Chapter 1331 - The Ancient Zhou Family
The Divine Forge had always been incomparably busy. Wealthy customers visited from all across the stars to forge divine weapons, even if it meant waiting in a massive line.
And their goal was simply to reserve a spot to forge a weapon!
It was obvious how resplendent the Divine Forge had been in its heyday.
Yet now, it was entirely abandoned. Even its surroundings were all but empty.
This unusual scene made Su Yi furrow his brow. He glanced at the dozing young man in gray, then approached the forge.
A middle-aged man on a nearby street said hurriedly, “Stop right there! Are you trying to throw your life away?”
“What do you mean?” asked Su Yi. He was quite surprised.
The middle-aged man’s eyes flashed. He raised a hand and rubbed his fingers together.
Su Yi couldn’t help but find it funny. He took out a chunk of spirit pith and handed it over.
The middle-aged man instantly smiled in satisfaction and put the treasure away. Only then did he explain. “Friend, it’s been a long time since you last visited Violet River City, right?”
Su Yi nodded.
“In that case, it’s no wonder you don’t know the rules,” the middle-aged man said in a furtive, mysterious whisper. “A year ago, a startling phenomenon arose within the Divine Forge. Immortal light soared into the heavens, illuminating the night sky, and fleeting, ethereal immortal music echoed through the air.
“A day later, a mysterious and distinguished guest arrived in the Divine Forge. He said he’d come to ask the master of the Divine Forge, His Excellency Weng Pu, to forge an artifact for him.
“The forge shut its doors and has refused all customers ever since. It does no business with outsiders even now."
Su Yi couldn’t help but sink into thought. “Do you know what caused that strange phenomenon?”
“I don’t.” The middle-aged man shook his head. “There are all sorts of explanations circulating, but all of them are mere rumors. You shouldn’t take any of them seriously.”
“Then do you know who that mysterious, distinguished guest was?”
The middle-aged man couldn’t help but laugh. “If I knew, why would I describe him as ‘mysterious?’ Even now, no one knows just who that mysterious person was.
Su Yi thought for a moment. “Then why did you stop me just now?”
The middle-aged man coughed dryly and rubbed his fingers together.
Su Yi finally understood. This guy was no passerby. Rather, he was an unscrupulous merchant who deliberately lingered around the Divine Forge to sell his information and squeeze benefits out of outsiders.
Su Yi laughed, but he didn’t object. He just handed the man another piece of spirit pith.
The middle-aged man instantly smiled, and without even waiting for Su Yi to ask, he laid everything out in the open. He transmitted, “Over the past year, that gray-robed man has continuously watched the gates of the Divine Forge. He has just one rule: if anyone dares get within thirty feet of the forge’s gates, he kills them without exception!”
Here, he glanced at the distant ground. “See? He drew a boundary marker.”
Su Yi looked over, and indeed, there was a subtle, perfectly straight mark on the ground. It was exactly thirty feet from the gates, no more, no less.
“To the best of my knowledge, over the past year, at least a hundred people have crossed that line. All of them died brutally on the spot.”
“Some died ignorant, while others were fully aware of the rules. They just weren’t convinced, and they decided to test their limits, but in the end... they of course died,” said the middle-aged man. He sighed. “People really are strange. Even when they know a tiger lurks in the mountains, they insist on checking for themselves. Had I not warned you, you and your head might well have parted ways by now!”
He spoke with smug, self-satisfied pride.
“You’re seriously telling me that no one has made it into the Divine Forge alive over the past year?” asked Su Yi.
The middle-aged man nodded with complete assurance. “Everyone in Violet River City knows that.”
“Thanks,” said Su Yi. With that, he walked right toward the Divine Forge.
“Ah? What are you doing? Stop right there!” the middle-aged man cried out in alarm.
His volume instantly drew attention from the nearby streets. A crowd rushed over to watch Su Yi approach the Divine Forge.
“There’s still someone left who isn’t afraid to die?”
“He’s seriously throwing his life away just to refine a treasure.”
“He must be an outsider new to the city!”
...A clamor of discussion arose.
When the middle-aged man realized he couldn’t dissuade Su Yi, his expression shifted, and he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Out of consideration for those two pieces of spirit pith, I’ll gather your corpse for you!”
Su Yi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
It was only after he arrived at the boundary marker carved into the ground that the gray-robed man reclining on the steps suddenly opened his eyes.
When his gaze landed on Su Yi, it was as if bright, cold lightning were tearing through the skies.
“It’s true what they say. Good intentions can’t save those determined to throw their lives away. If you dare cross that line, I’ll have your head,” the gray-robed man said slowly.
But even as he spoke, Su Yi crossed the boundary marker. From beginning to end, he never showed any sign of hesitation.
The gray-robed man felt deeply provoked, and his eyes flashed with murderous intent.
Whoosh!
He used his hand as a saber, slashing through the air.
A dazzling streak of saber qi descended, aimed directly at Su Yi’s head.
But when it was just three feet from Su Yi, something blocked it, and it shattered, inch by inch.
The gray-robed man shot to his feet, his robes billowing around him. All traces of his former indolence vanished, and his presence became forceful and imposing.
“You...”
The man in gray was just about to say something when Su Yi stretched out his hand and seized him by the throat, as he might a chicken.
The gray-robed man’s face reddened, and his eyes filled with abject terror.
“You’re nothing but a watchdog, yet you dare bark at me? Laughable.” Su Yi carried the man in gray up to the gates of the Divine Forge, then pushed open the doors and entered.
When he and the gray-robed man disappeared through the gates, the distant onlookers looked at each other in astonishment.
There was no doubt about it; they’d misjudged the situation. A real tough customer had come to Violet River City. He’d suppressed his opponent with ease and entered the Divine Forge!
“I.... What kind of... What kind of terrifying powerhouse did I just extort spirit pith out of?” that middle-aged man cried out in panic and fell to the ground with a thud. His entire body quivered with fright, and he broke out in cold sweats.
The thought that he’d just offered to gather Su Yi’s corpse “out of the kindness of his heart” scared him so badly that he almost pissed his pants.
Meanwhile, the interior of the Divine Forge was empty and abandoned.
Su Yi tossed the gray-robed man to the floor. “I ask, you answer. If you don’t cooperate, I’ll search your soul. Got it?”
The gray-robed man gasped for breath, his gaze shifting and uncertain as he hissed, “Do you have any idea who I work for?”
Su Yi said flatly, “Any more nonsense, and don’t blame me for my poor manners.”
The gray-robed man stiffened, then fell as silent as a cicada in winter.
“Where are the workers?” asked Su Yi.
The gray-robed man had obviously completely submitted to his fate; he dared not cooperate. “The secret cellar.”
“Why were you guarding the forge?”
“My lord is currently working on something top-secret. Outsiders are not permitted to disturb him.”
“And who is your lord?”
“Zhou Zhengqu, a high elder of the Zhou Family, one of the Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao!” Here, the man in gray looked at Su Yi. To his immense disappointment, the blue-robed young man’s expression didn’t even waver. He showed no sign of fear.
“Just him?”
The gray-robed man lowered his head. “No, some of the other higher-ups are here too.”
“What are they after?”
“I’m not sure,” said the man in gray. Here, something suddenly occurred to him, and he said in a quavering voice, “I told you all I could. Please, show mercy and let me....”
Bang!
But before he could even finish his sentence, Su Yi drew his fingertip through the air, and the gray-robed man scattered into ash.
“The moment you attacked me, you sealed your fate," said Su Yi. "I let you live a while longer. You ought to be satisfied with that.”
With that, Su Yi proceeded further inside.
After interrogating the man in gray, he understood that the “mysterious, distinguished guest” he’d heard about was almost certainly from the Zhou Family!
They were one of the Six Ancient Guardian Clans of the Dao, and they had a deep connection to Demonism. Rumor had it that their progenitor was a true demonic chaos god!
And indeed, throughout their history, Zhou clansmen had always referred to themselves as descendants of demon gods. Their foundations were unfathomably deep, and they were solidly in the top three even among the Six Ancient Guardian Clans.
However, a long time ago, the Temple Master felt abject disgust and deep aversion for them. His reasons were simple: the Zhou Family’s conduct was extraordinarily brutal and tyrannical. Anyone who opposed them was sure to see their entire lineage annihilated.
Even more brutal was how they attacked without reservation, and they loved to fight. They’d stirred up countless bloodshed over the years, with no concern for the massacred innocents.
It was for this reason that denizens of the stars paled at the mere mention of the Zhou Family’s name. They were like walking natural disasters or ferocious beasts.
Yet now, the forces of the Zhou Family had come to the Divine Forge. A thread of foreboding arose in Su Yi’s heart.
Deep within the Divine Forge, there was a veritable forest of gazebos and pavilions. These were the artificers forging rooms.
In the past, this space would have been lively and crowded, with apprentice artificers all over the place. The air would have been full with the sound of weaponsmithing.
Yet now, it was empty and abandoned. The atmosphere was stifled, and furthermore, there were corpses scattered across the ground!
Based on their attire, they’d obviously been artificers in life. Yet now, they lay strewn across the ground, their bodies already starting to rot.
Su Yi’s heart sank.
Indeed, something big happened here a year ago!
“Who is it?” someone suddenly bellowed, his voice booming like lightning.
Su Yi spread out his divine sense and saw the power of a formation churning deep within the forest of pavilions.
It was there that the shout originated from.
Su Yi disappeared into thin air, then arrived there in a flash.
The power of the formation churned. Immortal light rose like dense mists, blanketing the entire area and preventing anyone from seeking clearly.
A Transcendent formation... Don’t tell me that a year ago, the Zhou Family joined up with revenants?
This thought had only just occurred to Su Yi when a figure shot out of the fog-filled formation.
“Who are you? How dare you trespass here?”
The speaker was a short old man with triangular eyes and sparse hair. Blood-colored baleful energy overflowed and circulated all over his body.
He was looking Su Yi up and down, his gaze icy and imposing, as if he were about to devour Su Yi alive!
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