Mysterious mirror hanging high

Jing Yu's gaze was first drawn to the left wall, where a series of images unfolded before his eyes.

The first mural depicts a naked woman with long, flowing hair, gently embracing a curled-up, furry, black baby ape.

The woman's face was clear; it was the Creation Immortal Venerable that Jing Yu had seen in the photograph before. However, in the painting, she had none of the domineering and unruly demeanor she displayed when confronting the Divine Dream Dao Venerable. Instead, she had an almost sacred expression of loving kindness.

The baby ape in her arms had its eyes closed, as if it had just been separated from its mother, and nestled close to her chest.

A thought struck Jing Yu: "This baby ape...could it be?"

His gaze shifted to the second mural.

In the painting, the Creator Immortal is dressed in a simple, uncut animal skin, barely covering his body, and stands barefoot on a giant rock.

She stood tall and straight, her gaze calmly fixed ahead, naturally exuding an aura of dominion over all things.

What is most eye-catching is the side behind her, where a magnificent black ape stands respectfully. It stands upright, about ten feet tall, with bulging muscles all over its body, but its posture is extremely docile and devout. It lowers its head slightly and its gaze is on the feet of the Creation Immortal Venerable.

Around the Creator Immortal and the black ape, several demonic beasts—wolves, dogs, tigers, bears, oxen, deer—squabbled or lay around. They were of different kinds, but all turned toward the woman in the center, showing a strange, cross-species submission and tranquility.

In one corner of the mural, more shadowy animal figures are depicted in the distance with simple brushstrokes, as if they are gathering from the mountains and forests.

Jing Yu stared at the two paintings, her mind filled with doubts.

The mural clearly records the extremely ancient secrets of the Creator Immortal, which may even concern his origins and the path to enlightenment.

Moreover, Jing Yu had just seen a sculpture of the Black Ape behind the Immortal Venerable of Creation in Qingqiu City...

Yaozu!

He was absolutely certain that this black ape was the legendary ancestor of all demons, the demon lord behind the [Ancestral Demon Palace].

“That’s not right. Popular legend says that the Demon Ancestor was the first demon in the world, but according to the first mural, the Demon Ancestor was held in the arms of the Creation Immortal Venerable when he was young, which means that the Creation Immortal Venerable attained enlightenment before the Demon Ancestor.”

"From this perspective, the first demon in the world could not possibly be the Demon Ancestor, but more likely the Creator Immortal Venerable."

Jing Yu suddenly realized, "Could the so-called 'first demon in the world' refer to the first demon of this era?"

Jing Yu's breathing faltered slightly in the corridor.

The mystery of the Demon Ancestor's identity lingered in his mind, while on the left wall, the third mural, carrying an endless bloody aura, came into view.

The painting's color tone suddenly turns dark, with extensive use of dark red and ochre.

It was a hill made up of countless monster corpses—a rhinoceros with a broken horn, a tiger with a split skull, a giant bird with tattered wings, a python with broken scales… They were intertwined in various twisted and painful postures, forming a shocking mountain of corpses.

At the summit of the mountain of corpses, a colossal creature was perched.

Its head and horns were prominent, its body was covered with thick, bluish-gray scales, and its belly had five claws that gleamed coldly. Although it was coiled up like a mountain, it was struggling to raise its dragon head and roar towards the unseen sky above, a roar that seemed capable of shattering the soul.

Primordial True Dragon!

With concise yet powerful strokes, the artist depicted its gaping maw, flying whiskers, and burning rage and defiance in its eyes. Even amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, its power still surpasses that of all other demons.

"The Dragon Clan..." Jing Yu's pupils contracted: "What is the origin of this ancient true dragon? Could it be the progenitor of the Dragon Clan?"

His gaze shifted to the fourth mural.

The camera suddenly zooms out, and high in the sky, auspicious clouds gather, revealing the figure of the Creator Immortal Venerable once again.

She was still draped in animal skins, but now sat atop a cloud, her demeanor no longer possessing the initial compassion or the tranquility of her initial dominion over all beasts, but instead becoming incomparably majestic and indifferent.

Below the clouds, a black ape, seemingly the [Demon Ancestor], glared angrily, its fangs bared, and gripped a rough yet enormous stone club tightly in its hand. It was poised to strike with all its might, leading the charge straight towards the ancient dragon depicted in a mural!

Behind and beside it, across the mountains and plains, came a tidal wave of various monstrous beasts.

Although the ancient dragon was alone, it was fearless in the face of the onslaught of the myriad demons led by the black ape. It manifested its ten-thousand-foot-tall true form, spewing dragon breath, and continuously slaughtering various demon races.

Jing Yu was awestruck by the grand war scene and held her breath as she looked at the last mural on the left wall.

The atmosphere of the painting changes, and the battlefield seems to have moved to the coast.

The sky remained high and clear, the clouds dispersed, as if a great battle had just ended.

The army of ten thousand demons, led by the demon ancestor Black Ape, stood densely packed on the solid ground.

The Demon Ancestor, holding a staff, stood at the forefront, head held high and chest out. Although it was covered in wounds and bloodstains, its posture was full of the triumphant spirit of a victor.

The thousands of demonic beasts behind it, of various kinds, all looked in the same direction, emitting silent, converging, intimidating growls.

As far as their eyes could see, there was the vast, boundless, and surging deep blue sea.

Near the shore, a rather disheveled figure was twisting its long body and fleeing into the deep sea without looking back—it was the ancient dragon!

Compared to its furious roar atop the mountain of corpses and its desperate struggle in the center of the battlefield, the true dragon now exuded a dejected and sullen air. Its scales seemed much dimmer, with several obvious damages, and it no longer possessed the domineering aura it once had.

It was completely driven away from the land and disappeared into the deep sea.

After looking at the five murals, Jing Yu frowned and pondered: "Could these murals have been painted by the [Ancestral Demon Palace]?"

The five murals clearly depict the legendary journey of the Black Ape, the Demon Ancestor, from birth to adulthood, and then leading all demons to drive the Dragon Clan into the deep sea.

It's practically a live-action version of "The Legend of the Demon Ancestor".

Jing Yu then looked to the right side of the corridor.

To his surprise, the first mural on the right side of the corridor was almost identical to the second mural on the left.

Both were immortal beings who commanded all beasts, with the demon ancestor Black Ape standing by their side.

This time, however, at the very edge of the mural, behind a hidden bush, a human cultivator with a gloomy expression peeked out furtively, looking like a guilty thief.

"Who is this?" Jing Yu wondered. The opening of the mural on the right side was eerie, and his gaze was fixed on the second picture.

In the center of the second mural is the somber monk emerging from behind the bushes.

He was now fully revealed, thin and pale with an unhealthy bluish complexion, deep-set eyes, and a mixture of greed, cruelty, and a near-mad excitement in his gaze.

What sent a chill down Jing Yu's spine was that the cultivator's other hand was holding a huge horse head with wide-open eyes high above it!

Beside the cultivator, a headless horse carcass was gushing blood, clearly having died recently.