Chapter 154: 154. Chapter 152: Killed by Curiosity (Bonus Chapter 6)

154. Chapter 152: Killed by Curiosity (Bonus Chapter 6)

Before reaching the room, Ding Huan whispered:

"Xinyue, don't cultivate or practice spells inside here—think more about the problems in your cultivation process. Lao Liu, same for you."

Qi Xinyue naturally obeyed Ding Huan; Lao Liu nodded helplessly.

It was a cultivation-obsessed monkey; whenever it had even a moment free, it would seize it to push toward Foundation Establishment as a beast cultivator.

Probably the treasure Ding Huan contributed had taken effect, so his room was Yi-1.

As they neared the room, Ding Qi quickened his pace and passed Ding Huan.

As he brushed past Ding Huan, he slipped something into Ding Huan's hand.

Ding Huan didn't look—he quietly slipped the object into the Star House.

The group soon arrived at the room.

The room wasn't large—total area didn't exceed ten square meters—with a central partition that could be adjusted into three or four spaces.

Ding Huan set the room to three spaces: himself in the outermost, Lao Liu on the left inner side, Qi Xinyue on the right inner side.

A faint divine sense swept over him; Ding Huan's heart jolted.

Since entering the city lord's mansion, he had never released his own divine sense.

He assumed the five strong ones—including Sang Yuhe—must all have divine senses active.

Yet from start to finish, he had sensed not a trace of any.

Now, with a divine sense suddenly sweeping over him, he grew even more cautious.

His guess was correct: all of them had divine senses—yet he didn't know whose had just swept past.

Although Ding Huan didn't understand array arts, he had encountered many arrays.

Moreover, he was now studying talisman arts, which, in a way, were similar to array arts.

Both derived from changes in heaven and earth, and the moment he entered this room, he sensed an array had been set up.

"Xiaotu, I—"

As Qi Xinyue stepped into the room and opened her mouth, Ding Huan smiled and interrupted:

"What's there to worry about? Elder Sang and the other elders are all upright and honorable; we've been cared for by them this time.

Remember, we just follow their instructions exactly."

"I understand," Qi Xinyue nodded.

She truly understood.

Ding Huan wasn't speaking to her—he was speaking to those elders.

Since those elders weren't here, yet Ding Huan still said this, it meant surveillance was likely present.

Ding Huan was certain there were no technological surveillance devices in the room—but he was equally certain his actions were being monitored.

Thus, this was likely a surveillance array.

Ding Huan returned obediently to his partition, sat down, and closed his eyes.

His divine sense seeped into the Star House, into the object Ding Qi had given him.

It was only a slip of paper, with one line written on it:

"Don't test your aptitude. If I'm not mistaken, these prodigies being taken away aren't being treated well—they're likely being sold to powerful beings who need to possess bodies."

Seeing those words, cold sweat broke out on Ding Huan's back.

He had planned to find an opportunity to tell Sang Yuhe that Qi Xinyue's spiritual root aptitude was probably excellent.

Imagine—if he had done that, wouldn't he have doomed Qi Xinyue?

Possession—he knew it well. That's why he dared not go to the ten-thousand-year-old cypress in Luohe City—he feared being possessed.

Indeed, he was still too kind, always unconsciously assuming the best in people.

After all, Sang Yuhe and the others had helped him, so he subconsciously felt they were decent.

But judging by Sang Yuhe and the others' behavior, they weren't officials sent by any authority.

If so, why would anyone risk their life transporting prodigies to higher star continents? To do good deeds?

Ding Qi was indeed a good person—grateful and loyal.

Ding Huan simply began studying the Great Calculation Art, while also calculating his own situation.

With his current calculation ability, he could only project up to ten days forward or back.

Ten days passed without incident; the spaceship sped forward, and no one came to them.

Every two days, someone brought a small amount of food.

Without cultivation, this was just enough to avoid starvation.

Qi Xinyue was a girl who could endure solitude; as long as Ding Huan was near, she could sit idle without complaint.

Besides, Ding Huan had given her two books—Analysis of Herbs and Analysis of Minerals—so she could study herbs and minerals when idle.

She could also reflect on problems in her own cultivation.

As for talisman arts, Ding Huan dared not give her those books to study.

It wasn't that he feared wasting her time—it was that they were under constant surveillance here.

Lao Liu simply remained in hibernation all day, whether thinking about how he had once achieved Foundation Establishment or how he could ever achieve it.

Only Ding Huan studied the Great Calculation Art daily, his calculation ability improving day by day.

What puzzled him greatly was that on the Four-Direction Star Continent, every calculation produced clear visual images.

Here, however, when he calculated, the images of the ship's few strong ones were all blurred—except for himself and Qi Xinyue.

On the very day the tenth day ended, he calculated again—his calculation ability seemed to have increased—but the result didn't manifest.

This made Ding Huan even more puzzled.

Thus, the ship entered a quieter cycle.

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed, and Ding Huan's calculation ability surged rapidly.

After studying the Great Calculation Art for over a year, the Liancang Yi Dao he obtained from the jade slip appeared to him as simple and shallow as an infant learning to speak.

At the same time, Ding Huan faintly sensed that whenever he calculated those with strong power, the results were always hazy.

It wasn't that his calculation ability was weak—very likely, it was his cultivation level that was insufficient.

On this day, Ding Huan continued as usual to calculate what would happen in the coming days.

If it didn't involve those strong ones, he could now easily calculate events within a month; if he pushed himself further, he could even calculate further into the future.

But the moment he involved those strong ones, his calculations instantly blurred.

Ding Huan primarily cared about those few strong ones—even if the results were hazy, he still had to calculate them.

At first, everything was ordinary, but when Ding Huan calculated three days ahead of the current date, he nearly cried out in shock.

He saw Ding Qi killed—the image was extremely hazy, almost indiscernible.

If he hadn't seen Ding Qi's head severed, he wouldn't have dared confirm Ding Qi was dead.

It was an utterly blurred figure who struck and cleaved off Ding Qi's head.

Ding Huan's heart raced—if Ding Qi was killed, he too would be killed. Was this the Black Ship?

But why would the Black Ship wait half a year before killing Ding Qi?

Just now, during his calculation, Ding Qi seemed to have pulled out something. He had only calculated the ship's overall safety, not individual actions.

If he had to calculate every person's actions, it would waste far more energy and time.

Besides, he couldn't obtain clear images of the strong ones.

But now he had to find out why Ding Qi was killed—it concerned his own life.

This time, Ding Huan specifically chose to calculate Ding Qi. As the Great Calculation Art activated, Ding Huan again saw Ding Qi within the calculation.

On the third day, Ding Qi suddenly pulled a simple, ancient book from his chest.

This time, Ding Huan saw clearly—the cover bore four ancient characters: Tian Di Bao Jian.

Ding Huan's scalp prickled—could the Tian Di Bao Jian truly exist?

Many believed the Tian Di Bao Jian was the Earth Book among the Three Books of Heaven, Earth, and Man; Ding Huan thought that even if it wasn't the Earth Book, it must be related to it.

It was very likely a part of the Earth Book, while the supreme treasure, the Shan Hai Jing, was another part.

This was Zhen Yuanzi's treasure, capable of perceiving all things.

As for calculating past and future, that was merely a minor ability—beyond that, the book contained supreme Dao techniques.

Since the Tian Di Bao Jian had appeared, Zhen Yuanzi was almost certainly real.

No wonder Ding Qi was killed by a single slash—once such a treasure surfaced, not killing him would be strange.

Ding Qi's cultivation art must come from the Tian Di Bao Jian; this fellow was probably only at the Foundation Establishment realm.

How extraordinary must his cultivation art be, if a Foundation Establishment cultivator could fight—and even dominate—a Zhan Chang cultivator who had created his own art above Foundation Establishment?

If this fellow truly cultivated the art from the Tian Di Bao Jian, then he had the capability.

Ding Qi was a cautious fellow—he hadn't cultivated at all since entering.

He must have encountered a problem while meditating on his art.

After pondering for a long time without resolution, he finally risked pulling out the Tian Di Bao Jian.

But he didn't realize his room had a surveillance array.

Ding Huan hesitated, then decided to warn Ding Qi.

If Ding Qi's Tian Di Bao Jian was detected, would these people investigate him?

The conclusion was inevitable—they would investigate him, even if they killed him by mistake, they wouldn't let it pass.

Thinking this, Ding Huan carefully extended his spiritual sense.

The moment his spiritual sense touched Ding Qi, Ding Qi clearly startled.

"Don't pull out anything—there's a surveillance array…" Ding Huan left this message, then swiftly retracted his spiritual sense.

His heart was uneasy.

Though his spiritual sense was strong—even now solidified—he didn't know if this message would be detected.

To Ding Huan's relief, after warning Ding Qi, everything remained normal—nothing happened.

He immediately began calculating future events.

After warning Ding Qi, future events would surely change.

Ding Huan calculated whether this change would involve him.

An hour later, Ding Huan fully relaxed.

Nothing happened—he was unharmed, Ding Qi was unharmed.

It seemed Ding Qi had heeded his warning.

In fact, Ding Qi was even more shocked than Ding Huan.

He had endured nearly half a year—during cultivation, a problem had always been on the verge of surfacing, yet never broke free.

Thinking that nothing had happened in half a year here, he decided to pull out the Tian Di Bao Jian for a glance.

He did cultivate the Tian Di Bao Jian, yet still hadn't mastered its method. Though slightly better than Zhan Chang, it was still a matter of half a pound versus eight taels.

Thus, like Zhan Chang cultivators, even though he had reached Foundation Establishment, he had not yet generated a spiritual sense.

Just as he was about to break down, Ding Huan's warning jolted him awake.

This was someone else's ship—what was the Tian Di Bao Jian? If he pulled it out and was detected, death was the only outcome.

Realizing how close he had come to killing himself, cold sweat instantly drenched his forehead.

By the way—who had warned him?

The only person here who could remind him was one person—Ding Huan.

Could Ding Huan be a hidden expert or something?

Ding Qi quickly confirmed his own thought—if he himself could conceal himself, why couldn't Ding Huan conceal himself?

Thanks, Ding Qi silently thanked Ding Huan in his heart.

His mood completely calmed down, no longer possessing that earlier impulse of longing to take a look at the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror.