Chapter 199

【「Immortal! Let them go! 」】

【「Immortal! My family has ten people, except for two infants under one month old, all can offer their souls to you! 」】

【「Immortal…」】

【In the pleading voices of hundreds of thousands in the city, the bloody red light in your eyes gradually weakened and receded, and your state of mind felt as if it had been fiercely stabbed……】

【「Fellow Daoist, speak properly…」】

【Jingxin Daoren's helpless advice became the final straw that broke the camel's back!】

【You closed your eyes for a long time, finally bringing down those cultivators whose souls had fled in terror…… Amid the devout thanks of the townspeople, you silently said to these shaken folks: "Find a place, I have some questions for you."】

【Thus, you were respectfully invited by the cultivators into a cave paradise.】

……

I, Wanderer Immortal Cave, am honored today to receive the visit of two exalted immortals—my humble dwelling truly shines!

【In the picturesque cave paradise, an old man bowed and scraped to greet the two passing "Strong Dragons."】

Xue Xiaohei remained silent, merely sitting with closed eyes at the side, obviously still unable to overcome his cleanliness obsession:

Everything here, from people to objects, to the thick spiritual energy, and even the cave paradise itself, made Xue Xiaohei feel uncomfortable all over; he simply chose not to see, so as not to worry…….

His silence put the old man opposite in an awkward spot, but Jingxin Daoren timely came to the rescue!

After a cough, Jingxin Daoren, in his true immortal identity, spoke amiably to the old man:

「We are true immortals of the Western Wasteland; we have come this time to seek the Immortal Realm. Having just arrived here, we are momentarily unaware of local customs, so please do not blame us. 」.

「We wouldn't dare! We wouldn't dare! 」.

The old man repeatedly lowered his posture and forced a smile:.

「You Immortals hate evil as an enemy; that is quite the ancient immortal way's legacy— a good thing! A good thing! 」.

「But we are doing this out of necessity……」.

The old man sighed:.

「We are all cultivators; how many of us are born wanting to do evil? 」.

「The reason we all took this evil path is simple: in the Dharma-ending age, who can stay out of it? 」.

「To continue the immortal lineage and also for our own longevity, we can only set our sights on mortals' souls……」.

The old man said, bitterly:.

「We all know what state the Four Wastelands have fallen into, and Zhongzhou used to be the same…… but we could no longer tolerate this barbaric practice of cultivators eating people, so we gathered to discuss. 」.

「The result of our discussion is that we cultivators will use magic and power to let mortals live as happily as possible, then after their natural death, we will take their souls and turn them into spiritual energy. 」.

「The mortals are not deceived; they learn all this when they study, and whether they consent to having their souls taken is each person's own choice. 」.

「If they are unwilling, we will not force them; they would just need to support themselves…… but basically no one chooses self-reliance; they all prefer to enjoy life comfortably and then die……」.

After hearing the old man's helpless explanation, Xue Xiaohei's eyelids twitched, yet he still did not open them.

Because although he had mentally prepared for this, it does not mean he can accept this practice; no matter how you say it, even if eating people is consensual, its essence is still wrong, and this has already challenged his worldview.

The more the old man tried to prove how happy and content mortals were before being eaten, the more Xue Xiaohei felt both mentally and physically uneasy…….

Only Jingxin Daoren kept smoothing things over for him; seeing his performance, Jingxin Daoren quickly took over the conversation:.

「Although it is still eating people, being able to do so consensually also counts as some kindness on your part…… unlike us in the Western Wasteland, where the righteous deceive people to eat them, and the demonic slaughter indiscriminately……」.

Upon hearing this praise, the old man beamed with smiles:.

「Immortal, you overpraise me, you overpraise me! 」.

After a bit of small talk, the atmosphere gradually opened up…….

After a long while, Jingxin Daoren finally got to the point:.

「We have come for the Immortal Realm; I do not know how far the Immortal Realm is from here. 」.

The old man shook his head:.

「Let the Immortal know…… Mount Buzhou is the true center of Zhongzhou, while this place is merely the outer ring of Zhongzhou…… If you two wish to go to Mount Buzhou, there is still a long way to go; Zhongzhou is no smaller than the Western Wasteland……」.

That means we still have to fly for at least several thousand years?!.

Jingxin Daoren stared blankly; frankly, he was already about to vomit from flying, and now he has to continue……?.

「However, Immortal, do not worry; we have a shortcut here! 」.

Seeing Jingxin Daoren dazed, the old man feared he might misunderstand, so he quickly added:.

「In Zhongzhou, every cave paradise is linked by teleportation formations; myriad caves together connect to the Mount Buzhou region. These formations were built by the ancient Heavenly Court, intended to facilitate travel from all parts of Zhongzhou to the Heavenly Court, so as not to waste time on the road. 」.

「If you two wish to go to the Immortal Realm, you can use the formation to teleport to Mount Buzhou, greatly reducing the time needed! 」.

【You two wild immortals from the Western Wasteland have finally gained insight in Zhongzhou!】.

【Here exists the strange phenomenon of cultivators voluntarily serving mortals; both sides have reached an agreement, with cultivators responsible for using their power to "raise" countless mortals, enabling the local mortals in the Dharma-ending age to instead enjoy a life of having clothes handed to them and food brought to their mouths.】.

【As compensation, the souls of mortals after death become the spiritual energy needed by cultivators; they are willing to trade infinite lifespans for a brief happy life!】.

【This makes you feel deeply uneasy, yet there is nothing you can do; after all, in a sense, this is the best kind of symbiosis, both sides consensual, leaving no room for a demon like you to intervene……】.

【Although you, the extreme one, are not afraid of killing, the problem at hand is clearly not solvable by slaughter; if you killed the cultivators for their freedom, they would only end up worse off, and that freedom brings no benefit.】.

【And you cannot spend your life unpaid as a beast of burden for mortals; the sole result of your action would be to turn Zhongzhou into the post-slaughter Western Wasteland model, making them break free of "raising" and instead fend for themselves.】.

【To the mortals, this is unacceptable; they could never abandon this utopian life to return to self-reliance…… you could say they are lazy, or that they have been domesticated.】.

【But they have essentially figured it out: what good is an eternal soul? For those who have not cultivated, a soul leaving the body will only drift dazedly between heaven and earth, or wait for an opportunity to regain awareness and become a spirit, or else the spiritual body will dissipate in this Dharma-ending age……】.

【What? Reincarnation?】.

【Nonsense, even the sages and the Heavenly Court are gone, let alone the Hou Tu Reincarnation Hall attached to the Heavenly Court—of course it's long gone; without immortal aid, mortals' eternal souls amount to practically nothing.】.

【What kind of eternity is this called eternity?】.

【Given that, it would be better to exchange a meaningless "eternity" for a lifetime of genuine happiness and fulfillment!】.

【After all, you are not Chaos Evil; facing this consensual life transaction, you can only endure extreme anguish in your heart while relinquishing this slaughter that brings no benefit.】

Moreover, you can't even finish slaughtering the Western Wasteland, yet you still want to slaughter the Central Province?

Thus, despite myriad complex thoughts, you could only step onto the teleportation array to the immortal realm together with Jingxin Daoren, and as the old man of the blessed land saw you off, the array began to operate…

This teleportation array, built in the mythic age, has endured countless ages of erosion; in fact it has long lost its potency, lacking dedicated maintenance from the Heavenly Court, the array has become stiff and sluggish.

But after all, it is a product of the Heavenly Court, its quality absolutely solid; amid the hoarse, sluggish hum, the golden light of the teleportation array enveloped the two of you…

This is the first time in your life you have seen and used an artifact from the Heavenly Court; inevitably you feel a hint of curiosity and excitement: you only feel your vision blur, and in the next instant the scene has changed!

But this is not Mount Buzhou; it is another cave-heaven in the Central Province… According to the old man's explanation, this is because the teleportation array is too aged, long unable to directly transmit to distant Mount Buzhou, so one can only leap from node to node among the various cave-heavens, gradually approaching Mount Buzhou.

The aged Heavenly Court teleportation array, the voluntarily reared mortals, the mutually willing defiant-of-heaven transaction, the desperate Dharma-ending age, the ancient and silent firmament…

One thing after another continually surfaces in your mind, piecing together a true picture of the primordial wilderness: it resembles an aging old father, his whole body exuding a sense of twilight, even the aura of death!

You inexplicably conjure a terrifying guess: "It… is it going to die?"

"What is going to die?"

Jingxin Daoren was marveling that the Heavenly Court's antique could still be activated when he suddenly overheard your muttering, and couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled.

"Primordial wilderness… Fellow Daoist, do you really think the primordial wilderness can continue?"

You murmur the question.

"This…"

Jingxin Daoren never expected you to ask this, but after a moment's stunned silence he burst out laughing: "You're just worrying needlessly about the sky falling!"

"The primordial wilderness arose from Pangu's transformation—what kind of being was Pangu? How could there be a concept of death? I think you've had your Dao heart shaken by recent events in the Central Province…"

Moreover, even if heaven and earth truly had a day of demise, we couldn't possibly outlive it! Even the ancient sages and heavenly emperors are gone—how long could we possibly linger?

Jingxin Daoren laughed: "Better to worry about yourself than about heaven and earth's death; our goal on this trip is to scout the immortal realm—if the immortal realm truly is a place where great immortals devour lesser ones, we two may have to first figure out how to merely survive…"

His advice, you cannot deny is sound: whether heaven and earth live or die, it has little to do with your measly True Immortal self; if the sky falls, a tall person can prop it up, at worst it's just one death!

But… you still worry about the life and death of heaven and earth, because everything in the world reveals this trend: heaven and earth may truly be nearing their end…

In all legends past and present, mighty beings always boast: "I share heaven and earth's lifespan, I share the sun and moon's cycle!" thereby displaying their indestructibility through myriad kalpas.

But now, those ancient immortals who claimed to share heaven and earth's lifespan have utterly vanished without a trace… So what about heaven and earth?

If heaven and earth truly have a lifespan limit, will the sun and moon truly fall as well?

Moreover, you always remember you are the protagonist, and you always remember you bear the great expectations of "another self"—a transcendent being would not casually pick a useless protagonist…

And as the protagonist yourself, will you truly encounter that day of finality?

You dread it, yet also anticipate it…

…

(End of chapter)