Chapter 3715: Xuan Yuan Second
Even the Primordial Ancestor has an impression?
Zhang Ruochen and the Dragon Lord’s expressions grew even heavier.
“Do you remember anything?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
A Fuya gently shook her head. “We need to find a way to leave as soon as possible.”
The Dragon Lord said, “It’s useless. I’ve already tried. This place has its own order, and the space is stable. With our cultivation, we cannot break the order and escape. However, if the World Spirit of the Soul Realm is truly here, the Soul-Controlling Ghost Seal might be able to play some role.”
The Soul-Controlling Ghost Seal could command the Soul Realm’s World Spirit, the “Soul Mother,” and mobilize the power of the entire Soul Realm.
The Dragon Lord took out the Soul-Controlling Ghost Seal and began refining it.
Only those whose Spiritual Power had reached the ninetieth rank, or whose martial cultivation had reached the Indestructible Infinite realm, could sense order.
To cultivate the power of order and establish one’s own system, one would clearly need to be a level higher in cultivation.
A Fuya, Yu Dongxuan, and the Blade Venerable all tried, but they all failed.
Yu Dongxuan showed no sign of tension, standing opposite the Blade Venerable, and laughed, “This defeat is not unjust. I didn’t expect to fall at the hands of one of our own. A Fuya, the Heavenly Realm and the Radiant Divine Temple went to great lengths to cultivate Meila just to bring you back to the Real World, spending countless resources. Who among the Heavenly Realm cultivators doesn’t revere you as the new queen of the Elf Clan? Yet here you are, betraying so quickly. Can you at least let me die with clarity? Why?”
The Blade Venerable was also somewhat curious, pricking up his ears.
A Fuya’s expression was calm, her gaze fixed on him as she said, “I don’t know the true purpose behind your efforts to summon the remnant souls of ancient powerhouses like us, but I can guess a bit. Perhaps it’s to use us as human-shaped great medicines, to be harvested at the right time. Or perhaps as enforcers, to strengthen your power. When our strength truly threatens your rule, your control over resources, Profound Meanings, Divine Artifacts, and so on, you will surely take action then, won’t you?”
“Do you know what mindset we, the remnant souls of ancient powerhouses, have?”
“Coming to this later era, we don’t have a strong sense of belonging to our mother realms, clans, or legacies. Instead, we feel a strong sense of crisis, seeing enemies everywhere, in everyone. Our greatest thought is to become stronger as quickly as possible. For that, we can cooperate with anyone.”
“Relatively speaking, people like us are no longer the same as you. We only see other ancient powerhouses as our kind, trusting them even more than the cultivators of our former mother realms.”
A Fuya’s frankness made Zhang Ruochen’s expression shift.
Yu Dongxuan laughed bitterly, “So this is raising a tiger to invite disaster, reaping what you sow? I now understand a bit why so many contemporary cultivators oppose the summoning of ancient powerhouses.”
A Fuya said, “Don’t speak so aggrievedly. We’re all using each other. And don’t try to glorify yourselves. Only you know the true thoughts in your hearts. The victor is king, the loser is a bandit, that’s all. I do have some feelings for the Heavenly Realm and the Elf Clan, and I will protect them in the future. Now, send him on his way!”
Inside Yu Dongxuan’s body, divine blood surged rapidly, and the power of Radiant Light wove like silk threads, forming an independent domain. He said, “Zhang Ruochen, today she can betray the Heavenly Realm for the Profound Meaning of Radiant Light. In the future, she will surely kill you for even greater benefits. Take care of yourself!”
After this provocation, Yu Dongxuan, clearly knowing he couldn’t escape, let his soul light burn within his mind, continuously severing important memories.
The Blade Venerable struck first.
With one slash of his blade, he cut through the cocoon of Radiant Light power, piercing Yu Dongxuan’s divine body, causing his physical form to shatter into pieces.
Zhang Ruochen’s five fingers grabbed through the air, pulling strands of divine soul from Yu Dongxuan’s broken remains.
A Fuya’s slender jade fingers formed a strange seal, and countless Radiant Light rules turned into a rain of light, enveloping Yu Dongxuan’s remnants.
Using her powerful divine soul and the Profound Meaning of Radiant Light, she attempted to break Yu Dongxuan’s Dao, seeking the locations of his Qi Sea and Divine Source.
The hand seal she formed seemed to be casting some kind of secret technique.
“If I, the Palace Master, die, it will be a formal declaration of war. Now, let’s see if you can withstand the wrath of the Heavenly Realm… Haha, Zhang Ruochen, you want to find secrets from my memories? Dream on… haha…”
Even in such a miserable state, unable to resist, Yu Dongxuan laughed heartily, “You will all pay the price, a painful price. A Fuya, you chose to descend into this era, destined only to be a slave of the Heavenly Realm. You cannot resist, you cannot escape your destined fate… Ah!”
Yu Dongxuan screamed in agony as his physical body was ignited by the flames summoned by A Fuya.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was extracting his soul and A Fuya was breaking his Dao, footsteps sounded from the depths of the gray deathly aura.
Like metal striking stone on the ground, the sound grew clearer.
The Dragon Lord, who was refining the Soul-Controlling Ghost Seal, slightly raised his eyes.
“You all continue! Let this old man see who exactly is hiding here.”
The Blade Venerable’s aged figure now stood tall and vigorous. Though he didn’t deliberately mobilize divine Qi or rules, his aura far surpassed Zhang Ruochen and A Fuya, giving an unstoppable feeling.
Gradually, a figure clad in golden armor emerged from the gray deathly aura, stopping a few dozen zhang away.
Many parts of the golden armor were corroded and rusted, turning black, but it was still intact.
Inside the helmet was a skull.
His hands were also a set of stark white bones.
The Blade Venerable observed carefully, realizing that the other party was not a Bone Clan cultivator, yet the aura he exuded was something few in the entire Bone Clan possessed. So he called out, “Who are you over there? State your name! This old man does not kill nameless foes!”
The golden-armored skeleton held a Demon God Stone Pillar in his hand, striking it heavily against the ground.
“Boom!”
As space trembled, strands of Xuan Huang Divine Qi spread out from beneath his feet.
The Blade Venerable’s eyelids narrowed. “Are you some ancestor of the Xuan Yuan Clan?”
Xuan Huang Divine Qi was the hallmark of the Xuan Yuan Clan, cultivatable only by the most core members.
“This person is Xuan Yuan Second. Clad in the Golden Chuan Armor, the immortal garment of a thousand ages.” A Fuya’s voice drifted through the space.
Xuan Yuan Second’s deep, hollow eye sockets were filled with thick Xuan Huang Divine Qi, like two bottomless abysses. His gaze fell on A Fuya. “You have some insight! I didn’t expect anyone in this era to still remember me.”
A Fuya said, “Xuan Yuan Second, known as the second-greatest person throughout history, only ever submitting to the Primordial Ancestor of the Xuan Yuan Clan, Xuan Yuan Xuan Di. Very arrogant, and very ignorant. You aren’t even a Primordial Ancestor, so how dare you claim to be second in the River of Time?”
Zhang Ruochen understood now.
This Xuan Yuan Second was also an ancient powerhouse, his remnant soul seizing the bone body he had left behind in a past life, descending into this era.
“The Xuan Yuan Clan preserved your bones well, didn’t they? You managed to seize your own bone body and embark on the Bone Clan’s path of cultivation,” A Fuya said.
The Blade Venerable’s head ached. Involving the Xuan Yuan Clan made things troublesome.
“Who exactly are you?”
Xuan Yuan Second’s body was already surging with battle intent and killing aura.
A Fuya said, “A Fuya.”
“So it’s the First Queen of the Elf Clan, a junior from a later generation! What are you doing here?” Xuan Yuan Second asked.
A Fuya said, “And what are you doing here?”
Everyone could see that Xuan Yuan Second was not the master of this place, but also an intruder, just one who had arrived earlier.
Xuan Yuan Second said proudly, “You said earlier that I was about to embark on the Bone Clan’s path of cultivation, which is completely wrong. I am going to walk the path Xuan Di once walked, enter the Nether Path, and prove the Primordial Ancestor Dao.”
“What do you mean? Xuan Di once entered the Nether Path?” the Blade Venerable asked.
Xuan Yuan Second was full of disdain, saying arrogantly, “You later-generation juniors are truly ignorant. Don’t you know that Xuan Di was a two-life Primordial Ancestor? In his first life, he proved the Primordial Ancestor Dao, founded the Xuan Yuan Clan, and passed it down through the ages. In his second life, he created the ‘Nether Scripture,’ embarked on the Nether Path, and was called the Nether Ancestor. The Nether Clan is still a major clan in the universe today.”
“The Soul Realm is the place where Xuan Di’s second life transformed into the Nether! All Nether Clans in the world originated here.”
Such secret histories were the first time Zhang Ruochen, the Dragon Lord, and the Blade Venerable had heard them, and they exchanged glances.
A Fuya, however, showed no surprise. “You don’t seem to understand your Xuan Yuan Clan’s ancestor well enough.”
“What do you mean?” Xuan Yuan Second said darkly.
A Fuya said, “The Nether Clan was formed from the transformation of the Ghost Clan, Bone Clan, and Corpse Clan. In other words, the Nether Ancestor should be the third life of Xuan Yuan Xuan Di, with another life in between—whether as a ghost, a corpse, or a Bone Clan member.”
“Xuan Yuan Xuan Di’s era should be the Ancient Desolate period, where he cultivated the Wu Dao, being one of the Nine Great Wu Ancestors. Your Xuan Huang Divine Qi also evolved from the Wu Dao.”
“The Nether Ancient Era, opened by the Nether Ancestor, is separated from Xuan Yuan Xuan Di’s era by countless billions of years. The only possibility is that Xuan Yuan Xuan Di’s corpse, in some later era, gave birth to a new spirit, becoming a Corpse God, Bone God, or Ghost God.”
“Perhaps his purpose in creating the Nether Method was to live another life.”
Clearly, Xuan Yuan Second had thought of this possibility and wasn’t too surprised.
But Zhang Ruochen suddenly thought of many things. Couldn’t Jiusi Yitianhuang’s ability to live nine lives be similar to the situation of Xuan Yuan Xuan Di and the Nether Ancestor?
Could the secret method Jiusi Yitianhuang possessed originate from the Nether Ancestor?
Then Zhang Ruochen thought of the Great Demon God, and the “Undying Curse Method” carved in that black divine hall beneath the Yuchen Temple on Xinghuantian. Many things he hadn’t understood before suddenly became clear.
Perhaps the source of all this was Xuan Yuan Xuan Di and the Nether Ancestor.
A Fuya said, “Xuan means black. Nether means darkness. I once speculated that Xuan Yuan Xuan Di might have another name: Hei Qi.”
“Hei Qi, the senior disciple of the Time and Space Human Ancestor?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
A Fuya nodded. “Ancient matters are hard to verify. The Ancient Desolate period is too far from us. But based on many legends, it can be inferred that Hei Qi’s era was very close to Xuan Yuan Xuan Di’s. If they are truly the same person, then Xuan Yuan Xuan Di should be the first Wu Ancestor, and also the one who forged the Time Cauldron.”
“Ah!”
A scream!
A Fuya had broken Yu Dongxuan’s Dao, fixed his Qi Sea, and thrust her five fingers into it, pulling out his Divine Source.
“So fast!”
Zhang Ruochen suddenly felt that he had greatly underestimated A Fuya before, lulled by her active feigning of weakness.
He would need to find time to thoroughly probe her depths.
(Chapter End)