At this point, Ruan Tianhe's face suddenly turned pale, and deep fear appeared in his eyes, as if he had fallen into some terrifying memory.
However, Fang Yuan didn't care about this and continued to press, "Be clear, what kind of disaster did you almost cause back then?"
"Alright..." Ruan Tianhe's eyes turned bloodshot, and a hoarse voice squeezed out from his throat, "Back then, when I triggered the thunder tribulation, the entire western continent's celestial phenomena changed drastically—"
"Western continent?" Fang Yuan caught a blind spot. "You underwent the tribulation in the Western Continent?"
After all, Ruan Tianhe was once the ruler of the Qu Yue Empire, an emperor of the Eastern Continent, yet he went to the Western Continent to undergo his tribulation?
"That's right." Ruan Tianhe nodded dejectedly. "Someone... gave me a clue, guiding me to the Western Continent to find a so-called 'sacred land' for the tribulation."
"Someone?"
"It was the current Pope..." Ruan Tianhe sighed deeply, his voice full of endless regret. "Though my path to becoming a Martial Saint was full of hardships, at every critical moment, there was always a mysterious force helping me turn danger into safety."
"And the Nine-Department Dao Body should have been an extremely hard-to-find treasure, but I gathered it in just three thousand years."
He shook his head bitterly:
"At first, I thought it was the luck of this world on my side, but later, I realized it was actually the Pope secretly guiding me all along."
A cold gleam flashed in Fang Yuan's eyes, and his fingers unconsciously tapped the sword hilt. It seemed the Pope of the Federation was playing a grand and dangerous game.
"Continue." His voice was cold.
Ruan Tianhe's voice became increasingly ethereal, as if he had returned to that nightmarish moment:
"Although the thunder tribulation was extremely perilous, I eventually survived..."
"At the very moment when the last thunder tribulation dissipated, a sense of ascension surged within me, and the sky above also cracked open with a rift."
"That's the legendary Broken Void, but the so-called Heavenly Palace Gate was not the radiant light I imagined, but a gigantic blood-red mouth!!"
"Countless extraterritorial demons poured out like a tidal wave. I had just finished undergoing the tribulation and was at my weakest... I thought I would definitely die, but to my surprise, those demons ignored me and scattered, attacking various places on Earth."
At this point, Ruan Tianhe's voice began to tremble violently: "What was even more terrifying was... deep within that passage, I saw an indescribable evil being."
"This demon was composed entirely of thousands of wings, and each feather had a terrifying demon's eye! Countless eyes all stared at me, nearly shattering my Dao heart!"
"At that moment, I suddenly realized... the reason those demons didn't kill me was because... if I died, the passage would close..."
"After realizing this, I severed my Dao foundation and forcibly fell in cultivation, thus closing the ascension passage."
"Who would have thought the Pope had been lying in wait, suddenly using a divine artifact to seal me—this damned gold card..."
"However, as a Martial Saint, I burned my essence blood and tore open an escape gap, but... in the end, the Pope planted a tracking brand on me."
"From that day on, my soul has felt as though it's been gnawed on by demons... sometimes I wake up, sometimes I see nothing but wings and eyes, driving me mad..."
Fang Yuan finally understood; Ruan Tianhe had been cursed by the demons from the higher realms, which explained his mental instability.
But what kind of existence was that winged demon? Just a single glance could make a Martial Saint fall into madness.
Ruan Tianhe continued:
"After that, to avoid the Pope's pursuit, I wandered through countless countries. The Qu Yue Empire I once built fell apart."
"It wasn't until a thousand years later that I found an opportunity and secretly returned to this homeland, and I have barely survived until now, until you came to me."
...
As Ruan Tianhe finished, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.
Ruan Chao'an, who was standing by, had a grim expression, his five fingers unconsciously gripping his robe.
He had always thought that the Martial Saint realm was the peak of martial arts, enough to look down on the world and live freely for ages.
But now, his master had told him—beyond this world, there were even more terrifying beings lurking, and in front of those demons, even a Martial Saint seemed insignificant.
This completely shattered his belief in martial arts!
Ruan Tianhe didn't pay attention to his disciple's outburst. Instead, he gazed deeply at Fang Yuan.
He could sense that the young warrior before him was only a half-step away from becoming a Martial Saint, and after hearing such a shocking truth, his Dao heart would likely be shaken.
Sure enough, in the next moment, he saw Fang Yuan's body tremble slightly.
"So, you're still shaken..." Ruan Tianhe silently sighed.
"However, you don't need to be too pessimistic." He spoke in a deep voice, attempting to calm Fang Yuan. "According to my estimate, those demons from the higher realms cannot descend at will. They can only descend in their true form through the ascension passage."
"Otherwise, this world would not have been so peaceful for these past few thousand years. As long as we suppress our cultivation to the quasi-Martial Saint realm, and ensure no new Martial Saints are born, peace can be maintained forever."
"Like me, I sealed my own cultivation for this reason..."
At this point, Ruan Tianhe's voice abruptly stopped as he noticed something strange—Fang Yuan's trembling seemed not to be from fear, but from...
Excitement!
This guy was grinning so widely it looked like he couldn't contain his joy!
He was actually smiling?!
Had this kid gone crazy too?
"Stuck at the quasi-Martial Saint realm? Why go through all that trouble…" Fang Yuan was indeed smiling, his voice full of restrained excitement. "I think, why not just kill our way through the Heavenly Palace Gate, wouldn't that be faster?"
Thinking of the immense amount of good deeds waiting for him in the higher world, he couldn't be more thrilled.
Ruan Tianhe: "...?"
What was this kid babbling about now!
"Martial Saints must undergo the thunder tribulation, and the deeper their foundation, the more dangerous the tribulation!" Ruan Tianhe explained in a heavy voice. "After the tribulation, the Heavenly Palace Gate opens, and demons swarm in. At that point, with you seriously wounded, you won't be able to win! Do you understand?!"
But Fang Yuan only smiled lightly: "Can't win? I don't understand."
Thunder tribulation?
Maybe it was a catastrophe for other warriors, but for him, a "disaster" who could respawn infinitely, it was just a game where health points were deducted.
Ignoring Ruan Tianhe's stunned expression, Fang Yuan shifted the topic: "How much do you know about the Pope's background?"
"Sigh..." Ruan Tianhe saw that he wouldn't listen, and sighed, giving up on the matter. "I have no idea. This woman's origins are a mystery, and she's unfathomable…"
"But in my opinion, either she's not a warrior of this world, or... she's a great demon."