Chapter 506: Dusk Is Desolate, the Drum Is Desolate

Compared to the Cosmic Cauldron, the Evening Drum was refined at a faster rate.

Moreover, since Ding Huan was already accustomed to refining these top-tier treasures, he completed the refinement of the Evening Drum to the hundred-and-second prohibition layer in just ten days.

Unlike the Cosmic Cauldron's purity, the Evening Drum contained too many mottled Dao rhythms.

These mottled Dao rhythms were left behind by previous owners; Ding Huan unhesitatingly stripped and burned them away.

When refining to the hundred-and-third prohibition layer, Ding Huan even sensed a fragmented Dao rhythm surpassing the cosmic rules of the Pangu Great World.

Fortunately, this Dao rhythm was utterly fragmented, on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

Otherwise, given Ding Huan's current level, he truly could not have removed it in a short time.

This further made Ding Huan understand why the Dao Ancestor refused to remain in the Pangu Great World—it was because higher-level universes existed.

The Dao Ancestor knew of these higher-level worlds, so they pursued such ultimate Dao.

It's fine; when his cultivation advances further, he too will seek them out.

This is why Ding Huan has always respected the Dao Ancestor—even after Earth's cycles ended, the Dao Ancestor never ceased pursuing strength.

Earth's myths may become legends on Earth, but they cannot become legends in the universe.

As for the Dao Ancestor leaving Lou Wushang the Emperor to replace Brother Xingpan as Heavenly Emperor, even supervising the Four Emperors against Brother Xingpan, Ding Huan found nothing strange about it.

The Dao Ancestor was leaving the Pangu Great World; leaving a backup to stabilize it was perfectly natural.

He would not do so because he never regarded the Pangu Great World as his homeland.

As for ordering the Four Emperors to besiege Brother Xingpan, it was naturally a strategy of division.

It was to leave the Four Emperors with no way out.

He did not have Lou Wushang the Emperor besiege Brother Xingpan because Lou Wushang the Emperor was meant to ascend the Heavenly Emperor's throne.

If Lou Wushang the Emperor personally intervened against Brother Xingpan the Emperor, his prestige within the Immortal Court would plummet drastically.

Unfortunately, Lou Wushang the Emperor himself was unworthy; even after the Dao Ancestor had done so much for him, he still lost the Heavenly Emperor's position.

In short, it was merely a matter of where one sat.

Whichever side one sat on, one naturally aided that side.

In other words, if he were friends with Lou Wushang the Emperor, he might have aided Lou Wushang the Emperor against Brother Xingpan the Emperor.

Of course, knowing Lou Wushang the Emperor's nature, Ding Huan knew he could never be his friend.

The hundred-and-fourth prohibition layer, the hundred-and-fifth prohibition layer…

When Ding Huan refined to the hundred-and-sixth prohibition layer, a drumbeat erupted from deep within the Evening Drum, nearly tearing apart Ding Huan's spiritual sea.

Dong…

The drumbeat lingered, as if drawing Ding Huan's entire soul into its resonance.

In that moment, Ding Huan stood alone on the edge of distant mountains bathed only in twilight, the fading echoes of evening drums ringing in his ears.

A startled bird took flight, vanishing into the deep forest; the evening glow slowly sank, leaving only the faint silhouette of a gnarled pine beside the woods.

A sorrowful emotion inexplicably filled his heart; Ding Huan felt an indescribable grief and rose to his feet.

What was the point of cultivating to the very end?

Would one ultimately close one's eyes in solitude and unbearable loneliness, like the sound of the evening drum?

Dong dong!

Beneath the Great Universe Technique Zhou Tian, two more drumbeats exploded; Ding Huan suddenly awakened.

Ding Huan raised his hand and gathered waves of Dao rhythm.

The Dao rhythm crashed against the Evening Drum.

Dong!

The Evening Drum buries new souls, its bones consumed; I dwell in this world, my hair white with snow—look: dusk is desolate, the drum is desolate!

Though he stood beside the Shenhe River, a desolate dusk and a despairing Dao rhythm instantly spread through the entire space with that single drumbeat.

Within this spatial realm, souls were buried, bones dissolved, and hair turned white in an instant.

Ding Huan exhaled slowly; this was the Evening Drum's spiritual art—the Evening Drum Buries Souls.

It was the second great spiritual art he had comprehended after acquiring the Evening Drum.

Ding Huan exhaled again; he had nearly been swept away by the drumbeat's spiritual realm.

Fortunately, he stabilized his spirit, not only refining the hundred-and-seventh prohibition layer of the Evening Drum but also gaining control of the Evening Drum Buries Souls spiritual art.

Indeed, these primordial treasures carried potent Dao rhythms; mastering them made them your greatest weapon, but failing to master them made them your greatest killer.

Ding Huan wasted no time; he immediately activated the Great Universe Technique to refine the final prohibition layer of the Evening Drum.

He perceived prohibition patterns utterly unlike those of the Cosmic Cauldron; at this moment, he felt as if struggling endlessly in chaos.

He could no longer distinguish past from present, nor present from future…

Dong!

The drumbeat exploded again.

Ding Huan instinctively waved his hand; he sensed space halting at that instant, even felt time vanishing…

He caught a faint, elusive Dao law—seeming to reside between his fingers, yet also impossibly distant, millions of miles away.

Ding Huan knew he must seize this law; otherwise, he would miss an unparalleled opportunity.

His spiritual sense surged; the Evening Drum rang again. Beneath the Great Universe Technique Zhou Tian, the intricate prohibitions and supreme prohibition patterns of the hundred-and-eighth layer were swiftly refined by Ding Huan.

One by one, the most profound Dao rhythms and laws became clearer in Ding Huan's perception.

Ding Huan was now completely immersed; his hands constantly shifted in empty space, drawing forth one Dao rhythm after another.

Within the space where Ding Huan stood, everything truly slowed—as if pulled by his hand, as if playing in slow motion.

Ding Huan's awareness grew ever clearer; he knew he had touched something.

It was the Law of Time.

He was just a little short, just a little more…

Time is not unstopable; beneath the Supreme Dao, time too can be halted—it merely depends on what your Dao is.

Time flows ceaselessly and wildly, but the Dao can bend it, slowing time… even reversing it…

One sees time flow like an arrow, yet who knows the Dao bends like a bow!

Ding Huan waved his hand again.

Boom!

Amid the drumbeat, everything in space instantly slowed.

That instant of time was enough to turn all life to dust.

Just now, the sunset beneath the Evening Drum of Buried Souls had already sunk beyond the distant mountains; life sank with the setting sun, and all turned to dust in that moment.

One strike of the evening drum, the sunset sinks; life is but a transient guest, fate like dust.

The Dao's resonance shifted rapidly, like a furious river of years rushing past—yet when this river of years reached Ding Huan's front, it suddenly halted.

One breath later, everything returned to normal.

Ding Huan let out a long howl, opened his eyes, and the Evening Drum floated before him.

As he assimilated the Evening Drum, he finally touched the Time Law.

Even if it was only a momentary stasis of time, to Ding Huan, it was the Supreme Dao.

This was undoubtedly his greatest trump card; the newly awakened spiritual technique, Evening Drum of Buried Souls, ranked even below this Time Law technique.

With a flick of his spiritual sense, the Evening Drum appeared deep within his spiritual sea.

Ding Huan took a deep breath and did not continue assimilating the Mirror of Life and Death.

For him, having assimilated the Cosmic Cauldron and the Evening Drum should be sufficient.

Moreover, the gains from assimilating the Evening Drum and the Cosmic Cauldron were immense.

Assimilating the Cosmic Cauldron allowed Ding Huan to more clearly define the direction of his Dao, and to more profoundly comprehend the formation of the universe and the might of the Primordial Dao.

Assimilating the Evening Drum not only granted him a top-tier offensive artifact, but also allowed him to perceive the Buried Souls realm of the Evening Drum and the Law of Time.

Ding Huan did not know how many former owners of the Evening Drum had mastered its Buried Souls realm technique or perceived the Law of Time.

He was certain there were not many—perhaps none at all.

Because no one else had fused billions of laws, let alone possessed a Dao Universe formed from the fusion of billions of laws.

If the Mirror of Life and Death contained even more techniques and laws, continuous assimilation might not be beneficial to him.

Sometimes, assimilating a treasure does not necessarily grant insight into any law or technique.

It is not that such a technique does not exist within the treasure—it is merely missed.

The Mirror of Life and Death must be assimilated only after he reaches the Immortal King realm.

After reorganizing his thoughts, Ding Huan began setting up the trapping and killing array.

Most importantly, he had to set up the Level-Eight Trapping Immortal Array and the Level-Eight Crushing Immortal Array.

After all arrangements were complete, Ding Huan began searching for his Seven Souls and Six Spirits, and every possible place where his soul-nuances could reside.

Including the Purple Palace, all hidden soul-acupoints, soul-meridians…

Ding Huan searched inch by inch—from the Purple Palace to the dantian, from the spiritual sea to the Dao Universe…

One day, one month, one year…

For a full year, Ding Huan ignored all external matters, even blocked all signals, yet he found not the slightest flaw in his body.

Time was now of utmost importance to Ding Huan.

After learning that dung beetles were all Great Luo Immortals, Ding Huan felt a deep sense of crisis.

He had a gut feeling that the dung beetles were watching him at every moment.

As soon as his cultivation surpassed theirs, the dung beetles would come for him without delay.

This was a venomous snake—he could not let it grow any further.

After a year with no progress, Ding Huan once again activated the Great Universe Technique during his Zhou Tian circulation, sending the Grand Void Flame into the Zhou Tian.

One hundred and eight Zhou Tian circulations operated simultaneously; the Grand Void Flame filled all one hundred and eight Zhou Tian.

Any slightest anomaly would be detected by the Grand Void Flame.

This anomaly, of course, was something foreign to himself.

Unfortunately, no matter how Ding Huan activated the Great Universe Technique or guided the Grand Void Flame through the Zhou Tian, he could not detect even the tiniest flaw.

Ding Huan grew increasingly desperate; he even considered burning himself completely with flame and starting over.

But this was only a thought.

After two more months of fruitless effort, Ding Huan began to consider whether he truly needed to burn his physical body and soul to ashes and start anew.

Otherwise, no matter how he cultivated, he would merely be making clothes for someone else.

Making clothes for someone else was still a good outcome—the far worse possibility was that he would remain alive, yet suffer more than death.

Despite constant fruitless effort and constant examination of his body, Ding Huan never doubted the parchment.

The only thing that could cause his body to malfunction was that parchment.

Unfortunately, he had been reborn—there was no way to trace the parchment.

Calm down. He must calm down.