bioinnovel Chapter 373 The Ancient Demon Ancestor Rahu
Chapter 373 The Ancient Demon Ancestor Rahu
The dark golden pillar of light from the ruins of the Eastern Emperor still lingered above the South Heavenly Gate.
Inside the Zhenxing Rift, the three-legged golden crow crouched in the void above the Ruins, its wings folded.
Xu stood barefoot beneath the golden crow's wings. With each beat of the perfectly assembled Eastern Emperor's heart in his chest, the golden crow's feathers flashed with a dark golden light.
The heartbeats of the person and the bird were perfectly synchronized.
Xu looked down at the thin, pale gold line running through his chest, the veins on either side of which had spread throughout his chest cavity.
It stretched out its right hand and used its newly grown pale gold fingernails to make a very shallow cut in the center of its chest.
What gushed from the mouth was not blood, but the lingering echo of the dark golden bell-shaped law.
"The door to the secret room is closed."
Xu raised his head and looked at Su Fan.
Su Fan stood at the exit of the secret chamber, the Pangu Axe tucked behind his waist.
When he emerged from the third fragment of time, before Taiyi dissipated, he embedded the bell core into the callus on the broken bone in his chest.
The core of the needle was now pressed against the dark gold scab on the broken rib, and was slightly warm.
He glanced at the newly opened wound on Xu's chest, then at the bell core on his own chest.
"Before Taiyi dissipated, he said that this bell core could be struck once. Once struck, all the ancient gods still slumbering in the time rift would be summoned simultaneously."
"But Laozi just sent over a series of messages. The Human Emperor Star isn't lit. The Human Emperor is the catalyst for the return of all the ancient gods. If the catalyst isn't lit, summoning him won't work."
Su Fan took the Pangu Axe off his waist, and the triple light on the axe blade shone brightly in the dark golden light of the secret room.
"Who is the Human Emperor?" Xu asked.
"Laojun didn't know either. It was erased from the dynastic history."
Su Fan slung the Pangu Axe over his shoulder and turned to walk towards the exit of the Eastern Emperor Ruins.
Nezha followed behind him, carrying his Fire-Tipped Spear.
The wound on his left arm, inflicted by the Time Hunter, was wrapped several times with strips of cloth from Su Fan's sleeve. The bleeding had stopped, but the Time Distortion Law at the edge of the wound was still slowly eroding the newly grown flesh.
Every time he gripped the gun barrel, the wound on his left arm would throb.
Nezha glanced down at his wound, said nothing, and continued walking forward.
When the three of them walked out of the Eastern Emperor Ruins, the Zhenxing Rift had already begun to close.
The dark golden light at the edge of the crack gradually receded inward, absorbing into the beating rhythm of the heart inside the void's chest cavity.
With each step taken by Xu, the crack closed by one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters).
After walking a hundred miles, the Zhenxing Rift behind them had completely closed, leaving only a very thin dark gold line hanging in the chaotic gray mist.
One end of the dark gold thread was connected to Xu's chest, while the other end extended into the depths of chaos.
"This string is the bell string of the Eastern Emperor Bell. When Taiyi cast the bell, he used three strings. The first string is connected to the outer divine palace, the second string is connected to the ancient battlefield of gods and demons, and the third string is connected to the core of the secret chamber."
"My heart skipped three beats just now, and all three strings snapped. But this thread isn't a string; it's a backup plan that Taiyi left on me before he left. The other end of the thread is connected to the last ancient god's ruins."
Xu stopped and looked down at the thin, dark gold line on his chest that stretched into the depths of chaos.
"Which one?" Su Fan asked.
"I don't know. But I can find it by following the line."
Xu raised his right hand and flicked the dark gold thread with his fingertips.
The thin thread vibrated, and the shockwave traveled along the thread into the depths of chaos. A moment later, a very faint echo returned from the farthest reaches of the universe.
The echo is a low frequency that the human ear cannot hear, and the heart in the chest cavity interprets that echo with its pulse.
It raised its head, and its pale golden pupils reflected an incompletely formed outline in the chaotic gray mist.
"The name of the site is Suiming. It is the place where Suirenshi invented fire by drilling wood. The star Suiren is already 80% bright, but it is held back by the dark line of the star Renhuang and cannot fall into the present world."
"The Suiming Ruins contain the piece of flint that Suirenshi used to drill wood to make fire. The flint still retains the residual warmth of the laws governing the first man-made fire in the primordial world. If you obtain the flint, you can use the firelight of the Human Emperor Star to illuminate its orbit."
"When the orbit of the Human Emperor Star brightens, all the ancient gods will be simultaneously located, and the final step of returning to their rightful places will be completed."
"Then let's not waste any more time. Follow the string and we'll go to the Suiming Ruins."
Nezha slung his fire-tipped spear over his shoulder.
Su Fan did not answer immediately.
He took the Pangu Axe off his shoulder, touched the ground with the axe blade, and placed his left hand on the bell-shaped core on his chest.
The temperature of the core is now a little higher than before.
He closed his eyes and used the will of all beings to probe into the core of the bell.
Inside the core is a tiny space governed by laws, with an unfinished ancient rune suspended in the very center.
The rune was only half-carved; the remaining strokes were forcibly erased by some force.
He opened his eyes and withdrew his hand.
"Taiyi left this bell core to me not just for a single summoning. Inside the bell core is an unfinished rune. The strokes of the rune are completely of the same origin as the law patterns left by Suirenshi when he drilled wood to make fire."
"Taiyi has been carving this rune for 30,000 years without finishing it, not because He lacks power, but because the true meaning of the rune is sealed by the dark secrets of the Human Emperor Star. To illuminate the Human Emperor Star, simply obtaining the flint is not enough. Someone needs to carve this rune completely onto the flint."
"What do I need after I finish carving?" Xu asked.
"Taiyi left behind a contingency plan: there is a law-based material in the core of the bell that can complete the final piece. That material is a crystallization of the law left behind by Suirenshi when he took the first spark of fire during the creation of the world by Pangu. This crystallization is not in the ruins of Donghuang, but at the root of the Suirenshi tree in the Suiming Ruins, where it has been suppressed by chaotic sediments for 30,000 years."
Xu loosened the dark gold thread and turned to face Su Fan.
"Hidden within the heartwood of the flint tree is a charred splinter, which is the crystallized flint fire. Thirty thousand years ago, when the Suirenshi drilled wood to make fire, the heartwood was shattered by the laws of fire, and at the same time the splinter was ejected, the crystallized material became embedded in the deepest part of the flint tree. Later, a time rift swallowed the Suiming ruins, and layers of chaotic sediment pressed down on the roots of the flint tree."
"If Taiyi left runes for you in the core, he must have also locked the temperature of the crystallized fire law within the incomplete strokes of the runes, as a prelude to you establishing a connection with the crystal."
Su Fan looked down at the hot bell core on his chest.
"No wonder the temperature of the bell core kept rising. The closer it is to the Suiming ruins, the higher the temperature."
Nezha held the gun barrel across his shoulder, using his injured left arm to barely support it.
He glanced at the outline of the bell core on Su Fan's chest, which glowed faintly through the fabric, and then at the dark gold thread on Xu's chest that stretched into the depths of chaos.
"Then let's go. The Great Sage's side is experiencing a backflow of Tai Sui through the cracks, and Yang Jian's side just pulled out the Demon Emperor's Spear. Of the three armies, only ours hasn't finished yet. Let's quickly get the flint and light up the Human Emperor Star, then go back to help them."
Su Fan stuck the Pangu Axe into his back.
Following the direction indicated by the dark gold thread on Xu's chest, the three stepped into the chaotic gray mist.
Outside the Tai Sui star, the chaotic gray mist was pouring in faster than the gatekeeper general had predicted.
After the third chime of the bell, the chaotic rift that had been forced back tens of thousands of miles suddenly surged out in the opposite direction, releasing a massive amount of gray mist.
The gray mist, containing shattered scales of the laws and broken limbs of the Time Hunter, slammed together onto the gravel belt along the outer edge of the Tai Sui crack.
The guardian deity formed a nine-layered protective array with his hands, his giant stone palms stacked in front of him.
Each time the array seals were struck by the gray mist, a gash appeared on his palm.
When he reached the seventh level of the crack, half of the ancient Kunlun Mountain-protecting runes on his arms had already shattered.
When Sun Wukong emerged from the ruins of the old Kunlun Mountains, his golden armor was covered in stone dust.
The white arcs of electricity from the aftershocks of the cataclysmic event were still dancing on the fur.
He glanced back at the ruins. Seven of the nine ancient stars above the ruins had already ignited, while the remaining two were still slowly rotating in the arcs of electricity from the aftermath of the cataclysm.
On the ruined base of the mountain-protecting formation, the stones shattered by the calamity are slowly reconstructing themselves according to the laws and patterns he rearranged.
The reconstruction is progressing well, but it will take at least half an incense stick's time to fully restore the system.
"Old Shi, how much longer can the mountain gate hold out?"
Sun Wukong slammed his golden cudgel on the ground.
"Half an incense stick's worth. But what's shrouded in the chaotic gray mist isn't just the Time Hunter. Just now, the third chime of the bell shattered the giant claws within the seven chaotic rifts."
"But when the giant claw broke, what gushed out from the broken end wasn't blood of law, but a bottomless slurry of law. Something was soaking in the slurry. That thing was awakened by the sound of the bell."
The voice of the gatekeeper came through the crack.
"What is that?"
"The ancient demon ancestor Rahu. Back then, he fought with Hongjun for the dominance of the primordial heavenly Dao. Hongjun used the Jade Tablet of Creation to shatter his true spirit, and his physical body was broken into twelve pieces and sealed in various parts of chaos."
"After the chaotic rift was shattered by the bell, the rift sealing Rahu's right arm was also shattered. Rahu's right arm has emerged from the bottomless law slurry and is heading towards the Tai Sui rift."
Sun Wukong grinned.
He pulled the golden cudgel from the ground, its shaft thickening, and carried it on his shoulder.
"Rahu's right arm. I wasn't even born when Hongjun used the Jade Tablet of Creation to shatter him. I later found this passage in the Bodhi Patriarch's library."
"Rahu's twelve physical bodies are each sealed in different pools of law at different depths of chaos. The right arm is sealed in a position closest to the primordial world, under the layer of chaotic gray mist on the outer edge of Tai Sui Star."
"Your right arm is here. Look back."
The gatekeeper's voice suddenly lowered.
Sun Wukong turned around.
Outside the Tai Sui crack, the outline of a huge arm emerged from the chaotic gray mist.
The arm, from the fingertips to the shoulder joint, is over a hundred feet long.
Its skin was dark purple, covered with ancient demonic law patterns, and black law fluid was seeping out from deep within the patterns.
The five fingers of the arm are spread out, and each fingertip has a curved bone claw.
The bone claws were covered with fragments of broken time laws.
The arm slowly turned towards the Tai Sui rift in the chaotic gray mist, clenched its five fingers into a fist, and smashed down towards the rift.
Sun Wukong flicked his golden cudgel upwards, making it longer, with the tip pressing against his fist.
The moment the fist and the tip of the staff collided, the shockwave blasted away all the rubble beneath Sun Wukong's feet.
His feet sank into the pile of rubble, his ankles and below were completely buried in the stone dust.
The tiger's mouth of both hands gripping the handle split open at the same time, and beads of blood seeped from the hairy backs of their hands.
"This guy's arm is heavier than the entire cage!"
Sun Wukong gritted his teeth and braced himself against the staff.
The aftershocks of the great calamity surged upwards along the staff, colliding with the Demon Ancestor's Law on Rahu's fist, exploding into a black and white arc of electricity.
The electric arc grew larger and larger, casting flickering light on Sun Wukong's face.
He clenched his teeth, revealing his canine teeth when he grinned, the canine teeth stained with his own blood.
The guardian deity withdrew the Ninefold Mountain Protection Array Seal, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and simultaneously slapped Rahu's right wrist with his giant stone palm.
This strike employed the full power of an ancient Kunlun Mountain guardian general.
After the film was taken, a crack appeared on the surface of Rahu's right wrist joint.
The crack was not deep, only half an inch, but the black law liquid that gushed out of the crack splashed onto the palm of the gatekeeper general, corroding a layer of the protective rune on his palm.
"This right arm is just one of Rahu's twelve physical bodies. His left arm is sealed on the other side of chaos, his two legs are sealed in a deeper layer, his torso is pressed under Zixiao Palace by Hongjun himself, and his head is sealed in the deepest part of the Buzhou Mountain ruins."
"But now that the right arm has awakened, the other eleven parts of the body will also awaken one after another. When the twelve parts of the body are reassembled, Rahu's true spirit will be re-condensed from the fragments of the Jade Tablet of Creation."
The gatekeeper looked down at the corroded runes on his palm.
"Then don't let him fight it out. While he only has one arm, break it first."
Sun Wukong pulled the golden cudgel back from under his fist, switched hands, and swung it in a wide arc, smashing it into the crack in Rahu's right wrist joint.
The tip of the rod precisely wedged into the half-inch deep crack, and the aftershocks of the calamity poured in through the crack, exploding in the law fluid inside the wrist joint.
Rahu's right arm twitched violently, his five fingers loosened, and he changed from a fist to a palm, slapping Sun Wukong.
Sun Wukong was sent flying by the fan, crashing into a pile of stone pillars in the ruins of the old Kunlun Mountains.
The broken pillar collapsed and buried him underneath, with only the golden cudgel still standing outside the pile of rubble, its body still vibrating.
The gatekeeper turned his head to look at the pile of rubble, and was about to reach out to dig it out when a hairy hand emerged from the rubble, grabbed the golden cudgel, and pulled him out.
Half of the golden armor was shattered, and the armor on the left shoulder was blown off, revealing a deep claw mark on the shoulder blade that showed the bone.
Sun Wukong spat out a mouthful of blood and grinned.
"That was a hard slap. Do it again."
He carried the golden cudgel and leaped back onto the edge of the Tai Sui rift. White arcs of electricity from the aftermath of the calamity surged wildly from the depths of his spiritual platform, weaving a layer of arc armor around his body.
When Luo Hou's right fist came down again, he did not block it. Instead, he charged straight into the fist. With the golden cudgel in front and the aftershocks of the calamity behind, the man and the cudgel pierced through the fist and exploded out from the back of his hand.
A large hole was blasted through the center of Rahu's right fist, and the liquid of law sprayed out of the hole, spraying Sun Wukong all over.
The slurry clung to the arc armor, emitting a sizzling, burning sound.
His arc armor was corroded layer by layer, revealing the charred monkey fur underneath.
"Was that enough punch?!"
Sun Wukong stood at the edge of the hole in Luo Hou's hand, and inserted his golden cudgel into the hole. The cudgel thickened, supporting the edge of the hole and preventing it from healing.
"Not enough. The right arm retracted. But two more legs emerged from the bottomless pool of law. Rahu's legs also awoke. All three limbs simultaneously approached the Tai Sui crack. The Tai Sui crack couldn't withstand the simultaneous impact of the three Rahu limbs."
The voice of the gatekeeper came from outside the crack.
Sun Wukong pulled the golden cudgel out of the hole, glanced at the deep, bone-revealing claw mark on his left shoulder, and then at the two enormous leg shadows emerging from the depths of the Tai Sui crack.
He placed the golden cudgel across his knees, squatted on the rubble at the edge of the crack, and his monkey eyes reflected the chaotic gray mist that was rapidly pouring in.
The golden light of Mars trembled violently above Jupiter.
That was a warning signal sent by Laozi from the South Heavenly Gate.
Sun Wukong understood the content of the signal. All twelve of Rahu's physical bodies began to awaken. Not only the three on the outer edge of Tai Sui Star, but also the other nine bodies sealed deeper in the chaos were awakening at the same time.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the chaos, Su Fan and his two companions were following the guidance of the dark gold thread on Xu's chest, traversing the vast white rock plain that had solidified after Chenxing returned to its place.
They then traversed the ancient chaotic gray mist surrounding the Tai Sui rift, shattered by the sound of bells, and finally began to walk step by step into the depths of the Suiming Ruins, where the temperature of the laws was gradually increasing.
When the bell core on Su Fan's chest was near the edge of the Suiming Ruins, the temperature had risen so high that the glowing edge of the bell core could be seen through the fabric and it began to scorch the cloth, but he did not reach out to press it.
Because the unfinished rune in the core of the bell and the fully assembled heart in the chest cavity of the void are resonating at the same frequency.
The final stroke of the rune was on the flint crystal inside the charred splinter at the base of the flint tree.
Nezha carried his spear and walked on the far right. The time-distorted wound on his left arm became more and more painful as he got closer to the residual warmth of the Flint Law.
He glanced down at the edge of the wound, and saw that the fragments of the Time Law beneath his skin had begun to wriggle on their own.
He gripped the gun barrel tightly and remained silent.
A hundred feet ahead of the three, in the center of the ruins piled with layers of chaotic sediment, stood a flint tree that had been dead for thirty thousand years.
At the base of the dead tree, a single charred splinter flickered with a dark red, ancient firelight.