Chapter 527

Chapter 527: After Bitterness Comes Sweetness – Li Ruoyu

"Thank you for your aid, senior."

Li Ruoyu was charred black, his Great Dao World cracked open with arc flashes crackling. He was utterly disheveled.

He looked back and saw the clouds of tribulation pursuing Dugu Ming, persistent as a maggot in the bone.

"Senior, why did this person trigger a heavenly punishment the moment he descended?" Li Ruoyu asked, his heart still palpitating with fear. The most recent memory of such a tribulation was when the Mad Daoist shattered the cosmic barriers and was chased and struck relentlessly by the Dao of heaven.

Taotie scoffed coldly, "He’s a natural calamity star. If he doesn’t suppress his aura, death follows him wherever he goes. Yet his fate is oddly hardened – even heavenly tribulations can’t strike him down."

"If you don’t believe it, see for yourself."

It surged its magic power, and the void became like a mirror, reflecting Dugu Ming’s figure.

He was struck until his flesh cracked open, yet he remained eerily calm. Standing motionless on the spot, he neither marshaled his magic to resist nor summoned the strength to flee.

Li Ruoyu’s pupils constricted sharply.

Now that was a ruthless man!

"Master, where to now?" Taotie inquired.

"Heaven’s Secret Pavilion."

Mu Fanyin replied.

Li Ruoyu looked at her in surprise. Since emerging from the Taihuang Abyss, Mu Fanyin’s aura had changed. She had grown icier and more detached, radiating an extra layer of aloofness and transcendence.

"I was just heading there myself," Li Ruoyu said with a smile.

"Hmm."

Mu Fanyin’s response was brief.

‘She doesn’t resemble the Daoist friend Mu I knew, nor is she like that great demon… yet there are traces of both personalities in her now,’ Li Ruoyu thought to himself.

Swoosh!

Taotie activated its divine ability, its hooves flying. It bore Mu Fanyin and Li Ruoyu aloft, speeding towards Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

"Senior, you are the Taotie progenitor, one of the Nine Dragon Sons. Yet, why was it that when you were imprisoned in the Taihuang Abyss, the ancestral dragon did not come to your rescue?" Li Ruoyu pressed, his curiosity piqued.

Taotie’s body trembled faintly. Instead of reproaching Li Ruoyu, its eyes filled with a sudden melancholy.

"What business are the private matters of this venerable to you, whelp?"

A breath later, Taotie recovered its composure and snorted coldly.

Li Ruoyu wisely dropped the subject.

One day later, having traversed dozens of immortal domains, Taotie carried Mu Fanyin and Li Ruoyu to Canglan Divine City. Its gaze instantly locked onto Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, where space and time seemed warped, radiating an extraordinarily mysterious aura. At first glance, it appeared like another Taihuang Abyss.

"Since when did such an immensely powerful character manifest in the Hongmeng Dao Realm?" Taotie was thunderstruck. The higher one’s cultivation level, the more one could perceive the Pavilion’s staggering profundity.

Even the ancestral dragon’s lair lacked such an abstruse and imposing presence.

Mu Fanyin gazed at Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. While reverence still filled her eyes, deep within them, hidden from all others, glinted an unmistakable joy.

"Take us up." Mu Fanyin commanded.

"As you will."

Taotie landed on the jade steps. Mu Fanyin and Li Ruoyu touched down and walked together toward Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

Not long after, the group arrived at the top floor and entered the pavilion.

"Checkmate!"

Ye Xu’s excited laughter rang out as he finally won a game against Luo Nishang.

A sly glint flashed in Luo Nishang’s eyes. "The senior is so easy to fool. Having won three against him, losing this one makes him so happy…"

"Master."

Mu Fanyin offered a graceful bow.

Taotie fixed its gaze on Ye Xu, eyes swirling Symbols as it sought to penetrate his depths. Yet, looking upon him, it saw nothing but emptiness.

Ye Xu seemed like a blank sheet—no matter how one scrutinized him, he appeared a Two Tribulations Dao Sovereign.

Beyond that, nothing could be discerned.

"Sesame, open the door."

Luo Nishang knew her place.

Seeing guests arrive, she promptly took her leave.

Taotie’s eyes narrowed slightly.

It couldn’t even sense Luo Nishang’s departure.

Such a method was truly miraculous.

"Oh, Daoist friend, you returned rather swiftly." Ye Xu cleared the game board, his smile warm and welcoming as he gestured. "We’re all old friends here. Sit, and let’s talk."

The two settled down.

"Ancestor of Taotie?"

Ye Xu’s gaze swept over Taotie, a ripple of thought stirring within him.

He couldn’t penetrate the memories of Taotie and Mu Fanyin, but Li Ruoyu’s memories were an open book.

From Li Ruoyu’s recollections, he already understood the events they experienced during their journey to Taihuang Abyss.

"Taihuang Abyss is the physical body Mu Fanyin?"

"And her true self… does she originate from another realm? Or could she be a Great Celestial Lord of Hongmeng Dao Realm? Or perhaps a powerful being even beyond Great Celestial Lord?"

A cascade of questions flooded Ye Xu’s mind.

Mu Fanyin’s true origins were deeply intriguing.

He had initially believed her journey fraught with peril, unlikely to return. Yet, Taihuang Abyss turned out to be her physical manifestation—it was like returning home.

Moreover.

She had even subdued one of the Nine Dragon Sons, the Ancestor of Taotie.

This was a Celestial Lord!

"The Taotie divine bone Luo Qianchen gave me originally," Ye Xu mused inwardly, "was that of a second-generation Taotie, merely a Dao Lord. It likely holds some connection to this Taotie Celestial Lord."

"This Master observed the celestial phenomena recently and just learned of the changes in the Taihuang Immortal Domain. How timely that you, Daoist friend, should return from there. Truly a joyous occasion worthy of congratulations."

Ye Xu spun his tale with a straight face, completely unflustered.

After all,

before Mu Fanyin departed, he had repeatedly urged caution. If he didn’t offer some elaborate explanation now, she might very well brand him a fraud.

Mu Fanyin smiled.

In her eyes, Ye Xu was omnipotent—not a sliver of doubt clouded her heart.

"Master, I wish to redeem my Heaven’s Machine Order today," Mu Fanyin declared brightly.

"A simple matter,"

Ye Xu replied calmly. "The half-year deadline has not passed. You may redeem it anytime."

Hum!

With a mere thought, the Heaven’s Machine Order floated mid-air.

"My thanks, Master."

Mu Fanyin produced a withered Dao fruit—none other than Bai Ziqian’s Life Dao fruit. "Though it’s semi-useless, it should be worth over a hundred divine stones."

"System. Exchange."

[Congratulations, Host. Obtained 120,000 Hongmeng points.]

"You truly spare no expense, Daoist friend,"

Ye Xu grinned. The Heaven’s Machine Order had secured only 120 Hongmeng points, yet Mu Fanyin repaid him with a Dao fruit worth a thousand times that! Thanks to their recent venture, both their threadbare coin pouches now bulged generously.

"Master, I too have need of your aid,"

Li Ruoyu beamed.

"System, what’s the cost to locate Li Ruoyu’s true form?" Ye Xu queried inwardly.

How could he not grasp Li Ruoyu’s intent? Only the whereabouts of his original self remained unknown. Previously penniless, Li Ruoyu now possessed dozens of Dao Sovereigns’ legacies—mostly scrap metal and scraps of Great Dao Worlds, yet still valuable. Ye Xu certainly wouldn’t miss this chance to turn a profit.

[Four million Hongmeng points.]

Ye Xu replied leisurely without shifting his expression. "Daoist friend, we are old acquaintances. If you can offer four million five hundred thousand divine stones, I shall reveal your true form’s location."

"Four million five hundred thousand?"

Li Ruoyu’s brow furrowed slightly.

He gave a wry smile. "I don’t even know whether I possess that many divine stones…"

Summoning the Heavenly Emperor Scripture, he channeled his magic energy. Three Great Dao Worlds manifested simultaneously.

They bulged at the seams, crammed with twenty-three Dao Sovereign Dao fruits, countless broken magic artifacts, and heaps upon heaps of shattered Great Dao World fragments.

He almost exhausted all his abilities and packed everything he could take away.

"What does this mean, Master?" Taotie was perplexed.

It was new here and did not understand the rules of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

Mu Fanyin patiently explained, "In Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, as long as one has sufficient resources and wealth, one can get all answers from the Master."

"Even the opportunity to advance to a Great Celestial Lord!"

Taotie’s eyes sparkled brightly.

Was there really such a miraculous person in the world?

If it were someone else, it would definitely not have believed.

But since these words came from Mu Fanyin’s mouth,

Taotie’s mind became active.

"Trouble the Master to settle the account," said Li Ruoyu.

"System, exchange them all."

Ye Xu’s lips curled slightly.

Ding!

[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained forty-five million Hongmeng points.]

Not one point more, not one point less.

"Hahaha…"

Ye Xu laughed and said, "Daoist friend, your luck is good. Exactly forty-five million divine stones."

"…"

Li Ruoyu was covered in black lines.

He found it hard not to suspect that Ye Xu was doing it intentionally.

"System, immediately inquire about the whereabouts of Li Ruoyu’s true self."

Ding!

A light sound.

The next moment, a piece of information flooded into Ye Xu’s mind.

Ye Xu’s expression gradually became grave.

"Daoist friend, your luck is good."

Ye Xu looked at Li Ruoyu and said with a smile, "This time you have become wealthy. After bitterness comes sweetness."