Chapter 352: Genesis

【The name Soul comes from your belief that your power stems from Reincarnation.】

【Reforging Reincarnation is the true mission of this sword.】

【Return, soul.】

【An Ying Zhu has assimilated too many living beings; those beings had their lives stripped away without ever realizing it—a sorrowful and powerless thing.】

【If possible, you hope they can all come back.】

【As if nothing had ever happened.】

【Even if they cannot return, they should find liberation, rather than becoming shadow life, becoming nourishment for An Ying Zhu, becoming His servants.】

【"Go!"】

【You point with your hand.】

【The Soul Sword shoots toward the sky above the dragon clan ruins, its soft sword energy spreading outward layer upon layer, weakening An Ying Zhu's absorption.】

【This is, after all, the Darkness World, controlled by Him.】

【Even while He slumbers, the oppressive presence He brings to Jing Tu remains intense.】

【To defeat An Ying Zhu, your Wangxian Realm cultivation is absolutely insufficient; even the Immortals who exist only in legends of the past would find it difficult to accomplish.】

【For the next period of time, you and Lü Ya remained in the Darkness World.】

【Until half a year later.】

【Jing Tu's guardian Bai Li Ming found you.】

【"Shu, congratulations on successfully stepping into the Wangxian Realm." Bai Li Ming cupped his hands in congratulation, seemingly not surprised at all.】

【You gaze at Bai Li Ming and notice something amiss.】

【With your power, you should be invincible among your peers, yet the current Bai Li Ming surpasses you in aura.】

【In an actual fight, you might not be his match.】

【Were all Wangxian Realm cultivators before the Jing Tu era this powerful? Or are the guardians a special case?】

【You ask, "What do you want with me?"】

【Having cultivated to this day, only a brief eighteen years have passed in your life—to cultivators with long lifespans, this is the blink of an eye.】

【Yet within this brief time, you have ascended to the summit.】

【What follows is bewilderment.】

【In the Jing Tu World, there are no records of any cultivation method leading to a higher realm, nor of ascending to the Immortal Realm.】

【To ascend to the Immortal Realm, you can only rely on your own enlightenment.】

【Even with your pure Deity heart comprehending the source of all things, the information you can deduce is pitifully scant.】

【In the half year since stepping into the Wangxian Realm, your realm has made virtually no progress.】

【At this realm, one can no longer gain enlightenment through combat alone; what you cultivate is more an understanding of the great Dao, a cultivation of the mind.】

【"Do you feel bewildered?" Bai Li Ming asks.】

【Surprised, you ask him, "How do you know?"】

【"Because I also know mind-reading."】

【Bai Li Ming smiles: "At your current realm, no shadow life is your match; you can no longer hone yourself through combat."】

【"And the road ahead is shrouded in darkness, impossible to see clearly."】

【"There is no shortage of cultivators who share your experience."】

【"Among those people, you are already very fortunate."】

【"If you truly don't know what you should do, perhaps you can try creating a new Jing Tu World."】

【"What do you think?"】

【Bai Li Ming's words make you frown.】

【"Create a tenth Jing Tu World?"】

【It is not that you haven't thought of this, but you later abandoned the idea; you felt that one more Jing Tu World would amount to nothing more than this.】

【This is not the key to defeating An Ying Zhu.】

【Bai Li Ming smiles: "Perhaps you can create a Jing Tu World that is different from all the rest?"】

【These words, like a wisp of flame, ignite your thoughts.】

【These past days, you have been constantly thinking about how to reflect the dark illusory world into reality and reforge Reincarnation.】

【Perhaps the tenth Jing Tu World can serve as the Samsara World.】

【Before the Jing Tu era, was this not always what the ancient texts recorded?】

【But you find something strange.】

【Why could Bai Li Ming see through your thoughts at a glance? Could he have anticipated this day long ago?】

【"I understand."】

【A rough concept takes shape in your mind.】

【Bai Li Ming smiles: "Although I have never created a single Jing Tu World, I can share some experience with you."】

【Your expression turns serious. "Please instruct me."】

【Bai Li Ming says: "The core of creating a small world is the world's heart—that is to say, you need something that can sustain the operation of this world."】

【"However, a Jing Tu World exists attached to a greater world, with the Jing Shi Zhu as its foundation, making this relatively easy to accomplish."】

【"Next is the breath of living beings."】

【"A world's evolution is unpredictable; you must guide its development during the world's formative stage, letting it form an environment capable of sustaining living beings."】

【"How far you can take this depends on your own ability."】

【"In short, with the Jing Shi Zhu present, it is much simpler than creating a world purely on your own."】

【"For you as well, this is an opportunity to comprehend the Jing Shi Zhu."】

【"You must already know that the Jing Shi Zhu is the true foundation of the Jiu Da Jing Tu Shi Jie, and also the ultimate means to counter An Ying Zhu."】

【Bai Li Ming said much, making your line of thought clearer.】

【You pondered for a moment. "I have one more question."】

【"What is it?"】

【"I want to know — besides that strongest one, among you eight guardians, how many come from the Jing Tu era?"】

【This is something you have always wanted to know.】

【Bai Li Ming held up two fingers.】

【"Only two?"】

【You were quite surprised. Didn't this mean the entire Jing Tu Shi Jie was being forcibly sustained by the power of the old era?】

【Bai Li Ming said, "Having two is already quite good. Some things require not only talent — the environment one grows up in is equally crucial."】

【"The Jing Tu Shi Jie is destined never to produce a peak expert like the previous era."】

【"The reason those two could become guardians is that they both took advantage of favorable circumstances between heaven and earth; otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to break through the constraints of the Jing Tu environment."】

【"Jing Tu is a name that represents hope, but we must admit that it is the final struggle of the end times."】

【These words were extremely heavy.】

【Jing Tu is a name that represents hope, and also a yearning when dawn cannot be seen.】

【"What about that strongest existence?"】

【You asked in puzzlement, "I heard the elders say that she was born after the Jing Tu era. Why is she so formidable?"】

【According to Bai Li Ming's account, given An Ying Zhu's strength, even in the peak of the old era, few living beings could stand against her.】

【Why then was she now kept in check by a younger generation from the Jing Tu era?】

【"This…"】

【Bai Li Ming smiled. "That one's affairs are too mysterious. I don't know much about her. If you want to know, you'll have to ask her yourself."】