Chapter 2511: Dust of History
If the Dragon Lord had not happened to be here, Zhang Ruochen suspected he would have had great difficulty surviving this calamity. Xiu Chen Heavenly God had come in person; how could the War God Belt alone have been enough to stop him?
Zhang Ruochen realized that his situation was even more dangerous than he had imagined.
"You are a descendant of the Great Venerable and also a successor of the Saint Monk. Your identity is too sensitive. The more outstanding you perform, the more uneasy some gods of the Hell Realm will become, and your situation will grow increasingly perilous," the Dragon Lord said.
Zhang Ruochen understood clearly; the Dragon Lord wanted him to return to the Kunlun Realm.
"If you return to the Kunlun Realm, I can accept you as my disciple and announce your identity to the gods of all realms. You do not need to answer me now. Wait until we have rescued the Island Lord. As long as the rescue is successful, there will naturally be no criticism when you return. Because you will be the greatest contributor, returning in triumph," the Dragon Lord said.
Clearly, the Dragon Lord intended to attribute all the merit of rescuing the Island Lord to him, in order to silence the voices of dissent.
Zhang Ruochen's mind was heavy. He nodded, took out the Celestial Pivot Needle, and handed it to the Dragon Lord.
The Dragon Lord took the Celestial Pivot Needle, carefully examining this divine artifact. After a long moment, he produced a seven-inch-tall, five-colored exquisite miniature pagoda and tossed it to Zhang Ruochen. "Xiu Chen will not stop here. Although his true body and divine source were shattered, and he is no longer as powerful as in the Middle Ages, he is still at the level of a Grand Void True God. Ordinary means cannot stop him. This pagoda contains a single strike of my power. Use it wisely."
"One of the Ten Great Divine Artifacts, the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Pagoda!" Xiao Hei shrieked, his eyes nearly popping out.
"After rescuing the Island Lord, I will take back this pagoda, and the Celestial Pivot Needle will also be returned to you."
The Dragon Lord grabbed Xiao Hei and twisted him away.
"Help... someone help me... save this Emperor..."
Xiao Hei cried for help, but it was useless. Who would dare to strike at the Dragon Lord?
Zhang Ruochen could see that the Dragon Lord bore no hostility toward Xiao Hei, so he did not stop him. Besides, stopping him would have been futile.
A figure of the Dragon Lord's level—even gods might not be qualified to stand before him and speak.
The reason he had spoken so much with Zhang Ruochen was likely because he valued his identity as the successor of Xumi Saint Monk and the descendant of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable, as well as the talent and character he had displayed.
Zhang Ruochen looked down at the five-colored miniature pagoda in his hand. Recalling Xiao Hei's shout of "Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Pagoda," his scalp went numb, and his heart pounded like thunder.
A legendary divine artifact, just handed to him like that?
What if he lost it?
The pagoda contained a single strike of the Dragon Lord's power. How strong was it? Could it kill Xiu Chen Heavenly God?
Zhang Ruochen felt no excitement, only a heavy pressure that made it hard to breathe. He thought to himself, *Don't do this, alright? I'm just a Hundred-Shackles Great Saint. Why give me this realm-guarding divine artifact? If it gets stolen, I can't afford to compensate for it.*
The greater the power one wielded, the greater the responsibility.
How could a Hundred-Shackles Great Saint bear such a heavy responsibility?
Although the pagoda contained a strike of the Dragon Lord's power, could he use it?
Certainly not!
Before rescuing the Island Lord, the Dragon Lord could not make a move; his power must not be sensed by the gods of the Hell Realm.
Unless he truly encountered Xiu Chen Heavenly God again, facing life or death, forced into a corner, could he use it.
Zhang Ruochen felt as if he were holding not a divine artifact but an egg. He carefully stored it away, afraid it might fall to the ground.
It was said that when a divine artifact fell, it could pierce through an entire world.
Why did the Celestial Pivot Needle and the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Pagoda not seem to possess such immense energy?
...
On a piece of cosmic rock, only Granny Haitang and Zhang Ruochen remained.
"Granny, you don't need to persuade me. Actually, Mother never told me anything. I chose to stay in the Hell Realm of my own free will," Zhang Ruochen said.
Granny Haitang's face was bitter. "Because of those two children?"
Zhang Ruochen was silent for a long time. "Perhaps that's part of it, but... but... I don't know why. I just feel that it's the same everywhere—filled with slaughter, darkness, and deceit. What difference is there between the Kunlun Realm and the Hell Realm?"
"The world has always been this way, since ancient times, everywhere."
Granny Haitang said, "You are running away, aren't you? You dare not face Chi Yao..."
Zhang Ruochen did not want to continue this topic. "Granny, can you tell me what really happened eight hundred years ago? Where did my father go? Why did he let Mother wait alone in the Endless Abyss for eight hundred years, without ever appearing? Was he killed?"
"Chi Yao said that Father was controlled by Mother, turned into a puppet for her to control the Saint Central Empire and the Kunlun Realm. I don't believe her. I know you must know the truth of those years. Don't deceive me. Tell me, please?"
Granny Haitang sighed, her aged eyes filled with sorrow. "You have grown up. There are some things you should know. No one was truly at fault; it was the fault of the era, the fault of this great age."
Granny Haitang looked weary and sat down. "All of this must begin from three hundred thousand years ago. No, it should be earlier—three hundred thousand years ago."
"Do you know what the current Heavenly Court Realm was called before?"
"The Saint Realm," Zhang Ruochen said.
Granny Haitang nodded. "The Heaven and Earth Saint Qi of the Saint Realm was dozens of times richer than the current Heavenly Court Realm. Sacred meridians and divine meridians were everywhere. Cultivators from all realms and heavens, upon reaching the Half-Saint realm, could ascend to the Saint Realm to cultivate."
"Because of this excellent cultivation environment, the Saint Realm gave birth to countless powerful beings. The strongest among them were known as the Twenty Heavens."
"The Twenty Heavens maintained order across all realms, deterring the various clans of Hell. The world was peaceful and thriving. The landscape was like a painting, and for a time, there were many heroes. For all cultivators who experienced that period, it should have been the most beautiful era."
"But three hundred thousand years ago, a shocking upheaval occurred."
"The Twenty Heavens joined forces to undertake a great task. Logically, with their cultivation, any one of them could sweep across the starry river and shake the universe. With twenty of them working together, what in the world could they not accomplish?"
"But they failed, and only three returned alive."
"This had a severe impact on the entire Saint Realm, even all realms and heavens. It marked the end of an era—the Ancient Era ended, and the Middle Ages began."
"Perhaps because of the fall of the Twenty Heavens, or perhaps for other reasons, the various clans of Hell began to stir, no longer content to remain in the Yellow Spring Star River. Ultimately, they launched a war of annihilation."
Zhang Ruochen said, "The war between the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm began three hundred thousand years ago?"
"To be precise, there was no Heavenly Court at that time. It was the war between the Saint Realm and all realms and heavens against the Hell Realm. It was the outbreak of this war that marked the arrival of the Middle Ages."
Granny Haitang continued, "In the early stages of the war, the Hell Realm's active participants were the Darkness Temple, the Underworld Clan, the Ghost Clan, the Bone Clan, the Stone Clan, and the Shura Clan. They all sought to grow through slaughter and become stronger through death. The Destiny Temple was still neutral at the time."
"Although the Twenty Heavens had fallen and there was no leader, the Saint Realm and all realms were still very powerful. The Darkness Temple and the five clans found it difficult to gain an advantage in battle. The fighting was localized and had not reached the level of total war."
"Until three hundred thousand years ago, when that upheaval occurred."
Zhang Ruochen listened intently, realizing that what was about to be said might affect an entire era, no less significant than the fall of the Twenty Heavens.
After all, the Middle Ages had ended exactly one hundred thousand years ago.
"One hundred thousand years ago, that great upheaval nearly annihilated all the worlds in the vast universe, nearly wiping out all living beings. I still remember that the entire Kunlun Realm turned into a fireball, the sky filled with divine flames that burned for three full months. If not for the all-out efforts of the Heavenly Lord, the Saint Monk, the Island Lord, and the Dragon Lord, the Kunlun Realm might have been destroyed, reduced to a dead, scorched land."
Recalling those three terrifying months, when she feared the world would end every day, Granny Haitang's heart grew heavy.
Zhang Ruochen felt shocked and oppressed. "Who did it?"
Granny Haitang shook her head.
"And after three months?" Zhang Ruochen asked again.
She looked at him and said heavily, "The heart of all realms, the Saint Realm... was destroyed! A large number of gods fell, countless Saint realm cultivators died, divine temples collapsed, divine mountains were destroyed, and divine meridians were ruined. The Sealing God Platform in the True Domain Heaven is one of the few remaining ruins."
Zhang Ruochen felt something stuck in his throat, his heart seeming to shrink into a ball.
After a long time, he exhaled. "Did the Hell Realm destroy the Saint Realm?"
Granny Haitang shook her head. "I don't know. Perhaps only the Dragon Lord and the others know the truth, but they have never told anyone. However... at that time, the Saint Realm was incredibly powerful. How could the Hell Realm have destroyed it?"
"Some speculate that this world-ending disaster was a continuation of the events of three hundred thousand years ago, a calamity brought about by the Twenty Heavens."
"If it was related to what the Twenty Heavens did, why did the retaliation come two hundred thousand years later?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Granny Haitang shook her head again. "Such a great secret—even the most top-tier gods might not know it."
She continued, "After the great calamity, the Heavenly Court's myriad realms grew even weaker. To resist the Hell Realm and deal with possible unknown powerful enemies, everyone realized they could no longer be like scattered sand. They had to unite to get through the crisis together."
"Driven by internal and external pressures, the Heavenly Court was established. Hao Tian, one of the surviving Twenty Heavens, became the Lord of the Heavenly Court."
"After this calamity, all realms were terrified and spared no effort to increase their strength."
"The Saint Monk, the Heavenly Lord, the Dragon Lord, and the others may have learned some secrets. They were awakened and activated the Sundial to help all cultivators in the Kunlun Realm cultivate together, to ensure they would not be completely helpless when the next world-ending disaster came."
"It was during this period that a great upheaval occurred in the Hell Realm."
"The long-peaceful Yama Clan's clan leader disappeared in the Abyss of Darkness."
"In the Destiny Temple, the Life God Venerable and the Auspicious God Venerable, who had always opposed war, died mysteriously. The war-advocating Death God Venerable and the Fierce God Venerable took power and falsely accused the Kunlun Realm's Ten Calamities Questioning Heavenly Lord and Xumi Saint Monk of killing the two God Venerables."
"Thus, the Destiny Temple, using the revenge for the two God Venerables as a slogan and the Kunlun Realm's desire to rule the universe and destroy Hell as an excuse, led the ten clans in retaliation against the Kunlun Realm. The fuse was lit, and the full-scale war between the Heavenly Court's myriad realms and the Hell Realm erupted!"
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