Chapter 535 - 459: Huyan

"Bai, we meet again."

A row of stark white teeth peeked out from within Big Beard's thick, dark beard.

Bai Yuan's eyes were filled with surprise.

He hadn't expected Big Beard to have actually left the Northern Plains and appeared in Ling Province.

Dong Wanjun smiled faintly. "Elder Huyan just sought me out as well. You can probably ask him about what happened in the Northern Plains."

Just an hour ago, Big Beard had appeared near Shenfu Mountain. Dong Wanjun had sensed a familiar aura and immediately went to investigate, which was when he saw Big Beard.

After Big Beard explained his purpose, Dong Wanjun brought him straight to see Bai Yuan.

Of course, he had also heard about the recent events in the Northern Plains.

The moment he heard the Northern Plains mentioned, Big Beard became extremely irritated.

"Damn it all! Don't mention the Northern Plains to me. Just thinking about it pisses me off."

Bai Yuan asked curiously, "Elder Huyan, so who exactly is this Demon Seed?"

At the mention of the Demon Seed, Big Beard's expression turned grave.

"I've only seen him once."

"He's a man who looks very young, but he gave me a very strange feeling."

Bai Yuan asked, "Strange?"

"Yes, strange," Big Beard said, lost in thought. "Although he looks very young, he gives off a sense of extreme antiquity."

Antiquity...

Bai Yuan had never heard someone be described with a word like 'antiquity' before.

Big Beard continued, "I cultivate a Body Refining Technique, so I can see through to a person's fundamental bone structure. But that person's bones... they've existed for five thousand years."

Bai Yuan's and Dong Wanjun's pupils dilated as they blurted out:

"Five thousand years?!"

To put it in perspective, the Xuan Yang Dynasty has only existed for two thousand years.

Five thousand years... the previous dynasty hadn't even been founded back then.

"Could he truly be an Immortal?"

Yang Fangyu, who was standing to the side, was also stunned. What could a person who had lived for five thousand years be, if not an Immortal?

Big Beard shook his head. "He hasn't become an Immortal. From what I could see, he's only at the Mingxin Realm. He was likely sealed by someone using a Great Divine Power, only to awaken now."

"Sealed?"

"Yes. Legend says there is a worldly technique called the Earth-Sealing Technique, which seals a person inside a Divine Stone. The sealed individual's appearance can remain unchanged for tens of thousands of years. When the world changes and the time is right, they will naturally break out of their seal."

Big Beard sighed with emotion.

"I always thought it was just a legend, but to think it's actually real... The methods of our ancestors are truly beyond our imagination."

Bai Yuan and Yang Fangyu both sucked in a sharp breath.

Such a method was simply too incredible to contemplate.

Even a Divinity Grandmaster like Big Beard was in awe.

To be sealed for ten thousand years without dying or decaying—it's practically an Immortal Technique.

Bai Yuan quickly grasped the key question. "Why was that person sealed, and why was the seal released at this specific time?"

A mocking sneer appeared on Big Beard's lips.

"Why?"

"To plunder the world's fortune, of course, and use it to ascend to the peak of the Martial Dao."

Bai Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly.

Big Beard said, "If my feeling is correct, this person is from the same era as the Demon Sect's Founding Ancestor. The Demon Sect Ancestor Master likely stepped into the Martial Saint Realm and absorbed all the world's fortune, which is why no one after him could take that final step."

"So, those who were unwilling to accept this fate sealed themselves away, waiting for a future generation when the world's fortune had ripened, to emerge and compete once more."

"They couldn't make it in their own era, so they think they can bully us in ours?"

Bai Yuan's expression turned grave as well. "Doesn't that mean…"

If that person who called himself the Demon Seed could seal himself away and reawaken in a later era...

...then over the past tens of thousands of years, there must have been many others with the same idea. There might even be Grandmasters at the Divinity Realm among them.

Divinity experts everywhere?

The thought suddenly struck Bai Yuan as absurd.

The number of people who reached the Divinity Realm in the past century could be counted on one hand. But if you stretched that timeline to ten thousand years, the number would be terrifying.

Big Beard seemed to see through Bai Yuan's thoughts and said, "Don't worry. Those old geezers who have passed the Divinity Communication Barrier are in communication with the world itself and cannot seal themselves. Only those below the Divinity Realm can use the Earth-Sealing Technique."

Hearing this, Bai Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Just the Mingxin Realm... That was manageable.

Big Beard sneered. "It's nothing more than the wishful thinking of some old fossils."

The cost of the Earth-Sealing Technique is immense, far beyond what an ordinary person could afford. Therefore, only a few major sects with incredibly deep foundations could accomplish it.

The Demon Sect is one of them.

Aren't the others all located on those mountain peaks within Xuan Yang?

Bai Yuan, of course, understood Big Beard's meaning.

"That young man is likely one of the first to awaken. There will probably be many more after him."

It was almost predictable that a large batch of Divine Communication Powerhouses would soon appear in the world.

Without exception, these sealed individuals were all peerlessly talented prodigies, just a hair's breadth away from the Divinity Realm. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been worth using the Earth-Sealing Technique on them.

Just like that young man calling himself the Demon Seed, who possesses the Dragon and Phoenix Bone, a constitution rarely seen in ten thousand years.

Mr. Yuan shattered the world's fortune, which had already given Martial Artists at the Mingxin Pass more opportunities.

Big Beard could tell that in two years at most, that person would be able to step into the Divinity Realm.

Big Beard said, "Dong, Bai, you two had better hurry up. Otherwise, you really won't be able to keep up."

His eyes were filled with the weight of ages.

Bai Yuan and Dong Wanjun wore solemn expressions.

The world's fortune was undergoing a great change. The number of Divine Communication Powerhouses would increase, but the total number couldn't possibly become too exaggerated.

To put it bluntly, the slots were limited.

Under normal circumstances, if they were only competing against their contemporaries, Bai Yuan and Dong Wanjun would have had plenty of time, because they were already among the top tier of the Mingxin Realm.

But now, the sealed ancients were entering the fray one after another.

The situation was completely different.

These people were already just one step away from the Divinity Realm; all they lacked was familiarity with the present world.