First Close Encounter with Xia Chen

The dead spirit realm. Su Yu descended once more. Several quasi-Invincible dead spirits were guarding the passage; a few had died earlier, but the one Su Yu had dubbed Xingda was still alive. Catching sight of Su Yu, Xingda hesitated, glancing toward Wan Tiansheng behind him and Liu Hong dangling in Su Yu's grip. He said hesitantly, "Grand Commander, this... living beings cannot enter the dead spirit realm..." Su Yu smiled. "No matter. We'll be leaving shortly!" "Then... Grand Commander must depart as soon as possible. The aura of living beings is too dense; lingering here for too long could easily invite trouble and provoke a riot among the dead spirits!" "Understood!" Su Yu said no more and quickly made his way toward the ancient castle in the distance. During the massive clash, the castle had sustained quite a bit of damage, but much like the ancient cities, it was remarkably restoring itself in the aftermath. ... Inside the ancient castle. Only Xingyue was present. Before Su Yu even stepped through the doors, she had sensed him, asking coldly, "Who gave you permission to bring living beings in?" Su Yu tossed Liu Hong to the side, cupped his hands, and smiled. "My lady, I just came to see Daidai. We'll leave shortly and won't trouble you!" Xingyue gave a cold snort. "Hetu went looking for him!" Disinclined to speak further, she rose to leave. Su Yu hurried to ask, "My lady, have the other dead spirit monarchs left?" "They're gone!" Xingyue snapped impatiently, "If they didn't leave, were they supposed to stay here for a meeting? They've killed what they wanted, tasted what they craved. If they didn't leave, were they waiting for the rules to descend upon them?" "Then when will Lord Hetu and the others return?" "No idea!" Just as Xingyue finished speaking, her gaze flickered, and she looked toward the outskirts. "Seems they're back," she said in a low voice. Not long after she spoke, Su Yu saw two figures materialize outside the castle. One was Hetu, and the other was Daidai, whose aura was somewhat weaker than before. The two figures quickly landed. Daidai—or rather, Xia Chen—glanced at Su Yu, looked at Wan Tiansheng, and finally turned to Liu Hong, who had been dumped on the ground. Speaking was no longer as difficult for him as before, though his voice was still somewhat raspy. "You were waiting for me?" "Yes!" Su Yu nodded and cupped his hands. "May I ask, senior, are you indeed the first prefect, Mister Xia Chen?" "First prefect..." Daidai fell silent for a moment. "I am Xia Chen. When you say first prefect... do you mean the Great Xia Civilization Academy?" Su Yu nodded! Beside him, Wan Tiansheng took a deep breath and bowed slightly. "Wan Tiansheng, the sixth prefect of the Great Xia Civilization Academy, pays his respects to the first prefect!" "Sixth prefect..." A dazed, complicated look appeared in Daidai's eyes. Su Yu quickly said, "Senior Xia Chen, don't think too hard about it! If you strain yourself, you might lose your memories again!" Daidai suddenly chuckled. "Not that quickly. Some of my memories have revived now; that King Wen Token was indeed useful..." With that, he looked toward Liu Hong, pointed at him, and asked, "He's the one who brought the King Wen Token?" "Yes!" Su Yu nodded. "Senior Xia Chen knows him?" "No." Daidai shook his head. "However, some of the things he possesses were likely left behind by me. For him to obtain them means his fortune is quite decent." Su Yu nodded, then called out, "Teacher Liu, time to wake up!" Liu Hong did not budge. Su Yu said calmly, "Someone drag him away and feed him to the spirits!" "Don't!" Liu Hong leaped to his feet in a flash, looking thoroughly embarrassed. He quickly pasted on a smile and turned toward Xia Chen, speaking rapidly: "Junior Liu Hong pays respects to the first prefect! The legacy you left behind has been of immense help to me. Prefect, you are like a revered mentor, a second father to me..." Su Yu remarked flatly, "Teacher, give it a rest. Senior Xia Chen doesn't know you; no need to butter him up!" Liu Hong smiled sheepishly. What kind of talk was that? I was the one who picked up his treasures; how could he say we didn't know each other? It wouldn't be a stretch to call us master and disciple! As they spoke, Hetu remarked with a hint of surprise, "So you really are Xia Chen?" He looked toward Daidai and said with unexpected curiosity, "Blockhead, did the two of us ever meet when you were alive?" Xia Chen pondered for a moment and shook his head. "I don't remember!" Hetu scoffed coldly. A wonderful answer—it seemed he was utterly dispensable in Xia Chen's memories! Xia Chen had merely spoken the truth; he genuinely didn't recall. Wasting no further time, Xia Chen turned toward Su Yu, Wan Tiansheng, and the others. "You must have many things to ask me. Back then, I departed in a hurry and didn't have the chance to say much—or rather, there were things I couldn't say... Now, there are far fewer concerns. This is the dead spirit realm. If there is anything you wish to ask, ask while I am still clearheaded!" Su Yu thought it over and looked at Wan Tiansheng. Wan Tiansheng didn't stand on ceremony either, asking directly, "Senior, in life, were you not at the ninth stage of the Sun Moon Realm?" Xia Chen shook his head. "No. I attained the Dao a very long time ago, toward the tail end of the previous Tidal Change. Back then, warfare engulfed the realms, and few paid any attention to me. After I successfully attained the Dao, the Allhead Battlefield was sealed off, and the ruins were locked down. I remained living inside the ruins... until the Allhead Battlefield reopened, which was when I gradually regained consciousness." Su Yu hurried to ask, "Senior is a figure from the Ninth Tide?" "Yes." Xia Chen did not conceal it. "Indeed I am. However, what you may not know is that once a Tidal Change ends, the Human Realm enters a recovery phase. During that period, even if strong experts survive, it is very difficult for them to emerge. They either die or simply wait until the realm reconnects with the myriad realms before venturing out." Xia Chen took the initiative to explain, "Nevertheless, I am indeed of the Xia family. The Xia family descends from the lineage of a Human King. My branch was exceptionally close to King Wen. After King Wen disappeared, the ancestors of my branch erected King Wen's Tomb for him." Wan Tiansheng hesitated, then asked, "The Xia family belongs to the lineage of a Human King—which Human King?" "The War King's lineage!" Xia Chen explained, "You might not know, but back in the ancient era, he was one of the higher-ranking Human Kings. Counting the generations... Xia Wushen is probably several dozen generations after me. But when the Ninth Tide ended in the catastrophic defeat of the human race, I didn't dare openly claim to be a remnant from the previous tide. I could only slip into the Xia family, seek out Xia Wushen, and open the ruins for him..." Xia Chen continued, "When the Ninth Tide ended, I thought there would never be another chance, yet a Tenth Tide actually began! However, when the Tenth Tide commenced, the human race was far too weak... It was likely the weakest opening in all of history!" Xia Chen sighed bitterly. "In the earlier tides, there were always older generations who survived. During those dormant periods, the elders taught the younger generations, so the heritage was never truly severed. But when the Ninth Tide collapsed... the Hundred Battles King fell in battle, the human race was decimated, and the Eternals were practically wiped out! The Allhead Battlefield was sealed for five thousand years. The remaining Sun Moons died off one by one from old age or illness. I was merely lucky to successfully attain the Dao at the final moment; otherwise, I wouldn't have survived those five thousand years until the Allhead Battlefield opened again." According to his account, in previous tides, Invincibles had remained behind, so the human race's inheritance had stayed mostly intact. When the Ninth Tide collapsed, virtually all the human powerhouses perished, severing the succession with no one left to pass on the mantle. This ultimately resulted in the absolute weakness of the human race at the beginning of the current era. Su Yu was interested in these ancient matters, but not overwhelmingly so. Getting straight to the point, he asked, "Senior Xia, did the Multiple Divine Characters Department only come into being starting from the Tenth Tide?" "You could say that!" Xia Chen explained, "Though not entirely. There were vestiges before that, but they were not the authentic inheritance of King Wen. Only the battle techniques of the Tombstone of Civilizations can be considered King Wen's true heritage. I emerged precisely to pass down King Wen's legacy!" "What is ominous about the Tombstone of Civilizations?" The moment this topic was brought up, a look of struggle appeared in Xia Chen's eyes. It was not that he refused to speak, but that an excruciating headache racked him. Even so, he managed to speak: "Whenever this object appears, it signifies the emergence of King Wen's inheritance... Ever since the ancient era, someone has been watching this item! To protect it, the Xia family fought generation after generation, suffering countless casualties. Even my own death in battle was related to it... So long as this item exists... it is an omen of misfortune..." After saying this, he panted heavily. "Do not ask these crucial questions for now. In life, I must have sealed away my own memories; asking about them now makes it very easy for me to lose control. Start with simpler questions. Leave the top-secret matters, especially those concerning the ancient era, for the very end. That way, even if I lose control, I can still tell you a few things!" "Was King Dawei a traitor?" "A traitor?" Xia Chen thought for a moment and shook his head. "No. King Dawei simply saw something he shouldn't have and was silenced! Back then, when I clashed with that fellow, King Dawei caught sight of it. He tried to flee, but that fellow killed him..." "Who was he?" Xia Chen said with a bitter smile, "An expert nearing the Dao Integration Realm, roughly a half-human... You don't know this, but I slew him in secret. However, I was also grievously injured. I could only make some hasty arrangements before finally perishing." Su Yu's brows furrowed. "A half-human—did he possess the bloodline of the Prison King?" "Hmm?" Xia Chen looked at him. "You know more than I anticipated. Yes, he indeed carried the Prison King's bloodline." "Does he still have descendants?" "Likely yes, though I don't know the specifics." "Had that descendant attained the Dao back then?" "No!" This time, he gave a definite answer. "I knew and recognized all those who attained the Dao during the early period of the human race. I could easily tell whether someone attained the Dao through an ancient Human King's bloodline! There was no such individual!" Xia Chen then spoke rapidly, "Later on, was the Multiple Divine Characters faction targeted again?" "Yes!" Su Yu nodded. "That's why I suspect the person senior killed had descendants who later attained the Dao and continued to target us!" "Undoubtedly!" Xia Chen explained, "This was an informant left behind by King Wen's ancient enemies. As for who specifically, that might involve confidential matters regarding King Wen, which I am not entirely clear about. But I do know someone has been watching King Wen's Tomb! It likely has some connection to the Prison King. In the ancient era, the Prison King received rather severe punishment from King Wen! Thus, it is not surprising that the other party possessed the Prison King's bloodline!" "Before senior fell, the other party had not yet attained the Dao?" "Correct!" Su Yu understood. He looked at Wan Tiansheng. "That fellow wasn't an Invincible who founded a prefecture. He attained the Dao between 320 years ago and now. That narrows down the scope considerably!" Wan Tiansheng took a deep breath as well. "It narrows it down by a lot. Very few people remain!" Indeed, there were only a handful of candidates! The Invincibles who attained the Dao after the founding of the prefectures and before fifty years ago were limited in number. "Zhu Tianfang, Zhou Tianyuan, King Jintian, King Tianzhu, King Miecan..." Wan Tiansheng listed them one by one, exhaling slowly. "Just them!" Su Yu fell silent. He didn't say anything further, but Wan Tiansheng evidently knew as well that another traitor remained among the humans. Xia Chen also chimed in, "It is roughly those individuals. I am not very familiar with them, but among those I knew, none had the Prison King's bloodline. Su Yu, did you discover the mark of the Prison King's bloodline?" "Yes!" Su Yu briefly described what he had seen, and in the end, sketched the pattern in the air. As someone of a Human King's bloodline and an expert of the Ninth Tide, Xia Chen recognized it at a single glance. "The Hell Hibiscus Flower. It is indeed the emblem of the Prison King's bloodline! Interwoven flame patterns..." He pondered for a moment and said, "Flame patterns... this must be related to the Dao of flames. The other party isn't a pure-blooded human, yet they managed to leave their own mark within the inheritance of a Human King. Their strength is formidable, not necessarily inferior to the Prison King! The Heavenly Fire of the Five Elements race, the Blood Fire of the Demon race, the Blazing Fire of the God race, the Fire Immortal of the Immortal race, the Phoenix Fire of the Phoenix race—any of these inheritances are possible!" He looked at Su Yu. "You still haven't identified the culprit, have you?" "No." "That's simple!" Xia Chen said swiftly, "The other party must excel in the Dao of flames!" "King Fenhai? But he's dead!" Su Yu was startled, but Wan Tiansheng said softly, "Don't forget, there is another person who excels in the Dao of flames!" "King Tianzhu?" Su Yu froze. Surely not! Among blacksmiths, none were unskilled with fire! Xia Chen continued, "Not necessarily; hear me out! The other party combines both the Prison King's Dao and the Dao of flames. Meanwhile, the Prison King specialized in sealing arts. The title 'Prison King' came from his mastery of Avici Hell, trapping and imprisoning his foes..." "King Jintian!" Wan Tiansheng's voice dropped low, and Su Yu's mind stirred as well. King Jintian, King Tianzhu! Both fit the criteria Xia Chen had described. Xia Chen added, "I can only provide you with clues; the exact details are beyond me. This person's goal does not lie in the human race as a whole, but solely in the Multiple Divine Characters faction. He is an informant, and an assassin!" Su Yu asked in a heavy voice, "The Tombstone of Civilizations had been in the Great Xia Prefecture all along. Why didn't he come to seize it?" "Xia Wushen was watching over it!" Xia Chen explained, "The Tombstone of Civilizations never left the Great Xia Prefecture. Unless he could deal with Xia Wushen, he wouldn't dare try to take it! Furthermore, the Tombstone of Civilizations isn't something just anyone can seize. If one is not a direct descendant of the Multiple Divine Characters lineage, taking it away poses considerable difficulty!" Is that so? Well, Su Yu genuinely hadn't known that. Both he and Chen Yong had handled the thing with ease. "Then what exactly does the Tombstone of Civilizations do? Is it just for outlining divine character battle techniques?" "Of course not!" Xia Chen explained, "The Tombstone of Civilizations has many functions. Its greatest function... actually lies in one point: the core of the Tombstone of Civilizations was forged from a core divine character of King Wen himself. Afterwards, hundreds upon thousands of King Wen's successors used their lifelong power to seal their divine character battle techniques inside it. On one hand, it was for the sake of inheritance; on the other, it was to await King Wen's resurrection..." "I don't know the full details, but I do know that King Wen might truly be able to resurrect... He might not be dead! That is why our Xia family has continuously guarded his tomb for him!" Su Yu was speechless. "Was that necessary? Fine, even if it was, you mentioned it was ominous—is that just because someone has their eyes on it?" "Not just that!" Xia Chen sighed. "King Wen's formidable enemies watching it is only the first reason! The second is that the Tombstone of Civilizations serves as the key to a treasure vault, which some old fogies are aware of. That treasure is related to the Human Sovereign Palace on the ninth floor of the Star Residence Mansion! King Wen also possessed his own manor within the Human Sovereign Palace, where he reportedly left behind countless treasures. Since the Tombstone of Civilizations was forged from his core divine character, possessing it should allow one to open it! One could even walk freely throughout the Human Sovereign Palace, because King Wen's status was so exalted that he faced no constraints or restrictions there!" Su Yu was surprised. "It even has that ability? But when King Wen died, wasn't the Human Sovereign still alive?" Xia Chen chuckled. "Do you think the Human Sovereign would covet King Wen's treasures? Seeing his belongings would only evoke sorrow, so out of sight was out of mind; the Human Sovereign rarely stayed in the palace later on, nor did he concern himself with those matters." Fair enough! Su Yu hesitated before asking, "So holding this thing essentially turns you into a target, with countless people wanting to kill you?" "Correct!" "And that's why it's an omen of misfortune?" "Pretty much!" Xia Chen sighed. "Actually, the first reason alone is troublesome enough. The other party likely possesses means to detect the location of the Tombstone of Civilizations! Therefore, whoever holds the tombstone is doomed to misfortune!" "Really?" Su Yu shook his head. That didn't seem right! I held it for so long. Logically speaking, if the other party truly knew where I was and who I was, I would have been targeted back when I was still in the Human Realm... Wait, later on, when fabricating the fake ruins, Old Wan had taken it away. Old Wan only returned it to him after the grand battle ended, by which time his identity was already exposed. Wan Tiansheng said cryptically, "Perhaps your death qi masked it. You'd better watch your back!" Su Yu looked at him with an innocent expression. "Why should I watch my back? That thing isn't with me!" "..." Damn it! Lying through his teeth with his eyes wide open! Wan Tiansheng was thoroughly speechless. This kid, with that expression and that tone—if I hadn't personally handed it to you, I might have doubted myself and wondered if I guessed wrong! The point is, I was the one who handed it to you, alright?! Xia Chen paid no heed to their banter and continued, "That is the general gist regarding the Tombstone of Civilizations. As for further details, I either do not know them or cannot speak of them. Is there anything else you want to ask?" Su Yu hurried to ask, "Do old fogies appear in every major war?" "Yes!" Xia Chen said swiftly, "Indeed they do. Hetu should know about this as well." Beside them, Hetu said languidly, "What good does knowing do? Let's put it this way: in a region unknown to us, a group of ancient fossils are confronting and slaughtering one another... A higher dimension! The Allhead Battlefield was originally just a place for geniuses to temper themselves; it wasn't considered all that exalted. However, because geniuses were valued, the Star Residence Mansion was built here, making it an exceptionally vital location in the myriad realms!" "Geniuses eventually grow up. Once they have matured, then every time the Allhead Battlefield opens for a period, old monsters will enter. Every thousand years marks a threshold; after roughly a thousand years of opening, the battlefield can accommodate even stronger powerhouses!" "Above Dao Integration?" Su Yu was startled. Could it be? "Not that!" Hetu chuckled. "Simply put, Dao Integrators are top-tier existences everywhere! However, leaving is easy for a Dao Integrator, but returning is difficult! For instance, if a Dao Integrator who grew up in the myriad realms or on the Allhead Battlefield never leaves, then nothing happens—they can stay here indefinitely, doing as they please. But once they leave... returning becomes exceedingly difficult, subject to the restrictions of certain rules!" "Those old fellows like Tiangu have been unwilling to leave precisely because they want to guard this place, serving as its rulers!" Su Yu felt a wave of dazed realization. "So you're saying that during the previous Tidal Change, the human experts were completely wiped out?" "A great many died!" Xia Chen sighed. "The Hundred Battles King back then was simply too monstrously talented. Across countless years, very few had ever reached his level, truly attaining the realm of the ancient Human Kings! Across nine tides, the Hundred Battles King was, in a true sense, the very first expert to reach that height. Therefore, during the Ninth Tide, several ancient human fogies placed their bets on him. At the final moment, countless human experts—whether survivors of the ancient era or remnants of the previous eight tides—mostly chose to stake everything on a single throw... wagering that the Hundred Battles King could unify the myriad realms once more..." The outcome was obvious: they lost the gamble! The human race was defeated! The Hundred Battles King died! Consequently, the humans suffered a total, crushing defeat, which culminated in them being suppressed and battered throughout the Tenth Tide! "If the Hundred Battles King was that powerful, who killed him? Didn't you say he was the first expert to approach the realm of the ancient Human Kings? If he was so formidable, how could he be killed? Were there beings at the Human King realm among the old fogies as well?" Xia Chen shook his head. "I don't know, but in all probability, there were none. Being titled a Marquis is plausible, but a King... only the human race could bestow the title of King. The other races had none; if they did, they were self-proclaimed titles adopted after the ancient era! As for how the Hundred Battles King died, he was either besieged and killed, or led into a fatal trap... I hadn't attained the Dao back then, so I'm not clear on the details. By the time I finished attaining the Dao, the battle was already over!" He had scraped by to attain the Dao. The final battle had been too ferocious, and his cultivation had been too meager, so he hadn't participated. By the time he finished, the battle was over, the human experts were dead, and the Allhead Battlefield was sealed shut, leaving him in a daze when he finally came to his senses. Looking around, he was the sole surviving Invincible in the Human Realm! What was there left to fight? He could only hole up in the ruins and wait! Well, Su Yu was thoroughly speechless. The Hundred Battles King had been so powerful, yet he ended up killed, causing the human race's efforts to fall short at the final hurdle. What a useless fellow! Forget it, no point dwelling on him. As for the human traitor Su Yu wanted to uncover, he now had some clues. The primary suspects were narrowed down to two individuals: King Tianzhu and King Jintian. Speaking of which, Su Yu had ties to both of them. The weaponsmithing arts he learned at the Pavilion of a Hundred Dao were in fact King Tianzhu's legacy. Meanwhile, the twenty-sixth divine character he had outlined, "Seal," originated from King Jintian's divine character. Su Yu rarely used that divine character because his opponents were simply too powerful, making sealing-type characters awkward for him to employ, but it still meant he possessed a part of the man's inheritance. He stopped questioning, but Wan Tiansheng began to ask, "Senior Xia, in the ancient era, was the Three Bodies method the only way to attain the Dao?" "Not necessarily... but after the ancient era, it has been exceedingly difficult to attain the Dao through any method other than the Three Bodies method!" Xia Chen explained, "The rules restrict it! Whether those rules were established by the Human Sovereign or the council, no one knows for sure! Breaking the rules is immensely difficult, but if one can shatter them and attain the Dao through another method, one's strength will be considerably greater!" "Do I still have hope of attaining the Dao?" Indeed, Wan Tiansheng had not attained the Dao! Yet he had slain Invincibles—and more than just one. Xia Chen looked at him and said hesitantly, "Your path... is hard for me to judge. I, too, attained the Dao merely through the Three Bodies method." He wasn't an ancient powerhouse either! At this, Su Yu suddenly recalled something. "Does the Human Realm possess suppressive power?" "It does, but it cannot be activated!" Xia Chen actually knew about this. "That restriction was laid down by King Wen! However, it was rarely activated. Later, when King Wen disappeared, no one knew how to activate it except him. Perhaps someone did, but at the time, nobody paid it much mind! In the earlier tides, people also sought to activate the restriction, but there was no hope. Later, rumors began to circulate that unless someone walks King Wen's path and attains Eternal, there is no hope of activating this restriction..." Su Yu let out a breath. It really did exist! And it was indeed tied to the Multiple Divine Characters faction. Ye Batian's death suddenly didn't seem entirely in vain! "Senior Xia, as the first prefect, do you know how to attain the Dao through divine characters?" Wan Tiansheng's questions were entirely focused on cultivation; he seemed indifferent to everything else. Xia Chen chuckled wryly. "I don't know. I was only half-baked; my divine characters were stuck at the peak of the ninth stage of the Sun Moon Realm, unable to advance. Later, I gave up and chose to walk the Three Bodies method to attain Eternal." Xia Chen hadn't advanced through that path either! Wan Tiansheng looked somewhat disappointed. "I thought the first prefect, if he truly attained the Dao, must have walked the divine character path!" Xia Chen said helplessly, "After King Wen disappeared, practically no one could attain the Dao through it! Attaining the Dao through divine characters... humans and the myriad races are different. Strictly speaking, the myriad races only attain the Dao through the Three Bodies method as well! They simply cultivate their divine characters to be stronger and call it attaining the Dao as a Civilization Master, but at their core, they still rely on the Three Bodies method!" "The human race has it even worse. Divine characters hit a bottleneck at the ninth stage of the Sun Moon Realm, unable to even forge an Eternal divine character. That is why we differ somewhat from the myriad races." Su Yu and Wan Tiansheng exchanged a glance, feeling equally helpless. It seemed seeking out Xia Chen wouldn't reveal a way to attain the Dao through divine characters either. How miserable. "Senior Xia, do you know the cultivation method for opening 360 divine apertures?" Su Yu chimed in to ask. Xia Chen smiled and said, "Don't you already know where it is? If you missed it this time, just wait another ten years, and you will naturally acquire it!" "Forget it, I might as well deduce it myself!" Arrogant indeed! Xia Chen said no more. Su Yu might truly be able to deduce it—provided he was still alive when he finished. If not, waiting ten years was fine, or he could forcibly activate that teleportation array once he became stronger. Su Yu abruptly lost interest in Xia Chen. He knew far too little. Whatever was asked, he was only half-knowledgeable! Wan Tiansheng roughly grasped his thoughts and felt somewhat exasperated. He quickly asked, "Senior Xia, does the human race truly have no hidden foundations left today?" "Foundations..." Xia Chen pondered and said, "Hard to say. The Ninth Tide battered us almost to exhaustion, but since the human race was still able to initiate the Tenth Tide, I believe there must still be some foundation left. Otherwise, after the Hundred Battles King failed last time, humanity would have been wiped out completely!" Since they hadn't been exterminated, it meant there might still be hope. A true defeat would mean the total extinction of the human race from the myriad realms. At this point, Su Yu said no more. He turned to Liu Hong, who had been listening on the side the entire time, and asked, "Teacher, do you have anything you want to say?" Liu Hong said in surprise, "Me? Senior Xia Chen already said everything I know!" Su Yu smiled faintly. "Senior Xia, did you tell him that eating the King Wen Token after dying would restore your memories? Did you tell him what the Dead Spirit Summoning Token looked like?" Xia Chen thought for a moment and shook his head. Liu Hong said awkwardly, "I read it in an ancient text." "Where's the text?" "Lost it." "Used it in the latrine?" Su Yu said with a half-smile, "Teacher, don't use that excuse next time. Just say an old man in your dreams passed down the Dao to you—that's far more plausible!" Liu Hong said helplessly, "Fine, I confess! You guessed right: an old man really did pass down the Dao to me in my dreams! He taught me some things, which is how I knew. I've been thinking, maybe some human experts who refused to accept defeat are still trying to find a way to nurture me!" "..." Su Yu was speechless. "Teacher, if not for the fact that you rendered meritorious service this time, do you believe I would have the dead spirits devour you right now?" "Dead spirits rarely eat people!" Hetu chimed in faintly, "You make it sound like dead spirits are gluttons. Dead spirits are only interested in blood—the blood of experts. They have no interest in flesh. Stop scaring people with dead spirits all the time!" Su Yu rolled his eyes. What does this have to do with you?! Liu Hong also said helplessly, "See? No matter what I say, you won't believe me. Since your mind is set on doubting me, what can I do?" "Didn't you say King Wen had a residence in the dead spirit realm? Where is it?" "Not here!" Liu Hong explained, "And you have to carry the King Wen Token. Now that the first prefect has eaten the King Wen Token, probably no one can find it except him!" This time, Xia Chen nodded slightly. "That King Wen Token was indeed left behind by me! It is related to King Wen's residence. As for the specifics, my memory is a bit hazy. I will do my best to investigate..." Liu Hong spread his hands. "You heard him! It has nothing to do with me!" Su Yu smiled. "Then where did Marquis Qishan come from? Do you know?" Liu Hong remained silent, Xia Chen rubbed his temples, and Hetu said uncertainly, "Crossed over from the River of Dead Spirits? I'm not too sure either. I rarely go over there; the few times I did, I was stopped! That old turtle stirs up trouble at every critical moment. Whenever I headed over there, he'd pick a fight. After a few tries, I never crossed the River of Dead Spirits and simply stopped going!" "General Hongmeng was doing it for your own good!" Xia Chen spoke up. "Crossing over could be dangerous! Earlier, when I fought Marquis Qishan, I sensed danger. Beyond the River of Dead Spirits, peerless powerhouses likely exist!" Xia Chen added, "In the ancient era, the Human Sovereign seemingly conferred titles within the dead spirit realm as well; quite a few ancient dead spirits might reside there." Su Yu asked curiously, "Since there were titles conferred, that means the dead spirit realm was also under governance in the ancient era. Why then were the spirit-suppressing generals stationed here?" Before Hetu could answer, Xia Chen said, "It's normal. After all, not all dead spirits are obedient. For instance, in a place where you store money, even if there's a rule against robbery, people will still take the risk if you don't keep watch and maintain order!" Su Yu understood. "You mean those guardians are stationed to prevent impulsive dead spirits from charging out of the dead spirit realm, not necessarily to suppress the entire realm itself!" "Correct, and suppressing the entire realm would be nearly impossible anyway!" Xia Chen added, "People are constantly dying and being summoned; how could this place be easily suppressed? The guardians' mission is solely to prevent these dead spirits from leaving. Within the dead spirit realm, they don't interfere; naturally, powerhouses conferred by the Human Sovereign handle that! It's just that with the fall of the ancient era, the guardians couldn't leave and had no choice but to remain here suppressing the passages. Across countless years, it evolved into the current standoff." At this point, Su Yu had no more questions; Xia Chen might not know the answers to anything else, and even if he did, he might not be able to speak of them. While Su Yu was finished, Wan Tiansheng hesitated for a moment before asking, "Senior Xia Chen, Senior Hetu, have either of you seen a revived dead spirit nearby... In life, his strength wasn't overwhelmingly high, roughly comparable to mine now. If he revived, he might advance straight to Eternal, perhaps possessing the power of the fifth or sixth stage of the Eternal Realm." "Ye Batian?" Hetu chuckled. "You're looking for him?" Xia Chen didn't know him; having just recovered his senses, he had no idea who Ye Batian was. Wan Tiansheng nodded. "It's him. Has senior seen him?" "No!" Hetu smiled. "That's very difficult to track down. You don't know where he revived. Perhaps he hasn't revived at all, or maybe he's still drifting in the River of Dead Spirits, or... perhaps he wasn't summoned at all! Of course, he was a genius, so the probability of being summoned is quite high. Geniuses are welcomed and treated with courtesy on the Allhead Battlefield; most of them can revive after death! But without their memories, who can tell who is who? It's entirely possible he was killed by someone!" "Ye Batian?" Xia Chen looked at the two of them. Wan Tiansheng explained, "Prefect Nan's disciple!" "Wujiang's disciple?" Xia Chen muttered in dazed recollection, "Yun Chen?" He seemed to recall having met Yun Chen before, inside the Star Residence Mansion. "No... the youngest disciple!" "Then I don't know him..." Wan Tiansheng smiled. "Senior likely wouldn't; he was taken in later! His talent was extraordinary. Even before attaining the Dao, he had slain experts of the third and fourth stages of the Eternal Realm. Unfortunately, he was murdered later on!" "That is indeed formidable!" Xia Chen was surprised as well; that was remarkably impressive and exceedingly talented! "Killed by the traitor you're looking for?" "More or less; he was plotted against and killed." Xia Chen sighed. "What a pity they weren't wiped out completely back then! Otherwise, we wouldn't have this mess today!" He then looked at Wan Tiansheng. "Then you... are also of the Multiple Divine Characters faction?" "Yes. Senior Brother Yun Chen accepted me on our master's behalf." Xia Chen was astonished. This man was a genius as well! He turned his gaze toward Su Yu, who merely shrugged. "I'm the disciple of the disciple of the disciple of the fifth prefect, Ye Batian..." That was strictly accurate, tracing the lineage through Bai Feng. Xia Chen was somewhat bewildered. That meant they all belonged to the Multiple Divine Characters faction! While he had harbored some guesses earlier, he was still somewhat shaken now, unable to hold back: "Is King Wen's lineage truly about to experience a revival?" What a bunch of monsters! Su Yu shrugged once more. "Hard to say. My strength lies in my physical body; my divine characters are mediocre. This King Wen lineage doesn't seem like much to me—it's not even a tenth as strong as my physical body!" Xia Chen was rendered utterly speechless. At the very end, Su Yu spoke up: "Senior, are you still using your Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm? If not, why not gift it to me? I can extract some willpower from it..." "Sure!" Xia Chen didn't give it a second thought. I'm already dead; what would I need that for? "You need it? Then go ahead and take it. After I was heavily injured back then, I handed that divine character over to Xia Wushen. Did he bring it back to the Great Xia Prefecture?" "Yes!" "Then tell him to give it to you!" Su Yu grinned. "Understood, senior. But verbal promises carry no weight; there must be some proof, right? Otherwise, King Daxia won't hand it over easily!" Xia Chen thought it over and hesitated briefly before saying, "He can't come here, and I have nothing on me now... How about this: tell him that when he was young and practicing with his saber, he carved ten characters onto the blade—'Xia Wushen, the number one handsome man under heaven.' Only he and I know about this, so he will definitely believe you. He destroyed that saber when he was sixteen, so no one else should know about it." "Oh!" Su Yu nodded. Well, now everyone knows! He was used to such antics by now. Xia Wushen, a man who threw thousands of sky-cleaving saber strikes at the drop of a hat—it wasn't surprising in the least that he had gone through a chuunibyou phase in his youth! Alright then, the owner of the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm has gifted it to me! That thing is mine now!