Chapter 1305: A Mottled Picture Spanning Ancient and Modern Times

A mottled ancient scroll slowly unfolded, revealing countless chosen ones bleeding, their blood staining the vast cosmos. Nine dragons served as guides, piercing through the darkness, while a bronze coffin carried an unknown corpse—perhaps on a distant journey, perhaps defeated in battle, embarking on a lonely path to return home. It was a desolate scene, where the entire world fell silent.

Then, the scene shifted rapidly, showcasing various chaotic eras. Chosen ones who dominated their times and heroes who suppressed sections of ancient history appeared one after another, breaking through darkness and piercing eternity.

There were tragic, stirring beings with awe-inspiring imperial presence; unrivaled figures of extraordinary talent, looking down upon the past, present, and future; heroes at the end of their paths, staining the stars with their blood, unyielding and defiant; and powerful lords who roared defiance at the heavens, disbelieving in reincarnation, honoring only themselves.

The scenes rotated faster and faster until, in the end, the mottled years, the ancient past, and the former glory vanished too quickly. They spun so rapidly that it was overwhelming; even Chu Feng's soul-light, strong as it was, couldn't react in time.

This was a fragment of the mottled scroll activated by Number Nine!

Chu Feng felt this wasn't mere recollection or secret knowledge. Instead, it was like the entire history of an evolutionary civilization crashing down upon him, almost enough to shatter his mind. The information was too complex, too vast, and terrifyingly boundless.

And this was just the beginning. Next, endless grey mist, howling sinister winds, and a storm of blood and gore emerged, as many peerless powerhouses who dominated their respective eras all appeared...

The heavens and earth seemed on the verge of exploding—what kind of battle scenes were those?

Chu Feng was deeply shaken, but he truly couldn't bear it. The information was too immense, like an entire ancient history crashing down on him, utterly unbearable.

Most critically, all of this rushed at him in an instant. These scenes and imprinted fragments were tearing his soul apart.

"Too much! Highlight the key points, take it slow. I want to see them one by one..." Chu Feng's seven orifices bled, his vision blurred, and he was on the verge of fainting.

He saw more than just images; there was something else!

Vaguely, it seemed as if the killing intent and battle scenarios of those eras, those heroic spirits worthy of song and tears, those dark behemoths, and those powerful beings, both good and evil, were being transmitted through the mottled scroll. So many people, heroes from various eras, dominant figures in their respective grand ages... their combined "momentum" intertwined like surging rivers and seas, or the explosion of a primal world—it was unbearable!

"Stop!"

Chu Feng couldn't help but yell. He didn't want to risk himself just to explore Earth's past, though he genuinely wanted to part the clouds to see the clear sky, trace the history of evolution, and restore the glory of those years.

However, Number Nine's method was extremely domineering. What he was witnessing was a fragment of truth from legends he'd heard, or even seen firsthand. It overwhelmed him, forcibly crammed into Chu Feng's mind like colossal waves sweeping across a star sea. The disparity in their evolutionary levels was too vast, with no consideration for whether Chu Feng could endure it.

Aside from everything else, simply infusing Number Nine's divine consciousness memories and scenes into a low-level being like this would be fatal.

Number Nine nodded and remarked, "There's indeed something to you. I thought you wouldn't even be able to see a single image clearly, or at all. I didn't expect you could withstand it and even glimpse some imprinted fragments."

In truth, he was utterly astonished, his heart unsettled and deeply shocked.

Given Number Nine's status and immense power, Chu Feng actually managed to receive these imprints and glean some secrets from them.

Chu Feng immediately understood from Number Nine's recent words that he hadn't actually intended to show him these truths, but was merely testing him.

"Master Nine, a promise is a promise. Weren't you going to tell me some legends, some truths?" Chu Feng asked, looking at him.

Number Nine's greenish gaze fixed on him, attempting to see through him. It was indeed unexpected that Chu Feng had persisted for a moment instead of immediately screaming from the impact of the images.

Number Six also looked solemn and said, "There's something strange. He actually managed to receive some of the imprints you transmitted. He truly is a being from that place. Look at the special radiance in his soul-light. Has he been marked?"

Number Nine shook his head and said, "Impossible. He was merely born on that planet, tainted by strange soul-light matter, serving as a warning to outsiders."

"It is too brilliant, too glorious. Some beings cannot forget it, and thus take action, manifesting invisibly to deduce and evolve the old events of that planet. It is unfathomable. We cannot try to speculate on it, to avoid great disaster."

Number Six's expression was grave as he said this. He was even more cautious than Number Nine, even suggesting sending Chu Feng away immediately, never to be seen again, to avoid any involvement, fearing it might touch upon deeper underlying matters.

Number Nine said, "It's fine. No one will intervene like that. There were indeed invisible hands that once shrouded that planet and performed various deeds, but it was deemed a failure. That place is almost forgotten now. Even if there are supreme beings, they probably won't be constantly gazing at it, or even looking back. If every single detail mattered, what would become of it?"

Chu Feng spoke up, "Master Nine, what are you even talking about? Just continue showing me that mottled scroll!"

He was very thick-skinned. Regardless of the apprehensions or taboos, since it had started, he wanted to delve deeper. He wanted to see just how strange Earth truly was.

Could it be that he, who had once become a Divine King, was not the greatest expert Earth had ever produced?

Of course, if all those beings seen in the images just now originated from Earth, then... he felt he should be more modest, retract those words, and temporarily concede the title of greatest expert.

Number Nine smiled, but his facial expression was quite frightening, mainly because his body was so withered, like a layer of parchment puffed up.

"Aren't you afraid that being too greedy will incur great karma?" Number Nine asked. "Even we, who reside on the First Mountain, dare not touch it. And you want to uncover the truth and witness those bloody scenes?"

Chu Feng replied, "No, I'm not afraid. I was born for karma!"

He boasted shamelessly, showing no fear.

Number Nine said, "Some matters, some past events, if you understand them, you must inherit them. You will then have no choice but to walk down that broken path, proceeding alone in the darkness, searching for a way forward, constantly exploring, reconnecting that broken path. You will have to chase the faint footsteps left by those before you, witness the vanished truths. By then, retreat will be impossible."

"No big deal!" Chu Feng agreed instantly, but he had no idea what he was truly agreeing to inherit.

"Old Nine, you're playing with fire. You're not thinking of taking this thick-skinned kid under observation, are you? Don't send him on his way!" Number Six warned, his expression serious. He glanced at Chu Feng, feeling they shouldn't be rash. Old Nine had been too reckless just now; they absolutely couldn't get involved with people or things from that legendary place again.

"What if it triggers something unpredictable? The consequences would be severe!" Number Six warned further, his voice low.

"I know!" Number Nine nodded.

Chu Feng wanted to roll his eyes at Number Six. Couldn't he talk properly? Why call him thick-skinned again? Could they still have a pleasant conversation?

Number Nine looked at Chu Feng and said, "Actually, I've already given you a lot. The scenes just now, those past events, are very precious. Such contact, the collision of soul-light, is no less than implanting an ultimate scripture directly into your mind."

Chu Feng scoffed inwardly. An ultimate scripture in an instant like that? Who was he trying to fool?

He curled his lip and said, "Where's the ultimate scripture? The collision of soul-light mostly showed destruction. It's not like I personally experienced it to deepen my understanding of life. I only had a fleeting glimpse just now. Where was the collision? Where was the insight?"

Then, he looked doubtful and said, "However, in a daze, I saw their system and their evolutionary methods were completely different from ours. Is that truly the case?"

Number Nine nodded and said, "Yes, this is the brilliance that emerges when different evolutionary civilizations connect and collide. If you gain insight, it releases the most dazzling Heavenly Sound of the Great Dao, offering endless epiphanies."

Chu Feng said, "Master Nine, since you've said so much already, tell me more. What kind of figures have emerged from Earth? How come I don't know about them? And there are no legends of them in the Yang Realm. Or is it that I simply haven't learned about them, and in fact, Li, you, the Martial Maniac, and the being who unleashed that world-shaking sword light from the First Mountain all came from the Lesser Underworld?"

He was just rambling, mistaking all sorts of people for fellow natives.

"What are you thinking!" Number Nine glanced at him and said, "Some people, some events, are simply too ancient. The cosmic starry sky has almost forgotten them, let alone people of this era."

Chu Feng said, "Then go on, infuse another ultimate scripture into me. Show me that mottled scroll again."

Number Nine hesitated slightly, then pointed a finger. With a boom, the heavens and earth fractured, the star sea collapsed. True Lunar Water submerged the star sea, grey mist covered the ancient cosmos, and various terrifying scenes reappeared.

Chu Feng's body trembled as he watched again, but this time the information volume was even greater, crashing down on him. A single ancient history truly contained too much.

What he was currently exposed to was still merely a drop in the ocean. Even with continuous listening and contact with those old events, it was just a fragment of the past.

However, Number Six was moved; he felt it was uncanny. How could this kid withstand Old Nine's massive divine consciousness information, and for longer than before?

As time passed, Number Nine also gaped, feeling deeply bewildered.

"Impossible! With such an impact, his soul-light should have scattered long ago!"

In fact, Chu Feng had activated his previous life's Divine King Dao Fruit. The small grey millstone within him slowly rotated, transmitting the absorbed imprints into it.

Inside were the Divine King Dao Fruit and, moreover, the stone jar!

He used the stone jar for protection and the Divine King Dao Fruit to absorb all sorts of information.

Of course, the duration wasn't very long. Chu Feng cried out again, unable to bear it anymore. His glabella was bleeding, his soul-light fluctuated violently, and he had seen a great deal.

It was just that the imprinted scenes flowed too quickly; many he couldn't process in time.

"You actually managed to last this long?!" Number Six had a look as if he'd seen a ghost, though he himself looked more like an old ghost.

Then, he looked at Number Nine and whispered, "Do you think it's people who are reincarnating, or old events, or perhaps grand eras, or the universe itself? Or is there no true reincarnation at all?"

Such questions made Chu Feng's heart tremble violently, as the level involved was too high.

Number Nine's expression was solemn as he said, "As I've already told you, everything on that planet is due to supreme beings who could not forget, manifesting themselves, with several invisible hands interfering, trying to achieve a certain effect, but ultimately failing."

These words allowed for multiple interpretations, causing tumultuous waves to rise in Chu Feng's heart.

Before parting, Chu Feng watched the mottled ancient scroll provided by Number Nine one last time.

This time, he was even more deeply moved.

Although the scenes spun by rapidly, at the very last moment, the few sets of images he saw were incredibly profound, etched in his heart, impossible to erase.

A bronze coffin floated across the sky, adrift in the long river of time. Someone sat on it in solitude, following a river, watching the blood-stained sunset and observing the myriad worlds bleeding and strewn with corpses. He departed alone, his back solitary, forlorn, and somewhat desolate.

Another lay inside a coffin, burying themselves and bringing silence to the universe, as if awaiting revival. Unknowing of beginning or end, they drifted forever.

There was also an empty coffin, rising and falling in an unknown mist, as if waiting for something.

Some old events and things traversed the past, present, and future.