Chapter 731

Episode 28, Chapter 12: Alone on Qianyuan Mountain

Meng Chuan also stepped forward, waving his hand to set out food and wine nearby. Having cultivated for a long time on Mount Huasheng, Meng Chuan had naturally prepared his favorite delicacies and spirits. Some were specialties of Cangyuan Realm. As for whether they would suit Senior Thousand-Hands' taste, Meng Chuan had no way of knowing, since Daoist Shanwu hadn't mentioned it beforehand.

Daoist Shanwu watched this scene with a smile.

"Senior Thousand-Hands, these are from my home realm. Please have a taste," Meng Chuan said humbly.

The black-and-white exotic beast extended its eight claws, some reaching for the wine, others for the plates of food.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle." It took the food and wine Meng Chuan had prepared, first gulping down a good amount of the wine. It then blinked, broke into a grin, and said, "This wine is really quite good."

Meng Chuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This was a fruit wine produced in Cangyuan Realm, slightly sweet and sour, with a pleasant tipsy sensation. Meng Chuan quite liked it, and he had also added some rare treasures that aided cultivation, blending it to better suit his taste. He would occasionally take a few sips while painting. Each pot of wine had a large internal space, equivalent to a person-sized vat, enough for Meng Chuan to drink for several days. Each pot was worth around a hundred 'fang', and he had prepared over a thousand such pots for himself.

"Ten more pots of this wine," the black-and-white exotic beast said, clearly very satisfied and fond of it. With a slight perception, it knew Meng Chuan still had a thousand pots hidden. For it, even the most delicious things, ten pots were enough; it was merely trying something new.

Meng Chuan naturally took out ten more pots.

"Crunch, crunch." While drinking and eating various delicacies, the black-and-white exotic beast ate quickly. At the same time, it glanced at Daoist Shanwu and waved its hand. "Shanwu, you cannot stay on Qianyuan Mountain for too long. Leave quickly."

"Yes, I'll leave now. Senior Brother Thousand-Hands, Meng Chuan is a young Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm expert from my home universe. Please look after him," Daoist Shanwu said.

After all, they were from the same home universe, and Meng Chuan's apprenticeship through the painting dao secret art would naturally make him close to Daoist Shanwu under their Master. Daoist Shanwu naturally wanted to help this future junior brother as much as possible.

The black-and-white exotic beast nodded and continued eating.

"You're on your own now," Daoist Shanwu said, looking at Meng Chuan. "I'll be leaving."

"Thank you, Daoist," Meng Chuan replied, nodding in understanding.

Daoist Shanwu departed, leaving only Meng Chuan observing Senior Brother Thousand-Hands as he ate and drank.

Senior Brother Thousand-Hands was completely engrossed in his meal, clearly enjoying himself immensely. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he finished everything, only setting aside the ten pots of wine he had received.

"Meng Chuan," Thousand-Hands said, standing up.

"Senior Thousand-Hands," Meng Chuan listened intently.

Thousand-Hands calmly stated, "Since you have learned the painting dao secret art, you are fated with Master. The trial on Qianyuan Mountain is quite simple... thirty-one Chaos Lords are imprisoned on Qianyuan Mountain! As long as you can kill one Chaos Lord using only your own strength, without relying on any secret treasures, before your lifespan reaches its limit, you will pass the trial. At that time, you will become a disciple under Master."

"Kill a Chaos Lord?" Meng Chuan's expression subtly changed. He had experienced so much today that his resilience was strong, yet this trial still made him feel immense pressure. Chaos Lords were Eighth-Stage Tribulation Realm forbidden creatures! And he wasn't allowed to use any secret treasures to kill an Eighth-Stage Tribulation Realm forbidden creature?

"Although these Chaos Lords can employ many Eighth-Stage Tribulation Realm techniques, in terms of rule mastery, they are ultimately inferior to true Eighth-Stage Tribulation Realm cultivators," Thousand-Hands explained. "As long as you reach the Eighth-Stage Tribulation Realm, killing one won't be difficult."

"This junior understands," Meng Chuan replied, nodding. In his heart, however, he knew it would be extremely difficult. In the river of time and space of his home universe, the number of Essence Soul Eighth-Stage Tribulation Realm experts born was very small. Meng Chuan wasn't being modest, but he clearly understood how challenging this path was.

"Oh, you are an Essence Soul Tribulation Realm expert, so becoming an Essence Soul Eighth-Stage Tribulation Realm expert is somewhat difficult," Thousand-Hands nodded slightly.

Meng Chuan remained silent.

No matter how difficult, he had to keep it to himself.

"Don't panic," Thousand-Hands chuckled, a hint of pride in his voice. "If it were merely about killing a Chaos Lord, there would be no need for you to come to Qianyuan Mountain; there are plenty of Chaos Lords throughout the endless reaches of time and space. The reason you're here on Qianyuan Mountain is because Master, in his benevolence, wishes to grant you, those with fate, a form of assistance in your cultivation."

"Assistance in cultivation?" Meng Chuan's eyes lit up. Assistance bestowed by an Eternal being? The scale of it would certainly not be small.

What kind of assistance could it be?

Since arriving at Qianyuan Mountain, Meng Chuan hadn't felt any particular benefit, only noticing the different flow of time. The time flow on Qianyuan Mountain was thirty-three times faster than that of his home universe. One year in his home realm equated to thirty-three years on Qianyuan Mountain. However, while this accelerated time, it also consumed his lifespan at an accelerated rate, so it couldn't truly be considered assistance.

"Qianyuan Mountain imprisons thirty-one Chaos Lords, and also fifty-six thousand eight hundred 'Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures'," Thousand-Hands stated. "These Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures are the assistance for your cultivation."

Meng Chuan was astonished by the sheer number of Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures. Even the Master of Demonic Mountain had spent great effort setting up the Chaos Turbid River to collect Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm forbidden creature life cores, yet it still required a long time to slowly gather them. Qianyuan Mountain had over fifty thousand Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures?

"Chaos Creatures can devour matter or life to strengthen themselves; they even kill and devour other Chaos Creatures," Thousand-Hands explained. "After devouring, they can absorb the talents of the creatures they consumed, making themselves more powerful."

Meng Chuan nodded.

Forbidden creatures grew stronger by continuously eating, a fact many cultivators envied.

"All rules of existence are based on time and space, and all can be comprehended and mastered," Thousand-Hands continued. "The Chaos Creatures' ability to 'devour and grow stronger' is also a type of rule. Master has already established a rule on Qianyuan Mountain... here, as long as you kill a Chaos Creature, you can completely absorb its power and integrate it into yourself."

"The devouring by Chaos Creatures only allows them to absorb a small amount."

"However, the rule set by Master allows you to fully absorb the power of any Chaos Creature you kill, in a way that best suits you," Thousand-Hands said. "This can grant you numerous talents, making your cultivation path much smoother. With your comprehension, the painting dao secret art, and the many chaotic talents Qianyuan Mountain provides you, if you still cannot become an Essence Soul Eighth-Stage Tribulation Realm expert... then it can only be blamed on your own insufficient ability."

Meng Chuan was both surprised and delighted.

He had a technique called 'Heaven-Opening Blade,' which made the path of the Heaven-Opening rule much smoother. If he were to kill Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures and gain various other talents, such as time-related talents... comprehending time rules would also become much easier. It was truly a great stroke of luck for him to receive such an opportunity bestowed by an Eternal being.

"Can I kill Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures at will?" Meng Chuan asked.

"Dream on," Thousand-Hands scoffed, glancing at Meng Chuan. "These Chaos Creatures were all captured for violating Master's prohibitions, and there's only this many of them! They are also reserved for future 'trials' for other fated juniors. You can kill at most one Chaos Creature every five thousand years, and a maximum of ten Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures in total. After that, you are forbidden from killing more. As for Chaos Lords, you are only allowed to kill one. Once you kill it, you pass the trial and must leave Qianyuan Mountain to meet Master."

Meng Chuan understood.

Although there were some restrictions, it was still excellent. This was indeed a great aid to cultivation; an Eternal being's intervention was truly extraordinary.

"Considering the fine wine you offered, I'll give you a piece of intelligence," Thousand-Hands said, waving his hand and tossing out a golden tablet. "This contains information on all the Chaos Creatures imprisoned on Qianyuan Mountain. Quickly, read it and give it back to me when you're done."

Meng Chuan was delighted as he took it. With a thought, a massive amount of information flooded his mind.

"Thank you, Senior Thousand-Hands," Meng Chuan said, returning the golden tablet after memorizing its contents.

"For those I don't like, there's no intelligence given; they have to figure things out for themselves," Thousand-Hands chuckled proudly, his pupils rounding. "Alright, I'm going back to sleep. Don't wake me until you pass the trial." He then returned to his original spot, lay down, adjusted his eight claws to comfortably embrace himself, and resumed sleeping.

Meng Chuan felt a sense of fortune.

Whether to give the intelligence or not was entirely up to Senior Brother Thousand-Hands. Without the intelligence, it would be almost impossible to gather information on over fifty thousand forbidden creatures. Even with battle after battle, it would be difficult to truly understand the forbidden creatures' full capabilities. Moreover, many forbidden creatures were simply too bizarre and troublesome to deal with.

"Qianyuan Mountain has thirty-one Chaos Lords."

"There are five hundred sixty-nine peak Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures."

"There are nine thousand eight hundred and three top-tier Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures."

"And over forty thousand ordinary Seventh-Stage Tribulation Realm Chaos Creatures."

"Each has its own specialties."

Meng Chuan stood there, pondering the intelligence for a long time, considering which Chaos Creatures would be suitable targets. A gust of wind blew through the mountain, suddenly startling Meng Chuan.

He looked at the silent Qianyuan Mountain.

Senior Brother Thousand-Hands was in a deep sleep, and all the Chaos Creatures were sealed, held in a state of 'time stagnation'.

On the entire Qianyuan Mountain... only he was awake.

For a very long time, he would live here in solitude.