Two to three breaths after the bald crane took away the gourd and disappeared into the stone wall by its side, the hunchbacked Long Li flew out of one of the hundreds of holes in the beehive in the form of a long arc. Once he flew out, he instinctively cast his gaze at the spot where he had placed the gourd.
Long Li was stunned for a moment.
"d.a.m.n it, I didn"t run into a fork just now, so how is it possible for an empty spot where I"m supposed to choose a tunnel in the beehive appear again? Could it be that the tunnels here change on their own?"
The first thing Long Li thought of at that moment was that he had taken the wrong path. He immediately turned around and was just about to walk back into the tunnel he had just left when he sensed the spot where the gourd was once again. He froze on the spot.
His expression instantly turned incredibly sour. He turned around and stared hard at the spot where he had placed the gourd. At that moment, several shadows flew out from the other tunnels in the beehive and lingered around the spot where the gourd had been, as if searching for something that should be there.
When Long Li saw this, he became certain of one thing—someone had sneaked into this place while he was gone and stolen his treasured gourd, which he had placed below to know his own position.
However, even though Long Li"s expression was dark, there was not a hint of panic within him. Instead, with a spark in his eyes, murderous aura spread out from him. He let out a cold harrumph, then lifted his right hand to draw a horizontal line across the center of his brows.
"I"d like to see just who has the guts to touch my gourd!"
The treasured gourd was the most important Enchanted Treasure in Long Li"s possession. Its origins were shrouded in mystery, and even Long Li was not aware of all of its uses. The gourd had been wrapped in the ancient scroll recording the One Aeonic Barricade, Three Snare Sealants, Six Dao Bolts, which he had obtained in the past.
Long Li had investigated this in secret for many years, but he had never discovered any clues leading to the gourd"s origins. However, after many years of research, he had grown to understand the gourd somewhat and ecstasy filled him. But at the same time, he was also afraid, because he found that he could only bring out two-tenths of the treasure gourd"s power. However, even if he was only able to bring out two-tenths of its power, it made him practically invincible when faced with his peers in the initial stage of World Plane Realm. In fact, he could even put up a fight against those in the middle stage of World Plane Realm. He might not be able to win against them, but if he was to flee, his enemy would not want to chase him due to wariness.
It might be difficult for Long Li to bring out the treasured gourd"s full power, but it had been by his side for many years, and he had used various methods to refine it. Because of it, he had formed a form of connection with the gourd, and he could somewhat sense where it was.
At that moment, as he wiped his right index finger across the center of his brows, a green light began to s.h.i.+ne in his eyes. He looked swiftly around him, but once he looked through the entire area once, his expression turned even darker, and a barely noticeable hint of panic flashed in his eyes. Without any hesitation, he chose to open his mouth and break the skin on his right index finger. He then drew a horizontal line of blood across the center of his brows.
Once Long Li drew that line, his perception of the treasured gourd instantly expanded to its limit… but that resulted in his face becoming even paler. Panic and disbelief replaced the calmness in his eyes.
He could not sense the gourd"s location at all!
It was as if his connection with the gourd had been concealed by someone. The connection might still be there, but there was not much difference compared to if that connection had been cut.
What made anger s.h.i.+ne through the paleness of Long Li"s face was that the ten shadows that had been released from the gourd had returned, but they were all lingering in the area, continuously letting out shrill roars. There was an irritable tone to their roars, and there were wisps of black smoke spreading out from their bodies. The shadows were gradually growing fainter.
Long Li felt as if his heart was bleeding at this loss. Those ten shadows were not things that were originally part of the treasured gourd, but something Long Li had obtained after he had worked out a method. Over the years, he had used all sorts of methods to kill ten World Paragons to extract their Nascent Divinities and refine them into shadow puppets. He then used the gourd"s power to suppress and control them. These shadow puppets could even train on their own in the gourd.
When he saw that the ten shadows were showing signs of dispersing because they could not return to the treasured gourd, Long Li instantly swung his arm, and the ten shadows immediately charged into his sleeve so that he could temporarily use his own body to provide nourishment for them.
"There are only a few people who entered the sealed region, and the person who took away my gourd is definitely one of them! Sun Kun has always sought my gourd, so the possibility of him taking the gourd is the greatest. Tian Lin has that strange tree of his, but it"s not as if there"s no possibility that it cannot fuse together with the gourd. He too has a motive!
"On the other hand, Ye Shen Tong has the lowest possibility of wanting my gourd, as for Su Ming… this person"s Arts are mysterious, but the possibility of him taking my gourd is below Sun Kun and Tian Lin."
Killing intent appeared in Long Li"s eyes, but he was somewhat uncertain in his heart. After all, he was in a spot that placed him the closest to the World Stone, so if he chose to search for his gourd, then it might be difficult for him to return in a short amount of time, and there was also a possibility that he would lose his opportunity to obtain the World Stone.
However, if he did not immediately search for the treasured gourd, then his ten shadow puppets would become weaker with time, and they would continue becoming weaker until they died.
He gritted his teeth, and the killing intent in his eyes grew stronger. He leaped forward, then turned around to charge through the tunnel he had used to come to this place. He also spread his divine sense in an attempt to search for other people"s tracks.
As Long Li was searching for the others" tracks with anger and killing intent burning in him, the bald crane was swiftly moving through the stone walls with a smug look on its face. It had Long Li"s treasured gourd in its right claw. There was a layer of black ripples spreading out from its body, surrounding the treasure gourd. The feeling of this particular action was the exact same as when the bald crane usually broke seals and Runes.
It was clear that the bald crane was worried that the owner of the gourd would come searching for it and used the Art that it was born with to hide all traces of the treasure. Because of that, it would be… completely impossible for Long Li to find the gourd.
"Wow, I"m really lucky. I just went out on a stroll, and I managed to get myself a treasure, but what is this thing? Why does it look somewhat familiar..?" While the bald crane moved swiftly through the stone wall, it brought the gourd before itself and regarded it carefully.
"I can"t quite recall. I should be missing a large portion of my memories… but this gourd is familiar. Isn"t this gourd capable of killing others?"
It blinked, then brought the gourd closer. The bald crane"s eyes went wide as it observed the treasure it had obtained. However, even after looking at it blankly for some time, the bald crane still had the same bemused expression on its face. When it unwittingly returned to the spot where Su Ming was absorbing the physical power from the stone wall, it squatted down by his side and continued trying to find a hint of its memories from the gourd with a frown on its face.
"Why is Long Li"s gourd in your hands?" An unknown amount of time pa.s.sed before Su Ming"s slightly surprised voice fell into the bald crane"s ears, making it snap out of its ruminations.
"I don"t know. I was just out on a stroll when I saw the gourd on the ground, so I picked it up and brought it back here," the bald crane replied instinctively with a slightly aching head and a dazed mind.
Su Ming knew the bald crane"s character, hence he did not provide any further comment regarding it. Instead, he lifted his right hand and seized the air in the direction of the gourd. It immediately flew out from the bald crane"s claws and charged towards him.
When the bald crane saw the gourd flying out, it was immediately jolted out of its daze by the ache in its heart. Just as it was about to argue with Su Ming and let out a small outburst, it saw Su Ming calmly bringing out a large amount of crystals from his bosom and gifting them over.
The bald crane"s face immediately lighted up, and the bird quickly pounced on the crystals to receive them. It would even occasionally take out a few and bite them in its mouth to determine whether they were real. As for the treasured gourd, it had long since been forgotten about.
Su Ming held Long Li"s treasured gourd. The black ripples left behind by the bald crane were still there.
This was not the first time Su Ming had seen this gourd; Long Li had brought it out a couple times while he was still in possession of it. The black shadows that came from the gourd had especially raised Su Ming cautiousness.
Su Ming did not look down on the gourd due to its average appearance as he sized it up carefully. He sent in a wisp of his Atman with a slightly solemn expression on his face. Once he did so, he immediately sensed a force of resistance so great that it could not be described with words spreading out from within, instantly crus.h.i.+ng the Atman he had sent into the gourd.
However, at the instant Su Ming"s Atman was crushed, his eyes shone fiercely. His breathing quickened at that instant, and his eyes went wide. He scrutinized the gourd, and after a moment, he sent another wisp of his Atman into it. At the instant the Atman was crushed by that force again, Su Ming"s calm face changed drastically.
"The aura of death in this thing is so thick, but it"s quite strange. It-it can actually resonate with my soul!" When the two wisps of Atman were crushed, a powerful tremor had rung through Su Ming"s soul. It made him feel as if he had come from the same place as this thing.
During the two times Su Ming"s soul trembled, clear, cracking sounds came from the treasured gourd. Su Ming immediately saw the bald crane"s black ripples around the gourd shattering. All the mixed, haphazard seals that Long Li had used to control the gourd during all the years also shattered at that instant.
Once they shattered, a glossy green light spread out from the gourd, floating before Su Ming. A wide opened eye appeared on the smooth surface.
That eye was wide open and looking at Su Ming with a judgmental gaze.
Su Ming stared at the gourd and the eye before him. At that moment, his train of thought became smooth, and he struck his forehead with his right hand without any hesitation.
With it, his soul spread out from his body. Almost at the same instant, the eye on the gourd shone with a powerful light, and when it looked at Su Ming, the judgmental look gradually turned gentle.
It was at that time that eyes of the skeleton with three swords pierced through his body in the depths of Crimson Flame Planet begun to s.h.i.+ne even more brilliantly. There was even an intense wave of excitement there.
"An Abyss Builder"s presence… there"s no mistaking this. This is indeed an Abyss Builder"s soul! There… there"s actually Abyss Builders in this world..? This is a blessing for us of the fifth True World. This is a blessing that will lead our races into power!"