AUOF - 149

After the evil spirits were vanquished, Qinggu organized all the clan members to begin rebuilding homes after the fire and re-repairing the Saintess Shrine.

The Desolate Water clan, born resilient, never lingered in temporary hardship.

Perhaps the ray of light from the Saintess helped them find a new sense of belonging. Everyone picked up tools and silently immersed themselves in the repair work.

The entire island was bathed in warm sunlight. Waves crashed against the shore, accompanied by shouts and bustling sounds. This was Desolate Water’s most harmonious and vibrant period in a thousand years.

Sang Li stayed with Si Tu at the Saintess Shrine.

They sat not far away, watching the people of Desolate Water come and go. With each entry and exit, the Saintess Shrine took on a new look.

Si Tu rested her chin on her hands, feeling the warm sun on her shoulders, her mood more peaceful than ever before. “I was originally worried about what would happen if evil spirits came after we left, but now I’m not worried anymore.”

Her mother’s lingering soul fire would continue to protect Desolate Water; the people’s reverence for her was the nourishment that kept the soul fire burning. As long as faith remained, her mother’s soul fire would never be extinguished.

Sang Li reached out and gently held her hand.

The warmth emanating from her palm made Si Tu smile. “A’Li, thank you.”

“I didn’t do much.”

“No, that’s not it.” Si Tu said, “Actually, I’m quite timid. I always said I’d return to Desolate Water, but I never had the courage. Because I didn’t know how to face this place, nor how to face Mother. If it weren’t for you, I would still be anxious, still suspicious.”

Now she was here.

Having come, she would no longer worry about it in the future.

As they spoke, someone came to deliver a message, saying the clan leader wanted to see them.

Before leaving, Si Tu took one last look at the Saintess Shrine. The unfinished Saintess statue stood beneath the azure sky.

She thought, Mother would never have to return to the darkness again.

________________________________________

The trio returned to Qing Manor.

In just one night, Elder Qingsong had aged considerably. He first looked at Ji Hengyu, then his gaze settled on Si Tu. A moment later, he rose and knelt down, “Please forgive this old man’s previous disrespect, Your Highness the Goddess.”

Si Tu lowered her gaze.

She had always been proud and disdained befriending others. The Desolate Water people’s actions towards her and her mother were now merely put aside, not forgiven. Even with the aged elder kneeling and kowtowing beneath her, she showed not a hint of emotion, and was too lazy to help him up, not even willing to offer a polite word.

“The matter is settled. You only need to properly worship my mother in the future. As of now... Desolate Water has no relation to me; there is no question of forgiveness or not.” These words were a veiled rejection of Qingsong, and completely severed Si Tu’s connection to this land.

How could Qingsong not understand the meaning behind this? He shakily stood up. “This old man previously refused you all, firstly due to the ancestral teachings of Desolate Water; secondly, the Dragon Tomb is a place of unease, and this old man truly did not wish to risk the lives of countless clan members by venturing there. Now that evil spirits have arisen, I fear someone must enter the Dragon Tomb to retrieve the sword jade.”

The elder spoke, then looked up, bowing deeply to the trio. “This old man implores the Grand Ancestor to save my Desolate Water.”

Ji Hengyu lowered his eyes, his jade-like fingers idly toying with his bone fan. Only when Qingsong could no longer maintain his posture did he step forward to help him up. “We came for this very purpose; there’s no need to ask again.”

The elder was overjoyed, then uneasy: “The Dragon Tomb is situated in a dragon’s lair, with treacherous terrain. Successive Saintesses have set up countless mechanisms and secret realms here. Years ago, there was also a blueprint of the Dragon Tomb, but it was lost in the tides, I’m afraid...”

“No matter.” Ji Hengyu interrupted. “The three of us have our own ways to deal with it.”

The old man’s gaze wandered over the trio.

Ji Hengyu was, after all, the Palace Lord of Guixu Palace, and with him was the daughter of a Saintess. Even the seemingly ordinary Sang Li could handle evil spirits on her own, and her combat skills were probably just as good.

The old man dismissed his apprehension. Before dark, he ordered Qinggu to escort them to the outside of the Dragon Tomb.

The Dragon Tomb was originally a dragon’s lair left over from ancient times, located at the very edge of the Desolate Water territory, also close to the Desolate Water barrier. The entire Dragon Tomb was a continuously descending circular deep洞 (cave), which mortals found difficult to reach the bottom of. Not to mention the layers of dangers; one wrong step would leave no bones behind. To this day, no one knew what exactly was buried beneath.

The water near the Dragon Tomb was an eerily windless zone.

The seawater was black, the intense color contrast splitting the vast ocean in two. The closer they got to the Dragon Tomb, the more shipwrecks of victims and bodies of unknown beasts they saw. Skeletons lay on the surface of the sea, accumulating over time to form white bone ruins. Because of the overlapping clouds on the sea surface, sunlight could not penetrate, making the area dark and eerie, dissuading anyone from lingering.

The boat cut through the water, moving slowly forward, and finally, they saw the Dragon Tomb.

The first thing they saw was a colossal skeleton almost touching the sky. From the shape of the bones, it should have been a dragon.

Qinggu could only take them this far. Pointing ahead, he said to the trio, “Follow this path forward, and you will reach the entrance of the Dragon Tomb. You must keep going down. I believe what you are looking for is there.” Qinggu added, “Due to ancestral teachings, I cannot accompany the three of you further. Please forgive me.”

Sang Li thanked him. She and Si Tu disembarked, and after Ji Hengyu also got off, the three walked side by side.

Judging from the surroundings, this should be the dragon’s nest. Thick tree roots were embedded in the ground, and large and small nests clung to cracks in rocks or tree gaps everywhere. Branch-like spiderwebs covered the ground, and thick leaves obscured the view, making it hard to distinguish directions.

Ji Hengyu released a guiding fire, and they soon arrived at the entrance Qinggu had spoken of.

It was impossible to see the bottom, dark and deep. They could vaguely hear the sound of wind and flowing water.

The cave entrance was narrow, just wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

Si Tu volunteered to lead the way. Sang Li let her, and she and Ji Hengyu followed unhurriedly.

The light from the spell illuminated the surroundings. The path spiraled downward like a staircase, leading continuously further down.

Footsteps echoed all around, making the space feel very vast.

“It seems very deep,” Sang Li said casually.

Ji Hengyu did not respond, seemingly lost in thought.

Noticing his silence, Sang Li couldn’t help but look over, but the light was dim, only vaguely outlining his face shrouded in faint firelight.

Sang Li couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s very strange.” Ji Hengyu’s eyes flickered. “The Divine Realm isn’t foolish. They should have quickly realized that Jiwu is just a clone I left behind. Three days have passed outside, yet there’s still no movement from Desolate Water.”

Sang Li frowned.

He lifted his eyelids, his gaze thoughtful: “Perhaps... there’s no sword jade here at all.”

Not only Sang Li, but Si Tu, who was walking ahead, also stopped and looked back with a startled expression.

Feeling the seriousness and anxiety in their eyes, Ji Hengyu chuckled softly and flicked her forehead gently with his bent finger. “This is just my guess. Let’s keep going. Maybe I’m just overthinking it.”

Ji Hengyu didn’t care whether the sword jade was there or not; his initial goal was the Washing Pool.

It would be best to find the sword jade for an extra bargaining chip; even if the Divine Realm obtained the sword jade, it would be harmless. The final outcome of this matter would still be his victory.

Suddenly, two stone walls descended, blocking both the front and back. One wall blocked their retreat; the other blocked their path forward. Golden seals illuminated the stone walls, and they heard a humming sound beneath their feet, as if something was collapsing.

Si Tu’s face fell as she stared at the shaking ground. “Mechanisms.”

Ji Hengyu calmly put his arm around Sang Li’s waist and pulled her over. The next instant, the ground beneath them collapsed, like riding a rapidly descending lift. The airflow reversed, so fast that only blurry streaks remained before their eyes.

Sang Li clung tightly to Ji Hengyu’s sleeve to steady herself, remaining relatively calm.

After falling for about a quarter of an hour, the stone slab thumped and embedded itself in the ground, no longer moving.

Si Tu steadied herself against the side, her breath slightly ragged, still shaken as she stared at the ground beneath her feet.

They were in a completely sealed underground cavern, large and vast, supported by sea pillars on all sides. Runes were visible everywhere on the walls, seemingly some kind of secret chamber mechanism set up by ancestors.

Si Tu was worried about a trap, so she first sent out a puppet to scout ahead. After confirming it was safe, she stepped out.

“There’s writing.”

Sang Li summoned a small fireball and saw markings carved into the stone pillar with a sword.

There was such a mark every now and then along the way. They didn’t seem to have any special meaning, more like guiding symbols.

“Someone has already been here.”

Ji Hengyu suddenly spoke.

Sang Li and Si Tu walked over, seeing the corpses of demonic creatures that had been slain in the corner, and mechanisms that had long been destroyed. No wonder they hadn’t encountered any demonic creature attacks when they first entered.

The blood was deep red, not appearing to have been there for long. Sang Li found it strange. Just as she was about to bend down and touch the demonic creature, Ji Hengyu pulled her back. “It’s poisonous.”

Sang Li deliberated, “This blood looks like it hasn’t dried long. I want to confirm the time of its death.”

Si Tu: “Are you saying that person might not have left yet?”

Sang Li shook her head; she wasn’t entirely sure either.

But Desolate Water was a completely closed tribe. If an outsider had truly trespassed, how could Qinggu and the others be unaware?

But...

These bloodstains were simply too fresh, forcing her to be more vigilant.

“Let’s go further in.”

The trio continued forward.

As expected, they encountered no obstacles along the way, no attacks from demonic creatures or evil spirits. All the mechanisms they encountered were, without exception, destroyed. The swordplay was brutal, and the residual sword energy even formed swirling whirlwinds.

To avoid being affected by the sword winds, Ji Hengyu impassively waved a fan, directly dispelling the energies.

The deeper they went, the more Sang Li became convinced of her initial thought—

Someone had definitely been here!!

Not only Sang Li, but even Si Tu began to notice the anomaly.

If someone had indeed arrived here before them, unharmed, their cultivation and movement techniques must not be underestimated, forcing her to be on high alert and wary of her surroundings.

Because the journey was incredibly smooth, the trio quickly reached the deepest part of the Dragon Tomb.

This place seemed to be an altar. Dragon heads, bodies, and tails stood in each of the cardinal directions, encircling the central altar.

The original altar should have had mechanisms.

Now, one of the dragon bodies had been split in two, cut through the middle, and even the arrays around the altar had been completely destroyed. To accomplish this, it must have been no ordinary sword cultivator.

Si Tu stared at a deep sword mark on the ground. A familiar person’s image suddenly flashed in her mind, and her expression immediately became incredibly grave.

“A’Tu?” Sang Li saw her stop and turned around.

Si Tu came back to her senses. “Nothing, I just feel this sword energy is a bit familiar.”

After speaking, she pursed her lips and looked down.

But... that person was already dead. How could they have come all the way to Desolate Water, thousands of miles away?

Si Tu sighed, dismissing this unrealistic fantasy, and quickened her pace to keep up with Sang Li.

The trio ascended the hundred-step cloudy ladder to the altar together.

On the completely destroyed altar remained only a black sword stele. The sword stele was enveloped in spiritual light, reinforced by divine magic, which allowed it to be preserved.

On the sword stele, bathed in flowing light, there were four small circular holes. These were originally where the sword jade was located, but now they were empty, leaving only a line of brilliant golden small characters—

[The Jade of Death; Is the Sword of Salvation.]