The interior of the Star Tower resembled a Buddhist pagoda.
Jiang Wang stood at its center, unsure of which floor he was on.
Glancing around, the ceiling, floor, and walls were all the color of gold dust.
And along the wall, at intervals, hung radiant golden Buddhist shrines.
Within the shrines were various golden Buddha statues, remarkably lifelike.
The manner in which this Star Tower appeared was not entirely the same as the Seven Star Tower that emerged when the Seven Star Secret Realm first opened, but it likely followed a similar principle.
Or one could say, Venerable Guanyan, through some means, imitated the scene of the Seven Star Secret Realm’s opening, thus completing his reception.
Jiang Wang could not see the outside, only feel the entire Star Tower moving.
Without a point of reference, it was impossible to judge the speed. But it was certainly faster than Tian Xili’s Dao art, and also faster than the streak of starlight Tian Anping had unleashed from the Assistant Minister Tower from afar.
Thinking of Tian Anping, Jiang Wang couldn’t help but wonder—
Was Jicheng his fortress, and the Assistant Minister Tower his military crossbow?
Jiang Wang had a very peculiar feeling the last time the imperial decree was delivered, as if Tian Anping’s inner mansion was externalized and refined together with Jicheng.
And on this night of sneaking into Seven Star Valley, he had shown another hand, launching an attack from afar through the Assistant Minister Tower, its might seeming no less than Tian Xili’s.
Were these all methods for Tian Anping to circumvent the cultivation封印? Under the restriction of Inner Mansion realm cultivation, utilizing the Assistant Minister Tower and Jicheng to indirectly use the power of the Divine Arrival realm?
He seemed to have placed his cultivation system outside his person, thereby escaping the seal imposed upon his flesh. In a sense, perhaps both the Assistant Minister Tower and Jicheng could be considered parts of his body…
He was truly a terrifying figure who shattered conventional understanding.
If he had not been sealed for these ten years, how terrifying would Tian Anping be today?
Tian Chang’s low profile and Tian He’s dormancy, while having their own purposes, were they not also because Tian Anping was too fearsome? They dared not emerge too quickly at the risk of being watched by Tian Anping.
Otherwise, with the abilities of these two, they would have already become prominent figures.
The Star Tower flew swiftly for a while, then suddenly stopped, not allowing Jiang Wang to ponder for too long.
Like a sand-built tower disintegrating in the wind, everything that constructed the Star Tower dissolved into points of stardust flowing in the air… all collecting in a single palm.
The owner of the palm wore a moon-white monk’s robe, his gleaming bald head reflecting a jade-white light, his face exceptionally refined.
It was indeed Guanyan.
This place was still dominated by towering ancient trees, the forest deep and obscuring the sun, which was why the starlight was so conspicuous.
But the surrounding environment, indeed, could not draw any attention away from Guanyan.
“Senior!” Jiang Wang said, with surprise, and certainly joy.
The last time he had left, Venerable Guanyan’s true spirit was merely wandering in the world’s crevices, and only with the aid of Su Qiyun’s Spirit-Hosting Jade could he briefly manifest.
Now, he had directly manifested his form, evidently having made a significant breakthrough.
Guanyan’s face showed some weariness, but his smile was still warm. He casually put away the cluster of stardust and simply said, “Little friend, follow me.”
Seeing Jiang Wang look at the stardust in his hand, he explained, “This is the Star Tower I erected when I achieved Outer Mansion back then. Because I spent some hard effort on it, it did not disintegrate even after my death, merely losing connection…
Later, in my current state, I no longer needed it. This time, to receive you, I specifically retrieved it. I used it to connect with the Seven Star Tower Secret Realm.”
This once again shattered Jiang Wang’s understanding!
So a Star Tower could be so powerful that it could exist independently even after one’s death!
So besides body refining, Dao exposition, and projecting starlight, a Star Tower could actually be used as a magic artifact!
He instantly felt that the Outer Mansion cultivators he had known and the Star Towers he had seen before all seemed unreal.
Venerable Guanyan seemed to fully anticipate Jiang Wang’s thoughts and explained again, “Of course, the Star Tower I erected back then was somewhat different from ordinary Star Towers. As I said, I spent some hard effort…”
This is only “somewhat different”? The “hard effort” you spoke of, to what extent was that effort…
Jiang Wang was speechless for a moment, but considering Venerable Guanyan’s ability of mind-reading, he dared not harbor excessive internal thoughts.
And Guanyan continued, “Don’t worry, I did not use mind-reading on you. It is my ability, but not my right, and I do not use it under normal circumstances. The last time you came to the Forest Sea Source Realm… my control over my true spirit state was not sufficient, unable to control the divine abilities I had recovered. Now I have them under control. The reason I seem to be able to see what you are thinking is just a general feeling, not the power of a divine ability…”
Jiang Wang could fully understand Venerable Guanyan’s words.
When he didn’t use the Illusionary Path divine ability, he could sometimes create the effect of Illusionary Path by grasping the flow of battle. This was a gradually formed inertia, or instinct, after gaining control over the divine ability.
Guanyan, possessing the divine ability of mind-reading, had witnessed countless human minds. Naturally, in most cases, he could see through some people without using the divine ability.
What truly moved Jiang Wang was Venerable Guanyan’s phrase, “It is my ability, but not my right.”
After gaining powerful strength, extraordinary cultivators easily develop the illusion of “I am a god,” seeing all living beings as grass, to be taken or given as they please.
But in Jiang Wang’s view, that was merely a manifestation of insufficient mental fortitude to wield the power.
With the power to glimpse into others’ thoughts, how many could resist the urge to do so?
Even Jiang Wang himself was not sure if he could.
He sighed, “For many, where their ability reaches, there lies their right…”
Guanyan gave him a deep look, “At least for little friend, this is not the case… We have arrived.”
It was only after this sentence fell that Jiang Wang suddenly realized he had unknowingly followed Guanyan to a fallen, rotten ancient tree.
This was an exceptionally large, decaying Divine Dragonwood, lying on the ground like a wall.
Jiang Wang naturally recognized it—this was the landmark for reaching the Forest of Hanging Skulls, which was also the nest of the Yan Xiao.
But he had just arrived in the Forest Sea Source Realm, and had clearly only followed Guanyan for two steps, so why had he already reached the Forest of Hanging Skulls? Back then, it had taken them quite some time to travel from the Divine Shade Land to the Forest of Hanging Skulls.
“This is the power of rules,” Venerable Guanyan’s explanation was always timely, rarely needing Jiang Wang to ask.
So it was Venerable Guanyan who had exerted influence, allowing them to reach here in just two steps!
Jiang Wang had some understanding.
He had experienced something similar once before.
When True Person Chongguang of Fishing Sea Tower sent him to the Misty Realm to cleanse his sins, the colors disappeared, the images peeled away, the scenes shifted… and he arrived in an instant.
But True Person Chongguang’s time was nowhere near as natural as Venerable Guanyan’s this time.
So natural that Jiang Wang felt throughout that he had only taken two steps, utterly effortless and without a trace of the mundane.
However, this was not the focus of this trip. Jiang Wang looked at the surrounding environment and couldn’t help but ask, “Senior, your calling me to the Forest Sea Source Realm this time… is it because a new Yan Xiao has been born?”
Apart from Venerable Guanyan, the Forest Sea Source Realm, this otherworldly domain, had another point that left a deep impression on Jiang Wang… that was the Yan Xiao.
The immortal evil bird, the fierce bird that devoured skulls.
“When the Yan Xiao cries, it must consume a hundred heads.”
Back then, their group had clearly killed the Yan Xiao, completing the so-called Dragon God Enthronement mission, but just before leaving the Forest Sea Source Realm… they heard the sound of the Yan Xiao again!
Therefore, when Venerable Guanyan mentioned having something to do in Xingyueyuan, Jiang Wang thought of the Yan Xiao.
Returning to the Forest Sea Source Realm this time, and Venerable Guanyan immediately leading the way to the Forest of Hanging Skulls, further confirmed his suspicions.
So he asked very directly.
And Guanyan, looking at the giant rotten wood before him, sighed softly, “The Yan Xiao has never died.”
“How can that be?” Jiang Wang could hardly believe his ears.
Their last trip to the Forest Sea Source Realm was when he, Wu Quji, Su Qiyun, and Qing Qishu had joined forces to fight and kill the Yan Xiao. Even Qing Qishu, who was always “hooking up,” had sacrificed himself in that battle.
After the battle, they had also dismembered the Yan Xiao. He had brought the Yan Xiao’s beak back to the mundane world and had Lian Que refine it into Killing Nail, which he then refined into Bu Zhoufeng…
All of this was real and undeniable.
How could the Yan Xiao have never died?
Then what did they kill?
Guanyan said, “What you killed last time… was a projection, a shell, a divine rank.”
“Projection? Shell? Divine rank?” The more Jiang Wang listened, the harder it was to understand.
Guanyan raised a finger and touched his forehead.
Mind-reading, also called “Knowing My Mind,” or “Understanding My Intent.”
Guanyan’s relevant memories slowly flowed into Jiang Wang’s mind this way—
More than eight hundred years ago in the Forest Sea Source Realm, the Yan Xiao was born from evil thoughts, knocking on doors begging for food, and devouring human skulls.
After numerous failed resistance efforts, the Forest Sea Holy Race decisively made the choice of “skull hunting.” They abandoned direct confrontation with the Yan Xiao and instead chose to extensively hunt and kill other tribes in the Forest Sea Source Realm, offering severed heads as sacrifices to the Yan Xiao, preserving their own race by sacrificing outsiders.
The Forest Sea Holy Race, protected by the Dragon God, was the strongest tribe in this realm. No other tribe could stop the Forest Sea Holy Race’s hunt.
From then on, the Forest Sea Source Realm entered a long period of darkness.
This was a history of cruel slaughter, a bloody tale of overflowing foul blood, and the chaos lasted for three hundred years.
In the era when Guanyan descended, the Forest Sea Source Realm was already in an environment of complete chaos. Hatred, slaughter, blood… all the evils of human nature surged in the Forest Sea Source Realm at that time.
If the Yan Xiao was the greatest demon in the Forest Sea Source Realm at that time, then the Forest Sea Holy Race was the most brutal executioner.
The “Dragon God Messengers” who descended at the same time as Guanyan were all captured and killed by the Forest Sea Holy Race, their heads devoured by the Yan Xiao. Only Guanyan was an exception…
Five hundred years later, Jiang Wang and others descended. The other “Dragon God Messengers” who descended in the same batch also died from various accidents. Only Jiang Wang, Su Qiyun, and Wu Quji survived, and helped the Forest Sea Holy Race, who were hiding in the Divine Shade Land, to kill the Yan Xiao and complete the Dragon God Enthronement mission…
But this was not the whole truth.
How was the Yan Xiao born?
Just like Jiang Wang at the time, Guanyan was also seeking the answer to this question.
According to ancient texts Su Qiyun had seen—
“After the owl dies, its evil thoughts persist. Among one hundred thousand owls whose heads are displayed, only one extreme evil bird, named Yan Xiao, will be born from a severed owl head.”
This was likely the oldest record concerning the Yan Xiao in the Heaven Stealing Mansion, recorded in a form similar to a legend.
It certainly had credibility.
But the Yan Xiao that caused the turmoil in the Forest Sea Source Realm was not born this way.
Guanyan, with the ability of mind-reading, could uncover the secrets of the human heart once he was determined to find an answer.
After “questioning” everyone who had direct contact with the Yan Xiao, especially “questioning” the previous generation of Forest Sea Holy Race elders before Elder Xiaofan…
Guanyan found the answer.
The Yan Xiao of the Forest Sea Source Realm was not naturally born from evil thoughts, but took shape under the deliberate cultivation of a certain existence.
And that existence… was the “Dragon God” of the Forest Sea Source Realm!
It was the Dragon God who created the Yan Xiao, inducing fear in the Forest Sea Holy Race.
It was the Dragon God who guided the Forest Sea Holy Race to choose to kill other tribes.
Including the later “Night Invasion” that swept across the entire Forest Sea Source Realm, killing countless living beings, which was also done by the Forest Sea Holy Race elders using forbidden arts and borrowing the Dragon God’s power! That was essentially a situation guided by the Dragon God!
So what was the Dragon God?
Why did the Dragon God do this?
Bearing the name of a deity, why did it become the source of all suffering in the Forest Sea Source Realm?
Guanyan began to trace the entire history of the Forest Sea Holy Race.
With immense courage and wisdom, risking his life, he alone explored the truth lost in time.
He discovered that the Forest Sea Holy Race was not initially a “Holy Race,” and even the Divine Shade Land, which was of great significance to the Forest Sea Holy Race, was snatched from other tribes.
It was only after believing in the Dragon God, gaining its protection, and being bestowed with its power… under the guidance of divine will, that the Forest Sea Holy Race gradually rose and strengthened, becoming the strongest tribe in the Forest Sea Source Realm, becoming the so-called “Holy Race.”
And finally becoming the masters of the Forest Sea Source Realm.
In this process, the Dragon God also grew stronger and stronger, gradually becoming the only true god of the Forest Sea Source Realm!
Guanyan’s memory ended here. This was the truth he had found in the history of the Forest Sea Source Realm. One should know that when he first descended upon the Forest Sea Source Realm, he was merely at the Inner Mansion realm of cultivation.
He was in opposition to the entire Forest Sea Source Realm, fighting against the Dragon God who created all the tragedies, and alone unraveling the history of this realm!
Jiang Wang’s mind was shaken, and he couldn’t help but ask, “So the Yan Xiao, the Night Invasion, the period of darkness… were all schemes by the Dragon God to strengthen itself? Just like supporting the rise of the Forest Sea Holy Race?”
The relationship between the Dragon God and the Yan Xiao explained many lingering doubts from the last time in the Forest Sea Source Realm, but also generated many new questions.
“I think it should be a continuation,” Guanyan said.
“Is that Dragon God trying to灭绝 the entire Forest Sea Source Realm? Or is it trying to devour it?” Jiang Wang became even more confused, “As a deity, killing its own believers, I truly cannot understand how it benefits from this!”
Although Jiang Wang did not claim to understand the cultivation of the divine path, he had some basic knowledge. After all, the nations of Hexi and Mu in the mundane world were divine path countries, and he had visited both. He had also come into contact with the White Bone Sect, which aimed to establish a mundane divine kingdom.
He knew that the divine path placed great importance on believers.
And this Dragon God, having painstakingly guided the Forest Sea Holy Race to grow, instead of focusing on unifying the faith of the entire Forest Sea Source Realm, went to great lengths to create the legendary extreme evil bird to kill the living beings of this realm.
It was truly perplexing.
“At first, I didn’t understand either. Later, I discovered that the Dragon God’s goal was not at all the divine position…”
Guanyan raised his head and looked at the sky—
“But it!”
Jiang Wang followed his gaze and saw only the lonely Jade Armillary Star, hanging high in the firmament!