Chapter 198: World in Flux, the End of the Dharma in Heaven and Earth?

"Another era has come to an end, has it not..."

Gu Jiangming watched the bizarre and kaleidoscopic scenes before him begin to dissipate, and as he felt his consciousness return to a familiar place, he could not help but sigh once more.

It must be said that in this Reincarnation, Gu Jiangming had indeed fulfilled some of his wishes.

However, just looking at the ending of the three siblings, Gu Nianmo and the others, left Gu Jiangming with a feeling he could not quite put into words.

Perhaps, just as Mie Changsheng had assessed, that battle at Wanglin Mountain was destined to be a matter of lasting regret for Gu Jiangming, was it not?

Yet Gu Jiangming also had a premonition that, barring any accidents, he would never be able to return to this era again; perhaps the regrets of this era would, for Gu Jiangming, be long-lasting regrets after all? Accompanied by the familiar sensation of returning, when Gu Jiangming opened his eyes once more, he was already in his own courtyard.

The familiar yet strange sights and scenes before his eyes left Gu Jiangming feeling dazed for a moment, as if everything he had experienced before was merely a great dream.

But Gu Jiangming knew that the past had truly been changed by him.

"Mingyue, she... has she fallen into a deep slumber in the Qilin Grotto-Heaven..."

Just as Gu Jiangming was in a daze, Jiu Jiu pushed open the door and stepped out from another room. The moment she saw Gu Jiangming, even with Jiu Jiu's temperament, a flicker of unavoidable sadness inevitably flashed in her eyes at that moment.

After all, Gu Mingyue was the child Jiu Jiu had carried for ten months and given birth to, and she shared a bond of mother and child with Jiu Jiu across two lifetimes.

"I can feel that Mingyue has not yet passed away!"

"No matter what, Mingyue achieved the Heavenly Human Realm, and there are no Heaven and Earth constraints upon her in the Qilin Grotto-Heaven. Plus, since she has fallen into a state of deep slumber, Mingyue is still living well!"

"What worries me more, in fact, is Sheng Xi..."

"He plunged directly into the Void, and if he cannot achieve the Heavenly Human Realm within the Void..."

Gu Jiangming pulled Jiu Jiu into his arms, softly comforting the woman beside him. Even though Gu Jiangming had been such a proud and powerful Red Lotus Demon Venerable in the past timeline, at this moment, facing Jiu Jiu, he was merely a doting husband.

"Seeing that you are well, it can actually be considered the fulfillment of one of my wishes!"

"You all shouldn't have been so reckless as to rush into the Void back then. If I hadn't still retained a sliver of my True Spirit, I fear that after you fell into the Void, even the present might have had problems."

Gu Jiangming sighed softly; in the battle of Wanglin Mountain, whether it was Gu Jiangming or Jiu Jiu and the others, their actions had lacked a bit of consideration.

Gu Jiangming had felt that his time was running short, and rather than perishing, it would be better to vent his dissatisfaction against that Heavenly Net in a grand fashion.

As for Jiu Jiu and the others...

Those mothers were even more irresponsible than he, the father.

"This point was something I hadn't considered before either. After I fell into the Void, I could clearly still see lines of text appearing on Mie Changsheng, but most of the time I only felt my consciousness becoming muddled and confused."

"There is great terror in the Void; on this point, I have no more doubts at all."

Speaking of the Void, even with Jiu Jiu's temperament, she could not help but feel a lingering fear at this moment. Only by truly falling into the Void could one understand how desperate that feeling was.

Watching one's own body turn into nothingness, slowly feeling one's own thoughts become hollow.

In such a realm, if an ordinary Supreme were to walk in, they would have to completely turn into nothingness within ten years!

"As for Sheng Xi, perhaps we can think of it in a positive light..."

Perhaps because Mie Changsheng was interconnected, at least at this moment, Jiu Jiu clearly also knew of the various events that had occurred within the Four Wilds and Eight Desolations after they had fallen into the Void.

"Sheng Xi's state of mind and Mana have already reached the edge of the Heavenly Human Realm."

"Without the constraints of Heaven and Earth, perhaps Sheng Xi might break through to the Heavenly Human Realm upon entering the Void, who knows?"

"As long as he can break through to the Heavenly Human Realm, surviving in the Void is still achievable. Perhaps his lifespan cannot compare to an ordinary Heavenly Human, but, but there is still hope to find Sheng Xi, is there not?"

Jiu Jiu comforted Gu Jiangming, and also comforted herself.

Gu Shengxi was, after all, someone Jiu Jiu had watched grow up, and furthermore, Gu Shengxi had always been respectful to her over the past years; especially Gu Shengxi's doting on Gu Mingyue could not be fake. As her own child, Jiu Jiu was naturally worried.

These words of Jiu Jiu, while said to comfort Gu Jiangming, were they not also comforting herself?

"I only hope that if Sheng Xi breaks through to the Heavenly Human Realm, he will remember the words I said back then, to forcibly open up a small space-world within that Void."

"Although I never stepped into the Void, I felt it when I opened the Void Gate; surviving in the Void purely with the Heavenly Human Realm might even cause one's Dao to be turned into nothingness."

"To exist for a long time in the Void, one must open up a space and let the space bear the erosion of the Void."

Gu Jiangming sighed again. In this Reincarnation, the ones Gu Jiangming felt most sorry for, looking at it now, were his three children! "Sheng Xi is such a smart person, he will definitely remember!"

"Perhaps when we meet again, Sheng Xi will have already ascended to Immortality a step faster than you, who knows?"

Jiu Jiu saw Gu Jiangming's guilt; at this moment, Jiu Jiu just quietly enjoyed the tranquility between her and Gu Jiangming, and then spoke softly like this.

"Can you two not show some concern for Nian Mo?"

"Outside the Four Wilds and Eight Desolations, there is clearly still a group of fellows whose background cannot be discerned. That Supreme Changyu definitely has a force backing him."

"It is said that the more ancient eras had no Heavenly Net, and since the Heavenly Net clearly looks like it was constructed by someone, perhaps there is a group of Immortals hiding in the dark in the Great Wilderness outside of Heaven and Earth?"

"I am just afraid that the silly boy Nian Mo will go astray, be misled by someone, and end up crossing swords with you!"

Just as Jiu Jiu was enjoying the rare time without outsiders disturbing them, another phantom walked out from the Taiyi Stone in Gu Jiangming's arms. In just a short moment, this phantom transformed into the appearance of Liu Moran.

Liu Moran did not have a fixed body in this era, but because of the previous Reincarnation, Liu Moran had instead developed an unspeakable connection with the Taiyi Stone.

At this moment, although Liu Moran only had a soul, this soul possessed power at the level of a Quasi-Supreme.

"Outside the Great Wilderness..."

"Between Heaven and Earth, there truly still exist countless secrets that we do not know of!"

"Although there are death zones everywhere outside the Great Wilderness, the secrets hidden within are definitely not few. Most importantly, we would usually ignore the existence of the Great Wilderness intentionally or unintentionally."

"It is as if Heaven and Earth are instinctively shielding all living beings from the memory of the Great Wilderness..."

Speaking of the Great Wilderness, Gu Jiangming's brows could not help but furrow. As for whether Gu Nianmo would be used by someone with ulterior motives, Gu Jiangming actually had more confidence than Liu Moran. At the very least, Gu Jiangming believed that if Gu Nianmo sensed something wrong, he would definitely not truly be of one mind with those hiding in the Great Wilderness.

At this moment, Gu Jiangming was only focused on talking about his three children and did not notice that Jiu Jiu's expression on the other side was becoming visibly unpleasant.

After all, for anyone enjoying leisure time with their husband, only to have it broken by another person the next moment, any woman would feel a bit unhappy, would she not?

Not to mention, Liu Moran was still trying to compete with her for her husband.

"Does anyone here know how many years have passed since that Reincarnation?"

Just as Gu Jiangming, Liu Moran, and Jiu Jiu were standing or sitting in the courtyard, Long Xi also walked out from another room.

And the point Long Xi was concerned about was not quite the same as Gu Jiangming and the others. For Long Xi, the three siblings, Gu Nianmo and the others, were very important, as important as family, but those three siblings naturally had their mother to worry about them.

As for Long Xi, she was currently wanting to see her father, the old Dragon King, once more.

As her memories of Reincarnation merged, Long Xi had quite a few questions she wanted to ask her father, the old Dragon King.

At the very least, Long Xi wanted to know why, when she was clearly alive during the cycle before the last, she had lost the memories of that previous cycle? Beyond that, Long Xi also wanted to know where the other dragons of the Dragon Race had gone. After all, when Long Xi awoke in this era, the vast Dragon Palace was devoid of any other dragons besides her.

Even though Long Ao had once used evil arts to slaughter thousands of dragons of the Dragon Race, there should have been over a hundred left; after such a long passage of time, the Dragon Race should have grown stronger, not left the vast Dragon Palace completely empty of dragons! "One hundred and forty thousand years..."

"If I calculate it based on my opening of the Void Gate, one hundred and forty thousand years have passed since we experienced the last Reincarnation until now!"

"If calculated by the collapse of Wanglin Mountain, it is one hundred and fifty thousand years of time..."

Seeing Long Xi also appear before him safe and sound, Gu Jiangming could not help but heave a sigh of relief in his heart; at the very least, at the very least, Long Xi and the others were all safe and sound, just as he had hoped.

"One hundred and fifty thousand years of time..."

This long number spoken from Gu Jiangming's mouth also caused Jiu Jiu and the others to fall into a moment of silence.

Such a long span of time was enough for the people and events that Jiu Jiu and the others had known in the previous Reincarnation to all become legends, and even the world itself had undergone great changes.

"As for the old Dragon King, he should still be alive!"

"Long Ao must have passed the method for the Dragon Race to seal themselves away to the old Dragon King; calculating by the time Long Ao was sealed, the old Dragon King should still be alive in Heaven and Earth."

Gu Jiangming looked at the worried Long Xi over there and softly comforted her.

Gu Jiangming knew, he knew the feeling of bewilderment and loss Long Xi felt upon waking from her sealed state to find not a single familiar person beside her other than himself.

But having experienced the end of the Heavenly Human Era, Gu Jiangming guessed that the old Dragon King might have taken the initiative to make some arrangements.

"The sea region is not far away; let's find a time to go to the sea region!"

"Since the old Dragon King arranged everything, perhaps he left behind some clues?"

Gu Jiangming looked at Long Xi over there and spoke to comfort her once more, and Long Xi nodded gently.

With the serious matters concluded, the atmosphere in the courtyard once again became somewhat strange.

Even though in the previous era, everyone could sit together and eat from time to time, in this era, with three women together in one courtyard, the atmosphere was still somewhat off.

"Speaking of which, has your strength fallen?"

"Why do I vaguely feel that the Heaven of this time seems a bit wrong?"

Gu Jiangming felt the gazes of the three women and tried hard to change the subject.

Having experienced the end of the Heavenly Human Era, and with Gu Jiangming himself having merged with the Heavenly Net and wielded the Heavenly Will, even though Gu Jiangming's strength was still weak at this moment, he perceived the difference in Heaven and Earth earlier than Jiu Jiu and the others.

Compared to the end of the Heavenly Human Era, the Heaven of this era was not only more ethereal in Gu Jiangming's perception, but even when Gu Jiangming wanted to touch the Heavenly Will, he found that the Heavenly Will gave no response at all.

This should have been impossible; after all, after Gu Jiangming wielded the Four Thousand Bureau, if the Heavenly Will sensed Gu Jiangming, he should have been able to borrow a little of the Heavenly Will's power.

But at this moment, Gu Jiangming felt as if the Heavenly Will, which should have been everywhere in Heaven and Earth, had completely dissipated? There was only one possibility for this: the Heavenly Net had completely digested the Four Thousand Bureau, or even completely turned the Heavenly Will into a part of itself, no longer subject to any control by Gu Jiangming.

"Strength, only Heaven and Earth Enlightenment..."

"I can feel that the limit allowed by Heaven and Earth is Heaven and Earth Enlightenment!"

"Even if one practices ancient methods, it is difficult to even achieve Heaven and Earth Enlightenment; it is because I walked the Divine Path and can wield the Divine Path that I can maintain the strength of Heaven and Earth Enlightenment!"

Following Gu Jiangming's words, Jiu Jiu also frowned at this time.

In the previous Reincarnation, Jiu Jiu had relied on herself to achieve the Supreme Realm; returning to this era, even though her Dao Body was gone, her insights into realms and Dao Principles still existed.

Yet, in Jiu Jiu's current perception, it seemed difficult even for her to maintain the strength of Heaven and Earth Enlightenment?

"End of Dharma..."

"My father always said that Heaven and Earth had entered the End of Dharma era, and the Divine Path was the last glory before the End of Dharma..."

Long Xi also thought of something at this moment, and as she looked at Gu Jiangming, she spoke these words that shook their hearts.

"Heaven and Earth End of Dharma?"

"No, it is not the Heaven and Earth End of Dharma!"

"I roughly know the reason for the changes in the eras of Heaven and Earth!"

"One hundred and fifty thousand years ago, Heaven and Earth were already trying to gestate an Immortal Dao Principle, but it was smashed by me at the time, which caused some problems."

"One hundred and fifty thousand years have passed, and Heaven and Earth may have completely digested the Four Thousand Bureau!"

"No, that's not right; it was me in the previous era who took the initiative to strip away the influence of the Four Thousand Bureau on Heaven and Earth, evolving the initial version of the Four Thousand Bureau!"

"Heaven and Earth is gathering all its power, gestating a true Immortal Dao Principle!"

(End of chapter)