Mistress Red-Dust stood there quietly, looking off into space. She didn’t say anything. Her mind was filled with an image of Bai Xiaochun pulling her to safety in a moment of deadly crisis. Instead of just fleeing on his own, he had taken it upon himself to protect her….
Eventually, everyone was gone, and silence filled the lands. However, the five wounds in the sky were still there, and the vast gulches which had been hewn in the lands during the course of the fighting remained. The evidence of the world-shaking battle was still there.
Back in the Underworld River Restricted Area, two figures stepped out of thin air onto the bank of the river. They were none other than the gravekeeper and Bai Xiaochun.
Bai Xiaochun was feeling as nervous as ever. He knew that the matter of his identity had been declared a secret, and at the moment, he was clasping hands in formal and very polite fashion to the gravekeeper.
“Great-Grandpa Gravekeeper…. Um… it’s not that I wanted to trick everyone. You understand, right, sir? I, Bai Xiaochun, am a very kind-hearted person! I don’t like causing problems! I'm very well-behaved. I just want to get back to the River-Defying Sect. They're the ones who all want to kill me. I disguised myself to try to be able to get home safely. Proclamation of Universal Grace? Inspections commissioner? Shakedowns? I never meant to do any of those things. Ai. Sometimes in life, you just have to make some compromises!” As he spoke, he kept his eye on the gravekeeper to try to assess his attitude. However, the more he went along, the more he really felt like he had the short end of the stick. He had just been going with the flow, which ended up forcing him to do a lot of things he didn’t really want to do.
No expression could be seen on the gravekeeper’s face as he listened to Bai Xiaochun. Finally, he waved his hand, summoning a black command medallion that he tossed toward Bai Xiaochun.
“The Celestial used Heavenspan Sea water to create a barrier where the four sections of the Great Wall once stood. No one will be able to get through that barrier any time soon. I am unable to leave the Wildlands, so I can’t escort you home. If you really want to get back to the River-Defying Sect, you’ll need to go through the Deadmire. And the only way you’ll get through it safely is with this command medallion.”
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Chapter
842: I'm Not Really That Outstanding....
Surprised, Bai Xiaochun accepted the command medallion. As soon as it touched his skin, intense coldness rushed into him. Clearly, it was some sort of precious object. Bai Xiaochun had heard of the Deadmire before. There were even some people who called it the Emptymire, as it was a location between the Heavenspan region and the Wildlands that was completely empty of all life.
There were only four areas where the Deadmire was accessible, all of which were near the Great Wall. With the command medallion he now possessed, he could enter it, and thus leave the Wildlands. Furthermore, it would actually speed up his journey back to the River-Defying Sect. After all, his original plan had been to cross the Great Wall, which would have eventually required that he travel back to the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect by boat.
The fact that the gravekeeper was treating him so well was moving. Obviously, the command medallion was no fake; if the gravekeeper wanted to get rid of him, he wouldn’t have needed to resort to some trap to do it.
“Great-Grandpa… you really are like my own great-grandfather…. Well, I guess I’ll take my leave now!” With that, he prepared to leave. After all, the Wildlands was a dangerous place, and considering that everyone was currently a bit stunned by who Bai Xiaochun’s Master was, it seemed like the perfect time to get away.
Of course, the Celestial’s attitude gave him pause. But considering that he was a very unimportant person in the grand scheme of things, it seemed unlikely that important people like the Celestial would pay much attention to him. Besides, he hadn’t done anything to offend the Celestial directly.
“If I just slip back quietly, it should be fine.” Although he felt a bit hesitant, now that his identity had been revealed, the Wildlands was definitely much more dangerous than the River-Defying Sect.
However, just as he made his decision, the gravekeeper suddenly started talking again. He stood there on the bank of the Underworld River, his hands clasped behind his back as he said, “Do you remember how I answered you all those years ago when you asked for my name…?”
“Huh?” Bai Xiaochun said, stopping in place and looking back.
“This world is basically a huge tomb, buried within which is a sovereign known as the Arch-Lord…. I am he who watches over his grave. The gravekeeper.” For some reason, the gravekeeper looked older than ever as he spoke.
“Upon that sovereign’s death, he closed the Worldgate and left instructions that only someone who cultivated his legacy all the way to the Mahayana Realm, a celestial, could open that gate. Until then, no one is permitted to leave this world!” He spoke softly, an ancient gleam in his eyes as though he were contemplating the past.
“A tomb?” Bai Xiaochun said with a soft gasp. Although he had learned a bit about the world in scattered bits throughout the years, this was his first time getting such a detailed explanation. The fact that the world he lived in was actually a tomb caused his eyes to widen, and his heart to race.
“His descendants became the imperial clan,” the gravekeeper continued. “And that is the origin of the Arch-Emperors, and also why this world's true name is… the Arch-Emperor Realm!” The gravekeeper wasn't looking at Bai Xiaochun, which made it seem like he was talking to himself as he contemplated ancient times.
“Were it not for certain unexpected events, this world should have long since seen an emperor who rose from the Demigod Realm to the Mahayana Realm…. Unfortunately, unexpected events did occur. A cultivator with spectacular talent created a new technique, a type of celestial magic. He forged his own path of cultivation, and eventually toppled the Arch-Emperor Dynasty!” Although the Gravekeeper was speaking very quietly at this point, Bai Xiaochun could tell that there was a touch of praise in his voice when he mentioned this certain cultivator. Obviously, that cultivator was so spectacular that he was deserving of praise by the gravekeeper. Furthermore, Bai Xiaochun knew exactly who he was.
“I was unable to interfere with the matter. In fact, there are many things that I can’t interfere with. I'm just a gravekeeper after all. I watch over the sovereign’s tomb, I tend to the cycle of reincarnation, and I defend the Worldgate. The first time I took any action at all was to ensure that the imperial clan wasn’t exterminated, and that the Joss Flame of the world continued to burn here in the Wildlands. However, the price I paid for interfering was that my time of existence was cut in half.
“That cultivator I mentioned spent years trying to find me. When he did, he asked me to open the Worldgate. He was illegitimate, so naturally I refused, but I did tell him the proper method to achieve his goal!
“However, the Arch-Lord’s legacy was not suitable for him. He came to me over and over again, and tried many ways to convince me. But in the end, he finally came to the conclusion that the only way to leave this place would be to kill me.
“Presumably, you know who that cultivator is. He is Daoist Heavenspan, also known as… the Celestial.” At this point, the gravekeeper turned and looked at Bai Xiaochun.
The gravekeeper’s words already had Bai Xiaochun reeling in astonishment, and yet, that astonishment grew more intense when Bai Xiaochun saw the gravekeeper’s face.
“Great-Grandpa, you….”