Chapter 399 - 399: Secret of Heaven

Long Chen stepped towards the hut with Chu Miao following closely behind.

Manxiang Li and the others had gone their different ways as they wanted to look for treasures separately; thus, Long Chen was alone with Chu Miao at the moment as he walked to the Hut.

Long Chen got near the hut and started to observe it from the outside.

It seemed to be a hut made entirely from wood, but it seemed as if the wood was starting to decay.

Long Chen used his Divine Sense to look inside the hut, but even then, he wasn't able to see inside the place.

It was the first time his Divine Sense had failed to see inside a place he wanted to see, which he found strange considering the fact that it was made from simple looking wood.

He stepped towards the door and tried opening it, but it didn't open. The door was locked.

"It needs a key," he muttered as he noticed the keyhole.

He thought for a while before he brought a key out of his storage ring. It was the same ring that he had found in the graveyard some time ago.

He tried putting the key in the keyhole, and it fit perfectly.

The door was unlocked.

He pushed the door open and looked inside. The room seemed mostly empty.

There was a square table placed at the center of the room and a crystal ball set on top of it. There was nothing else other than that.

Long Chen stepped inside the hut and walked to the table in front of him.

He tried to pick up the crystal ball, but he stopped his hand Mid-Way as he saw something in the crystal ball.

He could see himself inside the crystal ball, but he had red hair instead of his usual black hair, and he looked to be much older.

There was also a girl standing beside him that he didn't recognize.

The girl had pitch-black eyes and hair as red as the flames of hell. She wore a beautiful black dress. A small crystal necklace hung over her chest.

Chu Miao also walked up to him.

"Look in the crystal ball. Tell me what you see," Long Chen told Chu Miao, who was still standing at the door.

Chu Miao stepped inside the hut amidst the creaking noises of the wooden floor.

She looked at the Crystal Ball.

"What do you see?" Long Chen asked her again.

"I-i see me. I look older, though. I am wearing a Black Robe that looks similar to the robes that our Black-Robed Elders wear," Chu Miao replied.

"You see only yourself in there? Is there no other person?" he asked.

"Yup. I see no one else. It's so strange. What is this orb?" Chu Miao inquired.

"I'm not sure," Long Chen muttered.

'Xun? Do you know what it is?' he asked Xun.

"I don't, but it looks fun. Let me see as well," Xun chuckled as she appeared beside Long Chen and gazed deep in the orb.

She saw a completely different person in the orb. It was a girl, but she was much taller than her. She was as tall as Long Chen. The girl had pink hair like her. The girl seemed to be smiling as she looked to her left. A man was standing near her. 

The Man looked like an older version of Long Chen. Long Chen had red hair, but his eyes weren't visible as he had his eyes closed. The girl was holding Long Chen's hand, and their fingers were intertwining.

'What do you see?' Long Chen asked her using his thoughts.

"I see nothing," Xun replied as she disappeared.

Long Chen picked up the orb and put that in his storage ring.

Long Chen left the hut. He couldn't help but think about who the red-haired girl that he saw was. He was also curious as to why he had red hair.

'Was that a future? Divine Heaven Sect was said to be able to look through heaven's secrets. They sound like diviners, who were able to see the future. This might be something related to that,' he thought.

"What is your greatest desire?" Long Chen asked Chu Miao as they moved forward. He wanted to know if his assumption about that orb was wrong or not.

"My desire? I want to be stronger. As strong as I can," Chu Miao said.

"Why do you chase strength?" he further asked.

"Because I don't want to go through the same situation again. I don't want someone to die right before me again," Chu Miao replied.

"You mean..." Long Chen muttered, but he stopped. He could guess that someone important to her must have died.

"I was born in a mortal village. There was no cultivator in my village. We didn't even know about cultivators. One day my mother watched a person killing a Villager, but the murderer was the village chief himself. He accused my mother of the murder instead,"

"My mother was killed in front of the whole town, and I couldn't even die with her. That day, I promised that I would gain strength and kill them all. I left the village and fortunately I met my master," 

Chu Miao told him her whole story from how she was taken by her master and how she started cultivating. 

She also talked about how she went back and slaughtered the whole village.

"Even though I got my revenge, I still don't think I have enough strength to protect someone I care about from being killed like my mother. I want to be so strong that even the kings don't dare to touch someone close to me," 

Long Chen smiled as he heard the determination in her voice.

"It's good that you have a reason to become stronger. I have a similar reason, but I feel like my thirst to become stronger is not exactly related to my reasons. It's like something inside me that pushes me to get stronger. I can't slack off even if I desire," Long Chen let out.

Chu Miao glanced toward him and sighed.

"You're already so strong. I wish I were as strong as you,"

Long Chen laughed lightly.

"It's the same thing. No matter how much one gets, they won't be satisfied. You're not satisfied with what you have, and I'm not satisfied with what I have. This world is complicated. I wonder if the gods were satisfied or they were like us as well," he said.

Chu Miao shook her head.

"Why would the gods not be satisfied. They can have everything they want. They created everything. There can be nothing that they're dissatisfied about," she said.

"I always imagine Gods living in their paradise, drinking immortal wine, and enjoying life," she added.

"It's not for certain. If there are more than one gods, then there's a good chance that they argue more than they enjoy life. There's no way two or more beings can live for eternity and still be close. No one can escape from the darkness in this world," Long Chen replied.

"The Light and the Darkness, they should all be created by Gods. How can something they created affect themselves," she inquired.

Long Chen heard her statement as he looked towards the sky.

"The demons we give birth to, are the ones that are strong enough to swallow us," he said.

"Hah, that's all imaginative. We can't know what actually happens there and how strong they actually are. Maybe you're right, or maybe I am. It's just speculative at this point," Chu Miao responded

Long Chen didn't reply and just smiled.

They explored to the depths of the Divine Heaven Sect and saw many statues of beasts. Some Beasts were normal beasts that could still be seen in the world, whereas some of them were rare beasts that had gone extinct by now.