Gu Qingfeng had heard some rumors about that dark period of the Ancient Era.
It was said that in the early part of the Ancient Era, although the world was not as vibrant with all things flourishing and spiritual veins everywhere as it is now, the Great Natural Order was still full of vitality, brimming with spiritual energy. Cultivation sects blossomed like a hundred flowers vying for splendor, prosperous and thriving.
Then suddenly one day, Yin and Yang were reversed, the sun and moon both fell, the laws of the Great Natural Order fell into chaos, triggering catastrophic storms of natural disasters. Many powerful cultivators perished in them, and many sects suffered annihilation, plunging the world into darkness for a full hundred years.
By the time the sun and moon restored themselves, a hundred years had passed. Only, the Great Natural Order had already vanished. It was from that time onward that the Ancient Era became impoverished in spiritual energy and resources…
And it remained that way until the very end of the Ancient Era.
No one knew exactly what had happened back then.
Even fewer knew why the Great Natural Order had suddenly collapsed and never reappeared.
The history of that dark period was completely blank.
Now, hearing Chu Jiaohong suddenly mention the Wu Dao Age, Gu Qingfeng pondered: Could it be that the falling of the sun and moon and the collapse of the Great Natural Order back then were related to the Wu Dao Age?
Just as he was wondering, Chu Jiaohong waved her hand. Light blossomed, and a teleportation array abruptly appeared in the air.
“If you want to know, follow me.”
With that, Chu Jiaohong directly stepped into the teleportation array and vanished in a flash.
Since it concerned the Wu Dao Age, Gu Qingfeng didn’t hesitate either. He told Fei Kui to wait where he was, then leaped straight into the teleportation array and disappeared.
When Gu Qingfeng reappeared, he was standing amidst a desolate, ruined wasteland.
In the sky above, there was neither sun nor moon. As far as the eye could see, there was only darkness. The natural environment was exceptionally harsh. Forget spiritual energy, there wasn’t even air. There was no Yin or Yang, nor the Five Elements. Flying sand filled the sky, and everywhere was lifeless and still.
This should be the Yanyue Ruins.
Only, it was vastly different from the Yanyue Ruins he had stumbled into all those years ago. Back then, although it was also a ruin, there were at least plenty of remnants. Now, only a desolate wasteland of ruins remained.
In the past, his cultivation had been weak, his knowledge shallow, and with dangers lurking everywhere, he hadn’t had the chance to investigate carefully. He had only heard that the Yanyue Ruins were the remains of a sect that had suffered annihilation during that dark period of the Ancient Era, and that it was the once-famous Yanyue Sect.
But now it seemed this was not the case at all. This place was definitely not merely the Yanyue Ruins; it was a spatial secret realm, and a broken one at that.
“What exactly happened back then?”
Endless darkness.
Endless dead silence.
Endless wind and sand.
Chu Jiaohong stood in the air. At some point, her previously elegantly coiled hair now hung loose and wild, dancing wantonly in the wind and sand. Clad in a resplendent gown of bright crimson, she appeared exceptionally bewitching amidst the endless darkness, especially her beautiful face, as enchanting as a rose blooming in a sandstorm.
“Didn’t you just say you had no interest in what happened back then?”
“That was then. Having no interest then doesn’t mean I have no interest now.”
Gu Qingfeng’s long hair also danced wildly in the wind and sand. Unlike Chu Jiaohong, clad in a robe of white, he appeared exceptionally solitary and aloof in the darkness, like an ancient, tenacious tree growing stubbornly in a desolate ruin.
“Tell me, why are you so interested in the Wu Dao Age?”
Chu Jiaohong’s voice came, as if brooking no doubt.
“The Wu Dao Age is known as the most mysterious era between Heaven and Earth. Anyone would be interested in it. I am human, so naturally I’m no exception.”
“I want to hear the truth.”
“That is the truth.”
Chu Jiaohong stared at Gu Qingfeng, and Gu Qingfeng looked back at her. Neither spoke again, both sinking into silence.
“You are not from the Wu Dao Age.”
Suddenly.
Chu Jiaohong inexplicably uttered these words, which, reaching Gu Qingfeng’s ears, truly left him utterly perplexed.
He tentatively asked, “Could it be… you are?”
“I am not, but I have seen people from the Wu Dao Age.”
Good heavens!
This was explosive news.
“When did you see them? Was it when that dark history began?”
Chu Jiaohong nodded.
Gu Qingfeng asked again, “Why do you say I’m not from the Wu Dao Age? Do I look very much like someone from the Wu Dao Age?”
“You give me that feeling. Although I don’t know why, I know you are not from the Wu Dao Age.”
“What kind of feeling do people from the Wu Dao Age give you?”
“Illusory and elusive, real yet false, within Heaven and Earth, yet not within Heaven and Earth. You can see them, but you cannot probe them. Like gods and ghosts.”
For some reason, after hearing Chu Jiaohong’s words, a person suddenly sprang into Gu Qingfeng’s mind: Jun Xuanji.
All along, Jun Xuanji had given him the feeling of being illusory and elusive, real yet false. You could see her, yet you could not probe her. Clearly within Heaven and Earth, yet as if not within Heaven and Earth. The feeling was eerie, like looking at a mountain that is not a mountain, yet the mountain is still a mountain—indescribable and inexplicable.
Remembering Jun Xuanji, Gu Qingfeng pressed further, “Who was that person from the Wu Dao Age you saw back then?”
“A mad old man, three insane women, and six mysterious, bizarre experts.”
Gu Qingfeng’s heart stirred. He continued questioning, “Do you know their names?”
“I do not.”
Chu Jiaohong shook her head, as if recalling something, and said, “In the early part of the Ancient Era, roughly a hundred thousand years ago, in this world, Yin and Yang suddenly reversed, the sun and moon inexplicably fell, the Five Elements scattered, and the laws of the Great Natural Order gradually collapsed. Above the heavens, there was the torrential descent of Dao Essence Slag. Below the earth, there were fissures opening into abyssal chasms tens of thousands of feet deep. Within the world, chaotic spatial black holes erupted.”
“So severe?”
Gu Qingfeng didn’t know exactly what had happened during that dark period of the Ancient Era, but he could vaguely guess something terrible must have occurred, perhaps even more terrifying than imagined. Now, hearing Chu Jiaohong’s account, he realized how horrifying the events of that time had been. Not only had the laws of the Great Natural Order collapsed, but there had even been Dao Essence Slag.
The appearance of Dao Essence Slag signified the collapse of the Great Dao. If the Great Dao had truly collapsed back then, then what exactly had happened?
“At that time, the Immortal Dynasty vanished in an instant. All the great cultivation nations, great sects, and major schools suffered annihilation in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. I clearly remember, a mountain, mysterious beyond mystery, wondrous beyond wonder, appeared out of thin air, just inexplicably manifesting in the air, evolving and transforming amidst the Dao Essence Slag and the spatial black holes.”
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng’s expression stiffened. He asked, “Could it be… Mount Wu Dao?”
“I don’t know. I truly don’t know.”
Chu Jiaohong murmured to herself, continuing, “I only know it was an illusory, elusive mountain, a mountain of shifting reality and illusion, truth and falsehood. It was a mountain that seemed to be within this Heaven and Earth, yet also seemed not to be within this Heaven and Earth.”