# Chapter 6: Clues
In the dark passage, even breathing could not be heard. The silent atmosphere was suffocating, as two auras faced each other.
A speck of dust fell from the bamboo crevices above. Before it even hit the ground, two sounds of wind-breaking appeared.
Clang, clang, clang!
Two long blades clashed against each other. After three consecutive strikes, Su Xiao took half a step back.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
'Secret: Flow.'
Like a wind slash, an elegant semicircular blade mark swept past Su Xiao's side, eventually dissipating into the air. The newcomer clearly did not want to damage this underground passage, so they had held back appropriately.
The fluctuation of 'Time' spread outward. The newcomer leaped backward almost simultaneously but was a moment too slow.
Bang!
Su Xiao's straight kick did not strike the newcomer's torso or abdomen but hit their arm instead.
After a muffled grunt, a sense of crisis suddenly appeared before Su Xiao's neck.
'Blade Path Sword: Extreme.'
The long blade tore through a blur of afterimage. A trace of blood splattered. The newcomer stopped their blade, blood dripping down their left hand.
A bloodstain also appeared on Su Xiao's shoulder. The opponent's blade was very sharp. The [Wild Hunt Night] long leather coat he wore offered almost no defense against their sword.
The newcomer did not speak, and neither did Su Xiao. They simply faced off like this. After a moment, the newcomer sheathed their long blade, turned around, and walked back into the darkness behind them.
Su Xiao did not pursue. There was no point. Fighting to the death here with this opponent would only result in being buried a hundred meters underground. If they fought at full strength, this underground passage would collapse within two exchanges.
After waiting a moment, Su Xiao took out a lighting device and continued forward along the passage. Before long, a fork appeared ahead.
"Bubu."
"Woof."
"Which way did they go?"
"Woof (Left)."
Su Xiao brought Bubu Wang and Baha along. It was worth mentioning that since Baha could no longer fly, his running was quite clumsy. With that swaying gait, he would easily get beaten up if he went outside.
Walking into the left fork, after advancing about a hundred meters, a rock layer appeared ahead with chisel marks on it. Clearly, someone had opened a path here but was blocked by the ultra-high-density rock underground.
After inspecting, Su Xiao confirmed this was a dead end. He returned to the fork and this time advanced to the right.
The passage on the right continued downward. After traveling for a full half hour, the passage reached its end, and an underground space appeared ahead.
It was no longer dark here. A type of vine emitting blue light grew above. The underground space was about three hundred square meters in size. On the ground was a pile of charcoal ash, traces of someone having lived here. Judging by the color of the ash, this was from a long time ago.
Besides these, a withered tree was the most conspicuous. This tree had several blue veins running through it and stood about a dozen meters tall.
Su Xiao knocked on the withered tree. The inside was hollow. He pressed his hand against it, and a force erupted through his hand.
With a crackling sound, the withered tree shattered. Several pale blue crystals mixed with broken wood fell down. Su Xiao picked up one of them, and a prompt appeared.
[You have obtained Withered Moon Tree Seed (Epic).]
[Withered Moon Tree Seed]
Origin: Source World (Unique)
Quality: Epic (Originally Holy Spirit)
Type: Buff Consumable
Effect 1: Crush this seed during battle to restore 230 Mana Points per second for the next 20 seconds (can restore most special energies; total recovery is 4600 points).
Effect 2: Eating this seed permanently increases True Strength by 1 point and permanently decreases True Stamina by 1 point (can eat up to three seeds).
Rating: 700+ (Epic item rating range: 530–700 points.)
Description: A failed product of cultivating Moon Trees.
Selling Price: 18 Soul Coins.
There were five [Withered Moon Tree Seeds] in total. These were good items. Potions that restore Mana Points were very rare. In all his time roaming Reincarnation Paradise, aside from the Honor Potions he exchanged at the Honor Store, Su Xiao had seen very few recovery items that could restore Mana Points. And this was considering he had fought from First Rank all the way to Seventh Rank.
Restoring Mana Points was different from restoring Health Points. Health Points corresponded to life force, which had strong tolerance and could accept even somewhat rough potions.
Mana Points were different. This involved the brain, mental strength, and so on. There had once been a Contractor who developed a Mana-restoring potion on their own and ignored the warnings on the item's attributes. They drank a bottle during battle, and that fellow became mentally disabled. To this day, that fellow's battle video still circulated, and it even required payment to watch. It was a classic negative example.
Compared to the Mana-restoring effect of [Withered Moon Tree Seed], its second property was quite interesting. Eating it permanently increased Strength by 1 point and permanently reduced Stamina by 1 point. This was essentially trading Stamina attribute for Strength attribute.
Su Xiao would not eat it. Setting aside the damage to the body during the exchange process, using Stamina attribute to "trade" for Strength attribute had no meaning for him.
Just because Su Xiao would not trade did not mean other Contractors would not be willing. Coupled with its Mana-restoring property, selling each seed for 50 Soul Coins would definitely be no problem.
Putting away the [Withered Moon Tree Seeds], Su Xiao planned to keep these. Sometimes he would run out of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy. In certain battles, he would release large amounts of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, which was converted from Mana Points.
With this harvest, Su Xiao began searching the surroundings. Before long, he found half of a wooden ornament on the ground. It had the character "Tian" written on it, while the other half had been burned to charcoal.
The two characters originally on this should have been "Tian Ba." And the Tianba Clan were those transformed by drinking Source Water. Without a doubt, Bamboo Village was related to the Tianba Clan. A Tianba Clan member had once lived underground near Bamboo Village and was cultivating a type of tree called [Moon Tree]. They had ultimately failed.
Tianba was a supreme honor in this world. Why would a Tianba Clan member need to hide? This should be related to the Moon Tree.
Su Xiao could sense that he had grasped a clue. If he continued pulling on this thread, Source Water would not be too far away.
Su Xiao had not forgotten that Source: Divine Land was somewhere in this world. Once he reached there, he could find the ancient deities.
Many signs indicated that the ancient deities were not good beings. Su Xiao would not care what evil deeds they had done. That had nothing to do with him. He never fought under the banner of justice.
The fact that the ancient deities were not good beings was something Su Xiao cared about, because he had an equipment called [Divine Judgment]. After he killed extremely evil deities, this equipment would grow.
The reason he kept killing ancient gods to upgrade [Divine Judgment] was that ancient gods basically met the growth requirements of [Divine Judgment]. It was not that he had to kill ancient gods specifically.
The ancient deities should also satisfy the growth conditions of [Divine Judgment]. [Divine Judgment] was very suitable for Su Xiao. It could increase Health Points and Neural Reflex Speed through Soul Strength.
Currently, [Divine Judgment] was Epic rank, increasing 26,000 Health Points and 156% Neural Reflex Speed. When [Divine Judgment] was upgraded to Holy Spirit rank, one could imagine how strong the enhancement effect would be.
The resources in Source: Divine Land would definitely be even richer. Su Xiao's main purpose in entering the Source World was to find the location of Source: Divine Land.
For now, he would first complete the main mission and search for clues to Source: Divine Land along the way. Having made up his mind, Su Xiao walked toward the inner side of the underground space. There was a passage less than two meters wide here.
Entering the passage, Su Xiao found this was a winding upward staircase. Following the stone steps, he turned left and right along the way until he lost all sense of direction.
At the end of the stone staircase was a metal climbing ladder embedded into the wall, going straight up. The height was at least several dozen meters. Climbing up the metal ladder, after a few minutes, a small platform appeared ahead. On the inner side of the platform was a secret door.
Pushing the secret door, it was somewhat large and rotated on a central axis. After a dull sound of rock friction, the room behind the secret door came into view.
Looking at the room ahead, Su Xiao found that this was the room where he had dinner with Clan Leader Qingzhang earlier. On the left side of the room was a folding screen. On the right hung a dozen bamboo plaques. Connected to the secret door was the altar and the wall in front of the altar.
Entering the room, he pushed the altar to close the secret door. The character "Tian" on the wall above the altar emitted a faint blue glow in the darkness.
After closing the secret door and briefly handling the footprints, Su Xiao brought Bubu Wang and Baha to leave this room and enter the guest room on the right side of the courtyard.
Back in the guest room, Su Xiao took off his clothes and began treating the wound on his shoulder. He could feel that this wound was very troublesome. For some reason, it healed very slowly. It was not affected by energy, otherwise Cyan Steel Shadow Energy would have already solved the problem.
Taking out bandages to wrap the wound, the bleeding barely stopped. For this shallow wound to heal, it would take at least three days.
Su Xiao confirmed one thing: the strange occurrences near Bamboo Village should not be related to tonight's subsequent encounter. The thing gnawing at the door should be the source of the strange events.
Thinking of these things, Su Xiao lay down on the bed to rest. He had startled that unknown thing tonight and also fought with another pursuer.
The door was quiet. Su Xiao slept lightly until early the next morning.
Sitting up from the bed, Su Xiao was dazed for a moment before the wound on his shoulder still ached slightly. He walked toward the door, planning to get some water to wash up.
Su Xiao pushed open the door. The door of the opposite house also happened to open. Clan Leader Qingzhang stepped out. Seeing Su Xiao, his footsteps paused.
The Clan Leader's left hand was wrapped in white cloth. Su Xiao's shoulder had several layers of bandages, causing a bulge in his clothing.
"The weather... is nice."
The Clan Leader cleared his throat lightly.
"Not bad."
Su Xiao and the Clan Leader passed each other sideways. The sky was covered with dark clouds, threatening rain.