Chapter 542 490: Resurrecting Ji Shenyun, The Plot of the Chosen

"Little Yueqiu."

The gentle call brought Qing Yueqiu back to her senses. She found herself looking into the apologetic eyes of her Grand Master, Yuan Tianming.

The corners of the old man's wrinkled eyes drooped slightly, and the vertical lines etched between his brows were deeper than usual.

He raised a gaunt hand, as if to pat her on the head, but he paused mid-air and ultimately lowered it gently.

"Little Yueqiu, you've suffered a great deal, being entangled with that Female Demon all this time."

Yuan Tianming's voice was hoarse yet gentle, like a cup of aged tea—bitter, but with a sweet aftertaste.

As he spoke, his silver-white beard trembled slightly with the downturn of his lips. His eyes, which had seen the vicissitudes of life, were filled with pity and self-reproach, as if he were blaming himself for not discovering his grand-disciple's plight sooner.

Qing Yueqiu was silent for a moment before asking, a little puzzled, "Grand Master, since you're so powerful, why didn't you return to the Dao Sect sooner to help me and Master with our predicament?

And... why are you the mysterious Hall Master of Yama Hall?"

Yuan Tianming shook his head. With a flick of his finger, he made grass and plants sprout from the ground and weave themselves into a chair. He gestured for Qing Yueqiu to sit before speaking softly:

"I am, and am not, the Hall Master of Yama Hall.

I took care of the previous Hall Master.

Not even the disciples of Yama Hall know who their Hall Master is. Coupled with the fact that Yama Hall's location is well-hidden, it's a perfect place to avoid trouble from the Chosen Organization.

So I usurped his position, replacing the dead Hall Master to manage Yama Hall."

Hearing this, Qing Yueqiu was completely stunned by her Grand Master's audacious move. 'Since no one knew who the Hall Master of Yama Hall was, it was only natural to take over after killing him... That... seems reasonable, I guess?'

"As for why I haven't returned to the Dao Sect."

At this, Yuan Tianming's expression grew solemn. A grave look appeared between his brows, and his gaze deepened.

"It's because I'm currently shouldering a Celestial Tier mission for the Dao Sect. Until it's complete, I must remain incognito."

'A Celestial Tier mission?'

Qing Yueqiu subconsciously held her breath. Previously, her Master's wife had been severely wounded by a Thunder Tribulation. To pay for her treatment, the Cold Palace Sword Mansion had fallen into poverty.

Back then, she had often undertaken missions to help supplement their income, so she was very familiar with the Dao Sect's mission-ranking system.

Ordinary missions involving Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators were typically only Profound Tier. Even missions with Void Refining Great Powers weren't always guaranteed to be ranked as Earth Tier.

In the ten-thousand-year history of the Dao Sect, only three Celestial Tier missions had ever been issued. Each one was at a time of life and death for the sect. The last one was the great war between the righteous and demonic sects that decided the current landscape of the Cultivation Realm!

'And the mission my Grand Master is undertaking alone is as important as that war, for which the entire Dao Sect had mobilized all its disciples!'

"Yueqiu, I still can't return to the sect, but you can. You can take the truth about this world that I've uncovered over the years back to the Dao Sect."

Yuan Tianming began to speak slowly, his voice exceptionally deep.

Qing Yueqiu held her breath as well. She had a premonition that what her Grand Master was about to say would be the greatest secret of the Dao Sect, and perhaps even of the entire world!

"Yueqiu."

Yuan Tianming's voice suddenly turned serious. His gaunt fingers tapped lightly on the table, as if he were lecturing his grand-disciple.

"What do you think is the relationship between our world and the Abyss Otherworld, where those Outer Demons reside?"

Hearing her Grand Master's sudden question, Qing Yueqiu immediately straightened her back and said softly, "Regarding the Abyss Otherworld, the Grand Scholars of the Cultivation Realm have two hypotheses."

"The first is the 'Two-World War Hypothesis.' It posits that the world, filled with foul and blasphemous power, is a fallen world within the Grand Thousand Worlds, saturated with Dark Power.

Due to some accident, the barrier between our two worlds was broken, triggering an invasion... This is also the most mainstream theory on the continent today."

"The second is the 'Sea of Darkness Hypothesis.' It suggests that the forest of the Three Thousand Worlds is enveloped by a pitch-black Sea of Void. Within this 'sea,' various Void Races were born—beings that corrupt the Heavenly Dao Laws of normal worlds. These are the Outer Demons.

The 'protective film' surrounding our world accidentally ruptured, which is how we were discovered and invaded by those Outer Demons..."

Qing Yueqiu answered earnestly, like a student being quizzed by her teacher.

Her points were clear and her logic was sound. Even the strictest teacher would nod in satisfaction upon hearing her response.

However, Yuan Tianming shook his head and asked a question that seemed somewhat off-topic from the Abyss Otherworld.

"Child, do you know of the Saint Realm?"

Qing Yueqiu nodded.

Legend has it that when a Cultivator reaches the end of the Great Dao, they can be ordained as a Saint by heaven and earth. That realm is known as the Saint Realm.

Yuan Tianming's beard trembled slightly as he spoke slowly:

"According to the records, during the Divine Desolate Era, the last Saint in the mortal world was the one who led the Human Race to victory over the Asura Race and suppressed Ji Shenyun.

After three thousand years of dedicatedly pursuing Enlightenment Dao, he siphoned all the Spiritual Qi and destiny from the entire world, shattered the void in one fell swoop, and ascended from this plane."

"Historical records from that time state that when the Saint ascended, a seven-colored divine bridge appeared in the sky to guide him away.

This shows that the set of rules for this 'talent selection' system for ascending to the Grand Thousand Worlds is very well-established. An evil creation that exists purely to break rules, like the Outer Demons, could not exist under such a perfect system. A higher-dimensional existence would have intervened the moment those things invaded."

Yuan Tianming's words left Qing Yueqiu stunned on the spot, or perhaps so shocked she was speechless.

'Ascension... That thing people had long dismissed as a myth was actually real.'

'And the story of the last Saint in the mortal world... she had never heard of this piece of history before. How does Grand Master know so much about it?'

As if sensing Qing Yueqiu's confusion, Yuan Tianming said with a smile:

"'As long as Saints do not die, great thieves will not cease.' Perhaps it was because that Saint overdrafted the entire world's potential to fuel his own ascension, which indirectly led to the decline of the golden age of human civilization in the Divine Desolate Era.

To prevent the Saint from being reviled for all eternity by future generations and nailed to the pillar of shame, his disciples concealed that part of history.

This old man only happened to learn of those past events because I enjoy traveling the world."

"So... Grand Master, you mean that the fact that the Saint could ascend to a greater Celestial Realm proves that our views on the relationship between the Grand Thousand Worlds and the Abyss Otherworld are wrong?"

Qing Yueqiu said in astonishment after a moment of deep thought.

Yuan Tianming nodded. He then dipped a gaunt finger in his tea and drew a distorted shape on the table—a large circle with a smaller circle inside it.

"Based on my years of investigation in the Endless Sea, I now propose a third hypothesis—the 'Abyssal Inland Sea Hypothesis.'"

"The entire Abyss is an Inland Sea enveloped by our mortal world. Or rather, countless eons ago, the Abyss was part of our world. But due to some accident, it broke away and became a bubble enclosed within our world."

"The reason the Outer Demons inside are so twisted and terrifying, and why they naturally defile and distort the laws of our world, is because they were all born from the Celestial Dao's fragmented and discarded laws.

They are, in essence, the failed products of the Celestial Dao's creation."

As Qing Yueqiu listened to Yuan Tianming, a shocking and unconventional idea inexplicably formed in her mind.

'From what Grand Master is saying, the Abyss Otherworld... sounds like the Celestial Dao's Heart Demon!'

While Qing Yueqiu was still reeling from the world-shattering truth her Grand Master had revealed, Yuan Tianming continued:

"Yueqiu, you must have already seen the Dragon Corpse that the Chosen Organization is searching for, right?

There are seventy-two of these Ancient Dragon Corpses they're looking for, corresponding to the seventy-two Celestial Gods of the Ancient Divine Court... A mythic prophecy states that Dragons are immortal and indestructible. They will serve as bridges to guide their masters back to the mortal world from the Void Netherworld."

Hearing this, a sudden insight struck Qing Yueqiu, and a terrifying speculation came to her mind.

"Grand Master, you mean the ancient gods didn't die, but were all banished to the Abyss Otherworld? And for the Chosen Organization to summon the gods using the Dragon Corpses, they must tear open the seal on the Endless Sea!"

"Allowing those Outer Demons, who nearly destroyed the world ten thousand years ago, to descend once more?!"

Yuan Tianming nodded.

"The answers to all of this lie in the Abyssal Sea Palace. The reason I disappeared before was to search for that Ancient Divine Court..."