Chapter 828: Chapter 49: Heart Awakening Cave
"Hua Sect Master, I never thought you would also be unable to escape the clutches of the villains and be imprisoned here."
Zhao Xiaoxiao lamented.
Liu Haoxin, who was about to greet the beauty, suddenly halted his steps. He stared at Zhao Xiaoxiao in surprise, seemingly unable to comprehend how she could be so unreasonable.
Liu Haoxin was momentarily stunned by Zhao Xiaoxiao’s words and immediately protested, "I say, beauty, are you missing a part of your brain? Would the enemy allow you to comfortably come here? Sense the density of the energy in this space! This is a place for us to practice diligently! Also, the person you called a villain is not the one from before. It’s my master, Zhou Yan."
"Oh, I misspoke. I meant my master Zhou Yan, the real Zhou Yan. The evil Zhou Yan who previously caused chaos in the Cultivation World was an imposter! Well, do you understand now?"
Liu Haoxin explained anxiously.
But he seemed to lack the talent for speaking, making a mess of the explanation.
Zhao Xiaoxiao paid no attention to Liu Haoxin, as if she hadn’t heard him at all, which nearly made Liu Haoxin so angry he could spit blood.
"Master Zhao, I was suspicious like you before, but soon I was able to confirm. Although Liu Haoxin expresses unclearly, what he says is true. The one outside is truly Fellow Daoist Zhou Yan. You may not believe him, but I, the Old Daoist, can be trusted.
The Old Daoist made a vast vow in his life to aid all beings and would never collude with villains, you can rest assured on this point."
Hua Qiudao spoke, his heart slightly moved, and suddenly, an immense source of power emerged on his body, the power of gratitude from countless ordinary people, soothing the soul, calming the mental state, and instilling a great sense of compassion.
Indeed, Zhao Xiaoxiao finally started to believe, because Hua Qiudao’s ability to distinguish right from wrong was the strongest. Moreover, Hua Qiudao’s power was unmistakably recognizable and impossible for anyone to mimic or transform; it was ’Merit Power,’ otherwise, the enemies wouldn’t crave it so much!
Zhao Xiaoxiao believed about seventy percent in her heart, then she recalled, reflecting silently in her mind on Zhou Yan’s previous series of actions.
She seemed to see the scene replay before her eyes, Zhou Yan’s instant trembling and painful gaze upon seeing her, also heard Zhou Yan’s explanation, saw Zhou Yan’s guilt and his caring nature.
At that moment, Zhao Xiaoxiao suddenly became transfixed; she inexplicably felt her desolate, emptily silent heart, which had lost all hope, born anew with hope. She suddenly felt an unexplainable joy.
She thought, even if this was just a lie, a deceptive scheme aimed at seizing her control over the Shennong Cauldron, such a heart-touching moment happening might already be worth it.
...
Zhou Yan stepped into the city, traversing through the traffic, searching for various traces.
Ultimately, he found nothing.
The more powerful he was, the more he discovered this ancestor land was increasingly desolate.
Zhou Yan even extracted many ordinary people’s memories but found nothing.
Zhou Yan sought out Liu Haoxin’s sister, Liu Haoting, and this woman ultimately failed to escape that calamity, having already passed away.
Zhou Yan also visited Jiang Ningxin and Han Yichen; their lives were happy, with an independent villa and healthy twin children, both around seven years old. The little boy was robust, and the little girl was as cute as a princess.
Their family lived happily, in harmony, and blissful.
However, Zhou Yan noticed some hidden disabilities in the two children. He exerted a bit of power to eradicate these unseen disasters and then quietly left.
Zhou Yan went to see Lin Qianqian, but this woman had long passed away due to some illness. Zhou Yan saw her portrait, hair dried and white, with surgical marks on her head, appearing to have been in great pain before she died.
Zhou Yan also visited the Li family’s location, and the entire Li family, including some unrelated people with the Li surname, seemed to evaporate from the world, disappearing.
Or rather, they were exterminated by unknown forces.
Clean and thorough.
...
This ancestor land, Zhou Yan traveled from Changbai Mountain’s Cloud Heaven Palace to the Phoenix Clan’s ancestral forbidden land; from Heavenly Void Kunlun to the Northwestern Desert; from Sahara to Dunhuang Mogao Cave, all he saw and heard was desolation.
Zhou Yan traversed from the Golden Triangle, entering the Thirty-Three Heavens’ small world, a small world broken through, left in ruins, the fragments of the shattered immortal weapon already decayed, imperceptible.
Zhou Yan journeyed westwards, reaching the summit of Sumeru Mountain.
But he saw crumbling walls, a pitch-black wasteland, felt the mournful wind, felt the dreary rain.
He saw the greatest desolation and loneliness in the human world, witnessed the sorrow of Ten Thousand Buddhas’ Extinction and All Immortals Suffering.
The Emperor Qi of the Xuanyuan Sword was entirely restored to perfection, ready for reuse, but the Xuanyuan Ancestor seemed completely silent, no longer perceptible in the slightest.
Ultimately, Zhou Yan reached the edge of a world in the Outer Heaven, where he encountered a skull, a mutant beast’s skull, which still contained a thread of divinity, holding a drop of life’s blood.
Zhou Yan used the Undying Rebirth Technique to resurrect it, transforming it into a gigantic Dragon Lion.
The Dragon Lion has nine lion heads, but only one of them was resurrected.
Despite being resurrected by Zhou Yan’s divine power, it was actually dead, with only a remnant soul remaining.
It saw Zhou Yan and showed eyes of gratitude, excitement, and hope, but this look did not last long and started to destabilize.
As if trying to imprint Zhou Yan’s every form into its memory, even into its soul, never to forget.
Ultimately, it spoke the ancient Tai Chu rune, elegant like the soft murmurs of a captivating fairy.
"They’re coming, hurry and flee, staying alive is the only hope."
This sentence, spoken in the Tai Chu rune, was so melodious and heart-stirring, yet also so heart-wrenching.
Having said that, the Dragon Lion’s body began to crumble, like fragments of the Tai Chu rune, shattering into nothingness, leaving no trace.
Zhou Yan stared blankly at the ruins before him, letting the dust-laden sandstorm wash over him, unable to move for a long time.
Heavy, heavy feelings repeatedly impacted his heart, making the road ahead more unclear.
Zhou Yan sighed heavily, having achieved the realm of Nine Origin Sword Saint, he could roam carefree in any world, invincible, even against Sword God Fifth Transition, he had the strength to match.
If faced with Sword Venerate Earth Spirit Heaven Realm, activating Emperor Xuan Yuan’s Energy to enhance himself, he could also have the power to fight.
But now, faced with the endless vastness of the universe, faced with the ancient powerful beings turned to dust beneath this soil, Zhou Yan did not have a shred of arrogance.
The end of cultivation is endless.
White bones pile into ashes.
Sometimes, cultivation is just this sorrowful and cruel.
To guard, to transcend, and to possess oneself, the price a cultivator must pay is truly too great, and too much.
But Zhou Yan cannot stop, can only continue step by step forward, always forging ahead, until there is no path in heaven and earth, until there is no pinnacle in the realm.
Zhou Yan traversed beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, crossed Sumeru Mountain, and entered a small world cave called ’Heart Awakening Cave’.
In this small world, spiritual energy was not lacking, the world was bright and clear, all kinds of energy still surged.
If Zhou Yan were to refine and absorb these energies, he could further improve his realm by a fraction, increasing his combat power by nearly one percent.
But Zhou Yan did not do so.
This world within Heart Awakening Cave, Zhou Yan thought it more suitable for Hua Qiudao and others to break through Heavenly Pivot Ancient Town, with their own accumulated sealing, they would have great breakthroughs.
Zhou Yan roamed within this Heart Awakening Cave, at its edge, he saw a temple written in ancient Tai Chu rune characters.
The meaning of the words was ’Randeng Temple’.
Upon seeing this line of Tai Chu rune, Zhou Yan couldn’t help but think of Earth’s legends about Randeng Ancient Buddha, and he fell silent once more.
Ancient scripts record: "Above the Dragon Flower are sun and moon stars, below are water, fire, and wind; human body Dragon Flower is spirit; Heaven, Earth, and Man compose the three talents. First Dragon Flower meeting is Randeng, second meeting is Shi Jia Venerate, third meeting is Maitreya Ancestor, longing to meet at the Dragon Flower three meetings."
Zhou Yan however, encountered the ancestor land of Randeng here.
This world shines brightly, all light radiates, with no darkness.
In the void, Zhou Yan could also determine the source of spiritual energy, likely from a divine medicine—Holy Lotus Flower.
Although Zhou Yan really couldn’t determine the source of spiritual energy energy, he was certain that the vibrant life of this world was closely related to this divine medicine.
Zhou Yan respectfully bowed three times before this ancient temple, expressing respect for the ancestors and ancient Buddhas.
After the three bows, there seemed to be a mark imprinted, which flew out of Zhou Yan’s body, as if some mark had vanished.
Zhou Yan suddenly thought, does Earth have its own kind of shackling imprint, just as Sword Burial Ancestor Star has its imprint?
Now, it was clear that this mark had always existed, but upon the previous ancestor worship, it suddenly disappeared.
Zhou Yan focused, the ancient temple had collapsed, raising a cloud of dust, collapsing within those wilted years.
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