Chapter 257: The Source of the Disaster

A phantom image suddenly appeared before everyone.

Gao Jue and Ding Yi were startled when they saw this figure, their faces immediately showing joy. "State Preceptor, why have you come? Aren't you currently presiding over the ceremony with His Majesty?"

"The General has only recently awakened and his strength has not yet fully recovered. His Majesty felt it was somewhat dangerous and was uneasy, so he specially dispatched me to come."

This phantom, appearing as an old Daoist, smiled faintly.

The phantom looked toward Li Heng again and spoke.

"Fellow Daoist, this poor Daoist is the Great Ming State Preceptor, Xuanweizi. Where one can show mercy, one should show mercy; do not create any more killing karma."

Li Heng smiled upon hearing this.

"You Daoist, why do you speak like those bald donkeys? Do not create any more killing karma? Don't you find this statement quite laughable? This so-called General has an extremely heavy aura of balefulness and Qi and Blood on him."

"Take a guess at how many people he has killed? How heavy is his killing karma?"

"Fellow Daoist, why must you be so coercive?"

This Xuanweizi sighed.

"Heaven and Earth is about to be in turmoil, and a catastrophe is about to begin. For the sake of both you and me, why not turn hostility into friendship?"

His rhetoric was very similar to that of Gao Jue.

"You old Daoist, are you trying to fool a three-year-old child?"

Li Heng pointed at Gao Jue and sneered.

"Do you really think this Venerable One cannot perceive the murderous intent this person is revealing? If I let him go back, I fear it won't be long before this small place of mine is besieged by an army of ghost soldiers."

"If that is the case, then how about I have the General take an oath? As long as you are willing to let the General leave, our Great Ming and the General will swear by Heaven and Earth that we will absolutely never provoke you, Fellow Daoist, in the slightest."

Xuanweizi remained pleasant and amiable.

Li Heng scoffed inwardly upon hearing this.

Swear by Heaven and Earth, you say?

Clearly, this old Daoist had no sincerity at all.

His thoughts stirred slightly, and with a pinch of his palm, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Principles suddenly contracted and squeezed toward Gao Jue and Ding Yi, as if intending to crush them to death right then and there.

The old Daoist was startled and hurriedly exerted his power, wanting to alleviate Li Heng's offensive and calm the Heaven and Earth Principles. At the same time, he spoke.

"Fellow Daoist, stay your hand, won't you reconsider! As long as you release the General, our Great Ming will absolutely not provoke you, Fellow Daoist."

When his power collided with Li Heng's offensive, he was even more shocked.

Because he himself was unable to shake this power in the slightest, and could only watch helplessly as the Heaven and Earth Principles contracted, squeezing Gao Jue and Ding Yi until they were in agonizing pain, their expressions ferocious.

What kind of background does this deity have?

Could it be from that dynasty in the West where the Divine Path is flourishing?

"Would you not know what has happened to Heaven and Earth?"

"And an oath by Heaven and Earth, how truly laughable."

Li Heng shook his head and spoke again.

Xuanweizi was shocked upon hearing this; this deity actually knew this point, and was also someone who knew the inside story? His heart sank; no wonder this deity's attitude changed so abruptly, having seen through his words.

"Wait, wait, this old Daoist concedes."

"Don't you want to know the inside story of our plan? This old Daoist can tell you, on the condition that you release the General."

He hurriedly spoke, fearing that Li Heng would kill Gao Jue.

He lamented inwardly, His Majesty is truly something else, having become so muddled as if he were a different person; the General hasn't even recovered to his peak strength, yet he sent him out to execute a mission? Is this wanting him to die out there?

The General was, after all, a Heavenly Human in the past.

Li Heng withdrew his palm, his expression shifting slightly.

"Oh, then why don't you tell me?"

His expression was somewhat curious, somewhat impatient.

But his heart remained calm.

That performance and dialogue just now were actually just to put on a show of his attitude, to see if he could extract some intelligence from this so-called Great Ming force.

Otherwise, he couldn't be bothered to waste time with these two people.

He needed to initiate the Emperor Lord of the Netherworld plan as soon as possible.

"The General already told you just now; our plan is for the sake of breaking the boundary. But this breaking of the boundary does not mean we want to flee to another Heaven and Earth," Xuanweizi said in a deep voice.

"So, why is that exactly?"

Li Heng asked, still calm.

"To approach the source, to approach the source of the Disaster."

Xuanweizi said.

"The source of the Disaster?"

"That's right." Xuanweizi nodded.

"Fellow Daoist should also know that something has gone wrong with Heaven and Earth, right?"

He asked tentatively, wanting to confirm it once more.

"Naturally, I know."

Li Heng only answered with four words, giving no opportunity for probing.

Xuanweizi sighed inwardly; this deity was shrewd enough. He had originally wanted to see to what extent this deity knew the truth about Heaven and Earth, but now all he had received was nonsense upon nonsense.

He cast aside his distracting thoughts and continued to speak.

"Heaven and Earth has already gone wrong, beyond any cure."

"Although there are still many forces that do not agree with this conclusion, it has also gained the recognition of nearly half of the forces. Since that is the case, we need to prepare a way out."

Li Heng spoke in mockery.

"I am preparing a retreat, and you still say this isn't running away?"

"Is heading toward the source of the disaster also considered running away?"

Xuanweizi asked in return.

"Doesn't it count? Leaving the Heaven and Earth that gave birth to you and raised you."

Li Heng said calmly.

Xuanweizi opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but noticing Li Heng's half-smiling expression, he immediately shut it; he felt he could not tangle with this deity over this topic.

"Whatever you say, fellow Daoist."

"In any case, we must break through the boundary and head to the source of the disaster."

Xuanweizi sighed.

"Fellow Daoist, would you like to accompany us to wage war on this source of the disaster?" Suddenly, he changed the subject and offered an olive branch to Li Heng.

"I don't think you are worthy of using the word 'wage war'."

"From the words of your so-called general, I can hear that even if you go to the so-called source of the disaster, it is to seek opportunities, not to conduct a so-called war. I even suspect that when the time comes, you will abandon the light for the darkness and become a part of the disaster."

Li Heng said leisurely.

Upon hearing this, Xuanweizi smiled instead.

"And why wouldn't that be acceptable?"

"Fellow Daoist, facts prove that this kind of Calamity is a more powerful Great Dao, far exceeding this Heaven and Earth. Isn't it the purpose of us practitioners to constantly cultivate and pursue a more advanced Great Dao?"

"If this Calamity, this kind of power, can allow us to obtain a more advanced Great Dao, what does it matter if we become part of the disaster? Or is it that you, fellow Daoist, still care about these ordinary living beings who are like ants?"

He said with surprise.

Those who practice the Divine Dao, regardless of whether they are born deities, basically view ordinary living beings as sheep they keep; for example, that Divine Dao kingdom in the West, do they really care about the Life and Death of living beings?

Benevolent gods or evil gods.

They are merely different in their methods of utilizing believers and followers.

Li Heng felt cold in his heart.

He suddenly realized that he had already established a thick barrier with most of the powerhouses in this World; their worldviews were fundamentally different.

The Heaven and Earth Mutation and the opening of the Calamity might not be viewed by many as a world-ending Disaster, but as a great opportunity and a great fortune; for this era, for more powerful strength, and for a more advanced Dao, they could abandon everything.

This could perhaps be called a type of pure seeker of the Dao.

But it was an existence Li Heng disdained to become.

This kind of seeking the Dao, in the end, leads to the loss of self.

"Let's not talk about the so-called living beings for now."

"But do you really know the Terror of this disaster and this kind of power? Do you really think this disaster and this kind of power can become a ladder for your advancement?"

Li Heng sneered.

"So what? We who seek the Dao must naturally disregard everything."

"Moreover, the fact that Heaven and Earth is sliding down step by step is set in stone. Even if the Great Sun in the sky manifests again, showing the divine might of the past that created Heaven and Earth, it would be of no use."

"This is a Calamity from outside the World, a power that transcends Heaven and Earth; everything is deteriorating and sliding down. Instead of passively facing the Calamity, it is better to actively make contact with this power."

Xuanweizi said calmly.

Li Heng laughed and spoke.

"Since you are so confident, then I would like to ask, by what means will you break the boundary, and what method will you use to find that so-called source of the disaster?"

At this moment, the silent Gao Jue and Ding Yi were startled.

"National Master, you cannot tell him; this concerns our grand plan!"

Xuanweizi shook his head and sent a voice transmission to reassure the two.

He looked at Li Heng again and spoke.

"Since you, fellow Daoist, guard this place and accept followers, you must have experienced the Calamity that erupted here before, those White Strange Mist."

Li Heng nodded.

"What, is it related to this so-called source of the disaster?"

"That's right, it is indeed related! These White Strange Mist are highly likely to lead directly to the source of the disaster, or at the very least, have a close connection to the source of the disaster; it is highly likely they are drifting out from the source."

Xuanweizi's words were shocking.

Li Heng's expression remained completely calm.

After all, this was just Xuanweizi's one-sided statement with no credibility, not worth him taking action. Otherwise, he could also say these White Strange Mist lead directly to Daluo Heaven and Sanqingjing.

"Do you know that the Present World is shrinking?"

He threw out another shocking piece of news.

"A hundred years ago, after the Heaven and Earth Mutation appeared, the entire Heaven and Earth underwent various strange changes. Among them, one change attracted the attention of all parties, which is that the area of the Present World is shrinking."

"As if it were being devoured by something."

"Even the Yin World connected to Reality is the same!"

"In the end, we found out that this is all related to that Ghost Place, which is gradually devouring the Yin World and the Present World."

Xuanweizi said with a grave expression.

Li Heng was a bit puzzled; he had heard of this so-called Ghost Place many times, but what exactly did this Ghost Place refer to? Everyone is acting like a riddle-maker, right?

If it weren't for Qingfeng saying before that the term could not be spoken and must be experienced personally, he would have wanted to strike immediately to force the answer out; it was simply baiting people's curiosity.

"So, is that Ghost Place the source of the disaster?"

Li Heng asked.

"We speculate it is impossible. Because that Ghost Place has existed since ancient times. No, it seems it was in the primordial era?" As Xuanweizi spoke, he suddenly frowned and froze, falling silent.

He felt his memories were somewhat confused.

However, he soon shook his head again, casting all distracting thoughts aside; forget it, he couldn't be bothered to think about it, as it wasn't the point anyway.

"In short, that Ghost Place appeared very early, even earlier than the Heaven and Earth Mutation. But we suspect that after the Heaven and Earth Mutation, that Ghost Place also suffered an accident and was affected. That Ghost Place might have become a conduit leading to the source of the Disaster!"

"This is the reason for our world-breaking!"