87: Chapter 87 Kunlun Ruins

Seven days later, Lu Mingyuan's injuries were fully healed.

During these seven days, he meditated in the courtyard every morning, strolled through the peach forest in the afternoon, and chatted with Zhang Qingyuan and Qingyuan after nightfall. The Spiritual Qi of the Jade Pool nourished his body; those shattered bones had long since knitted back together, and the wounds hadn't even left a scar.

But he knew in his heart that the true injury was not on his body.

The coldness of Bone-Eroding pressing down on him that night, the skeletal fingers against his forehead, and that despair of being on the brink of death were like a thorn stuck in his heart. He didn't speak of it, but it was always there.

On the evening of the seventh day, Yunhua arrived.

"Her Ladyship summons you," she said. "Tomorrow at the hour of chen, at the Kunlun Ruins."

Lu Mingyuan nodded.

Yunhua looked toward Zhang Qingyuan.

"You go as well. Her Ladyship said that someone who has guarded The Rift for twenty years deserves to listen."

Zhang Qingyuan was startled, then immediately stood up and lifted his heart lamp.

"Leaving now?"

Yunhua shook her head.

"Tomorrow at the hour of chen. Get some good rest tonight. The Kunlun Ruins is not a place just anyone can go; build up your strength."

Having said that, she turned and departed.

That night, Lu Mingyuan did not sleep.

He sat in the courtyard, gazing at the pale gold night sky, wondering what he would hear tomorrow.

The Ferocious Beast Great Tribulation.

The Initial Calamity of Dragon and Phoenix.

Those names that only existed in legends, those past events long buried in the long river of time, would be unveiled before his eyes tomorrow.

He suddenly felt a bit nervous.

It wasn't fear, but awe.

Awe for history, awe for Heaven and Earth, and awe for the countless fallen living beings.

At the hour of chen, Yunhua appeared punctually at the courtyard gate.

Lu Mingyuan and Zhang Qingyuan followed her, passing through the peach forest, bypassing the Jade Pool, and walking toward the depths of Kunlun.

After walking for about an hour, the scene before them gradually changed.

The pavilions and terraces vanished, the exotic flowers and rare herbs disappeared, replaced by a desolate expanse of ruins.

Massive stone pillars lay toppled on the ground, overgrown with moss. The dilapidated palaces were reduced to foundations where wild grass grew. A grand road paved with white jade extended forward from beneath their feet, but the jade was cracked, and unknown shrubs sprouted from the crevices.

Most eye-catching of all was a massive stone gate in the distance.

That stone gate was a hundred zhang high and about fifty zhang wide, carved entirely from a single block of green stone. Three large characters in ancient seal script were engraved on the lintel; the brushwork was vigorous and archaic, but after so much time, they had become blurred, and one could only barely recognize the first character—

"Kun."

The gate was open. Or rather, there had never been any door leaves, only this door frame standing there in isolation, like a withered old giant keeping watch over these ruins.

"The Kunlun Ruins," Yunhua said. "The remains of the ancient Kunlun."

Lu Mingyuan gazed at the stone gate and the ruins, suddenly remembering the records in the classic of mountains and seas—

"The Hill of Kunlun is in truth the capital of the Emperor on earth."

The capital of the Emperor on earth.

The Heavenly Emperor's capital in the Lower Realm.

How glorious it once was, yet now only ruins remained.

"Let's go." Yunhua stepped toward the stone gate. "Her Ladyship is waiting for you inside."

Passing through the stone gate, another world appeared before them.

The ruins were gone, replaced by a vast wilderness. Not a single blade of grass grew on the plain; there was only brown earth and crisscrossing cracks upon it. The sky was a murky gray, with no sun and no clouds, only an endless celestial light spilling down from all directions.

In the center of the wilderness stood a high platform.

The platform was built from massive black stones, totaling nine levels, each about three zhang high. On the topmost level, the Queen Mother of the West stood there in her Phoenix crown and gold-threaded robes, with four white-clad maidens standing behind her.

Lu Mingyuan and Zhang Qingyuan walked to the base of the platform and stopped.

The Queen Mother of the West looked down at them, her gaze calm.

"Come up."

The two ascended the steps.

With every level they climbed, Lu Mingyuan felt the pressure increase by a notch. It wasn't a display of power, but the weight of history. These nine levels of the high platform, every stone was engraved with the marks of time, and every crack hid stories of the past.

By the time he reached the top level, sweat had already broken out on his forehead.

The Queen Mother of the West looked at him and nodded slightly.

"To be able to walk up here, not bad."

She turned, gazing into the depths of the wilderness.

"Do you know what place this is?"

Lu Mingyuan shook his head.

The Queen Mother of the West was silent for a moment before slowly saying:

"This is an ancient battlefield. The place where the final battle of the Ferocious Beast Great Tribulation occurred."

She raised her hand, pointing at the crisscrossing cracks on the wilderness.

"Those cracks are not natural. They were left behind by that battle. Three Thousand Demon Gods fell here; their blood soaked this land, and their resentment has not dissipated to this day."

Lu Mingyuan's heart jolted.

Three Thousand Demon Gods.

The Chaos Demons slain by Pangu during the Heaven-Opening Great Tribulation.

He looked down at the massive black stones beneath his feet, suddenly feeling that the black was not the color of the stones, but the color of dried blood.

The Queen Mother of the West began her narration.

Her voice was not loud, yet it was delivered clearly into their ears, as if sounding directly within their hearts.

"After the Heaven-Opening Great Tribulation, the world was newly formed and all things began to live. At that time, there were no Three Realms and no Six Paths, only a world where Chaos had just been divided. Heaven was above, Earth was below, and in between was the endless Great Desolation."

"In the Great Desolation, the first to be born was not the Human Race, not the Yao Race, and not the Witch Race. It was the Vicious Beasts."

She paused, her gaze becoming distant.

"Vicious Beasts are the manifestations of the residual resentment of the Chaos Demons. During the opening of the heavens, Pangu slew the Three Thousand Demon Gods, but the resentment of those demons did not dissipate; they attached themselves to fragments of Chaos and fell into the Great Desolation, transforming into Vicious Beasts."

"Those Vicious Beasts had no intelligence, only instinct. Instinct drove them to devour everything—devour living beings, devour Spiritual Qi, devour Heaven and Earth. They did not know satiety, only how to swallow. The more they swallowed, the larger they grew, and the more they were able to swallow."

"The living beings of the Great Desolation were nearly driven to extinction under the devouring of the Vicious Beasts."

Lu Mingyuan listened with alarm.

"What happened later?"

The Queen Mother of the West looked at him.

"Later, three clans rose up."

"The Dragon Clan, the Phoenix Clan, and the Kirin Clan."

"They were the first batch of living beings to develop intelligence, and also the first to stand up and oppose the Vicious Beasts. The Ancestral Dragon of the Dragon Clan, the Yuan Phoenix of the Phoenix Clan, and the Primal Qilin of the Kirin Clan led the three clans in a fierce battle against the Vicious Beasts for three thousand years."

"Three thousand years later, the Vicious Beasts were wiped out. But the three clans were also greatly depleted in Origin Qi."

She was silent for a moment, then added:

"The Ferocious Beast Great Tribulation ended. But the seeds of a Great Tribulation were also planted."

Lu Mingyuan was stunned.

"Seeds?"

The Queen Mother of the West nodded.

"In the process of opposing the Vicious Beasts, the three clans gained immense power and also immense authority. They began to vie for dominance over Heaven and Earth. Thus—"

She looked deeper into the wilderness.

"The Initial Calamity of Dragon and Phoenix began."

"After the Ferocious Beast Great Tribulation ended, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Kirin Clans co-ruled the world. At first, it was fine; each guarded their own territory and did not infringe upon others. But gradually, greed sprouted."

The Queen Mother of the West slowly said:

"The Dragon Clan wanted to control the heavens, the Phoenix Clan wanted to control the earth, and the Kirin Clan wanted to control the Great Desolation. None of the three clans would yield, and their conflicts deepened daily."

"At this time, a person appeared."

Lu Mingyuan's heart stirred.

"Who?"

The Queen Mother of the West looked at him and said word by word:

"The Demon Ancestor, Luo Hou."

Lu Mingyuan's pupils slightly constricted.

Luo Hou.

He had heard this name from Xuanweizi. But Xuanweizi had only mentioned it once and hadn't gone into detail.

"Luo Hou was originally a Reincarnation of a Chaos Demon who narrowly escaped death during the opening of the heavens and lurked in the shadows. Seeing the three clans fighting, he secretly sowed discord—helping the Dragons attack the Phoenixes today, helping the Phoenixes attack the Dragons tomorrow, and helping the Kirins the day after. Under his provocation, the three clans fought more and more fiercely until finally—"

She paused.

"Finally, a full-scale war broke out."

"That war lasted for thirty thousand years. The Dragon Clan suffered countless casualties, the Phoenix Clan was nearly wiped out, and the Kirin Clan almost went extinct. The Ancestral Dragon, Yuan Phoenix, and Primal Qilin all died in battle."

"And Luo Hou appeared after the war, intending to devour the remaining Luck of the three clans to achieve Sainthood in one stroke."

Lu Mingyuan was enthralled.

"What happened then?"

The Queen Mother of the West looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Later, a person stood up."

"The Dao Ancestor, Hongjun."

"Hongjun was not yet the Dao Ancestor then, but merely a reclusive Loose Cultivator. Seeing Luo Hou wreaking havoc upon the world, he came out to fight a decisive battle with Luo Hou. That battle lasted for three thousand years, and finally, Hongjun used himself as a catalyst to channel the power of the Heavenly Dao and slay Luo Hou."

"Though Luo Hou died, before his death, he used his own flesh and blood to set up the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, nearly dragging Hongjun into the abyss as well. After Hongjun broke out of the formation and gained insight into the Heavenly Dao, only then did he become the Dao Ancestor."

She gazed into the distance, her eyes deep.

"After the Initial Calamity of Dragon and Phoenix, the world's Origin Qi was severely damaged, the three clans went into seclusion, and the Witch and Demon races began to rise. A new era had begun."

Lu Mingyuan was silent for a long time.

He suddenly asked:

"What do these matters have to do with that Rift?"

The Queen Mother of the West looked at him, a trace of approval flashing in her eyes.

"Good question."

She turned and walked down from the high platform.

Lu Mingyuan and Zhang Qingyuan hurriedly followed.

The Queen Mother of the West walked across the wilderness with a composed gait. She stopped before a crack.

"Look at this crack, what does it look like?"

Lu Mingyuan looked down. The crack was bottomless, pitch black inside, and nothing could be seen.

He shook his head.

The Queen Mother of the West said:

"Does it not look like that blood-colored rift?"

Lu Mingyuan was startled.

It did.

It indeed did.

Except this crack was dead, with nothing inside. Whereas that Rift was alive, containing resentment, Devilish Qi, Demon Puppets, and Chaos Demon Soldiers.

The Queen Mother of the West looked at him and slowly said:

"The resentment left by the Ferocious Beast Great Tribulation transformed into Vicious Beasts. What did the resentment left by the Initial Calamity of Dragon and Phoenix transform into?"

Lu Mingyuan's heart shook violently.

He suddenly understood.

"That Rift... is the resentment left by all the Great Tribulations?"

The Queen Mother of the West nodded.

"Not just the Ferocious Beast Great Tribulation, not just the Initial Calamity of Dragon and Phoenix. There is also the Witch-Demon Calamity, the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, and the Journey to the West Great Tribulation. Countless Great Tribulations, countless falls, countless resentments. They did not dissipate, but instead converged together, settling in the depths of Heaven and Earth."

"After settling for hundreds of millions of years, they finally—transformed into that Rift, transformed into the core of resentment in the depths of The Rift, transformed into the Dark Heavenly Emperor."

She looked at Lu Mingyuan, her gaze as deep as the sea.

"What you touched was not ordinary resentment. It is the accumulation of hundreds of millions of years, the Karma of countless Great Tribulations."

"That is the embryonic form of the Dark Heavenly Emperor."

Lu Mingyuan stood there, speechless for a long time.

He thought of that core of resentment, those countless distorted faces, and the flickering in those hollow eyes. It turned out those faces were Vicious Beasts, Dragons, Phoenixes, Kirins, Witches, Yaos, Humans—the living beings that had fallen in the countless Great Tribulations.

Their resentment had not dissipated.

They were always there.

In the depths of the world, in that Rift, within that thing called 'An'.

The Queen Mother of the West looked at him and asked:

"Are you afraid?"

Lu Mingyuan thought about it.

"Yes."

The Queen Mother of the West nodded.

"It's right to be afraid. Those who aren't afraid are either lunatics or fools."

She turned and walked back the way she came.

"That is all for today. Tomorrow, I will tell you about the disaster of the Witches and Demons."

After taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped.

"Lu Mingyuan."

"Your Junior is here."

The Queen Mother of the West did not look back.

"Do you know why you could touch the core of resentment and not die?"

Lu Mingyuan shook his head.

The Queen Mother of the West was silent for a moment, then slowly said:

"Because your Wanxiang True Qi and An originate from the same source. It is not rejecting you; it wants to—devour you."

Having said that, she walked away.

Lu Mingyuan stood in place, watching her back disappear into the depths of the ruins.

Wind blew across the wilderness, kicking up brown dust.

He looked down at his hand, watching the Chaos-colored Wanxiang True Qi flowing in his palm.

Originating from the same source.

Devouring.

These two terms turned over and over in his mind, not dissipating for a long time.

Zhang Qingyuan walked to his side, holding that heart lamp.

"Let's go."

Lu Mingyuan looked up at the murky gray sky in the distance.

"Let's go."

The road is still long.