148: Palace intrigue?

"Come out, Little Silly Crow!"

Xu Le waved his staff, and Little Silly Crow, having waited for a long time, flew out and immediately cast the "Soul Sacrifice" Skill.

A blood-colored altar appeared, pinning the poisonous Dragon in place, followed by a terrifying suction force that dragged it off to an unknown location.

【Experience + 100,000,000】

Whoosh!

A beam of white light rose, and Xu Le leveled up to 72.

Appearing along with it were nine Soul fragments in his palm.

Swish!

The river of blood on the ground instantly dried up, flowing back into the Blood Spring Pearl, which then cracked open, its blood-colored luster vanishing as it turned gray and dim.

It would probably take many years for it to recover, and he would still need to capture a suitable creature to act as the artifact spirit.

Beside it lay a yellowed piece of paper, covered in crooked, illegible scribbles.

Xu Le bent down to pick up the broken pearl and the yellow paper, and Fan Wei, who had been stunned, finally came to his senses and applauded.

"Brother, to think you could completely slay the Void poisonous Dragon—truly, a hero among youths!"

"Hahaha, I owe it to your help, Brother; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to hold on." Xu Le did not skimp on the flattery.

The two sat under the Little Peach Tree, waiting for their health bars to recover, exchanging compliments, and growing a bit more familiar with each other.

Xu Le took out the yellow paper and studied it carefully, determining that it wasn't some code or mark, but a strange, unknown script.

Fan Wei frowned, seemingly unsure: "This looks like the Ancient Void Script, the oldest writing in this world."

"Unfortunately, I've only heard of it; the only person who might know it…"

Fan Wei scanned left and right, and after confirming no one was around, sighed in a low voice: "Is Zhang Xiangyang."

Xu Le's heart stirred; he had previously been told to be careful of the Great Teacher of Supreme Goodness, and now that he was mentioned again, could there really be an issue?

He asked calmly: "What do you mean?"

Fan Wei sighed repeatedly before saying gloomily: "He is likely the Heart Buddha."

???

Xu Le thought about the information he had seen through the Divine Eye and chuckled: "No way! The Skill he used just now didn't seem to have any Buddhist light."

"You don't believe me?"

Fan Wei seemed even more depressed, "My husband doesn't believe it either."

Husband?

Xu Le widened his eyes, looked at the old man who appeared to be seventy or eighty years old, and immediately realized he must mean Gong Yuan.

Fan Wei was immersed in his gloom and didn't notice Xu Le's strange expression, his gaze unfocused as he recalled the past.

"I don't want him to be the Heart Buddha either."

"We've been friends for over forty years; if he hadn't pulled me up back then, I would have long been buried in the belly of a Void Horned Python."

"But he has changed!"

"In the past, he often said, 'Those not of our kind will have different hearts.'"

"But three years ago, he began taking on disciples on a massive scale and even mastered many rare spatial Spells."

As Fan Wei spoke, his eyes grew increasingly cold, and the words he spat out seemed to be squeezed out through gritted teeth.

"Can you imagine Void Creatures that originally walked on all fours suddenly standing up, their forms becoming increasingly similar to humans?"

Xu Le was stunned. The images of the Ox Person, Dog Person, and the others flashed through his mind. If Fan Wei hadn't mentioned it, he would never have thought they once walked on four legs; their forms, compared to humans, were no different except for their palms and feet.

No wonder the two kept their distance along the way; even when Fan Wei finished taking the lead, he still stood three meters behind the Great Teacher of Supreme Goodness.

And that three-meter distance was never broken.

Along the way, the Great Teacher of Supreme Goodness seemed very familiar with everything.

He always gave off a sense of confidence, as if he were in control of the whole situation.

Xu Le shook his head and cast the Divine Eye to examine the yellow paper in his hand.

【Item】Heart Buddha Diary

【Grade】legendary grade

【Item Details】A piece of paper containing a trace of the Heart Buddha's divinity; it is incorruptible and immortal.

Simple information; unless the target was confirmed to be the Heart Buddha, it was almost useless.

"Wait, Heart Buddha divinity."

"I have some too!"

Xu Le's heart stirred; as the Heart Buddha divinity circulated, the text on the yellow paper was no longer a secret.

[That day, when I woke up, the ground was covered in corpses. My Master, Junior Martial Uncle, and Senior Brothers were all dead; even the devilish refugees were all dead.]

[The murderer… I remember I acted; I pierced through the chest of a refugee…]

[The Gate of Hell appeared before me. Is this asking me to accept judgment? Very well, let me atone for all my sins.]

[But my shadow doesn't think so. No, it is not my shadow; it is a demon, lurking within my Soul.]

[It wants to replace me…]

[Get out, get out!]

"So, that monk was contaminated by the Heart Buddha a long time ago, then step-by-step subjected to Possession. The monk had no regrets in the process; the only change was his shadow."

Xu Le made his judgment, and inadvertently discovered that his own shadow also seemed a bit strange.

"Something's wrong!"

"There really is a reason for this shadow."

The moment Xu Le realized this, he saw his own shadow stand up, and without any hesitation, he smashed a "Mental Shock" at it.

"Squeak!"

The shadow let out a shrill scream, hurriedly darted backward, wiggled its butt, and hid directly into other shadows.

Xu Le immediately cast "Mind Link" and sensed the black shadow creeping toward Wu Shouyi.

It had to be said that the concealment of those demon creatures was very strong; before they were exposed, even Mind Link couldn't find them.

Xu Le hurried with all his might and soon lost his original direction.

He cast "Mind Link" again, but the shadow had already hidden, and he couldn't find it at all.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft…"

Wu Shouyi popped out and secretly greeted Xu Le.

?

The relationship between the two was average; they had almost no interaction. Now that he had suddenly jumped out, it definitely wasn't just to say hello.

"Let's form an alliance."

"Why?" Xu Le was surprised.

Given the strength and fighting will the other party had displayed, Xu Le wouldn't even care if he was given away for free.

Wu Shouyi sneered: "There are two things in the world that cannot be stared at: the sun and the human heart."

"We are the only ordinary humans in the entire team; the other three have all been assimilated by the Void. If we return to Blue Star, they will absolutely not allow themselves to leave so many flaws behind."

"If it were you, what would you do?"

Xu Le's expression changed drastically. The words were crude but the reasoning was sound; if his own secrets were threatened, he would certainly strike a lethal blow the moment he returned to Blue Star.

But forming an alliance with him…

An eagle does not flock with sparrows.

Otherwise, if he were tricked to his death, he wouldn't even have a chance to cry.

As if guessing Xu Le's thoughts, Wu Shouyi raised his hand: "I accidentally discovered the location of a treasure just now; if you agree to team up, I can share it with you."

"If there's a treasure, why don't you take it yourself?" Xu Le laughed.

Up until now, he hadn't discovered that the other party had such a generous side.