Xu Yangyi ended his thoughts. The clues were too few. Moreover… if Ming Guangzong had truly discovered such a thing, the cultivation world… would fall into upheaval; complete chaos! The entire foundational theory of Cultivation Civilization would suffer an intense attack. Even the philosophies of many cultivators would collapse.

An immortal was the supreme apex of those who cultivated. A vague and traceless existence in legend. This word’s allure was enough to flip the heavens and earth of the entire world’s Cultivation Civilization upside down!

Regardless of whether it was China… India… Greece… The West… 

It couldn’t be more of a guess, yet even if it was, Xu Yangyi felt his heart wildly throbbing. He almost dared not imagine what he would do… if there existed an infinitesimally minor chance… that the clues that Ming Guangzong had discovered were honest-to-god related to this concept.

“Where did you put the page that Ming Guangzong had you show them?” he asked lowly. No matter what the secret was, all the clues had to be gathered together first.

“To inform Master.” At this moment, Wei Zhongxian had already regained his wits and bowed. “Before His Majesty died, he gave me one last secret imperial decree. He ordered me to guard this place forever and use my life to form the seal here. I am unaware of how it was done. Celestial Master Zhang did nothing more than give me an exceptionally ancient talisman…”

“Celestial Master Talisman…” Xiaoqing clenched her teeth as she closed her eyes and murmured, “Daoism’s Three Supreme Treasures… He truly was even willing to part with this… but Guangzong died… not even permitting me to leave!”

Xu Yangyi wordlessly glanced at her. Regardless of how Ming Guangzong searched for an immortal, he was an emperor first. He still had to consider the Zhu Clan and the world. He made a deal with the devil and now that he was dead, how could he possible release these two monsters?

As such, he acted in accordance with an emperor’s basic course of action. And so… while Wei Zhongxian had come here, the secret imperial decree didn’t allow him to bring anything out.

“Meanwhile, His Majesty told me…” Wei Zhongxian bowed even deeper, took a brief glance at Xu Yangyi, and said flatteringly, “In the future… someone was certain to come here with the Emperor Armament in hand… His Majesty’s original words were to ‘greet this person as if we ourselves were there’.”

“As for the page… His Majesty Guangzong took it into the Thirteen Ming Tombs. But at the same time…” Wei Zhongxian gritted his teeth and looked at the water below. “The Great Ming Palace… had a hundred thousand eunuchs. All the eunuchs who were connected to this matter were buried here in the past… Altogether… 54,862 people. And all of them… did it to reinforce the formation here. However, I am the formation’s core.”

“I understand!” Zhao Wuye’s gaze was like fire, and he laughed heartily, “I knew I wasn’t wrong! I said earlier that the yin qi under this place was extremely heavy! There’s no question that it’s a 10,000-man pit! 50,000 people… A whole 50,000 people!” 

Here and now, all riddles had been completely solved, those that had vexed Xu Yangyi in the past. Such as what was in Danxia Temple, the origin of the Yellow Springs Path, and the strange dimension inside the Yellow Springs Path. Following Wei Zhongxian’s ultimate emergence, everything was already broad and level without the slightest concealment.

The Dao Scripture was merely the surface. Upon hearing of this, Xu Yangyi understood a bit. The Dao Scripture’s Ninth Section, the Dao Scripture compiled by Celestial Master Zhang Guoxiang, wasn’t a secret Daoist Canon available to the masses. Instead… it was a true cultivation secret belonging to the cultivation world! This included the great crafts and the grand collection of all kinds of apex divine abilities!

“So… in history’s overall scope, this event was known as ‘Wanli Replenishing the Dao Scripture’, but there was no true object marked as the ‘Wanli Dao Scripture’. Maybe it could be said…” Xu Yangyi parted his clothing and pensively gazed at his chest. He’d already hung the dagger over his neck. “This… is the Wanli Dao Scripture! The one that Wei Zhongxian talked about is the one that Ming Guangzong was able to let him see, the ‘Wanli Dao Scripture’ believed by mortals!”

“Perhaps it can be said… that this page is the real ‘Wanli Dao Scripture’!” Xu Yangyi murmured, and his gaze faintly twinkled. “This page is the object that the Emperor Armament wants to tell me about!”

“And the Thirteen Ming Tombs…” He raised his head, his gaze seemingly penetrating through all of Danxia Temple to look at the distant imperial capital. “Might be where you really discovered a trace of that legend…”

“Master…” Wei Zhongxian’s eyes brightened. “This sword… is rather familiar. Where has t-this s-slave seemed to have seen it?”

“Where?” Xu Yangyi stopped his ponderings, and quickly asked.

Wei Zhongxian seemed to wrack his brains for an answer and suddenly nodded. “Yes… after the Dao Scripture was finished being compiled, His Majesty summoned Celestial Master Zhang on the night of that very day. I was waiting at the side. It seemed to flicker past my eye. On a piece of paper that His Majesty handed to Celestial Master Zhang, this object was drawn… and it wasn’t limited to just an appearance. Allow me to think…”

After a brief moment, he confirmed, “That’s right, after that day, His Majesty ordered me to take that page of the Dao Scripture and hurry over here!”

Xu Yangyi mumbled to himself as he studied the dagger on his chest. All of a sudden, he laughed.

It didn’t matter. At this moment, all riddles had been more or less solved. There was only one true great secret remaining. This was much, much greater than anything that was still a mystery when he had just entered Danxia Temple. Wordless, he stood up and swept his eyes over the crowd.

Over a thousand people had entered Danxia Temple. In the end, they were the only ones to survive. Less than ten people… How many elites had lost their lives here? But ultimately, Zhao Wuye, Mao Ba’er, and Li Zongyuan

—

not elite cultivators by any stretch of the imagination

—

had come out alive.

He didn’t think about avenging these people. On the contrary, it was because of them that Xu Yangyi’s Dao-seeking heart had been cast and built with such incredible stability, on this endless journey.

This was a kind of mental optimism.

“Seniors.” Xu Yangyi cupped his hands towards the sky. “I have a deal. I am ignorant, but are Seniors willing to listen?”

“Hehe…” The killing intent of Xiaoqing’s laughter was dense and eerie. “You still dare talk of deals with This Palace? Are you using your life?”

Moments ago, she and Fahai had been incomparably terrified. That secret’s relation… was too great… even leading straight to ancient cultivators… and the ancient era! Perhaps before the early ancient era! The Age of Enlightenment!

[1]

However, they soon discovered that Wei Zhongxian didn’t understand the true picture. Xu Yangyi and the others were simply unable to deduce the truth of that great secret from those scaled claws. So despite the knowledge that the Xuan-Yuan Sword was forced to take immediate action because an emperor had discovered a trace of this secret, what of it?

The most important thing… was leaving as soon as possible and welcoming the descent of this titanic secret! Already… there wasn’t much time!

“If Seniors open Danxia Temple for Junior…”

“Hehehe…” The killing intent contained in Fahai’s smile was even more frank, exposed down to the bone. “Will you even dare to come next time?”

“I will bring in all of the modern cultivation world’s information each month.”

The duo’s voices came to a sudden halt. Through centuries and thousands of years of misgivings, along with the lock on their qi seas, cultivation had become an extravagant hope! Nonetheless, the most painful thing wasn’t being unable to cultivate, but rather the infinite and endless loneliness.

Bitterly tormented by the second and minute, day and night, month and year… they understood loneliness better than anyone else. The meaning of the two characters that were loneliness. 

In an instant, this sentence rocked their thoughts. With a speed akin to a spring sun transforming into snowfall, the terrible killing intent in their hearts quickly vanished! To the extent that they didn’t even detect a trace of their barely remaining killing intents.

“What do you want?” Xiaoqing coldly said, ten minutes later.

Xu Yangyi’s eyes brightened. “Seniors… should have stashed behind a contingency treasury, right?”

“Impudent!!!” 

“What gall you have, Junior!”

Speaking out at the same time, the two elders mirrored nearly the same sentiment. This was too shameless… From the start, Xu Yangyi wanted their treasuries? 

Well, you’re not going to snatch it!

Xu Yangyi laughed. From the conversation just now, he had confirmed a matter… 

Perhaps Fahai and Xiaoqing were basically ignorant as to how rich the life of modern entertainment was. The word “grounded”... was too fitting with their present situation, practically tailored.

[2]

“Seniors, perhaps you still don’t have much of an understanding regarding the outside world to date, yes?” He cupped his hands and laughed, “Grandpa Wei died in the late Ming era. Do Seniors know what the current era is after the late Ming era?”

Xiaoqing and Fahai were silent. In the same vein, this was something they urgently needed to know. However, each time they connected with their avatars, there was only so little time, not enough to explain that which they wanted to know the most! In the future, this ‘urgent need’ would be eliminated. 

“You have a way?” Fahai said after ages, his voice seemingly indifferent. 

“Junior possesses a magik treasure, an item that can observe the approximate happenings of modern Earth. Furthermore, it can accurately reach every location. It’s just that it can’t pinpoint where Seniors are.”

“Oh?” Fahai’s gaze flashed. He feigned serenity and said, “What is its name?”

Xu Yangyi paused and gently coughed. “Tele! Vision!”

“COUGH! Cough, cough, cough!” Fang Cheng broke into a fit of coughing. His hacking collapsed mountains and split the earth. Each cough was beyond control. 

Everyone else looked as if they had seen a ghost. Using television to exchange for a treasury… A television worth several thousand Chinese dollars… A treasury that defied both estimation and appraisal… This… How was this supposed to be considered… It seemed rather unequal… 

“No… That’s not right…” Xuan Chengzi suddenly laughed, “Think about it, everyone. Apart from us letting them go, what else does everyone think that the two Seniors fancy?”

Zhao Wuye pondered and shook his head. Indeed, there was nothing. 

“But… television is different.” Xuan Chengzi glanced at Xu Yangyi in admiration. “We’re already so used to it that we don’t even want to watch it anymore. But to these two great demons, it is incredibly new and odd. And… we can get them to explain what we want to know now.”

“Although it isn’t thorough enough, it’s like putting an oasis in a desert here. Besides explaining things to them, it can even help them get past their time of suffering. Everything has its own use. It just depends on whether it’s used in the most appropriate place.”

He gazed towards Xu Yangyi with a searing heat. “In this place, television is a god-send!” 

Xiaoqing and Fahai shared a look. Their eyes held a sliver of vacantness. 

Evidently, they didn’t know what television was!

“Is this magik treasure truly as you say it is? It can allow us to observe the world in this place?” A few seconds later, Xiaoqing said, “According to what I know, even those almighty figures couldn’t accomplish this. I know that this world is incredibly vast. Wei Zhongxian said that there were various countries beyond the ocean…”

Xu Yangyi forced down the smile in his heart and interrupted the demoness. He said with a solemn face, “This world is sphere-shaped. Not only can the world of all the many foreign countries be watched on the television, so can the major events in each of China’s provinces. The magik treasure that is the television possesses a channel… No, a divine ability called ‘CCTV’ that reports each important matter that happens in China all day. There are several other divine abilities that can observe the sceneries of the entire world and even those outside the Earth.”

[3]

“Beyond the Earth?” Fahai’s eyes brightened and looked towards the remaining group of cultivators afterwards. “Is what he said true?”

In their hearts, all of them resisted the urge to smile. They nodded their heads as if they were pecking at rice.

This was a knowledge gap, eh… 

“It’s a good thing that it’s Cultivation Civilization now…” Quan Ningyue sighed, “Otherwise… we would be bored out of our minds and bitterly cultivating just like them…”

1. “Age of Enlightenment” is the direct translation of the characters that the author uses but it doesn’t quite make sense in this context because most people know “Age of Enlightenment” as 17th to 19th century in Europe. What might actually be the era specified is that of “Xia Yu/Yu the Great” (2200-2100 BCE)

2. “Grounded” kinda hard to find an equivalent for “宅” meaning “staying at home”. I tangled with ideas like “staycation”, “house arrest”.

3. CCTV is China Central Television, China’s primary state television broadcaster.

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