Chapter 430: Once there was a mountain, and in the mountain there was a person

Hearing that Fang Yu was determined to go take a look at Zishan, Zhang Kuang took out the things his ancestor had passed down.

One was a stone garment refined from divine source stone skin, said to ward off unclean things.

Besides that, there was also a stone helmet that could cover even the face.

Apart from the stone helmet, there was also a stone pendant, also refined by the Zhang clan's ancestors, which could ward off evil.

Of course, besides the stone pendant, there was also a stone knife; its wooden scabbard had long since rotted, and the moment the blade was drawn it crumbled to pieces.

The knife was no more than two chi long, with suns, moons, and stars carved upon it, along with some patterns.

There was also a star plate that had gathered a great amount of stellar power; one could say it was a fine treasure, perfectly usable for cultivating stellar divine abilities.

The Zhang clan's ancestor was indeed an extraordinary man. As a Source Heavenly Master, he was versed in astronomy and geography, in every mountain and stream. Had he stepped onto the path of cultivation and practiced stellar arts, he should have achieved great success.

One could imagine that, had that Source Heavenly Master received the Great Dao Fang Yu's transmission of the Starry Infinite Scripture, he would have been able to become a great power on the path of cultivation. Yet he had already died a thousand years ago, and only now had Fang Yu arrived.

"Since these things can ward off evil, I'll take them with me."

Fang Yu smiled, and with a wave of his hand, whether the stone garment, the stone helmet, or the stone pendant, they all followed him forward.

They were not worn on the body, but carried alongside.

Then Fang Yu stepped forward and in an instant arrived at a dragon-vein site beneath Zishan.

Zishan's layout was that of Nine Dragons and a Single Pearl. To attack Zishan directly from outside would be nothing but seeking death, but if one advanced from beneath the dragon vein, one could also reach deep within Zishan.

A thousand years ago, that Zhang clan ancestor had taken this very path and entered deep within Zishan.

Fang Yu stepped forward, covering dozens of li in an instant. Within this underground ancient mine of the dragon vein there were many bats; before they could even see Fang Yu, he had already left them behind.

Bats of this sort had always appeared in places of great ill and great evil. In the Underground World of the Eternal Life Realm, there were great numbers of bats; the same was true here, as if the underground creatures did not eat such bats at all.

Though the bats were many, they existed at a different speed from Fang Yu. After Fang Yu stepped his way to the depths of the cave wall, he saw many carvings, all left behind by ancient people.

The carvings recorded scenes of the past. At first there was nothing special, just scenes of mining. Later, a creature with a single horn growing from between its brows was dug out, and the moment it appeared it wiped out everyone present.

That horned creature had six arms and a pair of wings on its back, looking down on all beneath heaven. In the picture it roared toward the sky, splitting the earth, gushing lava, and the miners suffered heavy casualties.

Afterwards, it knelt on the ground and kowtowed toward a massive piece of divine source.

The creature within the divine source never emerged. In the picture it was always the divine source, but the bones around it grew ever more numerous, piling up like mountains, and fresh blood gathered into rivers that wound their way into the distance. This place was simply a hell on earth.

At the very end, a human powerhouse wreathed in a halo descended from the sky, and everything changed. That being's entire body was cloaked in radiance, his features impossible to make out, but he carried a terrifying majesty. With a single slap he suppressed that horned, devoutly divine-source-guarding humanoid creature, slamming it straight into the ground.

Then he went straight for the divine source. At the same time there was a great bell, as tall as heaven and earth, that pressed down and covered the divine source.

The divine source finally cracked, and the creature within finally revealed a hint of its identity: a slender, graceful palm that clashed with the great bell. But the stone wall behind it crumbled again, so it could not be seen in full.

"Does the Great Emperor Wushi really need this much trouble to deal with the Undying Empress?"

Fang Yu looked at these murals and knew that the one who had acted was none other than the legendary Great Emperor Wushi. That bell was the extreme-path emperor weapon, the Wushi Bell. As for the suppressed woman, she was clearly the Lady of the Undying Emperor of Heaven—the Undying Empress, the Imperial Prince's mother—but clearly there were some discrepancies within this.

Suppressing the Undying Empress should have required no such trouble for a Great Emperor.

Of course, this was not necessarily a bad thing.

Fang Yu naturally knew there were many dangers within Zishan, but many of those dangers had not yet revealed themselves now. So long as he did not act recklessly, he could come and go safely.

Continuing onward, ahead appeared a great deal of bone ash—the remains left behind after countless living beings had perished.