Chapter 195

The wilderness entered the Age of Dharma Decline, and in order to continue, the immortal path could only turn to the evil road of cannibalism.

Then, in the Thirty-Three Heavens, will it truly be a carefree immortal realm?

This question, Zhao Si also pondered:

"After the perpetual motion machines all mysteriously disappeared, the wilderness could only slide into the abyss of the Age of Dharma Decline; the Thirty-Three Heavens, as the capital of the Heavenly Court, ultimately being part of the wilderness, inevitably faces resource conflicts!"

This is certain, so the immortal realm legends circulating in the wilderness also basically lack credibility.

And this principle, the over-five-hundred-year-old wild cultivator Xue Xiaohei can understand it—could it be that countless legitimate immortals throughout history fail to grasp it?

Zhao Si involuntarily thought of Xue Xiaohei's parents:

Could it be that they don't know that the blessed caves promoted by immortals are extremely unrealistic?

Few are simpletons; the mortals who choose to go to the blessed caves aren't unaware that the blessed caves are unreliable, but they have no choice!

In the mortal realm, heavenly disasters and human calamities strike together; people are already struggling on the line of death, so they have nothing to fear—at worst it's just one death, better to gamble, maybe they'll win……

Of course, reality is that they lost the bet.

Moreover, cultivators and mortals have no essential difference in thought, so they also anticipate things that sound unrealistic, just like mortals do.

In the Age of Dharma Decline, the desperate are not only mortals; cultivators forced to eat people are actually desperate as well.

Therefore, Xue Xiaohei's terrifying speculation about the immortal realm is not without basis.

But……

"But you overlooked a core problem!"

Zhao Si's line of thought is clearer than Xue Xiaohei's, the party involved, and he almost instantly discovered the loophole in his theory:

"The desperation of mortals is desperation over life and death; the desperation of cultivators is also desperation over life and death, because they cannot achieve longevity, so they always take risks, choosing to gamble—if they win they live, if they lose they die."

"But immortals are different; true immortals can achieve eternal life, and even when facing a resource crisis, it is not actually fatal—as long as there is a powerful authority to regulate them, immortals can also coexist peacefully!"

This is just like the myriad demons of the wilderness in the three lives of Jiao Ming: when the Heavenly Dao had not yet arisen, the myriad demons fought incessantly over resources, to the point that Jiao Ming attempted to stop the war with personal violence.

But after the Heavenly Court was established, the originally deadlocked resource struggle instantly subsided—this was certainly due to the Heavenly Court's maximal allocation of wilderness resources, but more so because of the Heavenly Court's violent suppression.

After all, nobody is unafraid of death; the myriad demons cultivate precisely to live better, so as long as they feel a genuine threat of death, between increasing their cultivation and extending their lives, they will inevitably choose the latter……

But why did Jiao Ming's violent suppression fail?

Because he wasn't violent enough—each time he only killed the ringleaders without restraining the civilians, so the civilians would think, "Well, we won't die anyway," and would rather keep causing trouble……

"So, as long as the immortal realm still possesses an absolute violent apparatus, basic order can be guaranteed, preventing the big fish from eating the small fish… your kid's speculation is a bit too extreme."

In sum, Xue Xiaohei's speculation does have some rationality, but it is not entirely correct; hastily holding such malicious intent toward the immortal realm is actually quite extreme.

But…… Xue Xiaohei is originally an extremist, so having such malicious speculation is also normal……

Zhao Si pondered:

"Now we just need to see whether the immortal realm actually has order; if it does, the situation won't be that bad, and much time needn't be wasted on slaughtering, which is useless to the big picture."

Really letting Xue Xiaohei slaughter his way one by one would entail a long wait.

After wandering for five hundred years, he had only slaughtered less than one ten-trillionth of the Western Wasteland's territory; to slaughter the entire wilderness would require at least several thousand, several ten-thousand, several hundred-thousand yuanhui……

It's really unnecessary to expend so much; consuming time is one matter, mainly Zhao Si fears his mindset will age, turning him into a second-generation Jiao Ming.

What a perfectly standard ruthless protagonist—don't ruin him!

"Rather than meaninglessly wasting time, it would be better to go early to the immortal realm to investigate; life and death don't matter anyway, since he's already used to dying—directly lay the groundwork for opening the second cycle of reincarnation."

Zhao Si's higher-level consideration fully took into account maximizing benefits; if Xue Xiaohei could execute it, there would undoubtedly be a reduction of several ten-thousand yuanhui in detours.

But the problem is…… this kid doesn't ask!

Possibly in his strategic plan, he truly intends to slaughter one country after another, so he doesn't feel the need to bother "another self" over such trivial matters……

【Ding! Detected that the player's desire to control the character is gradually growing strong; the system's new function has been activated—you can now issue commands directly to him, no need to passively wait for the character to ask!】

Huh?!

Zhao Si widened his eyes:

"This is…… the new function you updated last time?"

【Yes, henceforth you can turn passive into active and directly issue commands to the character!】

"You should have said so earlier! Why do you never directly announce the function when you update, only to suddenly bring it up when needed……"

Zhao Si rolled his eyes; this mute system really makes people exasperated!

However, this function came at just the right time.

Previously, when controlling Jin Bing and Jiao Ming, these two guys initially gave him plenty of difficulty—Jin Bing likes to handle things extremistically, Jiao Ming likes to act like a headless fly.

Clearly many troubles could have been avoided, but because of the system's pitfall-inducing passive assistance function, Zhao Si could only watch helplessly as they fell into pits, or the difficulty increased, or they died an extra time……

【But players please note, this function has a certain limit: in each simulation round you can actively issue at most three commands; otherwise things remain as usual!】

"Only three uses per round? That's fine!"

Although Zhao Si thinks this limit is a bit ridiculous, upon consideration three commands are still extremely useful, allowing the protagonist to avoid many detours.

"Alright, I'll now issue a command to this kid!"

"I want him to abandon the original plan to continue slaughtering, instead focus on cultivating to become a Xian immortal, then directly go to the Thirty-Three Heavens to gather information there, using this as preparation for the next life; what the first life needs is not to achieve everything at once, but to accumulate information!"

【Ding! Your first active command for this round has been issued as intended, two chances remain!】

……

The wilderness, a certain country in the Western Wasteland, a certain ruined blessed cave.

After Xue Xiaohei put forward his malicious speculation about the immortal realm, the originally composed Jingxin Daoren's Dao heart was completely shaken:

After all, everyone has always legends that the immortal realm is a dreamlike good place; he also held a believing attitude toward it, but now, after Xue Xiaohei's reasoned and evidence-based analysis, he suddenly felt a chill……

Indeed, this malicious speculation is quite extreme, perhaps somewhat biased, but one fears not the ten thousand but the one in ten thousand.

Moreover, with this line of thought, many longstanding doubts can indeed be resolved!

Given that it is known the immortal realm cannot have sages, the immortal realm must likewise face the Age of Dharma Decline just like the wilderness; how wilderness cultivators survive, the immortal realm's immortals should be much the same……

So...... do we still have to continue slaughtering in the primordial wilderness like this?

The perplexed Jingxin Daoren muttered, his strategy already declared bankrupt under Xue Xiaohei's malicious speculation; the road ahead was nothing but continued slaughter.

But...... the vast primordial wilderness that inspires awe also gave him a sense of helplessness:

Cannot finish the slaughtering, fundamentally cannot finish the slaughtering……

Xue Xiaohei also felt a bit clumsy, for over these five hundred years he had also lost much confidence; he dared not rashly go into the unknown immortal realm, yet the boundless primordial wilderness truly made one feel overwhelmed.

But since we've chosen this path, no matter how bitter, he must go on; if five hundred years won't do, then five great cycles, fifty, five hundred…… after all, immortals' lifespans are eternal, grind slowly, there will be a day when it's finished……

But just as he silently made up his mind to fill that bottomless pit, another self's command suddenly surfaced in his mind, issuing an irrevocable ironclad order with absolute authority:

【Give up this bottomless pit, first become a Profound Immortal, then charge straight into the Thirty-Three Heavens; even if it's mountains of knives and seas of fire, you must rush in to investigate!】

Upon that ironclad order, Xue Xiaohei was stunned!

Because this was the first time that other self had directly given him an order; he, who had never received an order before, now felt strange.

Moreover, if we follow this order to execute, our plan would have to be greatly changed……

"But it doesn't matter!"

Xue Xiaohei's thoughts turned:

"The other self is in a transcendent perspective, seeing everything I have; since he suddenly issued an order to halt the plan, it shows my current path is not the most correct."

Following his order, we can completely avoid unnecessary detours.

Even if we step back ten thousand steps, even if the order is somehow wrong, the consequences need not be borne by us; he will take full responsibility……

"Good!"

Xue Xiaohei suddenly exclaimed, startling Jingxin Daoren, who looked at him suspiciously:

"What's wrong?"

"The plan has changed; we no longer need to rush onto the bottomless pit!"

Xue Xiaohei said in a low voice:

"Wait until I break through to Profound Immortal, then I'll go straight to the immortal realm to see what's really going on there."

Huh?

The bewildered Jingxin Daoren couldn't quite keep up with his leaping thoughts; just moments ago he was maliciously speculating that the immortal realm was also a place of cannibalism, yet now he decides to rush straight there?

You little brat, you're too changeable……

But he also didn't mind, after all he had already decided to risk his life seeking the dragon; early death or late death made no difference:

"Alright! Then let's go to the immortal realm!"

【The plan suddenly changed, but both sides think it's fine; we're already in this line of work, life and death aren't enough to scare you!】

【Thus you begin to focus on cultivation, preparing to break through to Profound Immortal, from now on no longer meaningless slaughter……】

【If one says that in ancient times even a True Immortal wasn't fit to be cannon fodder, while a Heavenly Immortal could qualify as ordinary cannon fodder, then a Profound Immortal is qualified as elite cannon fodder!】

【Recalling back when the Egalitarian Heavenly Court waged war against the Supreme Heavenly Court, the entry-level cultivation of both armies was Profound Immortal; even at the famous strategic turning point, the 'East Wilderness Assembly', the Egalitarian Heavenly Court had only committed six hundred thousand Profound Immortals, the value of which can be imagined.】

【In this declining era of the immortal Dao, even a True Immortal counts as a primordial elder; upon reflection, even if the immortal realm hides tigers and dragons, a Profound Immortal placed there would not be particularly weak!】

【In short, you silently cultivate; the innate spiritual energy constantly flows in from the seven-colored little bird, and with your cultivation speed that can be called extraordinary, your Heavenly Immortal cultivation gradually reaches perfection……】

【At the age of five hundred sixty, your vigorous Heavenly Immortal energy gradually retracts, until it becomes profoundly mysterious; unless examined closely, one can hardly tell the difference between you and an ordinary mortal, clearly you have attained the meaning of returning to simplicity and truth.】

【You, have officially attained the realm of Profound Immortal!】

……

(End of chapter)