“Yes, logically, it should be so, but it’s not absolute, and the gods are not omnipotent. Now, the appearing of the Sky-reaching Secret Land will be an opportunity for our tribe to break the seal.”
The eyes of the woman in the court dress shone brightly as she continued, “In the past, the Yan Emperor and Yellow Emperor were ambitious, and after they united the human world, they were unwilling to be controlled by the gods and wanted to enjoy the worship from the human world alone, hoping to become gods. Therefore, they gathered all the heroes in the world and destroyed the Sky-reaching Tower. The later generations spread the falsehood and brought about the myth that Gonggong, the descendant of the Yan Emperor and Yellow Emperor, knocked into the Mountain Buzhou angrily.”
Night Lone Ranger was confused after hearing the words, and asked, “Master, what’s the relationship between Sky-reaching Tower and Mountain Buzhou?”
The woman in the court dress patted her own forehead and said embarrassedly, “Oh, I forgot to tell you that the Sky-reaching Tower is built on Mountain Buzhou, which is the only way to communicate with the Ethereal World. Mortal forces could not destroy the Sky-reaching Tower, and that’s why the two emperors turned their target to Mountain Buzhou. Destroying the mountain, the Sky-reaching Tower will be destroyed as well.”
Night Lone Ranger suddenly understood and asked with interest, “Was the Sky-reaching Tower destroyed later?”
“Well, the Sky-reaching Tower isn’t meant to be destroyed easily.”
There was indignation in the eyes of the woman in the court dress as she said, “The two emperors paid a great price to cut off Mountain Buzhou because of their ambition, but they didn’t know that the Sky-reaching Tower is a bridge connecting heaven and earth. Due to the fall of Mountain Buzhou, the Sky-reaching Tower was rendered tilted. As they expected, the connection with the Ethereal World was cut off, which brought the human world into a catastrophe.”
Speaking of this, the woman in the court dress showed a hint of fear in her beautiful eyes. “Although the Sky-reaching Tower lost its connection with the Ethereal World, it unexpectedly communicated with the Demon World. Despite the rules of heaven that prevented those great demons from entering the human world, countless small demons who hadn’t reached the Divine Realm managed to enter the human world through the Sky-reaching Tower and launched an aggressive war against the Yan Emperor and Yellow Emperor. The war caused great damages and almost brought the world into darkness. It lasted for five thousand years and killed most of the people of that time. Human beings were about to become extinct. Everyone lost their fighting spirit. Refugees filled the land, and the demons met little resistance during their slaughtering. Only a few strong people were still fighting bravely and made guerrilla struggles, but to human beings, there was no hope in sight.”
“What happened later?”
Night Lone Ranger was shocked as she listened to her master, and was immersed in it. Although she knew that human beings didn’t become extinct at that time, she still couldn’t help but ask nervously.
“Later…”
There was a hint of pride on the beautiful face of the woman in the court dress. “After recuperating for five thousand years in the war, our Mysterious Ladies’ Tribe joined hands with the remaining people of the two emperors and resolutely fought against the demons as the main force, for sake of human beings and justice.”
“Could our tribe and the discomfited troops of the two emperors defeat the demons?”
Night Lone Ranger didn’t believe that even after the whole Mysterious Ladies’ Tribe was almost exterminated, the tribe would fight for the human beings and justice without complaint.
In her opinion, for five thousand years, the Mysterious Ladies’ Tribe didn’t join the war because they were waiting for the demons to greatly weaken the two emperors’ power, so that the two emperors would no longer be a threat. Otherwise, the troops of the two emperors would have exterminated the Mysterious Ladies’ Tribe when they were still strong. There was no doubt that the nature of human beings would be really bad sometimes. The human beings wouldn’t allow the threatening Mysterious Ladies’ Tribe to exist unless they were faced with the danger of being exterminated.
Therefore, the Mysterious Ladies’ Tribe had no choice but to fight back. They must have understood that they shared a common lot at that time. If the tribe of the Yan Emperor and Yellow Emperor was completely destroyed, the Mysterious Ladies’ Tribe would be destroyed by the demons sooner or later, no matter how exquisite their battle formation was. Their joining the war was not for justice, but for self-protection.
The pretty face of the woman in the court dress blushed. She rolled her eyes at her disciple and replied, “Of course not. In the barren land among the wild mountains, in addition to our Mysterious Ladies’ Tribe, there were also the remaining clansmen of the Jiuli tribe, and some of them were the descendants of Chiyou. They had more people than us. If it weren’t for their help, this terrible five-thousand-year-long war wouldn’t have ended up with the victory of humans.”
“Descendant of Chiyou?”
Night Lone Ranger exclaimed in surprise. She did forget this group of people.
“Yes, some of them were the descendants of Chiyou. Although they lived separately in their own tribes, their fighting power is far stronger than that of our Mysterious Ladies’ Tribe. With the help of our battle formation and after a tough and extraordinary battle, they finally killed all the demons that invaded the human world.”
The woman in the court dress gave a long sigh and continued, “It’s very difficult to kill the demons completely. They lived in different forms from us, so the human tribes were afraid that they would be reborn. They were also afraid that the demons would send reinforcements to the human world through the Sky-reaching Tower. So, they sacrificed all the remaining experts in the Holy Martial Arts Realm to seal the corpses of the demons and the Sky-reaching Tower deep in the Demon Abyss by using the Sacrifice of Blood. The channel that demons used to enter the human world was, thus, cut off. This is how the Sky-reaching Secret Land had come into being.”
“Ah, does the appearance of the Sky-reaching Secret Land mean that human beings are in danger?”
Night Lone Ranger’s face changed dramatically, and she cried out in horror.
“Not actually!”
The woman in the court dress shook her head lightly. “Many people think that the experts in the Holy Martial Arts Realm of each sect are in isolation for cultivating, and that none of them has come out. Well, they are wrong. When these experts find that there is no hope for them to break through the Divine Realm, they will take the initiative to enter the Demon Abyss seeking the opportunity to break through. After all, although the Demon Abyss is full of danger, the spiritual aura of the Sky-reaching Secret Land could breed countless precious medical materials. If it were not for that these experts were not in the ancient martial world back then, the founding ancestor of the Shenzhou Country, together with his five guards, wouldn’t have been able to force the ancient martial world to sign the Peace Agreement.”
“None of these experts came back?”
Night Lone Ranger asked nervously. After all, there was no expert at the Saint Level in the Holy-goddess Tribe. If the experts in the Holy Martial Arts Realm of other sects came back, then the Holy-goddess Tribe would be in danger.
“A hundred years ago, an expert in the Holy Martial Arts Realm from the Holy-sword Villa discovered the location of the Sky-reaching Secret Land. The moment he entered the land, he sent back a message at the cost of his own life. He told us that the Sky-reaching Tower is a divine object between heaven and earth, and the spiritual aura it emits could purify the devil aura of the demon corpses. The demons above the God Martial Arts Realm have condensed their own spirits, so even if their bodies are rotten, their spirits are immortal. After being purified by the Sky-reaching Tower, these sealed demons lost their self-consciousness and became the purest spirits. If a Celestial Spiritual Master gains this kind of spirits and refines them, he would become a Divine Spiritual Master and even a Holy Spiritual Master. However, after that expert sent back the message, people lost contact with him.”
Speaking of this, the woman in the court dress let out a long sigh. “After the Tianji Pavilion received the news, it took them a hundred years to predict that the Sky-reaching Secret Land will appear in two years.”
“What kind of an organization is the Tianji Pavilion actually? Is it reliable?” Night Lone Ranger asked noncommittally.
The woman in the court dress suddenly put on a solemn look and answered seriously, “Don’t be so rude to the Tianji Pavilion. They are all talented chosen ones, born with the ability to study gods’ will. They are unworldly beings, and for thousands of years, they have never interfered in the changes of dynasties in the human world. They neither covet power nor have desires; they only predict the matter related to the fate of human beings. The punishment of their giving away gods’ secrets is the decrease in their lifespan. Therefore, the chosen ones can’t live long. Even the Four Holy Gates, Great Snow-mountain, and the Sky-hiding Temple have to treat them respectfully.”
“Great Snow-mountain and Sky-hiding Temple? What kind of sects are they? Why have I never heard of them? Are they also the Saint Level sects since they are mentioned with the Four Holy Gates?”
Night Lone Ranger had heard about the two sects for the first time and could not help but ask in surprise.
“Yes, the Great Snow-mountain and Sky-hiding Temple are both Saint Level sects that are secluded from the world. Some of the disciples of our Four Holy Gates are moving about in the outside world. Unlike us, these two mysterious sects are really reclusive. The locations of these two sects, the Tianji Pavilion, and our Four Holy Gates formed the shape of the Big Dipper. They are also the seven Formation Eyes that sealed the Sky-reaching Secret Land back then.”
The eyes of the woman in the court dress glittered with wisdom. “So I suspect that the people of these two sects are the descendants of the people who had sealed the Sky-reaching Secret Land at that time.”
“Are they the descendants of Chiyou?”
Night Lone Ranger’s eyes lit up, and she asked in surprise.
“No!”
The woman in the court dress shook her head with a complicated look in her eyes. “Chiyou was good at using three kinds of weapons—sabers, axes, and spears. His skills of using axes and spears were lost after he was defeated and killed. Only his skill of using sabers was passed down. The tribe of his descendants is named Holy-saber Ancient Tribe.”
“Ah, the people of the Holy-saber Ancient Tribe are actually the descendants of Chiyou? No wonder the Holy Medical Family and the Holy-sword Villa have always been irreconcilable with the Holy-saber Ancient Tribe.”
Night Lone Ranger was suddenly enlightened. After all, the Holy Medical Family claimed to be the descendant of the Yan Emperor, and the Xuanyuan Magic Sword was worshiped in the Holy-sword Villa, so naturally, the Holy-sword Villa was the descendant of the Yellow Emperor. However, Night Lone Ranger was still confused. “Back when the Yan Emperor and Yellow Emperor tried to kill every one of our Mysterious Ladies’ Tribe, it could be said that there was deep-seated hatred between us. So, logically, our tribe should ally with the Holy-saber Ancient Tribe. But why every time the Holy-saber Ancient Tribe attacked the Holy Medical Family and Holy-sword Villa, we had to help the latter?”
“For the sake of the common people in the world!”
The woman in the court dress emitted an aura of righteousness as she continued, “Although the Sky-reaching Tower has been sealed, each one of the seven Formation Eyes has to consume the hard-earned Spiritual Energy of one expert at the Saint Level, to maintain the seal. Otherwise, once the seal of the Sky-reaching Tower is broken, no one can guarantee that the demons won’t come back to the human world again. In the chaotic years, human beings still had thousands of experts in the Holy Martial Arts Realm on their side to resist the invasion from the demons. But now, there are less than a hundred experts in the Holy Martial Arts Realm in the mortal world. Though our Holy-goddess Tribe didn’t produce any expert in the Holy Martial Arts Realm, three ancestors in the God Martial Arts Realm of our tribe will help maintain the seal with the magic formations in each generation. Once the Holy Medical Family and Holy-sword Villa fall, where can we find other experts in the Holy Martial Arts Realm to maintain the seal? By then, the human tribe will be in danger. Thus, no matter how unwilling we are, we have to protect them.”
Night Lone Ranger was full of respect toward her tribe. They showed what true righteousness was. To protect the human tribe, they put away their personal hatred. In Night Lone Ranger’s eyes, her master suddenly became respectable.
However, what the woman in the court dress said next, while smiling like a fox that had just managed to steal a chick, made Night Lone Ranger change her feeling for her instantly. “The Holy-saber Ancient Tribe, of course, understands this, just like we do. In fact, even if our Holy-goddess Tribe hadn’t stood out, the Holy-saber Ancient Tribe wouldn’t kill the Holy Medical Family and Holy-sword Villa. But since there was no risk for our Holy-goddess Tribe to speak for the Holy Medical Family and Holy-sword Villa, which would offer both parties a chance to come to terms and let them owe us a favor, why didn’t we do that?”
Night Lone Ranger didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She hadn’t expected her naive master to be so sly. “Master, since we could enter the Sky-reaching Secret Land through Demon Abyss, what the appearance of the Sky-reaching Secret Land refer to?”
“Demon Abyss is a very horrible and dangerous place. Even the experts in the Holy Martial Arts Realm probably would get killed after entering the place. So, no one would like to try to enter it recklessly. Moreover, the abyss is boundless and full of danger beyond our imagination. Finding the entrance of the Sky-reaching Secret Land is simply as difficult as finding a needle in a sea.”
The woman in the court dress added seriously, “That’s why the appearance of the Sky-reaching Secret Land is so precious. Its appearance is the only hope for a warrior in the Holy Martial Arts Realm to break into the Divine Realm. This place contains great opportunities. However, even if the Sky-reaching Secret Land is out of Demon Abyss, it is still not easy for us to enter it, for there are so many strong restrictions.”
