"Master Su."
Hua Yunxiao descended through the air, smiling as he cupped his hands slightly toward Su Li.
"You can still smile? Your Hua Clan is almost wiped out! If I were you, I'd be too busy crying to do anything else!"
As Su Li grumbled inwardly, his own smile remained bright. "So it's Senior Hua. This junior pays his respects."
As he spoke, Su Li cupped his hands and returned the greeting.
"Master Su."
Like a fawning lackey, Yun Wanchu also turned into a streak of light and landed beside Hua Yunxiao. He bowed respectfully to Su Li.
"Mm."
Su Li gave a casual reply.
"Master Su, you're too kind. Have you been comfortable here at Wanli Holy Land these past few days? Is there anything about your accommodations that hasn't pleased you? Has my daughter been discourteous in any way?"
Hua Yunxiao asked solicitously.
"Everything's been fine."
Looking at the handsome middle-aged man before him, Su Li couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Without the Life Archive System, who would have guessed that this middle-aged heartthrob, handsome enough to make people swoon, was actually a thousand-year-old monster of unfathomable strength?
Still, with the Five Emperors Ancient Coin in hand, Su Li couldn't help finding the 'broken bone' mark on Hua Yunxiao's forehead a bit of an eyesore.
He really wanted to walk over and dig that 'broken bone' out of Hua Yunxiao's forehead with a finger.
"Master Su, Yan'er has told me about your friend's situation. I'll do everything I can to help resolve it. Please rest assured."
Hua Yunxiao put on no airs. His tone was amiable, and his voice was so magnetic that it felt like a spring breeze washing over them.
"Thank you for your concern, Senior Hua."
Su Li's good impression of him grew.
"Master Su, there are actually several pressing matters I need to deal with now that I've come to Wanli Holy Land."
Hua Yunxiao paused briefly before speaking.
"Please, go ahead, Senior Hua."
Su Li replied with a smile.
At that, Yun Wanchu's eyes darted around. He then said respectfully, "Master Su, you have extraordinary ability and exceptional talent. You're truly a peerless genius in divination. Perhaps you could divine things for Lord Hua as well?"
Su Li glanced at Yun Wanchu, then instinctively opened Hua Yunxiao's Life Archive.
[Hua Yunxiao: Male, 936 years old.
Realm: Nascent Soul Realm, early ninth stage.
Nascent Soul: 1-star Saint Infant.
Talent: Purple Qi Ten Thousand Ways.
Physique: Chaos Sacred Body.
Fate: Imminent death (within the time range of Control Future) — failed nascent transformation.
...]
Su Li's expression turned slightly grave.
"Lightblue, lock onto 'Hua Yunxiao' and view his Life Archive for the next seven days."
[This query will consume 30,000 Heavenly Secrets Value. Confirm?]
On the system panel, the number '30,000' looked as though it were stained with blood, glaring crimson.
Su Li felt mocked.
"Confirm."
Su Li tried confirming in his mind. What if it worked?
Unfortunately, after he confirmed, there was still nothing below Hua Yunxiao's information.
Clearly, without enough Heavenly Secrets Value, he couldn't view Hua Yunxiao's Life Archive for the next seven days.
But this time, Su Li was able to confirm something from the information: a fate marked with a warning like 'imminent death' fell within the time range covered by the Control Future ability.
For instance, if Hua Yunxiao would meet with disaster eight days from now, his fate wouldn't show a warning like 'imminent death.'
That seemed to be an improvement in the system's capabilities after its upgrade.
"Master Su? How did the divination go?"
Noticing the change in Su Li's mood, Yun Wanchu asked anxiously.
Hua Yunxiao, meanwhile, remained calm, like Mount Tai collapsing overhead without so much as a change in his expression.
"Or, Master Su, could you divine things for me too? I mean—cough, for this humble one?"
Yun Wanchu cautiously added.
Did this Holy Lord misunderstand something about divination?
Divining like this wasn't as easy as eating, sleeping, or playing with little beans. It took a serious toll on one's energy and spirit, all right?
I'm helping you because I'm willing to divine things for you and save you from danger.
If I didn't want to help, even if you held a knife to my throat, then... then I'd probably still help you divine things!
As Su Li grumbled inwardly, he gave Yun Wanchu a somewhat scornful glance. The old coward was practically desperate for someone to tell his fortune every waking moment!
Su Li pulled up Yun Wanchu's Life Archive and took a look. Seeing that his fate had changed to 'overwhelming good fortune,' Su Li couldn't help feeling envious and resentful.
This guy really was as cautious as they came.
So Su Li replied sourly, "Don't worry. You're slippery and shameless enough, and your life is tough enough! Now that you've escaped this disaster, you'll enjoy overwhelming good fortune for a while. If you want to do anything earth-shattering, go ahead!"
As he spoke, Su Li added inwardly, Go ahead and do whatever you want. Even if something happens, I won't be the one dying!
Yun Wanchu's face lit up. His rather sunny, handsome face bloomed like a chrysanthemum.
"Senior Hua, I already know why you came."
"Master Su, you truly are a remarkable young man. I'm impressed."
"First, Senior Hua is worried that several people now know about your daughter's situation. He wants to know whether Mu Yuxi and Yun Wanchu can keep it secret, or whether their memories of it should be sealed or erased. There's no need to worry about that. It's unnecessary!
"Second, Senior Hua wants to know whether the Heavenly Blood Ancient Clan fell into the trap this time. The answer is yes, but only eight people died.
"Of those eight, six were the Golden Core Realm ninth-stage peak sword cultivators who formed the six points of the Sixfold Illusion Formation.
"Of the remaining two, one was an elder of the Supreme Council named Yang Shouwang, at the third stage of the Nascent Soul Realm; the other was Xiao Chenfan, a talented elder in the art of pill talismans.
"And their leader this time was none other than Yun Yifan.
"Unfortunately, he only lost part of the origin of his Nascent Soul before escaping.
"That's right—he escaped the annihilating killing intent of the Soul Suppressing Stele. In that respect, he's quite a bit stronger than you, Senior Hua!
"As for the third matter on Senior Hua's mind, you were thoughtful to consider it."
Su Li had already looked at both the past and present parts of Hua Yunxiao's Life Archive, so naturally, he understood everything about him.
"Master Su truly is someone who can 'Control Heavenly Secrets'! You've astounded me, Yunxiao!"
Hua Yunxiao cupped his hands toward Su Li once more, his eyes full of admiration and respect.
This time, even someone as arrogant and overbearing as Hua Yunxiao understood that he had met a true 'extraordinary person' on par with Zhuge Wuwei—no, even more remarkable than Zhuge Wuwei!
A 'remarkable person' like this deserved to be approached with sincerity, with all airs and status set aside!
"Senior Hua, you flatter me. I'm just an ordinary person."
Su Li answered humbly.
"An ordinary person..."
Yun Wanchu couldn't help smiling wryly at that.
Did Master Su have some misunderstanding about what an ordinary person was? He, Yun Wanchu, was at least a Holy Lord, and now he had to rely on Su Li's goodwill just to get by!
What kind of ordinary person was this?
Of course, Yun Wanchu only thought that to himself. He absolutely didn't dare say it aloud.
There was an old saying in the cultivation world: "Better to offend a bloodthirsty demon than a Heavenly Secrets Spiritual Master." It meant that Heavenly Secrets Spiritual Masters were all a bunch of scheming old foxes!
Offend a bloodthirsty demon, and you'd usually just die. But offend a powerful Heavenly Secrets Spiritual Master, and not only would you die, your entire clan might be wiped out!
And Master Su was absolutely an existence even more heaven-defying than a Heavenly Secrets Spiritual Master!
After all, this had already been proven time and again!
"Master Su, that Heavenly Secrets Mystic Master will be coming shortly to answer your questions. I've also prepared a small gift for you, which I'll present to you in person later."
Hua Yunxiao spoke with great sincerity.
Su Li's heart stirred at those words, but his expression remained calm.
"Senior Hua, the Hua Clan was flourishing nine hundred years ago. But then, all at once, it was nearly wiped out. Even now, the Hua Clan continues to suffer one calamity after another. Have you ever considered the deeper reason behind it?"
Su Li asked pointedly.
Hua Yunxiao trembled slightly, his expression instantly turning grave. "Are you saying someone plotted the cause of all this, Master Su?"
Rather than answer directly, Su Li sighed. "The site of Wanli Holy Land is quite interesting too. It has the layout of a Soul Burial Ground and a Dragon Severing Platform!"
Hua Yunxiao's expression darkened again.
He said gravely, "The ancestral tombs in the Hua Clan's forbidden grounds were moved because a rare treasure emerged from the forbidden grounds, bringing ill omens upon our ancestral land. Afterward, several guardian elders had no choice but to seal it away... Could something have gone wrong because of that?
"Our ancestor passed away long ago. Could his transformation really bring disaster upon the entire Hua Clan?"
"If I said it could, would you believe me, Senior Hua?"
Su Li tightened his grip on the Five Emperors Ancient Coin and asked in return.
Hua Yunxiao drew a deep breath, bowed low, and said, "Please enlighten me, Master Su."
Su Li fell silent for a long while before speaking. "This matter is grave, with far-reaching consequences. One small disturbance could set the whole world in motion!
"Moreover, we still can't tell whether this is Heaven's will or the work of man.
"If it's a coincidence brought about by Heaven's will, then it's merely your ancestor bringing calamity upon his descendants and severing their line. You'd only need to find a spiritual spring to wash the ancestral bones, then rebury them somewhere along a dragon vein. But if it was done by someone...
"If we make a move and are exposed, not one of us will be left with an intact corpse!"
Thank you to reader 'adrianaaa' for the 5,200 Qidian coins! Thanks to reader '9只穿云贱' for the 2,000 Qidian coins, and to reader 'tainialy' for the 1,000 Qidian coins. Thank you all so, so much for your generous support!
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