I Killed Gods and Demons in Song Dynasty

Chapter 231 Dongxuan Patriarch
Just when Li Qingyun completed the refining of the divine nature.

Outside of dreams, in the dark realm where fallen immortals sleep forever.

The dead silent ruins of the ancient battlefield suddenly became violent and restless.

In the eternal darkness, the ancient battlefield that had been silent for countless years suddenly exploded with terrifying thunder.

Each bolt of lightning was as thick as a mountain and contained the power to destroy the world. It struck down from the depths of the sky, shaking the heavens and the earth, as if it was going to tear this forbidden land apart completely.

Thunder intertwined into a huge net in the night. Silver snakes danced wildly, blasting out dazzling light, illuminating the originally silent battlefield as bright as day.

Deep in the ruins, in the center of the ancient altar, a strange black clay jar was suspended, with thick golden chains wrapped around it.

There are countless ancient runes engraved on the chain, each of which exudes a desolate and sacred aura, locking the earthen jar tightly in place and resisting all temptations and erosion from the outside world.

As thunder roared, bolts of lightning violently struck the chains, making a deafening sound, like mountains collapsing.

The golden chain vibrated violently, and the runes on its surface flashed a dazzling golden light, desperately resisting the impact of the thunder.

However, the banging sounds coming from inside the jar became more and more rapid, each one as deep and powerful as a pulse, as if some ancient and terrifying existence was hidden inside, slowly awakening from the deepest part of the underworld.

"Boom...boom...boom..."

Every heartbeat-like impact caused the entire altar to tremble slightly, and cracks gradually appeared on the chains.

The voice had a regular rhythm and exuded an indescribable allure, as if it was calling out and echoing the evil forces in the darkness.

Finally, at a certain moment, the earthen jar could not bear the weight and a slight "cracking" sound came from it.

A tiny crack that is difficult to see with the naked eye quietly appears on the surface of the earthenware jar.

The next moment, several runes emitting black gas overflowed from the cracks like poisonous snakes, spreading along invisible tracks in the air.

Those runes were extremely strange, with a strong black and purple color, and seemed to contain an indescribable evil will.

They twisted and squirmed slowly, drawing strange trajectories in the air, as if they had life, dancing and going mad, and finally heading straight for the ancient stone gate in the center of the ancient battlefield, infiltrating it silently.

After a moment, a low groaning sound was faintly heard from the mottled stone door, as if a giant beast sleeping in the darkness was waking up.

The voice was suppressed, sad, and carried incomprehensible resentment and sorrow, as if countless creatures were wailing on the other side of the dream.

……

At the same time, Li Qingyun stood at the bottom of the abyss, and the darkness around him suddenly gave off a bone-chilling chill.

He looked around and found that there were strange purple lights emerging in the darkness, like countless pairs of desperate eyes wandering in the shadows and spying on him.

These spots of light carried an irrefutable malice, like the souls of the dead in the abyss, waiting for him to step into an irretrievable situation.

At this moment, Li Qingyun's eyes suddenly blurred, and he saw a slightly flickering purple flame suddenly appear in the darkness, attracting his attention.

Although most of the purple flame had dissipated, it was still burning tenaciously, emitting an inextinguishable light, reflecting a body suspended in mid-air.

This person has a tall and slender body, a tall stature, and an angular face. He is actually a handsome human!

Li Qingyun was extremely shocked. He never expected that he would meet a cultivator of the same race in the deepest part of this fallen immortal dream.

Who is this guy?
Is he a phantom in a dream, an immortal transformed by the will of a fallen immortal? Or is he a monk who, like him, mistakenly entered this place and was caught in a nightmare?

A series of questions came to his mind. Li Qingyun moved slightly, jumped lightly, and floated towards the floating figure like a ghost.

After getting closer, he finally saw the other person's attire clearly - the man was wearing a dragon and tiger Taoist robe, a water and fire silk belt around his waist, a bun on his head, and a bit of majesty between his brows. He was actually a Taoist master!
Li Qingyun's heart suddenly shook.

The style and patterns of this Taoist robe are clearly the traditional style of Longhu Mountain, but the style is incredibly old and has long been lost in modern times.

The records in the ancient books of Longhu Mountain emerged in his mind, and gradually overlapped with a legendary figure in the portraits of heavenly masters of all dynasties.

“Could this be… the thirteenth generation Heavenly Master who has attained godhood and ascended to the upper realms, the Dongxuan Patriarch, who is said to have been in the legend?”

Li Qingyun took a deep breath. According to the ancient books of Longhu Mountain, this "Dongxuan Patriarch" became famous in the late Sui Dynasty and early Tang Dynasty. He was a genius who achieved Yang God before the age of forty, becoming a rare and powerful person in the world.

It is rumored that he once topped the Tiangang List and even suppressed Wang Xuanfu, the reincarnation of Emperor Donghua who rose to prominence in the same era. He topped the list for decades and had an unparalleled reputation.

It is said that Master Dongxuan later entered the forbidden area of ​​Mount Longhu in search of a higher realm, looking for the legendary seventh realm "Return to the Void", and never returned since then, and there has been no news of him since then.

But in the Tianshi Mansion, the soul lamp lit for him never went out, so that everyone in Longhu Mountain firmly believed that he had successfully integrated into the godhead, ascended to the upper realm, and became an immortal.

For generations, he has been a legend that countless disciples look up to.

However, the scene before his eyes completely shattered the beautiful illusion in the legend.

The Dongxuan Patriarch, who was once praised by the world, is now floating in this dark abyss, his body corroded by strange purple flames, and he is sleeping in an endless nightmare.

Li Qingyun felt compassion and raised his hand, ready to put the remains of the ancestor into the Buzhou Divine Mountain so that he could take it back to the Tianshi Mansion in Longhu Mountain for proper burial.

At this moment, a dark rune suddenly flashed in the purple flame. The body of Patriarch Dongxuan trembled slightly, and he actually revived from the eternal silence.

His deep eyes slowly opened, staring at Li Qingyun with endless fatigue and sadness:
"Sir... who are you?"

The voice of Patriarch Dongxuan was low and hoarse, carrying the weight of time and seemed covered with endless dust.

Li Qingyun took a deep breath, suppressed his surprise, bowed deeply, and said respectfully:
"My name is Li Qingyun. I have a deep connection with Mount Longhu. I was asked by the contemporary Heavenly Master Xu Jing to come here to explore. I didn't expect to see the real body of Heavenly Master Dongxuan here."

Perhaps the words "Longhu Mountain" awakened his long-forgotten memories. Master Dongxuan's eyes lit up slightly, as if a trace of clarity had been drawn back from distant memories. He sighed softly, with an undisguised bitterness in his voice:
"So... I have fallen to this point. May I ask... what year and month is it in the outside world now? Which holy lord is still alive in the Tang Dynasty?" Li Qingyun was silent for a moment and sighed:

"Master, you may not know that the Tang Dynasty is no longer in existence. The Central Plains has gone through several dynasties, and now it is the Song Dynasty that rules the country."

When Patriarch Dongxuan heard this, a trace of melancholy flashed across his eyes. He seemed incredulous and unable to accept it.

"How could the prosperous Tang Dynasty fall into such decline? How many years have I stayed here?"

Li Qingyun calculated the time. According to the records in the classics, Master Dongxuan entered the forbidden area during the Zhenguan period of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Until now, more than 400 years have passed in the first year of Jiayou period of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty. So he said truthfully:

"It's been more than four hundred years."

Upon hearing this, Master Dongxuan sighed softly:
“I never expected that I was just confused for a moment, blinded by greed, and mistakenly entered this abyss of dreams, wasting hundreds of years in an instant…”

His voice was low and carried a vicissitude that penetrated people's hearts, as if bringing people back to that distant time, seeing the scene where he was full of vigor and vitality and pursuing the immortal path, but in the end, because of a wrong step, he fell into the darkness from which there was no escape.

Li Qingyun's heart moved, and he couldn't help but ask:
"Master, what exactly has happened to you? Could it be that the evil god I just killed is you?"

Patriarch Dongxuan gave a bitter smile, with a trace of self-mockery on his face:

“Yes, the evil god just now was me… but I am no longer the real me. I am just a shell that has been corroded by the divine nature. I mistakenly entered this place and tried to obtain the divine nature, thinking that I could use it to transcend the mortal world and pursue the realm of returning to the void. But I underestimated the power of the divine nature…”

He paused, his voice filled with endless sorrow, "In that godhead, there is an indescribable power, evil, madness... I was unable to resist its erosion, and was eventually contaminated, becoming a puppet of the abyss. I fell into madness and lost myself... until you killed me, and I regained consciousness at this last moment."

Li Qingyun was so upset after hearing this that he clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.

He finally understood that the ancestor before him did not ascend to the immortal world as the legend said, but fell into the dream of a fallen immortal, became a victim of divinity, and finally fell into endless madness.

In this illogical, incomprehensible and mysterious world, even a genius like Master Dongxuan can sink into the abyss and be unable to extricate himself because of a wrong step.

In the faint afterglow, Master Dongxuan's mind became extremely clear and his eyes became bright. He slowly pulled out an ancient long sword from his back. The sword bore traces of time, but it was sharp and revealed a majesty that could not be desecrated.

He handed the sword to Li Qingyun and said:

"My friend, this sword is the most precious treasure passed down from generation to generation in Longhu Mountain, the 'Heavenly Master Sword' used by our ancestor Zhang Daoling.

"This sword came with me, but I was never able to bring it back. Since you have a close relationship with Longhu Mountain, please take this token back to the Heavenly Master's Mansion and give it to the current Heavenly Master, so that the ancestor's relics will not be covered in dust."

Li Qingyun's heart trembled. He took the Heavenly Master Sword and felt the ancient and vast power coming from the sword. He said solemnly:

"Please rest assured, senior. I will definitely return this sword intact to Zhao State and live up to your trust."

Patriarch Dongxuan nodded slightly, with a hint of relief in his eyes.

He was silent for a moment, his eyes gradually became deep, and he said slowly:

"Since you were able to successfully fuse the divine nature of this place, you must be a person of destiny and extraordinary luck. However, you know that although the divine nature is powerful, fusing it is not without cost.

"Once you merge with the godhead, it means that your will has a subtle connection with the will of the fallen immortal. It may not be easy to leave this dream."

Li Qingyun was slightly stunned. He had never read about these things in the books of Longhu Mountain, so he asked:

"How did the ancestor know this?"

Patriarch Dongxuan showed a bleak smile:

“I have been trapped here for more than four hundred years, becoming the watchdog of the guardian godhead. I have witnessed countless secrets in this dream with my own eyes, and have seen too many strong men perish here and eventually be swallowed by the fallen immortal dream. Naturally, I know more than others.

"Have you ever thought about why this dream of fallen immortals exists?"

Li Qingyun shook his head:
"Please give me some advice, Master."

Patriarch Dongxuan said solemnly:
"Although the identity of the 'Fallen Immortal' who created this dream is a mystery and cannot be verified, it is certain that his origin is extraordinary and his strength is extremely terrifying. Even the great master who suppressed him could not really kill him.

"In order to avoid polluting the human world, the great man who sealed the fallen immortal here had to use his supreme power to suppress it in the ruins of an ancient battlefield. He also sealed the entire battlefield and the will of the fallen immortal into an independent space, separating it from the human world.

“This dreamland is the world that the fallen immortal created while he was sleeping. It is quite similar to the human world, but it is also fundamentally different.

“This is a world where immortals and mortals truly coexist. It is extremely terrifying and dark.

“In the starry sky, endless sea and abyss, there are countless immortals. Once ordinary cultivators come into contact with those beings, they will be immediately contaminated and die in a horrible way.

“They don’t even need to come into contact with those beings. As long as they hear the voice of the immortals and receive their thoughts during prayer, even a hint of malicious response will produce terrible consequences that distort reality.

“After witnessing all this, I can’t help but think that after the Second God War, Dao Zun, Buddha and others used the List of Gods and the Whip to confer gods, taking all the godheads back to the upper realms, not allowing gods to walk in the human world, and cutting off the path to becoming a god in the human world. This doesn’t necessarily seem to be a bad thing.

“I even suspect that the fallen immortal created this dream world to warn the world that gods are not allowed to exist in the human world, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous.

“After Pangu created the world for the second time, until the ancient Conferred God War, our world was no different from this dream world. At that time, the whole world was full of distortion and terror. Half-bodied monsters with divine natures wreaked havoc. Gods often fought over trivial matters and wars broke out. Countless low-level creatures in the human world were regarded as ants and no one cared.

"Since you can come to the abyss, you must have a good understanding of this world and should know what I am talking about."

Li Qingyun recalled what he had seen and heard in this world, and he seemed to understand something in his heart, and nodded deeply:
"Senior, do you mean that this dream was created specifically to warn future generations?

"The 'Immortal Status' we have obtained here was specially created by the fallen immortal in order to let ordinary cultivators experience the terrifying effects of being a god and being able to influence the common people at will?"

……

(End of this chapter)