Chapter 253

Duanmu Xi was slightly dazed to hear that and then said with a frown, “What do you mean?” Was there any other reason why he insisted on her being the scared maiden than the portrait?

The elder in white heard that and turned to the portrait. After staring at it for a while, he said, “Purple Hell Stone.”

Purple Hell Stone? Hearing that, Duanmu Xi took the amethyst necklace from her neck, “Do you mean this?”

The elder in white glimpsed the Purple Hell Stone in Duanmu Xi’s hand, his dark eyes flickering, “The Purple Hell Stone belongs to the Celestial Maiden. Afterward, the Celestial Maiden was missing. Somehow, the Purple Hell Stone was kept. Afterward, the Purple Hell Stone has been preserved by the sacred maiden over generations. Gradually, it became the sacred maiden’s token. Although the Purple Hell Stone is always kept by sacred maidens, it has never been sired to any sacred maiden but you.” Not only did she look the same as the Celestial Maiden but also the Purple Hell Stone was sired to her. He couldn’t help thinking of the mission.

Duanmu Xi was slightly dazed to hear that. It turned out the Purple Hell Stone belonged to the Celestial Maiden. Only she could be acknowledged by the Purple Hell Stone. What did it mean? Suddenly, Duanmu Xi felt the Purple Hell Stone in her hand become scorching hot. It was even glowing with a purple light.

“Look at the portrait…” Second Elder suddenly pointed at the portrait on the wall in shock.

The others all looked at the portrait only to see that the crystal crown on the Celestial Maiden was giving off a faint purple light.

Duanmu Xi was also shocked to see the amazing scene because the amethyst in the middle of the crown was exuding a faint purple light and the amethyst was the same as the Purple Hell Stone in her hand.

Looking at the weird portrait on the wall, Duanmu Xi felt faintly uneasy and subconsciously grasped Xuanyuan Mo’s hand tightly.

Feeling Duanmu Xi’s uneasiness, Xuanyuan Mo held Duanmu Xi into his arms and rubbed her shoulders as if to pacify her.

The elder in white looked at the portrait of the Celestial Maiden on the wall, his eyes flickering, “As you can see, the Purple Hell Stone was embedded in the Celestial Maiden’s crown. It is the symbol of the Celestial Maiden. Now that it acknowledges you as its owner, you should know what it means even if I don’t tell you.” If he was right, Duanmu Xi must have something to do with the Celestial Maiden. As to the relationship, she had to explore it on her own.

Duanmu Xi looked at the Purple Hell Stone in her hand, her dark purple eyes flickering.

The elder in white glanced at Second Elder aside, “Let’s get started!”

Second Elder nodded. Then, he picked up the incense sticks and distributed them to the elders and Duanmu Xi.

After getting the incense sticks, the elders bowed to the Celestial Maiden’s portrait three times. Duanmu Xi frowned at the elders’ behaviors. She felt so weird to see others bow to “her” portrait.

After inserting the incense sticks into the censer, they saw Duanmu Xi standing there motionless and all frowned at her.

Faced with the elders’ disgruntled eyes, Duanmu Xi puckered her lips. She looked at the three incense sticks in her hands and the portrait, her eyes flickering. She muttered to herself inwardly three times, “It isn’t me.” Then, she bowed to the portrait slowly three times.

“Bring the divine stone!” After bowing to the Celestial Maiden, the elder in white shouted.

As the elder in white shouted, Second Elder came forward, holding a tray. The tray was covered with a piece of black cloth.

Duanmu Xi frowned at the tray. She thought the divine stone would be a big thing. However, it turned out to be so small.

The elder in white went forward to lift the black cloth from the tray gently. Instantly, a streak of white light shone through the whole Divine Hall.

The dazzling white light made Duanmu Xi slightly narrow her eyes uncomfortably. Just as well the white light slowly became weaker and, in the end, it only gave off a light halo.

Without the dazzling white light, Duanmu Xi finally saw clearly the divine stone. It was not an ordinary black stone but a pure and flawless white crystal. It was just a bit bigger than a palm and shaped like a leaf instead of a regular square.

“This is the divine stone. You just need to put your hand on it.” The elder in white looked at the divine stone reverently. So did the other elders. They looked like Christians staring at the cross.

Hearing that, Duanmu Xi frowned and looked at Xuanyuan Mo aside in confusion. For the moment, she was suddenly at a loss about what to do. She didn’t know the relationship between the Celestial Maiden and her. Neither did she know whether she could pass the test of the divine stone and the sacred realm. She wondered what would be awaiting her ahead.

Seeing the confusion in Duanmu Xi’s eyes, Xuanyuan Mo pinched her face softly, “If you don’t want to, no one can force you to do anything.”

Instantly, Duanmu Xi felt relaxed and cracked a smile. With him by her side, why would she be scared? Even if the future was full of uncertainty, as long as he was there for her, she didn’t have to be afraid.

Duanmu Xi approached the divine stone and put her hand on it. A cool feeling immediately swept through her whole body. That was all she could feel. And it seemed that nothing was happening to the divine stone. It was still glowing whitely.

As time went by, the divine stone was still not responding. The elders aside felt a bit anxious.

“Why doesn’t it illuminate…”

“Why is it not responding? Did we make a mistake…”

“How is it possible? She clearly looks the same as the Celestial Maiden. Why isn’t the divine stone responding…”

The elder in white also frowned. The divine stone didn’t change for a long time. Could it be that he was wrong?

While all the people started to get uneasy, the divine stone started to tremble slightly.

The sudden trembling just freaked Duanmu Xi out. She wanted to take back her hand but she just couldn’t take it off the divine stone as if they were stuck together.

Seeing the scene, Xuanyuan Mo rushed to Duanmu Xi and said with a frown, “How is it? Can’t you take your hand off the stone?”

Duanmu Xi directly gave up struggling and shook her head, “They’re stuck together.”

The others all surrounded them. The elder in white looked at the trembling divine stone with narrowed eyes. What was happening? Such a situation had never happened before.

Xuanyuan Mo grabbed Duanmu Xi’s arm and tried to lift it, but it still didn’t work. He didn’t dare to exert any strength. Xuanyuan Mo had no other choice but to fix his gaze on the trembling divine stone.

Without hesitation, Xuanyuan Mo directly struck a palm at the divine stone.

The elders were stunned by the sudden scene. They didn’t expect that Xuanyuan Mo would attack the divine stone. When they came around and wanted to stop him, it was too late.

While everyone thought the divine stone would be crushed, a twist happened again. When Xuanyuan Mo’s hand was about to reach the divine stone, the divine stone stopped trembling and sparkled sharply.

“Look, the divine stone is responding…”

“The divine stone is sparkling. Why does the divine stone respond to Xuanyuan Mo…”

“What does the divine stone suggest? Does it want him to be sacred maiden…”

Hearing the elders’ words, Duanmu Xi and Xuanyuan Mo both looked stern.

Looking at the pure and flawless divine stone, Xuanyuan Mo slightly narrowed his amber eyes. He wanted to strike another palm at it but to his astonishment, he found that his hand couldn’t move anymore.

“Look at the divine stone!” Duanmu Xi was shocked to see the image that suddenly appeared above the divine stone.

The others all looked at the divine stone. Very quickly, they were astonished to see the image shown above the divine stone. The two people in the image were Duanmu Xi and Xuanyuan Mo, but Duanmu Xi was a little girl who was seven or eight years old while Xuanyuan Mo looked more or less the same as now.

Xuanyuan Mo was also surprised to look at the image above the divine stone. The man in the image was himself hundreds of thousands of years ago. The point was why he was with Xi. Did they already know back then? Why didn’t he remember that at all?

In the image, Duanmu Xi was talking happily with Xuanyuan Mo, but he just flew away with a cold face.

The image changed. Duanmu Xi had grown up. At that time, she had become as pretty as the current Duanmu Xi and yet showed an immortal air.

In the image, they stood facing each other. Duanmu Xi shed tears while Xuanyuan Mo was wiping tears for her. Then, things turned into a mess. It seemed that two groups of people were fighting. Duanmu Xi was confused.

The image changed again. Duanmu Xi was tied to a pillar and seemed to be suffering grave pain. Countless heavenly thunderbolts were struck at Duanmu Xi mercilessly.

Looking at Duanmu Xi who was suffering pain in the image, Xuanyuan Mo felt heartache. Why? Why did she have to suffer such pain? Although it was merely an image, he still felt that his heart ached severely. Why did he have no impression of the image shown above the divine stone? He had recovered the power of the beast god and his memory, but why couldn’t he remember that at all?

Then, Xuanyuan Mo appeared and saved Duanmu Xi, but Duanmu Xi didn’t appreciate his favor at all. She said something to Xuanyuan Mo with a sad face. In the end, she jumped off the platform with a relieved face.

Seeing the scene, Duanmu Xi and Xuanyuan Mo covered their chests at the same time, because they felt too much pain in their chests.

While they were drowned in grief, the divine stone trembled again, but it trembled a lot more heavily than before.

Suddenly, Duanmu Xi felt a rush of strong sucking power taking her into the divine stone.

Duanmu Xi was sucked into the divine stone before she could make a reaction.

Xuanyuan Mo composed himself and immediately grabbed Duanmu Xi’s hand, “Xi, hold my hand. Hold it!”

Now, most of Duanmu Xi’s body was in the divine stone. Only her head and a hand were still exposed outside. Duanmu Xi held Xuanyuan Mo’s hand tightly, but the sucking power was too strong. Gradually, Duanmu Xi had run out of her strength. Even though Xuanyuan Mo grasped her hand tightly, they were still slowly separated.

“Snow, I’m sorry…” She really couldn’t hang on anymore. Duanmu Xi looked at Xuanyuan Mo with an apologetical look and slowly disappeared in front of everybody.

“Xi…” Seeing that Duanmu Xi was taken into the divine stone, Xuanyuan Mo wanted to follow her there. However, the divine stone just got back to normal right after swallowing Duanmu Xi.