This statement finally made Fan Yue raise an eyebrow.
“Ah, Shuo, what did you call him?” Chong Zhao’s voice was unexpectedly dry in the water cave.
“What nonsense are you spouting, Bai Shuo?! How could this monster be my father?!” Bai Shuo’s words angered Er Yun even more than losing Chong Zhao. Trembling with rage, she shouted, “My father died three years ago, sacrificing all his immortal power to seal away this creature! Don’t you dare slander his name!”
“Senior Sister Er Yun, doesn’t it strike you as strange? Xie Bodhi is a merciless creature who drained the lives of twelve senior brothers the moment they entered the island. He showed no mercy to me or A-Zhao. If it weren’t for the Lord of Hao Yue Hall, we’d have already been his offerings to ascend to godhood. But why is it that, since entering the island, you’ve only suffered a few minor injuries?”
Er Yun froze, recalling the way Xie Bodhi had withdrawn when she moved her neck toward the Bodhi wood thorn. Her expression changed, but she shook her head, refusing to look at the silent Xie Bodhi beside her. “Impossible, you’re lying. I—I don’t believe it…”
Chong Zhao suddenly spoke, looking at Xie Bodhi. “The Mountain’s Guardian Jade Slip is our Miao Miao Island’s sacred instrument. My senior sister and I only learned how to use it today from our teacher uncle’s legacy. You…” Chong Zhao’s voice was dry as he asked his burning question, “...why are you able to use it?”
Immortal treasures have unique inheritances, especially those imbued with the spirits of Miao Miao Island’s forebears. In their panic, they had overlooked this crucial point.
Faced with Chong Zhao’s question, Xie Bodhi remained silent. Er Yun stared blankly at the masked figure beside her, trembling. She suddenly turned, her eyes red, and looked at Chong Zhao. “Chong Zhao, don’t forget how my father died. If he hadn’t passed his inner core and immortal power to you before he died, how could you have ascended in three years? He is an evil creature! He is not my father! My father died three years ago!”
Chong Zhao’s hand tightened on his sword, unable to ask further. His path of immortality was a gift from Miao Miao Island and the Sect Leader Song He. Even though he had never doubted Bai Shuo’s words, he could not bear to tarnish Song He’s legacy. And yet…
“Senior Sister, the Heavenly Array is destroyed.”
Er Yun froze, recalling Song Feng’s warning.
“Yun’er, the Heavenly Array is the guardian formation of Miao Miao Island. Only someone who knows its core could destroy it. That creature may have already infiltrated our inner sect. Trust no one but yourself.”
If the teacher uncle was wrong, what if the creature had not infiltrated the sect but had always been one of them?
Fan Yue spoke calmly, “I have always found it curious. Even though the Bodhi Tree fell into the lower realms, it was once a divine tree that communed with divine laws for tens of thousands of years. How could it fall into demonic ways and become an evil entity? It was human malice that caused it.”
Fan Yue’s words struck a chord, and all three looked at the silent Xie Bodhi, who finally spoke. But his voice wasn’t the eerie, hoarse tone they were accustomed to; instead, it carried a hint of weariness and a familiar deepness.
“‘Three years ago, I should never have shown mercy and allowed you to remain on Miao Miao Island,’” Xie Bodhi stared at Bai Shuo, his mask dissolving to reveal the face of Song He, the sect leader who had supposedly passed away three years prior.
“Father…”
“Master…”
Chong Zhao and Er Yun looked upon this familiar face, one in a daze, the other in utter shock. Even though Bai Shuo had already revealed the truth, seeing Xie Bodhi remove his mask filled them both with a profound sense of disbelief. The evil entity that nearly destroyed Miao Miao Island turned out to be none other than Song He, the guardian of the Eastern Sea for centuries and leader of an immortal sect! How could this be possible?
“I severed my immortal vein long ago, and even Song Feng didn’t discover the truth. How did you figure out my identity?” Song He, no longer Xie Bodhi, demanded. If not for Bai Shuo’s alliance with Fan Yue and her revelation of his identity in front of everyone, his plan would not have failed. Years of Song He’s careful planning, all undone by a mere half-immortal. He had to know how.
“Because of one phrase and one secret.”
“What phrase?”
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