"This is an immortal corpse the Mountain Lord hid in the cave."
"Later, the Fat Chef came and used the Mountain Lord Rite to lure the Mountain Lord out to hunt. Meanwhile, he dug himself a hiding place in Lostway Cave, planning to create some kind of flesh puppet."
Chen Lingling folded her arms and said, "That's why the Mountain Lord attacked the Merchant Caravan even while injured! The Fat Chef hid in the shadows, waiting for a chance to abduct people."
"I suspect that fat man's talent is very high-quality. It could give special properties to flesh puppets made from the Mountain Lord and transcendent humans."
"He treasured this ancient martial artist's body, but because the corpse was immortal, he couldn't turn it into a flesh puppet no matter what he tried."
"I took the opportunity to come over and picked up a quest."
As she spoke, she tapped the cocoon, signaling Wu Yu to come over.
He approached the cocoon and saw a panel pop up.
"Notice: Hidden quest [Divine Blood Immortality] triggered!" "Notice: Completing this hidden quest grants an unexpected reward and also affects the True Great Ruins!" "Notice: This hidden quest can be triggered repeatedly, but its reward can only be claimed once."
"Divine Blood Immortality" Type: Quest. Quality: Gold. Description: You have discovered a corpse containing divine blood, preserved for eternity by a lingering obsession. Perhaps you should obtain the [Bloodstained Rope] and return.
"Divine blood?!"
Wu Yu's eyes widened. He felt that this hidden quest held an enormous secret. Surely this went well beyond the bounds of ordinary martial dao!
This world seems to have hidden depths. It's just that the area selected for the [Newcomer Secret Realm] is incredibly weak.
His eyes flickered as countless thoughts raced through his mind.
Just then,
the girl's voice reached him.
"Uncle, don't tell me you don't have one?"
"Of course I do."
Wu Yu turned calmly and said casually, "And it's very long!"
With that, he pulled out the thick Bloodstained Rope, a full three meters long.
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 inside the cocoon actually stirred, and a faint phantom began to emerge within.
"A soul?!"
Wu Yu was startled.
After a moment's thought,
he carefully placed the rope on top of the cocoon.
The next instant, the cocoon split open and the immortal corpse fell to the ground. Before the Bloodstained Rope could land, an invisible force seized it.
A figure sat up out of the corpse, growing from blurry to clear. His mistlike, translucent hands reached into the physical world and grasped the Bloodstained Rope.
"Ah..."
With a long sigh, the ancient martial artist gazed at the Bloodstained Rope, then raised his head to look at Wu Yu.
"Child, were you the one who brought this here?"
"Indeed!"
His face full of righteousness, Wu Yu imitated the man's manner of speech and bowed with his hands clasped. "Senior, we encountered the Mountain Lord devouring people, so we went to tremendous lengths to slay him. We fought our way here and discovered your body!"
"As luck would have it, we picked up a rope along the way..."
He left the sentence unfinished,
giving the other man room to fill in the blanks.
In those few short sentences, every word was true, yet the actual circumstances were completely different.
Behind him, Yu Tiezhu did not dare make a sound.
The girl stared at Wu Yu, dumbfounded and incredulous.
"What an honest child."
The ancient martial artist nodded in approval. "Only a fragment of my soul remains. My body has not decayed solely because my obsession lingers."
"This rope belonged to a friend of mine. It seems they have already met their end."
"In the end... nothing but a handful of dust."
Hearing this, Wu Yu said with feeling, "So it was you seniors who wounded the Mountain Lord! Thank you, senior. Had he not been gravely injured, we could never have killed him."
"We were merely failures. There is no need to praise us."
The ancient martial artist gave a bitter laugh. "Whatever the case, you have rid the world of a scourge!"
"The Mountain Lord is no ordinary being. With every year of his life, a new innate divine ability emerges, and his cultivation leaps forward!"
"We intended to kill him while he was still young, but we underestimated how terrifying he was."
"I thought the opportunity I had received would let me set foot on the heavenly path of martial dao. I never imagined my life would be cut short here!"
"So be it. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust! A life ends like a lamp going out. An extinguished lamp may be refilled with oil, but the dead cannot return to life."
The ancient martial artist murmured a few words, then looked at Wu Yu.
"When I was young, I witnessed a Heavenly God's fall and obtained a drop of divine blood. I thought I was a child of destiny. Now it seems I was nothing but a fool."
"This divine blood must not go to waste. Divide it among the three of you."
"Ah..."
His sigh seemed to pierce the depths of their souls.
Wu Yu felt a chill sweep through his entire body as an inexplicable sadness rose within him.
The next instant,
the ancient martial artist's corpse began to rot, turning into dry bones at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Bang! The bones shattered.
A Card flew out from above the corpse and hovered in midair.
[Unknown Divine Blood] Type: Material. Quality: Red. Description: An ordinary drop of blood from a fallen Heavenly God. When a mortal opens the door to becoming a Martial Dao Transcendent, refining it will cause their blood to transform.
"Red quality!"
When the panel appeared, both of them who had accepted the hidden quest could see it.
But only Wu Yu could touch it.
The girl's pupils contracted. Space warped around her, and she silently retreated into the distance.
Wu Yu took the Card and pondered in silence.
The dungeon room abruptly fell deathly still.
The night air was cold and frightening, and the atmosphere grew 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 neither an aura nor any shimmering light.
"Divine treasures conceal their own brilliance. Truly remarkable."
With a movement of Wu Yu's finger, the divine blood split into two portions.
He casually placed the two portions into the wine flasks, put one into his Inventory, and held the other out to Chen Lingling.
The girl looked at him with a complicated expression, not daring to approach.
"The mist will be here soon. If you don't want it, forget it."
Wu Yu casually set the wine flask on the ground, then turned to leave.
Behind him,
Yu Tiezhu looked between the two of them in bewilderment.
But seeing that Wu Yu was about to leave, he breathed a sigh of relief and finally dared to speak.
"Young man, there seems to be someone we know inside this cocoon."
"Someone we know... who?"
Wu Yu walked over.
After taking a closer look, he could not help being stunned.
Inside this slightly smaller cocoon was none other than Liu Zheng!
"Liu Zheng was captured quite a while ago."
At some point, the girl had put away the wine flask and walked up beside Wu Yu.
She came closer and said matter-of-factly, "His talent is unknown, but his immediate combat strength is practically nonexistent. He could only fight the bandits using modern equipment."
"The Fat Chef couldn't control all the bandits, either. He only managed to knock Liu Zheng out with a sneak attack using a flesh puppet."
Hearing this, Wu Yu looked thoughtful, then instructed, "Get him out."
"Are you sure?" the girl asked in surprise. "He's no ordinary person. What if he investigates us after we leave..."
"That's exactly what I want him to do," Wu Yu said seriously. "He's more useful alive."
"I suspect... there are far more than nine Tower Climbers."
Before you continue