Free Web NovelChapter 241: Chapter 240: It Was Him
On Northern Boundary Peak, [Wind]’s eyes widened in horror. Standing at the outermost edge of the Enlightenment Fruit Tree, he watched helplessly as Jiang Qiu, who had been so close to claiming the Enlightenment Fruit, collapsed. A large pool of black, mud-like light dispersed from beneath Jiang Qiu’s feet, and behind him, a man with a tranquil expression flicked the fresh red blood from his hand.
’That person...?’
’He’s a Chosen One, too!’
[Wind] vaguely remembered seeing his face before, though he’d never paid close attention. Perhaps he had just happened to be in his line of sight during a fleeting glance.
His Realm wasn’t even high—he had barely entered the Steel Bone Realm—yet he exuded an aura that completely defied his station. It was as if the phantom of a Demon Emperor was emerging from his very soul, suppressing everything in its vicinity.
Just like that, he had emerged from the ground as if from thin air, torn out Jiang Qiu’s heart in an instant, and now stood nonchalantly right beneath the Enlightenment Fruit, utterly unfazed by the mountain-like pressure.
He glanced back, his gaze cold and merciless, like a behemoth from the abyss surveying the ants of the mortal world. "It seems the methods [Chen] prepared for you weren’t quite sufficient."
His nonchalant tone was like that of someone teasing a powerful, old rival, laced with a hint of mockery.
At that moment, [Wind]’s heart skipped a beat. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his voice trembling from his grievous internal injuries. "You... you can actually enter the Northern Wilderness’s Great Secret Realm in person?!"
...
In the void, the body of [Extreme] materialized following his death, just as the scene below became clear to all observers.
The moment the last of the surviving Chosen Ones ascended Northern Boundary Peak, the white mist enshrouding the summit dissipated. A scene that had been hidden from view was revealed before everyone’s eyes, and their hearts began to beat a little faster. They saw that Jiang Qiu alone had already walked beneath the Enlightenment Fruit, while [Wind] was halted at the very edge of the Enlightenment Fruit Tree’s reach, unable to take another step against the immense pressure.
At this, many of the Chosen Ones were inwardly stunned. ’How could Jiang Qiu have reached such a level of Cultivation in just twenty short years in the Northern Boundary?’
Some of them, despite pouring in vast resources, had barely managed to reach the Jade Sinew Realm, only to be wiped out single-handedly by a Great Witch of the Northern Boundary Mountain Demon Clan. Even in death, they couldn’t fathom what advantages the other Chosen Ones must have had to ascend the peak.
As they could see, the Ice Prison and Fire Tower that had manifested around Jiang Qiu were clearly no ordinary Cultivation Techniques. They didn’t even resemble the common techniques of the Xia Country. This was surely beyond the scope of the Jade Sinew Realm.
The gulf in talent was absurd.
Moreover, even without seeing the Enlightenment Fruit Tree firsthand, they could sense the formidable power of that strange Ancient Rune Array Hub. The pressure one would have to withstand at its very center must be astronomical.
Otherwise, [Wind] wouldn’t have been forced to the edge, unable to take another step.
But what was interesting was how [Wind] had also appeared on Northern Boundary Peak. Hadn’t he already been slain by Jiang Qiu?
’He can come back to life?’
When Feng Li’s figure failed to appear in the void, they had guessed he might still be alive in the Northern Boundary. It wasn’t a total shock, but it was still galling. ’I only get one life, but this guy can be revived?’
’And he’s even stronger now!’
At this point, even Tang Guang and Jes couldn’t help but reflect that Jiang Qiu’s talent and fortune were both impeccable. It was only right that he should be the one to claim the Enlightenment Fruit.
’It’s just a shame we didn’t get to see how [Extreme]—the one who perfectly inherited the bloodline of the Northern Boundary Mountain Demon Clan—actually died...’
’Once Jiang Qiu picks the Enlightenment Fruit, the conflict among the Chosen Ones will be over.’
Tang Guang mused to himself, unable to stop imagining how powerful Jiang Qiu would become after using the Enlightenment Fruit to reach the Grandmaster Realm.
But the thought had barely formed when a nearly imperceptible spatial tremor emanated from beneath the Enlightenment Fruit Tree on Northern Boundary Peak. A black Spirit Charm seeped out from under Jiang Qiu’s feet. In a mere instant, the figure of a young man solidified from nothing, and with a sickening SQUELCH, his hand tore through Jiang Qiu’s heart.
The instant he appeared, the expressions of all who watched changed. No one had ever imagined such an outcome.
’How did he appear?’
’How did he get past the array hub?!’
’And who the hell even is he?!’
Many of them had never seen him or even heard his name. They had been under the impression that there were only nine contestants in this battle for the Chosen One.
But Tang Guang and Jes knew with chilling clarity that they hadn’t just seen him before—they had been in close contact with him. One could even say they had faced life and death together, sharing in adversity!
At this moment, a tremor went through them both. They felt like soldiers who had fought and died in great battles for a seemingly righteous general, only for their lingering souls to discover, years later, that they had been on the side of the rebels all along.
’He’s a Chosen One too?!’
This was Tang Guang’s first thought, and his mind ground to a halt.
Jes was even more shaken, his pupils contracting in shock as memories flooded his mind, starting with the coming-of-age ceremony...
His Initial Land hadn’t been particularly great. The South Mountain Tribe was already in decline, situated in the inconvenient and treacherous South Mountain Range. Back then, he had no grand plans; he just focused on cultivating with all his might.
Back then, he still considered himself a peerless prodigy who was destined to vie for the Enlightenment Fruit, and he had smoothly awakened his Bloodline Talent after the ceremony.
Around the same time, a few small, nearby tribes also held their ceremonies, and their Water of Origin was all supplied by the Witch Priest of the South Mountain Tribe.
At the time, the sister of [Ice], the Young Master of the South Mountain Tribe, had sought him out again, casually sharing some gossip she’d heard—like how the most talented youth of a small tribe had refused to take the Water of Origin, giving up the chance to purify his bloodline.
Of course, he knew she was just telling him these things because she was bored and looking for an excuse to get close to him, so he’d paid it no mind.
He hadn’t paid it much mind afterward, not until it was time for all the tribes’ geniuses to go to the North Sea to open the Ancestral Ruins and receive their inheritance.
The inheritance required a high purity of Luminous Blood; the purer the blood, the greater the legacy one would receive. But back then, there had been one "genius" who received absolutely nothing.
Receiving zero inheritance wasn’t unheard of; after all, some of the smaller tribes were truly pathetic and lacked any geniuses worth mentioning.
But the genius who had received nothing was the very same one [Ice]’s sister had mentioned—the one from the small tribe who had refused to take the Water of Origin.
From the Stone Forest Tribe, [Eight].
And the person who had just appeared out of nowhere to kill Jiang Qiu... was him!
As all these memories crashed into Jes’s mind like a tsunami, sweeping away all other jumbled thoughts, the strange feelings he’d had during his various encounters with [Eight] began to spring up one after another.
’No wonder he had the Stone Forest Tribe—the one I was staying with—give so many of their women to North Snow! It was all to lower the guard of people like Jiang Qiu and me. He really did build up a good image for himself.’
’When we climbed Northern Boundary Mountain together, I really thought you were just a frog at the bottom of a well, longing to see the moon—indomitable, but ignorant. I never imagined it was all an act.’
’Damn it all!’
Jes was furious. Rage surged in his chest, and his face flushed red. He truly hadn’t sensed anything abnormal about [Eight] during their time in the Northern Boundary. The man’s methods for concealing his aura were simply divine, like a giant python hiding in the abyss.
At the same time, he had to hand it to him. The guy had hidden himself so deeply that Jes truly had never detected a thing.
’Perhaps this is just the trademark of the Sang Island Demon Clan.’
Despicable, shameless, and treacherous.
