Chapter 284: The Premonition of the Hundred-Day Calamity in the Firmament

"What? A descendant of the Human Emperor?" Lingxiang was greatly shocked.

"What is it? You went to such lengths to seek out Yunmeng, yet you haven't even figured this matter out?"

Wangugongcang looked as though it were only natural, and as he spoke, he transformed into a wisp of blue smoke, drifting onto the bamboo chair. With a look of disdain, he said, "Otherwise, what do you think the so-called 'Great Cause of Conferment of the Gods' was for? It was simply because those who considered themselves immortals could do nothing to the Human Emperor, so they had to borrow the hands of mortals. If they hadn't fabricated a pretext back then, how else could they have had a righteous cause?"

Lingxiang looked embarrassed. Although she had gone to great lengths to go to Yunmeng, she truly hadn't seen many immortals or strange beasts. Even when she did see the Master of Yunmeng, his unreliable demeanor had truly left her with no interest in asking questions.

Looking at it this way, she had gone on a trip to Yunmengshuijing and truly hadn't accomplished a single thing! Forget it, forget it, it's not worth mentioning, and she certainly couldn't let this old fellow know, lest he laugh at her for nothing...

However, once she thought of what she had just heard, she couldn't help but feel astonished as she looked at the relaxed Wangugongcang. What she had just heard truly subverted her past understanding, yet facing this old fellow before her, she had no choice but to believe it.

Furthermore, Wangugongcang had no reason to lie to her, did he?

If one followed what the old fellow said, the implication would be...

"You mean..." Lingxiang spoke with difficulty, "if one wants to defeat the Demon Lord, it can only be done with a mortal body?"

Wangugongcang shook his head with an expression of "the child is teachable," but Lingxiang felt exceptionally horrified in her heart.

Not to mention that the Demon Race was inherently skilled in battle, just looking at how the Demon Lord had easily severely wounded Yuanqing back then, his cultivation must be profound. To contend with him using a mortal body, wouldn't that be like throwing an egg against a rock?

Just as Lingxiang was pondering, Wangugongcang suddenly changed the subject and asked in a casual tone.

"Since you have been cultivating for over a dozen years, let me ask you: do you know how many living people pass away every day, and how many are born into the world?"

Lingxiang was asked this with a bewildered look. She hadn't read the Heavenly Book, so how would she know such things?

"Before the capital of Guiyu was built, there was no Reincarnation in the world. One life extinguished, one life born, generation after generation without end; the giant Kun transforming into the Great Peng is this very Dao."

"However, this Dao was without order, and fierce gods would often descend upon the world, shattering the balance of Chenjian. Datingshi Qingjia, seeing the suffering of the world, founded Taiyigong at Luofengshan in the far north, established the Ten Halls and thirty-six prisons, and appointed the Nine Command Masters and the Wuyefujun to govern the twenty-four Yin officials and twenty-four Yang officials to maintain Reincarnation."

Lingxiang nodded, then shook her head.

She had indeed seen the theory of transformation and birth in the ancient scrolls of Langhuan Pavilion, but the Dao Theory of each sect held its own views, and Lingxiang had never delved into it much, as it had little to do with her anyway. But this matter of the founding of Fengdu...

"What is the senior's intention in telling me these things?"

Wangugongcang first smiled, then suddenly flashed in front of Lingxiang and waved his hand before her eyes.

In an instant, Lingxiang felt the world spinning, and before long, she found herself in the midst of Chaos. When the Chaos dissipated, the scene before her eyes left her greatly shocked.

The streets of the human world were desolate, filled with miasma, and extremely eerie. There were very few pedestrians, and a foul stench constantly permeated the air.

It was the stench of corpses!

Lingxiang frowned and looked around, but she did not see any corpses. She hurriedly searched the dilapidated houses, but still found nothing.

Just then, a person walked past behind Lingxiang, and a stench of corpses instantly rushed toward her. She hurriedly turned around to look.

She saw that person hunched over, dragging heavy steps, walking forward step by step, leaving a trail of water on the ground.

Water?

Lingxiang was very surprised. Looking closely, she discovered that what was flowing from that person was actually Yin and Yang water!

Could it be a Corpse Change!

Lingxiang was terrified. Just then, a mist gathered beside her, and a child-like voice came from within it.

"This is the human world one hundred days from now."

The human world one hundred days from now...

Lingxiang had no time to mind the strangeness beside her; she was so shocked by this sentence that she lost her composure. She looked around, feeling only a deathly stillness with no vitality.

"One hundred days from now..."

Lingxiang couldn't help but mutter to herself, and the scene before her made her heart grow cold.

"What exactly will happen one hundred days from now?"

Lingxiang hurriedly asked the mass of mist. At this moment, another wave of Chaos struck, and in an instant, she returned to that small courtyard.

Stumbling, Lingxiang nearly fell to the ground, but fortunately, she reacted in time and stopped her staggering. That scene just now lingered in her heart, and she couldn't tell if it was a dream or if she had truly experienced it; she only felt very panicked.

A gust of wind blew, and the old locust tree in the courtyard rustled, as if nothing had happened, like a whisper in her ear, soothing her restless heart.

Lingxiang finally came to her senses amidst the sound and turned to look at Wangugongcang. He was still lying on the bamboo chair, rocking comfortably, his fan moving at will, looking quite at ease. Meanwhile, on the side table, a mass of mist gathered and shifted, like rolling clouds, and before long, it slipped into the teapot.

So it was him.

"What does the senior mean by this?"

Wangugongcang opened one eye and looked at Lingxiang. He hadn't expected that the usually well-behaved Zhao Wuyang could also be so cynical.

"Youdu maintains the reincarnation of living beings and is already in perfect order. If Fengdu were to cease to exist, the human world would be a place of misery."

One hundred days from now, Fengdu will cease to exist...

Thinking of this, Lingxiang felt a chill run down her spine.

So what she saw just now was not a Corpse Change, but dead spirits possessing corpses; this is a method that defies nature!

What exactly happened one hundred days from now?

Why would Fengdu disappear?

Lingxiang was about to ask, but Wangugongcang closed his fan to stop her.

"This is a heavenly secret; I have said enough, do not ask further."

As Wangugongcang spoke, he rose from the bamboo chair, but this time he did not turn into mist; instead, he lifted his legs and walked toward Lingxiang.

This old fellow, so he could walk after all!

"Since you are already in the game, you should follow your heart in all things; doing your best and leaving the rest to fate is the proper way."

"Fate..." Lingxiang scoffed self-deprecatingly, "The fate Heaven gave me is this broken soul and severed roots, yet it wants me to do my best—it is truly laughable."

"When you were persuading that fox, you were full of righteous words, yet now that it falls upon yourself, you have lost your backbone? You who cultivate the Dao often speak of enduring suffering; what of a Half-Demon Body?"

As Wangugongcang spoke, he came to Lingxiang's side and blew into the Tea Cup in his hand. A mass of mist surged and gathered, within which one could faintly hear struggling sounds.

Before long, the mist finally gathered into a ball, reflecting another scene—

In a small courtyard, a pear tree was blooming brilliantly, its flowers as white as snow, fluttering down. Under the tree was a hammock, and a woman on it was eating snacks, watching with great interest as two people fought in the courtyard, and the two fighting were identical in appearance.

It is actually...

"Long Qi!"