Qin Yu in the void, a cold wind sweeping through the mountains. In the distance, the palace stood quietly in the center of the huge celestial ring, amidst churning clouds and flowing snow mist. The dozens of cultivators in front of him showed no hostility whatsoever, but rather were unusually respectful. Qin Yu narrowed his eyes slightly.
From the moment he appeared, he had been observing these people. The more he observed, the more astonished he became. These beings... were nothing like normal cultivators. They possessed Fate Soul fluctuations, primordial auras, consciousness, and even the ability to communicate. Yet, the most crucial point—
They had no cultivation. To be precise, it wasn't that they had no cultivation at all, but rather that they couldn't sense any cultivation system whatsoever. There was no True Annihilation Realm, no Eternal Silence Realm Wuji Realm, and they couldn't even determine the most basic level of the Fate Soul.
Their Fate Soul structure seemed completely different from that of other living beings. It was like... both were trees, but cultivators outside grew on branches and leaves, while these people seemed to be directly rooted in the entire world. There was some kind of natural connection between them and this world.
The Fate Soul is heaven and earth, and heaven and Fate Soul. The strangest thing is that Qin Yu always felt that something was missing from the origin of their Fate Soul, as if a part of the most important thing had been stripped away, but he could not say exactly what was missing. This feeling made him extremely uncomfortable.
Within her sea of consciousness, Xiao Yue also quieted down. She sat on the swing of the Void Divine Tree, her sapphire-like eyes constantly scrutinizing those people. After a long while, she wrinkled her nose. "Little Qinzi, there's something wrong with these guys." Qin Yu's heart stirred slightly. "Hmm, I noticed it too. Did you figure it out?" Xiao Yue tilted her head, thinking for a long time. Finally, she scratched her hair in frustration.
"I can't quite put my finger on it." "Their Fate Soul are complete," yet not quite complete. "It feels like... something very important is missing." Qin Yu's gaze darkened slightly. Even Xiao Yue couldn't tell; it seemed the secrets of this world were deeper than he had imagined. Just then, the elder, seeing that Qin Yu remained silent...
Far from showing the slightest dissatisfaction, their expressions became even more respectful, and they even bowed slightly. "Senior," the old man said softly, as if afraid of disturbing something. If the senior was unwilling to reveal his true form, the juniors would naturally not dare to ask any further questions. The clan had already prepared the Ancient Origin Divine Tree Essence; please, senior, take your place."
As he spoke, he took a half-step back and clasped his hands in front of his chest, performing an extremely ancient gesture. The other dozens of tribesmen also bowed their heads at the same time. Their movements were incredibly synchronized, without the slightest hesitation or doubt, as if it were perfectly natural.
Qin Yu's gaze slowly swept over the crowd, only to find that their expressions were extremely pure—no probing, no wariness, no greed, not even suspicion. They were like a group of people who had been isolated from the world for too long; their first reaction to an outsider was not wariness, but courtesy. Qin Yu's heart stirred slightly—this race...
Too mild, even to the point of being weak, such a personality would be impossible to survive in the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain. Not to mention anything else, just the Hua Lineage and the Shangguan Lineage alone would be enough to devour them without leaving a trace. A clan that stays aloof from the struggles, does not fight, does not plunder, does not establish authority, and does not form alliances.
They are often the easiest to become victims, and they seem to lack their own opinions to the extreme. Once they have made up their minds about something, they will never doubt it again. Just like now. They have obviously identified themselves as someone else, and they have not even given themselves a chance to explain before they have already determined their identity. Thinking of this, a thought suddenly appeared in Qin Yu's mind.
The Blazing Erosion Clan? The Shade-Guarding Clan? The Ancient Origin Divine Tree? What are these things? She'd only been here a short time, yet she'd already heard several completely unfamiliar names, names that clearly belonged to this world. Within her sea of consciousness, Xiao Yue was somewhat bewildered. "What Blazing Erosion Clan?" "What Shade-Guarding Clan?" "And what is the Ancient Origin Divine Tree?" "How come I've never heard of it before?"
Qin Yu was also puzzled, but he quickly suppressed all thoughts. Since these people had come to him of their own accord, it was better to go with the flow than to wander around aimlessly. With that thought, Qin Yu didn't speak but simply nodded. And just as he nodded...
The old man's eyes lit up immediately, as if a huge weight had been lifted from his heart. He visibly relaxed, and even the wrinkles on his face smoothed out. "Good!" "Good!" "It's good that you're willing to go, senior!" "Please—" He quickly stepped aside to make way, and the crowd behind him quickly lined up on both sides.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized, as if welcoming back a great figure who had been missing for countless years. Qin Yu remained calm and slowly took a step forward, walking straight towards the enormous palace in the distance. The old man followed respectfully behind him, and the rest of the clansmen also bowed their heads in accompaniment. In the vast expanse of heaven and earth, only the wind and snow slowly drifted down.
As the group moved forward, the ancient palace shrouded in a massive celestial halo drew ever closer. At the same time, an extremely subtle resonance began to appear within Qin Yu's Fate Soul essence.
Qin Yu followed the old man forward. The closer he got to the palace, the deeper his doubts became. What he saw before him was completely different from any other power he had encountered along the way. From a distance, the palace, though situated under a huge celestial ring and backed by snow-capped peaks, was surrounded by clouds and mist, giving it a sense of transcendence from the mortal world.
But when Qin Yu actually got closer, he found that the palace was surprisingly simple. There were no walls made of divine metal, no primordial divine stones paving the ground, and no magnificent magic arrays flowing around it.
The gray-white stone walls have withstood countless years of wind and rain, and many places have even developed tiny cracks. Ancient bronze bells hang from the corners of the hall, swaying gently in the mountain breeze and making extremely soft sounds. If this palace were located in the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain, it would not even be comparable to the outer hall of an ordinary Lineage.
However, a thousand clansmen had gathered outside the palace. Some were standing, some were sitting, some were arranging immortal herbs, some were carrying wood, and some were sitting around the stone steps talking quietly. But the moment Qin Yu appeared, the entire area suddenly fell silent, and all eyes turned to him at the same time.
But there was no hostility, no wariness, not even curiosity in those gazes; only an instinctive tension and awe. It was like a flock of sheep suddenly spotting a beast they had never seen before. The next moment, the young man at the front changed his expression slightly and hurriedly retreated to the side, followed by more and more people who began to back away.
In just a few breaths, the originally crowded crowd spontaneously parted to create a path dozens of feet wide. No one made a sound; everyone kept their heads down, their expressions restrained, and they didn't even dare to meet Qin Yu's gaze. The old man who had led the way bowed even lower, folding his hands in front of his chest.
He spoke respectfully, "Senior, please—" His voice carried a hint of nervousness. Qin Yu frowned slightly but didn't say anything more, simply continuing forward. As he passed, the clansmen on both sides lowered their heads. Some young children tried to peek, but were immediately pressed down by their elders, their expressions filled with fear and unease.
This scene made Qin Yu increasingly uncomfortable. He finally understood why he had always felt that the Duckweed Clan was somewhat strange. It wasn't that they were respectful, but rather that they were too humble. It was as if they had become accustomed to bowing their heads, accustomed to yielding, accustomed to placing themselves in the lowest position, as if they were born that way, and it was at this moment that they were acting this way.
Two figures slowly emerged from the depths of the palace. They were two elderly men with white hair, dressed simply. One leaned on a wooden cane, while the other held a yellowed ancient scroll in his hands. Neither of them exuded any aura of cultivation, yet their Fate Soul essence was clearly more concentrated than that of the surrounding clansmen, indicating that they held extremely high status. The two had just stepped out of the palace gate.
Then they saw Qin Yu. The next moment, the two of them stopped in their tracks, a clear hint of tension appearing in their eyes. The old man who had led the way quickly stepped forward, came to their side, and bowed deeply, his voice extremely respectful. "Clan Chief." "Two Elders." "The Blazing Erosion Clan's leader has come to collect the Ancient Origin Liquid." As soon as he finished speaking...
The entire square fell silent, as if time had frozen for a moment. The next instant, with a whoosh, thousands of clansmen knelt down simultaneously, without any hesitation or delay, as if they had practiced countless times. On the stone steps, in the square, and before the palace gate, the dark mass of people all knelt on the ground.
Heads bowed low, not daring to raise their heads, the two elders trembled slightly, then, along with the old man who had led the way, slowly knelt down. The white-haired elder at the front prostrated himself on the ground, his voice filled with reverence. "Chief of the Duckweed Clan Clan." "Welcome to the arrival of Lord of the Blazing Erosion Clan."
At this moment, Qin Yu was completely stunned. In all his years, he had seen countless sects, countless Ancient Clan, and even the powerful and domineering forces of the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain, but he had never seen such a scene. The people in front of him seemed to have etched humility into the depths of their Fate Soul. Qin Yu felt extremely uncomfortable and quickly raised his hand.
"Get up." "Get up, all of you." The voice fell, but no one moved. Everyone remained kneeling, as if they dared not stand up at all. Qin Yu's brows furrowed even deeper. "I said it." "Get up." In the end, no one dared to move. The entire square was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Thousands of people looked at each other, but no one dared to be the first to stand up.
The three elders exchanged bewildered glances, their expressions seemingly asking, "The Blazing Erosion Clan's leader told them to get up? Is this some kind of test? Did we do something wrong?" The more they thought about it, the more panicked they became, and sweat even began to bead on their foreheads. Qin Yu, watching this scene, was utterly helpless.
In the end, he had no choice but to go over himself and help the clan leader up. "Get up and speak." The clan leader trembled and froze, as if struck by lightning. The two elders stared wide-eyed, their breath catching in their throats for a moment. The thousands of clansmen around them were equally shocked, and countless eyes secretly lifted up.
Upon seeing this scene, they immediately lowered their heads in panic, but in everyone's hearts, a storm of shock was brewing. The people of the Blazing Erosion Clan... actually helped their clan leader up with their own hands? They had never heard of or seen such a thing before. The clan leader's lips trembled slightly, and he was even a little unsteady on his feet after being helped up by Qin Yu.
Qin Yu helped the two elders to their feet, and the three of them stood there, dazed and blank-minded, unable to come to their senses for a long time. Qin Yu stood there, looking at the three before him, his conviction growing stronger that this Duckweed Clan...
It wasn't just weakness; they seemed to have been oppressed by something for far too long, so long that they had forgotten even the thought of resistance, so long that they would find it unbelievable to be treated as equals. At this moment, the three old men stared at Qin Yu in shock, their throats bobbing.
He couldn't utter a single complete sentence; his mouth trembled, unable to produce a single coherent word. An eerie, deathly silence enveloped the entire plaza. Everyone present was bewildered, unsure how to deal with this Blazing Erosion Clan leader who was so different from the rumors they had heard.