Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 250 - 131 The ’Truth’ Revealed by Ming Wu (Part 1)

Chapter 250: Chapter 131 The ’Truth’ Revealed by Ming Wu (Part 1)

"Zhou Lingzhe, this Despair Abyss is the core mechanism of the City of No Tears, not only containing endless opportunities, but also a place that even the Heavenly Dao cannot penetrate.

From my experience, this place must be where the trapped array lies."

Elder Wan saw Zhou Yan contemplating something and immediately went on to explain.

Zhou Yan, upon hearing this, pondered for a moment and then mused, "That being said, such a place should also contain the Mingxin Mirror. Putting aside life and death, I have to check it out."

Elder Wan was taken aback, his eyes deepening with a few shades of concern, as if unable to send any further messages or give any hints.

He sighed softly, a sigh filled with much vicissitude and helplessness.

"With my secret techniques and divine skills, there is naturally more than a fifty percent chance of success; otherwise, with Zhou Lingzhe’s favor towards me, Hou Wanxiao, I wouldn’t have agreed to let Zhou Lingzhe go to such a dangerous place."

Elder Wan said this amidst his sighs.

Zhou Yan nodded and said, "I naturally trust you on this matter. So, let it be settled as such."

"That’s good. A place that even the Heavenly Dao cannot penetrate must ultimately be a place of hope. For Zhou Lingzhe, I’m afraid there’s no place more suitable than that.

Whether you can enter it and seize that opportunity, it depends on your abilities," Elder Wan remarked.

Zhou Yan, upon hearing this, didn’t show any doubt and said, "City of No Tears, emerging from the Nine Origin Reincarnation, conceals levels of Cultivator’s white bones; it could not possibly be a simple place.

This time, following them, it will probably not be so peaceful. But for me, in truth, there’s nothing much. When I get there, I don’t plan to seize any fortune or gather any Sword Souls. After all, Elder Wan, you know that ultimately, I, Zhou Yan, am just an outsider. The Emperor Qi Sword Body is wasted on me.

Now, my potential is nearly exhausted. Let them plot whatever schemes they have; I’ve already obtained what I wanted. If it really comes to that point, I’d just detonate my mutated soul and let everyone be buried with me."

"Zhou Lingzhe, never do such a thing. No matter what, Heaven always leaves a way out for everyone, and Emperor Qi Sword Body is no exception.

As far as the current Heavenly Dao is concerned, the Emperor Qi Sword Body might not be favored, but those ancient sites are relics of former civilizations or even older ones, where the Heavenly Dao is different.

There, the Heavenly Dao actually favors ancient constitutions like the Emperor Qi Sword Body. Only those with such constitutions might find great opportunities and fortune, and such places also offer a further hope for ancient sword bodies like the Emperor Qi Sword Body."

Elder Wan rushed to explain.

Zhou Yan heard this and couldn’t help showing a look of ’surprise,’ his expression becoming somewhat unsettled.

"Elder Wan, thank you. If it weren’t for you, my heart might have been filled with despair, but your words rekindled my hope to fight once more. No need for thanks now; call on me when you need Zhou Yan in the future."

Zhou Yan was about to bow in respect but was held back by Hou Wanxiao, who respectfully said, "Zhou Lingzhe, you are too polite."

"Elder Wan, I have remembered your kindness," Zhou Yan said very ’gratefully.’

There was, however, a bit of deliberation in his words.

In fact, deep inside, Zhou Yan already knew that the Heavenly Dao of the ancient sites still retained the Heavenly Dao of ancient times and had little connection with the outer world’s current Heavenly Dao. It was like two civilizations’ lives; today’s civilization lives naturally under the laws of today’s civilization. Meanwhile, remnants from the previous civilization aren’t influenced by the current civilization’s rules.

Zhou Yan was well aware of this, all knowledge engraved in his mind through his Master’s memories—comparing Elder Wan’s knowledge to his was like comparing a child to a professor.

But Zhou Yan naturally wouldn’t show this, instead, coordinating deliberately whenever Elder Wan spoke, making everything seamless.

Some people think they know him well, aiming to precisely predict each of Zhou Yan’s choices and actions beforehand, calculating everything tightly without any deviation.

But at the same time, Zhou Yan also played along. Although he wanted to trust Elder Wan, in reality, he didn’t believe any of Elder Wan’s words.

Elder Wan was trustworthy indeed, but it also depended on his actions. And whether Elder Wan’s method to shield from the Heavenly Dao had any effect was another question. This world has too many magic treasures; what seems like a safe approach isn’t necessarily secure.

Even if Zhou Yan’s sensing power could detect an enemy’s mental activity, it was possible that the enemy knew of his ability and intentionally thought that way to confound him.

For a Cultivator, the higher the realm, the greater the intelligence, and there is no tactic that cannot be employed."

Zhou Yan had realized it all started with the Blood Water Lake initially, and then it seemed like Jiang Yuning had left him a way out, followed by a deliberate obfuscation. Indications in every aspect of these events pointed towards one thing.

Previously, Zhou Yan had not thoroughly contemplated these matters. Now, as Elder Wan spoke, everything had become as clear as a line.

At this moment, he seized the initiative, so his actions also differed from before.

"Do you think I carry a civilization, that behind me are the enemies of the Evil King, or even that I truly mastered the ’Taiyin Talisman Scripture’ and possessed the ability of the Sky-reaching Finger? No matter how you plot, as long as I understand your motives, anyone approaching me with those intentions is already known to me."

In the depths of Zhou Yan’s spirit, he pondered over these matters and then fell silent again.

Based on this, he started backtracking and discovered a series of even more terrifying issues.

It turned out that, unbeknownst to him, he had been led by the nose the entire time, although the situation was still manageable and had not reached the worst possible scenario.

At this moment, Zhou Yan realized that the crux of the matter had arrived. Thus, after a moment of deep contemplation, he partially withdrew his consciousness into the Purple Flame Void and pondered over the issues there, where no one could sense him.

"So, everything from entering the Ancient Tomb Mountain and even the incidents before that were likely orchestrated by someone. Then... Li Qimeng, Feng Lingqing, Feng Lingzhu, Mo Yuchou, Pan Yuming, and others might not be trustworthy.

Then, continuing this line of thought, from Feng Yunyan’s scene in the Sword Illusion Realm, it can be inferred that everything in the Spiritual Lotus Secret Realm had been exposed!"

Zhou Yan frowned and delved deeper into his thoughts.

His heart trembled as he recalled how he had intercepted the lotus seeds in the Spiritual Lotus Secret Realm and then rumors of upheaval where a piece of Heaven and Earth had suddenly collapsed. Zhou Yan was almost certain that, after that moment, the Great Zhou Family had been aware of his enlightenment in the Sword Origin Pool.

The Sword Origin Pool, perhaps, wasn’t a connection to the Ancestor Land but was actually a direct passage to the Spiritual Lotus Secret Realm.

This notion was possibly as clear as a mirror to those ancestors of the Zhou Family.

If so, it was certain that the so-called Evil King was indeed an ancestor of the Zhou Family!

And if the Evil King belonged to the generation of Zhou ancestors... The Evil King, who had killed the previous Emperor Qi Sword Body, while Zhou Yan himself now possessed an Emperor Qi Sword Body. With the Evil King’s capabilities, it was very likely that the Evil King was a Heavenly Spirit Sword Body himself, capable of activating the Heavenly Sword Eye.

Activating the Heavenly Sword Eye...

Zhou Yan shivered internally—if this figure opened the Heavenly Sword Eye with his supreme Realm, there might be no secrets in the world that could be hidden. Thus, Zhou Yan’s current situation...

The deeper he thought, the more suffocated Zhou Yan felt, because the more he thought about it, the more horrifying it became!

And considering this, Zhou Yan wasn’t sure if it was true, but his instinct told him this was fact.

If this was indeed the truth, if the person from the Zhou Family who killed the first Emperor Qi Sword Body was the Evil King, the master of the Spiritual Lotus Secret Realm, then...

Zhou Yan gasped in sudden chill, daring not to think further.

If that was the case, all his pretenses were ludicrous because he couldn’t hide anything; anything he had would be utterly transparent in front of that person.

Zhou Yan’s complexion finally altered, and at this moment, he just silently pondered without avoiding Elder Wan.

Elder Wan, seeing the changes in Zhou Yan’s emotions, didn’t think much of it, assuming Zhou Yan was just considering the matters concerning his entry into the City of No Tears and thus waited silently.

"Assuming... everything I thought before is true. From this we can deduce, the only thing they can’t see through about me is... Yanyan.

It’s certain, my Master was able to obtain lotus seed essence from the Spiritual Lotus Secret Realm, thus the Evil King naturally wouldn’t be a match for my Master, perhaps not even qualified to be an opponent.

Thus, my Master’s enemy, that ’Yao’ who can’t sense Yanyan, is what they’re unaware of. Similarly, perhaps because the Evil King can’t see through my inheritance, countless people are hysterically trying to obtain the inheritance I received.

This means, the ace up my sleeve they can’t understand is my capabilities, my Purple Flame Void, and everything about Yanyan."

"Furthermore, they know I need ancient scriptures, fragmented pages, and they’ve been actively collecting them, which is essentially ’fattening the pig’ and treating me like a ’flesh pig’ to be harvested at the right time. Hence, understanding the scriptures is also something I cannot pursue at this moment."

Zhou Yan continued to muse. Some of the initial conclusions drawn earlier were overturned by now, but this suited his intentions.

From what he inferred outside, he had some intentions of testing whether somebody could indeed sense many things.

Before his Master had died, Zhou Yan believed that no one could see through his inner activities and could only scheme based on familiarity with him.

But after his Master’s demise, it was quite obvious that such targeting had become more apparent.