Chapter 293: Erasing Traces, at the End of the River

This Jade Slip is extremely mysterious.

Even though he was already at the Heavenly Human Realm when he obtained this Jade Slip, he has only managed to comprehend a sliver of its profound mystery until now. However, he is confident that even this sliver of mystery is enough to allow him to turn the tables!

"Die!"

A single word was spat out, instantly transforming into an invisible, mighty force that descended upon Reality.

Pop!

A cracking sound rang out.

Li Heng exploded.

His body was torn to pieces, flesh and blood a mess.

Xiao Hao, standing nearby, was stunned at the sight, his eyes widening.

What is going on here?

The outcome was decided so quickly.

The people on the side of the monk and Daoist were also dumbfounded.

In his eyes, the extremely mysterious Li Jushi had actually fallen in an instant? Could the means spoken of by this Zhu Zi really be that terrifying?

Seeing this, Zhu Zi clapped his hands and laughed heartily.

"The demonic thief has already been executed!"

"Oh, is that so?"

A soft laugh rang out, and Li Heng's body slowly appeared before Zhu Zi. As for the torn-apart remains of flesh and blood from just a moment ago, they gradually faded and vanished, leaving no trace behind.

Zhu Zi was stunned; how could this be!

"Die!"

Once again, the word was spat out, and the invisible, mighty force manifested.

Li Heng's body exploded again, flesh and blood a mess.

However, the next moment, Li Heng's figure slowly appeared before Zhu Zi, and the exploded flesh and blood gradually faded and vanished.

This...

Zhu Zi took a step back, completely dumbfounded.

Is this person human or ghost?

He has already made this person die a full two times; why can this person still appear and remain alive? Why is this? This is, after all, the mighty force from that Heavenly Jade Slip, a Secret Technique.

"Die!"

He spat out the word again, and the invisible, mighty force manifested.

But the next moment, Li Heng's body did not explode directly as it had just before; he remained safe and sound, looking at Zhu Zi with a calm and indifferent expression, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Good technique."

Li Heng clapped his hands in praise.

The word "Die" that Zhu Zi spat out just now could actually trigger an invisible, mighty force to achieve the same effect as that Champion Marquis, forcing Heaven and Earth to complete the corresponding task for him.

If Zhu Zi lets Li Heng die, Li Heng must die.

However, it is a pity that he, Li, is also a cheater; under the protection of Source Power, he directly ignored this must-die effect.

But Heaven and Earth cannot be disobeyed, and it must follow Zhu Zi's words to achieve the fact that Li Heng is to die, so that it can remain logically self-consistent and prevent Causality from falling into Chaos and collapsing.

That is why the situation just now occurred.

Heaven and Earth created a True Reality scene where Li Heng's body exploded and he died directly. To put it simply, Heaven and Earth created some replicas of Li Heng to complete the task given by Zhu Zi.

As for these three times, nothing happened at all.

It is just that Li Heng felt Heaven and Earth were a bit too pitiful, so he consumed a tiny bit of Source Power to let Heaven and Earth exempt Zhu Zi's command.

"Such a technique transcends Heaven and Earth and is close to the Dao."

"However, with your lowly cultivation realm, what is the price you must pay for using such a heaven-defying technique?"

Li Heng asked with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zi's expression turned ugly.

He naturally knew the price he had to pay, or rather, when he comprehended the mystery from this Jade Slip and grasped this Supernatural Ability to decide a person's Life and Death with a single word, the price naturally emerged.

That is, one cannot exceed three times.

If this Supernatural Ability to decide a person's Life and Death is used more than three times.

Then he will die.

Now he has already used it three times, yet he still hasn't killed this person!

Suddenly, a clap of thunder exploded.

Zhu Zi looked up at the sky and discovered that dark Tribulation Clouds were swirling above him, with terrifying thunder faintly shuttling through them, carrying vast Heavenly might, as if they were about to strike him down.

He was bewildered; what is going on here?

He is currently inside the All Saints Secret Realm, not connected to the outside Heaven and Earth; why would Heavenly Punishment appear here? Moreover, he hasn't offended Heaven and Earth; his Reason Dao is all about fawning over Heaven and Earth!

Seeing this, Li Heng smiled.

"It seems that you, this old fellow, use this Supernatural Ability knowing the 'what' but not the 'why,' not knowing the truth of it at all. You force Heaven and Earth to do things for you; how could Heaven and Earth tolerate that?"

Zhu Zi's expression shook.

This person actually knows the truth?

Out of the principle of opposing whatever the enemy says, he snorted coldly, "You demonic thief, stop trying to confuse the public with your lies. My Reason Dao upholds the heart of Heaven; the Heavenly Punishment is striking you..."

The words seemed sonorous and powerful.

But as he spoke, Zhu Zi was clearly lacking confidence.

He couldn't even fool himself with this sentence.

He could clearly perceive that this Heavenly Punishment was faintly locking onto his own aura, and it was not aimed at Li Heng at all.

"Old scoundrel, try and see how many lightning bolts you can withstand?"

Li Heng chuckled.

It seemed he would not even need to make a move himself.

The means employed by Zhu Zi were far more intense than those of the Champion Marquis, so the resulting backlash from Heaven and Earth would be even stronger. The Champion Marquis was at least just unlucky and did not die directly. But this old scoundrel Zhu Zi was about to be struck by lightning and would not live much longer.

"Old scoundrel, I advise you to commit suicide."

"Now that you are hated by Heaven and resented by men, if you do not commit suicide as soon as possible, you will implicate the Hundred Saints Academy and implicate the many disciples under your Principle Study. What crime should you be held accountable for?"

Li Heng said with righteous indignation.

Although this Zhu Zi was hateful, he could still be called a Great Confucian of Confucianism; otherwise, he would not have been able to ascend to the Heavenly Human Realm through the methods of Confucianism, and he was indeed extremely susceptible to the concept of "great righteousness."

Zhu Zi looked at Li Heng, then looked at the lightning punishment in the sky.

His face was as gloomy as water.

He estimated that he could not survive.

If he were to exhaust all his strength, he might truly be able to endure the Heavenly Punishment, but unfortunately, this person was eyeing him covetously nearby, and this person would definitely intervene halfway to take his life.

Although he had also made a few allies, they were like distant water unable to quench a nearby fire and were of no use at all. His path to survival was truly cut off, he sighed in his heart, and his panicked expression suddenly calmed down.

His own death was not a pity.

But the lineage of Principle Study must flourish for eternity.

So even if he died, he had to drag this demon thief who destroyed the foundation of Principle Study to his death, otherwise, he would not be able to close his eyes in death!

Fortunately, he still had a trump card.

After using that Supernatural Ability to determine life and death with a single word for the fourth time, although he would also die as a result, the power of this Supernatural Ability would also skyrocket.

He was fully confident that he could trade his own life for the thief's life!

Decisive, he acted before the Heavenly Punishment could fall.

"Die"!

As the word was spat out, an invisible great power manifested once again.

Different from the previous three times, this invisible great power was more powerful, terrifying, and vast; its brief descent alone caused the All Saints Secret Realm to tremble, as if it were about to collapse.

Under this great power.

Heaven and Earth lost their color, and the Heavenly Punishment even froze.

The great power honored Zhu Zi's will, began to distort Reality, defined Li Heng's state of existence as death, and sought to return him completely to Eternal Silence.

Then... it was all sound and fury, signifying nothing.

It was instantly blocked by a tiny bit of Li Heng's Source Power.

After this, it came quickly and went quickly.

The invisible great power disappeared directly.

Li Heng smiled slightly.

This was the reason he felt at ease letting Zhu Zi use his means without caring about the consumption of Source Power; he only needed to use a tiny bit of Source Power to block it. Because the method to block this invisible great power did not rely on the amount of Source Power, but on the essence and status of the Source Power.

"This... how is this possible!"

Zhu Zi took a few steps back, stumbled, and fell to the ground, murmuring with an incredible expression. This was his life-risking move, which could almost define all life and death in the world.

Yet, it was actually easily blocked by this person?!

Afterward.

Before he could even utter harsh words, amidst his own incredulous expression, his body slowly dissipated, turned into Emptiness, and died completely from the backlash of the Supernatural Ability he had comprehended.

And at this moment, Li Heng frowned slightly.

With a thought, he used a bit of Source Power to protect his memories.

The next moment, nothing happened.

However, he could see Xiao Hao and the monk-priest beside him looking confused. Li Heng thought for a moment, looked at the monk-priest, and spoke, "What happened just now?"

The monk-priest was stunned upon hearing this, not understanding.

"What happened? I don't understand that sentence. But the two of us climbed to the top of the mountain and saw the lay practitioner here."

He shook his head.

"Then let me ask you, do you know about Principle Study?"

Li Heng continued to press.

The two were stunned again.

"Principle Study, what is Principle Study?"

The monk-priest asked in confusion.

Xiao Hao also spoke hesitantly.

"Principle Study? This term sounds a bit like a term from the Hundred Saints Academy. However, I have heard of Confucian Learning, Mencius Learning, Heart Study, Mohist Learning, Legalist Learning, and Yin-Yang Learning, but I have just never heard of Principle Study."

Li Heng nodded slowly upon hearing this.

He looked at the place where Zhu Zi had just turned into Emptiness, sighing slightly, so that was how it was...

The next moment, in an instant, Heaven and Earth stood still!

The All Saints Secret Realm, above Hundred Saints Mountain.

The Secret Realm Sun, which originally only served as a light source and was not the Sun of the outside world, suddenly manifested wonders, and a beam of light shone beside Li Heng.

Within the beam of light, a figure emerged.

This figure.

Was exactly the one Li Heng had seen on the Great Sun.

Li Heng raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Why have you come?"

"Can I not come? Did some great disturbance happen here just now? I just sensed an invisible force sweep across the entire Light Flow, and it seems to have changed something."

The figure said in a deep voice, somewhat shocked.

"You seem very surprised?" Li Heng asked.

"Naturally I am surprised; whoever could do this is stronger than me! But in this Heaven and Earth, there shouldn't exist power of that level, right? Of course, Disaster and Pollution Power are exceptions."

Li Heng nodded thoughtfully.

"Looking at your expression, you seem to know something?"

The figure asked.

"Naturally I know. Just now, someone died and completely vanished. I estimate that his existence is already gone from the past, present, and future."

Li Heng spoke, saying slowly.

The figure was shaken upon hearing this and fell into silence.

After a long while, he spoke.

"Who died? I just checked various points in time and did not find anyone missing."

"A Half-Saint of Confucianism, Zhu Zi, the great synthesizer of Principle Study."

The figure was silent once again, seemingly verifying, and after a long while, he spoke again.

"How did he die?"

"He brought it upon himself; it has to do with this Jade Slip." Li Heng smiled slightly and opened his palm slightly, revealing that Mysterious Jade Slip.

The figure was startled upon seeing this, feeling somewhat puzzled.

"Why do you always have these things I don't know about? I remember not long ago you were asking me about this thing; I didn't expect you to have found it so quickly?"

"Fate simply arrived," Li Heng replied.

The figure shook his head.

"I will tell you the truth: if the phenomenon just now was truly caused by this Jade Slip, or is strongly related to it, then it shows that the origin of this Jade Slip is extremely Terror-inducing."

"Killing by crossing the Time-Space River, erasing all traces from the past, present, and future... this kind of method is too terrifying; even I in my peak period could not accomplish it."

Li Heng nodded.

"So, and then?"

Seeing Li Heng's understated reaction, the figure was so frustrated he could spit blood. "You shouldn't be a fool, right? I've already said this much; don't you realize this is a great opportunity?"

"Being able to do this is at least the supreme realm of an Immortal God!"

He roared, somewhat frantic.

In fact, ever since he discovered that a Disaster had descended and Pollution had invaded, he had not stopped searching for a way to break the situation, having searched every point in time dozens of times, yet he had gained nothing.

But now?

The variable, the unexpected factor, and the method to break the situation he had dreamed of might just be hidden in the Jade Slip in Li Heng's hand.

"So what?" Li Heng asked in return.

The figure fell silent for a while upon hearing this.

"Indeed, so what."

He reflected.

He had been overreacting after all.

This was just a Mysterious Jade Slip; whether it could break the situation was not certain. It was not as he had anticipated just now, that some peerless great being had passed through this Heaven and Earth, allowing him to ask for help.

"So I said, be calm."

"Even a mortal like me is calmer than you, an Immortal God."

Li Heng shook his head, looking pained.

"Alright, alright, stop putting on an act, kid. Since this Jade Slip has fallen into your hands, it must be Heaven's will. I won't snatch it away; besides, I don't have the ability to snatch it."

Li Heng curled his lips upon hearing this. Who would believe that?

His arrival alone caused such a huge scene.

Heaven and Earth lost their color, and Time-Space stood still.

You tell me you're a dead person; who the hell believes that?

The figure's mouth twitched, and he hurriedly ignored Li Heng's posture, his tone becoming extremely solemn. "You shouldn't think this is a good thing, kid. Too many things from Tianwai appearing in this Heaven and Earth means the location of this Heaven and Earth is in danger."

"The Void is like a sea and also like a river; worlds drift downstream, and other objects are the same. So under normal circumstances, this Heaven and Earth should not contain objects from Tianwai."

Li Heng spoke up upon hearing this.

"Unless this world is already in the downstream of the river, a place of sedimentation?"

The figure nodded heavily upon hearing this.

"Correct, it seems you are quite sharp, kid! Although ordinary river bends will also deposit objects, it would absolutely not be as much as it is now. Moreover, the sudden arrival of the Disaster and the phenomenon of Weird power rapidly infecting Heaven and Earth makes me very uneasy."

"Perhaps, Heaven and Earth has already reached the very end of the downstream!"

"Then what exists at the very end of the downstream?"

Li Heng asked.

"I am not very clear on this point either. However, all the Weird matters, Strange objects, and mysterious calamities encountered by this Heaven and Earth should all be things that belong in the downstream."

"You are an Immortal God and you don't know?"

"Heh, Immortal Gods are generally in the middle and upper reaches; who would know what kind of Terror is down there? Normal Immortal Gods would not go near the downstream." The figure sneered, despising Li Heng's ignorance.

Li Heng was not annoyed; he nodded upon hearing this, thoughtful.

"What would happen if one were to push the world from the downstream back to the upper reaches?"

"This is impossible! The Great Void mechanism is like this! If it were truly possible to push the World back to the middle and upper reaches, we would have done so long ago; those river sections are vast indeed."

The figure asserted.

"Then what is at the end of the river's downstream?"

Li Heng asked again.

The figure lowered his head and fell silent, sinking into a Weird silence.

"Do you really want to know? You won't regret it?"

Suddenly, he raised his head abruptly and asked.

"Naturally, I will not regret it," Li Heng answered with a smile.

"Very well, I will tell you a word. This word is Terror and Weird, possessing an extremely strong curse; it changes according to the individual will of living beings, shifting its meaning to become different words within your own cognition."

"You can use this word to refer to the end of the downstream."

"Why use this method to refer to it? Does the end of the downstream not have an accurate definition?" Li Heng asked, frowning.

The figure shook his head, "It does not."

"To speak of it is to err; to think of it is to be mistaken."

Li Heng raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't this the definition of that end?"

Although Li Heng did not want to be too argumentative, logically, it was just so. Even the word 'end' itself could become the definition of this so-called river's end.

Unless this thing transcends logic?

The figure began to laugh.

"This is my definition; I use this definition to refer to that end, but it is fundamentally impossible to truly explain or encompass that end. Even the word 'end' itself is just a reference."

"There is a saying."

"Living beings have gone to the end, seen the end, and then returned alive, and from then on, the Calamity is endless..."