Chapter 982
The Future? An Endless Sea of Suffering
Because he was interested in this transitional realm between the Golden Core stage and the Nascent Soul stage, Song Changsheng had read a large number of related books and even imitated the method of creating a fake infant more than once.
Although it is called a false infant, the process is not fundamentally different from that of condensing a real nascent soul, a fact that has already been verified in the memories of True Monarch Yu Shu.
Therefore, he now regards this matter entirely as a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage.
"Now that my body and soul are separated, how can I mobilize the essence of my golden core...?"
Song Changsheng's consciousness wandered in the empty Niwan Palace. He could first separate his soul from the Niwan Palace, regain control of his body, and then mobilize his golden core essence, but that would take too much time.
The century-long period has passed, and at any moment now, the Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom could make a comeback.
His time seems ample, but in reality, it is extremely tight.
Just as he was pondering a solution, a soft, hazy light suddenly emanated from a certain spot in the originally dark Niwan Palace.
“That is… my Daohua.”
Only then did Song Changsheng realize that the ancient tree of laws he had condensed had somehow connected from his lower dantian to his Niwan Palace, with the three Dao flowers of Yin-Yang Dao, Thunder Dao, and Life Dao blooming and shining brightly on the tree's crown and branches.
Beside them, there are hundreds, even thousands, of flower buds waiting to bloom.
"Below is Yin, above is Yang; Yin is Kun, Yang is Qian; Kun is Earth, Qian is Heaven."
From bottom to top, reaching the sky and the earth, the little sapling planted back then has grown into a towering tree so quickly.
It seems it's time to give you a name, so let's call you Tongtian, Wuliang Tongtian..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Law Tree suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, and the stamens of the three Dao Flowers released wisps of pure power from the origin of the Great Dao.
The primordial power appeared as a faint gold color, like strands of golden silk, slowly wrapping around Song Changsheng's soul.
Song Changsheng never expected that the problem that had troubled him before would be solved so easily, and the origin of his golden core was mobilized by the Tongtian Dao Tree.
"[Soul-cutting Golden Sword]"
With a thought, he condensed a golden, soul-slaying blade with his divine sense. Due to the surge in spiritual power from opening up his Niwan Palace, this divine power was more powerful than ever before.
However, this strike was not used to deal with the enemy, but rather it was decisively and cleanly aimed at his own soul, severing even a wisp of his true spirit.
The intense pain almost made Song Changsheng faint, but now was far from the time for him to relax. He fused the power of the Golden Core's origin that had been channeled into him with the wisp of true spirit that had been severed as quickly as possible.
Like sculpting clay, he failed again and again, and reshaped it again and again, until finally he sculpted it into a cute baby with legs crossed.
"Om..."
The power of the Great Dao spread out in the Niwan Palace like ripples on water. The innate Qi that had been "stolen" from the [Minor Creation Pill] earlier surged in from all directions of the Niwan Palace and poured into the infant's body.
The infant spirit, which originally resembled a golden terracotta figurine, was suddenly enveloped by a formless and intangible "qi" that could not be seen.
Under the influence of primordial energy, the infant spirit is undergoing a tremendous transformation.
It is unknown how much time has passed, and whether the "qi" has dissipated or merged into the infant spirit's body, the infant spirit, which originally resembled a golden terracotta figurine, has transformed into crystal, clear and transparent, without a trace of impurity.
His eyebrows and eyes were exactly the same as Song Changsheng's when he was young. His expression was natural and lifelike, yet it also contained a hint of divine radiance.
The moment the "spiritual infant" was successfully formed, Song Changsheng's soul trembled inexplicably.
In the darkness, he seemed to see a pair of eyes, eyes that seemed to transcend the barriers of space and time, reaching deep into his Niwan Palace to meet his gaze.
Those eyes held a deep sorrow, a hint of bloodlust, and a glimmer of tears.
Two lines of clear tears inexplicably streamed down Song Changsheng's long-silent body.
Suddenly, as if a bolt of lightning had struck his mind, he opened his eyes wide, and everything he saw was so familiar.
"Where is this... Cangmang Peak? My wife brought me back?" Song Changsheng looked around with some doubt. He was absolutely certain that this was his and Zhuang Yuechan's courtyard, and everything was so familiar.
But... why does it look so old?
As he stood up from the jade bed, his head accidentally touched the hanging bed curtains, which, made of silk, instantly turned into lifeless powder.
Song Changsheng stared blankly at the scattered powder in front of him. With each step he took, a piece of the floor would shatter.
Desktops, windowsills, bookshelves... everything in sight was covered in dust and smelled of decay.
Walking up to Zhuang Yuechan's dressing table, the glass mirror, the gilded comb... were exactly the same as in my memory.
He reached out, wanting to wipe away the dust, but just before he touched it, his fingertips trembled, and he ultimately did not touch it.
He worried that if he touched it, the dressing table would turn to ashes just like the bed curtains.
"How long have I been asleep?" Song Changsheng looked bewildered. Everything was so familiar, yet so strange.
Finally, he turned his gaze to the tightly closed door.
Perhaps, the answer will be found if we simply push open this door.
Just as he was about to touch the door lock, a jade pendant hanging on it caught his attention.
"This is Yuechan's jade pendant."
He quickly took off the jade pendant, and the moment his hand touched it, Zhuang Yuechan's weary voice entered his mind.
"We have been defeated."
I'm sorry, I failed to protect your family; it's all gone.
In the thirtieth year of your slumber, the sun set and never rose again. The sky was dominated by a huge red star, which they said was the harbinger of disaster, representing calamity and catastrophe.
The border regions are in chaos, and so is the cultivation world.
The demon race and the sea race launched a joint invasion. The Myriad Manifestations Palace was preoccupied with its own survival, and the cultivation world of the Great Qi Dynasty lost its backbone, leaving the four realms in disarray.
In just three months, the entire banks of the Canglan River fell.
Dingyuan City fell, and the Demon Suppressing Guards and three thousand clan soldiers remained there forever. Fifth Uncle died in battle, Eldest Brother died in battle, Uncle Shen died in battle, and True Man Tianjian perished together with the Demon King...
We abandoned everything, gathered our troops in Luoxia City, and fought fiercely for five years, finally defeating the demon race.
Later we learned that the Demon Realm was also in chaos. Blood overflowed from the Ruins of the South China Sea, staining the South China Sea red and submerging large swathes of the Demon Realm.
The Canglan River was also submerged, and blood flooded into the Great Qi. The protective array of Luoxia City was no match for it, and the master personally ordered it to be abandoned.
We also abandoned Cangmang Peak and moved all our people into the Cangmang Small World.
Grandpa, me, Qingxing, and all the elders of the clan are going to Zhongsheng Shenzhou to accept the unified dispatch of the Holy Land. They plan to fill in the South China Sea Ruins.
I don't know what they'll use to fill the void, maybe their lives, maybe everything we have, but we have no other choice.
This journey is fraught with danger, and I cannot take you with me. Wait for me in the small world. If I succeed, I will definitely return to see you within a hundred years.
If you fail... then live well, and one day lead your people back to the Vast Peak. The calamity will eventually end, and then the Golden Age will await you…”
"catastrophe!"
Song Changsheng's heart trembled. A hundred years, how could the silkworm silk have decayed to this extent in a hundred years?
"Yuechan".
He suddenly pushed open the tightly closed door, and because he used too much force, he staggered and almost fell to the ground.
What you see is a wasteland, devoid of any greenery, with cracked earth and dried-up riverbeds.
There is no oxygen, no spirit, and no life.
This is a vast and desolate little world, but it is completely different from what he remembered.
Could it be that even the small world cannot escape this catastrophe?
It's over, everything is over.
At this moment, Song Changsheng seemed to have all his energy drained away, collapsing to the ground. Loneliness, silence, anger, sorrow... all sorts of emotions surged up like a tide, threatening to drown him.
"Why am I not dead? Why am I still alive?"
At this moment, he questioned himself and began to re-examine everything in front of him, looking for clues and flaws in the slightest details.
"No, this is not reality, this is a tribulation of inner demons, this is an illusion."
"Yes, what you're seeing is fake, but this is the future you'll have to face."
Catastrophe, calamity—this is the destiny of your generation. In the face of catastrophe, all beings are equal. If you can barely protect yourself, who can you protect?
A voice emerged from the depths of his heart, flippant and seductive.
"So what if it's a catastrophe? As long as I'm strong enough, I can protect everyone. And you're the stumbling block on my path to becoming stronger!" Song Changsheng roared angrily in a low voice.
"Hehe, what a boastful tone."
Song Changsheng, what do you think of this so-called inner demon of mine—is it a demon or a calamity?
"Take your inner demons as your tribulations; you are both the demon and the tribulation. Do not confuse the concepts."
"Yes, I am both a demon and a calamity. I am the calamity that Heaven has sent upon you, while the great calamity is the calamity that Heaven has sent upon this world."
Whoever Heaven decrees will die, will die. Some people's fate is predetermined from the very beginning; that's destiny!
How dare a mere human being presumptuously contend with the will of Heaven?
Song Changsheng, you are blessed with great fortune; this is a gift and favor from Heaven.
Don't continue down the wrong path. Family and love are burdens that will only diminish the blessings bestowed upon you by Heaven and drag you into the abyss.
What I just showed you were revelations from Heaven; they represent the true future.
The only unreal thing is that you are still alive. In reality, you should be a dead person, but your ending was forcibly changed so that you could see these futures with your own eyes.
Song Changsheng, stop being so stubborn.
Abandon these burdens. With your talent and good fortune, you will surely have a place in the golden age after the catastrophe. You might even be able to compete for the chance to become an immortal.
Make a choice.
Ultimately, it's about pursuing immortality, embracing the Great Dao, and becoming a carefree and unfettered immortal.
Or should we die together with these burdens and ants who are destined to die, turning into withered bones by the roadside?
Think carefully about what you've been striving for all these years of cultivation, and think about who gave you this life.
Song Changsheng was suddenly jolted and said sternly, "Nonsense! Don't try to bewitch my Dao heart with your words."
"Whether it's incitement or admonition, you know better than I do."
Don't forget, you are me, and I am you. I know everything about you, even the slightest fluctuation in your heart. Don't try to deceive me; I know you better than you know yourself.
"Nonsense! If you think this can shake my resolve, then you'd better give up."
"Nonsense? I've made myself perfectly clear. What you're seeing are things that will happen in the future. It might not be thirty years, it might be three hundred years or even longer, but no matter when it happens, it won't change the predetermined fate."
This is the law of nature, the cycle of all things.
You don't believe me?
Hehe, I can show you even more. Once you verify it yourself, you'll naturally know whether it's true or false.
As soon as he finished speaking, Song Changsheng felt the scene before him rapidly change, and memories that did not belong to him began to flood his mind...
In the blink of an eye, twenty years have passed.
The Wuliang Sword Sect, which had been quiet for many years, has recently become lively again, because this year's Trial Road is about to end, and all the cultivators who have been paying attention to this trial are looking forward to the final result.
They all hoped that their elders, fellow disciples, and younger generations could return safely from this hell on earth.
But they also knew that purgatory was purgatory precisely because of its absurdly high mortality rate and appallingly low survival rate.
The fact that there were three survivors in the last trial was already extremely rare. Based on the pattern of previous years, some people speculate that there will be no more than two survivors this time, and most likely only one.
Among the hundreds of trial participants, not even one out of a hundred might survive; everyone felt a heavy weight in their hearts.
No new [Fate Dice] are being generated within the current trial path.
The survivors outside the trial gate were shrouded in deep despair, and many cultivators even took their own lives.
Even with a high mortality rate, at least there's hope, and hope provides the motivation to persevere.
But now, their last hope has been extinguished, and they can only quietly wait for time to pass and face death.
Rather than that, it's better to end it all; at least that way, you can maintain some semblance of dignity and respect.
Compared to their despair, Song Qingxing, who had entered the trial gate, was only one step away from success.
Of the five trials, the first four posed no threat to him at all, but he spent more than twenty years traversing this boundless sea of suffering.
Sometimes he even doubted whether this sea of suffering had an end. As the saying goes, the sea of suffering is boundless, but turning back is the shore. Was his persistence really meaningful?
Whenever his faith wavered, a beautiful image would appear in his mind.
That's the meaning behind his persistence.
Song Qingxing gritted his teeth and kept moving forward, his steps never faltering even as his flesh and blood were stripped away by the bitter water.
Gradually, he seemed to see a beam of light, and a door standing within it...
...(End of this chapter)