Chapter 688: Heavenly Sound Creation, the Yellow Ape Enters the Chamber (Combined Chapter)

"Damned cursed bird!"

In a wasteland-like stretch of barren mountains, Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi was too lazy to even brush the dust off himself. He stared blankly at the eerie battleground flickering in and out of view outside the cave.

As a Seeker of the Hidden, he had never in his wildest dreams imagined that one day he would feel nothing but disgust at the sight of an eerie realm.

"What are you screaming about!"

Deep inside the cave, Wang Shan Xuan, who had only half a body left, was breathing and circulating qi to heal his wounds. Hearing the shout, his face twisted with disgust:

"If you hadn't insisted on staying, how would we have ended up in this state?"

At the mention of it, Wang Shan Xuan wanted to slap this fat Daoist Priest to death. If he had had his way, after getting that huge bounty, he would have gone back to Tian Shi Yuan to refine his arts and cultivate.

But this fatty just had to be greedy, dragging him along to watch the battle. In the end, they got no benefit and were swallowed whole by that Blood Phoenix, ending up in this godforsaken place.

"... Old Wang, you'd better just focus on healing."

Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi gave an awkward, placating smile: "Plenty of cultivators got swallowed by that Blood Phoenix and brought here. Once your wounds are better, we'll try to get in touch with them. We might still be able to escape this damned place."

"... Escape?"

Wang Shan Xuan looked out of the cave.

Less than a thousand miles away, two eerie realms were clashing and fighting. One was a Sword Tomb bristling with broken swords; the other was a violently erupting volcano.

A torrent formed of hundreds upon hundreds of flying swords was locked in a brutal slaughter with hundreds upon hundreds of blazing eerie beasts.

And collisions and fights like these were everywhere in this damned place. They themselves had been caught in the crossfire of two fourth-realm eerie realms colliding. Further out, there were plenty of fifth-realm eerie realms too.

"How do we escape?"

Wang Shan Xuan tugged at the corner of his mouth: "How about you give it a try? See if you can perform a sacrifice here. Maybe you'll even get admitted into the Weitian Dao Sect!"

"I..."

Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi knew he was in the wrong and was about to speak when he suddenly heard a high, resonant dragon's roar.

"Ao~"

Black fog rolled like thunderclouds, the dragon's roar fierce and violent.

The two followed the sound and looked up. Above the long sky, black clouds hung dense, and a third-realm black dragon rampaged through the air. Dark clouds churned behind it, hiding who knew how many demonic shadows and Dao soldiers within.

At first glance, it looked like a world-shaking demon lord on the move.

"That's a spell!"

Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi nearly leaped to his feet. Eerie beasts and spells looked similar but were different. In one glance, he recognized that the black dragon was a spell, and the one on the dragon's back was...

"A demonic cultivator!"

Wang Shan Xuan's half body shot up, and he immediately pressed the fat Daoist Priest to the ground, his face Solemn as he stared outside the cave.

He saw the dark clouds formed by countless demonic shadows and Dao soldiers blot out the sky, even engulfing the two great eerie realms locked in battle—both eerie beasts and eerie soldiers alike.

Once wrapped in that black fog, they instantly vaporized and vanished. When they reappeared, they had already been assimilated into one demonic shadow after another.

"This Mo Gong is way too ferocious..."

Wang Shan Xuan felt his eyelids twitch wildly, and the next instant, his face went rigid:

"We're done for..."

Even from a thousand miles away, he felt the gaze from within those black clouds.

"That Blood Phoenix sure swallowed a lot of cultivators."

Li Yuan squinted slightly. He was always an overthinker, and something felt off to him.

But he didn't much care. The Xing Xing Tongyou Corridor was behind him; if anything went wrong, he could just pull out and leave.

Yu Yu Xuanji, Li Yuan looked toward the eerie-realm battlefield wrapped in black fog. Within that Sword Tomb, he sensed an aura strikingly similar to the Shan Xuan Light Sword.

"If I'm lucky, I might get a sword-path spell at the full-law forbidden level. As for that volcano eerie realm, there just might be a Wu Xing Fa spell I need..."

At a thought, Li Yuan transformed into fog and moved. The black dragon let out a long cry and was already pouncing to the kill.

The ninth layer of the Opening Gui Xu, Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan Mountain.

Leaning against the door of his own little temple, Xuandaozi gazed into the distance. As far as his eyes could see, wisps and strands of incense offerings gathered together, shrouding temples great and small like a sea of clouds.

With his cultivation at the peak of the fourth realm, he could look out and still be unable to calculate just how many temples there were here.

He only knew that these countless temples were arranged from bottom to top with strict hierarchy. The lowest were where registered disciples resided; above them were where auditing disciples like himself stayed.

And above that, there were still a great many temples.

The highest point he could see with the full stretch of his vision was a row of great temples wreathed in Jin Guang—those were where the Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan Vajras resided. Above them, perhaps, was where the Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan Bodhisattva dwelled?

"Auditing disciple..."

Taking a deep breath, Xuandaozi closed the temple door, sat cross-legged in meditation, and began to peruse a scripture-grade Gong Fa he had exchanged for with the Yuan Fire he had accumulated over the years.

"White Bone Bodhisattva Contemplation."

Just as Xuandaozi was about to begin comprehending this method, he suddenly felt something stir within him. He rose and opened the door, only to find the great Monk who had guided him into the sect and then never shown himself again.

"Senior Brother Master Lingji."

Xuandaozi bowed and invited him into the temple.

"It's been over three years. Has junior brother had any insights?"

Monk Master Lingji stepped slowly into the temple, and only after the latter poured him tea did he speak.

"Life at Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan Residence is no easy matter."

Xuandaozi guessed at the purpose of his visit in his heart, but on his face he let out a long sigh—and it was the truth from his heart.

Was life at Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan Residence merely not easy?

Six Xiao Gong a year—if one were a Yi Er Jing cultivator, that would be fine. But for him, this bit of Shan Gong was far from enough, and everywhere in this Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan temple required Shan Gong.

This was a tremendous gap from the Weitian Dao Sect he had imagined.

"Junior brother has the Tianli Sect to rely on; compared to the other junior brothers, you're already far better off."

Monk Master Lingji lifted his teacup.

The Tianli Sect…

Xuandaozi's eye twitched, but he wouldn't expose his own shortcomings, so he turned and asked:

"If Senior brother has something to say, please speak plainly."

"Earn Shan Gong."

Monk Master Lingji was concise.

"Mm?"

Xuandaozi frowned slightly, his heart instantly rising with vigilance, yet his face looked quite tempted: "Senior brother, please go on?"

"Does junior brother still remember that Blood Phoenix?"

Monk Master Lingji seemed to know of his wariness, and set down his teacup: "Does junior brother know who struck that Blood Phoenix into demonic deviation?"

"Mm?"

Xuandaozi's heart jolted; that Blood Phoenix's demonic deviation was still an unsolved mystery in Tian Shi Yuan to this day.

"It was under the Bodhisattva's seat, the previous generation's True Disciple senior brother—Senior Brother Master Fanjing."

Monk Master Lingji didn't make him guess either, and calmly narrated: "Senior Brother Master Fanjing comprehended a volume of an ancient secret scroll, and from it discerned a method to reverse-refine the bloodline of the Undying Divine Phoenix…"

"This…"

Recalling the massive wound on the Blood Phoenix's chest and belly, Xuandaozi felt a chill run down his spine; by the time he came back to himself, he had already heard Monk Master Lingji's words:

"Senior brother, you…"

Shock and fury surged in his heart; he wished he could hack off his own ears. That old bald donkey harbored ill intent—how could he tell him something like this?

"The bloodline of the Blood Phoenix clan originates from one of the Ten Ancient Evils, the Undying Divine Phoenix. But if one wants to obtain true Divine Phoenix blood, not just any Blood Phoenix will do…"

Monk Master Lingji paused briefly:

"I've come this time wanting junior brother to make a trip into that Blood Phoenix's belly, and retrieve what Senior Brother Master Fanjing needs…"

"Senior brother!"

Xuandaozi felt his hair stand on end, and wanted to refuse, but seeing Monk Master Lingji's calm gaze, he swallowed the words back down.

"Junior brother need not be angry with me. Though this matter does carry some danger, if it's accomplished, the San Bai Da Gong senior brother promised— you and I can split it!"

"Junior brother has also been in the sect for several years now; you must understand what Da Gong is, yes?"

Monk Master Lingji lifted his teacup again and took a sip.

That damned old Wang Ba!

Xuandaozi felt not the slightest bit of joy; a chill rose straight up within him. San Bai Da Gong would be enough to hire someone to assassinate a deity!

But he could only grit his teeth and agree:

"May I ask senior brother, what should junior brother do?"

"The bloodline of the Undying Divine Phoenix is only born between life and death… For certain other reasons, the number of living beings that Blood Phoenix has devoured is, alas, not quite enough."

Monk Master Lingji paused, a shadow flashing through his eyes.

If not for someone from that tiny backwater having entered the Weitiandao Sect, swallowing that life-star whole—who knows, he might have already completed Senior Brother Master Fanjing's task by now.

But…

He didn't even dare think that name. Monk Master Lingji paid no heed to Xuandaozi's increasingly ugly expression, and said Longhu Longhu Dandan:

"Bring more cultivators; those who have cultivated Wu Xing Fa magic power are to be prioritized…"

"……"

Xuandaozi was silent for a moment, having cursed that old bald donkey countless times in his heart, before saying:

"The Wind God clan is also a great clan."

Monk Master Lingji laughed at that, but still nodded: "Junior Brother Feng Feng Wu Ding naturally has to go as well."

……

……

"The potential of Ying Mo Shen is truly astonishing."

On the Qi-Gathering Platform, having finished today's Xing Gong cultivation, Li Yuan stuffed several dozen second-realm demons into his mud pellet, then gathered his thoughts and sorted through the gains from Ying Mo Shen.

Even though he prioritized steadiness, the harvest from Ying Mo Shen was enormously great. Not to mention several complete high-grade forbidden spells, his magic power had also transformed to the mid-grade tier.

"That Blood Phoenix is a bit off somehow—how did it fall into demonic deviation before its Dharma Heaven was fully eroded…"

Li Yuan mulled it over in his heart, but didn't pay it much heed, only raising a measure of caution.

"Hah!"

Letting out a long breath that scattered the clouds and mist on the platform, Li Yuan returned to his small courtyard. After his usual meal, he took out his Inner Disciple token and went to the Scripture Pavilion to exchange for two True Form Charts, along with ninety-eight miscellaneous books of various kinds.

Over these past few years, apart from those dozen-plus days observing the Dharma Heaven, he had gone to the Scripture Pavilion almost every day to borrow the full daily quota of one hundred books.

"The Azure Dragon and the Fire Phoenix—these two True Forms don't even belong to the category of fierce beasts."

Li Yuan's mind stirred, and he began visualizing the Azure Dragon True Form Chart. Without the corresponding Palm Control boost, his progress was fairly gradual—the speed appropriate for a normal divine-demon-grade talent.

"More than ten times slower, and that's with the Green Emperor Longevity Scripture already cultivated. Switching to the Fire Phoenix True Form Chart, it would probably be even slower… A pity, I can't get my hands on the corresponding Palm Control spirit treasure."

Multitasking, Li Yuan visualized the True Form Chart while opening his Tongji Ball and tapping into the Grand Void Marketplace, which he only opened occasionally.

Buzz~

Starlight wove through his eyes, and faintly visible were numerous stalls constantly shifting.

"Fire Phoenix True Form Chart."

The thought arose in Li Yuan's mind; he felt his vision pause briefly, then Yu Yu Xuanji the starlight vanished entirely—clearly no shop in Tian Shi Yuan would sell a True Form Chart of this caliber.

The Azure Dragon True Form Chart, and other True Form Charts corresponding to the Five Extremes Scriptures, were likewise unavailable. Related spirit treasures did exist, but beyond the inflated prices, it was very hard to tell genuine from fake.

"Tian Shi Yuan has none, so the San Yuan Fa Jie realms likely have none as well... The Profound Heaven Divine Realm seems to encompass everything, but truly good things basically do not circulate here."

"I wonder if, among the disciples of the Wei Tian Dao Sect, besides the Heavenly Lord's lectures, there are any other gatherings?" Li Yuan flipped through the records of the Profound Heaven Market indifferently; after a long time with no results, he casually closed it.

"Voom~"

In the next instant, he entered the Space of the Weapon Holder.

The gray stone platform appeared quite empty, with only various Ling Yin echoing. Li Yuan sorted through them; after the advancement of the Hand Sound Talisman, the quality of the Ling Yin had improved, but there was nothing that interested him.

"Should I try listening to the Heavenly Sound?"

Li Yuan glanced at the Ling Yin Wood Talisman; the number of times listening to the Heavenly Sound had accumulated to twenty-two.

"Let's try listening once."

Voom~

Li Yuan shifted his thought, and water-like ripples instantly enveloped the entire stone platform.

In that instant, he heard countless noises; having the experience from last time, he perceived them slightly and then cut off his perception of these noises.

"Mu Mu Xiantian, Mu Mu Xiantian, Mu Mu Xiantian..."

Li Yuan's thoughts jumped violently, attempting to influence the direction of listening to the Heavenly Sound.

In the next instant, he felt darkness before his eyes; immediately, the flowing light carrying him faded away, and a scene of violent transformation interwove and outlined itself before his eyes.

"Mount Mount Dongxuan!"

In the instantaneous transformation of light and shadow, Li Yuan saw Mount Mount Dongxuan, but above the thousand steps it was shrouded in mist, impossible to see clearly, with only the outline of a bamboo forest faintly visible.

Immediately, the light and shadow transformed multiple times.

After the flow speed slowed, Li Yuan's gaze sharpened, and he saw a familiar scene.

"Is this Bei Chen Fa Jie?"

Looking at the starry sky covered in meteorites, Li Yuan instantly thought of the scene he glimpsed during the heavenly tribulation last time, when Yu Yu Wangxian slaughtered the Nightmare Nine-Headed Serpent.

But his thoughts only turned for an instant before the light and shadow stretched rapidly toward that boundless land.

Bei Chen Fa Jie.

One of the alternate dimensions deep within the Gui Xu; though it could not compare to the great realms like Shan Xuan Huang, Wu Shen, or Tian Mo, it had once invaded the Present World during the Ancient Era.

During the Ninth Era of the Origin Divine Dynasty, the Wei Tian Dao Sect opened the Gui Xu, almost shattering the Heart of Heaven of this realm; it was only blocked by the Wu Shen Fa Jie that it was not fully opened.

But since then, it gradually fell into becoming one of the ten thousand small realms under the jurisdiction of the Wu Shen Fa Jie.

Through the eras, there have been no shortage of disciples from the Wei Tian Dao Sect coming here to train; sometimes someone gains fortune and breaks through a realm, and sometimes someone perishes here, becoming food for the cultivators of this realm.

Voom~

As Li Yuan's mind processed the various information about Bei Chen Fa Jie, the light and shadow before his eyes gradually stabilized.

The sky is high, the clouds are faint, the great sun is broken into three pieces...

A corner of the sky curtain cracked, and the nine layers of strong wind from the heavens poured down, transforming on the earth into a desolate area of immense size, where the strong wind raged and the land was full of scars.

Outside the desolate area was a city that was almost abandoned, with few people.

The light and shadow finally landed on a pavilion just outside the city, almost situated within the desolate area; inside, a monk and a Taoist sat playing chess.

The monk had a waxen yellow complexion, was shriveled and thin, and wore a dark yellow cassock; the Taoist had a ruddy complexion, was tall, and carried an ancient long sword on his back.

As the two played chess, the Taoist suddenly sighed, and it was actually in the Origin Divine Script:

"Nilo, Qin Si is dead, killed by the people of the Da Luo Tian Gate at Yu Yu Wangxian; that Refining Demon and Heaven-Slaying Sword was too fierce..."

"The Mu Mu Xiantian Dao Body, the Refining Demon and Heaven-Slaying Sword, the Qian Yang Wu Ji Dao; the three gathered in one person. Among those of the same realm, I fear only the destined person of a great realm could kill him. Qin Si..."

The monk called Nilo had a blank expression, as if already accustomed to it, but speaking of the end, killing intent still surged inevitably in his eyes.

Qin Si was his closed-door disciple.

"This grudge must have a time for revenge."

The sword-bearing Taoist suddenly placed a piece, smashing the chessboard to pieces; his eyes were sharp: "The Supreme Ones of the nine realms of Gui Xu... I hear the Pantheon is about to reopen; at that time..."

"I will surely kill into the Present World and exterminate all the people of the Da Luo Tian Gate!"

"So what? The three Dao Lords have not appeared in the world for over a hundred thousand years; even if we counterattack the Wei Tian Dao Sect, we are merely pawns."

The Nilo monk picked up a chess piece and sighed deeply:

"Lie low! Wait until the three Dao Lords heal their Dao injuries, wait until the 'destined person of the Heart of Heaven' grows up; only then will it be the time for us to counterattack the Present World!"

"Has he not yet cultivated the Law of Heaven?"

The sword-bearing Taoist exhaled a long breath: "My limit is approaching; I cannot wait! I would rather die in the Present World than be unwilling to sit and pass away like this!"

The Nilo monk was silent for an instant, about to respond, when his expression suddenly changed drastically:

"Not good, 'Qian' has left the realm!"

"What?!"

Boom!

What was last presented in the light and shadow was sword qi of extreme sharpness.

The light and shadow dispersed.

Li Yuan looked at the Ling Yin Wood Talisman; various information on it churned violently:

"... The cultivators of Bei Chen Fa Jie all wish to kill into the Present World, and there are always cultivators breaking through the realm and escaping into the Present World..."

"... Among the nine realms of Gui Xu, there seems to be a supreme treasure named 'Pantheon'; the destined persons of the various realms seem related to it..."

"... There are three Dao Lords in Bei Chen Fa Jie hidden in an unknowable place; their life or death is unknown..."

The text on the Ling Yin Wood Talisman churned; it was not just the conversation of the two people, but also various secrets within it.

【…It is said that the Heaven's Heart of Bei Chen Fa Jie was flawed…many years ago, three reclusive Dao Lords struck together, and through that flaw, drew the Heaven's Heart into the world, transforming it into 'Qian'…】

【The Heaven's Heart is the convergence of a realm's laws, nurtured by the Great Dao…】

【To swallow it is to reverse the acquired into the innate】

"The Heaven's Heart entering the world!"

Seeing this, Li Yuan's heart could not help but tremble; he knew this was the greatest harvest of this Heavenly Sound.

"Qian…then the person in whom the Heaven's Heart entered the world, left Bei Chen Fa Jie?"

Li Yuan was shocked within.

Shocked both that such a thing as the Heaven's Heart entering the world existed, and that such a thing, with its Great Dao yet unformed, would dare to privately leave the place that sheltered it?

"Or is it to say, there was a reason it had to flee?"

Li Yuan's thoughts scattered slightly, but this did not delay his sorting of the Listening Sound information; in fact, he stopped his random Listening Sound and instead specified 'Treasure Sound.'

"…At a gloomy seaside, a raincoat-clad old fisherman abruptly departed, actually forgetting to take his fish basket…much later, wisps of treasure light leaked out…"

The first wisp of treasure light, the raincoat-clad old fisherman reappeared; Li Yuan only glanced at it and skipped past — as a seasoned angler, this trap was far too obvious.

The Finger Sound wooden register had improved greatly; though it consumed more incense offerings, several items within it caught Li Yuan's attention.

For instance, spirit treasures and ancient scrolls related to the True Form Diagram of the Fire Phoenix.

But after listening over a hundred times, no Listening Sound related to that 'Qian' appeared.

"The Heaven's Heart entering the world — such treasures likely cannot be divined; otherwise, given the cultivation of that monk and that Daoist, they would not have lost sight of it."

Li Yuan was not disappointed, merely recording every piece of Listening Sound information one by one.

"Let me try listening to the Heavenly Sound again!"

Li Yuan's mind shifted, and he listened to the Heavenly Sound two more times in succession.

But these two times, his intense will could not influence the direction of the Heavenly Sound; both were unrelated to 'the innate.'

The first Heavenly Sound dropped him at a gloomy, lightless seaside, where he saw a fish basket whose treasure light was brighter than the sun, and a fierce, bloody struggle over it.

Then afterward, a fishing line descended from the sky, dragging the hard-won victor cultivator into the void, while the fish basket remained in place, its treasure light dazzling.

Watching this battle as a bystander, Li Yuan only felt his hair stand on end.

The treasure light of that fish basket was clearly an extremely terrifying great divine ability; all who glimpsed this light seemed to lose their spiritual intelligence, madly snatching and slaughtering each other.

The second Heavenly Sound fell upon a desolate, ruined scorched earth — a Six-Realm eerie land that had just transformed because its incense offerings had been extinguished, situated deep within the Ruins of Return.

Li Yuan recorded each one in his heart and ended the listening of the Heavenly Sound.

……

"Boom!"

The barren mountain shattered; a violent black ape leaped into the sky, and between its eyes fierce light burst forth — wherever the ray passed, the heavens and the earth seemed to be sliced apart.

"Truly ferocious!"

Li Yuan urged the Sky Peng Dun Fa to evade.

After forging the Divine Palace, Li Yuan did not rush to charge at the Combat Ranking, but instead entered the Weitian Martial Arena and chose the Yellow Ape as his opponent.

Unlike last time when he was crushed in just a few moves, this time he dealt with it noticeably more easily; even though the Shan Xuan Ape raged and unleashed every spell in full, it could not take him down.

"Time to bring out the second spirit form, right?"

Li Yuan weaved and shifted, relying on his protective shroud and Tenfold Heavy Armor to successively block several strikes, when he heard a rather familiar high-pitched cry — and then, the sky went dark.

A massive Kun that blotted out the entire combat arena stretched across the long heavens; then, as if the Heavenly River had burst its banks, Shan Xuan Gang Zhong water poured down in torrents.

"His second spirit form is the Kun Peng!"

Wielding the Sky Peng Dun Fa, Li Yuan leaped into the air, simultaneously activating the Dark-Gloomy Protective Shroud — he only heard a 'Boom' as the Black Emperor Shan Xuan Ape plunged through, blasting apart the protective shroud.

At the same time, Shan Xuan Gang Zhong water covered the entire combat arena like a curtain of rain; countless droplets heavier than mountains surged and clashed amid thousands of air-blast sounds.

No way to evade!

Li Yuan activated the Tenfold Heavy Armor once more; simultaneously, behind him mist surged, and the Jin Chi Peng bird let out a high-pitched cry, then plunged forth, ramming the Black Emperor Shan Xuan Ape at extreme speed.

"Boom!"

In less than an instant, the Jin Chi Peng bird had already shattered with a thunderous crash, no match for the Black Emperor Shan Xuan Ape bolstered by at least nine spells — but after its shattering, ten thousand rays of golden light shot forth, forcibly beating back the Shan Xuan Ape.

"Roar!"

Almost simultaneously, Li Yuan's heart turned cold; he whipped his head around to see, from beneath the earth, an Azure Dragon bursting from the soil, like a tree springing up from the ground —

The instant the dragon's roar exploded, it had already swallowed him, along with this stretch of void, into its maw.

"Azure Dragon True Form!"

In the instant when evasion was impossible and dodging was impossible, a long vine that had coiled around Li Yuan's waist at some unknown time suddenly exerted force, yanking him out of the dragon's mouth.

"Bang!"

Before Li Yuan had even landed, a dark, heavy great bell had already descended from the sky to cover him; the Black Emperor Shan Xuan Ape stood atop the great bell and let out a violent, shrill shriek.

Body-Fixing spell!

"Pfft!"

With no way to evade, Li Yuan's body exploded on the spot; relying on the Shan Xuan Teng Tree to block this strike, he then felt his whole body tighten as a black snake coiled tightly around him.

A Shan Xuan Tortoise swayed its body, and the Shan Xuan Gang Zhong water surging everywhere had already pierced through this entire space.

"Shan Xuan Wu!"

Exiting the Tongshi Sphere, though still defeated, Li Yuan was not affected; instead, he felt his progress had been tremendous.

"Shan Xuan Ape, Kun Peng, Azure Dragon, Shan Xuan Wu — he has also cultivated wood arts?"

Li Yuan reviewed the battle in his heart, feeling he had gained quite a harvest; just as he was pondering, the Tongshi Sphere trembled lightly, and upon opening it, the voice of Fayin Fayin Tongzi came through:

"Someone called Yellow Ape has been promoted to an inner disciple — he has refined a first-grade Jin Dan!"

(End of this chapter)