Chapter 2514: Fate

Novel Excerpt

Bao Jiang, originally youthful in appearance despite his age, was now so severely injured that he looked no different from any ordinary decrepit old man.

Seeing that the other man's breath was barely a thread, Zu'an hurriedly took out some spiritual medicine and fed it to him. Unfortunately, the Yushan Spiritual Spring was no longer available, and he wasn't sure if these elixirs from the later cultivation world could be effective on a Heavenly God.

The spiritual medicine melted as soon as it entered his mouth. A hint of color finally returned to Bao Jiang's face, his eyelids twitched slightly, and he weakly opened his eyes: "I will not give the immortality elixir..."

Seeing Zu'an and his companions, he stopped mid-sentence.

"Who are you?"

"Senior, we were assisted by the Six Kaiming Witches and came to Baoyuan Mountain to seek the Glazed Hairpin Flower from you. Later, we learned you were in danger and, guided by the Wushan Goddess, came to help," Zu'an explained. He didn't want to sound so mercenary right from the start, but given the other man's condition, he could die at any moment.

So many of them had toiled for so long to save Xiao Xi, even traveling through time and space. If all their efforts ended up being in vain, he couldn't imagine how he would face the outcome.

Hearing the names Zu'an mentioned, a glimmer of unusual light appeared in Bao Jiang's previously cloudy eyes. He took a flower from his embrace and said, "I just happened to pick this flower a few days ago; I'll give it to you."

Zu'an looked down and saw the flower, which resembled a hairpin. It was crystal clear and translucent, like glazed glass. Even without any explanation, he could tell at a glance that it was exactly what he was looking for.

Seeing Zu'an accept it, Bao Jiang continued, "This old man also wishes to ask a favor of you, young brother..."

He then took out a glittering golden bead and handed it to Zu'an: "Please give this Divine Dragon Immortality Elixir to the Wushan Goddess and ask her to pass it on to a destined person, so that they may cultivate this immortality elixir until it grows..."

"Immortality elixir?"

Yumen Beiqing and the Mermaid Queen subconsciously stared at the golden bead. "Is this the legendary immortality elixir?" they wondered.

"The Divine Dragon Immortality Elixir!" Zu'an, however, felt a shiver run through him. In terms of familiarity with the Divine Dragon Immortality Elixir, there was probably no one in the world who could compare to him.

This was because in a later era, he had found a Divine Dragon Immortality Elixir in the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons and used it to save Qiu Honglei.

And Mi Li had once said that all immortality elixirs in the world were unique. Clearly, this Divine Dragon Immortality Elixir was the seed of the one that would be found in the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons in the future.

At this moment, Zu'an suddenly felt as if his entire being was enveloped by a sense of destiny, leaving him with a feeling of powerlessness and fear.

"Who exactly wounded you like this?" Yumen Beiqing quickly asked at that moment.

Bao Jiang smiled and shook his head. "Knowing too much would be dangerous for you. If you can fulfill my wish, I will be eternally grateful..."

As he spoke, his voice faded. Zu'an's expression changed, and he quickly checked, finally shaking his head helplessly at the two women: "He's gone."

"It seems we were still too late. He was murdered by Drum," the Mermaid Queen said, her face full of sympathy. Zu'an had already explained the whole story to her on their way, so she was aware of this.

Although she had known neither Drum nor Bao Jiang before, Bao Jiang's consideration for them even in his dying moments was enough for her to distinguish between the good and evil sides.

"Woman, who exactly are you? How do you know my name?" A sinister laugh suddenly echoed from afar.

Zu'an and the two women's expressions changed drastically. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw a massive snake body coiled around a towering giant tree. Its upper body was that of a young man, with a full head of red hair that swayed in the wind like small snakes.

He had a pair of yellow vertical pupils, and his forked tongue occasionally darted out to lick his lips as he spoke. The mere sight of him sent shivers down their spines.

Zu'an's face darkened. He wondered if Yu Yanluo had truly used up all the beauty of the snake race, as all the other snake-bodied, human-headed creatures he encountered were astonishingly ugly.

A massive, eagle-owl-like monster bird landed on a nearby branch. It had black markings all over its body, a white head, a red beak, and tiger-like claws. Just one look, and no one would doubt that a single strike from those claws could pierce even a flood dragon.

As it landed, it happened to overhear the snake-bodied, human-headed creature's question, so it leaned closer and said, "Sir, this woman appears to be the Saintess of the Chang clan."

"The legendary peerless beauty, Chang'e? Indeed, she is beautiful, and the woman next to her is no less stunning. It seems my luck is good today," the snake-bodied, human-headed man said, brazenly scrutinizing the trio while bursting into loud laughter.

Sensing his gaze, Yumen Beiqing's face turned cold, while the Mermaid Queen, a little frightened, hid behind Zu'an.

"You must be here for the immortality elixir. Here's your item." With that, he waved his hand and threw something far away, a golden orb flying directly towards a distant valley.

Then, without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed the two women's hands, used his "Great Wind" skill, and ran in the opposite direction.

He didn't engage in much verbal dispute with the opponent. No matter how he explained that he was just passing by and didn't know what was happening, the other party would still choose to silence them just to be safe. Moreover, since the man had taken an interest in the two women, he certainly wouldn't show any mercy.

Hearing the words "immortality elixir," Drum, the snake-bodied, human-headed creature, subconsciously had his attention drawn. Despite his massive body, he moved like lightning, catching up to the golden light.

He gripped the golden object in his hand, but the smile that had just appeared on his face froze, for it was merely a piece of ordinary gold.

"How dare you trick me!" he snarled, gnashing his teeth. The piece of gold was crushed into dust in his hand. "Qin, catch them!"

Zu'an continuously used his teleportation skill, and the surrounding scenery rapidly receded. Yet, there was no joy on his face, for the monster bird named Qin was rapidly approaching, its speed even surpassing his own.

The opponent was clearly a lesser deity, just like Weiyue Yan they had encountered earlier, and could not be treated as an ordinary fierce beast.

After all, the "Great Wind" skill had a cooldown period.

He knew that if this continued, none of them would escape. So, he pushed the two women forward: "You two go first! I'll meet up with you later!"

He, meanwhile, drew his Tai'e Sword and sent a brilliant sword light directly towards the monster bird behind them.

Seeing the exaggerated sword energy, the monster bird named Qin's pupils constricted slightly. Red, white, and black divine light emanated from its body, and its iron claws, enveloped in this divine light, directly clawed at the incoming sword energy.

In a single clash, the brilliant sword light was utterly shattered, scattering into tiny fragments of light.

Zu'an's eyes narrowed. He had expected the opponent to be formidable, but he hadn't anticipated such power.

Especially since these Heavenly Gods each possessed their own unique divine light, which had a strong suppressive effect on other beings.

In the blink of an eye, the opponent's iron claws were before him. The entire space seemed to be enveloped by these claws; the opponent was clearly guarding against his teleportation skill. No matter which direction he tried to dodge, he couldn't escape the fate of having his head pierced through.