Beginning with the Ubume Bird
Chapter 691 - Chapter 691 Chapter 77 Go Straight into the Dragons Lair

Chapter 691: Chapter 77: Go Straight into the Dragon’s Lair Chapter 691: Chapter 77: Go Straight into the Dragon’s Lair “Mr. Zhao, your lifespan… how could this be?”

Yu Shiqie could hardly believe her own eyes,

“Birth, aging, sickness, and death are common occurrences. You wouldn’t think that wandering through Yan Fu could grant immortality, would you? Your days are pleasant now, an incident in Yan Fu lasts ten days to half a month, or at most half a year to a year before it ends, but it wasn’t the case for us in the past. In the past, I could spend decades within a single fruit, and that was commonplace. Though the rate of time flow differs between fruits, the aging of a person inside is just as rapid. Otherwise, Mi Li wouldn’t have died within a fruit, either. I’ve been mingling in Yan Fu for too long, and before I knew it, I’ve only got a few years left to live.”

Zhao Jianzhong sighed, “Six years is not short. From the establishment of the Yan Zhao Club to this day, counting by the time of Heaven Jiazi Nine, it’s only been two years. To die a natural death is great fortune.”

This was undoubtedly an indirect admission that he indeed only had six years of positive lifespan left.

“Not to worry, adding to one’s positive lifespan isn’t so difficult.”

In the vastness of Daqian Yanfu, there are countless ways to increase one’s positive lifespan, and there are dozens of methods to choose from. Just to mention Yu Shiqie herself, her flesh and blood can be extremely toxic or greatly nourishing. The pair of blue and red snakes that she raised as her adoptive daughters were nourished with her own flesh and blood, extending their lifespans to this day.

Draining the Yan Zhao Club to add more than a hundred years of lifespan for Zhao Jianzhong should pose no problem at all.

Yu Shiqie thought to herself.

“You still haven’t understood what I mean.”

Zhao Jianzhong shook his head, “I’m asking you, how is your positive lifespan?”

“Over seven hundred. My inheritance is unique, often consuming flesh and blood, dwindling my lifespan year by year, but replenishing it is not difficult.”

Yu Shiqie replied truthfully.

Generally speaking, the lifespan of those who wander through Yan Fu is mainly related to the registered position in Yan Fu – a hundred for Ten Cities, two hundred for Nine Luminaries, four hundred for Eight Extremes, six hundred for Seven Palaces, eight hundred for Six Ministries, and about a thousand for Five Directions Elder.

“Normally, a Proxy Traveler of the Six Ministries is only stronger than the inheritance they represent, never weaker, but lifespan is the exception. In the Yan Zhao Club, there is an inheritance from a member called He Jingye, right? The great elm marks five thousand years for spring, five thousand for autumn, and sixteen thousand years as one year, but how much positive lifespan does He Jingye have?”

“According to what he says himself, just over eight hundred.”

“Let me tell you, no matter what method you use to extend your lifespan, the wanderers of Yan Fu can only live for a thousand years. I have actually lived for nine hundred and ninety-one years. Losing to Se Kong by those three years is passable, but there’s nothing to be done about the rest.”

Zhao Jianzhong stood up, his back still straight, looking full of vitality, “The youngsters have done well, let’s go. There’s a bit more to take care of.”

“Understood.” Yu Shiqie was somewhat disoriented, “I will keep this matter confidential.”

“There’s no need. Since Sifan’s people already know, it won’t be long before it spreads to the ears of others in Yan Fu.”

…

Waves lapped onto the shore, with Wenle standing behind Se Kong, continuously massaging his throat.

Se Kong stood barefoot in the seawater, with the waves wetting her ankles.

After a while, a glint of gold flickered in the sea; a dark golden skull washed up by the sea, rest at Se Kong’s feet. Black flame residue filled the skull’s orifices, clearly that of Muni who self-immolated with heartfire.

Muni, upon seeing Se Kong, trembled with excitement, but with no vocal cords or tongue, the skull was cleansed by the seawater, pattering against Se Kong’s feet. As the sea breeze blew through the skull, it made a “wooing” sound. Suddenly, Se Kong raised her foot.

Shasha shasha…

A big wave came crashing in, overshadowing the sound of the wind, and Se Kong crushed Muni’s skull underfoot, her face filled with intense disgust, “Useless trash!”

Still not satisfied, she stomped several times, pulverizing the scattered skull fragments before kicking them aside, letting the seawater wash away the bone dust from under her feet.

Wenle just watched quietly, without uttering a word.

After a long while, Se Kong finally stepped onto the sand, her feet as pristine as ever.

“You’ve been a big help to me this time. Don’t mingle with the old and sick again; come with me, you won’t be at a loss.”

“Alright.”

Wenle agreed crisply in the face of Se Kong, and behind the nun, the scattered dark golden star spots in the sea water were gradually consumed by the heart fire, erasing any trace of Muni from the world.

“By the way, I heard that you can disguise yourself so well that even the Earth Endurance of the Yan Zhao Club can’t recognize you. What do you actually look like?”

“I’ve forgotten what I look like myself. This fruit is about to sink into the Leaf Sea, so this face is of no use anymore.”

As Wenle spoke, the muscles and bones on his face changed rapidly, eventually settling into a different appearance.

A tall and lean figure, with eyes like bright stars, a high nose bridge, and two small dimples appearing unconsciously when the corners of the mouth twitched into a smile. The gaze was cold and sharp.

It was the very likeness of Li Yan.

“I’ll live with this face for the coming period of time.”

Wenle said with a grin,

“You must not have returned to the Bitter Realm for a long time, right? This time you can come back with me for a visit, consider it a vacation.”

“Alright.”

Behind the two of them, a slit in the shape of a pupil cracked open, swallowing them both.

Before Wenle’s eyes was an impenetrable darkness.

Se Kong, holding his hand and seemingly in a good mood, said: “I’ve long heard Old Illness speculate that Zhao Jianzhong’s lifespan isn’t that abundant. In a few years at most, to save his life, he’ll have no choice but to withdraw from the Yan Zhao Club. That will be our opportunity.”

“How has the Bitter Realm been these years?”

Wenle felt a bit hazy.

“Fantastic. Tens of millions of people in the state land worship me as a god. The seasons are harmonious, and rivers flow with milk and honey–an earthly paradise is no more than this. You’ll see once you get there.”

Finally, a speck of light appeared before Wenle’s eyes, and the two stepped out of the darkness onto the edge of a verdant cliff.

An endless vista of green fields and high mountains; the sky tore apart to reveal countless deep red colossal holes, from which scorching lava poured, rapidly rising and shrouding the plains in haze, while massive flames devoured forests, rivers, artificial fortresses, and crops.

A thick layer of clouds deposited shiny black dust, and all creatures forced to flee their homelands by the savage natural disaster quickly died and decayed after being coated with the dust.

In the thunderous sky, a huge black python would intermittently appear, occasionally puncturing the heavens with a hole, crafting those lava chasms in such manner.

“Wow, an earthly paradise, eh.”

Wenle commented dryly.

One after another, red shadows fell from the sky, their bodies shrouded in deep red flames, obfuscating their true appearances, leaving only the outlines and shadows of their wings visible. Hundreds of red shadows converged, and where they gathered, a violent explosion occurred, with a bright white light covering all colors and sounds.

Wenle shielded his eyes: “Those are the Feathered Divine Soldiers from Third Eye Global, must have flown out of their nest.”

Se Kong didn’t reply but looked up through the heavy dark clouds, finally discerning a huge python head in the sky. Surprisingly, it had the blurry but robust body of a man. The man had a lit lantern in his mouth; in front of the lantern flame sat a hunched old man dressed in black, bracing himself with a walking stick.

Zhuo Jiu.

“Although I haven’t found Sifan’s person yet, this time I’m over 90% sure that this unsequenced fruit is the main base of the Sifan Eight Sufferings in the Four Realities, the Eight Sufferings Life Realm! Please believe me, Mr. Zhuo.”

Weiyue Yan, dressed in a dragon-patterned qipao with a golden pen used as a hairpin, said so.

“I, of course, believe you.”

Zhuo Jiu stood up: “The people have arrived!”