Desolate Hall.
Chen Zhen and Wu Dao looked at each other in confusion after hearing Ying Xuanzi's words. What did he mean, the young sect master had reached an agreement with the Great Desolation Tablet?
And could let three people comprehend the Great Desolation Scripture?
Was that something one could negotiate?
Wu Dao could not help saying, "Sect Master, if you said the young sect master could comprehend it, I'd believe you. But you're saying he got the Great Desolation Tablet to teach it directly to the three of them. Isn't that a little too much like child's play?"
Gu Mo knew Fang Yi had some connection to the Great Desolation Tablet, and naturally, so did they. But as far as they were concerned, that connection should have been limited to Fang Yi and the tablet.
To say Fang Yi could make the Great Desolation Tablet let others master the Great Desolation Scripture sounded a little too absurd.
"That's what he told me."
Ying Xuanzi also thought it sounded unreliable, but had there been any shortage of unbelievable things happening to Fang Yi?
He even knew about the Ice Master and the Lord of Life and Death, as well as the Yimo King suppressed beneath the Great Desolation Tablet.
Since he could refine the Yimo King's power, it was quite natural that he could reach an agreement with the Great Desolation Tablet.
It was just that these matters were not suitable to discuss with Chen Zhen and Wu Dao.
Only he, Fang Yi, and Ying Huanhuan could know about them. Even with Ying Xiaoxiao, he had to consider whether to tell her.
After all, the Dao Sect was now like someone sitting on a volcano that could erupt at any moment.
It was not that he did not trust Wu Dao and Chen Zhen, but what if something went wrong?
If anyone let slip a word of these matters and someone with ulterior motives heard, a calamity that could blot out the heavens would descend upon the Dao Sect.
Chen Zhen and Wu Dao exchanged a glance, each seeing the doubt in the other's eyes. Just as they were about to ask something else, Gu Mo walked into the hall with his hands behind his back.
"Senior Brother."
Chen Zhen and Wu Dao bowed in unison. Gu Mo bowed to Ying Xuanzi, then said, "I believe the young sect master. It's only this year's quota being used up. So be it."
"After all, in all these years since Senior Brother Zhou Tong, no one else has mastered the Great Desolation Scripture. Only the young sect master has done it, and now he's proposed a method."
"You two keep asking this and that. Could it be that you're greater geniuses than the young sect master, or that you know the Great Desolation Tablet better?"
"Or are you saying even this old man can't be allowed to comprehend it?"
Chen Zhen and Wu Dao smiled bitterly. "Senior Brother, you're taking it too seriously. Of course you can."
"Then that settles it. Listen to the young sect master from now on."
"Some geniuses are beyond your understanding, just like Senior Brother Zhou Tong back then."
Gu Mo's voice grew somewhat heavy. At the mention of that name, even Chen Zhen and Wu Dao fell silent.
"And the young sect master is an even greater genius, even more gifted than Senior Brother Zhou Tong. You cannot understand him."
"All you need to do is follow him."
"Understood."
No matter how many questions Chen Zhen and Wu Dao still had, they could no longer ask them.
They might have been the Hall Master and Deputy Hall Master of the Desolate Hall, but Gu Mo was the foundation they could rely on.
Even Gu Mo had spoken. If they argued further,
it would no longer be for the Desolate Hall's interests, but infighting.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Ying Xuanzi vanished from the Desolate Hall.
Chen Zhen and Wu Dao looked at each other and sighed, each hoping nothing would go wrong.
Several days later.
An extremely massive mountain stood there, its slopes a withered yellow without the slightest touch of greenery. Seen from afar, it was shrouded in desolation.
The enormous Pill River roared past, its Nirvana Qi rushing down like a flood before pouring onto the great mountain.
Buzz, buzz.
Under the deluge from the Pill River, the mountain began to tremble. Rocks crumbled and tumbled down, and great cracks began to spread across its peak.
As the cracks spread,
a colossal tablet, grayish yellow from top to bottom, burst out of the mountain.
A desolate Qi that seemed to come from ancient times quietly rippled through the world.
A moment later.
A stone tablet a full thousand zhang tall stood silently atop the mountain. The ancient yellow of its surface had been formed by the accumulation of the years.
Waves of utter desolation emanated from the stone tablet, gradually filling the world with a desolate Qi.
Several figures stood before the tablet: Ying Xiaoxiao, Ying Huanhuan, Fang Yi, and Gu Mo.
Ying Xuanzi, Chen Zhen, and Wu Dao looked down on them from the sky.
Ying Xuanzi had already sealed the surrounding thousand li tightly with a Spirit Locking Array.
Unless one was at the Reincarnation Stage, one could not detect what was happening within.
"Nothing will go wrong, will it?"
Ying Huanhuan's bright eyes were wide, her face full of doubt.
She had been pondering the martial arts she had known as the Ice Master.
Then Ying Xuanzi had told her to go comprehend the Great Desolation Scripture.
She had been stunned when she first heard it. It was not yet time for the Great Desolation Tablet to open, so how could she comprehend it?
But Ying Xuanzi had only told her to grasp Desolate Force. That was no difficult task for Ying Huanhuan; her talent could be said to surpass everyone else in the Dao Sect.
She simply did not much like cultivating.
But she could still do what she was asked to do.
Ying Xiaoxiao had been doing the same, and once the two had finished comprehending Desolate Force, they had been brought here.
"With my help, nothing will go wrong."
Fang Yi spoke calmly. The three of them had considerable comprehension.
Moreover, Gu Mo had spent so many years comprehending the power of desolation that he had even found another path to master the Desolation Demon Eye. Naturally, there would be no problem for him either.
The greatest obstacle to mastering the Great Desolation Scripture was gaining the Tablet Spirit's recognition. As long as one had that, mastering the art was no problem.
Fang Yi looked at the Great Desolation Tablet and said, "Tablet Spirit, we're ready!"
At once,
the Tablet Spirit appeared before the Great Desolation Tablet and looked at Ying Xiaoxiao, Ying Huanhuan, and Gu Mo in turn.
The Tablet Spirit looked at Ying Huanhuan for a long time.
The Tablet Spirit "looked" at Fang Yi, its tone tinged with surprise. Even the age in its voice had diminished considerably.
"This is...? How could she be here?"
The Tablet Spirit seemed to have some misgivings and did not finish what it had been about to say.
"A chance occurrence."
"She is not suited to the Great Desolation Scripture. Let her go to the far north. Recovering her power is what will let her grow fastest."
"She's not suited to it?"
"Yes. The Great Desolation Scripture does not align with her path. The other two can learn it; their paths are not yet set. But since hers is already fixed, it would be best for her to take back her former power."
"Even if she wishes to advance further, she should try to master what you have mastered... that supreme power."
Having explained, the Tablet Spirit said, "As for what I promised you, bring another person. Leave her out of it. Her path must not be ruined."
Since the Tablet Spirit had said so, Fang Yi naturally did not insist. He pulled the bewildered Ying Huanhuan away.
"Huh? Why can't I do it?" Ying Huanhuan pouted. She had been looking forward to it.
Although she no longer idolized Senior Zhou Tong and thought Fang Yi was much stronger than him,
the Great Desolation Scripture was acknowledged as the Dao Sect's foremost scripture, and she was very interested in it too!
Fang Yi squeezed Ying Huanhuan's little hand to comfort her.
Feeling the warmth against her palm, Ying Huanhuan blushed slightly. Her little mouth stopped chattering, and she stood quietly beside him.
"I'll let the old man know."