The Xuantian Holy Lord turned toward the approaching disturbance in the sea of clouds. He had sensed Ye Chen's arrival and acknowledged the latter's presence. "Junior Brother Ye, I heard that you took in an Innate Crippled Body at the Disciple Acceptance Ceremony three years ago. If you came to ask for advice about her cultivation, I'm afraid I am unable to help you. One born with the Innate Crippled Body would be unable to gather any energy as the person has been abandoned by Heaven and Earth. Even someone in the Saint Realm wouldn't be able to help."
Ye Chen pitied the Xuantian Holy Lord for not noticing that the figure before him was only a puppet.
And based on his response, Ye Chen knew that the Xuantian Holy Lord had no idea why the former had reached out to the latter in the first place. He lightly shook his head and said, "Holy Lord, you worry too much. Menghan has her own path to take. Besides, that isn't the reason I had reached out to you."
"Oh? Was she able to enter the Wave Realm?" The Xuantian Holy Lord turned around with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
Ye Chen smiled, "Not yet, but she has taken a different path. She doesn't cultivate divine energy, but mental strength and still has a long way to go since she has basically just started her cultivation."
The Xuantian Holy Lord nodded slightly and said, "Cultivating mental strength is indeed a good idea. Although it's not as good as cultivating divine energy, it's still better than being a cripple for the rest of her life."
Obviously, the Xuantian Holy Lord was not aware that the mental strength Zi Menghan was cultivating was different from others' - it was a brand new cultivation system based on visualization. If it could be completely perfected, it wouldn't be inferior to the current mainstream divine energy cultivation system!
But Ye Chen didn't bother to explain too much. If news of Zi Menghan's self-created cultivation system got out, Qingyun Peak would never be as peaceful as it was now.
Ye Chen decided not to mention anything else about Zi Menghan anymore and decided to talk about his real intentions in reaching out to the Xuantian Holy Lord. "Holy Lord, I would like to ask more about the calamity that befell Qingyun Peak back then."
"Didn't Senior Uncle Changsheng tell you before he passed?" The Xuantian Holy Lord was a bit confused.
Ye Chen shook his head lightly and sighed. "When I met my master, he was already dying. He only told me that the calamity was related to the Blood Demon Cult's Demon King Qingli and wasn't very detailed about it. Even if he had an evil secret method up his sleeve, Demon King Qingli was only a Peak-Stage Primordial Realm cultivator so how could he cause so many casualties on Qingyun Peak? Did something else happen?"
The Xuantian Holy Lord sighed. "I see! You are just a cultivator in the Wave Realm and yet, you have to shoulder the history of Qingyun Peak calamity. It must be hard for you!"
The Xuantian Holy Lord paused for a moment as his gaze drifted into the distance. "Back then, Demon King Qingli secretly possessed an inner disciple of Qingyun Peak. He somehow managed to avoid the great mountain protection array of Xuantian Holy Land and hid in Qingyun Peak for several years, searching for something from the shadows.
"That day, the previous Qingyun Peak Lord Ling Aojue finally discovered Demon King Qingli. By working together with the elders of Qingyun Peak, they managed to heavily injure Demon King Qingli.
"But before he could suffer any more damage, Demon King Qingli fled to a deep valley eighty miles southeast of Qingyun Peak. He opened a hidden Demonic Abyss Crack at the bottom of the deep valley and released a Demon Lord named Cang Kong who immediately killed Ling Aojue and the elders of Qingyun Peak.
"The Demonic Abyss Crack was quite close to Qingyun Peak, which allowed me to sense the demon Qi. So I rushed over immediately but I was still a step too late. Demon Lord Cang Kong had already decimated every living soul on Qingyun Peak. In the end, I decided to completely stabilize the Demonic Abyss Crack.
"Demon Lord Cang Kong wasn't an ordinary Demon Lord. He wielded a half-saint weapon that even my use of the Xuantian Bell's Holy Might was only enough to barely suppress him. I wasn't able to kill him in that short period of time.
"Senior Uncle Changsheng was in closed-door cultivation on Xuantian Main Peak at the time, trying to break through to Dao Lord Realm. But when he sensed Cang Kong's aura, he immediately came out of closed-door cultivation and headed straight to the site. When he saw Qingyun Peak bleeding like a river, he didn't hesitate to burn his life essence to fight Cang Kong.
"The Peak Lords of Black Sword Peak, Pure Moon Peak, Ice Heart Peak, Crimson Flame Peak, and a few other great forces rushed over as well. We activated the great mountain protection array to its highest potential and joined forces to kill Demon Lord Cang Kong and seal the Demonic Abyss Crack.
"Senior Uncle Changsheng did not have much time left by the time the battle ended. He was about to die. But before he did, he took you in as his disciple and appointed you as the Peak Lord of Qingyun Peak. Then, he finally passed.
"Since Demon Lord Cang Kong's attack had had a huge impact on the prestige of Xuantian Holy Land, I issued an order of secrecy. This was why word of this incident didn't spread too far."
Ye Chen silently digested the information from the Xuantian Holy Lord. His face was solemn.
Demon Lord Realm corresponded to Dao Lord Realm. But most Peak Lords of Xuantian Holy Land were only at Primordial Realm. Very few Peak Lords were powerful enough to withstand another attack like that.
Demon Lord Cang Kong alone was enough to exhaust the manpower of the entire Xuantian Holy Land. The foundation of Xuantian Holy Land was still too weak.
Perhaps Xuantian Holy Land still had other backup tactics to be used when facing a life-and-death crisis. However, they were called backups for a reason.
Perhaps the most urgent matter was the fact that the Demonic Abyss Crack was eighty miles southeast of Qingyun Peak. It was too close to them, which made Ye Chen feel uneasy.
The Demon King had decimated the entire Qingyun Peak in an instant. This was enough for Ye Chen's alert level to be placed at the highest.
Also, where did Demon King Qingli go?
Ye Chen let out another sigh as he said with a frown, "Holy Lord, is Demon King Qingli alive or dead?"
The Xuantian Holy Lord fell silent for a moment, then said, "This person was extremely cunning. When he saw that the situation was no longer in his favor, he ran into that crack. So even I don't know if he was alive or dead."
Since no one knew if Demon King Qingli was alive or dead, it was safer to assume that he was still alive. Otherwise, he might take them by surprise!
"What kind of place is it on the other side of the Demonic Abyss Crack?" asked Ye Chen again.
The Xuantian Holy Lord said, "The Demon World is on the other side, a place filled with endless true demon Qi and beings waiting to invade our Ancient Desolate World at all times.
"The Demonic Abyss Crack is the spatial node connecting the two worlds. If it was opened, the Demon World's experts would be able to cross over.
"Of course, the more powerful one's cultivation was, the more difficult it would be to cross over.
"The Demonic Abyss Crack could only allow up to someone like the Demon Lord to cross over. If an entity from the Demon World who is on a level equivalent to someone in Slash Realm wanted to cross over, he would have to stabilize the Demonic Abyss Crack into a Demonic Abyss Passage."
Demon World?
Ancient Desolate World?
Was the vast Eastern Wastelands only one part of the Ancient Desolate World?
And who knew how many Demonic Abyss Cracks were hidden in this world? What if there were Demonic Abyss Passages too? There might also be Demonic Path experts already in hiding in this world. Danger could be just around any corner!
When Ye Chen had initially learned that there was a Demonic Abyss Crack near Qingyun Peak, he thought he could just escape to a safer place. But now, he didn't know where he could actually run to.
Perhaps a sealed Demonic Abyss Crack would be easier to deal with than the other hidden and unknown dangers.
He couldn't give up on Qingyun Peak just yet. Otherwise, who else would keep a vigilant eye on that Demonic Abyss Crack? Moreover, he could be the first to run if there were any strange movements around it.
"Holy Lord, that Demonic Abyss Crack is too close to Qingyun Peak. And since we've had a Demon King and Demon Lord crossing through it before, that Demonic Abyss Crack is definitely not something we should take lightly. If I may ask, are you sure your seal is reliable?" asked Ye Chen worriedly.