The Perplexing Secret

"Oh?" Xu Bai narrowed his eyes slightly.

"He was willing to see me, so it seems he already knew I was coming?"

He had originally thought that after arriving, he would have to use his words, or at least argue about this matter several times, but he did not expect the other party to be so straightforward and agree directly.

When Miao Long heard Xu Bai say this, he gave a bitter smile and said, "Your King Xu, you are exaggerating. In the Great Chu Kingdom today, you can see whomever you want without anyone stopping you. Since you want to know about this matter, we cannot hesitate in the slightest."

"I know you must have some doubts in your mind about why we never brought it up, but if we really want to talk about this, I can only say that everyone has their own secrets, and secrets are things that people don't want to tell others."

Xu Bai stroked his chin, already understanding the situation.

He understood what that meant.

It's obvious that the other party doesn't want these things to be known by others, but once the news has leaked out, it's hard to hide it no matter how hard they try.

You can't hide fire with paper.

If others had known, they might have had room to maneuver, either choosing not to agree or taking other actions. But since Xu Bai knew about this, there's a different story here.

Now, in this entire world, who can stop King Xu? If King Xu wants to know something, then everyone in the world must agree.

"So you think I'm forcing you? I won't do that," Xu Bai said, frowning.

He is a very principled person, and he has always adhered to this principle since he entered this industry.

Everyone in the industry knows his temperament. Anyone familiar with him understands that he does business based on integrity. In this exchange, everyone values honesty and trustworthiness.

The implication behind these words is that he was forcing them, making him seem like the villain. Upon hearing this, Miao Long knew that Xu Bai was unhappy, so he quickly bowed and apologized, "Your King Xu, you have misunderstood us. We dare not say anything else, but I can assure you that you did not force us to do this. We told him about your situation, and he thought about it for a long time before agreeing to it."

"Voluntary?" Xu Bai glanced at Miao Long.

Miao Long quickly nodded. "That's right, it's voluntary."

Xu Bai waved his hand. "Then hurry up and lead the way, don't dawdle anymore. I'm in a tight time this time. Also, wipe the sweat off your forehead. I'm not a bad person, I'm usually very amiable."

Miao Long was taken aback, only then realizing that his forehead was covered with a dense layer of sweat, which was left from earlier.

Harmony?

Blood Slaughtering Saber Wielder actually claims to be amiable?

Everyone in the world knows Xu Bai's temper and is aware of his fickle nature, as well as the origin of the name "Blood Slaughtering Saber Wielder".

It's utterly baffling that the Blood Slaughtering Saber Wielder claims to be amiable. Of course, Miao Long wouldn't dare say such things aloud.

"Then, please follow me, King Xu." Miao Long quickly turned around, gestured, and was about to lead the way for Xu Bai.

Xu Bai nodded and silently followed behind Miao Long.

The two walked into the main hall one after the other.

As for the remaining few people, they stayed outside, putting on a show of strict guard.

Upon entering the main hall, it was found to be empty, yet decorated with exceptional luxury.

Xu Bai slowly walked around, observing the Miao Sect temple, which was different from what he remembered.

Led by Miao Long, they quickly passed through the main hall and arrived at the backyard.

The backyard is also very spacious, with clean and tidy floor tiles everywhere, and the houses around the backyard are equally impressive.

"Go through here and keep going up the mountain, and you'll get there soon." Miao Long was worried that Xu Bai might get tired of walking, so he turned back to explain to Xu Bai.

Xu Bai nodded and said, "Don't worry about me, just keep leading the way."

After receiving Xu Bai's response, Miao Long felt somewhat relieved and stopped talking nonsense, continuing to walk ahead.

Passing through this backyard, there is a straight mountain path. The steps of the mountain path are exquisitely built, and one glance at them makes you feel that a lot of money has been spent on them.

Since all the buildings of the Miao Sect are built against the mountain, Xu Bai could see the outlines of some buildings from time to time as he stepped onto the steps.

Fortunately, we didn't encounter many people along the way, so it didn't take much time. About half an hour later, we finally reached the end of the road.

Not far ahead was a dense forest, and from the outside, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

When Xu Bai saw the jungle, he subconsciously expanded his divine soul and scanned it, quickly obtaining the answer.

Through the scanning of the soul, one can sense that in the secluded part of this jungle, an old man is sitting cross-legged on the ground.

In front of the old man was a solitary grave.

There was a tombstone in front of the grave, but instead of a name, it was inscribed with some unreadable characters. These characters were not from the Great Chu Kingdom, so Xu Bai couldn't understand them.

But as his divine sense swept over it, Xu Bai could sense that even the incomprehensible characters were conveying information to him.

"This is... Deity Summoning Method?"

As the saying goes, you can learn by analogy.

Xu Bai himself possesses a Saint-level Deity Summoning Method, making him a top-tier figure in this field.

So when he scanned it with his divine sense, although he didn't sense the progress bar, he could understand the content on it, and that content revealed a piece of information.

—Invoking the gods! The Deity Summoning Method described here is different from the method he has mastered; it is another way of invoking the gods.

The so-called other way of invoking a god is not about inviting the god to possess you or to come to your side. To be precise, this Deity Summoning Method involves inviting the god over, then killing the god and seizing the god's power.

Of course, even though Xu Bai was an expert in this field, he still couldn't fully grasp everything by just scanning with his divine soul for a short while, so he only got a general idea.

However, his interest had already been piqued, and he became even more excited at the thought of what great secrets awaited him to discover.

Miao Long was still walking ahead when he suddenly sensed something was wrong. He turned around and looked back, only to see Xu Bai's expression was somewhat excited.

"King Xu, what's wrong...?"

He was a little confused. Xu Bai's expression had been normal the whole way, so why did he suddenly become so excited? This was a bit unusual.

Xu Bai hummed in response, said nothing, and waved his hand.

Miao Long knew that Xu Bai didn't want to say much at this moment. He was just a little curious, but since Xu Bai wasn't going to say anything, he didn't have the time to ask and continued to lead the way.

The two continued walking, traversing through the dense forest, and finally stopped after a while.

"We've arrived. King Xu is inside," Miao Long said, pointing ahead.

At first, Xu Bai saw the scene with his divine sense, but now, Xu Bai is witnessing it all with his own eyes.

Not far away, the old man, with his back to them, was still sitting cross-legged on the ground, guarding the grave in front of him.

"You two can continue your conversation. After you're done, King Xu can return the way he came. I won't disturb you any longer."

Miao Long was sensible and perceptive. He knew that staying here at this time was not appropriate, so he turned around and left.

After Miao Long left, the place became somewhat deserted. The old man kept his back to Xu Bai and didn't say a word, seemingly waiting for Xu Bai to speak first.

Xu Bai stroked his chin. "The atmosphere here is quite well created."

The dense forest was very secluded, and the presence of a solitary grave and an old man created a strange sense of oppression, but none of this bothered Xu Bai.

Since he's keeping silent, he'll break that silence—it's a very simple principle.

Thinking of this, Xu Bai stepped forward and went directly to the old man.

Before he could speak, his gaze sharpened slightly as he noticed something amiss.

Why does it feel so familiar?

Xu Bai watched the old man in front of him pacing back and forth.

The old man stared at the tombstone in front of him with his eyes open, without saying a word. He let Xu Bai look at him, as if he did not see Xu Bai at all.

Xu Bai felt a strange sense of familiarity with the old man. He was certain that he had never seen the old man before. Moreover, the old man was old, and the wrinkles on his face were like crisscrossing ravines. He could remember him vividly after just one glance.

Therefore, Xu Bai was able to confirm that he had never seen this old man before.

But what's with that inexplicable sense of familiarity?

Xu Bai didn't speak, just stared at the old man's features. The more he looked, the more familiar he felt.

I was about to speak, but seeing this, I fell into deep thought.

At this moment, the old man's gaze finally turned back and landed on Xu Bai.

"King Xu... is that right?"

When the old man spoke, Xu Bai snapped out of his reverie and slowly nodded.

"Grandpa, why do you look so familiar?"

Now that things have come to this point, it's natural to say whatever comes to mind. Xu Bai doesn't want to beat around the bush or beat around the bush; he prefers a straightforward approach.

The old man, upon hearing Xu Bai's seemingly nonsensical remark, showed no surprise whatsoever. Instead, he remained remarkably calm. "Then I suppose you really have seen him before..."

Xu Bai raised an eyebrow. "Where have we met before?"

The old man's answer was somewhat cryptic, so Xu Bai pressed on, giving him no chance to maneuver, and asked him directly for the reason.

The old man's eyes were cloudy, and he looked like he was about to die. "King Xu... perhaps what you saw was not me, but my ancestor. Well... to be precise, King Xu should have seen my ancestor when he was young."

Xu Bai's gaze gradually focused. "Get to the point. I don't like to guess."

The more the old man talked, the more mysterious his words became, and Xu Bai felt it was unnecessary.

The old man was initially calm, but after Xu Bai said these words, he was slightly stunned and finally sighed, "That child Miao Long said that King Xu has a strange temper, and now I finally understand. So I won't keep you in suspense any longer. King Xu probably met my ancestor in the Ruins."

Ruins?

Ancestor?

Upon hearing these words, Xu Bai quickly came to his senses and finally understood why the old man looked so familiar.

The old man's features were very similar to those of the Saviors he had encountered the last time he entered the Ruins.

The old man resembles the leader of the Saviors, someone with supernatural abilities.

"Are you a descendant of the Saviors?" Xu Bai asked, frowning.

No matter how you look at it, it meets this condition, and Xu Bai felt more and more that this matter was becoming important.

The old man's eyes showed a look of nostalgia. "Saviors... what a familiar title. King Xu, I knew you would come here because you must have made contact. It seems I guessed right."

"You encountered these things in the Ruins, so how do you think the Saviors saved the world? Did they become food, or did they defy the environment of depleted resources?"

Xu Bai rubbed his chin with his palm. "I don't know how they saved the world, but I do know that in the end they all failed."

That's true. He really didn't know how it came about, but it must have failed, otherwise it wouldn't have ended up like this.

The old man nodded, acknowledging that Xu Bai was right. "It was indeed a failure. Only a few Saviors survived, and this bloodline has continued ever since. King Xu, do you know that even though people of that era treated us this way, we have always carried on this mission? I know you are eager to know some secrets, so please tell me."

Upon hearing this, Xu Bai fell silent.

By this point, the amount of information was simply too overwhelming, and he didn't know how to begin.

But none of this is a big problem.

Xu Bai raised his head and slowly said, "Why don't you tell me everything you know, starting from what happened afterward..."

elder:"(_)"

To be honest, the old man had lived for so long and had seen many people, but he had never seen anyone like Xu Bai.

So you come here to ask something, but haven't even figured out how to ask it yet, and I have to tell you everything? Is that appropriate?

However, upon closer reflection, the old man realized that Xu Bai was just like that, since people in the martial arts world had all figured out Xu Bai's personality.

"Alas..." The old man sighed silently, "I don't have many days left to live. Since that's the case, then I'll tell King Xu everything."

An old man's voice echoed through the dense woods, its sound, combined with the quiet environment, creating a certain atmosphere.

This conversation lasted for nearly half an hour, during which Xu Bai received a tremendous amount of information, which he quickly processed.

The old man finally shut his mouth after uttering the last word.

Xu Bai's expression was somewhat complicated as he looked at the old man in front of him, carrying a strange emotion.

He already knew the cause and effect; this matter had to start with the team of the Saviors back then.

To avoid being killed, the Saviors banded together, but then suffered a devastating blow because of one incident.

In their attempt to rescue a baby girl, they acted rashly, and because of their actions, they were discovered by some people in the trade, who then pursued and killed them.

Those in the industry were all extraordinary masters, while at that time, these Saviors were only at the Transcendent Realm.

When a group of the Transcendent Realm are being hunted down by extraordinary beings, they truly face only one path: death.

Fortunately, these Saviors possessed extraordinary strength, so after suffering heavy losses, they eventually managed to escape.

Xu Bai knew this very well; wasn't this just the sequel to Gao Guan's story?

Xu Bai thought that these Saviors would have no chance of escaping, but to his surprise, they managed to escape in the end.

After the Saviors escaped, they became even more discreet, secretly seeking out other companions each day, absorbing them into their team, and quietly developing their power.

Nearly half a month passed in this way, and many things happened during that time. For example, a Entering Sainthood Expert a remote mountain forest was actually killed by other Entering Sainthood Expert.

Not only that, another master Entering Sainthood Expert was also seriously injured and his whereabouts are unknown.

"They actually did it," Xu Bai thought.

Three experts from the Doomsday Law Pavilion have entered sainthood, and two from the Tu side have also entered sainthood. There is also a Sect Leader from the Jia family Deity Summoning Sect. These guys actually slaughtered other Entering Sainthood Expert in order to invite some unknown god.

Of the nine people in the world who have attained sainthood, more than half have joined forces, which is a huge blow to the other people who have attained sainthood.

They actually succeeded, and in the end, only six people in the world were able to attain sainthood.

Due to resource depletion, no one has been able to enter for even a short period of time.

These things should have been a good thing for the Saviors, because it meant they had far fewer enemies. But to their utter surprise, disaster struck.

The six saints, as if possessed, searched for Saviors and imprisoned him.

That small, huddled group could only hide amidst this frantic search.

And so, nearly half a month passed, and finally, the six Entering Sainthood Expert used these Saviors to initiate the invocation of the gods!

No one knows what happened that day. All they know is that cracks suddenly appeared in the sky, and soon all the Entering Sainthood Expert died.

No one knows how these Entering Sainthood Expert died, but on that very day, the world descended into chaos.

The Doomsday Law Pavilion and the Butcher's Army fell apart, plunging the world into chaos, with killing and darkness everywhere.

These people in the industry do all sorts of bizarre things in order to obtain resources.

The Saviors eked out a living in such an environment.

Ultimately, this bloodline was preserved.

The old man's words ended abruptly there.

But Xu Bai knew that there were still some things that hadn't been explained clearly.

"How did the resources disappear? And how were they replenished? How did you survive? And what is your purpose now?"

These are the most important clues. As for some past history, it is ultimately just history. What we really need to do is find clues from this history.

The old man smiled bitterly and said, "The resources just inexplicably dried up and then inexplicably recovered. I don't know why."

"When all resources are exhausted, everyone becomes an ordinary person, with the lifespan of an ordinary person, and finally... they all die."

"Without resources, not even food, even the Saviors couldn't survive."

"But in the end, the Saviors found a way to survive."

"They started killing each other because they themselves were a resource, and they went mad; only a portion remained rational."

"My ancestor led his people, guarding against the invasion of other Saviors, but in the end... in order to survive..."

The old man stopped talking at this point, his eyes filled with sorrow.

Xu Bai understood the meaning behind it all.

Even when resources are depleted, the Saviors themselves are resources. As they devour each other, even the old man's ancestors began to follow this method.

"So, this is the method that has been passed down to the end?" Xu Bai asked.

"Yes." The old man sighed. "Using this method, we just barely survived. In the end, resources inexplicably began to recover. At that time, there were very few Saviors left. But it was at that time that our ancestors discovered that everything had started from scratch. Humanity reappeared and began to develop at an extremely fast pace."

Xu Bai narrowed his eyes.

According to the old man, everything goes round and round, starting all over again.

He felt like it was a circle, with no beginning or end.

"Later..." The old man, unaware of Xu Bai's thoughts, continued, "Our ancestors suddenly realized their true responsibility, and thus began to take on the role of educators."

Xu Bai suddenly looked up. "You mean that everyone in the industry today is trained by the Saviors of the past?"

The old man nodded and said without any pretense, "Yes, the Saviors taught their abilities to those people, and it has continued to evolve into the prosperous state we have today. We, as the bloodline of the Saviors, have always been very clear about this."

"Moreover, we discovered that no matter how hard the Saviors tried, he could never become a saint. Only then did we realize that this might be the Saviors's fate."

"I am no Saviors. We are just minor figures who play a role in pushing things forward as the world begins anew."

Xu Bai didn't speak; he just stared at the old man in front of him.

There's a lot of information today, and he needs to think it over carefully, but not now.

Because now, he still has to do one last confirmation, which is to confirm whether the old man is lying.

"Old man, although this is a bit impolite, I still want to say it," Xu Bai said, "Release your spirit and let me find out if what you are saying is true or false."

The old man was not angered by this unreasonable request. Instead, he looked relaxed and said, "That's only right. But before that, I have something to tell King Xu. Otherwise, King Xu will have to come again."

Xu Bai said with great interest, "Please go on."