Chapter 108: Thrown back to the Southern Regions
In reality, Jiang Yifeng touched his chin as he pondered.
"Is what Bai Moyu said in the simulation true?"
Something felt off.
According to Bai Moyu, the Nine Mystic Realm had been in a constant state of war.
He could understand the concept of poison cultivation in such a scenario.
But Jiang Yifeng still couldn't wrap his head around it.
He remembered from previous simulations that whenever his father or the Lady in Red broke through to the Immortal Realm, it brought about a cataclysmic disaster for the Southern Regions.
It didn't matter if the one taking action was a powerful figure from the Nine Mystic Realm or the Immortal Realm.
It all seemed very unreasonable.
After all, could it be that anyone who broke through to the Immortal Realm was destined to become a Poison King?
According to Bai Moyu, the war in the Nine Mystic Realm had been ongoing for millions of years. Could a single Immortal Realm expert really change the entire landscape of the Nine Mystic Realm?
Clearly, that was impossible!
Jiang Yifeng furrowed his brows, contemplating, "Could Bai Moyu be deliberately deceiving me?"
But that didn't seem right either!
The simulation had shown that Bai Moyu's strength was transcendent, even the Eye of Insight couldn't see through him.
What benefit would such a powerful figure gain from deceiving him?
Or perhaps Bai Moyu's conjecture was simply incorrect?
Maybe Bai Moyu himself didn't know the real reason?
"I just can't figure it out," Jiang Yifeng muttered to himself, shaking his head.
However, he decided that Bai Moyu's words couldn't be fully trusted.
Many things might still need to be verified personally within the simulation.
Nevertheless, Jiang Yifeng believed that the credibility of those three maps was still quite high.
After all, they corresponded with the locations of the cracks in the sealing formation of the Southern Regions.
In the end, he stopped thinking about it and looked at the simulator.
[You heard Bai Moyu's words and felt a bit suspicious, sensing that there might be some issues with what he said.]
[You were very puzzled.]
[But you couldn't directly ask about it.]
[You couldn't just say, "Why can't anyone in the Southern Regions break through to the Immortal Realm? Does breaking through to the Immortal Realm make you a Poison King?" Such words!]
[After all, these events hadn't happened yet; you only knew about them from previous simulations.]
[You felt that doing so might expose your knowledge of the future.]
[Clearly, that wouldn't be good for you!]
[So, you pretended to understand and didn't refute his words.]
[However, at this moment, you already felt a bit of distrust towards Bai Moyu.]
[Afterwards, Bai Moyu explained why breaking through to the Tribulation Crossing stage here would bring about a tribulation, but not in the Southern Regions.]
[He said it was because this place had been separated from the continent during the early stages of the Nine Mystic Realm's great war.]
[So it still retained the original heavenly rules of the Nine Mystic Realm.]
[The Southern Regions, however, had remained connected to the main continent, and because of the ongoing war outside, the heavenly rules had long since changed, hence there were no tribulations for the Tribulation Crossing stage there.]
[After hearing this, you were unsure of its truth, as the seed of distrust towards Bai Moyu had already been planted in your heart.]
[However, you still outwardly expressed your gratitude for Bai Moyu's explanations.]
[Half a day later, Bai Moyu looked at you and said it was time for you to return to the Southern Regions.]
[This startled you.]
[Before you could speak, Bai Moyu said that he had to store his memories underground here, and since you knew so much, you couldn't stay.]
[You were just about to say that you could give up those memories!]
[But Bai Moyu didn't give you a chance to argue; with a wave of his hand, he restrained you.]
[Then, you saw him separate himself, leaving most of his cultivation and memories in the underground bronze gate.]
[After finishing everything, he took you and sped southward.]
[At this moment, you couldn't move, but you were cursing inwardly.]
[You had finally left the Southern Regions, only to be sent back again.]
[You really didn't want those memories; you just wanted to live by hiding and growing stronger, why was it so difficult!]
[A day later, Bai Moyu brought you to a sea area, and not far ahead, you could see a light shield with a crack in it.]
[You knew this was the place connecting the Southern Regions to the Endless Sea, and that light shield was the sealing formation.]
[Upon arriving, Bai Moyu tapped the sealing formation several times.]
[After finishing, he kindly handed you a storage ring, telling you to use the resources inside to bribe the Mystic Turtle.]
[Then, he released your restraints and threw you into the crack in the sealing formation.]
[In an instant, you entered the Southern Regions.]
[Return to the Southern Regions? No, you were a thousand times unwilling.]
[After all, you knew it was really hard to live by hiding in the Southern Regions for long.]
[So, as soon as you entered the Southern Regions, you headed back towards the crack in the formation, intending to return to the "Eastern Regions" through it!]
[But just as you approached the crack, Bai Moyu's voice came from outside.]
[He shouted, telling you that he could only hold off the formation spirit for a moment, urging you to leave quickly.]
[Hearing this, you temporarily gave up your recent idea.]
[However, you were now even more puzzled.]
[Was Bai Moyu deceiving you? Or was he telling the truth?]
[Although you remembered the Mystic Turtle saying before that the formation spirit didn't allow people from the Southern Regions to leave through here.]
[But since you had just come in through here, you thought the Mystic Turtle might have been lying to you.]
[After all, if this sealing formation was set up by the predecessors of the Celestial Verdant Sect to protect the people of the Southern Regions, it shouldn't prevent them from entering and leaving.]
[But now that Bai Moyu said the same thing, you had no choice but to believe it.]
[Still, you felt something was off.]
[Bai Moyu's words gave you a strong sense of dissonance.]
[Could it be that Bai Moyu was very foolish? Mixing up his previous statements with his current actions?]
[Otherwise, how could it be like this?]
[After all, his words and actions were contradictory!]
[Moreover, his current act of throwing you back into the Southern Regions.]
[This was clearly throwing you into the fire.]
[Wasn't he afraid that you would resent him and doubt everything he had told you before?]
[Well, it seemed he didn't need to be afraid, as he was much stronger than you.]
[But once you started doubting, what was the point of everything he had told you before?]
[Could it be that he had also stored his memories about this in the underground chamber?]
[But you still felt it was wrong; he remembered to send you back to the Southern Regions, so those memories shouldn't be sealed temporarily.]
[As you were puzzling over this.]
[Bai Moyu had already returned to the Celestial Verdant Sect, back to the underground bronze gate.]
[Just as he arrived, a female voice questioned him, "Why did you lie to him!"]
[If you were there, you would have seen that the one questioning him was Bai Ruoxue.]
[Bai Moyu looked at Bai Ruoxue, who was immobilized, and smiled, "My dear daughter, when did I ever lie to him?"]
Chapter 109: Bai Moyu's grand scheme!
Bai Moyu saw Bai Ruoxue's defiant expression, paused for a moment, and continued, "Has the Nine Mystic Realm been invaded by the Immortal Clan? That formation was set up by our Celestial Verdant Sect, and I personally arranged it!"
Bai Ruoxue, clearly still unconvinced, was no longer the Bai Ruoxue of the Seventh Layer of Tribulation.
She had many hidden memories.
That's right, Bai Ruoxue's memories had actually been sealed all along, and it was Bai Moyu who personally sealed them.
And Bai Ruoxue was here now because you had previously asked her how she left the Eastern Regions, causing her to act abnormally. Bai Moyu wanted to restore her memories and then reseal them.
Seeing Bai Ruoxue's expression, Bai Moyu smiled and continued, "Didn't Mo Jingtian and Lu Wuya cultivate our Celestial Verdant Sect's techniques to embark on the path of cultivation?"
Upon hearing this, Bai Ruoxue angrily retorted, "But those techniques weren't taught by you; they obtained the manuals left by our senior brother."
Hearing Bai Ruoxue mention his beloved disciple, Bai Moyu's expression showed a trace of sadness.
He murmured, "Ah, if only your senior brother had listened to me back then, he wouldn't have met such a fate."
After saying this, Bai Moyu told Bai Ruoxue once again not to go southward to find her senior brother.
But Bai Ruoxue ignored him and instead questioned why Bai Moyu had deceived you.
In the end, Bai Moyu sighed and said to Bai Ruoxue, "Should I tell him that the great powers of the Nine Mystic Realm have already betrayed us and are conspiring with the great powers of the Immortal Realm to seize the fragments of the Heavenly Dao?"
Looking at Bai Ruoxue, Bai Moyu said he sensed several fragments of the Heavenly Dao in you, suggesting that you might be the chosen one.
Only by giving you hope could you continue to strive, perhaps leaving a sliver of hope for the Nine Mystic Realm.
Otherwise, revealing such despairing truths would only crush your spirit and destroy any remaining hope.
As soon as Bai Moyu finished speaking, Bai Ruoxue's face lit up with joy.
She looked at Bai Moyu and said, "Father, are you finally going to take action?"
But Bai Moyu shook his head, saying, "Let's see how things go."
This caused Bai Ruoxue's newly formed smile to fade once again.
She shouted, "Father, you are also a great power of the Nine Mystic Realm! Only you have the chance to change the situation now. The people in other parts of the Nine Mystic Realm are waiting for you!"
Tears streamed down Bai Ruoxue's face as she choked out, "Father, you've been hiding with us survivors, isolating your cultivation to avoid exposure, but how long can we live by hiding like this?"
Hearing this, Bai Moyu gave a bitter smile and offered no further explanation.
Instead, with a wave of his hand, he stripped Bai Ruoxue of her memories and cultivation. This time, he even completely sealed the coordinates of the Southern Regions in her mind.
To prevent Bai Ruoxue from heading southward again.
After finishing everything, he looked at the unconscious Bai Ruoxue and murmured, "What else can I do? A single tree cannot support a forest."
At this moment, Bai Moyu thought of you and suddenly smiled, "How much of my poor lie did you see through? But it doesn't matter. Even if you don't believe any of it, so what?"
"Even if you see me as an enemy, you should still strive to cultivate! Hahaha..."
After a long while, his laughter gradually stopped, and Bai Moyu finally sighed, "I just hope that you, chosen by multiple fragments of the Heavenly Dao, can make it through!"
"If you can't even avoid the deadly schemes of the great powers, how can you change the overall situation of the Nine Mystic Realm?"
In reality, Jiang Yifeng's eyes widened like saucers.
He couldn't believe the twist had come so quickly.
Bai Moyu wasn't a bad person!
He had deceived him to prevent him from feeling despair over the Nine Mystic Realm's situation!
As for Bai Moyu throwing his simulated self back to the Southern Regions, putting him in danger, Jiang Yifeng thought of a possibility based on the simulator's display.
Poison Cultivation, damn it, Bai Moyu was treating him like a poison being cultivated.
So, Bai Moyu hadn't lied.
But, damn it, it wasn't someone else cultivating the poison; it was Bai Moyu himself!
He wasn't even worried about being seen as an enemy because being seen as an enemy would still require him to cultivate desperately.
Jiang Yifeng could already imagine what would happen next.
If he really survived the deadly schemes of the great powers, by then, even knowing the truth, he would be a lone tree unable to support the forest and would definitely seek Bai Moyu's help, leaving only gratitude for him.
And if he didn't make it through, Bai Moyu wouldn't lose anything; he could just continue hiding.
So, Bai Moyu was never afraid of being suspected. Everything he did was an open strategy.
All he had to do was throw Jiang Yifeng back to the Southern Regions to cultivate the poison.
This also reasonably explained Bai Moyu's seemingly irrational actions before.
Besides these thoughts, Jiang Yifeng had another idea.
Why did this simulation show events outside of his perspective this time?
In previous simulations, it was always from his first-person perspective, showing the plot only when he was present.
But this time, even though his simulated self had returned to the Southern Regions, the simulator kept showing events related to Bai Moyu.
Jiang Yifeng thought this might be the simulator deliberately wanting him to know this information.
Could the simulator really be the Heavenly Dao of the Nine Mystic Realm?
It knew Bai Moyu was a great power who hadn't betrayed the Nine Mystic Realm and wanted him to know this.
Then, it wanted him to recruit Bai Moyu to join the fight and save the Nine Mystic Realm?
Is that it?
But Jiang Yifeng felt something was off.
If the simulator was really the Heavenly Dao of the Nine Mystic Realm, wouldn't that be too lowly?
And if the great powers' battles could shatter the Heavenly Dao, could the simulator, if it were the Heavenly Dao, avoid the great powers' detection?
Moreover, from the simulation, Bai Moyu mentioned multiple fragments of the Heavenly Dao, not the simulator.
In the end, Jiang Yifeng thought the possibility of the simulator being the Heavenly Dao was there, but it was extremely slim.
Regardless, Jiang Yifeng knew Bai Moyu was definitely an important figure, not just because of his great power's cultivation.
But because the simulator had specifically shown a segment about Bai Moyu.
Jiang Yifeng silently remembered the name Bai Moyu.
Then, he continued to look at the simulator.
[You have been thrown back to the Southern Regions by Bai Moyu for two days.]
[During this time, you have been lingering near the formation's crack.]
[You still think about leaving the Southern Regions through this crack and returning to the Eastern Regions to continue hiding and growing stronger.]
[So much time has passed, you think Bai Moyu should have left by now. You approach the crack in the formation.]
[At this moment, a Mystic Turtle appeared from the Endless Sea.]
[It spoke human words, shouting at you, "If you don't want to die, stay away!"]
[You were startled by the sudden appearance of the Mystic Turtle.]
[But you didn't fully trust the Mystic Turtle's words.]
[After all, if this sealing formation was really set up by the Celestial Verdant Sect to protect the Southern Regions, it shouldn't have a formation spirit that attacks those leaving the Southern Regions.]
[During this time, you have been unable to discern who is good and who is bad.]
[Seeing you unmoved, the Mystic Turtle snorted coldly and said, "If you wish to die, then go ahead!"]
[You remained silent for a long time, thinking that since this is just a simulation, at worst, you'd die.]
[No matter the outcome, you thought you could at least determine whether the Mystic Turtle was good or bad.]
[You could also find out if this formation was really set up by the Celestial Verdant Sect to protect the Southern Regions.]
In reality, Jiang Yifeng frowned slightly as he read this.
He was already certain that Bai Moyu intended to cultivate him like a poison.
So, would the formation really not attack him?
Jiang Yifeng murmured to himself.
"No, this formation was set up by Bai Moyu. Whether it would attack those from the Southern Regions before is unclear, but now it will definitely stop me!"