Chapter 624 Corpses at the Bottom of the Pool

The cry for help repeated seven or eight times before finally stopping.

But the Great Guardian's thoughts exploded. Clearly, this wasn't Yuan Shi Tianzun fishing; he wouldn't fish like that.

Nor did it seem like the behavior of the Pure Yang Sect Leader after a complete mental breakdown. That would inevitably be a massacre, not the repetition of bizarre information.

So, did the Pure Yang Sect Leader really discover some secret but get into some kind of trouble?

The Great Guardian thought for a moment, then quickly took out materials and began to inscribe spirit rune formations on the ground, imitating the Zhou Tian Star Array.

The reason for not making a call was the fear that if this was a trap set by the Five Elements Alliance, a call would allow them to pinpoint his location through technical means.

As a Day Wandering God, he fluently and rapidly drew star formations that star officials would take years to learn. He sat down cross-legged and began to deduce.

A dozen minutes later, the celestial phenomena indicated that neither answering the phone nor going to Songhai would encounter danger.

The Great Guardian thought for a moment, got up, and waved his hand to make the spirit rune formation on the ground disappear. Then, he grabbed the phone on the table and dialed the Pure Yang Sect Leader's number.

"Beep beep~"

The ringing tone sounded a few times, and then the other side answered, with the Pure Yang Sect Leader's signature cold voice:

"Why are you contacting me? Our cooperation has come to an end, unless you can feed me a Xingguan (Star Official), or a Zhangmeng Shi (Dream Weaver), then I'll consider continuing our partnership."

The Great Guardian listened to the voice from the speaker, and was stunned for a moment.

This tone and attitude didn't seem like a cry for help, let alone a desire to share earth-shattering secrets.

Filled with doubt, the Great Guardian said in a deep voice:

"What happened? You sent me a distress message not long ago."

"I asked you for help?" Unexpectedly, the Pure Yang Sect Leader was even more astonished than he was, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Why don't you check your phone?"

"There's nothing on my phone. Why don't you check yours?"

The Great Guardian took the phone away, chose hands-free, and checked his messages. When his eyes landed on the phone screen, his pupils contracted sharply, like a cat's eyes in strong light.

The chat history was completely blank.

The information the Pure Yang Sect Leader had just sent was gone.

The Great Guardian's heart was greatly alarmed, and his tone changed: "Pure Yang, what did you encounter in Songhai? Who are you investigating? Is there anyone around you?"

His voice was not only urgent, but also very loud, as if he had been stimulated by something.

"You..." The Pure Yang Sect Leader hesitated, "What exactly happened to you!"

"It's not me who encountered something, it's you who encountered something, you encountered something big." The Great Guardian immediately told the Pure Yang Sect Leader about the phenomenon of receiving a distress message from the other party, but the message disappearing strangely.

"This..." The Pure Yang Sect Leader listened with chills running down his spine, both surprised and suspicious. If it was really as the Great Guardian said, he had indeed gotten into trouble, but everything seemed calm and peaceful on his end, and nothing had happened.

"Who are you investigating? What key point have you found?" The Great Guardian asked in quick succession.

"I'm investigating..."

The Pure Yang Sect Leader had just said three words when the phone cut off.

The Great Guardian quickly dialed again, only to find the line busy and unable to connect.

Something happened. The Pure Yang Sect Leader encountered something in Songhai. Some mysterious and unknown force forcibly erased the sent message and kept the Pure Yang Sect Leader, the person involved, in the dark… The Great Guardian's mind raced. Who in Songhai had this ability?

And what kind of power could reverse reality?

At that moment, the phone "dinged", indicating an incoming message.

The Great Guardian fixed his eyes on it. The message was from the Pure Yang Sect Leader.

"Come to Songhai immediately, I have discovered an earth-shattering secret."

"Help!"

"Come to Songhai immediately, I have discovered an earth-shattering secret."

"Help!"

The message started repeating again.

This time, the Great Guardian didn't immediately call to ask the Pure Yang Sect Leader. Instead, he held his phone, stood in the dimly lit study, and waited silently.

His eyes stared fixedly at the phone screen, at the dense stream of distress messages. After about half an hour, suddenly one of the messages disappeared.

Then, the second message disappeared.

The third, the fourth… The messages on the phone screen disappeared one by one, as if they were being withdrawn. Time seemed to flow in reverse at that moment.

At that moment, all the hairs on the Great Guardian's body stood on end.

He finally realized what the Pure Yang Sect Leader had encountered.

A Karma-related item!

Only a Karma-related item could possess such terrifying power. Only a Karma-related item could erase established facts and create a phenomenon like the reversal of time.

What exactly was this guy investigating, that he was even involved with a Karma-related item?!

Immediately contact the leader… The Great Guardian didn't hesitate. He quickly took out materials rich in spiritual energy and inscribed a summoning spirit rune symbolizing Ling Tuo on the ground.

The difficulty of the summoning formation seemed to be much greater than simulating the Zhou Tian Star Array. The Great Guardian was like a Night Wandering God learning spirit runes for the first time, drawing each stroke very carefully, very carefully.

A full hour later, the summoning circle was finally complete.

The Great Guardian immediately infused his Solar Divine Power to activate the formation. The circle automatically absorbed the spiritual energy of the materials, summoning the existence in the darkness.

"Leader, leader, leader..."

The Great Guardian called out in a low voice.

However, the summoning circle remained silent, with no anomalies and no sound.

This meant that the leader was doing something else and couldn't respond to him.

"Strange, the leader should be free recently, why isn't he responding..." The Great Guardian muttered in confusion.

At that moment, the phone on the desk rang. The caller was the Pure Yang Sect Leader.

The Great Guardian's eyes lit up. The Pure Yang Sect Leader had chosen to call instead of sending a message, indicating that he had broken some kind of cycle.

The Great Guardian quickly picked up the phone, answered, and tentatively said "Hello".

"It's me!"

The Pure Yang Sect Leader's tired voice came from the speaker: "I think I might need help. I've run into something."

"You really broke out of the cycle?" The Great Guardian was a little surprised. After all, Karma-related items were the most unsolvable and troublesome of the three major item types.

"What cycle?" The Pure Yang Sect Leader was stunned.

"Hmm? It seems you've forgotten everything you did two hours ago. In that case, how did you know you were in trouble?" The Great Guardian asked calmly.

The Pure Yang Sect Leader paused for a few seconds, then said:

"These past few days, I've been investigating Yuan Shi Tianzun. I tracked him down to the home of a retired old teacher. I'm standing in the hallway of his building now, planning to knock on the door and pay him a visit.

"As far as I know, I just arrived here and haven't met the old teacher yet. However, I clearly remember that I came at ten o'clock in the morning, and now it's half past twelve in the afternoon.

"Moreover, my soul is extremely tired, so tired that I want to sleep for three days and three nights. I feel like I've lost a part of my soul. If nothing else goes wrong, I should have used *shana fanghua* (fleeting moment), a very profound forgetting spell on myself, which allows one to forget specific memories."

After speaking, the Pure Yang Sect Leader asked, "What cycle were you talking about earlier?"

The Great Guardian didn't answer immediately, but instead asked, "Are you sure you're safe?"

"Can't be sure," the Pure Yang Sect Leader said, "But I can observe for a while. I've already gone downstairs now and plan to leave this neighborhood. If there's nothing unusual after half an hour, then that means I'm safe."

The two stopped talking. Half an hour passed like this. The Pure Yang Sect Leader said with some relief, "It seems I'm safe. Go ahead and tell me."

The Great Guardian then described his experience earlier, from beginning to end.

The other side of the phone fell silent. The Pure Yang Sect Leader seemed to be under a petrification spell. A long, long time passed before a murmuring sound came:

"So that's how it is, so that's how it is…"

He took a deep breath and began to analyze in a solemn tone:

"I wasn't attacked, so it doesn't seem like I encountered a terrible enemy. However, I did indeed fall into some kind of cycle. In two and a half hours, I repeatedly experienced investigating, asking for help, and forgetting, until I myself realized that something was wrong and used 'fleeting moment' to erase my memories.

"I think I might have found out some amazing things, thus triggering the ability of a Karma-related item, and falling into that cycle. Once I erased my memory and forgot that secret, the Karma would be eliminated. Well, it's also possible that after realizing something was wrong, I chose to leave instead of seeing that retired teacher, so the cycle of cause and effect was broken."

The Great Guardian's voice was also particularly grave: "So, what exactly did you find out? Yuan Shi Tianzun's true identity?"

The Pure Yang Sect Leader chuckled:

"A mere Yuan Shi Tianzun's true identity doesn't have the qualifications to attract the influence of a Karma-related artifact. However, one thing is certain: Yuan Shi Tianzun's true identity is related to some earth-shattering secret.

"What made me fall into the cycle wasn't Yuan Shi Tianzun's true identity, but the secret that his identity implicated."

Although he was already crazy, the Pure Yang Sect Leader's IQ was still there.

"Yuan Shi Tianzun's true identity involves a secret of an extremely high level, hiss~" The Great Guardian sucked in a breath of cold air.

It wasn't that Yuan Shi Tianzun was related to that secret, but rather that his real identity was related to the secret. This meant that Yuan Shi Tianzun's real background was extraordinary.

He wasn't a Lingjing Xingzhe (A Spirit Realm Walker) from humble origins?

"So, Great Guardian, how much is Dark Night Rose willing to pay to buy the identity information and home address of that retired teacher?" the Pure Yang Sect Leader said.

The Great Guardian on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, "If it involves Karma items, then it's not something we can participate in. Even the leader would be in danger. I can't contact him right now."

"Alright!" the Pure Yang Sect Leader said faintly, "I'll wait for your leader's reply."

........

15th Instance Dungeon, Siming Palace.

The vast forest stretches endlessly. This primeval forest, with no end in sight, is evergreen, never withering, and forever brimming with vigorous vitality.

But upon closer inspection, one would discover the horror hidden in the details.

Each tree has an ugly human face on it, and the densely drooping vines occasionally entangle passing beasts, stuffing them into their mouths to chew, regardless of their resistance.

The shrubs emit hallucinogenic and paralyzing white smoke, bewitching passing animals. Beneath the lush shrubs lie dense animal bones.

The snakes, insects, rats, ants, birds, and beasts in the forest become food for the plants, yet can never be completely consumed. Their reproduction speed is astonishing: one batch is eaten, and another batch is born.

And parasitic plants are the natural enemies of trees, greedily absorbing their essence.

According to the introduction to Lingjing Xingzhe, this is the ancient blessed land of Siming Xingjun (Star Lord of Fate), watered by the essence of life, so this forest can remain evergreen.

But since the death of Siming Xingjun, the power of the domain of life has fallen into chaos, causing the animals and plants in the forest to mutate.

In the center of the forest is a ruin formed after the collapse of a palace. The mottled walls, cracked stone steps, and collapsed pavilions all reveal the vicissitudes of time.

Judging from the hundreds of acres of land and the palaces connected to one another, one can imagine how magnificent and luxurious the Siming Xingjun Palace must have been.

Xie Su, having passed through the many deadly traps in the forest, arrived at the core of the palace—the Rebirth Spring.

It is located in the very center of the palace. This is a pool of water 30 meters long and 10 meters wide. The golden liquid is as calm as gold leaf, reflecting the sky and the ruins of the palace.

The edge of the pool is lined with white jade-like stones and railings.

According to the records in the Xie family's database, the greatest wonder of the Siming Palace is this Rebirth Spring. The spring water is concentrated essence of life, and the mud at the bottom of the spring has the function of shaping the body.

Half a century ago, when the Xie family's ancestor was still a Dominator, he had entered the Siming Palace. The Xie family has a walkthrough on Siming Palace.

Xie Su stood by the pool, recalling the contents of the dungeon walkthrough.

The walkthrough for the Rebirth Spring is very simple: dive into the pool, collect the silt at the bottom to shape an avatar, and you can clear the dungeon.

At first glance, it seems very simple.

However, the power of the domain of life in the dungeon has long been out of control and chaotic. Once a living being enters the Rebirth Spring, it will automatically create an evil clone. The longer you stay at the bottom of the pool, the more clones there will be.

The Lingjing Xingzhe needs to collect the silt before the number of clones exceeds his own tolerance limit, and purify the chaotic power within with Siming Spirit Power, so as to shape a pure and flawless clone and clear the dungeon.

There are no fancy rule settings, but the difficulty is extremely high.

Back then, the ancestor was almost beaten to death by his own clones.

As a reward, the clone can be brought out of the dungeon and become a perfect puppet.

Xie Su sat cross-legged by the pool, repaired his physical injuries, and restored his physical strength, spirit, and spiritual power to their best state. Then, he plunged headfirst into the spring water.

The pool doesn't look big, but it's actually extremely deep.

Xie Su gracefully moved his limbs and swam towards the bottom of the pool. Near the bottom of the pool, he saw broken bodies lying quietly on the golden silt.

It's Zhu Xueyi. He's also been in the Siming Palace? Wearing bell-bottoms and a floral shirt, it seems like it was twenty or thirty years ago… Xie Su examined the corpses and recognized the identity of the other party.

A senior elder of the Zhu family.

He bypassed this area and continued to swim forward. Before long, he saw another pile of broken bodies lying in disarray. Wearing a Zhongshan suit, with a youthful face and white hair, and handsome features, it was none other than the ancestor.

I need to get to the bottom of the pool quickly to collect the silt and refine it. I feel like life forms are starting to be born in the pool… Xie Su sped up his descent. Soon, he saw a large pile of broken corpses ahead.

This made him a little strange. The cycle for a Dominator to go to a dungeon is long, the Dominator-level dungeons are as many as 99, the Spirit Realm has only been around for a hundred years, and there aren't many Siming dungeons… If you calculate it this way, a difficult, Dominator-level solo Spirit Realm shouldn't have been cleared by so many people.

At this time, as he worked hard to dive, he saw the faces of the pile of corpses clearly.

Handsome features, with a trace of childishness, wearing ordinary T-shirts and shorts… Xie Su suddenly stopped, as if struck by lightning.

Yuan Shi Tianzun?

It's Yuan Shi Tianzun!

One after another, Yuan Shi Tianzun's corpses were spread on the golden silt.

........

ps: After accompanying Cai Zong, I stayed up all night and coded a chapter. Big bosses, please calm down, I still love you all. Going to sleep, so sleepy~