Buying the Casket and Returning the Pearls

After Shen Ye received the Heavenly Ascension Talisman, a young Daoist priest stumbled in from outside, his face pale with alarm as he shouted, "Grand-master, this is bad, this is bad!"

Seeing the young Daoist priest so flustered, those in the crowd who knew the hidden purpose of this Grand Heavenly Offering Ritual looked serious, thinking, Could it be those lunatics from Quansheng? Have they finally decided to make their move?

Zhang Zhiwei stroked his beard and said, "Calm your mind, compose yourself. Where has the cultivation of a Daoist gone?"

"It's because my cultivation of mind is not yet complete!" the young Daoist priest replied shamefully, then composed himself and said, "I just found Elder Wang Ai dead in the back mountain!"

As soon as these words were uttered, the entire venue was shocked.

"What? Elder Wang Ai is dead?"

"Elder Wang Ai is one of the Ten Elders, who could have killed him?"

The people who had only stayed to watch the spectacle were all extremely glad, Thankfully, we didn't rush to catch our flights back, otherwise, wouldn't we have missed this huge scandal in the world of the异人界?

Even the Heavenly Master found it hard to remain calm, asking repeatedly, "How did he die? Can you determine how long he's been dead? Was the body moved from the death site?"

The young Daoist priest recalled, "Elder Wang Ai was pierced through the chest by a sword. His body wasn't moved. As for the time of death, it should have been three days ago!"

"Three days ago? Absurd!" Perhaps because of the impact of Wang Ai's death, Lyu Ci, also one of the Ten Elders, seemed very agitated. "If he died in the back mountain three days ago, how could no one have discovered him for so many days?"

The young Daoist priest stammered, "I... I don't know either."

Just then, Wang Bing, wrapped in bandages like a mummy, stumbled down from the stage and glared at Shen Ye: "It's you! You must have killed my grandfather!"

Feng Zhenghao narrowed his eyes and asked, "Setting aside whether young friend Shen Ye has the ability to kill Elder Wang Ai, let me ask you first, why are you so sure he did it? Also, why were you so certain a few days ago that Elder Wang Ai taught him Spirit Binding and General Dispatching?"

"Of course I know, because I told Grandpa to go teach him a lesson and make him hand over the spirits he summoned that day for me to absorb!" With himself crippled and his backing gone, Wang Bing, in despair, naturally disregarded many things and immediately exposed himself.

Hearing Wang Bing's personal admission, the entire venue was once again in an uproar.

"How despicable! As one of the Ten Elders, he actually personally threatened a child!"

"What Ten Elders? They're even worse than Quansheng!"

"Am I the only one who wants to know if Wang Ai was really killed by him?"

Lyu Ci's gaze turned somewhat dangerous: "Young friend Shen Ye, aren't you going to explain?"

Shen Ye shrugged and said frankly, "Is there anything that needs explaining? Is there any law that states that if a Ten Elder kills someone, we must just accept our fate?"

"Damn, what a fierce guy, truly amazing!" Zhang Chulan, from the stands, gave a thumbs-up. He had long wanted to kill these despicable old geezers, but he only dared to think about it.

Everyone in the stands was also filled with emotion. They certainly didn't think Shen Ye had done anything wrong; in fact, they even felt that Shen Ye's actions were quite satisfying.

But the problem was, this world never only looked at right and wrong.

Behind each of the Ten Elders was a complex web of relationships. Even a natural death could cause a massive earthquake in the world of the Outsiders, let alone being murdered?

They could already sense that a huge storm was approaching.

Lyu Ci was also choked by Shen Ye's blunt words, narrowing his eyes and saying, "Even if Wang Ai was in the wrong, killing him might have been a bit too much, wouldn't you say? However, I don't intend to discuss these principles with you. Someone will naturally teach you later!"

Then, he looked at Zhang Zhiwei: "Old Heavenly Master, the junior is ignorant. You must think this through carefully. If he becomes the Heavenly Master, it might cause quite a bit of contention!"

Zhang Zhiwei calmly replied, "You don't need to worry about the internal affairs of the Heavenly Master's Residence!"

Lu Jin laughed and patted Shen Ye's shoulder: "You have character and ability. I truly admire you more and more, little fellow. If the Heavenly Master's Residence doesn't want you, you can come to our Lu Family!"

Shen Ye smiled: "Thank you, Elder Lu, but some rats in the gutter won't make me bow my head!"

At night, the starlight was exceptionally brilliant.

But the people on the mountain felt an extraordinary sense of oppression, a feeling that a storm was brewing.

In the Heavenly Master Hall, the Old Heavenly Master and Shen Ye sat opposite each other on separate prayer mats.

In this eerie silence, the Old Heavenly Master was the first to break the calm: "Little lay practitioner, you said you came for this Heavenly Master, but in fact, you have other motives, don't you?"

"Old Heavenly Master has keen insight."

"Could you explain it to this old man?"

"There's nothing that can't be told. Since the Old Heavenly Master wants to know, I naturally wouldn't dare to conceal anything." Shen Ye said frankly, "To be precise, I came for the restriction of the Heavenly Master's Degree!"

A gleam flashed in the Old Heavenly Master's eyes: "Restriction?"

"Let me tell a story. Of course, this is just some of my personal speculation." Shen Ye spoke eloquently, "During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Daoling, the founder of Longhu Mountain, discovered a divine object, which could be called the Root of All Qi. It allowed people to comprehend the mysteries of the original source of heaven and earth. He knew the miraculousness of this divine object and feared it would be used by those with ill intentions, but due to its special nature, he couldn't destroy it. So, he used the Heavenly Master's Degree as a facade to seal this original source of heaven and earth."

"Later generations were burdened by the fame of the Heavenly Master's Degree. Even if evildoers obtained the Heavenly Master's Degree, they would only notice the inheritance of the Heavenly Master's Degree, not the restriction that carried it! They were buying the casket and returning the pearls, unaware that the pearl was just to attract attention, and the casket was the real treasure!"

This story was, of course, fabricated by him, but it wasn't without basis. At least, the concept of the world's origin was true.

One of the world's origins in the main world, the Nine Springs, was a divine object that accompanied Shennong, and since he inherited Shennong's Essence Blood, he naturally felt a familiarity with similar origins.

Upon entering Longhu Mountain, he had vaguely detected the existence of the world's origin!

And the world's origin could enhance one's comprehension. Combining this with the birth of the Eight Unique Skills and the legend of the Heavenly Master's Degree, he had reason to believe that the Heavenly Master's Degree was just a facade, a case of buying the casket and returning the pearls!

"More or less, but some details are still off." Zhang Zhiwei sighed. "Heaven and Earth Profound, Root of All Qi! In fact, our ancestors made this clear in the opening lines of the Golden Light Curse. However, you got one thing wrong: the restriction of the Heavenly Master's Degree is not the world's origin, but the key to the world's origin!"

"The key?" Shen Ye pondered for a moment, then a gleam suddenly flashed in his eyes. "Could it be the Inner Scenery of this heaven and earth?"

Zhang Zhiwei was startled for a moment, then sighed: "Little lay practitioner is indeed exceptionally intelligent, understanding at a single point! That's right, just like a sorcerer's Inner Scenery, this heaven and earth also have an Inner Scenery, and the key to entering this Inner Scenery is the restriction of the Heavenly Master's Degree!"