Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 261 - 140 Ancient Ghost

Chapter 261: Chapter 140 Ancient Ghost

The Tearless Ancient City has existed in the world for countless years.

Throughout ancient and modern times, countless talented individuals who moved heaven and earth have met their demise within its walls.

As the rings of time rotated and the spring and autumn days passed, this was the only place that remained unchanged.

Where light should shine, darkness never falls. And where darkness dwells, light never penetrates.

Yet, all these rules were now broken, inexplicably shattered, as if someone had triggered the deep-seated Array.

Previously, to enter the City of No Tears, one had to rely on the fortunes and opportunities provided by heaven and earth, by Qi fortune.

Once inside, although perilous, it wasn’t a case of assured death. There was still a one in ten chance of surviving, a sliver of hope for life.

Now, the gates of the Tearless Ancient City are wide open to all, yet those who enter almost invariably face certain death. Only those who can either barely set foot within its interior regions or who, amidst countless brutal struggles and dangers, manage to claw back half a life survive.

And yet, in such a perilous place, someone was able to shake the Array of the Ancient City. This person was either extremely lucky or an unfathomably deep Array Sword Cultivator!

Nearly all the Cultivators who still survived in the City of No Tears thought this.

But none of the people around Zhou Yan would have imagined that the one responsible for all this was the one they believed dead, the Emperor Qi Wasted Body—Zhou Yan himself.

At this moment, having become familiar with some of the ancient Rune scripts and inexplicably gaining some special insight, combined with the memories of his Master, Zhou Yan suddenly understood many things. It was as if the lost memories had suddenly returned to his brain.

Each sudden enlightenment was like an overload of information forcibly crammed into his brain, suddenly there, yet so illuminating.

He no longer delved into the matter, understanding it was sufficient for him.

He studied the Ancient Array, comprehending the runes he didn’t understand before, which was once just an instinct without urgency. Now, it seemed tied to the deeper secrets of Purple Flame, so Zhou Yan put more heart into it.

He didn’t care about any set-ups or traps, even if there were any, it was of no consequence; nothing was more important than Yanyan.

Of course, if he could unravel the deeper meaning of these runes, he might also be able to deduce much about the Void and, hopefully, predict the whereabouts of Feng Lingqing and her daughter.

There were many things he dared not ponder, for thinking about them only drew him deeper, leaving him unable to extricate himself.

At this time, all he wanted was to understand these profound matters. Then, during the transformation between the Twelve Sword Spirits, he might handle them with greater ease, and fully consolidate the Realm of the Sword Spirit Three Heavens. This way, regardless of life or death, he’d risk it all to coalesce the Sword Soul, and perhaps there’d be some hope.

Before coalescing the Sword Soul, he had at least to sort out the entanglements in his heart.

Once sorted, he could disregard everything and focus on coalescing the Twelve Sword Souls!

...

Zhou Yan trekked through the Ancient Array, drawing closer to the core land, and felt the increasing challenge of the Array.

Finally, at a place resembling a dry well, he stopped.

Behind him, a group of geniuses also silently halted their advance.

Even if many were his enemies, at this moment their eyes showed respect for him.

Not for any reason other than the profound knowledge of Array Dao, Zhou Yan deserved their respect.

Zhou Yan stared at the dry well ahead, silent.

This dry well had appeared suddenly on their path, blocking the only safe route and was quite abrupt.

According to his deduction, this well should not exist, yet it now did.

The appearance of something beyond deductions meant that this path was not as safe as it had been predicted to be.

Danger, no doubt, lurked here.

Zhou Yan focused on the well, and after a moment, he took out the Heavenly Mechanism Order.

With the Heavenly Mechanism Order in hand, among the group of people, Zhuge Chunqiu was slightly startled and involuntarily approached Zhou Yan with respect.

"Can the Heavenly Mechanism Order access Tianji Mountain from any place?"

Zhou Yan asked.

"Except in the remnants of ancient ruins, like the Poison Mist Swamp of the Tearless Ancient City where it won’t work, it can be used anywhere else."

Zhuge Chunqiu was a bit distracted, and with a strange look at Zhou Yan, respectfully replied.

Zhou Yan nodded and said, "You know, Feng Lingqing was swept away by the chaotic currents of the Void. I want to know if they are dead or alive, can you determine that?"

Zhou Yan asked about something seemingly unrelated to the current situation.

Zhuge Chunqiu’s heart skipped a beat, a bad premonition inexplicably arising within him.

This premonition, whether related to the mother and daughter Zhou Yan wanted to know about or the current environment, he couldn’t determine due to the chaos of the Heavenly Mechanism here.

If he could have determined it, he would not be seeking Zhou Yan’s protection.

Of course, either result would be terrifying!

"This, I cannot determine, but on Tianji Mountain, certainly someone can. ’He’ once said that you are involved with three significant opportunities."

Zhuge Chunqiu hesitated slightly but still spoke truthfully.

"So you’re saying, I won’t die anytime soon?"

Zhou Yan said, half-smiling.

"Well, the future that can be seen is just one possibility among infinite changes. Although it might happen, the chance is hard to predict. The changes in the Heavenly Dao are endless; seeing one possibility and having another occur is quite normal."

Zhuge Chunqiu explained.

Zhou Yan understood this principle.

It was like a person knowing the numbers zero to nine and even guessing a set of numbers by intuition, but whether this set of numbers would win a prize was hard to say.

"In other words, if I go to Tianji Mountain and see the result, it might not be the real outcome? In that case, isn’t this thing as useless as chicken ribs, and how could it be worth your life? If I’m not mistaken, you’d die right here."

Zhou Yan said with a cold laugh.

"This... Master Zhou, my knowledge is limited, so naturally, I can’t explain too much. But ’that person’ on Tianji Mountain is unfathomably profound and can reach a terrifying degree of accuracy. Although it might not be certain, it surely won’t be wrong! Especially when it comes to calculations of life and death, there won’t be mistakes. Once you meet him, you will believe what I’ve said."

Zhuge Chunqiu explained somewhat awkwardly, yet earnestly.

Zhou Yan nodded and didn’t trouble the man further. Instead, he seriously addressed him and all the others, "Alright, it’s a critical time now, there’s no need to hide your skills any longer, you should take action."

After Zhou Yan finished speaking, the scene fell silent.

"What, you still want to hide your clumsiness and conceal your strength? You may be on a par with or even slightly inferior to me in combat power, but you’re definitely not so weak that I, Zhou Yan, could kill you in one move. This well is extremely dangerous, we need to work together. Get ready, something strange is about to appear!"

Zhou Yan commanded with a cold shout. He then retracted the Heavenly Mechanism Order, his gaze fixating intently on the dried well.

From the well, a dream-like crimson glow started to seep out, resembling the moonlight. Within this glow, a pudgy, adorable little girl gradually materialized.

Her two small braids hung down on both sides of her head, swaying beautifully with the wind as the black braids fluttered. Her large eyes were both pretty and cute, prompting affection from anyone who saw them.

But here, no one felt this way, because at their first glimpse of the little girl, everyone’s expression turned solemn as if facing a formidable enemy, not daring even to breathe.

Zhou Yan’s mind tensed slightly, feeling that this little girl was like a terrifying demon beast, more dreadful than the true form of Hou Yao he had witnessed, than the Cai Ling from the Void Third Realm, or even Gu Xi’s grandmother.

Whatever this was incarnating as a little girl, it definitely wasn’t one!

Zhou Yan felt a deep wariness and imperceptibly backed away a few steps.

Only after moving back did he realize that the other cultivators were not fools; they had already retreated several steps before him.

As everyone backed away, the little girl moved forward continuously, her curious and innocent gaze observing the crowd. She tilted her head as if pondering something, her brows furrowed in deep thought, looking harmless and pitiable.

"Perhaps, she could be killed in one strike!"

Huang FuZhan, who had been quite low-key, murmured after pondering for a moment.

At this, he appeared deadly determined, his sharpness fully revealed.

"Do you have confidence that you can kill her at once, completely annihilating her?" Next to Huang FuZhan, Hu Yidao caressed his blade, his arms trembling.

"Whether it’s possible or not, we will see!"

Zhou Taiting also took a step forward, standing beside Huang FuZhan.

Now, no one was a fool; everyone knew Zhou Yan was not exaggerating the danger, so they temporarily united.

Having said this, Zhou Taiting had already activated his blood energy, propelling the Heavenly Spirit Sword Body, and opened the Heavenly Spirit Eye.

Suddenly, his eyes blazed as if a sun was born within them, focusing a terrifying amount of energy. Even Zhou Yan, with his capacity for endurance, found it extremely fearsome.

After a moment of building up, Zhou Taiting’s third eye suddenly split open, revealing a vertical slit that seemed like an upright eye!

"This... is this the Heavenly Spirit Eye? How is it similar to the ’Erlang God’s’ third eye from the myths of Master’s world?"

Zhou Yan shivered inwardly at this thought.

But as he considered this, Zhou Taiting’s third eye burst open, emitting a beam of light akin to the Primordial Magnetic Pole Light that appeared in the ancient times, shining onto the origin of everything.

However, when the light touched the little girl, Zhou Taiting suddenly let out a piercing scream. His third eye exploded, blood flowing from his seven orifices and rapidly covering his entire face, giving him an exceedingly horrifying appearance.

"Ah, ah, ah—"

He cried out in agony, as if struck by thunder, quivering and convulsing with pain.

"This, this is an Ancient Ghost, the malicious ghost of a genius from the Void Seventh Realm after their fall!"

Zhou Taiting retreated continuously, struggling to stabilize his tormented body, stammering with trembling words.

Now his face was covered in gore like blossomed flowers.

With his utterly terrified expression, he seemed incredibly ferocious.

But his words made everyone’s heart drop.

"Zhou Yan, is this the safe path you led us on? You’re trying to get us killed!"

At this moment, the Young Master of the Yang Family from an external domain, Yang Liufeng, finally burst out in a quivering, furious shout.

At that instant, under his angry bellow, the vast majority of the genius cultivators looked at Zhou Yan with distrustful and resentful eyes.