Eternal Tale

Chapter 255: The True Reason Behind the Fall of the Ji Family

"The Yu family has held the secrets of the Ji family for too long. It’s about time the Jiang family sees them for what they are!"

Yu Jingxin’s voice dripped with cruelty as a smile played on his lips. “I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.”

“But what if those three don’t make a move?” the woman beside him asked, her expression unperturbed. “It’s been so many years already, and they’ve remained silent. The Yu family’s losses in the Forbidden Sea have all been accidents.”

“I will force their hand. The two in the Yu family have become too intrigued by the secrets of the Forbidden Sea. In this vast world, there will be no place for them to hide,” Yu Jingxin replied, his tone returning to calm. “Whether we offend them or not, the Jiang family stands to gain. Who can truly see through our intentions?”

“Of course.” The woman’s voice was firm. This was a gamble with nothing to lose; in the end, only the Yu family would suffer.

“The path through the Heaven's End Plains is severed. That line has completely lost contact; we have no choice but to act ourselves.”

Yu Jingxin’s eyes narrowed, showing his indifference to the demise of the Ji family. Even after thousands of years, they refused to stay at rest.

Back then, the Ji family mastered the great secret of the Water Spirit Technique and even found a shortcut to the fifth layer of the technique. So what if their lifespan was limited to a thousand years? The Ji family was vast, and the loss of some members was insignificant.

But that wasn’t the real reason for the Ji family’s downfall. With the rapid emergence of their powerful members, the balance in Da Li was threatened. If this momentum continued, the Ji family would have no rivals, and the ancient powers would no longer dominate. The Ji family would become the sole ruler.

Eventually, the five ancient sects and the three great ancient cultivation clans formed an alliance, and the plan to eliminate the Ji family was set into motion.

However, everyone had ulterior motives, all aiming to obtain the secret of the Water Spirit Technique. With meticulous planning, be it through expeditions into secret realms or the sudden deaths of numerous Ji family members outside, the plot unfolded.

In the end, the decisive battle saw the ancestors of the eight overwhelming powers join forces to confront the Ji family’s patriarch on an island in the sea. There were even faint traces of the four immortal mountains' involvement.

At the onset of the battle, a seemingly insignificant branch of the Ji family fled Da Li, taking the family’s most treasured artifact—the ancient tome now in Chen Xun’s possession—toward the Heaven's End.

The Ji family had foreseen the calamity. They could not hide the movements of the major powers and had no choice but to entrust the hope of their legacy to that unremarkable branch.

The decline of the Ji family thus began. In the end, no one acquired the technique’s secret method.

With the Ji family’s downfall, balance returned to Da Li, and no other power dared to act as boldly, maintaining the status quo.

The official explanation given was that the Ji family, in their attempt to forcefully cultivate the fifth layer of the Water Spirit Technique and defy the natural order, had violated the will of heaven. Their bloodline was cursed, and they became nothing more than history.

Ordinary cultivators, unaware of the deeper truth, could only sigh at the misfortunes of fate before continuing their cultivation. In less than a century, the matter was forgotten.

The reality was that the Yu family had obtained a part of the secret method for the shortcut. But with the Ji family as a cautionary tale, they kept it well hidden and continued their research in secret.

Later, an ancestor of the Jiang family took the risk of divination despite the potential backlash and managed to trace the karmic link between the Yu family and the ancient tome.

They sent a branch family in secret toward that region of the cultivation world, and the mission of Jiang Xuechen’s lineage was solely to pursue the Ji family’s remnant branch led by Ji Kun.

However, the Jiang family wasn’t aware that after arriving in the Qian Country, an elder of that lineage stubbornly attempted divination regarding the tome.

Strange events soon followed: the bloodline gradually thinned, and ultimately, only one remained—Jiang Xuechen.

When the Heaven's End Ravine appeared, contact between the two cultivation worlds was completely severed, and no further messages were received.

The Jiang family’s plan against the Yu family began in earnest. They selected the most talented member from each generation, using a secret bloodline replacement technique unique to the Jiang family to infiltrate the highest ranks of the Yu family.

The bloodshed and scheming involved could not be described in just a few words. Even now, the Jiang family remains the weakest among the ancient cultivation clans, paying a heavy price for their efforts.

The Yu family remained unaware, convinced their secret was safe. No one in Da Li, except the Jiang family, possessed the ability to divine past and future with such mysterious foresight.

In this generation, Yu Jingxin, trained by both the Yu and Jiang families, ascended to the Deity Transformation Stage, reaching the highest levels of the Yu family!

The appearance of those three cultivators presented a perfect opportunity.

Their ability to escape from a Deity Transformation expert and navigate the Forbidden Sea freely was nothing more than bait to lure the Yu family into action.

Once the Yu family’s two Deity Transformation experts made their move and left their stronghold, Yu Jingxin could act freely, collaborating with the Jiang family to overturn the Yu family from within. They had already scouted the location of the secret in the Yu family’s ancestral grounds.

If those three targeted him directly, it would be even better. The Jiang family could then claim the secrets of the Forbidden Sea, which were just as valuable as the Water Spirit Technique, ensuring a profit no matter what.

“I understand, Elder. I will make the preparations.”

“Very well.”

Yu Jingxin nodded gently, accepting tea from a servant and generously tipping him.

The woman vanished into a teahouse, as if she had never been there.

Yu Jingxin continued to leisurely observe the streets below. He enjoyed interacting with mortals for one simple reason: it was effortless.

...

In the Forbidden Sea’s depths, on an uninhabited island.

A large black bull and a small lion were hard at work, setting up a mid-sized teleportation array. A vast number of Extinguishing Spirit Stones were embedded in the array’s grooves.

“Moo!” The black bull snorted, focusing intently as it layered the formations.

Ordinary teleportation arrays were ineffective in the Forbidden Sea, as they quickly succumbed to the demonic energy, becoming useless. This was why they had never found any spirit stone veins here. The environment simply made cultivation and establishing arrays nearly impossible. One could only traverse these waters by braving the seas.

The small lion panted heavily, thinking about their plan, which involved using ancient warships. It needed to lure the skeletons and seize their rings, bringing them to this island.

The power of a Deity Transformation cultivator was beyond their comprehension, so they planned meticulously to ensure success. Defeating a Deity Transformation cultivator was one thing, but killing one was far more challenging.

Chen Xun’s gaze was icy. Their battleground wouldn’t be in Da Li; they planned to drag the old villain into the Five Elements Teleportation Array, transporting him across thousands of miles instantly!

Normal teleportation arrays required spiritual energy to envelop the user fully, and without the cultivator’s cooperation, forced teleportation was impossible.

But the black bull’s Five Elements Teleportation Array didn’t adhere to the common rules of the cultivation world.

When enveloped by the Five Elements energy, one would be pulled into the teleportation array, with no say over their fate.

Three months later, by the shoreline.

The three of them stood atop the crane-headed prow of their giant ship, their expressions calm as they set sail.

*Hum—*

*Hum—*

Waves crashed, and the once-still black sea stirred as the ship accelerated, propelled by the gathered Five Elements energy. Chen Xun held a token, guiding them in a specific direction.

Their hearts filled with anticipation as they ventured into the deepest parts of the Forbidden Sea, seeking to explore the unknown.