Chapter 2433: The Key Figure
A month ago, top-grade Origin Divine Crystals appeared in the Divine Maiden Tower, causing a single stone to stir a thousand ripples. Over a dozen major powers were shaken by the news and dispatched their core Saint-realm disciples to rush over.
However, there were only five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals.
How would they be distributed? Which five factions would receive them?
It was precisely because this matter was of great importance and difficult to handle that it had been dragged out until now.
Although the gods had not appeared in person, they had already discussed it behind the scenes. Factions with closer ties had also held secret meetings, formed covert alliances, and agreed on the distribution of benefits.
On the surface, there seemed to be over a dozen factions, but in reality, they had long coalesced into small groups.
For those who had not joined any small group, winning a top-grade Origin Divine Crystal tonight would obviously be an extremely difficult task.
...
Tan Fei, a Thousand-Questions Realm Great Saint of the Shura Clan, had won five top-grade Divine Crystals a month ago in a high-stakes gamble at the Divine Maiden Tower, worth five thousand Divine Stones. It should have been a cause for ecstatic joy.
But everything changed when someone recognized that the five top-grade Divine Crystals were of the Origin attribute.
An innocent man has no fault, but possessing a precious treasure is a crime.
He plummeted from the peak of excitement to the depths of fear.
He had personally witnessed dozens of cultivators from minor powers being silenced and killed, their blood washing the ground. The number of cultivators he hadn't seen being silenced could only be greater.
This was a major matter where not even the slightest mistake could be tolerated!
The reason Tan Fei was still alive was that the cultivators from over a dozen major powers were mutually restraining each other. Everyone wanted to monopolize the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals, but no one dared to actually take them into their hands.
Thus, for a month, the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals had remained on him. And he had been imprisoned within layers of seals, waiting for death.
Because he knew that once the distribution results were announced, he would be the next to be silenced.
Tan Fei held the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals in his hands, sitting at the center of the stone platform.
Below the stone platform, figures filed in one after another: Yan Huangtu, Luo Shengtian, Huo Xing, Gu Shejing... They each represented a major power, gathering in groups of three or five, their eyes fixed on the Origin Divine Crystals in Tan Fei's hands.
These five small Divine Crystals could very well be the key to finding the Origin Divine Temple.
Someone chuckled softly, "The Goddess Twelve Pavilions have been honest enough, keeping the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals well preserved."
"Would they dare to be dishonest? Trying to scheme for the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals would be seeking death."
...
Bai Qinger, wrapped in black gauze, appeared in a corner not far from the stone platform.
Using some secret technique, her body was completely invisible, emitting no aura at all. The Turtle King stood beside her, carving spatial inscriptions into the air with his hand—he was a space cultivator of no small skill.
"The clues to the Origin Divine Temple must never be leaked. Originally, I planned to frame everything on Seven-Handed Old Man, but now that the plan has changed, I can only make Zhang Ruochen the scapegoat."
Whether it was the scheme targeting Seven-Handed Old Man or the pursuit of Zhang Ruochen, everything behind it all was because of the Origin Divine Temple.
"It... it... it's done..."
The Turtle King raised his head, staring excitedly at Bai Qinger.
Before him, a space formation about one meter in diameter floated suspended.
Bai Qinger said, "The seals imprisoning Tan Fei were jointly set up by cultivators from seventeen major powers. Are you sure your space formation can penetrate seventeen layers of seals?"
The Turtle King's eyes were confident, and he nodded vigorously.
"Alright, let's act together. I've never tried killing a Thousand-Questions Realm Great Saint with a dream before."
Bai Qinger closed her eyes, her slender, snow-white hands extending from the black gauze.
In the center of her hands, a mass of illusory light condensed.
Tan Fei, sitting on the stone platform, had been in high spirits, but suddenly he became exhausted, his eyelids feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds, slowly closing.
No cultivator knew that beneath Tan Fei's eyelids, his pupils were filled with bloodshot streaks, trapped in a terrifying dream. Crucially, he didn't know he was dreaming, believing he was still awake.
Nightmares don't stop just because you don't want to sleep.
Gu Shejing sensed something was off with Tan Fei, her eyes suspicious as she moved closer to the stone platform.
Huo Xing and his companion stood together, staring at Gu Shejing with unfriendly eyes.
Huo Xing shouted, "Gu Shejing, what are you trying to do?"
This voice startled all the cultivators below the stone platform.
Some took out their war weapons, others condensed sacred arts, each with fierce eyes, all on guard against Gu Shejing, fearing she might make a move to seize the top-grade Origin Divine Crystals for herself.
Gu Shejing was about to speak...
Bai Qinger and the Turtle King acted simultaneously.
A space wormhole mirror surface appeared before Tan Fei, sweeping all five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals into it.
"Someone used space power to penetrate the seventeen layers of seals and stole all the Origin Divine Crystals!"
Gu Shejing's pupils blazed with light, and she immediately turned around, scanning the surroundings for the cultivator who had stolen the Origin Divine Crystals.
Penetrating seventeen layers of seals was no easy feat.
She was certain that the perpetrator not only had profound space mastery but was also nearby.
"Zhang Ruochen, you want to kill me? Die—let's die together!"
Tan Fei, sitting on the stone platform, trembled all over, roared, and suddenly stood up. A powerful Shura battle qi erupted from within him, and his immortal sacred body cracked inch by inch, releasing a radiance brighter than a star.
Huo Xing's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and he shouted in terror, "Run, run, run! Tan Fei is self-destructing his sacred source!"
The self-destruction of a Thousand-Questions Realm Great Saint would surely bring destruction to heaven and earth.
If too close, even a Ten-Thousand-Death-Life Realm Great Saint would die, and an Immortal Realm Great Saint would pay a heavy price.
Huo Xing, Gu Shejing, Yan Huangtu, Luo Shengtian, and the others were all seasoned veterans of countless battles. They crashed through the walls like lightning, rushing out of the room as fast as they could, wanting to get as far away as possible.
Gu Shejing was the closest but didn't flee. Instead, she formed a palm seal and pressed it forward.
"Whoosh!"
The palm seal shot out, forming a wall of light covered in demonic patterns.
From two other directions, top-tier experts also acted, each holding a war artifact, fully activating it while simultaneously releasing their Dao domains.
Yan Yu raised a black umbrella, breaking through the wall of the house, blocking the fourth direction.
"Boom!"
The destructive force from Tan Fei's self-destructing sacred source slammed into the defensive walls formed by the four experts. Except for Gu Shejing and Yan Yu, who stood motionless, the other two were pushed back repeatedly, their released Dao domains shattering continuously.
Yan Yu looked up and muttered, "Not good."
They had blocked the east, south, west, and north directions, but the destructive force from Tan Fei's self-destruction would still escape upward. Although the range of impact wouldn't be too wide, it would sweep through the entire Divine Maiden Palace, and who knew how many cultivators would die as a result.
Suddenly, a five-colored radiance lit up the sky.
Bai Qinger, dressed in white, stepped on five-colored divine clouds, descending gracefully from the sky, forcefully pressing the surging destructive power back down.
The five top-tier experts acted together, each blocking one side, as if sealing the energy of Tan Fei's self-destruction into an invisible box.
The ground and underground were covered with defensive formation inscriptions, but they were still torn apart.
The violent energy surged into the underground.
"Bang! Bang!"
The Divine Maiden Tower was built in a lake, covering a vast area.
Now, huge cracks appeared at the bottom of the lake, swallowing all the water.
The formations within the Divine Maiden Tower were activated one by one, emitting dazzling light.
The closer buildings still couldn't withstand it and turned into ruins.
Although the casualties were not heavy, about a third of the entire Divine Maiden Tower was destroyed. Palaces collapsed one after another, and countless cultivators fell into chaos.
"What happened? Who dares to fight openly in the Divine Maiden Tower?"
"Just now, I think I heard a cultivator shout that Zhang Ruochen was trying to kill him."
"How can Zhang Ruochen be so reckless? Does he really think that with Blood Absolute War God as his backing, he can do whatever he wants in the Hell Realm? Doesn't he know that the legitimate son of the Great Clan Leader of the Qitian Tribe was too arrogant, broke the bottom-line rules of the Fate Divine Domain, and died under the Axe of Judgment?"
"Zhang Ruochen has surely provoked public anger this time. He nearly destroyed a city district in the Fate Divine Domain. No one can protect his life."
...
Before the turmoil had subsided, Bai Qinger had already retreated and returned to the Peacock Palace.
The five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals floated in her palm.
"Tonight's events will surely alarm the gods. I need to absorb and refine these Origin Divine Crystals as quickly as possible, leaving no trace."
She was an Origin Controller. Once she refined and absorbed the top-grade Origin Divine Crystals, she could naturally go find the Origin Divine Temple.
The other factions would have no chance left.
"No, this... this is just ordinary Origin Divine Crystals, not the original five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals." Bai Qinger's profound, unflappable state of mind was instantly shattered, her face changing repeatedly.
"How can this be?"
The usually stuttering Turtle King was also greatly startled, actually speaking a fluent sentence.
Bai Qinger was not an ordinary woman after all. She quickly calmed down and said, "Who has been guarding Tan Fei this past month?"
"Each faction sent personnel. The Goddess Twelve Pavilions sent Qi Tiangao." The Turtle King, knowing something was terribly wrong, replied.
"Is Qi Tiangao still alive?"
"Yes."
"Bring him to me. I need to question him."
The Turtle King knew very well how much effort and energy the young lady had spent on the matter of the Origin Divine Temple.
Having failed twice in a row like this, all the previous arrangements and plans would likely come to nothing.
Soon, the Turtle King brought Qi Tiangao before Bai Qinger.
"Greetings, Miss Bai."
Qi Tiangao, dressed in black, bowed.
Bai Qinger didn't want to waste time with questions. "Don't resist. Open your sea of consciousness. I must know everything that happened during the past month of guarding Tan Fei."
Qi Tiangao said, "Alright."
Bai Qinger reached out a hand and grabbed through the air. Instantly, bubbles of memory flew out from between Qi Tiangao's brows, surging toward her.
After a moment, Bai Qinger finished examining all of Qi Tiangao's memories from the past month.
Qi Tiangao said, "Miss Bai, rest assured. No one could have gotten close to Tan Fei. Not only were we guarding him, but he was also sealed by seventeen layers of seals."
Bai Qinger clasped her hands behind her back and shook her head. "You're wrong. Space power can penetrate seventeen layers of seals."
"Zhang Ruochen?" Qi Tiangao said.
Bai Qinger shook her head again. "Although Zhang Ruochen's space mastery is high, his spiritual power is only at the sixty-fifth level. He couldn't pull off such a deception right under the noses of a group of experts. If I'm not mistaken, the one who acted was Seven-Handed Old Man. I truly underestimated that old fellow. He might have seen through my plan long ago."
As the Gambling God, how could he not be proficient in the Way of Space?
When the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals appeared in the Divine Maiden Tower's gambling city, Bai Qinger had traced the source of the top-grade Origin Divine Crystals through layer-by-layer analysis.
It was the man known as the Gambling God, Seven-Handed Old Man.
But Bai Qinger didn't believe that the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals were lost by Seven-Handed Old Man.
After all, Seven-Handed Old Man had never lost.
The Goddess Twelve Pavilions' intelligence network was well-developed, and they quickly found out that Seven-Handed Old Man had spent countless Divine Stones over the past three thousand years purchasing various life-extending treasures. The amount of Divine Stones was enough to shock even the gods.
Bai Qinger boldly speculated that Seven-Handed Old Man had spent all his wealth to extend his life. That was why he had to take out the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals to exchange for life-extending pills from another gambler. As a result, the top-grade Origin Divine Crystals ended up in the gambling city.
To verify her speculation, she used the Seven-Colored Coral Tree as bait to set up tonight's scheme.
First, she wanted to win a large number of Divine Stones from Seven-Handed Old Man to see if he had the ability to pay.
Second, Bai Qinger suspected that Seven-Handed Old Man had already been to the Origin Divine Temple and brought the top-grade Origin Divine Crystals out from there. Moreover, the reason his gambling skills were so formidable might be because he had obtained some treasure in the Origin Divine Temple, giving him the ability to see through the essence of things.
So her second goal was to see if Seven-Handed Old Man possessed Origin power.
The facts proved that Seven-Handed Old Man at least had the ability to see through the essence of life, so he could know that there was a trace of life force inside the Seven-Colored Coral Tree.
In truth, from the very beginning, Bai Qinger's main target was Seven-Handed Old Man.
As long as she caught him, she could naturally find the Origin Divine Temple.
As for the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals, she planned to destroy them all. That way, only she would be able to find the Origin Divine Temple.
Unfortunately, Seven-Handed Old Man escaped and was taken away by Zhang Ruochen into his Purple Gold Gourd.
So she had to settle for the next best thing, taking a risk by using Zhang Ruochen's name to steal the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals. At the same time, she had the Tower Lord and Pillar General go to invite the Death High Priest to eliminate Zhang Ruochen.
Unfortunately, Bai Qinger had calculated everything except that Seven-Handed Old Man was cunning and had switched the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals first, causing her to fail.
The Turtle King was extremely nervous. "Miss, what do we do now?"
The more nervous he was, the less he stuttered.
"For now, we have to go find Zhang Ruochen. We need to get to Seven-Handed Old Man and the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals before the Judgment Division. I hope it's not too late."
Bai Qinger's resolve was firm. Anyone who stood in her way of finding the Origin Divine Temple was an enemy.
Her only concern now was that the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals had fallen into Zhang Ruochen's hands, and then into the Judgment Division's hands.
Once the Judgment Division monopolized the top-grade Origin Divine Crystals, what chance would the other factions have?
As for Cang Baizi and Seven-Handed Old Man, she wasn't as worried.
Cang Baizi knew very little anyway.
And as for Seven-Handed Old Man...
As long as the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals weren't exposed, who would know that Seven-Handed Old Man was the key to the secret of the Origin Divine Temple?
...
The love of the two dusts faded from view as the smoke and dust disappeared. Now that Zhang Ruochen and Bore meet again in the Hell Realm, will the love of the two dusts rekindle? Follow the WeChat public account "Feitian Fish" and reply with the keyword "Two Dusts" to check~