Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 174 - 071: Yanyan’s Second Awakening

Chapter 174: Chapter 071: Yanyan’s Second Awakening

The black stone emanated an inexplicable light and heat, a kind of light that brought inner peace, a kind of warmth that soothed the heart.

Zhou Yan, holding that stone, immediately felt its distinctiveness.

Especially at this moment, when facing the evil and bizarre black water, the stone seemed to exude immense energy.

Zhou Yan felt his soul tremble again as if he had suddenly met a dear friend, a close relative, or a beloved lover.

It was a very strange and sudden feeling.

However, looking at the pitch-dark and turbulent black water ahead, Zhou Yan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and then slowly moved away from the river.

He was not afraid, but when he saw Zhou Lingyi’s favorite spiritual robe floating lonely on the water’s surface, a tinge of sadness and solitude arose in his heart.

A kind of indescribable sorrow filled Zhou Yan’s heart.

Zhou Yan glanced at the spiritual robe once more, then took his eyes off the scene and concentrated, allowing himself to immerse in his own introspection.

He had come here because he had a premonition and because the black stone in his hand was very special.

But now, the danger here was far more terrifying than he had imagined. The ferryman, the scene that mysteriously appeared in the past, had deeply impacted Zhou Yan’s mind and body.

If a person with weak willpower experienced this, they would probably never recover.

Zhou Yan sighed lightly, then with his spiritual sense, kept sensing the black stone in his palm. Afterward, he seemed pensive, then disappointedly sighed again, waved his hand, and tossed the black stone into the black river.

No one saw this scene, and no one knew about it.

But after doing so, Zhou Yan, looking at the still lonely floating white spiritual robe in the distance, had a look of somberness in his eyes. Then, he turned around, no longer staying there, and walked in another direction.

...

In this process, no one knew if what Zhou Yan threw away was indeed the black stone because what he threw at that moment, only he knew.

But he did not dwell on it, for in the Purple Flame Void between his brows, terrifying flames had manifested.

The black stone, within the Purple Flame Void, fused with the Purple Flame; the moment Zhou Yan pulled the rug out from under it, it underwent an eerie transformation like a barren tree blooming.

After such an alteration, the black stone directly formed a unique unity with the lotus and the Purple Flame.

If previously it was just an ordinary combination of Purple Flame and lotus, now, this scene’s change was truly peculiar.

Black Iron, as if suddenly softened, revealed mysterious runes within the Purple Flame Burning, resembling tadpole-like twisted texts.

Even though these texts were burned out by the Purple Flame and passed on to Zhou Yan’s spiritual sense, allowing him to receive them, Zhou Yan still couldn’t understand the information these texts contained.

But these texts, each one of them, were extremely peculiar and powerful, exuding an ancient and mighty aura.

Zhou Yan stood beside the black river, seemingly gazing at the turbulent flow, but he was actually feeling the extreme changes in his brow.

The change in his brow was like sensing an opening of some inexplicable origin, akin to the start of heaven and earth, the revival of all things.

Within this mysterious aura, the black iron block transformed into black soil. In this soil, the Purple Flame Lotus finally took root.

This rooting was genuine, as one could even see something resembling a lotus root appearing beneath the lotus.

Additionally, the Purple Flame derived into a purple lotus leaf, shaped like a burning flame.

"Divine Soil spawns the Divine Lotus, the Divine Lotus leads to the Divine Sword.

The Divine Sword possesses a Divine Spirit, and the Divine Spirit births Divinity."

Unexpectedly, Yanyan’s words suddenly reached Zhou Yan’s ears.

Yanyan’s voice was still baby-like, but it contained more of a Taoist charm.

This Taoist charm was what Zhou Yan had felt before, clearly the aura of the ancient runes from the Black Iron.

"Divine Soil spawns the Divine Lotus, the Divine Lotus leads to the Divine Sword.

The Divine Sword possesses a Divine Spirit, and the Divine Spirit births Divinity."

Zhou Yan murmured, as if enlightened, his heart tightened with surprise, "Yanyan, have you awakened?"

Regardless of what Yanyan had become, or what realization he had, the word ’Father King’ from before made Zhou Yan treat Yanyan as his own child to this day.

Hearing Yanyan’s voice now naturally added a surge of joy in Zhou Yan’s heart, who immediately communicated with Yanyan.

"Father King, your child has awakened, but this time, because of the absorption of too much energy, I need to fall back into slumber."

Yanyan suddenly spoke, her voice sounding extremely weary.

This weariness was even more pronounced than last time.

"Yanyan, are you all right? What exactly is this Black Iron?"

Zhou Yan felt some worry in his heart. Yanyan’s tone was like that of a child diagnosed with a terminal illness, despair and an inexplicable melancholy flowing through her words.

A child’s voice carrying such a breath made Zhou Yan, who was extremely sensitive in spirit, quite concerned for Yanyan.

Yanyan, Zhou Yan could vaguely guess in his heart, might be the Spiritual Wisdom that had emerged as a mutation from the Purple Flame Lotus.

If that were the case, her referring to him as ’Father King’ would not be an exaggeration at all.

However, if this Spiritual Wisdom were to be extinguished halfway, then one could imagine that the Purple Flame, Lotus, and now the Black Iron derived into Divine Soil would all become dead objects, devoid of any spiritual nature.

Zhou Yan thought about this and suddenly, he was reminded of the scene where the enormous finger pierced through Heaven and Earth, and he seemed to vaguely understand something.

"Father King, don’t worry about me. The four lines I previously spoke are part of the meaning in ancient Runes. With my understanding of Ancient Times, even I can’t identify such text.

As for what the Black Iron is, if all goes well, it should be a Fragment of the Heavenly Mechanism Soul Stone.

It’s just an incomplete part, not whole, which is why that information seemed all the more chaotic."

Although Yanyan was very weary, this time she relayed the message much more swiftly.

This expedience also made Zhou Yan relax slightly. After all, if she were truly weak, Yanyan might not even be able to convey any information.

"Heavenly Mechanism Soul Stone..."

Zhou Yan had no thoughts of excitement in his heart. He cared about these treasures, of course, but what he cared about more now was Yanyan.

"Many Cultivators, after reaching the Sword Spirit Realm, often neglect the changes in their Qi Column. Father King, you should not fuse the Sword Spirit with the Qi Column into one, for then you will not be able to break the shackles of this Heaven and Earth.

In this way, although cultivating in the Sword Spirit Realm may seem difficult, you will not be limited by the Sword Spirit.

These days, I’ve also been helping Father King to think, with your Cultivation Technique, you must be able to achieve Twelve Sword Spirits, breaking the notion of Three Souls and Seven Spirits."

Yanyan’s childish voice gradually became a bit more gentle.

It was at this moment that Zhou Yan suddenly realized that Yanyan’s voice actually had a feminine quality.

"Yanyan, you... seem to know quite a bit about these things."

Zhou Yan was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, Father King, it seems that ever since I had memory, I have been able to continuously understand a lot of things... It’s like I myself have stored many memories, only these memories, I cannot seem to open... or perhaps, I have forgotten something very important."

As Yanyan spoke, she seemed to become a bit lost in thought.

Although Zhou Yan could not see her appearance, the leaves of the Purple Flame Lotus Flame involuntarily rustled without any wind, looking very delicate and alluring.

The body derived from Zhou Yan’s Spiritual Sense couldn’t help but gently touch that leaf, just as a loving father would stroke his daughter’s forehead.

"So it’s like that, Yanyan, this may mean that you could be a person with significant origins. In comparison, Father King seems quite insignificant, and perhaps, when you recover your memories, you will realize that with my abilities, I am actually not qualified to be your Father King at all."

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and didn’t have the heart to deceive, so he truthfully shared some of the situation.

"Father King, you are Yanyan’s Father King, for life after life, through all eternity."

Yanyan’s voice became suddenly very firm.

Zhou Yan was taken aback, unexpectedly feeling a mysterious sense of happiness and emotion. He sighed gently and said, "Yanyan, your origins come from the Void Thunder Tribulation, my Master was very strong, yet he was struck down by the Void Thunder Tribulation.

Later, due to some serendipity, I received his inheritance, and therefore I had some of the aura of Tribulation Lightning within my body.

With the change of my Realm, along with another opportunity to absorb the lotus seeds from within a Secret Realm, did the mutation occur.

After the mutation, you appeared... I am telling you all this, does it remind you of anything?"

Zhou Yan merely left out the matter of Soul Fusion, sharing some of his experiences.

Because that kind of inheritance could only be considered a special fortune.

And in this world, it was perfectly normal for a genius to encounter constant serendipities.

Thus, even if this point were revealed, there would be no issue at all.

Besides, Yanyan was the Spiritual Wisdom refined from his Purple Flame, there was nothing to hide about that.

As for matters like Soul Fusion, those were Zhou Yan’s deepest secrets, which he did not wish anyone to know.