Chapter 764: A War That Seems Familiar

"Congratulations on making the correct choice."

The sick old man sighed, his eyes filled with a sense of relief.

"It seems you have truly suffered enough torment."

"What else could it be?"

Taking advantage of the fact that he could still speak, the sick old man asked back with a smile.

"Although it's not as if the torment was all that much; at most, it was just countless voices echoing in my mind, repeatedly singing praises to war and constantly eroding my will."

"But now, at long last, I am finally liberated."

"I do have one question, though: why did you agree to this so easily? Is it because you possess this wondrous power that allows you to isolate yourself from the influence of the War Calamity?"

"If that is the case, why didn't you agree from the very beginning? Why wait until now, until the two of us fought, to agree?"

Li Heng smiled upon hearing this.

"Miracle Seeds still exist; as long as it hasn't reached the critical moment, who would be willing to give up that sliver of hope? Could it be that you really wanted to die after talking so much nonsense to me?"

The sick old man sighed.

"Who would want to die..."

He paused in his speech, his expression becoming solemn.

"After I die, the War Calamity will set its sights on you, making you his Proxy. I hope you can truly withstand the pressure within and not fall into the Abyss of no return."

Li Heng looked at the old man before him who was choosing to die, and nodded.

"You may rest assured."

If this sick old man hadn't wanted to die himself, then even if his Dao Sword had pierced his heart countless times, extinguished his divine soul, and destroyed his physical form, he could have instantly resurrected himself.

Instead, it was like this now.

Life force was leaking uncontrollably.

In that other field of vision, the candles on either side of the small, desolate grave were burning rapidly, the flames surging like brilliant fireworks, enough to make one envious.

But things like fireworks are, by nature, fleeting.

"Good, I will rest assured. I am going to rest now."

The sick old man nodded and slowly closed his eyes. The flame on the candle burned down to the base, letting everything turn to ash. Afterward, his physical form turned into sand and dust filling the sky, slowly dissipating.

Li Heng withdrew his Dao Sword.

But there was no sensation of Source Power arriving in his mind.

It was not that the sick old man had not died, but that he wanted to give this old man a chance—a chance to resurrect and return. If he had truly harvested the Source Power, then the old man would likely have died more thoroughly than any living being who perished at the hands of a Calamity monster.

This old man was quite interesting; he did not deserve to end up in such a state.

Of course, the most important thing was that this old man was not a true Dao Lord; his form of existence was just like that of Changqing—merely a trace, a remnant spirit. Even if he killed him, he would not harvest much Source Power.

At the very least, he, who now possessed a fragmented Source Power Authority, was not lacking this bit of Source Power. Rather than letting him harvest an extra, insignificant amount of Source Power, it was better to take a gamble and make an investment.

To see if an existence of this realm could return from death.

He had never forgotten a certain rumor.

That is, living beings who have entered the Sacred Realm are essentially Eternal and indestructible; even if they die and fall into Eternal Silence, they will return after countless ages.

Regarding this point, many people think it is a rumor, while others believe it to be true. In short, opinions vary, but in Li Heng's view, this statement is half-true and half-false.

If you believe, it exists; if you do not, it does not.

This was his judgment, and also the judgment of Source Power.

Since that was the case, he could use this to test it.

Composing his mood, Li Heng looked around again.

Because of the sick old man's passing, this lonely courtyard also dissipated with the wind, and the surrounding environment reverted to a Zhanchang littered with corpses and broken weapons, filled with mist.

This environment gave off a cold, desolate atmosphere.

This atmosphere was very uncomfortable for normal people.

But at this moment, Li Heng felt it was very comfortable, even like a fish in water. Placed within this Zhanchang, it was as if a fish had entered the ocean or a dragon had flown into the Nine Heavens—incomparably free and at ease.

Subsequently, a fanatical voice rose in his mind to tell him.

Look, this is the Zhanchang, this is war, this is incomparable splendor and beauty. The source of all beauty lies in war, so let us sing praises to war, merge with war, and exercise war!

Fight, fight, fight, until death stops us!

The victor of war possesses everything! The loser of war loses everything! This is the true meaning of the struggle of war, the War Authority! Proxy of war, please embrace war...

"No, no, no, you are too paranoid."

Li Heng shook his head, answering this voice rationally.

It seemed to have heard Li Heng's reply. The fanatical voice immediately quieted down, fell into a moment of silence, and then sounded again, asking in confusion, "Why would you think that?"

"You ask me why I think that; naturally, it is because of war and peace. Since there is war, there is peace. Peace is the opposite of war and is not included within the scope of war."

Li Heng replied, intending to "discuss the Dao" with this voice.

"Absurd talk!"

The voice rebuked Li Heng's statement.

"All things are at war at every moment! Mortals are at war with spiritual energy; they win, and thus they can enjoy the right to breathe and continuously evolve. Mortals are at war with time; it is a stalemate, and thus mortals can continue to live during the stage of the stalemate..."

"An individual living in the world will constantly collide with other individuals; this is war! And so-called peace, a period where all wars have ended? That is merely death, merely Eternal Silence. So, do you want to die?"

The entire Zhanchang began to shake.

The surrounding space-time and the laws of the Great Dao contracted, sealing off the four directions and the vast wilderness, subsequently evolving into a not-so-large Jingjichang, trapping Li Heng within it.

"Look, I told you that you were too extreme."

"The confrontation between individuals, and between individuals and the objective environment, does indeed exist, but that will not turn into the war you speak of. This is too much of a slippery slope; it is unreasonable."

Li Heng replied with a calm expression.

For the obsessed and paranoid, the best method is to play the objective bystander and directly reply that they are not being objective and should seek truth from facts; that is enough to make many obsessed and paranoid people lose their composure.

However, in this world, Reason cannot inherently convince others in an Absolute sense.

Therefore, when debating the Dao, in the end, one must still engage in a physical debate of the Dao. There is no such thing as Absolute correctness in this world, so whoever has the bigger fist has the Reason; all Dao Struggle is like this.

At this moment, War Calamity is about to make a move against him.

"Ignorant and tiny individual, I will not destroy you directly; I will make you fall into endless war, making you realize that war is everything, and everything is war."

"Enjoy this feast amidst the war!"

The voice sounded again, and as this declaration fell, many figures appeared before Li Heng; they were all the living beings he had killed and opposed in the past, now resurrected and reappearing to fight Li Heng to the death.

And this was not the end.

Even he himself was going to wage war against him!