novelraw Chapter 409 - 336: All Things Adrift, the Ruined Celestial Essence
Chapter 409 - 336: All Things Adrift, the Ruined Celestial Essence
Cultivators seek to discard the false and retain the true, to pierce through illusions and seek their true self.
The Great Path of Heaven and Earth has its own laws, with all living things finding their place within; thus, summer insects cannot discuss ice, and well frogs cannot talk of the sea, for ordinary people are trapped in the red dust of the mortal world, making it difficult to comprehend the Dao.
Yet, there are always exceptions; some fish always try to leap out of the river of fate, hoping to see a broader sky, and they do this a hundred times without regret.
This is cultivation.
And when you leap out of the great river and find that beyond the sky lies the starry cosmos, further beyond which lies an eternal, unreachable endpoint, that endpoint is called the Dao.
The pursuit of the Dao is a continuous journey of elevating the level of life and understanding.
If one were to speak of the greatest difference after becoming an Immortal, for Zhang Kui it was the change in his perception of space.
The once vast Celestial Essence Star,
now felt like a house he could easily wander through.
Along the way, from north to south, great rivers and mountains, he could grasp them in an instant with a single thought.
He saw the gradually weakening Star Array above the heavens,
He saw the decaying and deathly ancient ruins deep underground...
When he opened the Immortal Path, the Divine Dynasty fully withdrew, and information from the outside world was cut off as if by dark hands, turning it into an isolated island, thus Zhang Kui viewed the various places along the way.
......
Huo Continent.
This continent, which, after the ancient war, was on the brink of breaking its earth veins, surprisingly nurtured a powerful Demon Race city, now has completely turned into scorched earth.
In the ruins of one destroyed city after another, white ash flew,
These were the embers left after the blood sacrifices of living beings...
Along the coastal areas, large tracts of mountains and earth veins collapsed, and seawater flooded in,
These were traces left by the rampaging Star Beasts...
And in the central part of the continent, it was a bloody battlefield, with various stone altars shattered, countless You Dynasty soldiers burned to cinders by Star Beasts’ demon fire, piles of decayed Sea Demon corpses covered in maggots...
Zhang Kui easily inferred the course of events.
After the You Dynasty’s first war defeat, more troops flooded in, Huo Continent fell, and countless beings were sacrificed in blood.
Just when they were reveling in their success, massive and terrifying Star Beasts landed, leading to a decisive battle in the central continent, with the You Dynasty suffering a crushing defeat.
Yet, even amidst the devastation, there were survivors.
Under the Tongyou Skill, Zhang Kui saw a Mahayana Four-Eyed Black Wolf Demon thousands of meters deep in the underground cave, praying frantically to a dried-up blood-colored lake with a face full of fear and despair.
A murderous intent flashed in Zhang Kui’s eyes.
He remembered hearing from Cyan Flood Dragon that this was the City Lord of one of the ten celestial cities, who was the first to withdraw from the alliance, suggesting everyone find their own way.
So, was his so-called path
bringing in another Evil God?
This blood-colored lake he had seen before, just like the Grassland Blood Sea from the past; he hadn’t expected there was another one here, albeit already destroyed with time.
Although its name was unclear, Zhang Kui had seen the location of this unknown Evil God in illusions during his siege of the Sea of Blood.
It was a star composed of an endless Sea of Blood, with massive blood sea whirlwinds reaching toward the cosmos like tentacles, and ghastly pale faces floating above the sea like continents...
The Celestial Essence Star was already chaotic enough, yet this guy dared to court disaster by driving tigers to swallow wolves—it was sheer madness!
Boom!
Zhang Kui waved his hand, and a violet Sword Light descended, causing the underground cave to collapse with a roar, leaving a deep pit on the ground as all life below was obliterated...
......
Barbarian Continent.
The Northern Ice and Snow Continent was equally desolate.
This place was first invaded by the You Dynasty, having already been investigated by the Great Venerate Toad, so Zhang Kui was not surprised.
However, just as he was about to leave, he frowned and gazed into the depths of the endless ice plain.
Over there, within an underground ice chasm, a passage to the Underworld suddenly opened, with robust members of the Ancient Race, wrapped in furs, solemnly moving in and out.
Were there survivors hiding in the Underworld?
Zhang Kui grew interested, took a step forward, and the surrounding scene changed instantly to one of dark fog and eerie winds, indicating he was now in the Underworld.
His Little World Golden Core had transformed into a Tai Chi Ball, turning the virtual into the real and bridging the Underworld and the Mortal World, long rendering the Divine Strange Pearl or passage nodes unnecessary.
The scene before him left Zhang Kui taken aback.
The Barbarian King had indeed spoken no falsehoods.
The Underworld of the Barbarian Continent had nearly no traces of the Immortal Dynasty, but instead was filled with the ancient nests of Desolate Beasts, some towering like mountains, others buried deep underground.
No wonder the Ancient Race Elders retreated here after the arrival of the Immortal Dynasty.
Yet the reason the Infinite Immortal Dynasty left this place uncleared was justified, for the beast skeletons within those nests had long lost their Spiritual Qi, resembling ordinary fossils, though there were numerous wandering eerie entities of the Underworld.
Deep within the cascading ancient nests of the Desolate Beasts stood a towering black mountain surrounded by piles of Soul Suppressing Towers scavenged from who knows where, with a hidden Bluestone Divine Hall. The Underworld passage for the surviving Barbarian Race opened here.
Squinting slightly, Zhang Kui’s figure flashed, appearing inside the Divine Hall in an instant.
"The Ice Dolphin is about to birth!"
"Quick, fetch the Elder—that is our hope for survival..."
The ancient and mottled bluestone floor echoed the rush of footsteps as two Ancient Race members, their mouths full of fangs, hurriedly passed by without even noticing the concealed Zhang Kui standing aside.
Zhang Kui did not disturb these survivors but observed this Divine Hall.
Having ventured into numerous Secret Realm ruins before, based on the erosion marks on the bluestone, this place was built long after the Immortal Dynasty’s fall, and with the Soul Suppressing Towers scavenged to defend against Underworld anomalies, it should be a structure from the later rise of the Barbarian Continent.
At this moment, the originally magnificent and solemn Bluestone Divine Hall was in complete disarray, crowded with unkempt and numb Ancient Race tribal refugees, the odor of excrements heavy in the air.
Some heavily guarded warehouses were stacked with food supplies, while the largest Divine Hall had demoed its Divine Statue to raise large white long-haired pigs, with an elderly Ancient Race in the Divine Travel Realm attending to the birthing pigs.
Once-valued beliefs meant nothing compared to survival...
Zhang Kui paid no heed, his eyes squinting slightly, as his form sank into the ground. Before long, he reached a collapsing black stone Divine Hall.
The ancient races above probably never imagined that within these deep mountains lies a divine hall, seemingly predating the arrival of the Immortal Dynasty on the Celestial Essence Star by far.
Here, a faint spiritual light flickers, emitting specks of light in the darkness, yet it is like a candle in the wind, about to extinguish.
On the ground, fragments of stone axes and tools are long covered in dust, while the colossal divine statues of desolate beasts are filled with cracks.
In the Wilderness Era, desolate beasts were the star dominators.
The strong among the ten thousand races’ creatures made offerings, becoming desolate gods.
With sacrifices of flesh and blood, they sought protection, struggling to survive.
This place is likely the ruins of those times...
Not all relics contain treasures. Zhang Kui swept his divine thought across, finding only debris, but then he noticed the murals surrounding the divine hall.
The murals, painted with unknown pigments, remain vividly lifelike even after brushing off the dust, surviving from ancient times.
The sights of the wilderness are profoundly striking.
There are towering trees reaching the sky, spirit medicine everywhere,
and various creatures weaving through, with everything flourishing...
There are giant beasts reigning supreme, engaging in bloody wars,
and countless tiny figures holding torches, kneeling and offering blood sacrifices...
At the depths of the earth, a giant gear-shaped disc radiates light, along with Yin and Yang, protecting all beings.
Reincarnation!
In the Wilderness Era, some knew of the cosmic mysteries.
Zhang Kui’s interest was piqued. He carefully observed and soon found the reason in one of the paintings.
The myriad beings offered sacrifices to the desolate gods, with witches refining medicine to ward off spirits, ingesting witch medicine to connect with the dreams of desolate gods, thereby learning these secrets.
But how did the desolate beasts and desolate gods know?
A more distant painting also revealed the reason.
In that desolate beast’s nest on the Divine Continent, the Insect Emperor of the Chai Kingdom, whose spirit was polluted by the desolate beast’s eggs, depicted murals showing desolate beasts emerging from fissures in the earth and volcanic magma, born by the world, innately powerful and almost immortal.
And here, a more detailed depiction.
It shows reincarnation emitting power, forming embryos in the earth.
Desolate beasts were in fact birthed by reincarnation!
Zhang Kui was astonished, thoughts racing in his mind.
All things in heaven and earth have their path, nebulae evolve into stars, reincarnation is the core of life stars, and desolate beasts are the defense system born to resist the prying eyes from the dark cosmos.
Desolate beasts also have their path, capable of evolving into star beasts, but if reversed, it would herald the rise of a Starry Sky Evil God!
The star sea is vast, all things in heaven and earth ebb and flow in the river of time, civilizations are but sparks in the dark cosmos, even the Immortal Dynasty has its fall...
For a moment, Zhang Kui seemed to see an ancient and grand poetic saga of the dark cosmos, his heart and mind profoundly shaken, unable to speak for a long time.
After a while, Zhang Kui slightly shook his head, "All things are but travelers on the road of life, time is the visitor of a hundred generations, who truly controls the ebb and flow..."
With one last look at the ancient and broken divine hall, Zhang Kui’s figure instantly vanished, flickering a few times before leaving the Barbarian Continent, heading towards the depths of the ocean.
To reopen the Immortal Path, the first in tens of thousands of years...
To say there was no bit of pride in his heart would be false.
However, what he saw and thought in the divine hall quickly brought him back to calm.
The ominous black light, formed from the aberrations at the Immortal Level, that brought the downfall of the Peacock Buddha Country, inexplicably rose in his mind.
Zhang Kui suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility,
what if it wasn’t a random occurrence,
but a constant threat requiring vigilance?
Zhang Kui suddenly stopped, looking up at the brilliant starry sky, inexplicably feeling a bit cold...
......
In the ocean, the Sea Race was not extinct.
But first they were defeated in war, and then massively captured and blood sacrificed by the You Dynasty. The suddenly appearing star beast was slain by Zhang Kui; the remaining Sea Race tribes scattered, hiding in the deep sea trenches, living in constant fear.
Zhang Kui ignored these minor troops; whether in their initial arrogance or their current lingering survival, they were pawns controlled by higher powers and hidden hands, unaware of the cosmic scheming, their fates not their own.
In the endless ocean, Zhang Kui searched around and found the star beast’s nest, right below the largest city of the Sea Race.
Originally, this place was filled with magnificent Sea Race structures, Deep Sea Giant Demons lurking, spirit light soaring, countless Sea Race members frantically training for battle, engaged in a millennia-long blood war with the You Dynasty.
But now, there is only an unfathomable giant pit, with fish and shrimp not daring to approach for miles around, a scene of deathly silence.
The star beast has slept here for unknown years, Zhang Kui searched around and found nothing, then with a flicker headed towards the Western Continent of the You Dynasty.
The You Dynasty was also in a state of disarray.
Along the coast, mountains and rivers shattered, thousands of miles of earth veins sunk into the sea, clearly the work of a star beast.
Further back, in cities with god temples shrouded in heavy clouds, chaos reigned, with flames soaring to the sky.
Groups of soldiers rampaged, plundering and burning, demolishing altars, eyes bloodshot like beasts...
Black-robed priests laughed and danced wildly in bonfires, sacrificing their own people to the Dark God, yet received no response...
Their power had vanished completely, abandoned by the Dark God.
Even the remaining clones of the Dark God had disappeared.
Zhang Kui coldly observed this doomed nation, "Abandoned blood sacrifices and forsaken followers, it seems changes have occurred within reincarnation..."
Without hesitation, he flickered again, in an instant appearing in the deep sea of the You Dynasty’s waters, finding a deep sea eye within a trench.
To solve all of this, entering reincarnation is necessary.
Reincarnation, the divine object of heaven and earth, even Immortals can’t enter.
To end it all, the Nether Soil coffin was his only hope, and completing the last piece of the divine artifact puzzle likely lies in the depths of this Sea Eye, in the lost Celestial Craft Pavilion Water Mansion!