Xu Xian rolled his eyes. "Ask him?"
Lu Yuan rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What's wrong with that?"
"Not a single word out of that thing's mouth is the truth," Xu Xian grumbled.
Asking that old tortoise was worse than guessing blindly. Setting aside whether it actually knew anything, it wouldn't tell him even if it did.
It was a waste of effort.
Lu Yuan joked, "You should use some methods on him. Torture him to within an inch of his life."
Xu Xian gave Lu Yuan a deep, lingering look, clicking his tongue inwardly with an inscrutable expression.
Truthfully.
Xu Xian couldn't think of any methods dirtier than the ones he had already used back in the Watery Grotto-Heaven.
The trust between him and that old tortoise had long since been ground down to nothing; in fact, it was in the negatives.
He waved a hand dismissively. "Forget it. I am the Little Grand-Uncle of the Wendao Sword Sect, a man of integrity. I wouldn't stoop to such low-handed tactics."
Lu Yuan was stunned, staring blankly at Xu Xian for a long time...
Wait, was this the same Xu Xian he knew?
After his discussion with Lu Yuan, Xu Xian slipped away to the Sword Mound, silently passing through the gates.
With a single thought, he leaped onto the Divine Sword Pool.
The pool of years past was now piled with items like a massive warehouse, with nine divine swords standing silently.
A small tortoise lay on the ground, lazily basking in the sun, its black stone stele reflecting a dim, cold light.
Sensing Xu Xian's arrival, the old turtle opened one eye to glance at him, his gaze filled with disdain. He pointedly shifted his body, turning his rear toward Xu Xian.
Xu Xian raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit annoyed.
What a terrible attitude.
Knitting his brows, Xu Xian asked tentatively, "Let me ask you something?"
"Spit it out."
Taking the approach of a desperate man trying anything, Xu Xian spoke casually. "That sovereign... did he die in Fanzhou back then?"
It was a childish question based on a far-fetched idea, yet the old turtle couldn't help but steal a glance at him.
He felt that Xu Xian shouldn't be asking such a moronic question, but since he had, something must have happened.
Could it be that he had found a trace of the sovereign?
Or had the sovereign truly died?
No.
He was bound to the sovereign; that was how he obtained his immortal divine ability. Since he was alive and well, how could the sovereign be dead?
He didn't bother to engage, answering dismissively, "If you're asking me, who am I supposed to ask?"
Xu Xian pursed his lips and spoke slowly. "Last night, across the four corners of the world, a white aurora suddenly flowed back across the sky. Then, heavenly script hung beneath the moon, consisting of twenty-four characters..."
He stopped abruptly.
The old turtle's interest was piqued. "Which twenty-four characters?"
Xu Xian repeated them exactly.
"In a hundred days, the tomb gates shall open. All mortal beings under a hundred years of age may enter the Emperor's Tomb to receive my inheritance."
The old turtle quietly opened his eyes, the light within them flickering.
The tomb gates.
The Emperor's Tomb.
The inheritance.
Under a hundred years old?
He thought he understood something now. With his back still turned to Xu Xian, the corners of his mouth twitched upward in a faint, involuntary smirk.
Though Xu Xian was behind him, the little book spirit was right in front of the old turtle's face.
That minute change and the slight curve of his mouth did not escape the book spirit's eyes for a single second.
Shuer accused, "Master, it's a smoking gun! This old turtle definitely knows. It's definitely that sovereign he mentioned before."
Xu Xian remained silent.
He hadn't expected to get a straight answer from the old turtle when he came to tell him this.
He had come solely to test the old turtle's reaction.
If this matter was indeed related to the Twilight Emperor as he and Lu Yuan suspected, the old turtle would surely react.
Because this also concerned whether the turtle could ever escape from his hands.
When it came to his own fate, Xu Xian didn't believe the old turtle wouldn't show any sign.
The facts proved him right.
The old turtle still claimed he didn't know, telling Xu Xian to go ask his mother instead. He even told Xu Xian to shut up or kill him if he had the guts, saying that if Xu Xian didn't kill him, he would eventually kill Xu Xian.
Xu Xian didn't have the time or the inclination to trade insults.
He turned and left without looking back.
However, in his heart, he was already calculating his next moves.
The old turtle's reaction left him extremely uneasy.
Baseless speculation only added to his worries.
If the Twilight Emperor was staging a conspiracy, would Fanzhou be overturned if it succeeded?
At that time, all living beings in the world would likely face a great cataclysm, and the Wendao Sword Sect would be no exception.
As a sect suspected to be founded by descendants of the Li family, they might even have their ancestral graves dug up.
At the thought of this, even Xu Xian, who usually believed in living for the moment, couldn't help but feel a surge of panic.
Time waited for no one.
Xu Xian felt he had no choice; he had to stop this.
At the very least, he had to do something to prevent the worst from happening.
But what could he do?
The simplest and most direct way would be to prevent the opening of the tomb gates and block all living beings from entering the Emperor's Tomb.
But that was clearly impossible.
Where were the gates?
Was there only one, or were there four like the aurora? Perhaps even more?
Even if there was only one, could the current Wendao Sword Sect hold it?
If he revealed the truth to the world, would anyone even believe him?
If someone had come to him with such a story, Xu Xian wouldn't have believed it either.
He would have thought they were talking nonsense.
Especially given his reputation over the years...
It was truly hard to describe.
He feared that if he spoke out, the people of the world would only think he wanted to keep all the spoils for himself.
Furthermore, even if he succeeded, it would only be a temporary fix to delay the inevitable.
That so-called Twilight Emperor would certainly not give up and would find other means.
To solve the problem once and for all, he had to enter the tiger's den and investigate.
Only by knowing the enemy could he form a counter-strategy.
At least one thing was certain: the sovereign's current situation was likely similar to the old turtle's.
He was in a state of being suppressed.
Perhaps Xu Xian really could kill him, or throw him into the Divine Sword Pool so master and servant could be reunited.
If that were the case, all his worries would be resolved, and he could even reap all the benefits.
Of course, that was the best-case scenario.
The master would certainly not be as easy to deal with as the old turtle.
But at the very least, he could wreak some havoc in that so-called Emperor's Tomb. Even if he couldn't kill the sovereign, he could certainly make things miserable for him.
Xu Xian still had that much capability.
However...
As military strategy dictated, underestimating the enemy was a fatal mistake. Xu Xian still needed to plan carefully.
After much deliberation, Xu Xian went to Yun Zheng's immortal abode. He found that door within the cave and took out the token his senior brother had left behind.
After a mental struggle, he decided to open the door ahead of time to find his master, Li Taibai, and solve this mystery.
Extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures.
Xu Xian thought that neither his master nor his senior brother would blame him.
However, the door before him didn't budge in the slightest. Xu Xian tried to channel spirit qi into both the token and the door.
Still, nothing happened.
"How can this be?"
Shuer activated the Pupil of Insight and provided the answer. "Unless you reach the great ascension stage, this door cannot be opened."
Xu Xian didn't think much of it. "Then I'll get Li Qingshan to do it."
Shuer spoke solemnly. "He won't work."
"What?"
"It can only be you!"
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