Chapter 385: Myths Fade Away, the Age of Dharma

An 'Age of Dharma's End' foretold by Patriarch Puti is slowly arriving…

This Age of Dharma's End differs from the era of depleted heavenly and earthly spiritual qi that Xue Xuan once experienced, for there is no such thing as 'spiritual qi' here; people's cultivation is entirely based on the foundation of 'incense faith', so the manifestation of this Age of Dharma's End is also different.

Its concrete manifestation is that the incense people produce gradually diminishes; when cultivators and true gods use their divine power, it becomes especially laborious—ten units of strength yield only five units of effect, and this ratio keeps expanding; as time passes, ten units of divine power will gradually produce only four units of effect, then three, two, one.

Until it completely fails…

This trend is the result of 'materialization'; divine power, a non-material product of consciousness, will gradually fail as the whole world's setting shifts toward 'materialism'.

Therefore, when materialization fully arrives, the immortality bestowed by divine power will naturally cease to work… so you will truly grow old and die like a mortal!

This is a fundamental change to the entire 'worldview setting'; once it begins, it cannot be stopped… Of course, you never thought to stop it, because this is exactly the outcome you expected.

Death is a solemn proclamation of your career's success, and also the best gift and reward for you.

All beings grant you death; you repay all beings with the world!

When myths fade and legends drift away… you will bestow this beautiful world upon all mortals living herein; from then on they will command their own fate and embark on an infinite future!

Of course, this is the best gift for mortals, but for cultivators and true gods it is nothing short of the worst calamity…

……

"Lin Lao Liu! I have an 8 a. m. class!"

"Lin Liu, what on earth have you done! Without incense divine power, what do we have left for immortality?!"

"If you're capable of changing the setting, you're capable of opening the door! Don't hide inside staying silent—I know you're home!"

""

The 1,200 true gods of the Heavenly Court, this time practically exploding like a pot, rushed en masse to the West Continent Royal Palace, blocking the door and loudly cursing you as a 'public enemy of the divine kind' who festers sores on the head and pus from the feet!

Most of them were defeated in the great gu‑poison melee in South Continent, then led people to flee South Continent and now dominate overseas isolated islands as the founding patriarchs.

The minority are those who have been idling away in the Heavenly Realm as the Heavenly Court's old salted fish.

However, these two factions have now merged together, because they share you as a common enemy!

As for how they discovered you were the instigator? It's simple: the world's changes followed exactly your extraterritorial knowledge; you promoted this kind of education worldwide, and the world indeed turned out just as you said—this cause‑and‑effect is so obvious, who needs to guess?

Thus came the spectacular sight of all the gods gathering to block the door and hurl insults…

Yet inside the palace, you, who were drinking lightly with Li Ziliang, remained unmoved; even though the curses outside shook the ears, your expression stayed calm, and you simply kept sipping, sip after sip.

"You… what can I even say about you!"

Li Ziliang had no mind for drinking or eating; he glared at you, furious and flustered: "You should have said earlier! If you'd told me the future would be like this, I wouldn't have…"

Old Li, you've been duped by this bastard!

You strained a bit, using an invisible big hand to set down the wine cup—an act of divine power that used to be effortless, but now, with divine power greatly weakened, it's no longer that simple…

"If I had said it earlier, you wouldn't have bothered, would you?"

After setting down the wine cup, you spoke calmly.

"You! ……"

One sentence nearly made Old Li faint from anger…

Seeing this, you sighed: "Don't worry, I've already found you a way out—I won't let you die alongside me here… I'll scheme against anyone but you."

Saying this, you produced a slip of paper and handed it to him: "This is a passage from the Sutra of Salvation that can ferry one to the Land of Ultimate Bliss; if you read it carefully once, you can escape this sea of suffering…"

Huh? There's actually such a good thing?!

Old Li instinctively reached to open it, but the invisible big hand stopped him: "This thing can only be read once by a person; if you read it now, you'll ascend immediately… I'm still waiting for you to take over my post and govern the world for decades!"

Hearing this, Old Li half‑believing, half‑doubting carefully put the slip away, planning to read it later…

Having reluctantly settled the rear‑guard worry, but Old Li again pointed anxiously at the palace gate: "What about them?"

"Simple—later you'll take those who just came down from the Heavenly Realm away, then make them read the Sutra of Salvation once, willing or not; anyway, we'll send them all to the Land of Ultimate Bliss, so these innocent pond‑fish won't be caught in my crossfire."

You took another sip of wine and laughed.

Old Li finally breathed a sigh of relief; he feared killing his former colleagues, who had always been loafing in the Heavenly Realm as old salted fish—this time they came down to block the door purely out of the pond‑fish's anger… if they were really killed, his conscience wouldn't let him rest…

But he furrowed his brows again: "What about the others?"

You still smiled: "They've stirred up nearly a century of mortal wars, with countless innocent dead… if they don't pay with their lives, that's the biggest joke!"

Though you said it with a laugh, Old Li inexplicably felt a bone‑chilling cold…

He wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

Eh, as long as you've arranged everything, go ahead—who let themselves be duped by you to expend their remaining energy…

He thought it over, then said in a low voice: "Then I'll help you catch them and lock them in the Heavenly Prison—better than blocking the door."

"All right." You laughed indifferently.

……

"Daring to gather and curse outside the President's gate—this is no ordinary rabble! We must strike with an iron fist!"

"Thunder and rain are all the ruler's grace; letting you die of old age is also a great favor! Not feeling grateful is bad enough, but you dare to be disloyal!"

"Rabble! Honest! Watch me send the troops to send you up to heaven one by one!"

After receiving orders to suppress, Li Ziliang went out, on one hand cursing the rabble for not appreciating the President's grace, on the other hand mobilizing the air transport troops… pah! Mobilizing your own true gods, he launched a 'devoted campaign' against the overseas true gods causing trouble outside the gate!

With a single command, nearly 1,800 true gods were mobilized by 'Lieutenant Li', surging forward in a mighty rage toward the troublemakers…

Yes, 1,800 people!

Under your careful governance, humanity has enjoyed over 150 years of rapid development; the immense incense it produced has sustained as many as 1,800 true gods, who are utterly loyal to you—even without the Blood God Son, they daily shout their wish to repay the President with gratitude as lofty as mountains and as deep as seas!

The Heavenly Court's 1,200 plus your 1,800 exactly fill three thousand turnip pits, guaranteeing that no one can surpass you in the number of true gods.

Thus, they are the source of your confidence to defy the gods' retaliation!

1,800 versus 1,200—the advantage is mine!

Roaring, the final 'War of the Gods' of the Age of Dharma's End officially opens its curtain!

Then not long after, the curtain closed again……

Because after Li Xiaojiang went forward with absolute advantage A, the opposing side's loose sand, which didn't dare to fight hard, collapsed outright!

Fighting wholeheartedly, they won a complete victory!

In the past, when you lacked strength, you faced the gods with humility; now that you're strong enough, you naturally launch a heavy strike! No longer courteous in avenging past shame, you directly declare: send them all, one by one, to the Heavenly Prison!

Thus, every true god who caused trouble after the great battle had their divine power ruthlessly sealed, then they were locked away in the Heavenly Prison, awaiting them: a desperate old age until death...

As for the ordinary cultivators who followed the gods in their uproar, you wasted no words, directly mobilizing the mortal army to give them a fierce barrage of bullets and shells!

After a powerful iron fist suppressed them, all manner of monsters and spirits lay prostrate, no longer daring to cause trouble, only trembling as they shouted...

"Loyalty! Sincerity!"

"The President's kindness is not yet repaid!"

That's right!

The aged you gave a faint smile.

…

Next, the worldview upheaval caused by 'Materialization' became increasingly obvious…

In the 152nd year of the New Heavenly Court, the great Pasha swept away all monsters and spirits, ruthlessly suppressing the troublemaking gods; the remaining cultivators, seeing the situation turn bad, all dropped to their knees in submission!

In the 153rd year of the New Heavenly Court, a survey report was sent before you; you, whose divine power was growing weaker, barely mustered the spirit to look at it.

This report was written by a mortal official engaged in population statistics; he reviewed all population records since the founding of the New Heavenly Court, intending to sort out population changes, but unexpectedly gained an unexpected harvest!

Before the 'Element' course was offered, the number of newcomers in each generation with cultivation talent grew alongside the total population; but after the 'Element' course began, that number inexplicably started to decline…

As of now, those born in the past twenty years practically have no cultivation aptitude at all!

Thus, this mortal official worried anxiously about the future development of the divine path…

But these things, falling into your increasingly cloudy eyes, made you reveal a relieved smile.

"This is a good thing."

You set the report down, then strained to move your frail, aged, disabled body so you could sit up from the bed.

You ordered your subordinates: 'Effective immediately, confiscate all cultivation books from the populace and forbid civilians from practicing cultivation; violators will be charged with spreading heresy and confusing the people, and punished.'

"As you command!"

The subordinates respectfully received the order.

After doing that, you couldn't help coughing a few times, then took a mirror from the bedside; in that glass mirror made with the latest technology, your aged face appeared in every detail.

Cloudy eyes, white hair, white beard, wrinkles, age spots…

You are old, old enough to be near death.

But you feel relieved, for you can take the entire mythic era with you to the grave when you die!

Fate, at last, is to be completely ended…

…

(End of Chapter)