Chapter 727: Sentient Beings and Heaven

Vast and mighty, a power without beginning or end surged out from the Seven Volumes of Heavenly Books, filling every inch of space and causing even the starry sky to tremble.

Haotian was no stranger to this kind of power.

This power came from humanity.

And she had always been watching humanity.

Once, this power allowed humanity to fight beasts in the wilderness, wear animal skins, eat meat, and live in caves.

It allowed humanity to build houses, construct grand cities, and raise livestock.

It allowed humanity to resist natural disasters and calamities, uniting as one.

Even floods and earthquakes could not crush this power.

This power could change the world and overcome time.

This power could be the magnificent Chang'an City, or it could be just a single blue brick in a city wall, or even a story passed down by word of mouth.

This power was so great.

And this greatness came from countless tiny individuals.

As long as there are people, there is this power; this power belongs solely to the human world.

This is—the Power of the Human World.

When the endless Power of the Human World gathers together, even the Heavens should tremble.

—Daring to call for the sun and moon to be replaced by a new sky.

Since Yu Liancheng dared to fight Haotian, he naturally had prepared a backup plan.

The New Religion began with him; for every person the New Religion spread to, and for every additional person who learned the techniques he passed down, he gained that much more of the Power of the Human World.

When the Power of the Human World combined with the Seven Volumes of Heavenly Books, which were transformed from the rules of the world, this strength reached an inconceivable level, giving him the capital to fight Haotian.

Yu Liancheng raised his arm high, his fingers forming a sword.

The overwhelming Power of the Human World surged out, forming an invisible long sword dozens of zhang long.

With one sword strike, the vast sky was shaken; Haotian immediately felt a vast and boundless aura pressing down upon her.

This aura did not contain surging killing intent, but rather a heroic spirit of changing the world, embodying a spirit that could not be expressed in words, even going so far as to be an enemy of Heaven.

There was not the slightest expression on Haotian's beautiful face, though a glimmer of flowing light seemed to flash in the depths of her eyes.

She raised her arm, palm open, to receive this sword.

Boom!

Haotian's body trembled.

She felt pressure, pressure heavier than when she fought Fuzi. It was as if all the mountain ranges in the world combined were not as heavy as this sword. Because this sword represented billions of sentient beings, countless lives. The Power of the Human World was vibrating against every inch of Haotian's skin and soul, and the rules within the Heavenly Books were disintegrating her power.

However, she was Haotian, after all.

The so-called "man can conquer Heaven" was merely the delusional talk of the ignorant.

The next moment, endless light erupted from her body; light and the Power of the Human World collided, the entire void trembled, and the world shook.

"Haha, fighting against Heaven is truly joyful."

Yu Liancheng laughed heartily, and the Power of the Human World surged out once more.

In just a single breath, the place where the two stood was completely blasted apart; amidst rolling smoke and dust, energy surged and mountain rocks shattered.

These two existences that should not have existed in the world began a magnificent, vast, and unimaginable battle upon the surface of the Moon.

Whether it was the Power of the Human World or Haotian's power, both were endless and indestructible, and this was destined to be a long-drawn-out battle.

One hour, two hours, three hours... one day, two days, three days...

The void fluctuated constantly, and stars hanging in the sky were shattered one by one, or smashed down from the sky, dragging long tails of fire as they fell into the human world. Even that round Moon became pitted and scarred, and was even impacted by the two great forces, forming a towering mountain.

The battle continued.

And this battle also had an impact on the human world.

At first, only powerful cultivators and the Qintian Bureau could detect the changes in the firmament with the help of instruments; although terrified and shocked, it only circulated among the top tier.

But as time passed, everyone discovered the changes in the night sky.

Haotian had used the power of rules to completely isolate this world from the outside; except for the Moon that Fuzi had transformed into, the night sky had remained unchanged for ten thousand years, extremely monotonous. But now, the number of fixed stars was decreasing, and meteor showers fell from time to time.

The two sides clashed mentally, and the fluctuations spread into the human world, to the point where some dreamed at night of a battle between a perfect woman and a perfect man, fighting with inconceivable moves, like a myth.

Even the fluctuations from the battle above the firmament, transmitted from countless thousands of miles away, substantively affected the human world, causing storms and tsunamis on the sea, affecting coastal areas, and making people think it was the end of the world.

Fortunately, this did not further affect human survival and development.

As people gradually adapted to the strangeness above the firmament, the fluctuations from the high sky became weaker and weaker.

Some who knew the inside story became nervous; they knew the battle was coming to an end, and this battle concerned the fate of all humanity.

Boom!

On a certain day.

A huge roar occurred above the firmament; this sound was so loud that it resounded throughout the entire world, echoing in every corner. Everyone looked up at the sky.

To ordinary people, the azure sky seemed unchanged, or perhaps it had become a bit deeper. Only those above the Five Realms could discover that there were fine cracks above the firmament, and these cracks spread across the entire sky in the span of three or four breaths at an incredible speed.

Clatter!

They seemed to hear the sound of glass shattering; a thin film in the azure sky seemed to break, turning into countless thin jade flakes as light as feathers, scattering down into the human world.

The azure sky remained.

But their eyes could see through the clouds to the pitch-black universe beyond the firmament, appearing so cold, abnormally desolate, without any human presence, giving one an extremely uneasy feeling, as if it were the true netherworld.

But this was the real world.

A world without Haotian's isolation.

In the vast universe, a point in the void suddenly experienced a slight distortion.

A long time passed, and two clear cracks appeared on the surface of the distorted space.

Another long time passed, and the cracks vanished, replaced by a blue planet, a blue planet covered mostly by oceans.

……

Sword Pavilion.

Sword Mountain.

"Mr. Yu, Fuzi... they succeeded."

Sword Saint Liu Bai stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky, a trace of excitement appearing on his usually calm face: "Liuyiqing, I am leaving. From now on, the Sword Pavilion will be entrusted to you."

"Big Brother, where are you going?"

Liuyiqing was slightly stunned.

His big brother's tone had become uncharacteristically gentle, no longer sharp as a sword with every word, but he could not make sense of the content of his words.

"I am free. The people of this world are also free."

Liu Bai opened his arms and closed his eyes, as if to embrace the entire world, or as if he might ride the wind and depart.

Liuyiqing shook his head: "I don't understand, Big Brother."

"This world is isolated by the divine power of Haotian. We all live inside an eggshell; although safe, we cannot break out to appreciate more scenery. But now, the eggshell has been broken by Yu Liancheng and Fuzi and the others, so I have the possibility of leaving the world. No, not just me. Any powerhouse who has transcended the Five Realms can leave."

As the planet appeared in the universe, Liu Bai felt his body become much lighter, as if some shackle that had bound him every moment had disappeared. His aura climbed, reaching a brand-new realm in a short time, and in terms of Sword Dao, he stepped into a level unprecedented in history.

He felt a sensation he had never experienced before.

As if he only needed to draw his sword.

Draw the sword and slash.

He could leave this world.

Liuyiqing was stunned, not quite understanding his big brother's words, and scratched his head: "I still don't understand why you have to leave? And how should you leave?"

"Mr. Yu once said, this is called..."

Liu Bai's aura erupted completely.

Boom! Sword Qi soared into the sky; his entire person was like a Divine Sword that pierced the heavens and the earth, permeating the void.

Boom!

Under the pull of the violent and sharp energy, the sky trembled, the wind and clouds changed color, thunder rumbled in the sky, and wild winds howled.

Clusters of dark clouds gathered, forming a terrifying scene as heavy as a mountain, and the area for dozens of miles around turned dark.

Liu Bai had the Human World Sword hanging at his waist; he tapped his toes lightly, as if a Divine Sword were hovering in the air.

Invisible Sword Qi swept downward, causing all the Sword Pavilion disciples below to look up, staring blankly as if they were seeing a God.

"Shattering the Void!"

When these four words fell, Liu Bai drew the Human World Sword from his waist, channeled his lifelong cultivation, and struck with all his might.

A white light that tore through the heavens and earth appeared.

—Sword light.

Incomparable sword light.

It shattered the Darkness, turning the world white.

When the sword light vanished, a vortex woven from countless electric lights appeared in the sky, from which a vast and profound aura emanated, as if it were a gate leading to a new world.

"A new world..."

A look of fanaticism appeared in Liu Bai's eyes; he tapped his toes in the air, transformed into a long rainbow, and shot into the vortex.

A moment later, the electric light dissipated, and everything became calm and tranquil, returning to peace.

Everyone who witnessed this scene was dumbfounded, their minds as if struck by countless lightning bolts, leaving them blank.

"Big Brother... has left."

After a long while, Liuyiqing finally came to his senses and gradually understood everything his big brother had said earlier, then his eyes lit up: "If one day I can reach above the Five Realms, perhaps I too can shatter the void and follow Big Brother."

On this day, the first person to shatter the void appeared in the Haotian world: the Sword Saint Liu Bai.

Because the paths above the Five Realms are different, there are various mysterious realms and titles, such as: Heavenly Revelation, Heavenly Demon, No Distance, and so on.

From now on, these realms would still exist. But people would have one more unified term for the realms above the Five Realms—the Shattering Realm.

……

Academy.

In the Back Mountain.

The Back Mountain had many peach trees transplanted from Taoshan.

Although it was already autumn and winter, Seventh Teacher Mu You, who was skilled in the way of the Array, did not know what kind of array she had set up, causing the Peach Blossom to bloom in full.

The dense Peach Blossom bloomed exceptionally noisily in the autumn wind, layer upon layer, like a morning glow.

The Academy remained the same.

The disciples of the Academy remained the same.

The teachers of the Academy were eating hot pot.

Twelfth Brother Chen Pi Pi was responsible for cutting the vegetables.

The job of cutting vegetables had always been done by the eldest brother Li Manman, but Li Manman cut vegetables too slowly, completely unable to keep up with the speed at which the brothers and sisters were eating. As for the youngest brother Ning Que, he did not come because Sang Sang was pregnant, and he was taking care of Sang Sang.

"The battle in the sky is finally over; we don't have to worry about the sky collapsing anymore." Li Manman looked up at the sky and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"If the sky collapses, the eldest brother will hold it up."

"Haha, if the sky collapses, it should be used as a quilt."

"I recently observed the sky while playing the flute and pondered a 'Sky Collapse Tune' to liven things up for all the brothers."

"Forget it, forget it; your tune makes people feel terrified."

"Haha, Fuzi has won, and Mr. Yu has also won; it seems Haotian is nothing to be afraid of after all."

Even when eating hot pot, Second Brother Junmo sat perfectly straight, saying solemnly: "This battle was not just a victory for Fuzi and Mr. Yu, but a victory for us, a victory for the entire human world."

A group of people sat together eating hot pot, very lively and very satisfying.

The weather had turned cold, so eating hot pot made the whole body warm, and with the changes in the sky, everyone was very happy.

"Although this battle has ended, Fuzi has transformed into the Moon, and we will never be able to see Fuzi again."

Chen Pi Pi sliced a large pile of vegetables and also prepared skewers, then sat down to eat. He looked up at the sky, where the Moon hung, faint and dim, and let out a sigh.

"Fuzi is with us; if you miss him, just look up," Fourth Brother Fan Yue said with a smile.

"If Fuzi knew we were eating hot pot without calling him, he would definitely be very angry, and might even give each of our backsides a kick."

"Haha, then this piece of beef of mine shall be offered to Fuzi," the Ninth Brother said, raising his chopsticks, which held a steaming slice of beef: "Fuzi, please."

"Hmm, I do have a good disciple."

A tall figure suddenly appeared; it was an old man with a graying beard. He stretched his head out, opened his mouth, and bit the slice of beef into his mouth, chewed it carefully a few times, and nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, neither tough nor tender, and the soup base is satisfyingly spicy. But did you send Lao Huang away? You had better not let him smell this, or he will surely gore you with his horns."

The group of teachers from the Academy suddenly fell silent, staring fixedly at the tall old man.

The tall old man did not care about this group of fellows; he picked up chopsticks, squeezed into a spot, and began to feast heartily, not even minding when soup splashed onto his beard.

"Fuzi!"

"Teacher!"

"How did you come back? Aren't you supposed to be the Moon?"

A moment later, the Academy was in an uproar; a group of students surrounded the old man, very excited. Chen Pi Pi even reached out to tug on the old man's beard to see if it was real, wondering if it was the legendary return from the dead. As a result, his ear was pinched hard.

After satisfying his appetite, Fuzi exhaled a puff of hot air and said slowly: "Who said that once I transform into the Moon I cannot come down, and who said I have to be the Moon forever? If you don't call me next time you eat hot pot, I will give each of you a kick on the backside."

"Fuzi, what about Mr. Yu?"

"Him? Of course he came down too, but he is a romantic soul, so naturally he didn't travel the same path as an old man like me. Pi Pi, hurry up and slice more vegetables, there isn't enough to eat."

"Coming right up!"

The Academy remained as it was.

PS: I will add another two thousand words tomorrow to end this volume and explain the aftermath for the characters who appeared.