Chapter 298: Chapter 70: The One Who Reaches for the Stars, First Meeting with Xi Mengquan (Double Chapter)_2

The Saints have no solution, so the remaining options are truly limited.

And the most likely targets for Wen Yao are the other sect disciples who entered the Pinggu Battlefield.

They say everyone is a favored child of the heavens, but the gap shouldn’t be this large, right?

This is just too monstrous!

Is it Shen Xingzhu? Yan Hui? Or Jiang Yunqing?

Even with these true unparalleled geniuses, Tang Qiusheng finds it hard to imagine they could confront the Canliao Realm!

This can truly be described as terrifying!

Tang Qiusheng’s mind was buzzing...

The old Daoist suddenly said, "That’s a complete ’Time’ avenue... This is a truly rare sight. Since the end of the Ancient Era, the manifestation of such a complete avenue has become almost impossible."

Tang Qiusheng snapped back to reality, keenly sensing that this might be some secret known only at the level of Saints.

Moreover, as far as he knows, the formation of the Pinggu Battlefield and many other secret realms is due to being tainted by a part of the "Time" Dao.

Now that the avenue is manifesting, does it mean that the restrictions of the secret realm are being lifted?

The creations within this secret realm are important, but not as important as life... Now that even Canliao has appeared, with immortals battling over there, for these "mortals," escaping is the best plan.

Thinking of this, Tang Qiusheng cupped his hands and hurriedly asked:

"Senior, you said we could leave, do you mean we can leave this secret realm?"

The old Daoist replied, "Yes, and no."

Tang Qiusheng was taken aback: "What do you mean by that?"

The old Daoist squinted at the sky’s fissure, lazily saying, "You can indeed leave, but this old man also wants to take a stroll."

"I’ve been trapped here for nearly two thousand years; these old bones are almost decaying..."

On hearing this, Tang Qiusheng was startled.

The Celestial Saint Daoist Monarch in the Pinggu Battlefield not only knows he’s a memory revived in the secret realm but also wants to leave it!

The old Daoist glanced at him and, seemingly pleased to have someone to talk to, opened up:

"Young friend, do you know what the Saints seek to comprehend by entering this secret realm?"

This amiability truly possesses the demeanor of a Celestial Saint Daoist Monarch...

But the one before him is false; if he leaves this secret realm and encounters the real one, what will happen?

While anxious, Tang Qiusheng still honestly shook his head: "I do not know."

The old Daoist sighed: "They’re searching for traces of ’Canliao’s’ existence."

Indeed... Since the Pinggu Battlefield has survived from ancient times to the present, it should naturally record the battlefield of the Canliao Realm.

The Saints naturally wish to comprehend from it the method to advance to "Canliao."

Tang Qiusheng speculated: "But doesn’t this secret realm lack the Canliao Realm’s battlefield?"

The old Daoist pursed his lips, gesturing at the sky, and continued:

"You see, the Canliao Realm is right there."

The old Daoist chuckled: "To put it simply, ’Canliao’ is not that impressive. What the Saints can grasp is the ’Dao Realm,’ which means borrowing the ’Dao’ from this world to form a realm, usable only within it."

"’Canliao’ is vague and aloof, unknowable."

"The Canliao Realm is like those who climb high to pick stars, directly taking this Dao from the hands of heaven and earth, claiming it completely for their own."

"But now, even if one understands, no one can pluck those stars close at hand in the sky."

The old Daoist said gloomily, "The last time I saw Mu Zhao, I realized he had already figured this out."

His voice wasn’t loud, but to Tang Qiusheng, it was deafening:

"Since the end of the ’Hunt the Heavens’ war, the path of Dao in this world has been completely severed!"

"Therefore, he is no longer obsessed with climbing high but rather wants to grasp everything before him..."

The old Daoist shifted his tone:

"However, he was too impatient, and thus could not clearly see the path ahead, becoming a piece in someone else’s game."

"I sat on the Observatory Platform for too long, and couldn’t see many things clearly; therefore, today... I must see for myself! Just what did that old fellow witness to act so recklessly!"

As soon as these words were spoken.

The sky’s fissure rapidly spread, soon reaching across the entire battlefield to its edge.

Simultaneously, it landed in front of the town’s exit, right before the four of them.

"Crack."

The entire town instantly shattered, collapsing into boundless darkness.

It turns out that the "Time" avenue affected the stability of the entire Pinggu Battlefield, causing the layer Mu Zhao using the Dao Realm to stabilize to directly collapse.

Everyone was shocked and horrified, but in the moment of falling, Tang Qiusheng saw the green deer carrying the old Daoist leap forth, chasing the flying candied hawthorn, and falling into one of the scenes within the blood river of the fissure.

The old Daoist laughed heartily: "Good, good, good, usefulness amongst usage, achieving merit within meritless deeds, and awaiting the fruit’s natural ripening, no need to ask how to cultivate!"

As the green deer’s hoof entered the blood river, about to disintegrate, Tang Qiusheng also clearly saw a scene within it.

It was the back of a young man.

He wore white robes, holding a glass lotus lamp with nine petals blooming in his hand, carrying an ancient zither on his back, a long sword at his waist, facing the endless flowing starry sky, walking step by step into the vast universe.

As if striving to pluck stars from the heights!

Tang Qiusheng’s heart was filled with astonishment.

That somewhat familiar silhouette wasn’t any of the geniuses he had imagined, but rather Chen Ruogu, whom he had never heard of before but was inexplicably noted by Jiang Yunqing!

Unfortunately, there was no time to ponder further, as he immediately fell into the next layer of the battlefield.

...

After being swept into that "time" dao river, Chen Kuang was hurled straight towards the central sword sheath.

The closer he got to the sword sheath, the clearer and more solid the "Killing Sword" in his brain became, almost as if it were real, ready to fly out and enter the sheath at any moment.

And the killing aura on the "Killing Sword" he materialized was surging.

But faster than him was the bloody "river water" closing in from all sides.

In this "river water," countless overlapping scenes of time and space appeared, layer upon layer, each higher than the last, all rolling towards Chen Kuang.

For a moment, Chen Kuang seemed to be amidst countless time and space.

In an instant of disorientation, he glimpsed a familiar figure tuning a zither.

Though they had never met, Chen Kuang was certain that person was Xi Mengquan!

What he held was Dragon’s Gums!

Yet the next moment, Chen Kuang couldn’t help but open his eyes wide. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The environment where Xi Mengquan was seemed to be a shabby thatched hut, and his appearance was oddly out of place... like a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy.

Before Chen Kuang could react, the bloody "river water" submerged him.

In the struggle, he suddenly noticed, from looking downward, that the body of Wen Yao, who should have died after self-detonating his heavy pupil, was emitting countless "white smoke," rapidly gathering, intending to descend to the next layer.

Though he shouted, "I am dying, you won’t live either," in reality, this guy had no plans to die!

This "white smoke" was, in fact, his spirit!

Chen Kuang sneered inwardly:

"Quite a few means to escape... but today you must die here!"

"Whoosh—"

He raised the "Killing Sword" he had materialized and shot it fiercely towards the "white smoke"!

The Soul Sword, existing only in the Intermediate Realm, is not bound by the material world, and with Chen Kuang having already opened his Sea of Consciousness, it crossed thousands of miles in an instant.

Then, it split into thousands of strands.

Heading towards the "white smoke," aiming to shred it!

"Sizzle!"

The "white smoke" was instantly extinguished! Completely disappeared!

And before Chen Kuang, the "Blood River" blurred everything, plunging into darkness, as if the whole person inverted for a moment.

Suddenly, he felt himself standing firmly on the ground.

He hurriedly opened his eyes, only to see a dilapidated thatched hut before him.

Chen Kuang was taken aback.

"You... who are you? Where did you come from?!"

The young zither master in front of him looked confused and wary.

I also want to know where I came from?

What the heck is this place...

Chen Kuang calmed his mind, took a deep breath, and looked at the ancient zither in the young zither master’s hands... No, at this moment, the zither looked brand new, clearly freshly made.

Chen Kuang’s expression turned peculiar, and he blurted out:

"Xi Mengquan?"

The young zither master was stunned: "How do you know my name?"

...

Tai Mountain, Martial Saint Pavilion.

Mu Zhao stood at the top of the Martial Saint Pavilion, eyes half-closed, meditating.

All his arrangements were in place, only one result was needed, and now, he just had to wait patiently...

Unfortunately, the result Mu Zhao awaited was destined not to be a good one.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound.

Mu Zhao’s eyes snapped open, nearly bursting with anger!

On the top floor of the Martial Saint Pavilion, two Life Tokens were placed separately.

One had long shattered, belonging to Li Hongling.

And the other belonged to Wen Yao.

At this moment, the Life Token left by Wen Yao... was cracking!