458: Chapter 458 First Encounter with the Holy Mother, Second Encounter with the Human Emperor

Jiang Chen strolled leisurely on Mount Buzhou.

The oppressive aura that once suppressed the eight wildernesses had long since faded; now, even those at the Golden Immortal level could ascend its slopes.

Under the erosion of time, aside from its symbolic significance as the spine of Pangu, the mountain's other miraculous properties were gradually fading.

When Gong Gong would eventually smash into the mountain pillar in his rage, causing the heavens to tilt and the earth to collapse, this heaven-supporting pillar would finally come crashing down—what a pity, such a magnificent mountain, standing between heaven and earth, to be destroyed by a single moment of rage.

If he were to intervene, he could naturally stop it; but while he could stop the physical form, could he stop the unyielding, inflexible spirit of the Wu clan?

Could he stop the heaven-swallowing, earth-devouring ambition of the Demon clan?

The latter were too arrogant, the former too stubborn; neither could be swayed.

He shook his head with a faint smile, casting his gaze toward the distant, cloud-roiling peaks—in a few more years, this scenery would vanish into thin air, and even if one wanted to see it, there would be nowhere left to look.

Mountains eventually fall, and the Heavenly Dao intends it so.

Otherwise, how could Gong Gong have smashed the pillar of heaven without any obstruction?

Were those great beings seated on holy thrones truly so dull?

They could have settled the situation in an instant, so why did they stand by with their hands folded?

It was merely the tacit approval of the Heavenly Dao, going along with the flow.

Enough, thinking about it was useless.

Since he had returned to this place, he couldn't leave empty-handed.

There was no such thing as too many treasures, and since this mountain would not exist for much longer, picking up a few things along the way could be considered doing his part.

Thus, he simply cast aside his saintly airs, reclaiming that carefree and unrestrained demeanor from his early years—he was, after all, a Saint who had attained the Dao, yet he insisted on being so reckless.

"Brother, look! That person is too overbearing, right? The ground is full of freshly dug pits, exactly the same as the traces left last time. Could it be the same person? He doesn't even leave any room for others; could it be he really wants to hog everything for himself?"

"Shh—Sister, say less. If it really is the same person, he has likely existed since the beginning of the world, and perhaps even watched the Longhan Tribulation from the sidelines. We cannot afford to provoke such a character. Furthermore, the treasures in the mountain do not belong to you or me, so why bother with them?"

Seeing Nuwa's puffed-up appearance, Fuxi had no choice but to smile bitterly and persuade her.

Knowing the other party was unfathomably deep, how could they dare to rashly step forward?

It would only invite disaster.

As the two were whispering with their heads lowered, they looked up again, only to find that the person had vanished without a trace, as if he had never appeared at all.

Their hearts instantly relaxed, and even their breathing became a bit lighter.

"That makes sense—the things didn't belong to you in the first place, so why worry? This brother here is truly perceptive! The benevolent see benevolence, the wise see wisdom; I admire you, I admire you, haha!"

The voice suddenly sounded from behind them, causing both their backs to stiffen.

Their expressions instantly turned bitter, and they exchanged a glance, everything understood without words.

"What are you panicking about? I don't eat people."

Jiang Chen laughed aloud and casually took out a cyan jade teacup, tapping his fingertip against it as three wisps of clear qi curled upward.

"Come, sit down and have some tea. These are tender buds from an innate tea tree, just roasted."

Fuxi and Nuwa turned around in embarrassment, only to see that the man had already set up a table, the tea clear and the steam curling, as if waiting for them to sit.

Unable to refuse, they had to bite the bullet and step forward, standing respectfully with their hands hanging down.

When they took the teacups, their fingertips trembled slightly, as if they were holding scalding blades.

They drank it down; at first, it was bitter enough to make them frown, but it was followed by a clear, sweet aftertaste that made their mouths water and left a fragrance in their throats.

"Good tea! Truly rare!"

The two exchanged smiles, and their tense expressions finally relaxed.

Jiang Chen poured two more cups, sipped slowly from his own, and asked gently, "May I ask for the names of you two fellow Daoists?"

"Shameful, shameful. I am Fuxi, and this is my younger sister, Nuwa."

Fuxi cupped his hands and smiled, frank and open.

Jiang Chen's heart gave a slight jolt—why hadn't he thought about it carefully before?

He should have understood after a little reflection.

Just as he was about to mock himself, he saw the two opposite him blink, and realized he hadn't given his name yet, so he hurriedly said with a smile, "I am the Daoist Jiang Chen, just a wandering cloud and wild crane, a mere rogue cultivator."

The words were extremely simple, yet they both startled Fuxi and Nuwa.

Although they felt this was too understated, it was inconvenient to ask further—they understood each other tacitly; who would really lay their background out in the open?

Didn't they themselves also hide half their true faces?

"By the way, have you two heard of what rare treasures still remain in Mount Buzhou? I only dug up three last time, and this time I've found absolutely nothing, which is truly disappointing! This won't do; I must find at least one before I'm willing to stop—may I ask if you are willing to give me a pointer or two?"

Jiang Chen's brows revealed a stubbornness.

He hadn't obtained any treasures, his inner fire hadn't been extinguished, and just after stabilizing his cultivation in his cave abode, he had immediately stepped out of his gates to search the entire mountain.

"This... this..."

Upon hearing this, the two felt their hearts sink suddenly.

They never expected the visitor to be him.

But when it came to where the treasures were hidden, they were truly clueless—they only had two or three ordinary items in their hands, barely even decent in quality.

Fuxi pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "Please forgive us, fellow Daoist. My sister and I have lived here for a long time and rarely travel far; we truly do not know where there are any treasures."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly froze: this place was clearly covered by the innate barrier that had existed since they were first born.

Since the opening of the heavens, no one had ever broken in, and even the divine might of Pangu was cut off outside; yet the person before them moved as if there were no one else around, leaving no traces and showing no aura.

He immediately raised his hand to cover Nuwa's lips as she was about to speak, his back slightly stiff, fearing that a careless word would annoy this unfathomably deep guest.

"Forget it, forget it. Since there are no clues, I will have to explore on my own. Fellow Daoists, farewell!"

Jiang Chen flicked his sleeves lightly and turned to leave.

"We wouldn't dare! Please go slowly, fellow Daoist; we are only too eager to see you off!"

Fuxi gripped Nuwa's wrist tightly and bowed deeply, his posture extremely humble.

Jiang Chen waved his hand and casually set down a box of tea with cyan jade bamboo patterns: "A small gift, to express my respects for our first meeting. We shall meet again."

When that figure completely disappeared into the depths of the clouds and mist, Fuxi finally let out a long sigh, collapsing onto the stone stool, his chest heaving irregularly.

Nuwa immediately frowned: "Brother, why are you so nervous? Is there something wrong with this person?"

"Sister, do you remember—this barrier has existed since our primordial light first condensed. For hundreds of millions of years, even the lingering might of the pangu axe could not penetrate it in the slightest."

"Yet he walked as if on level ground, coming and going without a sound."

"This cultivation level is more than just unfathomably deep; the slightest offense, and I fear we would be reduced to ashes without even knowing why... and I don't even know what kind of great being he is."

Nuwa was startled upon hearing this, her pupils constricting—that's right, a barrier that even the divine might of the Heaven-Opening could do nothing about was effectively useless against him.

Just thinking about it made one's bones feel cold.

"Don't be afraid," Fuxi caught his breath and lowered his voice, "Since he didn't use force or make any demands, let's just treat him as a passerby."

"Moreover, since he is a senior expert, it wouldn't be good for him to make things difficult for juniors—if he really were to be harsh, it would only cause him to lose face."

Nuwa pondered for a moment and nodded: "Brother is right. If he really harbored malice, how could he have let us off so easily?"

"Good, then let's focus on our cultivation."

"Although there is a gap of heaven and earth between us and the senior, as long as we are diligent and never stop, there will always be a day when we can chase the light."

He consoled his sister with his words, but in his heart, he knew very clearly: anyone who could survive the Longhan Tribulation was an old monster who had clawed their way out over mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Leaving Fuxi and Nuwa aside for the moment.

Jiang Chen searched every cliff and every secluded valley of Mount Buzhou, only to find a few middle-to-low-grade Innate Spirit Treasures, his interest dampened quite a bit.

At least he had seen the Holy Mother of Creation, Nuwa, and the Human Sovereign, Fuxi, so it wasn't a wasted trip.

But he still felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart: since they were to be the leaders of all living things, why were they born of the Demon clan?

Even if they hadn't taken human form yet, their future bloodline connection meant they would ultimately be unable to escape their Demon affiliation—this identity might well become a source of disaster in the future.

He did not know the art of creation, nor could he create humans from clay out of thin air, so he sighed in vain.

Forget it, such was Heaven's will; humans and demons had always been at odds, which actually gave the human race a justification for wiping out the demons, and perhaps even using this to command the eight wildernesses was not impossible.

He became increasingly disinterested in treasure hunting and was just about to leave when he suddenly felt the 20th-grade Cleansing White Lotus at his waist vibrate slightly, as if it had sensed something.

Strange! Could there be another innate lotus platform hidden in the mountain?

Once the thought arose, his spirits soared.

He sped off, following that obscure fluctuation, and before long, he found a secluded valley wrapped in layers of mysterious formations, so quiet that even the wind seemed to detour around it.

He didn't need to break this formation at all—with a flash of his figure, time and space overlapped, and he had already quietly slipped into the heart of the formation.

The formation patterns remained completely undamaged, and outsiders would be completely unaware.

He had always been proud of this ability to enter and leave without a trace: ordinary Saints would inevitably shake the foundation and leave cracks if they forced their way in; but he moved like a shadow, not even stirring a ripple.