Chapter 68 – The Secret That Cannot Be Told

Luocheng High School, October 15th.

“Hey Uncle Tian, what’s up?”

After hearing what Yu Tianqi said on the phone, Lu Chen’s mood improved considerably.

In the call, Yu Tianqi informed him that the person who had infiltrated his home with malicious intent had been captured three days ago, allowing Lu Chen to rest easy.

After this, Yu Tianqi unexpectedly brought up matters related to Lu Chen from ten years ago.

He asked whether Lu Chen had seen anything unusual when the Black Lotus Sect activated the ‘Nine Heavens Blood Lotus Formation’ in the South City District ten years ago.

The reason Yu Tianqi asked him was quite simple.

Lu Chen was one of the few survivors of the great upheaval in Luocheng’s South City District back then.

Although Lu Chen was only eight years old at the time, Yu Tianqi still wanted to see if he could gather some clues from him.

After years of investigation, Yu Tianqi had roughly understood the Black Lotus Sect’s purpose in deploying the Nine Heavens Blood Lotus Formation in Luocheng.

The so-called Nine Heavens Blood Lotus Formation was essentially a sacrificial formation.

Its effect was to use the people within the formation as offerings to please their worshipped Gu Xian… the Great Merciful Black Lotus Buddha Mother.

Thereby obtaining certain special rewards from this ancient existence.

However, that year’s Nine Heavens Blood Lotus Formation was accidentally disrupted by a passing Nascent Soul Stage cultivator from the Immortal Alliance, preventing the formation from achieving its full effect.

This allowed a group of lucky survivors, including Lu Chen, to live.

Although the formation was interrupted, over a hundred thousand people within it were truly sacrificed as offerings.

Thus, the Demonic Path followers of the Black Lotus Sect ultimately obtained what they wanted from the ancient existence, the Great Black Buddha Mother.

But because the suddenly appearing Nascent Soul Stage cultivator was too powerful,

the few Black Lotus Sect Demonic Path members presiding over the formation didn’t have time to take away this reward, leaving it to disappear in the South City Ruins.

This is one of the key reasons why, ten years later, the southern suburbs still haven’t been restored and rebuilt.

Over the past decade, the Immortal Alliance has sent numerous people to thoroughly search the South City Ruins, trying to find that thing.

Yu Tianqi was one of them.

But to this day, including Yu Tianqi, no one has found the mysterious reward that was lost in the South City Ruins back then.

After years of investigation, the Immortal Alliance has basically confirmed one thing:

The mysterious reward lost that year was either secretly retrieved by Black Lotus Cultists, or it fell into the hands of one of the lucky survivors within the formation at that time.

Because if that thing was truly buried in the South City Ruins, there’s no reason why a large group of Immortal Alliance Cultivators couldn’t find it after ten years of searching.

After detailed investigations of the more than five thousand survivors within the formation, the Immortal Alliance ultimately abandoned further investigation.

Because they found nothing unusual about the survivors from that time.

But with the recent reappearance of the Black Lotus Sect, Yu Tianqi thinks that perhaps that thing is hidden somewhere in Luocheng, or with someone.

Otherwise, these Black Lotus Sect members wouldn’t have such lingering attachment to Luocheng.

Therefore, recalling Lu Chen’s identity as a survivor from back then, he curiously asked him about it.But faced with this question, Lu Chen was genuinely a bit troubled, unsure how to answer.

Because if he were to speak the truth, he actually did have some unique circumstances.

After all, it was during that grand formation that he… transmigrated to this world.

However, the matter of transmigration was a secret Lu Chen would rather take to his grave than reveal, so he naturally wouldn’t tell Yu Tianqi about it.

Thus, in response to Yu Tianqi’s inquiry, Lu Chen gave an answer similar to the one he had offered years before.

“Sorry, Uncle Tian, I was too young back then. By the time I woke up, the whole incident was already over, so I really can’t recall many specific details.”

Uncle Tian wasn’t surprised by this response and said with a laugh, “It’s alright, Xiao Lu. I was just asking casually—don’t take it to heart.”

“Focus on your cultivation for now, and don’t overthink things.”

“The Luocheng of today is no longer the Luocheng of ten years ago. Those scum from the Black Lotus Sect won’t be able to drag Luocheng into chaos as easily as they did back then.”

“Once your winter break starts, your Uncle Tian will take you and Little Yezi to a special place.”

“After we return from there, I can’t guarantee you and Little Yezi will reach Foundation Establishment with 100% certainty, but it’ll definitely ensure you shine brightly in the Immortal Sects’ college entrance exams.”

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

“Uncle Tian, what kind of place is so remarkable?”

“Hahaha! I’ll keep it a secret for now. You’ll find out when the time comes.”

“Alright, your Uncle Tian has quite a few matters to attend to recently, so I’ll leave it at that for now. Once I’m free, I’ll treat you and Little Yezi to some new culinary skills I’ve recently picked up.”

“Sure, Uncle Tian. Take care of your business.”

After hanging up, Lu Chen quietly analyzed the information hidden within those words.

Although Yu Tianqi had never explicitly told him what the Black Lotus Sect members were trying to accomplish in Luocheng, based on the intelligence he had gathered recently, Lu Chen had already pieced together the sequence of events.

“What they’re searching for… could it be that mysterious fruit I accidentally ingested right after I transmigrated?”

It was worth noting that when Lu Chen first transmigrated, his physical condition was far from ideal.

Not only were his meridians shattered, but his Spirit Root had also been absorbed by the Nine Heavens Blood Lotus Formation.

In essence, Lu Chen at that time had one foot already in the grave, hovering on the brink of death.

But then, inexplicably, he saw a blood-red fruit fall right in front of him.

Almost as if guided by some unseen force, Lu Chen swallowed it without a second thought.

Afterward, not only did he manage to reform a new Spirit Root within his body, but his previously depleted physique also began to recover.

To outsiders, it appeared as though Lu Chen had miraculously survived the formation, albeit with a damaged foundation.

Only Lu Chen knew the truth: by all accounts, he had already died back then.

It was only because his soul had been replaced and that fruit had miraculously restored his body that he had managed to return from the dead.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen couldn’t help but touch his chest.

Ten years had passed, and he had initially put the incident out of his mind, as he never felt there was anything particularly unusual about his body.

He had simply regarded the blood-red fruit as some kind of rare treasure capable of reviving the dead and regenerating flesh.

But given the recent movements of the Black Lotus Sect and the importance Yu Tianqi attached to the matter, Lu Chen suddenly began to suspect that the fruit might be far more extraordinary than he had ever imagined.But if that were truly the case, why hadn’t he noticed anything unusual about his body all these years?

“Enough, enough. Dwelling on this now would only be pointless worry.”

“Besides, I’ve already eaten that fruit, and it’s long been digested over the years.”

“Even if they really are searching for it, as long as I don’t speak of it… who would ever know?”

With this thought, Lu Chen immediately stopped pondering these messy matters.

Instead, he focused his attention on his mini-game.

After all, through days of accumulation and the rewards obtained from clearing the Ancient Sword Tomb instance,

he could now continue upgrading his Azure Lotus Eye skill rank.

Only by enhancing his cultivation could he confidently handle any potential challenges.

True Immortal Cultivation, allocate points!!!

[Azure Lotus Eye (Eight Petals): Proficiency 1/6000]

[Current EXP: 12,000]

[You consumed 6,000 EXP. Azure Lotus Eye has reached ‘Major Achievement’…]

(End of Chapter)