Chapter 152: Burial in the Wilderness, the Secret of the Holy Land
Chapter 152 – Burial in the Wilderness, the Secret of the Holy Land
The rumors stemmed from a single, terrifying detail: during the height of the conflict, figures were seen soaring out from the forbidden depths of the Sacred Ruins.
Whether this was truth or mass delusion, none could verify.
Yet, alongside those whispers, another fierce debate dominated the teahouses and sects alike.
It was said that after Wu Li broke the Kunlun Holy Land, he intended to rip them out by the roots, but his blade was halted by a single person.
This unknown figure engaged in a terrifying dispute with the conqueror. The ensuing clash of Pressure was so suffocating that all living beings within hundreds of miles were pressed flat against the earth, unable to raise their heads.
When the dust settled, Wu Li spared the remnants of the Kunlun Holy Land.
Naturally, the masses remained highly skeptical.
Wu Li was unrivaled beneath the Middle Heavens, his momentum practically crowning him the undisputed master of this era. Given such supreme status, who would dare shout at him, let alone stay his hand?
Woven through these grand debates was another lingering mystery: the blank space in Wu Li’s history, the years he had vanished from the world.
Many years later, fragments of a story would finally drift out of the Eastern Wasteland, speaking of that lost era.
Someone claimed to have glimpsed the peerless conqueror walking the Eastern Wasteland, trailing dutifully behind a young man.
…
In the deep wilderness.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
A young man swung a heavy iron hoe with rhythmic, mortal effort. Beside his growing trench lay a “corpse” entirely shrouded in writhing black mist.
The body was gruesomely mangled, substantial chunks of its flesh and bone utterly missing.
Yet, defying all logic of the mortal realm, the ruined husk still drew breath.
“Could you pause your digging for just a moment? As an old friend, shouldn’t we share a few words before my end?”
Hearing the raspy voice, the young man halted. He leaned his weight onto the hoe’s wooden handle.
“What is there left to say? You refuse to answer what I ask, so I might as well get you in the ground faster.”
“To be fair, if you hadn’t tripped over your own machinations this time, I truly might not have been able to put you down.”
“Hahaha!”
“To drag such an admission out of Chen Changsheng… does that mean I, Jiang Bufan, will leave my mark upon the annals of history?”
Indeed, the grave-digger was the eternal shadow, Chen Changsheng, and the shattered corpse was none other than the Kunlun Holy Land’s supreme ruler, Jiang Bufan.
“You will not,” Chen Changsheng replied, shaking his head. “Every record in the world will prove you perished in that grand battle.”
“This conversation will drown in the river of time. No one will ever know it happened.”
“Just as no one will ever know how you came to possess this Inauspicious Energy.”
The bloody ruin of Jiang Bufan’s lips curled into a smirk. “You still hunger for its origin, but I simply refuse to give it to you.”
“I, Jiang Bufan, swore to beat you by half a step, Chen Changsheng. Wu Li may be riding the wind as a conqueror, but his arrogance has provoked the Sacred Ruins.”
“When enough time passes, the ancient things sleeping within the Sacred Ruins will inevitably come to collect his head.”
Chen Changsheng’s expression remained as still as a frozen pond. He resumed his steady, rhythmic digging.
“Let them come. Holy Lands, forbidden zones… it makes no difference. There is nothing beneath the heavens that cannot be buried.”
“Though, I must admit, I never expected you to secure the absolute backing of the Sacred Ruins.”
“Had you not recklessly channeled the Inauspicious Energy and fractured the alliances within the Sacred Ruins, this war might have ended with mutual annihilation.”
“Who exactly sits in the shadows behind the Holy Lands? Why would Nalan Jing track me down and beg me to stay Wu Li’s hand against Kunlun?”
“Are you finally begging me?”
Jiang Bufan’s ruined face stretched into a grotesque, triumphant smile. He looked like the true victor of the era.
“You may interpret it however you wish.”
“Then what is my reward?”
“I will carve you a masterful coffin, and I give you my solemn vow that I will not erect a latrine over your grave.”
“A truly irresistible offer. Will you allow me to inspect my final resting place?”
With a flick of his wrist, Chen Changsheng summoned a heavy, pristine coffin from his spatial ring.
Hewn from a solid block of ancient spirit wood, it radiated a quiet, imposing luxury.
Jiang Bufan’s dimming eyes swept over the grain of the wood, and he nodded with genuine satisfaction.
“To struggle for supremacy all my life… only to find my greatest satisfaction in a hollowed-out log. The heavens truly have a cruel sense of humor.”
“For the sake of this fine timber, I will give you a sliver of truth.”
“There are entities far above us. The Holy Lands are nothing more than their watchtowers.”
“A hundred thousand years ago, this realm birthed a bearer of the Heaven’s Mandate.”
“Though our barren soil rarely nurtures such figures, when a Heaven’s Mandate bearer does rise here, they possess a brutality far surpassing ordinary realms.”
“A weed thriving in the harsh wilderness will always choke out a flower pampered in a greenhouse.”
“That ancient bearer severed the chains leading to the heavens, ripping our world entirely from their grasp.”
“But even a bearer of the Heaven’s Mandate cannot outlive time itself. The moment they turned to dust, we were left defenseless against the inevitable reckoning from above.”
“Fortunately, the Heavenly Dao has a twisted affection for us. A second bearer of the Heaven’s Mandate was born.”
Chen Changsheng paused his digging, his brow furrowing.
“Why was the second bearer’s reign so pitifully short?”
“Why do you think? Because their foundation was shattered in battle!”
“The monsters above wield such cosmic authority that even a Heaven’s Mandate bearer cannot simply sweep them aside with a single strike.”
“And what of the Limitless Heavenly Venerable?”
“Why did a being of his magnitude vanish after a mere few millennia?”
“And why did the Heaven’s Mandate itself fracture?”
“I do not know. The vanishing of the Limitless Heavenly Venerable is an unsolved riddle. No ancient text holds the answer.”
“Was it the doing of those above?”
“Unlikely. The watchers above are terrifying, but the bearer is the absolute chosen of the Heavenly Dao.”
“They might wound a Heaven’s Mandate bearer, but to outright slaughter one is impossible. If a bearer burned their life essence in a final stand…”
“The cosmic backlash would be apocalyptic. An event of that magnitude could never be erased from history.”
Absorbing these revelations, Chen Changsheng gave a slow, measured nod. He discarded the hoe and began tracing the intricate lines of a Formation into the damp earth.
Watching the lethal array take shape, Jiang Bufan chuckled weakly. “Let us talk a little longer. Why the rush to reduce me to ash?”
“Keep talking. I will keep working. The two do not conflict.”
“By the way, when exactly will the heavens re-establish their chains to our world?”
“The moment Wu Li fully assumes the Heaven’s Mandate, the bridge will be rebuilt.”
“That is the real reason Nalan Jing begged you to spare Kunlun. To think the once-proud Holy Master of the Purple Mansion has been reduced to a frightened, sentimental woman… it is a bitter disappointment.”
“Were I in Wu Li’s place, I would have burned Kunlun to the bedrock without a second thought.”
“Even an insect must have the courage to raise its mandibles against the sky.”
“And we are far more than insects. Since our fates are already sealed, why not draw steel and declare war on the gods themselves?”
Gazing into the unyielding, warlike inferno still burning in Jiang Bufan’s dying eyes, Chen Changsheng felt a rare pang of genuine regret.
Had this man not crossed paths with the Undertaker, had he not been born in the same era as the monstrously gifted Wu Li… he truly might have ascended to claim the Heaven’s Mandate.
“We have spoken enough. Are you truly taking the origin of the Inauspicious Energy to the grave?”
“Hahaha!”
“Since you possess such boundless wisdom, guess!”
“If you deduce the truth, you win.”
Chen Changsheng did not waste another breath. He stomped his foot, activating the Formation. A pillar of blinding, Dao-fueled fire instantly swallowed Jiang Bufan’s broken body.
Even as the supreme flames incinerated his flesh, Jiang Bufan uttered no cry of agony. Instead, his burning gaze locked onto Chen Changsheng’s calm face.
“Are you really him?”
For the span of a single, heavy breath, Chen Changsheng stood silent amidst the roaring inferno. Then, he spoke.
“I am.”
The answer struck Jiang Bufan like a physical blow. Then, from the heart of the fire, a wild, euphoric laughter erupted.
“Hahaha!”
“It is you! No wonder you look down upon the struggles of this world like dust in the wind. You are the apex predator of this entire realm!”
“Chen Changsheng! When the day comes, you must slaughter your way into the upper realms! The ultimate truths are waiting for you up there!”
With those final, defiant words echoing into the night, Jiang Bufan’s physical form crumbled into a mound of pristine gray ash.
Sweeping the remains into a simple earthen jar, Chen Changsheng methodically sealed it within the spirit wood coffin. He filled the earth, completing the burial with the practiced grace of a seasoned professional.
When the unmarked earth was settled, he placed a single, unadorned stone. As always, he signed the marker with a singular title: “The Undertaker.”
His duty fulfilled, Chen Changsheng turned his back on the lonely grave and vanished into the void, stepping towards the Purple Mansion Holy Land.
…