Chapter 4898: Broken Bone

As Li Qiye took his time researching the bone, Jian Yunyun asked: “Is it related to the monument?”

She was awfully curious about a potential connection due to the bone"s reaction that day, not to mention the character “Primal” being used as well. [1]

Their branch has been wors.h.i.+pping this bone for eras now. It had never shown any reaction in the past. Descendants wondered why the respect was being shown since it seemed rather useless.

Now, the heat from it during the coronation was unprecedented. This justified the risk she took when kidnapping Li Qiye.

“Your origin and the monument aren’t deeply related. Both have primal as part of their t.i.tle but that’s it.” Li Qiye said.

“Then why did the bone react to the charcoal? Please enlighten me, Young n.o.ble.” She bowed.

“It’s more complicated.” Li Qiye elaborated: “What you perceived as heat was actually hatred. However, since the bone’s divinity is gone, your a.s.sessment became inaccurate.”

“Hatred?” She didn’t expect this answer.

“Do you know which bone this is?” Li Qiye rotated the bone while asking.

She couldn’t answer the question.

“The center of the forehead.” Li Qiye said.

“The glabella?” She said: “The toughest of the bones.”

Cultivators focused on training this area for protection, causing it to be quite hard. However, she didn’t get the impression from the bone.

“The person had it torn off while still alive.” Li Qiye said.

“How? This thing looks completely intact.” She had observed the bone numerous times in the past.

Due to the toughness of the bone, it was virtually impossible to pull it off while maintaining even surfaces. There should have been edges and marks.

This required a mighty existence cutting the bone out in one go with something immensely sharp.

“That’s where it gets interesting. The owner of this bone was strong beyond your imagination. Not even dao lord treasures can touch this bone. Alas, it was taken forcefully and robbed of its divinity. Now, it is just another bone.” Li Qiye said.

She had a bad feeling while listening to this story. The a.s.sailant seemed to be an evil cultivator, wanting to absorb another’s dao essences and vitality.

This was a taboo type of cultivation - absorbing others’ power. Those partic.i.p.ating in this art were usually hunted immediately by the rest of the world.

The cultivation world was a ruthless and lawless place. Alas, this type of cultivation could result in absolute chaos.

“So who did it?” She took her time calming down and then asked.

There were many mysteries to this tale. If Li Qiye said that the owner of the bone was mighty, the a.s.sailant must have been even more formidable. Moreover, what was the relations.h.i.+p between this bone and her sect?

She had speculations but didn’t want to be presumptuous. Whatever happened back then must have been dreadful and nauseating.

“This was far in the distant past but does pertain to your sect.” Li Qiye said.

“In what way?” She hastily asked.

Li Qiye placed the other palm on the bone to start a cycle of the dao. As time twisted back and forth, she suddenly felt herself being transported to a void with Li Qiye.

“Buzz.” A strand of divinity finally showed itself and made her feel like a speck of dust.

Alas, it appeared quickly and went away just as fast. Everything returned to normal.

“What was that?!” She thought she saw a dark hand devouring that strand of divinity earlier.

Nonetheless, its holy power exceeded her comprehension.

“The final strand of divinity.” Li Qiye sighed and returned the bone to her: “This is only a regular bone now, a piece of memento to remember an ancestor.”

“So this ancestor was completely devoured?” She shuddered.

“Yes.” Li Qiye nodded: “This was a brutal hunt with no good ending for the prey, only a terrible end.”

“Do you know who it is?” She felt bad for the victim.

“An ancestor of an ancestor of an ancestor, you get the point.” Li Qiye responded.

She thought that the victim might actually be the progenitor of Primal, prompting her to ask: “Was it our progenitor?”

“No, this was way before your sect.” Li Qiye shook his head: “Nonetheless, someone lamented this death and kept this bone for future descendants to wors.h.i.+p later on.”

She stared at the bone and wondered about the ident.i.ty of both the a.s.sailant and the victim.

1. Changed some parts in the previous chapters, adding Primal to Trinity Against the Heaven. Sometimes, shortening names can come back and bite you in the b.u.t.t ☜