Chapter 627 - 626: Qianyuan

Chapter 627: Chapter 626: Qianyuan

"We’re here."

A voice boomed in their ears, jolting them from their daze. They looked up blankly, only to find a towering mountain looming before them.

"We’re already here?"

They were all stunned. It felt like no time had passed at all. Had they really arrived? Before setting out, they had braced themselves for death, yet they had arrived in the blink of an eye without feeling a thing.

"Climb up from here, and you’ll reach the summit. It’s not very difficult." Yi Tianyun stepped off the vessel. There were no other Cultivators lingering here anymore.

Ever since he had absorbed the black clouds, any Cultivator who made it this far could climb up with ease. The difficulty had been reduced significantly. Unless they were exceptionally weak, anyone could make it.

"You... You’re really the Celestial Cloud Emperor?" Ding Qing called out to him, her form of address having changed completely.

"Yes." Yi Tianyun nodded, then turned and left without lingering.

He had just been passing through and decided to help them since he felt Ding Qing was a good person. He had no intention of accompanying them to the Netherworld. Even if he were going, he wouldn’t travel with them.

Given his current situation, a trip to the Netherworld would inevitably lead to a fierce battle, so he couldn’t possibly bring others along.

Watching Yi Tianyun’s departing figure, Ding Qing opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out. She could only watch as his silhouette gradually vanished from sight.

"Ding, are we dreaming? He’s the Celestial Cloud Emperor... I heard he’s a mysterious figure, rarely seen even in the Celestial Cloud Empire, yet he just appeared right beside us."

"Yeah, thank goodness I didn’t say anything rude earlier. Otherwise, I would’ve ended up like Liu De, thrown into the Nether River for a swim."

"He’s so domineering. Who would have thought someone so young was already a Great Emperor? I guess I need to be more careful from now on. Offending the son of some powerful expert would be a huge problem..."

They all settled down, no longer so restless. Before, they had been impetuous, some even arrogant. The thought of Liu De being tossed into the river made them shudder. It was a complete nightmare.

Ding Qing nodded but didn’t say much. A figure of his stature was not someone they could hope to associate with. To this moment, she still didn’t understand why she had received such preferential treatment.

The others didn’t know, but Yi Tianyun did. To him, in such a malevolent world, it was incredibly rare for someone like Ding Qing to possess a kind heart.

Yi Tianyun retraced his steps, not to the outermost region, but back toward the Fog of Death. The area was now shrouded in a dense fog, but he paid it no mind and walked right in.

However, instead of walking out, he circled around to another area and began to slowly ascend. Where there had seemed to be no path, he forged one with his own two feet. Soon, a large mountain appeared before him.

He hadn’t taken a wrong turn. He began to climb the mountain with his bare hands. Demon Beasts on the sidelines let out SQUEAK SQUEAK sounds but dared not pounce. They could sense how terrifying Yi Tianyun was; their sense of crisis kept them from attacking.

Soon, Yi Tianyun reached the mountaintop. There was no Fog of Death here, only a small cabin. The cabin, however, was in a state of disrepair. It had clearly been uninhabited for a very long time, collapsing under the wind and rain.

He walked over and gently pushed the door open. The inside was covered in a thick layer of dust. Who knew how long it had been since anyone lived here.

’It seems the Guardian has already left and chose not to remain on duty here...’ Yi Tianyun frowned. According to the memories from the Celestial Rock Town Ancient Stele, this should be the Guardian’s residence.

The place was now empty, meaning the person had left. As for where they went, it wasn’t clear.

The passageway to the Netherworld had become so dangerous largely because the Guardian was gone, leaving many of the Divine Runes here unmaintained. As time passed, they naturally fell into a perilous state.

If the Guardian was still alive, it meant they had been completely derelict in their duty. According to their oath, they were required to stand guard at all times, never leaving this place, protecting it for generations.

It might seem harsh, but there were no other restrictions. As long as there were no problems here, the Creation Celestial Divine King wouldn’t care where they went; their one job was to manage the stability of the passageway.

Now the passageway was in chaos, and the Teleportation Array above the Netherworld Sect seemed to have faded. If this continued, the entire passageway could disappear.

If the person had died, it wouldn’t be considered a dereliction of duty. Yi Tianyun surveyed the area. He didn’t think they had died. It was obvious the place was still tidy when they left, and more importantly, there were no skeletal remains.

This meant they hadn’t died of old age, and it looked like more than one person had been living here.

He then walked around, looking for clues. Finally, he spotted a token on the table engraved with the two words "Qian Yuan."

’Qian Yuan... Could it be the Qianyuan Empire?’ A hint of surprise flashed in Yi Tianyun’s eyes. If that was the case, what a coincidence it would be.

Although he had obtained the memories, he didn’t know their names, only their location. The Celestial Rock Town Ancient Stele was, after all, a weapon, not a person. It only knew the general details, not the specifics.

Now, seeing the words "Qian Yuan," he immediately found things interesting. If this was connected to the Qianyuan Empire, it meant the Guardian had been unwilling to stay here and had gone out to create an empire!

With their power, creating an empire would have been no problem at all. Creating an empire wasn’t the issue; the Creation Celestial Divine King wouldn’t have interfered. The key point was that the Netherworld passageway was on the brink of collapse, yet they hadn’t returned even once to maintain it.

If they had come back to perform regular repairs, he believed that even if the Creation Celestial Divine King returned, He would not have interfered.

But instead, they built an empire, immersed themselves in power, and neglected their fundamental duty. The Creation Celestial Divine King had chosen them to become Guardians and protect the passageway, but now they had run off.

He was certain that if the Creation Celestial Divine King were to return, He would be furious.

Of course, no one knew if the Creation Celestial Divine King was dead or alive. This Qianyuan must have left because he believed the Creation Celestial Divine King would never return.

He was clearly different from Ren De, who was content to stay in that small village as a Guardian. Instead, he chose to establish an empire.

’Looks like I’ll have to make a trip to the Qianyuan Empire...’

Originally, he had wanted to communicate with the Guardian here and, like Ren De, have them choose to protect their own empire while also guarding against the sealed Demon Fiends. Now, it seemed he had to visit the Qianyuan Empire—a relatively low-profile empire, all things considered.