Chapter 601: Star Fall Fire

Wooo~

On the desolate, ruined scorched earth, a faint breeze seemed to blow, and somewhere in the distance came the low, long howls of unknown strange beasts.

Under Wan Wan Zhuliu's gaze, wisps of silver light drifted up from the scorched earth, and in an instant transformed into a silver-haired old man—none other than Yun Yun Yeshan.

Yun Yun Yeshan sat cross-legged; as his form flickered in and out of sight, wisps of inextinguishable flame could faintly be seen burning.

"You and Thousand-Eyes joined forces, yet lost so miserably?"

Wan Wan Zhuliu's heart jolted. He had already known in the Eight Directions Temple that the two of them might have failed.

But he hadn't expected those two old fellows to have lost so miserably.

He was well aware that even though his Divine Palace was complete, he had no certainty of defeating those two old fellows, let alone the two of them joining hands.

Moreover, with his sharp eye, he could naturally tell that Yun Yun Yeshan's current state was extremely poor—the faint glow of fire visible on his body emanated an intensely dangerous aura.

"He's not Qin Yun!"

Yun Yun Yeshan seemed to be adjusting his breathing; thick, fiery smoke puffed from his nose and mouth:

"To cultivate the Great Sun Golden Scripture to this realm—across all ages, there is only one person…"

"Mm?"

Wan Wan Zhuliu's pupils suddenly contracted: "You mean he's Pang Pang Wenlong?!"

A man's name, a tree's shadow.

Who was Pang Pang Wenlong? As the current Martial Suppression King of the Great Fortune, how could he not know?

One of the four supreme grandmasters of all time, a heroic sovereign who pacified the chaotic age, a true monument of the martial Dao.

"No—wait. If he were still alive, why has he not shown himself in the human world for a thousand years?"

Wan Wan Zhuliu's brow twitched.

The historical records state that a thousand years ago, the Grand Ancestor Pang Pang Wenlong met with calamity and perished; the Taizong, who had been wandering among the common folk, returned to the imperial city, swept away the turmoil, and ascended the throne, giving rise to the present imperial line of the Great Fortune.

Previously he had believed this as well; now, naturally, he understood the inside story.

A thousand years ago, it was Yun Yun Yeshan who secretly struck and sabotaged Pang Pang Wenlong's great ritual, causing his sudden death. The present imperial line descended from the old man before them—or rather, from the Cloud Demon clan.

"It can't be wrong!"

Yun Yun Yeshan spread his five fingers; the fiery aura on his body gathered in his palm and transformed into a ball of radiant golden divine fire:

"A thousand years ago, when Pang Pang Wenlong held the great ritual at the Eight Directions Temple, I struck in secret and drew down heavenly fire to burn his body. I had thought his soul and spirit were long destroyed, but I never expected he was still alive!"

"Mm…"

The dragon shadow behind Wan Wan Zhuliu dissipated, and he watched the old man before him with a calm gaze:

"I need to know the full story."

"In years past, I failed my Divine Ascension within the clan and perished in You Jing. Fortunately, the clan elders erected a shrine for me, and through the vast offerings of Origin Fire, I barely avoided the destruction of my soul…"

Yun Yun Yeshan's eyes were cold and fierce, his voice low, as he recounted the events of those years.

Wan Wan Zhuliu stood with his hands at his sides, listening quietly.

It was pretty much as he had guessed.

Yun Yun Yeshan perished in You Jing, and through the clan's continual incense offerings across the long ages, he shook off his stupor and became a strange demon.

He wandered within You Jing, and over a thousand years ago was drawn here by the aura of a great incense ritual. Calculating the time, it was precisely when the previous dynasty, Great Zhou, was perishing…

"That old Daoist who called himself the Dragon Demon…"

At this point, a trace of savagery flashed across Yun Yun Yeshan's face:

"This tiny land, cut off from the outside by the Eight Directions Temple, actually gave birth to a 'Dao-Comprehending Body'—at only two hundred years of age, he actually cultivated to the Ninth Heaven of the Divine Palace!"

"What?!"

Wan Wan Zhuliu, who had been listening quietly, had his pupils contract.

What was a Heaven?

To pluck the wonders of heaven and earth, to forge a complete Divine Realm and Spirit Form with divine patterns—that counted as one Heaven, much like his own current state.

The Ninth Heaven of the Divine Palace meant that the Dragon Demon Daoist possessed the Jiu Da Shen Jing and had cultivated nine great Spirit Forms!

"A natural Dao-Comprehending Body—such a constitution, no matter which realm it is born into, would inevitably cultivate into a deity. What a pity he did not live to see the Eight Directions Temple open!" Yun Yun Yeshan calmed his heart and continued his account.

He had manifested twice, and both times been suppressed by the Dragon Demon Daoist. He brushed past this with a single sentence, seemingly unwilling to recall it.

"…The third time I caught the scent of a great incense ritual and emerged from You Jing, the world no longer held the Dragon Demon's aura…"

Upon realizing that the Dragon Demon Daoist had truly vanished, Yun Yun Yeshan acted decisively, using the great ritual to crash against the Eight Directions Temple, drawing down heavenly fire to annihilate the Pang clan.

Afterwards, he poured the essence blood of the Cloud Demon clan into the body of a down-and-out beggar, using him to replace the Great Fortune imperial house.

"And then?"

Seeing Yun Yun Yeshan pause slightly, Wan Wan Zhuliu asked.

"That Pang Pang Wenlong was indeed worthy of being the Dragon Demon's disciple—his deathbed backlash sent this old man into dormancy for a thousand years…"

Wan Wan Zhuliu narrowed his eyes slightly:

"I never expected he not only didn't die, but used the world-destroying heavenly fire of the Eight Directions Temple to cultivate a 'Heavenly Fire Spirit Form.' This old man and Thousand-Eyes were caught off guard and nearly suffered a great loss!"

After examining one by one—/p>

Yun Yun Yeshan pinched out the golden fire in his palm, but in the blink of an eye, wisps of golden flame rose around him again, scorching him until his facial skin twitched and his form flickered in and out.

"This fire…"

Wan Wan Zhuliu's gaze sharpened. When the firelight reignited, even his heart grew hot, as if it were about to be set alight by that ball of flame.

"This is the 'Star Fall Fire.'"

Yun Yun Yeshan's voice was indifferent: "It comes from the Eight Directions Temple. Legend has it that every time the Eight Directions Temple opens, it pours out endless Star Fall Fire—its light and heat are enough to burn dry the sea of stars!"

"Even deities cannot withstand it!"

"Burn dry the sea of stars?!"

As Wan Wan Zhuliu's expression shifted, Yun Yun Yeshan slowly rose to his feet, watching him coldly:

"Since the Temple Opener has appeared, the day the Eight Directions Temple truly opens is not far off. Before that, if you cannot become the Temple Opener, then—no matter you or I, or this life-bearing star of yours—all will be utterly burned to ash by the Star Fall Fire!"

"... Is that so?"

Wan Wan Zhuliu's expression flickered several times before settling into calm:

"I understand."

Whooosh~

The north wind howled, snow swirling thick and fast.

At a cliff behind Dragon Gate's main peak, Li Yuan approached at a leisurely pace, sat cross-legged at the edge, and gazed at the blizzard filling the sky. After a long while, he shook his head:

"Even with my current spiritual will I cannot directly perceive the divine patterns. No wonder the records state that only at the He Yi Jing Fa Jie can a Grandmaster martial artist glimpse such wonders."

While muttering to himself, Li Yuan switched his palm-implements—replacing the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing such as the Rift Sea Mystic Whale Hammer with two 【Divine Fire Ten-Thousand Spirits Rings (Ninth Rank)】 and a batch of bone ornaments that enhanced spirit-soul perception.

Hum~

The next instant, he felt the light and shadow before his eyes shift and interweave violently; in a momentary daze, the wind and snow before him seemed to have scattered away.

In their place were wisps of divine patterns, seeming to exist yet not.

"Magnificent."

Li Yuan's eyes shone bright.

After his perception was raised to its peak, he saw beneath the wind and snow countless divine patterns—exquisitely intricate and wondrous beyond measure. These patterns wove together and flowed, and they were this great blizzard spanning thousands of miles.

"All phenomena of heaven and earth are scenery."

Li Yuan stared at the exceedingly intricate divine patterns before him, recalling the records on fa-shu and dao-shu:

"If one could use the Yi Shen Jing as soil to contain the divine patterns before one's eyes, then use the spirit phase as a medium to outline and reproduce this great blizzard—would that count as a Yan Suan Fa?"

(End of this chapter)