Chapter 123: The Book of Origins

After resurrecting from his self-detonation, Gu Feng felt a bit puzzled. Why had the Death Value been so easy to obtain this time?

"Old Man System, why is the Death Value coming so easily now?"

"Ding! The question you asked requires five hundred points. Do you wish for an answer?"

"Hey! Old man, you weren't like this before. What's going on now?"

"Ding! The question you asked requires one thousand points. Do you wish for an answer?"

Gu Feng grew irritated and retorted, "Then tell me, why have you changed into this?"

"Ding! Because you were too weak before, you required one-on-one free guidance, which was equivalent to the novice stage. Now that you are powerful, everything must be earned through payment."

"Ding! System has finished answering your question. One thousand points have been deducted."

Gu Feng was truly speechless. "Talking about money really hurts our relationship!"

Gu Feng sought out Long Xue'er and the others. They had returned to the imperial palace. Looking at them, Gu Feng said, "It seems we cannot leave yet. We killed their experts; won't they come for revenge? I suspect that if I leave, everyone here will be killed."

Long Xue'er replied, "You don't need to worry about that. There is only one road to the Sun-Moon Empire. We can intercept them along the way. This way, we can avoid high-level combat that might harm the populace."

Gu Feng looked at Long Xue'er in surprise and asked, "How do you know that?"

Long Xue'er gave him a look as if he were an idiot. "Because I came from that side."

"Oh! So you are from the Sun-Moon Empire?"

"Wrong. Actually, I come from another empire. Let me tell you! A rebellion and usurpation occurred in that empire, and it has since been renamed the Desolate Dragon Empire. I am the princess of the current Desolate Dragon Empire. My father intended to marry me off to strengthen ties between the officials, so I ran away."

"You crossed the entire Beast Forest?"

Gu Feng was somewhat shocked, as, according to the map, the current Desolate Dragon Empire was adjacent to the Beast Forest.

Long Xue'er rolled her eyes. "Dummy, I went to the Sun-Moon Empire first, and then came to the Great Desolation from there. Hmph! They all think I am in the Sun-Moon Empire, but they have no idea I came to the Great Desolation; they will never find me."

"But Gu Feng, if I accompany you back this time, I will surely be discovered. You have to help me then."

"How can I help you?"

"Just beat them away!"

"Dizzy. I only know how to kill people, not how to beat them up."

"Then kill them!"

"Are they your family?"

"Suppose you could say that!"

"And you want me to kill them?"

"Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s get moving! I’ll tell you, to get from the Sun-Moon Empire to the Great Qin side, one must pass through a ten-thousand-foot-deep canyon. The canyon is very narrow, only wide enough for five people to walk abreast. Legend has it that someone split the canyon with a single sword strike. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so easy for the Sun-Moon Empire to reach the Great Desolation."

"Fine then. Let’s hit the road."

Gu Xueyuan said reluctantly, "Big Brother, you're leaving again?"

"This time, I'm truly leaving. You brat, make sure you manage the Great Qin Empire well."

"Don't worry, Big Brother. I've discovered I have a talent for being an emperor. Once you take down the Sun-Moon Empire, remember to notify me; I'll be ready to abdicate at any time."

*Damn it.* Gu Feng stumbled, nearly falling over. It felt like he was doing all the work to seize the throne for him, but thinking about it, it did sound exciting.

Hanhan shouted, "Master, we're leaving! Why are you daydreaming?"

Gu Feng laughed, "I'm contemplating the issue of being an emperor."

Long Xue'er rolled her eyes. "You aren't actually going to do that, are you?"

"Didn't I say? I'm contemplating it."

Hanhan grabbed Gu Feng's arm and acted spoiled. "Master, am I your precious disciple?"

Gu Feng knew the girl must be asking for something, so he patted her head. "Of course you are."

Hanhan said excitedly, "Then Master, can you teach your disciple that explosive divine technique?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because that is my family's ancestral Bloodline Clone Explosion Technique. You don't have my bloodline, so you can't learn it."

"But the other people in the Gu family don't know it either!"

"I told you, your master is an orphan, picked up by the Gu family. Sigh! I don't even know where my home is or where my family is."

Thinking of his biological parents, Gu Feng felt a sense of melancholy. His parents had left him nothing; finding them would be truly difficult.

Long Xue'er comforted him, "One day, you will find them."

"I think so too. But before that, I must find my younger sister."

"You have a younger sister? Where did she go?"

"A very powerful and magical place. Even a single tree there is freakishly strong, and a stinky duck is a level 70 or 80 monster."

"The place you're talking about, it wouldn't be the Dragon Abyss, would it?"

"What is the Dragon Abyss?"

"The Dragon Abyss is the most magical place in the Great Desolation. It has many entrances, but they aren't fixed; they move. Many experts are fighting to enter the Dragon Abyss!"

"Why?"

"Because the Dragon Abyss is the only passage to leave the Great Desolation and head to other continents. Let me tell you a secret—I don't know if it's true, but legend says the Great Desolation was once very powerful, full of experts. Later, it was destroyed and became an incomplete continent. The highest cultivation level in the Great Desolation is now only the Spirit Venerable realm; no one can surpass it. That's why many Spirit Venerable experts travel everywhere searching for entrances to the Dragon Abyss, so they can leave the Great Desolation and continue cultivating."

"Damn it! Does that mean I missed my chance last time?"

"Wait, could that place have been a fixed entrance to the Dragon Abyss?"

"What? The Dragon Abyss has no fixed entrances."

"Then let me ask you, how many days does a Dragon Abyss entrance usually last when it appears?"

"Historical records state that short ones last a few hours, and long ones don't exceed three days."

"Damn! What a coincidence. Does that mean my sister went to another continent?"

"It's possible." Long Xue'er didn't say what she was thinking: *What was your sister's cultivation level? She probably already turned into beast dung.*

Gu Feng asked the system with dissatisfaction, "Old man, why didn't you let me leave the Great Desolation back then?"

"Ding..."

"Points, right? From now on, just deduct the points for my questions. No need to remind me."

"Ding! Did you know your sister had entered the Dragon Abyss at the time? Would you have been willing to abandon your sister to leave the Great Desolation? Most importantly, your cultivation was too low. How could you have been lucky enough to stack the Death Contract and blow up something like that giant tree?"

Gu Feng was left speechless.

However, Gu Feng now knew what he had to do: first, resolve the crisis in Great Qin, then find the entrance to the Dragon Abyss and leave the Great Desolation.

Gu Feng even suspected that Old Man Gu might have detonated himself and left the Great Desolation. And perhaps he and Gu Yan were not from the Great Desolation to begin with.

If that were the case, to find his family, he had to leave the Great Desolation.