Chapter 132 - 117: The Water and Land Dharma Assembly, Who Is the Master of This World’s Destiny?

Inside the cavern.

Wang Xiao looked at the Three Inches of the Human World in his palm.

His eyes seemed to contain the passage of sun and moon, the flow of great rivers, and the endless cycle of life and death.

At this moment, he finally had a clear concept of planetary consciousness.

Planetary consciousness could be the mountains and rivers, the grass and trees.

It could be the wind and the rain.

It could be the day and the night, or even Time and Space.

It represented all things tangible and intangible!

It represented the natural laws that governed all of existence!

And the key to a planetary consciousness’s strength was the Spirit contained within!

It was said that Heaven and Earth gave birth to all of creation for the sole purpose of nurturing Spirit.

This Spirit encompassed the mountains and rivers, the plants and trees, the insects and fish...

Of course, the most important among them was still humanity.

Humanity is the chief of all spiritual life, the most important component of the entire planetary consciousness.

Of course, the ’humanity’ mentioned here referred to all life forms capable of evolution!

Previously, the unconscious Death Stars that the Federation’s Supreme Governor, Ye Tianying, had mentioned were planets that hosted no life forms capable of evolution!

That was why refining them was relatively simple, with little to no resistance.

But when refining a conscious planet, the more numerous and powerful the Spirits living there, the stronger the planetary consciousness, and the more difficult the refinement process becomes.

One could even suffer a backlash from the planetary consciousness and be assimilated by it!

This world was a perfect example.

Back then, the Tier Seven Life must have met with some accident, causing it to suffer a backlash from this planet’s consciousness and be assimilated.

Left with no other choice, it created the Underworld and became the Celestial Demons.

Its goal was to slowly devour the Spirit of this world, making it a part of itself to weaken the planetary consciousness.

And ultimately, to replace it entirely!

For example, the reason the Mountain God of Great Yin Mountain so often fell into deep slumber was largely due to the influence of the Celestial Demons.

The Celestial Demons devour the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism. Since the Mountain God’s very existence depends on this energy, it naturally grows weaker and weaker.

And it wasn’t just the Mountain God of Great Yin Mountain. The Spirituality of this world’s mountains, rivers, and all its flora would continue to diminish until it vanished completely.

’When all the Spirit is devoured by this Tier Seven Life, that will be the day this planet is completely refined.’

Realization dawned on Wang Xiao.

After an epoch of scheming, the Tier Seven Life’s plan for refinement was finally approaching its conclusion.

It only needed to incite one more great calamity, and this world would likely have a new master!

At that time, the Tier Seven Life would become this world’s one true Heaven!

’So, the planetary consciousness must be instinctively resisting, struggling. Ning Xiaodie giving birth to a Ghost Infant, the Great Yin Mountain’s Mountain God cultivating Quanxing... these events were likely all guided by the unseen influence of the planetary consciousness!’

Wang Xiao mused.

He was finally starting to understand why Ning Xiaodie, who was only at the Saint Realm, possessed Celestial Demon Flesh and Blood and knew the technique for nurturing a Ghost Infant.

The world itself must have intervened!

When the Tier Seven Life transformed into the Celestial Demons, the world itself must have acquired a portion of its original flesh and blood.

’It’s like when a person gets cancer. The body automatically activates its defense mechanisms—its immune system—to eliminate the cancer cells. And right now, I’m playing the part of that immune system.’

Wang Xiao gazed at the Three Inches of the Human World in his palm, sensing the fluctuations of Heaven and Earth contained within it. A glint flickered in his eyes.

This Three Inches of the Human World might seem small, but its power was extraordinary.

It contained a part of the planetary consciousness.

And any Spirit within the Three Inches of the Human World that was not born of this world would be repelled and expelled!

In other words, he might be able to use the Three Inches of the Human World to expel the remnant souls of the Tier Seven Life that were hidden among the living!

Especially for the Dao Realm experts. In conjunction with his Samadhi True Flame, he might even be able to strip the remnant souls from their Great Daoist Nascent Souls.

Otherwise, if those Dao Realm experts fell under its influence when the great calamity began, he would have no hope of refining the Celestial Demons on his own!

’Moreover, I now control the ley lines. If I can just refine one of the Celestial Demons, I can find where the others are Sealed, move them out, and refine them one by one!’

Wang Xiao knew that the confrontation between this planet’s consciousness and the Tier Seven Life had already entered its final stage.

He had become the lynchpin that would decide the outcome of this struggle!

’Next, it all comes down to whether I can stop the great calamity and refine the Celestial Demons.’

’Success means life; failure means death!’

Wang Xiao let out a long breath.

He’d never had strong feelings about refining planets one way or another.

However, this particular Tier Seven Life’s method of refinement was predicated on devouring all life!

It was an act completely devoid of humanity.

Perhaps in the eyes of this Tier Seven Life, the people of this world weren’t even considered human.

It was like a distant, lofty god, treating all of creation as mere straw dogs to be discarded.

In its eyes, everything and everyone was nothing more than a tool for refining the planet.

Naturally, Wang Xiao couldn’t just stand by and watch this happen.

After all, he was now one of those living beings himself.

If he didn’t stop the great calamity, he would perish along with it!

It was a matter of alignment.

Moreover, Wang Xiao had no reason to refuse.

Devouring the Celestial Demons also offered him considerable benefits.

At the very least, it would allow him to see what the Realm beyond the Dao Realm—the Realm after the Eighth Limit Breaking—looked like.

It would be an immense help to his future cultivation!

’The key now is to make contact with the Dao Realm experts and convince them to willingly let my Samadhi True Flame purify their Great Daoist Nascent Souls.’

’This won’t be easy. The Great Daoist Nascent Soul is the very foundation of a Dao Realm expert. How could they possibly allow an outsider to meddle with it?’