Chapter 72: Ascension is Death, and Not Ascending is Also Death!

The entire front hall was deathly silent.

Feng Wuyou's mind was unsettled and the aura around her body fluctuated, yet she steadily suppressed it herself.

Lin Xiu's eyes were filled with confusion; he had no idea what was being said.

He had not been present at the Luoyun Mijing previously, so naturally, he had no way of knowing about the matter of Ascension.

Now, hearing Ji Shisi say that there was no Ascension after the Emperor Realm, he felt as if he were listening to a fairy tale.

Yet he dared not speak.

The aura that Ji Shisi occasionally revealed made one's heart tremble with fear.

He was definitely a powerhouse, and an extremely, terrifyingly strong one at that; if one were to offend such a powerhouse, death would be the easy way out.

Only Lu Ren remained expressionless.

He had long since guessed as much.

The Heavenly Dao of this world had already become a twisted, treacherous path, let alone Ascension; perhaps there was no such thing as Ascension at all.

He speculated in his heart: perhaps Ascension after the Emperor Realm was a dead end? However, there must be a glimmer of survival.

In all things, it is impossible for there to be absolutely no chance of survival.

And Ji Shisi's next words proved exactly this point for him.

"Do you know of the Five Decays of Heaven and Man?"

These eight characters fell into Lu Ren's ears; although it was merely Ji Shisi speaking in a plain, narrative tone, it inexplicably made him feel dizzy and faint, with a stirring in his heart.

Truth.

A thought of enlightenment immediately surfaced in Lu Ren's heart.

But he was also shocked by it.

What Ji Shisi was now teaching them was actually the Truth? It was the supreme logic of the Great Dao, an absolutely real and unchangeable secret language; even the details could not be altered, otherwise, the listener would instantly perceive it.

This was an extremely profound state, one that could not even be described in words.

If not for the prior agreement between him and Ji Shisi, and the fact that Ji Shisi had a favor to ask of him, he would likely never have been willing to speak, no matter the cost.

Because, once one begins to speak of the supreme logic of the Great Dao, it means leaking the secrets of Heaven.

The result of which is...

Heavenly Punishment!

Lu Ren could not help but feel fortunate; luckily, his intuition was extremely high, and the moment Ji Shisi began to speak, he had already set up layers of arrays, otherwise, the situation might not have ended well.

Thinking of this, Lu Ren still felt it was not safe enough, so he immediately took out another pile of Array Disks and channeled Spirit Power to activate them.

He did not care for alchemy, loving only the crafting of Array Disks and the study of arrays.

The layers upon layers of arrays being set up caught Feng Wuyou and the other off guard, making them attach even greater importance to what Ji Shisi was about to say.

A moment later, as if weighing his words, Ji Shisi finally spat out the second sentence of the day.

"The so-called Five Decays of Heaven and Man are divided into the Great Five Decays and the Small Five Decays, which are ten realms in total."

"There are still ten realms after the Emperor Realm!"

Feng Wuyou's expression changed drastically.

Her fingers gripped the chair armrest so tightly that one could see the blue-white color where the blood flow was obstructed.

Body Tempering, Qi Condensation, Spirit Communication, Purple Mansion, Heavenly Void, Yin-Yang, Great Completion, Saint Realm, Supreme Saint, God Venerable, Emperor Realm.

As everyone knows, cultivation only consists of these few grades.

After the Emperor Realm, that is, upon reaching the most powerful peak, one can ascend.

But what Ji Shisi said now completely overturned everything from the past.

"That's not right."

Lin Xiu suddenly spoke up.

His eyes rippled with deep suspicion.

"I am on good terms with the people of the Tianji Pavilion, and an elder of the Tianji Pavilion once divined that the Emperor Realm is already the peak we can reach."

"His divination received the blessing of the Great Dao; it is absolutely not false!"

The blessing of the Great Dao was, of course, true.

At this moment, Lin Xiu suddenly put forward a conclusion completely different from what Ji Shisi had said.

He pressed his pale lips together tightly and raised three fingers to swear to the heavens.

"I can swear to the Great Dao that everything I say is true, without any deception."

After the oath was taken, the Great Dao showed no signs of abnormality.

What Lin Xiu said was true!

Then...

Could it be that Ji Shisi was lying? But Ji Shisi was not angry; instead, he nodded lightly.

"What you say is indeed correct; the Emperor Realm is indeed the peak that we can reach."

"Then why...?" Lin Xiu frowned deeply.

If Ji Shisi said that, wasn't he contradicting himself?

But Ji Shisi suddenly sneered.

"But when did this old man ever say that there is another peak after the Emperor Realm?"

He did not care at all how much his words sounded like a thunderbolt thrown down, spilling them out directly like beans from a bag.

"What is decay?"

"Decay is decline!"

"Only after the Emperor Realm does one begin to decline."

As he uttered each word slowly and deliberately, a brand-new world unfolded.

After the Emperor Realm comes the Five Decays of Heaven and Man.

Body Tempering, Qi Condensation, Spirit Communication, Purple Mansion, Heavenly Void, Yin-Yang, Great Completion, Saint Realm, Supreme Saint, God Venerable, Emperor Realm...

Non-Resonance, Non-Equilibrium, Non-Purity, Non-Abandonment, Non-Ripeness.

Ji Shisi paused, looking somewhat regretful, "This old man knows there are ten realms, but only knows what the first five specifically are; as for the latter five, even their names are unknown to me..."

"Years ago, when I traveled to other worlds, I learned of this secret by chance, but even the strongest individuals I ever encountered only reached the Non-Ripeness Realm."

Lu Ren frowned slightly.

"What are Non-Resonance, Non-Equilibrium, Non-Purity, Non-Abandonment, and Non-Ripeness?"

These realms sounded unsettling.

Ji Shisi was neither stingy nor secretive.

He said, "The Non-Resonance Realm: musical sounds cease. It is said that the music of the heavens plays without being struck, but when the signs of decay appear, those sounds naturally cease."

"Reaching this realm inevitably leads to deafness!"

Boom! It was as if a thunderbolt had struck.

All three, including Lu Ren, wore expressions of disbelief.

Asking himself, Lu Ren was the Lu Family Family Head, possessing superior talent and standing proudly above the world, yet he had never imagined that after the Emperor Realm, instead of Ascension, continuing forward would actually be harmful to a person.

Non-Resonance, deafness.

But it was not over yet! "The Non-Equilibrium Realm: the body's light suddenly vanishes. It is said that the bodies of the heavenly beings shine brilliantly, bright as day and night, but when the signs of decay appear, that light does not manifest."

"The side effect is an imbalance of the five senses!"

"The Non-Purity Realm: bathing water clings to the body. It is said that the skin of the heavenly beings is fragrant and smooth, as wonderful as a lotus, unstained by water, but when the signs of decay appear, bathing water sticks to the body and does not dry."

"The side effect: techniques fail, and one cannot apply them as one wishes!"

"The Non-Abandonment Realm: greed, hatred, and delusion run rampant, and Heart Demons grow in abundance!"

"The Non-Ripeness Realm: the body weakens, as if on the verge of death!"

Lu Ren's heart sank.

Even he had never imagined that the fifth realm after the Emperor Realm would leave one with almost no place to be buried.

Lin Xiu stood up from his wheelchair in desperation.

He hurriedly pressed, "And then?"

Ji Shisi glanced at him, unbothered by his rudeness, and shook his head.

"As for the subsequent realms, this old man does not know."

"Because the powerful individual I met was killed while in the Non-Ripeness Realm."

"His techniques failed, his Spirit Power rampaged within him, he was deaf, blind, plagued by Heart Demons, and his five senses were unbalanced; he was worse off than an ordinary Emperor Realm cultivator and died at the hands of his enemies."

Once these words were spoken, Lin Xiu felt as cold as if a freezing mountain had collided with his heart.

He clenched his fists in a daze.

"But if it is like this, isn't it just a dead end?"

Who can guarantee they have no enemies? And who can guarantee they won't die by accident when they are weak? Ascension is death.

Not ascending is also death!

And this is only the fifth realm after the Emperor Realm.

There are still five more realms? Wouldn't that be death beyond death!

(End of chapter)