The Ancient Tones of the Yellow Mud Platform

Xiao Chen sat cross-legged on the Yellow Mud Platform, feeling the ancient primordial sounds. His soul seemed to resonate and tremble along with them, his entire being frozen, unable to move.

They were like demonic music from beyond the heavens, yet also like the sacred chants of a Pure Land—rough and bold, yet ethereal and melodious, indescribable and beyond expression.

In that moment, he felt as if the very origin of heaven and earth lay before him. The primordial sounds of the Hongmeng cleansed all directions, seeming to instantly fill the entire world.

Om, Ma, Ni, Ba, Mi, Hum—the Six Syllables of Reincarnation, when pushed to their ultimate realm and merged into one, could oppose the Six Paths of Reincarnation itself. And what were the sounds emanating from this Yellow Mud Platform?

Xiao Chen sat cross-legged upon it, as if sinking into a primeval world of desolation. An ancient and distant aura rushed toward him. Several fundamental syllables rose and fell, echoing through a vast, empty, and dead world.

Between reality and illusion, substance and void, Xiao Chen felt as if trapped in a dream. The ancient heavenly tones resonated with his soul. He seemed on the verge of collapse at any moment, yet also felt a strange sensation of impending rebirth and transformation.

Vaguely, he sensed a ripple ripple out from within his body—originating from the broken stone man. That being sat silently within him, but the ripple was indeed its emission. In an instant, it calmed Xiao Chen's body, which had felt on the verge of shattering.

Sunrise and sunset passed. Xiao Chen remained seated on the Yellow Mud Platform for three full days. When the morning glow once again spilled down, he finally emerged from that strange state. The ancient heavenly tones vanished, as if nothing had ever happened.

Golden morning light fell upon him, causing dots of gold to glimmer on Xiao Chen's body as he sat on the platform. It was as if thin golden liquid flowed over his skin, which gleamed like translucent jade, appearing sacred and pure beyond compare.

Keke, who had been yawning on a nearby ancient locust tree, had taken over an abandoned magpie nest, expanding it into a nest of spiritual essence in imitation of a phoenix, using all kinds of spirit herbs. Just waking up, it blinked its bleary big eyes, looked at Xiao Chen, and with a whoosh leaped down. But a strange thing happened: the Yellow Mud Platform rippled faintly, blocking it out.

"Ya-ya..." The little creature cried out in surprise. Since learning to traverse space, nothing had been able to stop its path. After several attempts, the little one failed, excluded from the platform.

Xiao Chen's mind stirred. He reached out his hand, brought Keke onto the Yellow Mud Platform, and the barrier did not obstruct it.

"Ya-ya ya-ya..." The little creature grew even more curious. On the platform, it touched this and that, finally pulling out a War Sword fixed in the Paradise Lost, lightly scratching the platform a few times. Not a single mark remained. The Yellow Mud Platform, seemingly pitted and unremarkable, was actually harder than steel—not even the sharp War Sword could damage it.

This ordinary-looking Yellow Mud Platform was certainly no common object. Xiao Chen had Keke put away the War Sword and examined it again carefully, but found nothing more.

"I sat here for three days?"

"Ya-ya." Keke nodded.

Xiao Chen had been sitting on the Yellow Mud Platform under an ancient locust tree in the village, not at home. He had feared that if primal energy fluctuations occurred during cultivation, it would frighten his parents. The two elders knew he was practicing cultivation, so they were not worried about his sitting for several days. Only the village children often watched from a distance.

The rising sun warmed the body. Xiao Chen felt that something about him seemed different, though he could not say exactly what. His body felt as if it had undergone a baptism—lighter, more comfortable, and much more relaxed.

He returned home to see his parents, ate some breakfast, and then took Keke for a walk along the Yellow River. The little creature loved swimming and often dove into the river alone, swimming hundreds of miles in one go.

Is that... Su Ying? In the distance, a slender figure was just returning from the morning market, heading toward the neighboring village. She looked twenty-six or twenty-seven years old.

Just then, the man who had been harassing Su Ying turned around and said coldly, "Who are you?" At the same time, a small silver hammer spat from his mouth, blocking in front of him.

"Someone who will kill you." Xiao Chen's voice was indifferent. His steps were firm as he dragged the War Sword closer.

"Looking for death!" The man snorted angrily. The small silver hammer instantly enlarged to the size of a millstone and came smashing toward Xiao Chen, thunder rumbling, bolts of lightning falling like a spiderweb.

Xiao Chen did not even blink. He continued to approach unshakably. The War Sword swung upward. With a thunderous boom, the earth shook. The sword-light instantly shattered the lightning web, and at the same time, a clang rang out as the millstone-sized silver hammer was cleaved in two.

By now Xiao Chen was close. The immense pressure terrified the man, who realized his opponent's strength was beyond imagination and tried to retreat.

Xiao Chen gave him no chance. He followed in one step. The man shouted, spat out a sword-light, and slashed it backward. Xiao Chen did not dodge. The War Sword in his hand cut straight down. With a crack, the flying sword turned to scrap metal and fell to the ground. At the same time, blood sprayed. Xiao Chen's sword severed his head, and with a fierce shake, even the Infant Spirit was shattered.

Nearby, Keke flew to Su Ying's side. The little creature supported her with seven-colored radiance and used its furry little paw to wipe away the terrifying handprint on her face.

"Xiao Chen-gege..." Su Ying held the snow-white little beast of unknown origin, looking at Xiao Chen. Tears blurred her eyes. She seemed to have countless grievances, many things to say.

"You've suffered." Xiao Chen had not expected to meet Su Ying after all. Wielding the blood-dripping War Sword, he advanced toward the other three. His gaze fell coldly on the woman named Ye Jun. "Cut off your own right hand, and I'll give you a swift death."

Ye Jun sneered. "A mere mortal—even if I kill him, it's nothing. You've killed one of my junior brothers and still dare to speak to me like this? I'll make you wish you were dead."

With that, she attacked first. An arm shook, and a golden ring shot out like a comet from beyond the sky, trailing a long radiant tail, dazzling and bright.

Xiao Chen slanted his War Sword in a diagonal cut. With a thunderous crash, the golden ring spun up into the sky, but after circling once, it dove down again, smashing heavily. Space collapsed, the earth cracked, and with the roar of wind and thunder, it bored down, a purple beam carving a deep, bottomless black hole into the ground.

Ye Jun, though a woman, indeed had the capital for arrogance and pride. Her cultivation was not much weaker than Xiao Chen's.

Xiao Chen's eyes blazed with cold light. The Space Divine Art unfolded, a cyan light curtain descending to briefly fix the golden ring in place. Then the Eight-Aspect Worlds divine art manifested, and he surged forward like lightning, trapping Ye Jun.

Though Ye Jun had already soared into the sky, how could she be faster than Xiao Chen? The golden ring was a rare cultivation treasure, personally refined by their patriarch, the Three Infant Grand Supreme. It shattered space and broke free from the cyan light curtain, returning to her side. But by then, Xiao Chen had already charged in, and the Eight-Aspect Worlds covered her.

With his unique divine art and Martial Body, Xiao Chen had defeated cultivators several layers above him. He was certain he could kill this opponent slightly weaker than himself. Not wanting to waste time, he directly displayed his full strength.

Heaven Aspect and Earth Aspect interwove. Yin and Yang qi spread out, trapping Ye Jun. Xiao Chen's left hand slashed with the War Sword, while his right hand, crystalline as jade, struck with the Hand of the Supreme Being.

He forced Ye Jun into a full-power confrontation. Light drowned the sky. After five diagonal slashes, the golden ring shattered. After nine strikes of the Hand of the Supreme Being, all of Ye Jun's cultivation treasures were reduced to scrap metal. Even her Infant Spirit was completely crushed.

However, her physical body and spiritual consciousness were preserved. Xiao Chen grabbed her and threw her to the ground.

The other man and woman were greatly alarmed, never expecting to encounter such an expert in a mountain village.

"You've crippled Ye Jun! Do you... do you know who she is?" the male cultivator said. "Her brother is Ye Tian, one of the ten strongest young experts in the Cultivation World! If you don't let her go, you'll die without a burial place."

Xiao Chen's expression was indifferent. "I dare to kill even the Ten Young Experts. What is the sister of one of them?"

"You... you are the Dark King Xiao Chen, who ascended Mount Tai?" The woman stared at Xiao Chen in shock.

Dark King? Xiao Chen did not know when he had obtained such a title.

The two wanted to flee, but Xiao Chen would not give them the chance. He unfolded the Space Divine Art, shattered their Infant Spirits without killing them, and threw them next to Ye Jun.

"You think yourselves exalted? Striking a mortal seems perfectly acceptable to you? Then what are you now? If I slapped your faces now, would you have anything to say?"

"You dare?" Ye Jun shrieked.

Xiao Chen slapped her flying. "I dared to kill you. Why would I not dare to hit you? But I will not stoop to your level. I do not strike ordinary women."

Ye Jun, hair disheveled, said hatefully, "You... my brother will not let you off!"

"If he comes, I will kill him too." Xiao Chen slapped her flying again.

The man and woman beside her both spoke up. "Let us go, or you will bring great disaster upon yourself. The siblings Ye Jun and Ye Tian are descendants of the Half-Ancestor Three Infant Grand Supreme. The Grand Supreme has already come to the Mortal World. If you kill her descendants, you will surely die without a doubt."

"Will letting you go now change my situation?" Xiao Chen sneered. "I never regret what I do. Now I will send you on your way."

Xiao Chen picked up the three and walked toward the nearby Yellow River.

"You... what are you trying to do?!" Ye Jun and the others screamed.

"Weren't you going to throw the village elders into the Yellow River to feed the fish? I will now follow your method and feed you to the fish."

"No! You dare?!"

"Let us go!"

Xiao Chen sneered. "It seems you are indeed used to arrogance and willfulness. Even now, you still put on airs with me. Let me show you whether I dare!"

He directly dislocated their limbs and threw them into the Yellow River. Of course, he did not let Su Ying see this. To ordinary people, it was cruel, but to cultivators, it meant nothing.

The Yellow River water churned and quickly swallowed the three. Ye Jun, until her death, could scarcely believe that someone would disregard her identity as a descendant of the Three Infant Grand Supreme.

Su Ying looked at Xiao Chen, whom she had not seen for years. Tears blurred her eyes. Holding Keke, she cried, "I thought you would avoid me forever and I would never have a chance to see you again."

"Don't cry. You'll become a little tabby cat." Xiao Chen put on a smile, trying to ease her sorrowful mood.

"Whenever I think of the past, I want to cry..." Su Ying stared fixedly at Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen did not know what to say. A brief silence fell. He truly regarded Su Ying only as a sister.

"Go back to the village. Peace and simplicity are true. My world is not a world you can understand." In the end, Xiao Chen wiped away her tears and watched her leave.

Su Ying turned back one last time. "Will you appear again?"

"I will." Xiao Chen answered against his conscience. He felt that not changing his appearance today had been a mistake. He truly should not have appeared before Su Ying again.

Across the Nine Provinces, on every famous mountain and sacred peak, the King-Crowning Battles raged. The young experts of the World of Immortality and the Cultivation World clashed fiercely. The strong shook the world, while the weak fell one after another.

Fang Tianqi, Ye Tian, Zhao Chongyang, Xue Wu, and others dominated their generation, their reputations growing ever more illustrious.

Xiao Chen knew that Ancestral Dragon Village could no longer remain peaceful. Cultivators kept finding their way here. What secret did this village hide?

Was it the Yellow Mud Platform? For seven consecutive days, he sat upon it, focusing his mind on sensing the primeval sounds within, trying to understand them thoroughly.

On the tenth day, Xiao Chen finally discerned how many heavenly tones there were. His soul nearly shattered. If not for the ripple sent out by the stone man, his soul would have completely dissolved.

The terrifying syllables seemed many times more fearsome than Buddhism's Six True Words.

Om, Ge, Ah, Hou, Hum, Duo, Zao, Dao!

On the fifteenth day, he finally heard all eight syllables. He felt the most primordial power. Among them, "Om" and "Hum" were the same as the Buddhist Six True Words.

The Buddhist Six True Words and these Eight Sounds—which was more profound and mysterious?

Xiao Chen inclined toward the Eight Sounds. He very much wanted to master these Eight Syllables of Origin. But in the following month, no matter how he tried to mimic the vibrating tones, he could never achieve that pure resonance.

Because the so-called syllables emerged from the soul itself, not merely external sound waves.

Heavenly tones are difficult to imitate.

Exhausted, it was only after half a month of the soul-torturing pain of the heavenly tones that he barely managed to produce one of the sounds.

When imitating the "Om" syllable, his soul resonated and trembled, and eventually began to fragment. It was at this moment that Xiao Chen discovered, as the Golden Divine Halberd and Dark-Iron Seal had said, that he indeed had a fragmented soul.

The fragmentation began from the broken parts. When the "Om" sound correctly purified his whole body, his soul could not bear it. Even with the protection of the stone man's ripples, it ultimately began to shatter from the damaged places.

But the "Om" syllable produced by the resonance of Xiao Chen's soul never extinguished. At the most critical moment, it even began to slowly reassemble the fragmented soul.

Half a month of fragmentation and reassembly allowed Xiao Chen to experience a process from life to death and back to life.

He was shocked to find that the reassembled soul had nearly filled in the broken parts. Most of the damaged area had been regenerated. However, the imprints had not increased—only the soul's strength had grown considerably.

Xiao Chen clearly felt his combat power increase. He was stunned by the power of the Eight Syllables of Origin. Not only did they possess destructive force, but they also contained the power of rebirth.

He barely managed to master the "Om" sound.

In the following half-month, he again fell into stillness on the Yellow Mud Platform. He repeated the "Om" sound, his soul resonating along. His soul shattered a total of nine times and reassembled nine times, finally completely repairing the fragmented soul.

Of course, the so-called repair was entirely about replenishing soul power. Certain imprints could not be made up, since in a sense, imprints were memories. The regeneration of a complete soul gave Xiao Chen a feeling of having been reborn, of having cast off his old self and taken on a new one.

After his soul was whole, he had already mastered the "Om" sound. His soul could resonate with it. Xiao Chen knew he had grasped a power of immense strength.

He wanted to master the other seven syllables, but he could not succeed at all. He knew it would require a special opportunity.

However, during this process, he accidentally noticed one peculiar thing. Once, when he produced the "Om" sound, one of the Eight-Aspect Worlds seemed to tremble slightly. But when he tried again, there was no abnormality.

Xiao Chen stepped down from the Yellow Mud Platform and walked to the village entrance. From Mountain Beyond Mountain, he learned that in the past two months, nearly a thousand people had come, trying to break into Ancestral Dragon Village.

The words "Primeval Ancient Village" gradually spread across the Nine Provinces, known to more and more people. Even the King-Crowning Battles seemed to be shifting in this direction.