There was something else that Youyou couldn't understand. What was Mingye's purpose in refining his divine power? If he were truly a god, extracting the celestial maiden's special abilities to enhance his own or create powerful allies would be understandable. But the crucial point was, he was a demon!
The gods and demons are sworn enemies, their relationship one of mortal enmity since ancient times. Why would a demon bother with divine cultivation? Is he tired of living, creating more adversaries to court death?
After thinking for a moment, Youyou then connected with Emperor Hongfei of the Seventh Heaven to find out if she had found any clues.
"Sect Master!" Hong Fei's voice, tinged with joy, came through instantly. "I was just about to contact you, but you beat me to it."
"How is Seven Heavens? Are you alright?" Youyou asked casually.
"Sect Master, rest assured, I am fine," Hong Fei said. "With the help of four Emperors, the Seven Heavens Palace will be rebuilt soon. However, we discovered some things while cleaning the Heavenly Palace, and we would like to ask the Sect Master to take a look."
After she finished speaking, she seemed to directly use the communication talisman to activate some kind of spell. The communication talisman in Youyou's hand suddenly lit up, and several runes flew out, forming a circle. The space inside the circle trembled, and some images faintly appeared. In no time, Hong Fei's figure appeared in front of her.
As she made hand seals, she explained, "I found a strange secret chamber in the stone peak of Ye Yang Palace. It must have been prepared by Ming Ye beforehand. The things placed inside have disappeared with the demonic energy, but some marks have been left behind!"
The image within the rune shifted, revealing a dark room, exceptionally dimly lit, with faint traces of lingering demonic energy. Behind the demonic energy, a huge graphic was etched on the stone wall, looking somewhat familiar.
"Isn't this... that Refining God Formation from back then?" She recognized it instantly; it was the one that had trapped Hong Fei back then. She had a deep impression of it because she felt an inexplicable aversion to the formation.
“It does resemble a spirit-refining formation, but it’s different from the one that trapped me back then!” Hong Fei shook her head and denied it. “Sect Master, look carefully. This is not a formation. There is no flow of immortal energy on it. It’s just a pattern, more like a mark.”
Upon closer inspection, Youyou confirmed that this was indeed the case. This diagram was somewhat different from the original Divine Refining Array, but... it was still unsettling to look at.
Wait! A marker?!
She remembered that the immortal who went to Hengyan's place, impersonated the fourth prince, and took away the Triple Emperor had also left such a mark!
Could he be in cahoots with Mingye? Just how many people has Mingye planted in the Immortal Realm?!
"Sect Master, look at the other side..." Hong Fei suddenly pointed to a spot next to the diagram.
She turned her head and saw a faint red light on the stone wall beside her. There were no pictures on it, but only two eye-catching characters.
“Kill...the Heavens!!!” Youyou blurted out subconsciously, then was immediately startled!
Holy crap! What does "killing the heavens" mean?! Does it mean killing the very essence of Heaven?!
It must be understood that humans, immortals, gods, and even demons are all beings living under the Heavenly Dao. They must abide by the rules of the Heavenly Dao to be born, and this is especially true for cultivators like them. Yet Mingye so easily wrote the words "Slaying Heaven" in her secret chamber. Did she want to die even faster and attract the attention of the Heavenly Dao?
“I can’t figure it out either. Why would Mingye leave these things behind?” Hong Fei frowned, looking troubled. “Unfortunately, everything inside has been corrupted and destroyed by demonic energy. It must have been a precaution he took long ago. So I don’t know what he’s been doing all these years, or what his purpose is.”
Since even Hong Fei, the person involved, didn't know, You You was even more confused. After thinking about it, she instructed Hong Fei to destroy the place as soon as possible to avoid any accidents, since there was still demonic energy remaining inside.
“By the way, besides these, there is another thing left in this secret room, but after my investigation I don’t know what it is.” Hong Fei continued, “So I asked the Fourth Emperor to send it to the sect master of the lower realm. Perhaps the two gods will know what it is. It should be arriving soon.”
"What is that?" You You was startled. The next moment, she saw a flash of light outside, as if something was flying towards her from the sky. She reached out and caught it, and in the next moment, she had a wooden plaque in her hand. The plaque was extremely light, almost weightless, and entirely black. It looked very old, and the patterns on it were no longer legible. Originally, there should have been two characters written on it, but the character at the bottom seemed to be—God?
“Everything in the entire secret chamber vanished in the demonic energy, except for this,” Hong Fei continued. “Perhaps it has something special about it, but we can’t figure it out yet.”
You You examined it carefully several times but still couldn't figure out what the broken sign was for. There was no trace of immortal or demonic energy on it, so she nodded and said, "I understand. I'll go ask Feng Rong later to see if she recognizes it."
Hong Fei recounted some recent developments in the Seventh Heaven and was about to end the call when she suddenly remembered something. "By the way, Sect Master, I heard from Emperor Fang Ming that you seem to have been investigating the ancient gods. Are you searching for a way to awaken the Phoenix Clan? I do know a little about that!"
"What?!" You exclaimed in surprise, "You knew?!"
“I also heard Mingye mention it when my primordial spirit was trapped!” Hong Fei nodded and said, “He said that the reason why the ancient gods disappeared was because they had committed a great mistake that almost caused the collapse of the Three Realms. That’s why they were punished by heaven and banished from the God Realm. Moreover, the Heavenly Dao also sealed some of their innate abilities, such as the Phoenix Clan’s Nirvana Power.”
"The Way of Heaven?" You You was taken aback. "If that's the case, wouldn't this seal be unbreakable? Would the Phoenix Clan never awaken?"
“I originally thought so too…” Hong Fei continued, “But Mingye said that the punishment of the gods had actually ended long ago. Although the Heavenly Dao sealed their abilities, it did not intend to exterminate the gods. This is why the Phoenix God Venerable can still exist in the world, but it is extremely difficult to awaken the entire Phoenix Clan. I once heard him mention something.”
"What is it?" Youyou continued to ask.
“The Book of Heavenly Dao!” Hong Fei said with certainty. “I’ve only heard him mention this thing before. He seems to be looking for it as well. I guess this thing might also be related to the gods. But Ming Ye is very cautious. He hasn’t said what the Book of Heavenly Dao is or what he wants it for.”
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