HSSB1080: The fun in swatting flies
After resealing the crevice to the Nine Underworlds in the deep abyss of the Earth Domain and obtaining the Grand Longevity Banner, there was no need for Yan Zhaoge to continue lingering.
He first headed west towards Broad Creed Mountain in the Heaven Domain.
Due to his great battle with Chen Qianhua earlier, the spiritual qi cycles of the Eight Extremities World had already been completely messed up.
If nothing was done about this, this world would deteriorate as a result.
There was a mechanism atop Broad Creed Mountain which had previously been established to gradually refine the spiritual qi cycles of the Eight Extremities World.
Now, this would be use of in helping the spiritual qi veins of this world to recuperate from that incident.
Those of Broad Creed Mountain had all felt the heaven-roiling, earth-overturning changes too.
They were still relatively calm, though, having earlier been notified that a change might occur concerning the crevice to the Nine Underworlds.
Still, their most legendary expert, the Fallen Deity Yan Zhaoge, had already descended into the Eight Extremities World to deal with this matter.
After learning of this, everyone had easily calmed down.
It was as if just the mere mention of this name signified that there was nothing at all to worry about.
The eventual conclusion also powerfully proved this once again.
The heaven-shocking, earth-shaking activity of the Nine Underworlds that had stirred up great waves had still been quelled in the end as peace had returned to the Eight Extremities World.
Upon Yan Zhaoge’s return to the Mountain, everyone was in high spirits indeed.
The disciples of Broad Creed Mountain who had been personally acquainted with Yan Zhaoge in the past all shared and revelled in his glory.
Yan Zhaoge also felt delighted at seeing some old acquaintances again.
The timeflow of the Eight Extremities World was only half of that within the World beyond Worlds and a fifth of that within the Vast Ocean World.
In all those years that Yan Zhaoge had fought and attained glory in the World beyond Worlds, less than a decade had actually passed in the Eight Extremities World.
Still, many things had happened over the course of this duration.
With a greater amount of resources from Broad Creed Mountain in the World beyond Worlds, due to the changing of the spiritual qi of the Eight Extremities World to become better suited for martial cultivation, Feng Chi had next successfully attained the Transcending Mortality Martial Grandmaster stage.
Some outstanding figures had also arisen amongst disciples of the younger generation.
Despite that, disciples of theirs had perished too.
Currently, Broad Creed Mountain reigned supreme in the Eight Extremities World with virtually no enemies whatsoever.
However, there was still the possibility of them entering cultivation deviation in the midst of their cultivation as well as encountering dangers in places like the Great Western Desert, the Southern Underground Palace and the Marsh of Illusory Sea.
An example of this was Fang Zhun’s personal disciple Lu Wen who had been acclaimed alongside Yan Zhaoge, Xu Fei and Sikong Qing and some others that year. While he had been prevented from falling to the dark side in the great tribulation of Broad Creed Mountain thanks to Xu Fei, he had still been overly anxious to improve, thus having died to cultivation deviation in a death cultivation session afterwards.
Perhaps he was already no longer of the mind to compare himself with Yan Zhaoge. Yet, the meteoric rise to prominence of Sikong Qing, Feng Yunsheng, Ying Longtu and the others to eventually surpass him had still caused the pressure on him to increasingly mount.
He was not the first person to really lose their lives in a death cultivation session, nor would he be the last.
Martial cultivation had never ever been a smooth, unhindered path.
After restoring the equilibrium of the Eight Extremities World’s spiritual qi, Yan Zhaoge exchanged some parting words with Feng Chi and the others before returning to Turbid Wave Pavilion.
The winds were eternally calm here and the waves tranquil, giving off the vibe of an otherworldly haven.
Despite Yan Zhaoge’s heaven-roiling, earth-overturning battle with Chen Qianhua earlier, the area had remained peaceful throughout as it was like another, separate world of its own.
After greeting An Qinglin, Xie Youchan and the other Turbid Wave Pavilion martial practitioners, Yan Zhaoge again headed to Chen Mingying’s residence.
The Brocade Emperor and Chen Mingying were in the midst of conversing in the courtyard.
As he had a warm, straightforward attitude and a silver tongue, Chen Mingying who had learnt of his identity was gradually becoming less reserved and restrained in talking to him.
Meng Wan sat by the side, the smile on her face never lessening.
She had already not felt this happy for many years.
On seeing Yan Zhaoge, the Brocade Emperor turned to look at him, smiling, “From the looks of it, it appears that you have won, and Chen Qianhua has returned to the World beyond Worlds?”
“He has headed to the Nine Underworlds on his own accord,” Yan Zhaoge shook his head.
While his body had been pulled by the devouring force of the Nine Underworlds back then, if Chen Qianhua had broken free of the suppression on him by the world’s spatial boundaries, he would have been able to escape the Nine Underworlds’ pull and ascend to the World beyond Worlds.
Meanwhile, Yan Zhaoge had also been ready for this eventuality at the time.
Due to the existence of the Nine Underworlds, Chen Qianhua would be obstructed somewhat when ascending.
Yan Zhaoge had forcibly smashed Chen Qianhua down into the deep abyss earlier in order for him to be tied down by the crevice of the Nine Underworlds.
With that, Yan Zhaoge was ready to intercept and obstruct him if he tried to escape the suppression of dimensional boundaries and ascend to the World beyond Worlds.
Of course, he was not sufficiently confident of leaving Chen Qianhua behind for good even if he did do so.
Still, this was the ideal, best plan for him to deal with Chen Qianhua whose actual cultivation base was supremely powerful indeed.
Sadly, insane people could really perform too unpredictable actions.
On hearing the tale, the Brocade Emperor nodded slowly, “This does seem like what he would do.”
“Still, I sent him a Devil Bewitching Ritual before he left,” Yan Zhaoge shrugged, “Hunted by numerous devils, even if he does not die, he needn’t think of leaving the Nine Underworlds in the short term.”
Having temporarily suppressed this uncertain variable in the Nine Underworlds, Yan Zhaoge would be able to rest assured in searching for Feng Yunsheng alongside the Brocade Emperor and Meng Wan over this upcoming period of time.
This was despite the fact that Feng Yunsheng’s current trip to a foreign dimension might also be related to the Nine Underworlds.
“It is rare to find someone willing to spar with Chen Qianhua,” A hint of a smile could be seen on the Brocade Emperor’s handsome face, “Of course, the main reason is still that most are unable to beat him. Still, even for those who can obtain victory over him, they would have no pleasure in clashing with him.”
“The reason is that this person has no concept of glory and honour. Even if he is defeated, he will feel no humiliation, vexation, shame, desolation.”
The Brocade Emperor smiled, “He is also not concerned about how many spoils of war the victor manages to wrest away from him. Even life and death is something he is unconcerned about.”
Chen Qianhua was not enthusiastic about battles themselves as he was more focused on whether he was able to obtain anything interesting from his opponent in the process of their match.
Besides these, he was wholly unconcerned with enmity and debts, victory and defeat, life and death, gains and losses.
One should say that the things he pursued simply did not overlap with what most people sought at all.
Madman truly lived in different worlds from everyone else.
“Without the sorrow of the loser, the joy of the victor is naturally diminished greatly,” The Brocade Emperor said casually, “For those who understand Chen Qianhua’s personality, even winning against him is nothing much to be happy about.”
Yan Zhaoge chuckled, “That may not entirely be the case. In Chen Qianhua’s own words, to me, swatting him like a fly is actually rather fun too. As for what he thinks, I do not care about that.”
The Brocade Emperor smiled, “And how many of a similar cultivation level can swat him like a fly?”
He stood up, looking in the direction of Meng Wan and Chen Mingying, “Since we are done over here, let us return to the World beyond Worlds. Sorry for any interruptions today, Fellow Daoist Chen.”
“Even though I have already said it before, I must still say it again. Having been separated from Wan’er for many years, I have not fulfilled my responsibility as a father. Raising and educating Wan’er has been fully on your shoulders. I am truly grateful for that.”
Chen Mingying hastily exclaimed repeatedly that the Brocade Emperor was overstating things. Now that she was about to be separated from Meng Wan again, she felt rather unwilling to part with her.
Meng Wan consoled her, “If I have a chance to, this disciple will definitely come to visit Master again in the future.”
The Brocade Emperor smiled, nodding in agreement.
Yan Zhaoge’s gaze flickered slightly.