Chapter 677: A Million Years Dare Not Corrode His Bones, the Laws of Heaven and Earth Cannot Seize His Soul
The young man atop the mountain of corpses cast his gaze upon the kneeling Li Haowen.
It was not the look of one observing a person, but rather more like examining an object, or perhaps, a chess piece.
"It is not yet your time to die."
The tone of the young man clad in the cool white daoist robe was filled with absolute superiority.
But he himself had just brushed against the brink of death moments ago.
Li Haowen thought to himself.
He looked down at the massive hole that had burst open in his left chest.
If his innate true energy did not treat and repair the injury within a certain window of time, then even a Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator would surely die.
Yet the reason he had not died seemed to be the three words spoken by the young man atop the mountain of corpses just now.
Death Not Permitted.
Like a command issued against the laws of heaven and earth, against the Great Dao of life and death, it anchored his consciousness to this world.
Li Haowen had once wanted to die. He had even considered taking his own life.
And that suicidal impulse had reached its peak when Lin Xinyang died in the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm, when his master, Sword Master Elder Wei Mian of Yuanhua Mountain, was unjustly executed, and when Li Haowen himself was stripped of his position as Chief Disciple of Yuanhua Mountain.
The reason he had not chosen death back then was for revenge.
Now, Li Haowen had long since come to know the truth of the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm, and he knew that the puppet masters who had caused Lin Xinyang's death and pushed his master forward as a scapegoat had all perished as well.
Yet he still occasionally thought about dying.
Because this world, for Li Haowen, was simply too cruel.
But he could not die yet.
Li Haowen gazed at the Yuanji Sword and Xiaohua Sword before him, his mind filled with scenes from his youth on Yuanhua Mountain.
"You should know that within this domain heavens, everything you can possibly see is completely under my dominion, including your life and death."
The young man spoke slowly.
"As long as I say Death Not Permitted, then no matter what, you cannot die. Even if your bones are ground to ash and your soul scattered, never to return, if I say no, then it is no."
"...Sage Bai."
Li Haowen spoke slowly.
"Correct."
The young man in the cool white daoist robe nodded and spoke.
"If you absolutely refuse to address me as Patriarch Yan, then calling me Sage Bai is acceptable as well."
The Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void, Bai Chen.
Li Haowen, currently kneeling before the mountain of corpses, naturally had no idea who Bai Chen truly was. He was far from qualified to know.
But if Mr. You or Chen Yan were present, they might have been able to discern some clues from the scene within this cave.
"I have a few questions I need to ask you."
Bai Chen, seated atop the mountain of corpses, spoke toward Li Haowen.
"You said you are a Guardian of the Dao at Du Cang Mountain... What is Du Cang Mountain?"
From the earlier exchange, Li Haowen had already vaguely noticed that this Sage atop the mountain of corpses was unaware of Du Cang Mountain's existence.
He could roughly deduce that this Sage Bai had never once left this cave.
However, Li Haowen did not know exactly how long this Sage Bai had remained within this cave hidden beneath the lake.
If he truly was the first Ascended Steward of Kongshan Sect, Patriarch Yan, then...
Eighty thousand years?
No, it should not have been that long.
But if the snow and ice of Heavenly Summit Mountain had not all melted, this cave should still have remained undiscovered to this day.
As for what Du Cang Mountain was, Li Haowen saw no need to lie or conceal anything.
After all, Du Cang Mountain was the sacred cultivation ground of Chenping Continent, an existence known throughout the entire cultivation world.
"After True Person Du Cang quelled the Great Chaos of the Immortals, he renamed the ruined Heavenly Summit Mountain to Du Cang Mountain, and established Du Cang Mountain as the sacred cultivation ground of Chenping Continent."
Li Haowen answered.
"Du Cang Mountain, True Person Du Cang..."
Bai Chen, seated atop the mountain of corpses, slowly murmured the names, then continued asking toward Li Haowen.
"This True Person Du Cang, what is his background, and what is his name?"
"Chen Yan, True Person Chen."
Li Haowen continued answering.
"..."
Upon hearing this name, the Sage of Imperial Void suddenly fell silent. Then, after roughly two or three breaths, this young man seated atop the mountain of corpses in his cool white daoist robe broke into a smile.
"Good, excellent. So it's actually an old acquaintance."
"Sage Bai knows True Person Chen?"
Li Haowen was somewhat startled as well.
Because just moments ago, he had assumed this Sage had been sealed within this cave for around eighty thousand years.
But the current Steward of Chenping Continent, True Person Du Cang, Chen Yan, was actually around the same age as himself, perhaps even a few years younger.
Why would this Sage, who seemed to have remained within this cave the entire time, know Chen Yan, the current Steward of Chenping Continent?
Then, an even more shocking statement was still to come.
"Of course I know him."
As he spoke with a smile, the Sage of Imperial Void Bai Chen pointed at the mountain of corpses beneath him.
"After all, every single one of these people was killed by Chen Yan."
Li Haowen's pupils contracted sharply.
"...All of them were killed by True Person Chen?"
"Correct."
Bai Chen tilted his head back slightly, and at the same time, as if he had seen through what Li Haowen was thinking, he continued.
"Don't make such a panicked expression. After all, none of these people were cultivators from Chenping Continent."
"They weren't cultivators from Chenping Continent?"
The sheer volume of information Li Haowen had been receiving since just now had nearly completely paralyzed his ability to think.
"They could also be called cultivators of this domain heavens, just from an exceedingly long time ago..."
As he spoke, Bai Chen raised his hand and briefly counted on his fingers.
"It should be roughly seven million years before the present."
Seven million years?
Li Haowen could hardly believe it, because everything this so-called Sage had been saying since just now was simply too absurd.
Yet he did not dare to question it.
So Li Haowen could only continue directing his gaze toward these tens of thousands of corpses.
"But in seven million years, why haven't these corpses rotted at all, and the daoist robes on their bodies are also..."
Upon hearing this, Bai Chen let out a light snort of laughter through his nose, as if he had just heard some brainless joke.
"It is simply because I have not permitted it."
This was the true authority of a continent's steward, a sage's authority like that of the lord of heaven and earth.
A million years dare not corrode his bones, and the laws of heaven and earth cannot seize his soul.