Chapter 140.2: The Whereabouts of the Five Spirit Pearls! Teaching Bai Yue About Science!

Shi Gonghu and his subordinates, along with Zhao Ling'er and Liu Jinyuan, would remain in the city. Tang Yu and A'nu, who had yet to arrive in Yuzhou, would also be part of the group staying behind.

Li Xiaoyao, looking excited, asked, "Where should we go first?"

Xu Changqing pondered for a moment. "My junior and I found the Earth Spirit Orb on the Red Ghost King. That leaves four more, whose whereabouts are still unknown."

Chu Yang also fell into deep thought.

The distribution of the Five Spirit Orbs was entirely different between The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 and The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3.

The Earth Spirit Orb had been found in the General's Tomb, but that didn't mean the other orbs would be in the same locations as in The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1.

After all, this was a mixed world where even character settings were fused. The placement of the Five Spirit Orbs—items central to the Sword and Fairy universe—was likely to be similarly blended.

The Thunder Spirit Orb, for example, was found in the capital in The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1.

According to the original story, Liu Jinyuan, believing himself useless to Li Xiaoyao and having completely given up on Lin Yueru, returned to the capital to pursue his career. There, he accidentally saved a butterfly trapped in a spider's web and was bitten by the spider, contracting a strange illness that nearly killed him. Li Xiaoyao and Lin Yueru later saved him, discovering that the spider was actually a thousand-year-old demoness—and that the Thunder Spirit Orb was in her possession.

Meanwhile, in The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3, the Thunder Spirit Orb was inside a man named Yun Ting from Leizhou.

Born with the Thunder Spirit Orb, he possessed the power of lightning. However, on his wedding night, he lost control of his energy and accidentally killed his beloved. Ever since then, his lightning power went berserk at night.

In the end, Xu Changqing performed a spell to extract the Thunder Spirit Orb from him, allowing him to live as a normal person.

In either case, obtaining the Thunder Spirit Orb was not too difficult. They could split into two groups: Chu Yang could head to the capital to find the spider demon, gaining some cultivation through the Demon-Devouring Gu along the way, while Xu Changqing could handle Yun Ting—after all, it was originally his responsibility.

As for the Wind Spirit Orb and the Fire Spirit Orb, both were found in Miaojiang in The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1. The Wind Spirit Orb was held by the Golden-Winged Phoenix in the Divine Tree Forest, while the Fire Spirit Orb belonged to the Qilin, both of which might require combat.

The difficulty of these battles was uncertain. The Four Sacred Beasts in a xianxia world were not the same as those in Fengyun—they were true divine beasts.

Judging from Li Xiaoyao's late-game combat power, they probably wouldn't surpass the Refining Spirit to Return to the Void realm.

If the orbs were in The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3 locations, things would be more complicated.

The Wind Spirit Orb was in the Divine Realm, held by Xi Yao, a guardian of the Divine World's Sacred Tree. To enter the Divine Realm, they would need to go through the Demon-God Well, likely encountering powerful demons or even the Demon Lord himself—too much for their current strength.

The Fire Spirit Orb was in the Underworld, possessed by the Fire Ghost King, an ancient being so powerful that even Yan Luo couldn't deal with him.

If the Fire Ghost King was female, a beauty trap might work.

Speaking of beauty traps, Chu Yang thought it was time to recruit Jing Tian.

As the reincarnation of Fei Peng, the greatest general of the Divine Realm, his talent even surpassed Li Xiaoyao's. His rapid leveling was like riding a rocket, and he could regain his past memories at any time.

Having him around would be a great safeguard—even against the Demon Lord.

As for the Water Spirit Orb, Chu Yang suspected it wouldn't be with Zi Xuan, but rather would require Li Xiaoyao to travel through time to obtain it.

Otherwise, the time loop wouldn't close, and the world might collapse.

Given the current circumstances, searching for the Thunder Spirit Orb first was the safest plan.

Just as Chu Yang was about to remind Xu Changqing, he suddenly sensed a reaction from the Flying Thunder God technique he had placed on Tang Yu and A'nu.

The technique was automatically triggered, meaning they were in danger.

"Senior Brother, go to Yong'an Pawnshop first. The sect leader told me that after leaving Shu Mountain, the Demon Lord went there and met someone. You must find that person!"

"Once that's done, head to Leizhou. There have been celestial phenomena there—it might be related to the Five Spirit Orbs."

With no choice, Chu Yang sent Xu Changqing on his way while he prepared to depart.

Xu Changqing was puzzled. "Junior Brother, where are you going?"

"Tang Yu and A'nu are overdue. I'm worried. I'll bring them back to Yuzhou and then meet up with you."

Shi Gonghu frowned. "You have more pressing matters. Let me—"

Chu Yang shook his head. "If you leave, who will protect Ling'er? Yuzhou isn't exactly safe, even if Bai Yue doesn't show up."

Shi Gonghu fell silent.

"Alright, then it's decided. We split into two groups for now."

Without giving anyone a chance to object, Chu Yang took off on his sword.

Xu Changqing could only smile wryly. But considering Chu Yang's thousand years of cultivation, he felt somewhat reassured.

Meanwhile, Chu Yang had already teleported to Tang Yu and A'nu's location via the Flying Thunder God technique.

Standing before him was another person.

Bai Yue.

Facing the main antagonist of The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 for the first time, Chu Yang felt immense pressure—akin to the feeling he once had before Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.

But unlike Yamamoto's fiery and direct presence, Bai Yue's pressure was like water—subtle at first but soon enveloping him completely, making it hard to breathe.

Tang Yu and A'nu were buried in the ground, their heads exposed. They looked like they had been there for days, dehydrated and starving, their consciousness fading.

They didn't even realize Chu Yang had arrived.

Bai Yue stood beside them, as if waiting for someone. When he saw Chu Yang appear out of thin air, his calm gaze finally wavered.

Bai Yue asked curiously, "So, you're the ever-changing star?"

Looking at Bai Yue, whose attire resembled that of a Western philosopher, Chu Yang frowned.

"What star?"

Bai Yue pointed at the sky and explained in a profound tone, "Every star holds a special meaning and corresponds to a particular person. Generally, they remain unchanged."

"But the one representing you has broken this convention."

As Bai Yue lectured him, Chu Yang finally confirmed this version of Bai Yue and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The Bai Yue before him belonged to the scientist category—someone with a unique behavioral logic, where every act of killing had a self-justified reason.

For example, conducting experiments to prove love...

Bai Yue's initial motivation for world destruction stemmed from his foster father, Shi Gonghu, who had tried to kill him for the sake of a few unrelated strangers.

He believed love did not exist in this world, that humanity itself was sinful, and that the world was irredeemably filthy.

Thus, he sought to destroy it.

The Lunar Sect Cult, which he founded, was one of his tools for annihilation. Yet, interestingly, Bai Yue himself never believed in the doctrines he used to deceive his followers.

He falsely claimed to have brought back the "Edge of the World Tree" from the world's end and commanded his followers to worship it daily, promising that the tree would grow a little each day.

Once fully grown, Nanzhao would transform into another "Edge of the World."

The truth, however, was that Bai Yue cast spells on the tree daily, making it grow continuously.

To him, the tree was a symbolic tool—by assigning extraordinary meaning to an ordinary object, he reinforced his control over his followers' minds.

Yet, the tree also held a different significance for Bai Yue.

When no one else was around, he once spoke to the tree:

"Who would have thought that an ordinary being like you could transform into a divine symbol, worshiped by the masses?"

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