NOVPUB
Chapter 77: The Reason Behind All of This
Just before the arrow struck the ground, Aldrian pulled the people from the city lord’s manor, making them float near him. When the arrow hit, the western peak trembled violently, and cracks spread throughout the mountain. Aldrian watched as the mountain peak disintegrated and collapsed. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
But it didn’t stop there. The arrow continued deep into the mountain, its power seemingly undiminished even after the impact. The entire mountain shook heavily, and moments later, it began collapsing from the top down, crumbling inward. The towering peak, which pierced the clouds and reached the sky, was now crumbling before everyone’s eyes. Earlier people who had been fleeing when they saw the giant beast stopped in their tracks as they witnessed golden light fall from the sky, causing the western peak to crumble.
The earthquake from the mountain’s collapse shook the entire city, far stronger than the tremor caused by the Black Rock Snake’s appearance. A mountain that had stood for countless years, with all its history and glory—one that gave the city its name—was falling. Rocks and debris started flying everywhere, but the spatial crack caused by the attack sucked the mountain inward, pulling it into the void.
The arrow finally stopped, buried 300 meters below the ground. A mountain more than 15 kilometers tall had now been reduced to a heap of dirt and rock. Aldrian watched all of this with calm eyes, but inside, his heart trembled.
"What a powerful attack! The combination of my domain and the divine artifact truly makes for a weapon of mass destruction. I need to be careful using this in the future—it can be a double-edged sword," he thought.
He surveyed the aftermath and began controlling the spatial storm by sealing the spatial cracks that had formed along the arrow’s path. Fortunately, the spatial storm had helped, sucking the debris and dust into the void, preventing the collapse from spreading to the surrounding area. This spared Aldrian from having to hold up the entire mountain to prevent casualties.
He spread his senses below and finally located the devil Agrin Livan. He was lying between rocks and debris, half his body missing, but Aldrian could sense he was still alive, though barely. Agrin had reverted to his original form, his devil transformation canceled when he lost all his devil energy and half his body.
Aldrian observed him for a moment before deciding to take him as proof. He then recalled the arrow from deep within the ground, now buried under tons of rock. When the arrow finally returned to his hand, he inspected it and, to his surprise, found that it had withstood the immense power without a single crack. Even the information displayed showed no signs of broken.
"Well, it’s not called a divine artifact for nothing, especially one made from the roots of the World Tree."
He teleported part of the city lord manor’s people to the ground, amid the pile of rocks, while sending the higher-ups to the Yu family manor. It was one of Aldrian’s ability—his power to teleport between two different domains no matter the distance.
He had tested this ability many times in the Ivory Empire, with satisfying results: he could teleport between his domains without expending any energy. However, if he was outside of his domain and wanted to teleport into it, he needed a significant amount of energy. Once, he had tried teleporting directly from Thonias City to the Forest of Despair, and the result was he depleted almost all of his energy in one go.
When Aldrian arrived at the Yu family manor, he saw the corpses of devils scattered around, surrounding the manor. He smiled at their futile attempt to strike the manor while he was away. Unfortunately for them, he had long since set up powerful killing formation traps around the area. Charred bodies, decapitated heads, and signs of poison covered the battlefield—Aldrian had turned the manor into an impenetrable fortress.
Yu Ruomei stood in the garden with Yu Fenglian, both stunned at Aldrian’s sudden appearance. Like the others in the city, they had witnessed the collapse of the western peak, and the sight of it disappearing left them speechless. Shock washed over Yu Ruomei again when she noticed the many people Aldrian had brought with him, some of whom she recognized. When her gaze fell on the city lord, her body trembled, and she rushed toward him without hesitation.
With one swift motion, she punched him in the abdomen, striking directly at his middle dantian, cracking it.
"It had to be you! You’re the one responsible for my family’s downfall!" she yelled, raining blows on him—his face, stomach, and chest—all with no mercy.
With his cultivation sealed by Aldrian, the city lord couldn’t defend himself, effectively becoming a living punching bag. As he teetered on the edge of death, Aldrian stepped in, gently holding Yu Ruomei’s hand to stop her from killing him accidentally. The city lord was a key figure, after all. Yu Ruomei tried to calm herself down and step aside.
Yu Fenglian watched his mother with tears in his eyes, furious at the people who had brought them to this miserable state. He wanted to strangle them all but knew he couldn’t.
Aldrian then injected some of his energy into the city lord, healing him just enough to keep him alive. He also touched the city lord’s forehead, probing his memories. After he is done, Aldrian stopped and turned to Yu Ruomei with a sigh.
"Do you want to know what I found?" he asked.
Yu Ruomei nodded firmly, prompting Aldrian to share his findings. Apparently, 15 years ago, when a prophecy from the Heavenly Direction Church had spread internally among the powers on the continent. The prophecy also reached the Yu family and, of course, the city lord’s manor. At that time, many factions feared that the prophecy would eventually disrupt the status quo.
Amidst this uncertainty, someone suddenly arrived at the city lord’s manor with an enticing offer. He presented something that sparked the city lord’s greed, and some of the higher-ups also became collaborators. The man offered the power of the ’Heavenly Rock.’ In return, the devils wanted the city lord’s manor to open a path for them to access demon territory. The city lord agreed and even appointed one of the devils, Agrin Livan, as his advisor.
The ancestors who brought the ’Heavenly Rock’ along with their colleagues to the Yu family manor had no idea that this ’rock’ was under the devils’ control when they waged war against the entire continent 3 million years ago. When the devils retreated, they left behind the ’Heavenly Rock,’ which was later discovered by the Yu family’s ancestors.
In recent years, the city lord’s manor, already seduced by the devils’ whispers, began to target the Yu family. Together, the devils and the city lord’s manor devised a plan to seize the rock, which had been in the Yu family’s possession for millions of years.
Initially, they intended to execute a seamless plan with precise arrangements. However, the Yu family’s escort mission, arranged with a client from Golden Swan Commerce, went awry when the escort team discovered the true nature of their package. Forced into a corner, the city lord’s manor and the devils resorted to a more radical and poorly-conceived plan, riddled with flaws.
The events that followed became the history everyone knows. However, the city lord’s manor did not fully trust the devils, especially when they almost slaughtered the entire Yu family without coordinating with the city lord. It became clear that the devils had their own agenda, one that the city lord knew little about.
The city lord decided to keep the mother and son, the only survivors of the massacre under his control, solely for the sake of the treasure. He knew that the two lived for each other, so keeping them both alive was the best way to ensure they would remain useful. It also proved to be a wise decision after the treasure could not be found. The wife of the Yu patriarch must have known the treasure’s location.
The only place left unsearched was the Altar of the Heavenly Demon, a sacred site that many, including the city lord, were reluctant to destroy out of faith. Not all members of the city lord’s manor knew about his connection with the devils, so he had to act carefully.
If the devils had slaughtered the entire Yu family, the city lord could have potentially lost the treasure, as the devils would have been free to search the manor unhindered. After all, they didn’t care about the Altar of the Heavenly Demon. He also had no idea what methods the devils might use to find the treasure—perhaps they already had a way. If that were the case, he would have been a fool to let himself be taken advantage of without resistance.
After Aldrian finished explaining, Yu Ruomei stared blankly into the distance. Yu Fenglian gritted his teeth, overwhelmed by the revelation behind his family’s misfortune. Yu Ruomei sighed, glanced at Aldrian with gratitude, and bowed.
"Thank you, young master, for uncovering the truth. Once again, I will repay your kindness with everything I have, but for now, please excuse me." Without waiting for Aldrian’s response, she walked away toward the Hall of Honor, her back appearing lonely and filled with sadness.
Yu Fenglian watched his mother for a moment before bowing to Aldrian. "Thank you, young master, for helping my mother and me. Please excuse me." He then ran to catch up with her.
Aldrian watched them leave and sighed. This was just one of many stories in the cultivation world. There were countless others, some perhaps even crueler. He then turned his attention to his ’prisoners,’ all of whom were too injured to pose any threat. To ensure their captivity, Aldrian sealed their cultivation. With this, the night’s events were concluded—or so he thought, until he sensed the presence of several newcomers outside the manor.
Without hesitation, he began walking outside to meet them.
