Chapter 1447: The Immortality Medicine Was Stolen

"Indeed," Wu Xian nodded. "On Mount Zhong, there is a great deity named Zhulong. It has a human face, a snake's body, is entirely red, and its eyes are vertically set. When it closes its eyes, the world turns to night; when it opens its eyes, it becomes day. It doesn't eat, sleep, or breathe, and it can summon wind and rain. It can also illuminate obscure places..."

Zu'an was secretly astonished. Zhulong frequently appeared in ancient myths, and he never expected to encounter it in this secret realm. Yan Xuehen and the two other women had never heard of Zhulong. Hearing the description, they were instantly shocked. If opening its eyes brought day and closing them brought night, wasn't that like a creator god? Following Wu Xian's description, they suddenly recalled Ya Yu and Er Fu, whom they had encountered earlier on Mount Shaoxian. They also seemed to have human faces and snake bodies. Moreover, in a sense, Yu Yanluo could also be considered to have a human face and snake body. They wondered if there was any blood relation between them. Yu Yanluo shook her head frantically, clearly knowing their thoughts and vehemently denying any connection.

At this point, Wu Xian continued, "Zhulong's status is exceptionally high. He has three sons: one named Ya Yu, another named Er Fu, and a third named Gu."

"Ah?" Even Zu'an exclaimed in surprise. He hadn't realized that Ya Yu was Zhulong's son, and that Er Fu was his brother! Upon closer thought, both Er Fu and Ya Yu had human heads and dragon bodies, indeed very similar in form to Zhulong.

"Oh, do you know them?" Wu Xian asked, surprised by their reaction.

"We encountered them before..." Zu'an and the others then briefly recounted their encounter with Ya Yu at Mount Shaoxian and Weak River.

After hearing the whole story, the Ten Witches were all shocked. "We didn't realize that Ya Yu was hiding there, and that you completely freed him. We underestimated you before." They clearly felt that the Witches' attitude towards them became much friendlier. Zu'an wondered if Ya Yu was also a friend of theirs and quickly asked for an explanation.

Wu Xian and the others explained, "Although Er Fu and Ya Yu were brothers, their personalities were completely different. Ya Yu was the eldest son, and his popularity and reputation were better. Everyone also recognized him as Zhulong's successor. But Er Fu was very dissatisfied, believing that his cultivation and intelligence were far superior to his elder brother's, so why should the other be publicly recognized as the heir?" Yan Xuehen and the others nodded subtly. In demon clan inheritance, besides bloodline power, the previous generation would pass on the essence of their cultivation to the next before death. Therefore, once an heir was chosen, other offspring, no matter how hard they strived, could not surpass the chosen successor. This made the struggle for the inheritance position even more intense and bloody than among humans.

"Er Fu had a subordinate named Wei, who sowed discord between the brothers. Er Fu could no longer restrain himself, so he conspired with Wei and killed Ya Yu. Afterward, the Heavenly Emperor heard about this. First, Zhulong's status was highly revered, and second, Ya Yu's reputation was indeed excellent, so the Heavenly Emperor took pity and instructed us to find the elixir of immortality to revive him."

Zu'an and the others were surprised. They had previously thought the elixir of immortality belonged to the Queen Mother of the West in Yaochi. They never expected it to come from the Ten Witches of Ling Mountain. Knowing the elixir's immense importance, he figured asking directly might not yield answers, so he asked something else first: "By the way, who exactly is this Heavenly Emperor you mentioned?" Ever since entering this unknown land, they had heard many things about the Heavenly Emperor.

Wu Xian found his question a bit strange but answered nonetheless: "The Heavenly Emperor's name is Zhuanxu. Elders who lived long ago would know this, but it's normal for the younger generation today not to." Zu'an thought, "Finally, I'm not dealing with a riddle-speaker!" Emperor Xuan, Zhuanxu? He had heard Shun mention the struggle between the Xuan Emperor and White Emperor lineages, but he never expected Zhuanxu to already be a Heavenly Emperor.

"What about Di Jun?" he asked, a thought striking him. The Golden Crows had called Xihe their Queen Mother, and Di Jun's status was clearly very high. In the story of "Hou Yi Shooting the Suns," the Heavenly Emperor seemed to be Di Jun.

Wu Xian replied, "Di Jun is also a Heavenly Emperor."

Zu'an and the others were dumbfounded. The other nine Witches nearby found their confused expressions amusing. "Who told you there could only be one Heavenly Emperor?" Only then did Wu Xian explain, "There are a total of five Great Emperors in the heavens, known as the Five Heavenly Emperors of the Directions. Zhuanxu and Di Jun are two of them."

Zu'an and the others felt a storm brewing in their minds. So that was it! No wonder the various pieces of information they'd heard before never quite matched up. There were actually five Heavenly Emperors.

"Who are the other three?" Yan Xuehen asked curiously.

Wu Xian shook his head. "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed. It's not beneficial for ordinary humans to know too much; it might even invite disaster."

Zu'an just looked at him. One second he was praising them, the next he turned into a riddle-speaker.

Wu Xian continued, "At that time, the Heavenly Emperor wanted to use the elixir of immortality to save Ya Yu. Naturally, we dared not disobey. We found Bao Jiang, who was in charge of guarding the elixir, and retrieved it to revive Ya Yu. However, we never expected that after being brought back to life, he would become confused and disoriented. Later, he fell into the Weak River, his personality changed drastically, and he transformed into the monster Ya Yu."

"Bao Jiang?" Zu'an was quite unfamiliar with this name.

Wu Xian replied, "Bao Jiang is our friend. His dwelling is on Ling Mountain, and he is responsible for managing the elixir of immortality."

Zu'an's heart stirred. It seemed the elixir of immortality was on Ling Mountain? The group then continued, "Because Ya Yu had done good deeds everywhere during his life and had a good reputation, coupled with his father's influence, everyone did not trouble him further, allowing him to live or die on his own." Zu'an secretly thought, "It's probably more because his father, Zhulong, was too powerful."

"When Wei's instigation of Er Fu came to light, the Heavenly Emperor punished Er Fu and simultaneously ordered Wei to be executed to avenge Ya Yu..." The other Witches chimed in, roughly reconstructing the events of that year. Zu'an secretly sighed, "As expected, those without connections can only take the blame." As the mastermind, Er Fu was merely punished, while Wei was cruelly executed.

As if sensing his silent complaint, Wu Xian explained, "Although Er Fu was not executed, he was stripped of his position as heir. Losing what he had always pursued might not be much better than death."

Zu'an thought, "I still prefer being alive." He then asked, "What does all this have to do with the Golden Crows and Nü Ba?"

Wu Xian continued, "Originally, this incident, though a tragedy, would have been acceptable if it had ended there. However, later investigations revealed another hidden truth."

"Another hidden truth?" Zu'an was startled.

"Have you noticed someone you overlooked?" Wu Xian's expression was profound and unfathomable.

Yun Jianyue, who had been silent, spoke up, "Gu!"

Wu Xian was somewhat surprised. "This young lady is indeed clever. Gu is indeed the one missing." Yun Jianyue thought, "I've been famous for countless years, and now I'm being called a 'young lady,' but coming from their mouths, it doesn't seem out of place at all."

Zu'an and the others were not foolish. With this reminder, they immediately realized that Gu was originally the third in line for succession. With one brother kind and the other powerful, it would never have been his turn. But now, with one brother dead and the other disinherited, he was the greatest beneficiary. Often, to determine who the mastermind behind an event is, one only needs to see who benefits the most.

Wu Xian sighed deeply. "Gu hid himself very well. It was only after a subsequent event that we realized he had orchestrated all of this."

"Not long after the incident between Ya Yu and Er Fu, Bao Jiang was killed, and the elixir of immortality was stolen."

"The elixir of immortality was stolen?" Zu'an and the others were shocked. If such a thing were in the outside world, people would fight tooth and nail for it. Although the people in this unknown land were powerful, it was clear that the elixir of immortality was an absolute treasure even to them.

"The legend of the elixir of immortality is widely spread. Some powerful factions or individuals with deep foundations roughly knew that the elixir was hidden on Ling Mountain, but no one knew its exact location," the Witches explained. "Then, because of the Ya Yu incident, Gu learned that Bao Jiang was guarding the elixir. So, he conspired with his subordinate Qin and ambushed Bao Jiang."