Nightfall

In the verdant valleys, on the bank of a dried lake and on a pile of rubble, stood Tang Xiaotang. She released the clasp of the beast tail at her collar and revealed a tender face tinged with red. She heard the sound of sword meeting stone from afar and asked, "Brother, are the Tomes of Arcane really in there?"

Tang shook his head. "I don’t know."

Tang Xiaotang did not understand, so she asked, "Then why did the old fogeys from the Divine Hall send people here?"

Tang answered, "According to news from the Central Plains, the Great Divine Priest of Relation prophesied after returning from the south. The prophecy said that the Tomes of Arcane would appear when the holy land opens upon answering the call of heaven."

Tang Xiaotang scratched her head and asked, "But didn’t you say that the holy land is now a piece of rubble after it was destroyed? There isn’t anything there. How can the old fogey called Revelation be sure that the Tomes of Arcane are there?"

Tang said, "The three Gods of Divine Hall each have an amazing sense. The Great Divine Priest of Relation can sense the will of Haotian. Rumors say that he has a strong ability for making prophecies. Who wouldn’t believe in his words?"

Tang Xiaotang suddenly thought of the singing Taoist priest on the cliff. She did not know why, but fear stabbed at her heart. She asked woodenly, "Brother, do you think that person will come and take the Tomes of Arcane from us by force?"

Tang was silent for a long time. He shook his head, "No, because there is someone more important than the Tomes of Arcane in his heart."

...

...

As time passed, the night became longer in the Far North of the world. The weather got colder too. It was at this mountain abandoned by Haotian where the verdant valleys that have disappeared for decades appeared again when it answered the call of heaven. All was empty in the Daming Lake. The legendary Great Blockage Formation was activated once more, triggering the aura of the earth. It shot up towards the skies, by the Snow-capped Peak, looking magnificent.

The reopening of the Devil’s Doctrine’s Front Gate brought about ripples in the Qi of Heaven and Earth. Even though it flickered out in a short amount of time, it rippled out of the boundless Snow Mountain and to far-away places.

In the Wilderness surrounding the Tianqi Mountains, black mud met white snow. One would spot an occasional beast caressing on the snowy ground. The sounds of the cold winter winds on tents were like cleaving knives. The wind itself was the sharpest of all hunting knives.

Ye Su walked between heaven and earth silently. The ordinary Taoist robes he wore were as smooth as the cliff’s walls. He did not seem to be affected by the cold wind at all. His steps, which seemed ordinary, traversed at least ten over feet. His feet left no trace on the snow and he floated as if he was a deity.

He came to a stop when the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine opened in the mountains far away and the Qi of Heaven and Earth rippled and reached his world from behind. He turned around to look at it expressionlessly but did not have any thoughts of going over to take a look.

As a World Wayfarer from the Zhishou Abbey, Ye Su knew of the prophecy by the Great Divine Priest of Relation before anyone else. He knew that the "Ming" Handscroll of the seven Tomes of Arcane would reappear in the Wilderness before the Great Divine Priest of Relation did.

It was just that as a cultivator at his level who could see past death and all things, he no longer cared about objects of the secular world, much less the Tomes of Arcane.

Furthermore, since he had lost the bet with Tang regarding Ning Que and Long Qing’s bet of breaking a state, he had to honor it. It wasn’t about him being cynical, he just didn’t want to allow any darkness to stay in his heart.

His appearance in the Wilderness had nothing to do with the Tomes of Arcane nor the move southwards by the Desolate Man or the reopening of the Devil’s Doctrine’s Front Gate.

He had lived in the abbey since he was a child. The first books he had read since he could, were the six scrolls from the Tomes of Arcane. He had always been cynical of the world. The move southwards by the Desolate Man might be a major issue in the secular world, but it did not hold his attention at all. The reopening of the Devil’s Doctrine’s Front Gate might be interesting, but the Devil’s Doctrine had long fallen apart and posed no problem.

There were not many people or things that could make him leave the Zhishou Abbey.

But the person who stood on the line 14 years ago definitely could.

Ye Su really wanted to meet that person. He had thought about it for many years, but it was just that the person was always within that great mountain or beside it. Even though he was proud and strong, he had no way of getting closer to that person.

This year, that person on the line had finally left that great mountain and came to the Wilderness.

He did not know where the person was.

But he knew that he would meet that person.

Because the unique aura of the great mountain and the person’s character had already decided on that.

That person will protect that guy, Ning Que.

When Ning Que encountered true danger, that person would definitely be beside him.

So he just had to wait for Ning Que to encounter true danger.

It was just that Ning Que was right outside the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine right now.

Why was he leaving the Devil’s Doctrine’s Front Gate for the south then?

...

...

There was a large cerulean lake south of Tianqi Mountain. It was deemed sacred land by the barbarians of the grassland who called it the Hulan Sea. A thin layer of ice floated on the surface of the lake. Many men from the tribes on the grassland who lived by the lake were harvesting aquatic plants before the icy surface froze completely.

Traveling merchants from the Central Plains would appear wherever there were barbarians from the grassland. However, it was the middle of winter and the war between the grassland and the Central Plain’s coalition forces had just ended. It was a little odd that a merchant caravan from the Central Plains appeared by the Hulan Sea right now. However, these businessmen were generous with their spendings and had paid the down payment for the leather goods they needed next summer. That was why the tribe leader had silently assented to their existence and even left an empty spot for them to camp on.

The traveling Central Plains’ merchants were cooking on a fire by the lake. Due to the mild weather, they did not hide in their tents but sat around the bonfire. Should one observe their actions, one would notice that one of the merchants amongst them was their leader.

The merchant who looked rather wealthy was munching on an oily lamb leg. He would grumble occasionally. It was evident that he was not satisfied with how the people on the grassland had treated them. A burly middle-aged man wearing a cap stood beside him and was probably a steward or guard. He tried to placate the merchant in low tones but received a thorough verbal lashing instead.

Suddenly, several pieces of white clouds appeared in the clear cerulean skies. It looked as if an invisible giant hand had tried to tear away at the blue canvas and added white paint on it.

The grassland barbarians and merchants from the Central Plains had noticed the anomaly in the skies at the same time. They looked at them in surprise.

The merchant leader cursed.

The submissive burly middle-aged guard looked at the wisps of clouds with half-closed eyes. His expression was grave.

It was not known why the wealthy merchant’s expression cleared and dared not curse anymore after looking at the middle-aged man’s grave expression. He lowered his head to hide the respect in his eyes and asked something in a low tone.

The burly middle-aged man looked at the clouds in the skies quietly. He felt the ripples in the aura of heaven and earth from the far away northern mountains. His hat hid the jumble of emotions that appeared on his face. Longing and warmth and after a long while, peace appeared on his face. And within all these, laid a faint trace of repentance or even sadness.

And then, the middle-aged man said four simple words, " The door is open."

...

...

Ning Que piggybacked Mo Shanshan’s frail body as he stepped on the rocks strewn about on the ground messily. They reached the middle of the lake and saw a large stone door. The stone door was enormous and looked like a small mountain as they looked at it from below.

Even the largest city in the world, Chang’an, did not have a stone door as large as this.

It was enormous. That was why this was the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine.

Ning Que had never thought that he would find the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine so easily and could not believe his own eyes. He did not try to understand how such a large stone door could be hidden in the Daming Lake and why he didn’t spot it when they traveled in The Great Blockage Formation. He turned around to look at the path they took earlier subconsciously.

The stone door was not visible at all when he walked in the rubble and sharp array. But when he walked out of them, the stone door appeared in front of him, as if the stone door would only allow itself to be seen by the people it chose to reveal itself to.

The opening of the Devil’s Doctrine’s Front Gate was easier than finding the Front Gate. One did not have to recite any spell, nor was there any scary scheme that they had to pass. When Ning Que’s right hand touched the rough but stately stone door, there was a puffing sound followed by the splashing of a thick layer of dust that had accumulated over the years. And then, the stone door opened slowly.

Ning Que raised his head and looked at the majestic Snow-capped Peak that was even taller than before. And then, his gaze met Mo Shanshan’s surprised and weak stare before he walked through the door.

...

...

Majestic, dignified, solemn, ambitious, sacred... These traits were usually built unto an enormous space. Just like the Chang’an city that even goshawks dare not enter at will, or the Divine Hall that overlooked the people on the Peach Mountain. These feelings would arise when these buildings were in stark contrast to the tiny bodies that belonged to humans.

These emotions overtook Ning Que and Mo Shanshan as they entered the large stone door, climbed up numerous stone steps and entered the main hall of the Devil’s Doctrine’s Front Gate.

That was because the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine was larger than any other structure they had ever seen.

The Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine was on the mountain. To be more exact, it was in the majestic Snow-capped Peak by the Daming Lake. The Devil’s Doctrine had formed the space by hollowing out the middle of a tall Snow-capped Peak.

Space was larger than one could imagine, deeper than the deepest end of the world and taller than the tallest skies. It even made one felt that it was a place that could only appear in dreams. Only Haotian had the ability to create this place.

A stream of light shone into the place. Several enormous rough stone beams hung in the air. There were an evident knife and axe markings on these pillars. These beams were strong and thick enough for four-horse carriages to cross together side by side.

The two looked at the straight hanging wide stone beams before them and realized that they could not see where the beams ended. The thick beams suspended in the air farther out looked as thin as spider webs in the large space.

The thick stone beams gathered in the middle like a spider web and came together in a stone platform farther in the middle of the empty space. There was a temple on the platform. The temple should be enormous, but when looked upon from the cliff walls, stood like it was carved from a grain of rice by a skilled craftsman. As for Ning Que and Mo Shanshan, who stood looking at the temple from afar, they looked like a grain of sand on the rock walls in the large space. It was as if they did not exist.

The two looked at each other and could see the shock in each other’s eyes.

Anyone would find it hard to repress their respect in the face of such an incredibly large existence. They would want to kneel and worship it or even feel incredibly small and tear up.

Men were just ants in the face of such magnificence.

However, the thing that truly shocked Ning Que was that the space that looked as if only Haotian had the ability to create was made by humans who were like ants thousands of years ago.