Chapter 1068: Chapter 1067: Black Stone, Zrin National Master_1
Peach Blossom Village.
Shi Xiaole would never forget this place; Ling Jingsi had personally told him that this was the hometown of Shi Xuanzhong.
Suddenly, Shi Xiaole remembered the ruins of Yanbei Country in the Western Region that Fu Zongming had mentioned before, sending a plea for help to Qin Building, which specifically pointed to this location.
And according to what Ling Jingsi said, the format of such core secret letters was known only to him, Fu Zongming, a few disciples, and Shi Xuanzhong.
Could there be some connection between the two?
Shi Xiaole’s expression changed ceaselessly as he said, "I won’t hide it from you, big brother, the place where my father was born is indeed Peach Blossom Village."
"What?"
Uncle Wang was equally shocked. The Holy Monarch was always enigmatic, with few ever seeing his true face, let alone knowing his background. It turned out he was a descendant of the Peach Blossom Village branch.
"We should not delay, Xiaole, let’s head to the Western Region immediately; perhaps we can find Peach Blossom Village."
Uncle Wang was curious about the Holy Monarch’s ancestral land and truly understood how Shi Xiaole was feeling at the moment.
"Alright."
That very day, the elder and the younger rode the Heavenly Divine Eagle away from the Nine Heavens Mountain, heading westward. As they passed the Daxia dynasty, Uncle Wang instructed Shi Xiaole to land and brought along another person—it was the long-missing Yan Zhenning.
"Family Head Yan, long time no see."
At this moment, Yan Zhenning was dressed in coarse clothes, his appearance and stature altered significantly by some martial arts technique, but his demeanor remained extraordinary. Probably no one could guess that this ordinary-looking man was the unparalleled master ranked fifty-seventh on the Emperor List.
"Xiaole, if Big Brother can call you that, may I be so bold as to do the same? I, Yan Zhenning, and the entire Yan family owe you a tremendous favor."
Yan Zhenning was emotional. Shi Xiaole knew he was referring to the help Uncle Wang had given in saving his life, as well as the later rescue of Yan Yuchai, and was promptly polite in response.
Yan Zhenning seemed to know about Shi Xiaole’s extraterrestrial origin, so he was more relaxed and unguarded than before, likely showing his true nature.
"In the Nine Ancestors Mud Sculpture concerning the location of Peach Blossom Village, there’s only a rough area but no detailed refinement. It’s a pity that both my clanspeople and Big Brother’s have moved elsewhere, otherwise, we could ask the elders."
After chatting and laughing for a while, the three of them started discussing serious matters, and Yan Zhenning showed an expression of helplessness.
Uncle Wang had been trapped by the Heaven King for over six hundred years, and his Yan family had been destroyed, cutting off contact with their ancestral land in the meantime.
"Brother Yan, you forgot—within a certain range, the Nine Ancestors Mud Sculpture can sense the ancestral lands of extraterrestrials. We can exploit this to check each possibility."
The many functions of the Nine Ancestors Mud Sculpture were discovered gradually over time.
Hearing Uncle Wang’s words, Yan Zhenning inwardly shook his head. Searching seemed feasible but was too time-consuming and laborious. Without luck, it might take years to find it, and currently, there was no better method.
A few days later, the Heavenly Divine Eagle flew through the vast desert and entered the domain of the hundred countries in the Western Region, heading straight for the area indicated by the Nine Ancestors Mud Sculpture without stopping.
During this period, Shi Xiaole inevitably sought martial arts guidance from Uncle Wang and Yan Zhenning. Both of them were grand masters of martial arts, with awe-inspiring abilities and years of practice. Their insights and experiences in martial arts naturally surpassed Shi Xiaole.
After the exchange, Shi Xiaole gained a lot, clearing up many blind spots in his experience, and even his swordsmanship was loosened from its bottleneck, with a breakthrough being imminent.
However, he was unaware that Uncle Wang and Yan Zhenning were profoundly stirred.
Both knew of Shi Xiaole’s extraordinary talent, particularly Uncle Wang, who was well aware of his connection to the Life and Death Martial Path, yet they were still astounded by Shi Xiaole’s comprehension.
How to put it—it’s like knowing the sun is bright, but you only realize just how bright when you get closer. That’s how the two unparalleled masters felt.
A few days later, the trio arrived at the area shown by the Nine Ancestors Mud Sculpture and bought a map of the national distributions in the Western Region. After a comparison, they were all confounded.
Because the area was too large, it spanned as many as twelve countries. Considering the Nine Ancestors Mud Sculpture’s sensing distance for extraterrestrial ancestral lands, if they had to check each country one by one, it would take more than a few years, perhaps ten or twenty, to complete the search.
Of course, they might be lucky and find it right away, but the three were certainly not relying on luck.
"Let’s go to the Yanbei Country ruins first."
Shi Xiaole immediately mentioned the matter of Qin Building, and Uncle Wang and Yan Zhenning naturally agreed, and coincidentally, the Yanbei Country ruins were within the range.
Amidst the swirling sand, there stood red sandstone formed isolated peaks and bizarre rocks as if chunks of a cake had been dug out.
In a certain area to the southeast, one could vaguely make out a corner of broken walls stretching for thousands of miles, filled with various broken stone pillars, bricks, collapsed pavilions, and more.
"This is the Yanbei Country ruins."
In the distance, a majestic golden eagle dived from the end of the sky. Shi Xiaole released his psychic power in advance, covering the area and missing no corner.
Uncle Wang and Yan Zhenning did the same, the three of them splitting up to thoroughly search the place, perhaps to discover some clues.
"It is rumored that Yanbei Country was once mighty, but then because the ruler obtained an evil demonic technique, he could not extricate himself and even abused his power to harm heaven and earth in order to practice the demonic technique, which eventually led to the destruction of the country."
Regarding the decline of Yanbei Country, there were legends throughout the Western Region, and Shi Xiaole was somewhat aware, but he found that despite the numerous tales, ninety-nine percent were speculations by later generations, with no unified account.
Intuition told him that there seemed to be a major problem here!
After scanning thrice with his mental power and detecting nothing unusual, Shi Xiaole wasn’t surprised. Given that the ruins of Yanbei Country had stood for a thousand years, any treasure would have likely been taken long ago, and he too was simply trying his luck.
The stone beams, wooden pillars, and tiles on the ground, weathered and eroded by wind and water, were already in disrepair, some even riddled with holes from the sand, exhibiting the merciless passage of time.
Walking and stopping intermittently, Shi Xiaole shook his head, finding nothing. He looked towards Uncle Wang and Yan Zhenning, who were both holding Nine Ancestors clay sculptures and frowning in disappointment, seemingly without any gain.
As he turned to leave, Shi Xiaole’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. If it wasn’t an illusion, his life and death martial arts had just trembled slightly, as if attracted by something.
He walked in the original direction, and indeed, the trembling grew more pronounced. When he reached a pile of rubble, the tremor reached its peak.
Shi Xiaole squatted down, overturned the rubble, and his gaze suddenly fell on a black stone.
This kind of black stone was common in the Western Region, but this one was different. As for why it was different, it was purely Shi Xiaole’s feeling; even his mental power couldn’t detect it.
Upon holding the black stone, his life and death martial arts started to spin faster, and strands of pure death energy began to emanate from the stone.
"Such pure death energy!"
Shi Xiaole was greatly alarmed.
Ordinary death energy should not have escaped his perception, and from this death energy, he even felt a lethal threat. In a hurry, he suppressed his life and death martial arts, stopping the absorption.
Even so, he still swayed slightly, nearly falling to the ground. For a typical warrior at the Void Origin Realm Martial Emperor level, they would have likely lost half their life by now.
"Xiaole, what’s going on?"
Uncle Wang and Yan Zhenning quickly appeared beside Shi Xiaole. The former even noticed the black stone in his hand and took it, channeling his energy into it.
The next moment, Uncle Wang, as if throwing explosives, hurriedly tossed the black stone aside, his face filled with horror.
Yan Zhenning looked at him, puzzled.
"That’s a demonic object, no, it must have been left behind by someone practicing their technique. The death energy within, even I find hard to withstand."
What shocked Uncle Wang the most was not just the death energy but that it faintly carried a power that surpassed the Void Origin Realm.
"Even elder brother can’t handle it?"
Shi Xiaole picked up the black stone again. With just a wisp of the death energy absorbed, his life and death martial arts had become a shade darker and more profound, his realm slightly advanced, equating to the progress of several months.
It was hard to imagine what level his life and death martial arts would reach if he absorbed all the death energy in the black stone.
Of course, Shi Xiaole didn’t dare to be reckless. Just that wisp of death energy had nearly made his head spin. Absorbing more could lead to uncontrollable consequences.
Uncle Wang gave Shi Xiaole a serious look and said, "Xiaole, remember not to be greedy and act rashly. Better to be slow and steady!"
Shi Xiaole nodded, "Don’t worry, elder brother, I know my limits."
After a moment’s thought, he still didn’t discard the black stone. What heaven bestows should not be rejected, for that brings chaos. Danger is also an opportunity, and he could not simply push away a chance that had come to hand just because of fear. At most, he would just be extra cautious.
Seeing this, Uncle Wang hesitated to speak further. He believed in Shi Xiaole’s self-control and, with supervision, reasoned there shouldn’t be a problem.
The worry remained that if the death energy within the black stone couldn’t be controlled, it would be a disaster. But considering the black stone had lain untouched in the ruins of Yanbei Country for so long until Shi Xiaole found it, it couldn’t be said to be anything but fate. In Uncle Wang’s position, he likely wouldn’t give up on it either.
Yan Zhenning stood by thoughtfully, but wisely refrained from interrupting. The three of them roamed a bit more before leaving on the Heavenly Divine Eagle.
...
Zrin Kingdom, one of the hundred nations of the Western Region, ranked mid-tier in terms of comprehensive power.
It was not a peaceful time for Zrin Kingdom. Since the passing of the previous ruler and the succession by the benevolent and wise eldest prince as the new ruler, rumors of a conspiracy spread within the kingdom, accusing the hypocritical eldest prince of causing the ruler’s death, with supposedly conclusive evidence.
Seizing the opportunity, the second prince received support from many ministers and staged a rivalry against the new ruler. The clash of political views and the movement of troops made the people of Zrin Kingdom feel uneasy.
The royal city of Zrin Kingdom.
In a luxurious bedroom, the newly enthroned Er Pingzhi anxiously sat by the bed, watching the man lying there with his eyes closed.
Thinking of the National Master’s loyalty and unwavering support, Er Pingzhi was moved and self-reproachful. Tears welled up and fell from his eyes.
Soon after, the man on the bed slowly opened his eyes. Under the glow of candlelight, his face was excessively pale, yet his perfect features and the confident ease in his eyes still set him apart from an ordinary convalescent.
"National Master, you’re finally awake!"
Overwhelmed with emotion, Er Pingzhi grabbed the man’s hand. He was in his twenties and had come to treat the graceful and widely acclaimed most handsome man of Zrin Kingdom as a father figure.
"My apologies for worrying you, Your Majesty,"
The man appeared to be in his thirties, and he smiled. If anyone who knew Shi Xiaole were here, they would be shocked to find that this man bore an eighty percent resemblance to him.
