Chapter 1419: Heavenly Emperor

"Yes, that's definitely the Constellation of Wei," the clever women quickly realized. They had just heard the Yaoyu beast roar two names: Erfu and Wei.

Zu'an said in a deep voice, "It seems those two figures in the temple are his enemies. And since the weak water has never submerged this temple, it's clear that the Yaoyu is somehow suppressed by it, perhaps unable to enter or even know what's inside. How about I move the statues of Wei and Erfu out? It might have a miraculous effect."

Yan Xuehen, however, was a little worried: "But currently, it's precisely because of this temple that the weak water is suppressed and hasn't submerged this mountain. If we dismantle the statues inside and disrupt its layout, and it doesn't have the desired effect, then we'll have nowhere to escape."

Zu'an gazed at the churning weak water below and said with a serious expression, "Even if we fail, we'll just be swept into the weak water, and it's not certain we won't be able to get out. On the contrary, if we do nothing, we'll remain trapped here, possibly never solving the challenge of this level, and never leaving this secret realm."

Yan Xuehen suddenly felt a little dazed, thinking that being unable to leave this secret realm forever might not be unacceptable. At least she wouldn't have to go out and face worldly ethics, various strange relationships, and gazes...

At this moment, Yun Jianyue said, "I agree with Little Anzi. As the saying goes, 'wealth comes from risk,' and I think since Wei was hung in that manner, he clearly did something wrong and was being punished."

Yu Yanluo also expressed her agreement, and Yan Xuehen naturally found it difficult to say anything more.

Soon, Zu'an ran into the temple and brought out the hanging statue of Wei, displaying it before the Yaoyu: "Is this the Wei you mentioned? I don't know what grudge you have, but I imagine he also received capital punishment and got his deserved retribution back then."

"Wei!" The Yaoyu's eyes nearly burst when it saw the statue, and its entire body began to spin relentlessly around it.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect you to meet such an end." The Yaoyu seemed to have not spoken for a long time; its voice was very hoarse at first, but after speaking for a while, its words became clearer.

It suddenly pounced on the statue, opened its gaping maw, and swallowed it whole.

The group exchanged bewildered glances. It just ate the statue directly?

What kind of deep-seated hatred and resentment was this?

The Yaoyu alternated between crying and laughing, seemingly mad.

After a while, it stared at the dilapidated temple: "Erfu, do you think punishing him could dispel my resentment? It was you who killed me back then!"

Hearing this, Zu'an returned to the dilapidated temple. A series of rumbling sounds emanated from within.

Soon, he emerged with heavy footsteps. It turned out he had actually managed to forcibly move the main statue out.

It was fortunate he was now a cultivator with immense strength; otherwise, it would have been impossible to present such a large statue to the Yaoyu.

"Erfu!" Upon seeing the human-faced, snake-bodied statue, the Yaoyu's eyes widened instantly, and it let out an angry roar.

Zu'an said calmly, "Now the real culprit has been brought to you. Avenge your grudges, redress your wrongs."

The Yaoyu roared loudly and pounced directly onto it.

The group watched expectantly, wondering how it would manage to eat such a massive statue.

To their disappointment, however, the Yaoyu hesitated, opening its mouth but ultimately not swallowing the statue. Instead, its sharp claws relentlessly tore at the statue, quickly rending it to pieces.

Immediately after, the Yaoyu roared repeatedly, its tail sweeping like a long whip, instantly shattering the dilapidated temple.

As it saw the remnants of the Erfu statue and the ruined temple, now just a pile of rubble and debris, the Yaoyu's ferocious, twisted face gradually softened.

Streaks of black mist dispersed from its body, and the sunlight from the heavens emerged from the clouds, scattering across the earth.

The previously roaring weak water also receded at a visible rate, quickly returning to its initial state.

By this time, all the black mist had dissipated from the Yaoyu's body, and a human-faced, snake-bodied phantom slowly rose from it—the very soul body that Zu'an's large hand had pulled out when he purified it earlier.

"Thank you all for rescuing me and allowing me to be completely free," the phantom said. Its previous ferocity was gone; instead, its face was extremely peaceful, like that of a kind old man.

The three women all sighed in relief, grateful that a bad outcome had been averted.

Zu'an also cupped his hands and asked, "How should I address you, sir? Are you called Yaoyu?"

The phantom shook its head: "No, my name is Yayu."

It gestured and mimed until they finally understood how to write the two characters.

Everyone was speechless.

Such strange and peculiar names existed.

"What exactly happened? Why did you turn into a monster like Yaoyu?" Zu'an asked curiously. He was more curious about the deep hatred between him, Erfu, and Wei, but he refrained from asking, fearing he might agitate the phantom again.

The phantom sighed deeply: "It's a twisted fate, really. Back then, Erfu and I both had human faces and snake bodies, and our status was highly respected. I was naturally more peaceful and always got along well with others. Erfu, on the other hand, was fierce and loved to kill. So, people often compared us."

"Erfu naturally felt uncomfortable. If it were just that, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but Erfu had a subordinate named Wei. This person was extremely skilled at stirring up trouble. I had offended him once, so he held a grudge and constantly sowed discord between Erfu and me."

"Erfu already harbored resentment, and under Wei's instigation, they found an opportunity. They ambushed me together and killed me."

"So, after you died, your resentment transformed you into this Yaoyu monster?" Yu Yanluo asked curiously.

The phantom shook its head: "Not quite. I did die then. After the Heavenly Emperor learned of it, he pitied me because I had always been benevolent in my life and died unjustly. So, he had me revived with an elixir of immortality..."

"An elixir of immortality?" the group exclaimed in surprise. They hadn't expected to find another clue about the elixir here, and there was a living example right before them: he had indeed been revived.

Zu'an then asked curiously, "Who is this Heavenly Emperor you speak of?"

"The Heavenly Emperor is just the Heavenly Emperor, who else could it be?" The phantom looked at him strangely, seemingly unable to comprehend why he would ask such a question.

Zu'an had to explain. The phantom shook its head, "I don't know if it's a missing part of my soul that made me forget some memories, or something else, but I don't know the Heavenly Emperor's name. I only know that since ancient times, everyone seems to have called him that."

Zu'an and the others were secretly startled, wondering what kind of being this Heavenly Emperor was. Could he truly be the emperor of celestial immortals?

How terrifying must his power be.

At this point, the phantom continued, "However, after I was revived, I didn't return to my original form. In a state of confusion, I fell into the weak water and became a monster like Yaoyu. Hatred and resentment filled my soul, causing this Yaoyu to have a personality completely opposite to my own during my life—fierce and tyrannical, poisoning living beings everywhere. Fortunately, with your help, I have now completely broken free from that nightmarish cycle."

Zu'an and the others suddenly felt a chill down their spines: "Wait, are you saying that after taking the elixir of immortality, you came back to life but turned into this deranged monster?"