Chapter 611

Chapter 611: The World of the Past (Fourth Watch)

"Master, this old one takes his leave."

Bei Di said respectfully.

He led Gui Buzhou out of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, then suddenly turned his head, instructing, "Gui Buzhou."

"Ancestor, what is it?" Gui Buzhou asked.

"You shall remain in this city."

Bei Di took out a jade bracelet, placing it in Gui Buzhou’s hand, saying, "If I return, we shall go back to the Palace of Eternal Life in the North Pole together. If not, you stay in the Eternal Emperor City, never return to the Palace of Eternal Life."

"Remember my words."

His voice echoed in Gui Buzhou’s mind, even as the man himself departed.

Gui Buzhou stood dazedly in place, clutching the jade bracelet, a deep sense of loss filling him.

After a long moment, he descended the jade steps.

Two people approached head-on.

One man, one woman.

It was unmistakably Dugu Ming and Xixi.

As the three passed by each other, Gui Buzhou walked away like a lost spirit. Xixi said in surprise, "That man seems like he’s lost his soul. Could it be that senior swindled him?"

"A Five Tribulations Dao Sovereign, how did senior have the nerve?" Dugu Ming laughed.

The two returned to Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

"Senior."

Ye Xu looked up, his eyes lighting up with a smile. "Perfect timing for your return."

"Senior has a task for us?"

Xixi asked suspiciously.

"Naturally."

He channeled his magic power, divine patterns swirling in his pupils as he gazed at the power of disaster and calamity within Dugu Ming and Xixi. A flicker of understanding crossed his expression. ‘As I suspected, there are similarities,’ he thought inwardly.

The energy they possessed truly bore some resemblance to the power of disaster and calamity hidden within the disaster soil of the third epoch where the Witch Master had perished.

Back within that disaster soil, he had already formed this hypothesis.

Finally, he could confirm it.

‘The power of disaster and calamity within that disaster soil is bizarre and miraculous, capable of turning anything wondrous into decay,’ Ye Xu pondered. ‘But these two merely suffer clinging bad fortune. That represents a fundamental difference.’

The power within the disaster soil was the residue from after the Witch Master’s fall, like the decay of heaven and earth.

In essence, it was disaster and bad fortune.

Otherwise, the Xuanming Demon Region wouldn’t have been eroded, transforming into a forbidden zone.

When considered carefully, the way Dugu Ming and Xixi affected the bad fortune of those around them held similarities to how the power of disaster and calamity encroached upon the world, achieving the same end through different means.

"System," Ye Xu asked mentally, "the last time I inquired whether Xixi’s source of disaster was the source of the yang realm, you stated the query would cost five trillion Hongmeng points, correct?"

Ye Xu asked.

[Yes.]

"Then I have another question now." Ye Xu said, "Is Dugu Ming’s source of disaster from the yin realm?"

Dugu Ming came from the yin realm, while Xixi was born in the yang realm.

The question was logical.

[Fifty trillion Hongmeng points.]

The system’s voice came through.

"Exactly the same?" Ye Xu was momentarily stunned.

[A total of one hundred trillion Hongmeng points. Query immediately?]

"Query!"

Ye Xu nodded.

With just two hundred million trillion Hongmeng points recently earned, a mere hundred trillion was like nothing.

He didn’t feel the slightest bit sorry spending this money.

Ding!

[Congratulations, Host. One hundred trillion Hongmeng points spent. Query successful.]

[Xixi and Dugu Ming’s power of disaster does not originate from the yin and yang realms.]

"That’s it?"

[Query complete.]

[That’s it.]

" ??? "

" !!!!! "

Ye Xu’s mind was flooded with question marks and exclamation points.

What?

"System, are you messing with me?" Ye Xu was dumbfounded, anger welling up inside him.

If the system were a living thing, he would definitely have picked a fight with it.

[Host, your question only inquired whether their power comes from the yin and yang realms. You did not specify the investigation to determine its actual exact origin.]

The system’s answer was reasonable and justified.

Ye Xu was utterly speechless.

Watching Ye Xu’s expression, Xixi couldn’t help but giggle.

Dugu Ming was simply baffled.

Was the Master… being neurotic?

"Not the yin realm, not the yang realm, so it belongs to another world?" Ye Xu let out a breath of Turbid Energy. "Then query again. Find out which realm their power truly comes from."

"Simplified version."

Ye Xu added.

He wanted to see if there really was another world beyond the Hongmeng Dao Realm!

[Query requires nine hundred trillion Hongmeng points. Confirm?]

Ye Xu hesitated.

"Query."

After hesitating for a second, Ye Xu made a decision immediately.

Ding!

[Congratulations, Host. Spent nine hundred trillion Hongmeng points. Query successful.]

[The Past World.]

Five words.

Comparable to that transaction with Big Boss Qin Yi.

Ye Xu fell into deep thought.

The previous eight epochs of the Hongmeng Dao Realm were all considered the past.

However.

His thoughts turned as his pupils constricted sharply, "What if, until now, the Hongmeng Dao Realm hasn’t had only nine eras?"

A bold conjecture arose in his heart.

After all.

He had asked which world it came from, not which era!

The system’s answer could only make him think that.

"Senior, weren’t you busy?" Dugu Ming asked doubtfully, "Is it related to the source of disaster within us?"

Ye Xu nodded and smiled, "Dugu Ming, ever since you were born, you were constantly struck by lightning. It’s really not easy."

"…"

Dugu Ming smiled bitterly, "I suspect that I offended the heavens. All day long, the heavenly punishment is watching and striking me, so I can’t even fart in peace."

"Pfft…"

Xixi burst out laughing.

"Then have you ever thought why you get struck by lightning?" Ye Xu said.

Dugu Ming pursed his lips and said, "It must be because of the source of disaster."

Talking about this sad matter, he was extremely downcast.

"Brother Dugu, I also carry the source of disaster," Xixi said in surprise, "but from childhood till now, I’ve never been struck by lightning. Could it be because we don’t live in the same world?"

"Try and you’ll find out."

Ye Xu grinned and said.

"Senior, you… you want to remove my seal?"

Xixi said nervously.

"Relax, with me watching, it won’t kill anyone."

Ye Xu went with the two to the outside of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. With a single thought, the invincible domain instantly dissipated, and at the same time, he removed Xixi’s seal.

"Girl, do your best to suppress the source of disaster."

Ye Xu instructed.

Relying on the system for queries was truly too expensive, and since the two unlucky fellows were by his side anyway, he idly decided to use them for an experiment.

Whoosh!

As soon as the seal was lifted, an eerie aura of decay, decline, and desolation spread from Xixi’s body, as if it were the source of calamity, making people instinctively want to avoid it.

Dugu Ming stared intently at her.

"The power of her source of disaster is no worse than mine," Dugu Ming exclaimed with shock.

After all, Xixi had only just achieved the World Master Realm.

And he was already a Dao Sovereign.

Boom!

The instant the source of disaster was released, in the sky above, without the cover of the invincible domain, bolts of Divine Thunder of punishment began to brew. Although their power was weaker than during Dugu Ming’s last facing a tribulation, judging by the aura of divine punishment, it didn’t seem much lesser.

"Who is facing a tribulation?"

A thought resonated throughout heaven and earth.

It was Yi Tianxing.

"Keep silent." With a single thought, Ye Xu made Yi Tianxing obediently retreat back to the palace. "I’m conducting an experiment."

"Did Master commit some heinous crime?"

Yi Tianxing muttered. "Just conducting an experiment could draw divine punishment…"

"Hmm…"

"It seems like that little girl…"

"The calamity star is out…"

Yi Tianxing looked uneasy.

"Heavenly punishment descends…"

At that moment, at the edge of the world of the Pure Land, a woman walked gracefully into the present world. With long eyelashes and eyes like the moon, she sensed the power of divine punishment and her expression turned grave.

"It’s that one bearing the source of disaster…"

"It’s two!"

The woman’s expression grew serious.

Rumble!

The divine punishment continued to brew, as thunder dragons roared among the clouds and poked out their heads. The clouds of tribulation rapidly expanded, gradually covering the entire Eternal Emperor City, its heavenly might suppressing the mortal world.

"Senior, you must watch over me carefully. Otherwise, if this Tribulation Thunder strikes down, in the future I won’t be able to brew tea for you or accompany you to play chess and Dou Di Zhu."

Xixi tightly clutched the corner of her clothes, palms drenched in sweat, as if confronting a formidable enemy.

"With me here, don’t be afraid."

Ye Xu patted Xixi’s head and comforted her gently.

Crack!

A quarter of an hour later.

With an earth-shattering thunderclap, the Tribulation Thunder spanned millions of miles, seeming to tear a chasm through heaven and earth, reflecting boundless chaos.

Divine punishment descended.