Di Sha!
Yun Ze's heart trembled!
He never expected that this last spirit beast at the late stage of Core Condensation would actually be Di Sha himself.
If the last wisp of Origin Qi needed to be obtained from him, how could that be possible?
Not only Yun Ze, but Xiu Yun and the others beside him also frowned. They naturally understood what this meant.
A trap!
From the moment the spirit beasts began to surround them until now, it had all been a trap set by Di Sha!
Since he was the only spirit beast at the late stage of Core Condensation, the three hundred and twelve wisps of Origin Qi could not be collected at all!
Di Sha had arranged it this way purely to lure out Yun Ze and the other person.
Of course, it might also be to fulfill his promise to Wei Lanshu.
Now that Yun Ze and the other person had appeared, Di Sha's objective had been achieved, so it was only natural for him to reveal himself.
However...
From the look on that person's face, she seemed to know Di Sha's objective as well. Now, it all depended on how she intended to break the trap.
"Me?"
Bubu asked back, then smiled, "We are all people abandoned by the era, but... in terms of seniority, you should call me ancestor."
"Heh."
Di Sha snorted coldly. His tone suggested he didn't take Bubu seriously, yet everyone could see a hint of apprehension in his eyes.
The reason he was wary of her was entirely because she knew those secret techniques.
Back then, the Di Clan had poured all their strength into finding this Heavenly Dao Foundation Building method and a piece of immortal jade from the ancient ruins!
After he learned it, the clan leader had erased the memories of everyone involved in the matter.
Logically speaking, besides himself, no one else in this world should know this Heavenly Dao Foundation Building secret technique, not even the clan leader at that time.
But the young man behind her had already expanded his Qi Sea to encompass the Zhou Tian, and he carried two familiar yet unfamiliar scents.
This was enough to prove that she knew this secret technique!
This was strange!
However, strange or not, the answer to the problem didn't necessarily have to come from her mouth; there were other methods!
A killing intent flashed in Di Sha's eyes.
With a casual wave of his hand, the thousands of spirit beasts that had just turned to dust were revived once more, their auras instantly reaching their peak!
"Since you refuse to answer, then after I refine you into puppets, I will slowly ask my questions!"
Roar!
As soon as he finished speaking, those thousands of spirit beasts let out a roar and attacked Yun Ze and the others simultaneously!
Everyone immediately assumed a combat stance.
Yun Ze subconsciously stepped forward, but as soon as he took a step, he found Bubu grabbing his wrist, and a spatial fluctuation struck again!
"Want to escape? Dream on!"
Di Sha discovered the anomaly and raised his hand to wave again. Yun Ze sensed that the spatial cracks around him had become much more blurred!
He had disrupted the spatial fluctuations!
Unlike the previous spatial封禁 (fēngjìn -封锁禁制, sealing and restricting), Yun Ze, as the wielder of the immortal jade, could ignore its封禁之力 (fēngjìn zhī lì - power of sealing and restricting).
But now, he hadn't sealed it; he had directly disrupted it, turning all the spatial cracks into a chaotic mess.
Under such circumstances, both he and Bubu could continue to use spatial power, but if they used space to escape this place, they would most likely fall into spatial turbulence!
At best, they would be lost in endless space; at worst, they would be directly ground into meat paste and bone powder, just like those spirit beasts from before.
Even Bubu dared not act rashly, so she could only release Yun Ze's wrist, and a silver-gray glint flashed in her eyes again!
It was merely disrupting space, not imposing a restriction on space.
She couldn't perform spatial jumps now, but it was still easy to kill enemies using these disrupted spatial cracks.
Instantly!
The thousands of spirit beasts before them turned into碎渣 (suì zhā - shattered fragments) once more!
"Pfft!"
Bubu spat out a mouthful of blood!
Clearly, even for her, such secret techniques could not be used indefinitely.
She had just recovered, and using it twice in succession had pushed her to her limit. If she were to use it twice more...
"Come! Continue!"
Di Sha's lips curved into a slight smile. He uttered a sentence, and those spirit beasts that had died twice were revived once more!
He squatted on the ground, propping his chin with one hand, tilting his head, and staring at Bubu's pale face as he laughed wildly.
"Continue, continue! I'll see if you give out first or I do!"
"Who's playing this game with you?"
Bubu didn't attack this time. Instead, she sneered and retorted to Di Sha, "It seems you've lost something, haven't you?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the spirit beasts, who were about to launch an attack, instantly froze.
The smile on Di Sha's lips immediately froze.
He stared at Bubu in front of him and squeezed out three words from his throat.
"Give it back!"
As expected, it was lost!
In fact, as early as when she entered the secret realm, she had sensed something was amiss!
The aura of Sen Jue here was very weak. She hadn't thought much of it at first, assuming that Sen Jue had been hidden by Di Sha.
But when she saw Di Sha reviving the spirit beasts, he wasn't using Sen Jue but the origin energy within him, and only then did she confirm this!
Since Di Sha had used Sen Jue for his Heavenly Dao Foundation Building, without Sen Jue now, he was no different from a tiger without its fangs.
He was merely putting on a fearsome appearance.
"Didn't you want to see who could last longer?"
Bubu asked back with a smile, "These spirit beasts are all condensed from your life's origin energy, and you only have one wisp of origin energy left. How many times can you revive them?
Ten times? Twenty times?"
"Even five times would be enough!"
Di Sha slowly stood up. "Besides you, they are simply incapable of resisting the onslaught of these spirit beasts, and how long can you last?
Three times? Or the next time..."
Di Sha said so, but he didn't let those spirit beasts attack.
He just wanted to know the whereabouts of that immortal jade!
Previously, when he mobilized the spirit beasts to surround them from the edge of the secret realm to the center, it seemed to be to capture everyone, but the most important point was actually to find the immortal jade!
If Yun Ze hadn't appeared in advance, he might have had to flatten the tents with the spirit beasts before attacking them.
Now, he had searched the entire Zhu Tian Secret Realm, but still hadn't found the immortal jade.
If he were to kill Bubu so easily, he feared he would never find the immortal jade!
"Actually..."
Di Sha said, and took another step forward. He looked at Bubu and actively softened his stance, "It seems we don't have any irreconcilable conflicts, do we?
I can form a contract with you. As long as you return that item to me, I will let you all leave, and I can even help you recover your lost lifespan.
From now on, let's mind our own business, how about it?"
Upon hearing this, everyone wished they could agree to it for Bubu right now!
Being able to leave and recover lifespan!
Why not?
"...I'll consider it," Bubu said after a few seconds of hesitation.
Yun Ze frowned upon hearing this.
This still needed consideration!?
From their conversation, he had roughly guessed what Di Sha had lost.
A piece of immortal jade, which was the Sen Jue they had been looking for!
Now, with him as the butcher and them as the fish, exchanging a piece of immortal jade for everyone's lives and lost lifespan.
To Yun Ze, the conditions were already quite generous. If he could make the decision, he would have agreed right now.
However, he did not interfere with Bubu's choice.
Because...
Bubu had just held his hand and used her spiritual energy to write three words on his palm.
'You took it?'
Yun Ze immediately understood that the Sen Jue was not in Bubu's hand!
Since there was no immortal jade, this transaction could not be established at all. Then why agree!
He also quickly used his spiritual energy to write two words on Bubu's palm.
'No.'
Bubu frowned.
This was strange.
She could vaguely sense the existence of the immortal jade, but if multiple immortal jades were placed together, she couldn't sense how many there were or which specific ones they were.
If Yun Ze hadn't taken the Sen Jue, it proved one thing...
This Sen Jue was not in the Zhu Tian Secret Realm at all!
If that were the case, her next plan would be impossible to achieve!
She had asked Yun Ze to pile up his Qi Sea to the Zhou Tian realm and had everyone collect Origin Qi, all to use Sen Jue to transfer Di Sha's Heavenly Dao Foundation Building to Yun Ze.
The first two items were roughly completed, but now, without Sen Jue, the entire plan would be shattered, and all preparations would be in vain!
However...
Di Sha didn't know that!
There was still room for manipulation here!
Bubu pretended to frown and ponder for a few seconds, then looked at Di Sha.
Before she could speak, Di Sha spoke first, "Have you thought about it?"
"Mmm."
Bubu replied, "You said you would let us leave if we give you that treasure, but why should we believe you?
If you get that treasure back, won't we have no room to resist?"
Di Sha frowned, "Then what do you suggest?"
"First, I want your last wisp of origin energy!"
"Impossible!" Di Sha refused without even thinking.
Bubu knew it wouldn't be that easy and explained, "Without origin energy, you can still recover using that treasure; it's only a matter of time.
Moreover, only a you without origin energy can make us feel at ease.
I won't hide it from you, I need to perform Heavenly Dao Foundation Building for him, and I need your life's origin energy as a guide. If you don't agree to this, then there's no point in us continuing to talk."
Di Sha's brows furrowed.
What the girl said was true; he could recover without origin energy, but...
If he gave all his origin energy to these people and didn't get the immortal jade, then it would be dangerous!
After a thousand years of封印 (fēngyìn - sealing), his strength had regressed to the late stage of Core Condensation. Once his origin energy was lost, his strength might regress to the middle stage of Core Condensation.
If these people in front of him attacked, he would be completely unable to resist!
Di Sha's gaze swept over everyone, and a flash of spiritual light appeared in his eyes, "Good! I can agree, but I also have a condition."
"Speak."
Di Sha pointed at Yun Ze, "Everyone except him must leave first!"
Bubu frowned.
She was still recovering from her injuries, and with the spatial chaos, Yun Ze couldn't use his hidden sword. Even if Di Sha handed over his last wisp of origin energy, the two of them alone were no match for him.
Letting everyone leave, if it was discovered that there was no immortal jade, it would still be a death sentence.
"Good!"
Before she could answer, Yun Ze's voice rang out first, "As long as you restore their lifespan, then send them out."
"Good, it's a deal!"
Di Sha didn't hesitate at all!
These people had consumed their lifespan in the Zhu Tian Secret Realm. Although their lifespan seemed to have been consumed, it had actually been absorbed by him.
With just a flick of his finger, he could return their lifespan.
With a wave of his hand, a green light screen instantly enveloped everyone.
The people who were originally old and decrepit instantly regained their youthful appearance!
This included not only the people standing near Yun Ze but also some who were hiding a hundred miles away, waiting for an opportunity.
"Third brother..." Xiu Yun frowned and said.
But as soon as he uttered a title, Yun Ze interrupted him, "Second brother, stop talking. You've already endured enough for me. Leave the rest to me."
"No!"
Gu Wudao stood beside Yun Ze, carrying his saber. "We agreed to leave together, so not one less! I'm not leaving anyway!"
"Me too!"
Wei Lanshu also stood by Yun Ze's side.
The others did not respond, still in a state of indecision.
They just wanted to leave.
Before they could make a decision, Di Sha's voice sounded again.
"Alright, all of you, shut up. You're not in charge here anymore!"
He crossed his arms, tapping his arm rhythmically with his fingers, and looked at Bubu with anticipation in his eyes. "I've already shown my sincerity."
"Now, shouldn't you also take out that item and show it to me?"