# Chapter 2168: Myriad Paths Divine Pavilion
"Wuming Divine Venerable, is this how the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom treats its guests—so coldly?"
Two Divine Venerables, Meng Kongchan and Hua Fuchen, had arrived together—a grand spectacle of astonishing proportions—yet they were halted outside a chilling barrier.
Neither Divine Venerable showed the slightest surprise at such treatment. Nor did they attempt to break through the barrier. Instead, they stopped right there, their expressions carrying a subtle, thought-provoking nuance.
"Scram!"
The soul-piercing hostility was so sharp it nearly pierced through eardrums: "Your dirty, lowly male presence has already defiled my senses! Get lost immediately!"
"Heh!" Meng Kongchan let out a cold laugh, addressing her directly by name: "Shen Wu Yanye, aren't you going to give Meng an explanation?"
"Explanation? Hahahaha!"
Her laughter was shrill as an owl's, sending chills through everyone present: "You Dreamweaving and Heaven-Breaking conspired together, ambushing my Eternal Night Divine Maiden within the Divine Sleep Forbidden Domain, gravely wounding her and nearly causing her death! I have refrained from making an issue of this out of consideration for our presence in the Pure Land. Yet you have the audacity to come demanding so-called explanations from me!"
"Truly, even after becoming Divine Venerables, you can never wash away the filth and baseness ingrained in your blood and bones!"
Meng Kongchan, however, showed no anger at all. Instead, he smiled faintly: "Hehehehe. We both know the truth of the matter, you and I."
Hua Fuchen also spoke with a smile: "Brother Meng, just as I said. Though she is a Divine Venerable of a Divine Kingdom, she stands before our eyes and turns black into white—truly worthy of being the 'Wuming' Divine Venerable."
He stressed the word "Wuming" heavily, his gentle words dripping with sarcasm at every syllable.
"One who is blind can still perceive the world through the heart, but one whose heart is so blind as to deceive both others and oneself—that is truly the utmost tragedy, beyond redemption."
In an instant, the temperature of the surrounding space plummeted. The Eternal Night maidens and Abyss Knights nearby all felt a bone-deep chill.
As a Divine Venerable who was the easiest to provoke—in fact, one who would go mad even without provocation—Shen Wu Yanye's reaction was hardly surprising.
The Wuming Divine Venerable's wrath was enough to make the entire Eternal Night Divine Kingdom tremble. But it could hardly intimidate two fellow Divine Venerables. Hua Fuchen's brow sank slightly, his voice turning several degrees colder: "Shen Wu Yanye, you repeatedly question us about having 'any face.' Hua and Brother Meng's faces are clearly visible here beneath the light of the Pure Land, without the slightest concealment—all beings under heaven can look upon us!"
"But you, Shen Wu Yanye... heh!"
Hua Fuchen let out a faint, mocking laugh, and Meng Kongchan took over his words: "The illustrious Wuming Divine Venerable, when visiting the Abyss Emperor upon this Pure Land, still requires a palanquin to shield her body and black curtains to cover her face. What? Is the Wuming Divine Venerable so aware that her face is hideous beyond human tolerance, loathed by gods, dreaded by ghosts, and abandoned by all living things, that she must conceal it so heavily, never daring to show it?!"
"Courting... death!!"
Boom—
A terrible gust of yin wind swept forth. In an instant, the sky's light darkened sharply, and the surrounding space seemed to plunge into an icy hell.
Such deliberately demeaning words could not provoke any other Divine Venerable—they would only invite ridicule. But they struck directly at the Wuming Divine Venerable's vital weakness!
The more one conceals, the more one cares!
The cold wind howled, killing intent flooded the heavens, causing the robes of the Dreamweaving and Heaven-Breaking Divine Venerables to flutter violently.
"Your Eminence, calm your anger!"
Shen Wu Mingque's voice rang out urgently: "This is the Pure Land! You cannot strike here! If Your Eminence acts in anger, you will only... play into their hands!"
The cold domain and killing intent suddenly stalled. Hua Fuchen, however, spoke blandly, adding fuel to the fire: "The Wuming Divine Venerable worries too much. Those worthy of setting foot on the Pure Land are all of noble birth and impeccable cultivation. Even if they are terrified by the Wuming Divine Venerable's ugliness to the point of heart-shaking soul-trembling, they would never speak of it or show it on their faces."
"Meng... Kong... Chan! Hua... Fu... Chen!"
Shen Wu Yanye's voice trembled so badly it was almost unintelligible. When it reached their ears, even the Abyss Knights ten li away felt their hearts and souls ache as if about to shatter.
"Remember well what you have said today! One day... I will make you pay the price... I will make you regret every single word you have spoken today!!"
Even the Eternal Night maidens closest to her had never seen Shen Wu Yanye in such a towering rage. They all trembled like sieves, their faces white as paper, several of them teetering on the verge of collapse, their bodies swaying like guttering candles in the wind.
The brutality and terror she wielded within the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom was more than evident.
"Your Eminence, calm your anger... calm your anger!" Shen Wu Mingque repeatedly shouted in hoarse admonition. Then, she stepped out of the barrier and stood before Meng Kongchan and Hua Fuchen, hastily bowing: "Esteemed Divine Venerables, the 'explanation' you seek has neither evidence nor basis. The only certain fact is that the sword wound on my Eternal Night Divine Maiden was indeed inflicted by Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent."
"This is the Pure Land, not—"
"Well said—neither evidence nor basis." Meng Kongchan interrupted her, his silver gaze lowering faintly, causing Shen Wu Mingque's spirit to suddenly collapse and her entire body to shudder in terror: "Otherwise, this Venerable would not have merely used words."
To bear the gaze of the Dreamweaving Divine Venerable at such close range—Shen Wu Mingque felt as if every one of her soulstrings was completely exposed before his divine eyes. With a single thought, he could snap them all, like dry silk turned to dust by the wind.
The Divine Sleep Forbidden Domain was beyond the sight of anyone. Thus, regarding the Eternal Night Divine Maiden's attempt to kill Yun Che, there was only Yun Che's one-sided account, and no evidence whatsoever.
"Wuming Divine Venerable, there is no need to be agitated."
Meng Kongchan's eyes half-closed, slanting toward the barrier behind her, a faint silver radiance seeping from the corners of his eyes: "Meng did not come here to demand an accounting, but to return an item."
Shwoosh—
With a soft sound, a silver folding fan unfurled in Meng Kongchan's hand. Upon its surface, ink characters flew wildly, each word unrestrained and bold, still carrying a faint divine aura that even the long passage of time could not completely erase.
At the end of the fan's ribs, a signature was written with great flourish...
Shen Wu Xueyan!
Although Shen Wu Yanye could not see, her other four senses far exceeded ordinary people's. In the very first instant, she caught a trace of that aura which she could never forget... even now, it tormented her in the eternal darkness.
"That is... that person's possession!"
Her anger and killing intent suddenly fell into chaos, and the oppressive cold of the space became a disarrayed turbulence.
"Where did you get such filth? That beast's belongings should have been completely erased from this world by me!"
Looking at the writing on the fan, Shen Wu Mingque's eyes suddenly went dull and vacant, as if she had lost her soul.
Meng Kongchan said calmly: "Ten thousand years ago, on the eve of my ascension to the position of Divine Venerable, Shen Wu Xueyan came specially to 'bid farewell,' lamenting that there would no longer be 'Brother Meng,' only the title of Divine Venerable. This fan is forged from Youpo Divine Jade, and was a gift from Shen Wu Xueyan back then."
"Meng was in a whimsical mood that day and invited him to leave his ink on the fan. When I asked him what inscription I wished, I bade him write whatever was most in his heart at that moment... and this is what appears on the fan."
"Patrol Envoy," Meng Kongchan's gaze again tilted toward Shen Wu Mingque: "Why not read aloud for your Wuming Divine Venerable what is written on the fan."
Shen Wu Mingque's lips parted and closed, but she could not utter a single word.
Suddenly, Shen Wu Yanye's harsh voice exploded in her ears: "Read it!"
Shen Wu Mingque's entire body trembled, nearly spitting blood. Her throat convulsed violently before she forced out the words on the fan:
"The gentle breeze strokes the jade shadow... the radiant moon reflects the heart's truth."
The chaotic cold, oppression, and killing intent suddenly froze.
The entire world fell into an eerie silence.
Gentle breeze... radiant moon...
Xihua...
Shen Wu Xihua!
Suddenly, a mournful howl rang in everyone's ears—the sound of disordered True God aura stirring space itself to tremble.
"Ha... ha... hahahaha!"
Shen Wu Yanye let out wild laughter, each note hoarse and desolate: "Shen Wu Xueyan! Thousands of years... it has been thousands of years! And still, some trace of your hypocritical filth remains in this world, defiling my ears once again! You deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces! You deserve to die without a burial place!"
This folding fan and its inscription—even Hua Fuchen was seeing them for the first time. He lowered his brows slightly, his thoughts momentarily complicated.
The gentle breeze strokes the jade shadow, the radiant moon reflects the heart's truth... every word was emotion, every word was longing. The name "Xihua" seemed to be engraved in his very heart.
Shen Wu Xueyan, Shen Wu Xihua... Was the truth of that time really only as the rumors said?
And after all, who... had betrayed whose true heart?
"Damn it... damn it! Damn it!! Die!!!"
Each shriek was like a despairing she-wolf, like a maddened evil spirit, enough to make one's hair stand on end.
Meng Kongchan cast the fan to the ground: "From today onward, there is only enmity, no gratitude, between Dreamweaving and Eternal Night. This object, naturally, should be returned."
He fixed a cold stare at the violently trembling black palanquin behind the barrier, then turned and walked shoulder to shoulder with Hua Fuchen, leaving coldly.
Even after they had gone far, Shen Wu Yanye's shrieks still echoed in their ears.
"How was it?" Hua Fuchen asked.
"Hmph!" Meng Kongchan snorted coldly: "Easier than I expected. After all, she is fundamentally a madwoman, with a soul so flawed that... there were even moments I felt it beneath me to strike."
"But," his gaze turned icy, his soul might imposing: "Whoever dared to touch my Yuan'er must pay a price they will regret for the rest of their lives!"
Hua Fuchen suddenly said: "Back then, after Shen Wu Xueyan's incident, you let out a long sigh and afterward avoided talking about anything related to him. Your friendship with Shen Wu Xueyan was not shallow. I imagine the events of that time were not entirely as the rumors have it?"
Meng Kongchan shook his head: "Gratitudes and grudges, rights and wrongs—when they fall upon oneself, they are all a tangled mess. How can the cause and effect of others be easily clarified? All I can say is... based on what I know, see, and feel, Shen Wu Xueyan was not without affection for Shen Wu Xihua back then. In fact, quite the opposite..."
He paused, then continued: "But as a Divine Son, with an excessively strong male pride ingrained in his bones, facing Shen Wu Xihua who surpassed him in every way, his deeply rooted nature led to extreme inconsistency between his words and actions. He even repeatedly made foolish moves for the sake of so-called Divine Son dignity. The bitter fruit he ultimately brewed—was it not, in the end, his own doing?"
Hua Fuchen nodded and asked no further.
————
"Brother Yun, we've arrived!"
After passing through layer after layer of Pure Land guards stationed here, what came into view was a rather massive and extraordinarily majestic hall.
The Myriad Paths Divine Pavilion!
At the entrance of the hall stood a tall man, his bearing proud. He had dark blue hair, a face as cold as an ice sculpture, and eyes faintly gleaming with chill. On his back was strapped a seven-foot-long scabbard. Though the blade was not exposed, it released a biting cold that made all beings keep their distance.
"Uncle Chang Ying!"
Hua Cairui's call confirmed his identity for Yun Che.
One of the Four Divine Attendants of the Pure Land, the personal divine attendant of the Myriad Paths Divine Official—Chang Ying!
His cold, emotionless gaze swept lightly over Yun Che and Hua Cairui. The Divine Attendant Chang Ying gave a slight nod: "The master has given his instructions. Enter."
Hua Cairui took Yun Che's hand and led him directly into the hall, while whispering: "Uncle Chang Ying hates to talk the most, but he won't be fierce to anyone. Just ignore him and it'll be fine."
Having been summoned by the Abyss Emperor, with two Divine Officials—Liu Xiao and Ling Xian—pleading on his behalf, the name "Yun Che" now resonated like thunder across the Pure Land. Yet, as Yun Che and Hua Cairui passed by Chang Ying, he did not even look at them sideways, nor did his aura pause on him even for a moment.
Such coldness suggested he was an extremely strict rule-abider at heart... Yun Che committed his appearance and aura to memory, along with his assessment.
"Grandpa Myriad Paths, we're here!"
With Hua Cairui's crisp call, Yun Che's foot stepped into the hall... In an instant, it was as if the world had changed, heaven and earth turned upside down. A dense aura, as if crossing through ten thousand ages, surged toward him like a tidal wave, enveloping him entirely in a flash.
The intensity and richness of this aura left Yun Che's perception blank for several moments. The extreme ancient solemnity, the vast and heavy condensation—as if billions of stars were quietly flowing in the depths of the hall, as if it came from the long-lost age of the gods.
The Myriad Paths Divine Pavilion—a treasure vault carrying three million years of the Pure Land's history and heritage. In the very first moment of his arrival, Yun Che's original expectations were completely overturned.
The aura contained here was far beyond the weight of a single Divine Kingdom's divine power. It seemed to bear the infinite vastness of the entire Abyss's history. Every wisp of aura spoke of the Pure Land's supreme foundation.
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[In an early chapter from long ago, the final flame of the Vermilion Bird Comforting Soul Melody was mentioned, at the time named "Qianyu Mie Ming Qu." But because it's been far too long, and the Vermilion Bird's flame won't appear in the early parts, I completely forgot about it -_-||]
[Thus, I can only forcefully activate the Niemo Nilun Zhu, using the causal hand of dark sin to change the earlier "Qianyu Mie Ming Qu" into the current "Jin'e Min Sheng Qu." Everyone, just pretend nothing happened ε=(´ο｀*)))]
[Deep thanks to all the friends who reminded me!]