Chapter 8 The Past (1)
“Ghost Realm? Doesn’t Xuanli Clan belong to one of the three major Demon Realms? Why will he travel to the Ghost Realm?” Lyu Liang instantly focused his attention on her and added with doubts, “Moreover, Senior, why will you come to the Virtual Realm?”
“Yes, you are considered as my child of Xuanli Clan. I supposed it’s fated for me to be here. If you want to know the whole story, I’ll need to begin from the birth of Chaos World…” After which, Feiwu deepened her voice and brought Lyu Liang into the world of the past…
“Since the beginning of the Chaos World, thousands of living things were born. Through years of continuous changes, the world was split into six categories, namely immortals, humans, devils, monsters, ghosts, and spirits. At that time, there was no such thing as the three realms. All the living things were gathered in a big realm.”
“Among which, the strongest immortal clan did not bother about the other clans. One of their powers used the Realm-sealing Formation to make an isolated s.p.a.ce with the highest concentration of Spiritual Qi, precious natural resources and treasures. They then sealed it away from the rest of the world via a formation to make it a resting place for the Immortal Clan and named it as Heaven Realm. Thereafter, the news was released from the Heaven Realm, saying that whoever in the rest of the five clans that met the Heaven Realm’s standards could attempt to enter the formation of the realm. Whoever manages to break into it shall be promoted to Heaven Realm and become one of them.”
“Let’s talk about the Human and Devil Clan. The Human Clan needs to start from Qi Refining, followed by Foundation Establishment, Gold Core, Nascent Soul and Void Return. Thereafter, the human needs to overcome a small calamity before successfully promoted as immortal. After which, the human can become Xuan Immortal and lastly, the Almighty Immortal. When the human becomes the Almighty Immortal, he can challenge the Realm-sealing Formation to overcome the large calamity and will be successfully promoted to the Heaven Realm. In the beginning, he will be t.i.tled as Tao Master, followed by Heavenly Master and lastly, Supreme Master.”
“As for my Devil Clan, we start off as a devil for cultivation. We need to go through Original Devil, Devil Spirit, Devil Warrior, and Devil Commander. After which, we need to overcome a devil calamity in order to successfully promote as Heavenly Devil, which is followed by Immortal Devil and finally, Devil Emperor. Upon reaching the Devil Emperor, he can overcome the large calamity in order to be promoted to the Heaven Realm. In the beginning, he is t.i.tled as External Heavenly Devil, follower by External Devil Master and lastly, External Supreme Devil.”
“As for whether there are higher levels, that is not something my generation will know.”
“After the Immortal Clan left, the Human Clan, which was the weakest clan with the shortest lifespan, was exasperated. They used their horrifying reproduction ability and cultivation rate to create numerous monsters. This suddenly made them one of the strongest existence among the remaining five clans. In addition, they continuously battled with the remaining clans.”
“After that, the Spirit Clan, which hated battles, was the first clan to create an isolated sealed s.p.a.ce and named it as Spirit Realm. Thereafter, the Ghost Clan, which had the smallest population with rather weak abilities, had also created an isolated s.p.a.ce away from this chaotic world. Meanwhile, when these two clans left the world, there was a part of the human clan that had a close relationship with them followed them. These humans had also become important people that helped the communication between the Spirit Realm and Ghost Realm years later. We called them ‘Whisperers’”.
“When this world was left with only the Human Clan, Devil Clan, and Monster Clan, a large scale war had begun and it lasted for more than ten thousand years. The consequences of this war were very severe as numerous living beings were destroyed and the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was in a mess. The world was also split into several pieces. Finally, it had also affected the Immortal Clan.”
“Thereafter, the Immortal Clan descended upon the world and gathered the remaining three clans for a discussion. In the end, it categorized the split world into three realms and each clan would take care of its respective realm. This is also how the world had become the three realms that we are currently familiar with, namely Mortal Realm, Devil Realm, and Monster Realm.”
“The Immortal Clan can personally set up a Realm-sealing Formation in every realm. However, for every three thousand years, the power of the seal in each realm needs to be stabilized and strengthened by the power of the three realms. The method to stabilize the realm was left behind by the Heaven Realm and could only be accomplished with the combined force of two clans.”
“After that, the three realms can set rules. Whenever it is the time to stabilize and strengthen the Realm-sealing Formation, the two involved parties must appoint two powerful beings from the respective clan and a hundred elites in the clan. They will then travel to the borderland to stabilize the formation. At the same time, another clan must also appoint two powerful beings to supervise them, in case anyone wants to seize the opportunity to create troubles.”
“My Xuanli Clan was born in the Devil Realm during the initial stabilization stage and was established by my ancestor, Xuanli Zhen. He obtained one of the forbidden evil treasures that existed during the initial stage of the Chaos World due to a great opportunity. It was the Silence Sword. He also managed to learn the secret skill “Chaos Body”. Anyone that succeeded in mastering this skill can refine five doppelgangers that are as strong as the original body. With that, my ancestor fought in the Devil Realm with Silence Sword and established the Xuanli Clan. From that day onwards, my clan had also become the number one clan in the Devil Realm.”
“After that, my ancestor was promoted to the Heaven Realm and left a warning before he left. Silence Sword is an immortal weapon that protects the clan. The person from the clan must learn ‘Chaos Body’ and be capable of forming three doppelgangers before he can use the Silence Sword. That person is also only second to the Guardian of the Clan Leader.
“After more than ten thousand years later, till our current generation, I am the only one in the clan who have learnt “Chaos Body” till forming three doppelgangers. Hence, I, Xuanli Feiwu, am the Guardian of the Clan.”
“By then, our clan was not a biggest clan in the Devil Realm. Anye Clan and Huoxiao Clan had also developed to become stronger. The three big clans were known as the ‘Three Major Clans of Devil Realm’.”
“As the Guardian of Xuanli Clan, I am also publicly known as the first line of battle. My eldest brother, Xuanli Tianlie, was at its peak of the Devil Emperor stage. He was the clan leader then. Many people in the Devil Realm had been trying to propose marriage to my eldest brother and one of them was a member of the Anye Clan, which was ranked second then. The person who wished to propose marriage to me was the eldest son of Anye Clan’s leader, Anye Tianlong. He was an extremely strong demon then.”
“I had reached the peak of Devil Commander stage. With just one more step, I would be able to overcome devil calamity. Moreover, I knew Anye Tianlong had evil intention. How could she lower her standard by marrying such man? However, I knew Anyue clan’s power as well. To prevent my brother feeling awkward, I announced to the public that I am going out for training for the devil calamity, yet secretly brought the relatives of the leading soldiers out. In the end, the marriage between the Anye clan and me was left unsettled.”
“I brought along Silence Sword with me as well. My eldest brother was worried that I will be taken advantage by the Mortal Realm and insisted that I should bring it along. Initially, I also wanted to bring Black along with me as well since it is my protector by contract. However, for ever ten thousand years, Black will need to enter the Rift to block off its divine sense and sleep for nearly a hundred years. At that time, it was in the midst of Black’s hundred years sleep, so I did not disturb it. In addition, I had mastered in forming three doppelgangers since their existence are used to carry Silence Sword.”
“After escaping from the clan, I reached the border of Mortal and Devil Realms, and I was ready to explore the Mortal Realm. The formation between the realms at that time did not isolate the two realms entirely. Only the fairies, people above the Immortal Devil stage were not allowed to go in and out as and when they wished. Since I had not even overcome the ordeal, I can exit the realm anything. At the same time, there was a law saying that no one can start a battle in the three realms, so even if there was unhappiness between the two clans, as long as everyone takes note of the law, it’s fine.”
“Later, I came to the mortal region that was nearest to the Devil Realm, the Canglan Territory. After exploring it, I chose a mountain range with Devil Qi as my residence hole. The mountain range in that region was called Mount Zhiling.”
Not long after I resided in the hole, a troop of mortals from the foot of the mountain came and ordered us to leave immediately. They said that the region was the border of their religion. It wasn’t easy for me a place with Devil Qi, how can I leave this place so easily? Moreover, I don’t really care about that troop of mortals.”
“When we started fighting, it was as expected that my clan was protected by the Demon Armor and no one could bring us down. However, one of the men, who was in green, was the catalyst that changed our battle situation. That man’s cultivation was the late-stage of Void Return but had not reached the peak. Yet, his sword skill was excellent with a certain set of power rules guiding it. You must know that swordplay is an art where the beginner stage focuses on the Sword Qi and the later stage focuses on the Sword Essence. After which, it focuses on the power in the field. One would be considered as a Sword Immortal once one is able to achieve that level. However, to have a set of power rules guiding your swordplay would mean the power of Chaos World. It was said that unless one had overcome the ordeal, one can never understand it. This man in green had not even reached the peak of Void Return, but he was able to understand the set of power rules. What scared me was that he could understand the world’s most difficult s.p.a.ce Law Power! He was indeed the best demon existed among the Human Clan!”
“With him as our opponent in the battle, neither party could bring the other one down. I then used by blessed body and power to win the battle slightly. Later, this troop of mortal stopped coming. What was interesting was that man in green came over after a few days and threatened me that he will slay me with his sword.”
“I was young, ignorant and stubborn then, so I could not help but punished him. Though neither of us could bring the other one down every time, I could always win him by a little.”
“Thereafter, I can’t be bothered with his provocation. Until one day, he said if I could still defeat him, he would give me a precious and top-quality demon treasure. I was attracted by the offer then. The Mortal Realm is always lack of Devil Qi. If there’s a top-quality demon treasure, it will help me in mastering the peak of Devil Commander Stage. Hence, I chose to battle on.”
“When I came out of my cave, I was shocked to find out that the man had reached the Peak of Void Return. We fought and I was at a disadvantage at first. Hence, I a.s.signed a doppelganger to help me, and he was defeated. Upon knowing that the person he fought with was just my doppelganger, he admitted defeat and threw me a devil treasure before leaving.”
“Moreover, I told him that I had three of such doppelgangers. I initially thought that he would never come again, but to my surprise, he returned after half a month. This time, he could actually handle the combined attacks from my doppelganger and me. I couldn’t help but a.s.sign my second doppelganger to help and I was also taken aback by how fast his cultivation advanced. Of course, he lost again. After that time, I knew his name and ident.i.ty. He was the eldest disciple of Number One Yishui Clan in Canglan Territory and his name is Zhang Mengdao. His Tao name is Demon Slayer.”
“He then came over repeatedly for every half a month until his final visit, where he was able to force me to a.s.sign three doppelgangers against him. The reason why it was the last time was that my Xuanli Clan was going to be destroyed then.”
“On that day, I was meditating in Mount Zhiling when my eldest brother appeared in front of me. I then understood that he had come to stabilize the formation between the Demon and Mortal Realms.”
“I felt weird. The previous stabilization ritual was less than 3000 years ago, why was there a need to stabilize it again? My eldest brother said that he was informed by the mortal clan that due to some changes, the formation that sealed the realms needed to be stabilized urgently. Hence, he led a part of the elites into this realm. At the same time, Anye Clan was informed about it too and the clan leader had led his own troop as well. If the formation was normal, my eldest brother, who was at a very high cultivation stage, would not be able to come into the Mortal Realm. Since he could, this meant the formation indeed required stabilization. Hence, we did not suspect anything then.”
“Anye Clan knew I was here, as they asked me along as well. I did not think much and brought my doppelgangers, Silence, and my subordinates along with me.”
“Our gathering place was the Imperial Mausoleum Country within Canglan Territory, which was very close to the formation. That was where the Yishui Clan was located. At the same time, I saw the two strongest cultivators from the Mortal Realm, Leader of Yishui Clan and the Blood Divine Sect Lord of Mortal Realm.”
“Our clan and Anye Clan had separately entered Yishui Clan. Shortly after we entered the designated resting spot, The Wanjian Pavilion, two uninvited guests dashed into the place. One of them was that Zhang Mengdao.”
“After he came in, he hurriedly told us that we had fallen into a trap. Anye Clan, Yishui Clan, and Blood Divine Sect had come together to set up a Devil Destruction Formation that was especially used to suppress devils outside. At that moment, they were gathering a troop of courageous men to fight us at any time.”
“Since Wanjian Pavilion and Yishui Clan had powerful barriers that restricted the use of Divine Sense, my eldest brother was somewhat suspicious of his claims. It was until Zhang Mengdao returned with a Blood Divine disciple and had searched that person’s mysterious ability that we realized that he was right. However, it was impossible for us to escape from that trap then.”
“At that time, my eldest brother and I had brought along the elites in our clan. If we were being brought down, the Xuanli Clan would be implicated as well. However, the person that Zhang Mengdao brought along re-ignited our hope. Though that person did not stand out, he was from a special place and had a special surname, Feng. Yes. He was the whisperer of the Ghost Realm from the Feng family. He was the next master of the Feng family, Feng Tao.”
“Due to time constraint, we decided that as the guardian of the clan, I will lead the subordinates to fight the pursuers. My eldest brother and other elites shall follow Feng Tao and Zhang Mengdao to the Ghost Realm for hiding. That was because at that time, the second strongest Devil Clan in the Devil Realm, Anye Clan, and the ambitious clan which wanted to be in the top three clans, Tianluo Clan, had been vigorously attacking our clan.”
“When my eldest brother and the others gradually retreated, the men outside started to attack. They were the courageous men of Yishui Clan and Blood Divine Sect. Moreover, there were two faries in the group! Though I don’t know why they did that, they had indeed put in effort in this attack!”
“Perhaps I was too well-known. The two fairies and the group of courageous men did not hesitate but attacked me directly! As the Demon Destruction Formation was too strong, my cultivation was only at Devil Warrior stage. I had no choice but let my doppelgangers attack the opposing troops with Silence Sword. However, what I didn’t expect was the two fairies. One of them cast a spell that caused self-destruction, while the other sacrifised its life and fought as with Mortal Clan’s most powerful skill, Mysterious Devil Seal!”
“With the two fairies fighting against me using their lives, my body and Devil Soul were hit by the Mysterious Devil Seal. At that moment, my ability to battle declined sharply. I could barely support myself with the three doppelgangers. Even with the power of Silence, I could not hold on for too long. Soon, my two other clones and subordinates were destroyed and slayed. The Silence doppelganger I had were swallowed by Silence itself after fighting several courageous warriors and it disappeared. I could not help but burn my Devil Soul as the price to pay to resist the Mysterious Devil Seal and used my own power to grab hold of Silence Sword. Though I had slain the remaining courageous warriors, I had no chance of winning the battle. The elite disciples from the two clans began to attack in. Luckily, my eldest brother and our elite disciples had successfully retreated, so I can died in peace. Just as I was about to give up on my life, Zhang Mengdao returned!”