The sudden voice startled them.

Han Zhan and his companions cast their gaze downward.

An even more shocking scene appeared:

A massive face emerged beneath them, making the entire ground glimmer faintly.

It was as if they were standing on a shimmering water surface, and beneath it, that enormous face was staring right at them!

"No need to be so surprised; this is the price one must pay for pursuing power."

"If you continue forward, you’ll understand one day."

Chi You’s words made Li Wu ponder deeply and fall silent, though they had no effect on Han Zhan beside him.

"According to the High Priest of Hejian Village, you achieved your breakthrough advancement by entering the Blood Pool and fusing with special traits, is that right?"

Chi You didn’t elaborate further, feeling no necessity to explain; instead, he posed another question.

This time, Han Zhan didn’t answer, but Li Wu responded, "Indeed, I fused with special traits to complete my breakthrough advancement, becoming a Tier Eight Great Power."

"..." Chi You’s face beneath the water was silent for a while before he slowly spoke, "But over fifty years ago, there were no more special traits being generated within the Blood Pool."

"What did you fuse with?"

Chi You’s words sent a chill from Li Wu’s heels to his skull, and countless thoughts converged into one word in his mind: grass?!

Over fifty years ago, no special traits were birthed in the Blood Pool; what does this mean!

"No, that can’t be right!" Li Wu’s mind was sharp enough to quickly react, "The High Priest guided us to the Blood Pool, and the method for advancement through fusing with special traits was told by the High Priest."

"If the Blood Pool had ceased to generate special traits over fifty years ago, why did the High Priest tell us this?"

Indeed.

The High Priest initiated their journey to the Blood Pool; if Chi You’s words were true, how could the High Priest’s actions be explained?

Li Wu pointed out the logical contradiction.

This time, Chi You’s silence was even longer.

"The High Priest is not human," he said with a deep sigh, "He is a tool, specifically created to handle impurities, a tool I created."

"Tools can also malfunction."

"The High Priest has devoured too many impurities, and although most were digested into white flakes, some still accumulated within him."

"When these accumulated impurities increase, his behavior gets disturbed."

"So, the Great Chief’s point is... the High Priest guiding us to the Blood Pool might have been due to the interference from impurities?" Li Wu followed up.

This still doesn’t explain everything.

If the High Priest was disturbed, then what about others? Could every High Priest from every village be disturbed? Even then, was the Wizard Elder also disturbed when sending Lingzhen to the Blood Pool?

Han Zhan still harbored doubts in his mind.

This time, Chi You answered quickly, "Not entirely."

"The interference from impurities was indeed present, but it wasn’t only the High Priest being affected; the real target of the interference was the Blood Pool."

"The Blood Pool continued to convey messages about special trait fusion breakthroughs to the Jiuli, enticing the Jiuli Clan People to continuously enter the Blood Pool."

"In the end, they couldn’t escape the pollution, becoming the polluted ones, forever trapped within the Blood Pool."

What Chi You said did indeed have occurrences in reality.

But if the special trait isn’t really a special trait, then what is it?

Can the Chi You talking here be trusted?

Between him and the Chi You head within the Blood Pool, who is telling the truth and who is lying?

For a moment, Han Zhan found it difficult to distinguish.

Mainly, one Chi You head and one Chi You face both didn’t look like normal entities, making it a truly challenging decision to trust either.

At this moment, Chi You spoke again.

This time, his gaze was fixed on Han Zhan.

"I can sense its scent from you; you’ve already encountered it, haven’t you?"

Han Zhan instinctively assumed a defensive posture, spiritual power surging within him, ready to handle any sudden changes.

"Who is it?"

"The impurity that tried to parasitize me, and which I then sealed in the deepest part of the Blood Pool!"

Chi You’s answer muddied Han Zhan’s previously clear thoughts, leaving him in chaos once again.

The Chi You head within the deepest part of the Blood Pool claimed the outside Chi You was parasitized by the impurity, whereas the outside Chi You accused the head inside of being the impurity.

Han Zhan didn’t know at this moment whose statement he should believe.

"So, it chose you."

Chi You seemed to be speaking in riddles, but his words furrowed Han Zhan’s hair in fear.

Just as Han Zhan thought he was about to confront one of the impressive storyline bosses within the Wilderness of Zhulu Fruit World, Chi You’s next words calmed him down again.

"Fifty years ago, in order to deal with the Yellow Emperor and his Yellow Emperor Tribe, I sought a breakthrough in the Blood Pool."

"Inside, I found a special trait to fuse with, and after fusing, I sought the deepest part of the Blood Pool."

"In the deepest part of the Blood Pool, I found the Demon God’s Heart; using the origin power of the Demon God’s Heart, I took the final step to complete transcendence. But at that moment, I was ambushed by the lurking impurity."

"Ultimately, I had to abandon one head, and as a cost, sealed it completely within the Blood Pool."

"However, the origin of the Demon God’s Heart was exhausted, unable to assist me in another attempt at breakthrough."

Following Chi You’s narrative.

The head inside the deepest part of the Blood Pool was parasitized by the impurity, and it was the one lying and deceiving.

Truth and falsehood made the facts elusive and complicated.

Seeing Han Zhan’s silence, the Chi You face flowing in the underground river showed neither dissatisfaction nor anger, but calmly continued:

"Asking me for tangible proof is indeed a bit too demanding."

"I will just point out two critical points: first, did it deceive you into making a heart oath?"

Indeed, the Chi You head did make a heart oath with me, yet it gave me a Demon God’s Heart devoid of origin energy—this indeed counts as deception.

"Second, do you think, with your ability, you can protect the whole Jiuli?"

Chi You’s second question left everyone taken aback.

It’s hard to believe this sentence would come from the Great Chief of the Jiuli Tribe, Chi You.

Li Wu’s mouth hung open, and Li Lingzhen’s eyes revealed shock.

Only Han Zhan, as if realizing something, felt like he was enlightened.

"The ending! You mean, the ending!"

Legend tells, the Yellow Emperor and Chi You battled six times, with the Yellow Emperor eventually defeating Chi You, securing the victory.

If the same conclusion existed within the Wilderness of Zhulu Fruit World, then the heart oath to protect Jiuli becomes highly problematic!

In a battle predetermined to lose, how can Jiuli be protected?