Chapter 4056: Ancestral Curse Seal, River of Time Reunion
Zhang Ruochen's ability to break through the Dark Sea and the formation, forcing his way into the Nether Kingdom, exceeded the expectations of the Dark Sea Spirit.
If Gong Nanfeng were to obtain more than fifty percent of the Fate Esoterica, the variables would be too great!
Others might not know the power of the Fate Ancestor, but the Dark Sea Spirit was extremely clear about it.
Even though Gong Nanfeng was merely a remnant soul of the Fate Ancestor, not the Fate Ancestor of the Nether Ancient Era, back then, the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable had shattered the Destiny Temple in order to find him.
Respecting one's enemy is the greatest form of respect towards them.
A figure that the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable, at his peak, had to take seriously—how could the Dark Sea Spirit dare to be careless?
During the Nether Ancient Era, the Fate Ancestor was the strongest under the Nether Ancestor, an Ancestor, while Corpse Nightmare was not. More importantly, the remnant soul of the Fate Ancestor had descended into this era earlier than Corpse Nightmare's remnant soul.
The Fate Ancestor's remnant soul had left relief carvings in the Wind Pavilion, and before his death, he left behind the Fortune Gate, Auspicious Gate, Joy Gate, and Life Gate, clearly laying the groundwork for today.
Many things cannot be pondered too deeply.
The Dark Sea Spirit dared not wait any longer. After luring Pan Yuan Ancient God, Chi Yao, and Golden Lion Ancestor into the Eighteenth Layer of Purgatory, it suddenly stopped, turned to face them, and said, "Pan Yuan, have you ever witnessed the true power of an Ancestor?"
Pan Yuan Ancient God had seen Ancestor Divine Qi, Ancestor Rules, as well as the Ancestor Realm, Ancestor Divine Source, and Ancestor Corpse—all of which contained the power of an Ancestor.
But none of that could be considered the true power of an Ancestor.
He had heard Wen Tianjun describe the terror of a true Ancestor. A mere Half-Ancestor couldn't even withstand a single divine ability from an Ancestor. If not for the intervention of the Eternal True Ruler, Wen Tianjun would have fallen in the Demon God Realm sixty thousand years ago.
Pan Yuan Ancient God became secretly vigilant, pondering why the Dark Sea Spirit had said this, while releasing his Half-Ancestor divine thought to probe the vast world of the Eighteenth Layer of Purgatory.
"No need to search. I'll tell you the answer. Before Lord Corpse Nightmare departed, he saw through the heavenly secrets and calculated what was to come in the future. Thus, he left behind four curse seals, each containing the full force of an Ancestor's strike.
With these four curse seals, we can resolve all crises and kill all invading enemies."
Before the Dark Sea Spirit's words had even faded, the Eighteenth Layer of Purgatory world was swept by howling winds and a rain of fire fell from the sky.
Pan Yuan Ancient God's expression changed drastically. He unleashed his Half-Ancestor Divine Realm World and roared, "Get out of here! I'll hold off this curse seal."
Chi Yao had already sensed the danger and silently moved to the back of the Golden Lion Ancestor.
At this moment, although she couldn't see where the curse seal was, she immediately charged into the sky with the Golden Lion Ancestor, fleeing the Eighteenth Layer of Purgatory.
A single curse seal from an Ancestor was not something they could withstand.
With her cultivation at the peak of the Indestructible Infinite realm, she couldn't even detect where the curse seal was.
Pan Yuan Ancient God might not be able to block this curse seal, but only if he went all out could Chi Yao and the Golden Lion Ancestor escape.
They couldn't all be severely wounded under the curse seal. Otherwise, everyone would die.
Only by escaping could they have a chance to counterattack.
Pan Yuan Ancient God looked at the "Kill" character curse seal coming from all directions. It came not only from space but also from every dimension of time, leaving him no chance to retreat.
"Life-Severing Curse!"
In that split second, Pan Yuan Ancient God recalled the words of the Fourth Confucian Ancestor. Could it be that he should have waited until the variables occurred before making a move?
This thought only appeared for an instant before Pan Yuan Ancient God cut it from his mind.
He had to trust his own judgment.
Even if this calamity was destined for today.
After escaping the Eighteenth Layer of Nether Purgatory, Chi Yao looked back. She saw that the curse power below was overwhelmingly strong. The Eighteenth Layer of Purgatory had completely turned blood-red, swallowing up Pan Yuan Ancient God's aura.
"Such a terrifying Life-Severing Curse. Has even a Half-Ancestor been slain by this curse technique?"
As this thought arose in Chi Yao's mind, rivers of Nether Qi flew out from the Eighteenth Layer of Purgatory world, spreading towards her and the Golden Lion Ancestor.
She wasn't particularly afraid of these Nether Qi rivers, but she was worried whether the Dark Sea Spirit truly possessed the four curse seals left by Corpse Nightmare.
"What's the point of worrying so much? The most important thing now is to stop the Dark Sea Spirit and rescue Pan Yuan Ancient God."
Chi Yao didn't believe that a Half-Ancestor could be killed by a single curse seal left by an Ancestor.
It would be different if the Ancestor had struck personally.
"Fight!"
Raising the Blood-Dripping Sword high, Chi Yao slashed through the void.
The sword light pierced across the starry sky, tearing open a spatial rift tens of millions of miles long.
The Golden Lion Ancestor let out a roar, controlling the Time-Space Chaos Lotus to fly out, dispersing all the spreading Nether Qi rivers.
But the Dark Sea Spirit seemed extremely anxious. It didn't engage in a prolonged struggle with Chi Yao and the Golden Lion Ancestor. Instead, it drove the Eighteenth Layer of Purgatory world towards the Nether Kingdom.
Even while facing attacks from Chi Yao and the Golden Lion Ancestor, it fought while retreating.
After the relief carving in the Wind Pavilion absorbed fifty percent of the Fate Esoterica, the Time Rules in heaven and earth immediately became active.
"Hua!"
The River of Time manifested visibly, flowing from left to right, passing through the Past Divine Palace, the Wind Pavilion, and the Future Divine Palace.
The great river surged, time stretched into the distance.
The three structures were like three islands on the water's surface.
Such a magnificent sight shocked all the deities present.
"So that's it. The Past Divine Palace and the Future Divine Palace have intercepted a segment of the River of Time. Lord Fate Ancestor intends to achieve a time leap on this completely independent segment of the River of Time."
"Can it really succeed? Coming from the past to the present."
"In fate, the past and the future are two very important phases.
Perhaps the meaning of these two phases is to rewrite fate using time as a dimension."
Inside the Wind Pavilion, the Fate Ancestor's Auspicious Gate flew out and merged with the relief carving on the wall.
The stone skin of the relief carving peeled off, revealing Gong Nanfeng's true form.
"What a powerful energy fluctuation."
Bore felt an incomparably terrifying aura, one that even Zhang Ruochen and Nutian Shenzun couldn't compare to.
Was he really Gong Nanfeng?
Gong Nanfeng's body slowly moved outward, attempting to step out of the Fate Ancestor's Auspicious Gate and descend into this era.
But the rules of heaven and earth surged wildly, not just within the Nether Kingdom.
The rules of heaven and earth from even farther reaches of the universe converged, rushing like a tidal wave into the Wind Pavilion and towards the Fate Ancestor's Auspicious Gate.
By disrupting the rules of heaven and earth, one naturally had to endure their suppression.
"Boom, rumble!"
The Wind Pavilion shook, its walls cracking.
"Today, I will defy the heavens. Let's see how heaven and earth can stop me!"
Gong Nanfeng's gaze was firm, and his body erupted with Ancestor Divine Radiance, incinerating the surging rules of heaven and earth into nothingness.
"This aura... how is this possible?"
Zhang Ruochen felt the Ancestor-level power fluctuations emanating from the Wind Pavilion, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Gong Nanfeng could not possibly be at the Ancestor realm—of this, he was certain.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have failed to possess him back then, nor would he have been unable to break through the Eighteenth Layer of Nether Purgatory.
If that were the case, then who was trying to descend into this era?
The Red Crow King attacked even more fiercely. The Starry Sky Cliff repeatedly crashed into the Twenty-Seven Layers of Heavenly Realm World, and fiery red branches slashed towards the Relic Ancient Realm, the Past Divine Palace, and the Future Divine Palace.
What weighed even more heavily on Zhang Ruochen's heart was that the Dark Sea Spirit had driven the Eighteenth Layer of Nether Purgatory into the Dark Sea.
The spirit and the sea had recombined.
Not only did the power of the Dark Sea increase dramatically, but the power of the formation also rose to another level.
The Nine-Colored Chaos Radiance of the Twenty-Seven Layers of Heavenly Realm World was rapidly dimming under the force of the formation.
"Boom!"
Finally, a beam of formation light pierced through the Chaos Divine Light of the First Layer of Heavenly Realm World, blasting a depression into the ground, collapsing mountains, and extinguishing all life.
The voice of the Selfless Lamp came from within the Twenty-Seven Layers of Heavenly Realm World: "Stop fighting! We can't hold out any longer! The Dark Sea Spirit combined with the formation in the Nether Kingdom is something we simply cannot withstand. I think you should use the Sundial to help the master descend into this era. Only the master can turn the tide!"
The Selfless Lamp had remained in the Twenty-Seven Layers of Heavenly Realm World, guarding the two black hands.
Zhang Ruochen was very worried about the safety of Chi Yao, Pan Yuan Ancient God, and the Golden Lion Ancestor, and he knew that this was a critical moment of extreme danger.
Alone, he could not stop the Red Crow King and the Dark Sea Spirit.
At best, he could only buy some time.
"Confucian Ancestor, Dark Lord, if you still don't make a move, then the Nether Ancestor Faction will win this round!"
Zhang Ruochen retreated to the Second Layer of Heavenly Realm World, unleashing the Witch Cauldron to repel the Starry Sky Cliff. Then, he released a divine thought clone, which flew back to the Wind Pavilion.
The Wind Pavilion had completely collapsed, reduced to a stretch of rubble and ruins, gradually sinking into the River of Time.
Only that stone wall and the Fate Ancestor's Auspicious Gate stood on the river.
Gong Nanfeng's body had already emerged more than halfway.
At the same time, the rules of heaven and earth became even more violent and frenzied, with Destruction Rules predominating, continuously rushing towards the Fate Ancestor's Auspicious Gate. Above the stone wall, a patch of calamity clouds had even appeared.
Zhang Ruochen's clone looked at Gong Nanfeng, who was slowly moving out, feeling the terrifying Ancestor aura emanating from him.
"Miao Li!"
The Sundial flew out.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God flew out of the Sundial, appearing beside Zhang Ruochen, and said, "This is strange... this guy... is he the Fate Ancestor or Gong Nanfeng? He doesn't come from the Nether Ancient Era, does he?"
"Impossible! The River of Time was severed at some point over a hundred thousand years ago. No one can cross that fractured zone, not even the Witch Ancestor or the Immortal." Zhang Ruochen knew some hidden truths and said this.
Even Xumi Saint Monk, who had mastered more than fifty percent of the Time Esoterica, could only appear before the fractured zone of time, unable to proceed further into the future.
"I want to enter the River of Time!" Zhang Ruochen said.
Relying on just a clone, Zhang Ruochen obviously couldn't enter the River of Time, but the Sundial could help him.
"Hua!"
Under Xiu Chen Heavenly God's urging, the Sundial brought Zhang Ruochen and Bore into the River of Time, floating on its surface.
Gong Nanfeng used the Celestial Pivot Needle as a boat, sitting on it. He looked at the suddenly appearing Sundial, Zhang Ruochen, Xiu Chen Heavenly God, and Bore, showing no surprise at all.
"Xiu Chen, you were always proud and unruly in your life. I thought you would end up miserably, but I didn't expect you to finally choose the right path. Not bad, you look very beautiful now. Even I am a bit tempted."
Gong Nanfeng laughed.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God snorted coldly, lifting his chin and looking elsewhere.
He ignored the teasing.
Bore asked, puzzled, "Which era do you actually come from?"
Gong Nanfeng sat cross-legged, raising his arms to display himself, and said, "Chen definitely knows which era I come from."
Zhang Ruochen observed his clothing and then looked at the green fruits and divine wine jug placed on the table before him. In an instant, his thoughts were pulled back to the distant past.
"Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving to death! So tired, why did you run so far..."
"This thing isn't good to eat either."
"Ruochen, you truly understand me."
The clothes Gong Nanfeng wore were exactly the same as when Zhang Ruochen had met him while being sent by Tai Shang to the Xumi Temple to cultivate the First-Rank Divine Path.
The green fruits were Liyu Saint Fruits, and together with that jug of divine wine, they were all given to him by Zhang Ruochen.
How many years had passed? Everything was still as it was back then.
But Zhang Ruochen was no longer the Great Saint he once was. Many things had changed, and many people had died in the River of Time.
For the Gong Nanfeng before him, all of this was but an instant, because he had crossed the River of Time to reach the future.
Gong Nanfeng said, "How about a drink of the wine you gave me? Let's see if it still tastes the same as back then?"
Zhang Ruochen flew onto the Celestial Pivot Needle and sat opposite Gong Nanfeng. "Back then, with your cultivation level, you could cross the vast starry sky, find the Xumi Temple, and precisely intercept me and Grandmaster. I should have been suspicious."
Gong Nanfeng poured wine for Zhang Ruochen. "What's there to be suspicious about? I followed you out of pure curiosity. I really wanted to know what kind of trump card the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable and Xumi had prepared for the Nether Ancestor."
Zhang Ruochen picked up the cup, took a sip, and said, "I never noticed before how bland this wine is."
"It's not that the wine is bland. It's that you've experienced too much in these past hundred thousand years!" Gong Nanfeng said.
"Perhaps."
Zhang Ruochen said, "What exactly do you intend to do?"
"At the Xumi Temple, you went to the past to cultivate the First-Rank Divine Path. I am a person with a very strong curiosity. I really wanted to know the result, so I acted cheaply and wanted to peek into the future's heavenly secrets. I learned a little, and then I wanted to know more. Unknowingly, I ended up here." Gong Nanfeng laughed self-deprecatingly.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Seeing the future is not necessarily a good thing."
"That's right. Once you see it, the future is set. If you don't see it, the future is full of variables. I regret it so much I want to slap myself twice. The only chance now is to use the Fate Esoterica to break the suppression of the rules of heaven and earth and defy the heavens to rewrite fate." Gong Nanfeng said.
Zhang Ruochen was silent for a moment, then sighed. "Honestly, I really want to help you.
But I must tell you the cruelty of fate. You attained the Ancestor realm through fate. Breaking fate is nothing less than breaking your own Dao. Walking all the way from the River of Time, don't you already know the outcome?"
Zhang Ruochen's mind went back to the miserable state Gong Nanfeng was in when he returned after cultivating the First-Rank Divine Path.
At that time, he didn't know what he had gone through. His flesh had almost completely drained away, leaving only a layer of skin covering his bones.
Many things were already destined in fate.
At the time, he only found it ridiculous, but now he realized that Gong Nanfeng was fighting against fate in the future.
Bore said, "To rewrite fate, you would have to rewrite the trajectory of every living being in the entire universe over these hundred thousand years, and even erase the River of Time of these hundred thousand years before reshaping it. Too difficult!"
"So pessimistic! Can't you say a few words of encouragement?"
Gong Nanfeng was quite optimistic and laughed. "Chen, just hearing you say you really want to help me is enough to make me happy!"
Clearly, Gong Nanfeng had already seen on the River of Time that he had once tried to possess Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen being willing to help him—wasn't that forgiveness?
"Even if fate is already set, I still want to try. Only by being able to break fate can there be a chance to defeat the Nether Ancestor and advance my cultivation to a higher level. I believe in fate, but I don't believe that fate is predetermined."
Gong Nanfeng stood up, his aura instantly changing. He stood as majestic as an immortal monument, his presence causing the River of Time to boil.