Chapter 1506: The Sound of Time
The spatial formations around the Phoenix Nest had already been broken by Zhang Ruochen, so the space was no longer as fragile as before. Instead, because Great Saint-level beings had once cultivated here, the space in this area had become exceptionally stable.
The Phoenix Nest could be called the most stable place in the entire Ancestral Realm.
Lingquan Shaojun and the nine First-Class Marquises fled in great haste. Not only did they fail to take away the Purple Divine Mountain, they did not even bother to save the Green Giant Marquis, who had sunk into the Millennial Nether Winter Water, leaving him to his own devices.
Standing on the Xuanwu shell, they entered the region of multicolored light. Zhang Ruochen, following behind, had his line of sight obstructed and could no longer see their figures clearly.
The multicolored light emitted by the Phoenix Nest was three li thick, vast and hazy, appearing exceptionally beautiful when viewed from afar.
Zhang Ruochen arrived three li away from the Phoenix Nest. Looking up, he saw that this nest was taller than a mountain. The multicolored light it emitted gathered without dispersing, and a trace of a Great Saint's divine power radiated from within the light.
"The nest of an Ice-Fire Phoenix is certainly extraordinary. There must be great danger inside as well," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
The Rakshasa Princess, such a formidable figure, had charged in a long time ago and still hadn't come out. This alone indicated that whether it was the Ice-Fire Phoenix's inheritance or the Divine Star Soul, both would be extremely difficult to find. It was even possible she might encounter a deadly calamity.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron, filled it with a cauldron's worth of Millennial Nether Winter Water from the sea, and then rushed into the multicolored light.
A small amount of Millennial Nether Winter Water could freeze a First-Class Marquis's body stiff and slow the flow of evil-fiend energy. If he unexpectedly dumped an entire cauldron of Millennial Nether Winter Water on someone, even a strong cultivator like Lingquan Shaojun would have their combat power greatly reduced for a short time.
Using the Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron to hold Millennial Nether Winter Water was indeed overkill, but there was no other choice.
One of Qing Mo's Divine Relic Ancient Artifacts had made the saints of Blade Prison Realm and Purple Mansion Realm quite envious, sparking a frenzy of looting. This showed that treasures like Divine Relic Ancient Artifacts were extremely valuable in other major worlds.
The Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron was even more precious than Qing Mo's silver kitchen knife. Once exposed, it would certainly attract more enemies to Zhang Ruochen.
It was worth noting that cultivators in the Heavenly Court Realm could observe the battles in the Ancestral Realm through the battlefield projections. Anything related to gods would stir the hearts of even Great Saints in the Heavenly Court Realm.
Moreover, with Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, the combat power he could unleash using the Buddha Emperor Relic was not much weaker than using the Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron.
Therefore, it was best not to reveal this trump card unless absolutely necessary.
After entering the region of multicolored light, Zhang Ruochen tried to store the Merit Record Wall beneath his feet into his Space Ring, but he found that the divine light radiating from the wall's surface repelled the Space Ring, making it impossible to store.
Subsequently, Zhang Ruochen tried using the Mercury Star Gourd and the Time-Space Crystal to collect it, but both attempts failed.
"As expected, the methods of gods are formidable. It seems that even tearing apart space cannot destroy the Merit Record Wall. From now on, wherever I go, I'll have to bring it along."
Zhang Ruochen shrugged, feeling somewhat helpless.
The Merit Record Wall was thirty-three zhang tall, with a massive volume like a small stone mountain. Carrying it on the road made it impossible to conceal one's tracks.
Mo Yin's eyes were fixed on the Phoenix Nest before her.
The enormous nest, over ten thousand meters long, was woven from multicolored vines. These vines did not resemble wood; instead, they shimmered with flowing light, as if forged from metal.
Some vines were as thin as hair, floating on the water; others were terrifyingly thick, with diameters exceeding ten meters.
Zhang Ruochen was also captivated, sensing the rich Wood Spirit Saint Qi emanating from the vines. Clearly, these multicolored vines were no ordinary items.
"Rainbow Transformation Vines," Mo Yin said.
Zhang Ruochen's knowledge of the plant world was far inferior to Mo Yin's, and he felt a bit curious. "What are Rainbow Transformation Vines?"
Mo Yin said, "Legend has it that when a high-cultivation Buddhist holy monk passes into nirvana, a mysterious phenomenon called rainbow transformation occurs. At the site of their nirvana, the earth turns into multicolored rainbow soil. Once, a living being on a rainbow soil star saw a multicolored vine. The branches of that vine covered the entire star, emitting a multicolored holy light. Since then, the legend of Rainbow Transformation Vines has been passed down."
Zhang Ruochen stared at the Phoenix Nest before him. "A holy monk passes into nirvana, and Rainbow Transformation Vines grow. Death and life appear simultaneously on a patch of rainbow soil—is this a continuation of life?"
Mo Yin shook her head. "That is unknown... However, Rainbow Transformation Vines are treasures. A three-foot-long vine as thick as a finger costs at least ten Sacred Stones to buy. As for the price in the Heavenly Court Realm, I don't know, but it should also be a rare item, unlikely to be cheap."
"Oh?"
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat surprised. "What exactly is the use of Rainbow Transformation Vines that they can fetch such a high price?"
Mo Yin said, "When burned, the fragrance they emit helps cultivators comprehend Sacred Dao rules."
"A Great Saint-level Phoenix's nest is indeed full of treasures. There's a large amount of Rainbow Transformation Vines here—I must take some away." A pair of golden dragon wings burst from Zhang Ruochen's back, and he soared into the air, intending to collect the Rainbow Transformation Vines from the Phoenix Nest. His fingers were still three to four meters away from the vines when strange formation inscriptions appeared on the surface of the vines.
"Bang."
Zhang Ruochen felt as if struck by lightning and had to fly back, landing again on the Merit Record Wall.
Even with the fist gloves protecting him, his five fingers were still slightly sore. However, Zhang Ruochen was not discouraged and muttered to himself, "As expected, it's not that simple."
Mo Yin asked, "Are the formation inscriptions on the Rainbow Transformation Vines very powerful?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "How could the handiwork of a Great Saint be anything but formidable?"
Zhang Ruochen's attainments in formations were far inferior to the Rakshasa Princess's, so he naturally dared not boast. Even if the Ice-Fire Phoenix's formation skills were low, it could easily crush Saint-level beings.
After some observation, Zhang Ruochen found that the Phoenix Nest had nine entrances, distributed in different directions.
All nine entrances were fully open, allowing free entry and exit.
Zhang Ruochen and Mo Yin chose the largest entrance to enter the Phoenix Nest, for no other reason than that only that entrance could accommodate the Merit Record Wall.
Zhang Ruochen walked ahead to scout the path, while Mo Yin followed behind, using her vines to drag the Merit Record Wall forward.
Inside the Phoenix Nest was a multicolored world, with extremely dense Heaven and Earth Saint Qi. It was far more expansive than it appeared from the outside. Zhang Ruochen and Mo Yin walked for over ten li but encountered nothing and saw nothing, which was especially eerie.
"Is the Phoenix Nest really only over ten thousand meters long?" Mo Yin couldn't help but ask.
Zhang Ruochen remained calm. "The Ice-Fire Phoenix has profound attainments in both the Way of Time and the Way of Space. Its nest itself is a spatial formation. Using formations to create a space—hmph, it's the same kind of technique."
When storming the outermost thirty-three sacred mountains, Zhang Ruochen had witnessed this technique. The Ice-Fire Phoenix had used a piece of jade to create a black-and-white space, nearly trapping him and the Rakshasa Princess inside.
The space within the Phoenix Nest was even more refined and stable than the black-and-white space. If it continued to evolve, it could completely become a real small world.
Of course, at this stage, the multicolored space within the Phoenix Nest was still incomplete, with many flaws, and could not give birth to life.
After traveling roughly five hundred li, Zhang Ruochen suddenly stopped. He picked up a one-foot-three-inch-long piece of Rainbow Transformation Vine from the ground. The formation inscriptions on the vine had been erased.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze sharpened as he looked around. "This piece of Rainbow Transformation Vine should have been left behind by the Rakshasa Princess."
"Why?" Mo Yin asked.
"Only her formation skills could damage the formation inscriptions in the Phoenix Nest. If I'm not mistaken, she must have taken quite a bit of Rainbow Transformation Vine."
Zhang Ruochen put away that piece of Rainbow Transformation Vine, then took out the Abyssal Ancient Sword, holding it in his hand as he cautiously moved forward.
After walking another hundred li or so, the sound of flowing water reached his ears.
Why was there the sound of water inside the Phoenix Nest?
Could it be the sound of water from the Nether Ice Cold Sea outside the Phoenix Nest?
Zhang Ruochen didn't think it sounded like seawater; it was more like the sound of a stream. So, he quickened his pace and moved forward.
When he found the source of the water sound, Zhang Ruochen showed an expression of disbelief and laughed out loud. "How is that possible?"
A round, rough stone, like a huge millstone, stood slanted on a ten-zhang-high platform.
At the center of the "millstone," a rough stone rod was inserted, resembling a primitive stone tool, as if it had been passed down from an extremely ancient era.
The sound of a stream came from the stone rod and the "millstone," which was especially eerie.
Mo Yin caught up from behind. Seeing this scene, she also opened her red lips wide, feeling it was unbelievable. "A stone producing the sound of a stream, and so clearly—this is simply impossible."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes showed a glint of wisdom, and he said meaningfully, "It might not be the sound of a stream, but the sound of time."
"Time has a sound?"
Mo Yin thought Zhang Ruochen had probably gone mad. How could time have a sound?
"Time is like water, flowing endlessly, and we are in the water, drifting with the current from the past to the future. We have always been in the present, yet we don't know that the present is the future of the past."
Zhang Ruochen pointed at the "millstone." "Do you know what a sundial is?"
Mo Yin said, "Of course. A sundial is an instrument used by humans in some civilized nations to measure time, using the direction of sunlight's shadow to determine time and divide moments. You think this is a sundial... It does look a bit like one, just too crude."
Mo Yin looked closely and found that on the surface of the round "millstone," there were indeed some ancient characters and scale intervals. However, because the transmission time was too long, those patterns had become quite blurry, almost undetectable without careful observation.
Zhang Ruochen rested his chin on his fingers, muttering to himself, "I think it should be a time treasure."
Zhang Ruochen had seen many space treasures and a few time-space treasures. However, even time-space treasures only made the flow of time inside them different from the outside world.
This was the first time he had seen a pure time treasure.