Chapter 3937: Immortal Music Master
The ancestral power within the Nine Heavens Celestial Realm erupted like a volcanic explosion, boiling fiercely. Every inch of soil emitted a dazzling, colorful divine light, utterly unlike the mortal world, resembling a land of immortals.
"Boom!"
"Whoosh!"
...
The Nether River and the Dark Hand were suppressed beneath the northwest sea of the Ninth Heaven Celestial Realm World. The sea surface was highly unstable, often churning with sky-rending waves, unleashing forces that shook space itself.
The aura emanating from these two malevolent beings could intimidate divine souls.
Any god with an insufficiently strong heart would tremble and kneel. Cultivators below the divine realm could not survive within the Ninth Heaven Celestial Realm World.
Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao stood side by side on the sea surface, gazing at the multicolored waters beneath their feet, not daring to relax in the slightest.
Gai Mie arrived at the Ninth Heaven Celestial Realm World and said, "I've long heard that when a top-tier Primordial Ancestor was alive, their Ancestor Realm formed a self-contained higher-dimensional world. After the Ancestor's death, the ancestral power within the Ancestor Realm continuously drained away, causing its wonders to gradually degrade."
"Seeing the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable's Ancestor Realm today, capable of suppressing even two half-ancestor-level malevolent beings, I now know the legends are true. How is this any different from that ethereal divine realm that bestows the Divine Martial Mark?"
"I am now increasingly convinced that the Santu River, the Abyss of Darkness, the legendary divine realm, and even Lihentian were all Ancestor Realms created by some supreme being in history. Unfortunately, after eons, the truth has long been buried, leaving only various conjectures among later cultivators."
Seeing that the Nether River and the Dark Hand could not break the ancestral power, Zhang Ruochen felt somewhat reassured and asked, "Supreme Pillar, you have seen a true Primordial Ancestor. How high were the levels reached by the Great Demon God and the Heavenly Demon?"
Gai Mie's face showed no arrogance as he replied, "The realm of any Primordial Ancestor is beyond our comprehension. Those remnant souls of Ancestors are like shadows compared to the real thing—negligible. You've seen how strong the Fate Ancestor's remnant soul is, right? But compared to the Fate Ancestor at his peak, it's like a single finger or a single palm—too insignificant!"
Zhang Ruochen nodded inwardly. Even the Dark Hand suppressed here by the ancestral power, if the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable hadn't worn away its divine soul and spiritual will during his lifetime, would unleash far greater power than it does now.
The path to becoming a Primordial Ancestor was long and arduous.
Zhang Ruochen looked up at the mysterious and powerful woman floating above the Nine Heavens Celestial Realm World. After a brief exchange with Chi Yao, he and Gai Mie flew out of the Celestial Realm World to meet her.
The woman wore a light veil, holding a delicate, jade-green pipa. Streams of divine light and misty haze flowed around her, ethereal and agile, mysterious and hazy.
She was the same woman Zhang Ruochen had seen earlier in the Underworld Boundary, with unfathomable cultivation.
She was clearly waiting for him. Her exquisite figure stood in the void, calm and composed, yet her eyes were profoundly deep, enough to stir the interest of any man in the world to probe the secrets within her heart.
Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands and said, "Greetings, Immortal Music Master. I offended you in the Underworld Boundary, and I apologize for that."
From how the ancient beings in the city treated her, how could he not guess her identity?
The Immortal Music Master glanced at him indifferently and said, "That day, when the Imperial Dust barged into my private chamber, you weren't so polite."
Gai Mie, standing in the distance, crossed his arms over his chest, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, followed by a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. He admired Zhang Ruochen's boldness even more.
Gai Mie could sense the dangerous aura around the Immortal Music Master. The space around her was filled with order. On the surface, it seemed calm, but if Zhang Ruochen took another step forward, it would surely trigger dire consequences.
A spiritual power cultivator would not easily let anyone approach.
That Zhang Ruochen had barged into her room and not been killed—how could Gai Mie not admire that?
Zhang Ruochen explained, "That day, I wasn't sure if you were friend or foe."
"And you're so certain now that we are friends, not enemies?" the Immortal Music Master asked.
Zhang Ruochen put away his smile, adopting a businesslike expression, and asked, "May I ask, Immortal Music Master, where did you obtain the Celestial Realm World you carry?"
"Why should I answer that question?" she said.
Zhang Ruochen replied, "If the Immortal Music Master didn't want to answer my questions, you wouldn't be waiting for me here. I think you have much to say to me."
A wave of powerful spiritual energy radiated from the Immortal Music Master as she said, "Have you forgotten my warning in the Underworld Boundary? Never be too clever."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Then let me ask another question: Is my ancestor Ling Yanzi still alive, and where is she?"
The Immovable Bright King Great Venerable's Celestial Realm World could only have been given to the Immortal Music Master by Ling Yanzi.
The reason she didn't answer his first question was perhaps that she thought it was meaningless.
Also, the reason she hadn't suppressed him in the Underworld Boundary was likely out of consideration for Ling Yanzi.
The Immortal Music Master was silent for a moment before saying, "That is meaningless to you. You have no idea what you should be doing most urgently or what you should understand most. If Kong Fannu were here, he wouldn't waste so much of my time."
Faced with her repeated harsh words, Zhang Ruochen remained patient and said, "Fine. If you have something to say, just say it directly."
"Three points."
The Immortal Music Master said, "First, with your and Chi Yao's cultivation, you can only barely suppress those two malevolent beings. If any external force intervenes, the Nine Heavens Celestial Realm will be breached. Then, you will die without a burial place."
"Hand the Nine Heavens Celestial Realm World over to Kong Fannu. Back then, Ling Yanzi said this was the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable's compensation to him."
Zhang Ruochen had already planned to return to the upper realm. Handing the Nine Heavens Celestial Realm to Nutian Shenzun, he dared not keep the two half-ancestor-level malevolent beings by his side or take them to the Sword Realm.
Nutian Shenzun had studied the *Bright King Sutra* and possessed far more of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable's bloodline than Zhang Ruochen—he was a true direct descendant of the Ancestor.
How could he not be able to activate the ancestral power within the Nine Heavens Celestial Realm World?
More importantly, Nutian Shenzun's cultivation had reached the Heavenly Venerable level, several realms above Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao, allowing him to better handle external threats.
At the same time, if Nutian Shenzun refined the Nine Heavens Celestial Realm World into his own divine realm, his combat power would surely rise to new heights.
As for the compensation Ling Yanzi mentioned, Zhang Ruochen believed it referred not to the Nine Heavens Celestial Realm World but to the Nether River.
From their earlier clash, Zhang Ruochen had already realized that the one who cursed the jade slip was not some hidden powerhouse but the Nether River itself.
The Nether River possessed consciousness and life.
This river was likely connected to the Nether Ancestor in an extraordinary way.
Nutian Shenzun had half Nether Clan bloodline. If he could use the ancestral power in the Nine Heavens Celestial Realm World to tame or refine the Nether River, or comprehend it, his future assault on the half-ancestor realm would be promising.
The Immortal Music Master continued, "Second, the escaped old clan emperor of the Primordial Path Clan, I will deal with. You should leave the lower realm quickly."
"Third, the twelve stone-sealed old clan emperors were once suppressed by Nether power and disappeared for a time. When they returned, their cultivation had reached above the Indestructible Infinite level, but they had all undergone Nether transformation. Their spiritual will was corroded, and they were no longer who they once were."
"Ten eons ago, at the Great Nether Mountain, they should have died. I don't know why the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable didn't kill them back then but chose to seal them in stone. But since they followed you out of the Heavenly Venerable's tomb, this karma must be resolved by you."
"Perhaps the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable foresaw the future and believed you could help restore their spiritual will."
The Immortal Music Master's candid revelation reduced Zhang Ruochen's suspicions about her.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "So, the so-called promise of the Great Venerable from ten eons ago was all false? Who gave Yuan Sheng her orders?"
"I know what you're suspecting. I can only tell you that this is an internal matter of my Twelve Ancient Clans, and I will handle it," the Immortal Music Master said.
"I can't stand this anymore. Zhang Ruochen, you're a hegemon of the upper realm. Can't you show some backbone?"
Gai Mie walked over, his eyes filled with aggression as he sized up the Immortal Music Master. "You have a decent figure and a bit of meat on your chest, but I'm not Zhang Ruochen. I won't soften just because of beauty. As for these three points you mentioned, sorry, we can't agree to a single one. It's too unfair!"
"First, the Eight Heavens Celestial Realm World contains a vast amount of ancestral divine qi and ancestral rules. Inside, there might be divine medicines nurtured, and there could even be rare treasures left by the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable. This Eight Heavens Celestial Realm World came into being because of us. The Nether River and the Dark Hand were suppressed by us. We risked our lives for this. Why should we hand it over?"
"Second, that old fellow from the Primordial Path Clan has already been severely wounded by us and carries treasures like the Yellow Spring Seal, the Victory Crown, and the Ancestral Divine Source. Why should you get to take the credit with just one word?"
"The most outrageous is the third point. It's clearly your Twelve Ancient Clans that have a big problem, posing a potential calamity for the entire universe, yet you want Zhang Ruochen to solve it."
"Fine, very fine. We do all the fighting, and you take all the benefits. In the end, Zhang Ruochen has to solve your problems. Zhang Ruochen is just too weak compared to you, so he can endure it, but I can't!"
Gai Mie looked at Zhang Ruochen and said, "Ling Yanzi has been gone for how many years? Why should she decide the ownership of the Celestial Realm World? You are also a descendant of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable. Why can't you inherit it?"
The Twelve Ancient Clans and the Chaos Ancient Demons had a deep-seated hatred. As the two locked eyes, the rules of countless great ways in the surrounding void clashed against each other.
The Immortal Music Master's voice was cold. "If I hadn't seen you act decisively earlier, do you think you could have walked out of the Ancient Desolate Ruins City? Not killing you is already a mercy."
"Don't bother with mercy. With the strange beasts in the Ancient Desolate Ruins City, they're not enough for me to kill," Gai Mie said.
The momentum between them grew stronger, forming substantive rumbling sounds.
Zhang Ruochen, who had been deep in thought, stepped forward, breaking their tense standoff. "That old clan emperor of the Primordial Path Clan is still watching from the shadows. If you two fight, and the Nine Heavens Celestial Realm World is attacked, it's all over."
Zhang Ruochen added, "However, Supreme Pillar's words, though offensive, have some merit. We risked our lives. We can't end up with nothing, right?"
The Immortal Music Master said, "Do you really think you got nothing? Gai Mie, how did you recover your cultivation? Chi Yao, how did you condense the Twenty-First Heaven Celestial Realm?"
"I'm telling you to leave the lower realm because I don't want you to disrupt it. Gai Mie, do you think I don't know your purpose for coming to the lower realm?"
"Do you think dealing with the old clan emperor of the Primordial Path Clan is easy? Even the two of you together can't take him down, can you? If he self-detonates his divine source, you'll be buried with him. With his corroded spiritual will, self-detonation is not impossible."
"Zhang Ruochen, do you dare carry the Nine Heavens Celestial Realm World with you? If you hand it over to Kong Fannu, do you think he'll take it for nothing?"
"As for the remaining eleven stone figures, if you trust me, you can leave them to me. Let the ancient beings solve their own problems."
Gai Mie, not as patient as Zhang Ruochen, pressed aggressively, "Can you solve it? With your strength alone, it's already good enough to handle the old fellow from the Primordial Path Clan and the Divine Music Master at the same time. If something goes wrong and the eleven old monsters break free, who can withstand that?"
This time, the Immortal Music Master didn't answer immediately. After a long pause, she said, "Zhang Ruochen, the ancient beings truly have nothing left to give you. What they could give, you wouldn't even value..."
Gai Mie was waiting for this. "Not necessarily! If she becomes your mount, you'd definitely value it."
The Immortal Music Master's eyes turned icy cold, reaching the point of no return.
Because Gai Mie was essentially still treating the ancient beings as strange beasts, reminding the Immortal Music Master of the dark chapter of the Twelve Ancient Clans' ancestors during the Chaos Era.
Zhang Ruochen knew Gai Mie was trying to squeeze some benefits out of the Twelve Ancient Clans.
If he could get something, Zhang Ruochen wouldn't mind. After all, this wasn't just his problem.
As for the twelve stone figures, Zhang Ruochen had no obligation to help. Carrying them would only be a hidden danger.
But handing them over to the Immortal Music Master was absolutely impossible. The internal problems of the Twelve Ancient Clans were too severe now.
If Gai Mie kept provoking her, she might truly anger the Immortal Music Master and the ancient beings in the city, leading them to suppress him regardless of the consequences.
Zhang Ruochen stopped at the right moment and said, "I can comply with the three points you mentioned. But can you also agree to three of mine?"
The Immortal Music Master stared at Gai Mie, her cold aura undiminished. "State them first. I'll consider agreeing."
"I want to speak with the Immortal Music Master alone."
Zhang Ruochen stepped forward, entering the spiritual power field of the Immortal Music Master.
"Zhang Ruochen, that's not fair. If I hadn't fought for you, would she have conceded? If my cultivation weren't strong enough to intimidate her, she'd still treat you like a junior she can order around," Gai Mie said.
"I know. The Xiongxiao Demon God Hall is yours."
Zhang Ruochen replied to him like that, then transmitted his voice to the Immortal Music Master within the spiritual power field. "Have you seen Ling Yanzi? Where is she? This is my first condition."
The Immortal Music Master was silent for a long time before saying, "I can only tell you that she is still alive."
Hearing the definite news, Zhang Ruochen felt as if a great mountain had been lifted from his heart, but it also gave rise to more doubts.
If she was still alive, how could she bear to watch the Zhang family of the Kunlun Realm suffer calamity? How could she bear to watch Xumi Saint Monk fall?
Where was she?
Was she unable to emerge, or was there another reason?
Zhang Ruochen said, "Alright, consider it done. Second, if you truly suppress the old clan emperor of the Primordial Path Clan, I want the Victory Crown."
"I agree," the Immortal Music Master said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Third, before the hidden danger in the universe is cleared, you must prevent the Twelve Ancient Clans from launching an all-out war against the Hell Realm."
"You don't need to ask for that. It's what I intend to do. Zhang Ruochen, you're not the only one sacrificing for this world. Don't let a demon god influence your judgment. Everyone has their own responsibilities," the Immortal Music Master said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Then this condition doesn't count."
"... " the Immortal Music Master said.
Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment and said, "The Nightmare Land..."
"The Nightmare Land is no longer in the lower realm," the Immortal Music Master said.
Below, a commotion arose.
Yuan Jieyi, who had left the Ancient Desolate Ruins City with Yuan Suyin not long ago, returned, looking extremely urgent as if something important had happened.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen and the Immortal Music Master above the ruined city, he calmed down slightly and immediately flew up.
In midair, he bowed to Zhang Ruochen and the Immortal Music Master. "Immortal Music Master, a major event has occurred in the upper realm. The Nether Sea has emerged, and the Eighteen Layers of Nether Refinement Prison have flown toward the Nether Prison. Both the Heavenly Court Universe and the Hell Realm have suffered heavy losses!"
The Immortal Music Master's eyes were filled with helplessness as she looked into the dark depths of space. She sighed, "We stopped the Nether River from emerging, but we couldn't stop the Nether Sea. Zhang Ruochen, hurry back to the upper realm. If I'm not mistaken, the storm sweeping the entire universe has already arrived. If you can truly solve the problems of the eleven old clan emperors, not just one condition, but ten, I will agree. Then, we will truly be friends, not enemies!"
Gai Mie sneered, "When that day comes, Zhang Ruochen will probably have already proven his path as a Primordial Ancestor. He won't be proposing conditions; he'll be giving orders to your Twelve Ancient Clans. Farewell, Immortal Music Master. I have a feeling that the lower realm is about to face great danger. The more arrogant you are today, the more humble you'll be when you beg Zhang Ruochen in the future."
The Immortal Music Master's gaze swept coldly over Gai Mie and Zhang Ruochen. Then, she turned into a ball of light and mist, vanishing into the void. No one knew how she left using her divine eye secret technique.
This move made Gai Mie put away his smile.
To leave silently was to be able to kill silently.
Zhang Ruochen looked at Gai Mie and said, "Supreme Pillar, I feel like your provocation and humiliation of the Immortal Music Master were meant to drive a wedge between her and me, binding you and me together. Are you afraid that I might join forces with the ancient beings to suppress you in the Ancient Desolate Ruins City?"
Gai Mie couldn't smile anymore, realizing he had underestimated Zhang Ruochen, who had seen through his intentions.
In the end, the hatred between the Chaos Ancient Demons and the ancient beings was too deep. Surrounded by enemies, how could Gai Mie not feel a sense of crisis?
More importantly, Gai Mie was also severely injured.
If it were just the Immortal Music Master and the ancient beings in the city, he was confident he could escape. But if Zhang Ruochen and the Immortal Music Master joined forces, it would be different.
He knew that Zhang Ruochen's half-ancestor divine abilities were not yet exhausted.