Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 327 - 192 Void Ancient Scripture

Chapter 327: Chapter 192 Void Ancient Scripture

A beam of white light flickered incessantly, and within moments, the outline of the light revealed a woman in white with a mesmerizing charm.

Her snow-white hair draped over her shoulders, emanating a mysterious cascade-like aura.

Her pure white feathers clothing exuded a breathtakingly stunning quality.

Her skin was fair and tender, as if it would break at a touch, soft like creamy jellies.

"Sigh... Sister Zi Chen, don’t be impulsive. He is a Cultivator with a ’Sword Soul’ fused within an ’Emperor Qi Sword Body’. You are not his match yet. And... he possesses the ’Heavenly Dao Soul Stone’, the qualified initiator of the inheritance."

"What? Emperor Qi Sword Body? He has even condensed a Sword Soul? And he’s the inheritor of a Secret Land..."

Zi Chen glanced at Zhou Yan with a hint of surprise. Seeing his still indifferent and calm demeanor, with a lot of skepticism in his eyes, she eventually tempered her attitude after White Fox’s persuasion and a careful appraisal of Zhou Yan, sensing an inexplicable dangerous air about him.

"Zhou Yan, don’t be angry. The reason she’s like this is because she’s been betrayed by a male Cultivator she was very close to, so she..."

"Sister Bai Ying."

Zi Chen called out, interrupting what Bai Ying was saying.

Bai Ying gave her an apologetic look.

"It’s fine, let’s go. Let’s see if we can access the inheritance. Hopefully, it can be unlocked; I hope there’s a space Magic Treasure that can speed things up."

Zhou Yan stated casually, making no attempt to hide his purpose.

Apart from the initial glance that filled him with astonishment, Zhou Yan harbored no other feelings towards this woman.

Naturally, it was hard for any man not to feel admiration upon seeing a beautiful woman.

However, this woman’s presumptuous behavior ruined that feeling of admiration.

In terms of temperament and the like, this Zi Chen wasn’t bad, but Zhou Yan wasn’t someone who hadn’t seen women before; naturally, he wouldn’t accept the cold face this woman was showing him.

This woman named ’Zi Chen’ had a hint of purple in her eyes, which indeed indicated she was different in essence from himself, clearly not cut from the same cloth.

No wonder Bai Ying had said she was not the woman he was searching for.

Zhou Yan’s words prompted Zi Chen to take a few more glances at him, filled with confusion and surprise, seemingly unable to believe that he would reveal his motives so directly without care.

But White Fox had no such thoughts; transformed into a woman, she was tall and only half a head shorter than Zhou Yan.

She walked over to his side, saying softly, "He once had a Short Sword that could pierce through the Void and fly, with incredible speed. If you can obtain the inheritance, and get that sword, you’ll be able to cross the Void like a Void Realm Practitioner over short distances.

If your Soul is strong enough, and you’re sensitive to spatial faults, you could even travel longer distances back and forth."

"I understand."

Zhou Yan nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

...

A golden light screen displayed numerous ancient Runes.

When combined, these Runes exhibited many marvelous changes, resembling the imprint of the trajectory of the Heavenly Dao.

Zhou Yan, Bai Ying, and Zi Chen all stood here, gazing at the light screen.

Bai Ying had an expression of longing, her eyes tinged with sadness.

Zi Chen furrowed her brows lightly as she looked at the strange Runes she didn’t recognize, feeling some unease in her heart that led her to become lost in thought.

Zhou Yan, on the other hand, was immediately captivated upon seeing them.

These Runes were the same as those that appeared after the Purple Flame burned the remnants of the ancient scripture.

However, these Runes conveyed a special message, not something related to inheritance.

Zhou Yan understood them. Not only did he understand, but he could also draw and inscribe such Runes.

Thus, standing here while others were perplexed, Zhou Yan seemed to see all the secrets laid bare, like a scholar encountering a treasured and esoteric book.

The writing on the light screen was a letter, in fact, written to someone who could understand these words.

"Heaven and Earth have their Fate. Even if I left behind the Heavenly Dao Soul Stone, it is not guaranteed that my descendants would come here."

"And if my descendants did come here, that doesn’t necessarily mean they could understand all this."

"So, let things take their course. Fate arises and ends—no need to force it. If someone truly understands this, then follow my instructions, and you will not have made this trip in vain. However, you must do exactly as I say."

"I won’t make it difficult for you, nor do you need to worry. I have been dead a long time, but I told Yingying I had only left. Even if the Life Soul Token could be shattered, I claimed it was to confuse the enemy and that she shouldn’t worry.

But in fact, I had fallen long ago, and the Residual Soul I left behind struggled to hold onto these messages."

"These inheritances cannot fall into the hands of those who do not understand ’Ancient Scripture Runes’. Hence, if you ultimately obtain the inheritance, do not teach it to anyone."

"Only those who understand the ’Ancient Scripture Runes’ have a similar or the same Fate as me, as these Runes are not something anyone can learn."

...

"First, force out a breath of Origin Energy and inject it into the Runes. Then, a black lotus seed will appear; consume it, and it will help purify your Soul and enable you to comprehend the way of Destruction."

The light screen conveyed this message.

Zhou Yan weighed his options, his eyes shining brightly as he watched the light screen. He drew out a strand of Origin Power at his whim and injected it into the light screen.

After a moment of stillness, the light screen suddenly exploded with a blinding light.

This light naturally woke both Bai Ying and Zi Chen from their shock, as they gazed at Zhou Yan incredulously, struggled to believe that he could indeed provoke such a change in the inheritance.

Zhou Yan stood motionless, but a pitch-black lotus seed materialized out of the Void.

Then the lotus seed turned into a wisp of shadow, flying straight towards Zhou Yan’s hand.

"Whoosh—"

The lotus seeds were grasped in Zhou Yan’s hand.

"Now, you can consume it, meditate and cultivate, and cleanse the soul."

The light screen displayed another rune message.

A flicker of unusual color passed through Zhou Yan’s eyes, but he did not reveal it, nor did he say anything to Bai Ying. Instead, he directly swallowed the lotus seed, using energy for derivation, purifying the soul.

A moment later, Zhou Yan felt a cloud of black qi spreading throughout his body, dissipating into the void like dust.

"Now, with three drops of essence blood, you can open the rune channel and enter the secret land to obtain the second inheritance—Thunder Flame Soul Liquid."

"Thunder Flame Soul Liquid is extremely precious, the ultimate supreme treasure of Thunder Flame Breaking Path Mountain, capable of breaking all seals, and allowing a cultivator with only a wisp of a soul to return to their peak."

"Now, you need to use your essence blood to activate the two polar positions of runes."

The light screen transmitted this information as well.

Zhou Yan continued to follow instructions, his demeanor exceedingly calm, his thoughts inscrutable to all.

...

Purple Flame Void.

Part of his soul consciousness converged here, deriving Zhou Yan’s true form.

Zhou Yan looked at the sky, indeed, the vast amount of Thunderflame Soul Crystal that he had forced out from his glabella was gone.

Nor could the Purple Flame Lotus be seen within the void.

What was true and what was false could, in reality, now be clearly distinguished. After all, the secrets of the Purple Flame Void and the eyes within the Soul Sea may not necessarily be penetrable.

Zhou Yan arrived where the Purple Flame Lotus once grew within the Purple Flame Void.

He stood in this isolated space, looking at where the Purple Flame Lotus used to be, murmuring to himself, "Yanyan, Father King just witnessed a glimpse of the true energy of the ’Ancient Scripture’ and thus fell into a ’trap’ set by a powerful being.

However, for now, I, your Father King, can still manage to maneuver.

The enlightenment of those runes that I had not yet had the time to thoroughly comprehend, now, there seems to be no time left."

"But I can confirm that it is an extraordinary Ancient Scripture. If Purple Flame were still here, I could have helped myself, and even turned the tables, sending the ancient text into the midst of Purple Flame to burn, unraveling the genuinely immense secrets it holds."

"The master of White Fox was murdered, and worse still, the murderers posed as ’him’ to set up ’his’ inheritance, aiming to refine to death all the holders of the Heavenly Dao Soul Stone, those who receive ’his’ inheritance."

"This seems to be an attempt to refine flesh and blood Elixirs."

"If my guess is correct, the one who killed the master of White Fox is still alive within that light screen."

"This could be an ancient and powerful being. Yanyan, I, your Father King, want to see you, and I need Purple Flame’s assistance. Can you hear me?"

Zhou Yan murmured to himself, voicing his doubts about the light screen.

Outside, he would not even allow himself to ponder such thoughts.

But within the Purple Flame Void, Zhou Yan detailed his thoughts to Yanyan meticulously.

However, in this void, there was no sign of Purple Flame.

Zhou Yan waited a moment, yet Purple Flame’s presence did not appear, prompting him to sigh in resignation.

He knew that once Yanyan closed that door, it would be difficult to reopen it, and Yanyan might not be aware of everything happening to him.

Nevertheless, he still wished to see Yanyan.

Of course, everything he said was true.

Indeed, ever since laying eyes on the light screen, Zhou Yan had been harboring such thoughts, which was further affirmed with each message on the light screen.

Not even White Fox knew the truth of the matter, blinded by deception.

Perhaps many cultivators with a Heavenly Dao Soul Stone had died in this way, while White Fox might merely believe that those cultivators had failed their inheritance and were expelled from Thunder Flame Breaking Path Mountain.

As for runes... It was simply because Zhou Yan excelled at runes that they appeared here.

Had it been other cultivators, what might have appeared were messages related to their respective domains of expertise.

In summary, this so-called ’Secret Land Inheritance’ was a trap, one that even White Fox was unaware of.

Zhou Yan turned and was ready to leave the Purple Flame Void, but unexpectedly, at that moment, a burst of Purple Flame appeared in the space behind him.

However, the message transmitted from within the Purple Flame was not from Yanyan but from another very peculiar will.

This will was vast, desolate, and somewhat solemn.

"This is the rune of the Void Ancient Scripture, indeed targeted at you. However, this time if you obtain the Void Ancient Scripture, ’Yanyan’ will need to continue cultivating the ’Void Ancient Scripture’, and the consequences are unpredictable."

"Who are you?"

As Zhou Yan encountered this will, a chill settled in his heart.

The presence of an ’outsider’ who could communicate with him was an unwelcome revelation.

"Do not worry. I have no self, but merely a will, which you can understand as a kind of rule, the rule of a special world.

I cannot interfere with much; consider it a reminder. Because Yanyan’s path is bound to my will. It’s like what you understand as the Unity of Heaven and Man.

Let’s put it this way... if a powerful being were to attempt to slay you, Heaven would intervene appropriately; this is what ’Heaven’s favor’ means."

"Now, you can understand that I am just a will that Heaven watches over Yanyan with."

This will conveyed such a message.

Then, without waiting for Zhou Yan’s response, the will vanished.

Afterward, Purple Flame manifested behind Zhou Yan.

This time it was not an illusion but a genuine appearance.