Chapter 1067: Source of Despair
A bright light bloomed, and the place suddenly turned dazzling. It was a flock of Sun Birds carrying the Cyclic Astral Palace’s Chu Yang, Fu Hongyao, and their companions to this place.
A ship of flowers ringing with laughter and cheers carried a group of scantily clad girls in the prime of their youth over from the distance.
A gorgeous lady stood at the bow of the ship. She was so good-looking and charming that she could be the most beautiful woman in the world.
Although this lady’s clothes covered up all the important places, they showed off her exquisite and curvy figure. Together with her lovely face, she looked much more enticing than any of the other girls on the flower ship.
This was the Yinyang Paradise’s Holy Daughter, Tong Susu. The moment she appeared, most of the men around turned to look at her involuntarily.
Tong Susu smiled, and all the cultivators with weak willpower instantly felt like their souls had been spirited away.
However, the next group of arrivals immediately caught the attention of everyone, snatching the limelight.
A group of demonic geniuses from Myriad Fiend Island stood on a sculpture not far away, watching with interest as the two fought.
Mu Qingyun and Yan Shisan were among that number. However, the one that drew the most attention was a handsome man dressed in beast skin.
“Di Xinhan, the person from the Myriad Fiend Island with the Heavenly Spiritual Body, is out from his closed-door cultivation!”
The Heavenly Spiritual Body was a legendary physique that was far superior to those like the Thunderflame War Body.
When the two in the plaza saw the number of people coming to watch increasing, they stopped after exchanging one move.
The red-clad man stood proudly. Then, he looked at Di Xinhan and said, “Unexpectedly, you came out of closed-door cultivation as well. When are the great Fiends of Myriad Fiend Island going to arrive? Di Xinhan, you should know, right?!”
The Holy Scion of the Five Poison Sect asked the question that everyone wanted an answer to.
Di Xinhan curled his lips up in a smile and replied, “Don’t ask me. That group of seniors left Myriad Fiend Island half a year ago. Myriad Fiend Island does not have the right to restrict them, either.”
Even the Myriad-Law Fiend Master’s descendant Di Xinhan actually did not have news about the arrival time of the great Fiends. This was rather unexpected.
“Whoosh!”
Just at this moment, everyone’s expression changed. The aura of despair everywhere howled like a strong wind and surged towards a certain direction.
“This is… Someone found the source of despair!”
The endless streams of despair turned into hurricanes and surged towards the western sector of the city.
Everyone in the plaza clearly felt the aura of despair slowly ebb until it vanished.
Up in the golden war chariot, Yi Ling’s eyes lit up. He said, “The source of despair, someone apparently managed to find it. Based on the direction, it is in the Sword Mound. I wonder who found it.”
The Sword Mound, a famous Remnant in Despair City, was an ancient treasure land with more than ten thousand swords stabbed into the ground in no particular order.
There were famous swords, broken swords, treasure swords, even powerful swords.
No matter what, one could pull up only one sword from the Sword Mound. Furthermore, one had to face the combined Qi of the other swords.
When the ten thousand swords vibrated together, the resulting sword Qi could kill even a quasi-Emperor. The Sword Mound was a place filled with danger.
Furthermore, after one had been there, the Sword Mound would remember that person’s aura. If one returned, before one could get near a sword, the Sword Mound would immediately launch its attacks.
Quite a few famous swordsmen in Despair City had tried their luck there.
If one was lucky, one could pull out a treasure sword. If so, it would be worth enduring an attack on the quasi-Emperor level.
However, the Sword Mound contained swords of all sorts of quality. Many were very unlucky. Even after enduring the attack that could kill a quasi-Emperor, all they got was a broken sword.
Hence, while the Sword Mound was very famous, not many people visited it.
It was really unexpected that the source of despair was hidden in a place that everyone knew.
Yue Bingyun entered deep thought. She had heard the news of Xiao Chen being in Despair City.
He immediately came to mind when she considered who would search for the source of despair. Then, she exchanged a glance with Yi Ling. Clearly, their guesses were the same.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Figures flashed. The people of the various Immortal Holy Lands and the other outstanding talents all left together without saying a word, rushing towards the Sword Mound.
Before the great Fiends and the major characters arrived, what could attract the attention of everyone in Despair City? Naturally, it would be the source of despair.
This was a treasure that countless people had tried to find but could not for several thousand years. Now that such a treasure was about to resurface, how could anyone not feel excited?
“Come, let’s go and take a look as well!” Yi Ling’s golden war chariot set out later. However, it was not slow at all, managing to keep up with everyone.
As for the guess that Xiao Chen had found the source of despair, it was actually wrong.
--
At a broken palace, Xiao Chen was currently wandering around and looking at the walls with interest. The murals on the walls were very beautiful, showing scenes of an Immortal banquet.
The location of this banquet should be within Despair City. There were many people in the murals.
Xiao Chen observed carefully. Aside from cultivators wearing Daoist robes, he also saw many bald Buddhist monks and Confucian scholars.
Buddhists, Daoists, and Confucian scholars all chatted merrily with each other, discussing the Dao over tea. They looked very relaxed as they spoke, but they actually fought a covert battle.
[TL Note: Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism were major religions of ancient China.]
On the few complete walls, golden lotus flowers grew beneath the feet of the Buddhist monks. As they spoke, holy sounds of Buddhism turned into rainbow-colored heavenly flowers, and golden flowers bloomed everywhere.
A man who looked like a Confucian scholar waved his folding fan, his eyes sparkling with spirituality as if filled with light. As his eyes moved, that was how they looked.
As that scholarly man fanned himself, he spoke of Confucianism, reasoning right and wrong in an orderly manner. The words of right and wrong contested against the golden flowers of the Buddhist sounds.
The words of right and wrong moved up and down with the golden flowers in a wondrous scene.
The cultivator in Daoist robes stood in the center with a smile on his face while he remained silent. He did not speak of the Dao or reason anything.
However, the cultivator in Daoist robes gave off a faint sense of the great Dao without saying a word. The Dao was him, and he was the boldness of the Dao.
That was right. If Xiao Chen had to describe this cultivator in Daoist robes with one word, it would be “bold.”
It looked like the Immortal Epoch had been a very interesting time. Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism coexisted, contesting with one another. That must have been a very lively and extraordinary time.
Now, the Immortal Dao had collapsed, and reincarnation no longer existed. The Immortals were gone and the Martial Dao flourished.
The Buddhists still had people passing down their inheritance in the Martial Epoch. It was only ended by the Azure Emperor ten thousand years ago.
The Confucian sects always existed. The Heavenly Province Academy of today was an orthodox Confucian sect, having adopted all its Cultivation Techniques and Martial Techniques from Confucian Immortal Arts.
However, Confucianism was not as mighty as it had been in the past, marginalized in the world. Furthermore, the inheritances in the sect had been found by later generations and were incomplete.
If one day, after I become free, I can go to the various ancient Remnants to pursue the secrets of the Immortal Epoch, that might be interesting.
After Xiao Chen finished viewing the murals, he sighed. The Immortal Epoch had definitely been a great age that unfolded on a magnificent scale.
The world then had not been limited to just the Kunlun Realm.
No one then had dismal doubts over the question of whether there was Martial God after Prime.
All the realms and all the Magic Skill inheritances were complete.
Xiao Chen frowned, picking up the fluctuations of the aura of despair in the air. He looked towards the western sector of the city and muttered to himself, “Someone actually found the source of despair first!”
He took out the map and traced his finger over it, stopping at where the Sword Mound was in the west.
Unexpectedly, it was in the Sword Mound. However, after he thought about it, it was very possible.
There were many swords in the Sword Mound. The Despair Throne might have been refined into a sword and hidden among them. With the great formation laid below the swords and a bunch of swords of varying quality around the Despair Throne, finding it would indeed be very difficult for others.
Was this destiny that someone managed to find this sword?
If Xiao Chen guessed correctly, it was likely to be just a coincidence. Someone must have accidentally touched the treasure sword hiding this profound mystery.
A one-in-ten-thousand chance. This was a pitifully small chance. No wonder no one had managed to find the source of despair even after so many years.
With a thought, the four small birds formed by the Astral Pearls turned into beams of light and quickly returned.
The Cycle Banner unfurled, and the lights flashed, reverting into the Astral Pearls.
Someone already found the source of despair. Naturally, Xiao Chen did not need to use the Astral Pearls for Massacre, Death, Ruin, and Grief anymore.
Although it was rather surprising that someone managed to get ahead, it did not matter. The great Fiends were not here yet, and so there were no big shots.
Barring the appearance of a Martial Emperor, Xiao Chen was confident of snatching away the source of despair.
Once he was outside Despair City and on the sea, when he wore the Sea Monarch Crown and used its domain, every Small Perfection quasi-Emperor that came would die; they would not even have a chance to flee.
Xiao Chen was not even afraid of Great Perfection quasi-Emperors trying to fight with him, for these people would have to weigh the consequences of doing so.
With the domain of the Sea Monarch Crown, the distance between Xiao Chen and Great Perfection quasi-Emperor would shorten significantly.
In a fight with Great Perfection quasi-Emperors, even if he could not defeat them, he would be able to injure them severely, extracting a painful price.
Only peak Consummation quasi-Emperors would be tricky to deal with. However, as long as four or five did not appear at the same time, Xiao Chen could leave easily.
The Despair Throne was Xiao Chen’s for sure; no one could stop him.
The imperiousness of a king flashed in his eyes. Xiao Chen put on the Sea Monarch Headscarf and pushed off the ground, rushing towards the Sword Mound.
As he ran, he moved like a dragon, scattering winds and clouds.
--
At this moment, the aura of despair gathered at the Sword Mound had already become very dense, turning into black hurricanes howling in the air.
When all the outstanding talents arrived and saw the black hurricanes, they all sucked in a deep breath.
If they were swept up into these hurricanes, they would be in for a hard time. It might even trap them in a deep illusion that they could not escape.
In the desolate land filled with swords stabbed into the ground, three cultivators wearing scholarly robes revealed bitter smiles when they saw the outstanding talents that arrived.
Not much time had passed since they coincidentally found the treasure sword containing the source of despair. After they blocked a few waves of attacks from the swords, such a large group of people surrounded them.
Furthermore, the people that came were all famous and powerful, people who were not easy to deal with.
“I was wondering who could have found the source of despair. It turns out that it is the people of the Penglai Sea. Still not leaving yet? Do you think that you can take away treasures of such a level?” the red-clad Holy Son of the Five Poison Sect asked rudely.
The two cultivators at the sides revealed rage on their faces. Only the white-robed cultivator in the middle seemed unflustered. He said calmly, “Five Poison Sect? If I remember correctly, the Five Poison Sect’s Sect Master got poisoned before he became a Sovereign Martial Emperor, from his poison cultivation infusing into his marrows. If not for our master helping out, he would have died already.”
The red-clad Holy Son’s expression turned apprehensive. He exclaimed in shock, “Your master is Immortal Venerate Yun Chen?!”
The white-robed cultivator smiled and said, “That is our master. I am his third disciple, Gongshan Yu.”
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