Chapter 140: Okay!
Shi Yi already understood why the Heaven Mending Pavilion's people had come searching for the Undying Divine Spring—they needed it to rejuvenate the Divine Vine Spirit Offering, the sacred entity sustaining their sect's lifeblood.
But here was the question:
Was it that the Heaven Mending Pavilion couldn't locate the True Primordial Water, or didn't know where it was, and had to settle for the Undying Divine Spring instead?
Or—more fundamentally—
If the True Primordial Water was the stand-in for the Undying Divine Spring… then which of the two sacred liquids truly held the power to restore the vitality of the Pavilion's Divine Vine?
That couldn't be answered now. Not without seeing the Undying Divine Spring for themselves.
One possibility was that Yu Zimo, quietly chanting the Rain Clan's ancestral incantations, had awakened some ancient resonance within the True Primordial Water. Her spiritual technique created an almost familial link between her and the living spring.
So far, the True Primordial Water had only tried to scare them off with illusions. Once those were pierced, it simply summoned a host of skeletal guardians—more a warning than a true defense.
But as the group inched closer, the True Primordial Water began to show signs of panic. Ripples stirred its surface like the nervous heartbeat of a girl afraid of strangers.
"You bad people… why have you come to wake me up?"
A faint will emerged from the spring, barely a whisper, soft and uncertain. Confused. Half-asleep.
It had been disturbed centuries ago. And now, once more, strangers threatened its peace. Why couldn't it just sleep?
It had morning grumpiness too, apparently.
"I'm a descendant of the Rain God," Yu Zimo said gently. "Like you. I mean no harm."
She moved forward alone, shielding Shi Yi and Shi Hao with an outstretched hand. Her tone was maternal—reassuring, familiar. And it worked. The True Primordial Water, still dazed, relaxed. It even dismissed the skeletal guardians, clearing a path.
But just as Yu Zimo neared the spring and reached out to touch its surface—
The desert floor split open.
A beam of emerald light burst from below, revealing a young Divine Vine, crystalline and serpentine, several feet long.
Its thick roots coiled like a flood dragon.
If the elders of the Heaven Mending Pavilion had been present, they would've recognized it instantly: this was the juvenile form of their Divine Vine Spirit Offering—the living soul meant to grow into a guardian of their sacred lands.
Every divine relic must be defended by a powerful beast or spirit. Clearly, this vine had bathed in the essence of the True Primordial Water, which had nourished its body and magnified its aura.
"Outsiders, leave now!" the Divine Vine's voice thundered.
"I'm from the Rain Cl—"
Yu Zimo barely got the words out before the vine's body shimmered with light and transformed into a massive Azure Dragon, its eyes burning with hostility.
But something was off.
The Azure Dragon felt… illusory. Like a young fox borrowing the authority of a tiger.
"I don't care who you are. I won't let you trick her."
"Trick me how?" came the soft voice of the True Primordial Water.
"They'll eat you!" the Divine Vine replied bluntly.
"Eat me…?"
The spring's voice trembled. It didn't really understand what being "eaten" meant, but the very word conjured dread. Its spiritual instinct recoiled.
That wasn't surprising.
Even spiritual beings fear annihilation.
In fact—if Shi Yi hadn't changed the course of fate, that's exactly what would have happened. In a timeline long since erased, the Rain Clan had subdued the True Primordial Water. And in the end, Shi Hao had consumed it whole.
It wasn't cruelty. In that lost history, the Rain Clan and Shi Hao were mortal enemies, locked in a deathmatch. He couldn't afford to let them gain such power.
Still, it was a tragedy.
Had Shi Hao preserved the True Primordial Water rather than devour it, it might've been used to restore the Divine Vine Spirit Offering.
But that wasn't the mission.
The Heaven Mending Pavilion had tasked him with retrieving the Undying Divine Spring, not the True Primordial Water. He had no reason to preserve it.
Maybe fate had decreed the vine's demise. Shi Hao had returned with nothing but a handful of sand soaked in the spring's remnants.
Was it his fault?
Not at all.
That Shi Hao hadn't even unlocked the Ten Heavenly Passages. He was being hunted across the land. Survival alone had been a miracle.
Now, though?
Now he was unmatched. His Spirit Transformation Realm was perfected, and he moved through the Hundred Broken Mountains like a sovereign among ants.
One was a hell-level dungeon. The other? A tutorial zone.
Back to the present—
With things spiraling and the True Primordial Water about to bolt, Yu Zimo sighed, then activated her Ninefold Heavenly Realms. She drew out an ancient, nearly ruined scroll: a Decree of the Rain God.
It pulsed with soft radiance. A pressure filled the air, not overwhelming, but undeniable.
"That's… a Divine Decree!" cried the Crimson Firebird.
"It's cracked. Only good for showing credentials now. One hard knock, and it'll turn to dust."
The Nine-Headed Golden Lion sniffed arrogantly, proud of its knowledge.
"Brother," Shi Hao whispered, eyes gleaming, "is that a real Divine Decree?"
"Don't drool on ancient artifacts." Shi Yi cuffed him lightly. "That decree once safeguarded the Rain Clan when disaster struck Wu King Manor. It's long spent. What's left is just ceremonial."
Shi Yi couldn't help feeling that Shi Hao had gone off-track. Always looking to devour everything in sight, eyes bigger than his stomach.
Yu Zimo stepped forward, Divine Decree in hand, its fading divine might casting a halo around her. She looked like a goddess descending to the mortal plane. Peaceful. Gentle. Safe.
The Divine Vine and True Primordial Water both felt it—this woman wasn't an enemy.
"I don't think she's bad," said the spring softly.
"She might not be," the vine admitted. It was still young—more cautious than the spring, but not immune to the feeling of kinship.
Under the Decree's aura, Yu Zimo's presence felt like home.
"The world is vast out there. Will you come with me?" Her voice was warm, unhurried.
"I'll come," said the spring, "but… you can't lie to me!"
Its tone was so innocent, it made one want to trick it just a little.
"No lies," Yu Zimo said. She meant it.
She wouldn't consume the True Primordial Water. Doing so would be short-sighted. The spring had intelligence—it could replenish itself. Like shearing a sheep: so long as it lives, the wool keeps coming.
But if you eat the sheep?
You've killed the goose that lays golden eggs.
"Hmm…"
Shi Hao's eyes gleamed. He sidled up and asked, "Since you're coming with us anyway, could I… maybe… have the bones of all those ancient creatures you scared us with earlier?"
He'd had his eye on those treasures for a while now. The runes etched into the bones were mouth-watering.
"Okay!" the True Primordial Water replied cheerfully.
It was simple-minded. Since it was leaving anyway, it had no use for those remains.