Ou Yangming was only a top-grade Spiritualist at the moment.
Even top-grade Venerable Ones could not solve the disaster that had existed for tens of thousands of years so how could he do it?
One should act according to one"s abilities—this could be applied anywhere. If Ou Yangming rolled up his sleeves and asked people not to worry and count on him, he would be overestimating his abilities without knowing where he stood.
Although Ou Yangming was proud, he wasn"t a fool. On the contrary, he was very shrewd and meticulous, hence he naturally would not say anything like that. Of course, in the face of a great disaster, the young fellow would still prepare for it and do what he could.
Outside the ancient tower, Multi-armed King Kong stood by the black river. Its aura was extremely violent, and it faintly showed signs of going berserk.
It could not help but worry because ever since Ou Yangming entered the ruined ancient tower, the contract between them seemed to be blocked by an invisible power in its spiritual world. No matter how much the king kong called out to the young fellow, he did not answer. Moreover, when it probed inside the tower with its mental power, a visible ripple appeared on the tower to absorb its mental power.
Multi-armed King Kong"s face darkened. It looked at the big bamboo rat and questioned coldly, “What"s going on? Why can"t I feel Master"s aura right after he entered the ancient tower?”
The bamboo rat sat quietly under the big bell and opened its eyes. It looked like it had gone through the vicissitudes of life as it answered in a low voice, “Don"t be anxious as it"s not the time yet. Even if you"re impatient, it"s useless. When it"s time for them to come out, they"ll come out.”
Its words made Multi-armed King Kong gnash its teeth. The violent aura on its body spread out in all directions. With a m.u.f.fled roar, its Qi momentum surged endlessly like drizzles during the rainy season of the plum rain. A dark light flickered on the king kong"s fists, and an illusory ancient ape that looked exactly like it seemed to have descended from ancient times. Its aura felt distant.
Multi-armed King Kong"s right arm bulged, then it suddenly threw a punch at the worn-out ancient tower like a furious tornado.
Its Qi force rumbled, causing the spiritual Qi within tens of meters in front of him to explode and countless tiny cyclones to be condensed out of thin air. Nonetheless, the moment it got close to the ancient tower, a dark light flashed on top, and a strange cold wind blew over. The awe-inspiring punch instantly dispersed, and not even a ripple was created. The anger in the king kong"s eyes became more intense.
It was at this moment 2 light spots flashed on the ancient tower. The lights were dim and yellow, and they were very obvious.
The big bamboo rat chuckled and said, “Fellow friend, there"s no need to worry. They"ve entered the second level of the ancient tower.”
Multi-armed King Kong was startled. Only then did the Qi force on its body dissipate, and the illusory ancient ape behind it also faded away.
Meanwhile, the little bamboo rat kept squeaking beside the big bamboo rat, which did not find it annoying and quietly listened. From time to time, it would throw a stone into the black river and seem carefree.
After the light spots flashed once on the ancient tower, they kept flashing as if it was addicted.
Each time they flashed, it meant that Ou Yangming and Big Yellow were in that position.
“The third level, the fourth level…” it was not until the seventh level that the flickering lights slowed down.
Multi-armed King Kong was no longer worried. It sometimes looked into the distance, other times at the ancient tower. All in all, it was in a great mood. On the other hand, Ou Yangming, who was in the ancient tower, was in a terrible mood at the moment as he felt like his heart was in a mess. The young fellow initially thought that he could find some clues in the tower that would allow him to understand something more substantial.
Who knew, he had already seen 7 murals as there was one on each floor, but he was still clueless. His thoughts were in a mess where the more he sorted them out, the messier they became.
Ou Yangming breathed out murky air and went up the yellow stairway to the eighth floor.
This time, the painting made Ou Yangming"s face change drastically, and he began to breathe rapidly.
It was because the mural depicted Mount Return Sword outside the Forest of Death. Its peak was like a longsword that was stained with blood, incredibly sharp, and pierced straight into the clouds. However, the mountain was surrounded by a small village at the moment, and there were only 40 to 50 households. Smoke curled up while a small river surged.
Ou Yangming entered the world inside the painting with a flash of thought.
He saw an elder walking over from afar. The elder had a white beard and his clothes were tattered. He was travel-worn and carried a square and average-sized sword case on his back. The sword case was wrapped in a layer of rags, and it gently swayed behind him when he moved.
A 6 or 7-year-old child was holding a curved leaf in his right hand. There was water on the leaf, and a small goldfish was swimming inside. The child"s gaze was so pure that it could make one"s heart tremble. When he saw the elder, despite looking slightly fearful, he seemed to be more intrigued. Without thinking much, he approached the elder with cheerful steps.
He asked with a smile, “Old man, what are you doing here?”
The elder half-squatted down and smiled amiably. He touched the child"s head and answered softly, “I"m just pa.s.sing by. What"s this place?”
The child thought for a moment and simply answered, “This is Little River Village!”
He then looked at the sword case behind the old man and pointed at it. “What"s in this?”
“A treasure sword!” The old man"s voice was gentle, but it carried a sense of vicissitudes that could not be sensed by children.
“Wow, really? I haven"t seen a treasure sword before!” The child exclaimed with excitement.
The old man carrying the sword case lifted the ribbon on his shoulder, causing the case to move up 5 centimeters. He asked with a smile, “What"s your name?”
“Xu Aoran!” The child was still staring at the sword case without blinking.
“That"s a great name,” the old man praised.
The old man and the child looked at each other without saying anything. After some time, Xu Aoran bit his lower lip gently and showed a reluctant look in his eyes as he expressed, “Here—this is for you. Can you show me the sword?” He handed over the curved leaf in his hand. A goldfish was inside.
“A goldfish?”The old man frowned.
“No!” Xu Aoran pretended to be old and mature. He shook his head and uttered, “This is my childhood.” As soon as he finished, he had a proud look on his face.
The old man, who had not been perturbed for 1,000 years, was stunned for a moment. He nodded then reached out for the goldfish.
Without him making any move, the sword case behind him rolled up and tore the rags on it. Quickly after, a green light shot out, and a 1-meter-long sword let out a low cry. Its sword Qi was vast and mighty, where it could travel 4,500 kilometers away and remain in the world for 300 years.
The old man raised his arm slightly and pointed with his finger, then he swept the longsword outward and caused a deafening sound to be heard. Not far away, Mount Return Sword, which was as sharp as a sword and was embedded in the clouds, was swept away by the sword Qi.
“Do you want to learn?” The old man smiled smugly.
“Yes!” Xu Aoran nodded. Following that, the scene disappeared again, and Ou Yangming also recovered from his muddled state.
“This isn"t right—isn"t the legendary Mount Return Sword formed by a giant sword that flew from beyond heaven?” Ou Yangming mumbled and looked more confused.
Big Yellow looked at him worriedly and patted his shoulder lightly, “Lil" Ming, are you okay?”
Ou Yangming shook his head and made up his mind. After he returned this time, he would definitely go around Mount Return Sword to take a look. As for whether he could find any clues, that would be another matter.
Concurrently, he also memorized the 2 crucial pieces of information, which were the Little River Village and Xu Aoran.
After a brief moment, he entered the states of thoroughly meticulous and the integration of Heaven and man. He observed every single thing on this floor several times and replayed them in his mind for a while. Once the young fellow made sure that he did not miss anything, he walked up to the ninth level.
All of a sudden, Ou Yangming"s eyes lit up. A scene that he had never seen before appeared in front of him.
Numerous people dressed in black appeared in front of one an altar, and they looked sincere as they held offerings in their hands. In the middle of the altar, a 3-kilometers-long azure dragon was carved out of a piece of bluestone. The azure dragon was lifelike and had a pair of black horns on its head. A faint black glow was also circulating on its head. It widened its red eyes and acted as if it wanted to soar into the sky. Upon seeing this, the black-clothed people below looked mad, and they worshipped the dragon by kneeling on the ground.
Ou Yangming recovered from the scene and said in a low voice, “A dragon? But why does it need to be worshipped?” He was bewildered and clueless.
Big Yellow also opened its eyes and curled its lips.
After searching for a while on the last level of the ancient tower, a map appeared in Ou Yangming"s sight as soon as he went around a corner.
The map was somewhat spoiled, and its aura was much more ancient than the ancient tower. Ou Yangming examined it carefully and found Mount Return Sword on the map. Furthermore, the map was marked with the names of the places in blood as if a lotus flower was drawn in the middle. It was marked as the Lotus Hall and not far from the red hall was the drawing of an azure dragon, which was marked as the Dragon G.o.d Temple.
Ou Yangming furrowed his heroic eyebrows and thought, ‘Where exactly are these places?"
Without any hesitation, he concentrated on memorizing the map in his heart. After making sure that he would not forget it, he activated his spiritual power and destroyed the map, leaving no trace behind.
His heart was in a mess at this time, and he wondered, ‘What exactly is the connection between Mount Return Sword, Xu Aoran, and that old man? Where did this map come from? Based on the images from the painting alone, the scenes described on this map were distant and peaceful with rich spiritual Qi.
The scenes that were described were simply the opposite of the Forest of Death.
It was like light and darkness that opposed each other.
Ou Yangming"s mind was full of mixed thoughts, and he still could not make sense of anything.
He breathed out some murky air after a long time and shook his head. “Don"t think about it anymore—I"ll figure it out in the future. I"ve only touched the tip of the iceberg now, and it"ll be wishful thinking if I want to restore the whole iceberg now.”
That said, Ou Yangming vaguely felt that the murals in the tower, the map, and the Forest of Death were all related to the huge disaster that would happen once in 10,000 years. Besides, after seeing the map, the call in his and Big Yellow"s minds mysteriously disappeared.