Qiangu Dongfeng clenched his fists tightly, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.
He knew that he wasn't in the right here, especially with Leng Yaozhu protecting this child.
Qiangu Dongfeng slowly released his clenched fists and looked at Gu You. "I agree to your request, but there's one condition."
"Condition? You still need a condition?" Gu You radiated a sharp, oppressive aura.
"If you can accept it, it's just a simple condition," Qiangu Dongfeng was not intimidated by Gu You's pressure.
"Haha, so I take the loss, and now I must agree to your condition? Does anyone in this world do things like that?" Gu You's eyes glowed with purple energy.
"I apologize for the matter, but the condition is non-negotiable," Qiangu Dongfeng insisted.
"Speak." Gu You responded indifferently.
"You must never enter the Spirit Pagoda again," Qiangu Dongfeng stated the condition.
"Never enter?" Gu You smiled. There was no need to make a scene with Qiangu Dongfeng right now; after all, the Qiangu family had three half-god level experts. Otherwise, if it were just Qiangu Dongfeng, they would have fought by now.
Moreover, once the Spirit Pagoda was no longer under the Qiangu family's control, he could enter freely again. Or once he became a dominant force on the continent, the Qiangu family would crumble at a snap of his fingers.
"Fine. Take me to find the tablet." Gu You agreed, his expression serious, though outwardly it seemed like a sincere promise.
Qiangu Dongfeng glanced at Gu You.
"Follow me."
Gu You glanced at Leng Yaozhu once again, signaling with his eyes that she need not worry.
"Who's worried about you?" Leng Yaozhu was somewhat irritated by Gu You's words, feeling like he was a typical naïve man.
A burst of intense light enveloped both Gu You and Qiangu Dongfeng, and then they experienced a sense of sinking into the earth.
The surroundings were covered by a soul power barrier, and Gu You could feel that they were moving underground.
After the soul power barrier began to thin, the scene ahead slowly revealed itself.
It was a mixture of rock and technological styles, with many instruments housing unknown liquids. Some of these even contained living creatures.
Indeed, they were soul beasts, densely packed, with numerous instruments.
Gu You swallowed hard and continued to follow Qiangu Dongfeng.
There were no staff underground; only the hum of machines could be heard, indicating complete automation.
The underground space was enormous, and Gu You followed Qiangu Dongfeng for about four minutes before they were only halfway through the journey.
Qiangu Dongfeng produced a dark rock-colored card from his hand and scanned it against the detection system of a massive metallic door.
Instantly, white mist billowed around the door, followed by the sounds of metal shifting.
The door, which stood six or seven meters tall and thick, took about six to seven seconds to open.
Once the mist dissipated, Gu You entered the room. Inside, he felt a strange, bloodline-related aura.
When he saw the item he had come for, Gu You was momentarily stunned.
If he was right, what lay before him couldn't be described as a stone tablet; "bone tablet" would be more accurate.
The entire bone tablet was a three-dimensional rectangular shape, with numerous metal pipes jutting out from its surface.
Gu You walked up and touched it. As soon as his hand rested on it, numerous images flooded his mind.
The Dragon God had nine sons, the Purple Dragon gathered the Three Emperors…
In the images, a faint silver-gray giant dragon was shown, cleaved into three by the Dragon God. Its head and tail were obliterated by the energy, leaving only the body bone.
The body bone fell from the heavens of the divine realm, scattering to the human world.
This event happened tens of thousands of years ago, even before the Dragon God was split in two, at a time when the dragon clan was still prosperous.
As time passed and the years changed, the glow of the body bone faded, and the bone wore down. After the last bit of divine essence disappeared, it became fused underground, influenced by magnetic fields, and eventually formed into a massive stone tablet.
Gu You felt an inexplicable familiarity. He even unconsciously shed a few tears.
Is this related to you?
Gu You touched his chest.
Suddenly, it all came rushing back to him—the stars, the Star Dragon Emperor.
Once the companion of the Purple Dragon God, its power was overwhelming, so much so that an entire realm couldn't contain it.
In the end, it chose to split its power, forming the three major Dragon Emperors that followed: Star, Land, and Lingyang.
But these fragmented histories, the wars between the two Dragon Gods, had long been forgotten in ancient times.
Gu You let out a sigh. Even the Dragon Soul was gone, which meant that the Star Dragon could never be revived.
"What are you doing?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked, a little confused by Gu You's reaction. Wasn't he supposed to take the item? Why was he still hesitating?
"I just remembered something," Gu You said, a dragon-shaped mark appeared on his forehead, with purple-golden light flashing.
The massive bone tablet, about two to three meters long and one meter wide, was absorbed into his mind by his own power.
How bizarre.
Qiangu Dongfeng's first evaluation of Gu You's mental realm was that everything seemed to be sucked in. Originally, he thought that it would take Gu You a lot of effort to move this item, given its size and weight. After all, it was underground—how would he even get it out?
But now, it seemed as if Gu You had just sucked it into his mind with no effort at all.
Qiangu Dongfeng was taken aback, realizing that this item was bound to leave with Gu You. He even considered briefly using force to keep Gu You there, but thinking of Leng Yaozhu, he decided against it. After all, Gu You was her disciple, and she valued him greatly.
Back in the Spirit Pagoda's room, everyone was still there.
"Pay up," Leng Yaozhu said flatly as she looked at Gu You.
"Pay for what?" Gu You scratched his head.
"Half of the price for the soul spirits in the Spirit Pagoda," Leng Yaozhu replied with a blank expression. It seemed that Gu You had never been told the full details by Gu Yue.
"I thought it was free?" Gu You glanced at Gu Yue, who had her head lowered in embarrassment.
"Well, considering you're my disciple, it's not too much. Four hundred billion Federation coins should suffice," Leng Yaozhu said with a smile.
Four hundred billion! Gu You's face turned pale. Even if he sold himself, he wouldn't be worth that much. He knew that ten-thousand-year soul beasts were rare, but he hadn't expected two ten-thousand-year soul beasts and countless thousand-year soul beasts to be worth this much.
"What, you can't pay?" Leng Yaozhu's tone grew cold.
"I want to pay, but I really... don't have that kind of money," Gu You said. For the first time, he felt the weight of debt. Four hundred billion was more than the value of a third-tier city!
How could he possibly have that much money? He strongly suspected Leng Yaozhu had raised the price on purpose, but remembering the preciousness of the soul beasts, he pushed the thought aside.
What should he do?
Gu You anxiously scratched his head. The only thing he could do now was give up all the money he had on him.
(End of Chapter)