Chapter 1009: Ancient Character Altar

Rumors spoke of an opportunity descending to the world, landing at the peak of Tianji Mountain—a method that could resolve the chaos of the Cultivation World and open the eyes of heaven and earth.

Cultivators from all over the world flocked here in reverence, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Immortal Arts.

Tianji Mountain was not stingy; they simply threw their gates wide open and lowered a cloud ladder, guiding the cultivators drawn by the reputation up to the cliffside.

Countless people made the climb to see it for themselves.

But the characters carved into the cliff face were obscure and chaotic. In the span of a single blink, they seemed to shift and rearrange entirely, leaving onlookers completely baffled.

Some cultivators sat in silent meditation before it for half a year, only to finally let out a sigh and leave in disappointment.

Countless people ascended the mountain.

Yet not a single person managed to glean any insight.

Hearing of this, the major Immortal Sects sent out disciples with unmatched comprehension to grasp the opportunity, but they too failed one after another.

As time passed, the rumors surrounding the opportunity on the cliff face grew increasingly extraordinary. Some claimed that comprehending it could lead to ascending to heaven in a single step, while others said the cliff recorded a method to invert heaven and earth. Such tales were everywhere, drawing in even larger crowds.

“Has absolutely no one comprehended it yet? Could it all be a hoax? Maybe the carvings on that cliff face are just a bunch of nonsense.”

“It is just our own comprehension that falls short. Xiao Dongxu, the direct disciple of the headmaster of Xuanjiu Immortal Mountain, grasped its true intent and broke through to the Half-Step Dongxu Realm in a single step.”

“Is that true?”

“It is absolutely true. Fellow Daoist Xiao is currently at Tianji Mountain. Several people have witnessed his bearing with their own eyes and openly admitted their inferiority.”

The crowd fell into a daze. Looking back at the chaotic text on the cliff face, they could only sigh.

In the end, their comprehension simply fell short.

In truth, Xiao Dongxu felt equally surprised. Countless people had climbed the mountain, yet in the end, not a single one had figured it out.

For a time, even Xiao Dongxu was shocked by his own level of comprehension.

He was well aware that his comprehension was excellent, but he never expected that he would actually grasp something that millions of others had failed to understand.

It was truly mind-boggling.

Later, rumors spread that he was a man of destiny. In short, the tales grew wildly exaggerated.

Xiao Dongxu originally didn't have much of a reputation, but now the entire Cultivation World knew of him.

This left him quite distressed.

More than a little annoyed.

There were simply too many visitors, along with those looking to challenge him to spell duels. He entertained them at first, but eventually resorted to turning them all away so he could cultivate in peace.

Xiao Dongxu took a deep breath and gazed toward the horizon where heaven and earth met. Yin-Yang Qi emerged and was drawn to him. Closing his eyes, he reconnected with nature, his Daoist arts having achieved success.

The Cultivation World had suffered no shortage of chaos in recent years.

Although heaven and earth had opened their eyes, unleashing a visible heavenly wrath in the beginning—three days of torrential rain and thunder that purged much of the evil energy—those demonic cultivators possessed endless tricks. It wasn't long before they resurfaced in the world.

Rumors circulated frequently of cultivators meeting tragic ends with their hearts and lungs hollowed out, or of someone suddenly falling to the demonic path and vanishing the next day. Such reports cropped up constantly.

It was clear that after the initial chaos, the demonic cultivators of the world had secured a firm foothold. Now, the endless, disastrous consequences were unfolding before everyone's eyes.

The most recent major incident...

...was the massacre of an Immortal Mountain at Zhonggu Mountain by demonic cultivators.

Seventy-three cultivators on that mountain, including the elders and sect master, were slaughtered to the last man. By the time others discovered the scene, the mountain was littered with shriveled corpses, their blood essence sucked completely dry. Even their Dantians had been dug out. It was a ghastly sight.

The Immortal Sects subsequently launched an extermination campaign, hunting for traces of those demonic cultivators through deep mountains and mortal markets alike. And they actually found something.

A Fellow Daoist from Yuling Mountain slayed a demonic cultivator and recovered a Painted Scroll from his body.

It depicted a plainly dressed figure wearing a painted mask.

Tracing the origins of this figure, a cultivator traveled to Tianji Mountain for verification.

And he received his answer.

“The person on this Painted Scroll does look somewhat similar to the one recorded in that notebook from back then.”

“May I ask what was recorded in it?”

“Let me find it for you.”

Before long, a Fellow Daoist from Tianji Mountain emerged holding a booklet.

Flipping through the pages, he said, “This notebook is a cultivation record left behind by a predecessor. It mentions a demonic cultivator with a heaven-reaching Cultivation Base. The author called him the Demon Sovereign, or the Demon-Summoning Divine Lord. This predecessor once saw that Demon Lord with his own eyes, and he looked exactly like the figure in this Painted Scroll—plainly dressed and wearing a painted mask.”

“So, the entity these demonic cultivators worship is this demon?”

“It seems so. In past eras, this Demon-Summoning Divine Lord appeared in records more than any other. Back before the demonic cultivators were driven to the brink, this figure nearly overturned the entire world order, bringing demonic cultivators dangerously close to supreme rule.”

“He was that terrifying?!”

The cultivator from Yuling Mountain was utterly shocked. After a moment of thought, he revealed another piece of information. “When we found this Painted Scroll, we also discovered an Altar left behind at the scene. That Altar was bizarre, carved with obscure runes. Even after consulting our ancient texts, the elders and seniors of our sect couldn't unravel its mystery.”

“An Altar?”

“I brought a rubbing of it with me.”

He placed the sheets of runic rubbings on the table.

The Tianji Mountain cultivator took one look and recognized it immediately.

“These are ancient character runes.”

But then his expression turned troubled. “I don't know much about this field, but there happens to be someone in our mountain who does.”

“May I ask who it is?”

“Fellow Daoist Xiao Dongxu. Although his inheritance is from Xuanjiu Immortal Mountain, he is deeply proficient in the way of ancient characters.”

...

When Xiao Dongxu saw the rubbings of the runes, his brows knit tightly together.

Ancient character runes were already obscure by nature.

To make matters worse, many of the ancient characters here were ones he had never seen before.

Looking at them now was like reading a sentence missing dozens of characters. It was incredibly difficult to decipher. He could only make rough guesses, though they wouldn't be very accurate.

“Does Fellow Daoist Xiao have any clues?”

Xiao Dongxu studied them and said, “There are some ancient characters here I haven't encountered before. I might need a few days to study them. However, based on the ones I do recognize, I can make a preliminary guess.”

“Reading these in sequence, it seems to be a soul-summoning method. The meanings of several ancient characters revolve around the Dao of 'life and death,' so it should involve souls.”

“Soul-summoning?”

“Whose soul are they summoning?”

Xiao Dongxu shook his head. “Since not all the characters are deciphered, this is just a guess. It might not actually be soul-summoning. Sometimes, a difference of a single character completely changes the meaning.”

The Tianji Mountain Disciple cupped his hands. “Please put some thought into this, Fellow Daoist Xiao. This matter is likely of grave importance.”

Xiao Dongxu nodded. “I will certainly do my utmost.”

Afterward, Xiao Dongxu spent much of his time in the Library Pavilion of Tianji Mountain, consulting ancient texts. These were mostly histories and personal notes, which contained the most records regarding the path of ancient characters. Sometimes, just a few scattered strokes in a book could yield a new discovery.

This is a difficult task!