642: Chapter 632 Senichi (7)

"The Superior One you have been looking for is me."

As his voice fell, the stone hall went silent for a moment before the entire room erupted into chaos.

"What did you say?"

"The Superior One?"

"He is The Superior One?"

"Impossible!"

Elder Ji stood where he was, slowly pressing his Black Wooden Staff against the ground, his knuckles visibly tightening.

Ah Lie was the first to snap back to his senses. His expression changed, and he stepped forward to block the way.

"What nonsense are you talking?"

"How could The Superior One look like you?"

After speaking, he felt his words were too blunt, but he couldn't care less at the moment.

The newcomer stood at the entrance of the stone hall. He was tall, but his robes were very plain, making him look like someone who had stepped out of an ancient Stone Tablet.

He did not look at Ah Lie, only raising his eyes to gaze at the Nine Mountains outside the hall.

"What I look like is not important."

"What is important is that you need me."

With that single sentence, the hall fell silent once more.

Qin Yun was in no hurry to speak.

Standing behind the crowd, his Heart Heavy Pupils swept over the other party.

This person was too young.

It was not that his face looked young, but that his traces of life were too shallow.

Yet standing there, his cultivation was extremely high, a true existence at the Immortal level.

This was not something anyone in the Chishan Tribe could compare to.

And it was absolutely not an act.

Qin Yun made his first judgment in his mind.

Even if this person was not "The Superior One" the Chishan Tribe spoke of, he must have an extremely deep connection with him.

At this moment, the man finally withdrew his gaze and let it fall upon everyone in the hall.

"All of you, rise."

He did not speak loudly, but his words pressed down like a rule.

"Why are you kneeling?"

The people of the Chishan Tribe looked at each other, none of them daring to actually stand up.

Elder Ji slowly bent his waist and performed a salute first.

The salute was not heavy, yet extremely steady.

"Elder Ji greets The Superior One."

Ah Lie's eyelids twitched. It was as if he had been struck by those words, and he froze completely.

He did not believe it.

But Elder Ji had already knelt.

Since the oldest person in the tribe had acknowledged him, no matter how stubborn Ah Lie was, he couldn't openly defy it.

The newcomer glanced at Elder Ji and nodded faintly.

"That you still recognize me shows you haven't completely forgotten the ancestral teachings."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the Chishan Tribe members changed instantly.

It was not because of any pressure.

It was because these words carried a sense of familiarity that only someone who had personally experienced those times would possess.

Elder Ji's voice tightened.

"Over the years, the tribe has been holding on solely by relying on the Life Pattern."

The newcomer did not rush to answer, only turning his head to look at the Nine Mountains.

"The Life Pattern is not holding things up."

"It is sealing them."

The faces of many in the hall turned pale.

"Sealing?"

"What does that mean?"

The newcomer raised his hand and pointed at the nine giant mountains outside the hall.

"The Nine Mountains are not mountains."

"They are locks."

"You think you are performing the Sacrificial Mountain, but you are actually guarding the Seal."

Ah Lie was dazed by what he heard, but he remained stubborn.

"Impossible."

"Our ancestors made it clear that the Nine Mountains are a blessed land left by The Superior One, the root that protects the Chishan Tribe."

The newcomer glanced at him.

"Your ancestors were half right."

"It is a blessed land, but also a sealed land."

"It can protect you, and it can also trap it."

When these words came out, even Qin Yun cast an extra glance at him.

He spoke too smoothly.

So smoothly that it seemed as if these arrangements had been personally laid down by him.

Yet, Qin Yun still felt something was off.

This wrongness was not in his words.

It was in his Qi.

This person knew too much, yet lacked the profound depth that only someone who had truly lived through long ages would possess.

He was more like a successor or an agent.

Or perhaps, someone who had been entrusted with many matters.

At this moment, the newcomer spoke again.

"The Life Pattern of the Chishan Tribe was never a gift."

"It is a chain."

"Every time you hold a sacrificial ceremony, you are sending down Life Patterns to suppress the Nine-Headed Phoenix."

"The Life Pattern suppresses the Nine-Headed Phoenix, and in return, it feeds back the power of the Nine-Headed Phoenix to you."

"If it wakes slowly, you live longer."

"If it wakes quickly, you will die quickly."

A collective gasp filled the hall.

Ah Lie's face was pale, but he still forced himself to ask.

"The Nine-Headed Phoenix?"

"Is that not The Superior One?"

The newcomer said calmly, "No."

"That is an evil god."

"An evil god sealed here."

"What your generations have worshiped is not a god."

"It is a prison."

At this, the faces of everyone in the hall changed completely.

Someone cursed out loud.

"Nonsense!"

"We have guarded this for so many years, how could it be a prison!"

"The Superior One could not have lied to us!"

The newcomer did not grow angry, merely raising his hand to point toward the Ancestral Wall.

"Do you really think that light on the Ancestral Wall was meant for you to look at?"

"It was to tell descendants that the Seal is still intact."

"It was not for you to worship every day."

"Every time you send the Life Pattern up, you are not seeking blessings, but extending the lock."

Having said that, he swept his gaze over the crowd once more.

"It is just that over these years, someone tampered with what they shouldn't have."

"The Life Pattern chain was utilized in reverse, and the Nine-Headed Phoenix began to siphon back through your Life Patterns."

"From stealing it secretly to draining it openly."

"If this drags on any longer, it will crawl out of the Seal."

A dead silence fell over the hall.

This time, even Ah Lie, who loved to talk back the most, was speechless.

Because these things sounded far too much like the truth.

So real that it sent a chill down everyone's spine.

Elder Ji's throat tightened as he slowly raised his head.

"The Superior One, was it you who sealed the Nine-Headed Phoenix back then?"

"And was the Life Pattern also bestowed by you?"

The newcomer nodded.

"It was me."

"When it intruded into this place back then, I suppressed it beneath the Nine Mountains, then used the Life Pattern as a chain, letting your lineage guard it generation after generation."

"It was supposed to hold for a very long time."

"But later, someone touched the core sacrificial steps."

Chi Li stood in the corner. His complexion was not good, but he still stood very straight.

Ah Lie was the first to explode.

"It really was your father!"

"I knew there was something wrong with Chi Heng's lineage!"

"If not for him back then, how could the stockade have become like this!"

As his emotions flared, his voice grew aggressive.

The others were originally still dazed, but upon hearing Chi Heng's name, they seemed to find an outlet, pouring out the resentment they had suppressed for many years all at once.

"Chi Heng harmed the entire tribe!"

"Chi Li should have died in the mountains along with him!"

"Hand him over!"

"Cut off the root of the trouble!"

For a moment, curses rang out from all corners of the stone hall.

Chi Li stood there with no expression on his face, only the depths of his eyes sinking slightly.

He did not defend himself.

Nor did he defend Chi Heng.

He merely watched all of this coldly.

The newcomer was in no hurry to suppress everyone's anger, but first raised his hand, directly pressing down all the cursing.

"Chi Li cannot die."

With that single sentence, the hall fell mostly quiet.

Ah Lie turned his head abruptly.

"Why?"

The newcomer looked at Chi Li's wrist, then at his forehead.

"Because his Life Pattern has changed."

"He has come into contact with the core Seal of the Nine-Headed Phoenix."

"If we want to suppress the Nine-Headed Phoenix again, he is the only one who can reconnect the chain."

As these words fell, the expressions of the Chishan Tribe members changed instantly.

Those who had wished they could push Chi Li out just a moment ago now did not dare to actually touch him.

They hated him.

They feared him.

Yet they had no choice but to watch over him to keep him alive.

With this breath stifled in their chests, no one felt comfortable.

Chi Li sneered.

"Did you hear that?"

"I am no longer the root of trouble."

"Now I've become the key."

Ah Lie gnashed his teeth, his gaze still fierce.

"Don't get cocky."

"If not for your usefulness, you would have been dead long ago."

Chi Li did not even look at him.

"Then don't make a move yet."

The newcomer did not let the two continue arguing.

His gaze returned to the direction of the Nine Mountains.

"Now is not the time for settling accounts."

"The Nine-Headed Phoenix is already half-awake."

"If we delay any longer, no one will survive."

These words caused everyone in the hall to sink into gloom.

Elder Ji asked slowly, "What does The Superior One intend to do?"

The newcomer did not answer immediately.

He raised his hand and tapped the air.

A very faint line of light floated up, as if pulling out the connection between the entire stone hall and the Nine Mountains.

"First, restart the Sacrificial Mountain."

"Then spread the Life Pattern network out again."

"Chi Li will stand at the very center to receive the core link."

"Elder Ji will lead the others to stabilize the outer Life Patterns."

"I will suppress the Nine-Headed Phoenix."

He spoke very steadily, as if he had already gone through every step in his mind countless times.

As Qin Yun listened, his heart sank even further.

This person knew the setup.

And he knew how to wrap it up.

But when he spoke of Chi Li, there was an extremely subtle pause.

That pause was very brief, so brief that an ordinary person would not be able to detect it.

But Qin Yun heard it.

It was as if he knew Chi Li was special.

Yet he did not know what this specialness actually stemmed from.

In other words, this person was not the original player of this chess game.

He was more like someone who took over later.

Elder Ji had already begun to nod.

"Very well."

"We will do as you say."

Ah Lie did not say another word either.

The newcomer looked at everyone and added one last sentence.

"Remember."

"The Nine-Headed Phoenix is not a god."

"It has only been sealed here for too long and wants to use your Life Patterns to crawl out."

"You have guarded this for so many years not to worship it."

"But to trap it."

"Now, as long as we reconnect the chain, I can make it go back to sleep."

Someone in the hall finally let out a sigh of relief.

Elder Ji also bowed his head in agreement.

"Understood."

He turned around and began to arrange manpower.

He sent people to clear the Sacrificial Dao.

He sent people to retrieve the Old Pattern Stones.

He sent people to stabilize all the clansmen in the stockade whose Life Patterns were in disarray.

Everything was progressing rapidly.

Chi Li was left behind alone.

It was not an imprisonment.

But it was close enough.

Several clan elders guarded him, their gazes highly complex.

Chi Li did not even look at them, merely sitting with his head lowered, his fingertips lightly tapping his knee.

Qin Yun stood in the corner of the hall, not participating in any of the arrangements.

He watched the newcomer direct everything, the suspicion in his heart burying deeper and deeper.

This person truly resembled The Superior One.

Yet he did not seem like an old monster who had truly lived for countless years.

He was more like someone who had taken over what his predecessors left behind and continued forward.

Qin Yun's gaze darkened slightly.

He raised his eyes and looked into the depths of the Nine Mountains.

Just who was the true Superior One?