The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Great Wilderness West Classic, chapter sixteen, states: "South of the Western Sea, by the shores of the flowing sands, after the Red Water and before the Black Water, there is a great mountain, known as the Mound of Kunlun."
Mount Kunlun is revered as the ancestor of all mountains in China and the source of dragon veins.
Above an altitude of several thousand meters, heavy snow fell like goose feathers.
The golden light that had traveled thousands of miles came to its end here.
Chen Jiuyang gazed at the towering Kunlun Mountains, his eyes indifferent. "The Holy Land of Kunlun is not Kunlun."
Then, two streams of light, one black and one cyan, emerged from him.
The Armless Old Sword Emperor and the Ancestor of Eight Darkness appeared.
The Armless Old Sword Emperor looked at the towering mountains, a flicker of memory in his eyes. "Heaven's Gate Pass."
"Mere tricks of the heretical path, not worth mentioning," the Ancestor of Eight Darkness stated with indifference, his vast, cold, sinister, and terrifying aura barely contained.
The Armless Old Sword Emperor looked at Chen Jiuyang and said, "Your cultivation is too weak. Wait here for our return."
"Hoo!"
Chen Jiuyang took a deep breath, his straight back slowly bending. He cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, his eyes closing in pain. "I trouble you, two honored seniors."
The Ancestor of Eight Darkness's expression was indifferent. "The dogs and pigs of the heretical path wish to ascend to the immortal realm? It won't be that easy. Wait and see."
As his voice faded.
"Rumble!!!"
The Armless Old Sword Emperor's eyes fixed on Heaven's Gate Pass. Then, an immensely vast and terrifying sword aura erupted from him. Such a terrifying sword momentum was something Chen Jiuyang had never experienced.
Armless, the man became the sword, then he charged into the sky, shattering Heaven's Gate with a single sword strike, ascending Kunlun.
Those two terrifying streams of light, one cyan and one black, soared into the clouds.
"Boom!!"
An avalanche descended, as if the world was ending. Chen Jiuyang's vision was filled with a vast expanse of white.
He slowly floated into the air, hovering mid-sky, his eyes vacant and lifeless.
Only now could he no longer maintain his indifferent facade, no longer force himself to endure.
Regardless of how the outside world judged him, he, Chen Jiuyang, was ultimately just an ordinary person, only twenty-four years old.
Though he had risen triumphantly along the way, his strength was still too weak, and his destiny was not his own.
The wind and smoke had dissipated, leaving only a solitary, lingering shadow.
It was as if mournful sounds of battle echoed in the sky, followed by a rain of blood that stained the vast white snow crimson.
But none of this registered in Chen Jiuyang's eyes or reached his ears.
Then, countless figures fell from the clouds, fleeing in all directions, each with a look of terror and madness on their faces.
"Saint Son Qianyang, it's over. Come."
The Ancestor of Eight Darkness's voice, transmitted through the True Demon Sect's ceremonial robe, reached Chen Jiuyang's ears.
Chen Jiuyang's body trembled, and then a brilliant light flashed in his eyes. The Yan Sheng Saber unsheathed, and holding the long saber, he transformed into a golden beam, charging into the sky and entering the clouds.
Legend had it that the Holy Land of Kunlun possessed the Jade Pool, and by the Jade Pool stood a peach forest, the dwelling place of immortals.
As Chen Jiuyang entered the Holy Land of Kunlun, he saw a vista of endless palaces, most of which were now destroyed.
Limbs and broken bodies were scattered everywhere.
An unknown number of people had died, and the entire Holy Land of Kunlun was permeated with the stench of blood.
Before an ancient, white-glowing gate, countless corpses lay.
Among these corpses were several who had appeared outside the Crippled Elder Village, secretly observing Chen Jiuyang.
The Armless Old Sword Emperor and the Ancestor of Eight Darkness stood upon the piles of bodies, their expressions indifferent, devoid of emotion.
Chen Jiuyang's body trembled violently. He opened his spiritual sense and searched frantically with his eyes:
"Zixuan! Zixuan! Zixuan!!!"
Chen Jiuyang spent half a day searching the Holy Land of Kunlun for Yao Zixuan's whereabouts, but he scoured everywhere and found not a single trace of her.
"Stop looking," the Old Sword Emperor's voice reached Chen Jiuyang.
"Clang—"
Chen Jiuyang's face turned ashen. He could no longer grip the Yan Sheng Saber tightly, and it slipped from his grasp, falling to the ground.
Chen Jiuyang stumbled forward, arriving before the Armless Old Sword Emperor and the Ancestor of Eight Darkness. His face was deathly pale and filled with grief, still unable to believe. His body trembled as he cupped his hands and bowed, his voice choked with emotion:
"May I ask, honored seniors, where is my wife, Yao Zixuan?"
The Armless Old Sword Emperor spoke:
"That day, when you came to Crippled Elder Village, I told you that you shouldn't have come."
"The Five Great Holy Lands were testing whether you were the person with the most prosperous destiny in this era."
"If you had died entering Crippled Elder Village, you would not have been the person with the most prosperous destiny. But you walked the path of the Human Emperor, forging your own destiny, and I naturally let you leave Crippled Elder Village. They calculated this point, and thus confirmed your identity."
"Your wife possesses the bloodline of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors. She can activate the fragments of the Nine Cauldrons and cause the Netherworld Book to appear, opening a rift to the immortal realm."
"Those who could ascend to the immortal realm were not weak. Their plan had been in motion for countless years, and they were fully prepared."
"We were a step too late. They took your wife through this gate."
The Armless Old Sword Emperor looked at the ancient gate, a thousand meters high, his expression indifferent.
Every word struck Chen Jiuyang's heart, nearly shattering his mind.
Yao Zixuan ascended to the immortal realm? He hadn't even seen Yao Zixuan one last time.
Would he ever see her again in this life?
Chen Jiuyang's heart was breaking, his soul beginning to disintegrate.
The Ancestor of Eight Darkness's face was grim and displeased. "This time, the heretical path ascended through Heaven's Gate, fully prepared, catching me and the Old Sword Emperor off guard."
"Saint Son Qianyang, our agreement has changed."
"This agreement, I have only completed half. You owe me half a small karma."
"Half?"
Chen Jiuyang was dazed, feeling as if the heavens and earth had collapsed, his reactions to the outside world dulled.
The Ancestor of Eight Darkness's face was dark. He waved his hand grandly. "This time, I couldn't save your wife and daughter. Your wife ascended to the Lesser Immortal Realm with the heretical path, but I managed to seize your bloodline."
A tiny swaddled infant flew into Chen Jiuyang's arms.
Chen Jiuyang's bloodline began to boil.
The tiny infant in the swaddle, with its clear black and white eyes looking at Chen Jiuyang, let out happy 'goo goo' sounds.
Holding her, Chen Jiuyang's body trembled violently, tears streaming down his face.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Chen Jiuyang cried and laughed. The decadent, collapsing aura vanished, and his body was once again filled with vitality.
Seeing this, the Old Sword Emperor nodded slowly and said:
"Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, you have passed the first calamity."
"You need not worry about your wife's safety. They ascended to the Lesser Immortal Realm, and there is a great karma between them and your wife."
"The heretical path is, after all, just the heretical path," the Ancestor of Eight Darkness sneered. "Ultimately, they are merely clowns. Saint Son Qianyang, if you reach the Imperial Dao within a hundred years and pass the remaining two calamities and eight tribulations, you can go to the Lesser Immortal Realm to find your wife."
"Indeed, your current strength is too weak. The priority now is to improve your strength, only then will you have a chance to see your wife again."
"This matter is concluded. We shall depart."
The Armless Old Sword Emperor and the Ancestor of Eight Darkness turned into afterimages and gradually vanished from the scene.
"Come."
Chen Jiuyang raised his hand and said softly.
The Yan Sheng Saber immediately shot into the sky and flew into his hand.
"Good daughter, let's go, Dad will take you home."
Chen Jiuyang transformed into a golden beam and rushed out of the Holy Land of Kunlun.
On this day, the world was shocked. Chen Jiuyang single-handedly went to Kunlun, Heaven's Gate was broken, the Holy Land suffered countless casualties, blood flowed like rivers below Mount Kunlun, and countless people of the Holy Land of Kunlun were killed until their spirits collapsed, living in unbearable dread.