"No! Purple Mountain is a demonic mountain. Back then, my ancestor ignored the family teachings and took the Source Heavenly Book to break into that demonic mountain. He never returned, and even the Source Heavenly Book was lost..."
Grandpa Zhang Wu truly did not want Lin Yu to lose his life.
"That's right, Brother Yang. Once, when Grandpa Zhang Wu got drunk, he wept bitterly and said that place was inauspicious, that it seemed to be connected to some ancient Great Emperor." A youth named Wang Shu also tried to dissuade him from the side.
"It's fine. I'll just look around outside. I won't go in." Lin Yu reassured him.
"Besides, going to Purple Mountain is a mission assigned by our Sect Master Supreme." As he spoke, he took out a token.
The front of the token bore the two large characters "Holy King," along with a totem of gods blessing an ancient heaven, radiating a holy, radiant aura. The reverse was engraved with a Divine Elephant suppressing the demons of hell, grand and majestic, exuding authority.
Strictly selected by the sect master, absolutely authentic!
Filled with helplessness, Grandpa Zhang Wu could not stop Lin Yu. He could only sigh faintly, turn around, and walk into the house.
Not long afterward, he laboriously carried out a chest and slowly opened it. Inside lay a stone garment pieced together from stone slabs. It was plain and unadorned, folded neatly within.
There were also several stone pendants, a stone knife, and a stone astrolabe, all carefully carved from the old skin of divine source. At first glance, none appeared particularly extraordinary.
Grandpa Zhang Wu slowly explained that these had all been left behind by his ancestor a thousand years ago. They possessed considerable spirituality and could ward off unclean things.
After saying that, he took out paper and brush and carefully drew a map, marking out a simple route upon it.
"Follow this Dragon Vein due east. This is the old route my ancestor once took, so it should be relatively safer.
"Then descend through the abandoned mine. There is a dragon path there. After that, you will have to explore the rest of the way yourself." Grandpa Zhang Wu patiently instructed him.
"If you truly encounter danger, turn back immediately. I imagine your sect master will not be overly harsh on you." The old man's voice was full of concern.
"Thank you for your guidance, sir. Take this token. If disciples of the Holy King Sect ever come here to recruit Immortal Seeds, remember to show it to them. For the token's sake, they will surely treat you favorably."
Lin Yu handed the token to the old man, then turned into a streak of light and sped away. As for the treasures in the stone village, only the petrified Undying Medicine was of any use, so he left it for the younger generations of the village.
Following Grandpa Zhang Wu's map, Lin Yu continued onward. However, rather than wearing the stone garment Grandpa Zhang Wu had given him, he held the Leaving Fire Divine Furnace over his head.
This treasure was also a famous weapon. It could basically match anyone blow for blow. Lin Yu could now pinch it out of shape with his bare hand, but it could still trade blows with weapons of great powers, and it would not cower even before a holy weapon.
Although the deity within it was missing, Lin Yu used the Hell Furnace as its core to control the Leaving Fire Divine Furnace. The power it unleashed was still far beyond anything the minor monsters along the way could challenge.
Along the way, he passed through Dragon Veins, descended abandoned mines, walked dragon paths, suppressed demon bats, and passed the memorial wall of Great Emperor Wushi. At last, he arrived at the "Yin-Yang Eyes."
Before him stood two bottomless caverns. From one, spiritual energy surged into the sky, while source energy poured upward like a rolling flood. Yet bones were piled all around it, and those bones had all turned to fossils.
The other was filled with Fiendish Qi, its sharpness more terrifying than the fiercest sword light in the world. Yet its surroundings gleamed with brilliance, covered in source stones. The two caverns stood extremely close together. Around them was utter stillness, without any sign of life.
The two places formed a pattern of yin bearing yang and yang bearing yin, like a naturally formed Tai Chi Diagram. At times, Fiendish Qi erupted forth; at times, lone yang emerged; at times, lone yin remained; and sometimes both erupted at once.
The scattered bones around them had all been left by powerful cultivators who had attempted to cross this place. Lin Yu also discovered a jade pendant engraved with the two characters "Jade Lake."
Staring at these Yin-Yang Eyes, Lin Yu wondered whether he could use the Hell Furnace to drain them dry and thereby break this unique terrain.
"Forget it. Leaving them here to guard the gate isn't bad either."
Lin Yu then activated the Leaving Fire Divine Furnace and unleashed a blaze, shoving the two giant eyeballs aside before strolling through.
After passing the Yin-Yang Eyes, he reached the end of the ancient mine. A purple stone wall blocked the way ahead. Nurtured by the Dragon Vein for ages, this stone wall had developed a trace of spirituality and could restore itself automatically.
"What a fine 'all-you-can-eat buffet.' The 'flavor' is just a little bland." Lin Yu dug down part of the stone wall and tossed it into the Hell Furnace for refinement, only to discover that it yielded little essence.
Then, using the Leaving Fire Divine Furnace, he broke through the stone wall and finally stepped into Purple Mountain itself.
Green jade paved the steps here, while white jade formed the gateways. The surroundings were utterly silent.
After proceeding only a short distance, Lin Yu suddenly saw several lines carved into the purple stone wall.
"Divine King Jiang Taixu accidentally entered the demonic mountain and decided to investigate it!"
"Rogue cultivator Li Mu visited the demonic mountain."
There was another line of delicate writing: "Jade Lake Holy Maiden Yang Yi entered the demonic mountain in search of Zhang Lin, leaving this behind before entering."
There were around thirty such lines, all left by people from different eras who had come to explore Purple Mountain and become lost here. Lacking the crucial Emperor Jade of the Beginningless, they could enter but could not leave. Aside from Jiang Taixu, all of them had perished here.
After all, this was the training ground of Great Emperor Wushi. An emperor's majesty was sacred and inviolable; not just anyone could trespass here at will.
The final line read: "Zhang Jiye, descendant of Source Heavenly Master Zhang Lin, left this before entering the emperor's mountain."
"So this must be Grandpa Zhang Wu's ancestor. In that case, I should not be far from finding the Source Heavenly Book." Lin Yu thought.
Just then, Lin Yu suddenly sensed a demonic summons, as though it were trying to lure him deeper into Purple Mountain.
"That old Undying Heavenly Sovereign's subordinates are still restless even after being suppressed and sealed!"
Unfortunately for them, a little golden figure suppressed his Sea of Consciousness. Forget a few of the Undying Heavenly Sovereign's subordinates—even if he came in person, he likely could not do anything to Lin Yu.
Thinking back to the Crocodile Ancestor, he had once been magnificent and overwhelmingly powerful. Yet because he did not understand the dangers of the world and insisted on barging into Lin Yu's Sea of Consciousness, he had been utterly annihilated. That showed just how difficult it was to shake Lin Yu's mind.
"Leaving Fire Divine Furnace..." A weak voice drifted over, followed by a question. "Are you... a descendant of my Jiang family?"
"Uh, I consider myself a Descendant of Yan and Huang, but I honestly don't know whether your Jiang family still recognizes the Emperor Yan?" Lin Yu asked in return.
He found it rather amusing. He wondered what the Jiang family would think upon seeing him. Would they regard him as a blood-related compatriot, a poor distant relative, or some petty person trying to bask in the glory of an Archaic Desolate Family?
However, considering what later happened to Ye Fan, it was clear that these Archaic Desolate Families were mostly rotten to the core. Even Ye Fan had once sighed, "It's not easy being the Ji family's son-in-law."
The Jiang family was much the same. Once Jiang Taixu vanished, his branch was suppressed. Jiang Yi betrayed the Jiang family and became a great bandit of the Northern Region, while Jiang Tingting's ancestors had also wandered as far as the Yan Kingdom.
Only the suppression of an imperial weapon, along with the occasional emergence of some sealed old ancestor, allowed them to barely keep up appearances.
Thanks to boss Kong | Shen for the monthly pass!
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