Chapter 644 – The Pillar of Heaven

Edited by Ea and NZRose

　　“Hidden Spirit Holy Sect?” Yan Tianhen said, “I have never heard of this place.”

　　“The status was equivalent to the current Myriad Dao Academy, but its position in the Nine Lands was much higher than that of Myriad Dao Academy. It’s equivalent to combining the power of the Purple Emperor Heavenly Capital.” At that time, the orthodox Dao and the secular world were not yet separated.

　　Lin Xuanzhi briefly explained, “Back then, Dao Zu and his brother, Sheng Zu, established the Hidden Spirit Holy Sect together. They were born with high magical powers, they could communicate with the world, understand the ancient times and the present, and then received many disciples. They also recruited many talented people and scholars. They wanted to develop the Nine Lands’ Daoism and let the disciples inherit their mantle. At that time, I was named Chang Sheng, and was the first disciple of Dao Zu. Lian Hua was the third disciple and my younger martial brother.”

　　Listening to Lin Xuanzhi’s recounting of the past, Yan Tianhen couldn’t help feeling like traveling through space and time. This was the hometown of the Spirit Sect; it was only part of the Spirit Sect.

　　The Spirit Sect was very large, and the entire Puluo Mountain area was the territory of the Spirit Sect for thousands of miles, encompassing the entire present Tomb of Youshan. Youshan Capital was just a city within the jurisdiction of the Hidden Spirit Holy Sect, and it was also the only city left today.

　　“Now, the Spirit Sect no longer exists and the original structure of the Spirit Sect has changed drastically. Only the main part of the palace remains intact.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi took Yan Tianhen’s hand, looked in a certain direction, and said, “In addition to Lian Hua, I have three other junior brothers. The younger martial brother’s name was Xi He. He is the Jianmu who could communicate with heaven and earth, supporting the connection between Heaven and the world. At the end of the Great Immortal-Demon War, he broke his roots and died. After that, no one in the Nine Lands was able to break through the Divine Realm cultivation and ascend successfully.”

　　Xi He was already dead, so no one in this world could ascend anymore.

　　Lin Xuanzhi held Yan Tianhen in his arms, swept in the air, and flew to that place.

　　“I’ll take you to see him.”

　　Jade Ocean Jasper Heaven was the place where the Jianmu tree was planted and had taken root.

　　Xi He used to live in a place nearby, but later he found that Spirit Sect had the most abundant spiritual Qi, the sweetest air, and the best soil, so he clamored that he must take root here.

　　Chang Sheng couldn’t persuade him otherwise, so he exhausted his mind and transplanted Xi He’s main body here.

　　From then on, Jade Ocean Jasper Heaven, which was originally one of the holy places for Spirit Sect disciples to talk about love and harmony, was completely occupied by Xi He, and became a place where he nourished the tree and slept. Those disciples of the Spirit Sect dared to be angry but didn’t dare to speak out. Firstly, Jianmu was a small overlord who would beat people up wherever he went. In the hundreds of years since he came here, almost all the disciples of Spirit Sect had been beaten by him.

　　Secondly, Jianmu moved to Jade Ocean Jasper Heaven, but he had obtained the approval of the chief disciple Huarong Venerable, as he personally helped to move the tree, which was equivalent to having been stamped with official permission.

　　Xi He never moved again, not even when he died.

　　Jade Ocean Jasper Heaven was surrounded by heavy mist. The withered and burnt to black charcoal Jianmu tree was just standing lifelessly between that square of heaven and earth. After Jianmu’s death, Jade Ocean Jasper Heaven no longer had spiritual Qi.

　　Yan Tianhen’s gaze first fell on Jianmu, who refused to fall down even in death, and then fell on the Spirit Emperor who maintained his guardian actions in an eternal posture. The Spirit Emperor Cang Rong came to the Spirit Sect together with Xi He when he moved his roots.

　　From his birth, Cang Rong’s responsibility had been to protect the Jianmu tree and support the passage between heaven and earth, and between the realms. He would never be too far away from Jianmu’s true body. Speaking of which, Cang Rong and Xi He: they were the two closest to each other. They knew each other since they were young and eventually died together. From beginning to end, Lian Hua looked like an outsider.

　　But Yan Tianhen knew that the truth was not the case.

　　“He has the blood of divinity.” Lin Xuanzhi looked at the handsome man with a snake-tailed body, and said, “Lian Hua always thinks that Cang Rong always guards Jianmu persistently like a loyal dog, but he didn’t know that Jianmu was personally planted and raised by Cang Rong himself. To Cang Rong, Jianmu was more like his own child.”

　　“Cang Rong…” A little starlight flashed in Yan Tianhen’s eyes. “Is that the person coiled around the tree?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi nodded and said, “Cang Rong is the Spirit Emperor. He was born to understand the voices of all living things, and he could talk to the Four Seasons. He was a true descendant of divinity. He and Lian Hua should have been Dao companions. Later, by all kinds of coincidences, they were separated. The marriage ceremony was not completed even until Cang Rong’s death. I saw Lian Hua again after tens of thousands of years, and I only felt that he had changed a lot.”

　　He has indeed changed quite a lot.

　　Lian Hua used to be a very gentle person. Although he didn’t always play his cards according to common sense, his heart was clear without a trace of haze and dirt, and he was sincere when he treated Youshan Lingyu. As Chang Sheng was the head disciple, he had a lot of chores and busy affairs, so it was impossible for him to take care of Youshan Lingyu in all aspects. Xi He was another person who couldn’t even take care of himself, let alone take care of the children.

　　So when Chang Sheng was away, Youshan Lingyu followed Lian Hua. Lian Hua would hold him on his lap and tell him various stories. About the origin of all things, the four levels of evolution, and the relationship between heaven and earth. All kinds of strange things, monsters, and demons.

　　Among the four disciples, Lian Hua was best at healing. He liked saving people rather than killing and advocated peace. When Chang Sheng saw Lian Hua at first sight, he said, “You have the bitterness of the lotus heart, and the flower of the stars and the moon.” Therefore, Lian Hua was named Lian Hua.

　　Nowadays, there was no longer even half of the gentleness on Lian Hua’s face, and his hands were also covered with thick and greasy blood that couldn’t be washed away. The pair of dark green eyes were not as clear as in the past, and inside them, the vicissitudes of life and thickness were too heavy to dissolve.

　　Yan Tianhen took a deep breath, calmed down his desire to pull Lian Hua further down, and asked, “Dage, do you have other fellow disciples?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi’s expression was sullen, and it took a while before he spoke, “There were two other juniors. One of them killed his most respected person in this world, annihilated half of the Spirit Sect, rebelled against the orthodox Dao, and set off a sea of blood, causing the entire Nine Lands to fall into a killing frenzy. His sins were monstrous, and not even dying nine times over would absolve him. The other one died in the hands of the previous junior, and when he died, he was very pitiful. Now that I think about it, I feel sad in my heart: I’ve wronged him.”

　　When Yan Tianhen heard this, he didn’t know what he was feeling.

　　The first person mentioned by Lin Xuanzhi was naturally Youshan Lingyu. And the other one was called Cangdi Fenglang.

　　Cangdi Fenglang died in the hands of Youshan Lingyu. If he was given a chance again, Youshan Lingyu would still kill him.

　　However, there was no doubt that Lin Xuanzhi seemed to like Cangdi Fenglang very much. In fact, it wasn’t just Lin Xuanzhi, but with the exception of Youshan Lingyu, all the people of Spirit Sect liked Cangdi Fenglang, this half-devil who pretended to be pitiful and flattered to please others.

　　From the time that Cangdi Fenglang first came to the Hidden Spirit Holy Sect and met Youshan Lingyu, Yan Tianhen knew that he and this half-devil would not be able to live together peacefully in this life. Because Cangdi Fenglang was rescued by Lin Xuanzhi himself and brought him back with Lin Xuanzhi’s own hands.

　　Obviously, both of them had demon blood, but why was it that Cangdi Fenglang could get the sympathy and favor of everyone, but he was to be treated indifferently by those people, and then feared and shunned? He, Youshan Lingyu, couldn’t accept this.

　　Even today, Yan Tianhen still couldn’t accept this.

　　He pursed his lips and asked, “Dage, why did your former Shidi do such cruel things? Is there anyone who has wronged him?”

　　“No one has ever wronged him.” Lin Xuanzhi’s eyes were cold, and his voice was even colder. He said, “He is greedy, and his demonic nature was very strong. He lost his mind and never repented, not even when he died. There was simply no cure for him. I really regret — I really regret that I didn’t listen to Martial Uncle’s advice and insisted on leaving him in the Hidden Spirit Holy sect, so that I gave him the chance to slaughter the sect.”

　　Yan Tianhen showed a smile that could not tell whether it was self-mocking or disgust in a place where Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t see, and soon hid it again.

　　In fact, he didn’t care what Lin Xuanzhi thought of Youshan Lingyu. After all, that person was not him, yet he also wasn’t him. He had already entered reincarnation. Now he was the second successor of the Qianyuan Dynasty, the body of a half-demon, and no longer the solitary ghost Youshan Lingyu who climbed out of the dark abyss.

　　He was a person who lived in the present. As long as he was safe in this current world, it was enough. The past could be buried in the past.

　　Yan Tianhen looked up at Lin Xuanzhi and said, “Dage, I like to hear you talk about the past stories. If you have time in the future, Dage might as well tell me more about ancient times.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi naturally agreed. “Okay.”

　　Soon, Yan Tianhen found out what Lin Xuanzhi had been doing in the past 100 years.

　　He had thought that Lin Xuanzhi, by virtue of the residual spiritual power of Jianmu and the talent from regaining his memories, kept improving his cultivation while refining the magic weapon that could break through Youshan Capital’s dilemma, just waiting for the seal of Youshan to be broken one day.

　　But later, when Yan Tianhen saw Lin Xuanzhi sitting in front of the huge light shield, looking at the dead wood and the guardian, his eyes inadvertently showing the color of sadness, Yan Tianhen suddenly realized that Lin Xuanzhi was probably thinking of something else.

　　Lin Xuanzhi didn’t even think about concealing anything to Yan Tianhen.

　　After Yan Tianhen sat down beside him, Lin Xuanzhi said, “Actually, it is not difficult to get rid of the barrier of Youshan. I can completely open the seal of Youshan with my hands and let these people reincarnate right now.”

　　Yan Tianhen was taken aback for a moment. Surprise flashed in his mind, but soon it became clear again. It could be broken but he didn’t break it, so there must be something holding him.

　　Yan Tianhen already faintly knew the reason, but he pretended to be puzzled. “What is Dage waiting for now?”

　　“Waiting for me to refine a magic treasure that can protect the remains of these two souls.” Lin Xuanzhi sighed softly, and said, “Does Ah Hen know what the shining cover is?”

　　Yan Tianhen tilted his head and looked at the light cover that covered the whole building, with a continuous flow of golden glowing light, and said, “Is it a barrier?”

　　“Lian Hua also thought it was a barrier.” Lin Xuanzhi said, “But it is not.”

　　“Then what is this?”

　　“It’s the Pillar of Heaven.”

　　Yan Tianhen’s pupil shrank. “The Pillar of Heaven?” He didn’t show it on the surface, but there was already a violent wave in his heart.

　　About the Pillar of Heaven: these were divine items that supported heaven and earth from ancient times to the present. As far as Yan Tianhen knew, there were only two ways for a Pillar of Heaven to form: one was crafting, and the other was through sacrifice.

　　Crafting, as the name suggested, involved a master craftsman who had a powerful crafting soul fire. Through the most profound crafting techniques and materials, he could refine the Pillar of Heaven that could support the world.

　　Sacrifice was to directly transform living creatures suitable to become a Pillar of Heaven, taking the body as the shape, the soul as the meaning, and the spirit as the reality, and directly incarnate them into a Pillar of Heaven.

　　———-

　　Zaki~ I think I already have an idea why Youshan Lingyu killed the Dao Zu and slaughtered the whole sect.. he might have no choice or maybe was prompted by Dao Zu to form the Pillar or Heaven,..aiyah.. don’t mind me, I’m just speculating.. LOL