Chapter 830
This World!
In the thatched hut.
"You should have found your own path by now, shouldn't you?" The old man glanced at Jiang Ning again and said.
“We’ve made it out!” Jiang Ning nodded.
“Not surprising!” the old man said. “You have now entered the first-grade unity realm, and you have had countless opportunities for good fortune. But your comprehension must be extraordinary. It would be strange if you couldn’t find your own path.”
The old man looked at Jiang Ning and said, "I didn't have high expectations for you before. In the past thousand years, no one has been able to reach my level, not even those in the Upper Three Heavens. But now, I see great hope in you. I hope that if you can reach my level in the future, you can bring peace to the world."
Jiang Ning said, "Even if you hadn't said so, I would have done it anyway."
“I believe you,” the old man smiled, then picked up his teacup and took a sip. “I’ve read the records of your past deeds and know a bit about your character. I hope you won’t take this personally.”
"You flatter me, senior," Jiang Ning said.
After a pause, Jiang Ning couldn't help but take the opportunity to ask.
"Senior, may I ask what exactly the realm of a Martial Saint above the first rank is?"
"Above the first rank!" The old man's eyes showed a hint of reminiscence, then he shook his head: "I cannot tell you this step now! I hope you will experience it for yourself. You only need to know that the physical body is limitless, the spirit is unrestrained, infinitely strong, infinitely high. One day, you will stand on the mountain peak and see the mysteries of the human body, and see a wider world."
"Once he reaches that point and sees certain things, he will know that it is the realm above the first rank, the Martial Saint that people respectfully call him."
"If you ever reach this point, you can come find me here!"
"At your level back then, you could have seen the world I'm in now, and you could have walked into it."
"If I were still alive then, I would tell you the path beyond the Martial Saint."
"If I die, I will leave something here, something useful to you."
Upon hearing these words...
Jiang Ning looked solemn.
He immediately got up.
"Thank you for your kindness, senior."
The old man waved his hand: "There's no need to be so polite. I'm doing this to make a good connection. If you really have the chance to reach this point, the world will be under your control. I also like my disciple, and I hope that the Great Xia Dynasty that I once built together can continue to exist in this world."
"Of course, if you were to think of becoming the ruler of the world at that time, I would have no objection."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning shook his head.
“Senior, since I embarked on the path of martial arts, I have seen the scenery along the way. Fame and fortune are like fleeting clouds to me.”
"What I ask for now is the health and well-being of my loved ones, the view from the higher peaks, and to see a wider world."
"As far as I know, there are other worlds beyond this one."
"In ancient times, the world was divided into ten realms, which were ruled by the ancient Heavenly Court. We are now in just one of them."
"I long to see a wider world and understand what exactly happened during the great changes that occurred in ancient times."
Upon hearing these words, an approving smile appeared in the old man's eyes.
He put down his teacup, his gaze passing through the thatched hut as if looking towards the endless, distant sky.
“I have also sought these things from you. I once went to another world through an ancient ruin.”
He then looked at Jiang Ning: "Want to hear it?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning's heart stirred.
He just said those words in order to use this as a starting point to glean some secrets about ancient times from this old man who has lived for thousands of years.
In ancient times, the world underwent dramatic changes, the powerful immortals ceased to exist, and the environment changed, making the path of immortality no longer suitable.
The powerful immortals who exist today can only rely on blessed lands and grotto-heavens.
Even with extraordinary abilities, it would be difficult to embark on the path to immortality in the outside world.
He had heard about these things far too many times.
But what exactly happened in ancient times, and what caused the dramatic changes in the environment and the shifting of eras?
He never understood why the immortal path declined and the martial path flourished as a result.
Even though he had previously consulted many ancient books in the Taoist temple, there were no in-depth records on this subject.
At most, it was only mentioned briefly, along with a few reflections from the author.
He also knew that there were probably not many people who knew these secrets.
Judging from the people he's met, Xia Xuanyan might be one of them.
Of all the people in the Great Xia Dynasty, this old man was probably the one who knew the most about the country and had the deepest understanding of it.
After all, this old man in front of them had suppressed the world for over eight hundred years with just one punch, bringing over eight hundred years of peace and prosperity to the world.
Having lived so long, traveled so many roads, experienced so many things, and seen so much, if this old man doesn't understand, then no one else can.
Now that the old man has taken the initiative to speak, and given this opportunity to hear about his personal experience of crossing boundaries, he naturally doesn't want to miss it.
"Please enlighten me, senior!" he said solemnly.
The old man nodded slightly, tapped his fingertips lightly on the table twice, then picked up his teacup and took a small sip, as if sorting through distant memories.
“That was more than five hundred years ago!” The old man’s eyes fell into reminiscence: “At that time, in order to go further on the path of martial arts, I set foot in the land of the northern barbarians, went to the thirty-six islands beyond the East Sea, went to the mountains where the great demon of the Southern Ridge slumbered, and went to the boundless, deadly desert of the Northwest.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning hesitated, feeling a bit puzzled, but it wasn't the right time to interrupt the old man's reminiscence.
"Say what you want to say," the old man said.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning didn't dwell on it: "Senior, what lies further north of the northern barbarians?"
“It’s a frozen world,” the old man said.
"And what about further north?" Jiang Ning asked again.
"It's still an endless glacier," the old man said.
"Did you reach the end, senior?" Jiang Ning asked.
“I know what you want to ask.” The old man looked at Jiang Ning and nodded approvingly: “Your spirit of inquiry is very good. Only with enough ideas and enough thirst for knowledge can one avoid being bound by old ways and make extraordinary progress in martial arts.”
After saying this, the old man continued his previous topic: "Even after venturing further north, I never reached the end. As I ventured into the far north, the cold grew increasingly terrifying. The world seemed frozen, and space itself seemed encased in ice. At that time, I could only walk and could not use any spatial abilities. In the end, even with my physical body, I felt as if my body was about to be frozen, so I retreated."
"As for the north, it is a land sealed off by wind and sand, a true land of death."
"In the East, apart from the sea monsters, there is the endless ocean. In the deeper part of the ocean, there are towering waves and storms that can annihilate everything. I went too far in and had to retreat."
"The South is the slumbering place of ancient great demons. There, he encountered a powerful demon race member who was even feared by me at the time. He was Xuan Du, the ruler of the demon kingdom of the Ten Thousand Mountains. His true form was a nine-headed black bird that had existed for thousands of years. Its wings were like clouds, covering the sky and the sun. I fought with him for three moves before finally giving up."
"It was in the Nanling Mountains that I found an ancient five-colored array from ancient times. With my previous accumulation, I activated it, the array broke through the boundary, and I went to another world."
“I stayed in that realm for three days.”
"During those three days, I visited many places. That realm was called Li Yan Tian, a place of red earth stretching for thousands of miles, where all living beings perished, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was exhausted, and all things decayed."
"Three days later, just before the formation was about to fail, I retreated." Hearing this, Jiang Ning was shocked.
Based on what he had seen and heard before, as well as the memories of the old man in front of him, he understood more clearly now.
This world was not the planetary universe he knew from his previous life; it was a completely different world.
Beyond the Great Xia, in all directions—north, south, east, and west—even with the power of a Martial Saint, no boundaries could be seen.
The Martial Saint's methods are such that even sitting in Shangjing County, he can instantly kill a powerful immortal from the East Sea, and with a streak of light, he can kill Ling Xuzi of the Flying Immortal Sect on Yunyin Peak in Guangning Prefecture.
If this method were used in my previous life, I could instantly appear anywhere on a planet, travel through the stars, and step into the mysterious depths of the universe.
However, within this world, its entirety cannot be discerned.
Beyond heaven and earth, there is an even more vast world.
The old man in front of me had been to Li Yantian.
The land of Li Yantian is a vast expanse of red earth, where all living beings have perished, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth has dried up, and all things are decaying.
Furthermore, he also knew that his senior sister Shen Yueru, whom he had recognized in the inner realm of the Shangyang Immortal Sect, was also an existence outside of his world.
Crimson Radiance Cave Heaven, the contemporary leader of the Crimson Radiance Sword Sect.
The Crimson Heaven Cave does not exist in the world where the Great Xia Dynasty is located today.
In addition to Shen Yueru, there is also a demon man named Bai Li.
He was a great demon in human form, possessing the bloodline of a nine-tailed celestial fox, who had once bestowed upon him a portion of golden energy.
He also suspected that the realm where Bai Li was located did not belong to his own world, nor to Shen Yueru's world, but to another world altogether.
Besides these, the mysterious woman who was previously frozen in the ice coffin used her interdimensional abilities to leave this world.
At that moment, he realized that the world was far more vast and mysterious than he had imagined.
The Ten Realms, the Ancient Heavenly Court, the dramatic changes in the environment, and all sorts of unsolved mysteries all illustrate the enigma of this world.
He couldn't help but clench his fists tightly.
Now that he has embarked on this path and possessed the blessing of the panel, he naturally wants to see a wider world.
"Is there anything you'd like to ask?" The old man took a sip of tea, looked at Jiang Ning's absent-minded expression, and asked.
Upon hearing the sound, Jiang Ning instantly snapped back to reality.
"Senior, I have a question. I wonder if you could enlighten me?"
"Tell me about it," the old man said.
"Senior, the world has undergone a great change. Immortal cultivation has declined since then, while martial arts have begun to flourish. Why is this? What happened in the process?" Jiang Ning asked the question that had been lingering in his mind for a long time.
Upon hearing this question, the old man shook his head.
"Your question is one that I have been searching for for hundreds of years. In fact, it's not just you who are curious; I am curious as well."
"Even the senior doesn't know?" Jiang Ning was stunned.
The old man looked at Jiang Ning: "Do you know anything about the realms beyond the path of immortality?"
“I know a little about it,” Jiang Ning said.
"Do you know the division of realms?" the old man asked again.
"After becoming an immortal, one's immortal roots grow, which is the realm of human immortals. When the immortal tree blossoms with the flowers of the Great Dao, one enters the realm of celestial immortals. When one condenses the Dao fruit, one enters the realm of true immortals. Above that are the unknowable realms of celestial venerables and Dao ancestors," Jiang Ning said.
The old man nodded slightly upon hearing this.
“What you said earlier is correct, which shows that your knowledge is greater than I imagined. But the final Heavenly Venerable and Dao Ancestor are not realms. A Heavenly Venerable can be a Dao Ancestor, and a Dao Ancestor can be a Heavenly Venerable. The two are not independent realms. Strictly speaking, the Heavenly Venerable is a realm, while the Dao Ancestor is the ruler of a Great Dao, and is also a Heavenly Venerable.”
Upon hearing these words, Jiang Ning suddenly understood.
He had witnessed the Heavenly Venerable preaching in the inner realm of the Shangyang Immortal Sect.
The Nine Netherworld Tribulation Fire True Technique that he now possesses comes from the inheritance of the Nine Netherworld Tribulation Fire Great Heavenly Venerable.
Heavenly Venerable, Great Heavenly Venerable.
He thought to himself.
From this very existence, he knew just how powerful the Shangyang Immortal Sect was in ancient times.
The Celestial Venerable is the highest realm on the path of immortality.
The title "Great Celestial Venerable" undoubtedly indicates his immense power; he is certainly no ordinary Celestial Venerable.
The thought flashed through his mind, and then he came back to his senses.
Seeing the look of surprise in Jiang Ning's eyes, the old man continued.
"I can only tell you that the upheavals of ancient times must have been related to figures above the True Immortal level. Those figures possessed extraordinary characteristics; they were forgotten upon first sight. Those who had not reached that level could not retain any memory of them."
"I have explored many secrets about the changes in the ancient world and environment, but I have not gained much in the end."
"Perhaps I have seen some things and know some things, but ultimately no memory of them remains, so you don't need to take it to heart."
"You must understand that even with my current strength, I am still inferior to that kind of being."
"True Immortals, Heavenly Venerables, and Dao Ancestors are truly great beings who have mastered the Dao and principles of the origin of heaven and earth and have the ability to recreate heaven and earth."
"My years of exploration have only led me to one conclusion."
"Compared to ancient times, the origin of heaven and earth is now almost exhausted. Li Yan Tian is a prime example. Its origin is completely depleted, its spirituality is gone, its land is barren and life is cut off, turning it into a realm of death."
"This may also be related to the cultivation method of the Immortal Path. The path of the Immortal Path involves stealing the secrets of heaven. Even if one perishes, one will return all that one has gained in one's life to heaven and earth. But in my opinion, the opening of one cave after another is a malignant tumor lying in heaven and earth, which is cutting off the origin of heaven and earth."
"The dramatic changes in the environment may be related to this."
Upon hearing the old man's words, Jiang Ning fell into deep thought.
He then nodded in agreement.
"What the senior said makes a lot of sense. Stealing the secrets of heaven and returning them to heaven and earth after death was originally a balance, but with the existence of blessed lands and grotto-heavens, they have become malignant tumors that intercept the secrets of heaven. But there is also a very strange thing: where have the true strongmen in the immortal path gone? Heavenly Venerable, Dao Ancestor, how great are those beings?"
The old man said, "That's what I've always been wondering about."
Then he added, "In short, this world is too mysterious. If you want to find out the truth, the people of the three heavens may know some things, but the only ones who truly know are the people who survived from that era. But even if you meet them in the future, you may not get the truth, because conversations about those beings will automatically erase the relevant memories."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning deeply agreed.
He had met this kind of person a few times before.
The goddess statue in the Water Moon Sword Palace, and the Great Celestial Venerable in the inner landscape of the Shangyang Immortal Sect.
Even now, he still can't remember what those faces looked like.
But it was somewhat different from what the Martial Saint in front of him had said.
He still retained many memories of those existences. (End of Chapter)