Chapter 734: Ape Demon, the Planning of the Dharma Realm (Combined Chapter)

Yuan Yuan Changsheng!

Within the bronze coffin, the currents of energy churned. While the Five Dragon Immortal was still pondering who this ape demon was, the black cat gave a violent start, nearly detonating the six great Mi Jings on the spot.

"Yuan Yuan Changsheng — it's actually this demon monkey?!"

During the long ages within the Origin Treasury, the bronze coffin spirit had heard its many treasure-companions speak of the past more than once, and among them was this demon monkey named Yuan Yuan Changsheng.

Legend had it that he was an ape demon from the Origin's Sixth Era, who had apprenticed himself to no one knew whom, and cultivated a set of heaven-shaking, earth-shattering, terrifying divine abilities — so much so that he had even wished to emulate that undying Divine Phoenix and storm the Origin Divine City!

"He's actually not dead!"

The black cat's heart was filled with alarm and uncertainty; it could not fathom why its esteemed lord wished to imprison this demon monkey within the Mi Jing.

This could not possibly be a trial!

Because this demon monkey had long since achieved the Dao through an unorthodox path back in the Origin's Sixth-Seventh Era, and by virtue of his indestructible, unwearying, undying flesh, had even been stained with the blood of a Divine Marquis!

"Little Black, don't be afraid — this monkey is being suppressed."

The Five Dragon Immortal, far more composed than it, relied upon the great divine ability of the Origin's Eye, and could faintly perceive that the sealed ground had not been breached.

"But…"

The black cat suppressed its terror and watched intently, yet had already prepared itself to flee.

……

The sealed ground.

The ape demon's great laughter cut off abruptly.

Li Yuan nearly passed out from shock; even though he had swiftly cut off his outward perception, he had almost been shaken to death by that laughter.

"……"

Gazing at the feeble little thing in his palm, Yuan Yuan Changsheng fell into thought.

'Is this kid really someone the old man sent?'

Li Yuan's nonsense naturally could not fool him, because within this sealed ground, without the old man's permission, absolutely no one could enter.

Even that God King who had severed the river of time had, in those years, merely exchanged a glance with him from afar.

But this kid was far too feeble…

"……"

Li Yuan felt only that his viscera, meridians, and even his divine realm were trembling; this violent ape was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

Sensing it up close, the qi and blood within this monkey's body were simply so vigorous as to be monstrous — the slightest wisp leaking out gave him the feeling of facing the great sun itself.

Yuan Yuan Changsheng gave his hand a shake, tossed Li Yuan beneath a tree, and spoke in a hoarse voice:

"Kid, what year is it tonight? Who is it that rules the Origin Divine Court?"

"Reporting to you, senior…"

Li Yuan steadied himself and answered: "Now it is the Origin's Seventy-Third Era. The Origin Divine Court was destroyed one era ago at the hands of the Ruins-Realm Otherworld…"

While answering, Li Yuan's thoughts raced as he weighed the intelligence on 'Yuan Yuan Changsheng.'

But the history of the Origin's Seventy-Second Era was as vast as the sea; although he had read no small number of books, there was nothing in them about this violent ape.

"The Origin has been destroyed?"

Yuan Yuan Changsheng was first startled, then sneered: "Since even the realms upheld by the heavens know birth and death, naturally the Origin Divine Court too would perish. What a pity — what a pity I could not see it with my own eyes!"

As he spoke, he suddenly raised his head; Jin Guang shot from his eyes, but was blocked by the chains churning and intertwining in the void, unable to pierce through.

Yet even so, the one person and one cat within the bronze coffin were both startled, and the latter even slapped the light-screen before its eyes into extinction.

"Little Black!"

The Five Dragon Immortal frowned and rebuked it. The black cat sheepishly raised its paw, only to discover in astonishment that it could no longer sense that Di Er Mi Jing, let alone spy upon it.

"It's that monkey!"

The black cat was deeply vexed, but had already figured it out.

That monkey could not possibly have broken free; what he had done just now was merely to frighten it. The moment its qi had withdrawn, it had lost its grip on that Di Er Mi Jing.

……

"Hmph~"

Yuan Yuan Changsheng gave a cold snort, withdrew his gaze, his fangs ferocious:

"Kid, he… he sent you here for what?"

He told me to take you in!

Li Yuan naturally knew who the 'he' in this monkey's mouth was, and in his heart was also guessing at his Grandmaster's intention.

It could not be to subdue a demon — could it be that he wants me to help him break free?

Turning the thought over in his mind, Li Yuan answered honestly:

"His elder self sent me to pay my respects to you, senior…"

"Mm?"

Yuan Yuan Changsheng would never believe it, and at once bent his body down, his furry face full of savagery:

"If you dare speak another word of nonsense, I'll drag out your soul and see for myself!"

"Boom!"

This monkey is trying to intimidate me!

Li Yuan knew this clearly in his heart, but the gulf between their realms was simply too vast. He felt only the other's qi bearing down on him like a gale, while he himself was like a tiny flame.

A little more force, and it seemed his divine soul would be snuffed out.

"Then go ahead and drag it out!"

Forcibly suppressing the trembling of his divine soul, although he did not know his Grandmaster's intention, Li Yuan believed there was a very great chance the old man was watching him — how could he possibly show weakness?

"You!"

Murderous light flared in Yuan Yuan Changsheng's eyes, and he slapped down with one palm; the incomparably ferocious aura instantly froze the void, piercing straight toward the divine soul.

Li Yuan's spirit trembled, feeling an unprecedented, overwhelming terror crash over him like a tidal wave.

He was on the verge of calling out to his Master, but that ferocious killing intent abruptly vanished.

"What gall!"

In the end, Yuan Yuan Changsheng did not bring his palm down; the murderous light in his eyes receded:

"Speak, what did he send you here to do?"

Cold sweat soaked through Li Yuan's clothes, his face very unsightly:

"Subdue you!"

"Hmm?"

The corners of Yuan Yuan Changsheng's eyes lifted, his outward-jutting tusks stained with bloody light:

"Just you?!"

Yuan Yuan Changsheng was almost amused into laughter.

What kind of person was he?

The foremost demon of the Origin Era's Tenth Epoch—if not for that old man suppressing him from afar, he would surely have stood supreme in the Demon Kingdom, becoming the eternal number-one demon, surpassing even the Undying Divine Phoenix and the Prison-Suppressing Dragon King!

Such a feeble little thing that a single breath could blow him to death—how dare he spout such wild words?

These words were utterly absurd, yet Yuan Yuan Changsheng seemed to believe them; a hint of mockery flashed through his ferocious eyes:

"How do you plan to subdue me?"

"I don't know."

Li Yuan's face was black as the pot he'd once scrubbed himself.

He had previously thought his Grandmaster quite generous—transmitting a great technique just for subduing a fifth-realm ape demon. Who could have known that a great demon above the eighth realm was squatting here?

And judging by his enormous tone, throwing around terms like 'Ancient History' and 'Divine King,' he was very likely an overlord above the tenth realm.

How was he supposed to subdue him?

That old fellow was truly vicious…

"Heh heh~"

Yuan Yuan Changsheng tugged at the corner of his mouth, leaned against the tree trunk, reached out, plucked a peach, and began to eat it.

An immortal peach!

Merely catching a whiff of its fragrance, Li Yuan felt his divine realm tremble; the two Shan Xuan-teng trees, the Sword Lotus, the Dao-Nurturing Grass, and even the True Form of the Azure Dragon stirred restlessly.

At the same time, he vaguely sensed the flow of magic power within his body suddenly quicken.

'This peach can augment magic power!'

The thought flashed through Li Yuan's mind, but he couldn't very well go up and ask for one; so he simply sat down on the ground and, steeling his nerve, began murmuring the name 'Daoist Qingxuan.'

But to his disappointment, there was no response at all, as if all his previous guesses had been wrong and he had simply fallen into a perilous place.

This made his mood even worse.

"Kid, do you know who I am?"

Yuan Yuan Changsheng slowly munched his peach—an eighty-or-ninety-zhang-tall rough-hewn ape, yet he ate with such refined slowness.

"I don't know."

Li Yuan knit his brows, hesitating over whether to summon his Master.

He felt his Master would surely respond to him, but it had been less than twenty-some years since he last called out to him—was summoning him too frequently a bit hurtful to their bond?

After all, this monkey hadn't yet shown killing intent.

"You don't know?"

Yuan Yuan Changsheng was stunned, even forgetting to chew his peach: "What about the Undying Divine Phoenix?"

"One of the Ten Ancient Evils, a renowned great demon, the ancestor of all phoenixes, possessing the Gu Gu Shentong to devour heaven and earth…"

Li Yuan answered.

"What about the Prison-Suppressing Dragon King?"

"One of the Ten Ancient Evils, once a Divine King-level true dragon who suppressed the 'Heavenly Prison' for the Origin Divine Dynasty, a legendary son of the Ancestral Dragon…"

Li Yuan answered honestly.

"What about the Eternal Night Candle Dragon?"

"What about the Tun Fa Jie?"

Yuan Yuan Changsheng pressed on with successive questions.

Li Yuan answered each one in turn; he did know a fair bit about the Ten Ancient Evils, mainly because he had previously gathered intelligence on them.

"…Quite learned and well-read."

Yuan Yuan Changsheng smiled without mirth; a breath of turbid air blasted from his nostrils, and the temperature of the entire Eternal Suppression Star suddenly shot up by several dozen degrees.

"You truly don't recognize me?"

Yuan Yuan Changsheng was somewhat unwilling to give up and pressed once more.

What a vain monkey!

Li Yuan grumbled inwardly, but answered honestly all the same; he vaguely suspected this ape demon could discern the truth of his words.

"I am Yuan Yuan Changsheng!"

Yuan Yuan Changsheng crushed the immortal peach with a *snap*; juice splattered everywhere, and where it hit the ground it transformed into rolling spiritual qi that spread outward. Li Yuan drew in a deep breath, his body and spirit both warming.

"At the end of the Origin Era's Tenth Epoch, I laughed proudly over all realms; millions of great demons served under my command. I once shattered a million-strong army of the Demon-Slaying Bureau, my hands stained with the blood of a Divine Marquis; all realms trembled in horror, and even the realms of the Returning Ruins heard my name and were struck with terror…"

Yuan Yuan Changsheng's breathing grew Cu Zhong, his already crimson eyes growing ever redder.

Li Yuan decisively cut off his outward perception, and Yu Yu Xuanji saw the void tremble as a terrifyingly dreadful intent shot skyward, as if about to shatter this sealed void.

The endless divine patterns within the Eternal Suppression Star churned like tides, boiling, burning, as if the entire great prison had been activated.

"Evil creature!"

At this moment, a soft rebuke came from beyond the void.

With just that single utterance, the boiling void had already calmed; the myriad chains and countless divine patterns all vanished without a trace.

"Ancestor Master?!"

Li Yuan rose abruptly—this voice was none other than that of Daoist Qingxuan from White Bone Mountain.

He gazed into the distance, yet did not see his figure.

"Master!"

Hearing this voice, Ape Yuan Changsheng's body shook violently; golden light surged in his eyes, and he could not help but flip over and kneel: "You've, you've finally come to see me!"

"Ancestor Master!"

Li Yuan bowed in greeting, his peripheral gaze sweeping over, and saw only that Ape Yuan Changsheng's red eyes streamed tears, which struck the ground with *pat-pat* sounds.

It left him wide-eyed and tongue-tied, feeling only ashamed of his own inferiority.

"Sitting in idle meditation for so many years, yet your temperament has still not changed!"

Within the void, immortal light manifested; a Daoist rode an ox and came, yet stopped only at an extreme distance, looking at the one person and one ape upon the Eternal Suppression Star:

"Monkey, back in the day you prided yourself as unmatched in battle, yet do you know how much of that remains today?"

"I…"

Ape Yuan Changsheng's heart was both stirred and uneasy: "This disciple has sat in idle meditation through many epochs; though my Dao has gradually faded, my combat arts and martial techniques far surpass those of yesteryear. Even if a Divine King were of the same rank as me, I could fight and defeat them!"

"Is that so?"

Daoist Qingxuan noncommittally looked toward Li Yuan:

"And you, child?"

"Reporting to Ancestor Master."

Li Yuan did not even raise his head, and his tone was naturally not as boastful as the monkey's: "This disciple has only entered the Dao for a little over thirty years; my cultivation is shallow, and the ways of combat arts and martial techniques, I have only grasped a little here and there…"