Red! Immortal Divine Blood!

"This is an immortal corpse, hidden in the cave by the Mountain Lord."

"Later, the fat chef came. Using the Mountain Lord Rite, he lured the Mountain Lord out to hunt, while he himself dug out a hiding place in Lostway Cave, preparing to create some kind of flesh-and-blood puppet."

Chen Lingling folded her arms and said, "That's why the Mountain Lord attacked the caravan despite being injured! The fat chef hid in the shadows, waiting for chances to capture people."

"I suspect that fatty's talent quality is extremely high. It can grant special properties to flesh-and-blood puppets transformed from the Mountain Lord and Transcendent humans."

"He treasured this ancient martial artist's corpse, but the body was immortal. No matter what the fat chef did, he couldn't turn it into a flesh-and-blood puppet."

"I took the opportunity to go over and received a quest."

As she spoke, she knocked on the cocoon, signaling Wu Yu to come over.

When he reached the cocoon, a panel appeared before him.

"Notice: Hidden quest [Divine Blood Immortality] triggered!"

"Notice: Completing the hidden quest may grant unexpected rewards and will also affect the True Great Ruins!"

"Notice: Hidden quests may be triggered repeatedly, but rewards can only be claimed once."

"Divine Blood Immortality"

Type: Quest.

Quality: Gold.

Description: You have discovered a corpse containing divine blood. Sustained eternally by a lingering obsession, perhaps you can obtain the [Bloodstained Rope] and return to take another look.

"Divine blood!?"

Wu Yu's eyes widened. He could only feel that this hidden quest contained a heaven-shaking secret. This had already gone beyond the scope of ordinary martial arts, hadn't it?

"This world is far deeper than it looks. It's just that the places chosen for the [Newcomer Secret Realm] are very weak."

His gaze flickered as countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

At that moment,

the girl's voice drifted over.

"Uncle, don't tell me you don't have one?"

"Of course I do."

Wu Yu turned back calmly and said blandly, "And it's very long!"

With that, he pulled out a thick, long bloodstained rope, a full three meters in length.

It was precisely what he had obtained from the Silver Chest, which also showed that the girl had not discovered what had happened over there.

The moment the rope appeared, the immortal corpse within the cocoon actually trembled. A vague phantom seemed to emerge within it.

"A soul!?"

Wu Yu was instantly startled.

After some thought,

he carefully placed the rope atop the cocoon.

The next moment, the cocoon split open. The immortal corpse fell to the ground, while the Bloodstained Rope was seized by an invisible force before it could hit the floor.

A figure sat up from the corpse, shifting from blurry to clear. Transparent, mist-like hands interfered with reality and grasped the bloodstained rope.

"Alas..."

With a long sigh, the ancient martial artist looked at the Bloodstained Rope, then raised his head toward Wu Yu.

"Child, did you bring this thing here?"

"Indeed!"

With a righteous look on his face, Wu Yu mimicked the other man's tone and cupped his hands in salute. "Senior, we encountered the Mountain Lord devouring people, so we exhausted every ounce of strength to slay it. We fought our way here and discovered your corpse!"

"By chance, we found a rope along the way..."

He left the sentence unfinished,

giving the other party room to fill in the blanks.

In just a few sentences, every word had been true, yet the actual situation was nothing of the sort.

Yu Tiezhu behind him did not dare make a sound,

while the girl stared at Wu Yu in disbelief.

"What an honest child."

The ancient martial artist nodded in gratification. "Only a wisp of my divided soul remains. My obsession has yet to fade, so my corpse has not decayed."

"This rope belonged to my friend. It seems they have already met with misfortune."

"In the end... they have turned to dust."

Hearing this, Wu Yu said emotionally, "So it was several seniors who injured the Mountain Lord! Thank you, Senior. If the Mountain Lord had not been heavily wounded, we would never have been able to kill it."

"Just failures. There is no need to praise us."

The ancient martial artist gave a bitter smile. "No matter what, you have still rid the world of a great evil!"

"The Mountain Lord is no ordinary being. With each passing year, it gains an innate Divine Ability and its realm leaps forward!"

"We wished to kill the Mountain Lord while it was young, yet we underestimated how terrifying it was."

"I thought that, bearing great fortune, I could venture onto the heavenly path of martial arts. Who would have thought I would perish here instead!"

"So be it. Dust returns to dust, earth to earth! When a man dies, his lamp goes out. A lamp may be refilled with oil, but the dead cannot return to life."

The ancient martial artist murmured for a while, then looked at Wu Yu.

"When I was young, I witnessed a heavenly god fall and obtained a drop of divine blood. I thought I was the chosen son of fate. Now it seems I was nothing more than a clown."

"This divine blood must not be wasted. The three of you should divide it."

"Alas..."

The sigh seemed to pierce straight into the depths of their souls.

Wu Yu felt a chill run through his body, and inexplicable sorrow welled up in his heart.

The next instant,

the ancient martial artist's corpse began to rot, turning into withered bones at a visible speed!

Bang! The withered bones shattered.

A card flew out from above the corpse and hovered in midair.

[Unknown Divine Blood]

Type: Material.

Quality: Red.

Description: A drop of ordinary blood from a fallen heavenly god. When mortals knock open the Transcendent Gate of martial arts, they need only refine it for their blood to transform.

"Red quality!"

Once the panel appeared, both people who had accepted the hidden quest could see it.

But only Wu Yu could touch it.

The girl's pupils contracted. The space around her twisted, and she silently retreated into the distance.

Wu Yu grabbed the card and fell silent in thought.

The dungeon chamber suddenly sank into dead silence.

The night air was cold and dreadful, and the atmosphere became increasingly oppressive.

Suddenly!

Wu Yu took out two empty wine flasks, then crushed the card in his hand.

A drop of golden divine blood appeared in his palm, yet it emitted no aura and gave off no flowing radiance.

"A divine object concealing its own brilliance. Truly miraculous."

With a flick of his finger, Wu Yu split the divine blood into two portions.

He casually placed the two portions of divine blood into the wine flasks, tossed one into his inventory, and held the other out to Chen Lingling.

The girl looked at him with a complicated expression, not daring to come closer.

"The fog is almost here. If you don't want it, forget it."

Wu Yu casually set the wine flask on the ground, then turned and left.

Behind him,

Yu Tiezhu looked at the two of them in complete confusion.

But seeing that Wu Yu was leaving, he finally sighed in relief and dared to speak.

"Brother, there seems to be someone we know inside this cocoon."

"Someone we know... who?"

Wu Yu walked over.

Taking a careful look, he could not help but stare in astonishment.

Inside this smaller cocoon was Liu Zheng!

"Liu Zheng was captured long ago."

At some point, the girl had already put away the wine flask and come to Wu Yu's side.

She approached and said calmly, "His talent is unknown, but his immediate combat power is nearly nonexistent. He can only rely on modern equipment to fight the bandits."

"The fat chef could not control all the bandits. He only managed to knock Liu Zheng unconscious by using a flesh-and-blood puppet to launch a sneak attack."

Hearing this, Wu Yu fell into thought and ordered, "Save him."

"Are you sure?" The girl asked in surprise. "His identity is unusual. What if he goes out and finds information about us..."

"That's exactly what I want him to find." Wu Yu said seriously, "He is more useful alive."

"I suspect... there are far more than nine Tower Climbers."