Chapter 393: Canghai Patriarch (End of this episode)

Episode 16, Chapter 26: Ancestor Canghai

The Protector God led Meng Chuan to a seven-story pavilion, explaining, "This is Canghai Pavilion, where successive leaders of the Canghai School cultivated."

The Protector God continued, "The first floor is where the sect leaders teach their disciples. I'm taking you to the seventh floor, which only past sect leaders have been allowed to enter." He added that while the pavilion appeared small from the outside, each internal floor was hundreds of times larger.

They soon arrived at the silent seventh floor.

"Hmm?"

As Meng Chuan entered, he saw a light projection coalesce into the image of a slender man. The man stood there smiling, asking, "Has the Canghai School appointed a new leader?" Meng Chuan recognized him immediately, having seen portraits of Ancestor Canghai in the many treasure vaults he had visited. "Ancestor Canghai?" he said.

The slender man smiled. "I always considered myself exceptionally brilliant throughout my life, never paying much heed to my elders in the sect. But I never imagined that, over time, another disciple within the Cangyuan Sect would emerge, one who was no less brilliant than me. That was my senior brother, Yuan Chu. He was very low-key, not competitive, yet he surpassed many disciples without anyone noticing. I was actually happy because I finally wasn't lonely; I had a true rival."

Meng Chuan listened silently, knowing this was an image Ancestor Canghai had left behind for successive sect leaders.

"He and I competed our entire lives," the slender man said. "Back then, in the Cangyuan Sect, we were the strongest. We could both defeat Venerables at a higher level, and we both cultivated to become invincible in the Creation Realm. However, in the end, he became an Emperor."

"In terms of cultivation, I must admit, he had already surpassed me during the invincible stage of the Creation Realm," the slender man continued. "Although either of us could sweep aside all Venerables in the world, there was ultimately a difference in our superiority. I created my own 'Canghai Demon Body' based on existing God-Demon Body techniques, which was most suitable for me. But he created the even more exceptional 'Yuan Chu God Body'."

In human history, there were only twelve types of supreme-grade God-Demon Bodies, and these two ancestors each created one. Some Emperors hadn't even managed to do so. Meng Chuan acknowledged the extraordinary talent and brilliance of both ancestors.

"The Yuan Chu God Body is indeed more powerful, based on the rotation of the five elements; it’s another direction from the 'Reincarnation God Body'," the slender man explained. "He was indeed a cut above me, and I was originally willing to accept him as the leader of the Cangyuan Sect. But I never imagined he would be so foolish." The slender man continued, "Back then, our Cangyuan Sect was invincible, the only sect in the world. Yet, Yuan Chu believed... that the Cangyuan Sect was riddled with factions and cliques, and historically prone to internal strife. He thought this would lead to more severe consequences if left unchecked. So, he decided to loosen our rule over the world, even deliberately allowing some cultivation methods to spread among mortals, letting new sects emerge in the secular world."

"He believed that external pressure would unite the Cangyuan Sect. What a joke! I felt he wasn't fit to lead the Cangyuan Sect," the slender man declared. "He was squandering the efforts of generations of Cangyuan Sect predecessors. Even some Venerables within the sect sided with me."

"I lost that internal struggle; he actually broke through to become an Emperor, and I was utterly defeated. Yet, Yuan Chu didn't exterminate me. Instead, he decided to split the sect into two: 'Yuan Chu Mountain' and 'Canghai School'. Both were still considered part of the Cangyuan Sect lineage," the slender man explained. "From the Cangyuan Sect's twelve foundational treasures, he presented nine and told me to choose three to take. Haha, what arrogance! I chose the most important cultivation manuals."

"I took the Array of Stars Tower, which housed ultimate techniques; the Heart Sea Hall, which contained primordial spirit techniques; and the God-of-War Tower, which could temper one's strength. I truly don't know what he was thinking, to hand over even these."

The slender man stated coldly, "He and I fought our entire lives. My Canghai School now controls half the world. The future sect leaders must bring glory to me: conquer the entire world, thoroughly defeat Yuan Chu Mountain, absorb it, and fully restore the glory of my Cangyuan Sect." He sighed, "Unfortunately, I won't live to see it." "Though my lifespan has reached its limit, I believe my Canghai School will endure longer. If Yuan Chu continues to govern the sect as he did, Yuan Chu Mountain is bound to decline. Should Yuan Chu Mountain ever completely fall, remember this, descendants of Canghai School: after absorbing Yuan Chu Mountain, establish a separate 'Yuan Chu lineage' within the Canghai School. At least my senior brother never sought to exterminate me." The slender man fell silent for a long moment after saying this.

His entire life had been a struggle against his senior brother, yet it was merely a clash of ideals and power, never a fight to the death.

"My lifespan has ended, but he can live for another eight thousand years," the slender man continued. "Clearly, cultivation is fundamental. Both the physical body and the primordial spirit must be given importance. If one's cultivation realm reaches the peak, but their primordial spirit hasn't, they cannot become an Emperor. Such was my case."

"What I'm about to tell you now is a great secret," the slender man added. "Years ago, I ventured into the outer realm..." Meng Chuan listened to all the secrets that only successive sect leaders were privy to. Beyond the initial rivalry between the two ancestors, the rest detailed Ancestor Canghai's experiences within the River of Spacetime.

"The Canghai School indeed has a very deep foundation," Meng Chuan mused, perusing some of the books within the pavilion. These were left by past leaders and documented many secrets known only to them. A sect with hundreds of thousands of years of history, boasting hundreds of Creation Realm Venerables and three invincible Creation Realm experts over time, naturally had an astonishing accumulation of knowledge. "Becoming a Creation Realm Venerable is the minimum threshold for entering the River of Spacetime. These secrets are still too distant for me," Meng Chuan thought. "Moreover, the Canghai School has been in decline for over 500,000 years; many changes have likely occurred in the outer realm."

Lost in thought, Meng Chuan exited Canghai Pavilion. Outside, the Protector God looked at him and asked, "Now that you know everything about the Canghai School, do you want me to move all the treasures into a small grotto-heaven and hand them over to you?"

"No need," Meng Chuan replied. "I'll hand all of them over to Yuan Chu Mountain." "All of them to Yuan Chu Mountain?" The Protector God was surprised. "You've only collected a very small fraction so far; the truly important treasures haven't even been touched." "These are sect treasures. How much could I, personally, use?" Meng Chuan shook his head with a smile. "I'll send a message to Yuan Chu Mountain now, asking them to come and take possession of everything."

"As you wish," the Protector God said. "After all, everything of the Cangyuan School now belongs to you; the decision is yours." Meng Chuan flipped out a communication token. He was unwilling to transport the treasures back himself, fearing a potential attack from the demon race midway. It would be disastrous if the Canghai School's treasures fell into their hands. Although he had confidence in himself, demon attacks could happen at any moment, and he couldn't afford to be careless.

"I'll first send you out of this grotto-heaven; otherwise, you won't be able to contact the outside world," the Protector God said. They returned to the ancient mountain gate located in the underwater mountain range. Holding his communication token, Meng Chuan sent out the lowest level of call for aid.

At Yuan Chu Mountain, warm morning sunlight bathed the courtyard. Venerables Li Guan, Qin Wu, and Luo Tang were discussing matters. "Meng Chuan has called for aid," said Venerable Li Guan, taking out his token and turning to Qin Wu and Luo Tang. "Don't panic; it's the lowest level of aid request, so there's no danger. Meng Chuan must have encountered something and needs our help."

"Lowest level of aid request?" Qin Wu and Luo Tang relaxed. Venerable Li Guan glanced at his token and chuckled, "It's quite a distance away, in a deep-sea location in the remote North Sea. I'll send my primordial spirit avatar to investigate what happened."

(End of Episode)Tomato will take a break tomorrow to prepare the outline, and Episode 17 will be updated the day after tomorrow.