The Eternal Calamity of the Heaven-shading

Chapter 265 Xiaoyao
Chu Xiaoyao was completely shocked by what he saw. He didn't even notice the half-eaten piece of Poria cocos cake falling to the ground.

If it weren't for the fact that everyone in Changfeng Ancient City stopped to watch, they would almost have thought it was an illusion.

After a long while, Chu Xiaoyao finally came to his senses and hurriedly asked, "Master, what was that just now?"

This question was directed at an old Taoist priest named Zhao Yuanxing, who was dressed as a storyteller and did not look like a cultivator at all, but was a genuine expert at the fifth stage of the Dragon Transformation Realm.

"Did you see that crack just now?" Zhao Yuanxing's hoarse voice was filled with the aroma of tea. "You're lucky, kid. That was the sword energy left behind by Lingbao Tianzun more than 30,000 years ago, and it's still cutting down stars to this day."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiaoyao's eyes widened.

The next moment, he looked out the window again, hoping to find a trace left behind.

Zhao Yuanxing took a sip of tea, laughed, and scolded, "Don't be delusional, you silly boy. How could you possibly perceive the sword energy left behind by the Celestial Venerable? It appears roughly once every hundred years or so, with no fixed time. Anyway, you're lucky today, you just happened to run into it. But for ordinary people, they can only catch a glimpse, and it won't have any impact on them."

As if echoing his words, the teahouse, which had just fallen silent, instantly returned to its noisy state. All the cultivators present abandoned their original topics and began to discuss Lingbao Tianzun and his sword energy.

After listening for a while, Chu Xiaoyao asked curiously, "Master, is what they're saying true? Lingbao Tianzun, has He really lived for 100,000 years?"

"Yes, if we start counting from around 400,000 years into the Heavenly Venerable Era, that's about right," Zhao Yuanxing said.

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiaoyao became interested and asked hopefully, "Master, didn't you say you knew many of Lingbao Tianzun's secrets? Could you tell me about them?"

Shh...be quiet!

Zhao Yuanxing cautiously glanced around, feigning profundity.

"These are things I heard from highly accomplished elders; how could I possibly reveal them in public?"

"Please, Master," Chu Xiaoyao pleaded.

Seeing this, Zhao Yuanxing stroked his beard, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly nodded.

"Alright, since you're willing to follow me on the path of cultivation, I'll reluctantly give you some pointers."

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiaoyao was overjoyed and respectfully said, "Thank you, Master!"

“Lingbao Tianzun was a peerless figure from 100,000 years ago. During the era in which he rose to power, a most terrible corpse calamity occurred, but he managed to suppress it with his own strength. He was truly a genius of unparalleled talent,” Zhao Yuanxing said.

"Master, aren't these all old news?" Chu Xiaoyao asked, puzzled.

"What do you know? I haven't finished yet!" Zhao Yuanxing glared at him, looking displeased. "According to records, on the eve of Lingbao Tianzun's enlightenment, nearly twenty quasi-Tianzun appeared out of nowhere in Yinghuo and Zangtu, intending to intercept and kill him, but all of them were eventually killed."

"That battle caused a long period of desolation in all the heavens and myriad realms, and the primordial universe collapsed. It is etched in history and still sends shivers down our spines when we think about it today."

"After attaining enlightenment, Lingbao Tianzun toured the heavens one after another, focusing on attacking Yinghuo and Zangtu, and used the killing array diagram to refine many old corpses that were dormant inside."

At this point, Zhao Yuanxing paused, looked around, and then whispered, "Legend has it that Lingbao Tianzun comprehended the method of becoming an immortal from the calamity of corpses, enabling him to be reborn again and again. Moreover, in one of his later years, he even annihilated a true immortal."

"Is it really that powerful?" Chu Xiaoyao was astonished upon hearing this, his eyes filled with disbelief.

In response, Zhao Yuanxing replied with an impolite expression, "Nonsense, the Scripture of Salvation and the Secret of Character Formation were both passed down by Him, what do you think? Especially the Secret of Character Formation, which involves divine patterns, Dao traces, and magic talismans, etc. Since the beginning of the new era, it has gathered the culmination of the Dao of Arrays, and is unprecedented in history."

"Master, do you have any secret formulas for forming characters?" Chu Xiaoyao asked, his eyes shining.

In that instant, Zhao Yuanxing deflated like a punctured balloon.

"It will happen, it will happen." He awkwardly scratched his head and gave a sheepish smile. "But, your master here has mastered the Scripture of Salvation!"

Unexpectedly, the cultivator beside him overheard his words and immediately laughed, "Hahaha, you dare to boast about the 'Scripture of Salvation'? Isn't that a scripture that the Heavenly Venerable gave to almost everyone to control the corpse calamity? It can only fool ignorant fools." Hearing this, Zhao Yuanxing argued, "What do you know? This is the complete 'Scripture of Salvation,' which is far superior to the incomplete version you have. Besides, do you possess the secret of word formation?"

"Haha, sorry, but if it's an incomplete copy, I do have one," the man shouted.

These words drew laughter from the cultivators, and the teahouse was instantly filled with a joyful atmosphere.

"By the way, aren't you that old ghost Zhao? You claim to be a branch of the Zhao family on the Human Trial Road, making up relatives randomly. Be careful you don't get taught a lesson." Someone recognized Zhao Yuanxing's background and feigned surprise.

"Good disciple, let's go." Zhao Yuanxing's face flushed red, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

Completely bewildered, Chu Xiaoyao was pulled out of the teahouse, only to hear his master muttering under his breath, "It's just a fragment of an array, what kind of skill is that? It can only be fixed in one area, it's more practical for me to run away faster."

……

The ancient star that reaches the heavens returns to the Sword Gate.

Withered maple leaves drifted down onto the bluestone slabs. A young disciple of the Lamp Keeper lineage held the bronze life lamp, his fingertips gently caressing the coiled dragon patterns on the lamp base.

Rumble!
A muffled rumble came from the direction of the forbidden area behind.

"Uncle-Master, the 903rd star has fallen."

The boy suddenly looked up, watching the crimson streak of light streak across the sky and fall into the North Sea. "The Sword Manual records that the last time stars fell like rain was when the Heavenly Venerable successfully underwent his fifth incarnation..."

“Raise the lamp of life higher.”

The gray-robed, one-armed old man leaning against the pillar opened his cloudy right eye, while his empty left eye was covered with crisscrossing Taoist wounds.

"Do you see that wisp of blue flame in the lamp wick? Back then, when the Celestial Venerable suppressed the corpse calamity of the ancient star Yinghuo, it was this little flame that swept through the thirty-three layers of the Netherworld."

call……

The mountain wind swept through the corridor, carrying maple leaves, and the flame in the life lamp suddenly flickered violently.

The boy hurriedly made hand seals to stabilize the lamp, but then he saw the old man's withered hand pressing on the bottom of the lamp base. "Don't panic, this is a surge of spiritual energy caused by the dissipation of the Heavenly Venerable's Dao traces."

As he spoke, fine cracks suddenly appeared deep within the lamp wick, and the originally bluish-green flame began to gradually turn tinged with twilight.

Seeing this, the old man's eyes dimmed, and a sigh, like sandpaper being rubbed, escaped his throat.

"Ten thousand years is too long... Even a Heavenly Venerable who suppressed the corpse calamity and defied the immortals could not escape the backlash of the Great Dao accumulated over five lifetimes."

The boy remained silent, but deep within his pupils were quietly reflected the scattered fragments of Dao principles. The Immortal Slaughtering Sword Intent that had once suppressed the Corpse Calamity was now turning into fireflies and dissolving into the twilight.

"Uncle-Master, could it be that the Celestial Venerable has truly...?"

"Shh-"

The old man's one eye suddenly shone brightly, and his crippled left hand formed a profound magic seal.

At the last moment, the azure flame of the life lamp condensed into a lotus Dao seal. The instant the petals bloomed, a faint chanting sound resounded throughout the entire Tongtian Ancient Star.

In the next instant, the petals began to wither and turn to ash.

The old man stared blankly at the flower petals that had fallen into his palm, his voice extremely soft, as if afraid of disturbing something.

"Did you hear that? This is the Great Dao sending off the immortals... to their final moments."

(End of this chapter)