Chapter 3544: Love Has Ended, Heart Has Died
The Yinhuai Divine Tree was rich with life energy, utterly different from the desolate, deathly stillness of the Abyss of Darkness.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen’s worried expression, Chi Yao said, “Life and death are both fated, and human strength has its limits. Someone of Tai Shang’s level should understand his own destiny better than we do. Chen Ge, don’t be too anxious!”
Zhang Ruochen looked at Chi Yao and asked, “If one day we too face such a parting of life and death, what would you do?”
“At that time, I won’t grieve, nor will I choose to share life and death.”
Chi Yao’s eyes gazed out the window, as if she could see the future Zhang Ruochen spoke of. “I will go and do what I must, bear the responsibilities I ought to bear. Then, I will go to your grave, build a thatched hut, one year to clear the weeds, one year to burn incense, one year to sweep clean, year after year, guarding it until my white hair withers away. On the evening of the last day of my life, I will walk alone into the tomb and share a coffin with you. And you?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “You should know that I would rather face life and death myself than watch you die before me.”
Chi Yao’s heart trembled.
Because she knew this was no empty promise; back then, Zhang Ruochen had done exactly that.
“Forget it, there’s no need to be so pessimistic. As long as we cultivate diligently and become strong enough, that day won’t come. I have something for you!”
Zhang Ruochen took out the Sword Ancestor’s skeleton, wrapped it in a mass of nine-colored Ancestor Divine Qi, and sent it flying toward Chi Yao.
Chi Yao looked puzzled. “Why are you doing this?”
“Just in case.”
Zhang Ruochen’s tone was laden with meaning, but he offered no further explanation.
Just then, Yuan Sheng’s voice came from outside the door: “Zhang Ruochen, the Grand Elder wants to see you!”
“I’ll be back soon. Keep the sword bones safe; they might prove useful at a critical moment.”
Zhang Ruochen withdrew the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram back into his body, walked out, and greeted Yuan Sheng with a smile. “Clan Emperor, how are your injuries?”
“All thanks to you, but nothing serious now.”
Yuan Sheng’s face was cold as she led the way.
“Clan Emperor, do you have some misunderstanding about me? I was taking you to find Gai Mie, but you sensed the Life-and-Death Double Coffin along the way and provoked Huangquan Great Emperor…”
Before Zhang Ruochen could finish, Yuan Sheng said, “It doesn’t matter anymore! Just based on the relationship between your ancestor and the Grand Elder, I won’t pursue this further.”
Under Yuan Sheng’s guidance, Zhang Ruochen arrived at a hundred-zhang-tall wooden hall.
Yuan Suyin stood with her back to Zhang Ruochen at the center of the hall, exuding an air of transcendence. She asked, “Are you a direct blood descendant of your ancestor?”
Zhang Ruochen looked around but didn’t see Jie Zunzhe.
Only Yuan Suyin and Yuan Sheng were in the hall.
Zhang Ruochen grew wary but still bowed to show respect to the senior, saying, “I’m not sure about that, senior. After all, the ancestor was severely injured in the late Middle Ages and fell into a deep sleep. Over these hundred thousand years, the Zhang Clan has passed down more than a thousand generations. The bloodline is already thin and hard to trace.”
Yuan Suyin said, “Why have you come to the Abyss of Darkness this time?”
Zhang Ruochen hesitated. “Senior, when you say ‘you,’ who are you referring to?”
“You and that ancestor of yours, of course.” Yuan Sheng said coldly, quite rudely.
Zhang Ruochen looked at Yuan Sheng, puzzled. He had repaid evil with good earlier, risking great danger to save her, yet this was the attitude he got?
Even if she didn’t feel grateful, why be so hostile?
Was her prejudice against him so deep?
Yuan Sheng said, “Trying to spin another story? Grand Elder, don’t be easily fooled by him. This man is deep and skilled at weaving lies.”
Zhang Ruochen sighed. “My ancestor and I didn’t come to the Abyss of Darkness together; we met by chance. I came to find the Udumbara Flower to extend the life of an elder.”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t intend to hide this matter.
This Grand Elder was clearly extremely shrewd, and with her unfathomable cultivation, playing tricks in front of her would easily backfire.
“And your ancestor? Why did he come to the Abyss of Darkness?” Yuan Suyin asked.
Zhang Ruochen braced himself. “I don’t know! But I imagine he truly missed the Grand Elder, so he crossed the endless star sea to come here. May I ask where my ancestor is now?”
At this, the Grand Elder finally turned around. There was no smile on her face, only a bone-chilling frost.
Her eyes were still beautiful, but they were like two cold pools, devoid of any human emotion.
Yuan Suyin said, “With your cultivation, you’d struggle against a Great Unbound Infinite. Why did you dare to face Huangquan Great Emperor head-on?”
Yuan Sheng was also curious, looking at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze shifted between them, and he let out a cold laugh. “Is the Grand Elder interrogating a suspect?”
“No.”
Yuan Suyin walked toward him. “I believe you came to the Abyss of Darkness to find the Udumbara Flower, but I suspect it’s not that simple. Are you looking for the owner of the Udumbara Flower?”
“No. The owner of the Udumbara Flower—are you referring to Yinsnow Heaven?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Yuan Suyin seemed not to hear Zhang Ruochen at all, acting autocratically as she continued, “The act you and your ancestor put on—its ultimate goal was to use Yuan Sheng to take you to Wujian Ridge, wasn’t it?”
“Absolutely not…”
Before Zhang Ruochen could finish his words.
Yuan Suyin struck out with a palm, and wind surged from all directions.
The surrounding space pressed down on Zhang Ruochen, rendering him immobile.
Zhang Ruochen was prepared. With a shout, a war sword formed from Ancestor Divine Qi and Ancestor Rules flew out from his Xuan Tai, thrusting straight at Yuan Suyin’s palm print.
“Hmph! The power of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable—quite something for an ancestral clan!”
Yuan Suyin didn’t dodge or evade; she directly crushed the nine-colored Ancestor war sword.
The palm’s power was undiminished, striking Zhang Ruochen’s Xuan Tai. A sharp pain shot through his entire body.
Zhang Ruochen was sent flying backward. Treasures hidden in his Xuan Tai and Four Symbols—including the Earth Cauldron, God-Defying Stele, Mani Pearl, and others—all flew out and floated in the hall.
“Bang!”
Zhang Ruochen crashed to the ground and tried to get up.
From the gaps in the hall’s floorboards, dense black tree roots emerged, wrapping around him, pulling him down, and trapping him.
Yuan Sheng immediately stepped forward. “Grand Elder, this man and Jie Zun might not be traveling together, nor have they conspired beforehand. In the Ancient Desolate Ruins City…”
“What? Can’t bear to see this?”
Yuan Suyin glared coldly. “With your experience, you might be being used without even knowing it. What you see and hear could be pre-arranged by them. How much do you know about the depths of human hearts?”
Yuan Sheng’s lips moved as if to say more, but in the end, she didn’t dare speak.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Senior, if you want to kill and take treasures, you don’t need to fabricate an excuse. The Mani Pearl is here. If you want to move against me, you’d better think twice.”
Yuan Suyin’s gaze fell on the Mani Pearl floating in the hall, then shifted to the Suddhodana White Silver Tree. She snorted, “The Immovable Bright King Great Venerable is long dead. The so-called ancestral clan exists in name only. What of it if I move against you?”
Just then, a primordial being escorted Chi Yao, bound by thorny vines, into the hall.
“Grand Elder, how should we deal with them?” the primordial being asked.
“Boom!”
A powerful divine shockwave came from beyond the sky.
The shockwave was thick with demonic Dao rules.
“Shua!”
Yuan Suyin’s form flickered, appearing above the divine tree ship, and looked toward the horizon.
There, at the edge of the sky, it was pitch black, dust flying, lightning flashing.
Rings of shockwaves from divine power collisions spread toward them.
“Clan Emperor, seal their cultivation and lock them all in the Chaos Divine Prison. After I suppress Gai Mie, I’ll deal with them.”
With that, Yuan Suyin transformed into a beam of divine light and flew toward the region with the most intense divine power fluctuations.
The so-called Chaos Divine Prison was located inside the Yinhuai Divine Tree.
Here, time and space were shattered, cold and dark, cut off from all heavenly and earthly rules, forming a small independent world.
When Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao were escorted into the prison, Jie Zunzhe was already waiting inside.
He was locked in a one-zhang-square iron cage, suspended in the center of a chaotic sea of qi. Countless black tree roots were wrapped around his arms, legs, and neck.
Jie Zunzhe had disheveled hair and vacant eyes, looking utterly dejected.
Zhang Ruochen’s Xuan Tai and Chi Yao’s Divine Sea were both sealed.
They weren’t as badly off as Jie Zunzhe, but their arms were bound by tree roots, unable to break free.
Zhang Ruochen seemed to have expected this, showing no surprise at seeing Jie Zunzhe. “Jie Lao, your path has really screwed us over!”
“If heaven had feelings, heaven would grow old… hey, better to compete with heaven for freedom, hey…”
Jie Zunzhe hummed and mumbled, as if singing something.
Chi Yao said, “Could Jie Zun be driven mad by the shock?”
“Nonsense, how could I be that fragile?” Jie Zunzhe sat up and cursed.
Zhang Ruochen said, “What exactly happened?”
Jie Zunzhe’s eyes went hollow again. He leaned weakly against the iron cage, staring at its top, and said, “What else could it be? When a woman’s heart changes, she’ll do the cruelest things.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Changed heart?”
“Yeah, women also care about looks. Back then, I was dashing and handsome, known as the number one handsome man in all the heavens and realms. She took one look at me and fell in love. But now… look at me now, old and ugly. Who would like that? Who would still remember old feelings?”
Jie Zunzhe started singing again, “What’s hardest to keep in this world… youth fades from the mirror, flowers fall from the tree…”
Chi Yao said, “Jie Zun, that underestimates the women of the world. If that Grand Elder truly had feelings for you, how could she care about your appearance?”
Zhang Ruochen agreed with Chi Yao. Either the mutual affection a hundred thousand years ago was just Jie Zunzhe’s one-sided wish, or Jie Zunzhe had done something to wrong that Grand Elder, turning love into hate.
Zhang Ruochen voiced a long-standing doubt. “Jie Lao, tell me the truth. What really happened back then? That Grand Elder’s cultivation has likely reached Indestructible Infinite. And you back then certainly couldn’t have triggered Ancestor Divine Qi and Ancestor Rules. Could your combat strength even withstand a single finger from her? Would she really fall for you? Just based on the looks you boast about?”
Jie Zunzhe sat up abruptly, furious. “Zhang Ruochen, you can question my cultivation and strength, but how dare you question my looks back then? Without stunning beauty, how could I have won over all the beauties of the world?”
Jie Zunzhe touched his white hair, glanced at it, then slumped again in defeat. “What’s the use of saying all that? It’s all gone, all gone, nothing left!”
Zhang Ruochen said, “So we just wait here to die?”
“Die, death ends it all. My heart is already dead. What’s the point of living? Love has ended, heart has died, the lamp has gone out. You and the spring breeze are both passersby; I carry the autumn water to bury the star river. Drift, drift, drift…” Jie Zunzhe hummed and sang again.
Chi Yao looked at Zhang Ruochen. “Is Jie Zun really okay?”
Zhang Ruochen was anxious to return to the Kunlun Realm, so he snapped coldly, “You’re not some deep-feeling person, so why have you become so desperate for life and death?”
Jie Zunzhe tugged at the tree roots, pointing to the sky. “My feelings for Suyin are as true as heaven and earth can witness, as deep as the sea can fathom. Ah, actually, there’s not much to say about what happened back then.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Then say it! If you don’t tell us, how will we know if there’s any chance to make amends?”
In truth, Zhang Ruochen felt there might still be a chance, because that Grand Elder hadn’t dealt them a fatal blow.
Otherwise, Zhang Ruochen’s Xuan Tai would have been shattered.
They wouldn’t just be locked up here.
Jie Zunzhe said, “Back then, the Kunlun Realm underwent one upheaval after another. Wen Tianjun died tragically, Tai Shang was captured, and the situation was extremely dangerous. Naturally, I thought of seeking help first, so I risked great danger to cross the Yellow Spring Star River and enter the Abyss of Darkness, wanting to go to the Great Dark Mountain to see Ling Yanzi.”
“On the way, I met…”
Jie Zunzhe looked up at the sky, lost in memory. “I met the love of my life!”
Seeing him silent for a long time, Zhang Ruochen pressed, “And then?”
“Then some things happened that I can’t tell you about. We fell in love! It was the most beautiful time of my life…”
“Wait!”
Zhang Ruochen interrupted him. “Weren’t you going to the Great Dark Mountain to seek help?”
Jie Zunzhe said, “There was the Great Venerable’s prohibition. Primordial beings couldn’t leave the Abyss of Darkness. Besides, according to Suyin, Ling Yanzi had never returned to the Great Dark Mountain. Anyway, after the plea for help failed, I resolutely gave up the most beautiful and happy time and decided to go back, to fight alongside the cultivators of the Kunlun Realm. If I had to die, I’d die like a man! Die in the void, staining the stars with blood.”
“But crossing the Hell Realm was no easy feat!”
“On the way back to the Kunlun Realm, I encountered a Stone Clan powerhouse. After a bloody battle, I was ultimately no match. I barely made it back to the Kunlun Realm, but my consciousness was already blurred, and I fell into a deep sleep directly. You know the rest!”
“Not returning for a hundred thousand years—it really wasn’t my fault. Don’t you think?”
Zhang Ruochen frowned, feeling something was off.
Chi Yao said, “That Grand Elder has already gone to suppress Gai Mie and isn’t on the ship. Jie Lao, even if you speak with the utmost helplessness, tragedy, and depth, she can’t hear it. How about telling the truth? How exactly did you wrong her? What oath did you make back then?”
(Chapter End)