Chapter 1779: Found It

In the battle zone, the corpse of the Bug Clan's Moon Yao lay sprawled, and Lu Ye had already departed.

This opponent's death was rather unfortunate, as the secret technique he unleashed at the last moment was actually the Great Pinwheel Art.

Lu Ye had previously wondered, when he first cultivated this secret technique, if the Bug Clan also had an inheritance of it, especially since Azure Mantis, its creator, was from the Bug Clan.

However, Lu Ye had never encountered it until today.

When the opponent adopted that stance, he immediately recognized it as the preparatory move for the Great Pinwheel Art. For any other Moon Yao, breaking this secret technique would be impossible unless they acted before the opponent's blade momentum was fully unleashed. Otherwise, there would be no chance.

However, Lu Ye had been slain countless times by Azure Mantis. When it came to cultivating this secret technique's inheritance, he considered himself no less skilled than his opponent, and thus naturally understood its various intricacies.

Breaking it then became very simple.

Of course, even if he hadn't cultivated this secret technique, he could simply use his Leap and Glide technique to create a large distance and wait for the opponent's blade momentum to dissipate, then easily finish them off.

Unleashing this secret technique places a significant burden on the user; even a late-stage Moon Yao opponent could not maintain it for very long.

The detours along the way delayed him for roughly twenty breaths. After collecting the opponent's two bone blades and storage ring, he resumed his journey forward.

After a while, he frowned. All negative emotions in his mind vanished instantly—the Blood Eye had been broken by the Seven-Colored Divine Lotus!

His observation of the Blood Eye Spirit Pattern had made some progress, but it wasn't significant. At this rate, Lu Ye estimated that to fully comprehend the Blood Eye Spirit Pattern, he would need to experience another twenty to thirty blinks of the Demonic Eye.

This would take a very long time.

The blinks of the Demonic Eye were completely irregular. Even if they occurred once a month, twenty to thirty blinks would still take two years!

If they happened only once every three to five months, the time would be even longer.

Crucially, after the Blood Eye was broken, that subtle connection was also severed!

However, Lu Ye did not stop. Instead, he continued to fly forward, following his previous intuition. In his view, although this connection was severed, the source must still be in this direction. By searching in that direction, he might make a discovery.

He wasn't sure if the source was as he suspected, but it was an opportunity nonetheless.

If it truly was as he suspected, then one question remained unanswered: Why would this source resonate with him from afar?

Could it be because of the three red talismans nurtured within his body?

These three red talismans originated from the Pygmy Clan. If they were the reason for his connection with that unknown source, it seemed plausible.

Because in Lu Ye's estimation, that unknown source was the core of Fangcun Mountain!

But ultimately, it felt forced.

Because in the past, foreign Moon Yaos dispatched by the Pygmy Clan would certainly have spirit talismans bestowed by the Pygmy Clan on them; while perhaps not as many as three red talismans, they would always have at least one.

He had never heard any foreign Moon Yao who reported back mention anything similar.

But if it wasn't the red talismans... then what could it be?

Lu Ye then recalled Su Yuqing. After joining with this woman, he had acquired the Pygmy Clan's aura. He had even refined a portion of Su Yuqing's cultivation, which was why he was able to participate in the Black Abyss Martial Arts Competition as a human.

Fangcun Mountain was the birthplace of the Pygmy Clan. Perhaps having the Pygmy Clan's aura on himself was precisely the reason?

That didn't seem right either. Su Yuqing had said that for some unknown reason, the core of Fangcun Mountain had been hiding from the Pygmy Clan. Consequently, early Pygmy Clan Moon Yaos who came here to search found nothing. Only out of desperation did they turn to foreign Moon Yaos to handle the matter.

The foreign Moon Yaos also had no success, and some even went missing.

If this resonance was simply due to the Pygmy Clan's aura, there was no reason for Su Yuqing not to have mentioned it.

He couldn't figure it out... He could only search for the source and investigate.

Whether this source was truly the core of Fangcun Mountain would only be known once he found it.

He was also puzzled by one thing: why the core of Fangcun Mountain would hide from the Pygmy Clan. Logically, it should have been eager to embrace them, as the relationship between them was extraordinary. The entire Pygmy Clan was birthed from Fangcun Mountain itself.

Many questions remained unanswered.

He continued flying forward, but found nothing.

Several days later, Lu Ye, who was searching along the way, remotely sensed something approaching his area.

It had no vital signs, so it shouldn't be a living creature. Its speed also didn't seem very fast.

He extended his divine sense to investigate and quickly realized it was a meteorite the size of a water vat. It looked unremarkable, a common sight within this wonder.

This meteorite seemed to be propelled by some force, drifting within this wonder. This was a common occurrence; Lu Ye had encountered many such meteorites before, so he didn't pay it much mind.

He merely took a habitual glance.

Lu Ye didn't expect that this one glance would lead to trouble.

Almost at the same moment he focused on the meteorite approaching him, a strong warning suddenly arose in his heart. He inexplicably felt a sense of impending doom.

Lu Ye immediately stopped his movement, while simultaneously remaining alert in all directions.

He thought there might be powerful individuals ambushing him in the vicinity! And powerful individuals who could evoke such a sense of crisis in him, even without him detecting their traces, must be exceptionally strong!

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly noticed that the meteorite drifting towards him had suddenly and unnaturally accelerated significantly.

In the blink of an eye, it was dozens of miles in front of him!

Immediately, an inexplicable mystical force surged forth, creating ripples throughout the void. In an instant, it covered the surroundings, centered around the meteorite.

Almost simultaneously with the surge of that mystical force, Lu Ye retreated backwards.

The next instant, his eyes widened considerably. As the ripples in the void dissipated, everything within dozens of miles around the meteorite vanished into thin air.

It was as if it had been swallowed by the meteorite.

Lu Ye felt a wave of lingering fear. Fortunately, his reaction was swift, otherwise, in that instant, even he would have been swallowed. Although he didn't know the consequences of being swallowed like that, it clearly wouldn't be good.

Seeing that Lu Ye was unharmed, the meteorite increased its speed further and came directly for him.

Lu Ye was greatly surprised. Was it... coming for him?

He couldn't be sure, so he immediately dodged, moving to one side. The unremarkable meteorite also changed direction, closely pursuing him. That strange mystical force surged forth intermittently, leaving vast swathes of vacuum in its wake.

A moment later, Lu Ye finally confirmed one thing: this meteorite was indeed coming for him, because no matter how he changed direction, it relentlessly pursued him.

Though clearly a seemingly ordinary meteorite with no vital signs, it possessed such profound mystical abilities.

Only one thought was in Lu Ye's mind—He found it!

This was clearly the core of Fangcun Mountain!

To be honest, he hadn't expected his journey to be so smooth, because throughout history, the Pygmy Clan had spent too much time, manpower, energy, and resources on this matter, yet had made little progress until now.

Lu Ye came here for two reasons: firstly, Su Yuqing had personally mentioned this matter to him; secondly, he thought that if he could find the core of Fangcun Mountain, he could enable Fangcun Mountain to integrate with Jade Snail, becoming its powerful backing.

However, he hadn't believed his trip would necessarily succeed, and had already prepared himself to return empty-handed.

So he never imagined that he would actually find the core of Fangcun Mountain!

Or rather... the core of Fangcun Mountain had found him!

The reason he determined this was the core of Fangcun Mountain was naturally its strange devouring power!

The core of Fangcun Mountain must contain a world within. The vanished items, though seemingly swallowed by it, had likely entered the world inside the core.

The source that he had sensed earlier must undoubtedly be the core.

In fact, this sensation had begun a month ago, but Lu Ye had been immersed in comprehending the Blood Eye Spirit Pattern at the time and hadn't paid much attention.

While he wasn't paying attention, the core of Fangcun Mountain was. Therefore, a month ago, the core had been searching for him. However, after that connection was severed, the core could no longer accurately trace him, which was why it had drifted in another direction.

Several days ago, with the blink of the Demonic Eye, that connection reappeared. As he was traveling, the core was also heading towards him. It could be said they were moving towards each other!

Until this moment, they met at this location.

Lu Ye couldn't immediately discern the core's true nature, but the core could sense him. Therefore, it suddenly acted while Lu Ye was caught off guard. If Lu Ye hadn't reacted quickly, he would have already been swallowed into the core's inner world.

Indeed, this core possessed its own intelligence.

With intelligence, it meant communication was possible!

As Lu Ye fled forward, he transmitted a message with his divine sense: "Lu Ye of Jade Snail, entrusted by Su Yuqing, Zhang Kun, and others of the Pygmy Clan, has come here to search for the lost core. The three parts of Fangcun Mountain have been separated for a long time. I hope they can merge and unify soon, restoring the glory of our ancestors!"

After transmitting the message several times, Lu Ye helplessly realized that the core pursuing him showed no reaction at all, acting as if it intended to chase him relentlessly to the death.

Lu Ye didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had never imagined that he would one day be pursued by something like this.

He dared not stop, and even dared not let the core get too close to him. From what he had just witnessed, if he got too close to the core, he would certainly be swallowed into its inner world.

It was hard to say what the situation would be then. The ideal scenario, of course, was for him to be able to communicate with the core's intelligence and safely bring it out of here. However, the other party showed no intention of acknowledging him.

Lu Ye simply couldn't understand why!

Why would the core have a connection with him? Why would it target him? Since it possessed intelligence, why was it unwilling to communicate?

As his thoughts churned, Lu Ye raised a finger and pinched, a red glow blossoming at his fingertip. He continued his transmission: "This is a red talisman bestowed by a Pygmy Clan Sun Sentry before my departure. If you possess intelligence, you should recognize it!"

As he finished speaking, Lu Ye distinctly felt the core pursuing him pause.

He was overjoyed, "There's a chance!"