Chapter 2577: Meeting in the Story

The fate of the river is mysterious and profound, and a white boat flows quietly, gurgling.

Jiang Zhenjun stepped onto the immortal boat, which floated forward in the air, his gaze distant.

He had been looking for a very long time.

He had once come here.

It felt like a story from a very long time ago.

At that time, everything forward and backward was pitch black, and his eyesight could not penetrate the river water.

Now, he still could not see anything forward or backward, because his fate no longer allowed others to pry. His fate was in his own palm.

Every moment in the future was still unknown, but the absolute majority would be the result he intended.

He could finally control himself, only it was already many years later.

The illusionary changes of countless living beings' fates unexpectedly formed such a calm river in the end.

He waited quietly here, finally knowing that no one would wave to him.

Time is like flowing water, past events cannot be pursued.

Mirror flowers and water moons are ultimately dreams; the Southern Dipper and Northern Dipper are just an empty field.

Now, he used blood divination to see fate.

He would finally not see old friends.

He had understood how to manipulate fate very early on, but unexpectedly did not understand how to leave himself a trace of fate.

Was it because he saw the ending early on?

Did he accept it early on?

Jiang Wang was silent, finally looking forward.

A few drops of mosquito blood were not enough for him to gaze upon the myriad ages and trace the fate of the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art."

But the blood divination technique was only a lead. What Jiang Wang truly relied on was his own heaven-defying ability, his grasp of the wrong path of fate, and the "Bitter Sea Eternal Sinking Desire Demon Art" which he personally killed.

He had helped Yu Beidou seal the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art" into Yu Beidou's eyes. He had also personally participated in the scene where the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art" was destroyed. He had a very deep entanglement with this demon art and could trace its mark in his own fate.

See demons with demons, see fate with blood divination, see the past with stories.

Just like in the pure land of fate, the abbot of bitter fate drove a boat.

He could not learn the Zen skill of master of bitter fate's sole grasp of fate, but the boat driving technique was not difficult to replicate.

And with the See-Hear Immortal Boat gathering clues exhaustively, he made sure to leave no stone unturned.

From the surging river, countless blood-colored light points flew out. They gathered together, condensing into a beast-skin book, which quietly hung before Jiang Wang, slowly opening.

Only its originally possessed eternal nature could penetrate time in this way.

The past fate of this beast-skin book, with the burning of the East Sea as the starting point, went forward to Jing Ye, the garrison general of Yin Guang City in Rong Country, Liu Huai, the writing eunuch of Yang Country, the last ruler of Yang Country, Yang Jiande... scene after scene, all displayed before his eyes.

Many details that Jiang Wang did not see in that year were now clearly presented.

He even saw Yang Xuance put down this demon art and take away the "Great Sun Golden Flame Decision."

Further forward...

The transfer of the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art" in the present world was naturally because the previous Blood Demon Monarch had already been killed, leaving only a remnant thought representing the Blood Demon, which later clamored with Yu Beidou.

And that "last Blood Demon Monarch" was born in the near ancient era, more specifically, in the mythical era—

Heavy rain was pouring!

The sky was suffused with blood color.

The foot of the mountain had already become a flood, and there were white bones everywhere on the mountain path.

All flesh and blood howled into the rushing flow, converging towards the mountaintop.

The mountaintop of this mountain had already been melted flat. The majestic spirit hall, pavilion terraces, exotic beasts, and immortal grass, once glorious, all returned to one pool—that was a flesh and blood mud pit that seemed to have a spirit.

Densely packed blood dragons climbed the walls, all converging in this pool.

This mud pit, with flesh and blood as its foundation, melted treasure tools, spirit tools, divine weapons, everything, like a greedy giant mouth that could never be satisfied.

In the very center of this mud pit, a blood bubble was bulging up. In the center of the blood bubble, a blood lightning darted about, unexpectedly agile, noble, like a divine dragon.

Jiang Wang's line of sight was outside the picture; he was a bystander to this segment of history.

If he had the divine ability to shuttle through time, or rode the demon race's time treasure boat called "Flying Light," he probably would not have been able to resist killing into the picture and trying to kill the one inside the blood and flesh mud pit.

But now he could only look.

In this segment of history rolling over in the mythical era, the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art" pretended to have a divine name, sought blood as sacrifice, thoroughly slaughtered a contemporary great sect, blood sacrificed thirty thousand cultivators and several tens of millions of people under the sect's governance.

From this, an extremely powerful Blood Demon Monarch was born!

And at this moment, it was precisely the time when this Blood Demon Monarch was overthrown.

Because his evil deeds had already been discovered. He took blood as spirit, simulated cultivators and governed people, and under the pretext of "not contending with worldly affairs, quietly waiting for a new heaven," he closed himself off in seclusion and continuously swallowed outsiders. In the chaotic end of the mythical era, he indeed covered for a period, but ultimately could not avoid being illuminated by the bright sun and exposed under the blue sky.

A small woodcutter who disappeared in this place led to a series of investigations, and finally a powerful figure saw a clue and uncovered this blood cover.

Although it was the end of an era and the world was chaotic, it was impossible to tolerate this Blood Demon Monarch continuing to swallow people and deceive the world.

Precisely because he was forced into a dead end, this Blood Demon Monarch only retracted all blood spirits and digested the great sect's spirit hall, desiring a last struggle.

The history Jiang Wang now saw was precisely the ending of this Blood Demon Monarch.

After not long, the main character of this segment of story then entered the picture.

That was a man with immortal wind and bones, walking on the mountain path where blood dragons crawled, passing by those exposed white bones.

This person wore the Six Rites jade, with a ringing waist and ceremonial attire. As he walked, his large sleeves fluttered, and the sound of jade pendants jingled.

He had the appearance of a middle-aged person, and between his eyebrows, there was a kind of pure and noble air.

Although he walked on the bloody mountain path, he was like in the mountain wild clouds.

He had a kind of strong demeanor that did not belong to this place, or even this era!

Among his black hair, there were two strands of white temples, just like floating clouds in the long night.

His steps were light and slow, composedly climbing the mountain. It was clearly to force the Blood Demon Monarch to a dead end, yet his posture was like coming to share a drink with him.

The more Jiang Wang looked, the more familiar he became, because the person climbing the mountain, under his feet, had clouds that were either hidden or present... precisely Good Fortune Green Cloud!

Old fellow villager... no, same sect?

In the mythical era, was it this person who killed the Blood Demon Monarch?

At this point in time, the immortal era had not yet arrived, but this person already had immortal techniques and was stepping on green clouds. Could it be that the immortal era was opened by him?

As Jiang Wang's heart was filled with various thoughts, this mountain climber suddenly stopped, turned back on the mountain path, and looked up.

The sound of the wind was far away.

The shaking of the mountain forest seemed to be in another world.

The blood and flesh mud pit on the mountaintop was still boiling, the blood demon was still roaring, and blood power rolled heaven and earth, colliding with the sun and moon.

But everything became very distant.

Although Jiang Wang was not in this space-time, he vaguely felt... this person was looking at him!

If the time interval was truly calculated in tens of thousands of years, this person turned around on the demon-slaying road and gazed.

At least he was an ancient saint, or had already transcended!

In the next moment, he indeed heard this person speak.

This person's forehead hair lightly rose, his pupils were clear and bright, and his tone was extremely faint: "Have you seen my disciple?"

Jiang Wang did not speak. He almost thought it was an illusion, a hallucination.

How could he encounter such a character in the history of tracing the fate of the demon art?

The man standing on the mountain path spoke again: "It is called Li Canghu."

Immortal Emperor Li Canghu!

Suddenly hearing this name, two pictures immediately floated in Jiang Wang's mind.

One was the characters "Li Clan Little Tiger Family Gate" on the Red Dust Gate.

The other was Meng Tianhai before his death, walking towards the Red Dust Gate. One step before deciding life and death with Ji Furen, he mentioned the name "Li Canghu," coupling it with Ji Furen. Calculating the time, Meng Tianhai was also active almost in the era when the Blood Demon Monarch was killed!

Finally knowing that all this was truly happening, dialogue was unavoidable.

Standing at the absolute peak of the present world, sailing on the long river of fate, Jiang Wang was not afraid of history.

With a slight thought in his heart, a heavenly wind rose on the baseless mountain path.

Across the waves of the long river of fate, Jiang Wang's voice traveled through the years, disturbed by the heavenly wind, appearing extremely indifferent: "Never seen."

The man on the mountain path said: "It is right beside me."

Jiang Wang carefully looked at this place again, even seriously observed the mountaintop which had already become very distant, the blood and flesh mud pit on the mountaintop, and carefully investigated the Blood Demon Monarch's power for a while, then returned his thoughts here and sent down a heavenly sound: "There is no one by your side."

The man on the mountain path looked to the side a bit, was silent for a moment, and after a moment of silence said: "You forgot one very important thing."

After saying this sentence, he turned back, his steps elegant, and continued to go towards the mountain.

No more words.

Turning around was saying goodbye, and the process of climbing the mountain was a long journey.

He walked further and further, bringing this mountain, as well as this space-time, out of Jiang Wang's line of sight. And he continued his process of fighting the Blood Demon Monarch in this space-time.

History, with its huge inertia, flowed forward freely.

Above the air of the long river of fate, above the See-Hear Immortal Boat, the beast-skin book before Jiang Wang slowly closed.

A kind of enlightenment arose in his heart—

The fate of the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art" could only be traced back to here.

Perhaps his divination was not precise, or the divination material was too inferior, or defying heaven was difficult to complete... in any case, seeing this scene was the limit.

A thought arose in his heart, and this beast-skin book then fell back into the great river, scattered to nowhere, and was again lost in time.

What he saw was the trace of the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art," rather than the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art."

With Jiang Wang's current understanding, he could not find any possibility of summoning the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art" in advance.

But as transcender Seven Hate, he probably had Seven Hate's method.

Jiang Wang stood alone on the immortal boat, letting it follow the waves forward, only in this process he lifted his finger as a sword, drawing out strands of heavenly intent sword light, entering the water to chop and break the micro-waves of fate. Just like this, little by little, he erased the trace of the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art" that he saw, letting the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art" disappear more thoroughly.

If Seven Hate truly wanted to supplement his position with this art, he would only have to spend a lot more effort to search for historical traces in the past.

Only...

Who was that immortal person who killed the Blood Demon Monarch in the mythical era?

He was Immortal Emperor Li Canghu's master, and Good Fortune Green Cloud was at his feet. Was Cloud Top Immortal Palace created by him?

Was it because of the existence of Cloud Top Immortal Palace that he was able to see Jiang Wang three thousand nine hundred years after the new beginning of Dao Calendar, in the history of the "Exterminate Emotion Absolute Desire Blood Demon Art"?

Jiang Wang had always thought that defeating Meng Tianhai and becoming the protagonist of the era, replacing Li Canghu of the mythical era, was the creator of immortal techniques. But now it seemed that Li Canghu was perhaps a great achiever of immortal techniques, thus opening the era with this.

What did the Immortal Emperor's master's last sentence mean?

"What did I forget?"

When Jiang Zhenjun encountered matters that were undecided, he would write a letter, not stuff his head with wild guesses.

He wrote one letter to Zhong Xuan, asking for history books, asking who Li Canghu's master was, and asking for specific information about this Immortal Emperor's master.

He wrote one letter to Bai Gexiao, the dean of Qing Ya Academy.

He was not very familiar with Bai Gexiao, but because of the relationship between Cloud Country and Xu Xiangqian, they were naturally close, so he wrote very directly in the letter—

"Junior's actions were not secretive and alerted Yan Chunhui, thus causing unrest in the world."

"I bear the consequences myself."

"After several fights, the coming day is decided again."

"Now there is one matter that is unclear, please teach me, Dean Bai—what matter can Senior Ye Lingxiao benefit 'Forget Self' with?"

He spread out paper and prepared to write a third letter, but paused after thinking for a bit. He took out the Yuan Stone he had asked from Zhong Xuansheng, ground it into contract paper, wrote a quite satisfactory heavenly contract, carefully folded it well, put it in his embrace, and then stepped out.

The previous moment he was still in the present world's Cloud Country, the next moment he was already in the ancient starry sky.

Before him, countless flowing lights flew by, and brilliant star rivers were embedded in the deep.

Under his feet was a green seven-layered stone tower, the Jade Balance Star Tower continuously emitting star glory, expounding Jiang Zhenjun's Dao path to the vast universe.

Jiang Wang stood on the tower top with his hands behind his back, quietly looking at the vast universe, recalling the first time he stood on this tower, still under the protection of the Jade Balance Star Monarch... it truly felt like another world.

The old dragon at the bottom of the tower had escaped for a very long time.

He did not give himself too much time to feel emotional, and his steps lifted again. When he landed, he was already in a mountain stream with bird songs and flower fragrance.

A clear stream flowed past a large tree as lush as an umbrella, and a wooden house with flower branches climbing it was formed on the tree.

The Little Annoyance Old Lady, who had restored her youthful appearance, was meditating and cultivating inside the tree house, while the Jade Balance Star Monarch was writing and drawing with water on a white stone by the stream, also not knowing what he was drawing.

Dong dong dong.

Jiang Wang bent his finger to make a knocking sound.

The Little Annoyance Old Lady opened her eyes and saw a young person in a green robe through the tree window. For a moment, she was in a trance, back to the first time they met in the Sen Hai Source Realm. She closed her eyes and opened them again to look, and a genuine smile appeared on her face.

"You've come?" She smiled and stood up, welcoming him outside.

"Long time no see, Little Annoyance Old Lady's grace is even greater than that year! Truly, her temples are like knife cuts, her eyebrows are like ink dyes, seizing all the fragrant colors of this place!" Jiang Wang cupped his hands in salute, and then straightened his body to say to the Jade Balance Star Monarch by the stream: "Senior Observe Derive's clothes are also still very white."

"This child only proved the divine approach when he was twenty years old. From then on, his appearance has not aged, and it has not changed after so many years." The Little Annoyance Old Lady looked at Observe Derive: "But this mouth is different from that year, adding a few points of worldliness!"

Although her words were critical, her eyebrows were all smiling.

Jiang Wang presented the Green Sheep Heavenly Contract with both hands: "It has been a long time since I saw the Old Lady, this is a small gift, it is not enough to show my respect."

The Little Annoyance Old Lady followed Observe Derive to travel to various heavens, so her vision was naturally not lacking. Although she did not know what this not-too-well-folded paper sheep represented, she could also feel its preciousness.

At the moment, she pretended to be angry: "You've come all this way, why did you still bring things?"

Observe Derive walked over with a smile, took the paper sheep, and originally planned to tie it to the corner of Little Annoy's clothes, but after looking closely for a couple of times, he put it in Little Annoy's carrying pouch: "He has a sincere intention, how can you refuse his kindness?"

The Little Annoyance Old Lady snappily said: "Even people who have left home learn from others to receive gifts. And receiving without giving... aren't you ashamed?"

"What left home? I will never leave this home." The Jade Balance Star Monarch touched his bald head and laughed: "Being bald is just a habit."

Jiang Wang just smiled as he watched them speak. In front of him, it was joyful and amiable, no need for waves and grandeur, no need for star river romance, just clouds rolling and unfolding, everything was very beautiful.

After he had done everything he should do, he also wanted to live well.

People, demons, Seven Hate, Shen Xiao...

In the end, he had to fulfill his responsibility, so that the people he cherished would no longer be threatened. Also, within his ability, he would do some things for the world that gave birth to him. That would be enough.

"Speaking of which... what is Senior painting?" He looked at the traces on the white stone that had not dried yet.

"What do you think it looks like?" Observe Derive asked with a smile.

Jiang Wang guessed with interest: "It's like some kind of... lost characters."

"He is creating characters for this turbid and evil world." The Little Annoyance Old Lady said from the side, her tone half resentful, half proud of Observe Derive: "When we traveled here in previous years, it was really dirty and unbearably smelly. He insisted on staying, saying he wanted to plant flowers and trees, and cure the rotten living beings. He is busy all day long. These characters, too, he said must fit this world, and he is creating them solely to make them seem naturally derived, to open the wisdom of the living beings in this world."

Jiang Wang solemnly respected: "This is the merit of Cang Jie."

When he came over, he just discovered that the environment of this small world was very bad, everywhere was foul-smelling, and only this mountain stream in front of his eyes was the only good scenery in this world.

He was still pondering in his heart why Senior Observe Derive and Little Annoyance Old Lady, who traveled through myriad realms and enjoyed life, would reside in this evil world.

Although this world was turbid and evil, living beings still existed. Spirits that were active between strange stones and rotten mud, drinking mud water when thirsty, and eating rotten things when hungry, were a kind of creatures that were neither human nor demon nor magic.

This kind of spirits had bone spurs on their spines, strong hind limbs, and two pairs of relatively weak forelimbs, moving by jumping.

Their heads, however, were like ox heads, but with spiral-patterned single horns.

Among the strongest of them, those with a single horn could trigger electric light, but their power was extremely weak, only equivalent to the Ding grade Dao Law in the present world.

"How can I compare with the ancient sages?" Observe Derive waved his hand: "I am just doing my best. It is merely an effort I can raise my hand for."

Jiang Wang thought for a bit, and still asked: "With Senior's power, it is not difficult to change heaven and earth, and you can completely transform this world into one with abundant resources and vigorous vitality. Why choose this slow way, doing things little by little?"

Staying in the present world, which is honored as the center of myriad realms, year after year, it is easy to have an illusion about one's own power.

Even if it is an absolute peak great war, even with a full burst, it cannot sink the divine continent. But that is only because the present world is too strong, its position is too high, and it is honored above all worlds. And there are strong ones everywhere in the present world, and prohibitions everywhere.

In fact, if you look at the universe, a Cave True cultivator in the present world can also easily birth and destroy a world. The small worlds of many Cave True cultivators are not cultivated spirit domains, but are taken by themselves in the universe.

The upper limit of many small worlds is also only the divine approach. The gods in that world can move mountains and fill seas, change heaven and earth, pick stars and take the moon... nothing is impossible.

With Jiang Wang's current level, he only needs one thought, and this turbid and evil world before his eyes can be reborn. What natural disasters and earthly calamities, one thought can just flatten them.

"Because this world was originally one with abundant resources and vigorous vitality."

Observe Derive said calmly: "It was not like this from the beginning. It was the endless plunder, evil harvesting, and consumption by the living beings of this world that caused this world to fall step by step. And these living beings were unable to transcend boundaries and seek ability elsewhere, so they could only be trapped in this world, becoming turbid and evil along with this world. Slowly, they even became ignorant of knowledge."

"Divine ability is easy to use, but it is not a method that cures the root cause."

"I want to teach them how to change their own lives."

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