Chapter 249 - 78: The Old Man (2)

The group’s expressions darkened. Dang Ruyu spoke up, "Senior, the few of us are of little use. Why don’t we..."

The old man looked at Dang Ruyu and the others. "As Blessed Land Disciples, even if you are just outer disciples, you are expected to live and die with the Blessed Land.

"Since I am already making my final stand, you all can serve as witnesses."

"And what will the outcome be?" Dang Ruyu asked.

The old man said indifferently, "If I win, it goes without saying that not only will you be able to leave safely, but you will also become a part of Cyan Wood Heaven."

Dang Ruyu asked, "And if you lose, Senior?"

The old man said with a chilling tone, "Then you can be buried along with Cyan Wood Heaven!"

"What the fuck!"

"Son of a bitch..."

A few of the less patient disciples cursed out loud.

Zhang Deming looked at the old man and said in an equally chilling tone, "You’ve said so much and tried to intimidate us in every way possible. I doubt you’re just looking to take a few of us down with you before you die.

"After all, if that were the case, why waste your breath on us? Anyone with eyes can see that your defeat is already apparent.

"So for you to appear before us during such a critical struggle...

"Hmm... You could say it’s required by the Blessing’s rules.

"But I doubt wasting your breath on us like this is part of those rules, is it?

"Which means we aren’t completely helpless in this situation, are we? You need something from us.

"That’s the only way to explain why you’d appear and try to intimidate us at such a crucial moment.

"You don’t want to be on the back foot when negotiating with us. You want to seize the initiative. Am I wrong, Senior Dragon Turtle?"

At Zhang Deming’s words, the others calmed down. The old man didn’t look angry; instead, a surprised expression appeared on his face.

He looked at Zhang Deming and said, "What an impressive Heart. If we manage to survive this, it wouldn’t be out of the question to entrust the Blessed Land to you."

After speaking, he glanced at the group. "That’s right. I do need you for something, but I am not asking for help.

"Because from the moment I raised the Shield, you had no other choice, did you?"

Zhang Deming’s brow furrowed slightly as he waited for the old man to continue.

"I wasn’t born an Earth Spirit. As you can all see, that over there is my Main Body. Back then, my lifespan was nearing its end, so the Five Elements Ancestor refined the Blessed Land into my Dragon Bead.

"That is how I became the Earth Spirit of Cyan Wood Heaven. Though I gained a long life, I also lost much, including the right to act on my own accord.

"And before I became an Earth Spirit, I walked the Luck Dao."

At this, the old man’s tone held a hint of pride. The disciples’ pupils contracted slightly. ’Anyone who dares to meddle with the Luck Dao and survives is a true master.’

The old man continued, "When I went through the Fusion with the Blessed Land, many of my abilities became difficult to use. However, my path of Blessed Fortune, combined with my identity as an Earth Spirit, was actually strengthened significantly.

"That is why the Blessing appeared in the final Entry Level reward process for Cyan Wood Heaven’s Core Disciples.

"Just now, before you all came in, I awoke to find myself in this terrible state and immediately performed a divination.

"It was a terrible omen, but not a fatal one. There was a faint sliver of Vitality, and the hexagram indicated that this Vitality lies with all of you.

"Therefore, I locked you in here with me.

"Because if I hadn’t, I’m sure we both know how you would have reacted."

"Then how do you want us to help you, Senior?" Zhou Zhixin asked coldly.

The old man shook his head slightly. "I don’t know. The hexagram only showed that my faint spark of Vitality lies with you.

"It isn’t much, but it is the only path to escape this doom."

Everyone: "..."

’You’re a Three Talents master at the Peak of the Celestial Realm, possibly even a Half-Step Four Symbols expert, and *you* don’t know? What do you expect *us* to know?’

The atmosphere instantly fell into a strange silence as everyone stared at the old man.

If they didn’t all know he was just a phantom condensed from Spiritual Power, someone probably would have tried to punch him already.

Stared at by everyone, the old man looked slightly uncomfortable. Just as he was about to speak, his entire body suddenly disintegrated into a cloud of light particles.

"HISS..."

On the slime, its tranquil, serpentine body began to roar at the sky, thrashing about wildly.

The Dragon Turtle’s clear eye filled with bloodshot veins, while its red eye gleamed with endless madness.

"ROAR..."

A long, resonant Dragon’s roar issued from the Dragon Turtle’s throat.

The entire island, and even the whole Secret Realm, trembled slightly.

The Dragon Turtle’s violent aura was suppressed, and the ball of light before the group re-formed into the old man.

His form was even more transparent than before and not as stable, his Spiritual Light flickering from time to time.

"My time is running out," the old man said. "Which, of course, means your time is running out too."

"Look, even if you want our help, you have to tell us *how* to help, don’t you?" one of the disciples said, exasperated.

The old man pondered for a moment. "With your level of Cultivation, direct assistance is obviously impossible. That only leaves indirect help.

"Right now, my Main Body is being corrupted. The Karma has fused with many things and mutated due to the substance from the Outer Realm, making it extremely corrosive and tarnishing my Spirituality.

"As an Earth Spirit, Spirituality is my very foundation. Therefore, to find a chance at survival, the only possibility is to enhance my Spirituality.

"So, whether you use a Technique, a treasure, or feed it materials, you must help my Main Body’s Spirituality increase."

As the old man spoke, he waved his hand. A whisker from the Dragon Turtle’s head extended rapidly towards the group.

The whisker grew larger and larger, its tip transforming into a dragon head about a meter wide.

The dragon head faced the sky with its mouth wide open, as if waiting to be fed by the group.

The old man paused, then said, "Of course, this connects directly to my Main Body. If you’re confident you can poison me to death, you’re welcome to try.

"The precondition is that you must be able to kill me in one go, completely destroying all my bodily functions. If you can do that, you might be able to escape.

"But if you can’t finish the job, you’d best not even think about it. You’ve all seen the state I’m in now.

"Any major disturbance will only end up hurting yourselves."

After the old man finished, the group looked at each other, then at the gaping mouth of the dragon head formed from the whisker, completely at a loss.

While they hesitated, the old man’s phantom image collapsed again, and the Dragon Turtle’s violent aura grew even more agitated and powerful.

While they were thinking, Dang Ruyu was the first to act.

He lightly gripped his Jade Flute, and a melodious sound flowed from it—lively, cheerful, and mixed with dense Spiritual Power.

The hunched old man re-formed, closed his eyes to feel it for a moment, then shook his head. "The music isn’t bad, but its level and Realm are too low. It has no Purification effect.

"With your level of Cultivation, you won’t have any effective means against Karma. So, forget about using Techniques. It’s a waste of time."

Dang Ruyu paused. "So you were after the treasures in our pockets from the very beginning, weren’t you?"

The old man glanced at Dang Ruyu but didn’t speak.

The warehouses of Cyan Wood Heaven hadn’t been completely destroyed; there were still many things inside.

So why would he covet the belongings of these disciples? When the divination result had appeared, he too had been slightly startled.

He had no idea what kind of treasure could possibly help him, an Earth Spirit, resist the corruption of Karma.

Seeing the situation growing more and more dire, a few disciples gritted their teeth, stepped forward, took out some precious materials, and tossed them into the dragon’s mouth.

With someone taking the lead, others gradually began to try as well.

But forget about making things better; there was no effect whatsoever.

The old man’s phantom spoke again. "What I need is something to enhance my Spirituality as an Earth Spirit, not just Spiritual Power. Ordinary materials are useless."

The group froze. ’You’re telling us the things we threw in were "ordinary materials"?’

’This is so infuriating. I want to punch him.’

’Our hearts bled tossing those things in, and you’re telling us they’re ordinary materials?’

While some were fuming and on the verge of violence, Zhou Zhixin’s eyes suddenly lit up. He stepped forward and tossed something in.

「...」