Chen Yan retrieved the fragnt of the Heavenly Summit Mirror from the sleeve of his moon-white daoist robes.
He then raised his head, looking towards the direction of the sun in the sky to confirm the current ti.
He aid the Heavenly Summit Mirror fragnt at Elder Wen Mian, who was seated on the jade-carved round chair, and then shifted his gaze onto the fragnt itself.
"...What is this?"
Chen Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling rather surprised.
Because the human figure that appeared within the fragnt of the Heavenly Summit Mirror was not that of the white-haired, Dao Union realm great power, Elder Wen Mian, who was currently sitting in the courtyard at this very mont.
Instead, it was the face of a middle-aged man who appeared to be around forty years old.
His beard was graying, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were deep, and he wore an expression of profound bitterness and deep-seated resentnt.
And this face... seed sowhat familiar.
Imdiately after, Chen Yan turned the Heavenly Summit Mirror fragnt in his hand towards the direction of his own face. The face that appeared within the fragnt was not Chen Yan's original appearance either, but rather the face he wore when using the Si Chen mask.
What exactly was real, what was false, and what did it all represent?
The You hour was approaching.
Elder Wen Mian slowly turned his head, gazing into the empty air, and then slowly opened his mouth:
"Yi ou yi ri shuo wo, Ai sou pu qi wo yi ri shi."
At the sa mont, within the Heavenly Summit Mirror fragnt, that middle-aged man who looked to be around forty years old also began to slowly open his mouth.
The middle-aged man in the mirror did not make any sound, but Chen Yan could clearly see the shape of his mouth.
For a Spirit Connection realm cultivator's divine sense, trying to decipher syllables with completely inverted pitch and sequence might not be so easy, but recognizing mouth shapes was not difficult at all:
"Chen... Shi... Di... Hao... Jiu... Bu... Jian... Wo... Shi..."
Chen Yan slowly read along with the mouth movents of the middle-aged man in the Heavenly Summit Mirror fragnt:
"Li... Hao... Wen..."
A jolt of shock, like an electric shock, coursed through Chen Yan's entire body. He finally recognized whose shadow was cast upon the face of that middle-aged man in the fragnt.
It was precisely that high-spirited young man he had once seen on the ferry from Kongshan Sect to Heavenly Summit Mountain back in the day.
Among that generation of disciples, his reputation stood alongside Chu Xiyao and Chen Yan's, hailed as one of the Three Heroes of Kongshan Sect—Li Haowen!
However, later, following the tragic death of his close friend Lin Xinyang and the wrongful accusation against his master, Yuanhua Mountain's Sword Master Elder Wei Mian, Li Haowen was completely marginalized within Kongshan Sect from then on. If not for the powerful protection later offered by the Grand Elder who acted as proxy Sword Master of Yuanhua, Li Haowen might not only have lost his position as Yuanhua Mountain's Chief Disciple, but his fate could have been utterly miserable.
Looking at the mouth movents of the middle-aged man in the mirror, Chen Yan felt nothing but disbelief, his mind thrown into complete chaos.
He was Li Haowen?
And the "Chen Shidi" he ntioned referred to himself?
But this was clearly Heavenly Summit Mountain from over sixty thousand years ago. If this was all an illusion...
Chen Yan simply couldn't comprehend it.
At this mont, he also had no ti for further contemplation. He could only continue following the mouth movents of the middle-aged Li Haowen, deducing what he wanted to say:
"When you see the ssage I left for you on Heavenly Summit Mountain, it should still be the era when the path to immortality on Chenping Continent is severed. I'm afraid not long after, the immortal path of Chenping Continent will fully revive. However, this may not necessarily represent sothing good. Otherwise, I wouldn't have fallen to such a state either.
"I think, Chen Shidi, you probably don't yet know what it truly represents to be able to decipher the ssage I left for you through the Heavenly Summit Mirror fragnt.
"Now I tell you, the mont you can understand the content I wish to convey, it represents that existence has already observed the changes in causality caused by you. That existence will take action in this era I currently inhabit, leading to the destruction of Heavenly Summit Mountain. This is an outco already predetermined, unchangeable.
"All of this originated from you. This also ans that the backlash caused by altering this causality spanning over sixty thousand years can only be borne by you, and only by you, Chen Shidi, who carries the heavy responsibility of Heavenly Dao Fate. In other words, the cause and effect of the so-called 'Cause of Calamity' have already been transferred onto you.
"From this mont onward, the immortal path of Chenping Continent revives, and the Immortal Ascension Realm is no longer just a legend. The road ahead must continue to be walked by you, Chen Shidi..."
So spoke Li Haowen within the Heavenly Summit Mirror fragnt, then fell silent for a brief mont:
"My mission ends here. Farewell, Chen Shidi... No, for you, perhaps we still have many chances to et... Only now do I understand, Chen Shidi, that what you said was right.
"In any case, farewell, Chen Shidi."
The middle-aged man in the Heavenly Summit Mirror fragnt slowly faded away, replaced by the image of Elder Wen Mian sitting in the courtyard.
Farewell...
If Li Haowen truly returned to this era on Heavenly Summit Mountain over sixty thousand years ago, then the outco awaiting him was destruction alongside Heavenly Summit Mountain.
The karmic backlash spanning over sixty thousand years—the "Cause of Calamity" spoken of in later ages.
From today onward, it would be borne by himself.
Perhaps those Immortal Ascension Realm great powers of later ages had long foreseen this day. This was a fate and causality that completely transcended the dinsion of ti.
Chen Yan had not yet fully digested the words Li Haowen had spoken to him through the Heavenly Summit Mirror.
Then, in the next instant, an incredibly dazzling, radiant light of seven-colored gold poured down from the sky.
Chen Yan raised his head to look at the sky. Even as a Spirit Connection realm cultivator, he still could not directly gaze upon the seven-colored golden light in the sky.
Countless Heavenly Summit Mountain disciples erged from their residences, the Profound Scripture Hall, the Training Grounds, and other buildings, looking up at the sky with either curiosity or caution.
Imdiately after, a massive rift appeared in the sky. From within erged a goddess statue, thousands of zhang tall, adorned with flowing seven-colored gold, her eyes gently closed, her appearance solemn and dignified.
Behind the statue, the massive rift tens of thousands of zhang long slowly closed. Then, the hands of the seven-colored golden goddess statue began to move.
First, they stretched out to the sides, then raised above her head, and finally slowly pressed together before her chest.
At the mont the hands of this thousands-of-zhang-tall goddess statue pressed together, the sound of a bronze bell being struck reverberated across the heavens. Imdiately after, nurous cracks appeared on the Heavenly Summit Palace directly beneath the statue.
Not only that, but Heavenly Summit Mountain as well.
Those Heavenly Summit Mountain disciples originally standing on the mountain, upon hearing the sound of the bronze bell, simply stood frozen in place, motionless. In the next instant, they turned into fine sand, scattering with the wind, offering no resistance whatsoever.
It wasn't just low-realm cultivators who t this fate.
Even those in the Divine Ability Realm, and even the Dao Union Realm, when faced with the bronze bell sound erupting from the statue's clasped hands, could offer no resistance. They turned to fine sand in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, Heavenly Summit Mountain was utterly annihilated.
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