The distress signal repeated seven or eight times before finally stopping.
Yet the Grand Protector's mind was churning furiously. It was blatantly obvious that this wasn't Yuanshi Tianzun setting bait—no one baited like this.
Nor did it seem like the behavior of Sect Master Chunyang having gone completely mad; that would inevitably involve a murderous rampage, not the repetition of bizarre messages.
So had Sect Master Chunyang truly uncovered some secret, only to become trapped in some sort of trouble?
After a moment of thought, the Grand Protector quickly retrieved materials and inscribed a spirit talisman array on the floor, mirroring the astral constellations of the cosmos.
The reason he didn't call was the fear that if this truly were a trap set by the Five Elements Alliance, a phone call would allow them to pinpoint his location through technical means.
As a Day Wanderer, he drew with fluid speed a celestial array that a Starlord couldn't master even after years of study. He sat down cross-legged and began his divination.
More than ten minutes later, the astrological reading indicated that answering the call and going to Songhai would both be safe from danger.
After some consideration, the Grand Protector rose and waved his hand to dismiss the spirit talisman array on the ground. He then grabbed the phone from the desk and dialed Sect Master Chunyang's number.
*Ring... ring...*
The phone rang a few times before connecting, and Sect Master Chunyang's trademark chilling voice came through:
"Why are you contacting me? Our cooperation has already come to an end—unless you can feed me a Starlord and a Dream Master, in which case I will consider continuing our partnership."
Listening to the voice from the speaker, the Grand Protector was momentarily stunned.
This tone and attitude sounded nothing like someone crying out for help, much less someone wanting to share an earth-shattering secret.
Filled with doubt, the Grand Protector said in a deep voice, "What happened? You sent me a distress signal not long ago."
"I called you for help?" To his surprise, Sect Master Chunyang sounded even more astonished than him. "What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Why don't you check your own phone?"
"There's nothing on my phone. Why don't you check yours instead?"
The Grand Protector pulled the phone away, switched it to speakerphone, and looked through his messages. When his eyes landed on the screen, his pupils constricted sharply like a cat's eyes exposed to intense light.
The chat history was completely blank.
The messages Sect Master Chunyang had just sent were gone.
A chill gripped the Grand Protector's heart, and his tone instantly shifted. "Chunyang, what did you encounter in Songhai? Who were you investigating? Is there anyone beside you?"
His voice was not only hurried, but also very loud, as if he had suffered a shock.
"You..." Sect Master Chunyang hesitated. "What on earth happened to you?!"
"Nothing happened to me—something happened to you, and it's something huge!" The Grand Protector immediately explained how Chunyang had sent distress messages and how those messages had vanished in such a bizarre manner.
"This..." Sect Master Chunyang felt his hair stand on end, gripped by shock and suspicion. If it were truly as the Grand Protector claimed, he was indeed in deep trouble. Yet everything on his end was calm and quiet, with nothing out of the ordinary.
"Who were you investigating? What point did your investigation reach?" the Grand Protector pressed in rapid succession.
"I was investigating—"
Sect Master Chunyang had barely uttered three words when the call disconnected.
The Grand Protector hurriedly redialed, only to hear a busy tone. The call couldn't go through.
*Something happened. Sect Master Chunyang ran into trouble in Songhai. A mysterious, unknown power is forcibly erasing sent messages while keeping Chunyang, the very person involved, completely in the dark...*
The Grand Protector's mind raced madly. Who in Songhai possessed such power?
And what kind of power could twist reality itself?
Just then, the phone chimed with an incoming message notification.
The Grand Protector fixed his gaze on it. The message was from Sect Master Chunyang.
*Come to Songhai at once. I've uncovered an earth-shattering secret.*
*Help!*
*Come to Songhai at once. I've uncovered an earth-shattering secret.*
*Help!*
The messages had begun repeating again.
This time, the Grand Protector did not immediately call Sect Master Chunyang. Instead, he gripped his phone and stood quietly in the dim study, waiting silently.
His eyes were glued to the screen, watching the dense stream of distress messages. After about half an hour, one of the messages suddenly vanished.
Then, a second message vanished.
A third, a fourth... The messages on the screen seemed to be getting recalled one after another, disappearing steadily. At this moment, time appeared to be flowing backward.
All the hairs on the Grand Protector's body stood on end.
He finally realized what Sect Master Chunyang had encountered.
A karmic item!
Only a karmic item possessed such terrifying might. Only a karmic item could erase established facts and produce a phenomenon akin to time flowing backward.
*What in the world was this fellow investigating that ended up involving a karmic item?!*
*I must contact the Leader immediately!* Without hesitation, the Grand Protector quickly retrieved spirit-rich materials and drew a summoning talisman on the floor representing Ling Tuo.
The summoning array seemed far more difficult than simulating the cosmic constellations. Like a Night Walker who had just begun studying talismans, the Grand Protector drew every stroke with meticulous, painstaking care.
It took a full hour for the circular summoning array to take shape.
The Grand Protector immediately channeled the divine power of the sun to activate the array. The circle automatically drew upon the spirituality of the materials to summon the presence dwelling in the unseen.
"Leader... Leader... Leader..."
The Grand Protector whispered his summons.
Yet the circular summoning array remained completely silent, producing no anomaly and no sound.
This meant the Leader was occupied with other matters and had no time to respond to him.
"Strange. The Leader should have been free recently. Why isn't he responding...?" the Grand Protector muttered in confusion.
Just then, the phone on the desk rang. The caller was Sect Master Chunyang.
The Grand Protector's eyes lit up. Sect Master Chunyang had chosen to make a phone call instead of sending text messages, which indicated that he had broken out of some sort of loop.
The Grand Protector snatched up the phone, accepted the call, and offered a tentative, "Hello?"
"It's me!"
Sect Master Chunyang's exhausted voice came through the speaker. "I think I might need help. I've run into trouble."
"You actually broke out of the loop?" The Grand Protector was somewhat astonished. After all, karmic items were the most unsolvable and troublesome among the three major categories of items.
"What loop?" Sect Master Chunyang was taken aback.
"Hmm? It seems you've forgotten everything you did two hours ago. In that case, how do you know you've run into trouble?" the Grand Protector asked calmly.
Sect Master Chunyang spent a few seconds phrasing his thoughts before speaking:
"Over the past few days, I've been investigating Yuanshi Tianzun, and my investigation led me to the home of a retired elderly teacher. Right now, I'm standing in the hallway of his apartment building, intending to knock on the door and pay him a visit.
"In my awareness, I just arrived here and haven't met the old teacher yet. However, I clearly remember coming at ten in the morning, but now it's twelve-thirty in the afternoon.
"On top of that, my soul is thoroughly exhausted—so tired that I feel like sleeping for three days and three nights. I feel as though my soul has lost a part of itself. If I'm not mistaken, I must have cast Fleeting Radiance on myself. It's an exceptionally profound forgetting spell capable of erasing specific memories."
Having explained this, Sect Master Chunyang asked, "What was that loop you just mentioned?"
Instead of answering immediately, the Grand Protector asked, "Are you sure you're safe?"
"I can't be sure," Sect Master Chunyang replied. "But I can wait and see. I've already walked downstairs and intend to leave this residential compound. If nothing abnormal happens in half an hour, it means I'm safe."
Neither of them spoke further. Half an hour passed like that before Sect Master Chunyang said with a distinct sense of relief:
"It seems I'm safe. Go ahead and tell me."
The Grand Protector recounted the entire experience from start to finish.
Silence fell on the other end of the line. Sect Master Chunyang seemed to have been struck by an immobilization spell. It was a long, long time before a low murmur came through:
"So that's how it is... That's how it is..."
He drew a deep breath and began analyzing with a grave tone:
"I didn't suffer any attack, which means I didn't encounter a terrifying enemy. Yet I was indeed caught in some kind of loop. Over the course of two and a half hours, I repeatedly went through investigating, calling for help, and forgetting, until I realized something was wrong and used Fleeting Radiance to wipe my own memories.
"I believe I might have uncovered something extraordinary, which triggered the power of a karmic item and threw me into that loop. Once I erased my memories and forgot the secret, the karmic cause was eliminated. Hmm, it's also possible that after realizing something was amiss, I chose to leave instead of seeing that retired teacher, thereby breaking the karmic cycle."
The Grand Protector's voice grew exceptionally solemn as well. "So what exactly did you find out? Yuanshi Tianzun's true identity?"
Sect Master Chunyang sneered.
"The mere true identity of Yuanshi Tianzun wouldn't qualify to draw the influence of a karmic magical tool. But one thing is certain: Yuanshi Tianzun's real identity is connected to an earth-shattering secret.
"What trapped me in the loop wasn't Yuanshi Tianzun's identity, but the secret that his identity touches upon."
Though he had gone mad, Sect Master Chunyang still retained his intellect.
"Yuanshi Tianzun's true identity touches upon a secret of an exceptionally high level... *Hiss...*" The Grand Protector drew a sharp breath of cold air.
It wasn't that Yuanshi Tianzun himself was connected to that secret, but that his real-world identity was. That meant Yuanshi Tianzun's real background was extraordinary.
Was he not a grassroots Spirit Realm walker after all?
"So, Grand Protector, how much is Dark Night Rose willing to pay to buy that retired teacher's identity and home address?" Sect Master Chunyang asked.
On the other end of the call, the Grand Protector fell silent for a moment. "If it involves a karmic item, that is not something we can get involved in. Even the Leader would be in danger. I cannot get in touch with him right now."
"Fine!" Sect Master Chunyang replied flatly. "I'll wait for your Leader's reply."
***
Instance No. 15, the Palace of the Arbiter of Fate.
A vast, endless forest stretched continuously. This primeval forest, whose borders could not be seen, remained evergreen through all four seasons, never withering, forever bursting with vigorous life.
Yet a closer inspection revealed horrors concealed within the details.
Hideous human faces grew upon every tree. Densely hanging vines would periodically coil around passing beasts and stuff them into gaping maws to chew, heedless of their struggles.
Shrubs emitted white smoke that induced hallucinations and paralysis, confusing animals that wandered past. Beneath the lush bushes lay dense piles of animal bones.
The snakes, insects, rats, birds, and beasts in the forest were reduced to nourishment for the flora, yet their numbers could never be exhausted. Their rate of reproduction was astounding; as soon as one batch was devoured, another was born.
Meanwhile, parasitic plants were the natural enemies of the trees, drinking in their essence to their hearts' content.
According to the Spirit Realm's introduction, this had been the grotto-heaven and blessed land of Star Lord Arbiter of Fate in ancient times. Watered by Life Essence, this forest had been able to remain evergreen without fading.
However, ever since the death of Star Lord Arbiter of Fate, the power of the domain of life had fallen into chaos, causing the forest's flora and fauna to mutate.
At the center of the forest lay a field of ruins formed by collapsed palaces. Mottled walls, cracked stone steps, and collapsed pavilions bore the full weight of time's vicissitudes.
Judging by its expanse of several hundred mu and the interconnected halls that stretched one after another, one could imagine how majestic and luxurious the Palace of Star Lord Arbiter of Fate had once been.
Having traversed the multiple deadly perils within the forest, Xie Su arrived at the core of the palace—the Spring of Rebirth.
It was located at the very center of the palace, a spring pool thirty meters long and ten meters wide. The golden liquid within was as still as gold leaf, mirroring the sky and the palace ruins.
Around the pool stood white, jade-like stones and railings.
According to the records in the Xie family's database, the greatest marvel of the Palace of the Arbiter of Fate was this Spring of Rebirth. The spring water was concentrated Life Essence, and the mud at the bottom possessed the power to sculpt a physical body.
Half a century ago, when the Old Ancestor of the Xie family was still a Dominator, he had entered the Palace of the Arbiter of Fate. The Xie family possessed a walkthrough guide for this instance.
Xie Su stood by the pool, recalling the contents of the guide.
The method for clearing the Spring of Rebirth was very simple: dive into the pool, gather the silt at the bottom to fashion an avatar, and the instance would be cleared.
At first glance, it appeared deceptively easy.
However, the power of the domain of life within this instance had long since spiraled out of control into chaos. The moment any living entity entered the Spring of Rebirth, it would automatically generate an evil avatar. The longer one remained at the bottom, the more avatars would appear.
A Spirit Realm walker needed to gather the silt before the number of avatars exceeded their limit of endurance, use Arbiter of Fate spiritual power to purify the chaotic energy within it, and fashion a pure, flawless avatar in order to clear the instance.
There were no convoluted rules, but the difficulty was extreme.
Back then, the Old Ancestor had nearly been beaten to death by a mob of his own avatars.
As a reward, this avatar could be brought out of the Spirit Realm to serve as a perfect puppet.
Xie Su sat cross-legged by the pool, healing his physical wounds. Once his stamina, spirit, and spiritual power had recovered to their peak condition, he plunged headfirst into the spring water.
The pool did not look large, but it was exceptionally deep.
Xie Su paddled his limbs with agile grace, swimming toward the bottom. As he drew near the bed of the pool, he saw broken bodies lying quietly upon the golden silt.
*It's Zhu Xueyi. He entered the Palace of the Arbiter of Fate as well? He's wearing bell-bottoms and a collared shirt, so it must have been twenty or thirty years ago...* Xie Su examined the corpses and recognized the person's identity.
It was an elder of the Zhu family.
He bypassed that area and continued swimming forward. Before long, he saw another batch of mangled bodies strewn like a garbage heap. Wearing a Zhongshan suit, with white hair, a youthful complexion, and handsome features, it was unmistakably the Old Ancestor.
*I must hurry to the bottom to gather the silt and refine it. I can feel living entities beginning to form in the pool...* Xie Su accelerated his descent. Soon, he saw another massive heap of shattered remains piled ahead.
This struck him as somewhat strange. Dominators had long cooldown periods between instances, there were a full ninety-nine Dominator-level instances, the Spirit Realm had only existed for a century, and the number of Arbiters of Fate was relatively small. Calculating by these facts, a high-difficulty, Dominator-level solo Spirit Realm shouldn't have been cleared by so many people.
At that moment, as he swam hard toward them, he clearly saw the faces of that pile of corpses.
Handsome features carrying a hint of boyishness, dressed in ordinary T-shirts and shorts...
Xie Su came to an abrupt halt, as if struck by lightning.
Yuanshi Tianzun?
It was Yuanshi Tianzun!
One corpse after another of Yuanshi Tianzun lay sprawled across the golden silt.
Chapter 622