Translator: CinderTL
"I can answer all your questions, but you must tell me your origins first," Chi Pei said. "Let me know by whose hand I was defeated, so I can die with my eyes closed."
Song Wen shook his head slightly, a mocking smile playing on his lips.
"Chi Pei, in your current state, you have no leverage to bargain with me."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, Song Wen began to weave a magic seal with his hands.
A fist-sized sphere of golden liquid gradually materialized before him, swirling and churning like molten gold.
A scorching aura, like a surging heatwave, rolled outward in all directions.
Chi Pei's eyes widened in terror as the golden liquid floated toward him. "Stop!" he cried out. "Ask whatever you want! I'll tell you everything!"
"That's more like it," Song Wen said with a faint smile. "We could have had a civil conversation, but you forced me to resort to cruel methods."
With a wave of his hand, Song Wen dispersed the golden liquid and continued, "As a core disciple of the Divine Blood Gate, why were you sent to the Qicang Domain?"
The fear on Chi Pei's face lessened slightly. "I was ordered by the Divine Blood Gate to conduct routine surveillance of the Veiled Moon Hall. According to the mission requirements, I only needed to stay in the Qicang Domain for a few years before returning to the sect. However, after learning of a demon beast resembling the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape appearing in the Rotting Miasma Ridge, I decided to stay longer to investigate clues related to the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape."
"Where is the Divine Blood Gate's headquarters located?" Song Wen asked again.
"The Phantom Serenity Mountains on the Eastern Profound Continent," Chi Pei replied.
"How do I travel from the Qicang Domain to the Phantom Serenity Mountains?" Song Wen inquired.
Chi Pei raised his eyes, giving Song Wen a strange look.
"It seems you know nothing about the Qicang Domain or the Eastern Profound Continent."
"What makes you say that?" Song Wen asked, his face puzzled.
"The Qicang Domain is merely what the locals call it," Chi Pei explained. "Those of us from the outside refer to it as Qicang Island."
"An island?" Song Wen's face showed surprise. "The Qicang Domain is vast beyond measure. How can it be just an island?"
Compared to the Tianyuan Continent, the Qicang Domain was countless times larger, yet it was merely an island. This revelation caught Song Wen off guard.
"What difference does it make whether it's called an island or a continent?" Chi Pei shrugged. "To the mystic realm as a whole, Qicang Island is just a remote, Spiritually Qi-deficient backwater. If it weren't for its proximity to the Primordial Qi Deadlands, the Divine Blood Gate wouldn't even bother with this place."
"You still haven't answered my earlier question," Song Wen pressed. "How do I travel from the Qicang Domain to the Eastern Profound Continent?"
"The Eastern Profound Continent and the Qicang Domain are separated by a sea only a hundred million miles wide," Chi Pei replied. "Simply cross this sea, and you'll reach the continent. However, the Eastern Profound Continent lies to the north of the Qicang Domain."
"North!"
Song Wen's brow furrowed slightly.
The northern region of the Qicang Domain was saturated with boundless Primordial Qi, a notorious area known as the Primordial Qi Deadlands.
How could anyone possibly cross such a treacherous zone?
At that moment, Chi Pei continued, "The sea between the Eastern Profound Continent and the Qicang Domain is shrouded in Primordial Qi. Even parts of the northern Qicang Domain and the southern Eastern Profound Continent are enveloped by this energy. Crossing it by human means alone is nearly impossible."
"Then how did you reach Qicang Island?" Song Wen asked.
Chi Pei replied, "There's a Cross-Domain Teleportation Array connecting the Veiled Moon Hall and the Divine Blood Gate."
Song Wen's frown deepened, his expression growing grave.
According to Chi Pei, Qicang Island was a remote, Spirit Qi-deficient region.
Judging by the cultivation levels of the island's cultivators, the local Spirit Qi and resources could at best allow someone to reach the Body Integration Stage—and even that would require exceptional talent and a sliver of hope.
After all, the only Body Integration Stage cultivator known to outsiders on the entire island was the high monk from Dry Zen Temple.
Song Wen even suspected that this monk's advancement to the Body Integration Stage wasn't solely due to his own efforts or the temple's resources, but rather the covert assistance of the Divine Blood Gate.
If Song Wen's suspicions were correct, the Spiritual Qi and resources on Qicang Island would only allow cultivators to reach the Void Refinement Stage. The Body Integration Stage would remain a distant dream.
To achieve true longevity, Song Wen would need to leave the Qicang Domain and venture into the wider world.
"What conditions are required to use the Veiled Moon Hall's Teleportation Array?" Song Wen asked.
Chi Pei replied, "Fellow Daoist, hoping to use the Veiled Moon Hall's Teleportation Array to reach the Eastern Profound Continent is nothing more than a fool's dream. Only members of the Divine Blood Gate are authorized to use it. Even the Hall Master of Veiled Moon Hall lacks such authority. Anyone who attempts to activate the array without authorization will be captured by the Divine Blood Gate upon arrival at the other end."
"Does that mean Qicang Island is effectively isolated?" Song Wen asked.
"Perhaps there are other ways to leave Qicang Island, but I am unaware of them," Chi Pei replied.
Song Wen's thoughts grew tangled.
After enduring countless hardships to finally ascend, he had arrived in this desolate, isolated place.
Now wasn't the time to dwell on such matters. Song Wen shook his head sharply, casting aside these distracting thoughts.
"After all your scheming to kill the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape, what was your true purpose?" Song Wen asked, changing the subject.
"I intend to use the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape's eyes to cultivate a pupil technique known as the Divine Eye of Annihilation," Chi Pei answered.
Song Wen muttered to himself, "Just as I suspected."
Chi Pei's earlier actions had already led him to this conclusion.
"This Divine Eye of Annihilation must possess extraordinary power, right?" Song Wen asked.
"Naturally," Chi Pei replied calmly. "As you've seen, the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape's eyes can nullify magical techniques. The Divine Eye of Annihilation has a similar, miraculous effect. Once activated, it can shatter all spells within its gaze, causing treasures to lose control. Among cultivators of the same realm, few can withstand it."
"If the Divine Eye of Annihilation is so powerful, why didn't you request assistance from a Void Refinement Stage cultivator from the Veiled Moon Hall?" Song Wen asked, finally voicing a question that had long plagued him. "With just one Void Refinement Stage expert, you could have easily captured the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape, and I wouldn't have dared to act against you. Wouldn't that have been more advantageous?"
Chi Pei's expression grew complex, a mixture of resentment and regret.
"In Cloudveil City, there were rumors of a giant ape appearing in the Rotting Miasma Ridge, but no one knew it was the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape, nor that its eyes could be used to cultivate the Divine Eye of Annihilation. If I had sought help from the Veiled Moon Hall's Void Refinement Stage cultivators, news of the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape would inevitably have leaked. Those people only curry favor with me to gain benefits. If they revealed the Blood-Eyed Divine Ape's existence to the Divine Blood Gate's higher-ups, they would receive even greater rewards. By then, the Divine Eye of Annihilation would never have fallen into my hands."
Hearing this, Song Wen's lips curled into a faint smile.
So it was all due to suspicion.
Yet Chi Pei's words indirectly confirmed the Divine Eye of Annihilation's formidable power.
(End of the Chapter)
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