In this desolate land, Jian Chou only stayed for half a day.
Now that she already knew who was behind the Ten Death Orders, the remaining matters became simple. Although it had been long since Buyu Shangren ascended, and he had once possessed the Nine Turns River Map, his qualifications among the three great powers from the ancient-modern transition of antiquity were merely the lowest. Seeing his current cultivation level, he probably hadn’t truly comprehended the essence of the River Map.
Those who could truly comprehend it should be like Luye Laozu.
Buyu Shangren was still insufficient to worry about.
What she was more curious about was how the other party could know what she looked like, having never been to the Upper Ruins and always remaining in the Origin Realm, never meeting Buyu Shangren face to face, yet he was able to provide her appearance to Feixie Heaven and issue the Ten Death Orders?
Behind Buyu Shangren, there should be someone else fanning the flames, but she currently had no way to know their identity.
But thinking left and right, those who harbored enmity toward her seemed to be just those few.
There was really no need to rack her brains guessing – she could deduce it somewhat.
Jian Chou wasn’t in a hurry to seek revenge for now. She thought that her consciousness directly breaking through Feixie Heaven’s formation and causing that heavy blow must have been a tremendous shock and terror for Buyu Shangren.
The other party should know that he was no longer her match.
In the coming days, the threat of the Ten Death Orders would be lifted.
She should do her utmost to reach the three central days of the Upper Ruins before Pangu’s Desolate Domain descended, and preferably obtain two Long Night Bamboo Slips.
The fastest way to travel would naturally be using teleportation arrays.
But Jian Chou suspected it wouldn’t be that easy.
Although the Ten Death Orders matter had come to nothing, Feixie Heaven might still inquire about the destruction of Buyu Shangren’s formation, and would soon learn that she had used special methods to avoid detection by the Ten Death Orders formation, “forging” her own death. Such explosive news would quickly spread and be known by those forces that had already formed grudges with her.
Like the Kongfang Sect where Gold and Silver were from.
Like Lixieyang, who had nineteen Golden Immortals slaughtered by her.
The facts were exactly as she had guessed.
On the very day she left the Nameless Star, news of the Ten Death Orders grand formation in Feixie Heaven being destroyed spread throughout the entire Upper Ruins!
Even several Saint Immortals from Feixie Heaven came out to investigate.
But that grand formation had been destroyed too thoroughly – nothing could be discovered at all.
Only from the mouth of that mysterious Saint Immortal did everyone learn that Jian Chou had not died. But no one dared believe that a small Earth Immortal who had just ascended from the lower realm possessed such terrifying power.
If she was truly that strong, she could easily kill to make a name for herself – why hide her head and show her tail?
Some speculated that the cultivators ascending from the Origin Realm, now led by Luye Laozu, had some special qualities that couldn’t be measured by common sense. Even if the other party possessed terrifying methods, it wasn’t necessarily impossible.
This female cultivator was better left unprovoked.
Who knew if she might be the next Luye Laozu?
Others speculated that while some cultivators ascending from the Origin Realm were formidable, there were also mediocrities – not everyone could be so powerful.
This matter was most likely related to Yashan.
They had already sent people to confront Lixieyang’s people in the Haotian Star Domain, so secretly investigating who was really targeting Jian Chou behind the scenes was naturally the proper thing to do.
Of course, there were also those blinded by hatred who wouldn’t shed tears until they saw the coffin.
The Kongfang Sect was also considered a somewhat famous sect in the Great Luo Heaven, and Gold and Silver who died at Jiangnan Bank were the biological sons of two sect masters. They had struggled to cultivate him to the Golden Immortal realm, and now he was dead just like that – how could they swallow this grievance?
Lixieyang was even more of a hunter among immortal hunters.
Xieyang Sheng was an evil-natured fellow who hunted immortals for profit in his early years, but now with his current status, it was purely based on preference – simply enjoying the hunting and killing of immortals.
Now he had encountered someone more evil-natured than himself.
Whether out of interest or for revenge for the nineteen people from Lixieyang, he couldn’t possibly let Jian Chou’s life go.
As for Feixie Heaven, they also felt somewhat displeased: after having their formation that had been used for years and painstakingly constructed destroyed by someone, they couldn’t even track down the shadow of the culprit – it was truly embarrassing. They might not necessarily want to kill Jian Chou, but they certainly needed to investigate the matter thoroughly, so after the incident, they began tracking her whereabouts with full force.
This situation of immediately offending a bunch of tough characters, along with various unimaginable developments, made the two characters “Jian Chou” become two characters that everyone in the entire Upper Ruins had to mention in their conversations within just three days.
However, at this time, no one had yet anticipated the bloody storm that these two characters were about to unleash.
Until news of the slaughter began arriving one after another…
Initially, Jian Chou didn’t attempt to use teleportation arrays.
She didn’t wish to encounter anyone.
But she wasn’t familiar enough with the Upper Ruins, and the star domain maps she possessed were limited to only a few regions of the Upper Ruins, so wherever she went, she needed to stop and identify directions.
But every stop brought her danger.
When she encountered more people, her whereabouts would inevitably be exposed.
When she passed through the entire Cangya Star Domain and was about to leave, the first wave of cultivators who came to kill her finally arrived, surrounding her completely.
Jian Chou advised them as usual to cherish their lives.
But not a single person was willing to retreat.
So she drew her sword and chopped off each person’s head, then said to the few onlookers around that it wasn’t that she wasn’t merciful, but that she couldn’t stop people from seeking death.
The second wave of pursuers who came were cultivators from Lixieyang.
And their cultivation levels were much more formidable than the group led by Yinghu previously.
The battle took place on Snow Ridge Star in the Bingchen Star Domain.
Jian Chou used their fresh blood to dye red the highest peak in the snowy plains.
From their bodies, she obtained maps of over a hundred star domains throughout the Upper Ruins. After defining a clear direction for herself and sitting on that peak watching for half a day, she simply drew a line across the Great Luo Heaven star domain area.
By the time she left the Bingchen Star Domain, the outside world had already completely portrayed her as a demon.
Because her strength was formidable.
Because she didn’t follow conventions.
Because she killed without batting an eye.
Almost everyone suspected her origins from Yashan, and also suspected that although she had just ascended, she might be a fallen immortal destined to enter Feixie Heaven.
However, the slaughter that immediately followed made such speculation laughably absurd.
Most of those in Feixie Heaven were evil demons and heretics stained with blood.
After the Bingchen Star Domain, they secretly followed Jian Chou for half a day.
Then, while passing a great river, they were cleanly slaughtered by the impatient her, who turned around and threw all their corpses into the river. Following the turbulent current, they floated along half the river before being discovered by cultivators from Feixie Heaven who came to investigate, retrieved one by one, and arranged on the riverbank.
After this day, the immortals of the Upper Ruins immortal realm finally discovered that this person called Jian Chou truly couldn’t be measured by common sense – she was probably even more evil than Xieyang Sheng of Lixieyang.
She had no scruples and never contacted Yashan.
Walking alone in the vast and boundless star domains, whoever came to pursue her, she would kill them all. A single sword called Yixiantian from Yashan, along with those ghostly and unpredictable methods, made her leap to become a leader among the newly ascended in the Upper Ruins immortal realm within just half a year. Everyone compared her to Luye Laozu of the past, calling her perhaps the strongest ascender in the Upper Ruins in nearly a thousand years!
Initially, people thought she was merely a small Earth Immortal; after experiencing the slaughter at Jiangnan Bank and Xuanji Star, they were shocked to discover this female cultivator was at least a Golden Immortal with formidable strength.
And after the subsequent three unquestionable massacres…
Even though they all felt they were dreaming and dared not believe it, they had to admit: this female cultivator named “Jian Chou” probably possessed battle power no weaker than a Saint Immortal!
Her cultivation level thus became an unsolvable mystery.
Everyone could only discuss her battle power.
As her travel route changed, new killings continued to occur. Some were those who didn’t believe in evil and wanted to compete with her but continued pestering after being refused; some were moved by the various newly appeared bounty orders and wanted to seek wealth through danger; but more were the new hatreds continuously accumulated through the ongoing slaughter…
But Jian Chou seemed to care nothing about all this.
If someone blocked her path, it was simply a sword—
Kill them all!
After such intermittent slaughter continued for about a year, good-natured people gave her the title “Immortal Jian Chou” based on her real name.
Immortal Jian Chou, Immortal Jian Chou – even immortals worry when they see her.
People say that after ascending to immortality one gains eternal life, but who knew there was Jian Chou in the world?
One sword traversing freely, one sword galloping forth!
Don’t block the road – block the road and you’ll see her worry!
Some hated her extremely but also feared her extremely; naturally, there were also those who loved her extremely, feeling that the Upper Ruins immortal realm hadn’t produced such a influential figure for too long, and for a time countless people pursued and supported her.
After all, she hadn’t killed any innocent people.
Arbitrarily labeling someone as evil demons and heretics was truly shameless to the extreme.
This argument naturally caused dissatisfaction and criticism from many immortals in the Great Luo Heaven, also stirring up new waves throughout the entire Upper Ruins.
But Jian Chou’s advance was completely unaffected.
Finally, people gradually discovered the wonderful aspect within: marking and connecting each location of slaughter according to chronological order on the map of the Upper Ruins immortal realm, it was basically a straight line! From the Haotian Star Domain at the very edge of the Upper Ruins, cleanly and decisively pointing toward the Great Luo Heaven at the center of the Upper Ruins! At first glance, it looked like a speeding sharp sword!
This female cultivator was actually heading to the Great Luo Heaven!
Once this discovery appeared and spread, the entire Great Luo Heaven was shaken. What the Saint Immortals’ reactions were, others didn’t know, but Golden Immortals and below all felt a kind of heart-pounding sensation of an approaching storm.
One must know that Jian Chou wasn’t merely traveling!
She was fundamentally killing her way from the edge of the Upper Ruins immortal realm!
Heaven knew what she actually wanted to do!
The deterrent power brought by a mighty cultivator with battle power equivalent to a Saint Immortal was no less than an exploding star in the nebula.
Some panic spread in the shadows.
But the Great Luo Heaven after all had dozens of Saint Immortals guarding it, not to mention the three Immortal Venerables: White Crane Great Emperor, Luye Laozu, and Bixi Immortal Lord. So while this panic existed, it wasn’t obvious and hadn’t caused any substantial impact on the Great Luo Heaven.
Without basically using teleportation arrays for travel, Jian Chou’s progress really couldn’t be considered very fast. When the killing reached its peak and no one doubted her strength anymore, naturally fewer people came to pursue and kill her.
At this time, she could use teleportation arrays.
But her speed actually slowed down instead.
As the killing decreased, her exposed positions also began to decrease. Ten years later, the Upper Ruins immortal realm finally lost all traces of her.
This person called Jian Chou, like an epiphyllum that bloomed and withered, disappeared without a trace, as if she had never existed in the Upper Ruins at all.
Even Yashan didn’t know where she had gone.
All those shocking slaughters from the past became legends on paper, making people unable to help but doubt whether they had truly occurred.
It was precisely at this time that news of Pangu’s Desolate Domain’s imminent descent spread throughout the entire Upper Ruins. It wasn’t that the Immortal Venerables and Saint Immortals had actively announced this news to everyone – it was because the Desolate Domain was simply too enormous.
Just beginning to approach the Upper Ruins, it had already caused various strange phenomena.
The hundreds of star domains in the Upper Ruins shook from time to time, countless stars in the depths of the universe exploded, died, or were born, scattering countless brilliant lights in the vast void. No matter which remote corner of the Upper Ruins one stood in, everything could be seen clearly.
Thus, legends related to the Desolate Domain were also dug up from the dust of history, becoming another topic everyone discussed after “Immortal Jian Chou.”
Such as the story of Pangu creating heaven and earth.
Such as the eternal night of ancient times.
Such as the Long Night Bamboo Slips necessary to enter the Desolate Domain.
And such as “Mengtianlao” who had once entered the Desolate Domain but disappeared after walking out alive.
Five years after news of the Desolate Domain’s descent spread, various dreams appeared in the Upper Ruins immortal realm, said to be created by Elder Tianmo Meng who had entered the Desolate Domain last time. For a time, they attracted immortals to flock to them, trying to glimpse the mysteries of the Desolate Domain from these dreams.
Even the Saint Immortals in the three days of the Upper Ruins were all moved by this.
Xie Buchen ascended during this special time.
And his terrifying cultivation level upon initial ascension truly made the Upper Ruins immortals forget about the Desolate Domain matters that had originally been discussed with great enthusiasm for quite some time, instead being heart-stricken about this yet another cultivator from the Origin Realm!
Saint Immortal!
From the Origin Realm, Kunwu Purple Micro Saint Lord Xie Buchen – upon entering the Upper Ruins, his realm was already Saint Immortal!
Over a thousand years ago came Luye Laozu, over ten years ago came Immortal Jian Chou, and now came another Xie Buchen!
The Upper Ruins immortals simply dared not believe it anymore.
Although the Origin Realm was certainly extremely special, being the first star where Pangu led the human race to settle after their migration, it shouldn’t be so exaggerated that three consecutive people were all formidably terrifying to the point of being beyond reach, right?
For a time, various rumors spread wildly.
Some said that Dazun Pangu had left his inheritance in the Origin Realm during his lifetime, which was why it could nurture such heaven-defying cultivators.
Some said that White Crane Great Emperor also came from the Origin Realm, and the power in the Origin Realm was no different from the Upper Ruins, so cultivators in the Origin Realm could also cultivate power comparable to the Upper Ruins.
Others speculated that when Pangu opposed the ancient eternal night, he created three volumes of Long Night Bamboo Slips: one volume became reincarnation, covering the universe; one volume became a incomplete scroll that White Crane Great Emperor broke into thirty-seven Long Night Bamboo Slips, which were now in the Upper Ruins; the remaining volume was of unknown whereabouts, said to have fallen into the depths of the universe, and might well have dropped onto the Origin Realm. But Luye Laozu and others had never revealed this, simply not wanting others to know the secrets of their cultivation, and even more unwilling to let the Origin Realm fall into chaos.
In any case, after the three characters “Immortal Jian Chou,” the three characters “Xie Buchen” also swept through the entire Upper Ruins. Along with the previously vanished Immortal Jian Chou and Luye Laozu who had long held the position of Immortal Venerable, they were all dragged out by people to discuss competitively, as if determined to understand the reason for their formidable strength.
However, thirty years passed in the blink of an eye, and there was still no clue whatsoever.
Crazed cultivators attempted to break through the barrier between the Upper Ruins and the lower realm to explore the Origin Realm, but were pulverized by terrifying tribulation lightning while crossing the barrier, their forms and spirits completely destroyed.
From then on, all cultivators with restless intentions calmed down.
And Pangu’s Desolate Domain also finally descended at the appropriate time.
The originally vast and mighty Upper Ruins immortal realm, before it, was as small as a puppet in a child’s hands. No one could glimpse its full appearance; looking up, one could only see a huge shadow. Countless star streams ran wild under that approaching magnificent power, meteors fell everywhere in the sky, and chaotic rocks crashed through the void like collapsing clouds, smashing toward the stars where immortals dwelt, causing enormous destruction.
No one didn’t tremble at its arrival; no one didn’t prostrate under its terrifying might.
Though Pangu was dead, his heavenly authority still existed!
Even if one was an Immortal Venerable, what of it? One only needed to look up to know how weak one was compared to this existence that had once dominated the universe!
Great Luo Heaven, within the Crimson Killing Realm.
A female cultivator in deep azure robes had been standing on those high palace steps for far too long. She had cloud-like black hair, and her wide sleeves billowed in the fierce wind stirred by the Desolate Domain. Her porcelain-white face had flawless features, and her star-like eyes held a natural strength and confidence.
Only at this moment, her lip line was straight.
She wasn’t smiling, which meant a certain kind of deep oppression and suppression.
In the great hall behind her gathered all the cultivators from the Origin Realm in the Great Luo Heaven, from Kunwu to Yashan, from the Eight Extremes Daozun to Half-Crane True Person, and even Xie Buchen, who had recently ascended from Kunwu, was also there.
But only Fudao and Jian Chou were missing.
The entire Crimson Killing Realm was covered by shadows cast by the approaching Pangu Desolate Domain. All the azure leaves of the trees around the council hall rapidly yellowed in the trembling, and the water in the realm’s rivers and lakes flowed backward and upward, even flying toward midair under the pull of that powerful force, hitting the restrictions at the edges, making the sky above this Crimson Killing Realm become a sea formed by gathered flowing water.
Luye Laozu’s gaze passed through this sea, gazing at the approaching Pangu Desolate Domain, but there wasn’t half a trace of longing in her expression.
What she had was only thick, unknown wariness.
In these forty-plus years before the Desolate Domain’s descent, the Upper Ruins immortal realm had been far too peaceful. Even that friend Jian Chou from the Origin Realm had completely vanished, causing her to sense a long-absent crisis.
One must know that Pangu’s Desolate Domain was Dazun’s resting place, an existence that countless cultivators in the Upper Ruins immortal realm could only hope for but never reach. But it also had another name that made people tremble upon hearing it—
Saint Immortal Graveyard!
Everything might be decided in this battle.
What she couldn’t accomplish, later generations would accomplish.
There were always brave ones in the world.
She didn’t know where exactly Jian Chou had been during these decades, but she clearly knew that the day the Desolate Domain descended would be when Jian Chou reappeared.
“Friend Xie from Kunwu…”
After gazing upward for a long time, Luye Laozu finally withdrew her gaze and looked toward the great hall behind her.
All the cultivators who had ascended from the Origin Realm looked at her.
But her gaze fell only on Xie Buchen.
This male cultivator from the Origin Realm, from Kunwu, possessed talent and composure far exceeding ordinary people, even compared to her in the past, he was second to none.
The slate-azure dao robe, worn on him, didn’t diminish his three parts of noble bearing.
Between his brows and eyes was a stock of indifference, as if born naturally.
Even though there were many Kunwu elders present, standing to the side, he was the first one to catch attention.
This was the first time Luye Laozu had seen him today, and she naturally thought of those various rumors from the Origin Realm.
Including killing his wife to prove the Dao.
After her words, Xie Buchen seemed to understand her meaning. Under everyone’s scrutinizing gazes, he walked out of the great hall, came before her, and bowed respectfully: “I pay my respects to Laozu.”
“This venerable one has only heard that after Buyu Shangren ascended, the Nine Turns River Map changed hands and fell into the hands of Yashan’s Qu Zhengfeng, later passed to Jian Chou. She ascended forty-four years ago and has been galloping through the immortal realm. Though you ascended directly at the Saint Immortal realm, which seems contrary to common sense, indeed only the possibility that Jian Chou left you the River Map remains.”
Luye Laozu knew the affairs of the lower realm like the back of her hand.
Her left eyebrow was painted in slate-colored azure leaves, appearing peaceful, but the majesty between her brows and pupils was inviolable.
At this moment, she merely extended her hand toward Xie Buchen.
“Please, Friend Xie, lend this seat the River Map for observation.”
Borrow the River Map?
When in the Origin Realm, Luye Laozu had already directly “borrowed” the River Map from Kunwu’s Eight Extremes Daozun. It was said that she had merely opened it and looked for less than half a day before discarding it to Buyu Shangren, who was present at the time, and ascended to the Upper Ruins shortly after.
That is to say, she had already seen the River Map before.
After Jian Chou’s ascension, Xie Buchen remained in Kunwu for over ten years, contemplating the Nine Turns River Map, but turning it over and over, he couldn’t solve the mystery of why Jian Chou had left this River Map to him.
So he brought this River Map with him when he broke through the realm to ascend.
Originally, he didn’t know what his realm was like. Only after ascending, when the Ascension Pool showed strange phenomena, did he learn that his cultivation realm was already considered “Saint Immortal” in the Upper Ruins.
And though Luye Laozu had never met him before, even though as the leader of Origin Realm ascenders she could learn much news from the lower realm, at this time she actually wanted to borrow the River Map she had already seen from him, and was so certain he had brought this River Map to the Upper Ruins…
Xie Buchen’s handsome and cold long eyebrows lightly furrowed, and he gazed at Luye Laozu for a moment, as if pondering the meaning of her action. But ultimately he didn’t refuse, only taking from his sleeve the River Map that Jian Chou had left him by the Kunwu sea of clouds that day, and handed it to Luye Laozu.
Luye Laozu accepted it.
It was the appearance she had seen in the past, like a book scroll.
Gently unfolding it, the mysterious ancient characters appeared one by one.
If White Crane Great Emperor were here, he would probably recognize at a glance: the writing and various carved symbols on this scroll were exactly the same as those on his thirty-seven Long Night Bamboo Slips!
All the records, all the insights, flowed through her heart as her gaze passed over them, making her recall everything from when she first opened this River Map.
Only when she reached the end, her fingers involuntarily stopped.
It appeared that the River Map’s content seemed to end here, leaving two lines of lingering blank space, displaying all the mysteries of the universe to everyone who could see it.
However, Luye Laozu’s heart trembled slightly when she saw these two blank lines!
Because only those who had once comprehended the River Map clearly knew—
This wasn’t originally blank; there had once been two lines of text here!
It was just that even placed here, not everyone could necessarily comprehend it.
This subtle change in her expression was extremely inconspicuous, but Xie Buchen, who had been standing outside the great hall and had already sensed something abnormal since she requested this River Map, now observing her expression, felt wariness growing deeper and deeper in his heart.
Only his nature was watertight, and he didn’t reveal half a trace.
He only naturally asked: “Has Laozu seen anything improper about this scroll?”
“You haven’t shown this River Map to anyone else, have you?”
Luye Laozu’s gaze flashed as she asked this.
Xie Buchen keenly sensed from this question that this River Map must have some peculiarity, but the Luye Laozu before him was truly not someone he could fathom. Even if he wanted to probe, he couldn’t. So he only shook his head, telling her he hadn’t shown it to anyone else.
Luye Laozu’s fine leaf-like painted eyebrows lightly raised, as if satisfied with this answer. Then she rolled up and closed the River Map, but instead of returning it to Xie Buchen, she directly placed it in her own sleeve, actually saying to him: “You’ve just ascended and already reached the Saint Immortal realm. The entire immortal realm’s eyes are on you. This River Map is of great importance – keeping it in your hands would inevitably be dangerous. It’s more appropriate to keep it with this venerable one for now.”