The three of them walked all the way to the four dragon stone statues and stood there in silence.
Li Xian also saw the corpses of the merman clan that Shen Qing had mentioned.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself, when he saw his own clansmen being treated like this, he still couldn't help but feel a moment of discomfort.
Yu Xuzi stared intently at the four stone statues in front of him, with his hands behind his back. He slowly paced in front of the statues, observing them.
Seeing that Yu Xuzi was deep in thought, Shen Qing didn't dare to interrupt. After hesitating for a while, she still walked over to Li Xian.
"Li Xian, I'm really sorry for making you see these scenes..."
Shen Qing first apologized carefully, but then she didn't know what else to say.
All she could think of were those dry words of apology.
Li Xian didn't respond. He lowered his head as if lost in thought and pondered for a long time.
He paced back and forth in front of the corpses, looking at each one, his eyes filled with emotions that Shen Qing couldn't understand.
After a moment, when Shen Qing felt that her heart was about to jump out of her chest nervously, she finally heard the two of them speak.
"Something's not right here."
"Something's not right here."
Li Xian and Yu Xuzi spoke simultaneously, uttering the exact same words.
Shen Qing was stunned. "What did you guys find?"
Yu Xuzi and Li Xian glanced at each other, and the master and disciple nodded in perfect unison.
Yu Xuzi spoke first. "There are only four dragon statues here. Don't you think it's strange?"
Shen Qing paused for a moment. She recalled the first time she came here and looked around, but she really didn't notice anything amiss.
So she honestly shook her head.
Yu Xuzi raised his eyebrows and said, "Four dragons usually correspond to the four directions of east, south, west, and north. But the items enshrined here and the meanings represented by the carvings in front of them are not the four directions but the five elements of metal, wood, fire, and earth."
"There's a statue representing water missing here."
Hearing this, Shen Qing was extremely surprised.
When she received the inheritance, she only saw the illusory phantoms of the four dragon gods. So after entering the temple, she assumed that there should only be four statues here.
But when she looked in the direction Yu Xuzi was pointing, she found that there were indeed carvings of the five - element patterns in front of the four dragon stone statues.
The first time Shen Qing came here, her attention was drawn by the corpses and the bloodstains on the stones, and she didn't notice the five - element patterns in front.
Then, Yu Xuzi lifted his chin and said, "Li Xian, tell us what you found."
Li Xian pointed at the merman corpses lying on the ground and said in a deep voice, "The number of corpses here is wrong. There are only seventeen of them."
"The bellies of these corpses were cut open, and a pair of spirit beast corpses were stuffed into each one. Here it's a pair of spirit foxes, and here it's a pair of six - eyed eagles... Everything is in pairs, an even number. So how could the number of merman corpses be an odd number?"
"Moreover, the way these corpses are placed is clearly a sacrifice, a sacrifice to the dragon gods. An even number is preferred, and the person who used this method wouldn't be so careless."
Yu Xuzi nodded in satisfaction. "That's right. You're absolutely correct."
After listening to their explanations, Shen Qing realized that this place was not as simple as it seemed.
She only saw the bloodstains and corpses and didn't think deeply about the meaning behind them. She only thought that purifying the resentment on the stone statues would solve the problem.
But the missing statue and the illusory phantoms of only four dragon gods that appeared in the inheritance land...
All of this told Shen Qing that things were not so easy to solve.
What made Shen Qing even more uncomfortable was that if a statue was missing, it meant that she had only received a part of the dragon clan's inheritance.
The incomplete inheritance and abilities. No wonder Han Ze wasn't afraid. Did he already know this?
Shen Qing's mind was racing, and she remembered the ominous black dragon.
Han Ze's actions were not as simple as they seemed on the surface. He seemed to want to use the resentment to gather the black dragon and strengthen his strength. But there were so many ways for him to strengthen his strength. Why did he choose this method?
Was there a hidden reason behind it?
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit Shen Qing!
"It's that black dragon. The missing one is that black dragon!"
"Han Ze sealed the stone statues here through the method of sacrifice. In fact, he somehow secretly stole the power of the stone statues and hid it on himself. Coupled with that black dragon, he can receive the entire dragon clan's inheritance!"
"What he wants is not just to become a king but to become a god!"
The dragon clan obtained their abilities through the enshrined stone statues. But these stone statues were just a medium for the dragon clan to obtain the power of the Heavenly Dao. If Han Ze could directly obtain the power of the Heavenly Dao without this medium, wouldn't he be able to ascend to the top in one step?
He stole the statue representing water and buried it near the Five - Element Path. Water can adapt to all things, and the resentment was absorbed by the water, turning it into a demonic dragon.
By using the inheritance of the water - element dragon god who had become a demonic dragon and the other four - element dragon gods, Han Ze could control both spiritual power and demonic energy at the same time.
What Han Ze wanted was to become the god of both the Heavenly Realm and the Demonic Realm!
No wonder he couldn't succeed after receiving the inheritance for several days and nights in the inheritance land. He probably did it on purpose. Maybe all of this was within his calculations!
Han Ze, who had received half of the inheritance, already had the abilities of the dragon clan, but he could still receive the inheritance one more time.
Previously, he wanted to attack the Human Emperor in the mortal world, but his plan was foiled by Shen Qing and Li Xian. If not for that, wouldn't he have controlled the three realms?
Thinking of this, a chill ran down Shen Qing's back.
She had underestimated Han Ze.
Hearing Shen Qing's speculation, Yu Xuzi and Li Xian also fell silent.
Facing such a powerful opponent, anyone would feel a bit discouraged.
But Shen Qing wouldn't give up so easily.
She took a deep breath and regained her hope. As if encouraging herself, she said to Yu Xuzi and Li Xian, "Now that we know Han Ze's purpose, it's much better than before when we were groping in the dark."
"The sect is still there, and the Heavenly Pillar is still there. We shouldn't be discouraged so soon!"
Yu Xuzi let out a deep laugh. He stroked his long, white beard, and his eyes narrowed. "Shen Qing is right. We should be so optimistic when doing things. As long as things haven't reached a dead end, we can still turn the tables."
"Good. Since that's the case, then I'll also show my true strength!"
Yu Xuzi was fired up by Shen Qing's words. He was old and had seen life and death. He had participated in many battles, big and small. Even during the great war between the immortal cultivation world and the demonic world ten thousand years ago, at the moment of life and death, he didn't feel much.
So when he calculated that a great calamity was about to befall the Nine Desolate Continent, there wasn't much of a stir in his heart, only a slight worry about the future of his disciples and the cultivators.
But now, the vitality in Shen Qing's eyes and her hope for the future touched Yu Xuzi deeply.
Let him use his old bones to give off a bit more of his remaining heat!