CHAPTER 530: CHAPTER 316: GLUTTONOUS TREASURE HIDDEN UNDERGROUND_2

For anyone else, witnessing such a divine skill would probably scare them out of their wits, but Gu Yuanshan just calmly sat down, showing not a hint of surprise. His Junior Master, during the era when demons ran rampant and sects divided land and power, was undoubtedly a figure who could overthrow the world with a single hand.

He didn’t waste words and got straight to the point.

"Junior Master, this time I journey to the East Sea. Firstly, to observe the opening of the Phoenix Heavenly Cave Secret Realm, and secondly, because trouble has erupted again on Jijing Island. Both East Sea Ji and the Jiang Family have simultaneously extended invitations, inviting us to venture deep into Jijing Island to investigate."

"However, the final result..."

"It has become restless again."

The elderly man’s face, initially full of smiles, paused momentarily at these five short words.

Yet the pause in his expression did not last long, which speaks to the difference in temperament between him and Gu Yuanshan. He nodded, signaling his nephew to continue.

"Junior Master, have you not said before that although it is revered as a deity, governing the laws of heaven and earth and the cycles of all things, it possesses only divinity, no consciousness? It merely acts according to rules, maintaining world balance."

"In the past, major forces and top experts in this world would engage in a massive conflict affecting the entire Cultivation World only once every few hundred years. You said this was not caused internally but by external influence."

"One thousand two hundred years ago, it was the forefather of the sects leading the Nine Peaks in a desperate stand against the invasion of the outworld Heavenly Demon Clan. The land of Jiuzhou suffered greatly, with four major sects nearly utterly destroyed and reduced to third-rate forces, never to rise again. The Cultivation World took over two hundred years to recover from this war."

"Seven hundred years ago, Jiuzhou was in chaos with various heroes vying for supremacy. No one knew the true cause. The wars persisted for over a hundred years without stopping, causing widespread casualties with over seventy percent of cultivators perishing. At the war’s end, the Candle Dragon ascended from the East Sea and concluded the conflict."

"By chance, the Second Junior Brother entered the Candle Dragon’s belly and learned the Gentleman’s Sword. After this battle, Jiuzhou again took several hundred years to recover vitality."

"Similarly, eight hundred years ago, Yan Ruyu, who mastered the way of hundreds of schools and united myriad sects, emerged suddenly. In a mere six hundred years, he cultivated into the Human Emperor, causing a sensation throughout the Cultivation World, standing equally with the leaders of the three races: human, demon, and demon, becoming the world’s youngest Immortal Monarch."

"Yet, two hundred years ago, he unexpectedly chose to join the Demon Race, abandoning the body, soul, and spirit of the Human Clan, thoroughly refining himself into a Demon Beast for rebirth, becoming a Demon Lord. Such an act of defying fate, coupled with years of silence across Jiuzhou, eventually led to war."

"The reason for the war also remains unclear, and none of the other Demon Lords of the Demon Race assisted, instead, internal conflicts were frequent. They actively hunted down the Demon Night True Monarch, and experts and elite forces from the Central Plains, Southern Border, Northern Territory, and East Sea all came out to annihilate him."

"Even the Second Junior Brother became a sacrifice in this Demon Race chaos. The final result was that Demon Night was executed, with his defiant fortunes returned to heaven and earth, restoring its calm once again."

"But why is it happening again now?"

"Only a little over fifty years have passed since the last great war. You once said it was not greedy, yet here it is again. The Cultivation World has only barely regained its vitality. What is truly the reason for this!"

"Could it be the East Sea is up to its tricks again?"

His expression revealed a difficult-to-hide frustration.

As the Sect Master, Gu Yuanshan rarely showed emotional fluctuations. Throughout the process, the elderly man just listened quietly, saying nothing, but his eyelids twitched uncontrollably when he heard "the Second Junior Brother became a sacrifice."

This was what made him regretful for his nephew.

Because in that chaos, Gu Yuanshan chose to preserve himself as Sect Master, rather than his brotherly disciples. In the end, Liu Jian, the Second Junior Brother who mastered the "law," and the entire Swordmaster Peak became a sacrifice to greed.

He sighed.

Seeing the emotional outburst in Mu Yan, the Senior Disciple, he understood that the other was not faking it, but that his heart truly felt like it was being cut by a knife, having had to send lifelong brothers to their doom, even actively letting them die. What a tragic, miserable feeling that must have been.

Even though Liu Jian did not resist at all, taking the entire Mountain Gate and preparing to meet death, the more it was like this, the more the heart of Gu Yuanshan was tormented. It had only been fifty years since the event, and now, looking at the current situation, it seemed that it was about to replay.

He could completely understand why Gu Yuanshan rode across the sect on his mount, forsaking protocol to come to see him first. Regardless of what position he sat in now, to this elderly man, he was still his child.

"Not enough."

He shook his head.

The expression filled with emotional fluctuation began to calm upon hearing these words. To Gu Yuanshan, who was already seven hundred years old as Sect Master, he only showed emotional fluctuations when meeting his elder.

After a deep breath, he completely adjusted his mood in just a few seconds.

Meanwhile, the elderly man just caressed his aged teapot, the flecks of white on his brow lifted as if in his youth he had loved to smile.

"This old man has been lucky enough to experience two great wars and yet survived both."

"Although the East Sea is cunning and ever-changing, with internal disputes and factions acting independently, they never would, and dare not, joke about things like this. Moreover, the previous two wars were fought most fiercely by the East Sea, suffering the greatest losses."

"They have no reason to fabricate stories out of thin air, especially concerning the Extreme Island. This old man visited there more than once with the Senior Brother in the past."

"No one knows what lies beneath, nor can anyone explore its depths. According to what the Master said, several thousand years ago, the Great Emperors of the three races, human, demon, and demon, once united to jointly explore the East Sea Extreme Island, trying to uncover the true form of this greedy entity."

"Among those who went down, two died and one went mad."

"The mad one was beyond comprehension, unable to provide any useful information, only mumbling incoherently various bizarre phrases. Moreover, on his own body, whether it was the waist, abdomen, or arms, he gouged marks with his fingers, which looked like some strange script."

"Regrettably, before anyone could decipher the script, his body began to decay. Though alive, his flesh fell apart, his skin and flesh rotted away, and even with his human emperor’s might, he could not reverse the situation, with the Divine Soul already shattered into pieces."

"All the world’s experts wanted to extend his life, and all the sects sought to uncover this secret, using every method to save him, but the hope was short-lived. In just half a year, the body completely collapsed, and no one could extend his life."

"Only in the final moments of lucidity before death, he briefly regained clarity and only said that what lay beneath was not something human strength could withstand. With his remaining strength, he wrote down that string of mysterious glyphs using his fingers, which had decayed to bones."

"This item is now stored in the Library Pavilion. Previously, this item was of utmost importance, accessible only to past Sect Masters and elders. Now... "

The elderly man let out a helpless laugh.

"The original is engraved on an Awakening Stone, while bamboo copies etched with the writing are scattered everywhere. Each generation’s Sect Masters and elders have etched it and taken it home for study, yet no one has figured out anything, so it’s all just thrown into the Library Pavilion."

"Perhaps even now there are enthusiastic disciples who believe it to be some incredible Cultivation Technique and plan to cultivate it."

Gu Yuanshan simply nodded.

Even he rarely heard the Junior Master speak of past events. The elderly man just gently stroked his well-worn teapot, his gray eyebrows rising slightly, making it apparent that he must have loved to smile in his youth.

"This old man has had quite the luck, having lived through two great wars and survived."

"Though the East Sea is cunning and volatile, with internal strife and factions each doing their own thing, they never, nor dare they joke about such matters, especially considering the previous two great wars were both fought most fiercely by the East Sea, suffering the greatest losses."

"They have no reason to joke, especially about Jijing Island. This old man even went there with an elder more than once."

"Every time chaos erupts in the world, it follows the same pattern. We know only that when it hungers, it cries out in a mournful and pitiful manner, and when the balance of the world is disrupted, its calls become regular."

"It is balance when this world is disrupted, it grows hungry, and when it hungers, the laws which govern heaven and earth swing back towards equilibrium. If not for its existence, the pace with which humanity exhausts resources would have left nothing to consume thousands of years ago."

"If East Sea is deceiving us again, I cannot say."

"But now it seems as though perhaps... it is starting again. After only fifty-odd years since the last great battle, and now this. Though you have said it is not gluttonous, here it goes, breaking the tenuous revival of the Cultivation World binds us together once again, but why!"

He understands fully why Gu Yuanshan rode directly across the sect to meet him first, disregarding all protocol, despite the high position he now holds, for in the eyes of the elderly man, he was forever his child.

"It’s not enough."

Shaking his head.

He said this, his expression, once full of emotion, began to calm down after hearing these words, realizing that for sect master Gu Yuanshan, who is already seven hundred years old, emotional changes occur only in front of his elder.

Deeply taking a single breath, he adjusted his mood completely in just three to five seconds.

And the old man merely stroked his already well-aged teapot, his graying eyebrows slightly raised, showing that in his younger days, he must have loved to laugh.

"This old man has experienced two great wars and, fortunately, survived."

"Though the East Sea is treacherous and changeable, with internal disputes and family factions vying for control, they never , and dare not joke about such matters; moreover, both previous great wars saw fierce battles led by the East Sea, incurring the highest losses."

"They have no reason to joke, especially about Jijing Island, a place I visited more than once with my Senior Brother in the past."

"Of those who went down, two died, and one went mad."

"The one who went mad could no longer be reasoned with or extract any information, for he kept mumbling to himself, and with his own fingers, he clawed on himself leaving strange markings that resembled some kind of bizarre script."

"It was only in a moment of clarity before his death that he managed to regain consciousness for a brief second and used his hand, which had decayed to the bone, to write down something."

"This thing is now kept in the Library Pavilion. Previously it was of utmost importance, and only sect masters and elders had access to it, but since no one could decipher it, it was simply left in the Library Pavilion."

The old man sighed helplessly.

"There is perhaps now someone examining the bamboo-crafted copy stored there, in vain attempts to understand it, painstakingly striving at the clues left."

"But you need not worry too much about what lies beneath Jijing Island."

"We only know that when it grows hungry, it mourns with a heart of pity, and once the balance of this world is broken, it directs itself towards equilibrium. If it weren’t for its existence, the speed with which mankind exhausts the world’s laws might have left nothing to use thousands of years ago."

"Whether this time it is East Sea up to some trick again, I am unsure."

"The current Cultivation World has only just begun to recover its vitality, why again now indeed!"

"One can only wonder if the East Sea is playing tricks again?"