Chapter 235: The Heavenly Mandate Changes

【Heavenly Mandate Crystal: The might of Heaven is unfathomable, the Heavenly Mandate is unknowable, yet a group of mortals dared to attempt to fathom the Heavenly Mandate, leading them to suffer a Great Tribulation and total destruction; the Heavenly Mandate thus developed cracks.】

A very brief piece of information appeared before Li Heng.

Li Heng frowned.

This information was being cryptic again; it did not explain what this crystal actually was or what its use was, merely describing a background, or perhaps the origin of this crystal?

However, the "group of mortals" mentioned in the information...

Did it refer to the humans of the Present World or the so-called Tianming Organization?

He had never been good at guessing, nor did he want to guess.

It just so happened that he currently had over thirty thousand Source Power, enough to upgrade the Identification Function, raising it in one go from the Great Innate level to the Dharma Aspect level, which involved Heaven and Earth Principles.

Li Heng did not believe it.

Could a Dharma Aspect Realm Identification Function not identify this so-called Heavenly Mandate Crystal? Was this thing more noble than the Five-Colored Divine Light from the beginning of Heaven and Earth? Even if it were noble, it couldn't be that much more noble.

It required five thousand Source Power to go straight from Great Innate to the Dharma Aspect Realm, but for him now, that was truly too little. With a thought, five thousand Source Power burned and was poured into the Identification Function.

The Identification Function upgraded instantly.

Along with it, the Data Panel that carried the Identification Function changed as well. The various patterns that had originally appeared around the Data Panel vanished, becoming very clean.

However, that profound, extremely wild and ancient aura did not disappear; instead, it deepened further. Looking at the Data Panel now, Li Heng felt as if he were facing Heaven and Earth Principles and rules directly.

Li Heng was lost in thought.

Had the panel become rule-based along with it?

If the Data Panel had previously just been a thing that detected his various states and displayed them as data, then now, the panel had become a rule representing that data.

Well, although this was also of no use.

At most, it just looked a bit more high-end.

After all, even if the foundation had changed and it had become a rule representing data, it still only displayed the things Li Heng possessed and his various states; the functionality had not changed.

At most, the upper limit for data display had increased a little.

He ignored the changes to the Data Panel and continued to focus his attention on the Identification Function. At this moment, the identification information had also changed from a short paragraph to a long one, and the amount of information was even more terrifying.

【Heavenly Mandate Crystal: The might of Heaven is unfathomable, the Heavenly Mandate is unknowable. Yet, there are great beings in the world who can fathom the Heavenly Mandate, wishing to observe the Heavenly Mandate for ten thousand times ten thousand years in the name of the Tianming Organization, seeking a path of progress for all living things. Regrettably, a hundred years ago, a Heaven and Earth Mutation occurred, the Heavenly Mandate changed, and this great being wished to alter it, but failed at the final step, leading them to suffer a Great Tribulation and total destruction. The Heavenly Mandate thus developed cracks and is faintly shattering.】

【Note 1: This crystal is one of the fragments of the Heavenly Mandate.】

【Note 2: A message within the Heavenly Mandate Crystal—"Whoever obtains this stone, please keep it safe. When a glimmer of survival appears in the world in the future, you may entrust it to someone you deem fated, to save the world and all living things. This old man begs of you."】

【Note 3: The second message within the Heavenly Mandate Crystal—"Whether you are a person of the Heavenly Mandate, or..."】

【Note 4:...】

Li Heng looked at the long paragraph of information before him, his brows locked tight.

Heaven and Earth Mutation, the Heavenly Mandate changed.

And then someone in this Tianming Organization wanted to change this Heavenly Mandate and ended up playing themselves to death? They might have even played the entire Tianming Organization to death, otherwise, Seng Daoke would not have lost his memory.

Moreover, it seemed this person was quite strong; they were definitely at the Heavenly Human level that Lie Dangkong spoke of, and it was not impossible that they were even Heavenly Human Above. Otherwise, they wouldn't have thought of changing the Heavenly Mandate and going against Heaven and Earth. Even his newly upgraded Dharma Aspect level Identification Function could not fully identify their message; it was somewhat absurd.

It even forced the Identification Function to split into several entries.

Note 1, Note 2, Note 3, Note 4.

This could indicate that this person had many messages left within it; it was not impossible for there to be a Note 5, Note 6, or even more.

And from this person's words, it seemed they had arranged many things, and the odds of winning seemed quite high? It was hard to say whether they had arranged everything. Of course, this was also Li Heng's personal guess; perhaps it was just this person's death throes.

However, Li Heng felt more and more that the waters of this Heaven and Earth were very deep.

Someone who wanted to change the Heavenly Mandate had already popped up.

It was not impossible for someone who wanted to kill Heaven or follow Heaven to pop up one day.

"Li Jushi, how is your observation going?"

Seeing Li Heng silent for too long, Seng Daoke spoke up to ask.

Li Heng nodded, his expression calm.

"There are indeed some findings."

He did not continue to identify further; heaven knows what level the Identification Function would need to be raised to in order to fully identify it. It would be better to use the Source Power to improve his strength first.

As soon as Li Heng said this, everyone's attention tightened immediately.

"But do you really want to know?"

"The information within might make you despair. Sometimes ignorance is bliss." Li Heng's gaze was distant, his tone inexplicable as he spoke.

A powerhouse of this level wanted to change the Heavenly Mandate, only to crash and burn themselves. It was hard to imagine what kind of mutation had occurred in Heaven and Earth, and combined with the so-called True Reality of the world he had always heard about...

He even felt.

It was not impossible that the world might collapse directly in the next moment, or undergo a Weird mutation and turn into an endless quagmire of flesh and blood, or that everyone was already dead and they were all wandering souls.

Lie Dangkong was startled upon hearing this.

Others might think Li Heng was trying to scare them, but he could hear the warning in Li Heng's words.

"If your strength is insufficient, there is no need to know, lest you live in fear in the future." Lie Dangkong spoke in a deep voice; since Li Heng was unwilling to be the villain, he would be the one.

Once some things were made public, it would cause panic.

The crowd was startled upon hearing this and fell into a weird silence.

Xuan Dao was the first to read the room.

"I just suppressed the spatial tremors and exhausted too much power; I must meditate to recover as soon as possible." Having said that, he hurriedly ran far away, closed his eyes to meditate, and absorbed Heaven and Earth Origin Qi to recover himself.

With Xuan Dao taking the lead.

Ma Suxuan withdrew, and Meng Lingyun was dragged away by her.

Wang Donglai and Wang Lin, the brother and sister who had only come to watch the show, also sensibly withdrew and ran to the side to look at the scenery.

Finally.

Only Li Heng, Lie Dangkong, Qingxu, and Seng Daoke remained.

The other three cast curious gazes toward Qingxu.

Li Heng goes without saying. Lie Dangkong is in the Dharma Aspect Realm, and Seng Daoke is related to this matter, counting as a person involved. But why does this Daoist priest Qingxu want to know about this?

Qingxu was calm and composed, smiling slightly.

"My grandmaster once told me about the secrets of the Heaven and Earth Mutation."

"He was in the Dharma Aspect Realm."

"Let me reveal one thing first: my grandmaster said that Heaven and Earth are no longer reliable. Is this sentence enough to serve as my ticket?" Qingxu looked at everyone; on the surface, he was steady as a rock, but in reality, he was panicking inside.

As someone who had been through it all.

He knew one thing clearly: ignorance is bliss.

Curiosity can also kill a cat with nine lives.

But he had to know about this matter.

He knew very well what kind of organization Tianming Organization was; they were fully aware of the changes in Heaven and Earth, and no Disaster could strike this organization, as they would have either prevented it in advance or run away early.

Yet now, the Tianming Organization has vanished without a trace.

At first, he thought it was just the Tianming Organization being its usual mysterious self, wanting to remain even more mysterious and living in seclusion. But now, combined with Li Heng's words, he seriously suspected that something had gone wrong with the Tianming Organization.

If an organization that could run faster than anyone and survive better than anyone had run into trouble, it was hard to imagine what kind of Calamity it could be. He seriously suspected that this Calamity came from the vast Heaven and Earth!

Naturally.

Given his personality, even if he knew the Calamity came from Heaven and Earth, he would just lie flat. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up; if the tall ones can't hold it up, then his struggling would be of no use anyway.

But unfortunately, he had taken on an apprentice named Qingfeng, and those who bear the Heaven and Earth Luck are inherently closely connected to Heaven and Earth. He sighed in his heart, lamenting that he was truly born to be a drudge.

Are Heaven and Earth unreliable? Li Heng fell into deep thought.

He nodded.

"Since the Daoist priest doesn't mind, then knowing is fine. However, it is best not to let this matter leak out on a large scale, so as not to cause panic."

Then he turned his head to look at Seng Daoke.

"I cannot guarantee whether the Master will lose his memory again after what I am about to say. However, if the Master feels any calling again, please do not go searching for it alone."

"It's not that I'm forbidding you from going, but rather, don't go alone to serve yourself up on a platter."

Li Heng spoke in a faint tone and rolled his eyes.

Fortunately, this is still a cultivation fantasy World; if it were a supernatural horror one, and Seng Daoke had gone off alone after hearing a mysterious calling, he would have been dead long ago, and the grass on his grave would already be three zhang high.

Seng Daoke felt a bit awkward upon hearing this.

If his previous experiences were truly as Li Heng described, then he certainly did have a history of serving himself up on a platter. So, to prove that there was nothing wrong with his brain, he patted his chest and promised Li Heng that he absolutely would not.

Li Heng nodded, not wasting any more words, and got straight to the point.

"Seng Daoke belongs to an organization called Tianming."

"And this Tianming Organization has already blown up; not to say it was completely wiped out, but there are only a few stragglers left. I suspect that even if anyone survived, they would likely have lost their memories just like Seng Daoke."

Seng Daoke was startled, looking just as he had back in Bei'an City.

"Everyone, let me interrupt for a moment."

"After Li Jushi said the word 'Tianming', my memory is gradually recovering. I already know that I am indeed a member of the Tianming Organization, and the Tianming Organization has indeed perished."

"It's just that I don't know the reason for its destruction; my memory hasn't fully recovered. Please continue, Li Jushi."

Li Heng nodded upon hearing this, as it was within his expectations.

"The reason for the destruction of the Tianming Organization should be related to a powerhouse within the organization. He intended to change the Heaven's Mandate, but he failed, and both he and the entire organization were finished."

"As for why he wanted to change the Heaven's Mandate? I suppose everyone can guess a thing or two: Heaven and Earth Mutation, the Heaven's Mandate changes, and therefore it needed to be altered. Regarding the deeper reasons—why it had to be forcibly changed when the Heaven's Mandate shifted—I have a bold hypothesis."

Li Heng's expression was grave as he looked around at the three people present.

"I believe this is because the Heaven's Mandate is no longer with the human race. Heaven and Earth are changing, becoming unsuitable for the human race. Perhaps it is not even suitable for the Weird, not suitable for demons and monsters, but for something even stranger."

"This might be the truth of the so-called World Truth!"