Chapter 344: Collapse
Qin Mu’s mind roared, a jumble of thoughts crashing in, his ears ringing.
What Qingyou Shanren revealed was far too shocking, and the information it contained was utterly staggering!
The Lesser Jade Capital, the Celestial Sage Sect, and the Human Sovereign Hall all originated from the same source, created by people who walked out of the same era and the same place. Not only that, but these three sacred grounds were all fragments of the same location!
He turned to look at the Village Chief. The Village Chief’s expression remained calm, his emotions undisturbed, as if Qingyou Shanren’s earth-shattering words still couldn’t shake his spirit.
Or perhaps, he had long known the connection between these three sacred grounds, making it hard for him to be shocked.
Old Tathagata and Old Dao Lord, however, wore expressions of utter astonishment. Clearly, these former masters of the two great sacred grounds knew nothing of this story.
These two sacred grounds had more ancient origins, but some history had never been recorded.
Qingyou Shanren withdrew his gaze from the Village Chief and looked at Qin Mu, pausing for a moment before smiling. “It seems the former Human Sovereign never told you the truth. You’ve never been to the Human Sovereign Hall either. Young Human Sovereign, you should go there. It will reveal many secrets to you.”
Qin Mu steadied himself and said in a deep voice, “Please speak plainly, Qingyou Immortal!”
Qingyou Shanren glanced at the Village Chief again, whose face was as still as an ancient well.
Qingyou Shanren chuckled. “If you won’t speak, I’ll have to overstep my bounds. Human Sovereign, follow me.”
He walked down the mountain, and Qin Mu followed. The Village Chief silently floated up and trailed behind them. Xiong Xiyu hesitated for a moment, then pulled Xiong Qi’er along and shook her head. “The affairs of the Central Lands are not something we should get too deeply involved in.”
Xiong Qi’er looked puzzled, but Xiong Xiyu had her own concerns. The matters of the Western Lands’ True Heaven Palace were already enough to give her a headache, and the affairs of the Central Lands were even more terrifying. She keenly sensed that some secrets were better left unknown.
Old Dao Lord and Old Tathagata exchanged a glance. Old Dao Lord smiled. “With nothing to do, we’re carefree. We’re already immortals of the Lesser Jade Capital. It’s better not to learn more secrets, lest they disturb our peace of mind.”
Old Tathagata looked at him and said, “That Golden Book and Precious Scroll records the method to connect the Divine Bridge. Doesn’t that move you, fellow Daoist?”
“So what?”
Old Dao Lord said leisurely, “Where is the one who created the method to connect the Divine Bridge now?”
Old Tathagata paused, then burst into laughter. He also had no intention of following. “Every generation of Human Sovereigns has failed. There’s no need for us to join in this excitement.”
As for the Dragon Qilin, he didn’t follow either. Instead, he lay down nearby to sleep, snoring like thunder.
“You’ll get eaten,” Xiong Qi’er whispered into his ear.
The Dragon Qilin quickly lifted his head, warily scanning his surroundings. Seeing that Qin Mu wasn’t there, he said to the little girl, “I’ll get up and exercise after a little more sleep.”
Xiong Qi’er believed him.
Qin Mu followed Qingyou Shanren across a long rope bridge, bypassing several immortal mountains, and arrived at a floating immortal mountain.
Qingyou Shanren led them to a hall at the mountain’s summit. This hall was extremely ancient, seemingly dilapidated from years of neglect. Broken walls and several pillars that no longer supported the roof suggested it had been destroyed by war.
The hall was called the Hall of Azure History. The characters on the plaque were somewhat blurred, but one could still tell that the calligrapher and painter who wrote the three characters possessed extraordinary skill. The words “Hall of Azure History” carried a weight of historical depth, and a sense of vicissitude rushed forth from between the strokes.
“During the Era of the Opening Emperor, the Hall of Azure History was a renowned place.”
Qingyou Shanren walked into the hall. Inside, there were no books left, only rows of ancient bookshelves. The inner chamber was a circular space, vast and wide. Qin Mu noticed that many bookshelves were actually placed on the dome-shaped walls, requiring one to walk on the walls to read the books there.
Unfortunately, all the books here were gone.
“Many of the books here were destroyed in the war. The surviving ones were moved to other halls for preservation. The group of immortals who founded the Lesser Jade Capital originally planned to tear down the Hall of Azure History, but they felt it was meaningful to keep it, so they left it untouched.”
Qingyou Shanren walked up the wall, moving among the rows of empty bookshelves, his hand stroking the ancient wood.
Qin Mu followed him onto the wall, pausing for a moment. The wall emitted geomagnetic force, holding his body in place, allowing them to walk freely on the vertical surface.
“The group of immortals who founded the Lesser Jade Capital were responsible for recording history during the Era of the Opening Emperor.”
Qingyou Shanren said, “They didn’t just record the history of the Opening Emperor Era, but also the history of the eras before it. It was because they recorded history that they saw the repeated failures throughout the ages and understood the grave dangers. So, after the destruction of the Opening Emperor Era, they moved the Hall of Azure History here and created the sacred ground of the Lesser Jade Capital. The Lesser Jade Capital stays far from the mortal world, not participating in worldly struggles, quietly floating outside the world, recording the rise and fall of civilizations. Human Sovereign, do you know where the Hall of Azure History originally stood in the Era of the Opening Emperor?”
Qin Mu shook his head.
Qingyou Shanren walked to the dome, now upside down, and said, “Then, Human Sovereign, you should know the meaning of the term ‘Jade Capital,’ right?”
“Jade Capital, the imperial capital where the Heavenly Emperor resides,” Qin Mu said.
Qingyou Shanren sighed. “Yes, the imperial capital where the Heavenly Emperor resides. Jade Capital is the Heavenly Court. The name ‘Lesser Jade Capital’ was originally meant to commemorate the imperial capital of the Heavenly Emperor. The history recorded in the Hall of Azure History was actually meant for the Heavenly Emperor to read.”
Qin Mu’s heart shook violently. He stared at him blankly and murmured, “The Lesser Jade Capital came from the Jade Capital?”
“Exactly. The Lesser Jade Capital came from the Jade Capital of the Era of the Opening Emperor!”
Qingyou Shanren turned around, looking at him and the Village Chief, and said solemnly, “The Lesser Jade Capital came from the Jade Capital of the Era of the Opening Emperor! The Human Sovereign Hall also came from there! The Sage’s Descent Mountain also came from there! They are all fragments of the Jade Capital! The founders of the three sacred grounds—whether the immortals of the Lesser Jade Capital, the first-generation Human Sovereign of the Human Sovereign Hall, or the Woodcutter Sage of the Celestial Sage Sect—all came from the Jade Capital of the Era of the Opening Emperor!”
The Village Chief’s eyes flickered with light. “Since they share the same origin, why wouldn’t the Lesser Jade Capital help? Qin Human Sovereign is the leader of the Celestial Sage Sect and the current Human Sovereign of the Human Sovereign Hall. By all reason and sentiment, the Lesser Jade Capital should give its full support!”
Qingyou Shanren walked down from the dome and shook his head. “Former Human Sovereign, your ambition still burns, and you remain as stubborn, obstinate, and inflexible as ever. I wish I could show you the history recorded in the Lesser Jade Capital, let you witness the cruelty of history, shatter your persistence, obsession, and faith, and watch you collapse to the ground, weeping helplessly, watching you lose all hope and vitality!”
He let out a turbid breath and said flatly, “I don’t need to do that. Because I only need to show you these stone statues, and that will be enough to break you.”
He walked out of the Hall of Azure History and looked toward a distant immortal mountain.
Qin Mu and the Village Chief also left the hall. Qin Mu stood behind him, while the Village Chief floated at his side.
In the distance, the immortal mountain was shrouded in mist and clouds, immortal light swirling like rainbows and ribbons, encircling towering, majestic stone statues. These statues were magnificent, as if carved by some divine artisan.
Qingyou Shanren descended from this immortal mountain and walked along the rope bridge toward that direction.
They arrived at the immortal mountain where the statues stood. Qin Mu’s eyes suddenly twitched. He saw a stone statue dressed as a woodcutter, holding a stone axe in his hand.
The statue was enormous, like a giant.
This woodcutter was carved with such lifelike detail that it seemed less like a handcrafted sculpture and more like a person who had turned to stone.
“This is the Sage revered by the Celestial Sage Sect. The woodcutter who preached under the tree and transmitted scriptures on the stone.”
Qingyou Shanren looked up at the woodcutter statue and said, “After he transmitted his scriptures and teachings, he fell into utter despair, came to the Lesser Jade Capital, and chose to turn into this fossil, just like the immortals who founded the Lesser Jade Capital. Look, where is his gaze directed?”
Qin Mu’s heart trembled, and his voice came out hoarse. “The Great Ruin.”
“He’s looking at the Great Ruin. That was once his homeland, but even then, it had already become a barren wasteland. He couldn’t change anything, couldn’t do anything.”
Qingyou’s words cut into Qin Mu’s heart like knives, his calm speech transforming into the most terrifying divine ability, trying to shatter his will. “Every generation of leaders of your Celestial Sage Sect was incredibly brilliant, but which one surpassed the Woodcutter? He is your Sage, yet what could he do? In the end, his heart turned to stone, and he became just another stone carving in the Lesser Jade Capital!”
He walked to the second statue. This one was in the likeness of a scholar, with a compassionate, sorrowful gaze, holding a scroll in his hands. Though the scroll was open, his eyes weren’t on it.
He, too, was looking toward the Great Ruin.
“This is one of the immortals who founded the Lesser Jade Capital, one of the historians of the Hall of Azure History from the Era of the Opening Emperor.”
Qingyou Shanren continued forward, arriving at the third statue. “This is also a historian of the Hall of Azure History. And him, and her!”
He passed by statue after statue, then stopped before a towering figure. This statue exuded an aura of extraordinary martial might, both hands resting on a sword thrust into the ground. His gaze, however, was fixed on the distance—still the direction of the Great Ruin.
“His homeland, his native soil, turned to ruins. Even with a valiant, surging spirit, it’s hard to avoid the erosion of ambition.”
Qingyou Shanren looked up, his expression filled with reverence, and said, “That figure from ancient times, who fought desperately to save the world during the destruction of the Era of the Opening Emperor, struggling for humanity’s survival, even he couldn’t escape utter despair and turned to stone. Former Human Sovereign, the bodies of the successive Human Sovereigns in your Human Sovereign Hall are missing one, aren’t they? He is here.”
Qingyou Shanren’s face darkened with sorrow. “He is here…”
The Village Chief’s mind roared. He looked up at this majestic, extraordinary stone statue.
The founder of the Human Sovereign Hall, the first-generation Human Sovereign, who saved countless sects and schools, sowed the seeds of civilization for future generations, and was revered by all races and sects as the Human Sovereign—this legendary figure who created the sacred ground and legacy of the Human Sovereign Hall—in the end, his heart had died.
He had turned to stone in the Lesser Jade Capital!
A thunderous crash echoed in the Village Chief’s heart—the feeling of all his convictions collapsing.
It was like returning to the day his hands and feet were severed. All his persistence, all his faith, suddenly crumbled. He was once again that helpless old man, limbs cut off, wanting to struggle but having no hands to grasp anything, wanting to stand but having no legs, forced to crawl on the ground!
That was then.
After Qin Mu came to the Village of Broken Elders, he slowly emerged from that helplessness and despair.
But now, the deity within his heart had collapsed, plunging him back into that feeling of helplessness and despair!
His old eyes grew misty. He tried to reach out and grab something, but caught nothing. His body fell to the ground, and he tried to stand but couldn’t.
Qin Mu picked up the helpless, white-haired old man.
“Mu’er…”
The former Human Sovereign wept, pleading, “Let’s go back to the Village of Broken Elders. Let’s go back, and never come out again… Give me the Human Sovereign Seal! Give it to me! I can’t let you walk my old path. I’ll take it to the grave! You can’t bear this burden—!”
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