The Yao Sage glanced at Bao Gu, who was sitting silently to the side, then at the Empress of Yue, and then swept her gaze over the more than a hundred Yue ministers in the hall.
She said, “As everyone knows, I’m just a yao cultivator, and shouldn’t meddle in human affairs.
But since I’ve taken Bao Gu as my disciple, and serve as a guest elder of Xuantian Sect, and since the Archaic Mountains are nominally under Xuantian Sect’s control, and the matter of the Ba happened there, and I know a thing or two about it, please forgive me for speaking out.”
Si Ruo said, “Please, Yao Sage, enlighten us.”
The Yao Sage asked, “I want to know, before this, did Yue have any rumors about the Ba?”
Si Ruo replied, “Since the founding of Yue, the Archaic Mountains have always been there, but we knew nothing about them.
It wasn’t until last time, when I led people with Bao Gu and the Kan Gang into the mountains, that we started to learn about them.
Afterwards, we sent people to investigate, even paid a hefty price to buy information from the Kan Gang, and got some news about the Ba, but it was all vague and confusing.”
The Yao Sage said, “Then let me tell you a story I read in an ancient text.”
Everyone in the hall turned their eyes to the Yao Sage, many with confusion and speculation in their eyes: could the Yao Sage know the origin of the Ba?
They also wondered, the Yao Sage is a yao, and only at the Void Tearing stage, coming from the distant snowy lands—how could she possibly know about the Ba?
The Yao Sage said, “The story takes place who knows how many tens of thousands of years ago, when there was no division between the cultivation world and the mortal world—everyone was a cultivator.
Immortals, yao immortals, and ghost immortals all existed, and there were more immortals then than there are Void Tearing cultivators now.
Cultivators were organized into sects, tribes, clans, or families, and the yao were divided by race into various tribes.
Back then, this world was connected to the heavens and the yao realm.
If you ascended the Immortal Platform and survived the True Immortal Tribulation, you could advance from Earth Immortal to True Immortal, cross the Heavenly Gate, and enter the upper realm.
The Immortal Platform and Immortal Gate were in the Sealed Heaven Forbidden Domain, just a few hundred li from the Ba’s coffin.”
The hall was silent, everyone listening to the Yao Sage.
The Yao Sage continued, “One day, a blood-red sun hung in the sky, and nine bolts of purple-gold world-destroying tribulation lightning fell from the heavens, all striking the same spot.”
Si Ruo asked, “What is the purple-gold world-destroying tribulation lightning?”
The Yao Sage said, “When an immortal defies the heavens and is rejected by the Dao, the purple-gold world-destroying tribulation lightning descends.
Its power is immense, like divine punishment, with the might to destroy the world.
The lightning is purple-gold, hence the name.
The difference from divine punishment is that divine punishment doesn’t stop until you die, while the purple-gold tribulation is nine strikes—if you survive, the tribulation ends.
It’s said that if you survive it, you gain an immortal, indestructible body, with power rivaling a Da Luo Golden Immortal from the upper realm!”
Si Ruo’s eyes turned cold, and she spat out a word: “Ba?”
The Yao Sage said, “I don’t know! After the nine bolts of purple-gold tribulation lightning, many powerful figures rushed over, only to see a thousand li of land turned to scorched red earth, shrouded in bloody, deathly energy.
The sky, clouds, and moon were all stained blood-red.
The scene was very similar to the Ba’s emergence today, except back then only a thousand li became a dead zone, while now the entire Archaic Mountains have become one, and there’s no blood moon in the sky today.”
A Yue minister asked, “And then?”
The Yao Sage said, “After that, terrifying things started happening everywhere.
Dead people and animals appeared all over, dragging their rotting or skeletal bodies, shrouded in bloody, baleful energy, with eyes burning like flames.
When they saw the living, they’d go mad and attack.
Some living things were eaten to the bone on the spot, and those gnawed to the bone would rise again, shrouded in that deathly energy, and attack the living once more… It was like a plague: the corpses of those bitten would rise and attack more people and animals.
They appeared day and night, wave after wave, impossible to wipe out.
As time passed, their numbers grew, and stronger ones appeared.
It wasn’t just villages and towns suffering anymore—city after city became empty, city after city became dead zones.
Wherever they appeared in force, bloody, baleful energy would form, swallowing city after city, mountain range after mountain range, with more and more dead, even Earth Immortals falling to their attacks.”
A Yue minister cried out, “Earth Immortals? Impossible! Those things shrouded in bloody, baleful energy—were they created by the Ba?”
The Yao Sage nodded.
“Yes.
The humans and yao stopped fighting and joined forces to investigate the source.
Many yao immortals and Earth Immortals led armies into the blood-shrouded lands to investigate.” She paused for a long moment before saying, “Countless died.”
Si Ruo asked, “And then? Did they find the Ba? Did humans and yao seal it in the Archaic Mountains together?”
The Yao Sage shook her head.
“It wasn’t that simple.
That was just the beginning.”
At these words, the hall erupted again, some not believing it—this was only the beginning?
The Yao Sage was silent for a while, then said, “After entering the blood-shrouded lands, they found a world turned to hell.
A blood-red world, all life dead, plants rotting on the ground, corpses walking everywhere, corpse-birds flying, all madly attacking anyone who entered.
At first, everyone thought that anyone who died there would become one of these corpse ghosts or corpse yao, until… they saw the Corpse City.”
Bao Gu cried out, “Corpse City? You mean a city built from corpses?”
The Yao Sage said, “Yes, a city built from corpses, with bodies forged into bricks and tiles, souls sealed inside to suffer endlessly, never to reincarnate…”
Bao Gu sucked in a breath.
“Why?”
The Yao Sage said, “Building a city from corpses, drawing life from endless death, using that spark of life to rebuild flesh.
The Ba, after surviving the purple-gold tribulation, gained an immortal body, but was left with only bones, a head, and an unyielding will.
The Ba needed to rebuild its body.
It was a living thing made from corpses, and could only gain energy from the life born of death.”
Bao Gu cried, “Then the Corpse City in the ancient ruins… is it related to the Ba?”
The Yao Sage said, “Even if it’s not, it must have been learned from the Ba.” She paused, then said, “Humans and yao joined forces, and after paying a terrible price, finally destroyed city after city of corpses, and found the Ba! By then, the Ba had rebuilt its body.
When the Ba appeared in the world, the real catastrophe began, with countless dead.
Humans and yao begged the upper realm for help.
There are only two ways for upper realm beings to come here: one, project themselves down with great power, but the projection only has a fraction of their true strength, not enough to fight the Ba.
Even a Da Luo Golden Immortal’s projection was defeated by the Ba.
The second way is to cross realms in person, but the world’s Dao will strip their immortal roots, dropping their cultivation—if lucky, to the Tribulation or Great Ascension stage, if not, straight to Nascent Soul! Even so, many upper realm experts came, but with their strength greatly reduced, they couldn’t subdue or destroy the Ba.
One upper realm being said, to destroy the Ba, you’d have to drag her into the Immortal Gate and up to the upper realm, and have a true Da Luo Golden Immortal act—but how could that be done? Later, another yao immortal from the upper realm came, bringing nine chains of divine metal, a blood coffin, and a Prison-Breaking Blood Lotus.
He gathered the strongest humans and yao, and told them to use the lotus’s red lotus karmic fire against the Ba, and to seal her in the blood coffin with the strongest powers of both races, bind the coffin with the divine chains and the blood lotus, and suppress the Ba in the Nine-Dragon Ascension Array, using the nine dragon veins to draw the world’s feng shui and spiritual power, and set up the Sealed Heaven Forbidden Domain to keep the Ba suppressed forever.” She stopped here.
Bao Gu saw the Yao Sage lost in thought and asked, “Aunt Sage, what happened after that?”
The Yao Sage said, “That yao immortal from the upper realm was weakened to Nascent Soul stage, so he handed the divine chains, blood coffin, and blood lotus to the humans and yao.
Together, they fought the Ba, paid a terrible price, and finally sealed her in the blood coffin.
It’s said they used up all the Earth Immortals of the time.” She took a deep breath.
“The humans lost their place of ascension to the upper realm as the price.
It was a bitter price, and the humans were unwilling, because the yao still had their ascension site.
The humans and yao had always fought, and only the Ba’s appearance made them stop.
The humans, unwilling to lose their ascension site, knew the yao would never give theirs up, so they launched a surprise attack! The yao, already devastated from fighting the Ba, were caught off guard and nearly wiped out—the yao couldn’t keep their ascension site, and in anger at the humans, chose mutual destruction and blew up the ascension site! That yao immortal from the upper realm could never return, and died here.
Before dying, he wrote everything down in detail.
He left one last sentence: ‘The human heart is more terrifying than the Ba.’” She looked up, sweeping her gaze over the hall.
“That’s everything about the Ba, all that happened.
This disaster was started by humans, and now only you humans can bear it.”
Si Ruo asked, “Why didn’t humans leave any records about the Ba to warn future generations?”
The Yao Sage said, “The divine chains and blood coffin to bind the Ba were given by the yao immortal, the blood lotus too, the Sealed Heaven Forbidden Domain was set up by the yao immortal, and in the end, the yao were nearly wiped out by the humans.
How could the humans write that history? Write it down, tell future generations what they did? Tell them the Archaic Mountains hold countless sacred artifacts and the yao’s great array? Or fill the pages with lies? One lie needs countless more to cover it, and if there’s even a crack, with so many artifacts and secrets in the Archaic Mountains, people would come searching, and any leak would bring disaster.
The best way is to bury it all in history, as if it never happened.”
Si Ruo’s eyes shifted, suddenly thinking of something.
She asked, “Did you know the secret of the Archaic Mountains before you entered? Did you know the Ba was sealed inside?”
The Yao Sage said, “Before entering, I didn’t know the Archaic Mountains were the Ba’s prison.
Even when I met Rong Ruyu, I hadn’t remembered.
Only after entering the Sealed Heaven Forbidden Domain and seeing the Ba’s coffin did I recall what I’d read about the Ba, and realized where we were.
That’s why I made those requests of you.
I thought with me and Xuantian Sect guarding this place, the Ba would never see daylight again, but I still underestimated human greed.
I never imagined the Prison-Breaking Blood Lotus used to suppress the Ba would be refined by her into a magic tool and worn on her head! What you’re facing is a Ba even more terrifying and powerful than before, and now humans have no support from the upper realm, no alliance with the yao—you’re on your own.” She finished, stood up, and reached out to Zi Yunshu.
Zi Yunshu tugged on Bao Gu’s sleeve and said, “Bao Gu, let’s go.” She placed her hand in the Yao Sage’s, and left with her.
Bao Gu stood up and said to Si Ruo, “Farewell.”
Si Ruo rose to see them off.
She accompanied them all the way to the palace gates, then called softly, “Bao Gu,” and said, “I don’t want to judge human nature or the human heart.
I just want to say, I can’t control the cultivation world, but I can control Yue.
Yue is mine to rule.
I know the current cultivation world can’t handle the Ba, and soon the old disaster will return.
While the Ba is still bound by the divine chains, this is the best time to act.
In all the world, only the yao empress’s eldest princess can deal with the Ba! I want to ask you to invite her.
I swear on my life as Empress of Yue, I will never betray you or her.
Yue will always remember your deeds, will always befriend the yao, and if the ascension path is ever restored, if the princess wants to restore her country, Yue will help with all its might, no matter the cost.”
Bao Gu said quietly, “Si Ruo, I’m tired.”
Si Ruo looked into Bao Gu’s eyes, which were full of dullness, exhaustion, and sorrow.
Bao Gu looked at the blood-red sky and said, “I really wanted Xuantian Sect to settle in the Archaic Mountains.
Grandmaster and I had already discussed how to build it, even planned for the future.
But in a blink, it was all wiped out by the combined forces of the cultivation world.
Now you want me to go to the yao realm and beg my master to save this world!”
Si Ruo said, “Not to save the cultivation world, to save Yue! I promise, Yue promises, to give Xuantian Sect a new, spirit-rich home.
Whatever Xuantian Sect or the yao realm want, just ask, we can discuss anything.”
Bao Gu said, “Xuantian Sect doesn’t need a home anymore, and my master can’t save the cultivation world.” With that, she walked out of the palace.
Si Ruo called loudly, “Bao Gu!”
Bao Gu stopped, not looking back, and said, “Si Ruo, I understand everything you’ve done and asked for.
Yue named Xuantian Sect as a master sect, and the blood oath alliance we made still stands! I won’t ask my master to act, but if Yue faces disaster, I and Xuantian Sect will do all we can to help.” With that, she used her shrinking-the-ground technique to catch up with the Yao Sage and Zi Yunshu, and together they headed for the Kan Gang branch.
Si Ruo watched Bao Gu go, sighing heavily.
She walked toward the Golden Throne Hall under the blood-red sunset, feeling heavier than ever before.
They all said the cultivation world was about to enter a golden age, but what she smelled, heard, and felt was the coming of the end.
Who could find a sliver of hope to survive the coming catastrophe?
