Mention of the Little Ape King.

Hong Er’s brows danced with delight; his spirits immediately lifted, as if he had returned to a thousand years ago.

Back then, how glorious was Great Ape Mountain?

Back then, how dazzling was he himself?

Only that...

As he spoke, Hong Er suddenly stopped.

He realized that Xie Xuanyi asking about this person called the "Little Ape King" meant that after the Great Tribulation, all traces left behind by the Little Ape King had already been completely erased, leaving no way for later generations to know.

The glory of the past had already gone up in flames, never to exist again.

To bring up old matters again would only add to the sorrow.

"..."

Hong Er lowered his eyelids, instantly wilting.

Now he only had a wisp of Divine Thought left; his true body, the [Bronze Drum Seat], had fallen silent together with the Holy Emperor, slumbering long before the throne in the great hall.

"A thousand years ago was an extremely, extremely splendid age."

At this moment, Hong Da spoke.

Hands clasped behind his back, he said slowly, "In that era, there were many geniuses... the Little Ape King was the one with the best talent and the finest aptitude among them. Of course, all of these people must be dead by now, but at least they succeeded."

After the Great Tribulation, Cultivators did not go extinct.

Great Ape Mountain still exists, Heavenly Phoenix Palace still exists, Da Sui Sword Palace still exists.

This shows that...

Those people who fought against the depletion of Primordial Energy had already succeeded.

They succeeded in extending the life of this world by a thousand years.

As he spoke.

He patted Hong Er on the shoulder, a token of comfort.

Through the long ages, with the Holy Emperor in deep sleep, the two brothers, both born of Treasure Transformation, had accompanied each other... their hearts were already as one.

"Xiao Xie."

Hong Da continued, "This [Primordial Holy Map] is a secret never to be passed down from Great Ape Mountain. Since you are able to take it away... it proves you have already gained the recognition of the Holy Emperor. No matter how the world outside may change, you are a distinguished guest of [Great Ape Mountain]."

It had to be said.

Hong Da’s thoughts were much more delicate than Hong Er’s.

His initial veiled inquiry into Xie Xuanyi’s relationship with Great Ape Mountain was a kind of test...

If the two sides truly had a blood-deep feud.

The subconscious fluctuations in Xie Xuanyi’s Divine Sea would not escape Hong Da’s sensing. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Though Xie Xuanyi was wanted by the Demon Country, he and the Saint Prince could not be considered life-and-death enemies.

The two of them could be said to have become acquainted through a fight.

They admired each other, a faint feeling of "mutual recognition between kindred spirits" arising between them.

Hong Da’s words directly wiped away the grievances of [Great Ape Mountain] in a single stroke... since it was not a life-and-death feud, then taking this [Primordial Holy Map] would be considered settling the Cause and Effect. In his view, with Primordial Energy exhausted outside, having the support of this [Primordial Holy Map] would inevitably make any future dealings Xie Xuanyi had with Great Ape Mountain much easier.

For the sake of the Ancestor Saint Emperor, and for the sake of the [Primordial Holy Map], the later heirs would likely no longer pursue this debt of gratitude and resentment.

"Senior can be at ease."

Xie Xuanyi smiled faintly. "This [Primordial Holy Map] is, after all, an inheritance of Great Ape Mountain. Once I have finished comprehending it, I will return it to its rightful owner... I will not monopolize this inheritance."

He had understood what Hong Da meant.

But...

A thousand years had passed.

Many things had changed.

Hong Da could never have imagined that the once incomparably united cultivators of the world would split into two sharply divided camps, and from that erupt a great war between North and South.

In this thousand years, the Human Race and the Demon Country had already slaughtered each other several times. If Primordial Energy continued to dry up... the brutal battles at the Northern Border Great Wall would only grow fiercer and ever more unmanageable. At that time, many more would die in battle, many more would turn into bare bones.

Some grudges, if placed a thousand years ago, could be passed over with a nod.

Wiped away with a smile.

But now, they were hard to dissolve... at the very least, Great Ape Mountain’s hunt for him would not end because of the [Primordial Holy Map].

If he were to reveal this Creation now, it would only bring about an even greater calamity.

This recognition from the Ancestor Saint Emperor had already lost all meaning a thousand years later.

Because the Ancestor Saint Emperor had already passed away, leaving only bones.

If the location of these [Primordial Immortal Hall] ruins were to leak out, the entire stretch of [Ruins] would likely be flooded with Great Cultivators of the Demon Country, each wanting a share.

Xie Xuanyi did not intend to mention these matters to Hong Da.

As for the troubles outside.

He had his own ways to resolve them.

Hearing that Xie Xuanyi intended to share the [Primordial Holy Map], much of Hong Er’s guilt dissipated.

He had only met this young man before him once.

But he had already grasped seven or eight parts of his way of acting.

This young Sword Cultivator spoke reliably; his word was as weighty as nine tripods, not like someone who lies.

So long as this inheritance could be mastered by the descendants of the Holy Emperor, no matter how much of it they managed to grasp, he would not have betrayed his duty as a "Great Ape Mountain Guardian"... In this lightless Earth Abyss, to have even one person willing to carry the inheritance out was already a stroke of fortune amid misfortune.

At this point.

Hong Er no longer had any resistance toward Xie Xuanyi’s taking away the [Primordial Holy Map].

"By the way."

"That [Bronze Sword] above your head—where did it come from?"

Hong Da suddenly spoke.

His gaze fell on the bronze sword above Xie Xuanyi’s head.

"This sword... was gifted by a Taoist friend of Peacock Bloodline..."

Xie Xuanyi’s eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke after a moment’s thought.

After stepping into the Earth Abyss, the entire Primordial Hall had been deathly silent; only when he sacrificed the bronze sword did it resonate with the hall, even triggering the reverberating sound of the [Bronze Drum Seat].

"That Peacock Taoist is rather generous."

Hong Da said with a smile, "This bronze sword and the material of the Primordial Immortal Hall differ not at all. They should be the work of the same master smith... When the Holy Emperor attained the Heavenly People realm in the past, the ’Nine-Colored Great Saint’ of the Western Demon Domain once sent over a Bronze Mountain."

"A Bronze Mountain?"

Xie Xuanyi was slightly stunned.

"That Bronze Mountain was extremely heavy; ordinary Cultivators could not refine it, and without being a Great Divine Ability User, one could not control it."

Hong Da said meaningfully, "It’s said that Nine-Colored Great Saint spent an unimaginably long time, yet was able to extract only a very small amount of material from the Bronze Mountain, refining it into Treasure such as Flying Swords... The remainder was truly impossible to deal with, so it was gifted to [Great Ape Mountain]. But such a minor problem could not stump the Holy Emperor. Using the ’Primordial Dao’, the Holy Emperor melted down the entire Bronze Mountain and forged it into a single Supreme Taoist Treasure."

"..."

Xie Xuanyi fell into silence, his emotions complicated.

The absolute peak Strong Persons of that era were simply too powerful...

He himself had tried chiseling the bronze sword; even if he used his full strength, he could only leave pale marks and sparks, unable to damage the sword body in the slightest. In terms of the toughness of the sword itself, the bronze sword could already be called a top-tier Spiritual Treasure! It was, among the ten Grotto Heavens of Master Ni Yu, the undisputed strongest Treasure!

Yet the Holy Emperor had refined an entire Bronze Mountain!

"That Bronze Mountain is what became today’s Primordial Immortal Hall?"

Xie Xuanyi could not help but raise his head, watching the talisman papers filling the sky radiate brilliant light, thinking it no wonder this great hall could suppress the tear in the realm.

"No."

Hong Da shook his head and said with a smile, "In fact, this [Primordial Immortal Hall] you see is merely the dregs and leftover scraps after that Supreme Taoist Treasure was refined..."