Chapter 3522: The Ancient Primate War
After this battle, the relationship between Nutian Shenzun and Zhang Ruochen underwent a subtle change.
When disaster loomed, Zhang Ruochen did not flee but chose to face it together with White Clothes Valley.
In the face of life and death, Zhang Ruochen stepped forward without hesitation.
The situation, which had been absolutely unfavorable to White Clothes Valley, was thus turned around.
Added to this, Zhang Ruochen had previously been able to calmly take out a treasure like the Mani Pearl to resolve the grievances between the two clans.
Such actions gave Nutian Shenzun a more genuine understanding of Zhang Ruochen.
A person, no matter how high their talent, only makes themselves outstanding, which will only attract the jealousy of countless others. Those with an open mind might feel appreciation and admiration.
But that is where it ends.
If this person of extremely high talent has a sense of responsibility and duty, can distinguish right from wrong, and can step forward in times of great danger, only then can they earn respect and gain the support of countless people. Thus, they can accumulate a thousand streams to form a river and sea.
In this unprecedented chaotic era, the emergence of such a young man carries a special significance.
Nutian Shenzun walked ahead, his white robes as pure as snow, untouched by dew, exuding a transcendent aura, all the world-destroying energy restrained into invisibility.
Zhang Ruochen followed behind and asked, "Shenzun, do you believe that Yinshue Tian might still be alive in this world?"
"Several hundred thousand years have passed, who knows? When she left, she never expected to walk out of the Abyss of Darkness alive. Man cannot overcome heaven. Even if she reached the Half-Ancestor realm in the Abyss of Darkness, the possibility of her surviving until now is still extremely slim."
Nutian Shenzun's tone was calm, as if he had long seen through life and death and was not attached to it.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "What kind of place is the Abyss of Darkness? And what about the Ancient Desolate Ruins City and the Great Dark Mountain?"
Although he had already been to the Abyss of Darkness once, Zhang Ruochen still felt that it was shrouded in a veil of mystery, both frightening and intriguing.
"Are you planning to go there?" Nutian Shenzun asked.
"I must go there."
Zhang Ruochen thought of the message Hai Shang You Ruo had brought back from Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm. Heavenly Mother had only told her seven words: "Ancient Desolate Ruins City, Chao Tian Que."
That place was clearly where the Udumbara Flower grew.
The last time he went to the Ancient Desolate Ruins City, he was only at the Saint realm and could not see the true scene there.
The Udumbara Flower seemed to grow beside the seventy-two Demon God Stone Pillars, but those seventy-two Demon God Stone Pillars were only illusions, all struck into Gu She Jing's body by Heavenly Mother.
For this reason, Zhang Ruochen had always harbored doubts, knowing that his realm was too low and he had not seen through the illusions and reality of the Ancient Desolate Ruins City at that time.
He had specifically gone to the Tianshou Tai to look up information and discovered the legend of "Chao Tian Que," which seemed to be closely related to the Qi Refiners of the ancient era.
Zhang Ruochen made a deduction in his mind, believing that when Yinshue Tian took the Udumbara Flower into the Abyss of Darkness, she must have realized that this trip to the Great Dark Mountain might be a one-way journey. Therefore, after arriving at the Ancient Desolate Ruins City, she planted the Udumbara Flower in the place called Chao Tian Que.
Later, Heavenly Mother went to guard the Ancient Desolate Ruins City and would certainly not pick the Udumbara Flower before it matured.
Under the premise of not knowing whether Yinshue Tian had died, Heavenly Mother probably would not take the Udumbara Flower away either.
For this reason, Zhang Ruochen had the question of whether Yinshue Tian was alive or dead.
Nutian Shenzun said, "You have already been to the Ancient Desolate Ruins City. You should know what it looks like, right?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled bitterly, "When I went there, I was only at the Great Saint realm. I'm afraid the scene I saw was not the truth."
Nutian Shenzun said, "Actually, there have been many speculations about the origin of the Abyss of Darkness since ancient times."
"Some believe it is a relic of a prehistoric civilization, a foreign world left over from the last Calamity of Quantities. Like Lihentian and Yuhuangjie!"
"Others believe that the true name of the Abyss of Darkness should be the Source of Darkness, the origin of darkness."
"It is said that after time and space were born, there was no light or darkness in the world. At some unknown moment, light and darkness were born simultaneously. After that, light and the origin intertwined, giving rise to life. Darkness and fate intertwined, giving rise to death. Then, the three thousand great paths and ten thousand small paths came into being."
"Some Primordial Ancestors speculated that the place where darkness was born is the Abyss of Darkness."
Wu Yue said, "I have heard this legend! Based on my understanding of the Abyss of Darkness, it is possible. The strange beasts that escape from the Abyss of Darkness only have rules of the darkness attribute within their bodies, even purer than the cultivators of our Darkness Temple."
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Where do the strange beasts come from? The Abyss of Darkness is indeed boundless below, but how can the dark soil give birth to life?"
Wu Yue had cultivated in the star domain where the Abyss of Darkness was located since childhood and had read extensively, having some understanding of the world's secrets. She said, "It is said that this matter must be traced back to the Ancient Era. Billions of years have passed, and the truth can no longer be clearly stated."
"One legend is that at the end of the Primordial Era, the rules of heaven and earth underwent a great change. Primordial beings found it difficult to reproduce and gradually went extinct. The Primordial beings I speak of are not those Primordial descendants who carry the bloodline of Primordial beings."
"To save themselves and continue their race, the Primordial beings found the Abyss of Darkness. They obviously also believed in the theory that the Abyss of Darkness is the source of darkness, thinking that since darkness and light were born together, the source of darkness is also the source of light."
"At this time, humans, dragons, phoenixes, the undead, all beasts, and all demons had already been born. The various races had been oppressed by the Primordial beings for many years, treated as slaves, blood food, and sacrifices. So, they took this opportunity to unite and declare war on the Primordial beings."
"This war was called the Primate War."
"Some Primordial Ancestors deduced that the Primate War lasted for at least thirty eons. In the early stages, the various primate races suffered heavy losses, and some primate races were slaughtered to extinction by the Primordial beings. At that time, the dragon and phoenix clans were the most powerful, and humans were just a small primate race."
"As the rules of heaven and earth took effect, the number of Primordial beings sharply decreased. The various primate races then gained the upper hand and gradually drove the Primordial beings into the Abyss of Darkness."
"To prevent the Primordial beings from breaking out of the Abyss of Darkness and re-dominating the universe, the primate races built a divine city below the Abyss of Darkness and stationed armies there."
"The day the Primate War was won was designated as the beginning of the Ancient Era."
"But the war did not end there. The Primordial beings were still powerful, and they seemed to have found a way to reproduce in the Abyss of Darkness, gradually growing stronger."
"Throughout the entire Ancient Era, whether it was the Time-Space Human Ancestor, the Nine Witch Ancestors, or the later Qi Refiners of the ancient era, they all fought out of the divine city and into that boundless dark land, but they could never completely annihilate the Primordial beings."
"Some Primordial Ancestors even suffered great calamities inside."
"After countless eons, it was not until the Nether Ancient Era, when the Nether Ancestor emerged, that he led the strong of all races to kill to the deepest part of the Abyss of Darkness."
"It is said that the Great Dark Mountain was a majestic mountain range formed by the corpses of Primordial beings piled up in that battle."
"The Nether Ancestor stepped on the corpses of Primordial beings and, at the Great Dark Mountain, accepted the worship of the clan kings of the various Primordial races."
"From then on, the greatest forbidden land in the universe was leveled. The divine city left from the Ancient Era became a ruined city, no longer requiring cultivators to guard it."
Zhang Ruochen had not found any record of this matter at the Tianshou Tai, but hearing Wu Yue's account, the shock in his heart was difficult to calm.
In the Ancient Era and the ancient era, how many earth-shattering Primordial Ancestors were born among the Witch Clan and Qi Refiners? Generation after generation, with all their power, they could not quell the calamity of the Abyss of Darkness.
How strong must the Nether Ancestor have been to make all Primordial beings submit?
No wonder there is a rumor that by simultaneously cultivating the eight volumes of the "Nether Book," one can find the secret to immortality.
This rumor is naturally nonsense. If cultivating the eight volumes of the "Nether Book" truly granted immortality, why did the Nether Ancestor not achieve eternal life?
But at least it shows the recognition of later cultivators for the Nether Ancestor's powerful cultivation.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Nether Ancestor did not completely exterminate the Primordial beings?"
"Who knows? The era is too distant. All the legends about the Nether Ancestor only record that he enfeoffed the twelve clan kings of the Primordial races as the twelve Nether Sons at the Great Dark Mountain. After that, there are no records of the Nether Ancestor in the world!" Wu Yue said.
Enfeoffing clan kings as Nether Sons—this boldness is no different from enfeoffing the twenty heavens as adopted sons.
Nutian Shenzun said, "It's not that there are no records. The Nether Stone in the Nether Hall records that the Nether Ancestor's tomb is built in the Nether Purgatory."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Doesn't that mean the Primordial beings might not have been completely wiped out? What about the strange beasts? I have read the 'Record of Strange Beasts,' which says that strange beasts have existed in the Abyss of Darkness since ancient times, delighting in slaughter, dominating destruction, and devouring all living things. Among them, humanoid strange beasts are the most powerful, ghost-shaped ones are next, and dragon and phoenix forms are all divine. Below that are other forms like flood dragons and other strange beasts!"
(End of this chapter)