Ch. 407 - I Want To Become Strong

"This is a pretty good place," Xu Zimo said with a faint smile.

"Normally, very few people come here. And this is the territory of our Three-Eyed Race. Other races don’t even bother with it," Yue Qingli replied with a bitter smile.

"I believe in you. One day, you’ll lead your race to rise again," Xu Zimo said, patting Yue Qingli on the shoulder with a smile.

Yue Qingli nodded heavily.

There was a transparent barrier surrounding Three-Eyed Mountain.

Yue Qingli put his hands together and formed seals with both hands.

A snowflake-shaped seal condensed in his palm.

As the seal floated up and landed above Three-Eyed Mountain, the transparent barrier seemed to corrode and melt, revealing a gate.

Xu Zimo and Yue Qingli smiled as they walked into the barrier.

The mountain breeze blew gently, but the moment they entered, something felt off.

"Blood, a very strong smell of blood."

Xu Zimo looked at Yue Qingli, a bad feeling rising in his chest.

The scent was far too thick, not something that could come from just a few deaths.

And they were still only at the foot of the mountain.

Yue Qingli looked at Xu Zimo, panic in his expression, then dashed up the mountain.

He ran fast, almost stumbling.

The higher they went, the stronger the blood scent became.

As the wind blew past them, halfway up the mountain, Xu Zimo even saw faint trails of flowing blood.

Thinking Yue Qingli was too slow, Xu Zimo grabbed the back of his collar and flew them both toward the summit.

In just a few breaths, they neared the top.

Before Xu Zimo could look around, the sight before him stunned him.

A mountain of corpses.

A river of blood pooled at the summit.

The stench of rot and death filled the air, nauseating and overwhelming.

Xu Zimo stood silently to the side.

"The Three-Eyed Race has been wiped out!"

Staring at the hundreds of corpses piled together, Yue Qingli was completely stunned.

His mind went blank.

The Three-Eyed Race wasn’t a large race, he recognized many of the dead.

Now they all lay in front of him, their bodies mangled and torn.

He threw himself into the pile, desperately searching for his parents.

But it was useless.

There were too many corpses.

Blood covered Yue Qingli from head to toe.

The sky grew overcast, and a light drizzle began to fall.

The rain was cold, mixed with a faint chill in the wind.

"They’re all dead," Yue Qingli turned to Xu Zimo, face streaked with tears, and said in pain.

"Can we find out who did this?" Xu Zimo asked.

"Our race always avoided conflict. We never caused trouble. Why would we be exterminated?" Yue Qingli shook his head sadly.

He collapsed in the center of the summit, letting the cold rain and wind beat against him.

The stench of blood began to fade.

He sat there, like a soulless husk, silent, lost in thought.

Xu Zimo didn’t disturb him.

Anyone suffering this kind of trauma could completely collapse if pushed.

Some might even go mad.

…

At that moment, Yue Qingli’s back looked thin and defeated.

He thought of many things, his humble yet lofty dreams.

He had wanted to change his race’s fate.

To break the world’s prejudice against them.

His people had always been close like family, perhaps because their weakness made them understand unity.

He remembered many people, his parents, childhood friends, even the girl he liked but never dared confess to.

He just sat there, playing the memories over in his mind like a film.

Xu Zimo hadn’t expected it, but Yue Qingli sat there like that for an entire week.

One morning, a week later, Yue Qingli finally stood up weakly.

"Teacher, I’m sorry," Yue Qingli said, walking to Xu Zimo with a numb expression. "I might not follow you anymore."

"Why?" Xu Zimo asked curiously.

"My race is gone. I don’t feel like cultivating anymore. I think I’ll just stay here from now on," Yue Qingli said flatly.

His face was emotionless, like a walking corpse.

"Don’t you want revenge?" Xu Zimo asked calmly. "Are you sure every single person in your race is dead? No one could have survived? Don’t you want to protect them?"

Yue Qingli froze at his words.

Revenge. Survivors.

Those two thoughts reignited something inside him.

He had been blinded by the scene before him and hadn’t considered the possibility.

"Can I really do it?" Yue Qingli asked hesitantly.

"Your fate is in your own hands," Xu Zimo replied calmly.

"I’ll give you seven days to bury your people. Whether you come with me afterward or not is up to you."

Hearing this, Yue Qingli slowly nodded.

…

Over the next seven days, Xu Zimo surveyed the surroundings of Three-Eyed Mountain.

He even used the Primordial Chaos Bead to travel through the River of Fate and observe the race’s history.

He understood a lot but didn’t tell Yue Qingli.

It wasn’t the right time, and Yue Qingli didn’t yet have the strength for revenge.

Xu Zimo personally watched Yue Qingli bury his people one by one.

He began to understand how Yue Qingli from his past life had grown so quickly.

How he had become a revered figure.

In the original timeline, Xu Zimo hadn’t met Yue Qingli in Vermilion Bird City.

The disappointed young man who couldn’t enter the academy returned home only to find his race massacred.

Crushed by wave after wave of despair, he somehow survived and transformed, soaring to greatness.

At least, that’s how Xu Zimo imagined it.

But now, Yue Qingli seemed to grow up in just a few short days.

Growing up often only takes a moment.

When the seven days passed, Xu Zimo looked up from the base of the mountain and saw over a thousand graves.

The once scenic peak now resembled the beginnings of a mass graveyard.

Yue Qingli bowed to the graves, then turned to Xu Zimo.

"Teacher, let’s go."

"Not going to look a little longer?" Xu Zimo asked.

"I want to become strong," Yue Qingli said, lifting his head, eyes shining.

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