"Why aren't you running yet?"
"What are you waiting for? For the legendary Emperor Gui Wu to come and gut you?"
"Those immortal jades in Yunze's Qi Sea… they all belonged to him!"
"Although he appears to be at the Qi Refining stage now, from what I've heard from Senior Sister Mu and Brother Xiao, his capabilities are immense!"
"If he didn't have absolute confidence in achieving his goal, he wouldn't have revealed his true identity in this situation!"
"Could it be… the Qi Refining stage is merely his superficial cultivation, and his true power far surpasses this?"
"Don't worry."
Tu Xiu smiled and uttered two words, then took two steps forward, arriving at the edge of the demonic liquid. He stared at the countless drops below, a curve forming on his lips. "Since I said those two immortal jades were a gift to your Yun family, I won't take them back."
"What?"
Yun Ze acted as if he hadn't heard Tu Xiu clearly and retorted, "A gift to the Yun family?"
"That's an ancient treasure! Is it something you just give away?"
"Want to know why?"
Tu Xiu looked at Yun Ze and asked, not waiting for their reply, he took another step forward and plunged into the demonic liquid.
"Then come down and find me."
Yun Ze glanced at Yun Xiao and Tan Chenyu, noticing hesitation in their eyes. They were clearly still wary of him.
However, now that Tu Xiu had jumped in, Yun Ze had to follow, no matter what!
Firstly, he wanted to know the reason behind all this. Secondly, he absolutely couldn't let Tu Xiu's state of mind be corrupted by the demonic liquid!
This was no laughing matter!
Yun Ze quickly took a few steps forward and also plunged into the demonic liquid.
As he entered the demonic liquid, Tu Xiu sat cross-legged on its surface, cultivating and continuously absorbing the demonic liquid into his body!
Yun Ze frowned and quickly stepped forward, placing his hand on Tu Xiu's shoulder, and began to purify the demonic energy contained within.
"It seems these two immortal jades are quite compatible with you."
Tu Xiu's voice slowly resonated.
There was a hint of a smile in his tone. "I said I would tell you the truth, but the distance is too great, and I don't know where to begin."
"If there's anything you want to know, or anything you don't know, just ask me directly. See if it can awaken my memories."
"...Why did you leave the immortal jades to our family?"
Yun Ze hesitated for a moment, then finally asked.
Since Tu Xiu had given him the opportunity to ask, it meant he wouldn't attack him now. Why not take this chance to ask all his questions?
"Ah?"
Tu Xiu blinked, looking a little surprised. "I remember when I gave the immortal jades to Old Yun, I told him to pass down the story."
"Old Yun?"
"According to the timeline, it should be your great-great-grandfather."
Yun Ze was speechless.
"I just asked this one question!"
"The family legend says that our Yun family's ancestor saved an immortal, and the immortal bestowed these two immortal jades upon us." Yun Ze recounted his version of the story. "However, too many people knew about the immortal bestowing the jade. Our ancestor had to sell off much of his property because of this, and was later harmed by villains, leading to the decline of our family."
"By the time it reached my father's generation, only an ancestral home remained. We lived there, and both my parents made a living by escorting caravans."
"Later, a demonic cultivator at the Qi Refining stage learned of our family's possession of immortal jades from somewhere, murdered my parents, and I only found the location of the immortal jades from the ancestral home afterward."
"Hmm…"
Tu Xiu listened patiently to Yun Ze's account, then nodded. "The mortal world is indeed like this. An innocent man is guilty only because he possesses a treasure."
"Given your personality, you must have cursed me countless times in your heart, haven't you?"
Yun Ze remained silent, merely watching Tu Xiu.
Countless times?
Probably over three hundred times a day.
Even after knowing that the one who bestowed the immortal jades upon their family was Emperor Gui Wu, he had cursed this person in his heart more than once.
Regardless of what he possessed now, he had lost his parents because of these so-called immortal jades.
However, Yun Ze never expected that this legendary Emperor Gui Wu would eventually become his disciple and even prostrate before him.
"I feel like you're thinking of something disrespectful."
Tu Xiu glanced at Yun Ze.
"No!"
How could Yun Ze admit it? He quickly changed the subject. "This is the version I know. The true version is…"
"It's about the same."
Tu Xiu said calmly, "I was severely injured and saved, and then I gifted the immortal jades to your Yun family. However… there's something Old Yun probably didn't tell you."
"Ah? What is it?"
"These immortal jades were not a repayment for saving my life, but a betrothal gift."
"Betrothal gift for what!?"
Yun Ze was instantly stunned!
"A betrothal gift."
Tu Xiu repeated, looking at Yun Ze with some confusion. "What, they don't use this term in the Tangshan Dynasty anymore?"
"We do. I mean… wait, a betrothal gift for whom?"
"For the young lady of the Yun family back then."
Tu Xiu seemed to recall something, a smile in his eyes. "I was severely injured at the time and could only disguise myself as an ordinary mortal, a fallen scholar. Your great-grandmother saved me."
"She didn't care about my disguised identity at the time, only taking care of me out of pure compassion. I admit, I developed mortal feelings."
"For the next six months, I worked in the Yun family, and I grew to like this woman more and more. I proposed to her as a scholar, and she agreed, but Old Yun disagreed."
"He said I was a fallen scholar who hadn't even passed the Xiu Cai exam, completely unworthy of Yun Nian."
"That's easy to solve. I simply revealed my identity and presented my two most precious items as betrothal gifts to Yun Nian and Old Yun."
"It's rather amusing, Old Yun knelt down to me immediately after he found out. I told him elders shouldn't kneel to juniors, but he wouldn't listen."
"However, Yun Nian remained Yun Nian; she didn't have any different opinions of me because of my identity."
"I spent three years with Yun Nian. After three years, the injuries I sustained finally flared up, and I eventually passed away, leaving only Yun Nian in this world."
"In a way, I owe her. But fortunately, when I passed away, I also left her a companion."
"A companion!?"
Yun Ze had been silently listening to Tu Xiu's memories, not daring to disturb him.
But when he heard the last word, he couldn't hold back anymore!
Tu Xiu and his ancestor had a relationship, even a romance. That was fine; he could just call him great-granduncle later.
But if there was also a companion!
Then… this matter would become complicated!
He might not be surnamed Yun, but Tu!
"You… explain this clearly, what exactly is going on?"
"It's what you think it is."
Tu Xiu closed his eyes and smiled calmly. "The moment I saw you, I could feel that you were flowing with my bloodline."
"No, that's impossible!"
"Why is it impossible?"
"...Spiritual roots!"
Yun Ze thought for several breaths, finally uttering these two words. "Although my parents had spiritual roots, and I have spiritual roots, as a descendant of an Emperor, why would my spiritual root aptitude be so poor? This is impossible!"
"Then what do you think my spiritual root is?"
Tu Xiu looked at Yun Ze and retorted, "At my peak, I had two immortal jades by my side, naturally possessing two top-tier heavenly spiritual roots, and I could also increase my own spiritual root by two minor grades."
"Even if I only had a low-grade earthly spiritual root at the time, I could become a top-grade earthly one."
"Yun Nian was a mortal back then and had no spiritual roots. After combining with me, her offspring would only have a mid-grade profound spiritual root."
"Another two generations of combining with mortals, and by your generation, even a yellow-grade spiritual root would be considered good."
"This… this does make sense."
Yun Ze frowned as he listened to Tu Xiu's explanation. It seemed he wouldn't try to kill him.
After all, no matter what, they were blood relatives.
But… why was it so strange!
He had been worried for so long, fearing this person would come to kill him, but in the end, he was here to acknowledge his kin!
He never expected that this being who made Senior Sister Mu and Brother Xiao so terrified was actually a love-struck fool.
For a mortal woman, he actually gave away both immortal jades!
Wait, no!
Since he had recognized his identity long ago, why did he kneel and ask to be his disciple back then?
Yun Ze looked at Tu Xiu, his face full of confusion, and asked, "Then when you became my disciple…"
"I saw the act through to the end."
Tu Xiu tapped Yun Ze on the head. "This is the first lesson I taught you."
"Your behavior and actions when concealing your identity were too easily exposed. If you want to hide your identity, you must completely immerse yourself in that identity."
"Dignity? Compared to life, that thing is hardly worth mentioning."
Yun Ze was instantly speechless.
Although he was reluctant to admit it, his disguise, apart from deceiving Tan Chenyu and Brother Ji, had indeed failed to fool even a single acquaintance.
"Alright."
Tu Xiu continued cultivating on his own, then turned to Yun Ze and asked, "Any other questions?"
"What exactly happened to the Gui Wu Sect back then?"
This was something Brother Xiao had always wanted to know.
Yun Ze hadn't intended to ask Tu Xiu directly, but since they were now related by blood, it didn't matter.
"The immortal jades. It was still because of the immortal jades."
The smile on Tu Xiu's face instantly vanished, replaced by a cloud of gloom.
He frowned and looked at Yun Ze. "The young lady up there, she should be the daughter of Tan Jingsheng, right?"
"Yes."
Yun Ze frowned. The fact that Tu Xiu brought this up now clearly indicated that the destruction of the Gui Wu Sect was related to the immortal mansion.
But Brother Xiao had said it was related to the demonic cave?
Could there be some hidden secret?
"What is your relationship with her?" Tu Xiu continued to ask.
"Life and death friends!" Yun Ze said with a frown.
Even if the destruction of the Gui Wu Sect was related to the immortal mansion, he wouldn't let Tu Xiu drag Tan Chenyu into it.
That was Tan Jingsheng's doing, not Tan Chenyu's!
"Heh, you sly kid. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."
Tu Xiu lightly patted Yun Ze's shoulder. "However, this part of you is like me. Fine, I won't trouble that little girl. But Tan Jingsheng… I will kill him!"
"You'd better be mentally prepared for this."
"So, it was really the Immortal Venerable who injured you back then?"
"More than just him."
Tu Xiu lowered his arm, a bitter smile appearing on his lips. "It's a bit early to tell you this now, but you'll have to know it sooner or later."
"With the assistance of two immortal jades, my cultivation was close to breaking through to the Emperor realm and reaching the legendary realm of land immortal. It was impossible for Tan Jingsheng or Xiu Litian alone to injure me to such an extent."
"Wait! The one who injured you back then couldn't have been the Immortal Venerable and the Demonic Venerable?" Yun Ze was suddenly shocked.
"Congratulations, you guessed correctly."
"...Why?"
"Don't tell me you still don't know what immortal jades are?"
Tu Xiu shook his head. "I'll be disappointed if you don't."
Yun Ze's brow furrowed. His mind instantly pieced together a line of reasoning.
The essence of immortal jades was a key.
Since the reason for the destruction of the Gui Wu Sect was also immortal jades, then the Immortal Venerable and the demonic race's purpose in seeking immortal jades could only be one of two:
One was to open the seal, and the other was to reinforce the seal.
Judging by Xiu Litian's current actions, their purpose was likely the latter!
Yun Ze frowned and looked up at the person before him. "They must have approached you for cooperation, right?"
"You mean reinforcing the seal?"
Tu Xiu nodded calmly. "Of course. But I didn't agree."
"Why?"
Yun Ze didn't know how many times he had asked these three words today.
"Why? You tell me why."
Tu Xiu smiled and retorted, "Without immortal jades, how can I break through to the realm of land immortal?"
Yun Ze's brow furrowed even deeper. "But you just told me you don't want the immortal jades anymore?"
"That's right."
Tu Xiu replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "The one who didn't give the immortal jades was Emperor Gui Wu. And I am now just Tu Xiu."
Just Tu Xiu.
Hearing these four words, Yun Ze was suddenly enlightened.
Before he met the ancestor Yun Nian, he was still Emperor Gui Wu, and for the sake of the land immortal realm, he could disregard the safety of all beings under heaven.
But after meeting the ancestor Yun Nian, he was just Tu Xiu.
This guy was truly love-struck!
"However, there is one thing I still need to do," Tu Xiu suddenly said.
"What?"
"Kill those two guys!"
Tu Xiu's voice was filled with killing intent. "To avenge the hatred of separation between me and Xiao Nian!"