There Must Be a Secret in This

Xu Mu drew a deep breath. This was the first time he had heard such a detailed account of the legends surrounding the Inner Realm.

From the Creator opening up the world in the beginning to the shattering of the Ancient Realm...

Shui Zheng was right. If everything that happened before the Ancient Realm shattered was merely legend, then who had invented the method of using qi in battle?

As far as Xu Mu knew, after the Ancient Realm shattered, its fragments became embedded in the Outer Realm, causing the Inner and Outer Realms to become connected.

The experts from the Inner Realm then traveled to the Outer Realm and, through wars and other means, taught the people there this method of combat as well.

Of course, so-called legends were always a mixture of truth and falsehood.

Only by meeting someone who had truly lived through all of it could they determine what had actually happened back then.

Suddenly, Xu Mu thought of someone—Ying Weiyang.

She was a member of the dragon race, and she had lost her memories.

If she recovered them, she ought to know something about the past.

However, Xu Mu believed that his cultivation was still too weak to make such a dangerous attempt. He planned to wait until he reached the World-Breaking Realm before giving it any thought.

“By the way, why did you suddenly ask about Eternal Life?”

Shui Yuanyao asked curiously.

“I’ll be honest. If my guess is correct, Shui Shu has joined Eternal Life.”

Xu Mu revealed the news.

“What?”

The father and son were both stunned. Their eyes widened in disbelief.

“A friend of mine heard her personally say to a man, ‘Thank you for bringing me into Eternal Life.’”

Xu Mu decided not to show them the video of Shui Shu.

It was one of his trump cards.

Besides, he had always kept his word unless he was left with no other choice.

“Xu Mu! If this is true, then we’re in trouble!”

Shui Zheng’s face turned grim, and even his breathing grew rapid.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Mu asked.

“You may not know this, but back then, people of my grandfather’s generation once considered joining Eternal Life. Their goal was to infiltrate it and investigate what lay inside. But they were stumped right from the beginning.”

Shui Zheng seemed nauseated just talking about it.

“What happened?” Xu Mu asked again.

Even Shui Yuanyao pricked up his ears. He had only heard about Eternal Life; he had never heard anything about how one could join it.

“I don’t know what the requirements are now. But back then, you had to kill members of your own race—at least a dozen of them—and choose one to eat.”

As Shui Zheng spoke, his blue pupils suddenly contracted to pinpoints.

“Father, don’t tell me you’re thinking...”

Shui Yuanyao sucked in a sharp breath as well.

Seeing their intense reaction, Xu Mu asked, “What did you think of?”

“Shui Shu was bought at a market by the Great Elder and me back then. We chose her because she possessed the bloodline of the Water Spirit Race and had obvious characteristics of it.”

Shui Zheng explained, “She displayed her talent at a very young age, which made many of the other children jealous. I remember that when she was in her teens, a group of young people went exploring some ruins under the leadership of an elder. In the end, she was the only one who returned alive.”

“I remember that too. At the time, I heard the Great Elder remark that it was a blessing in misfortune that Shui Shu had survived, since she had the greatest talent.”

Shui Yuanyao continued, “None of us suspected her back then. She had once been a slave and had no background. The elder who led the group was a fifth-stage expert, while Shui Shu’s cultivation at the time was nowhere near enough to defeat him.”

“Now that I think about it, Shui Shu’s personality really did change after that incident.”

Shui Zheng rubbed his chin as he recalled the past. “She had originally been an introverted girl who cared deeply about her identity. But after that, she seemed to become a different person. She even took the initiative to ask me for guidance.”

Xu Mu was shocked when he heard this.

If that really was what had happened, then this woman had once eaten her own companions. If she was capable of doing something like that, sleeping with other people was nothing by comparison.

“Eternal Life operates according to an extremely selfish creed. If she truly becomes our clan leader, our entire Water Spirit Race could become her nourishment.”

Shui Zheng took several deep breaths.

Even as the clan leader, he was at a loss and had no idea what to do.

“Father, why don’t we tell the Great Elder?” Shui Yuanyao suggested.

“No. He has always regarded Shui Shu as his successor. Who knows what kind of relationship they have?”

After saying this, Shui Zheng looked toward Xu Mu. “We must win this time.”

“What if we lose?”

“If we lose, I’ll make this matter public and lead our branch out of the Water Spirit Race.”

Shui Zheng’s gaze hardened. “At worst, we’ll fight them.”

“I’ll do my best to help you. My demands aren’t high. If you lose, I want one divine medicine. If you win, I want two.”

Xu Mu looked at the two of them. “However, if I join you, Shui Shu may try to kill me. I hope you won’t stand by and do nothing.”

“Of course not!”

Shui Zheng nodded.

For a first-rate race like theirs, divine medicines were certainly precious, but not so valuable that they could not afford to give them away.

As for protecting Xu Mu’s safety, that went without saying. Xu Mu was the key to determining victory or defeat.

...

Under the guidance of a guard, Xu Mu headed toward the area where guests of the clan resided.

When they arrived at a teleportation formation, Xu Mu suddenly stopped.

One of the people on the opposite side stopped as well.

It was none other than Chen Xuan.

Chen Xuan stared at Xu Mu in surprise. He had thought he had arrived quickly enough, but he had not expected Xu Mu to be even faster.

However, the voice-transmission formation Xu Mu had inscribed on Chen Xuan had already disappeared.

The two of them could not speak openly. When they drew near each other, Xu Mu suddenly pointed toward an island in the lake on the left.

“Am I staying there tonight?”

“That’s right. That’s where our honored guests stay.”

The guard accompanying him nodded.

Chen Xuan immediately understood. He turned to the people beside him and asked, “Are we going there as well?”

“No. That place is where the clan leader’s guests stay. We’re going to the other side, where the elders’ guests reside.”

The old man beside Chen Xuan answered softly.

Hearing this, Xu Mu used the teleportation formation to travel to the island.

It seemed Chen Xuan had joined the Council of Elders. That was even better—it would allow him to act as an informant.

When he arrived on the island, the guard led Xu Mu into a jade building.

Xu Mu used his perception to examine the surroundings and discovered that Zilan Yin was here as well.

After settling Xu Mu in, the guard headed toward the building where Zilan Yin was staying.

Shui Zheng had already explained that, in order to win this time, they could only take the risk of letting Zilan Yin join them as well.

Xu Mu had no objections. He had already obtained the location, and the place was not going anywhere.

The experts waiting to deal with him in the Battlefield of the Gods could simply remain there and waste their time.

At present, he was growing increasingly interested in the secrets of the Inner Realm.

For example, the Great Wilderness Race. He had never imagined that it had once been capable of standing on equal footing with the dragon race.

And Zhang Que had deliberately given him a divine-grade cultivation technique to prevent him from taking action against the Great Wilderness Race.

There had to be some secret behind all of this.

“Xu Mu! Did they agree to let me join?”

Zilan Yin’s voice suddenly came from nearby.