"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with this stone?"
Xing Su, standing to the side, looked at Hun Changqing, who was staring blankly at the crystal in his hand. he seemed to know the stone's origin, though she could sense its extraordinary nature, she had no clue what it was. So, with a hint of curiosity, she asked.
Hun Changqing, upon hearing Xing Su's words, snapped out of his daze. He took a deep breath, trying to calm the indescribable shock in his heart, but he couldn't. The impact of this crystal on him was too great. He still couldn't believe that something pursued by all the top experts of the entire Dou Qi Continent was now quietly lying in his hands.
Hun Changqing turned to Xing Su, a complex look appearing in his eyes. Then, he picked up another crystal from the stone box and tossed it to Xing Su.
Xingxiu snatched the crystal flying towards her and instantly felt the same mysterious sensation that Hun Changqing had just experienced. After probing with her soul power, she also saw the scene of all things reviving.
However, Xingxiu felt somewhat bewildered by this scene, her heart filled with confusion, completely unaware of its meaning. She looked at Hun Changqing with a puzzled expression, and then heard his seemingly calm voice, which contained countless complex emotions.
"If I'm not mistaken, this thing might be the most important item in this entire cave, perhaps even the most important item in the entire Dou Qi Continent. Everything else pales in comparison. Even your previously transformed superior divine bloodline is no exception. If people knew of its existence, not to mention the other clans, our clan leader, Soul Emperor, and the ancient clan leader, Gu Yuan, would go completely mad for it, willing to do anything to obtain it." Xing Su was taken
aback upon hearing Soul Changqing's words. She looked at the crystal in her hand. Although she found it somewhat strange after examining it, Soul Changqing's words seemed a bit exaggerated. Good heavens, even her clan leader and Gu Yuan, two of the strongest experts in the entire Dou Qi Continent, had come forward. This made Xing Su feel somewhat incredulous.
"What exactly is this stone? Although I feel that this stone is indeed extraordinary, with a mysterious aura, it's not as exaggerated as you say, is it?"
Xing Su said with some skepticism.
"You should also be well aware of the great war a thousand years ago, the war between our clan and the Xiao clan, as recorded in our clan's annals. At that time, Xiao Xuan, the Xiao clan's patriarch, was already the strongest person on the entire Dou Qi Continent closest to becoming a Dou Di. His talent was unparalleled throughout history; even our clan's patriarch, Hun Tiandi, and the Gu clan's patriarch, Gu Yuan, who were of similar renown, paled in comparison.
Yet, even with the help of the entire Xiao clan's bloodline sacrifice, he still failed to break through to the Dou Di realm. It was because of this that our clan was able to barely annihilate the Xiao clan.
" "I never imagined that Xiao Xuan, with his talent surpassing even that of all the Dou Di ancestors recorded in our clan, and with the help of the entire ancient family's foundation, would still fail to break through. So how did those Dou Di ancestors come to be?"
Upon hearing this, Xing Su's expression froze. Earlier, when Hun Changqing mentioned the thousand-year-old feud between the Hun and Xiao clans and the Xiao clan's patriarch's breakthrough to Dou Di, he was still somewhat confused, not understanding what these things had to do with the stone in their hands.
But after hearing Hun Changqing's follow-up question, and combining it with Hun Changqing's earlier words that even Gu Yuan and Hun Tiandi would go crazy for it, a series of connections made Xing Su's heart surge with shock. Pointing at the stone in his hand with disbelief, she said to Hun Changqing somewhat incoherently,
"You...you mean...this stone can help them break through to Dou Di?!"
Hun Changqing nodded solemnly.
"Not only can they help them break through to the Dou Di realm, but if the two of us were currently at the peak of the Nine-Star Dou Sheng realm, we could instantly break through to the Dou Di realm, which has been absent from the Dou Qi Continent for countless years, with just these two stones!"
Hun Changqing said, gently stroking the smooth, polished rhomboid crystal in his hand, his eyes flashing with a chilling light.
Upon hearing Hun Changqing's words, Xing Su felt her heart stop beating. The words "Dou Di" coming from Hun Changqing's mouth were like two giant hammers, crashing heavily into her mind, leaving her brain blank. The immense impact made her completely forget how to think, how to breathe. Even now, with such terrifying bloodline talent, she had never even fantasized about the elusive Dou Di realm.
Although Xing Su had never experienced the difficulty of breaking through to the Dou Di realm, the Soul Clan had spent countless resources over the past thousand years on a grand scheme, all for the sake of the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade from another ancient family, to help their patriarch, who had been stuck at the peak of the Nine-Star Dou Sheng realm for countless years, break through to the Dou Di realm.
This showed how difficult the breakthrough to the Dou Di realm was, something Xing Su dared not even imagine. Yet now, something that could help someone break through to the Dou Di realm was quietly lying in his hands, giving him a dreamlike, unreal feeling.
Xing Su swallowed hard, staring intently at the crystal in his hand. His jade-like hand, gripping the crystal, was somewhat at a loss. If she loosened his grip too much, the crystal might grow legs and slip away; if he tightened it too much, he feared he would crush the crystal, made of some unknown material.
She hurriedly took out a jade box from her storage ring—a box made of incredibly precious material and exquisitely designed—and carefully put the crystal away. Then, following Hun Changqing's example, she took out several storage rings, placing them one on top of another before finally placing the last remaining ring back into her own personal storage ring.
After putting the crystal away, Xing Su's tense and excited heart finally relaxed. She had initially found Hun Changqing's method of putting away the python corpse somewhat amusing, thinking it unnecessary, but now that it was her turn, she found that doing so did indeed bring her peace of mind.
With her mood somewhat relaxed, Xing Su looked at Hun Changqing, who was also placing the crystal on one storage ring after another before finally putting it away, and a question arose in her mind. She asked Hun Changqing...
"This crystal is so important, yet I haven't seen a single trace of it in the clan's records. My ancestors never mentioned it to me either. If you hadn't told me, I probably wouldn't even know what use it was,"
Hun Changqing shook his head and explained to Xingxiu.
"This crystal isn't the key to breaking through to Dou Qi. The main thing is the energy contained within it, also known as 'Origin Qi.' This crystal was probably crafted by your ancestors to store Origin Qi and prevent it from dissipating. You should have sensed that scene within the crystal; that land should be the earliest Dou Qi continent, and the energy that revived all things and then dissipated is Origin Qi.
Those former Dou Emperors must have ascended to Dou Emperor status using the residual Origin Qi between heaven and earth. I learned of the existence of Origin Qi by chance, and after seeing that scene and making some connections, I was able to confirm that this was Origin Qi."
The remaining Origin Qi in this world is not much. After one Dou Di after another appeared on the Dou Qi Continent, the Origin Qi was eventually exhausted. This resulted in no one on the entire Dou Qi Continent being able to break through to that realm again. Xiao Xuan's sacrifice of his clan's bloodline was merely a futile effort.
As for the clan's records, I am not very clear about the specifics. I can only speculate that those Dou Di in the past unintentionally absorbed this Origin Qi during their breakthrough process. Perhaps they were unaware of its existence, or perhaps they knew but didn't care, and therefore left no relevant records.
When your ancestor was alive, he should have lived in an era rich in Origin Qi. It is very likely that these two crystals were just two Origin Qi that he casually collected and refined. In the minds of people in that era, they probably believed that as long as they had enough talent, they could naturally break through to the Dou Di realm, so they didn't pay much attention to this Origin Qi.
This space is almost completely isolated from the outside world. After your ancestor's remnant soul awakened, he didn't investigate the outside world. His attention was only on your bloodline talent. He naturally assumed that your talent had improved and that breaking through to the Dou Di realm would be a piece of cake. So he didn't tell you about the crystal. Maybe he just put the crystal here as an extra. The same goes for the python corpse. It was mainly to leave the lid of that earthen jar for you. "
After listening to Hun Changqing's analysis, Xing Su's lips twitched slightly. Although these were just Hun Changqing's guesses, they did seem to fit the current situation quite well.
When his ancestor told him about this space, he mainly talked about the lid of the earthenware jar and some ingenious uses of combining the lid and the jar. The python corpse and the crystal were only mentioned briefly. Obviously, these things were dispensable in the eyes of the Morning Star Ancient Emperor and were not that important. Xing Su was somewhat speechless that his ancestor so disregarded the most important things on the Dou Qi Continent.
However, Xing Su soon seemed to have thought of something and said to Hun Changqing with delight,
"Now that we have this source energy, coupled with our talents, wouldn't we be able to break through to the Dou Di realm together in the future?!" After recovering from the profound mystery of the Origin Qi, Xing Su immediately realized that with her current bloodline talent and the earthen jar and crystal left by his ancestors, he seemed to be very close to the Dou Di realm, which he had never dared to imagine before.
Moreover, Hun Changqing also possessed a crystal. Although Hun Changqing lacked bloodline power, his talent surpassed even some divine-grade bloodlines. Even if Hun Changqing were to become stuck at a certain realm due to the limitations of his bloodline power, Xing Su, with the earthen jar and a superior divine-grade bloodline, would not be hindered by any bottlenecks. After advancing to Dou Di, he could use his strength to plunder all the resources of the entire Dou Qi Continent. she could
then use the resources of the entire continent to help Hun Changqing reach the peak of the Nine-Star Dou Sheng realm, and then break through to the Dou Di realm with the help of Origin Qi. At that time, the two of them would both be at the Dou Di realm, forever inseparable! Xing Su seemed to already envision the beautiful scene of the two of them breaking through to the Dou Di realm together, reigning supreme over the Dou Qi Continent. That vision was so enchanting that Xing Su couldn't help but gaze at Hun Changqing beside her, lost in thought.
Hun Changqing, understanding Xing Su's meaning, smiled slightly and pulled her into his arms, softly saying,
"Of course, we can. We'll both advance to Dou Di, standing together at the pinnacle of the Dou Qi Continent, overlooking all its splendor."
Upon hearing Hun Changqing's words, Xing Su felt as if her heart was instantly enveloped in boundless happiness, bathed in warm sunlight, almost melting away. A genuine smile of happiness appeared on her face, exquisitely beautiful, like a perfect painting, even eclipsing the heavens and earth.
Looking at Xing Su, who was quietly leaning against him with a smile, Hun Changqing felt a strange sensation. He thought that because of Xing Su, he had not only been able to refine the Yin Soul Banner into a half-step Emperor-level weapon, but had also directly obtained Origin Qi. This meant he no longer had to step into the mess caused by the Ancient Jade between the Soul Clan and the Ancient Clan for the sake of Origin Qi. Moreover, Xing Su was also a member of the Soul Clan, and if not counting himself, she was now arguably the most likely person on the Dou Qi Continent to break through to the Dou Di realm. And now she was completely devoted to him. It seemed that if he really wanted to get married, Xing Su would be the best choice?
However, after thinking about Xing Su's personality, Hun Changqing sighed inwardly. Although Xing Su was currently very obedient to him, her strong personality was unchangeable. He would not give up Medusa, the woman who had been with him for so many years, or Ya Fei, who was still waiting for him in the capital of Jia Ma, for any reason. Xing Su probably wouldn't be able to accept the existence of these two people. He could only take it one step at a time.
"Now that you're returning to the clan, your status will be elevated immeasurably, and the clan's resources will be heavily tilted towards you. But remember, if the clan bestows upon you a sub-flame of the Void Devouring Flame, do not refine it; just store it away."
Hun Changqing, lost in thought, suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said to Xingxiu, who was in his arms and would soon be returning to the clan.
Xingxiu, immersed in fantasies about their future, paused slightly upon hearing Hun Changqing's somewhat solemn tone, then asked with a hint of curiosity,
"What's wrong? The power of the Void Devouring Flame's sub-flame is well-known throughout the clan. I was about to be bestowed a sub-flame myself, but before the reward was even given, that incident happened, and the reward was taken back. I was quite disappointed."
Hun Changqing shook his head at Xingxiu.
"The Void Devouring Flame seems to be on good terms with the clan leader, bringing enormous benefits to the clan and even helping to improve its bloodline. However, those who are not of our kind are bound to have different intentions, especially a strange flame like this. Although its sub-flames are incredibly powerful, the Void Devouring Flame has left hidden traps for them. They're not a problem most of the time.
But with just a thought, the Void Devouring Flame can easily control those who possess sub-flames or have previously possessed them. You should be glad that the reward for your previous sub-flame didn't come; otherwise, with just a thought from the Void Devouring Flame, you would become its puppet.
Although..." "Your ancestors will also help you remove the hidden hand left by the Void Devouring Flame within you, but it will inevitably sense it. When you return to your clan, it will definitely notice you, this anomaly who has managed to break free from its control. Although it won't openly attack you within the clan, it will certainly try every means to find out the reason why you broke free from its control and make you refine its sub-flame again."
After hearing Hun Changqing's explanation, Xingxiu's eyes widened instantly. She never expected that the Void Devouring Flame sub-flame, which countless clansmen coveted, would be such a shocking pitfall!
Thinking back to how she almost refined that sub-flame before, a sense of lingering fear instantly arose in her heart. But as if remembering something, Xingxiu suddenly looked up at Hun Changqing and said to him with a worried tone.
"Such a big matter, if the clan leader knew, he certainly wouldn't let the Void Devouring Flame do this. How did you find out? You haven't been targeted by the Void Devouring Flame, have you? And it seems that the clan's higher-ups all possess that flame now..."
Hun Changqing shook his head upon hearing this.
"Don't worry, I only found out about this sub-flame by chance. The Void Devouring Flame doesn't even know I exist. As for those in the clan who possess sub-flames, that's none of our business." "
Now that your talent has recovered and even improved, and you have Origin Qi, advancing to Dou Di is almost a certainty. The most important thing is that you need a stable environment to grow. There's no need to go back and expose this matter, causing such a big change in the Soul Clan and potentially making yourself a target of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng."
"You just need to cultivate peacefully and be careful not to come into contact with this sub-flame. Besides, this sub-flame is just a hidden weapon left behind by the Void Devouring Flame. As long as the clan leader doesn't break ties with the Void Devouring Flame, it won't be activated."
Xing Su nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this. In fact, even if Hun Changqing hadn't said anything, she wouldn't have bothered with such a trivial matter. Xing Su already had a rather indifferent feeling towards the Soul Clan, and of course, she wouldn't put herself in the spotlight because of this.
Seeing Xing Su's expression, Hun Changqing didn't say anything more. Although Xing Su wasn't the kind of person who would disregard his own safety for the sake of his family, Hun Changqing still brought it up just to be on the safe side.
Originally, Hun Changqing had thought about Hun Tiandi's future bloodline sacrifice and wanted to remind Xing Su to pay attention. However, he then realized that it wouldn't be of much use. Hun Tiandi's bloodline sacrifice wasn't for breaking through to Dou Di. When Hun Tiandi broke through, he only sacrificed most of the beings in Zhongzhou; the Hun Clan wouldn't have been affected.
Ultimately, the sacrifice of the Hun Clan was to enhance the power of his Emperor-Slaying Ghost Blood Blade, intending to kill Xiao Yan, who was also a Dou Di. But now, Xiao Yan was no longer a threat to him. Moreover, Hun Tiandi's bloodline sacrifice was a long time coming; by then, the two of them might have already become Dou Di. Therefore, Hun Changqing didn't bring it up again, lest he cause Xing Su unnecessary trouble.
After pondering for a moment, Hun Changqing realized that he had basically told everyone what needed to be told and then decided to leave. After all, he had been away for quite a while, which had exceeded his original expectations. He wondered how Medusa and the Underworld Palace that he had just created and then abandoned were doing. He told Xingxiu and then took her hand and left.
Unexpectedly, Hun Changqing had only taken one step when Xing Su pulled him back. After giving him a strong tug, Xing Su leaned backward, and Hun Changqing, pulled along, fell onto her soft, delicate body.
Hun Changqing was initially taken aback by Xing Su's sudden action, but then, seeing the tender, reluctant look in her eyes, he instantly understood her meaning. He smiled bitterly, realizing his plan to return to the Underworld Palace early was ruined, and he would probably have to wait a few more days.
However, Hun Changqing couldn't refuse; he was already over a year late, so a few more days wouldn't make a difference. He then forgot about the Underworld Palace and buried himself in his work.
Meanwhile, back in the Underworld Palace, Hun Changqing's lateness had plunged them into a predicament.