Edited by Ea
Yan Tianhen understood.
It sounded like Rong Zhisui’s words came from the bottom of his heart, but although it seemed true, he could not believe it completely. Rong Zhishui could not only read people’s thoughts, but he could also connect with their minds and sneak into people’s consciousness to speak to them directly.
Just when Yan Tianhen was about to wake up, he suddenly heard a familiar voice speaking in his Dantian Qi Sea, “If you want them to live, stay here alone, and I will have the five-colored bird send everyone away.”
In an instant, Yan Tianhen remembered the words of those people in Dark Cloud City — that people in the Rong family could repeatedly enter the Tomb of Youshan. Coupled with the description of his appearance, he was easily convinced that it was Yin Changge.
“It’s just that I don’t understand why you’d want me to stay behind.” Yan Tianhen looked at Rong Zhishui’s clear eyes and asked, “Who is that powerful guy? Where was my Dage taken?”
Rong Zhishui was very frank and seemed to have no intention of hiding anything. He said, “He is the ancestor of our spirit clan and the real Spirit Emperor. His name is Cang Rong. He should have fallen in the ancient Great Immortal-Demon War tens of thousands of years ago. But later, when I inherited the bloodline legacy of the Rong family and was able to freely go in and out of the Tomb of Youshan, I found out that he was not dead. He just stays here all the time, protecting it. He can’t leave, and I also can’t enter Youshan’s capital.”
“Cang Rong…” When Yan Tianhen heard this name, it set off waves in his heart. This was not an unfamiliar name. For those ancient emperors, if they just made a move, the sky would fall, the sun and the moon would be destroyed, and creation and destruction were just matters that could happen with a mere thought. How could the emperors of today be compared to him?
Cang Rong, the first ancestor of the Rong family, was born in the wind and trees. He was able to talk with the four seasons, control the growth and decline of plants, and was as famous as the Sword Venerable.
However, it was said that Cang Rong also fell in the last battle between gods and demons. His body turned into a forest in the Northeast Land, as well as the spring winds, the summer trees, the autumn rain, and winter snow. He existed alongside the world, and traces could be found anywhere.
“To think that Cang Rong is still alive.” Yan Tianhen said, “No wonder his blow was able to compete with the Dao of Heaven.”
Cang Rong’s blast between his eyebrows was like a bullet. It looked effortless, but it allowed his past memories to break through the shackles of the Dao of Heaven, letting him remember everything. This ability was far above an ordinary Earth Realm Grandmaster Stage cultivator.
When Rong Zhishui saw that he was still calm, he went on to say, “The Rong family actually has another name. We’re called the ‘Wood Keeper.’ The tree that we’re protecting, from beginning to end, from ancient times to the present, has always been the same.”
Rong Zhishui’s voice slowed down and sounded in the dark, “Jianmu was originally a divine tree that connected heaven and earth. Only when it was still alive and held up the passage between heaven and earth, can people fly up to a higher cultivation realm and a larger world. However, ten thousand years ago, those foreign cultivators used this Jianmu to sneak into the Nine Lands and collude with the demon world for the sake of sparrow spirits and spiritual veins. It provoked the cruelest war in the history of the Nine Lands. Regarding the Great Immortal-Demon War, each family had different versions of what happened. In our Rong family’s version, that war lasted for hundreds of years. Finally, the demon clan led by the blood cypress demon, who used unknown tricks, completely occupied the upper hand. It seemed inevitable that the emperors of the Nine Lands died one after another and that the Nine Lands would fall.
However, how could those masters of the Nine Lands watch those things happen? In the end, Jianmu cut off its own roots and severed the connection between the Nine Lands and Heaven with death, thus preventing the invasion of those foreign cultivators. Then, the Sword Venerable sacrificed his life and his entire cultivation to first kill the blood cypress, the leader of the demons, in Puluo Mountain, and then took him to Jianmu. He used what remained of Jianmu’s divine power to eliminate the demonic Qi in the corpse’s body and killed him completely.
In the end, the Sword Venerable used the last of his spiritual Qi and life force to make Puluo Mountain, which was once regarded as a sacred place by the ancestors, sink down and become sealed off, turning it into a true forbidden location. After doing all this, the Sword Venerable went to the east of the East Land and the north of the North Land, and turned into a high peak to keep protecting the continent for thousands of years.”
With the disappearance of the ancient miracles, the Nine Land’s Divine Families finally became butterflies after bathing in fire and gradually prospered. However because of different views, the ancient legends eventually obscured the truth in the torrent of time.
After hearing this long and distant story, Yan Tianhen couldn’t help having mixed feelings.
If that person is indeed Cang Rong, then why did he take my Dage away? Although Yan Tianhen inquired this, he actually already had the answer in his heart.
Rong Zhishui looked at him and said, “Can’t you see that Huarong Sword Immortal is born with a sword bone and holds a Zhige sword in his hand? Most likely, he is the reincarnation of the Sword Venerable. I learned from the long-sealed secret volume of my clan that the Spirit Emperor and Chang Sheng Sword Venerable were close friends. If Huarong Sword Immortal is really the Sword Venerable, it is understandable for my ancestor to leave with him.”
Yan Tianhen paused, then asked, “Then why did he want to keep me here?”
After a moment’s silence, Rong Zhishui hesitated to say, “Maybe it’s because you said you were his Dao companion, that’s why my ancestor was curious. Anyway, according to rumors, the Sword Venerable was still a bachelor when he died. In any case, I can’t imagine who is worthy of being his Dao companion — of course, I didn’t say you aren’t worthy.”
Yan Tianhen, “…”
No matter what that unpredictable Spirit Emperor, who was in a strange mood and had strong magic powers, was thinking, Yan Tianhen always had to find ways to meet him.
Perhaps Rong Zhishui felt guilty for Yan Tianhen, so he took out a blue pill. As soon as Yan Tianhen saw it, he knew that it was the medicine that could repair his meridians and veins. There was no backlash, but the effect was really slow. Yan Tianhen did not refuse and swallowed it directly.
If he wanted to repair it completely, it would probably take eight to ten years. The bird had just returned, and its back was empty. It crowed at Rong Zhishui, and Rong Zhishui explained, “He has sent your friends out.”
Yan Tianhen asked, “What about you?”
Rong Zhishui said, “I’m going out too, and my ancestor said that after I leave, the Tomb of Youshan will be completely closed, and there will be no possibility for outsiders to enter again.”
He looked around for a moment, then turned to Yan Tianhen, and his voice was very low. “If you want to leave now, I can take you with me. My ancestor can’t leave the Tomb of Youshan. After you go out, you will be safe.”
Yan Tianhen thought about it.
After a long time, his eyes turned slightly and said, “Since this place will be sealed soon, I probably can’t survive with my present strength. You can take me away secretly.”
Rong Zhishui said, “I thought you would like to stay.”
Yan Tianhen was very calm and said, “I stayed just to find out the reason for all this. Now I more or less know about it. Why stay here and wait for death? Besides, if you stay in the green hills, you will not be afraid of running out of firewood. If my Dage is the reincarnation of the Sword Venerable, the Spirit Emperor will naturally help him with all his strength.”
Rong Zhishui nodded. Taking advantage of the ancestor’s attention on Lin Xuanzhi, Rong Zhishui immediately took Yan Tianhen and two white tigers on the back of the bird and had the crazy bird fly them towards the edge of the tomb. The bird flew a thousand li with a single flap of its wings, and the wind was whistling in their ears, almost blowing people away. Yan Tianhen’s heart beat fast, but his body was firmly grasped by Rong Zhishui.
All of a sudden, the bird hissed and screamed. Its body, which had been flying in the sky, fell down in an instant. It flapped its wings and fought against the strong force below, but it didn’t help.
“How dare you!” A hoarse cold shout came from all over the world and two thick barbed vines caught the bird’s feet and dragged it to the ground.
Rong Zhishui paled. He turned around and threw himself on Yan Tianhen. With a strong force, he turned his direction in the middle of the journey and stuck against Rong Zhishui’s back. With a loud bang, a mountain peak was cut flat behind them. The roaring sound was deafening, and the earth was shaking. Yan Tianhen was shocked by the mighty Qi, and his seven orifices were bleeding, and his eardrum was almost broken.
Cang Rong was livid, and a pair of dark green eyes looked at the two people who fell at his feet with wrath. A wave of his hand restored the mountain to its original state.
The bird had shrunk to the ground in fear, shivering.
Ah Bai and Hu Po braced themselves, protecting Yan Tianhen’s side, and they bared their teeth at Cang Rong.
“How dare you go against my words and secretly let him go, Rong Zhishui? I really taught you in vain for so many years,” Cang Rong said in a cold voice.
Looking at the pained and trembling Yan Tianhen, Rong Zhishui knelt on the ground and kowtowed two loud times to Cang Rong, and begged, “Old ancestor, he hasn’t done anything wrong, and he’s also my friend. Please let him go.”
“Let him go?” Cang Rong twisted his beautiful face almost ferociously, with long hair hanging down like a specter. “No one can take away the person this Venerable wants to keep.”
“Why do you have to keep him?” Rong Zhishui’s heart almost jumped into his throat, saying, “He is the second heir to the Nine Lands. If he had an accident, the Nine Lands would be in chaos! Ancestor, what you hate most is war. Please let him go!”
Cang Rong stared at Rong Zhishui for a moment and said, “You are the heir of the Rong clan. You only need to remember the mission of the Rong clan from ancient times to the present. You don’t need to worry about other things.”
“But ancestor–”
“It’s useless to say more.” Cang Rong interrupted, and ruthlessly lifted Yan Tianhen up with a long dark green vine. Yan Tianhen was tied tightly, showing pain, but he was glaring at Cang Rong with a fierce attitude without fear.
Cang Rong seemed to be angered by his eyes. When he raised his hand, he slapped him in the face with a vine whip. After a crunching sound, there was a deep wound on Yan Tianhen’s left cheek, and bone could be seen. The red liquid dripped down his cheeks.
Seeing this scene, Rong Zhishui completely froze on the spot.