Chapter 636: Rumors from Ancient Times
Jiang Chen had his own speculations, but he didn’t lay them bare. In fact, Dan Chi was the one who stared at Jiang Chen with surprise in his eyes, “Jiang Chen, you said that that blue-browed young man entered Mt. Rippling Mirage. In that case you… how… did you…”
Jiang Chen had only said that Cao Jin had entered Mt. Rippling Mirage, but the disciple hadn’t said that he’d killed Cao Jin. After all, that was much too outlandish. Dan Chi was extremely curious. With that blue-browed young man’s strength and the fact that he’d entered Mt. Rippling Mirage to chase and hunt Jiang Chen down, Jiang Chen had still been able to escape at leisure? Not to mention that the Mt. Rippling Mirage’s restrictive formation was completely intractable.
At this point, Jiang Chen understood that there were some things he could no longer keep secret. He immediately confessed in full to Dan Chi about the inheritance of Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect, but he didn’t admit that he was the one who’d killed Cao Jin. Instead, he arranged the story such that Cao Jin had accidentally barged into the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect’s formation and had been killed by the formation. He wasn’t afraid of letting the palace head know that the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect’s inheritance was already in his hands.
That being said, he still couldn’t reveal the secret that Long Xiaoxuan had killed Cao Jin. After all, the bloodline of true dragons was a critical matter. As for the inheritance of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect, Jiang Chen had given it a lot of consideration. He thought that it was fine if he revealed it to Palace Head Dan Chi.
Surprisingly, Palace Head Dan Chi wore a solemn look on his face, and fell into a long silence after Jiang Chen finished his explanation. It was only a long time later that the palace head muttered with wonderment, “So, the rumors from ancient times are actually real! The Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect… the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect!”
“What rumors from ancient times?” Jiang Chen asked in surprise. He hadn’t heard of any rumors from ancient times when gallivanting around the Myriad Domain. There were no such records amongst the Regal Pill Palace’s records either.
He couldn’t help but feel a little curious when he heard Palace Head Dan Chi muttering. Jiang Chen was extremely interested in the history behind the Divine Abyss Continent. While this continent appeared separate from his previous life, there always seemed to be this vague connection between the two of them. He just couldn’t seem to find the connection between the two together with the information and intelligence he currently possessed. That was why he couldn’t help but investigate every time he heard the words ‘rumors from ancient times’.
“Jiang Chen, do you still remember what I said back when the Regal Pill Palace formed an alliance with the Precious Tree Sect? I said that the Myriad Domain would soon fall into chaos in the next ten years, and that an era of chaos might descend upon the entire Divine Abyss Continent”
Of course Jiang Chen remembered that. Back then, Dan Chi had brought up the general situation of the Myriad Domain and placed a lot of hope on him. Dan Chi had said then that he’d simulated the Myriad Domain’s future countless times. However, Jiang Chen was the only odd factor in the equation that the palace head hadn’t been able to puzzle out.
Back then, Dan Chi had stated clearly that Jiang Chen might be the only person who could solve this predicament.
“Palace Head, what does all this have to do with the rumors from ancient times?” Personally, Jiang Chen was more concerned about the rumors.
“Jiang Chen, I don’t know much about the rumors from ancient times either. I’ve only heard some scattered bits when I was exploring the Upper Eight Regions.
“It is rumored that there were countless sects and experts on Divine Abyss Continent during ancient times. Amongst them, some powerful ancient sects possessed large groups of experts who’d transcended the level of a Titled Great Emperor.” Palace Head Dan Chi himself didn’t know what the level beyond Titled Great Emperor was called.
Jiang Chen added it in for him, “Empyrean expert.”
“Empyrean expert?” Palace Head Dan Chi’s eyes lit up, “How do you know this, Jiang Chen?”
“I learned this from the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect.” In reality, Jiang Chen had known of it a long time ago from the memories of his past life. All secular planes had their own ways to differentiate between the boundaries between martial arts, but when someone exceeded the limits of the mundane and broke through the void, they would be recognized by the heavenly laws and be given a unified title of “empyrean expert”.
“Empyrean expert, empyrean expert…” Palace Head Dan Chi muttered a couple of times in fascination and awe. “In the ancient times, empyrean experts ruled this land, and the Divine Abyss Continent was far stronger than it was now. The Divine Abyss Continent back then was likely in its final era. However, that era had came to an abrupt stop. Due to a disorder in the orbit of the celestial bodies, the Divine Abyss Continent and multiple other planes overlapped with one another in areas that allowed for teleportation. This allowed many alien races who were much more powerful to invade through these regions.”
Palace Head Dan Chi paused for a moment before smiling ruefully, “Although the disorder of the heavens’ orbit only lasted for a year, it was enough for countless alien races to invade the Divine Abyss Continent. They clashed furiously against the indigenous forces of the Divine Abyss Continent. Their goal was to take over the Continent and enslave every living being. No one knew how many months and years this protracted war lasted. In fact… no one even knew what the final outcome was. It was as if the history of that time had been utterly obliterated after that enormous battle. To this day, that part of the history is blank, and no records of that time can be found anywhere. It was as if history itself had been separated by a great chasm.”
Palace Head Dan Chi sighed, “Of course, these are just the rumors I heard in passing. There is no way for me to confirm whether that is truly the truth. The Myriad Domain’s status is too low, and no valuable clues can be found at all.”
Although the amount of information Dan Chi provided was pitifully small, Jiang Chen was more of a mind to believe it as real. This was because the records of Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect matched the scattered bits of information Palace Head Dan Chi had found. The text and diagrams on the stone walls and journals of Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect both mentioned the invasion of powerful enemies from beyond the region. These powerful enemies from beyond the region should be the alien races mentioned by Palace Head Dan Chi.
“Palace Head, could it be that these invaders are the ancient demon race?” Jiang Chen asked curiously.
Dan Chi nodded, “Correct. After the ancient times, those invaders were all collectively known as the ancient demon race. In reality, there was more than one race who invaded the Divine Abyss Continent, but we simply call them collectively as demons.”
Jiang Chen remembered that the term ‘ancient demons’ had appeared more than once in the Myriad Domain. In fact, the sixteen kingdom alliance had always been considered to be at the cusp of where the demons were sealed. It was just that these rumors had never been validated before.
“Jiang Chen, the fact that you discovered the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect’s inheritance proves that you are a man of great fortune. However, you must keep this information a secret, just as I will not reveal this to a third person. This matter is of the utmost importance. Who knows, perhaps the forbidden land of Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect may be the Regal Pill Palace’s safeguard in the future.” Dan Chi was more joyful than surprised in regards to the revelation of Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect.
“Palace Head, do the Ninesuns Sky Sect’s arrangements share any connection with these ancient sects?” Jiang Chen asked curiously.
Dan Chi thought for a moment, but contrary to Jiang Chen’s expectations, he responded, “Who knows how many forbidden areas on the level of Mt. Rippling Mirage exist on the Divine Abyss Continent? There are also numerous ancient ruins much superior than Mt. Rippling Mirage in the Upper Eight Regions. These ancient ruins exist in even the sixteen kingdom alliance. We can see from this that there are many such ancient ruins that’d survived the ancient era. But how would they know which ancient ruin contains an ancient sect’s inheritance?”
It made sense to Jiang Chen. Back at Skylaurel Kingdom, even the likes of him had obtained the inheritance of the Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice at the Maze Realm Autumn Hunt. He had also obtained the magnetic golden mountain back at the trials of the sixteen kingdom alliance. Ultimately, he was simply picking up scraps left behind by other cultivators. If he could pick up such scraps from even such small places, it was clear that there were countless ancient ruins on the Divine Abyss Continent, as many as the hairs on an ox.
Of course, if it hadn’t been for Jiang Chen being uncommon, a normal person would find it very difficult to stumble across ‘scraps’ like the Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice and the magnetic golden mountain. But no matter what the Ninesuns Sky Sect’s intentions were, their great ambition and designs on the Myriad Domain had been made abundantly clear.
“Jiang Chen, it would appear that the Ninesuns Sky Sect is confident in their ability to swallow the Myriad Domain. Even a sect like the Tristar Sect has fallen under their sway. I’m worried that they might have some kind of conspiracy set up during this Myriad Grand Ceremony. Therefore, the Myriad Grand Ceremony may very well be a turning point for the Myriad Domain.”
“You think so too, Palace Head?” Jiang Chen was surprised. The reason he had left Mt. Rippling Mirage so urgently was because he’d been driven by a powerful hunch. He had the niggling feeling that something of great import would happen during the Myriad Grand Ceremony. He thought that it was just his intuition alone, but he didn’t think that the palace head had thought the same as well.
Palace Head Dan Chi’s gaze was laden with weight, “I’m not the only one who has felt this. It is likely that all the great leaders of the Myriad Domain and those who are even slightly sensitive have had a similar premonition. I’m guessing that every sect will be making some sort of preparation of their own. I am worried that many sects will buckle beneath the Ninesuns Sky Sect’s aggression, and our Regal Pill Palace may very well be the only one who stands in defiance against them.”
It was possible that such a thing might happen. However, Jiang Chen thought that Ninesuns Sky Secy might not even accept the compromise offered by the sects of the Myriad Domain. It was obvious that the Ninesuns Sky Sect saw value in Myriad Domain as a territory, not as a forces. After all, even the strongest sect in the Myriad Domain, Great Cathedral was just average. Even a hundred Great Cathedrals couldn’t compare to one Ninesuns Sky Sect.
“What is your plan, sect master?” Jiang Chen knew that Dan Chi had his own ambitions, and his own plan. However, there was nothing Palace Head Dan Chi could do against the giant that was Ninesuns Sky Sect in a short period of time, no matter how shrewd he was.
“Jiang Chen, you’ve known about my thoughts and aspirations for a long time now. However, I’m in no hurry to build my kingdom overnight either. If there is truly nothing that can be done, I will not be so foolish as to try and smash an egg against a rock. The best way is none other to break up the Regal Pill Palace temporarily and bide our time. If ten years is insufficient, then we wait a hundred years. If a hundred years is insufficient, then we wait five hundred years… As long as our legacy remains, it is only a matter of time until we recover our homeland and unify the Myriad Domain!” Dan Chi’s eyes shone with the light of resolution. It was a light filled with grave, determined intelligence.
It was obvious that Dan Chi would never agree to bend his knee and submit to Ninesuns Sky Sect. The second he did so, the spirit of the sect would break along with him. A sect could be dissolved, but as long as the kindling of their spirit hadn’t extinguished yet, then the sect would still be alive. Similarly, even if a sect hadn’t yet been destroyed, if their legacy was extinguished, then it was no different than them being destroyed.
A sect’s inheritance wasn’t determined by the integrity of its territory or the number of its disciples. It was determined by whether its spirit was still alive. In this regard, the spirits of both the Regal Pill Palace and Precious Tree Sect were well and alive, despite their relative strengths. Just like the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect, although they had died out completely, their powerful spirit had continued to shine for eons. Jiang Chen had been inspired by that powerful mentality the moment he entered the forbidden land of Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect. This was the power of a legacy. This type of strength was stronger than a fist, and more reliable than a weapon!
