"To stand shoulder to shoulder with the heavens signifies that this cultivator has grown imnsely powerful, surpassing the Ninth Realm, walking the ten thousand li of the great path."
"But the problem is, this kind of strength is only significant relative to the beings of the world, not to the heavens."
"Do you know why?" Chu Mu Shen asked in return.
Lu Qingshan quietly pondered for a while and tentatively said, "Is it because the heavens are too powerful?"
"That's just a small part of the reason, but not the main reason."
"The heavens aren't as strong as you think."
Chu Mu Shen shook his head, denying Lu Qingshan's answer.
If anyone else were to say such a thing, it might seem too arrogant, but Chu Mu Shen's words were just right.
This Sword Immortal, fond of fish, leisurely sipped fish soup with a spoon, appearing quite relaxed, then pointed upward with the spoon.
Lu Qingshan involuntarily looked up at the azure, cloudless sky.
"Because, this world operates according to the rules of the Heavenly Dao, and the birth of all living beings follows these rules."
Moreover, even the paths traversed by cultivators beyond the Ninth Realm are rely parts of the Heavenly Dao."
"In this world, the Heavenly Dao is the greatest path."
"You don't recognize the true face of Mount Lushan, simply because you're in this mountain."
"Every flower, every grass, every tree, every shrub in this world, even the air you breathe, the spiritual energy required for cultivation, all co from the world's origin."
"Your birth is according to the rules of the heavens, the great path you walk is a small part of the Heavenly Dao."
"So, how can man fight against the heavens?"
"As I just said, cultivation is extrely difficult, but given the sheer number of humans and the long years ahead, so cultivators can surpass the Ninth Realm, reach the other shore, and nearly touch the heavens."
"But they all ultimately failed."
"Because their strongest weapon is just a part of the Heavenly Dao."
"The Heavenly Dao is therefore omnipotent, capable of calculating everything, perceiving your weaknesses, and even stripping you of your strength."
"This is what we often say, the heavens are everywhere, all-seeing, all-powerful."
"Since it is omnipotent, why would it wait until soone 'challenges' it to act, rather than nipping the threat in the bud?
If it's omnipotent, why did Ancestral Daoist Xia still break through to the Ancestral Realm?" Lu Qingshan questioned.
Chu Mu Shen laughed, then with a diminishing smile, calmly said, "First, let's answer your first question."
"Because the Heavenly Dao, too, must follow rules."
"Just as an emperor of a country is the highest ruler with supre rights, he can't act recklessly, he must adhere to certain rules, or the country will perish."
"If the country perishes, can the emperor still be called an emperor?"
Lu Qingshan was silent.
"Those cultivators who have surpassed the Ninth Realm are 'rebels' in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao. Even an emperor cannot arbitrarily accuse soone of rebellion and then kill them without evidence, right?"
"After all, those who et the conditions for 'rebellion' are the most powerful in the land.
If they were all killed without reason, the country would also be ruined," Chu Mu Shen used a very simple taphor to answer Lu Qingshan's question, "at the sa ti, their strength helps to make the country stronger."
"In between, a balance is needed."
"So, to make the 'country' stronger, the Heavenly Dao can only sit by and watch the threat gradually grow until it issues a challenge?" Lu Qingshan was still puzzled.
After all, in the Dao Source Realm, the Heavenly Dao tried to eradicate the Human Race to remove the threat.
"Who said it didn't?" Chu Mu Shen looked at Lu Qingshan, then at the sky, "It's always trying to eliminate threats."
Lu Qingshan was taken aback, then suddenly realized, murmuring, "Heavenly Tribulation...."
When a cultivator's cultivation rises to the Tribulation Crossing Realm, a Heavenly Tribulation ensues.
Is this a test?
No, it's just a thod of the Heavenly Dao to remove threats.
Countless cultivators have fallen or faltered on their path because of the Heavenly Tribulation.
If there were no Heavenly Tribulation, the number of High Level Cultivators in Sky Do Heaven would be several tis or even dozens of tis greater.
After all, High Realm cultivators no longer face lifespan restrictions.
"You react very quickly," Chu Mu Shen nodded, confirming Lu Qingshan's conjecture, then said, "Now that your second question has been answered."
"Indeed, if the heavens are omnipotent, why is there an exception, why is Ancestral Patriarch Xia the only exception?"
"Like you, I began to ponder this question."
"I wondered, what truly makes Ancestral Patriarch Xia different from others? It must be this difference that made him the exception."
"But whether by cultivation technique or physique, Ancestral Patriarch Xia was not unique."
"So I started to consider other possibilities."
"But each possibility was eventually overturned."
"Until later, soone told the answer," Chu Mu Shen said.
"What is it?" Lu Qingshan was genuinely concerned and curious this ti, not just playing along.
"The answer is simple and reasonable," Chu Mu Shen sighed and continued, "and it is very difficult to replicate."
"The Ancestral Realm is a path that defies the heavens; this is beyond dispute.
This is the world of the heavens, its territory."
"In its territory, trying to defeat it....that's why no one has ever succeeded."
"The fundantal reason Ancestral Patriarch Xia could defeat the Heavenly Dao is.... he wasn't from Sky Do Heaven."
"He ca from another world."
"That's why he succeeded."
"If this world is a deadlock, and we are all chess pieces in it, while the Heavenly Dao controls the pieces, Ancestral Patriarch Xia, coming from outside, is the outsider, naturally becoming the one who breaks this deadlock."
Lu Qingshan felt his mouth dry.
"Ancestral Patriarch Xia....he ca from another world?"
"Are you referring to another world like the Abyss, Netherworld, or Wilderness Realm?" he asked.
"Of course not," Chu Mu Shen shook his head very calmly, "If it were that simple, I would have long crossed the Boundary Sea to the Abyss to try breaking into the Ancestral Realm."
"Our world, the heavens are round and the earth is flat."
"In Ancestral Patriarch Xia's world, both the heavens and the earth are round." Chu Mu Shen stared at Lu Qingshan's face, eyes bright.
Lu Qingshan was speechless.
Whether taking on the Sword Sect Master position or facing the provocation of the Sword Cleansing Pool, the pressure he faced had never been as great as at that mont.
He instinctively looked at the azure sky, suddenly feeling as if the whole sky was pressing down upon him.
"Ancestral Patriarch Xia succeeded, but also failed," Chu Mu Shen continued.
"No one knows the specific reason."
"But the person who told the answer and I made a very reasonable conjecture."
"Ancestral Patriarch Xia succeeded because he wasn't from our world."
"He failed because, ultimately, he walked the great path under the Heavenly Dao."
"He practiced Dharma Cultivation."
Chu Mu Shen looked at Lu Qingshan and smiled, "You should understand my aning."
"The cultivators of the world all walk a path of fusion, rging with the innate path, naly the Heavenly Dao, which also ensures they will never be able to transcend the Heavenly Dao."
"Only sword cultivators, who cultivate the acquired path, do not rge with it but carve out their own path."
"This makes the path of sword cultivators particularly difficult, but also makes them free from the limits of the Heavenly Dao."
The fire underneath the bronze cauldron had long been extinguished, unknown when, and the fish soup stopped boiling.
"aning, if soone truly could transcend the Heavenly Dao, ascend to the Ancestral Realm, they would need to et these two conditions...."
"Being an outsider."
"Being a sword cultivator."
Chu Mu Shen looked at Lu Qingshan, smiling.
"Which ans you."
"Lu Qingshan."
User Comments
0 comments from readers