Chapter 358: Beneath an Overturned Nest, No Egg Remains Whole

What was even more terrifying was that there was no information or record to be found about how the Black Mist rose to power or where it hid.

Even reasoning in reverse from the Dream Reincarnation, one could not find the origin of the Black Mist.

It was a complete dead end.

Unless Lin Chuan could obtain more feedback from the Dream Reincarnation later on, there would be a chance to reverse the outcome.

Given the current unfolding of the Dream Reincarnation, the outcome was entirely unfavorable for Lin Chuan.

……

【Within the World-Purifying Space, the Immortal Gate stood tall.】

【It seemed that one need only gently push the door open and step inside to ascend to the Immortal Realm.】

【But you had a question in your heart.】

【What price would have to be paid to cross through this Immortal Gate?】

【In an era when everyone said there were no Immortals in the Jing Tu, the strongest guardian could yet command so simple a means of Immortal Ascension—】

【If there were no price, you certainly would not believe it.】

【You could not sense any crisis.】

【Perhaps… the one paying the price was not you? Someone else had taken it on for you?】

【At this point, you had no other options.】

【Not ascending to Immortality! Facing the soon-to-revive An Ying Zhu, it was a certain defeat—the entire Jing Tu Shi Jie would be destroyed along with it.】

【Only by crossing through the Immortal Gate was there a sliver of hope for survival.】

【After calming your turbulent thoughts, you took a step forward, gathered your power, and slammed it fiercely against the Immortal Gate.】

【The Immortal Gate trembled and cracked open a sliver.】

【This Immortal Gate did not seem all that sturdy; you gathered your Immortal Divine Power, wielded the laws of Reincarnation, and struck it repeatedly.】

【The Immortal Gate was opened bit by bit.】

【Rich Immortal Divine Power drifted through from beyond the Immortal Gate.】

【Yet you kept feeling that something was strange. Was this truly an Immortal Gate? Could an Immortal Gate really be contained within the World-Purifying Space?】

【Harboring doubts, you still stepped through the Immortal Gate.】

【In an instant, a vast amount of Immortal Divine Power poured into your body; your Physical Body and soul both sublimated in this moment.】

【Ascending toward a height never before seen.】

【You remembered a saying recorded in ancient texts: the Wangxian Realm was the endpoint of all living beings. One step further, and one left the category of living beings behind.】

【An Immortal's lifespan equaled that of Heaven, transcending beyond a given Heavenly Dao, free to roam the Chaos Universe—so long as one encountered no calamity, one would be neither dead nor destroyed.】

【But at this very moment, you could feel that your connection to this realm of heaven and earth had grown even more profound.】

【There was no so-called transcendence at all.】

【"Was it my imagination?"】

【"Is this simply what it means to be an Immortal?"】

【You quickly dismissed this thought. Even if an Immortal born of a given Shi Jie had emotions and righteousness, willing to fight the Black Mist to the death for all living beings without regard for the complete annihilation of their soul, that too would be out of volition, or affection—not out of bondage.】

【At this moment, what you felt was bondage.】

【It was as if you yourself had completely merged with this realm of heaven and earth.】

【I am Heaven?】

【Immortal Divine Power continued to pour ceaselessly into your body, helping you transform, helping you charge toward an even higher peak.】

【You felt countless invisible hands supporting you.】

【"You can do it."】

【"You must hold on."】

【"Go see the scenery at greater heights."】

【"The strong always have to endure loneliness, hehe."】

【"Walk your path alone well. We cannot accompany you, but we have been watching you all along."】

【"……"】

【At this moment, you heard many, many voices.】

【Very familiar, yet very unfamiliar voices. You had heard similar voices once before, when you set foot in the dragon clan ruins of the An Ying Shi Jie.】

【At the time, you thought it was a hallucination, and after the daze passed, you paid it no mind.】

【Now, you heard them again.】

【An inexplicable sorrow and heaviness.】

【Without realizing it, you had broken through all shackles. Your body transformed into an Immortal Body, your soul became immortal, and you achieved the Immortal Ascension Realm.】

【Hum!】

【In the next instant, the Immortal Gate dissipated, those voices all vanished, and even the staircase of Immortal Ascension was nowhere to be found.】

【It was as if none of it had ever existed.】

【Unfolding a single thought, your consciousness spread wildly at an astonishing speed, quickly enveloping the entire World-Purifying Space.】

【Your awareness continued to extend outward, subsequently covering the entire Jing Tu Shi Jie.】

【The ten great Jing Tu Shi Jie—you could envelop them with a single thought.】

【By your understanding, even for an Immortal, achieving this step would not be so easy.】

【But you had done it now.】

【Very naturally, very smoothly, as if you were the sovereign of this place.】

【This Shi Jie was governed by you.】

"Not right!"

You become increasingly aware that something is off, vanish in an instant, and when you appear again, you are back beside Lin Rumeng.

"You're back," Lin Rumeng smiles, gazing at you.

You ask, "Why is this happening?"

She blinks, "What do you mean?"

You say, "Why am I merged with this world?"

Lin Rumeng laughs, "Because one of the fundamental elements that creates a realm of heaven and earth is Reincarnation. As the overseer of Reincarnation in the Jing Tu Shi Jie, in this era where the Heavenly Dao is hidden, you should replace the Heavenly Dao."

You are completely bewildered.

"I have become the Heavenly Dao?"

What an absurd thing this is, yet upon careful thought, Lin Rumeng's words are not wrong at all.

You stare blankly and say, "So you had foreseen everything and have been waiting for this day?"

"Hmm."

Lin Rumeng nods in acknowledgment.

"Only when the Heavenly Dao manifests and Reincarnation is reforged can the Jing Tu Shi Jie become truly stable, and we can be the first to subdue An Ying Zhu."

"If we wait for An Ying Zhu to revive first, our chances of victory will be slim."

Lin Rumeng's explanation is reasonable, and you believe it.

You ask, "Then when do we go?"

"The one who should issue the command is you."

Lin Rumeng laughs, "Don't forget, now you are the Heavenly Dao of the Jing Tu Shi Jie. In this final battle, how many cultivators will willingly march to the An Ying Zhu Shi Jie to fight alongside us? It all depends on you."

"I understand."

Subjugating the An Ying Zhu Shi Jie is not a matter for one or two beings; the massive An Ying Zhu Shi Jie, with so many shadow lives, all require cultivators to restrain them.

If they restrain even a bit, you, Lin Rumeng, and the guardians' odds rise by that amount.

In the next instant, your thoughts spread again, enveloping the ten major Jing Tu Shi Jie.

You say nothing; with a single thought, you can make them sense the crisis from heaven and earth.

All practitioners will sense it.

Issuing the command does not need to target every being; it suffices to convey it to the elder councils of each major Jing Tu Shi Jie.

As for how many cultivators are willing to march to their deaths, that is unknown.

But you believe that the overwhelming majority of beings will understand one principle.

When the nest is broken, how can any egg remain intact!