Chapter 141: The Bell of the Dao, an Age of Prosperity, a Great Calamity

Shen Qingyun looked solemn. "Chu Xun, do you believe in reincarnation and cultivation anew?"

Feng Chuxun nodded. "I have read about it in ancient texts."

"What if I told you that I am doing precisely that? Would you believe me?" Shen Qingyun said with a bitter smile.

"I believe you."

Feng Chuxun had no reason to doubt him. Besides, he had long suspected that Shen Qingyun was someone who had restarted his cultivation. Otherwise, how else could one explain his monstrous combat prowess and those unfathomable, incredible methods?

Shen Qingyun said, "Strictly speaking, I do not belong to this era. Due to certain reasons, I cast away all my cultivation and became an ordinary mortal once more. Only by doing so was I able to cross over into this era."

"Is that so?" Feng Chuxun murmured softly, showing no doubt about the truth of Shen Qingyun's words.

"Yes."

Shen Qingyun nodded. "Actually, if I had a choice, I would rather have drifted away along with the previous era into the long river of time. But I had no choice. Who told me I made a promise to someone?"

Feng Chuxun asked, "Was it the person who created the Sword God Manual?"

"No." Shen Qingyun looked up, sighed softly, and said, "He had already fallen long before. In the face of catastrophe, even a Great Emperor is powerless."

"Then who was it?"

A warm and brilliant smile appeared on Shen Qingyun's face. "If there is a chance in the future, I will introduce you to them."

"Alright!"

Feng Chuxun felt a surge of curiosity. What on earth could have happened in the previous era to cause even someone capable of creating the Sword God Manual to fall?

Shen Qingyun continued, "The Dao Bell tolls across the lands of Divine State, heralding the advent of a golden age. Geniuses who were once rare to behold become as numerous as the stars in the sky during such an era. Yet the world at large only sees the surface; only those at the pinnacle of the continent know that the very moment the Dao Bell rings, the game of the Heavenly Dao officially begins."

"Only, I never expected that this time, the Dao Bell would toll nine times." Shen Qingyun smiled bitterly.

Feng Chuxun glanced sideways at Shen Qingyun and noticed a trace of helplessness on his face. A shudder went through his heart—just what kind of terrifying entity was this Dao Bell, that even someone like Shen Qingyun found it giving him a headache?

"Every three thousand years marks a calamity, and in the two thousand seven hundredth year, the Dao Bell tolls. The moment the two thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninth year draws to a close, the Dao Bell will ring across the land once more. The golden age comes to an end, and in its place arrives the catastrophe. Boundless and endless dark forces emerge, powerful enough to obliterate an entire era!"

"What!?" Feng Chuxun's heart trembled, shock welling up in his eyes. Was this how an entire era perished?

Shen Qingyun sighed deeply. "In the previous era, the Dao Bell tolled seven times. Seven of the nine Great Emperors perished one after another. In the end, it was Great Emperor Xiyue who used her own body to form a grand formation, sacrificing her entire cultivation to refine the array, sealing the passageway and stopping those monsters so they could no longer step foot into the Divine State."

"Yet, even so, the Divine State was left scarred and riddled with holes. Only a handful of people from the sacred grounds survived. If they have not perished by now, they must already be at the level of ancestors of the sacred grounds!"

"Boss, seven Great Emperors fell successively, and one Great Emperor sacrificed herself, then what about the last Great Emperor..." A light flashed in Feng Chuxun's eyes, leaving his sentence unfinished.

"That's right, there was still one Great Emperor left." Shen Qingyun smiled faintly, reaching out to catch a falling leaf that still retained its vibrant green.

"That Great Emperor possessed divine senses that reached the heavens. With a single step, he left the Central Region, visiting the Southern and Northern Regions successively to gaze upon the devastated mountains and rivers, before heading to the Western Region and finally to the Eastern Region where he was born. The Western and Eastern Regions were the main battlefields of the catastrophe, and by the end of the war, there was no life left here. The Great Emperor disintegrated right here, his hot blood staining the skies red."

"As long as the Great Emperor's life lamp does not extinguish, the wheel of reincarnation will not turn, and the Divine State will forever remain in that ruined state."

The leaf slowly disintegrated in Shen Qingyun's palm, turning into powder that scattered with the wind, as if silently illustrating the decision made by that Great Emperor back then.

"That last Great Emperor traveled to the Land of Fallen Gods, intending to end his life there. In every catastrophe, while some Great Emperors fall, others manage to survive, and the surviving ones must endure the loneliness of the passing ages. The Land of Fallen Gods is where the Great Emperors who survived the past ultimately chose to go when they could no longer bear the solitude."

"In order to make the wheel of reincarnation turn and usher in a new era, that Great Emperor chose that place as well. Yet he never expected that fate would play a joke on him—a joke that left no room for laughter."

At this point, Shen Qingyun could not help but sink into his memories, a bitter smile occasionally tugging at the corners of his lips.

It truly was a joke. The Land of Fallen Gods carried the weight of Great Emperors from many eras; even though their physical bodies perished, the wills of the Great Emperors remained. That Great Emperor was told that he was the very person they had been waiting for.

Sensing an aura on Shen Qingyun that should only belong to a twilight-year elder, Feng Chuxun slowly spoke, "That Great Emperor... it was you, Boss, wasn't it?"

Shen Qingyun smiled bitterly. "Since you've already guessed it, why bother asking whether it's true or not."

"It really was!" Hearing Shen Qingyun's admission, the turbulent waves stirred in Feng Chuxun's heart refused to settle for a long time. He did not know what kind of existence a Great Emperor truly was, but they were undoubtedly supreme. For an ordinary person, even catching a glimpse of a Great Emperor's countenance was an extravagant wish, let alone engaging in an equal conversation like friends as he was doing now.

"You don't need to be like this. I am simply me; I am no longer the Qingyun Great Emperor of the past," Shen Qingyun said.

"I believe that one day you will return to the throne of the Great Emperor!" Feng Chuxun said earnestly, his gaze burning with intensity.

"Perhaps." Shen Qingyun smiled faintly, withholding the complete truth from Feng Chuxun. Nine is the extreme limit of heaven and earth. If he wished to ascend to the throne of a Great Emperor once more, he had no choice but to slay an existing Great Emperor to free up a position. Other than that, there was no other way.

"I believe it will happen."

Ignorant of where he found such confidence, Feng Chuxun spoke with a resolute expression, "If I can live long enough to see that day without perishing, I will surely accompany you to rule over the world!"

A strange glint flashed in Shen Qingyun's eyes as he looked at Feng Chuxun. "You foolish boy."

In his heart, Shen Qingyun thought, *I'm planning to groom you into the Great Emperor of the current age, and this is all the ambition you have?*

Despite these thoughts, a warmth of gratification surfaced in Shen Qingyun's eyes.

Since Feng Chuxun had already sworn such an oath, Shen Qingyun no longer had to fear his identity being leaked.

"Let's use that boulder ahead. I will impart the Sword God Manual to you," Shen Qingyun said, pointing to a massive rock up ahead.

Hearing that he was finally going to learn the Sword God Manual, a sharp brilliance flashed in Feng Chuxun's eyes, and his pace involuntarily quickened.

Seeing Feng Chuxun's eager-beaver appearance, Shen Qingyun shook his head and smiled.

...

"The volume of information contained within the Sword God Manual is massive. Pay close attention to yourself, and speak up immediately if you cannot endure it," Shen Qingyun said solemnly. This was no exaggeration; if Feng Chuxun accepted it by force and the volume of information exceeded the limits of what he could handle, his soul sea would explode. And the consequence of a soul sea explosion would be that Feng Chuxun was reduced to an absolute fool!

"Understood!"

Judging by Shen Qingyun's expression, Feng Chuxun knew he was not joking, and he immediately nodded with a grave expression.

Shen Qingyun reached out and pressed his finger against Feng Chuxun's glabella. Streams of divine sense snaked down his arm, penetrated Feng Chuxun's forehead, and then looped back into Shen Qingyun's body. Meanwhile, Feng Chuxun's brow twitched into a frown from time to time. Gradually, dense beads of fine sweat broke out across Feng Chuxun's forehead, and his facial features began to distort.

To this, Shen Qingyun remained entirely unsurposed. The Sword God Manual consisted of four stances: Overwhelming the Myriad Armies, Breaking the Dawn, Descent of the Sword God, and Dusk of Bones. What Shen Qingyun was imparting was not merely how to execute these four stances; he was also transferring the insights that he and the Sword Cloud Great Emperor had gained regarding the Sword God Manual directly to Feng Chuxun. To him, these were priceless treasures beyond measure!

When Feng Chuxun's body began to tremble, sensing that the youth was nearing his limit, Shen Qingyun intended to withdraw his finger and wait until Feng Chuxun had digested what he had already received before continuing.

"Don't stop."

Just as Shen Qingyun's hand left, Feng Chuxun gritted his teeth and spoke.

Shen Qingyun frowned slightly. "If you continue, your soul sea won't be able to hold it."

"I can take it!" Feng Chuxun let out a low growl through clenched teeth, opening his eyes to fix a burning gaze on Shen Qingyun.

"Very well." After a brief hesitation, Shen Qingyun placed his finger back onto Feng Chuxun's forehead, though the rate of transmission slowed down considerably. At the same time, he kept a close eye on Feng Chuxun's condition, ready to halt the process at the slightest sign of abnormality.

The wondrous uses of the manual were endless; a single stance could rival thousands of source techniques, making one invincible beneath the level of a Great Emperor. Different users would manifest it in different ways. When Shen Qingyun used Army Breaker, it manifested as a sky full of devastating golden swords because he had fused his imperial intent into it, with sword intent merely serving to deceive the eyes of others.

When Shen Qingyun finally withdrew his finger this time, Feng Chuxun said nothing; he truly had reached his limit. His consciousness was no longer entirely clear, and only a shred of remaining awareness forcefully controlled his body to keep him from collapsing outright. The insights of two Great Emperors were realms far beyond what Feng Chuxun could match, and he could only exhaust every ounce of his strength to digest them.

For the period that followed, Feng Chuxun sat cross-legged atop the massive boulder in deep comprehension. Behind him, the phantom of a broken sword hung suspended, its blade growing increasingly pitch-black, resembling an eerie and baleful sword.

As for Shen Qingyun, he leaned against the boulder in utter boredom, standing guard for Feng Chuxun. He knew full well how difficult it was for a tiny cultivator at the Spirit Phase realm to comprehend a Great Emperor's insights so quickly—after all, this was the intent of a Great Emperor! If Feng Chuxun managed to comprehend it quickly, it would prove he possessed the innate talent and qualifications to become a Great Emperor himself.

Growing more and more bored, let alone demonic beasts, not even a wild animal had passed through this vast forest.

Shen Qingyun simply took out all of his beast core pills and began counting them over and over again. Yet no matter how many times he counted, there were only thirty-two beast core pills in total.

"I need to hurry up and find the beast king of this area," Shen Qingyun muttered to himself. The beast king here was bound to be a demonic beast at the King Marquis realm, and a single beast core pill from it would undoubtedly be countless times stronger than those from Spirit Phase demonic beasts.

If an ordinary person were to encounter a beast king, they would likely wish they could grow wings to flee, but Shen Qingyun viewed the beast king as fish already in his net. Upon second thought, the students of Zixiao Academy couldn't afford to provoke beast-king-level demonic beasts, leaving them with no choice but to target Spirit Phase demonic beasts. With so many wolves and so little meat, the demonic beasts would eventually be hunted to extinction. Besides, not every demonic beast possessed a beast core pill.

Students would inevitably prey upon one another, but if Shen Qingyun held a beast-king-level beast core pill, even if he couldn't secure the top spot in the rankings, he would easily remain near the very top.