Chapter 428: Doubt

Liang Huaqiu spoke at length.

He Pingsheng now had a somewhat rudimentary understanding of the 【Tianji Deadland】.

First, it was a uniquely special region.

Vast, spanning millions of li in diameter.

This region had no sects, yet it teemed with countless demonic beasts, along with exposed immortal veins and spirit veins.

In addition, yin-sha energy and demonic energy spewed forth from beneath the earth.

In the cultivation world, all things ultimately revolved around the concept of 【yin and yang】.

Where there is yang, there is yin; where there is yin, there is yang!

Isolated yin cannot grow; isolated yang cannot be born!

If there is immortal spiritual energy, then there must be demonic energy.

This demonic energy and immortal spiritual energy are yin and yang to each other; thus, where they converge and collide, traces of Daoist laws and principles often emerge.

Many who entered the Deadland did so to attain enlightenment.

Of course, within the Deadland dwelled numerous Nascent Soul, even Soul Transformation, demonic beasts.

In battling these beasts, one could obtain cultivation resources and Dao techniques; sometimes, fighting them could even shatter one's bottlenecks.

Moreover, it was said that over ninety percent of all non-celestial treasure breakthroughs across the entire cultivation continent occurred this way.

This was crucial for He Pingsheng.

"You're currently stuck at a bottleneck—would you like to come with me and try?" Liang Huaqiu said. "Besides breaking through, you might even obtain heavenly Dao techniques here. When yin and yang collide, unpredictable things sometimes emerge!"

"It's said that our ancestors He Wen and He Nian, back then, were mediocre in talent—but they obtained the Space Primordial Source and Time Primordial Source within this Tianji Deadland!"

"And there were many of them!"

Huh…

Hearing this, He Pingsheng was stunned.

Good heavens, this was truly an immense opportunity.

Could one really obtain the Space Primordial Source and Time Primordial Source?

He Pingsheng found this utterly implausible.

After all, how could it be so coincidental?

You two brothers go there, each gets one, no overlap—and these two primordial sources are the supreme primordial forces of heaven and earth.

"You don't believe me?" Liang Huaqiu said. "I knew you wouldn't. But our imperial family has records!"

"Come, look!"

As she spoke, Liang Huaqiu pulled out a book.

A thick book.

It appeared ancient, resembling a historical chronicle of the Liang Kingdom.

"Wait a moment—I'll find it for you…"

Soon, Liang Huaqiu found it. She showed He Pingsheng the passage: "Look at this record!"

"In the forty-ninth year of Emperor Yuan, spring, on the Yi-Si day, former Chief of the Secretariat Yu Yucheng submitted a memorial, reporting that he witnessed two brothers in the ruins of Tianji City obtain the 【Time Dao Primordial Source】 and 【Space Dao Primordial Source】, then vanished while he pursued them…"

The Liang Kingdom's historical records contained only this one sentence.

The meaning was roughly this: In the spring of the forty-ninth year of Emperor Yuan of Liang, former Chief of the Secretariat Yu Yucheng submitted a memorial stating that in the ruins of Tianji City, he saw two brothers who each obtained the Time Dao Primordial Source and Space Dao Primordial Source; when he pursued them, he failed to catch them.

The primordial sources match!

The Deadland matches!

The two brothers match!

The only discrepancy is whether these two brothers were He Wen and He Nian.

And what exactly was the ruins of Tianji City?

"And here…" Liang Huaqiu said. "Look…"

He Pingsheng looked again.

The Liang Kingdom's historical records contained another passage: "In the hundred and twenty-fourth year of Emperor Yuan, former Chief of the Secretariat Yu Yucheng submitted a memorial stating that the two disciples of 【Lei Mountain】 were the ones who had obtained the primordial sources in the Deadland…"

Liang Huaqiu explained: "The ruins of Tianji City are today's Tianji Deadland; back then, it was not yet a Deadland. And Lei Mountain was the former name of He Wen He Nian Mountain. In other words, roughly eighty years later, Yu Yucheng saw these two brothers again—this time as disciples on Lei Mountain!"

"These two disciples… you know who they are, don't you?"

Liang Huaqiu glanced sideways at He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng nodded. "Was this over a thousand years ago?"

"No," Liang Huaqiu said. "Emperor Yuan was the ninth emperor of our Liang Kingdom. The forty-ninth year of his reign was roughly twenty-eight hundred years ago!"

Hearing this, He Pingsheng's brow furrowed again: "That makes even less sense!"

Liang Huaqiu asked: "What doesn't make sense?"

He Pingsheng said: "Look… Emperor Yuan's time was twenty-eight hundred years ago!"

"That means He Wen and He Nian, our ancestors, must be at least twenty-eight hundred years old—or even older?"

Liang Huaqiu nodded: "Yes."

"No," He Pingsheng said. "In the cultivation world, lifespan follows strict laws!"

"Golden Core: five hundred years. Nascent Soul: one thousand years. Even Soul Transformation reaches only two thousand years."

"Even if they consumed celestial treasures to extend their lives by two or three hundred years, that's the absolute limit!"

"How could they live nearly three thousand years?"

"This isn't…"

"This is nonsense!"

"Exactly!" Liang Huaqiu said. "I never thought of that!"

"But… our Liang Kingdom's historical records must be accurate!"

"No one would fabricate something like this!"

He Pingsheng shook his head. "Perhaps your former Chief of the Secretariat was lying."

"That's even less likely!" Liang Huaqiu said. "When Yu Yucheng died, He Wen and He Nian had not yet truly risen to power—he wouldn't have fabricated such a story for attention!"

"Then we don't know."

He Pingsheng shook his head. "Forget it. Studying this won't help us."

"By the way, you're not even at a bottleneck—why are you in such a hurry to go to the Deadland?" He Pingsheng asked Liang Huaqiu.

Liang Huaqiu said: "I'm not in a hurry… I just came to ask you. If you're worried about me and don't want me to go, I won't go yet!"

"What?"

"Are you worried about me again?"

Her beautiful eyes fixed on He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng said: "Isn't it dangerous over there? Let's hold off for now… I don't want to lose you as my junior sister!"

"Hmph…" Liang Huaqiu closed the historical text, hugged the thick book to her chest, and bowed deeply to He Pingsheng. "Your humble servant obeys your lord's command. If there's nothing else, I shall take my leave!"

She gave He Pingsheng no chance to respond and vanished in an instant.

He Pingsheng rubbed his forehead hard with his right hand: headache.

Half a day later, Cheng Xiaohe and Ling Zhi returned.

"Success, Master!" Cheng Xiaohe tossed a plump, round rabbit to He Pingsheng. "Look… your rabbit!"

He Pingsheng nodded. "Good… the long-range teleportation array is now functional."

"Friend Ling… there's one more thing!"

He Pingsheng said: "I now have the fourth-grade immortal fruit, 【Lieyuan Thunder Fruit】. The materials for brewing 【Po-Hua Pill】 are still incomplete—are the rest available in the shop?"

It was time to brew the Po-Hua Pill.

This pill was needed both for myself and for Xiaohe and the others.

And one more: the little phoenix—Ting Tong.

Ting Tong was born at Golden Core Level Twelve; to break through, she too needs the 【Po-Hua Pill】.