Chapter 663: The Long-Unfinished Ancient Puzzle

Chapter 663: The Long-Uncontinued Ancient Puzzle

Clearly, the entrance to the Cui family's secret realm lay within the ancestral shrine, and the bronze hall that once held Qinghe and Longque stood nearby—a fitting chance to bring Longque back to her old haunts for a visit.

Unfortunately, Longque seemed utterly disinterested in revisiting the past. She lay curled up in the ring, imitating a turtle, silent and still. Beside her crouched Xinghe, like a little child nestled by an older sister, curiously watching the scenery alongside her.

As for why a single blade and a single sword, lying quietly in the ring, could evoke such a feeling in Zhao Changhe... it wasn't because of any perversion, but because after the battle at Huangyang, the spirits of these weapons had grown increasingly tangible. Zhao Changhe could almost see human silhouettes overlapping with the blades, like two children crouching there, peering outward.

If this kept up, would he ever dare to use them in battle against other blades and swords again? It felt impossible to strike, especially with Xinghe, who seemed like a babe in swaddling clothes...

Whoever designed the concept of sword spirits was a real fool.

But then he thought of the ultimate form of such spirits—Xiazi—who could already act independently and stir up trouble. That put him at ease. Perhaps he was ahead of the world in this regard, even further than Xia Longyuan... likely due to his long-term contact with Xiazi.

As these thoughts flickered through his mind, Cui Wenjing had already opened the gate to the secret realm. With a twist in the fabric of space, the surroundings transformed dramatically. Outside, it was the serene and peaceful Qinghe Commandery; inside, it was a bizarre and eerie underground cavern.

The interior was dark and labyrinthine, vast in scale, with jagged rocks jutting out like fangs. The visual impression alone was one of grim terror. The aura was fiercely malevolent, and walking through it sent chills down the spine. Zhao Changhe was reminded of his own bloodthirst—this must be a similar kind of demonic intent, a lingering malice formed from the slaughter of countless lives, undying through the ages.

Setting aside his natural inclination toward the martial arts inherited from Lie, and setting aside the heroic ambition that drove Lie to strike at the heavens, Lie was precisely this kind of demon—bloody, brutal, and murderous. He was less a Blood God and more a Blood Demon.

And what lay buried here was a typical demon of the same ilk.

Yet there was also an immensely righteous aura, dense and pervasive, suppressing this ferocity so that it could not harm those who entered, nor seep outward.

The deeper they went, the hotter it became, like being inside a volcano, as if they were being roasted in a furnace. Yet, under the tempering of that righteous aura, the heat was not unbearable; it felt instead like air conditioning on a summer day.

This aura was the will of the Qinghe Sword... the spirit of this river and mountain, suppressing evil and driving away demons, illuminating the shadows of the unseen. It had never vanished, even though the sword itself had shattered.

At the lower crossroads sat several old men, presumably elders of the Cui family guarding this fundamental secret realm, cultivating here using the Qinghe aura. Even the Lu family of Gusu had their own cultivation grounds; naturally, the Cui family of Qinghe would not share the same conditions as ordinary people on the surface. When Yangyang had passed some family trial earlier, this must have been what she referred to.

These old men, though not listed on the Chaos Rankings, had cultivated in this secret realm. Perhaps due to their long absence from combat, they had no recorded battles, but they undoubtedly possessed strength comparable to those on the Human Rankings. That list of barely a hundred names could never encompass all the world's heroes.

Such was the terrifying foundation of a top-tier noble family.

Of course, the higher the level of experts, the harder they were to produce. Such things were not guaranteed by mere heritage; heritage ensured that the middle ranks were not inferior to others, but the birth of top-tier experts required various conditions. In a world without immortality, it was impossible for a Cui family ancestor to suddenly emerge from nowhere.

Seeing Cui Wenjing and his daughter leading Zhao Changhe, the old men recognized who he was and bowed slightly: "Greetings, King Zhao."

It seemed that events on the surface had already been communicated here. These aged men followed the family's decision.

Cui Wenjing asked, "Is everything as usual inside?"

"The Qinghe purple aura has weakened slightly. Without the Qinghe Sword, it might dissipate in a few decades."

Cui Wenjing nodded. "We are reforging the divine sword. You all guard the key paths—kill anyone who dares to intrude without exception!"

Joy flickered in the old men's eyes, and they bowed again: "As the family head commands."

They stepped aside, and Zhao Changhe followed Cui Wenjing around the path ahead. The view suddenly opened up.

Before them lay a hellish expanse of red magma, bubbling with flames about to burst forth. Within the magma, shattered bones could still be seen, not yet fully dissolved by time. In the center of the magma, a small hill formed an island, with a cave in its midst. This environment clearly marked the hidden cultivation site of some ancient demon god, from which the malevolent aura emanated.

A vast purple aura filled the space, floating above the magma river like a clear stream, calming the boiling magma. The densest concentration of this purple aura was at the cave entrance, covering it almost like a seal.

Cui Wenjing explained, "Around this atmosphere, we have constructed many family trial grounds. I won't go into each one. The cave itself is not complicated—it was once where an ancient demon was suppressed and killed by the Qinghe Sword. After our ancestor discovered this place, he buried the bones, took the Qinghe Sword, inherited many ancient traditions, and established our clan here to guard this site..."

Zhao Changhe asked, "Where are the bones buried?"

"At the bottom of the magma," Cui Wenjing replied. "Most of the bones in the magma belong to those slain by this demon. His own burial there is fitting. I know you worry about his revival, but he is truly and utterly dead—no longer a threat."

Zhao Changhe nodded. According to the laws governing the formation of secret realms, this one was likely created by the Qinghe Sword, not by the demon. The demon was probably truly dead, and had died before the collapse of the era. What puzzled him was the original owner of the Qinghe Sword. According to Cui Wenjing, there was no original owner—where was he?

Cui Wenjing understood his confusion: "The original owner of Qinghe is indeed unknown. Based on records left by our ancestor, the sword recognized its master directly, as if it had never had one."

Zhao Changhe nodded and asked no further.

He felt a strange familiarity with this place. He would check the *Mountain and River Atlas* later to see if the ancient Xuanwu had any records.

Exploring the secrets of antiquity was, in essence, Zhao Changhe's own main quest, but it had been too fragmented to form a coherent thread. This Cui family secret realm suddenly made him feel that the process of unifying the world was itself the path to completing this main quest—it was just that Old Xia had deviated from the norm.

Xiazi meeting Old Xia—truly, it was like meeting a ghost.

Cui Wenjing continued, "In short, our ancestor settled here and multiplied the clan. While part of the reason was that the spiritual energy here was richer than outside, the main concern was that any resurgence of the demon might cause chaos, and we had a duty to respond. After all, this is like sitting on a volcano. Their sense of responsibility was strong, and Qinghe's recognition of its master likely relates to this. As it stands, the possibility of the demon reviving is extremely slim. The question is whether changes will occur once the residual purple aura here dissipates."

The three flew across, passing over the magma and straight into the cave. The cave was divided into many areas, but they wasted no time and headed directly to the forging zone.

As expected, earthly flames surged. There should have been various weapons and treasures here, but they had long been taken by the Cui family. However, a solitary forge stood in place, directly connected to the earthly flames. Moving it would be pointless, so it remained here for the Cui family's internal sword-forging. It was not a strictly forbidden area; many recent forging marks could be seen nearby.

From the look of things, the Cui family's ancestors' fears of the demon's revival had long been forgotten by later generations. This place had become a treasure ground for the clan.

Ironically, after the Qinghe Sword broke, they began to panic, fearing that the sword's destruction might trigger a chain reaction.

Cui Wenjing asked, "Well? Is this fire sufficient?"

Everyone treated Zhao Changhe as an expert, but he really didn't know much about fire. At this moment, he was consulting a guide: "Xia Xia, is this fire enough?"

Xiazi ignored him.

So Zhao Changhe switched guides: "Longque, can this fire melt you?"

Longque, who had been lying lazily, suddenly jumped up: "This trash fire! It can't even melt my tassel!"

Zhao Changhe looked up and confirmed to Cui Wenjing with certainty: "It'll do."