Chapter 3196: First Layer of the Immovable Wisdom King Fist
The Heavenly Venerable’s tomb towered to an extreme height, not resembling a mountain but rather a high plateau, its full form impossible for ordinary cultivators to behold. Chaotic divine light and Chaotic rules flowed through the mountains and rivers formed atop the tomb, like waterfalls, like great rivers, like colorful ribbons. The twenty-seven layers of heavens resembled materialized celestial palaces and divine towers, with golden pillars carved with dragons, crimson tiles gleaming with color, and flying eaves like jade swords piercing the sky.
The figure of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable sat cross-legged atop it, sometimes dispersing, sometimes gathering, its aura vast and majestic.
Cang Jue knelt devoutly below the Heavenly Venerable’s tomb, bowing his head again and again.
Zhang Ruochen reinterred that Infinite Realm Zhang Clan ancestor into the tomb, then returned. Gazing at the stone man holding the bronze mountain-cleaving axe, he examined it closely, discovering that it was not of the Stone Clan and had no life fluctuations within its body—truly bizarre.
Could it be that, having been nurtured by the Chaotic divine light within the Heavenly Venerable’s tomb for countless years, it had given birth to consciousness and power?
But even if the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable were that powerful, it would be impossible for him to nurture twelve such formidable stone men with mere energy alone.
Chi Yao gazed into the distance at Cang Jue and transmitted her voice: “He cannot be trusted.”
Zhang Ruochen’s lips curled slightly upward, and he smiled. “His cultivation is very high, and he has concealed his true thoughts. But with my Heart of Truth and Wuji Divine Dao, how could I fail to see that his words are full of lies?”
Chi Yao said, “In that case, why did you still save him?”
“His true purpose is likely to seize the treasures left by the Great Venerable within the tomb, and he might even covet the Heavenly Venerable’s divine corpse. But having witnessed the power of the twelve stone men, he should have abandoned that notion. Some things are beyond his reach.”
Zhang Ruochen continued, “I once heard that many years ago, a ghost-type strange beast escaped from the Abyss of Darkness. At that time, Wu Qingzong, who had not yet stepped into the Infinite Realm, personally intervened but failed to stop it. I think that must have been Cang Jue.”
“Earlier, with that old man guarding Wangshan, he simply couldn’t get in. After the Infinite Realm’s northern expedition, he became so impatient.”
Chi Yao said, “If he left the Abyss of Darkness long ago, then he must be thoroughly aware of everything happening in the universe. Unable to seize the treasures within the Heavenly Venerable’s tomb, he will inevitably set his sights on you.”
“Exactly. That’s why he thought on his feet, deliberately lowered his stance, and didn’t hesitate to kneel and kowtow. This was both to save his life and to gain my trust,” Zhang Ruochen said.
If that so-called “master” truly wanted Zhang Ruochen to go to Great Dark Mountain, Cang Mang would have taken him there long ago. Why wait until now?
Though Cang Jue was quick-witted, he had underestimated Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao, these two juniors who had cultivated for less than ten thousand years.
Their youth was both a weakness and an advantage, enough to make many older figures unconsciously regard them lightly.
Seeing Chi Yao’s puzzled expression, Zhang Ruochen said, “Even if Cang Jue harbors ill intentions, he would never dare to act within the ancestral land. And by the time I step out of the ancestral land again, my cultivation will have undergone earth-shattering changes. If I still haven’t subdued someone like him by then, how can I look down upon the heroes of the world?”
“Come, let’s enter the heavens.”
Zhang Ruochen looked up at the sky, stepped on the Chaotic divine light flowing through the mountains, and flew toward the first layer of heavens above the Heavenly Venerable’s tomb.
The twenty-seven layers of heavens manifested, lingering without dispersing, instead showing signs of growing more solid. Wasn’t this the Great Venerable’s spiritual will, inviting Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao to enter?
Cang Jue below was startled, looking at the twelve stone men and shouting, “Young Lord!”
“No need to panic. My Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram can cover the entire Kunlun Realm. As long as I wish to protect you, the tomb-guarding stone men will not attack you.”
Zhang Ruochen’s voice came down from the first layer of heavens.
Cang Jue’s eyes narrowed deeply. He wanted to follow behind Chi Yao and fly up into the heavens.
But Zhang Ruochen had no intention of taking him along, clearly not fully believing his words and still wary of him. If he followed directly, it would surely backfire, with unpredictable consequences.
Forget it. This Heavenly Venerable’s tomb was too bizarre.
Even the twelve tomb-guarding stone men possessed such combat power. Who knew if even greater dangers lurked within the twenty-seven layers of heavens?
A cry of pain came from above.
Zangjin Baihu fell from the first layer of heavens, crashing to the ground and kicking up dust.
Earlier, Zangjin Baihu had been able to enter the ancestral land because of its subtle connection with Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao, so the Zhang Clan ancestors’ saintly and divine might had not blocked it.
But the twenty-seven layers of heavens had repelled it.
Cang Jue secretly rejoiced that he hadn’t followed, laughing inwardly that his obedient compliance should have made Zhang Ruochen let down his guard.
Arriving outside the first layer of heavens, Zhang Ruochen channeled his divine power and stomped downward.
The ground felt both solid and like mist.
Above Chi Yao’s head, layer after layer of heavens were condensed from rule divine patterns. She said, “Cultivating the *Bright Emperor Scripture*, each layer of heavens cultivated is like constructing a more perfect divine realm world.”
“With the Great Venerable’s supreme cultivation, the twenty-seven divine realm worlds formed by the twenty-seven layers of heavens must each be like a true great world, containing the five elements, heaven and earth, yin and yang, life and death, capable of evolving life.”
“Pushing open this door, what awaits us is likely a vast sacred world.”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly. “Not necessarily. Give me the Origin Esoterica. For a long time to come, I will be comprehending the Dao within the ancestral land.”
The Origin Esoterica had always been Zhang Ruochen’s, and Chi Yao had long intended to return it.
Moreover, Chi Yao knew that Zhang Ruochen intended to use the Way of Origin and the Fist Path to condense Lesser Yin.
“Whoosh!”
A palm pressed against Zhang Ruochen’s back, and Origin divine light engulfed them both. Centered on the ancestral land, the Origin rules of the entire Eastern Domain boiled over, spreading to all corners of the Kunlun Realm.
After obtaining one-tenth of the Origin Esoterica, Zhang Ruochen became the Origin Lord God, constantly absorbing Origin rules into his body and comprehending the secrets of Origin.
Although cultivating the Wuji Divine Dao allowed him to mobilize the world’s Origin rules without the esoterica, with his current level of Wuji Divine Dao attainment, it was still faster to use his identity as the Origin Lord God to cultivate the Way of Origin.
Pushing open the divine gate of the first layer of heavens, what appeared was not the divine realm world Chi Yao had predicted, but a chaotic space of nine lights and ten colors, filled with Chaotic divine light and Chaotic rules, chaotic yet hazy.
“How can this be?” Chi Yao found it hard to believe.
Zhang Ruochen said, “This place was never the true twenty-seven layers of heavens. It was formed from the Chaotic divine light and Chaotic rules emanating from the Heavenly Venerable’s tomb.”
Chi Yao said, “In that case, what is the meaning of us coming here?”
“Actually, we should think more about why the Great Venerable’s lingering spirit and remnant soul condensed these twenty-seven illusory heavens to guide us here.”
Zhang Ruochen fell into thought but could not figure it out. So, he stepped through the divine gate and stood within the Chaotic divine light.
In that instant, Zhang Ruochen saw a figure manifest within the chaos.
The figure appeared extremely quickly, its hands and feet constantly shifting forms. One punch, then a second, then a third and fourth in quick succession.
It was demonstrating a fist technique, unleashing four punches in a flash.
But it seemed like only one punch!
Too fast, too fast for even a god’s eyes to capture.
The figure had already vanished, but Zhang Ruochen felt as if he had understood something. In his mind, the four punches the figure had just demonstrated played over and over.
His body moved with his intent. Zhang Ruochen clenched his fists, divine energy flowing within him, and began to practice.
The fist force was fierce and violent, as if it could punch through chaos and shatter the universe.
Chi Yao stepped through the divine gate and saw Zhang Ruochen suddenly starting to practice fist techniques. Her brows furrowed slightly, uncertain.
Suddenly, within the Chaotic divine light, a scripture appeared.
The words danced before Chi Yao’s eyes, flashing and disappearing.
The words vanished quickly, but Chi Yao had already firmly memorized them. A look of joy appeared on her face, and she immediately sat cross-legged to ponder and comprehend.
Not long after, suddenly, all the Chaotic divine light and Chaotic rules within the first layer of heavens surged madly toward Zhang Ruochen, converging into his lower abdomen’s Mysterious Embryo.
Zhang Ruochen felt as if he had cultivated for centuries in an instant, his cultivation surging by a large margin.
It took half an hour for Zhang Ruochen to digest this influx of power. The Chaotic divine light flickering on his body subsided, and his aura and divine might suddenly increased greatly.
“Interesting!”
Zhang Ruochen looked around, then bowed deeply, saying, “Thank you for the Great Venerable’s legacy!”
The Chaotic divine light and Chaotic rules within the first layer of heavens had been mostly absorbed by Zhang Ruochen, becoming sparse. Now, the remaining Chaotic divine light and Chaotic rules surged toward Chi Yao’s brow.
Then, the layers of heavens above her head grew increasingly solid.
Chi Yao opened her eyes, her gaze growing clearer and clearer. Like Zhang Ruochen, she bowed deeply to the void.
“What did you see?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Chi Yao said, “A cultivation insight into the *Bright Emperor Scripture*!”
“I understand now!”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes were filled with emotion. “These twenty-seven layers of heavens are both the Great Venerable’s legacy and the manifestation of our inner desires. I sought the Immovable Wisdom King Fist, so what appeared before me was this Heavenly Venerable-level fist technique divine ability.”
“You sought the cultivation method of the *Bright Emperor Scripture*, so it manifested before you.”
Chi Yao was startled by Zhang Ruochen’s speculation. “Do you think the Great Venerable might have calculated, many years ago, that we would come here today?”
Zhang Ruochen thought of his experiences in the River of Time. “It’s not impossible. Come, let’s go to the second layer of heavens. I’ve only learned the first layer of the Immovable Wisdom King Fist so far.”
“I’ve only comprehended a relatively basic insight as well.”
Chi Yao thought of something. “Have you noticed that our cultivations have both clearly increased by a large margin?”
Zhang Ruochen nodded, then suddenly let out a soft exclamation. “No need to go. We’ve already arrived at the second layer of heavens.”
Chaotic divine light and Chaotic rules, even denser than in the first layer, surged from all directions, boundless and endless.
Below the Heavenly Venerable’s tomb, Cang Jue’s face showed surprise. “The first layer of heavens has disappeared! What happened?”
Zangjin Baihu was studying the Golden Chimera Divine Beast, very interested in the hollow golden ball around its neck. Hearing this, it immediately looked upward.
It saw the first layer of heavens gradually fading, becoming transparent, and finally vanishing completely.