Although Ji Buwang had spoken as tactfully as possible, the bearded cultivator still felt offended, or rather, he felt that Xu Que was being offended on behalf of Zhu Que.
He extended his hand again toward Xu Yi and Ji Buwang, as if he wanted to poke them in the eye, forcing them to open their eyes wide and look.
"Look at its sleek body, its sharp gaze, its beautiful color. All of this proves that it is a genuine divine beast!"
Xu Yi and Ji Buwang: ...
The two's silence once again provoked the bearded cultivator's rage.
"You are simply too vulgar, too uninteresting..."
Xu Yi and Ji Buwang were lectured by the bearded cultivator for nearly an hour. Seeing that the other party had no intention of stopping, Xu Yi had to interrupt him.
"So, this is actually just your one-sided story. You have no evidence to prove that this is a Vermilion Bird egg?"
Xu Yi actually quite hoped that what the bearded cultivator said was true, because that would prove that the Four Divine Beasts were not distant legends, but invincible existences living on this continent.
They would not leave behind only popular, imaginative beautiful legends, but their most passionate and stirring experiences.
"I, I have evidence! Isn't this it!"
The bearded cultivator displayed his hand back, firmly believing that it was the mark of Zhu Que.
In fact, he had another idea that he hadn't spoken aloud, which was that he believed his resurrection was actually because he had come into contact with Zhu Que's divine power at Fire Burning Mountain, and thus had such a miraculous encounter.
"Here."
Ji Buwang sent the stone egg to the bearded cultivator with his spiritual power.
The bearded cultivator was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage, "What do you mean by this? You don't believe me, do you! It really is a precious Vermilion Bird egg!"
Originally, when Ji Buwang had snatched the Vermilion Bird egg, the bearded cultivator had been so enraged that his spirit form was about to explode.
But now, Ji Buwang acted as if he didn't take the Vermilion Bird egg seriously and sent it back to him, making the bearded cultivator even more furious.
Because he felt insulted.
To prove his claim, he hugged the Vermilion Bird egg and said loudly, "Although I have never seen Zhu Que with my own eyes, I have dreamed of it!"
He suddenly looked at Xu Yi, or more accurately, he looked at the disciplinary ruler in Xu Yi's hand.
"This ruler in your hand is a supreme treasure forged from Zhu Que's divine fire!"
Xu Yi was shocked and immediately looked down at the disciplinary ruler in her hand.
Did her innate magical treasure have such a grand origin?
Ji Buwang's eyebrow subtly twitched. He seemed to have thought of something, and his expression became more solemn.
"The reason you can approach the Vermilion Bird egg is precisely because of the magical treasure in your hand. Otherwise, you would have already been reduced to ashes by the lava."
The bearded cultivator snorted disdainfully.
He had been too hasty before, so he hadn't had time to think carefully about how Xu Yi had stolen the Vermilion Bird egg from the depths of Fire Burning Mountain.
But when he clashed with Xu Yi and was injured by the disciplinary ruler, he instantly understood the cause and effect.
That was why he decided to stop and no longer conflict with Xu Yi and the others.
Magical treasures refined with Zhu Que's divine fire had a natural克制 effect on him.
If the fight continued, he would be the one at a disadvantage.
Xu Yi was very excited at this moment, her eyes sparkling. If it weren't for the presence of outsiders, she would have loved to hug the disciplinary ruler and kiss it fiercely.
Xu Yi remained skeptical when the bearded cultivator said the egg was a Vermilion Bird egg.
But when the bearded cultivator said that the disciplinary ruler was a magical treasure forged from Zhu Que's divine fire, Xu Yi believed it instantly and firmly.
The bearded cultivator was speechless about this.
He turned his head away in disdain and saw that the expression on Ji Buwang's face had not changed much. A thought flashed through his mind, and he suddenly asked, "What do you know? Is it true?"
Hearing this, Xu Yi immediately looked at Ji Buwang.
That's right, the disciplinary ruler was a treasure she found in the sect's treasure vault, so Ji Buwang must know something.
Under their intense gazes, Ji Buwang nodded hesitantly.
"Do you really know? Then tell me quickly! Is it related to Lord Zhu Que!"
The bearded cultivator was emotionally agitated.
He knew all along that Zhu Que existed.
"Speaking of which, it is indeed related to Zhu Que."
Ji Buwang's initial pace was slow, but it became faster and faster.
He told a story, a story about the disciplinary ruler he heard from the Ancestral Master.
The original name of the disciplinary ruler was unknown. The Ancestral Master of Xuanji Sect found the disciplinary ruler in a secret realm.
The Ancestral Master felt that the disciplinary ruler had a righteous aura and was ancient and majestic, so he named it the Disciplinary Ruler.
However, after the disciplinary ruler was brought back to the sect, it seemed to have lost its original spiritual nature and became unremarkable. The Ancestral Master then placed it in the treasure vault, where it remained hidden from the world until Xu Yi entered the vault and it took a liking to her.
Ji Buwang remembered it so clearly because the one who discovered the disciplinary ruler was his nominal master, Old Ancestor Feng Jian.
And the secret realm where it was discovered was precisely named Vermilion Bird Tomb.
"Vermilion Bird Tomb? What kind of secret realm is this? How have I never heard any other cultivators mention it?"
The bearded cultivator was both shocked and indignant.
How could Lord Zhu Que possibly die? It must have ascended to the upper realm and become a divine beast of the upper realm.
The name Vermilion Bird Tomb was too ominous and inauspicious.
Xu Yi, on the other hand, was shocked to hear of the Vermilion Bird Tomb. She softly answered the bearded cultivator's question, "You naturally don't know about the Vermilion Bird Tomb because the Vermilion Bird Tomb is a secret realm left behind by an ancestor of our Xuanji Sect after their fall. Outsiders do not know about it."
Most secret realms were formed when ancient powerful beings fell, and their personal spaces automatically differentiated, thus forming an independent secret realm.
There were quite a few powerful cultivators who had fallen over the millennia, but secret realms would gradually collapse and differentiate without spiritual energy support, eventually disappearing into the void.
And those secret realms that still remained were all personal spaces of the top powerful beings from ancient times. As soon as they appeared, they were sought after by countless cultivators, and cultivators would only stop paying attention to them after all the treasures within were plundered.
However, some secret realms had never been out of the attention of cultivators in the Kyushu Continent, and some were even unknown.
This was because these secret realms were only known to sect disciples, and were gifts left by the sect's ancestors for the disciples within after their fall.
The Vermilion Bird Tomb was one of them.
The Xuanji Sect old ancestor who fell outside was named Zhu Que, so the secret realm formed by his personal space after his death was named Vermilion Bird Tomb by the Xuanji Sect.
Xu Yi and Ji Buwang, as well as all the cultivators in the Xuanji Sect, believed that the Taoist name Zhu Que was a coincidence.
But now, it seemed that there might indeed be some unknown connection between the Ancestor Zhu Que and Zhu Que.
Otherwise, why would the disciplinary ruler, forged with Zhu Que's divine fire, appear within the Vermilion Bird Tomb?
"To use Zhu Que as a Taoist name, your Xuanji Sect's ancestor was truly awe-inspiring."
After listening to Xu Yi's explanation, the bearded cultivator said sarcastically.
He knew all along that Lord Zhu Que could not have fallen. It was truly arrogant of a cultivator to dare to use Zhu Que as a name.
The bearded cultivator was a staunch follower of Zhu Que.
As soon as he heard someone offend Zhu Que, he became furious.