Free Web NovelChapter 1657: Chapter 840: Astounding Secrets (Part 2)
"When Emperor Zhuanxu personally witnessed how their tribe used the Earth Vein Evil Qi to commune with the Ancestor Spirit Totem, he greatly praised its marvel. Thus he took the character ’Xuan’ to commend their mastery of the mysteries of the Netherworld and the Earth Veins; he crowned them with the title ’Wu’ to define their office of mediating between Heaven and Earth; and he retained the original name ’Li’ to show the origin of their tribe. From then on, the name ’Xuanwu Li Tribe’ was formally established in the Southern Wilderness. The Emperor even personally bestowed upon them a Simurgh Jade Ornament as a token, commanding them to guard for all ages the Southern Earth Vein nodes, to comb through the Yin Yang, and to harmonize the Sha Qi..." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
At this point, Li Yan could no longer fail to understand, and blurted out:
"Severing the Link between Heaven and Earth!"
That close friend of his in the Capital, Yan Jiuling, was obsessed with Ancient Times mythology. After searching some old records from the Chu Territory, he had提出 a bold idea.
Between Heaven and Earth, there had been two great upheavals.
The first was the outbreak of the Great Flood; after Yu, there were no more "Emperors."
The second was the Battle of God Sealing, which shaped the current structure of the Mystical Sect.
But as Li Yan’s understanding deepened, he realized that was not all. These upheavals came in greater and lesser scales: the small ones were mere changes of dynasty; the great ones affected a millennium or more.
And that was not counting those ages even more remote.
For example, the "coal spirit" formed from those trilobites; for example, those strange dinosaur eggs on Azure Dragon Mountain—of the great calamities of that era, no one could now know anything.
Emperor Zhuanxu’s Severing the Link between Heaven and Earth was definitely one of them as well.
And behind this, the true cause was the Daluo Law Realm!
The so‑called Heavenly Rules had also begun to take shape from that time.
All the previous clues surged up in his mind. Li Yan suddenly understood, his expression turning grave. "These ancient arrays are the origin point of Emperor Zhuanxu’s Severing the Link between Heaven and Earth. Is the Jianmu Organization trying to destroy the arrays?"
The Five Dao General said nothing; he only nodded silently.
Li Yan had not expected that after they destroyed the Immortal Ascension Formation that Xu Fu had bewitched the Emperor into building, these madmen would actually set their sights on even more ancient arrays.
"Is the Daluo Law Realm not going to intervene?!"
Thinking of this, he could not help feeling somewhat angry. freēwebnovel.com
If these people succeeded, it would definitely mean a massacre of living beings.
The Five Dao General shook his head slightly. "There are things I cannot speak of; the moment I speak, I will be sensed. But Immortal Master Erlang has surely already shown you some things."
"This calamity is extremely strange, never before seen; right now the Daluo Law Realm itself is in chaos."
"Also, the man we caught yesterday has already self‑destructed his Divine Soul. Do your best to protect yourself..."
As he spoke, the surrounding scene began to blur.
The night dew was just congealing; the heat of summer had yet to disperse.
Li Yan jolted awake from his dream; only about an hour had passed.
The Lingnan summer night was thick and muggy as porridge; even in the leeward hollow where the camp lay, the heat could not be driven away.
In the camp, snores rose and fell. After days of marching and constant vigilance, the Wuzhou Guard elites were now sleeping as deeply as boulders.
A few young boy soldiers curled up on straw mats, their still childlike faces looking utterly exhausted in the dying torchlight.
As Li Yan focused his mind, he heard an extremely faint murmur in one boy’s sleep: "Mom..."
The voice was thin and weak, full of a child’s helplessness.
A heavy feeling pressed down on his heart; the confusion and weight brought by the secret of the "Pillar of Passage" and the "Severing the Link between Heaven and Earth" in his dream were quietly dispelled by more than half by that one murmur.
He looked at the slumbering comrades and companions around him; his gaze finally settled on Sha Lifei’s snoring profile, pillowed on his steel blade, and on Wang Daoxuan’s cross‑legged, still figure. His fingertips unconsciously rubbed the cold, hard Hook Paper in his breast.
Whatever happened, the ordinary people on this land ought not to be dragged into those whirlpools of Immortal Gods’ strife and world‑shaking calamities!
Dawn’s first light seeped in; the mountain mists had yet to disperse.
Everyone hastily finished their dry rations and continued the hunt for those pirates.
Li Yan briefly told Wang Daoxuan and Zhou Qingyuan of the clues he had obtained last night, omitting the part about the Five Dao General’s dream‑sending, and only speaking of his deep concern over the layout of the "Pillars of Passage."
Everyone’s expression changed at this; they knew full well how broad the implications were and how deep the disaster ran—far from something a single massacred stockade could compare to.
"That Japanese Chief was bitten back, wounds upon wounds; he can’t have gone far." Li Yan said in a low voice, looking toward the depths of the dense forest. "San’er, it’s up to you."
Lv San nodded silently and drew a Bone Flute from the cloth pouch against his body.
He walked to a rock with a somewhat wider view, closed his eyes and focused for a moment, then raised the flute to his lips, dancing as he played.
A series of low, lingering, and strangely patterned notes slowly flowed out. At first they were very faint, but soon they blended into the sounds of wind in the mountains, insects, and streams.
This was the Chu Witch Secret Technique used in concert with his Beast Taming Divine Power.
As the flute sounded, the surrounding mountains and forests underwent a subtle change.
In the treetops, a few mountain eagles that had been preening their feathers suddenly raised their heads, their sharp eyes sweeping the ground; in the bushes, a few brightly colored venomous snakes quietly slithered out, lifting their heads and flicking their tongues; even the beetles nesting deep in rotten wood vibrated their wings with a faint buzzing.
All of them were guided by the flute’s sound, becoming sensory feelers that Lv San extended into all parts of the forest. Countless tiny bits of information—the direction in which grasses and branches were bent, lingering unfamiliar scents, traces of startled animals—were all fed back through these creatures of the mountains and woods.
Meanwhile, Wang Daoxuan was not idle.
He found a relatively flat rock and took from his satchel an ancient Turtle Shell the size of his palm, dark brown in color, with mysterious grain lines.
This was precisely the Treasure Turtle Shell Compass.
He dipped his fingertip in some vermillion he carried with him, his expression solemn, chanting under his breath as he trod the Yu Step and performed the Divination Secret Method.
"Hum!"
The Turtle Shell began to tremble slightly.
Wang Daoxuan fixed his Qi Observation Divine Power on the shell, then calculated with his fingers. "The Qi currents are chaotic and jumbled; the residual grievances are extremely strong... It’s within five li to the northwest, in a dank patch of land with abundant water, many rocks, and thin soil!"
"Over by Lv San, the snakes and insects are also pointing to a deep ravine in the northwest!" Sha Lifei, who had been watching Lv San, added at this moment.
The directions matched; Li Yan’s eyes flashed sharply. "Move!"
Following the indications, they made their way through the mountainous terrain of deep forest and thick leaves, crisscrossed with ravines.
The closer they drew to their target, the more obvious that faint, cold, chaotic aura in the air became.
At last, beneath a slick, steep rock wall almost completely covered in vegetation, they found a narrow crack just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
From within the crevice came a stifled, broken howling, like the wailing of a trapped beast.
Li Yan signaled the others to spread out and be on guard, then slipped like a civet to the side of the crack, pressed his ear and listened for a moment, and finally flashed his body and darted inside with lightning speed.
A rank, fishy stench hit him in the face; it was cramped and damp within.
Borrowing the faint light filtering in from the entrance, he saw a figure huddled in a corner, clothes in tatters and body smeared with mud and dried blood. It was the pirate Miyamoto Qizhao!
He was no longer the gloomy, cold leader he had been. His eyes were bloodshot, suffused with crazed red veins; his mind was gone, and he let out meaningless howls and bizarre laughter.
"This bastard’s lost his mind." After dragging him out, Li Yan shook his head helplessly.
He had already suspected that this madness was very likely related to the Yin Bureau.
"Tie him up and take him back! Hand him over to the Xuan Sacrificial Officer’s people and see if they can squeeze out anything useful."
Escorting this "live captive," who struggled and howled without stop, the group spent considerable effort before they finally made it out of the deep mountains.
By the time they once more set foot on the official road leading to Guangzhou City, it was already the afternoon of the third day.
They were all travel‑worn and dusty, carrying the special muddy smell of the forest and their own fatigue.
However, as soon as they neared the gate of Guangzhou City, they were stunned by what they saw.
The broad street near the city gate was jammed solid, a surging sea of heads, the din deafening. Peddlers and porters, gentry and merchants, common folk, and even dock coolies in short jackets were all crowded along both sides of the road.
They craned their necks and stood on tiptoe to look ahead, exclamations and chatter rising ceaselessly.
"Young Hero Li, you’re finally back! Just look at this spectacle!"
The people sent by the Crown Prince Mansion to receive them were also squeezed until sweat soaked their heads.
Li Yan asked in a low voice, "What happened?"
"Rest easy, Young Hero—it’s not bad news."
The official from the Crown Prince Mansion wiped his sweat and smiled. "It’s a few great proprietors of the Guangfu Thirteen Banks—that’s the real God of Wealth!"
"They joined forces and spent a fortune, called in enormous favors, and finally managed to get ten ’Fire Wheel Divine Machines’ out of the Ministry of Industry! They just arrived at the docks and were unloaded from the ships today."
"So now, they’re being brought into the city!"
