Page 409

"How would I know what the elder is asking now is meaningless, isn’t it?"

Chen Qing replied helplessly to the other party’s question, not understanding why so many people cared about this. At this crucial juncture, what was the point of asking?

A few moments of silence passed before the other party asked again, "Do you really know the whereabouts of the Zitai?"

"Actually, I don’t know..." Chen Qing shook his head honestly, "but I know all of the most secret locations of the West Sea Dragon Palace, so as long as you tell me the details, I’m very likely to find it."

"Is that so?" one of them said, "But how can we trust that once you hear the details, you won’t abandon us and search on your own? After all, you have the Nine Heavens Mirror, and you could easily leave, but we can’t... "

"If the elders are not at ease, naturally we can establish a Magician’s Technique," Chen Qing said with a smile.

"Technique?" Another one scoffed, "Can a common technique bind you? You’re so familiar with the outside environment, just one trap and we might end up dead without a complete corpse. If we don’t die at your own hands, which technique could restrain you?"

Chen Qing smiled. These two guys were old hands at the game, clearly understanding the loopholes in techniques.

Indeed, often techniques were a means of security when two opposing forces cooperated, but they weren’t infallible.

The more complex the situation, the harder it was to determine a technique’s judgment.

For example, now the judgment was to mutually aid and not attack each other. However, a technique would only judge your actions, not your thoughts. And if one died from external factors, such as a trap or some kind of attack from another species, it was hard for the technique to make a judgment.

Therefore, a clever technique, when forming a contract, would be very cautious, with each condition detailed. And in the current situation, Chen Qing clearly had more intelligence, which was very disadvantageous for the two of them.

"How about this..." Chen Qing said with a smile, "Let us establish such a technique: the three of us shall aid each other and share our lifeforces. If one is injured, the other two can supply life energy to it, and if one dies, then all three will die. How about it?"

"This..." The two Magicians were stunned, not expecting the other party to be so ruthless. Dare to establish such a technique?

"What about time?" one of them asked calmly.

"This technique will last until we safely leave the Dragon Palace, how’s that?"

The two fell silent, this condition... from all aspects, indeed appeared to be flawless. Chen Qing was clearly not a pushover, and there was no need for him to risk his own life by dragging them down with him. It was very clear that he intended genuine cooperation.

"No objections, so shall we establish the technique?"

"Use ours!" The two Magicians’ expressions tightened, and they spoke in unison.

Obviously, the tragic death of their leader made them extremely wary of this young man before them!

"Alright..." Chen Qing smiled, "Elders, please..."

One Magician took a deep breath, cut open a slit over his heart, and pulled out his heart right there, floating in mid-air, forming a giant Rune Formation.

"Heart Oath..." Chen Qing narrowed his eyes, "I see you are the elders of the Baili Family."

"You’ve heard of the Baili Family?" the two Magicians looked at Chen Qing ghostly, "We learned from that woman, the Baili Family disappeared tens of thousands of years ago."

"Ah, is that so..."

Chen Qing was slightly surprised in his heart. He wasn’t the one planning the history of this world, but whenever a plot came up, he personally reviewed it and participated in various developments. He could recite much of this world’s history more fluently than even his high school textbooks.

He clearly remembered, the Baili Family.

.. wielded top-tier Gu arts and had survived until the end of the previous dynasty, a hidden powerhouse, with the Ancient Demon God Temple behind them.

If players encountered the Baili Family’s side quests, they could unlock the inheritance of the Ancient Demon Hall earlier.

How come here the Baili Family had disappeared tens of thousands of years ago?

If it was said to have been destroyed a thousand years ago, that could be explained to some extent.

After all, the last thousand years of the plot, without the players, had completely escaped his control, especially those few hundred years of turbulence under the so-called King of Qin, a transmigrator.

That period of history was completely a mystery to him.

But tens of thousands of years ago... there shouldn’t be a mistake, right?

Could it be...

An inexplicable thought surfaced in Chen Qing’s mind, causing an unprecedented panic within him.

"Youngster? What are you hesitating about? Are you not trusting in my technique’s contract?" The Magician spoke darkly.

"Of course not!" Chen Qing came back to his senses and smiled, "The elder’s Heart Technique is full of sincerity, and I have no objections."

A Heart Technique was a very solemn means among contractual techniques, causing great harm to oneself and enforcing a strong constraint on others. Indeed suitable for the current situation.

After carefully reviewing the content of the technique, Chen Qing didn’t hesitate; he bit the tip of his finger and offered his own blood.

Blood hovered in midair before swiftly being drawn into the runes. Chen Qing looked at another magician, who was honest enough to bite his fingertip immediately.

In the next instant, the three of them were bound together by a blood chain.

"The technique is complete. Those bound by the contract, united in life and death, shall aid and guard each other, never to betray!

" The old magician’s voice was hoarse, yet his enunciation was clear.

He watched Chen Qing intently before the technique was completed, fearing he might disrupt the process at this critical juncture.

For once the technique had taken effect, at least for a short time, he would not be able to harm them.

But Chen Qing seemed to be genuinely cooperative. Until the contract of the technique was sealed, he made no moves, and only when the blood chain disappeared did the two relax slightly.

"Can the elders speak now?"

Finally lowering their guard somewhat, the two began to speak of causes and consequences.

"This purple embryo was conceived due to the schemes plotted against a Dragon Maiden of the West Sea."

"Dragon Maiden? Which Princess?" Chen Qing’s eyes lit up as he asked.

Before the West Sea was unsealed, there were only two Dragon Maidens, the Western Sea Princess, Ao Zhen, a war god amongst the younger generation known for her illustrious military achievements, famous throughout the Four Seas.

With a reputation equal to that of the eldest Dragon Son of the Southern Sea, she held high prestige in the West Sea.

The Old Dragon King nearly entrusted her with half of the military power, giving her a lofty status!

The second princess, Ao Ling, was known as a famous military strategist of the West Sea, assisting Elder Sister Zhang and also possessing the strongest talent for formations among her descendants in the West Sea.

Capable of controlling the Yaksha Demon Formation on her own, she was the designated future elder of the law cultivators of the West Sea, irreplaceable in her position.

It was once difficult to imagine that any mortal could scheme against either of these figures—how could they accept their eyes being gouged out and cooperate in giving birth to a purple embryo?

You must know that if a Dragon Maiden wanted to commit suicide, no one could stop her. Forcing the birth of a purple embryo, theoretically, should be impossible without the Dragon Maiden’s cooperation...

"It’s not the two princesses you’re familiar with. As you can imagine, with their noble status in the Dragon Palace, how could they possibly be used for creating a purple embryo?"

"Oh?"

"Years ago, before she bore the purple embryo, that distinguished person had given birth to a Dragon Daughter for the Dragon Palace."

"A bastard child?" Chen Qing immediately understood!

A born out of wedlock Dragon Maiden. Because she brought shame to the Dragon King, her identity might not have been publicly acknowledged and was not highly regarded, which provided the opportunity!

"No matter what, she was still the born daughter of the Celestial Serpent Palace’s Empress, right? Was she that ruthless?"

"To achieve great things, one must be merciless, no?

" The magician from before looked at Chen Qing with amusement, "Moreover, the Celestial Serpent Palace and the Dragon Palace have different views on offspring; they have never cherished their progeny as much.

Born from the Celestial Serpent Palace, the Empress naturally possessed a different mentality and methods. "

"That makes sense..."

Chen Qing roughly understood the situation.

A Dragon Daughter had only one chance to bear a purple embryo.

The Empress born from the Celestial Serpent Palace had already given birth to one and raised King Gui Xiang.

She was expected to rise to power a thousand years ago at the occurrence of the Ghost King Hall at the Path of Yin and Yang, becoming one of the infamous Four Ghost Emperors, a figure of dread.

During the last visit to the Path of Yin and Yang, it was clear that King Gui Xiang’s physical form was absent for some reason, and it seemed likely that someone wanted to reproduce a second King Gui Xiang and had thus schemed against their own daughter.

"What happened next..." Chen Qing pressed on.

"The Dragon King was extremely cold towards that daughter, and having been neglected since childhood, she was susceptible to temptation. With just a little kindness and manipulation from the Empress, it was natural to sway that foolish woman’s mind," the magician explained without going into detail, "Eventually, she consented to the newly ascended young Emperor, but as you know, the Dragon Palace has zero tolerance for purple embryos. Once the information was leaked, the Western Sea Princess personally led the capture team, and although the Empress tried her best to protect her, the Dragon Palace’s influence was overwhelming, and they successfully retrieved the purple embryo back to the Dragon Palace. "

"I see..." Chen Qing nodded, "The purple embryo is in the Dragon Palace, while the Dragon Daughter is with you, which is why you gouged out the Dragon Daughter’s eyes and came looking for treasure, right?"

The two did not refute; such matters were beyond dispute, especially considering that even the mother who orchestrated it had not objected—who were they to call the scheme cruel?

"The Princess Royale led the team? Is there any other intelligence?"

"We don’t know about other intelligence..." The two shook their heads.

"The Third Prince, Ao Xin, likely doesn’t know about the existence of this object, so it’s very possible the Princess Royale concealed it."

"Oh?" The eyes of the two magicians brightened, "How so?"

"Let’s talk about that later... Time is urgent; let’s depart."

"Alright!"

The two hurried to follow Chen Qing, but they had hardly taken a few steps when the two ancient sorcerers were suddenly torn into countless pieces!!