Chapter 2813: Yan Huanyu's Whereabouts
From the Heavenly Gate to the Black Desert, the journey spanned ten thousand miles, fraught with danger and riddled with killing intent. Along this path, Yan Wushen, Xiao Hei, and Chi Yao did not travel lightly, escaping death several times.
"The legendary Seventy-Two Demon God Stone Pillars are actually here? How could they be here? From the chaotic ancient times to now, so many years have passed, and everyone thought it was just a legend. Who would have imagined these pillars actually exist?"
Xiao Hei stood at the edge of the desert, gazing into the distance at the stone pillars at its center, feeling the demonic might radiating from them, his heart surging with excitement.
Yan Wushen and Chi Yao had clearly heard of the Seventy-Two Pillar Demon Gods, and they too were deeply shaken.
Xiao Hei spread his flaming wings from his back and, unable to contain himself, flew toward the location of the seventy-two pillars.
"Boom!"
He was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the ground, dragging a long trench behind him.
A roar echoed across the desert, stirring up a fierce gale.
The earth trembled as a demonic creature resembling a black ox rolled in the sand and stood up, its body taller than a mountain. Its ox eyes, like two black pools, looked down at the three below.
Heavenly Mother stood atop the black ox's head, her red robe vivid, her white hair like frost.
"Who dares attack this Emperor? If you have the skill, strike openly. What kind of ability is sneaky ambush?" Xiao Hei stood up, but upon seeing Heavenly Mother's figure, the anger in his eyes froze.
How could a humanoid creature appear here?
Could it be...
Xiao Hei's face shifted repeatedly, his teeth chattering as he blurted out, "Humanoid Anomaly Beast!"
"Slap!"
Something struck Xiao Hei, though it was unclear what.
Xiao Hei was sent flying once more, crashing into a sand dune, and never crawled out again.
Even with Chi Yao's cultivation level, she hadn't clearly seen how the opponent had struck just now. Her shock reached an indescribable level. Could it truly be a Humanoid Anomaly Beast?
In the presence of such an existence, escape was impossible.
Yan Wushen, however, seemed to realize something. He stepped forward, clasped his hands, and said, "Yan Wushen, a junior of the Yama Clan, pays respects to Heavenly Mother."
"You recognize me?" Heavenly Mother's voice was vast and distant, like a divine sound from beyond the heavens.
Yan Wushen breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Senior Heavenly Mother is a great cultivator of the Hell Realm. The Yama Clan has stone sculptures of your divine image, which this junior has seen. I simply never expected that Senior had been in the Abyss of Darkness all along."
When Heavenly Mother had seen Gu Shejing, she had already found her talent extraordinary, believing the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm had a worthy successor.
But then, looking at Zhang Ruochen, and now at Yan Wushen before her, who could remain neither humble nor arrogant and speak naturally in her presence—such a state of mind and spirit was truly rare.
Recall that when Ghost Lord had once met the Sixth Patriarch, he had nearly knelt in fear.
As the supreme existence of the Rakshasa Clan's most dangerous region, her deterrent force in the world was even greater than that of the Sixth Patriarch, who cultivated the joyful nature of Buddhism. To remain composed before her required immense spiritual will.
Heavenly Mother glanced at Chi Yao as well. "Your era truly produces exceptional talents."
Yan Wushen said, "Senior Heavenly Mother, have you seen a friend of mine? His name is Zhang Ruochen. He carries the bloodline of the Undying Blood Clan and is a member of the Hell Realm."
"I have seen him. He is still alive." Heavenly Mother said this.
Chi Yao's long-anxious heart finally calmed slightly. But she then fell into deeper worry, as her methods of transformation could never deceive Heavenly Mother.
Yan Wushen said, "Junior has another matter. Since Senior has been in the Abyss of Darkness all along, have you by any chance seen my clan's patriarch?"
"You mean Yan Huanyu?" Heavenly Mother said.
Yan Wushen knelt on one knee, his gaze fervent, his tone earnest. "Please inform me of the old patriarch's whereabouts. Yan Wushen and the Yama Clan will be eternally grateful."
"You ask me about Yan Huanyu's whereabouts? How strange."
Heavenly Mother shook her head, transforming into a red shadow and heading deeper into the desert.
Yan Wushen could not understand why Heavenly Mother had such an expression. He immediately pursued her. "Senior, don't leave! The old patriarch has been missing for a hundred thousand years, causing the Yama Clan to split, with countless clansmen dying in conflict. If Senior knows of the old patriarch's whereabouts, please share even a little."
The black ox demon blocked Yan Wushen, and the two began to fight.
Chi Yao hadn't expected Heavenly Mother to not trouble her.
But thinking about it, it made sense. When Heavenly Mother had vanished from the Hell Realm, the Heavenly Court did not yet exist, and the war between the Hell Realm and the Saint Realm had not begun. There was no concept of enmity.
Moreover, at the height Heavenly Mother stood, she might not even regard a mid-level god like Chi Yao.
"Why did Heavenly Mother say such a thing?" Chi Yao muttered to herself, unable to understand.
Heavenly Mother had clearly seen Yan Huanyu. If she knew his whereabouts, she could have directly told Yan Wushen. If Yan Huanyu had already fallen, she could have said so outright.
Why would she find it strange that Yan Wushen asked her about Yan Huanyu's whereabouts?
"When great figures speak, it's usually profound and unfathomable." Xiao Hei's voice sounded beside Chi Yao.
Chi Yao looked at him. He seemed uninjured.
It appeared that when he was sent flying into the sand dune earlier, it wasn't because he was too injured to crawl out, but because he didn't dare to.
Xiao Hei showed no embarrassment at all. He added, "Heavenly Mother clearly values talent. She didn't even kill us, so she certainly wouldn't kill Zhang Ruochen. Perhaps, when he meets her, he can break the curse and directly achieve godhood."
...
Atop the Heavenly Demon Stone Pillar, Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged at the center, carefully pondering every word Heavenly Mother had said.
"Cultivate the heart and refine the body; unite heart and body."
Zhang Ruochen recited this line, a smile spreading across his face. "So that's it."
The heart belongs to the body, yet it does not.
The heart can be concrete, or it can be formless.
"The 'heart' in the Demon Ancestor lineage's pursuit of 'cultivating the heart and refining the body' certainly does not refer to the physical heart, but to thoughts, state of mind, and nature."
"Uniting heart and body is like uniting man and sword. Where the heart points, the body moves."
"The heart is infinitely vast, encompassing all things, so the body can contain everything, achieving absolute Dao transformation."
"My body is the Five Elements Chaos. My heart is like a sea that accepts all rivers. The Wuji Sacred Will is the bridge between heart and body, tightly linking them together, allowing fusion."
Having understood these layers, Zhang Ruochen's past doubts all became clear. No longer confused, he began to merge heart and body, charging toward absolute physical Dao transformation.
...
Below the Seventy-Two Demon God Stone Pillars.
Heavenly Mother stood beside the celestial well, eyes closed in contemplation.
Gu Shejing came up from behind.
"How is your comprehension coming along?" Heavenly Mother asked.
Gu Shejing said, "Every stone carving on the Seventy-Two Demon God Stone Pillars contains infinite mysteries. Achieving any accomplishment will not be possible overnight."
"Cultivation is never an overnight matter. If you want to one day support the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm and become its master, you must cultivate for at least another five hundred thousand years. If you want to be crowned a king and revered, making all cultivators under heaven fear the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm because of you, then you must cultivate for at least eight hundred thousand years, or even longer." Heavenly Mother said.
Gu Shejing said, "If I could borrow the Sundial..."
"Time-type treasures are not shortcuts. Cultivating inside them still consumes your lifespan, hastening your Eon Calamity." Heavenly Mother said. "You must understand that after stepping into the God Realm, the most important thing is patience. Sometimes, ten thousand years, or even a hundred thousand years, pass without any progress at all. This is normal. If you cultivate for a hundred thousand years and remain stagnant, what use is possessing the Sundial?"
Heavenly Mother continued, "But a hundred thousand years of stagnation is also accumulation—accumulating experience and insight. It's very possible that with a single breakthrough, you can step into an entirely new level."
Gu Shejing said, "I understand."
"Rumble!"
In the distance, a massive black sand demonic creature exploded, forming rolling dust clouds.
From within the dust clouds like black mist, Yan Wushen, Xiao Hei, and Chi Yao emerged, rushing swiftly toward the Seventy-Two Demon God Stone Pillars, stopping not far from Heavenly Mother and Gu Shejing.
"They actually broke through." Heavenly Mother was slightly surprised, reassessing the three.
Xiao Hei spoke very respectfully, "Great Heavenly Mother, we did not intend to disturb you. It's just that we are allies with Gu Shejing. This Emperor sensed her aura and urgently needed to see her. In truth, we are all on the same side!"
Chi Yao searched everywhere for traces of Zhang Ruochen, but the Heavenly Demon Stone Pillars concealed his aura, making him impossible to find.
Yan Wushen said, "Senior, can you tell me where my clan's old patriarch went? This matter is truly very important."
Heavenly Mother stared at him for a long time, as if trying to see through him completely. "A hundred thousand years ago, Yan Huanyu indeed came to the Abyss of Darkness and entered the Ancient Desolate Ruins City. Right here, I had a conversation with him. After that, he left the Abyss of Darkness."
Yan Wushen quickly asked, "After leaving, where did the old patriarch go?"
"He went back, of course." Heavenly Mother said.
Yan Wushen pressed further, "Back where?"
"Where else but back to the Yama Clan?" Heavenly Mother countered.
Even Chi Yao and Xiao Hei showed astonished expressions. Yan Huanyu had returned to the Hell Realm a hundred thousand years ago? Heavenly Mother clearly had no reason to deceive them.
While Yan Wushen's mind went blank with shock, Heavenly Mother continued, "Yan Huanyu received news from somewhere and came to the Abyss of Darkness to search for the Nine Cauldrons, apparently hoping to use their power to stop the war between the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm."
"But after seeing the Nine Cauldrons outside the Witch Hall, he was greatly disappointed. He realized he had been deceived by someone, deliberately lured to the Abyss of Darkness, and so he hurried back."
Yan Wushen's eyes were filled with confusion and bewilderment. "But... but the old patriarch never returned... this... this... how could this be..."
"Boom!"
At the top of the Heavenly Demon Stone Pillar, a brilliant pillar of light rose, sending waves of intense light ripples spreading in all directions.
A powerful sacred Dao aura manifested into a Heavenly River in midair. Within the river, the colors of the Five Elements appeared, with flying swords, rolling chaotic qi... various Dao methods presented different phenomena.
Everything flowing in the Heavenly River was sacred Dao rules.
"Rustle!"
Zhang Ruochen's body soared into the air. The rapidly flowing river surged into his chest. When he landed on the ground and appeared before everyone, all the sacred Dao rules had merged into his physical body.
The ground beneath his foot sank into a large depression.
(Chapter End)