should continue to address you as Lei Luo True Person, or call you Purple Shadow my lord." The old monk's eyes suddenly shone brightly, and without any omen, his voice turned cold.

"What Purple Shadow? Master Jin Yue, what do you mean by this?" The Daoist priest showed no abnormality, merely frowning.

"Hehe, the time is about right. It should take effect now." The old monk ignored the Daoist priest, instead sweeping his gaze to a small exquisite incense burner in the corner, where a stick of spirit incense was burning, already half-consumed.

"What time has arrived? No, this incense……" The Daoist priest's eyes flashed purple light, his face suddenly changed dramatically, and almost simultaneously, a purple 'color' shadow shot from his body, lunging straight at the old monk opposite.

The old monk sat motionless opposite, his sleeve sweeping across toward the opposite side.

With a boom, a flash of golden light appeared, and pieces of Sanskrit script emerged floating.

The Purple Shadow seemed to be violently struck by a huge object, inverted and shot out, striking the wall of the secret chamber, then trembling violently all over as it shrank into a ball, unable to make any movement whatsoever.

At this moment, the wall flashed with green light, a green 'color' jade basin suddenly appeared, flipped over, and actually sprayed out a sheet of green霞, instantly collecting the Purple Shadow within.

"Not bad, the Four Gods Incense indeed lives up to its reputation in restraining the Shadow tribe—even a Purple Shadow cannot withstand it." White light flashed on the wall, and a refined middle-aged scholar in white robes appeared, his movements composed.

"Tian Yuan Brother! Thanks to your lending of the divine incense, otherwise this evil obstacle would truly be hard to dispel." The old monk, upon seeing the scholar, immediately rose, clasped his hands together in a salute.

"Master Jin Yue, you are too polite. I am also fortunate to have newly cultivated a divine ability, thus discovering that Lei Luo True Person has indeed been possessed by the Purple Shadow. Unfortunately, Lei Luo True Person, a once-in-a-generation genius of Daoist arts, has met such an end." The scholar, however, turned his gaze toward the Daoist priest still seated opposite the old monk, and sighed.

At the moment the Purple Shadow rushed out of the body, this Daoist priest seemed to have his essence and energy completely drained, his physical body becoming withered and abnormal, utterly devoid of vitality.

The monk also softly intoned a Buddhist name, a trace of sorrowful 'color' appearing on his face, then flicked his finger, a golden 'color' flame shot out.

Instantly, the Daoist priest's physical body turned to nothing in the golden flame.

"According to reason, although the Purple Shadow is no less powerful than our Body Integration cultivators, with Lei Luo Old Friend's divine abilities, it should be impossible for it to possess and fall silently without a sound. The only possibility is that our old friend encountered a dark calculation during his trip a hundred years ago to the barbaric world. This Purple Shadow is indeed extremely cunning; after returning to the city, it remained flawless for many years. If not for the Holy Emperor's intervention to expose it, we would probably still be kept in the dark. This evil obstacle has in recent years been attempting to gather ascended cultivators together, claiming to protect them, but likely also harboring ill intentions."

The middle-aged person is actually the renowned master of the Tian Yuan Realm among humans—"Tian Yuan Holy Emperor".

"However, in recent years, our old friends have indeed been overly biased toward native cultivators, which is no wonder those little ascended fellows are full of resentment." Tian Yuan Holy Emperor smiled warmly, like a spring breeze.

"This is also due to my years of closed-door cultivation and neglect of this matter. But now, with a powerful enemy at hand, I temporarily cannot attend to such trivialities. The Purple Shadow has occupied Lei Luo Old Friend's body for so many years, and I do not know how much information it has transmitted. The defenses and restrictions of Tian Yuan City must be largely altered." The monk's face darkened.

"Net"