Following that, the dark figure gave Chu Feng a rough account of the village and Bai Liluo's story.
All of the villagers in this village were formed from Heaven and Earth Strange Treasures. Having grown up within the Ancestral Martial Cultivation World since childhood, they were able to sense other Heaven and Earth Strange Treasures that had awakened. Whenever they sensed one awakening, they would seek it out and bring it back to the village. They regarded every awakened Heaven and Earth Strange Treasure as a companion, and every companion as kin. In their eyes, only Heaven and Earth Strange Treasures could be called family.
One day, they found yet another awakened companion. This one, however, was somewhat special. It had clearly already awakened and possessed its own independent consciousness, yet it remained in the form of a Heaven and Earth Strange Treasure — unable to transform into human form, let alone walk on its own. In short, it had not yet fully awakened.
To ensure its safety, the villagers brought it back to the village and assigned someone to look after it with great care. That person was none other than the woman who now lay in the grave — Bai Liluo.
To help it awaken sooner, the villagers even took turns channeling their energy into it. They truly spared no effort.
Although that Heaven and Earth Strange Treasure could not move, it could speak and possessed its own intelligence. Through spending day and night together with Bai Liluo, the two developed a deep bond. Bai Liluo called it "little sister," and it called Bai Liluo "big sister." At the same time, it came to regard all the villagers as its own family.
After many years, that Heaven and Earth Strange Treasure was finally on the verge of a complete awakening.
The villagers were all incredibly excited, because they had realized that this treasure was different from the rest of them. Although they were all Heaven and Earth Strange Treasures, none of them had possessed particularly remarkable cultivation talent after awakening. This one was different — it wielded tremendous power. The villagers believed that once it awakened, it would become their guardian deity, and would even help them reclaim their Ancestral Martial Cultivation World from the hands of countless cultivators, allowing them to freely roam every corner of it from that day forward.
Because of this, on the day the treasure was truly set to awaken, the villagers treated it with the utmost importance, even holding a grand celebration.
Yet never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined that the day they had so desperately awaited would turn out to be their doomsday.
On that day, the Heaven and Earth Strange Treasure did indeed fully awaken — but it had obtained its chance at awakening by devouring the souls of every villager in the village.
Most of the villagers' souls had only been half consumed, which was why they had descended into a state of madness.
But the most tragic of all was the girl who had so carefully looked after it — Bai Liluo. Her soul had been completely devoured. It was precisely because her soul had been entirely consumed that she had died.
Hearing the dark figure's account, Chu Feng's heart was greatly shaken.
"Is what you say true?" Chu Feng asked.
He found it hard to believe that Bai Liluo could have done such a cruel thing — that she would, for her own sake, destroy the very person who had cared for her for years, while bringing ruin upon the entire village as well.