299 Tao Yue
“I won’t punish you, but during this time, all you need to do is to follow the rules here. If you break the rules, don’t blame me for being merciless.”
“We understand!”
“We’ll remember, Lord Mayor!”
Many students hurriedly cupped their hands in promise.
Edward nodded and looked at the crowd. “Now, go and prepare for the banquet.”
“Yes!”
The students retreated.
…
After the festivities ended, Shen Fei returned to the Shen family residence.
Along the way, he thought about the questions that had cropped up in his mind from the experience.
Why were they put through so much danger in the black hole? Most importantly, the environment inside the black hole was so strange.
Although this was not much of a problem for Beastmaster cultivators, it still made him feel extremely aggrieved.
“What’s going on with this world? Why was there such a difference between the black hole and the wormhole?”
Shen Fei frowned as he pondered. “If an incident were to happen, I’m afraid the entire city would fall into disaster.”
Shen Fei thought in his heart, ‘Is this a legendary “black hole” of some sort? It was like a bottomless pit with no end in sight. If something had gone wrong and there was no exit, we might have been trapped forever.
“But, what exactly was at the center of the black hole? Could it have been an independent dimension of its own, another celestial body, or was it a secret realm?”
The more Shen Fei thought about it, the stranger it became. Why did the mayor choose a black hole realm as their testing ground, and why did they meet people outside of the academy there? All of this was connected somehow…
Shen Fei only grew more confused by the second. He shook his head and threw the doubts out of his mind. He decided not to think too much about it for the time being. In any case, they did not dive too deep into the black hole realm.
Once he got home, Shen Fei began to meditate and cultivate. As he was meditating, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching the residence, so he opened his eyes.
Shen Fei went to answer the door. “Who is it?”
A young man slowly approached and said, “You must be Shen Fei, right?”
Shen Fei carefully observed the young man. This person’s body looked thin and weak. His appearance seemed ordinary, and he wore tattered clothes. He seemed very poor.
A trace of astonishment flashed through Shen Fei’s heart. “Who are you?”
The young man was a little surprised. He smiled bitterly, “So you don’t recognize me. You know Tao Ming, right?”
“I know Uncle Tao Ming, but you and I… Could you be Tao Ming Shu’s son, Tao Yue?” Shen Fei asked.
Hearing this, Tao Yue laughed, “That’s right, my father is Tao Ming!”
With that, he took out a token from his storage bag and said, “This is my father’s token. You can verify it.”
Shen Fei looked at the token and could not help his surprise.
“Isn’t this a magic tool? Why do I feel Tao Ming’s essence coming from it?” Shen Fei said in surprise.
Tao Yue laughed bitterly. “Because my father’s cultivation has been sealed. This token can only be used as a token to send a message.”
Tao Yue took out a sheepskin scroll from his bag. “My father asked me to give this to you.”
“Why is Uncle Tao Ming’s cultivation sealed?” Shen Fei asked quizzically.
“Do you remember the wormhole?” Tao Yue asked.
Shen Fei nodded and said, “Of course.”
“It was the reason for my father’s actions. He died because of the wormhole. However, I’m not sure what exactly happened.”
After that, Shen Fei took the sheepskin scroll. The scroll was densely covered in runes, which were very obscure and hard to understand. However, Shen Fei read it with great interest. Even with his eyes closed, he was able to completely understand the runes.
Tao Yue sighed. “My father, he… He was sealed because he studied these runes.”
“He studied these runes?” Shen Fei was taken aback, and asked in confusion, “Could they contain some kind of powerful law energy?”
Tao Yue nodded. “My father was the one who created these runes. He was studying this rune when he encountered the wormhole, and his cultivation was completely destroyed.”
Hearing this, Shen Fei could not help but take a deep breath. He never expected the runes Tao Ming developed to be so powerful.
“Did someone from your family also take part in the research of these runes?” Shen Fei suddenly asked.
Tao Yue’s expression changed slightly. “Shen Fei, what are you planning?”
“Hehe, Brother Tao Yue, don’t worry.” Shen Fei smiled and continued, “Since Tao Ming’s research was successful, he must have passed them down to you. I can’t possibly take this from your family. But I can’t be sure if the power contained here is harmful.”
Tao Yue’s expression changed. “What exactly do you want to do?”
“Why don’t you just tell me frankly: Is the power contained in this rune able to stop the rise of an exotic beast horde?” Shen Fei asked.
Hearing this, Tao Yue’s expression turned dark. This was a secret that he would never reveal. Even if his father treated Shen Fei like another son, he would never reveal it.
“Shen Fei, I don’t know what nonsense you’re talking about! The power contained in these runes can’t possibly control a beast horde. My father told me as much. Moreover, my family won’t allow anyone to destroy the power held within this scroll.”
Shen Fei lightly smiled and did not ask any more. Tao Yue heaved a sigh of relief. He had been afraid that Shen Fei would pursue the matter further. If that happened, he would have been exposed.
After all, Tao Ming had spent a lot of effort, and even risked his life, to get this scroll.
“No matter what, it’s best for you to be careful. You have to be careful in everything. Don’t lose sight of the big picture for insignificant things.” Shen Fei reminded him.
With that, Shen Fei turned around and said nothing more. At this, Tao Yue also quietly took his leave.
Shen Fei’s eyes flickered in deep thought as he watched Tao Yue’s back.
“For Tao Ming to be able to create such a powerful rune, he must be obsessed with it!” Shen Fei muttered to himself. “But why did he hide his true identity?”
After thinking for a long time, Shen Fei still could not figure out the reason behind Tao Ming’s actions. However, could an exotic beast horde really be stopped by a single rune scroll?
Thinking of this, he could not help but recall what he saw when Aloy was in his mindscape during their excursion through the desert in the black hole. He discreetly tapped into her mind and caught glimpses of a memory… or a prediction. It was about the exotic beast horde invasion, and her mind showed him scenes of some insectoid forces charging toward the human forces when she was in the wormhole. Shen Fei then decided that he would help prevent the disaster of that future from coming true.
At that time, Aloy had experienced their terrifying might. But when Shen Fei thought about it again, the wormhole incident was probably related to these runes.
As he thought of this, endless greed rose in Shen Fei’s heart.