"What is this?!"
Lu Jun stood dumbfounded.
Before him, within the vast cosmos, an enormous human face that seemed to cover the heavens hung high above. Its eyes blazed brilliantly like two radiant suns, immeasurable light overflowing from them and illuminating heaven and earth.
Behind that gigantic face, however, was connected a majestic and winding serpent body. The crimson body towered even higher than the Kunlun Mountains, resembling a ring encircling the world. It coiled around again and again, surrounding the two of them within the universe at its center, like the courtyard of heaven and earth itself.
Seeing this scene, Lu Jun recalled an ancient myth.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Great Wilderness North records:
"Beyond the Northwest Sea, north of the Red Waters, lies Zhangwei Mountain, also called Zhong Mountain. There dwells a god, human-faced, serpent-bodied, and red in color. Its body stretches for a thousand li. When its eyes close, darkness falls; when its eyes open, light appears. Its breath becomes winter, its exhalation becomes summer. It neither eats nor sleeps, and wind and rain attend its will."
The appearance described in the myths of China was exactly the same as the great creature before him.
No wonder...
A remark once made by Pang Lai in the original story flashed through Lu Jun's mind, the National Beast of China had destroyed the Yamata no Orochi with a single glance.
That made perfect sense.
Although the Candle Dragon was not as famous as the Four Sacred Beasts such as the Azure Dragon and White Tiger, it was indeed one of China's ancient Totems. Its status might even have surpassed that of the Azure Dragon.
Moreover, the Candle Dragon's greatest power lay in its eyes, which governed the alternation of day and night. Destroying a Supreme Monarch with a casual glance across vast stretches of space and time was only natural.
However, as Lu Jun observed the supreme body of the Candle Dragon, he noticed it differed somewhat from the ancient records.
Though it was red, it was not a bright scarlet. Instead, it was a dark crimson interwoven with black patterns, a lifeless and deathly hue.
In addition, as Lu Jun looked around, he discovered that the dark void cosmos had transformed into a realm of light.
Yet this light was not the gentle and majestic brilliance of the sun, nor even the light of dawn.
Instead, it was the light of dusk.
It carried the desolate feeling of the setting sun sinking beyond the western mountains.
Standing within the void bathed in twilight radiance, Lu Jun felt both ancient nostalgia and an aura of decay and death.
There was not the slightest warmth within this light.
Instead, it resembled Underworld radiance—silent and extinguished.
Compared to the Life Lake of the Sun-Moon Time Pool, it was far inferior, though naturally incomparable in terms of sheer power.
A realization suddenly emerged in Lu Jun's heart.
"The Candle Dragon is dead. Perhaps what stands before me should be called Zhulong Yin."
In certain Chinese myths, the Candle Dragon was comparable to a creator deity.
Yet in others, it was not called a dragon at all, but Zhulong Yin, the ruler of the Underworld.
The former clearly possessed a far higher status, one of the ancestral dragons.
The latter had lost the sacred dominance and majesty of dragonhood, gaining instead a somewhat sinister and cunning nature.
The difference in status was more than a single level apart.
Zhulong Yin slowly closed its eyes.
The twilight glow that had blanketed the Beast Graveyard vanished, and the surroundings once more returned to darkness and gloom.
It spoke in a deep voice.
"As you can see, I have fallen."
Hearing this, Lu Jun could not help asking,
"Lord Candle Dragon, aren't Yin-Yang power and the power of time your specialties? Why couldn't you achieve eternal immortality?"
Zhulong Yin laughed bitterly.
"Boy, the vastness of the world exceeds your imagination. If not for the fact that you are the inheritor of the White Tiger Totem, I would not even tell you this."
"There are enemies capable of completely severing even the very concept of existence."
"The Summoning Plane once experienced a great upheaval in ancient times. The World Tree died. The Flower of Good and Evil perished. Among our Totem lineage, some refused to abandon their homeland, while others fled the catastrophe and departed for other planes."
Lu Jun's mind shook.
He had never expected that the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and the other Sacred Beasts had actually been those who escaped.
Then again, it made sense.
Among the Four Sacred Beasts, only the Azure Dragon had truly reached the peak of the Ruler Emperor level.
The others remained at the peak Emperor level.
Even so, that was already terrifying.
The gap within the Emperor realm itself was enormous.
Even the weakest among them, the Black Tortoise, could easily defeat two or three ordinary Emperors simultaneously.
It was only when compared to Zhulong Yin that they appeared insignificant.
Not to mention the Candle Dragon during its lifetime.
Zhulong Yin continued,"For these past several thousand years, I have continuously attempted to revive myself."
Its gaze casually swept toward the trembling Queen of the Sacred Lotus of Twin Blossoms nearby.
"By chance, I found the descendant seed of the Red Spider Lily lineage and the descendant seed of the Naihe Flower lineage. I hoped to fuse them together and recreate a portion of the bloodline of the ancient ancestral Flower of Good and Evil."
"The Flower of Good and Evil possessed Yin-Yang power. The Naihe Resurrection Art of its benevolent aspect was unrivaled beneath the heavens, far more terrifying than Soul Healing's resurrection abilities."
"Even if the fusion failed, consuming such a heavenly treasure that embodied both Yin and Yang might have allowed me to recover part of my power."
"Unfortunately, it failed."
"The ancient era can never return."
"The Flower of Good and Evil cannot reappear."
"They still bloomed as two separate flowers."
"Afterward, I created the Sun-Moon Time Pool. But some things, once lost, are gone forever. I cannot reverse life and death through my own power."
"That is why I need external assistance."
"And that assistance is you."
After hearing all of this, Lu Jun finally understood.
There was no such thing as coincidence.
Whether it was the Sacred Lotus of Twin Blossoms, the Red Spider Lily, or the Sun-Moon Time Pool, all of it had been deliberately arranged by someone.
Lu Jun had to admit that this journey into the Beast Graveyard had uncovered many ancient secrets.
These were truths that could probably only be learned from the dead themselves.
Perhaps it was not only the Totem Sacred Beasts.
Perhaps all the demon species of the Magic World shared subtle and mysterious connections with the Summoning Plane.
As for the ancient myths of China, it was not that China came first and the myths afterward.
Rather, the legends of creatures such as the Azure Dragon existed first.
Only afterward did China emerge.
The secrets of the Beast Graveyard had finally been revealed for the most part.
These were things that the original story had never mentioned at all.
"Different positions reveal different truths..." Lu Jun murmured.
A realization dawned upon Lu Jun.
Someone like him, who wielded the Origins of Life and Death and possessed profound attainments in the Summoning Element, would naturally delve into places like this. As for Mo Fan, because of the source of his own powers, he constantly found himself entangled with matters related to the Evil Holy King, the Dark Plane, the Azure Dragon, and similar existences.
"Your strength is so overwhelming. How could I possibly be of any help to you?"
After a moment of silence, he finally asked.
"You need not worry about that," Zhu Jiuyin replied. "As long as it has some effect, that is enough. I do not require you to revive me immediately. Once your cultivation reaches its peak in the future, you may try again."
"Besides, although Sun and Moon and Life and Death are both manifestations of the Great Dao of Yin and Yang, they are ultimately different paths."
Lu Jun nodded.
Since Zhu Jiuyin had already put it this way, there was no harm in giving it a try. If it produced any effect at all, he would have forged a connection with a great being like Zhu Jiuyin.
At the very least, when he used the Ancient Demon Gate in the future, it would not be unreasonable to borrow a portion of Zhu Jiuyin's power.
A single glance from those eyes could instantly annihilate an injured Supreme Monarch. If he pushed things a little further, severely wounding an Emperor should also be possible, right?
If his Summoning Element were to break through to Forbidden Curse right now, he would even dare to summon Zhu Jiuyin directly.
This was a peak Ruler Emperor. Even if only half of him were revived, he would still be a Roof Emperor, overflowing with prestige and grandeur.
Far superior to any Azure Dragon or White Tiger.
The White Tiger Pendant: Scumbag. Without me back then, would you even have gotten this far?
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
Lu Jun took a deep breath and stepped forward.
A milky-white sphere of light shone in one hand, while a pitch-black sphere radiated from the other. The two merged together, transforming into a chaotic gray brilliance that soared into the heavens!
This time, he truly went all out.
He pushed both the Life Element and Death Element to their absolute limits, stacking every method at his disposal and pouring in vast amounts of magical energy.
At this moment, after being unified through Fusion Magic, the mighty pillar of light possessed power comparable to a Super Spell.
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