Chapter 68 : The Mission’s Boss Appeared
Chapter 68: The Mission’s Boss Appeared
Just as the team on the other side was about to plunge into a life-and-death battle—
Long Tao, following the guidance of the System’s arrow, arduously made his way through a peril-filled stretch of the Secret Realm.
Compared with before, however, the animals and plants within the realm seemed to have reached some unspoken agreement: their numbers gradually dwindled.
The path ahead grew ever quieter.
Even those demon plants that whispered and stirred trouble had vanished without a trace, as though he had stepped into some invisible forbidden zone.
At last, the view suddenly opened up.
A strange clearing appeared before his eyes, standing in stark contrast to the dense, gloomy jungle surrounding it.
There were no towering ancient trees here, nor any entwined vines.
As far as the eye could see, there was only a single exceptionally tall yet somewhat sparsely foliated ancient parasol tree, and beneath it, a pool of water that exuded wisps of cold air.
Long Tao’s heart stirred.
This was it!
The System arrow pointed straight at a certain spot beneath the parasol tree.
Although he could not see the so-called Yaoguang Azure Phoenix Egg, there was no mistake in rushing over first to do a check-in.
Out of the caution he had developed over a long time, before approaching, he rummaged through his bundle for some simple materials and, in a flurry of hurried movements, carried out a crude disguise.
He blurred his facial contours, changed into the most ordinary gray clothes, and put on a face-covering mask, doing his best to make himself look like a simple passerby.
Although in a place like this, an “ordinary passerby” was in fact the most abnormal existence of all, his main concern was avoiding recognition by Nan Yuchen.
After all, coming here alone was far too abnormal—so abnormal that even he himself would not know what excuse to use.
Only after finishing all this did he take a deep breath and carefully feel his way toward the parasol tree and the cold pool.
However, just as he got close enough to clearly see the scene beneath the tree, Long Tao’s steps abruptly halted, and his heart nearly skipped a beat!
At the gnarled, coiling roots of the ancient parasol tree, by the side of the cold pool, there was actually someone sitting there at ease!
That person wore a plain, tattered gray robe and had his back to Long Tao.
He seemed to be sitting in quiet contemplation, facing the deep, dark pool.
His aura had merged with the surrounding environment in a strange harmony, to the point that Long Tao had not noticed at all—until he was this close—that there was a living person sitting beneath the tree.
Long Tao’s scalp instantly went numb, alarms blaring wildly in his mind.
How could there be someone here?! And judging by that bearing, he was absolutely no ordinary figure!
Almost by instinct, Long Tao wanted to retreat and slip away.
Better fewer troubles than more!
But just as his foot moved back—
An invisible yet vast pressure, like a boundless sea, suddenly descended!
Buzz!
Long Tao felt the air around him instantly turn thick and heavy, like a mountain pressing down.
His entire body seemed frozen like an insect trapped in amber, unable to move even a finger! Those talismans and artifacts he had prepared to save his life failed to trigger even the slightest reaction in the face of this absolute disparity in power.
The circulation of spiritual energy in his body came to an abrupt halt.
His qi and blood surged chaotically, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his temples.
Golden Core!
This was a Golden Core cultivator—and judging by that presence… although he could not discern the opponent’s exact cultivation level or the quality of the core, one thing was certain: this was absolutely not some low-grade Golden Core craftsman like Elder Xu!
At this moment, the gray-robed man slowly turned around.
His features were handsome, with a short beard rarely seen among cultivators.
Yet his eyes were as deep as the cold pool beside him, as though they could pierce through all hearts and all things.
His gaze fell upon Long Tao’s clumsy disguise technique, and the corner of his mouth seemed to lift ever so slightly into an almost imperceptible curve, as if he had seen something amusing.
“This little friend,” a calm voice carrying unquestionable authority sounded directly within the depths of Long Tao’s mind, “sneaking about like this, disguising yourself and changing appearances… and then feeling your way into my place of quiet cultivation—what exactly are you here for?”
Long Tao silently cried out in misery.
His mind raced at top speed, trying to cobble together a reasonable excuse.
But under that gaze that seemed capable of seeing through everything, he only felt that any lie would appear pale and laughable.
No matter how he calculated, he had never expected that the final destination indicated by the System task would be squatted over by an unfamiliar Golden Core powerhouse!
This was truly bad.
The other party was very likely here for that egg.
“Ha ha, Senior is joking,” Long Tao said, forcing a stiff laugh.
“I’m just a traveling itinerant merchant passing by who accidentally wandered into this treasured place. Since Senior is cultivating here, I won’t disturb you—I’ll be leaving now.” As he spoke, he tried to inch backward.
“You cannot leave.” The gray-robed man’s voice remained calm, yet carried an irresistible weight.
“I have guarded this place for many years. Other than these flowers, grasses, and trees, it is rare indeed to encounter a living person to talk to. Since little friend claims to be an itinerant merchant, why not come closer and let this old man take a look at what goods you have brought?”
Many years?
Long Tao’s heart gave a sharp jolt.
He instantly seized upon that key phrase.
A terrifying conjecture surfaced in his mind.
The Golden Core True Person before him was very likely the true—and most secret—trump card behind the Wuyi Sect’s operation this time!
That was right.
Everything suddenly made sense.
It was not that the Wuyi Sect possessed some heaven-defying intelligence network that allowed them to foresee the existence of a Yaoguang Azure Phoenix Egg within the Secret Realm.
Rather, it was because back when the Secret Realm last opened twenty years ago, they might have accidentally discovered this egg already!
At the time, perhaps because the timing was not right and the phoenix egg could not leave the parasol tree, they left behind this Golden Core expert instead—like a venomous snake lying in ambush—secretly guarding it here while waiting for the Secret Realm to open again.
For a Golden Core cultivator, closed-door cultivation lasting over a hundred years was common.
A mere twenty years was probably so short that even he himself felt it was nothing.
No wonder the Wuyi Sect had arranged five Golden Core cultivators outside to pin down their opponents, yet only dispatched twelve Foundation Establishment assassins into the Secret Realm.
It was not because they were adhering to some hypocritical rule about “Golden Core cultivators not acting against Foundation Establishment cultivators,” but because they already had a Golden Core lying in ambush inside!
The assassins’ primary tasks were, first, to eliminate as much of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect’s fighting strength as possible, and second… to block outsiders from approaching this core area as much as they could.
After all, a trump card was best left unused if possible.
As long as the news did not leak, a single Golden Core cultivator inside this Secret Realm was the undisputed boss!
After thinking it all through, Long Tao instead felt a strange calm settle over him.
Perhaps it was the nerve he had developed from the previous two System tasks.
Knowing that fear was useless, he decided to smash the pot and ask anyway, indulging his curiosity.
“That branch of the Nether River I encountered earlier… that was also your handiwork, wasn’t it?”
He was not actually certain that the black water had been Nether River water, but since death was already at hand, he might as well sound confident and appear somewhat knowledgeable.
“Oh?” The unfamiliar Golden Core raised his brows slightly, seeming a bit intrigued.
“Why does little friend believe it was my doing? I am merely a Golden Core cultivator. To draw in a branch of the Nether River—doesn’t that sound a bit too inconceivable?”
That tone… was practically an indirect admission of the black water’s origin.
Long Tao felt a small spark of satisfaction inside, but on the surface he let out a cold laugh.
“When the Secret Realm opened last time, that thing wasn’t there. In the twenty years since the entrance closed, other than you, who else would have both the ability and the leisure to make such a grand arrangement?”
“Fair enough.” He nodded ambiguously.
“Those grass and wood spirits indeed lack such capability. There’s no harm in telling you. This Secret Realm happens to have a barrier adjacent to a small tributary of the Nether River. I have guarded this place for many years.
With nothing better to do, I spent some patient, grinding effort and barely opened a tiny crack, drawing a bit of river water over.
However, the vitality here is far too abundant.
That so-called Nether River water at most carries a trace of deathly aura—nothing particularly mystical.
I simply treated it as adding a moat to my place of quiet cultivation.”
He spoke lightly, but Long Tao could easily imagine how much luck and patience such a feat required.
One had to know that the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect had long harbored an almost obsessive grand ambition: to successfully locate and draw in a Nether River tributary within its own territorial domain.
If successful, after appropriate modification, it could provide the sect’s members whose lifespans were exhausted with an ultimate “benefit.”
Their souls would no longer be swept into the unpredictable main flow of the Nether River, but could instead complete an entire cycle of death and rebirth within the sect’s own “private Nether River.”
According to ancient records, the top-tier colossal sects of antiquity had enjoyed such heaven-defying benefits.
The advantages were obvious.
After disciples fell, the range of their reincarnation could be greatly restricted to areas under the sect’s influence, and their souls could be marked, allowing the sect to find them again.
If the deceased had possessed sufficiently high cultivation in life—especially a powerful divine soul—there was even a great chance they could reincarnate with retained wisdom, naturally drawing close to the Dao amid their ignorance.
Their early cultivation speed would far surpass that of ordinary people, truly winning at the starting line.
However, the vast territory occupied by the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect happened to be a land rich in spiritual energy and overflowing with vitality—a place of outstanding natural beauty.
Verdant mountains layered upon each other, presenting a scene worthy of immortals.
Yet such a blessed land was fundamentally incompatible with a Nether River tributary that gathered deathly stillness.
Their attributes were completely opposed.
It was like petroleum in a previous life—hard to find in ecologically rich places, but dig almost anywhere in certain deserts and you would strike it for sure.