Chapter 653: Receiving Instruction (Two in One)

The old man sat on the ground like a petulant child throwing a tantrum, his eyes bulging as he glared at Yan Jing.

His origin essence had been robbed, leaving him indignant enough already. Now Yan Jing had the gall to come rub it in his face. How could he possibly endure this?

He wanted to see just what tricks this human had left and what gave him the right to act so arrogantly.

"Alright."

Yan Jing nodded. "Do we need to wait for your two old friends?"

"Heh," the old man sneered. "Just show us what you have. If you are truly strong enough, the great curtain will make its own decision."

"Sure."

Yan Jing nodded, and then...

One brilliant beam of light after another blossomed behind him.

Watching those dazzling, multicolored hues, the old man's expression froze completely, his pupils slowly dilating.

What in the world is this?!

The old man felt as if he could hear his own heartbeat.

It was as loud as thunder in the sky, yet as rapid as raindrops striking the earth.

He had truly never seen such a sight. Among those streaks of color, not a single one resembled a light that would appear behind a normal person.

He was doomed.

Jolting back to his senses, the old man panicked and whipped his head around.

He was too late. Two rainbow streaks shot into the sky from the east and west, vanishing into the clouds as they sped in this direction at breakneck speed.

Yan Jing raised his hand. He could feel the power belonging to the great curtain vibrating, cheering, even faintly crying out in excitement.

He sensed the great curtain questioning him, pleading with him, hoping he would accept the incoming presences.

Yan Jing's eyes turned a dark gold as he gazed at the two rainbow streaks.

Motes of light materialized in the air. Not a single one harbored any malice; they all radiated incredibly gentle colors.

Buzz—

The two rainbow streaks came to a halt behind the great curtain. They looked at Yan Jing with striking human-like sentience while emitting a low hum.

They were also observing. If they left the great curtain and Yan Jing refused to accept them, the damage they suffered would be catastrophic.

Just as the two sides gazed at one another, two figures came rushing over from the distance.

They were two elders, one male and one female. Just like the old man Yan Jing had met first, these two looked incredibly aged, even giving off the feeling of a candle in the wind.

Before touching down in the Land Before the Curtain where Yan Jing stood, the two spotted the old man sitting on the ground and immediately unleashed a torrent of curses upon him.

"Was this your doing, you old geezer?! Where is the power of origin?! Hand it over!!!"

"Damn it, I knew you wouldn't give up! You lost yours, so you set your sights on ours! Speak! Where is it?!"

Both were consumed by towering rage, yet the old man on the ground didn't say a word. He merely stared blankly ahead, his eyes unfocused.

Only then did the two realize something was wrong. Following his line of sight, their gazes naturally fell upon Yan Jing and the two masses of origin essence.

"Motherfucker..."

The newly arrived male elder raised a hand to rub his eyes, almost thinking he was seeing things.

The female elder was faring no better. Her hand, which had been reaching for the throat of the old man on the ground, froze completely. The veins on the back of her hand bulged, but she made no further movement.

She looked just like a living, thousand-year-old corpse.

"..."

After an unknown amount of time, the male elder let out a long breath.

"Fuck me, I knew we shouldn't have come out in this era."

"Do you even have a next life?" the female elder said faintly, retracting her hand from the old man's neck.

"It's over. It's all over."

Clear tears streamed from the eyes of the old man sitting on the ground.

He raised his hands and began slapping himself in the face like a madman.

"It's all my fault. It's all my fault. My filthy mouth! My filthy mouth..."

As he slapped himself, the old man abandoned all his dignity and began to bawl loudly.

He was nearly several millennia old, but right now he wept in utter wretchedness, looking exactly like a baby.

He was drowning in regret. If he hadn't told Yan Jing how to attract the great curtain's origins just to satisfy his own sharp tongue, the great curtain would have had at least two clusters of origin left to utilize. It wouldn't have been reduced to this state.

"Cry, cry, cry! That's all you know how to do!" the female elder scolded, thoroughly exasperated.

"I told you back then to restrain yourself! Times have changed!"

"The heavenly prodigies out there aren't from our era anymore. The Day of Godhood is approaching; the outside world is filled with monsters! Our main priority should have been building good relations!"

"I know... It's all my fault... I am a sinner... I am a sinner..."

The old man on the ground had lost all of his arrogance. Tears gushed from his eyes, soaking his robes.

While the three conversed, Yan Jing had successfully established communication with the two clusters of origin.

Both sides had shown their sincerity.

Yan Jing would allow them to integrate into his Tenth Rite, and in return, they would provide him with new great curtain origin essence.

Buzz— Buzz— Buzz—

Yan Jing could feel both the two new clusters of origin and the great curtain origin already within him cheering. The three gathered together, huddling and communicating like long-lost friends.

Buzz, buzz— Buzz, buzz—

After the three had spent some time together, the piece of great curtain origin that had been inside Yan Jing from the beginning hopped out. It floated to his ear and began communicating with him in its own unique way.

"You're saying the trait of the Curtain has been upgraded?"

Yan Jing recalled that he did indeed have such a trait. Because he rarely used it, he didn't think of it often.

[sheji rite extra trait: Universal: Curtain

No great entity offers you an extra gift this time. However, that patch of great curtain was shocked by the item you took out. It has decided to consume some of its origin to compensate you with this gift, hoping to form good karma with you.

You have acquired a piece of Screen. It contains an extra internal world, and its capacity limit corresponds to your Tier. You can absorb people into this Screen, and you can freely choose to enter the state of Universal: Curtain, granting you the sum of all the power of the existences within the Screen.]

After his ascension and upgrades, this trait had actually undergone some changes.

[Universal: Spirit of the Curtain

Your Screen has been upgraded. The world within the Screen has expanded several times over. Now, the space within the Screen has grown to one-third the size of the "great curtain" space. The origin of your Screen has attained an extremely high level of sentience, becoming a true Spirit of the Curtain (previously, most of the sentience of the Spirit of the Curtain was violently purged by the original owner of the Screen's origin).

Furthermore, when you enter Universal: Curtain, you obtain twice the sum of all the power within the Screen.]

This was the Screen's ability after its ascension. And now, following the arrival of the two origins, this ability had upgraded once again.

The Domain of the Screen's space had become identical to the "great curtain".

The power of Universal: Curtain was increased to three times the total power of all existences within the Screen.

Buzz—

Listening to the great curtain's words, Yan Jing blinked.

"You want to let some living creatures inside?"

Buzz—

The Spirit of the Curtain nodded.

The level of prosperity within the Screen's space was directly proportional to the strength of the Screen's master.

It actually felt that it had already decorated its interior quite well.

But right now, there wasn't a single person inside.

As the spiritual core of the Screen, it naturally preferred for its internal space to be a bit more lively.

Thus, it made a few requests of Yan Jing.

Yan Jing blinked again.

It would actually be very easy to put people inside.

However, he still planned to stay in the Surface World for a period of time.

Should he... throw Yueyin inside?

Yan Jing quickly vetoed this idea. Yueyin was a bit weak and couldn't provide much of a boost in strength. Furthermore, it would alter the worldview those ordinary residents had held for so many years. By then, their laws, economy, and even something as small as everyone's daily habits would be turned upside down.

He was just about to tell the Spirit of the Curtain to hold off for a while.

But then he suddenly caught sight of the great curtain, which was marching toward its doom.

At this moment, seemingly because Yan Jing had taken two more clusters of its origin, the great curtain was withering away much faster than before. The sky, the earth, the seas, the mountains, the rivers, and the lakes—all of them were peeling off and falling from their original places piece by piece, like unglued stickers.

The Spirit of the Curtain did not understand what their departure would cause; it only knew that it had found a better place to stay.

Yan Jing gazed at the great curtain and finally spoke slowly.

"Seniors, please help me pass on a message. If any of the existences Within the Great Curtain wish to leave and live elsewhere, they may step out of the great curtain."

"The great curtain is withering. I will provide them with a place to dwell."

"..."

Upon hearing Yan Jing's words, the eyes of the three elders lit up slightly.

"Little friend... Fellow Daoist, is everything you say true?" the female elder asked, cupping her hands toward Yan Jing.

"Naturally, it's true."

Yan Jing spoke softly:

"Of course, it would be normal if you don't believe me. My time is limited, so we will part ways here."

"No! Please wait!" the female elder blurted out subconsciously. Seeing the smile on Yan Jing's face, she sighed, realizing she had fallen into a disadvantageous position once again.

She looked at Yan Jing. "Regardless of what they choose, I will have to trouble Fellow Daoist to look after all the living creatures in the Domain under my control."

"The great curtain will advance alongside my life," Yan Jing said softly.

"As long as I exist, the great curtain exists; if I perish, the great curtain perishes. This is the promise I can offer."

"That is more than enough," the female elder said with a long sigh.

Immediately after, she waved her sleeve, and her voice rolled out through the weird energy, spreading tens of thousands of li away.

"All existences of the Realm of the East! If you still wish to seek a glimmer of survival, come to this place at once! A being of supreme merit has appeared! Forgoing all past grievances, he is willing to take you in and spare your lives!"

As her voice faded, several responses echoed from the east. For a moment, weird energy filled the sky, and figure after figure shot into the air like a rain of swords, speeding madly in this direction.

"Shouldn't we consider this a bit more..."

The old man who had been sitting on the ground tugged at the female elder's sleeve, only for her to slap his hand away and shoot him a fierce glare.

"What... I'm just thinking about the big picture..." the old man muttered, sounding somewhat aggrieved.

"This person is extremely scheming. If we don't think this through carefully—"

Before he could finish, the male elder beside them also spoke up, bowing deeply toward Yan Jing.

"Fellow Daoist, I am not good with words. From now on, I will entrust all the living creatures of my Western Realm to you. This Chen owes you several lives. If there is a next life, I will not hesitate to serve you as your loyal steed."

After saying that, he also utilized his weird energy to call out to the existences in the distance.

"Hey, wait, no, just hold on a minute..."

The old man who had been sitting on the ground stomped his feet in anxiety.

"This could be a trap! He's a human!"

"How can you accomplish anything with such indecision at a time like this? I truly cannot reason with an idiot like you!" the female elder cursed furiously.

The male elder simply flicked his sleeve and paid the old man no further mind.

Soon, the living creatures Within the Great Curtain gathered en masse before the great curtain. After hearing what the two elders had to say, however, they all appeared somewhat hesitant.

Even in distant eras, the Surface World and the Inner World had been as incompatible as fire and water. Now, asking them to enter the realm of a human truly required courage.

"If you are unwilling, there is no need to force it. We sought survival in the great curtain, and we will seek death in the great curtain. That, too, can be considered fulfilling our desires," the female elder stated calmly.

The male elder was even more direct.

"The brave, step forward! The cowardly, stay here with me and wait for death!"

The crowd exchanged uncertain glances.

Ultimately, someone actually did take the lead and step up to the great curtain.

It was a familiar figure that Yan Jing had seen before.

During Yan Jing's previous visits to the Land Before the Curtain, this person had appeared behind the scenes, repeatedly absorbing the "impurities" from the items.

"I know this gentleman."

The person smiled bashfully.

"I've mooched off his good fortune quite a bit in the past. He's a good person, I know it."

As he spoke, the person brought up examples of those once-illustrious existences Within the Great Curtain who had left it because of Yan Jing.

At these words, many people's eyes lit up. Their initially guarded expressions shifted into ones of tentative interest.

Seeing that his words had taken effect, the person reached out and touched the great curtain.

The barrier between the great curtain and the Land Before the Curtain was originally incredibly strong. If an ordinary existence touched it, even if their soul didn't shatter, their origin would definitely suffer damage.

But now that the great curtain was about to fall, this barrier existed in name only. As long as Yan Jing controlled his Land Before the Curtain and was willing to accept the other party's arrival, the person could easily step out of the great curtain.

The next second, a brand-new "great curtain" materialized behind Yan Jing, absorbing the man into it.

"It is very nice here."

A few minutes later, under the crowd's expectant, suspicious, and anxious gazes, the person reappeared, his face full of pleasant surprise.

"Really. Compared to the previous place, this realm is absolutely flourishing."

Once those words were spoken, even more people were swayed. Some things were just like that; once someone took the lead, it was much easier for the rest to follow.

Soon, egged on by their friends and family, everyone crossed into the great curtain behind Yan Jing.

Of course, there were one or two blind fools among them who tried to attack Yan Jing the moment they stepped out of the great curtain.

They were instantly killed.

The crowd couldn't even see Yan Jing move.

After that happened once or twice, no one dared to try anything funny again.

Everyone understood now. The man before them was a pureborn killer. Otherwise, the three elders wouldn't still be standing perfectly still where they were.

Once everyone had gone inside, the female elder and the male elder simultaneously cupped their fists toward Yan Jing.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist. We wish you a smooth path and great fortune."

The two of them were truly grateful to Yan Jing from the bottom of their hearts. If Yan Jing hadn't given the crowd a chance, they would have genuinely become the sinners of the great curtain. They were the ones who had overseen everyone's entry into the great curtain back then, and it had nearly resulted in all of them dying within it.

But to their surprise, Yan Jing's next words left them stunned.

"Are you two not coming?"

"..."

Both were taken aback. The female elder looked at the male elder and saw the astonishment in his eyes as well.

She took a step forward and looked at Yan Jing.

"You... don't mind what we did to you before?"

"It seems today is the first time we've met."

"Then... aren't you afraid we might do something out of line within your realm?"

"If you feel you are capable of doing so."

The female elder fell silent.

A few seconds later, she let out a slow sigh.

"We are both rotting husks now. What value do we have to you?"

Yan Jing shook his head.

"It's not about value."

"It is only about whether I want to or not."

"This is my path."

Upon hearing this, the male elder and the female elder were stunned once more.

The two looked at the man across from them. Finally, they sighed and offered Yan Jing a deep bow with bitter smiles.

"We have received your instruction."