After arriving in the Immortal Realm and joining Mount Taihua Sacred Land, Lu Changsheng learned that the Eight Desolation Fire Dragon, along with the Candle Dragon and the World-Ending Black Dragon, were all one of the Ancient Dragon Kings, loyal to the Dragon Emperor.
Latter on, the Candle Dragon was sealed by the Taiyin Goddess within the Nether Sea at Zhong Mountain, and the Eight Desolation Fire Dragon was banished to the Void, where only through certain magical treasures could the world projection of the Eight Desolation Fire Dragon be summoned.
According to the content of the murals, the Eight Desolation Fire Dragon once erupted into a great battle with the Human Race, and after its defeat, for some reason, the Eight Desolation Fire Dragon was exiled beyond the Three Realms.
“Master, look, Daoist Earth Hound is on the mural!”
Lu Qinglian shouted excitedly.
The Daoist Earth Hound scurried over excitedly and saw, in front of Lu Qinglian, this part of the mural depicted a Three-Eyed Divine Canine very similar to Daoist Earth Hound, this Divine Canine opened its bloody maw to swallow the stars in the void, and some human experts were also consumed by the Three-Eyed Divine Canine.
“So my ancestor was this powerful?”
Daoist Earth Hound puffed up with pride, its ancestor being capable of swallowing heaven and earth!
Lu Qinglian excitedly said: “Daoist Earth Hound, try swallowing a star for me to see.”
“…”
Daoist Earth Hound rolled its eyes.
It was just a dog cultivator at the Immortal Emperor Realm, how could it possibly devour the starry sky?
Any random star could burst it.
Lu Changsheng and his group continued forward, where the mural recorded some major scenes of the ancient great battles, including the Mount Taihua Goddess standing alone with an umbrella battling the World-Ending Black Dragon, and the scene where the Candle Dragon tried to use the waters of the Nether Sea to submerge the northern part of the Immortal Realm, but was sealed by the Taiyin Goddess.
“This person, doesn’t he look a lot like Master?”
Lu Changsheng saw a seemingly insignificant figure on the mural, where this small figure was besieged by the great Dragon Kings, the Eight Desolation Fire Dragon, Candle Dragon, and World-Ending Black Dragon.
Although the figure was simply drawn, Lu Changsheng recognized that this figure in the mural should be their current Master.
Master, besieged by several Dragon Kings and yet survived, highlights his strength.
It’s rumored that Master has a very strong survival ability, almost no one can kill him.
This is also why Master could survive from ancient times.
The Qing Emperor, Heavenly Ancestor Sect Leader, Mount Taihua Goddess, Taiyin Goddess, Demon Lord… countless experts have fallen, and yet Master survives. Isn’t that the realm that Lu Changsheng is seeking?
Survival is the true path.
“Heavenly Sect.”
Lu Changsheng saw another familiar figure on the mural.
On the mural, a group of human cultivators riding Flying Swords were besieging the Devouring Demon Worm.
The fact that Heavenly Sect could appear on the murals of the Qing Emperor’s Mausoleum indicates the significance of Heavenly Sect.
There were several murals related to Heavenly Sect.
This is a sect that worships the Sword Dao immensely, where countless Great Demons fell under their swords.
The Princess caressed one of the murals with a reverent expression: “This is my ancestor…”
Lu Changsheng, Yuexi, and the others looked curiously over, only to see a celestial couple wielding an Immortal Sword in each hand, and a Kui Phoenix as tall as the skies, with blood splattering across the sky.
Behind this couple, there were two vague figures.
These two vague figures seemed to be merely background, but in Lu Changsheng’s eyes, they appeared to be the main characters.
This couple were the ancestors of the Princess and the founders of the Immortal Dynasty.
And those two vague figures should be two men.
As the ancestors of the Immortal Dynasty annihilated the Kui Phoenix, the two men watched from behind.
“Who are these two?”
Lu Changsheng looked towards the Princess.
The Princess shook her head: “I don’t know either.”
“Could it be they…” Yuexi from the Mysterious Lady Palace seemed to think of something, “Yusheng, your ancestor is the brother of the Heavenly Emperor, could it be that the men behind your ancestor are actually the Heavenly Emperor?”
The Princess’s eyes sparkled: “That’s possible. According to the genealogy, the Heavenly Emperor was the leader of an ancient human tribe, and our ancestor was his younger brother. He became a Great Expert under the Heavenly Emperor’s guidance. Could this mural be depicting the scene where the Heavenly Emperor was giving guidance?”
“Then who is the one sitting level with the Heavenly Emperor?”
Lu Changsheng pointed to another figure.
Yuexi’s expression became slightly solemn: “It is very likely the Demon Lord. It is said that although the Heavenly Emperor and the Demon Lord were not related by blood, they had been through life and death together on multiple occasions and were very close brothers. However, after the great war between the human race and the Demon Race ended, they went their separate ways. After that war, which led to the fall of the Qing Emperor, the Bai Emperor, and many ancient strong, no one could mediate the conflict between the two, resulting in the second ancient war…”
“I see.”
Having reached this point, Lu Changsheng knew that the two blurred figures in the mural were very likely the Heavenly Emperor and the Demon Lord.
The once close brothers ultimately became enemies, drawing swords against each other, leading to a drastic change in the Three Realms, a cause for lament.
“There is also this mural, which depicts the scene of three thousand ancient Buddhas combining the aspirations of all living beings to create three thousand Blissful Realms; truly magnificent.”
Zuo Jianqing stood below a massive mural, utterly captivated.
There were three thousand ancient Buddhas depicted on this mural.
Three thousand ancient Buddhas, combining the aspirations of all beings, forcibly created the Blissful Realm from the Void. Such a grand feat left Lu Changsheng and his companions in awe.
Creating a new world is countless times more difficult than destroying heavens and earth.
The three thousand ancient Buddhas also had to rely on the aspirations of all living beings to create the Blissful Realm, which lies between the Three Realms and the three thousand small worlds.
“These murals, I wonder if they were drawn by the Qing Emperor himself or by later generations? Most likely, they were drawn by those who built the mausoleum afterward.”
The Princess murmured to herself, already having an answer in her heart.
It’s unlikely that the Qing Emperor had the leisure to paint a wall mural ten thousand meters long.
Lu Changsheng and the others continued to walk further inside, but the murals became more and more unfamiliar as they progressed.
The murals at the beginning featured familiar figures to Lu Changsheng, such as the Eight Desolation Fire Dragon, the World-Ending Black Lotus, the Mount Taihua Goddess, the Taiyin Goddess, the Master, the Heavenly Emperor, and told of the great war between the human race and the Demon Race. However, the murals at the back occasionally depicted the Immortal Realm, even the Void and the Netherworld, with bizarre and perplexing events that were completely incomprehensible to Lu Changsheng and his party.
“This is probably from an even older period than the great war between humans and demons, maybe from the beginning of the birth of heaven and earth.”
Lu Changsheng speculated that the content in the latter part of the murals probably belonged to events participated in or witnessed by the Qing Emperor in his earlier life, but those ancient times were beyond the scope of later generations to glimpse.
The last two murals attracted everyone’s attention, for they could somewhat understand what these two murals were about.
The first mural depicted five fuzzy figures besieging a mass of black fog.
The second mural displayed a stone stele inscribed with “Suppressing Evil,” pressing down on the black fog.
“Five ancient human emperors joined forces to slay a formidable foe that was troublesome even to them, and before the Qing Emperor passed away, he used a stone stele and his own body to suppress the evil spirit that emerged after the strong enemy’s death.”
Lu Changsheng realized that these two murals depicted the origin of the Qing Emperor’s Mausoleum.
At the end of the murals was a huge palace concealed within the mountain.
The sounds of the group’s footsteps echoed inside the mountain.
The Princess took out a Luminous Pearl to illuminate the entire mountainous palace. The palace covered a huge area, with pavilions and palaces of cinnamon and orchids, carved beams and painted buildings, and towers and terraces – everything was there, as if time had frozen in this place.
In the center of the palace, a high platform stood tall, on which a stone coffin was enshrined, and in front of the stone coffin stood a stone stele.
“Incredible. This palace seems ordinary, but the location of each building is meticulously planned. Each structure is made of special materials, forming a Great Formation. This Great Formation suppresses that stone coffin.”
As the top genius from the Mysterious Lady Palace, Yuexi flew up into the air and looked down on the entire palace, realizing that the palace itself was a Great Formation.
“Array within an array, the methods of the Qing Emperor are truly unfathomable.”
The Princess held an even greater admiration for the Qing Emperor.
“Since the Qing Emperor set up the formation to suppress the stone coffin, then what’s inside the coffin isn’t the Qing Emperor. Let’s see what is written on the stone stele.”
With a thought from Lu Changsheng, the Longsword behind him unsheathed, and he approached the high platform with Sword Flight.
“The treasures of the Qing Emperor…”
Behind Lu Changsheng and the others, the silver-haired elder and the Prince also saw the resplendent palace and couldn’t help the fervent look in their eyes.
They were perhaps only one step away from the Qing Emperor’s treasures.