Feng Tiancheng looked at that sword strike and knew he could not withstand it. He could only use all his cultivation to wield the divine ability Lu Chen had cultivated. If this move failed to kill the cultivator before them, then both he and Lu Chen would be in danger.
There was no time for Feng Tiancheng to think further. He could only raise his hand and form a hand seal, sending his consciousness into the Twin Fish Plate and beginning to draw upon Lu Chen's cultivation, condensing it at the divine ability in his waist and abdomen.
Slowly, the azure glow between Lu Chen's brows faded. He collapsed straight to the ground and fell unconscious. At that moment, ten crimson tentacles flew out from the Yin Yang Plate at his waist and abdomen.
The tentacles flew directly toward the cultivators' leader, lashing at him again and again, shattering and absorbing his spiritual energy attacks while transmitting that spiritual energy back into Lu Chen's body.
The cultivators' leader was merely a mortal cultivator. He had reached this point only because of rewards from his sect. Now, seeing such a bizarre spell, he immediately panicked and no longer dared to resist head-on.
Watching the crimson tentacles keep flying toward him, then looking at the unconscious Lu Chen, he could not be sure whether he could defeat those strange tentacles. He also still had his sect's mission to complete. After pondering for a moment, he grabbed Blind Lu and flew into the distance.
Seeing the cultivators' leader fly away, Feng Tiancheng finally let out a long breath and withdrew the divine ability.
As he watched the cultivators' leader vanish into the distance, Feng Tiancheng thought of the days when he had commanded the winds and clouds, discussing the Dao with all manner of heaven's favored prodigies. Yet now, he could only hide within a boy's body. He could not help but sigh at the vicissitudes of life.
Feng Tiancheng flew out of the Twin Fish Plate and began observing the surrounding area as he waited for Lu Chen to wake up.
The village's layout had not changed much from the village of his time. The ancestral hall before him had been a place he once left behind for discussions and receiving guests, and traces of its former appearance could still be seen.
Feng Tiancheng turned to look at the cultivators he had just killed. He had always felt they had another motive, which was why they had left Blind Lu alive.
Feng Tiancheng searched through the cultivators' corpses. Apart from a token engraved with a Spirit Plant, they carried nothing that could prove their identities.
Feng Tiancheng moved the villagers' corpses to the square. At that moment, he discovered a zither beneath the ruins of the ancestral hall. It felt strangely familiar to him, yet he could not say where he had seen it before.
Four hours later, Feng Tiancheng had moved all the corpses to the square.
"Grandpa! Grandpa!" Lu Chen suddenly awoke and hurriedly asked Feng Tiancheng what had happened to his grandfather.
"Your grandfather was taken away by that cultivator, but I do not think anything will happen to him. Otherwise, he would have died long ago."
"What you need to do now is cultivate properly. This time, there were only ten cultivators, yet we already could not hold on. If there are more next time, neither of us will survive."
Under Feng Tiancheng's consolation, Lu Chen's emotions gradually settled.
Looking at the scene in the square, Lu Chen could not believe that just two or three days ago, this place had still been peaceful and harmonious.
They had not been particularly wealthy, but the men hunted together, the women wove cloth together, and the children played together. They had still been happy. But now, every last one of them had been killed.
Only at this moment did Lu Chen truly understand the true meaning behind what his grandfather had said about ants cultivating. But the price paid was far too great.
Lu Chen struck himself in agony. Slowly, his state of mind began to transform, and a sharp edge emerged within his aura.
Watching Lu Chen's aura continually change, Feng Tiancheng nodded faintly. It seemed this great upheaval in the clan had given Lu Chen a goal for cultivation.
Suddenly, Lu Chen saw the zither in Feng Tiancheng's hand. He recognized it as his grandfather's zither. Struggling to his feet, Lu Chen ran over and held it in his arms, stroking it over and over as though his grandfather were still beside him.
As Lu Chen stroked the zither, he suddenly touched a button. A hidden compartment in the zither opened, and a token, a fiery red pearl, and a letter fell out.
Lu Chen picked up the three items. He had seen the token before, but this was the first time he had seen the pearl and the letter. There was a line written on the envelope: For my grandson, Lu Chen.
When Feng Tiancheng saw the pearl and token, he instantly understood where that familiar feeling had come from. They were both things from his past—the identity token and the Yang Sea Pearl. Yet he did not understand why they were here, or who the owner of this zither was.
"Little Lu, whose zither is this?"
"It belongs to my grandfather. What he loved most was playing the zither."
Lu Chen opened the envelope. Only after reading its contents did he learn of Blind Lu's origins.
Blind Lu had been a cultivator who followed at the Azure Emperor's side. After the Azure Emperor ascended, he came to the village to guard the Secret Realm left behind by the Azure Emperor. He had been waiting for someone who could enter the Ancient Parasol Tree. When he found Lu Chen back then and saw the pattern on the Twin Fish Plate in Lu Chen's hand, then later found this pearl, he knew that day was drawing near.
Two days ago, after Lu Chen entered the Ancient Parasol Tree and the sky-piercing light appeared, a group of cultivators arrived, seeking to seize the Secret Realm left behind by the Azure Emperor. Blind Lu took advantage of the chaos to write this letter, telling Lu Chen to live well and cultivate diligently. So long as those people had not obtained the Secret Realm, no one would hurt him.
He also left the token that opened the Secret Realm and the pearl he had found to Lu Chen, telling him that he had to cultivate diligently so that he could rescue him.
Upon learning this truth, the guilt in Lu Chen's heart grew even heavier. It turned out that his ability to cultivate had been bought with the lives of an entire village. If he could choose again, Lu Chen felt that being a mortal would be especially good as well.
Feng Tiancheng was also reading the letter. Lu Chen was grief-stricken and had not thought much about it, but Feng Tiancheng had lived for tens of thousands of years. In an instant, he sensed that this matter was not as simple as it appeared.
"Little Lu, what is your grandfather's name?"
"I do not know my grandfather's name, but all the villagers called him Blind Lu."
"Blind Lu?" Feng Tiancheng thought of someone. That had been an extremely proud man, but judging by his temperament, he definitely would not stay in a place like this.
He needed to learn what changes had occurred in this world. He also needed to reclaim the fragments of the Primal Yang Twin Fish Compass and, while he was at it, see whether the other incarnations still remained.
But the most important matter now was guiding Lu Chen to become a true cultivator, giving him the strength to protect himself. He would never grow in such a small place. Only tempering himself amid life and death could make a person grow quickly.
Feng Tiancheng turned to Lu Chen and said, "The village is already like this. The dead cannot return to life, so let them enter the earth as soon as possible. You still have a long road ahead of you, and your grandfather is waiting for you to rescue him."
Lu Chen looked at Feng Tiancheng. He understood that this was not the time for sorrow. His grandfather was still waiting for him to save him. He still had to find the murderer and avenge the villagers. All of it was forcing him to become stronger as quickly as possible.
For now, he had to let the villagers rest in peace before considering what to do next.
Two hours later, night fell. Lu Chen dug graves one by one in the square, buried every villager, and set up gravestones. Then he kowtowed deeply three times before each grave. In his heart, he silently swore: I will find the murderer. I will rescue Grandpa. I will avenge the villagers.
Looking at Lu Chen, Feng Tiancheng saw that recovering his grandfather and protecting those around him had gradually become a conviction and goal within Lu Chen's heart.
This had become the force supporting Lu Chen's cultivation. Powerful cultivation always came from cultivating toward some purpose. Thinking of this, Feng Tiancheng nodded faintly.
Feng Tiancheng took out a token he had just found and handed it to Lu Chen.
"This is a token I found on the cultivators' corpses. It should be their identity token. We can investigate from this angle. Perhaps we will find your grandfather."
"Your grandfather also said in the letter that, before that group obtains the Secret Realm, he will be safe. And now, the identity token for entering the Secret Realm is on you. That is enough to ensure your grandfather's safety for some time. But we cannot guarantee that, if those people fail to obtain the Secret Realm for too long, they will not harm your grandfather. So you must speed up your cultivation as well. Only with enough strength can you rescue him."
Lu Chen looked at the token and nodded.
He had lived in Qingfang Village since childhood and had never seen the world outside. He had no idea which force this token belonged to, but at least they now had a clue.
Lu Chen thought for a while before finally making up his mind. He said, "Grandpa Feng, I am going to leave the village and venture outside to cultivate. Although Grandpa will not be in danger for the time being, accidents may still happen. Grandpa Feng, come with me too. Didn't you say before that you wanted to travel the world?"
Lu Chen looked at Feng Tiancheng, seeming to seek his opinion. "Perhaps cultivators outside will know which force this token belongs to. Then we can find Grandpa as quickly as possible. Once my cultivation becomes powerful, I will not only be able to protect myself, but I will also be able to protect those around me."
Feng Tiancheng nodded in agreement with Lu Chen's proposal. For him, it was undoubtedly the most correct choice. He was now extremely weakened and possessed at most the strength of the fifth level of the Breath Regulation Realm. He still needed to recover his cultivation realm within the Twin Fish Token. Only once Lu Chen's cultivation improved could his recovery speed up somewhat.
At that moment, Lu Chen took out the pearl from earlier and said to Feng Tiancheng, "Grandpa Feng, what is this for?"
Feng Tiancheng took the pearl from Lu Chen's hand and had Lu Chen take out the Twin Fish Plate. He said, "This is the Yang Sea Pearl, one of the fragments of the Primal Yang Twin Fish Compass."
As he spoke, Feng Tiancheng guided the pearl toward Black Fish's eye socket. Yet after it was fitted in place, it fell out again shortly afterward.
Seeing this, Lu Chen said, "Grandpa Feng, could it be that all the fragments have to be gathered together before it can succeed?"
Feng Tiancheng felt that made some sense, so he told Lu Chen to pack some necessities and prepare to take the first step on the path of cultivation.
Behind Qingshanfang Mountain, Blind Lu wore the appearance of a young man. A group of cultivators stood behind him, watching everything in the village.
One of the people behind him said, "Lord of Ceremonies, your paper incarnation has already been taken away by those cultivators seeking to seize the Secret Realm. But the young master seems to have Our Emperor's Seventh Ancestor Incarnation behind him. Should we tell him about our plan?"
Blind Lu shook his head. Although an unexpected complication had arisen, things were good overall. "With him there, there is no need to arrange another guide. Let us go and prepare for the next step."
Before you continue