Chapter 636: Mystic Maiden?

This question did not trouble Chen Yan for too long, because the answer that could sufficiently convince Zuo He was, in itself, quite simple.

"If this junior had never seen the Sage of Imperial Void, then no matter what, I could not have found the Sage of Imperial Void's corpse here in the abyss of the Endless Sea, one hundred and eighty million li away from Chenping Continent, nor could I have entered the Sage of Imperial Void's sea of consciousness to converse with you like this, Sage."

Chen Yan replied.

Faced with Chen Yan's answer, Zuo He fell into another brief silence.

And this sea of consciousness belonging to the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void, which had been flickering and shifting, gradually stabilized once more.

"If traces of the Sage of Imperial Void once appeared in this domain heavens eighty thousand years ago, that was not some reincarnated body of Bai Chen."

Zuo He spoke slowly:

"That was merely a strand of cause and effect he left behind in the world... It was itself a part of the Sage of Imperial Void."

"Thank you for your guidance, Sage."

Chen Yan committed Zuo He's words to memory and respectfully bowed in Zuo He's direction.

"So, why are you looking for Bai Chen's remains?"

Zuo He asked.

"To report to the Sage, the current Chenping Continent has already fallen into a desperate situation. If it is left unattended, it is very likely that before long, the laws of heaven and earth will completely collapse, and everything will return to nothingness."

Chen Yan answered.

"The laws of heaven and earth collapsing?"

Zuo He narrowed his eyes slightly:

"Why?"

Chen Yan also paused in deliberation for a moment before beginning to answer:

"It is still because of that 'Fallen Immortal Calamity' which caused Tianji Continent to completely lose control back then. Now, the laws of heaven and earth on Chenping Continent can no longer bear the existence of cultivators at the Immortal Ascension Realm and above. Currently, all Immortal Ascension cultivators on Chenping Continent, when activating their dao rhyme, are forced to suffer the backlash of the collapsing laws of heaven and earth."

Before Heavenly Summit Mountain appeared in the world, Chenping Continent had never produced a single Immortal Ascension cultivator; Dao Union Realm was already the pinnacle of the cultivation world on Chenping Continent.

This was entirely in accordance with Heaven's Dao, because the laws of heaven and earth on Chenping Continent simply could not bear the existence of cultivators at the Immortal Ascension Realm and above.

Therefore, the sudden appearance of Tian Su Realman and Heavenly Summit Mountain must also have been part of the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void's scheme. As for what his ultimate purpose was...

This was something both Chen Yan and Mr. You had always wanted to know.

"Continue."

Zuo He pondered for a moment, then said.

"Based on this junior's inference, the current upper limit of cultivator existence that Chenping Continent can bear is cultivators at the Returning to Void Realm."

Chen Yan said:

"If a True Lord of the Returning to Void Realm wishes to continue breaking through upward, for example attempting to break through to the Sage Realm, they will incur the gaze of that unknown 'existence'."

Upon hearing this, Zuo He raised an eyebrow slightly:

"Elaborate. What exactly is 'that existence'?"

"This junior only knows that 'that existence' once caused the destruction of Heavenly Summit Mountain... that is, the legacy of the former Sage of Imperial Void, the holy land of cultivation on Chenping Continent."

Chen Yan spoke thus.

"On that day, a massive rift tens of thousands of li long was suddenly torn open in the originally silent sky, and from within it emerged a Goddess Statue thousands of zhang tall, adorned in Seven-Colored Flowing Gold, its pressure overwhelming..."

As he spoke, Chen Yan fell silent for a brief moment again.

"Then, that Seven-Colored Flowing Gold Goddess Statue merely clasped its hands together in the air, and all living beings on the entire Heavenly Summit Mountain vanished into smoke in an instant."

Saying this, Chen Yan paused briefly, then raised his eyes to glance at Zuo He once more, and said:

"Before Heavenly Summit Mountain was destroyed, the toll of a bronze bell also echoed from the sky."

The toll of a bronze bell.

For Chen Yan, the toll of a bronze bell was especially significant.

He had heard it both during the destruction of Heavenly Summit Mountain and when he traversed the chaotic flow of time through the Heavenly Summit Mirror.

Not only that, but back when Tianji Sage Zuo He visited Qingxuan Immortal Sect, when those eleven ninth-realm great demons pulled the pitch-black carriage across the sky, a bronze bell's toll had also sounded.

At the time, Chen Yan had even thought Qingxuan Mountain was about to suffer the same destruction as that wrought by the Seven-Colored Flowing Gold Goddess Statue.

The reason Chen Yan had cast another glance toward Zuo He was precisely because he wanted to know what that bronze bell's toll signified.

"Mystic Maiden..."

The Sage clad in pitch-black daoist robes, who had once ruled over Tianji Continent, merely murmured to himself like this.

Mystic Maiden?

What does that mean?

Was it referring to that Goddess Statue thousands of zhang tall, adorned in Seven-Colored Flowing Gold?

If that Goddess Statue thousands of zhang tall was the "Mystic Maiden" spoken of by Sage Zuo He, then what were those two Seven-Colored Flowing Gold Goddess Statues, only dozens of feet tall, that had cleared the way for him when he visited Qingxuan Immortal Sect back then?

Chen Yan had many questions in his heart, but he was also well aware that he was not qualified to ask them.

And through Chen Yan's words, Zuo He could roughly understand what had truly happened behind it all.

This domain heavens could no longer bear the existence of cultivators at the Uncarved Simplicity Realm.

It was precisely for this reason that the Sage of Imperial Void, Bai Chen, had split his cause and effect into several strands and stored them separately in various corners of this domain heavens, to evade the erasure of "that existence."

Then, Zuo He's gaze fell upon Chen Yan once more.

This cultivator, who still looked very young and seemed to have Ascended to Immortality not long ago, was probably also part of Bai Chen's scheme.

Otherwise, just as this little fellow at the Immortal Ascension Realm had said himself, had it not been for the "guidance" of the Sage of Imperial Void, he could never have found Bai Chen's remains.

Therefore, Zuo He decided to let Chen Yan leave the sea of consciousness of this corpse.

"You may go."

The youth clad in pitch-black daoist robes merely said softly like this.

"Sage..."

Chen Yan clearly wanted to say something more, but was directly cut off by a wave of Zuo He's hand.

His entire body was sent flying horizontally, and the figure of Zuo He, the Ultimate Sage of Heaven's Extremity, who had been right before him, grew smaller and smaller—or rather, the distance between him and this strand of remnant soul of Zuo He grew farther and farther.

The next instant, Chen Yan's spiritual sense was bounced back into his own body.

Chen Yan still maintained his posture of standing before the Sage of Imperial Void's corpse, his right hand hovering about three inches above the forehead of this Sage's remains.

It seemed he hadn't obtained any useful information.

Chen Yan thought to himself.

He wanted to withdraw his right hand, which was hovering above the Sage of Imperial Void's forehead, but suddenly discovered that he could not move at all.

Crack!

A crisp, splitting sound exploded from Chen Yan's right arm.

Then, Chen Yan's entire body shattered like porcelain, right here in the sea abyss, before Bai Chen, the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void.