664: Chapter 75 Be Cautious When Meeting Your Online Lover in Real Life

"Are you all here looking for the sacred spirit pearl?"

Hearing the words of the Old Man of Anxi, Meng Li thought to himself "as expected," but on the surface, he showed a timely look of surprise, just like Jing Tian, Xu Changqing, and the others.

Then, Xu Changqing looked puzzled: "The sacred spirit pearl?"

According to his knowledge, there were only five spirit orbs—Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Lightning—and the sacred spirit pearl was not among them.

"Isn't it the water spirit pearl?" Jing Tian was equally bewildered.

He also knew something about the five spirit orbs, and given its name, the Underwater City should correspond to the water spirit pearl.

What was the deal with this sacred spirit pearl?

Hearing "water spirit pearl," Zi Xuan's heart tightened. Instantly combining it with the sacred spirit pearl, she vaguely formed some conjectures and hurriedly asked the Old Man of Anxi, "Elder, how did you know we were here for the spirit orbs? Where is... that sacred spirit pearl?"

The Old Man of Anxi didn't reply but looked puzzled instead, then began pinching his fingers as if performing some calculation.

Before long, a sudden rumble echoed through the cloudless, clear sky.

A sudden thunderclap erupted, but no lightning fell.

The Old Man of Anxi, however, looked as if he had been struck by lightning. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turned pale, and his entire being visibly withered.

Jing Tian, Xu Changqing, and the others were startled.

Jing Tian cried out on the spot, "Holy crap, why did thunder suddenly blast and why is he spitting blood?"

Xu Changqing and Zi Xuan also looked shocked, and the way they looked at the Old Man of Anxi changed.

With their experience, they naturally recognized the situation.

The Old Man of Anxi before them had just attempted to calculate the secrets of heaven and suffered a warning and backlash from the heavens.

The problem was that while many in the world intended to peer into the secrets of heaven, very few could elicit a reaction from the heavens, and every one of them was a master.

This showed that the old man before them was extremely extraordinary.

"I am Xu Changqing of the Shushan Sect. May I ask for Senior's honorable title?"

The Old Man of Anxi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and responded casually, "As for a name or title, this old man forgot it long ago. You can just call me 'Old Mo Tou'."

Then, his gaze shifted, scanning everyone present. He lingered slightly on Meng Li, a flash of realization crossing his eyes before he looked away.

"Senior Mo," Xu Changqing followed his lead, addressing him before asking, "I wonder what this sacred spirit pearl Senior mentioned is? I have only heard of the five spirit orbs, and the sacred spirit pearl is not among them."

Old Mo Tou said, "The sacred spirit pearl is a spirit orb formed from the residual glow emitted by the five spirit orbs. It is right there in the Underwater City."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jing Tian interrupted, "Old Mo Tou, that's not right."

"Underwater City, Underwater City—the sea corresponds to water."

"It should be the water spirit pearl. How could it be the sacred spirit pearl?"

Old Mo Tou was at a loss for words. After a moment, he said, "Who told you it corresponds like that? From what I know, there is only the sacred spirit pearl in the Underwater City, no water spirit pearl."

"Senior Mo, how do we enter this Underwater City?" Tang Xuejian asked.

Old Mo Tou replied, "This Underwater City, as well as the sacred spirit pearl, is related to a local legend in Anxi."

With that, he began walking toward the distant village.

Seeing this, Xu Changqing, Jing Tian, and the others glanced at each other and followed quickly.

Meng Li also followed, but he was muttering to himself in his heart.

Old Mo Tou?

"What legend?"

After catching up with Old Mo Tou, Jing Tian followed up with a question.

"It's a story of a man and a goddess falling in love, a long, long time ago..."

As Old Mo Tou told the tale, the story of Xi Feng and Shui Bi gradually unfolded before Meng Li, Jing Tian, and the others.

Simply put, many years ago, there was a man in Anxi named Xi Feng.

Xi Feng was born with an ugly appearance, but he had a voice like nature's own music and loved to sing. To let more people hear his singing, he learned to record his voice using conch shells and seashells, treating them like message bottles and putting them into the river.

At that time, the rivers of the Divine Realm and the Mortal world were connected.

The seashells and conch shells recording Xi Feng's singing drifted with the river to the banks of the Heavenly River, where they were picked up by Shui Bi, the goddess responsible for managing all the world's rivers.

Shui Bi was a voice enthusiast; the moment she heard Xi Feng's voice, she was instantly captivated.

Over time, Shui Bi couldn't resist following the river to Anxi, wanting to meet Xi Feng and stage an "online dating meetup."

Because of his ugly appearance, Xi Feng did not dare to meet Shui Bi.

One searched while the other hid, and through this back-and-forth, they developed a mutual affection.

Eventually, Xi Feng could not bear the feeling of loving but not daring to love, so on a night of the full moon, he summoned Chonglou, stating that he wanted a handsome appearance.

Chonglou told Xi Feng to trade his best quality and five hundred years of freedom for it.

Xi Feng agreed, trading his voice and five hundred years of freedom for a handsome appearance.

Afterward, he met Shui Bi as he wished, but Chonglou only gave him one day.

Once the time was up, Xi Feng was seized by Chonglou and taken back to the Demon Realm to start his job, becoming the Demon Lord's Messenger.

Before leaving, Xi Feng left a letter for Shui Bi, asking her to wait for him for five hundred years.

Shui Bi really did wait for him all that time.

Later, perhaps because she had waited too long and found it unbearable, she sealed herself into a stone statue and sank to the bottom of the sea.

When Meng Li watched the show for the first time in his first life, he was young and, like Zi Xuan, Xue Jian, and Long Kui, found it touching. When he watched it again after growing up, he only found it full of plot holes.

The biggest gripe was Xi Feng asking Shui Bi to wait for five hundred years.

What does five hundred years even mean?

Sun Wukong broke into the Underworld, wreaked havoc in the Dragon Palace and the Heavenly Court, and was only suppressed for that long.

Xu Changqing and Zi Xuan's three lifetimes only spanned a bit over two hundred years.

If Shui Bi were a Mortal, she would be buried in the yellow earth in a hundred years or so at most; five hundred years would be enough for several Reincarnations. How could she possibly remember Xi Feng?

Even if she were a goddess, immortal and not subject to Reincarnation, these five hundred years were still a trap.

Because the flow of time in the human world and the Demon Realm is different.

Therefore, the time Shui Bi and Xi Feng spent apart was not equivalent.

Five hundred years in the human world is only a bit over a day in the Demon Realm, not even two days.

Even this wasn't the worst part.

What was even worse was that, based on the original plot, the five hundred years Chonglou mentioned were likely based on the Demon Realm's time standard.

And three days in the Demon Realm is a thousand years in the human world!

Five hundred years in the Demon Realm... in the human world, that's equivalent to an eternity!

No wonder Shui Bi would Seal herself into a stone statue; without doing so, she simply couldn't have endured it.

Even a battle maniac like Chonglou couldn't help but complain about this.

When he came to seize Xi Feng to start his job in the Demon Realm as agreed, he saw the sleeping Shui Bi and, not understanding, asked Xi Feng: "You gave up five hundred years of freedom just for this woman?"

Xi Feng replied: "This is the person I love most."

Chonglou immediately retorted: "You've left five hundred years of loneliness to her..."

After hearing this story, Lan Kui couldn't help but say sympathetically, "Shui Bi is so pitiful, waiting all alone for so many years."

Zi Xuan felt the same way and immediately chimed in, "That's how women are; to wait for someone, they are willing to endure any number of years."

As she spoke, she looked at Xu Changqing.

Xu Changqing: "..."

Jing Tian couldn't stand the atmosphere and hurriedly changed the subject, asking Old Mo Tou, "Old man, this story you told is indeed touching, but what does it have to do with the sacred spirit pearl?"

...