Not good!
Could I have been exposed?
Why else aren't they saying anything?
Zuo Zhengzong was suspicious by nature, and Yu Xian and Zhang Buyao's sudden silence terrified him just as much.
His body could actually split again; it was just that having only recently acquired this body, he had not yet fully adapted to it. Now, driven by intense terror, he tore his body apart almost by instinct, and his head dropped from his neck.
A golden opportunity!
Zuo Zhengzong took a hard fall, but it cleared his head. He immediately rolled his head away, fleeing toward Yu Xian's back.
"Trying to run?"
Yu Xian glanced sideways at Zuo Zhengzong's head, and an invisible wave of telekinesis pinned it firmly to the ground.
In his presence, there was zero chance of Zuo Zhengzong escaping. Had he not been so troublesome to kill, Zuo Zhengzong would have been dead long ago.
"Aaaargh! Yu Xian, I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
Zuo Zhengzong finally broke down completely. He had thought he could make a clean getaway, only to be pinned down after rolling just a few times.
Naturally suspicious, he immediately suspected that Yu Xian was toying with him. Consumed by old hatred and new grudges, he thrashed frantically and screamed like a madman, but it was utterly futile. Yu Xian was like the Tathagata Buddha, firmly suppressing him like the Monkey King beneath his palm.
"He actually knows me?" Yu Xian remarked in mild surprise.
Zhang Buyao retorted testily, "You're so famous here—is it really that strange that he knows you?"
"Fair point," Yu Xian said with a chuckle.
He had no idea from start to finish that he had once crossed paths with Zuo Zhengzong.
Nor did he recognize that this horribly disfigured creature was once a resident of Silver City.
"Anyway, have you figured out what to do with him?" Zhang Buyao asked at once, noticing Yu Xian looking rather pleased with himself.
Yu Xian shook his head. "Not yet, but I'll have a solution in no time."
He genuinely had not thought of a suitable place to imprison Zuo Zhengzong, but just because he didn't know didn't mean nobody knew. And as long as someone knew, Auntie Number Two would know as well.
Even as he spoke, he summoned Auntie Number Two.
"Auntie, is there somewhere I can go that can permanently imprison this guy?" Yu Xian asked, looking directly at Auntie Number Two.
Auntie Number Two answered, "The God Vault Space. You can use a God Vault Token to go there and cast Zuo Zhengzong into the God Vault Tower, turning him into its power source for all eternity."
"A God Vault Token? Yu Xian, you have a God Vault Token?" Hearing this, Zhang Buyao looked at Yu Xian in astonishment.
Yu Xian retrieved the God Vault Token from his body and nodded. "Yeah. I found it in Feng Laixian's storage ring. I didn't know what it was for back then, but since I bound it with a drop of blood, I just kept it tucked away."
"Good grief. That legendary space actually has a key to get in," Zhang Buyao said enviously, staring at the God Vault Token.
Yu Xian asked curiously, "A legendary space?"
"Yeah. I only heard about it from a friend. They say the God Vault Space is super fun, and lots of reclusive powerhouses hail from there—though I've never met any of them myself. Wait, no, I have met Uncle Feng, at least." Zhang Buyao nodded.
Yu Xian understood now. The God Vault Space was most likely the handiwork of a Transcender as well, which was why it could deal with a troublesome creature like Zuo Zhengzong.
Although he had no idea what the God Vault Tower was used for or what would happen to Zuo Zhengzong once he became its power source, if Auntie Number Two believed it could permanently imprison him, there shouldn't be any issue.
But how was he supposed to use this token?
Holding the token, Yu Xian felt somewhat at a loss. He had already bound it with a blood drop, but the problem was that he didn't know how to activate it.
With some items, after blood binding, it felt like gaining an innate instinct, or like gaining an active ability in a skill bar—activating or using it was completely effortless. But the God Vault Token was decidedly not that kind of item.
"Does it need a verbal password?" Yu Xian muttered to himself.
Then, staring at the token, he gave it a try: "Open sesame? Prajna paramita? Little bunny, be good and open the door? God Vault, open up? Little pig, little pig, it's Mommy, hurry and open the door?"
"What are you doing?" Seeing Yu Xian chanting nonsensically at the token, Zhang Buyao asked in curiosity.
Yu Xian held up the token and answered, "I'm testing how to use this token to enter the God Vault Space."
"You can't enter from this world! You have to go to an old branch before you can access the God Vault Space!" Zhang Buyao's face went blank for a second, then flushed bright red as she tried to hold back her laughter, before she finally burst out snickering. It took her a good while to catch her breath and speak.
Yu Xian wasn't thick-skinned, but he was far too familiar with Zhang Buyao to feel embarrassed by her teasing. Instead, he asked in bewilderment, "An old branch?"
"The Tree Universe—you know this. Since it's called a Tree Universe, naturally there are so-called 'branches.' For example, right now we're at the very tip of a branch that's split off, split off, and split off again. Places like this are usually called the backwoods corner—basically meaning as remote as remote can possibly get," Zhang Buyao explained cheerfully once she finished laughing.
Yu Xian nodded in understanding. He had seen the diagram drawn by Zhenwo Changjing, so the concept of the Tree Universe was easy enough to grasp.
"The Tree Universe grows infinitely, but at the same time, it withers infinitely as well. For instance, the branch two doors down from yours withered away, and all the worlds along that branch vanished along with it.
"Yet, as a particular branch withers, new branches sprout elsewhere. That's why there's a distinction between new branches and old branches.
"The God Vault Space dates back to a very, very, very, very long time ago. Once the Transcender stopped paying attention and lost interest, it became a relic of a bygone era, and its laws remained strictly within the old branches.
"Meanwhile, the world we're in right now sits on a new branch. The laws of the God Vault Space simply don't exist here, so naturally you can't connect to it," Zhang Buyao continued in detail, laying everything out clearly.
Yu Xian nodded. "I get it. In simple terms, the God Vault Space is like a router. Its signal coverage is limited to the regions of the Tree Universe that already existed back then, whereas our current space is newly born, so it falls outside the service area and naturally gets no Wi-Fi."
"Looking at it that way works too. In fact, many rules left behind by Transcenders only function within the old Tree Universe. If someone wants them to work in the new Tree Universe, they have to use rule secret arts. If you run into anyone capable of using rule secret arts in the future, you'd better stay far away from them," Zhang Buyao said with an approving smile, looking as if her pupil had finally seen the light.
Rule secret arts?
Yu Xian was slightly taken aback. Truly, there was no end to the wonders across the myriad heavens and myriad realms.
However, glancing down at the token, a sudden realization struck him. While he could indeed use the God Vault Token to travel to the God Vault Space, the prerequisite was leaving the Abyss and reaching an old branch for it to work.
That was far too difficult.
Sure enough, whenever asking Auntie Number Two a question, one had to be specific and lay out every single condition.
Otherwise, you would receive an answer that was theoretically viable, yet practically impossible to execute.
Chapter 377