The Daoist's Treachery and Millennia of Silence

The mysterious and immensely powerful Daoist, Xu Tian, was extremely cautious today, unwilling to venture a single step deeper into the forbidden zone of death. He seemed to harbor all sorts of misgivings. That such a being would act with such care spoke volumes of how strange and terrifying that region truly was.

“I advise you to turn back. Gathering the Divine Diagram anew is your most pressing concern.”

Hearing this, Xiao Chen fell silent. He very much wanted to press deeper into the world of the dead, but he knew Xu Tian was right—the Divine Diagram was crucial. Keke’s father and the old turtle had warned him when they were in the Celestial Realm: return to the Nine Provinces, lie low, and find a way to reassemble the formation diagram. One could not simply do as one pleased. “It seems I can only reluctantly return to the Nine Provinces,” he said. “For now, I must improve and consolidate my strength until I am powerful enough to contend with a Stone-Man King.”

“Do you know how to condense the Divine Diagram?” Xu Tian asked.

“I have to fumble and discover slowly,” Xiao Chen replied, which was the truth.

“I do know a little. In ages past, the Divine Diagram manifested its power in the Death World, and later it condensed onto the War Swords.” He stopped there, as if reluctant to say more.

“Oh? If you know the details, please enlighten me.” Xiao Chen’s expression shifted with interest.

“This matter touches upon the greatest of secrets. If word got out, it would shake the world.” Xu Tian seemed lost in recollection, a look of deep emotion on his handsome face.

Hearing this, Xiao Chen grew even more curious. The mighty and complex diagram, condensed from profound Dao imprints, was something he still could not truly understand. Any clue would be an immense help to him.

“Do you know of the Nine Lamps? Do you know of the Heavenly Steles?” Xu Tian’s eyes were dreamlike, as if recalling matters of great import, and his expression was exceedingly solemn.

“Of course I do.” Xiao Chen thought Xu Tian must know something, given his line of questioning. The Nine Lamps carried countless secrets, and the Heavenly Steles were even more mysterious—various signs indicated they were connected to the Divine Diagram.

“Those Nine Lamps and Heavenly Steles are…” Xu Tian halted mid-sentence, his gaze turning as sharp as two blades as he swept the deepest reaches of the Death World.

Bam!

The void was pierced by two golden beams of light, and the blade-like gaze struck the far horizon, blooming with dazzling radiance that illuminated the entire region.

A towering and imposing dead city materialized, appearing so close one could almost reach out and touch it. And yet Xiao Chen could tell that the primeval demonic city was at least ten thousand li away—Xu Tian had merely used a great divine ability to project its image.

“A Stone Man in the midst of Nirvana transformation,” Xiao Chen murmured, his eyes shining with divine light.

“You saw it. The Death World has no pure land. Even ten thousand li away, there is a powerful being undergoing transformation. Every word we speak can be clearly heard, and even strong divine sense transmissions can be intercepted.” Xu Tian swept his hand across the void, and the colossal city vanished from before their eyes. “Come to my newly refined demonic city a hundred li ahead to talk, or else nothing here is secret.”

A hundred li ahead, a vast city loomed indistinctly in the mist. Xiao Chen had to admire Xu Tian’s power: even a wisp of divine thought could refine and claim such an ancient city.

Bang!

The great city gates opened wide, and Xiao Chen stepped inside.

Creak…

The gates slowly closed. Within the city, mist swirled and surging waves of life essence pulsed forth.

Just then, Xiao Chen sensed something wrong. The sky overhead had gone dark; black clouds blotted out the sun, sealing the city’s firmament and completely enclosing the area. The ancient city had become a cage, locking Xiao Chen in, all exits sealed.

“Xu Tian, what is the meaning of this?”

“The Death World teems with experts at its deepest reaches. Beings that can see through all things would have detected us if I had not been so thorough. This is a curse formation of utter evil.”

At the same time, Xu Tian raised a stone spear and thrust it toward Xiao Chen. The spear tip trembled, and the powerful energy of the Death Continent tore through the primeval demonic city, rending the land for ten thousand li around!

“Only one’s own strength is the foundation. In these two thousand eight hundred years, I have seldom used great killing weapons—I tempered myself instead. But today, I will break my own rule!”

With a rustle, Xiao Chen unfurled the ancient scroll and swept it forward. The misty scroll unfolded, revealing a magnificent landscape of mountains and rivers, a true world that seemed to come alive. Five great kings appeared as if about to step forth, joining forces to suppress Xu Tian.

“What?!” Xu Tian was shocked.

“Two thousand eight hundred years ago, you did not see the full picture of that battle. Besides the Divine Diagram, I also have this ancient scroll.”

Rustle, rustle… The ancient scroll fluttered in the wind, and the five kings strode toward Xu Tian.

“Aaaah!” Xu Tian roared. The ancient demonic city began to contract like a celestial prison, sinister and oppressive, black light blazing as it tried to grind Xiao Chen and the scroll to dust. At the same time, the stone spear stabbed at the five majestic figures.

Bang! Within the scroll’s range, all black light was absorbed, and the stone spear was drawn toward the scroll.

“Impossible!” Xu Tian shouted, for he found he could no longer control the spear. The stone weapon of a king, as if endowed with living consciousness, flew of its own accord toward one of the five towering figures.

“Could it be his stone weapon?” Xu Tian’s eyes revealed shock.

Bang! The stone spear ultimately broke free of his control and vanished into the scroll, appearing in the hand of one of the kings.

The scroll shuddered violently, the stone spear merging with it, making the entire painting even more powerful!

Rustle, rustle… The scroll shook like the heavens trembling, its power vastly greater than before. The stone spear shot forth dazzling golden light!

The shrinking demonic city quaked, as if on the verge of collapse, and much of its black light dispersed.

Xiao Chen was astonished—this ancient scroll still had room to grow. By adding just one stone spear, its power had increased markedly. What would happen if all five kings’ stone weapons returned?

Seeing the tide turn against him, Xu Tian retreated decisively. He transformed into a shadowy phantom and rushed out of the demonic city. Unwilling to leave the city behind, he waved his hand and sent it flying toward Xiao Chen, then rapidly shrank it and followed after Xu Tian.

“You think you can escape? Not so easily!” The ancient scroll spread across the sky, and the stone spear transformed into a brilliant golden beam that illuminated the Death Continent, piercing forth!

Bang! A radiant shaft of light more than a hundred li long caught up with the demonic city five hundred li away, piercing straight through it, cracking it apart, and continuing toward Xu Tian.

Rustle, rustle… Xu Tian hardened his heart and channeled the accumulated power of the demonic city, causing it to explode, blocking the stone spear as he abandoned it and fled.

But Xiao Chen had no intention of letting him go. He hurled the ancient scroll itself, covering the sky of the Death World.

“Even if your true body is stronger, a mere wisp of divine thought cannot defy the heavens. I will not let you escape today!”

Xiao Chen gathered the shattered city fragments, intending to reinforce his own divine city. When he saw the hundreds of dragon clan skeletons inside, his fury ignited. He could not let Xu Tian get away—his murderous intent surged to the heavens.

Bang! Xu Tian was struck by the ancient scroll and sent flying. He tried to tear through space to flee, but the scroll had sealed the heavens, locking this region completely.

“I underestimated you.” Xu Tian was calm, not panicking.

Dong! At that moment, a demonic city flew toward them from ten thousand li away—Xu Tian’s true body’s city was arriving!

Unlike ordinary cities, this one radiated ocean-like life essence, its divine power vast and so oppressive it made one tremble—it was terrifying.

“Even if you wield a heaven-defying battle treasure, you cannot take me now. My true body is ready to take the final step at any moment—I was merely seeking greater perfection.” Xu Tian’s avatar was supremely confident.

Xiao Chen’s expression changed. “Five into one!”

Inside the ancient scroll, multicolored light swirled as the five kings merged into one. Then a colossal hand extended from the scroll, blotting out the sky. No matter how Xu Tian fled, he could not shake it.

“Impossible!” he roared.

Bang! Xu Tian was seized. With a thunderous crash, he was pulled into the scroll, a stone spear piercing through him. He could struggle no more.

“Even if your true body comes, I will destroy this strand of your divine thought!”

Those were Xiao Chen’s final words. The scroll transformed into a streak of light, and Xiao Chen vanished with it—this was an escape technique he had comprehended after his cultivation had greatly improved, a deeper understanding of the ancient scroll.

Moments later, he returned to the Nine Provinces and sank deep into the earth.

And so Xiao Chen entered seclusion. He cultivated in silence, secretly searching for the lost War Swords.

Using the Nine Ancient Lamps as his foundation, he changed locations once every five hundred years, each time cultivating before the ancient lamps underground, contemplating the primordial source of heaven and earth, refining his profound methods, and seeking the Divine Diagram.

The diagram was incomplete; he would supplement it with his own body. With this awareness, he summoned the Divine Diagram, relying on the countless imprints he had memorized to simulate its boundless power. Little by little, he found nineteen War Swords.

Time flowed like water, the years slipping away without a sound.

Xiao Chen lay dormant beneath the Nine Provinces for over four thousand five hundred years. By then, more than six thousand three hundred years had passed since the final battle of that age.

When he awakened again, he sensed a terrible anomaly. The earth seemed filled with endless sorrow; he heard the roar of multitudes… heaven and earth shared the same grief.

As Xiao Chen emerged onto the surface, the world was drenched in suffering. The brief cycle had ended. Something had gone wrong this time—the Otherworld gods had lost patience and simply wiped all life from the land, ending the full span of a civilization prematurely, unlike the past.

Cities crumbled; living beings withered to nothing. Xiao Chen saw the Otherworld lands he once knew, and some of the people he could even name.

He wanted to intervene, but held back in the end—he could not change anything.

Could he truly become numb to it? Several times, waves of inexplicable grief and anger surged in his heart, and he nearly struck out. But each time he clenched his fists and swallowed his fury, enduring.

He was like a passing traveler, standing coldly by to witness a fragment of history, watching the end of an age with eyes that were nearly unfeeling…

Tragedy after tragedy unfolded: the celestial human race’s cities, corpses numbering in the millions; the perfect elf race, their peaceful forests drenched in blood; the wild orc tribes, their rivers running red; the mighty dragon race, their valleys piled high with bones…

Blood soaked the plains, bodies piled like mountains. The earth was stained crimson with gore. Xiao Chen did not move a single muscle. Wrapped in the ancient scroll, he concealed his aura and sat silently in the depths of the Nine Provinces.

Joy and sorrow, parting and reunion, life and death, honor and disgrace—he had experienced so much that he could harden his heart. But this was not numbness, not indifference. It was that he could not save them, not that he would not.

He endured this calmly, silently witnessing another brief cycle, sharing the anguish of all living things, bearing the pain in wordless solidarity. This was not escape—it was for the final, ultimate battle. To go out now and die meaninglessly was pointless. If death were coming, it should at least have value.

In that moment, Xiao Chen underwent immense agony. Even decades after the earth fell silent and utterly still, he remained like a fossil, not stirring.

For centuries afterward, he was like a withered log, nearly faded from existence.

It was not until a thousand years later that a powerful surge of life emanated from beneath the Nine Provinces. Xiao Chen had passed through a crucible of transformation; his heart had finished its journey. He let go of many things and came to understand many others.

From a War Ancestor, he became an Ancestral God. The primal divine principles of the myriad worlds were finally imprinted in the sea of his heart, and he grasped power at its most fundamental source.

“The human race may seem weak, but they have infinite creativity. They must be allowed to repopulate this world. This land of experimentation has value. Scatter the other races across the four directions and leave this miraculous land of the Nine Provinces for humanity.”

The echoes of the Otherworld gods’ decree from the moment that brief cycle ended a millennium ago seemed to hang in the air still.

Xiao Chen was hopeful but calm. He had become a sixth-heaven Super Ancestral God, his strength advancing steadily, and more than seven thousand three hundred years had passed since the final battle of that age.

The pact of thirty thousand years still stretched far into the future. He had time to grow stronger. And now that he had gone from War Ancestor to Ancestral God, his horizons had broadened immensely.

Should he keep searching for War Swords, or go out looking for the imprints of the Heavenly Steles?

In the end, Xiao Chen did not move. Still as dead wood, he sat quietly in the deepest part of the Nine Provinces.

What he needed now was to elevate his own true strength, not to rely on external objects. What he needed was a period of sedimentation and then ultimate sublimation, not a blind search for other methods.

The Eight Aspect Worlds revolved around Xiao Chen. The Eight Origin Sounds vibrated within those eight worlds, as if traversing the eons… All of this centered on Xiao Chen, who sat like a bedrock, never stirring.

Time hurried past, the river of ages flowed silently.

In the blink of an eye, Xiao Chen had slept for another six thousand years. More than thirteen thousand years had passed since the final battle.

Years flowed by without sound. The seas changed, mulberry fields shifted, and all things transformed.

Humanity had long since reappeared—not through natural evolution, but because the Otherworld had preserved the seeds of life and scattered them anew across the Nine Provinces. Six thousand years on, humanity had reached a new level of development, and the face of the land had changed utterly.

By night, Yanjing gleamed with boundless vitality. Neon lights flashed, skyscrapers stood in forests, and for the wealthy who preferred to sleep by day and revel by night, the decadent nightlife was just beginning.

In the Yongle Palace of Yanjing, a capable young man entered a private room. A middle-aged man already seated nodded to the bevy of beautiful women surrounding him, waved his hand, and said, “Leave us for now. We have matters to discuss.”

The women, clearly familiar with the protocol, withdrew from the room without a sound.

“Sit. Any progress?” the middle-aged man asked the young man who had entered.

“We dug up some fragments of iron armor this time. Hard to believe how tough they are—modern technology can barely break them. And…” The young man seemed deeply agitated. “Our detectors picked up life fluctuations deep underground! It’s simply unbelievable!”