Chapter 311: Entering the Game with One's Life
Faced with Real Person Qionghuaâs questioning, the Daoist didnât answer. The smile on his face faded into coldness as he spoke indifferently, âThree years ago, in the Central Continentâs secret realm, both Yaoxi Holy Land and Zhenwu Holy Land set their sights on a prodigy.
You offered a Primordial Heaven-Mending Pill to improve her dantian aptitude as bait and convinced her to choose Yaoxi Holy Land in the endâŠ
This Daoist wants to knowâwhat happened to that girl?
Why havenât we heard anything about her in the last three years?â
Real Person Qionghua raised her brows slightly, a trace of recollection flashing in her eyes.
Three years ago, the Central Continent Secret RealmâŠ
She remembered.
It was that once-in-a-million rare True Fire Spiritual Root prodigy.
Back then, Daoist Mengchu from Zhenwu Holy Land had also wanted to take her in as a direct disciple. But Qionghua had cut in, offering the Primordial Heaven-Mending Pill to enhance her dantian and stole her away.
As for that prodigyâs current whereabouts?
Naturally, she no longer had any.
She had long since been refined into a human pill by Real Person Yuyao using a secret technique.
Now that the man before her was asking thisâŠ
His identity was clear as day.
âZhang Mengchu, itâs you?â
âAnswer this Daoistâs question.â
Mengchuâs right hand lowered to his sword hilt. His topknot unraveled, and long black hair whipped behind him like a crazed dragon. The erupting Pure Yang Sword Intent flared, blowing his robes wide.
A chilling killing aura locked firmly onto Real Person Qionghua.
In the blink of an eyeâ
She realized she was no longer in the same place.
The setting sun bled across the sky. Beneath her was a barren wasteland.
That wasteland shimmered with densely packed silver threads under the crimson light. Upon closer inspection, they were all flying swords, quivering and crying out in chorusâlike countless glittering fish scales on a blood-colored river.
âThis Daoistâs patience is limited.â
Zhang Mengchu stood high in the sky, his voice low and ice cold:
âReal Person Qionghua, if you donât start talking, this Daoist will have no choice but to let you taste the agony of ten thousand swords piercing your soul!
One more thingânow that youâve stepped into this Daoistâs realm, donât even think about leaving!â
âHeh. This Venerable One wonât say a word. Not even if you shred my remnant soul into a thousand pieces!â
Qionghua raised her chin high, glaring down at Zhang Mengchu with disdain.
She was, after all, a cultivator in the Eighth Realm of Void Fusion.
A senior elder in Yaoxi Holy Land. Though beneath Real Person Yuyao in rank, she still held considerable statusâYuyao had to show her respect.
Besides, what kind of cultivator reaches this level without a backbone, courage, or perseverance?
Just threats?
Let Zhang Mengchu try all he wanted.
If she spilled even a single wordâ
She didnât deserve to live!
âŠ
Ten minutes later.
Zhang Mengchu crushed Real Person Qionghuaâs screaming remnant soul with one hand.
This kind of brutal interrogation wasnât the norm for those from Zhenwu Holy Landâit was far too vicious and sinister. But all the true masters of the Holy Land had already been betrayed and slain by Yaoxi and Burning Purity Holy Lands. He no longer felt any moral restraint.
âD*mn you, Yuyao⊠and that old monk from Burning PurityâŠâ
Zhang Mengchu trembled with rage.
Qionghua had never been some unbreakable hardliner.
Under the combined torment of death and excruciating pain, she spilled everything.
Yuyao and the monkâs plan to seize bodies and ascend, the many schemes theyâd woven over the years to reach that goal, the countless prodigies theyâd slaughtered, and even the carefully laid trap they used to eliminate dissentersâincluding the betrayal of Zhang Yibai.
So the catastrophe that befell Zhenwu Holy Land had been orchestrated by Yaoxi and Burning Purity from beginning to end.
And that genius from three years ago?
She had long since been refined into a human pill, used as the foundation for Real Person Yuyaoâs Five-Element Supreme Physique.
But now what?
Knowing all thisâwhat could he do?
Zhang Mengchu clenched his fists tightly.
Yuyao and the old monk were both Mahayanic cultivatorsâand that was just what they showed on the surface.
Exposing the truth might ruin their reputations, but none of the sects or cultivators in the world had the strength to oppose two Holy Lands.
âIf only Master Zhang were still aliveâŠâ
Zhang Mengchu let out a long sigh.
He stood quietly in the air, hair and beard dancing in the wind. His dim eyes suddenly lit up with a flash of sharp brilliance, his gaze growing ever more resolute.
âYaoxi Holy Land is searching for a Mystic Water Spiritual RootâŠâ
He murmured.
A detail he had almost overlooked.
Over the years, Yaoxi had already found four rare elemental roots, each one refined into human pills. Only the Mystic Water Root remained elusive.
Zhang Mengchu primarily cultivated the Profound Yin Sword Intent, with a secondary focus on Pure Yang.
His body contained three single spiritual roots:
Water root
Metal root
Sword root
If he extracted his metal and sword roots, and refined the water root with Profound Yin Sword Intent, there was a 90% chance it would mutate into a Mystic Water Spiritual Root.
Spiritual roots werenât fixed.
There had once been a thunder cultivator in the Cangyun Realm. Originally born with a single lightning root, during his second Mahayana tribulation, it was refined by heavenly thunder and mutated into the Ninefold Divine Thunder Rootâdeemed the person most likely to ascend in the past thousand years.
After all, with a divine root, your resistance to tribulation lightning skyrockets.
All hopes of the Cangyun Realm's Mahayanic and Void Fusion cultivators had rested on that thunder cultivator.
But ten years agoâ
During his Ascension Tribulation, ninety-nine blood-colored lightning bolts fell from the sky.
Even with the divine root, he was completely obliteratedâbody and soul.
That disaster had shaken the entire realm. Many Mahayana and Void Fusion cultivators had their Dao hearts fractured. Their ambition to defy fate and ascend turned to fear. Where once the Void Abyss held only two or three people, it now housed nine Mahayanic cultivators.
But if Zhang Mengchu extracted his other two roots, his talent would essentially be crippled by half.
Even if his realm didnât drop, his cultivation would likely be stuck forever, unable to reach Mahayana. And truthfullyâhe was already nearing the end of his lifespan.
Right now, his three roots were in balance. If he refined the water root into Mystic Water, then re-attached the other two, that balance would collapse. Unless the metal and sword roots mutated tooâwhich was nothing more than a dream.
Still, it was time to make a choice.
Zhang Mengchu looked up at the rolling clouds on the horizon.
His mind drifted back to memories from Zhenwu Holy Land.
From being accepted as a disciple under Zhang Yibai⊠to becoming a reliable elder with students of his own. He had countless disciples. But now he knewâmany Zhenwu disciples who supposedly died in âaccidentsâ⊠were actually victims of Yaoxi and Burning Purity.
As both disciple and teacherâ
If he couldnât avenge his own, what made him any better than trash?
What Dao was he even cultivating?
Zhang Mengchuâs eyes grew calmer and more focused.
Suddenly, he slammed a palm onto his own crown.
No more hesitation.
He was a master of concealing cultivation. Even standing face to face with Qionghua, she couldnât identify him. In this era, there might not be another person with both the skill and foundation to mutate a root into Mystic Water.
âA strategist must throw himself onto the chessboard⊠only then can he outplay the heavens!â
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His face twisted in pain as he ripped out his metal and sword roots.
He panted, staring at the two glowing root-like clumps of energy in his handsâbut the corners of his lips curled into a smile.
âMasterâŠâ
âYour disciple, Zhang Mengchu⊠will avenge you. And the Holy Land!â
He steadied his breathing and sat cross-legged.
His entire body surged with Profound Yin Sword Intent,
Which he poured fully into refining the remaining water root.
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