Old Master, Times Have Changed - Chapter 681 (Patreon)

Chapter 681: The Weak Are Not Bullied Because They Are Weak

Inside the Dongming Sacred Hall.

Torches lined the corridor. Dim violet flames swayed unceasingly—bright enough to see by, yet only making the place feel even more eerie.

Ning Wanzhu and Mingyu walked slowly forward. As they headed deeper in, they carefully studied the murals on both walls.

There were traces left behind by Yuan here, and the Dongming Sacred Lord had explicitly mentioned Yuan by name earlier, so they wanted to look—really look—and see whether they could dig up any information about him.

Unfortunately, the murals and reliefs were nothing but horrifying fiendish monsters and vicious ghosts, as if the Dongming Sacred Lord had carved them on purpose to show off how “evil” he was as a villain. There wasn’t the slightest hint about Yuan.

Before long, they passed through the long corridor and arrived in the main hall—the same place they’d once glimpsed briefly.

Back when the Kongji Sacred Lord and the Dongming Sacred Lord fought over the third Supreme Authority, they had used the imprint the Dongming Sacred Lord left in the Abyss Ruins Realm to catch a fleeting look at the scenery inside the Dongming Sacred Hall.

Everything in the hall looked exactly the same now.

Layer upon layer of ghostly flames hung from the dome above. On the neatly arranged pillars to either side were reliefs of all kinds of ferocious specters.

They were even more lifelike than the murals in the corridor, as though they might leap out at any moment and tear apart everything in sight.

And atop the black throne at the very front, a heavy shadow twisted and churned without end.

Yet as their gaze touched it, that deep shadow gradually took on a definite shape—

A black crown woven from thorns.

“Chaos” and “Disorder” manifested as eerie distortions beyond comprehension, coiling around the throne.

After giving the hall a quick once-over, Ning Wanzhu looked at Mingyu.

“Anything here?”

Mingyu shook her head slightly.

“No.”

As she spoke, she looked toward the other side of the hall—the direction where, when she first entered the Dongming Sacred Domain, she had sensed the trace Yuan left behind.

“There’s only that one I found.”

“Then let’s go take a look.”

“Mm.”

The two left the main hall and headed toward the location of the Dongming Sacred Domain’s treasure vault.

Outside the Dongming Sacred Hall, the Bone Dragon felt even more relieved upon realizing this.

This was a sacred domain the master had managed for many years. Even if Kongji came in person, she still wouldn’t be able to lock onto the vault’s location right away.

Yet these two mysterious powerhouses at the level of Sacred Lords had done exactly that!

The implication alone was terrifying enough to make a dragon’s heart go cold…

Good thing I caved fast enough!

…

…

Not long after.

Ning Wanzhu and Mingyu successfully found the entrance to the treasure vault.

It was tucked into a very concealed corner, and the Dongming Sacred Lord had layered multiple concealment methods over it.

If not for the trace Yuan left behind—like a “lighthouse” guiding them—they really wouldn’t have found it so easily.

Now that they had a precise location, the entrance’s restrictions naturally couldn’t stop them. After spending a little effort, they broke through every last layer and entered the vault.

The space beyond was vast beyond measure, bright and magnificent.

A rainbow bridge stretched forward, its end nowhere in sight.

Countless star-like points of light filled the air around the bridge, densely packed and glittering with treasures of every hue.

Every single point of light here was a priceless treasure that could drive countless transcendents of the Tai Xuan Realm mad with desire.

Some of them could even make transcendents at the level of “Saint” or even “Saint King” feel covetous.

This was a great world on the verge of advancing into a Tongxuan energy tier. And with the Dongming Sacred Lord being, openly, the only supreme powerhouse within the Taiyi Realm, the hoarding of an entire world to forge a treasure vault was naturally astonishing.

Even Ning Wanzhu and Mingyu, with their extraordinary backgrounds, couldn’t help feeling surprised at the sight.

You had to admit…

This Dongming Sacred Lord was really rich.

They had seen the Kongji Sacred Lord’s vault back in the Kongji Sacred Domain before. In scale, it didn’t even reach a third of this place.

“This probably has to do with the ideals the Kongji Sacred Lord follows,” Mingyu thought.

The Kongji Sacred Lord had become a Sacred Lord and ruled the Taiyi Realm for far longer than the Dongming Sacred Lord.

But her guiding ideals meant she couldn’t possibly do the kind of “looting” the Dongming Sacred Lord did.

Ning Wanzhu’s thoughts, however, went in a different direction.

By the impression she’d always had, the Dongming Sacred Lord’s vault should have been like the ideals he professed—full of “Chaos” and “Disorder.”

After all, the transcendents of the Taiyi Realm were an extremely “obsessive” bunch. At every moment, in every detail, they practiced their ideals.

But this vault was clearly different from what she expected.

It made Ning Wanzhu recall what had just happened: using the Lingyin Heart Codex to observe the Dongming Sacred Lord’s mind, the result had differed from the very first time.

A man of ultimate evil…

Did he truly worship “Chaos” and “Disorder”? Was he really the “ultimate evil” she believed him to be?

And if not—if he had thrown the entire Taiyi Realm into chaos and disguised himself as the “ultimate evil”—what was his purpose?

Could it be…

Related to Yuan?

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Ning Wanzhu’s mind. She even had the urge to use her Dongzhen power again and drag back the fleeing Dongming Sacred Lord.

But recalling how her Dongzhen power had weakened for no reason just now, she suppressed the impulse.

“The trace Yuan left behind is up ahead,” Mingyu said.

Ning Wanzhu looked along the rainbow bridge, toward a single point among the “stars.”

“Mm. I can feel it too.”

They stepped onto the rainbow bridge.

Woom— A faint ripple spread outward. They didn’t even need to “walk”—the bridge’s built-in teleportation mechanism sent them directly to the treasure they wanted.

It was a pale blue sphere, giving off a hazy glow.

Through the sphere’s surface “light,” they could make out a thin notebook inside.

In the lower-right corner of the cover were a few neat, uniform small characters, as if mass-printed—

“Netmoon Stationery”

Yes.

Those words were in simplified Chinese, not the script of the Taiyi Realm.

Both of them drew in a sharp breath, the same thought rising in their hearts—

This was definitely left behind by Yuan!

As the two people closest to Yuan in the Tai Xuan Realm, they understood him well.

And naturally, they knew he had the habit of writing certain things down on paper.

That habit had eased somewhat after Huo latched onto him, but later—after Yuan and Ning Wanzhu found Daoist Yuanjun and severed the cause-and-effect—he’d picked it up again…

They exchanged a look. In the end, Mingyu reached into the light sphere and grasped the thin notebook.

Soundlessly, the layer of light around it broke into countless tiny motes and dissipated.

The Dongming Sacred Lord hadn’t added any extra protections here.

In his eyes, no one in the world could ever break into his vault.

And conversely, if such a being truly existed, then leaving protections behind would be meaningless anyway.

Even after obtaining Yuan’s notebook so easily, neither of them opened it right away.

Fifty years wasn’t that long for a Tongxuan cultivator.

And yet those short fifty years were enough to rob them of the courage to read what Yuan had left behind at first glance.

Everything they had discovered in the Taiyi Realm—everything Senior Huo wanted them to know—pointed relentlessly to one fact, one fact they refused to consider—

Yuan’s situation right now was not good.

After a long silence, Mingyu glanced at the vault’s treasures in every direction, radiant as a galaxy.

“What do we do with this place?”

Even for Tongxuan cultivators like them, this vault held enormous temptation.

Ning Wanzhu thought for a moment, then took out an odd prismatic crystal—pure white with a hint of pale blue.

It was the Kongji True Crystal the Kongji Sacred Lord had given them back then, something that could teleport them back to the Kongji Sacred Domain.

With some adjustment, they could also use it in reverse to contact the Kongji Sacred Lord.

“We’ll take a few pieces. Leave the rest for Fellow Daoist Kongji to handle.”

Even though they weren’t Ascension Envoys, they still needed to avoid actions that might harm the world, lest the people within it suffer consequences.

“Alright.”

Mingyu raised a hand and plucked several streaks of light.

“This chance only happened thanks to Sword Ancestor and Senior Huo.”

Even if Senior Huo’s personality was a bit…

Ehm…

Odd.

They really had benefited from him this time.

“Sword Ancestor has two grandnieces. We can bring them some gifts—at least show our thanks.”

As for why not give anything to Sword Ancestor’s disciples…

Come on. Sword Ancestor’s line is basically all Tongxuan at minimum—whole bunches of sword lords. If they actually met, Ning Wanzhu and Mingyu would have to call them “Dao Brother.”

So the two disciples of Sword Sovereign were the best fit.

“And Senior Huo’s disciple too,” Ning Wanzhu added.

She’d seen him at Lingyin Pavilion before—young, yet looking like he carried a mountain of grudges. Honestly…

“I know,” Mingyu said, withdrawing her gaze. “But Senior Huo’s whereabouts are unpredictable, and we don’t even know where his disciple is…”

Unlike Sword Ancestor’s two grandnieces—sending things to Sword Sect would do.

With Senior Huo’s concealment, let alone Tongxuan—no one, not even Dongzhen, could find his disciple’s trail.

Besides, in the Tai Xuan Realm, no cultivator would dare be that reckless—actively searching for the Demon Lord of the Path’s disciple…

“If we run into him later, we’ll give it then,” Ning Wanzhu said.

“Mm.”

Very soon, as the Kongji True Crystal in their hand was activated, a holy figure appeared within the vault.

After hearing what had happened in the Dongming Sacred Domain—and that they intended to hand the vault over for her disposal—the Kongji Sacred Lord remained calm. With little hesitation, she agreed.

…

…

After some time.

The Dongming Sacred Domain had been completely emptied.

Even the Bone Dragon was packed up and taken away by Ning Wanzhu. She planned to modify its appearance a bit and then gift it to Chi Jiuyu.

She felt that, with Junior Sister Jiuyu’s personality, she would probably like this dragon.

Kongji Sacred Domain.

Inside the black tower at the very core of the holy city.

Before a jade wall that stored many items from outsiders, Ning Wanzhu and Mingyu sat facing each other. Between them floated the notebook taken from the Dongming vault, as well as the half-doll already known to have been left by Yuan.

There wasn’t much in the notebook. They had already read it.

What it recorded was not Yuan’s travel notes, nor everything he experienced in this world.

Instead, it was the method Yuan designed for Yin Ling’s physical foundation—along with a small portion of his experiences in the Taiyi Realm.

Yin Ling.

A spiritual lifeform born from the Realm-Deriving Device. Once she attained complete self-awareness, she left the Realm-Deriving Device without hesitation and followed Yuan away.

According to the notebook, after Yuan discovered the Taiyi Realm in the boundless sea of chaos—shining openly without holding anything back—he immediately rushed over.

He was welcomed by the Taiyi Realm, and he reached an agreement with the world itself.

The Taiyi Realm would gift him some spiritual materials and a certain portion of the world’s essence, helping him build Yin Ling’s physical foundation.

In exchange, he would help the Taiyi Realm resist an overwhelming enemy—one it could not withstand.

Yuan agreed, but with conditions—

He would spread teachings in the Taiyi Realm, propagate some of his own principles, and bring certain changes into the Taiyi Realm.

During that period, the Taiyi Realm was not allowed to interfere in any way.

“He still likes meddling,” Mingyu murmured as she stared at the thin notebook, unfocused.

Back then, it was precisely Yuan’s “meddling” that led her to bring him into Listening Rain Pavilion—and shield him from the pressure of the Tongxuan-level major power known as Blood Vajra Temple.

At the time she mocked him with her mouth, but in her heart she admired what he did.

“If he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t be him,” Ning Wanzhu said softly.

At that time, the Taiyi Realm couldn’t really be called bad. After all, the holy war hadn’t erupted yet, and the Kongji Sacred Lord ruled Tai Yi Continent and the vast majority of the One Hundred and Eight Heavens.

But the heavens ruled by the Dongming Sacred Lord absolutely couldn’t be called good.

Yuan had once said—

He hoped that “the weak are not bullied because they are weak.”

So when Yuan saw all that, he naturally couldn’t remain indifferent.

As for what happened after that…

The notebook only recorded that the early stages of forging the physical foundation had gone extremely smoothly.

So what happened later, they had no way of knowing.

“I never expected something like this happened back then.”

The Kongji Sacred Lord walked over from not far away.

Today she wore a golden dress, its hem long, her body wreathed in a faint dawnlike radiance that gave people a sense of sacredness that could not be profaned.

“But the ‘Yuan’ you’re looking for really is someone extraordinary.”

Because Yuan’s agreement was made with the world itself—and also because of the gap in cultivation—she had never detected Yuan’s presence.

“He…” Ning Wanzhu paused. “In our world, many people used to say he was indulging in fantasies.”

The Kongji Sacred Lord smiled lightly.

“But in the end, they must all have believed he was remarkable.”

“Mm. He truly is remarkable,” Ning Wanzhu didn’t deny it.

She believed that as well.

Back then, many people thought Yuan couldn’t do it—she included.

After all, even Sword Ancestor hadn’t been able to accomplish it. So what right did you have to think you could?

Later, Yuan really did succeed, and because of it, the Tai Xuan Realm even saw a wave of talk claiming Sword Ancestor was inferior to Sage Emperor Abyss.

Of course, that kind of talk didn’t last long.

First, Sword Sect was the number one great immortal sect in the Tai Xuan Realm.

No one wanted such talk to keep spreading, including the survivors of the Tai Xuan Blood Calamity.

Because if Sword Ancestor heard those words and decided to prove himself…

That would be truly terrifying.

Second, for the vast majority of people, Sword Ancestor was simply too distant—so distant he was like a myth, an untouchable legend.

Compared to Sword Ancestor, an immortal sect progenitor whose whereabouts were elusive, people were more willing to compare Yuan to the sect masters of that era.

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