Chapter 76 - 68: The Unspeakable Secret

Chapter 76: Chapter 68: The Unspeakable Secret

Luocheng First High School, October 15th.

"Hello, Uncle Tian, what’s wrong?"

After hearing what Yu Tianqi said over the phone, Lu Chen found himself in a rather good mood. Over the phone, Yu Tianqi told him that the guy who had sneaked into his house with ill intentions had been caught three days ago. Lu Chen could finally rest easy.

After that, Yu Tianqi suddenly brought up matters concerning Lu Chen from ten years ago, asking if he had seen anything unusual back when the Black Lotus Sect cast the Nine Heavens Blood Lotus Array in the South City District.

The reason Yu Tianqi asked this was simple: Lu Chen was one of the few survivors of the great catastrophe that struck Luocheng’s South City District back then. Even though Lu Chen had only been eight years old at the time, Yu Tianqi still wanted to see if he could glean any clues from him.

After all, through years of investigation, Yu Tianqi had roughly figured out the Black Lotus Sect’s purpose for setting up the Nine Heavens Blood Lotus Array in Luocheng. The so-called Nine Heavens Blood Lotus Array was, in essence, a sacrificial Grand Array. Its effect was to use the people trapped within the array as sacrifices to appease the Ancient Immortal they worshipped... the Great Compassion and Great Mercy Black Lotus Buddha Mother. This was done in exchange for certain special rewards from that ancient entity.

However, because the Nine Heavens Blood Lotus Array had been accidentally shattered by a passing Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from the Immortal Alliance, it had failed to achieve its full effect. This serendipity allowed a batch of lucky individuals, including Lu Chen, to survive.

Yet, even though the Grand Array was disrupted midway, over a hundred thousand people within it were still genuinely used as sacrifices. Therefore, the Demon Dao members of the Black Lotus Sect ultimately still managed to exchange for what they wanted from the Great Black Buddha Mother, that ancient entity. But because the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator who suddenly appeared was far too powerful, the few Black Lotus Sect Demon Dao members presiding over the Grand Array didn’t have time to take away this gift. They could only leave it behind to disappear into the ruins of the South City District.

This was one of the key reasons why, even after ten years, the southern suburbs had yet to be rebuilt. Over the past decade, the Immortal Alliance had dispatched numerous people to turn the South City ruins upside down in hopes of finding that item. Yu Tianqi was one of them.

Yet to this day, no one—not even Yu Tianqi—had found the mysterious gift left behind in the South City ruins.

However, after so many years of investigation, the Immortal Alliance had basically confirmed one thing: the lost mysterious gift had either been secretly taken away by a Black Lotus Cultist, or it had fallen into the hands of some lucky individual trapped within the Grand Array at the time. If it truly was buried in the South City ruins, there was no reason why a large number of Immortal Alliance Cultivators wouldn’t have found it after ten years of searching.

But after thoroughly investigating the more than five thousand survivors of the Grand Array, the Immortal Alliance ultimately abandoned the idea of continuing their search, as they hadn’t discovered any anomalies among the survivors from back then.

Now, however, with the recent reappearance of the Black Lotus Sect, Yu Tianqi felt that the item might still be hidden somewhere in Luocheng, or perhaps on a specific person. Otherwise, these Black Lotus Sect scumbags would have no reason to be so unceasingly obsessed with Luocheng. Therefore, upon recalling Lu Chen’s identity as a survivor, he asked out of curiosity.

Faced with this question, Lu Chen found himself in a rather difficult position, unsure of how to answer. Because truthfully, there *was* something quite unique about him. He had crossed over to this world... right during that very Grand Array.

But his transmigration was a secret Lu Chen would rather take to his grave, so naturally, he wouldn’t tell Yu Tian. Thus, in response to Yu Tianqi’s inquiry, Lu Chen gave an answer similar to the one he had given years ago.

"Sorry, Uncle Tian. I was too young back then. By the time I woke up, the whole thing was already over, so I really can’t remember anything out of the ordinary."

Yu Tianqi wasn’t surprised by this answer. He chuckled and said, "It’s fine, Lu. I was just asking in passing. Don’t take it to heart.

"Just focus on your Cultivation lately and don’t overthink it.

"The current Luocheng is no longer the Luocheng of ten years ago. Those Black Lotus Sect scumbags can’t easily drag the city into turmoil like they did back then.

"Once you’re on winter break, your Uncle Tian will take you and Yezi to a good place.

"After returning from there, while I can’t say it will guarantee you and Yezi reach Foundation Establishment with one hundred percent certainty, it will absolutely ensure you both shine brightly in the Immortal Sect college entrance exams."

Hearing this, Lu Chen’s curiosity was immediately piqued.

"Uncle Tian, what place is that amazing?"

"Hahaha! It’s a secret for now. You’ll find out when the time comes.

"Alright, your Uncle Tian has a lot of things to do recently, so I’ll hang up for now. Once I’m done, I’ll invite you and Yezi over to try out the new culinary skills I’ve recently picked up."

"Alright, Uncle Tian, go ahead with your work."

Lu Chen hung up the phone, silently analyzing the information hidden within those words. Although Yu Tianqi had never told him exactly what the Black Lotus Sect people were trying to do in Luocheng, based on the intelligence he had gathered recently, Lu Chen had pretty much figured out the entire sequence of events.

"Could the thing they’re looking for... be that mysterious fruit I accidentally swallowed right after crossing over?" he wondered.

It was worth noting that when Lu Chen first transmigrated, his physical condition was actually quite terrible. Not only were all the meridians in his body shattered inch by inch, but his inner Spiritual Root had also been completely absorbed by the Nine Heavens Blood Lotus Array. It could be said that at the time, Lu Chen had one foot in the Ghost Gate, not far from death.

But later, he inexplicably saw a blood-red fruit drop right in front of him. Driven by some strange impulse, Lu Chen swallowed it whole. After that, not only did a brand-new Spiritual Root condense within his body, but his originally hollowed-out physique also recovered.

Because of this, to outsiders, Lu Chen was merely a lucky soul who had narrowly survived the Grand Array at the cost of damaged foundations. Yet only Lu Chen knew that back then, in every sense of the word... he had already died. It was only because a new soul had taken over and the fruit had repaired his body that he miraculously came back to life.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen couldn’t help but touch his chest. Ten years had passed, and Lu Chen hadn’t originally paid much mind to the events of that year, mostly because he hadn’t felt anything particularly special about his body at all. He had merely treated the blood-red fruit from back then as some Heavenly and Earthly Treasure capable of resurrecting the dead and restoring flesh to White Bone.

But judging from the recent actions of the Black Lotus Sect, as well as the level of importance Yu Tianqi attached to the matter, Lu Chen suddenly felt that the fruit might be far more special than he had initially imagined. But if that were truly the case, why hadn’t he noticed any abnormalities in his body over the years?

"Never mind. Worrying about this now is just asking for trouble," he reasoned. "Besides, I’ve already eaten the fruit. It was fully digested years ago.

"Even if they really are looking for it, as long as I don’t say anything... who would ever know?"

At this thought, Lu Chen immediately stopped dwelling on such messy things. Instead, he focused his attention on his little game.

After all, through the accumulation of so many days, along with the rewards he had obtained after clearing the Ancient Cultivator’s Sword Tomb Dungeon, he could finally continue upgrading the Skill Level of his Cyan Lotus Flower Pupil. Only by raising his Cultivation would he have the confidence to face any potential problems he might encounter.

True Cultivation, add points!!!

[Cyan Lotus Flower Pupil (Eight Petals): Mastery 1/6000]

[Current Experience Points: 12,000]

[You have consumed 6,000 Experience Points. Cyan Lotus Flower Pupil has been upgraded to ’Great Success’...]

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