318: Heading to the Imperial Family

"Hmph!"

Di Wushang let out a muffled groan, his face turning pale for a fleeting moment, and he withdrew his fingers from Dongfang Ling's wrist as if he'd been electrocuted.

He snapped his eyes open, and in his deep pupils, a hidden dark crimson glint flashed and vanished, carrying a trace of alarm and unprecedented gravity.

The quiet room fell into a deathly silence.

Di Lingxiao immediately sensed his brother's abnormality. His gaze instantly became sharp as a knife, and his hand instinctively pressed against the cold shaft of the dragon fall spear as he asked in a deep voice, "Wu Shang?"

He had never seen Di Wushang show such a grave expression during an investigation.

Situ Qinsheng's Purple Heaven Temple Destiny Eye also captured the sudden, violent fluctuation in Di Wushang's aura, as well as the abnormal surge of Death Qi within Dongfang Ling's body when Di Wushang's consciousness intruded.

Her doubts deepened; the secrets of this young man were likely even more shocking than she had imagined.

The moment Di Wushang withdrew his finger, Dongfang Ling slumped into the back of his chair as if exhausted, gasping for breath, his body drenched in cold sweat like he had just been fished out of water.

The terrifying clash of wills that had just occurred within his body, though happening on an invisible level, had nearly drained his last bit of strength.

He looked at the solemn Di Wushang with shock and uncertainty, asking hoarsely, "You... what did you see?"

A strong sense of unease gripped his heart.

Di Wushang did not answer immediately.

He picked up the spiritual tea that had long since gone cold and drained it in one gulp. The cold liquid seemed to slightly calm his churning thoughts.

He set down the teacup, his gaze falling on Dongfang Ling's face with physical weight, as if he wanted to pierce through his skin and look directly at the secrets hidden deep within the Death Qi and stars.

"The root of your problem does not lie in this Death Qi," Di Wushang's voice was low and slow, each word carrying immense weight.

"Death Qi is just a symptom, a result. The real problem lies in the deepest part of your body, where something is hidden... something that shouldn't belong to a mortal being."

Dongfang Ling's pupils suddenly constricted, his heart feeling as if it were gripped by an icy hand: "What... what thing?"

"The... remains of a star."

Di Wushang slowly uttered those world-shaking words.

"What?!" Di Lingxiao cried out in shock, his eyes wide with disbelief.

A star hidden inside a person? This was simply a fantasy!

Situ Qinsheng also drew in a cold breath. The thunder patterns in her Purple Heaven Temple Destiny Eye flickered wildly as she tried to verify this incredible conclusion, but she only saw a faint yet vast starlight struggling within the thick, impenetrable gray-black deathly silence of Dongfang Ling's fate and Luck.

Dongfang Ling felt as if he had been struck by a bolt from the blue; he froze completely, his mind going blank.

Star remains? Inside his body? He instinctively looked down at his chest, but he could feel nothing there except for the heavy heaving from weakness and the permeating Death Qi.

Absurd! Unbelievable!

Yet the expression of the unfathomable young man before him was so grave that it clearly wasn't a joke.

"Impossible... how can this be..." Dongfang Ling murmured to himself, his voice dry and trembling, filled with confusion and fear.

"I'm just... an orphan who doesn't even know where I came from... how could... how could..."

"This star is on the brink of extinction, and the power of deathly silence emitted by its Origin is slowly devouring your vitality."

Di Wushang's voice coldly stated the cruel facts. "Your so-called accidental entry into a forbidden land was likely no accident. The Death Qi of the forbidden land was perhaps just a catalyst that triggered the decaying power of the dead star within you."

He paused, his gaze burning like a torch. "Do you really know nothing about this?"

Dongfang Ling snapped his head up, a sickly flush appearing on his pale face from agitation, his eyes filled with the anger of being questioned and the deepest bewilderment.

"I know nothing! I swear! If I knew there was such a ghostly thing in my body, I would have... I would have..." He began to cough violently, the rest of his words choked in his throat, leaving only painful gasps.

That anger and confusion were so genuine they were clearly not an act.

Di Wushang watched him quietly, his Asura Demonic Eyes capturing every subtle change in his Soul's fluctuations.

After a long time, the sharpness in his eyes softened slightly.

This young man was indeed just a poor Soul caught up in a shocking secret without knowing it.

"The Death Qi in your body can no longer be resolved by ordinary Medicinal Pills. If this dead star isn't removed, its extinction process may be irreversible. Even with a Divine Pill to prolong your life, it would ultimately be like drinking poison to quench thirst; you would still be unable to escape the fate of Origin depletion and the destruction of your Divine Soul."

Di Wushang's words were like a final sentence, coldly striking Dongfang Ling's heart.

The light in Dongfang Ling's eyes dimmed bit by bit following Di Wushang's words, until it turned completely into a dead gray.

Has the last hope... also been shattered?

He tightly gripped the jade box containing the Sacred Pill, his fingertips icy.

This priceless life-saving pill seemed so ironic and insignificant in his hands at this moment.

As it turned out, he had long been sentenced to death; it was only a matter of time.

A massive wave of despair and exhaustion, like an icy tide, instantly submerged him.

He slumped back against the chair and closed his eyes, as if he had lost all his strength.

Only Dongfang Ling's heavy and labored breathing remained in the quiet room, an oppressive sound that was suffocating.

Just as this desperate silence was about to swallow everything, Di Wushang's low voice rang out again, like a ray of light cast into a dark abyss.

"However..."

Dongfang Ling's tightly closed eyelashes trembled violently, but he did not open his eyes.

Di Wushang's gaze passed over him, as if piercing through the thick walls of the Dark Merchant Guild and looking toward the distant Eastern Desolate State, his tone carrying a firm certainty.

"In this world, if there is still one person who can resolve your fatal predicament and see through the secret of the star within you..." He paused slightly, every word clearly imprinted on Dongfang Ling's desperate heart.

"I'm afraid it is only the Clan Chief of my Godfall Di Clan—Di Shenglong!"

Di Shenglong!

This name was like a clap of thunder, instantly exploding in Dongfang Ling's deathly heart!

He snapped his eyes open, and deep within his dim pupils, that tiny spark of light that had been drowned by despair flickered violently like a spark blown by a gale!

Godfall Di Clan!

That mysterious Family that had recently shaken the entire Eastern Region and suppressed the Jade Void Sacred Land with thunderous momentum!

The weight represented by this name was like an immensely heavy mountain, yet it also emitted an irresistible light of hope!

Suppressing a Holy Land... what kind of heaven-defying means were those!

Perhaps... perhaps it was true... Di Lingxiao and Situ Qinsheng also instantly understood Di Wushang's intention.

A look of realization flashed in Lingxiao's eyes. The Clan Chief's methods were indeed unfathomable; perhaps there really was a sliver of possibility.

thunder patterns flickered slightly in Situ Qinsheng's purple eyes. She secretly marveled at the brilliance of Di Wushang's move, which both introduced a variable carrying a shocking secret to the Family and gave this desperate youth an irresistible temptation.

Di Wushang watched the complex light in Dongfang Ling's eyes—a struggle between despair and a rekindled hope, mixed with fear, doubt, and a final, frantic will to survive. He slowly stood up, his black robes fluttering without any wind.

"Well?" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an authority that controlled fate.

"Will you stay here and wait for death, waiting for the Death Qi to completely consume you and turn you into decaying dust? Or will you follow me back to the Eternal Night Divine Capital in the Eastern Desolate State to meet the Clan Chief and fight for that one-in-a-million... sliver of life?"

Di Lingxiao also stood up abruptly, the dragon fall spear letting out a low hum. He grinned:

"Kid, this is the only chance you'll get in your life! And the biggest one!"

Situ Qinsheng rose gracefully, her calm gaze falling on Dongfang Ling. She didn't rush him, but simply waited quietly.

The fragrance of tea curled in the air, but the atmosphere in the quiet room seemed to have frozen.