"It was a wager they made with the Heavenly Fate Exalted."
"The bet originated from a casual conversation between the two. The Holy Tiger Exalted belittled people from the various Lower Realms."
"He said he couldn't understand why those from the Lower Realms couldn't simply stay put in their own realm. The moment they reached the mere cultivation of a True Immortal, they'd fancy themselves prodigies and insist on venturing into the Upper Realm."
"But every person who came from a Lower Realm to the Upper Realm met the same fate — they were thrashed senselessly by the Upper Realm's geniuses. Bruised, broken in body and spirit, they'd spiral into self-destruction. Utterly foolish, he said."
"The Heavenly Fate Exalted disagreed, citing numerous examples of Lower Realm-born individuals who had dominated the Upper Realm."
"But the Holy Tiger Exalted dismissed them, saying such cases were exceedingly rare. Even if a few existed, they could dominate the Upper Realm at most — no one from a Lower Realm could dominate an entire starfield. He insisted that Lower Realm-born cultivators could never compare to those born in the Upper Realm."
"The two grew increasingly serious, and in the end, they actually flew into a furious argument, refusing to let the matter go until it was settled once and for all."
"Finally, the Heavenly Fate Exalted declared that within three thousand years, a genius would emerge from the Hundred Refinements Ordinary World — one who would not only sweep aside the geniuses of the Great Upper Realm, but crush the geniuses of an entire starfield. If the Holy Tiger Exalted didn't believe it, he was welcome to place a bet."
"Naturally, the Holy Tiger Exalted refused to back down, and so the wager was born."
"Because both had been in a towering rage at the time, they made an extraordinary bet — the loser would have to cripple their own cultivation."
"The Holy Tiger Exalted came to the Hundred Refinements Ordinary World and set up his grand formation over two thousand years ago. The person the Heavenly Fate Exalted had predicted never appeared, so he assumed he was bound to win. He grew complacent, even smug — going so far as to seek out the Heavenly Fate Exalted from time to time to humiliate him."
"But then, right at this moment, Chu Feng appeared out of nowhere."
"The Holy Tiger Exalted watched Chu Feng and saw that he matched the Heavenly Fate Exalted's prediction almost perfectly — practically identical. Terrified of losing the bet, he… decided to eliminate Chu Feng by any means necessary. That was why he summoned the Blue Demon Killing God." The old ape concluded his tale.
"Is this accurate?" Chu Xuanyuan asked.
"When I punished them, I interrogated them and extracted this information. He shouldn't have lied to me. It's just… I don't understand. The two of them were close friends. How could a mere argument escalate to the point of forcing each other to cripple their cultivation?" the old ape said.
"Because the Heavenly Fate Exalted himself came from a Lower Realm. The Holy Tiger Exalted's contempt for Lower Realm people was, in effect, a personal insult to him," Chu Xuanyuan explained.
"I see. But even so, they were friends. Surely the cause alone wouldn't warrant something like this?" The old ape still couldn't quite grasp it.
"The Heavenly Fate Exalted obtained an extraordinary opportunity, and his divination arts are far from ordinary. What he did may simply have been in accordance with the will of fate. If not for this wager, the Holy Tiger Exalted would never have come to the Hundred Refinements Ordinary World, never set up that formation — and Feng'er would have lost an opportunity."
"As for my own view, even if the Holy Tiger Exalted lost, I doubt the Heavenly Fate Exalted would truly force him to cripple his cultivation."
"The wager was merely a pretext to make him come to the Hundred Refinements Ordinary World and remain here for three thousand years. The Heavenly Fate Exalted knew very well that the Holy Tiger Exalted harbored deep hatred toward him."
"And so the Holy Tiger Exalted came to the Hundred Refinements Ordinary World, spent over two thousand years here, and intended to stay all three thousand — not just to win. He wanted the Heavenly Fate Exalted to cripple his own cultivation."
"Of the two, the one who acted without honor was the Holy Tiger Exalted, not the Heavenly Fate Exalted," Chu Xuanyuan said.
"What caused the Holy Tiger Exalted to harbor such deep hatred toward the Heavenly Fate Exalted?" the old ape asked.
Chu Xuanyuan smiled faintly — a smile laden with meaning — but offered no answer.
"It seems there's a story between them that no one else knows about," the old ape murmured to himself, curiosity evident in his voice.
Chu Xuanyuan still did not answer.
And the old ape did not press further. He knew Chu Xuanyuan well — when Chu Xuanyuan didn't wish to speak, no amount of asking would change his mind.
Not him, and not anyone else.
"Did you drive them mad on purpose?" Chu Xuanyuan suddenly asked the old ape.
"No. They simply couldn't withstand my power and suffered a mental breakdown that drove them insane."
"Come to think of it, the fact that I now possess such cultivation is all thanks to your Chu Heavenly Clan's ruins."
As the old ape spoke, he unconsciously clenched his fist, and a look of both relief and pride surfaced on his simian face.
It was no wonder he felt that way. Before entering the Chu Heavenly Clan's ruins, those three could have easily obliterated him.