Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 612 - 44 The Truth of Yan Fu

"What’s the use of this place?"

Li Yan asked, puzzled.

"It’s used to store certain items that have been obtained from other fruits, which possess high research value but are also very dangerous and cannot be handled carelessly."

Yang Zheng looked at him: "In principle, the mecha that shoots fire out of its neck that you hold is of this kind. It must not be placed inside Heaven Jiazi Nine, absolutely not."

"What if I accidentally do it, I mean hypothetically."

"You wouldn’t want to know. All I can tell you is that there have been precedents, more than once, yet Heaven Jiazi Nine remains Heaven Jiazi Nine."

As he spoke, Yang Zheng passed the cigarette case in his hand to Li Yan, with a cigarette butt sticking out of it.

Li Yan pulled out a cigarette and held it in his hand without lighting it.

"When are you planning to go back?"

Yang Zheng asked.

"Today, I wasn’t planning on staying long. Don’t beat around the bush—just speak plainly."

Yang Zheng nodded, and with a gesture, the Albatross in the sky flapped its wings and descended in front of the two.

"I suspect you might not be able to return today. Mr. Jiao asked me to take you to Mother Crown, a place where many high-level classified documents are stored. He said there’s something that the Mountain Spirit needs there."

"Alright."

Yang Zheng and Li Yan stepped onto the bird’s back one after another, and the Albatross soared into the sky, weaving through gaps in the dark clouds.

The flashing lightning in the clouds dispelled some of the darkness. These clouds, known as Thunder Pool, could endlessly supply hydroelectric power and also served a role similar to street lights in the sky. But even so, the area below remained gloomy and silent, a challenging environment for those with fragile psyches to endure for long.

The Albatross shuttled between the flickering clouds, illuminated by bouts of lightning; when the lightning was bright, rolling clouds could be seen all around, and when it faded, not even your hand could be seen in front of your face, save for some color in the feathers beneath them.

Li Yan silently counted his heartbeats, reaching approximately eleven thousand, when he suddenly arched an eyebrow.

In the darkness where there was neither sky nor earth, Thunder Pool lit up a gargantuan bronze human statue. The figure wore a Heron Crown from the Qin and Han dynasties, dressed in armor with neatly interlocking plates; its eyes stared straight ahead as the Albatross glided past.

With the lightning gone, the bronze statue vanished into the darkness.

"..."

In about two or three seconds, the lightning in the clouds shone again, and though the Albatross had moved past the statue, Li Yan saw quite clearly that the bronze figure, bathed in darkness, was watching him with a sidelong glance.

Yang Zheng spoke up: "There are a lot of these things. You’ll get used to them."

"So, these things are also taken from various fruits by the Yan Zhao Club?"

Li Yan asked.

"Yes, those that hold value and are harmless have been relocated to the individual fruits plucked by each family; the rest, being troublesome, are locked within the tree trunks."

While Yang Zheng was speaking, a blood-red eyeball the size of a basketball court flew over their heads.

"Don’t worry, it’s harmless. The really exciting stuff, you’ll see at Mother Crown. Oh, by the way, Mother Crown was also brought back by the Yan Zhao Club from other fruits."

A streak of gold appeared before the two of them, blindingly bright, especially in the boundless darkness around them, making it impossible to ignore.

Only when the Albatross drew closer did Li Yan realize that it was a glaring mountain of gold.

Of course, it wasn’t a mine, but a mountain peak of literal gold! Towering thousands of feet into the sky, majestically piercing the heavens, endless and vast, it was ring-shaped and hollowed out as if it had been excavated. Its backside featured waves of green pine forests with various treasures and exotic delicacies hidden among the cypresses. Inside were thousands of ravines and gullies, with caves adorned with the patterns of fiery glaze, tempting one to imagine that sages, bodhisattvas, and arhats lived there, yet the place was entirely empty.

Over a hundred Albatrosses circled the top of the golden mountain, their grace unparalleled, a sight most divine.

"We’ve arrived; this is Mother Crown."

The Albatross descended at the foot of the mountain.

"Mother Crown has five layers; just don’t go to the top layer, feel free to wander around the others. I’ll wait for you here. Now that the Familiar Spirits recognize you, you can come by yourself in the future."

"Thank you."

After thanking Yang Zheng, Li Yan entered the vast Mother Crown.

He had only taken a few steps when Li Yan felt an itch in his ear, and subconsciously reached to scratch it, pulling out a clump of soft, golden, cotton candy-like substance from his ear.

This clump of cotton candy flew into mid-air, where countless golden cotton candies flew out from the caves around him, joyfully circling and frolicking with the one from Li Yan’s ear for quite a while before it flew back in front of Li Yan.

"Esteemed Walker."

As the cotton candy spoke, Li Yan immediately realized that this was Earth Endurance, which had followed him ever since his second entry into Great Ming!

"You?"

"All eight million Earth Endurances stem from Mother Crown, and only within Mother Crown do we Earth Endurances have some form. Seeing my kin, I was momentarily excited; I hope the Esteemed Walker does not take it to heart. What does the Esteemed Walker wish to find here?"

Li Yan looked around at the many caves and said with a wry smile, "I’d actually like to see everything, but I’m afraid there isn’t enough time."

After pondering for a while, he said to Earth Endurance, "What is Yan Fu, and what is the meaning of our existence to it? What is the significance of the existence of other fruit-bearing creatures?"

The golden cotton candy spun around for a bit and then said to Li Yan, "It should be on the fourth layer, please follow me."

As it spoke, it flew ahead, and Li Yan closely followed.

Mother Crown was truly immense, not inferior to the third ring of Capital City. The golden cotton candy flew swiftly, with Li Yan keeping pace, and together they plunged into the fire-glazed cave on the fourth layer of Mother Crown.

Li Yan was first plunged into darkness, then overwhelmed by a brilliant light.

He found himself in a hermitage where countless colorful bubbles floated around.

The cotton candy swiftly enveloped a bubble, bringing it in front of Li Yan.

"Just pop it, and a new bubble will immediately appear. You can also take it with you, as long as someone else pops the bubble, they’ll know what’s inside."

Without a word, Li Yan touched the bubble, and the colorful bubble burst with a bang. Li Yan’s eyes widened as countless words and indescribable images shattered into pieces, instantly drilling into his brain.

"Yan Fu is the Way, the Universe, the Mother of All; it is the reality within emptiness, matter, time, space, everything that is defined, everything spoken, it’s all Yan Fu."

—— "Preliminary Discourse on Yan Fu, Author: Scholar Star (Zhao Yang) (deceased)"

"When we were in the Six Ministries, we thought that the Sifan Master was the Five Directions Elder. When we ourselves grew old, we speculated that the Sifan Master might be the Four Emperors. We just fear that someday if one of us becomes Four Emperors, only then will we realize that Sifan Master is none other than the elusive Three Pure Ones, leading us to utter despair."

—— "A Battle Record Against Sifan, Author: Yama (Liu Dajun) (deceased)"

Comment: I have figured it out; it is indeed above Four Emperors, but not the Three Pure Ones. Yan Fu is the Three Pure Ones. At best, the Sifan Master could be considered the pinnacle of Four Emperors.

—— Kunpeng (Cao Yuanchao)

...

"If Yan Fu is reality, then Sifan is nothingness, an empty void, like a computer screen before any code has been input. The so-called power of Sifan is like the Delete key on a keyboard. But everything starts from nothing, from emptiness. Reality, no matter how fierce, must ultimately return to emptiness; yet we must still make a fuss, make an effort, which is why we are needed."

—— "Preliminary Discourse on Yan Fu, Author: Scholar Star (Zhao Yang) (deceased)"

"Slaughter, plague, war, even the extinction of species—while these are incredibly cruel from the perspective of the organisms themselves, to Yan Fu, these are as common as boiling water. Some among us thus define ourselves as meaningless, a calamity that devours everything, denying our legitimacy, out of the inherent frailty of life. Such a viewpoint is narrow-minded. The meaning of walking Yan Fu has always been about expanding reality and resisting emptiness. This is the essence of ’Heaven and Earth are impartial.’"

—— "On the Legitimacy of Walking Yan Fu, Author: True Martial (An Xiangqian) (deceased), Revised by: Lv Shang (Zhao Jianzhong)"

"How do we expand reality? It’s simple: all advanced techniques meaningful within the context of reality, superior martial arts, more beautiful music, designs full of brilliant ideas, more extraordinary lifeforms, technology, literature, art. But it could also be destructive weapons, horrific wars, inhumane exploitative societies; in short, it’s a deeper, more exquisite emphasis and application based on the material conditions created by Yan Fu...."

—— "On the Legitimacy of Walking Yan Fu, Author: Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady (Mao Sheng) (deceased)"

Comment: To put it plainly, if the entire Yan Fu is an all-encompassing book, the meaning of walking Yan Fu is just to make this book a bit more exciting, while Sifan is like wanting to end this story."

—— Qiong Qi (Su Ling)