Chapter 474: This Is Nothing

"Later, I arranged another path for him."

"What path?"

"For the Reed God's will to recover quickly, it needs a vessel. He happens to be suitable, and it also happens to cure his Genius Disease. Once the Nanzhou matter is settled, the Reed God can separate from his body, and he will be able to return."

"And what about the original?"

"The original vessel was Cao Ci. He released his origin in the Killing Forbidden Land, intending to merge, so the Reed God directly occupied his body. By the time the Reed God and the Calamity-Responding Buddha suppressed the Nanzhou matter again and separated from him, he had already begun to suffer from Spirit Decay."

"I see..."

Chen Shu, however, had no time to worry about Cao Ci now.

"So, what happens after?"

"After Ning Qing and the New Sage deduced it, they determined that starting the war early was a better choice," Ning Qing said coldly. "Right now, the power within that Withered Plane has no momentum to invade the surrounding planes. Although the gods of both sides have cast their gazes toward the Withered Plane, their level of vigilance is limited. It will be twenty years before the power in the Withered Plane begins to show signs of spreading, and only then will the opposing gods begin to prepare with all their might for this battle of contention. Therefore, they decided to move the war up to a few years from now. By that time, you all will have grown up early thanks to the marks, the Sword Master and that batch of old seniors will be at their peak, the seniors of the following era will also have stepped into the Ninth Stage, and I will also be at the Ninth Stage. Added to other preparations, we will be far stronger than last time, while they will be unprepared and far weaker than last time."

"And what about the original?"

"Originally, they were the ones to prepare first and enter the Withered Plane. However, the gods of our Zhu Ti Wei Mian have also been keeping an eye on the Withered Plane, and the Zhu Ti Wei Mian has also been silently preparing for this war. As soon as the spatial passage was opened, we immediately followed to engage in battle. But we still suffered a loss."

"Are you going too?"

Chen Shu could not help but look at Qingqing.

"Of course."

Ning Qing's expression was calm, showing neither fear nor tension, as if she were merely speaking of a trivial matter: "I am a Secret Sect Practitioner. After arriving in that plane, you will be scattered to different places on the planet. Last time, because of a calculation error, some people even drifted off the planet. Even if I don't participate in the fighting, just being responsible for gathering you all together will bring a huge advantage."

"Did the original you go too?"

"It was her."

"Uh..."

"She went, but not as a Secret Sect Practitioner," Ning Qing paused. "The original her was a pure Secret Sect Practitioner. When Secret Sect cultivation leaves the plane, its main methods become ineffective; she could only act as an ordinary Ninth Stage."

"Then this time..."

"The Secret Sect relies on the power of the Plane Will and the underlying rules of the plane. Going to that Withered Plane, one should be repelled. However, the Plane Will of that plane has almost completely perished and no longer has the ability to repel." Ning Qing paused. "Last time, because of a lack of understanding, there was no preparation. After the defeat, they conducted a review and targeted research on it. This time, we have already begun making preparations."

Chen Shu keenly sensed one point:

"Those Heavenly Humans?"

"Yes."

Ning Qing's hair was blown by the night wind as she said in a low voice: "Almost all High-Tier Heavenly Humans and the majority of Secret Sect Practitioners have already entered the Withered Plane. They will transmit information about the Withered Plane's Plane Will and plane rules back to me, exploring the path for me."

"Then, can they still come back?"

"..."

Ning Qing was silent for a moment before saying: "That is a piece of darkness."

"So that's how it is..."

Chen Shu's heart shook, and he muttered to himself.

Suddenly, he remembered that sentence of Ning Qing's—

They went into the darkness.

And so, their meaning is to light up the darkness and become the light within it.

Who says Heavenly Humans and the Secret Sect have no emotions?

As a transmigrator—he was the same as the Chen Shu of the main world, both transmigrators who had done it once before—his mindset was detached and open-minded, and he viewed life and death quite lightly. But he also knew that not everyone would think this way, and he was still moved by such things.

So the reason for the peaceful years, the tranquility, the stability of daily life, and the joy in the passing of time before was all thanks to the thousands upon thousands of predecessors holding up the world.

This is nothing; it should be this way.

It is just that now the world is in trouble, and the predecessors have their shortcomings, so it is our turn to shoulder this calamity.

"Heh..."

Chen Shu smiled, his state of mind completely unaffected.

What of it?

Just go and shoulder it.

Originally, he had felt the world was peaceful and stable, so he would just live a life of light tea and passing years, spending this life according to the life he wanted, without regret or shame, and in his old age, slowly savoring the indifference of this life; that would have been beautiful. Now, this way is not bad either; it still sounds quite interesting and is a pretty good experience.

Ning Qing was still secretly glancing at him from the corner of her eye, as if trying to see his inner thoughts through his expression.

But she only felt Chen Shu take her hand:

"Then there are still a few years left..."

"Mm."

"These few years, they won't be the same as in your memories, right?"

"They were already different long ago."

Ning Qing said softly, but she paused, then said gently: "However, there are some things I have read in her memories. Although I cannot understand the emotions she felt while experiencing these things, I also feel they are beautiful things."

"Then whatever you want to do, just tell me, and I will accompany you to do it."

"Everything else, let it take its course."

"Let it take its course."

Those walking in front have their lives, and those walking behind should also have their lives.

"Let's go."

Chen Shu took her hand and stood up.

"Finished asking?"

"Ask slowly."

And so, the two leaped down. In the night filled with faint golden light, aided by the night wind, they were like weightless paper figures, drifting lightly all the way back to the temple grotto at the foot of the mountain with the wind.

Good heavens—

Half of the geniuses from the four continents were actually not asleep, and were currently engaged in the Rest and Recovery Cycle right here.

The only one not participating in the Rest and Recovery Cycle was Zhang Suannai; she currently felt that everyone using the Rest and Recovery Cycle technique was a bunch of silly dogs, but when she was surrounded by silly dogs and Chen Shu and Ning Qing were flirting on the roof, she felt all sorts of unease being alone, and thus she hadn't slept either.

This was being so pressured that she couldn't sleep.

Seeing the two of them, Zhang Suannai let out a sigh of relief, finally no longer fighting alone, but she also exuded the unique, sour, refreshing scent of a single dog: "You two are truly sour and stinky; at such a tense time, you actually still have the heart to run up to the roof to flirt..."

She paused slightly and continued to accuse: "And you've known each other since you were small; having looked at each other for so many years, aren't you tired of it?"

Chen Shu couldn't help but smile—

This person had a kind of magic; she could make people relax, follow her train of thought, and be as carefree as she was.

Let's just name it Husky Contagion.

So Chen Shu said to her: "Not at all, it's just that Qingqing just promoted to the Eighth Stage, and after using the Restoration Pill, her memory and intelligence returned to that of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old, so I accompanied her out to play for the whole day, until now."

"What??"

Zhang Suannai was greatly surprised.

"Swish!"

She instantly turned her head to stare at Qingqing: "You promoted to the Eighth Stage? You're thirteen or fourteen years old right now? Then do you recognize me?"

Ning Qing pursed her lips and watched her quietly.

Chen Shu answered from the side: "She has already recovered now."

"What??"

"When we met this afternoon, she had the memory of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old, and it ended by the evening."

"What???"

Zhang Suannai's voice grew louder with each word, her expression extremely shocked.

Several human-beasts who were in the middle of the Rest and Recovery Cycle, treating night as day, couldn't help but walk out of their caves to look over in their direction; several human-beasts who were in the middle of cultivation also frowned and pricked up their ears, diverting a wisp of their consciousness, intending to listen to the commotion.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask."

Chen Shu's tone was innocent and deadpan, and he glanced at her on the sly.

If I had told you this afternoon, how would I be able to see this expression of yours right now—full of regret, as if you'd missed out on a hundred million?

"Ah!!"

The sound spread throughout the Beast Ancestral Court; who knows how many night birds and exotic beasts were startled awake.

One hour later.

Chen Shu and Qingqing lay side by side on the bed, not knowing what they were thinking, when he suddenly turned over and hugged her soft body.

"Do you think there's a possibility that a few years from now, when we enter the Withered Plane, the third plane won't react at all, we'll come up empty in the Withered Plane, and we'll obtain the origin very smoothly?"

"Impossible," Ning Qing said softly, "Even without the threat of that power, the origin of the Withered Plane remains the target of competition for both sides; when we sent the Heavenly Humans and the Secret Sect in, we had already aroused their vigilance and tension."

"Then is there another possibility, that the Shadow Plane of the third plane, under the influence of the Spiritual Power of our plane and so on, has also deviated slightly from the trajectory of their Zhu Ti Wei Mian, just like us, and it's not what they expected?"

"Part of the reason they didn't change the world too much before also comes from this," Ning Qing said, "But clearly, at least when we sent the Heavenly Humans and the Secret Sect Practitioner to the Withered Plane and were detected by them, they had already slightly deviated from the trajectory of their Zhu Ti Wei Mian."

"Then will we win this time?"

"We will."

"It's over, it's over, it's all over; you are no longer the Secretary Ning who doesn't tell lies, you are now full of lies, I don't believe you anymore."

"..."

Ning Qing was silent and pushed him away.

Chen Shu shook his head, not minding, and continued: "I am very concerned about one question."

"Speak."

"How many years did they live in the end?"

"The war started after 67 years, they returned after being defeated, merged with Space-Time Energy to become gods, and prepared for the victory of our plane, totaling over a hundred years."

"What is going on with your cultivation now..."

"That is the second question."

"..." Chen Shu paused and retracted it to say it again, "I am very concerned about two questions."

"Digest the power she left behind."

"Then... did they have children?"

"Is this what you were actually concerned about?"

"Yeah."

Ning Qing glanced at him indifferently; she knew it, this person would never be truly nervous.

Even if the end of the world arrived and could not be stopped, he would still sit down and quietly appreciate the magnificence of the end. If it could be stopped, he wouldn't have any unnecessary heavy or nervous emotions, only a decision as usual—

Just do his best.

"Hey..."

This person was poking her chest:

"Asking you."

"No," Ning Qing answered indifferently, "If you want, we can have one in the future."

"I can't imagine the image of you being pregnant."

"I won't be pregnant, nor will I breastfeed," Ning Qing was very cold, "Use the Spiritual Plant Gestation Method, drink formula."

"I still want to ch..."

"Bang!"

"Okay."

Chen Shu quieted down, held her again, and closed his eyes, only whispering: "It's all your fault for telling me all these things and ruining my state of mind; I'll have to spend more time with Zhang Suannai over the next few days just to relax my mood..."

Ning Qing watched him quietly.

This person was blaming her again.

It was as if he had decided that since he was saying these things with his eyes closed and couldn't see her, she wouldn't hit him.

Ning Qing also closed her eyes.

She would not hold it against him for now.