The ancient portrait scroll sat silently in between Yue Yingsha’s fingers. Not only did the woman in the portrait appear to transcend the space they were in, she also faced everything in silence. Even though life was on the line for Yue Yingsha, she remained unresponsive to her pleas.
“Sacred Ancestor…”
Yue Yingsha knelt to the ground and bowed her head deeply. Her hands that were holding the scroll were trembling. She knew that the woman she called Sacred Ancestor had nothing to do with the Azure Wood Manor. She was the creator of the Azure Wood Great World and the Door to the 33 Skies and she was also the person who planted the divine tree. As for the Azure Wood Manor, they had only prospered from excavating the treasures that she left behind in the Door to the 33 Skies.
Under such circumstances, what sort of rights did they have to call themselves progeny of the Sacred Ancestor?
Danger drew near once again. After the portrait lost its radiance, the black shadows began to crowd around apprehensively.
There were about two to three hundred black shadows—evil demons bred in the Door to the 33 Skies. Yue Yingsha knew very well that if the demons were to charge at them as a horde, they would be completely wipe out even if she and Yi Yun were dozens of times stronger. As for Granny Yin, she was about to be devoured by that strange shadow.
The black shadows drew closer, leaving them out of options…
“Let me take a look at that portrait.”
At the moment of despair, Yi Yun’s voice suddenly sounded. Yue Yingsha faltered for a moment before handing the portrait to him.
The moment the portrait landed in his hands, Yi Yun closed his eyes as he slowly infused his Yuan Qi into the portrait. Upon seeing this scene, Yue Yingsha sighed lightly. Yi Yun was apparently attempting to awaken the power sleeping within the portrait.
However, this portrait was something that left her helpless despite her having a vital connection with the divine tree from a young age. Yi Yun was an outsider and this was his first time coming to the Azure Wood Great World, so what could he do? It was just a final desperate attempt.
Yue Yingsha did not stop him, nor did she give any explanation. All she did was silently wait for her life’s final moment.
“Ah! Ah! Ah!”
Two hundred black shadows roared simultaneously when they were certain that the threat from the portrait had vanished. A few of the most powerful ones had begun to slowly approach. Their spectral green eyes and hideous fangs were already in close proximity.
And at that moment, Yi Yun’s eyes were still tightly closed. While being encircled by the black shadows, the Purple Crystal’s energy enveloped the portrait. Suddenly, he sensed a shudder that came from his soul and immediately following that, Yi Yun felt like he had once again entered the space inside the Purple Crystal, allowing him to see that woman.
She was on a nine-petaled red lotus, with her back facing Yi Yun. Her black hair rushed down her back like waterfalls and time seemed to come to a momentary halt. Only when the black-dressed woman seemingly sensed Yi Yun’s presence did she slowly turn her head…
Boom!
As though he had torn through space-time, Yi Yun’s vision immediately returned to the plains of death once again.
He saw the portrait that he was previously holding in his hands drifting up as it spread out slowly in mid-air.
The woman’s figure in the portrait was identical to the one he saw in the Purple Crystal’s space.
“That…” Yue Yingsha was stunned. She had been unable to awaken the portrait and over the past generations, only one of the female saints had been able to awaken a tiny portion of the portrait’s power. Why was Yi Yun capable of doing that?
Vroom!
Rainbow radiance scattered out of the portrait. Yi Yun bathed in the light and immediately appeared as though he was a descending heavenly god!
It was not Yi Yun’s aura, but the aura of the portrait’s woman.
Slowly, the woman’s phantom image seemed to walk out of the portrait. Every step she took seemed to give birth to a resplendent red lotus.
Her fingers gently swiped across the air as though she was engraving divine patterns in them.
Yue Yingsha widened her eyes but the trajectories of the divine patterns were blurry in an alternate space. She was unable to discern it clearly as though something was blocking her vision.
Could those be…the Dao patterns that the black-dressed woman engraved when she created this world?
The black-dressed woman was the creator of this world, so she was equivalent to a god when it came to the Azure Wood Great World!
Cha! Cha! Cha!
Divine beams radiated in every direction, causing the black shadows to issue biting screams. The ones that were a distance away fled in panic, while the ones in close proximity turned to ash when the rainbow light swept past them!
The evil demons born in the Door to the 33 Skies were unable to withstand the power of a god.
Even the evil demon that had entered Granny Yin’s body let out a loud shrill before turning to a blue wisp of smoke.
Granny Yin’s body jolted before she fell to the ground. She had just escaped the jaws of death and she was extremely weak. However, under the divine rainbow light’s illumination, her eyes that had nearly gone blind slowly began to open.
As her blurry vision gradually turned clear, Granny Yin saw the scene of a figure being immersed in divine light.
“Succ…Successor?”
Granny Yin’s first thought was Yue Yingsha, but after a long while, she realized that it wasn’t Yue Yingsha, but Yi Yun.
Wh…What… Yi Yun has managed to awaken the power of the portrait? Granny Yin found it unbelievable. Why did Yi Yun possess the ability to do so?
Yue Yingsha, as well as the past generations of female saints from the Azure Wood Manor, had a faint connection with the divine tree that stemmed from their soul and bloodline. As a result, they were able to possess sacred items like the Sacred Ancestor’s portrait.
As for Yi Yun, he had been labeled an outsider by the Azure Wood Manor, but now, an outsider had managed to awaken their Sacred Ancestor?
Yi Yun was facing the Sacred Ancestor’s phantom image. In the light, the Sacred Ancestor’s figure looked like a dreamy mirage, and there was no way to discern her facial features. Similarly, Yi Yun was unable to discern the Dao patterns that she had drawn with her hand.
Yi Yun only had a feeling that her beauty exuded a divine sacredness. It was impossible for people to have a tiny bit of disrespect towards her.
The nine-petaled red lotus fluttered around her, and there was a profound aura of samsara resonating around her. Even though she was just a phantom image, Yi Yun was still able to sense a tremendous power from her.
For some reason, Yi Yun sensed that the female phantom image had given him a glance.
It was obviously a phantom image left in a scroll that had been left behind in a time eons ago, yet she was able to traverse the long rivers of time to focus on him.
But that feeling was only ephemeral!
The phantom image gradually dissipated…
The evil demons had retreated with shrill cries, and after an unknown period of time, Yi Yun suddenly opened his eyes after feeling like he had experienced a dream.
Only then did he see Yue Yingsha and Granny Yin still prostrated on the ground.
In their eyes, the scene of the Sacred Ancestor’s phantom with dancing sleeves and fluttering dress facing Yi Yun had been deeply imprinted into their minds.
Unknowingly, tears were flowing from Granny Yin’s aged eyes. After tens of millions of years of persistence and protection, with generation after generation of people being guardians of this shattered world and the waning Azure Wood Manor, she, whose days were numbered, had managed to see the Sacred Ancestor making her presence felt today!
Granny Yin gave a deep kowtow. The surrounding evil demons had all been wiped out and coupled with the silence of the savanna, the scene that they were in seemed to be fixed in place for eternity.