Chapter 160: Heavenly Book, Blood God, Ancient Spirit Race

Chapter 160: Celestial Scripture, Blood God, Ancient Spirit Clan

This time, Zhao Changhe’s intuition was perfectly accurate.

The blind woman, who had not appeared since that brief encounter when he fell asleep in the Cui family’s bathtub—a few curt exchanges revealing the “death of the Heavenly Dao” and the “Celestial Scripture”—now materialized in his dream the moment he slipped into slumber.

Back then, it was the spring breeze of March; now it was the height of midsummer in mid-May. Two full months had passed without a trace of her, and so much had happened in between.

On the day he obtained the gold leaf, he thought she would appear, but she did not—that was the most baffling moment for Zhao Changhe. It shouldn’t have been like this…

Fortunately, this time his judgment was correct, and she came indeed.

Zhao Changhe had a vague sense that this visit was largely due to the Sword Emperor’s Tomb… and Sisi.

He felt that Sisi still harbored many secrets. Talk of her being a foreign princess was fine for casual chatter, but not to be taken too seriously. In his heart, he suspected she was connected to the previous epoch… And with the Sword Emperor’s Tomb right before them, these probes into the last era were growing more frequent, bound to draw the blind woman’s attention.

But unlike before, this time the blind woman was far away, suspended high at the edge of the sky.

It seemed each meeting placed her farther away. He remembered early on he could still touch her hand; last time, she was already hanging in the night sky; now, she was even more distant, as if a dream within a dream, indistinct and unclear.

Zhao Changhe was somewhat annoyed and said coldly, “Since you’ve come to converse, why hang so far away and pretend?”

The blind woman sighed. “For conversation, isn’t it enough that you can hear me and I can hear you? In truth, when you see me in your dreams, I don’t even need to show my form to speak directly. Showing a form is merely to make you more comfortable.”

Zhao Changhe keenly caught her meaning: “So you mean, in the future, you might speak to me directly through the void?”

The blind woman fell silent. The detailed analysis and sharp insight Zhao Changhe had displayed during his journey to Jiangnan astonished her. These were qualities that had lacked a sufficient stage to shine before; she had only vaguely sensed that he was quite clever, but now they were fully evident.

To explore the secrets of the epoch, martial prowess alone was insufficient. He was truly too suitable.

It seemed she should speak with him more deeply.

Zhao Changhe said, “Fine, I’m not touching you anyway, so I don’t care how far you are. Since you’ve entered my dream, you should know I’m bursting with questions. Can you answer them?”

The blind woman replied directly, “That gold leaf is indeed a page of the Celestial Scripture, but it’s heavily sealed.”

“If it’s sealed, why did it begin to unseal on its own? Because of the long passage of time, and it just happened to start when I got it? Isn’t that too coincidental?”

“Of course, it has to do with your actions.” The blind woman hesitated, then finally couldn’t help asking, “How did you think of using that kind of thing to smear the Celestial Scripture?”

“…So it’s really related to that? That’s a rather peculiar way to break a seal.”

“Who told you that’s a method to break the seal?” The blind woman said irritably, “It’s because the Celestial Scripture has a spirit and felt intense humiliation! Before, there was no trigger to drive it to break the seal frantically; now there is. Once it fully unseals, the first thing it will do is kill you!”

Zhao Changhe: “…”

Could it be that the reason you stayed away for so long, especially not coming that night, and now meeting me with such disdain, is also related to this?

Although the blind woman had denied any connection to the Heavenly Dao and said the judgments and rankings of the Book of Chaos weren’t her doing, Zhao Changhe still had doubts, always feeling she was involved. If she were the spirit of the Book of Chaos… then had he smeared her face?

The thought was quite satisfying; he might do it again.

Of course, such speculation wasn’t suitable to voice. Zhao Changhe pondered for a moment and changed the subject: “What do you think of the Sword Emperor’s Tomb?”

“He indeed has the potential to revive…” The blind woman paused, her tone unusually grave. “Don’t recklessly provoke him into an early awakening. The Lu family’s actions are truly courting death—not just their own, but for the entire Shenzhou.”

Zhao Changhe said, “Do you care?”

“I don’t care.” The blind woman’s gravity dissipated, and she even smiled. “I care about you, is that enough?”

“Then if I’m about to die, will you save me?”

“If you die, then you’re not worth caring about.”

“…” Zhao Changhe wasn’t surprised by this answer, nor did he react with anger as before. He said calmly, “Then what are the key points of the Sword Emperor’s Tomb? Can you give me a hint?”

The blind woman was silent for a moment, as if marveling at his growth. Finally, she said, “Follow the Ancient Spirit Clan woman beside you. She knows more about the burial styles and mechanisms of the last epoch than anyone in Shenzhou.”

Indeed, the blind woman wouldn’t bother to cover for Sisi. Secrets unrelated to her, she didn’t care about.

“Ancient Spirit Clan…” Zhao Changhe asked, “What does that mean? It doesn’t sound like ordinary foreigners.”

“If space can shatter, with a small sword chamber beneath the ancient sword lake and a vast tomb under Tiger Hill, could there be spaces that can sustain life, where people have lived and multiplied through the ages?”

Zhao Changhe narrowed his eyes.

If so, there might be more than one clan.

There might even be organizations like the powerful Forbidden Grounds…

Sisi, of this Ancient Spirit Clan—what was her nature?

“They might be very strong, or very weak; they might harbor hidden treasures, or have nothing at all. The details you must explore yourself. I’m not here to be your guide.” The blind woman said slowly, “But I can tell you this: if today’s Shenzhou is severed from the last epoch, then these are the steps that link the two.”

Zhao Changhe said flatly, “I could have figured that out myself without your last sentence.”

The blind woman said, “Since you’re so clever, can you guess what that blood-cursed bead is for?”

“I already know the two things I most wanted to know—the Celestial Scripture and Sisi. As for the Sword Emperor’s Tomb and the blood-cursed bead, do you think I must know?”

The blind woman choked, left speechless for a long moment.

Seeing her rarely at a loss, Zhao Changhe felt a hint of vengeful satisfaction and teased, “Say it if you want, or don’t. We’re old friends; who’s keeping score?”

The blind woman was silent for a moment, but instead of taking offense, she explained, “That bead is indeed useless for your Blood Fiend cultivation. It’s formed from the dying blood-cursed resentment of tens of thousands of souls. Though it contains fierce killing intent, it’s more filled with hatred, venom, malice, unwillingness, and regret. Prolonged contact will only affect your temperament.”

Zhao Changhe thought to himself that Sisi’s judgment was so precise. Not only did she understand the last epoch, but she also knew about such blood-cursed things. What was her Ancient Spirit Clan studying?

The blind woman said, “You cultivate the Fiend to temper your blood-fiend killing intent, not these things, so it’s not suitable. Even Maitreya’s path of killing to achieve enlightenment isn’t very fitting… But if you have a way to filter out other energies and extract the pure Fiend, then it would be useful.”

That was why Tang Wanzhuang thought the item might be disappointing but not entirely useless.

Damn, every woman he met seemed to know everything, while he was still a novice after all this time.

Zhao Changhe said irritably, “So you’re here to teach me that extraction method?”

“You don’t need to get the method from me. That woman surnamed Tang might have some way; she’s no weakling.” The blind woman said, “I’m telling you this because the bead’s origin is connected to you.”

Zhao Changhe was taken aback. Despite his recent skill in solving mysteries, he couldn’t figure out how this thing could be related to him.

Then the blind woman said, “This is one of the array stones used by an ancient demon god to set up a malevolent formation. When he fell, the formation shattered. Some of its main parts were obtained by people today, who felt the demon god’s former power from them, worshipped him, pursued his thoughts and will, and compiled a set of ferocious techniques.”

Zhao Changhe’s heart stirred.

“That’s right, it belongs to the Blood God worshipped by the Blood God Sect. His things.” The blind woman said leisurely, “The Blood God Sect’s heritage is actually quite good, yet it has never produced any remarkable figures. That’s not just because the practitioners are lacking, but because much is missing.”

“I see…”

“This bead is just a marginal inlay. Alone, it’s meaningless. Maitreya got it and didn’t know what to do with it. But if it were taken back to the Blood God Sect, its significance would be different… Unfortunately, they might be missing too much for a single bead to make up for…” As she spoke, the blind woman gradually faded away. “We’ve talked too long this time. Let’s end here. Next time you have such interesting items, I’ll come again.”

Her voice lingered, but she was gone.

Zhao Changhe opened his eyes; the sky was already bright.