Chapter 1242: Tomb Keeper
After the azure-clad old man heard what Xiao Chen said, he did not show much of a change in expression. He was not aggrieved, nor was there any emotional fluctuation. Xiao Chen found the situation strange.
If this person was a senior of the Dragon’s Gate, there should be some emotional fluctuation when he heard this news—grief, at the very least.
It should be just like in the Azure Dragon Palace. When the Item Spirit heard that news, his expression immediately showed great changes.
Xiao Chen could not help feeling regret immediately. He should not have said so much earlier. Then, he continued asking, “Might I ask who exactly Senior is?”
“Me?” The azure-clad old man said, “I’m not human. I am just the tomb keeper of this burial ground. After this burial palace was forged, I was born. You can treat me as something like an Item Spirit.”
Xiao Chen somewhat understood now. This old man was like the steward of this burial ground. He guessed, “You were the one who pulled me in?”
“That’s right. The moment you stepped into the Distant Sea Dragon Grave, I sensed your presence. It seems like the Xiao Clan had not shown up for ten thousand years. After you entered, I noticed some dubious points, so I acted more cautiously and observed for a while before showing up,” the azure-clad old man said calmly.
“You no longer have suspicions about me, right?”
“There is none left. However, the affairs of life are really hard to predict. Ten thousand years ago, that brat Xiao Teng held a lofty aspiration and boundless dominance. Who knew, in this abandoned land, after just a mere ten thousand years, his lofty aspiration would be only a joke.”
Xiao Teng seemed to be the Azure Emperor’s name. However, not many people dared to address the Azure Emperor by name. The people now probably did not even remember his name.
Xiao Chen felt somewhat embarrassed in his heart. Only the old man before him dared to refer to the Azure Emperor as that brat.
However, for some reason, when Xiao Chen heard the old man speak about the Azure Emperor in such a manner, he felt strangely uncomfortable in his heart. It was like the old man was speaking about him.
The azure-clad old man did not know what Xiao Chen was thinking. He waved his hand and said, “Since you came here by mistake, there is nothing else, then. I’ll send you back out.”
When Xiao Chen heard that, he could not help feeling anxious. He said, “Wait a moment. I am still very confused and have many questions. You have already lived for such a long time. Perhaps you do not mind chatting with me for a while?”
The azure-clad old man replied, “Indeed, I do not mind. However, I am just a tomb keeper. Everything I know is related to this tomb. I might not be able to answer your questions.”
It worked! Xiao Chen rejoiced when he heard that. He said quickly, “Senior definitely can answer them. The previous generations of the Dragon’s Gate’s Sect Masters would always make several trips to the Distant Sea Dragon Grave. Why is that? You definitely should know this, right?”
The tomb keeper nodded and said. “Naturally, I know this. There are two purposes. You have already seen the first.”
I have already seen the first? What does that mean?
Xiao Chen looked around and saw the many standing human corpses behind the invisible barrier in the other half of the great hall. Then, he suddenly understood. The first purpose was to come here to inter themselves before they died.
This was as good as not knowing. Xiao Chen did not care about the habits of these seniors. So he asked quickly, “What is the second purpose, then?”
“Actually, you have already seen the second purpose as well. However, you probably would not be able to guess it.”
“You mean that azure stone pillar?”
“That is no ordinary pillar. That is your Dragon’s Gate’s Totem. That is also why the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit far surpasses the Martial Spirits of the other three Holy Lands.”
Dragon’s Gate’s Totem! These words stunned Xiao Chen. This was not the first time he encountered them.
Back then, in the Dragon’s Gate’s Treasure Trove, Xiao Chen received a jade strip recording the various refining techniques of the Dragon’s Gate. It also had the construction method of the Heavenly Dragon City.
One of the entries there was merely the introduction of the Dragon’s Gate’s Totem. At that time, Xiao Chen and Mo Chen could not make head or tail of it.
Xiao Chen’s instinct told him that the Dragon’s Gate’s Totem was very important. However, he had nowhere to search for an answer. Unexpectedly, the answer was here all along.
Xiao Chen asked somewhat excitedly, “Senior, can you tell me what exactly the Dragon’s Gate Totem is and why it can allow the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit to be stronger than the Martial Spirits of the other three Holy Lands?”
The azure-clad old man said, “This is a long story. We will have to start with the Martial Spirits of humans. Of the hundred races of the world, every race had something that they were good at. They either had strong physical bodies, or talent at controlling a certain kind of energy, perhaps outstanding comprehension ability. Only humans were equally average in every aspect.
“However, the heavens are fair. Although the human race was equally average in every aspect, they had Martial Spirits. Although the Martial Spirits did not have a pronounced effect in the later stage, it did increase the human cultivator’s cultivation speed in the early stage, bolstering their combat prowess.
“At the later stage, everyone cultivated Heavenly Sage Laws, Heavenly Laws, or Primordial Energy, reaching the same starting line.
“Soon, some clans learned to make use of bloodline contracts for the innate control of Martial Spirits. For example, some signed contracts with Distant Ancient Holy Beasts to change theirs and their succeeding generation’s Martial Spirits. This was how the Holy Beast Martial Spirits of the Four Holy Lands came about.”
Xiao Chen nodded. He understood all this. He had even seen the process of how the Xiao Clan’s ancestor subdued the Azure Dragon in the Azure Dragon Token.
However, the old man still had not touched on the main point. Why was the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit stronger than the Holy Beast Martial Spirits of the Three Holy Lands, able to suppress them?
“As for the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit and why it is stronger than the other three Holy Beast Martial Spirits, the secret is contained in the totem that the Distant Ancient Azure Dragon King personally forged. By means of a ceremony, this totem can contact the Azure Dragon Race that already left this abandoned land.
“This is a special grace. The old ancestor of your Xiao Clan back then passed the test of the Distant Ancient Azure Dragon King. The ancestors of the other three clans were much weaker, only managing to sign a contract to control a Holy Beast Martial Spirit and not to contact the Holy Beast Race that left the abandoned land.”
Abandoned land…abandoned land again. What exactly does abandoned land mean?
This was not the first time Xiao Chen heard the term “abandoned land.” Why was the Kunlun Realm known as the abandoned land?
This tomb keeper of the Distant Sea Dragon Grave did not have many qualms. When Xiao Chen asked, he answered, “When the Immortal Epoch ended, the new epoch began. All the old order was destroyed.
“During the Immortal Epoch, the Kunlun Realm ruled the Thousand Great Realms. It was the center of the universe and known as the Heavenly Genesis Realm. However, then everything broke; all order was disrupted. A new Heavenly Genesis Realm was born. The old Heavenly Genesis Realm declined and fell, becoming an abandoned land in the universe, rejected by the new epoch.”
This was the first time Xiao Chen heard such a detailed explanation. So this was how the term “abandoned land” came about.
No wonder those suspected Martial God existences of the Ancient Era all left this world and did not leave any traces behind. They were afraid of carrying the mark of the abandoned land and not being accepted by the new epoch.
However, it was this selfishness that caused all the peak experts of the Kunlun Realm, people as strong as the Supreme Sky Emperor, to say such grievous words: was there a peak above Prime?
Of course, there was a peak above Prime. However, it was just not in the Kunlun Realm!
Perhaps the Supreme Sky Emperor already knew all this but could not achieve it himself, so he bet everything and placed his hope on Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen said, “Based on what you are saying, it sounds like you saw the end of the Immortal Epoch.”
The tomb keeper nodded. His never-changing expression actually showed a somewhat grieved expression now. “That was a great tragedy. The six paths of reincarnation broke; the Heavenly Palace collapsed. The omnipotent Heavenly Immortals and Buddhas turned into meteors and fell. Magic Energy withered up; Magic Skills disappeared. People as strong as Immortal Lords and Immortal Ancestors, people who lived forever and could defy the heavens and change fate, all died in large batches like pigs and dogs.
“All the Holy Beasts and future Immortal experts fled the Kunlun Realm with all their might, fleeing this paradise for Immortal Cultivation, the Heavenly Genesis Realm. This was how the end happened.”
As Xiao Chen listened to the tomb keeper’s words, he imagined the scene of the end happening. Immortals dying like pigs and dogs. This phrase fully evoked the grief of the end.
After that, he asked about the Dark Church and the Azure Emperor. In the end, the tomb keeper did not know much about those.
The tomb keeper only knew that the Dark Church was a very mysterious faction. He did not know when they suddenly appeared. The Distant Ancient Dragon Race, which had remained in the Kunlun Realm due to insufficient strength, had fought several wars with them.
In the end, the Distant Ancient Dragon Race went extinct for various reasons over time. Even so, they still had not managed to figure out the origin of this Dark Church.
As for the Azure Emperor, the tomb keeper said that when he met the Azure Emperor ten thousand years ago, the Azure Emperor’s tremendous strength had made a deep impression on him. However, he did not know much about the Azure Emperor.
After all, he was only a tomb keeper, something like an Item Spirit. He did not have the complicated emotions that humans did and would not think too much about it.
“You once said that the generations of the Dragon’s Gate’s Sect Masters would choose to be buried here before they died. Why is that?” Xiao Chen asked somewhat excitedly when he thought of something.
“As they possessed the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit, they are half Dragon Race. Being buried in this Azure Dragon King Burial Palace allowed them to bolster their later generations’ Luck. All of them had the jade strip that I gave them. As long as they were willing, they could come to this burial palace at any time.”
Having learned the Paradise Secret Canon, Xiao Chen knew that this place had ideal conditions, following the geomancy principles of blessing the later generations. So he did not doubt this.
Now, approaching the main point, Xiao Chen asked, “In that case, as long as the Dragon’s Gate’s Sect Masters were about to die, they would choose to be buried here without exception?”
The tomb keeper nodded, indicating that it was so.
“However, I discovered that the Azure Emperor is not here. Does that mean that he did not die, and he left this world like the peak experts of the Ancient Era?”
The tomb keeper shook his head and said, “No. You probably can figure this out yourself. If he truly left this world, he would erase all marks of himself in this world. However, based on what you said, there are still legends of him in this world and all sorts of tales told about him. If he truly erased all marks of him being in this world, then all those would not exist.
“Even the person closest to him would not remember his existence. How could there be stories of him being passed down?”
When Xiao Chen heard this, he could not help feeling dispirited. Could it be that he was wrong?
“You asked a lot of questions. However, I answered them all. You can leave now.”
The tomb keeper was trying to chase Xiao Chen away again. Xiao Chen could not help feeling depressed. So he asked, “Why do you keep trying to chase me away?”