Chapter 47: The Mystery of the Advent of the Descendant

In the small valley at this moment, Gu Laosi, who had returned to the village a couple of days ago, made his appearance once again, his distinctive shouting and scolding faintly echoing through the gorge.

"Is this the best you lot can do with your coordination? You're just dealing with a level-seven corpse monster, yet three of you managed to get injured. Are the people in the rear just eating free meals? Do you not know how to support your teammates?"

Dugu Feng, the leader of the group, offered an explanation: "Captain, we didn't expect the corpse monster to have such incredible leaping ability. It actually jumped straight out of the pit trap..."

"Don't give me any excuses! If you fail to inspect the traps, who else is to blame? Even though you are Chosen Ones, you only have one life. If you don't put effort into your training now, the only way you'll see me in the future is in your dreams..."

It was no wonder Gu Laosi was so furious. Not only had he come here in person today, but he had also invited his master—the village chief of Gutan Village—to this very place.

He had intended to properly showcase the results of his training with the Fifth Militia Squad to his master, but he hadn't expected Dugu Feng and his group to drop the ball at such a crucial moment.

"Alright, Xiao Si, their performance just now was actually quite acceptable. Berating them so harshly will sometimes yield the opposite effect."

A gentle and elderly voice rang out, and a hunched old man with gray hair and a white beard slowly emerged from the tent.

This old man was none other than Gu Tianci, the village chief of Gutan Village.

Hearing this, Gu Laosi rubbed the back of his head and laughed brazenly. "Hehe, well, since their performance is acceptable, what about those spiritual fruits and resources you promised me earlier..."

Gu Tianci pondered for a moment before slowly replying, "Very well, I'll hand them all over to your discretion. Those fruits don't have much use in our village anyway, as the number of children we can nurture in the village is far too few after all. For now, the Chosen Ones are the hope of the village."

At these words, Gu Laosi's face lit up with joy.

The spiritual fruits he was demanding were among the most precious resources in Gutan Village. They were rare treasures of white quality or higher capable of increasing a person's attributes, accumulated in Gutan Village's inventory over decades.

Right now, because the Chosen Ones of the Fifth Militia Squad were suppressing their level progression, their strength could not improve. Even with all nine of them cooperating, they could only barely handle a level-seven corpse monster.

If they wanted to boost their combat power without leveling up, the only way was to start with rare treasures and external martial skills.

He had people teaching external martial skills every day, but most of the Fifth Militia Squad members had limited aptitude, and after more than a week, practically none of them had managed to learn anything.

Therefore, he had no choice but to pin his hopes on rare treasures.

At that moment, upon hearing the conversation between the two, Gu Chenghu, who was recovering inside the tent, walked out and said, "Village chief, Qing Shan from our Second Squad is also a Chosen One worth investing in. Can I get some spiritual fruits for him as well?"

Gu Laosi chimed in, "Master, Qing Shan is the one I told you about—the Chosen One who obtained our village's inherited soul artifact. To be honest, that kid is indeed not bad; his talent is very high. However, he hasn't signed a contract with our village yet..."

The village chief shook his head. "The contract is merely a method; it is not important. If the Qing Shan you mentioned truly is a talented Chosen One who knows how to be grateful, it wouldn't hurt to allocate a portion of the village's resources to nurture him.

"After all, only by producing true powerhouses in the future can we protect Gutan Village. If we merely cultivate a batch of Chosen Ones whose strength is on par with ours, that would be a wasted effort."

Village Chief Gu Tianci turned around and said, "Xiao Hu, speak with Elder Guyuan later and have him increase the contribution point values for the Chosen Ones when they exchange items. At this stage, our village's core focus is to cultivate reliable Chosen Ones. Stop squeezing them so hard."

"Understood, village chief."

Just as the three of them were chatting, a figure slowly appeared in the distance. It was none other than Lin Yi, who had just hurried over from the giant tree.

"Master, that's the kid—Qing Shan."

"My eyes aren't failing me; I see him."

Gu Tianci squinted as he looked at the approaching Lin Yi, then nodded with a smile.

From afar, Lin Yi noticed the white-haired old man standing between Gu Chenghu and Gu Laosi, and he tested the waters by asking, "Are you the village chief?"

Having been in Gutan Village for so long, this was the first time Lin Yi had ever laid eyes on its village chief.

He hadn't expected the village chief to be of such an advanced age. He looked even older than the three elders by a generation, appearing to be around eighty or ninety years old.

However, in a supernatural world, appearance did not necessarily correlate with age; this elderly village chief might well be over a hundred years old.

Gu Tianci smiled and said, "It is I, young man. We've been waiting for you. Come, let's go inside the tent to talk."

Lin Yi nodded. It seemed that the person who had rescued Gu Chenghu today was none other than this village chief, and the reason the village chief had shown up here was likely tied to the inherited soul artifact in his possession.

Nearby, Dugu Feng and the others stopped their training, wanting to come over and see what was happening.

However, Gu Laosi put on a stern face and barked at them, "Get lost, get out of here! If you aren't going to train properly, are you coming over just to get chewed out? You've got so much energy, let's see how I torment you to death this afternoon!"

Dugu Feng and the others were scolded bloody and could only sigh inwardly, wondering why there was such a massive gap when they were all players.

Inside the tent, Lin Yi noticed that Gu Chenghu's right abdomen was wrapped in a layer of white cloth, prompting him to ask, "Captain, you're injured?"

Gu Chenghu grinned broadly. "Got scratched by a level-nine corpse monster while coming down the tree. It's nothing."

Hearing this, Gu Laosi couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark: "You call that nothing? Your intestines were practically hanging out at one point. I told you not to rush down, to wait until the corpse monster horde was cleared out first, but you just had to show off..."

Lin Yi roughly guessed the situation at the time; it must have been Gu Laosi and the village chief who went to rescue Gu Chenghu.

However, he wondered how the village chief had dealt with that horde of corpse monsters.

Lin Yi remembered that there were quite a few shattered bone fragments of corpse monsters left beneath the giant tree, which seemed to have been violently pulverized without any traces of divine talisman usage.

It seemed that besides divine talismans, the Divine Priest profession possessed other supernatural methods.

Inside the tent, Lin Yi took the initiative to ask, "Village chief, did you call me here alone to ask about the soul artifact?"

Village Chief Gu Tianci nodded, then paused to think before shooing both Gu Chenghu and Gu Laosi out of the tent. There were certain things he needed to discuss with Lin Yi in private.

Gu Chenghu was obedient and walked straight out of the tent, but Gu Laosi was reluctant. He stood at the entrance and stubbornly protested, "Master, I'm the next village chief! Is there anything I'm not allowed to hear?"

"Wait until you actually become the village chief before saying that. Besides, I never said you were definitely going to be the next village chief."

After chasing Gu Laosi outside, Gu Tianci retrieved a divine talisman from his sleeve and tore it. A translucent white light barrier instantly enveloped the entire tent.

"Village chief, this is?"

Lin Yi was startled, briefly wondering if the village chief was about to make a move on him.

Gu Tianci smiled. "Don't worry, it's just a small sound-isolation trick. That disciple of mine is probably still eavesdropping outside anyway. Furthermore, you don't need to worry; people from our continent of Apocalypse currently have no way to directly harm you Chosen Ones, otherwise, we would suffer divine retribution."

"Divine retribution?"

"Mhm, you can think of it as being forsaken by the heavens. Someone cursed by divine retribution might not die immediately, but it will bring about misfortune and often spell utter disaster for those around them and their village.

"Therefore, if people from the continent of Apocalypse want to deal with you Chosen Ones, they generally only resort to using malevolent spirits and monsters. You must remember this."

Hearing this, Lin Yi nodded. He could sense the goodwill the village chief was extending toward him, but he still maintained a degree of vigilance and couldn't help asking, "Village chief, what on earth are you looking for me for?"

Gu Tianci remained unhurried, sitting down cross-legged on the rug with a cheerful smile as he looked at Lin Yi. "Don't be impatient. This is our first time meeting, so it's better to get to know each other a bit more.

"My name is Gu Tianci, and I am one hundred and twenty-one years old. In my thirtieth year, after the previous village chief passed away, I became the new village chief, and I have held the position for over ninety years now.

"However, more than ninety years have passed, and I am still only at the one-star Divine Priest realm, so my lifespan is also nearing its end."

Lin Yi raised an eyebrow. "One-star Divine Priest? Village chief, is this a classification after the vocational tiers?"

"Don't rush, listen to me first. If you are the person I am looking for, I will tell you everything you want to know afterward."

Pausing for a moment, Gu Tianci continued, "About half a month—no, half a year ago, the divine temple descended with a revelation, and celestial anomalies occurred across the entire continent of Apocalypse. I consulted ancient texts and learned that a new world had been captured by the continent of Apocalypse, and the Chosen Ones were about to appear."

This statement from Gu Tianci concealed a vast amount of information, and Lin Yi felt a jolt in his heart upon hearing it.

Was it because their Earth had been captured by the continent of Apocalypse that they were able to enter this world?

Then, what would be the consequence of Earth being captured by the continent of Apocalypse?

Could the end of the world be approaching?

Seeing that Lin Yi did not interrupt him this time, Gu Tianci continued with a smile, "Our Gutan Village has been passed down on the continent of Apocalypse for a very long time—perhaps for over a hundred thousand years, or even a million years. According to historical records, our very first village chief was a powerful Divine Priest, and at the same time, he was also a Chosen One.

"Therefore, I am much more clear about the existence of the Chosen Ones and why you are able to appear here than anyone else.

"I don't know what attitude other factions on the continent of Apocalypse hold toward you Chosen Ones, but at least in our Gutan Village, ever since its founding, we have always maintained a friendly attitude toward the Chosen Ones. Moreover, whenever we encounter Chosen Ones with outstanding talent, our village will invest heavy resources into nurturing them.

"So you don't need to worry about me harming you. As long as you do not infringe upon the interests and safety of the village, I can guarantee that you will be in no danger.

"Very well, I have finished what I needed to say. Next, you may ask me a question, but at the same time, you must also answer a question of mine, so that neither of us loses out."

With that, Gu Tianci fell silent, waiting for Lin Yi to speak.