Everyone became silent at this point.
The old man glanced at the sky, saying, “It’s almost night. This area isn’t so dangerous during night time, so you should leave if the girl has recovered. I told you so many things because I felt we were fated to meet. Let me warn you, leave the Great Maelstrom as soon as you possibly can. I feel a sense of trepidation these days, almost as though something is about to happen soon.”
Qianye exchanged glances with the other two, all of them somewhat alarmed. Although Qianye had never learned any divination arts, he knew that experts like the old man possessed sharp intuition beyond the understanding of common sense. He had lived in the Great Maelstrom for so many years—if he felt that something was about to happen, then it was very likely that something would happen.
Qianye gave it some thought before saying, “Elder Lu, do you want to leave with us? The Heavenschild Pasture is definitely a good place, but resources can be regained. There’s no need for you to guard this place to the death.”
The old man shook his head. “I’m too old now. I can already sense the end of my life approaching, so there’s no need to break my promise at the final juncture. I’m used to living here, and I don’t want to move.”
Ji Tianqing chimed in, “It’s been fifty years, don’t you want to go out and see the world? The Empire has changed tremendously. Perhaps you can go and meet my grandpa too.”
She was also doing her best to persuade the man. Only a handful of other people, like d.u.c.h.ess An for instance, could stand shoulder to shoulder with an expert of this level. If he were willing to return, it would be a great boon to the Empire.
Qianye pondered for a while before placing Heartgrave on the table. “Elder Lu, take a look at this gun. Will it change your mind?”
The old man’s expression changed drastically upon seeing the firearm. He jumped to his feet, trembling as he reached out to touch the weapon, but he quickly retracted his hand just before he could touch it. It was almost as though he was afraid of getting burned.
The old man still couldn’t do it after several attempts. He finally sat down with a sigh. “Let it be, let it be! Fifty years have pa.s.sed, but only now do I realize how distant she was from me. It’s not even possible for me to gaze up at her. Back during that time and era, perhaps only Ji Wentian was a match for her!”
Qianye had never expected such an outcome. At first, he had wanted to play to the old man’s heroic emotions but ended up collapsing him instead.
The man waved his hand and asked them out, “Leave, I want some peace and quiet.”
With that, he pushed the three out of the small hut with a wave of powerful origin power, preventing them from further conversation. Then, he shut the door with a bang.
Ji Tianqing was startled. She placed the earthen jar at the door and said softly, “Let’s go.”
After leaving the Heavenschild Pasture, the three hurried toward the Constellation Well under the starlight. They hadn’t gone far when Qianye said, “Tianqing, let me carry you.”
Ji Tianqing was already panting slightly at this point. She didn’t refuse his offer and merely jumped into his arm, latching onto his neck as she did so. Qianye was stunned, but he couldn’t just toss her down like that. All he could do was carry her in his arms and run alongside Li Kuanglan.
Having undergone the physical transformation brought about by the star cherry fruit, her entire body was filled with both internal and external injuries. This was her weakest moment. Although she had used various medicines, organ injuries weren’t that easy to heal. It would take at least one day and one night to reach her peak.
Qianye was still feeling regretful, and he finally found the chance to voice it. “Why would Elder Lu tell us such painful things? Is Flying Spring that valuable?”
No matter how rare the wine and tea, their value would be rather limited if they couldn’t improve one’s cultivation or talents. Flying Spring was indeed fragrant, but Qianye couldn’t feel any movement in his origin power after inhaling it. As he saw it, the tea wasn’t as valuable as the two mouthfuls of wine the old man had given him.
The wine was enough to accelerate Qianye’s cultivation exponentially within the week. At this rate, he would break through within days. Now that was a practical benefit for true experts. No matter how good Flying Spring was, it was just a gimmick.
The old man’s cultivation had reached the level of a high-ranking divine champion, so why would he exchange his dignity for this little thing? If he were such a person, how could he have stood guard over the pasture for half a century?
Ji Tianqing sighed softly. “He wasn’t just telling us stories. What he really wanted was for us to be cautious of the perpetrator. Considering how capable they were, their status in the Empire would be beyond our imagination at this point.”
Just how many people in the Empire enjoyed equal or higher status compared to the Pointer Monarch?
Qianye frowned. “What will you do?”
Ji Tianqing chuckled. Tightening her arms around Qianye’s neck, she whispered, “What’s there to fear? No one dares to do anything to me with grandpa around. He has never mentioned matters from back then, and I don’t know the reason, either. Maybe he has forgotten, or perhaps he’s pretending. No matter the reason, the perpetrator from back then definitely won’t jump out to rekindle past enmities.”
Qianye nodded in relief. He then broke into a frown as he glanced at Ji Tianqing’s arms—this posture was too intimate, almost as though they were lovers. He didn’t feel he was really that close to the girl, especially with Li Kuanglan watching from the side.
From what Qianye understood about women, his relations.h.i.+p with Li Kuanglan should be more ambiguous. They had pa.s.sed the frigid nights in intimacy and very nearly crossed the line. Considering how proud and arrogant she was, she should be furious after seeing Qianye being so close to another woman. But now, she didn’t seem to mind at all and was even egging them on with a smile.
This puzzled Qianye. Perhaps only Song Zining would understand their thoughts.
But thoughts about romance lasted mere moments in Qianye’s head since they weren’t worth his time. The worrying thing was the old man’s hidden implications.
Considering Ji Tianqing’s talents, she was probably the best among the Pointer Monarch’s descendants, and her natural endowments would increase even further after ingesting the star cherry fruit. If someone wanted to harm the Pointer Monarch, they would very likely start from her. It was just that worrying about that was useless at the moment. Their foresight could only extend so far and was a far cry from that of their enemy. There was really no way they could take precautions.
Ji Tianqing poked Qianye’s forehead. “Don’t just worry about me, think about your own business. That airs.h.i.+p of yours will come into sight sooner or later. One can easily imagine how much of a turbulence it will cause in the Empire. Grandpa loves me a lot, so he probably won’t blame you out of consideration for me, but you’ll need to deal with the other people.”
Qianye nodded. Only at this point did Qianye understand why the girl had pa.s.sed Excavator to him. She probably wanted to use this secret art to hint at their relations.h.i.+p, preventing the Pointer Monarch from hurting him by mistake.
The Constellation Well wasn’t too far off, but the road pa.s.sed through numerous wild beast lairs. These creatures were extremely big and powerful, some as swift as the wind and lightning, some attacking in groups, while others dangerously venomous. In short, ordinary experts below the divine champion realm wouldn’t be able to handle them.
Fortunately, countless imperial experts had paid the ultimate price to scout out the distribution and activity rhythms of these beasts, finally drawing out a relatively safe route. The three of them were also fairly strong and good at concealment, so they managed to pa.s.s through the beast lairs without a hitch, soon arriving near the Constellation Well.
This so-called Constellation Well was actually a valley within a hilly region. The slope in the periphery was gentle, with lush woods and countless creatures roaming about.
Qianye couldn’t feel relaxed as they pa.s.sed through the forest; he could sense a formless pressure around him, and he had no idea where it was coming from.
True Sight was only half-useful here because there were sheets of origin power zooming about in his vision, forming a natural barrier of sorts to interfere with his vision and perception. In such a condition of extremely active origin power, Qianye’s perception could only reach ten meters around him at most. Any further than that and he would be blocked by the origin glow.
These specks of origin power were all tiny creatures. Even a small insect here possessed enough power to form a speck of light in Qianye’s vision. Speaking in terms of origin power, even an ant here was equal to a rank-two fighter.
Qianye sighed emotionally at how extraordinary this world was. A rank-two fighter was the minimal recruitment standard for special forces like Red Scorpion, and he himself had to train painstakingly for several years to reach that stage. Who would’ve thought an insect near the Constellation Well would be at the same level.
Qianye crushed a slow-moving beetle with his foot, and the insect burst apart under his boot. The creature was almost as hard as rock, but in the Great Maelstrom, this level of hardness was just average. After the beetle burst apart, a small ball of light floated up in Qianye’s vision. The burning sphere soon dispersed into origin power that was gradually a.s.similated into the environment.
The insects here had no special ability other than their shocking origin power content. They were actually even weaker than the other bugs Qianye had encountered on the way. It seemed as though their only skill was to acc.u.mulate a large amount of energy in their body, but they didn’t quite know how to use it.
From a different perspective, the creatures big and small here didn’t really have to worry about food. The need for nutritional intake would be greatly reduced because they were always filled with origin power. They were in a land of paradise where food was always within reach, and swallowing was perhaps the most tiring thing they had ever done.
As time went by, they naturally had no need to develop any fighting skills. All they needed to do was eat, sleep, and procreate.
Qianye shook his head, but he didn’t relax his guard. The small life-forms were keeping him from sensing its direction, but he could still sense that invisible pressure. Such a clear instinct couldn’t be ignored.
All of a sudden, a prismatic pillar of light surged into the sky before the trio! It was hundreds of meters in height, with a transforming array of brilliant colors that made for an impressive sight.
The moment this pillar of light shot up, Qianye’s blood core started to resonate with it and began beating faster. His six origin nodes were also circulating at greater speeds. Both powers resonating at the same time was quite the rare occurrence for him.
Li Kuanglan pointed at the light, saying, “That is probably the Constellation Well.”