Chapter 2752 - 2749: Gray-Haired Cocoon

"Do you know why there are no living creatures on this plain? Even if there were, I could sense them and intend to kill them?" Tianyang asked, his voice unexpectedly weary.

Song Ruozhao replied calmly, "Is it because you need to survive? I think you need the essence of life around you to survive. You are now a statue, and it’s hard to cultivate further. Although you don’t need to eat, you still need the nourishment of life essence to survive..."

"That’s right. Although I’ve been trapped here for many years and my cultivation has progressed slowly, I don’t need to eat, but during the middle of my imprisonment here, I still needed the nourishment of life essence to survive,"

"Until not long ago, one day I suddenly broke through the shackles of my cultivation and reached a point where I no longer needed life essence. Perhaps this was the rebound after hitting rock bottom; I was forced to break through because the living creatures on this plain were becoming fewer and fewer,"

"If I didn’t break through, the only thing waiting for me would be death..."

"But my clan members weren’t so lucky,"

"Back then, my ambition swelled, and my military conquests expanded, nearly dragging all the men of the Glorious Tribe to the battlefield. Most of those left in the city were the old, weak, sick, and disabled, those sealed with me now."

"During the first half of my sealing, I could still clearly feel their presence, but as time passed, I found I could perceive fewer and fewer life essences. It wasn’t that my perception was weakening, but..."

"But your clan members have died, one by one," Ling Feng said calmly.

"Exactly, over these years, I’ve watched my people leave one by one, until they all turned into real statues, leaving only me, the sinner, barely surviving, even daring to hope I might one day be freed,"

"Do you truly want to leave?" Ling Feng asked.

"The old me had lost the will to live, hoping only for death, but when I thought about the mistakes I made, causing the deaths of those soldiers who followed me, I couldn’t accept that they died just like that,"

"And their families and the Clan Leader hiding in this sunless underground, barely surviving. I refuse to accept it! Even if I die, I can’t leave them without answers!"

"Furthermore, that damned Shui Clan, that contemptible tribe that stole our monarchical status, I can’t accept them ruling this world! I can’t watch Shui Hong’s descendants continue living happily,"

"I cannot die; I must leave, and I must overturn the Shui Clan, letting Shui Hong’s descendants taste the poison that devoured my people’s bodies, making them feel the despair that my clan and I have endured for so many years!"

"So, I must live on. Only by living can I seek revenge, can I restore the former glory of the Glorious Tribe!"

Tianyang’s voice, which began filled with grievance and hatred combined with intense unwillingness, grew increasingly passionate, almost brimming with a powerful conviction.

"Your Glorious Tribe is down to just you. How do you plan to restore its glory? What will happen if you manage to leave? Wouldn’t you still have to face the now much stronger Shui Clan alone?"

"Besides, it seems that the Shui Clan has developed well; the Water Wave World, while still the third layer of the Nine Nether, is already quite powerful, without interference from other worlds. Why do you even wish to leave?"

Ling Feng poured a calculated bucket of cold water on Tianyang and then looked at the statue with extremely deep eyes.

Tianyang angrily roared, "Even though our Glorious Tribe can no longer return to its former prosperity, I must make the Shui Clan pay the price. I absolutely cannot allow Shui Hong’s descendants to live happily like this!"

"Hmm, it’s a fine resolve, but how do you intend to leave now? You’ve been trapped here for years, even if you’ve broken through your cultivation multiple times, you haven’t broken the statue’s constraints. How do you plan to leave?" Ling Feng mused.

"Haha, young man, I know your intentions; you must have sensed my presence and came over to see what kind of aura or treasure could be here. Now, not only did you gain nothing, but you’ve also wasted a lot of time,"

"But after saying so much, isn’t it just for a deal? I give you what you want, and you release me. Anyway, you have nothing to do with the Shui Clan. After I get out, I’ll only trouble those I need to, not harm the innocent."

Ling Feng finally laughed, "As expected from the former Clan Leader of the Glorious Tribe, truly clever. Yes, all I said earlier was to propose a deal with you,"

The reason Ling Feng said so much earlier was all to provoke Tianyang’s inner resentment, leading Tianyang into a deal with Ling Feng, but this kind of thing certainly couldn’t be voiced by Ling Feng himself.

"However," Ling Feng waved his hand and said, "we are now the prophesied ones in the Shui Clan’s prophecy. I have also agreed to help the Shui Clan get through their prophesied calamity, although I can’t be sure if that calamity is you,"

"But if I make a deal with you and let you go, wouldn’t I be caught in an endless cycle, taking benefits from both sides is a very unethical behavior, I feel that I can’t help you anymore..."

Ling Feng looked at Tianyang with a cunning gaze.

"Hehe," Tianyang immediately understood and smiled helplessly, "You cunning boy, I know what you mean. You want me to offer you satisfactory terms, right? I understand."

"But you have to first tell me about that Shui Clan prophecy. I need to assess the reliability of your information, and you need to tell me what’s been happening with the Shui Clan recently!"

Ling Feng nodded and then laughed, "Naturally..." So, Ling Feng narrated the major events of the Shui Clan over the past few days to Tianyang, specifically mentioning the serious injury of the Shui Clan’s Great General, Shuiluan.

He also spoke of Shui Kong and Shui Nian’s ambitions and their surveillance over Ling Feng and his companions, but naturally, Ling Feng absolutely did not mention important matters like his encounter in the cave and the affairs concerning Chao Yan.

After listening to Ling Feng’s description, Tianyang remained silent for a long time, then calmly smiled and said, "No matter how much time passes, the Shui Clan never changes. They always show one face publicly and another privately. Now I understand why you want to help the Shui Clan."

"Cultivators competing for themselves is understandable, and I won’t blame you. But if you find the Shui Clan’s conditions unsatisfactory, you can still demand more from them, considering that it concerns the life and death of the clan. They have always been a species afraid of death."

"They’ll agree to your demands no matter what." Tianyang then unexpectedly began instructing Ling Feng on negotiating for his own benefits.

"But I must say, the Shui Clan is a bit stingy, only giving you this so-called ancestor’s body. Such things are ethereal, and nobody knows what the world looked like when it began, let alone any ancestor’s body."

"How could such a Magical Treasure fall into the hands of the Shui Clan? Even if their calamity threatens to annihilate their clan, their nature wouldn’t allow them to hand over such an important relic to you. So there’s only one possibility, that so-called body is nothing more than a means to deceive you."

Ling Feng looked at Tianyang’s statue, secretly coldly mocking the supposedly seamless words of Tianyang. Ling Feng undoubtedly knows the remarkable nature of that body, capable of evading Ling Feng’s Divine Sense and possessing a grey mist at the heart position.

Even if this body isn’t powerful enough to be the world’s ancestor, it’s definitely not an ordinary treasure. Ling Feng even suspects that if he cracks the mist at the heart of the body’s Magical Treasure, he might acquire an even greater treasure.

Ling Feng now entirely believes that Tianyang is deliberately deceiving him in his judgment of the treasure; such rhetoric is useless to Ling Feng, who knows that Tianyang merely wants to reduce the terms required to break his bondage.

Moreover, Tianyang aims to tarnish Ling Feng’s impression of the Shui Clan so that when calamity arises in the future, Ling Feng won’t be too concerned about them and might intentionally hold back his skills.

But unfortunately, Ling Feng isn’t some clueless kid, and Tianyang’s rhetoric without evidence is something Ling Feng won’t believe.

Ling Feng didn’t even bother to raise his hand to stop Tianyang from further expounding his viewpoint that the Shui Clan’s ancestor’s body is fake. He only cast a sharp glance, and Tianyang’s discourse ceased.

"You don’t need to continue spouting nonsense, just state your terms. I’ll see if I’m satisfied; if not, I’ll leave now!"

Ling Feng’s direct and pointed language left Tianyang somewhat stunned. Though in statue form and unable to change facial expression, Song Ruozhao can imagine Tianyang’s expression, perhaps conflicted, wanting to be angry but unable to express it.

After all, Ling Feng’s words showed no regard for Tianyang’s dignity and placed himself directly in the position of power, leaving Tianyang only passive. Currently, Tianyang seeks a deal with Ling Feng; otherwise, Tianyang will remain trapped here.

After prolonged silence, Tianyang finally said, "You impatient kid, fine, I’ll tell you my terms."

A cocoon wrapped in grey threads slowly floated out from the pit beneath Tianyang’s statue and shifted in front of Ling Feng, emitting a faint glow. Ling Feng noticed the grey threads on the cocoon were the same as those that just attacked the Blade of the Apocalypse on the ground.

"This is the remnant left by the Magical Treasure I used when leading my tribe underground years ago. I thought the Magical Treasure was spent and useless, but unexpectedly a cocoon remained. I have been waiting all these years for it to hatch so I could see what’s inside."

"But it has never yielded results. However, recently I sensed this cocoon was nearing hatching; if my perception is correct, it must be something extraordinary."