Of course, the prerequisite for cooperation was mutual trust. Otherwise, how could they succeed if they each had their own agendas?
No one knew what would happen when the nine fragments merged. They could only guess that clues to the Ghost Artifact might appear. That was why Elder Jia Yuan and Fang Chen sought cooperation.
The three old men were hard to deal with. Fang Chen was not afraid of any of them in a one-on-one fight. However, the key was that the three old men did not give him a chance to fight one-on-one. They were always together, protecting the three fragments.
Fang Chen did not want to fight to the death. Otherwise, once the Ghost Artifact appeared, he would be seriously injured. It would not be worth it.
Therefore, as soon as the old man in the middle of the thatched cottage made his request, Fang Chen immediately took out the fragments he had on him. Together with the fragments he had obtained from Elder Jia Yuan, there were six fragments in total. He handed them all to the old man.
Eh!
The three old men were stunned. They did not expect Fang Chen to be so straightforward.
"Since this brother is so straightforward, I won't hold back."
The old man in the middle of the thatched cottage admired Fang Chen. After all, the latter handed over such precious items to him without hesitation.
"Let's begin."
The old man on the left urged. The old man on the right nodded.
Fang Chen looked at the old man in the middle of the thatched cottage. He opened his hands and the nine fragments floated in front of his chest.
Buzz!
The moment the nine fragments sensed each other, a strange energy exploded. This energy floated in the air and formed a small vortex, sucking the nine fragments into it.
In the blink of an eye, the nine fragments formed a circle and spun rapidly in the vortex.
"Look."
Sure enough, after the nine fragments merged, they actually manifested different runes.
Every fragment had some runes on it. Upon closer inspection, these runes connected together to form a map.
"This is a map."
Elder Jia Yuan recognized the map at a glance. The Jialuo Clan's base had been built in the core area for countless years. He had been in charge of it all this time, so he knew everything about it.
"These red dots are the danger zones." Elder Jia Yuan pointed at the information released by the nine fragments in the vortex and said.
Fang Chen's eyes were burning as he stared at the nine fragments.
There were a total of nine red dots. Fang Chen guessed that eight of the red dots were fake, and only one red dot was real.
Elder Jia Yuan quickly eliminated the eight red dots, leaving only one red dot standing in the center of the map.
"Where is this?"
Elder Jia Yuan frowned and pondered.
"City of Despair?"
His expression changed greatly, as if he had recalled something.
"How is that possible?
A ghost artifact is in the City of Despair? "
Weng!
At this moment, the nine fragments gradually fused together and condensed into a palm-sized token. On the front of the token, there was the word 'Ghost'. This should be the Ghost Emperor's Ghost.
On the back of the token, there was a tattered city.
Despair City!
Needless to say, the broken city on the back of the token was definitely the City of Despair.
However …
What puzzled them was, what exactly was Despair City? Why did Elder Jia Yuan turn pale with fright?
"Brother Jia Yuan, you seem to know a lot about Despair City?" the old man in the middle of the thatched cottage asked.
Whoosh!
The token fell into his palm, and the special power in the air disappeared. The iceberg returned to normal, and he felt a warm current enter his palm from the token.
"Let me see."
The old man on the left took the token and played with it in his hand.
Fang Chen wasn't worried at all. He didn't want to kill them all, but if he was forced to, he would kill them even if he couldn't get the token.
"The City of Despair … That is a cursed land of death."
Elder Jia Yuan's mind was filled with thoughts.
The City of Despair used to be a war fortress in the core area of the Death Cliff, but because of the great war, the City of Despair was destroyed.
Some races treated the dilapidated cities as their last refuge.
However …
At this time, a group of mysterious creatures broke into the City of Despair and massacred all the tribes that took refuge there. After that, the entire City of Despair turned into a hell.
Some people tried to get close to the City of Despair, but they turned into stone statues halfway.
There were also experts who said that those mysterious creatures might be related to the Underworld and were extremely terrifying. Once they were cursed, heaven and earth would not tolerate it.
Over time …
No one dared to get close to the City of Despair. As time passed, the City of Despair became a forbidden place, and the later generations gradually forgot its legend.
Even Elder Jia Yuan had long forgotten about the City of Despair.
Because it was already in ruins, and after being exposed to the wind and rain, it was difficult to find its original location.
Unexpectedly …
The Ghost Emperor's Ghost Artifact was actually in the City of Despair.
"Ghost Emperor … Underworld …"
Suddenly, Fang Chen whispered.
Why was a Ghost Emperor able to cause such a huge storm of blood?
It was mainly because of the Ghost Artifact.
Then, where did the Ghost Artifact come from, and why did it make people so crazy?
Everyone thought that the Ghost Artifact contained the secret of the Sovereign.
However, who would have thought about where the Ghost Artifact came from?
Now, the information given by the nine fragments showed that the Ghost Artifact was in the City of Despair. Was this a coincidence?
Countless years ago, the City of Despair was massacred by a mysterious creature and was scared into cursing. After countless years, the Ghost Artifact was about to appear in the City of Despair.
Was there any connection between the two?
In other words, the Ghost Artifact actually came from the Underworld, and the Ghost Emperor was also a creature of the Underworld?
To be more precise, the Ghost Emperor was one of those mysterious creatures that massacred the city?
Thinking of this, Fang Chen's heart fluctuated greatly.
If that was the case, did the mysterious creatures of the Underworld really exist, and what were they planning?
What role did the Ghost Emperor play in it?
He thought of the City Lord of the Ghost City, who was completely different from the other City Lords.
He remembered that Princess Huang once told him that the area of the Ghost City was very special, and the general Demon Devouring Clan did not dare to trespass.
Combining all these information, Fang Chen came to a shocking conclusion.
That was …
The Ghost Artifact might be related to the Underworld.
"The City of Despair is cursed and can't be approached?" The old man on the left asked.
"If that's the case, how can we get in?" The old man on the right frowned.
The old man in the thatched hut in the middle looked at Jia Yuan. Among them, Jia Yuan was the one who knew the most about the core area and had the most say.
"First of all, through the nine fragments, we can basically confirm that the Ghost Artifact is in the City of Despair," Jia Yuan said.
"Second, the City of Despair is very dangerous and cursed. Anyone who gets close will be annihilated by the curse."
"These two points are not good news for us, but I think we can give it a try."
Jia Yuan said, "After all, it has been so long, and the era has changed. The curse should have a time limit, right?"