Chapter 524: If Only Fang Shisan Were a Steamed Bun

"just a mere heaven-tier weapon masters. that’s all they amount to."after a hundred breaths of time, qi yuan returned.

his blue robe was spotless, untainted by blood. however, his waist now carried several additional storage artifacts.

seeing this, tu sihai took a deep breath.

although they had previously witnessed qi yuan obliterate mo sankong in an instant, they still harbored doubts—what if that strange method he used was a one-time thing?

now, facing twelve heaven-tier weapon masters, they couldn’t help but feel uneasy, even though they had been "mocking" qi yuan earlier. the pressure was immense.

however, seeing qi yuan return safe and sound, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"brother qi, your strength truly deserves the title… !" tu sihai couldn’t help but exclaim.

the others chimed in as well.

"the number one son-in-law of ning country, without a doubt, is brother qi!"

"twelve heaven-tier weapon masters…" the seductive woman’s eyes gleamed with admiration.

seeing qi yuan display such power, she wanted to offer herself to him. unfortunately, while she was interested, qi yuan clearly was not.

however, the blind old man spoke up at this moment, "senior qi, these heaven-tier weapon masters… they should be from rosha kingdom. their leader’s surname is fifth, likely a member of the royal family."

hearing this, the blind old man’s expression grew cautious.

the rosha kingdom was once the most powerful empire in the blue mountain realm.

although a major upheaval a century ago caused its national strength to decline, it was still one of the top three countries in the blue mountain realm.

the kingdom still had several divine-tier weapon masters.

if heaven-tier weapon masters were considered transcendent beings, then divine-tier weapon masters… were gods. searᴄh the nôvelfire(.)net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

the blind old man had once been fortunate enough to witness the majesty of a divine-tier weapon master. he had seen one carry a mountain in their hand, stride over vast oceans, and control water effortlessly.

what mortal could witness such a being without kneeling in awe?

while the strength of heaven-tier weapon masters was something the blind old man could comprehend, divine-tier weapon masters were entirely beyond his imagination.

they weren’t mortals—they were gods!

"the rosha kingdom has divine-tier weapon masters. if the royal family learns what happened here, i fear…" the blind old man hesitated, concern evident on his face.

he wanted to suggest to qi yuan that they clean up the scene to prevent the rosha kingdom from discovering what had transpired here.

"perfect." qi yuan looked at the blind old man and nodded with satisfaction.

this was exactly the reaction he wanted.

the others exchanged puzzled glances.

"ah, i understand that many people in this world like to use humor to speak the truth.

but there’s no need for that with me. if the rosha kingdom doesn’t come looking for trouble with me, i’ll go looking for trouble with them," qi yuan said, his tone calm.

after concluding his role as a son-in-law, his next destination would be the rosha kingdom.

first, it was close to the divine wood abyss. second, to fulfill his role as divine descent, how could he not return to the place where it all began?

"young master is a god descended to earth! the rosha kingdom is nothing in comparison!" chen kangbao declared enthusiastically.

beside him, the confucian-robed scholar stared at qi yuan, his expression a mixture of confusion and bewilderment.

this qi yuan was simply too mysterious.

"let’s go deeper and see what this so-called heavenly source truly is," qi yuan said, taking the lead.

now that they were here, of course, he wanted to see what the heavenly source was.

the confucian-robed scholar tensed up immediately.

he, too, wanted to see the heavenly source, which had been forged from the blood and bones of 300,000 artifact masters.

even if it had failed to attract the favor of the gods, it was still the life’s work of his elder brother and so many others.

tu sihai and the others didn’t object.

not that it would matter if they did.

even though they were terrified of the dangers they might encounter, they figured that if a powerful figure like qi yuan dared to venture forward, how could they, as mere mortals, not follow?

qi yuan led the way, descending deeper into the underground palace, stepping carefully down the stone stairs.

along the path, broken skeletons were scattered everywhere.

the further they went, the more pristine and snow-white the bones became.

eventually, they encountered two more skeletons—both belonged to divine-tier artifact masters.

the inscription was found next to one of the divine-tier skeletons.

this particular master had left behind no long-winded last words, only the forging manual they had created, ensuring that their knowledge would not be lost to the ages.

seeing this, everyone immediately memorized the manual’s contents.

the value of such a manual far surpassed that of heaven-tier artifacts!

qi yuan didn’t stop them; he memorized the manual as well.

if he wanted to play the role of the blind artifact master, he would need to master as many forging techniques as possible.

during his time in the heaven and earth mystical land, he had already learned quite a few forging techniques—but it wasn’t enough.

"perhaps… i could create my own forging technique," qi yuan mused to himself.

the blind artifact master’s ambitions were vast. becoming a divine-tier master might not even be his ultimate goal.

to become a truly powerful artifact master, one must not only stand on the shoulders of giants but also forge their own path forward.

"alright, now that we’ve memorized it, let’s move on. be cautious," qi yuan reminded them.

the ground was clean—other than the skeletons, there was nothing else. however, qi yuan’s sharp eyes could detect traces indicating that a living being had recently passed through.

"understood, young master qi," the group replied as they followed him deeper into the palace.

the deeper they ventured, the more forging furnaces they encountered. gold and stone fragments were scattered everywhere, piled haphazardly.

but these once-precious items had long since lost their spiritual essence, now little more than debris.

"the heavenly source consumed the spiritual essence of so many treasures… as well as the blood and flesh of 300,000 artifact masters. just how terrifying is this thing?"

the further they went, the more frightened everyone became, their imaginations running wild at the thought of the heavenly source.

and yet, despite all this, the heavenly source had still failed.

was creating even a single fragment of the divine light treasure truly this difficult?

"all the elite artifact masters of the blue mountain realm were gathered here, and yet they still failed.

is it even possible for anyone to forge a fragment of the divine light treasure?" tu sihai lamented.

and this was just a fragment.

how incomprehensibly powerful must the complete divine light treasure be?

as the group pondered this, qi yuan suddenly received a message through his divine wood token.

qi yuan glanced at the divine wood token, noting the message.

the sender was none other than a staff member of thorned blood, as expected.

"you should be training yourself instead of making them train while you slack off. what’s the favor?" qi yuan replied without hesitation.

*"i’ve accepted a small mission—it’s to record some information.

specifically, i need detailed intelligence on what’s happening inside the strange domain."*

in the void paradise, the staff member had taken on several such missions.

one of these tasks involved collecting information and documentation about the strange domain.

interestingly, the person who had commissioned this mission was a native of this nascent universe. it seemed they were traveling across various realms, documenting histories, and writing a comprehensive chronicle.

"that’s all?" qi yuan pondered for a moment. he didn’t see the need to keep secrets.

after all, now that the strange domain had been exposed, it wouldn’t be long before news of this place spread throughout the world. there was no point in hiding the information.

"in the strange domain, there are numerous skeletons. some inscriptions on stone slabs document the thoughts of divine-tier artifact masters. these masters hid their identities for decades at the invitation of the radiance society to forge…"

qi yuan relayed all the information he had uncovered in the strange domain to the thorned blood staff member.

of course, he left out any mention of his role as a son-in-law, the arrival of people from the rosha kingdom, and other sensitive details.

the staff member from thorned blood sounded somewhat regretful.

"other realms have them too?" qi yuan’s attention immediately caught onto this critical piece of information.

when the staff member from thorned blood mentioned the divine light treasure, their tone carried a deep reverence.

meanwhile, ji wuyun, another thorned blood member, sent a message after hearing the story:

ji wuyun felt an inexplicable sense of sorrow.

thorned blood was eyeing the divine wood abyss, intending to transform the divine wood into a specter.

but the blue mountain realm itself was far from peaceful. three hundred thousand artifact masters had given up their lives in obscurity, all for the sake of bringing light to the realm.

to the common people, the realm seemed largely unchanged aside from an increase in specter activity.

however, ji wuyun understood the truth: the blue mountain realm was teetering on the edge of collapse, like a hot air balloon riddled with leaks.

"the waters here are incredibly deep. even at the divine-tier level, one can barely scratch the surface of the truth. brother cleaver, i’d advise you not to get too involved. otherwise, you might never make it to the divine wood abyss.

the gift i prepared for you—i might not even have the chance to give it to you."*

the thorned blood staff member added a word of warning.

qi yuan thought of something and asked, "what’s the relationship between the radiance society and thorned blood?"

the staff member replied with a laugh.

in the world of cultivators, everyone had their own beliefs and convictions, and it was impossible to convince one another.

take thorned blood, for example. their doctrine claimed that becoming a specter was simply another form of existence—a continuation of life in a different way.

but who, in their right mind, would want to lose their sanity and individuality to become a mindless specter?

"the heavenly source is likely still in the strange domain. since it failed, its only remaining value is as a collectible.

but if you can bring the heavenly source to me, i can help you escape the blue mountain realm… or even this ruined and chaotic starfield altogether," the staff member offered temptingly.

in his view, the fate of the blue mountain realm was already sealed. the divine wood would inevitably be transformed into a powerful specter, and the realm would collapse into eternal night.

no one would notice that the opening of the divine wood abyss was, in fact, the opening of the devil’s gate.

"thanks, but i’m playing a game here—i don’t want to go offline," qi yuan replied casually as he exited the divine wood token’s communication interface, his thoughts calm and collected.

"the backstory of this game just keeps getting more convoluted," qi yuan thought to himself.

thorned blood wanted to transform all living beings into specters. obviously, they were the antagonists.

the radiance society, on the other hand, had gathered 300,000 artifact masters to forge the divine light treasure. while their methods seemed extreme, they appeared to be well-intentioned for now. however, their ultimate nature was still undetermined.

in any case, whether heroes or villains, to qi yuan, they were all just npcs.

if any of them were old and unkempt, who didn’t bathe often, they might even end up becoming his white moonlight.

the group continued their exploration deeper into the underground palace.

with every step forward, the weight on their hearts grew heavier. the pressure was suffocating, and no one dared to speak.

suddenly, qi yuan stopped in his tracks.

in front of them, at the very deepest part of the palace, was a corpse and a lone figure.

the others halted as well, their expressions tense.

the corpse lying on the ground appeared to have been another heaven-tier individual.

meanwhile, the figure standing there resembled a servant, emanating an eerie and unsettling aura.

the figure slowly turned its head toward them. when its gaze landed on qi yuan, a flicker of surprise flashed in its eyes.

"qi yuan!"

"fang shisan?" qi yuan replied, his expression calm.

the figure bore an uncanny resemblance to fang shisan from the radiance society.

and according to the information his eyes provided, this person could indeed be considered fang shisan.

but hadn’t fang shisan already… committed suicide?

back in the dungeon, fang shisan had taken his own life right in front of qi yuan.

"to think… you managed to make it this far. could it be… that this world also favors you?" fang shisan said, his face filled with astonishment.

"are you some sort of respawning npc?" qi yuan asked with amusement.

having played so many games, qi yuan had encountered all kinds of npcs before. back on blue star, such instances were common. however, ever since arriving in canglan realm, he hadn’t seen anything similar—until now.

fang shisan’s face showed a hint of confusion, clearly not understanding qi yuan’s words. however, he seemed to grasp the general idea and responded proudly, "are you curious about how i’m still alive? do you want to know the reason?"

the ability to come back from the dead—this was enough to make any living being tremble with both fear and envy.

fang shisan’s tone grew even more triumphant as he continued, "the ability to come back to life—it’s the pinnacle of what all living beings seek. power, wealth, immortality—aren’t they all just a means to escape death? aren’t you curious about this?"

"not really," qi yuan replied flatly. "it’s not that hard to figure out. either you’ve got some kind of respawn point, or you’re… cloned."

qi yuan’s tone carried a faint hint of boredom, as if he’d seen this kind of thing too many times before.

having played countless games and watched plenty of shows, qi yuan was already desensitized to this kind of "miraculous resurrection."

even the most intricate murder mystery plots didn’t faze him anymore.

fang shisan froze for a moment.

this reaction wasn’t what he expected.

in the past, whenever he "came back from the dead" and showed himself again, people were always shocked, terrified, or outright hysterical—like they’d just seen a ghost.

but qi yuan’s indifference threw him off.

"you’re really not curious? how is that possible? surely you want this power for yourself?" fang shisan asked, a bit thrown off.

"curious? sure, i guess. but…" qi yuan’s voice remained calm, "i want to rely on myself to achieve it."

this calm response left fang shisan speechless.

for qi yuan, fang shisan’s "resurrection" was nothing more than a system mechanism or a scripted feature in a game.

to put it simply, fang shisan was just like a respawning enemy in a game—a product of some programmer writing a bit of code.

if qi yuan were to pursue such a path, he wouldn’t settle for being a "program." he’d aim to become the "programmer"—or even better, the boss of the programmer.

fang shisan’s silence lingered for a moment before he sneered, "what a big mouth you have!"

the weapon masters standing nearby, including tu sihai and the confucian-robed scholar, were utterly baffled by the cryptic exchange between qi yuan and fang shisan.

some of them managed to grasp fragments of their conversation and couldn’t help but be shocked.

then fang shisan spoke again, this time with a touch of melancholy in his voice: "you haven’t inherited an ounce of your father’s humility."

at the mention of qi yuan’s father, fang shisan’s expression darkened, tinged with regret.

"i knew your father back in the day. he came to the strange domain because i brought him here."

"did you come here just to spout all this nonsense?" qi yuan cut him off impatiently.

truth be told, qi yuan didn’t particularly enjoy arguments or verbal sparring.

if anything, he wished he had a "spokesperson" who could handle these kinds of situations for him—someone sharp-tongued enough to silence any opponent.

back in the heaven and earth mystical land, he had spent years exchanging insults with a member of the holy light race, but his naturally poor skill at verbal sparring meant the exchange always ended with him getting roasted.

he couldn’t even muster the courage to say something as clever as:

even if he borrowed those words from someone else, his social anxiety made it impossible for him to deliver them convincingly.

"i came here to confirm whether or not the project truly failed…" fang shisan’s tone grew dim, the confidence in his voice waning. "i wanted to see if there were any flaws that could have been avoided."

the light in his eyes seemed to dim as he finished speaking.

he had died before—this much was clear.

now that the project had indeed failed, the heavenly source was no longer of any value.

if it had any worth at all, it would be as nothing more than a collector’s item.

but few people would care about a failed heavenly source.

fang shisan’s body suddenly collapsed to the ground, coming to rest beside another lifeless corpse.

both bodies looked as if they had been completely drained of their spiritual essence, leaving them hollow and lifeless.

tu sihai and the confucian-robed scholar, along with the rest of the group, stared at this eerie scene, a sense of dread creeping into their hearts.

meanwhile, qi yuan stood there in thought, his expression contemplative.

"if his resurrection doesn’t consume energy or resources, then have i just stumbled upon a source of infinite resources?"

killing fang shisan once would yield a corpse.

if that corpse could somehow be recycled, it could provide endless material.

the others had no idea what qi yuan was thinking, but chen kangbao suddenly widened his eyes, his breathing growing rapid as an idea struck him.

then he exclaimed in a tone full of regret: "why couldn’t fang shisan have been a steamed bun instead?!"

if fang shisan were a steamed bun, wouldn’t that mean endless buns to eat?

qi yuan’s eyes lit up at this remark. "truly worthy of being my strategist—your words have awakened me from a dream. why isn’t fang shisan my white moonlight?"

if fang shisan were a figure of sentimental beauty, someone he could admire and revisit endlessly, qi yuan thought he might never grow tired of it.

hearing this bizarre exchange, the group’s earlier fear evaporated completely.

they had no idea what qi yuan and chen kangbao were rambling about, but the absurdity of it erased any lingering sense of dread.

"they probably died because of the heavenly source," tu sihai said solemnly. "but where is the heavenly source?"

he looked around, his gaze searching.

they had already reached the deepest part of the underground palace.

aside from the two lifeless bodies, there was nothing else in sight.

at that moment, a new message arrived in qi yuan’s divine wood token.

the message was sent by the staff member from thorned blood.

"is that so?"

suddenly, qi yuan felt a wave of decay, death, and withering sweep over him.

he instinctively raised his head and saw a withered leaf slowly drifting down.

it looked like a ginkgo leaf, its color a dull yellow.

the leaf landed gently in his hand.

[heavenly source: the bearer of heavenly destiny. transformation into divine light has failed. flaws are present. repair possible. transformation can be reversed to initiate human light.]

a torrent of information flooded qi yuan’s mind.

the sheer volume of it left him momentarily dazed. his body seemed to weaken as he struggled to process all the knowledge.

it was as if his body simply wasn’t strong enough to handle so much information at once.

"this heavenly source… can be repaired?" qi yuan’s mood lifted.

a failed heavenly source had virtually no value—barely even worth a basic heaven-tier artifact.

but if it could be repaired, if it could be refined into a fragment of the divine light treasure… that was something extraordinary.

qi yuan had heard of the divine light treasure back in the heaven and earth mystical land.

such treasures were said to surpass even the most powerful offensive-type creation artifacts. their power was terrifying.

back in the sixth heaven of the immortal realm, qi yuan had spent years crafting a human sovereign banner, using every ounce of his effort and skill.

with that banner, supreme truths, and his relentless hard work, he had managed to sweep through the sixth heaven.

if he were to obtain even a fragment of the divine light treasure, his power would soar to unimaginable heights.

even when facing the enigmatic sole hall, he might have a fighting chance.

qi yuan’s expression brightened as he examined the heavenly source.

the withered yellow leaf seemed to imprint itself into his palm, leaving behind a faint mark before disappearing entirely.

none of the others present—neither chen kangbao nor the confucian-robed scholar—had seen the leaf.

"alright, the treasure hunt is over. let’s leave," qi yuan said.

the others were somewhat disappointed.

they had hoped to catch a glimpse of the fabled heavenly source but came away empty-handed.

still, if qi yuan was leaving, they dared not linger. if they ran into another heaven-tier weapon master, they’d surely perish here.

"let’s go."

the group departed quickly, much like how they had arrived.

as the last of them exited the strange domain, the underground palace began to collapse.

in mere moments, it was reduced to dust, as if it had never existed.

the confucian-robed scholar looked back, his expression forlorn, before letting out a long, melancholy sigh.

three hundred thousand artifact masters, along with his elder brother… and the heavenly source, were now buried in the annals of forgotten history.

would anyone, even a thousand years from now, remember this place or their sacrifices?