Chapter 737 - 732: The Ends of the Earth
Although he was screaming "Unfair!" in his heart, the Old Dragon Monarch’s reaction was still swift and brutally honest:
"I surrender! I surrender!"
Without a shred of hesitation, the Old Dragon Monarch acted purely on instinct. As he surrendered, with a thunderous BOOM, he unhesitatingly detonated his dragon body!
In the face of the surging bloody light, Lü Yang could only take a step back.
The next second, the bloody light reconverged, and the Old Dragon Monarch’s figure reappeared. Compared to before, however, he now truly showed signs of age.
Previously, the Old Dragon Monarch had looked old, but that was just his appearance. In reality, his Spiritual Essence was so vigorous it reached the Extreme; he was practically younger than a Celestial Python. But now, his hair and beard, which had only been a pretense of being white, had genuinely turned gray. His life force had been eroded.
’It’s the Tribulation Evil Profound Light!’
Lü Yang knew perfectly well that in that last strike, he had used the Veil of the Trees cast by Ang Xiao to launch a sneak attack, detonating the Tribulation Evil Profound Light within the Old Dragon Monarch’s body in one fell swoop.
The effect was astonishingly good.
The Old Dragon Monarch had only lasted this long because his innate dragon body was too powerful; he was holding on through sheer physical resilience. Anyone else would have died and reincarnated long ago.
Of course, reincarnation wouldn’t be an escape either.
This was the domineering nature of the Tribulation Evil Profound Light. It resonated with karmic links. Even after being struck and reincarnating, as long as the karmic links were not extinguished, it would manifest again out of thin air.
The only way to resolve it was to do as Ang Xiao had done before: use time to slowly grind away both the internal Evil Qi and the external karmic links. Both had to be eliminated simultaneously. If even one remained, it would cause the other to be born anew, eventually becoming an endless affliction, like gangrene clinging to the bone.
"How about it, Senior?"
Lü Yang clasped his hands behind his back and smiled faintly. "Are you willing to honestly disclose Mu Changsheng’s whereabouts now? Or does Senior intend to exchange a few more moves with me?"
’Was that just exchanging a few moves with you?’
’Bastards... Two young men ganging up on an old man like me, bullying me for being old and weak, and even using the goddamn Veil of the Trees for a sneak attack. Absolutely shameless!’
The Old Dragon Monarch cursed inwardly, but his face was all smiles:
"Not at all, I submit, I truly submit! Please, Daoist, be merciful... To be honest with you, this place is where that Mu Changsheng is hiding."
"...Oh?"
Hearing this, Lü Yang finally spared some attention to look around. What met his eyes was a vista so magnificent that even he was deeply struck by its grandeur.
It was a line.
A long, pale line. It resembled both an intangible light and a tangible object. Heaven and sea met at this line; the vault of the sky reached its end here.
The sun, moon, and stars; the floating light of the Cloud Sea—everything that adorned the canopy of the sky fell at this line, tumbling into the ocean. And the ocean... at this very same line, it transformed into an indescribably vast waterfall, flowing into a bottomless abyss that stretched beyond sight.
At first glance, this line seemed very close to them.
It seemed to be only a hundred-odd miles away.
But when one truly tried to approach it, extending their Divine Sense to observe, they would find it impossible to get any closer. Forcing one’s way forward would induce a strange and unsettling palpitation of the heart.
"This is The Ends of the Earth."
The Old Dragon Monarch let out a long sigh and said, "Even Nascent Soul Daoist Lords rarely cast their gaze here. A Perfected Lord can’t even see this place."
"As for those below the level of a Perfected Lord, a Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn’t even dream of coming here."
Lü Yang’s brows furrowed at these words. Ang Xiao’s voice once again echoed in his mind: ’So that’s how it is. This place... it’s indeed a suitable hiding spot.’
’What place?’ Lü Yang asked.
’That Old Loach calls it The Ends of the Earth. It’s a bit obscure, a respectful euphemism... But I can be a little more direct with you.’
Ang Xiao chuckled lightly and said:
’If you go down from that Skyline, you can enter the Netherworld.’
As soon as these words were spoken, Lü Yang’s pupils contracted. He quickly reacted, "So you’re saying, Senior... you entered the Netherworld from this place back then?"
"Correct."
Ang Xiao said in a deep voice, "The Old Loach wasn’t wrong about that. Perfected Lords, and even Nascent Soul Daoist Lords, don’t deliberately turn their attention to this area."
"This is because it’s too close to the Netherworld. The Netherworld’s Position is beneath the Current World, while the Foundation Establishment Realm, the Sea of Suffering, and even the legendary Other Shore are all above the Current World. Therefore, if one rashly approaches this place, their own lofty Position could be dragged down by the Netherworld."
"The risk outweighs the reward, so it’s better not to look."
"However, this also means it’s not a place for cultivation. Staying for a few decades is fine, but after a few hundred years, even a Perfected Lord would fall back to the Foundation Establishment Realm!"
’It’s that potent?’
Lü Yang’s eyebrows shot up. As he gained a clearer understanding of how terrifying this place called The Ends of the Earth was, he also realized something else.
’Ang Xiao... this old bastard makes it sound so terrifying, yet he himself lived in the Netherworld for so many years.’
Just how strong was he at his peak?
At this thought, Lü Yang grew even more wary of this innately evil old ghost and silently made a decision: ’From now on, every time I restart, I’ll screw him over first!’
’As long as this old ghost doesn’t drop a realm, I can’t be at ease!’
’Besides, only if he drops a realm and falls on hard times would it be possible to form the kind of unbreakable alliance we have now. This is for our mutual benefit, of course.’
Meanwhile, the Old Dragon Monarch was still begging for mercy:
"My two fellow Daoists, aren’t you just looking for Mu Changsheng? He’s right here. You can go find him yourselves. I guarantee I won’t get involved."
With that, he tried to leave.
But the next second, Lü Yang moved to block him. At the same time, Ang Xiao’s smoky figure materialized, staring fixedly at the dragon.
"Senior... now you’re going too far. Do you take us for fools?"
"Huh?"
The Old Dragon Monarch blinked his large, innocent eyes. He swore to Heaven and Earth that he had truly only brought Mu Changsheng here as a favor to the Heavenly God.
After that, he hadn’t bothered with him.
Thinking of this, he quickly shook his head. "Fellow Daoists, what is the meaning of this? There must be a misunderstanding. Let’s talk frankly, please, let’s not resort to violence..."
"Alright."
Lü Yang smiled, then said softly, "First of all, you were leading us here from the very beginning, even before I said we were looking for Mu Changsheng."
"Why?"
"Is it safe for me to assume... that back in the Dragon Palace, you had already figured out our identities and guessed we were here for Mu Changsheng?"
"In other words..."
At this point, Ang Xiao chimed in at the perfect moment, "Old Loach, you’re working with Mu Changsheng."
Lü Yang nodded and continued, "But Mu Changsheng is just an Outer Dao True Monarch. Even with the Heavenly God’s protection, on what grounds could he possibly cooperate with a Dragon Monarch like you?"
"There’s only one answer," Ang Xiao said.
"The Celestial Human Residual Consciousness!"
"Mu Changsheng revealed the only piece of information he had that could move you—the Celestial Human Residual Consciousness. That’s how you were able to guess we were looking for him."
"Because we were in hiding before, and not even a Nascent Soul Daoist Lord could find us. If you know about the Celestial Human Residual Consciousness, you should understand that we also possess corresponding intelligence... so you want our information. And under these circumstances, you led us here to find Mu Changsheng."
"In conclusion, you and he deliberately set an ambush for us to get the information we have."
"Conclusion: You want to kill us!"
Lü Yang reached a perfectly logical conclusion, and Ang Xiao, beside him, nodded in complete agreement. Only the Old Dragon Monarch’s old face was twisting in dismay.
’This is bitter!’
As he wailed internally, he hurriedly said, "A misunderstanding! It’s purely a misunderstanding! In my current state, what could I possibly use to ambush two esteemed Daoists?"
But Lü Yang and Ang Xiao turned a deaf ear to his pleas.
Even the Old Dragon Monarch, halfway through his explanation, realized the futility and shut his mouth.
The reason was simple:
’Saint Sect True Monarchs have always been the type to shoot the arrow first and then draw the target. If you have a motive and the logic is sound, then regardless of whether you actually thought that way, we will assume you did!’