Chapter 16

"The glorious Shushan of the past, shaking the heavens and the earth, was a sacred place for immortal cultivation that countless immortal cultivators dreamed of."

"But..."

Jiang Yan pursed his lips, his expression a bit lost.

"But what?"

The interest of Cloud Retainer and the others was completely aroused.

No matter what, the curiosity of intelligent life would not disappear.

Especially, listening to such secrets about those high and mighty, true immortals and gods.

Zhongli was sipping tea one sip at a time, looking very urgent.

Fortunately, Jiang Yan also continued to start compiling the story.

"But everything... everything was destroyed."

Jiang Yan's expression was a bit melancholy, and he said leisurely:

"The Shushan that was immersed in the existence of a Supreme Unity ancestor forgot that in the myriad worlds, below the Great Luo, all are ants."

"About three immeasurable eons ago, the myriad worlds, or the true supreme Immortal World of the Thirty-Three Heavens, broke out in a war that affected all worlds."

"That was a war of the supreme Great Luos."

"No one knows exactly why they started the war. In the information left by Shushan, it only said..."

"The Jade Emperor, the Supreme Jade Emperor of the Heavenly Court who controls countless immortals; the Goddess Nüwa who created humans; the Great Emperor Fuxi who opened heaven with one stroke..." 【16-17

"The Three Pure Ones of Daoism, who hold the beginning, the process, and the end; the Buddhas of the past, present, and future..."

"All the Great Luo participated in the war."

"The existence of non-Great Luo, in the instant they faced the aftermath, whether it was the world, time and space, or even the cycle of causality,"

"all shattered."

"The Ancestor only had time to leave behind some information, and with great divine power, he pierced through the River of Time, sending tens of millions of Shushan disciples to different future times and spaces,"

"before he passed away."

"Heh... ridiculous, isn't it?"

Jiang Yan looked up at the firmament with some sorrow.

"The Ancestor who had cultivated for nearly a thousand kalpas, the Shushan that dominated the heavens and the earth."

"Hundreds of millions of elite disciples, in an instant, all turned to dust."

"The proud foundation of Shushan could not even withstand the aftermath of the Great Luo's collision."

"The wealth accumulated over countless immeasurable kalpas vanished in an instant."

"And those seeds sent away by the Ancestor were also constantly worn away in the River of Time."

"Tens of millions of people, and in the end, perhaps only I remain..."

"Cultivation... cultivation..."

"No matter how much one cultivates, how can it compare to those innate sacred beings, the naturally born Great Luo?"

"Everything we are proud of is nothing but the tricks of ants in the eyes of the Great Luo; if they are unhappy, a single glance turns us into dust."

"Cultivators fight with Heaven, fight with people... their whole lives are spent in struggle."

"In the end, we cannot fight against fate."

Jiang Yan let his hands drop in dejection, the aura of decadence exuding from his whole body making even this world feel sorrowful.

Zhongli could clearly perceive that the entirety of Jueyun Karst, the entirety of Liyue, and even the entirety of Teyvat were grieving for Jiang Yan.

This emotion even affected him.

Zhongli clutched his chest in a daze.

At this moment, he seemed to feel an unprecedented despair.

"The infinitely bright Shushan is now left with only me, only me, a mere cultivator at the Refining Spirit into Void stage."

"Shushan... it has truly perished by the will of Heaven."

12. For the Glory of Shushan!

Looking at Jiang Yan before them, who appeared calm yet exuded bone-deep sorrow,

Zhongli and the others did not know how to comfort him for a moment.

Ganyu looked at Jiang Yan with a pained heart and said in a low voice:

"Jiang Yan, don't be like this..."

Unfortunately, Jiang Yan was still immersed in his own performance.

As a cultivator at the Refining Spirit into Void stage, every word and action was in harmony with Heaven.

Controlling his own emotions was simple.

Subsequently influencing the world was also easy, especially in a fragile world like Teyvat, which was already dying.

Zhongli remained silent for a long time, looking at Jiang Yan with complicated feelings.

"I am sorry, I did not know these things..."

"It is fine; the matter is settled. My claiming to be the Sect Leader of Shushan now is merely because I do not want this glorious sect to completely vanish."

Jiang Yan sighed and said gloomily:

"My Master once told me that there are three stages to the death of a life."

"The first stage is when the heartbeat stops and death is declared."

"The second stage is when life fades away as friends and family bid farewell."

"The third stage is when the last person in the world who remembers that life passes away; then, the life is declared completely gone."

"I think Shushan is the same... as long as I still remember Shushan and still believe in my identity, then Shushan has not perished."

These words of Jiang Yan rang in the hearts of Zhongli and the others like a great bell, bringing unprecedented shock.

"The three stages of the death of a life..."

Zhongli picked up his teacup, but put it down before it reached his lips, repeating this several times.

Zhongli sighed deeply and bowed, saying:

"I have learned much... your Master was truly a person of great wisdom."

A smile suddenly appeared on Jiang Yan's face, and he nodded slightly:

"Yes, my Master was indeed a person of great wisdom and virtue, achieving the Refining Void into Dao realm in less than three hundred years."

"He especially loved to drink and make merry; when he drank too much, he would transform into a mortal to experience all kinds of life."

"His state of mind and aptitude were unique throughout the ages."

"Many ancestors in the Upper Realm said that my Master would be the genius most likely to reach the pinnacle of Jin Xian in the last several hundred kalpas."

"But..."

A deep sorrow welled up in Jiang Yan's eyes.

"In the turbulence of the River of Time, to protect me, my Master was accidentally splashed by a drop of water from the River of Time..."

"No matter how brilliant my Master was, he was only at the peak of the Refining Void into Dao realm."

"How could he deal with the River of Time, which even Golden Immortals must be careful of?"

"I watched helplessly as my Master waved at me with a smile, and then, the lifespan of a Refining Void into Dao cultivator, which lasted tens of thousands of years, dissipated in an instant."

"He passed away before my eyes; in a brief moment, even his withered bones vanished into nothingness."

Jiang Yan clenched his fist tightly.

By now, he had successfully deceived even himself.

Zhongli and the others did not know how to comfort Jiang Yan; Ganyu reached out with a pained heart, wanting to pat Jiang Yan on the shoulder.

But in the end, she lacked the courage.

"You said,"

Zhongli suddenly said:

"The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavens derive forty-nine, and one escapes; this 'one' is a glimmer of hope."

"You survived; it is not necessarily not a victory for the Shushan Ancestor in his struggle against fate."

"Therefore, you should pass on the legacy of Shushan even more."

Jiang Yan was stunned for a moment; he really hadn't expected Zhongli to grasp the secrets of cultivation so quickly.

He had even started using such words to comfort him.

It seemed that these words had truly earned Zhongli's trust significantly.