Chapter 1442: Undead Medicine Stolen

"Indeed," Wu Xian nodded. "On Mount Zhong, there is a great deity named Zhulong. It has a human face, a snake's body, and is entirely red with vertically slit eyes. When it closes its eyes, the world turns to night; when it opens its eyes, the world becomes day. It neither eats nor sleeps nor breathes, yet it can summon wind and rain. It can also illuminate the darkest places..."

Zu An was secretly startled. Zhulong often appeared in ancient myths; he never expected to encounter it in this secret realm.

Yan Xuehen and the two other women had never heard of Zhulong. Hearing this description, they were instantly shocked. To turn day into night just by opening and closing its eyes – wasn't that the power of a creation deity?

According to Wu Xian's description, they suddenly recalled Yayu and Erfu, whom they had encountered earlier on Mount Shaoxian. Both seemed to have human faces and snake bodies.

Furthermore, Yu Yanluo could, in a sense, also be considered to have a human face and snake body. They wondered if there was any blood relation between them.

Yu Yanluo, however, shook her head frantically, clearly aware of their thoughts and vehemently denying any connection.

At this point, Wu Xian continued, "Zhulong holds an extremely high status. He has three sons: one named Yayu, one named Erfu, and another named Gu."

"Ah?" Even Zu An exclaimed in surprise. He hadn't realized that Yayu was Zhulong's son!

And that Erfu was his brother!

Upon closer thought, both Erfu and Yayu had human heads and dragon bodies, indeed very similar to Zhulong's form.

"Oh, do you know them?" Wu Xian asked, surprised by their reaction.

"We encountered them before..." Zu An and the others briefly recounted their previous encounter with Yayu on Mount Shaoxian and at Ruoshui.

After hearing the full account, the Ten Witches were astonished. "We had no idea that Yayu was hiding there, and you even completely freed him. We certainly underestimated you."

They clearly felt that the Witches' attitude towards them had become much more amicable.

Zu An wondered if Yayu was also a friend of theirs and quickly asked for an explanation.

Wu Xian and the others explained, "Although Erfu and Yayu were brothers, their personalities were completely different. Yayu was the eldest son, more popular and renowned, and everyone acknowledged him as Zhulong's successor. However, Erfu was very dissatisfied, believing his cultivation and intelligence far surpassed his elder brother's, yet it was Yayu who was recognized as the heir."

Yan Xuehen and the others nodded silently. In the demonic tribes, besides bloodline power, the dying elder generation would pass on the essence of their cultivation to the next. Therefore, once an heir was chosen, other offspring, no matter how hard they strived, could not surpass the designated successor. This made the struggle for the inheritance far more intense and bloody than among humans.

"Erfu had a subordinate named Wei, who sowed discord between the brothers. Erfu could no longer restrain himself, so he and Wei conspired to kill Yayu. Afterward, when the Celestial Emperor heard about this – partly due to Zhulong's revered status and partly because Yayu truly had an excellent reputation – the Emperor felt pity and commanded us to retrieve the Immortality Elixir to revive him."

Zu An and the others were surprised. They had previously thought the Immortality Elixir belonged to the Queen Mother of the West at Jade Pool. They never expected it to come from the Ten Witches of Spirit Mountain.

Knowing the elixir's immense importance and that a direct inquiry might be rebuffed, he asked about something else first: "By the way, who exactly is this Celestial Emperor you mentioned?"

Since entering this Unknowable Land, he had heard many things about the Celestial Emperor.

Wu Xian seemed slightly puzzled by his question but replied, "The Celestial Emperor's name is Zhuanxu. Older people who lived long ago would all know him. It's normal for the younger generation today not to."

Zu An inwardly thought, *Finally, not another riddle-teller.* Emperor Xuan, Zhuanxu? He had previously heard Shun mention the conflict between the lineages of Emperor Xuan and Emperor Bai. He never imagined Zhuanxu had become the Celestial Emperor.

"What about Di Jun?" His heart stirred, and he quickly asked.

The Golden Crows had called Xihe "Mother Empress," and Di Jun's status was clearly very high. In the story of "Hou Yi Shooting the Suns" he'd heard before, the Celestial Emperor seemed to be Di Jun.

Wu Xian replied, "Di Jun is also a Celestial Emperor."

Zu An and the others: "???"

The other nine Witches beside Wu Xian found their bewildered expressions amusing. "Who told you there could only be one Celestial Emperor?"

Only then did Wu Xian explain, "There are a total of five Great Emperors in the heavens, known as the Five Directional Celestial Emperors. Zhuanxu and Di Jun are two of them."

A storm raged in the minds of Zu An and the others. So that was it! No wonder the various pieces of information they had heard before never quite aligned. There were five Celestial Emperors.

"And who are the other three?" Yan Xuehen asked curiously.

Wu Xian shook his head. "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed. It does ordinary humans no good to know too much; it would only invite disaster."

Zu An: "..."

He had just been praising them a second ago, and now they had become riddle-tellers again.

Wu Xian continued, "At that time, the Celestial Emperor wished to use the Immortality Elixir to save Yayu. Naturally, we dared not defy him. We found Bao Jiang, who was in charge of the elixir, and brought it to revive Yayu. However, we never expected that after being brought back to life, he would become muddled and disoriented. Later, he fell into Ruoshui, his personality drastically changed, and he transformed into the monster Yayu."

"Bao Jiang?" Zu An was quite unfamiliar with that name.

Wu Xian replied, "Bao Jiang is our friend. His dwelling is within Spirit Mountain, and he is responsible for guarding the Immortality Elixir."

Zu An's heart stirred. *It seems the Immortality Elixir is on Spirit Mountain?*

The Witches continued, "Because Yayu had been benevolent and well-regarded in life, and considering his father's influence, no one troubled him further, allowing him to live or die as fate dictated." Zu An inwardly grumbled that it was probably because his father, Zhulong, was too powerful.

"When Wei's instigation of Erfu came to light, the Celestial Emperor punished Erfu and simultaneously ordered Wei's execution to avenge Yayu..." The other Witches chimed in, more or less reconstructing the events of that year.

Zu An secretly sighed, *As expected, those without powerful backing are left to bear the blame.* Erfu, the main conspirator, was merely punished, while Wei was brutally executed.

As if discerning his thoughts, Wu Xian explained, "Although Erfu was not executed, he was stripped of his position as heir. Losing what he had always pursued might not be much better than death."

Zu An thought, *It's probably still better to be alive.* "What does any of this have to do with the Golden Crows and Nuba?"

Wu Xian continued, "Originally, this incident, though a tragedy, would have been manageable if it had ended there. But later, another hidden truth was uncovered."

"Another hidden truth?" Zu An was startled.

"Have you realized there's someone you've overlooked?" Wu Xian's expression was unfathomable.

Yun Jianyue, who had been silent, spoke up: "Gu!"

Wu Xian was a little surprised. "This young lady is indeed intelligent. The one missing is indeed Gu."

Yun Jianyue thought, *I've been famous for who knows how many years, and now I'm being called a 'young lady.'* Yet, coming from Wu Xian, it didn't feel out of place at all.

Zu An and the others were not foolish. With this hint, they immediately realized. Gu was originally the third in line for succession. With one brother kind and the other powerful, he would never have had a chance. But now, with one brother dead and the other disinherited, he became the biggest beneficiary.

Often, to determine who is truly behind an event, one only needs to see who benefits the most.

Wu Xian sighed deeply. "Gu hid his involvement very well. It was only after a later event that we realized he was orchestrating everything."

"Not long after the affair between Yayu and Erfu, Bao Jiang was killed, and the Immortality Elixir was stolen."

"The Immortality Elixir was stolen?" Zu An and the others were shocked. If such an item existed in the outside world, people would tear each other apart to get it.

Although the people of this Unknowable Land were powerful, it was clear that the Immortality Elixir was also an absolute treasure to them.

"The legend of the Immortality Elixir is widely known. Some powerful factions or cultivators with deep foundations knew that it was hidden on Spirit Mountain, but no one knew its exact location," Wu Xian and the others explained. "Then, because of the Yayu incident, Gu learned that Bao Jiang was the guardian of the Immortality Elixir. So, he conspired with his subordinate, Qin?, to assassinate Bao Jiang."