Chapter 20: Identity Revealed

“Formation Dao?”
Upon hearing the Wordsmith God’s words, Qu Yi immediately asked back.
From the cultivation realm, all the way through to the Immortal Realm, the Demon Realm, and the Fiend Realm, the Wordsmith God had been teaching Qu Yi Formation Dao without ever letting him craft artifacts himself. Now, hearing that the Wordsmith God wanted to teach him formation techniques, Qu Yi found it hard to believe.
He had been deceived for over a hundred thousand years.
“This time, it’s true—you can actually start crafting artifacts, and you can begin right away,” the Wordsmith God’s voice was decisive.
Hearing this, Qu Yi smiled and said, “Alright, then I’ll listen to the formation techniques you want to teach me. Let me tell you, if you deceive me again, I really won’t want to practice your Formation Dao anymore.”
The Wordsmith God said nothing more. Then, Qu Yi sensed that more content had appeared on his transparent soul sphere.
“One-Dimensional Dao.” With a sweep of his spiritual sense, Qu Yi immediately detected the formation technique the Wordsmith God had just taught him.
After a while, after skimming through “One-Dimensional Dao,” Qu Yi understood its essence. One-Dimensional Dao involved integrating a complete set of laws into an artifact to create a divine artifact at the Divine Human level.
Indeed, as the Wordsmith God said, Qu Yi could now start crafting artifacts. Before ascending to the Divine Realm, he had already become familiar with countless types of crafting materials. The crafting materials in the Divine Realm were purer compared to those in the Immortal Realm, Demon Realm, Fiend Realm, and cultivation realm.
In the Divine Realm, all crafting materials were formed from the primal energy of the five elements, naturally composed of combinations of primal energies. In contrast, the crafting materials in the other realms contained much less primal energy, though their basic properties remained the same.
Now, Qu Yi understood why the Wordsmith God had asked him to only get familiar with crafting materials—this was the foundation of artifact crafting.
“The content of One-Dimensional Dao is simple. I’m giving you ten years to scan it completely. After that, go to the nearby mountains to find ores for crafting,” the Wordsmith God’s voice sounded softly again.
Qu Yi replied affirmatively and immediately began scanning the “One-Dimensional Dao” formation.
Meanwhile, he kept taking out the cores of Mountain-Drilling Rats. He planned to refine ten thousand of these Earth Element beast cores during the ten years of scanning the formation, thereby increasing the number of Earth Element spirits in his body to one million.
After that, Qu Yi devoted himself entirely to cultivation.
※※※

Qingfeng Fort sent 500 members to the villages near the Beast Mountain Range to conduct thorough investigations of activities in each village. That day, a middle-aged man with a thin face and short stature arrived at Bai Shou Village. This man was named Zhong Liuxin, from Qingfeng Fort. In the villages around the Beast Mountain Range, monks from other places often passed through on their way across the mountain range. Therefore, when Zhong Liuxin arrived, he did not draw much attention from the villagers of Bai Shou Village. However, Tian Duo, the village leader who had been uneasy all along, noticed Zhong Liuxin’s movements. “Why is this guy staying in our Bai Shou Village without leaving? Other monks just pass by and leave quickly, but this guy has been here for three days already,” Tian Duo said, frowning in confusion while lying on his wooden bed. After a while, seeing Zhong Liuxin sit down on a piece of wasteland in the village, Tian Duo grew even more suspicious. After sensing Zhong Liuxin’s cultivation level, he felt relieved and immediately sent his consciousness to communicate with him. “Fellow cultivator, I am Tian Duo, the village leader of Bai Shou Village. You’ve been here for several days now. What brings you to our village?” Tian Duo transmitted his message through his consciousness. Zhong Liuxin received Tian Duo’s message, smiled slightly, and replied in kind through his consciousness. “Village leader, I’m from Qingfeng Fort. You can call me Zhong Liuxin,” he replied calmly. Upon hearing this, Tian Duo trembled on his wooden bed. He had heard of Qingfeng Fort before—it was a famous stronghold in the Bai Zhai Mountain Region, far beyond Bai Shou Village’s strength. Although the bandits in the Bai Zhai Mountain Region usually targeted monks entering the Beast Mountain Range, they occasionally raided nearby villages to steal divine crystals and other treasures. As a result, the villagers there were aware of these bandit strongholds and knew not to offend them. Hearing that Zhong Liuxin came from Qingfeng Fort, Tian Duo’s first thought was that he might be there to scout, and perhaps Qingfeng Fort was coming to raid them, which made him even more anxious. “Zhong Liuxin, I want to ask—what are you trying to find out about our Bai Shou Village?” Tian Duo asked directly. Only by getting an answer could Tian Duo plan his next steps. If Qingfeng Fort arrived, it would mean chaos, and any problems in the village could be blamed on them.

Therefore, after his surprise, Tian Duo immediately began to plan how he could take advantage of the actions at Qingfeng Fort to make a huge profit. Zhong Liuxin, hearing Tian Duo’s words, roughly guessed his intentions. Though annoyed, he did not react immediately and continued to talk with Tian Duo. “Captain, to be honest, our brothers at Qingfeng Fort recently discovered a forest of Divine Crystal Trees in the Violent Beast Mountains—thousand of them. But someone killed our brothers and stole all the Divine Crystal Trees. Our fort master has ordered us to find the real culprit. If we do, Qingfeng Fort will surely kill him. Captain, if you know anything, please tell us; we will reward you handsomely,” Zhong Liuxin replied directly. These words carried two meanings: first, Qingfeng Fort must find and kill the culprit; second, if the captain knew anything, he would be rewarded for telling the truth, or punished if he hid it. Hearing Zhong Liuxin’s words, Tian Duo quickly understood the implication. After a while, his body trembled again, and his eyes gleamed. Qu Yi had obtained two thousand Divine Crystal Trees in just over a decade, and the number of spiritual entities in his body had reached eighty thousand. These facts had long puzzled Tian Duo, and now, upon hearing Zhong Liuxin’s words, he immediately thought of the suspicious aspects about Qu Yi. “Zhong Liuxin, to be frank, three people have indeed arrived in our Bai Shou Village recently. I can’t figure out their strength. These three went to the Bai Shou Mountains over a decade ago, and only Qu Yi has returned recently. This Qu Yi has at least eighty thousand Wood-type spiritual entities in his body, making him a master among cultivators at the Divine Man stage,” Tian Duo immediately mentioned Qu Yi. In fact, Tian Duo had his own motives—whether it was Qu Yi or not, by implicating him, Qingfeng Fort would surely deal with him. Then Qu Yi would have to deal with such a powerful force like Qingfeng Fort, and he would surely not come out unscathed. The fort master of Qingfeng Fort was undoubtedly at the Divine Weapon stage. If Qingfeng Fort killed Qu Yi because of this, Tian Duo would be overjoyed, as it would eliminate a source of concern for him. Hearing Tian Duo’s words, Zhong Liuxin became excited. He had been searching around the surrounding villages for a long time without finding any useful information. Now that he had some news, he could report it to the fort master.

Thus, Zhong Liuxin had another conversation with Tian Duo and learned more about Qu Yi. “Less than twenty years since ascending to the Divine Realm, yet he already has eighty thousand Wood Element spirits in his body. Three people went into the mountains together, and only one returned. Especially that storage ring—it was a treasure carried by our second chief. Hmph, with this information, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui can be added to Qingfeng Camp’s list of suspects.” After gathering the information, Zhong Liuxin had already made up her mind. Soon, she took out her identity card and contacted Qingfeng Camp right away.
※※※
Ten years passed effortlessly. Qu Yi woke up on his wooden bed, a smile of joy on his lips. “I’ve fully understood the One-Dimensional Dao. Now, all I need to do is craft weapons myself and master the formation techniques,” he said happily. During these ten years, he had also refined ten thousand Earth Element beast cores, increasing the number of Earth Element spirits in his body to one million. As a result, the total number of spirits in his body—Gold, Wood, and Earth Elements—all reached one million, while Water and Fire Elements still numbered one hundred thousand. With such strength, he was already invincible among cultivators at the Divine Being stage. Just as Qu Yi finished speaking, the Consciousness of the Artifact God transmitted a message: “Qu Yi, not long ago, people from Qingfeng Camp came and learned everything about you. I think it won’t be long before they send someone to deal with you.” Hearing this, Qu Yi was stunned for a moment before smiling and saying, “Even the most careful plans have gaps. What’s meant to happen will happen. I’ll just face it. By the way, was it Tian Duo and Xu Qiang who spilled my secrets?” “It was Tian Duo who told them, but he also informed Xu Qiang, who agreed,” the Consciousness of the Artifact God replied calmly. Upon hearing this, a cold glint flashed in Qu Yi’s eyes. He chuckled lightly, and his expression returned to ease, as if he didn’t need to worry about it at all. “Artifact God, please let me know in advance when the people from Qingfeng Camp are approaching. Since they’re coming to deal with me, I can’t reveal my strength here in Bai Shou Village. I’ll lead them to the mountains, where I can fully display my power,” Qu Yi said with a smile. “Understood,” the Consciousness of the Artifact God replied lightly.
※※※
Qingfeng Camp base. Inside the three main halls, the chief, Liu Xingui, and the third chief, Dragon Emperor, were already seated in their thrones. Earlier, Dragon Emperor had received the news reported by Zhong Liuxin, which shocked him deeply.

Qu Yi!
When the Dragon Emperor heard the name Qu Yi, endless rage surged in his heart. Upon receiving further information, he became absolutely certain that Qu Yi from the Hundred Beasts Village was the same person who had forced him to endure the divine tribulation in the Realm of Ruin. Without a doubt, the Dragon Emperor immediately decided to kill Qu Yi—regardless of whether Qu Yi was the murderer of the members of the Qingfeng Camp or not, or regardless of the suffering he had endured at Qu Yi’s hands. Just because of the divine artifacts on Qu Yi’s person, the Dragon Emperor was determined to kill him and seize those artifacts for himself.

After learning that Qu Yi possessed eighty thousand Wood Element spirits within his body, the Dragon Emperor calmed down, realizing that with his current strength, he was not capable of killing Qu Yi and might instead be killed by him. Therefore, he could only rely on the chief of the camp, Liu Xingui, to deal with Qu Yi so that he could kill him and obtain his divine artifacts.

The Dragon Emperor had only ninety thousand Gold Element spirits within his body, and he was sure he was no match for Qu Yi, as Qu Yi could easily defeat him with the power of his divine artifacts. Thus, the Dragon Emperor shared the information reported by Zhong Liuxin with Liu Xingui.

Now, both chiefs had arrived at the Main Hall, where five hundred members of the Qingfeng Camp were already waiting.

“Brothers, the five hundred of us who were sent out investigated the situations in the surrounding villages. We have now identified the suspects who killed our brothers—they are Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wugui, who currently reside in the Hundred Beasts Village. I’ve gathered you all here to tell you that I intend to go to the Hundred Beasts Village in person, bringing only ten people with me. You decide who wants to follow me,” Liu Xingui said after scanning the crowd.

“I’ll go.”
……
“I’ll go.”

In an instant, all five hundred members of the Qingfeng Camp declared their willingness to follow Liu Xingui to the Hundred Beasts Village. Liu Xingui let out a cold snort to silence the crowd, then said with a smile, “I’ve seen your willingness. Very well, I’ll select ten people to go with me to the Hundred Beasts Village.”

After saying that, Liu Xingui pointed to the ten people standing at the front.

This expedition consisted of Liu Xingui, the chief of the camp, the Dragon Emperor, the third chief, along with ten members at the Divine Being stage.