Chapter 431

Yin winds howled, shadows flickered, and amid the pile of bones, faint, hazy ghostly figures appeared.

Fang Yu's expression remained calm; he released a trace of pure yang thunder qi, and instantly, the ghostly figures, as if encountering something inconceivable, recoiled in terror, daring not to advance.

Only then did Fang Yu nod—he was an immortal cultivated through boundless pure yang xu yuan qi; a single breath of his could annihilate ten-thousand-year-old ghosts—how could he fear such ghostly shadows?

That would be the height of absurdity.

As he pressed forward, his body emitted faint bursts of pure yang and thunder qi; wherever he passed, all biting coldness and ghostly figures vanished, and his progress was smooth.

Several li ahead, trouble arose: two bottomless pits lay ahead—one spewed spiritual energy skyward, with source qi surging continuously; the other belched malevolent qi, more terrifying than sharp sword rays.

One yin, one yang—truly the yin-yang eyes of the Taiji diagram; if one drew a circle around them, it would be a natural Taiji diagram.

In fact, they did operate thus: around the pit spewing source qi lay nothing but bones, radiating sinister energy, while around the pit emitting malevolent qi shimmered radiant light—entirely composed of source stones.

Bearing yin while embracing yang, bearing yang while embracing yin—this was the grand power of nature, imbued with the divine force of the Dao.

A purely natural Taiji yin-yang diagram.

This Taiji yin-yang diagram captured Fang Yu's spirit; the grand power of yin and yang manifested naturally before him—any attack upon them would inevitably trigger nature's retaliation, as if triggering the forbidden arts of the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion.

A purely natural Daoist array was an immensely powerful array; the forbidden arts of the Taiyuan Immortal Mansion once carried a natural feel, yet they were not truly natural—they were set by the Taiyuan Immortal's cultivation reaching beyond the True Immortal realm.

Here, the Taiji yin-yang diagram, with source qi and malevolent qi intermingling and circulating, contained the profound mystery of heaven and earth's Dao.

There were some twenty-odd skeletons here, existing from several thousand to over ten thousand years, all pierced through by sword qi.

One skeleton even glimmered with silver specks, its bone structure extraordinarily unique—clearly belonging to an ultimate figure—yet still unable to escape death.

Here lay great danger, and great opportunity.

As Fang Yu's intent stirred, a Five Emperors Canopy appeared above his head; as it flowed, countless mysterious forces of the Five Elements rose.

The Five Emperors Canopy descended forward, instantly violating the natural flow of yin and yang; at that moment, countless source qi transformed into sword qi and struck the canopy.

At that instant, Fang Yu felt a terrifying force strike him, but as the Five Emperors Canopy rotated slightly, the Five Elements' power surged endlessly, directly erasing the source qi's assault.

Especially the Red Emperor, the Fire Sovereign within the Five Emperors Canopy, appeared even more terrifying—these two sovereigns, having consumed the Five Elements True Fire of the Fire Domain and the Seven-Colored Flame, merely moved a hand, and terrifying flames erased the source qi's attack.

The source qi's assault was instantly erased by the Five Emperors Canopy; more source qi attacks arrived—this was the natural domain of the Taiji yin-yang, where any being, even if it withstood the first assault, would face further attacks, unless there was no foreign element within this natural realm.

Fang Yu's intent shifted; the Five Emperors Canopy transformed, spinning wildly, and in its rapid rotation, it underwent an evolution.

From its five-colored canopy, it seemed to condense into only two colors: yin and yang.

Wuji gives birth to Taiji; Taiji gives birth to the Two Modes; the Two Modes give birth to the Four Symbols; the Four Symbols give birth to the Eight Trigrams.

Originally, yin-yang Taiji could give rise to the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, but when the Five Elements Canopy spun rapidly, circulating according to the yin-yang Taiji pattern, certain forms of yin and yang emerged.

This was a new transformation.

Fang Yu sensed this transformation, his eyes gleaming with contemplation; finally, runes appeared before him—the forms of yin and yang.

Fang Yu, observing this yin-yang Taiji diagram, comprehended certain principles of yin and yang.

Nature's variation paled beside Yuhua Sect's supreme technique, the Void Yin-Yang Dao, or the Great Yin-Yang Art, yet it was still a variation of yin and yang.

After comprehending certain changes of yin and yang, the Five Emperors Canopy flew onto Fang Yu's physical body, and he entered directly with his bodily power.

Natural force still flowed, but Fang Yu's entire body seemed transformed into yin and yang, becoming part of the natural array, and he walked straight through.

He did not even need to use his Dark Yellow Shrouding Heaven Hand.

The hand forged from Dark Yellow Mother Qi Root could certainly withstand countless attacks from the Shrouding Heaven Realm, yet Fang Yu this time entered the natural divine diagram through enlightenment.

Passing through the natural divine diagram, he arrived at the other side—a purple stone wall blocked his path.

In other words, Fang Yu had now officially entered the territory of Zishan; until now, he had merely traveled beneath the dragon veins guarding Zishan.

The Five Emperors Canopy above Fang Yu's head emitted beams of light; wherever they passed, Zishan melted away, yet after he walked past, the melted mountain reformed.

The mountain melted and reformed, yet Fang Yu pressed forward; finally, he entered the interior of Zishan.

This was a cave mansion carved within Zishan; ascending green jade steps, entering a white jade moon gate, it was profoundly quiet, as cold and serene as the Moon Palace.

Palaces and pavilions were all carved from ancient jade, worthy of being called jade towers and crystal palaces.

The place was utterly tranquil; in one spot, a dozen stone steps led deeper into a more secluded cave mansion.

Fang Yu stepped forward and saw on the cave wall carved characters:

"Divine King Jiang Taixu mistakenly entered the Demon Mountain, resolved to investigate."

Divine King Jiang Taixu, unaware of Zishan's secrets, regarded Zishan as the "Demon Mountain"—no wonder he entered and never emerged.

Of course, this was a jest; all here knew nothing of the Wushui Great Emperor, while Fang Yu, not of this realm, knew many secrets.

Further ahead, another inscription appeared.

"Sectless Li Mu, exploring the Demon Mountain, leaves this record."

This inscription was over ten thousand years old; clearly, this sectless cultivator named Li Mu—sharing a name with the Four Great War Gods of the Warring States period—was of formidable strength.

Five steps further, a delicate script, like a lotus on water, fresh and invigorating, as if alive.

"Yaochi Holy Maiden Yang Yi, seeking Zhang Lin, leaves this before entering the Demon Mountain."

The Yaochi Holy Maiden had also entered Zishan; seemingly sensing she might not escape, she left this record.

Further ahead, dozens more inscriptions existed; some names were ancient, their surnames long forgotten in this era.

"Zhang Jiye, descendant of the Source Heaven Master Zhang Lin, leaves this before entering the Emperor Mountain."

Another inscription: a descendant of the Source Heaven Master—only this one called Zishan the "Emperor Mountain"; all others called it the "Demon Mountain."

Fang Yu did not leave his name; he saw no need.

Pressing forward, he reached deeper within Zishan, where misty light swirled, giving a hazy impression.

Deep within Zishan, a terrifying demonic force seemed to call to him, urging him toward a certain direction.

Fang Yu remained unmoved.

He was no Shrouding Heaven cultivator, who first cultivates the Wheel Sea, then the Dao Palace, then the Four Extremes, then the Dragon Transformation, finally reaching the Immortal Platform.

He was an immortal from the beginning, cultivating his mind—he had even opened four brain realms, his spiritual force so potent it had transformed into magic power, true qi, Daoist gang qi, yin-yang gang qi, and the Celestial Human Gang Qi Array.

What is this feeble call to you?

It didn't count for anything at all.

If Fang Yu hadn't wanted to keep a low profile, he would have just cast a Grand Severing Art or Black Sun Wind Calamity right over there, to teach that summoner what was called spiritual severing, and what was called spiritual annihilation.

His expression was calm, his magic power spreading out in all directions, and so not far away he saw a person who had been trapped.

At the same time, that trapped person seemed to sense Fang Yu, and his expression suddenly became agitated; he spoke.

"Latercomer, can you... come over."

That voice was extremely weak; it looked as though a little more time might kill him.

"Who are you?"

Fang Yu had already seen clearly who that person was, but he did not show any agitation at the first moment.

Because if it were another world, in such a terrifying Emperor Mountain, encountering a weak person summoning him over, it was very likely that person wanted to seize his body; as for the possibility of transmitting the Dao to him, it was truly minuscule.

So following normal logic, Fang Yu stood in place without moving, and asked that person for his name.

"Shenwang... Jiang Taixu."

The weak voice came from that person's mouth.

It really was him, Shenwang Jiang Taixu.

A Great Completion Shenwang.

Taixu refers to the appearance of the Dao; the Dao is great and empty-still, and generally refers to the Great Dao.

To dare use these two characters as a name truly required great boldness of spirit.

This Shenwang who had broken in here four thousand years ago was still alive.

"You... come over..."

The aged voice was exceptionally weak, as if it might stop breathing at any moment.

Fang Yu took a step, reached a spot not far away, then stopped and did not advance: "I wonder what I can do for you, Senior?"

"I... my oil is exhausted and my lamp withered... I probably can't live much longer, but the inheritance I obtained cannot be lost; you come closer... I'll teach you..."

This Shenwang spoke, his voice broken and halting.

Even though he was a generation's Shenwang, a Great Completion Shenwang, after four thousand years, he too was somewhat at the end of his rope.

Fang Yu truly stepped forward.

And that Shenwang at once transmitted a very short mnemonic verse.

Not limited to fists or fingers, not limited to leg techniques—every part of the whole body could attack; every inch of skin could erupt with terrifying power.

One of the Nine Secretes, Dou Zi Mi, had truly been transmitted by Jiang Shenwang to Fang Yu.

Especially when this Dou Zi Mi was transmitted by Jiang Shenwang to Fang Yu, the Jie Zi Mi that Fang Yu had obtained atop Zhuofeng also responded in kind; at this moment, Fang Yu seemed able to more easily activate tenfold combat power.

This was very good.