NOVGO.NET Chapter 670 - Chapter 670: 428: The Truth
Chapter 670: 428: The Truth
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Although the Lord of the Black Lotus was merely a minor Foundation Establishment Cultivator, the secrets he understood were so numerous that they even caught Xu Yang by surprise.
All of this began in an era known as “Ancient Times,” whose distance in the past is immeasurable.
In that era, Immortals and Buddhas filled the skies, while Gods and Demons stood side by side!
There were Immortals and Buddhas, Gods and Demons, but unlike the worlds Xu Yang had encountered before, they were divided into several divine systems, with Immortals prevailing in the East and Gods ruling the West.
Celestial Court, Buddha Land, Divine Kingdom, Hell…
In Ancient Times, these divinities coexisted; each carved out their own territories and reigned supreme over their realms.
But such a situation clearly could not last forever. Whether for resources, for benefits, or for reaching higher realms and gaining more powerful strength, war inevitably broke out.
The divine systems waged chaotic wars against each other, escalating fiercely in a do-or-die manner, until even the masters of these systems—the Supreme Heavenly Emperor, Buddha, Heaven King, Lord of the Nether—descended to participate, causing the skies to shatter and the stars to sink.
Such wars ended without winners, with devastating casualties among the divine systems. Even their masters suffered essential damage to their cores, having to seal themselves and fall into a prolonged slumber in order to recuperate.
But mere slumbering was not enough for recovery, so before sealing themselves, each divine system did one more thing: they replenished their sealed domains with abundant origin from nature, combining that with their slumber to achieve a restorative effect.
Thus, under the mighty power of beings like the Supreme Heavenly Emperor and the Buddha, places like the Celestial Court, Buddha Land, and Divine Kingdom sealed themselves off, becoming independent of the world yet drawing from its origins to heal.
This action resulted in a significant drain of the world’s prime spirit, gradually transforming it into an ordinary world where spiritual energy was sparse and cultivation became incredibly difficult.
The remaining various Immortal Gods and cultivators yet to become gods saw that the spiritual energy in the mortal realm was dwindling, making cultivation increasingly difficult. It was hard enough to make progress, let alone to maintain their cultivation without decline.
Hence, these Immortal Gods and mortal cultivators followed suit, using various methods to lock in the Heavenly Earth Prime Spirit, creating detached Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands to sustain their cultivation and avoid the cessation of their paths.
And so, the current situation was brought about.
Immortal Realm, Cave Heaven, Blessed Land!
These were three tiers.
The highest were the Immortal Realms, created by the masters of the great divine systems and assorted Immortal Gods, akin to stars independent of the world but constantly drawing nutrients from it. The Ancient Immortal Gods slept within, utterly indifferent to the mortal realm, focused solely on healing their injuries.
The next were the Cave Heavens, formed by scattered Immortals and Gods outside of the great divine systems, along with numerous cultivators yet to become gods. Although they were not independent of the world as the Immortal Realms were, they achieved detachment and housed Ancient Sects focused on cultivation, seldom intervening in the mortal world.
The last were the Blessed Lands, composed of low to mid-tier cultivators from Ancient Times. While lacking in the might of Immortal Gods found in the Immortal Realms, and not as paramount as the Ancient Sects of Cave Heavens, they were able to barely lock in spiritual energy, sufficiently continuing their cultivation.
This was the secret history of Ancient Times, the truth behind the scarcity of Yuan Spirit.
Finally, there was the mystery of the Red Moon, in which the Lord of the Black Lotus, being an “insider,” was more qualified to discuss.
The ominous Red Moon, a sign of demons, emerged after the Ancient Immortal Gods had sealed themselves, manifesting as the Desire Realm’s corrupting influence on this world.
According to the memories of the Lord of the Black Lotus and Xu Yang’s own understanding, because the Ancient Immortal Gods had locked in the Prime Spirit to seal themselves, weakening the world’s origins and its power, the Desire Realm saw an opportunity. Thus, it began to exert its influence, preparing for invasion.
However, this world had a very high tier; even the Heavenly Demon of the Desire Realm could not invade or enter at will, but had to erode the barrier gradually. The Red Moon was a manifestation of the Desire Realm’s corrupting force, allowing the Heavenly Demon’s power of the Desire Realm to infiltrate this world and cause various influences, with the Black Lotus Sect being one among them.
Therefore, after each Red Moon, a great number of Transcendents would appear in the world. Some of them were contaminated by the radiance of the Heavenly Demon of the Desire Realm, thereby acquiring transcendent powers.
Others were a form of the world’s resistance, impacting the Great Cavern Heavens and even the Immortal Realms, causing some Prime Spirits and objects of cultivation to flow into the mortal world, creating various indigenous cultivators.
The Black Lotus Sect belonged to the former, and although they lacked a Cave Heaven Blessed Land for cultivating, they were influenced by the Big Black Buddha Mother and gained the “Black Lotus Sutra.” They cultivated using flesh and souls instead of spiritual energy, ultimately building the foundation of the Black Lotus Sect.
Organizations like the Demon Sect were far from few, given that more than one mighty Heavenly Demon was influencing this world.
It was dire news indeed.
Xu Yang had encountered these Heavenly Demons of the Desire Realm in three different worlds.
The first was the Black Water World where the Supreme Heavenly Emperor Qiong Gao fought the Demon Ancestor Pojun. In the end, when the Heavenly Emperor was defeated, and the Demon Ancestor was born, the highly ranked Black Water World became a Demon Realm. The great Immortal Gods, in a desperate act, fled en masse, leaving him, unable to escape, to die at the hands of the Blood Sea Asura.
The second was the Yuan Spirit World. Due to its low tier, Pojun and the other great Demon Gods of the Desire Realm did not descend personally, sending instead three top-tier Demon Artifacts. These artifacts brought the Yuan Spirit World to the brink of destruction. In the end, it was because he dispatched an avatar there, employing various tactics, that the crisis was averted.
And the third was this world.
This world was of a very high tier, not inferior to the Black Water World and comparable to the Earth Immortal Realm—a truly coveted prize.
If the right moment arrives and the passageways between the two realms open, would Demon Ancestor Pojun descend?
It’s hard to say!
But Xu Yang was certain that the likes of the Big Black Buddha Mother and other Desire Realm Demon Gods would definitely come, as they were the core forces of the Desire Realm. How could they miss out on invading such a high-tier world?
These Demon Gods of the Desire Realm held a status equivalent to Immortals, Buddhas, Gods, and Demons, with the weakest among them being on par with Calamity Immortals, and others being True Immortals, Earth Immortals, or even at the level of Heavenly Immortals.
As for Demon Ancestor Pojun… An existence capable of waging war across the worlds and defeating a Heavenly Emperor was probably not quite an Immortal, but likely had the tier of at least a twelve-tier Golden Immortal.
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So, by what means does this world withstand the invasion from the Desire Realm?
Can we count on the various Divine Systems?
It’s hard to say, not easy to articulate.
Based on the Lord of the Black Lotus’s memories, and Xu Yang’s own insights, the levels of the various Divine Systems are clearly inferior to the Heavenly Demon Desire Realm.
This was evident from the ancient Godly conflicts.
Why did the various Divine Systems initiate wars, only to end up both sides grievously wounded?
Were they brainless, not knowing the tragic outcomes of their actions?
Clearly not!
Knowing the consequences, yet they still proceeded.
There’s only one explanation—interests dictated their actions!
Thus, the question arises again, what level of interest could make the various Divine Systems engage in such wars to the extent that even the leaders of the systems were badly injured and had to go into hibernation through self-sealing?
Xu Yang was not clear about this, but he could make a hypothesis—for instance, the “Golden Immortal Dao Fruit”!
It must be that which makes such beings yearn, sparing no expense to obtain it.
As for why it’s the Golden Immortal Dao Fruit and not the Immortal Position…
A Golden Immortal is undying and unageing, immortal and indestructible, with the power to create worlds and shape reality.
If the leaders of the various Divine Systems were contending for a higher-tiered Immortal Position, then they must already be Golden Immortals. Since Golden Immortals possess the power of immortality, unless struck by an Immortal tier attack, it is unlikely they would suffer intrinsic injuries serious enough to require locking up their Yuan Spirit and taking the power of heaven and earth to recover.
Therefore, the leaders of the various Divine Systems should still be Golden Immortals, at most at the level of Heavenly Immortals.
Although the status of a Heavenly Immortal is not low, whether it can withstand the Desire Realm still raises doubts.
After all, that Demon Ancestor Pojun is suspected to be at the level of a Golden Immortal, or even an Immortal.
Besides, the current state of the various Divine Systems is not optimistic. The Desire Realm is already infiltrating this world, preparing to open a portal and descend, while the many Immortals and Gods of the Divine Systems are still sleeping within their Immortal Realms, Buddha Lands, and Divine Kingdoms, and it’s unknown if they’ve fully recovered.
If they haven’t recovered and the Desire Realm launches its attack, the spectacle of “Immortal Gods fleeing” in the Black Water World might very well repeat itself.
Therefore, they cannot be relied upon, at least Xu Yang feels that this bunch cannot be counted on.
In life, one must still depend on oneself!
This world possesses tremendous potential for development, with a population of over a hundred billion. That number exists even after the various Immortal Realms and Cave Heaven Blessed Lands have seized resources; if it were in its heyday, it might even be more prosperous than the Earth Immortal Realm.
In such a world, Xu Yang really does not want to simply hand it over, especially not to the Heavenly Demon Desire Realm which bears a “grudge of mortal vengeance” and is a powerful competitor.
Now, due to the influence of the Red Moon, the power of the world is mobilizing, entering the critical phase of resistance against the Desire Realm.
According to various speculations, a major change is imminent; not to speak of those Immortal Realm Divine Kingdoms, places like these Cave Heaven Blessed Lands will soon no longer be able to continue sealing Yuan Sprits.
In fact, by locking up the Heavenly Earth Prime Spirits, they are taking on a significant risk.
After all, this world is suffering an invasion. The Heavenly Dao has to confront not only external threats but also internal burdens. A group of Cultivators lacks the initiative to advance, combat the external enemy, and instead, selfishly lock Yuan Spirits for their own benefit, causing the Spiritual Energy in the mortal world to thin and the strength of cultivation to drastically decrease.
With such Karma, it is foreseeable that there will be a reckoning in the future, perhaps even a smiting by the Heavenly Tribulation.
The Cultivators within those Cave Heaven Blessed Lands also know this, so every time the Desire Realm Heavenly Demons cause trouble, they dispatch their disciples to the world to quell the chaos, accumulating merit to reduce their Karma and avoid the thunderous punishment of the Heavenly Tribulation.
But such actions can only postpone the inevitable briefly; they cannot be sustained forever. In recent years, some Blessed Lands that did not cultivate merit could no longer maintain their seal under pressure and were forced to release the Yuan Spirits, causing a slight resurgence of nature’s spiritual energy.
Even so, the masters of these Blessed Lands, and the powerful Cultivators within them, faced a purge, and most were eventually reduced to ashes.
If this development continues, all the Great Cavern Heavens, and even the Immortal Realm Divine Kingdoms, will eventually return to the mundane world, recreating the glory from Ancient Times.
Therefore, a method must be found to utilize these conditions, rapidly develop and strengthen, and amass power to confront the Desire Realm.
This world has the various Divine Systems, with the highest tier reaching the Heavenly Immortal, and even opportunities like the “Golden Immortal Dao Fruit,” with potential surpassing that of the Earth Immortal Realm. After all, the Earth Immortal Realm, aside from the Heavenly Secret Realm with its pile of Ancient Immortal Treasures, doesn’t even have a true Earth Immortal; the strongest being the Heavenly Venerate Taihuang is merely at the True Immortal tier.
In such a world, how can one simply yield to demons?
The grievance of Xu Qingyu must not go unavenged.
The hatred of the Black Water World must not go unpaid!
Therefore…