Chapter 565: Backing

Deep, dark, mysterious, eerie…

The Eight Directions Temple drifted unsteadily at an extreme height, its scattered Qi like a massive circular canopy, enveloping this Pian You Jing within.

Within the darkness, twelve points of light flickered, corresponding exactly to the paths of the twelve Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing.

Hum~

Li Yuan held the Eight Directions Token, his gaze sweeping across those twelve points of light before settling on one far in the distance—the point of light within the Wai De You Jing, beyond the Eight Directions Temple's canopy, which he had once visited.

"Only I can get out?"

In a stretch of dim darkness there were only thirteen points of light; Li Yuan did not think Qin Yun's eyes were so dim that he couldn't see, nor that he would speak falsely.

The only explanation was that this Eight Directions Temple's seal was far stricter than he had previously anticipated, so much so that even with the Eight Directions Token in hand, one could not come and go freely.

"That little mother dragon… ahem, she is a weapon spirit."

Li Yuan opened his eyes, his expression none too pleasant.

"How was it?"

Qin Yun asked.

"The path is still there."

Li Yuan's brow furrowed slightly; this was hardly good news.

That path was teeming with strange beasts; relying on his strength alone, advancing would be difficult.

"It seems this old man's guess was correct—apart from those outsiders, indeed only you alone can walk out…"

Qin Yun's brow was tightly knit; though he had long suspected it, once truly confirmed, his heart could not help but sink.

"There's no reason for it…"

Li Yuan looked at the Eight Directions Token in his hand and could not help but recall the Spirit Gaze Sacrifice he had witnessed when listening to the Heavenly Sound earlier.

In the prophecy, his future self fifty years hence slaughtered the Jianghudao Sect—could it be for this reason?

"Where is there any reason to speak of?"

Qin Yun sighed, raised a hand, and the not-distant Chi He Lian involuntarily floated up and tumbled down before the two of them.

"You!"

Chi He Lian's face flushed crimson, fury and alarm in his heart.

"No wonder these outsiders these past few days each carry an umbrella, not daring to see the sun and moon—it seems the Eight Directions Temple's restraints are far stricter than we imagined."

Qin Yun cast a glance at the not-distant Sect Masters; people like Long Long Yingchan naturally could not eavesdrop on their conversation.

"You mean, the reason you cannot see that path is because of those three suns?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly.

"We were born here, grew up here; our Qi has long since connected with heaven and earth—or rather, connected with the Eight Directions Temple—and likely cannot be severed."

Qin Yun shook his head; over these past days he had long harbored many guesses, only now receiving final confirmation from Li Yuan.

"What about severing this connection?"

Li Yuan's expression turned subtle; he roughly understood the reason for his future self's aberrance fifty years hence in the prophecy.

Could it be that he used this to sever the connection between the Eight Directions Temple and the various Sect Masters?

"What the Spirit Gaze Sacrifice showed may not be true, but in that fragment of the future, you likely had a method—at the very least, you may have been attempting to sever this connection."

Qin Yun looked at him, eyes bright and intent.

"This… at least for now there's no way."

Li Yuan gave a wry smile.

He himself was quite in agreement with this; based on his understanding of himself, if he did something, he must have had great confidence in it.

But that was fifty years from now.

"In the prophecy, you cultivated the Divine Palace fifty years hence, but right now, you have not yet entered the Dao…"

Qin Yun's expression did not change; over these past days he had thought much and verified much: "This old man's only doubt is, from where did you obtain the method to sever the connection between heaven and man…"

Born between heaven and earth, the connection of Qi is hard to sever; at least all the methods he had pondered and tried over these past days could not sever this connection.

"It should be the Eight Directions Temple?"

Li Yuan looked toward the ancient temple atop the mountain peak, his thoughts drifting.

Judging himself by himself, he had a guess in his heart: if his future self in the prophecy chose to avoid and withdrew from the Eight Directions Temple, then there was a great probability he had gone to Tian Shi Yuan!

"Not necessarily, right?"

Qin Yun gave him a deep look; with a flick of his sleeve, purple Qi surged, enveloping the two of them along with Chi He Lian at their feet, his face full of fury and alarm.

Cutting off Long Long Yingchan and the others outside.

"What is this?"

Li Yuan was slightly startled.

"Great matters lie ahead; there is truly no need for concealment."

Qin Yun straightened his attire slightly and said: "This old man's original surname was Pang, given name Hao, courtesy name Pang Wenlong!"

"The Great Fortune Grand Ancestor, Pang Pang Wenlong?!"

Li Yuan was 'utterly shocked.'

"…"

Qin Yun's eyelid twitched slightly, suspicion flashing in his heart—this lad's expression of shock seemed somewhat off, but could he have known his identity in advance?

He had not mentioned it to anyone.

"You, you actually are the Great Fortune Grand Ancestor."

Li Yuan drew in a sharp breath, and under Qin Yun's scrutinizing gaze, braced himself and feigned shock.

The old man's self-revelation of identity came so abruptly that he had almost failed to react in time.

Seeing Qin Yun frown, he hurriedly changed the subject: "How have you lived for a thousand years?"

"Three elements merged as one, life span of a thousand years; what's so remarkable about this old man living a thousand years?"

Qin Yun went along with his words: "This old man studied under Master Long Mo. In years past, when he performed the great sacrifice, he brought this old man along. By chance and fate, I broke through the great limit of a two-hundred-year lifespan…"

Qin Yun—or rather Pang Pang Wenlong—spoke calmly.

Much the same as what Li Yuan had pieced together before, Pang Pang Wenlong was born with the form of Heaven and Earth, the form of the Sun. His innate gifts were so extraordinary that he found it hard to achieve success in martial arts, until he studied under Daoist Long Mo and received the transmission of the Long Mo Heart Scripture and the Bai Shen Fa.

After that, it was just as the historical records described.

At seventy he left the mountain, pacified the realm, founded the great Dayun dynasty, cultivated to the supreme Grand Grandmaster, gathered the world's rare treasures, forged nine Great Solar Heaven-Surveillance Mirrors, and then sacrificed at the Temple of Eight Directions…

"Master, he…"

Pang Pang Wenlong paused slightly, his expression and tone both somewhat complicated, but he quickly gathered his thoughts and continued calmly:

"He was born with a Dao-Comprehending Physique. Any Wu Gong he cultivated, he mastered; once mastered, he refined it, and he pushed the old aside to bring forth the new, far surpassing his predecessors… He performed the sacrifice at the Temple of Eight Directions at least three times."

"Three times?"

Li Yuan glanced at Chi He Lian, who had fallen to the ground in a sitting position.

Chi He Lian's face was extremely ugly. This old fellow had hidden it from the others but brought her in—clearly nothing good.

"At least three times."

Pang Pang Wenlong wasn't entirely sure either, but he didn't dwell on the number and continued:

"Before the fall of Great Zhou, there was one. That time, he broke through the great limit of a two-hundred-year lifespan. The second was when Great Zhou fell. The third was at Tian You Pass…"

Li Yuan listened quietly, comparing it with what he had gleaned from listening, lost in thought.

"During the first great sacrifice, Master didn't say much. The second—you should have seen it before in the Eight Directions Pagoda. That great sacrifice summoned a Cloud Demon, which led to the fall of Great Zhou…"

Pang Pang Wenlong sighed:

"The third great sacrifice, atop Tian You Pass—the red sun appeared suddenly, heavenly fire fell like a tide, burning to ash the three hundred thousand troops of Gao Gao Feiqing. Master himself also vanished in that great sacrifice, his life or death unknown…"

"Life or death unknown?"

Li Yuan recalled what he had seen before while listening—a single flame had burned Pang Pang Wenlong to death countless times.

"Heavenly fire is terrifying; even Master may not have been able to withstand it."

Pang Pang Wenlong brushed past it in a single sentence and returned to himself: "A thousand years ago, this old man emulated Master in performing the sacrifice. Apart from harboring thoughts about the Temple of Eight Directions, it was also because of that Cloud Demon…"

"The one inside Wan Wan Zhuliu?"

"Correct."

Pang Pang Wenlong nodded and looked at Chi He Lian:

"I heard her say the Cloud Demon is an aberrant race from Tian Shi Yuan?"

"…Yes."

Chi He Lian answered with difficulty; she did not dare not to reply.

"According to Master, that Cloud Demon was not a living creature, but an existence similar to the strange beasts of You Jing…"

"A Guai Mo?"

Chi He Lian cried out in horror.

"A Guai Mo?"

Li Yuan's spirit jolted. This thing—he had seen it mentioned in books in Quancheng.

A Guai Mo is a strange thing formed when a powerhouse who died a violent death within You Jing was eroded by the aura of You Jing, and had no incense and offerings to sustain their life. Neither alive nor dead, their obsessions run deep, and they are extremely bizarre.

The book had mentioned a few lines, the gist being that such things were rare in the world, but once they appeared, they would stir up a storm of blood and gore, and be universally condemned by all.

"This…"

Chi He Lian was shocked in her heart, but neither of the two people in the conversation looked at her; they only spoke with each other.

"Guai Mo? That does fit rather well."

Pang Pang Wenlong nodded: "This creature cannot be killed. This old man fought it many times, and in the end could only use the great sacrifice to summon heavenly fire, intending to burn it to ash, but it clearly did not die."

"You changed your name and aged yourself to hide from this Guai Mo?"

Li Yuan was somewhat enlightened.

"Half and half. Apart from this demon, it was also because Master once said that the Temple of Eight Directions would open wide to later generations…"

After Pang Pang Wenlong finished speaking, he looked at Li Yuan, his expression shifting.

Even during those years of bitter endurance within the mural, the Star-Plucking Tower had been searching for the temple-opener in Master's prophecy; he had simply misjudged before.

"I won't hide it from you, Senior. This junior's ability to reach the mountaintop was partly luck; I truly have no confidence of entering the temple."

Li Yuan said frankly:

"This junior suspects that in the subsequent trial of entering the temple, I will inevitably encounter challengers who have previously reached the mountaintop…"

The Temple of Eight Directions was not so generous as the Divine Burial Coffin—failing the challenge costs a token. He was more inclined to alter his bone structure, gather ten thousand forms, and let his talent transform once more.

Although he didn't know whether a further transformation of talent would allow him to enter the temple directly.

But this was at least far steadier than fighting head-on.

"The trial of this Temple of Eight Directions is truly arduous."

Pang Pang Wenlong knew this well from personal experience. His ability to climb eight hundred steps relied on having comprehended the Eight Directions Diagram for a thousand years in advance. Without this advantage, let alone a thousand steps, even a hundred would have been hard to climb.

Simply put, his bone age was too great.

"Difficult."

Li Yuan sighed.

Whether the Temple of Eight Directions or the Divine Burial Coffin, neither was a trial aimed at Blood Exchange martial artists.

On the mountaintop of the Eight Directions Mountain and the stone tablets and strange rocks along the path, ninety-nine out of a hundred were He Yi Jing, Divine Palace realm, or even stronger fierce figures. A mere Blood Exchange martial artist like him was under enormous pressure.

"So, that method of yours for severing the connection between Heaven and Man—does it likely come from Tian Shi Yuan?"

Pang Pang Wenlong continued to look at him.

"Possible, but who can say what the future holds? What was seen in the Kui Shen Ritual may not be true..."

Master Li, rarely so candid, admitted that if he were forced to leave the Eight Directions Temple, he might go to Tian Shi Yuan—but only if he had the confidence and means to cross You Jing.

"What kind of means do you need?"

Pang Pang Wenlong agreed and asked.

He asked urgently; Master Li answered promptly:

"Dun Tian Zhou."

"You Jing is boundless; without a vessel, you cannot travel. Reasonable."

Pang Pang Wenlong nodded:

"And what else?"

"Huh?"

Li Yuan perked up—he understood exactly what the man meant, and climbed the ladder willingly:

"Naturally, the more, the better."

Pang Pang Wenlong looked at him, then nodded after a moment:

"Fine!"