The group rushed out and saw that Genesis Mountain’s 72 peaks had lit up. Invisible waves rippled across the air as everything came to life. Totems carved with unique images lit up, forming a unique formation.
“Don’t worry, that isn’t an offensive formation.” Wuhui calmed down the crowd.
Zu An nodded. As expected of the Celestial Court’s Fire Celestial. He has a keen eye.
Suddenly, the sculptures on the 72 peaks each shot out two light beams from their eyes, and all the beams converged on the centermost volcano crater. Rumbles echoed, and the earth within a hundred-kilometer radius shook as if the volcano was about to erupt.
Wuhui looked at the crater and frowned. “The fire element ki has been triggered, but it’s not overly violent yet. It doesn’t look las if the volcano will erupt, though it won’t be a problem even if it erupts.”
Those words were spoken with a tinge of pride.
The golden-armored warriors breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed, it should be a walk in the park for the Fire Celestial who governs over flames to curb an eruption.
Lava suddenly spurted out from the crater. Everyone instinctively retreated, but the lava didn’t spill into the surroundings; instead, it morphed into a human silhouette.
“The Genesis Shaman chieftain!” the Goddess of Wu Mountain exclaimed. The forming lava silhouette was still blurry, but it wasn’t difficult to guess who he was based on his outline.
“He isn’t dead yet?” Yun Yuqing was confused.
“He is dead. This is merely a projection he made when he was alive.” Wuhui stared at the lava silhouette warily, not knowing what the Genesis Shaman chieftain was up to.
The lava silhouette spoke up. “I should be dead by the time you see me.”
The crowd was astonished. Only Zu An was composed, having expected this.
“I am the Genesis Shamans' chieftain. An esteemed guest came not long ago and requested us to forge something,” the lava silhouette murmured with a contemplative face. “It would be the utmost honor of our Genesis Shaman race to forge something for that lord, but... we soon became hesitant when we realized that he wanted to forge a Soul Destroying Cauldron capable of amassing countless souls.
“I didn’t understand why someone as lofty and radiant as that lord would forge something so vile. I voiced my doubt, and he answered my question. He said he was planning to use it against evil scum and make a warning out of them. The explanation made sense, and I didn’t think someone of his stature would lie about a matter like this.
“But a question slowly dawned upon me as we began to forge the Soul Destroying Cauldron. Was such a huge cauldron required to deal with all the evil beings in the world? The cauldron was big enough to store all souls in the world...”
Those words alarmed everyone present. What does it mean to store all souls in the world? Just what is that enigmatic man up to?!
“Just thinking about the possibilities filled me with deep fear, but I couldn’t fathom why someone of his stature would do something like that. Could I be overthinking it? I have been making divinations using tortoise shells in recent days, but the more I divine, the worse the results become. If my deduction is true, that lord will not allow this matter to leak out. We’ll likely be silenced for the part we play in this matter.
“So, I left this recording behind. I made sure to switch off this mechanism every day to ensure that this recording wouldn’t be played. If a day came when I failed to switch off the mechanism, this recording would automatically play. From the looks of it, I must have been silenced in the end.”
The lava silhouette looked melancholic, and it left the group with heavy hearts.
“If that lord has chosen to silence me, he will likely have destroyed all possible clues too. My room must be a mess now.”
Zu An couldn’t help but smile. The chieftain sure is open-minded to crack such a joke when leaving his will behind.
“But the things he destroyed were meaningless, as I have left the clues all over Genesis Mountain. Not even he can simply destroy all of Genesis Mountain, as that would catch the attention of the Celestial Court and the Shaman races. That’s the last thing he would want.”
Yun Yuqing panicked. “This fellow keeps prattling on, but he refuses to divulge the killer’s identity. How frustrating!”
Zu An patted her shoulder and said, “He must have his reason for doing so.”
At this point, the lava silhouette took a deep breath as if making up his mind. “I dare not reveal his name because that will draw his attention, and I don’t know if the person watching this recording has the power to deal with him. That would render all the preparations I have made meaningless. But if you’re smart enough, you should have already deciphered his identity, no?”
The lava silhouette blinked mischievously before vanishing.
Yun Yuqing was frustrated. “What’s with that? He ended up not saying anything at all!”
“No, he's already said it all,” Zu An, Wuhui, and the Goddess of Wu Mountain replied simultaneously with grim voices.
Wuhui and the Goddess of Wu Mountain glanced at Zu An. The two of them were of high standing, so it wasn't surprising for them to guess the culprit’s identity.
Zu An stared at the dissipating lava silhouette.
The latter had mentioned that the culprit was of exalted standing and emanated an inviolable light. That suggested he was a powerhouse of the Celestial Court. On top of that, the chieftain had spoken so fearfully as if he was afraid he had misunderstood the other party. It was only when he could no longer turn his eyes away from the truth that he'd prepared this recording. There weren’t many people in the Celestial Court who fit these criteria.
There was also a reason the chieftain had intentionally set this recording to play in the crater. When the lava silhouette first formed and later dissipated, it had vaguely formed the figure of a massive bird unfurling its wings. If one looked at it from a top-down angle, contrasted with the volcano’s crater, it resembled a divine bird amid the sun.
The only one who fit all these criteria was Emperor Jun!
The Genesis Shaman race’s chieftain wasn't the only one who couldn’t make sense of the situation. Even Zu An was baffled. Emperor Jun was already chosen as the next Celestial Emperor, so why was he doing all these things?
In truth, Zu An had already guessed that Emperor Jun was the culprit based on the crystallized ground and lingering fire element ki in the area where Yi died, but he couldn’t confirm the matter. Only now was he certain that Emperor Jun was behind all this.
Wuhui’s face darkened. “This is a huge matter. We must immediately inform the celestials.”
Since returning to the Celestial Court wasn’t an option right now, he could contact the more important celestials residing on earth.
Zu An wondered how he could save Xiaoxi and the others when he noticed something.
Everyone present looked up at the sky. For some reason, it was many times brighter than before, and the surrounding air became searing hot, too.
Ten suns had simultaneously appeared in the sky!