Chapter 420: On The Road Once More
This new development happened too suddenly and differed from Li Qiye’s expectations. Originally, he wanted to go to the island after the mist consumed enough blood. Li Qiye had plenty of methods; as long as he could get on the island, he would have been able to take whatever he wanted.
But now, the lost mythical island had disappeared, or rather, was moved by someone. This completely derailed his plans, requiring him to contemplate on how to proceed.
Lan Yunzhu took in a deep breath and declared: “I’ll go with you. At least that way, you will have a helper.”
“No.” Li Qiye responded with a shake of his head: “You and the sect master’s group have to get ready. Maybe I will have a use for you guys. The most important thing is to prepare for the worst-case scenario.”
“What is this worst case scenario?” Lan Yunzhu inquired with some surprise.
With a serious expression, Li Qiye stared far into the distance and slowly replied: “The heavens is in turmoil, an era of carnage may be impending.”
“The heavens is in turmoil?” Lan Yunzhu repeated in shocked. In the present times, the Sacred Nether World was in peace and no power was capable of breaking the stability that was formed by several emperor’s lineages.
“Whether chaos will come or not…” Li Qiye continued with a grin: “A chaotic heaven might not necessarily be a bad thing. When I slaughter the heavens, a few crafty things should come out.” 1
Lan Yunzhu couldn’t help but become shocked. His light words did not carry a certain gravity, but in her ears, they were extremely tyrannical. How many geniuses would dare to bluster about slaughtering the heavens? But today, Li Qiye made it sound as if he could do it on a whim.
It was said in the most casual of tones, yet it was also extremely domineering.
“I will tell my master and the elders.” Lan Yunzhu calmed down and replied.
Li Qiye also prepared to go to the Prime Ominous Grave. Before leaving, he called for Lu Baiqiu and asked: “What are your plans? Will you go with me, or will you do something else?”
Li Qiye really did favor Lu Baiqiu and wished to groom her. Otherwise, he would not have brought her along with him all this time.
Lu Baiqiu paused for a moment and told Li Qiye: “I want to return to the Thousand Islands to see how it is.”
Lu Baiqiu was very worried about the lost mythical island’s disappearance. She was worried for the islands, the disciples, and the islands’ inhabitants.
As the Region Lord, she had always been in charge of the Thousand Islands and considered that place her home. There were citizens who loved her there as well as disciples who would follow her to the very end. Now, after such a big event had occurred, there was a certain restlessness in her heart, so she wished to return to check up on them.
“Then go back, it is good to go back and take a look.” Li Qiye replied with a smile. He understood her emotions — her unwillingness to depart with her home, so he didn’t force her to go with him.
“Thank you, Young Noble.” Lu Baiqiu bowed and gratefully said: “I have gained many things after following you and I’ll always remember it.” To Lu Baiqiu, after they part ways today, she might not ever be able to see Li Qiye again. The two of them were not of the same world. Li Qiye was a heavenly dragon so one day, he might soar up to the nine firmaments.
Li Qiye smiled and stroked her hair: “Follow your heart. I trust that one day, you will be able to go very far. Although it is immense, as long as you have the will, you will be able to reach every corner of this world.”
“I will remember your words well!” Lu Baiqiu took a deep breath and said. Inadvertently, her eyes became wet as she felt her nose getting stuffy. Although she had not followed Li Qiye for a long time, she had learned many things in the recent days that would benefit her for the rest of her life.
Li Qiye nodded his head and walked around. He quickly went to see Daoist Bao Gui who had prepared a dao gate for him.
After he saw Li Qiye, Daoist Bao Gui quickly said: “There is a great sect that has a good relationship with us at the Nether Border. This dao gate will directly take you to their side so that you can directly go to the Prime Ominous Grave.”
“Very well, it will be easy once I get to the Nether Border.”
Daoist Bao Gui ordered for the dao gate to open while the elders and high elders all came to see Li Qiye off. Before his departure, Daoist Bao Gui warned him: “Please be careful, the Prime Ominous Grave is the most dangerous and mysterious place in the Sacred Nether World.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not enough to take my life.” Li Qiye answered with a smile.
Li Qiye stepped onto the platform and walked inside the dao gate, disappearing in a flash. It teleported him to the other side. After arriving at the friendly sect, he quickly hit the road and ran towards the Prime Ominous Grave without taking a break.
The Thousand Carp River was the longest river in the Sacred Nether World. Its stream not only crossed the entire southern Distant Cloud, but it also reached the northern Misty Field; its source went all the way to the eastern Nether Border’s hinterland, and this was the location of the Prime Ominous Grave.
The grave was a very mystical place, somewhere that had never been fully explored by anyone before. Since the start of time, very few people even had the chance to enter.
It was deep within the Nether Border’s endless hinterland. At that place, there were rolling mountains and peaks capable of reaching the sky, causing viewers to take a step back. No one would dare to try their luck at climbing them.
At the end of all the rolling hills was a gigantic mountain range that separated the heaven and earth. Anyone who made it this far could only stop since there was no way to traverse this blockade.
The world beyond the mountain range was covered by a mysterious veil, so no one really knew what it looked like.
In the middle of this mountain range was a huge burial. The burial tablet was more like a giant monolith that pierced the sky all the way to space. This burial tablet could be called the biggest in the world. There were neither engravings nor words on it.
This grave with the gigantic monolith for its memorial plaque was the legendary Prime Ominous Grave. It was said that only when one stepped inside this grave would they be able to enter the mountain range.
No one knew who was buried inside. Some said that there were Immortal Emperors, others said that there were existences from the Legendary Era, and there were even rumors about ancient, supreme fiends being buried here.
Although it had always remained sealed, after millions of years, it had been opened a couple of times because some people found the key to open the grave.
So why was this grave called the Prime Ominous Grave? No one really knew, but some believed that it was a land of the dead. It was one of the twelve forbidden burials; just like the other ones, it was filled with danger. No one could leave with their life once they entered.
Despite its notoriety, countless people throughout history still tried to get in. Everyone believed that those who could leave alive would gain an amazing creation. 2
One particular rumor stated that there were True Immortals buried here. One could obtain an amazing creation if they obtained their bones.
There was a reason for these rumors: Immortal Emperor Di Yu had entered the burial when he was young and managed to come back alive. Because of this experience, he hid for five generations of Immortal Emperors. Ultimately, at a very old age, he shouldered the Heaven’s Will and became an Immortal Emperor. 3
People claimed that he had obtained something great from the grave, something like an immortal scripture, so that was why he could cultivate through five generations of emperors and eventually become an emperor himself.
His tales were told throughout the ages. He did not live the longest after becoming an emperor, but since the moment of his birth till the date of his disappearance, he was definitely the oldest one. He managed to last through five generations of emperors and became a miracle across the ages.
Because of this miracle, there were many different tales of the events between the emperor and the Prime Ominous Grave. However, all of these versions had one thing in common, and that was that the young emperor left the Prime Ominous Grave alive. Because of this commonality, there was a rumor stating that Immortal Emperor Di Yu obtained the greatest creation in the grave — a method for everlasting life.
This resulted in countless generations of cultivators coming to excavate the grave in order to enter. In fact, some Immortal Emperors had managed to enter the Prime Ominous Grave, such as Immortal Emperor Yin Yang, Immortal Emperor Fan Chen, and Immortal Emperor Ming Du. 4
1. Crafty here is the same word as ghost, but it is not necessarily a ghost, so I didn’t want to take a risk and make an inaccurate translation.
2. Reminder that creation is used here as something/an item/an innate change that is much better than a fortune/treasure. A gift from the heavens, if you will, like creation itself.
3. Di Yu = Earth + to be stupid / to cheat, or deceive / me. He seems to be the Immortal Emperor for the Simple Mountain Immortal Kingdom. His title is a bit harder to decipher, but I would choose Simplicity of the Earth or Earth’s Deceiver. It is the same for the Simple Mountain, it could be Deceiving Mountain as well. 愚 is just a problematic word without any context. I chose simple because it is very neutral and safe. Picking deceiving/stupid could be a risky choice for this sect/emperor in the future. I actually tried to find passages about the Simple Mountain, but I couldn’t find clues about its name.
4. Yin Yang is Yin Yang ???? Fan Chen = Mortal World; Ming Du = Underworld Crossing — crossing in a ferry crossing in the Underworld.