Chapter 3083: The Secrets of That Year
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Ruochen and the Dragon Lord did not show themselves, remaining hidden in the darkness. Only Lan Wuteng stood alone in the area outside the Dark Night Realm Gate, waiting quietly.
"The Sword Realm is definitely not inside the Dark Night Realm Gate," the Dragon Lord had judged earlier.
Lan Wuteng was merely a pair of eyes for that mysterious person to understand the outside world. How could he possibly be told the location of the Sword Realm?
The Dark Night Realm Gate was more like a trap. After Lan Wuteng was exposed, it could be used to ambush and kill cultivators who came searching for the Sword Realm. The danger inside was extreme; even the Dragon Lord, with his cultivation, had to approach it with caution.
Time passed bit by bit, and the fourth day arrived.
The worry on Lan Wuteng's brow grew heavier. Over the years, every time he came to meet that mysterious person and report on the situation in the Lost Paradise, he had never waited more than three days.
Why was there a problem this time?
Zhang Ruochen said, "Could the other party have sensed something wrong? No, even if they sensed it, they would have to come here first. If they had already come, how could they have hidden it from Uncle Dragon's perception?"
"They're here," the Dragon Lord said.
In the dark void, a bright sword light flew past, swift and fast, heading straight for Lan Wuteng.
The sword light came from an unknown distance away, yet it locked onto Lan Wuteng, rendering him unable to move. A heavy divine voice arrived with the sword light: "Traitor, die!"
"Go save him."
Leaving these words, the Dragon Lord transformed into a divine dragon and shot through the void, instantly reaching millions of miles away, at an inconceivable speed.
Compared to such speed, the so-called Divine Spirit Step was like an ant crawling.
Zhang Ruochen struck out the Sundial, mobilizing the time imprint light points between heaven and earth, condensing them into a thousand-mile-long River of Time to clash with the incoming sword light.
It could not block it...
The sword light knocked the Sundial away, pierced through Lan Wuteng's afterimage, and crashed into the Dark Night Realm Gate, producing a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed Lan Wuteng with one hand and teleported him a hundred miles away.
Lan Wuteng, still shaken, looked at Zhang Ruochen with gratitude, cupped his hands, and said, "Thank you for saving my life."
From such a distant void, a single sword strike could lock him, an Upper-Level God, in place and prevent him from moving. Did a Grand Perfection Realm Great God have such strength?
Probably not.
The shock in Zhang Ruochen's heart was even stronger than Lan Wuteng's, but with the Dragon Lord here, even if the opponent's cultivation was higher, he probably didn't need to worry too much. They should be able to escape.
Putting Lan Wuteng back into the Sundial, Zhang Ruochen chased in the direction the Dragon Lord had left. Along the way, wisps of dragon qi guided him.
...
"Yuqing, an old friend is here. Why strike and leave?"
The divine dragon's body contracted, transforming into the Dragon Lord's free and easy, handsome figure. He stood firm in the void, turned around, and looked behind him.
The void was empty.
Space turned into a water curtain, rippling with fine waves.
A white-haired old man in a Daoist robe stepped out from the water curtain. A jade sword hung above his head, his entire body bathed in divine light, exuding an ancient and sacred aura.
He looked like an immortal stepping out of a mural, or an ancient swordsman emerging from an old text.
"Jiwang, how is it you?"
The white-haired old man's eyes were full of disbelief.
The Dragon Lord smiled and said, "Why have you aged so much? Back then, when we drank and danced with swords, laughing and chatting freely, how heroic and spirited you were."
Meeting an old friend, Yuqing's mood lifted, and the wrinkles on his face lessened. He said, "That 'back then' you speak of, how many years ago was it? The past is too painful to recall."
"It seems the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain is truly a place without years or months, making your heart so aged."
The Dragon Lord stopped making small talk and said, "Did you really find the Sword Realm?"
Yuqing's smile faded, and his gaze turned inward. "Are you here for the Sword Realm?"
"Not just me. The Island Lord has come too," the Dragon Lord said.
Although Yuqing's expression did not change, the jade sword above his head brightened slightly, showing that his heart was not as calm as his face suggested.
The Dragon Lord said, "Is Taiqing well?"
Yuqing did not speak, only nodded slightly.
The Dragon Lord could see that there was already a deep rift between him and this old friend. This rift was not just built up over two hundred thousand years; Shangqing's death was the main cause.
The Dragon Lord said, "It seems you already know about Shangqing."
"Over the years, we rarely left the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, but we did go out a few times. We are not completely cut off from the world."
Yuqing's expression turned completely cold. He continued, "The petty intrigues and power struggles outside are truly meaningless. Killing, greed, treachery, insatiable desires—it's all a waste of finite life."
"I don't know if you and the Island Lord have come to seize the Sword Realm, to kill me and Taiqing, or to make us return to the Kunlun Realm. In any case, I truly do not wish to get involved in outside matters anymore."
He added, "If you want to fight, I will oblige."
The Dragon Lord stared at him and said, "Don't you want to know why Biliuozi killed Shangqing back then?"
"I do, of course I do. The Kunlun Realm owes us an explanation!"
Yuqing's beard and hair flew wildly, his gaze sharp as a sword.
Zhang Ruochen arrived and stopped in the distance.
Two Boundless Realm ancient gods were talking; as a junior, it was better not to get too close.
The Dragon Lord said, "I don't know how Shangqing broke through to the Boundless Realm, but two hundred thousand years ago, after he returned to the Kunlun Realm, his temperament changed drastically, as if he had been demonized. Not only did he devour three gods of the Liangyi Sect in one go, but he also took the 'Wordless Sword Manual' and broke into the Nether Prison within the Sword Grave, intending to open the eighteenth layer."
"Back then, the Great Venerable warned that the eighteenth layer of the Nether Prison must never be opened, or the universe would fall into chaos. Shangqing could not have been unaware of this. What was he trying to do?"
In the past, even the Underworld King had only been imprisoned on the fifteenth layer of the Nether Prison.
No one knew what ferocious beings were imprisoned in the last three layers.
Yuqing's face changed drastically. "Impossible, this is impossible! Shangqing would never do such a thing."
"Based on your understanding of me, would I, Jiwang, need to lie about this?" the Dragon Lord said.
"How could this be? Could it be..."
Yuqing seemed to think of something, looking toward the Dark Night Realm Gate, his emotions in turmoil.
The Dragon Lord said, "Biliuozi was your master. Him killing Shangqing was simply cleaning house. But a hundred thousand years ago, in that battle, he fell in the Endless Abyss."
"Yuqing, the you of back then was not the kind of person who only knew how to run away. You risked everything to break into the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, searching for the Sword Realm, charging into the Boundless Realm—all to protect the Kunlun Realm and safeguard the living beings of the world."
"Are you going to change your original intention just because of a misunderstanding? Or are you afraid?"
"Are you saying that after seeing the gods of the Kunlun Realm fall a hundred thousand years ago, their blood staining the mountains and rivers, with nowhere to bury their heroic bones, you lost your courage and can only hide in the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, living in fear?"
Yuqing glared angrily. "Jiwang, do you think I am that kind of cowardly rat? Do you think that when we learned of the deaths of Saint Monk and Wen Tianjun back then, we did not shed tears?"
"But the reason the Kunlun Realm lost, the reason Wen Tianjun fell, the reason Saint Monk died tragically—was it really just because the Hell Realm was strong?"
"From what we know, it was because there were problems within the Heavenly Court. They were killed by their own people. If that is not enough to make one disheartened, then how did the Holy Clan perish? If I were the Lord of the Heavenly Court, I would fight to the death and never sacrifice the Holy Clan."
"In a war like this, no matter how many lives you throw in, you will still lose. No matter how powerful your cultivation, you will die in divine battle and become a wronged spirit."
The Dragon Lord was silent for a long time. "It's all because of the Calamity of Quantities."
Yuqing was slightly moved, but soon relaxed again. "Let it come. The Calamity of Quantities will eventually arrive. Three hundred thousand years ago, the All Heavens marched out and still could not stop it. What can we do?"
"It was not without stopping. At least it was delayed by two hundred thousand years. A hundred thousand years ago, a mysterious strongman struck again, driving back the Calamity of Quantities and buying us more time."
The Dragon Lord continued, "So many people are still fighting, unwilling to yield to the Calamity of Quantities. Why have you, Yuqing, given up?"
Yuqing's face was heavy.
The Dragon Lord said, "Some are unwilling to yield to the Calamity of Quantities, but others have chosen to yield and established a mysterious world-destroying organization. They take the Calamity of Quantities as their faith, regard it as the only invincible god, and have done many despicable things to bring about the end of the world. Back then, the deaths of Wen Tianjun and Saint Monk were most likely their doing."
Yuqing hated evil as much as he hated his enemy. "What organization? Who established it?"
"The Quantity Organization."
The Dragon Lord said, "So far, the Quantity Organization remains very mysterious. They hide within the major powers of both the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm, specifically stirring up conflicts, hatred, and war, causing the living forces of the entire universe to fall into internal attrition."
"No one knows where the enemy is. They are very cunning and hide deep. Often, when a god suspected of being a member of the Quantity Organization is captured, it turns out the wrong person was caught, sparking new conflicts and hatred."
"Even most of the strong don't believe the Quantity Organization exists. Who would believe there is a group of people who want the world to be destroyed?"
Yuqing smiled bitterly. "Even if the war between the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm was started by the Quantity Organization, what does it matter? Once conflicts and hatred appear in the world, they only deepen until one side is completely killed."
"Perhaps the Quantity Organization really doesn't exist. It's just something made up by people who don't want to take responsibility, shifting the blame onto them."
"Jiwang, since you and the Island Lord are still here, you can guard the Kunlun Realm. If the Kunlun Realm cannot be protected one day, you can retreat to the Sword Realm. Here, at least you can live until the day the Calamity of Quantities arrives."
The Dragon Lord was disappointed. "Do you really not want to contribute to stopping the Calamity of Quantities?"
"I do! But I truly cannot see through people's hearts. I fear that everything I do has already been calculated by others. Just like you said, you think you've captured a member of the Quantity Organization, only to find you've been used, turned into a blade."
Yuqing continued, "Even more, I don't want to end up like Wen Tianjun and Saint Monk one day, killed by the schemes of my own people."
The Dragon Lord was helpless, knowing he could not persuade him. He looked at Zhang Ruochen and said, "What do you think of him?"
Yuqing had already noticed Zhang Ruochen, thinking he was just the Dragon Lord's disciple. Only now did he examine him carefully, his eyes blazing with divine light. "How strange. How can there be such a strange kid in the world? Who is he?"
"He is the heir chosen by Saint Monk to stop the Calamity of Quantities. Unfortunately, he is still too weak, but he has already been noticed by Saint Monk's old enemies. He may not have the chance to grow up. Are you interested in helping Saint Monk?" the Dragon Lord said.
Being stared at by two ancient gods of legendary fame, Zhang Ruochen felt extremely uncomfortable and couldn't help but speak. "Uncle Dragon, why force someone? Actually, this junior also wants to hide in the Sword Realm and live a few years of peace and happiness. Who cares about the rights and wrongs of the outside world? What do I care about the Calamity of Quantities or the Quantity Organization? With no responsibility in my heart, I am light and free."