Chapter 2081 – Secret of the Black Book
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Through speaking with Clear and Ink, Lin Ming was able to verify the memories of Famine. He was able to confirm all sorts of information about the great abyssal calamity 10 billion years ago.
10 billion years ago, the calamity of the 33 Heavens had finally been ended by the Eternal Wall.
The Asura Road Master and Immortal Sovereign joined forces, using their transcendent methods to forge the Eternal Wall and block off the Dark Abyss. After cutting off the source of these abyssals they proceeded to kill the other ones that remained.
Thus ended this great calamity.
The Eternal Wall was a barrier that only intelligent life forms of the 33 Heavens could pass. As for abyssal demons, they were sealed outside the Eternal Wall.
But the Eternal Wall wasn’t perfect and impregnable. As the wearing of time passed, many space-time cracks would appear. Some abyssals were able to pass through these space-time cracks and bypass the Eternal Wall.
The more powerful an abyssal was, the lower the chances of them passing through these space-time cracks.
Like this, even if those abyssals that passed through the cracks possessed a peak Empyrean level strength, they still wouldn’t be able to harm the 33 Heavens to any large degree.
But history was never without accidents. Billions of years ago, an incomparably terrifying abyssal demon somehow managed to pass through the Eternal Wall, bringing down a catastrophe unto all races of the 33 Heavens.
This catastrophe even continued until now.
This abyssal was ‘Famine’.
As for how Famine was able to pass through the Eternal Wall, Lin Ming wasn’t able to find this out from Famine’s soul. Many of Famine’s memories should have been kept in its main body, and some parts were also sealed away.
Lin Ming continued to explore Famine’s memories. Within the starry space he sat in the void.
At this time, an ancient pitch black book floated before him. This black book was left behind by Imperial Prince Xishen.
Lin Ming reached out a hand and gently traced its cover. Strange abyssal runes lit up, like the eyes of an abyssal demon flashing in the dark of night.
After absorbing a massive amount of Famine’s memories and furthering his understanding of the abyssal Laws, Lin Ming was now able to open the black book.
He silently flipped open the cover. The thick black cover seemed to be sealed by some force field, making it incomparably heavy.
This was not the first time he had opened this mysterious ancient book. But each time he did, he discovered new things.
The reason was that these abyssal texts were too difficult to understand. Trying to decipher them with the limited fragments of information he had wasn’t easy at all.
“The source of darkness, the abyssal ritual…”
Lin Ming read these words out loud and fell into a long period of contemplation.
In front of him, the black book shimmered with a mystical light, like the book of fate in the hands of the king of hell.
Lin Ming had already determined that this black book wasn’t some rare cultivation method manual nor was it some ancient secret technique, and it definitely wasn’t a True Divinity spirit treasure.
It was a book of abyssal rituals, and what was written inside were all texts of abyssal rites, texts that contained profound symbolic meanings.
These recitations of abyssal rites were completely unrelated to cultivation. They weren’t able to directly enhance a martial artist’s strength, but their value was still extraordinary.
Within the ranks of the abyssals, there were six super abyssals similar to ‘Famine’.
When they were at their peak strength, they were situated somewhere between peak True Divinity and Beyond Divinity. They were existences only inferior to the Asura Road Master!
They were the totems of the countless devils in the Dark Abyss, incredibly horrifying existences.
Underneath the command of each of these super abyssals was an influence of their own lineage. These influences were extremely powerful and contained countless abyssal demons. Many of these abyssals were comparable to middle True Divinity realm or even upper True Divinity realm characters.
If it were 10 billion years ago and each one of these influences turned out in full strength, then they would be able to easily overwhelm the current 33 Heavens, destroying all life within the universe.
Compared to these super influences, even the Good Fortune Saint Palace wasn’t anything at all.
However, in the great calamity 10 billion years ago, the ancient races also inflicted heavy losses on the Dark Abyss. The six great influences were the main forces of the war effort against the 33 Heavens, and they had suffered the greatest losses. Even many of the six great abyssals died, and the forces beneath them nearly fell apart.
Of these six great influences, each lineage possessed such a black book.
The six black books were ceremonial rites, and the ceremony they were related to was concerned with the deepest and most mysterious place of the Dark Abyss – The Demon God’s Tomb.
The Demon God’s Tomb was the foundation of the Dark Abyss and also the most enigmatic place in the Dark Abyss.
Lin Ming originally wanted to find out more information about this Demon God’s Tomb, but there wasn’t much within Famine’s soul. If this information was kept in Famine’s main body then there was nothing he could do to look for it.
Of the six great influences, Lin Ming’s black book belonged to the one named ‘Eon’!
Just like Famine, Eon was the name of the super abyssal that led one of these great influences. When Eon was at its peak strength, it was equal to Famine.
To hold the black book was tantamount to Eon being personally present.
But Eon’s true self had died in that great war 10 billion years ago…
Lin Ming now suspected that when he entered the Asura Road’s final trial for the second time and wrested away the demon relic from the Good Fortune Saint Son’s hands, this had been from a super abyssal that was killed by the Asura Road Master.
If it had truly been a super abyssal as horrifying as Famine then it was naturally impossible for it to leave behind such a small relic. Lin Ming guessed that the abyssal’s main body had been used by the Asura Road Master for other purposes, and the demon relic left behind was only a tiny portion of that super abyssal’s essence.
After finding explanations for all these questions, Lin Ming slowly closed the black book.
He stood up and flew towards the entrance of the final trial.
“You are leaving?”
Clear and Ink appeared behind Lin Ming.
Lin Ming nodded. “Yes.”
“Very well…”
Seeing Lin Ming’s decisive appearance, Clear and Ink no longer said anything.
On this day, Lin Ming left the Asura Road. He entered the Saint Convocation Heaven from the Divine Realm, and then flew straight towards the Primeval Realm Ruins…
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As early as his life or death battle with the Good Fortune Saint Son, Lin Ming had already heard news about the Primeval Realm Ruins. This was an incomparably broad land that existed independently from the 33 Heavens. Countless lucky chances and treasures were buried here.
A great reason why the saints were able to accumulate so much strength was highly related to the Primeval Realm Ruins.
And today, Lin Ming finally came to this land.
Taking a broad look out, this was a dead and listless world. The skies were shrouded in gray as if an eternal dusk had settled upon this land.
There was an inexplicable divine pressure like the pall of hell covering this world, making one feel almost suffocated.
Of course, this sort of deathly aura and pressure couldn’t affect Lin Ming at all. But if a low level martial artist were to come here, perhaps they might not even be able to take a single step forwards no matter how hard they tried.
Lin Ming galvanized the strength within his inner world. The power of yin and yang wove together with the endless power of Laws, forming sparkling divine runes. Like rainbow-hued marks being carved into space, they emitted infinite light that shattered this deathly aura.
Lin Ming walked forwards one step at a time. Along the way, he saw bleached bones all around him.
There were many bones; most of them decayed. Shattered bones littered the ground, covered in the mottled traces of endless years. The reason for these marks to appear was because of the thick deathly aura that covered this land. This sort of deathly aura was able to draw out all life force. If one’s blood vitality was unstable and they walked through this land then they would soon turn into a dried corpse. As for the speed at which their corpse decayed, it would be astonishingly fast.
“This really is a nearly dead world…”
Lin Ming recalled Famine’s memories. He pondered for a moment. Because if a world died, all life within would gradually break down and come to an end. This was the Shattering that the Asura Road Master spoke of.
But according to his intuition, with this world having reached such a degree of decay it should have long since been destroyed. But, why had it continued to exist until now?
Somehow, somewhere, could there be some Laws supporting it so that not even the Shattering was able to destroy this world?
Lin Ming walked through this land, tasting the Law fragments left behind by the endless years. This sort of silent aura faintly resonated with the Death Laws in his body.
Death, was silence.
When a person died, they would return to dust. When a universe died, it would be annihilated into nothingness.
In the end, all things in existence only left behind one thing in the end – that was, ‘Nothing’.
On the distant horizon, one could see collapsed temples. Mountains of divine stone were piled up together. It was easy to imagine just how grand and magnificent they were in the past.
There were many of these great temples but not a single one was complete. All of them had become dilapidated ruins. These were structures created by powerhouses of the past, yet all of them had been corroded and damaged by the inexhaustible flow of time.
With every step he took, Lin Ming could feel ripples of powerful auras all around him.
These were auras left behind by ancient God Kings. They remained even after billions of years, reminding all who came here just how prosperous and mighty they had once been.
Lin Ming passed by a lake. The surface of it was like a mirror. Inside was a goddess bathing, her appearance beautiful and her charm devilish, captivating the heart, beckoning the soul.
Seeing this scene, Lin Ming was startled. For such a scene to appear in this deathly still world was surprising.
However, he immediately understood what this scene before him was. A pupil opened up between his eyebrows and a brilliant beam of divine light shot out, chopping onto the surface of the lake. The goddess shattered to pieces, turning into a wisp of strange Law fragments that slowly vanished.
These were the great world Law fragments that had condensed and then manifested into reality.
Lin Ming passed over a high mountain. Up above, endless divine demons beat upon drums, lightning wrapping around them as they all seethed like a rising tide.
Lin Ming’s inner world opened. Chaotic energy burst out, swallowing all of this divine demon aura.
In the Primeval Realm Ruins there was no ancient aura that could hinder Lin Ming’s steps. He walked forwards without stopping. Although his pace appeared slow, the truth was that space had lost meaning beneath his feet.
He walked for seven days.
During this time period, he once saw many saint martial artists enter into some underground ruins.
These ruins were buried all throughout the Primeval Realm Ruins. Countless dangers were hidden within, and many saint martial artists that entered were not able to leave.
But, there were always some people that went into these underground ruins and emerged with heaven-shocking lucky chances.