Pay-to-Win Cultivation: I Get 10,000x Returns Chapter 84

"Found it!" Zhiyin declared suddenly. "The source is in the secret chamber of the imperial palace."

With a swift motion, she formed a series of hand seals. A flash of light erupted beneath their feet, and they were instantly teleported into a dim, subterranean palace. Yu Yun staggered as she landed, looking around in a daze. "This place is..."

Zhiyin pointed toward the ceiling. "Directly above us is the Emperor's bedchamber."

Zhang Xian ran his hand over the cold stone wall, his mind drifting into the past. In his mind's eye, he saw a little princess hiding in this very chamber, weeping during the Great Liang civil war. She had been one of his most beloved wives, a woman of fragile health who had passed away before her fortieth year.

"The formation's core is further down," Zhiyin said. She struck the floor with her palm, shattering the stone to reveal a jagged hole emitting a sickly, pulsating glow.

A chilling aura surged from the depths. As the group descended, the air grew heavy and dark, as if some light-devouring beast resided below. Li Fuxi chanted an incantation, and a sphere of golden light rose from her palm, illuminating the path.

After a half-hour trek, they reached a hidden vault. The walls, floor, and ceiling were choked with bizarre red and black patterns that writhed like living blood vessels.

"Is this the Cycle of Withering and Flourishing Forbidden Array?" Zhang Xian asked, his voice low and somber.

Yun Wanqing, who possessed a keen understanding of formations, traced the patterns with a slender finger. "It has been active for at least three hundred years," she noted. Her finger stopped at a specific node. "However, it was reinforced fifty years ago. The efficiency was drastically increased."

"So that is why the lifespans in Liang became even shorter," Zhang Xian said coldly.

"Yes." Yun Wanqing pointed to a white-green sphere of light floating in the center, pulsing like a rhythmic heart. "This sphere contains fifty years of stolen life force. Someone harvested the vitality of this land while strengthening the array."

Zhang Xian stared at the sphere. This was the thief that had drained the lives of everyone he held dear. Rage ignited in his eyes. With a sharp shing, he drew his sword, the tip hovering over a critical node.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

A raspy, grating voice echoed through the chamber. A shadowy figure materialized near the light sphere, sending everyone into an immediate combat stance.

"Unless you can destroy the entire formation with a single strike," the shadow taunted, its voice sounding like sandpaper on stone, "the array will extract life force to protect itself. Within ten breaths, the imperial city above will become a necropolis."

Zhang Xian’s blade trembled. "Are you the mastermind?"

The shadow let out an eerie, haunting chuckle. "Indeed."

Before anyone could strike, the figure vanished with a soft pop, dissipating into nothingness.

"He escaped?" Yu Yun asked, her eyes wide.

Xuanwei frowned. "He likely realized he was outnumbered."

Zhiyin wasted no time. She began weaving hand seals, sending silver runes flowing from her fingertips like water. They raced across the red and black patterns, seeking to neutralize every pivot at once.

"Break!"

The underground palace shook violently. The cursed patterns on the walls cracked and dissolved into specks of light. The white-green sphere rose into the air, its murky outer shell shedding away to reveal a pure, warm radiance.

Li Fuxi swept her sleeve, conjuring a water curtain to catch the sphere before it could dissipate. "Let’s go. It is time to return this to the world."

They returned to the surface. As Li Fuxi chanted, the blue glow around her intensified, mirrored by thick, azure clouds gathering in the sky.

Below, the commoners of the capital looked up in wonder. "Is it finally going to rain?" "Look at the clouds... they’re blue!"

Li Fuxi hurled the light sphere into the heavens. It burst like a second sun, flooding the sky with radiance.

Whoosh!

A gentle rain began to fall across the kingdom. The parched earth drank greedily. Withered crops sprouted new buds, dry riverbeds filled with crystal water, and the elderly felt the deep ache in their bones vanish as their wrinkles smoothed.

Zhang Xian stood in the rain, his face turned toward the sky. In the mist, he saw the faces of the departed: the princess's gentle smile and the playful, reproachful gazes of his wives.

That shadow will pay, he vowed.

Yu Yun stood nearby, wailing loudly in the rain, her grief finally breaking through.

Zhang Xian noticed Li Fuxi’s pale face; the ritual had clearly drained her. "Thank you," he said solemnly.

Li Fuxi looked away, her expression awkward. "I-I didn't do it for you! Eradicating evil is the duty of any cultivator..." She stumbled over her words before regaining her composure. "It is simply what we do."

Yun Wanqing watched the pair thoughtfully, while Li Miaoyin sighed, sensing her ancestor was in "danger" of a different sort.

The group eventually retired to Yu Yun’s mansion, now marked with a grand new plaque: Duke of Pillars Residence.

Inside the study, Yun Wanqing spoke. "Zhiyin and I will scout the area to ensure no remnants of the formation remain."

Zhang Xian nodded. "I have somewhere to go. I'll be back by sunset."

Li Fuxi glanced at him before turning to Li Miaoyin. "Since we share a bloodline, I shall give you some pointers on your cultivation."

Miaoyin was so moved she nearly knelt again, but Yun Wanqing stopped her with a laugh. "Stop calling her 'Ancestor.' You'll make Fuxi feel old."

Li Fuxi then looked at Xuanwei and Yu Yun. "You two as well." The three were overjoyed; guidance from a Golden Core master was a rare blessing.

Zhang Xian departed on his sword. Two hours later, he stood before a small mountain village from his memories. The journey that once took him three months now took mere moments.

The village was a ruin of broken walls and dilapidated huts. He pushed open the creaking door of the room he had once shared with the "Little Black Girl." He froze.

The room was spotless. Traces of Dust-Clearing Arts were evident. On the table lay his old hunting bow; on the bed, a set of linen clothes was neatly folded. He touched the bow. He hadn't used it since he began his cultivation, yet the string was new deer sinew and the wood was polished to a shine.

She had returned.

Zhang Xian stored the bow away and spread his divine sense. He walked behind the mountain to find a newly erected stone tablet.

Tomb of Husband, Zhang Shan.

In the bottom corner, a line of small characters read: Left by Wife, Lele.

Zhang Xian stroked the stone and laughed. "Her handwriting has improved." He remembered how she used to complain about learning to read and write.

He stood before the grave in silence for a long time. Finally, he traveled to the desolate mountain where he had once been struck down by Nan Gongyao.

A century had passed, yet the site looked unchanged. He remembered waking up after his "rebirth," fleeing in a panic, terrified that Nan Gongyao was still lurking nearby.

He realized now that when the Nine Revolutions Nirvana Pill rebuilt his body, what felt like a single night had actually been a hundred years.