Chapter 1711: Heavenly Heart and the Heart of All Living Beings
The blazing karmic fire finally subsided.
Only ashes remained in the extinguished sea of flames, nothing else.
"Lord Tu..."
You Tianzun turned around, facing the army of Netherworld demons and monsters. A fellow Daoist had just passed away.
What he had seen in his daze should only have been Lord Tu's obsession, not something that truly happened. In that obsession, Lord Tu had likely fulfilled his wish.
Qin Fengqing watched this scene from afar, feeling as though he had grown much older, drawing much closer to the true Lord Tu.
"Big guy, go in peace..."
He urged the Six Paths of Reincarnation Wheel, murmuring, "Rest assured, I will protect the justice of the afterlife just as you taught me, giving all living beings the same fair treatment!"
He stepped down from the Six Paths of Reincarnation Wheel. His divine power was still maintaining the wheel's operation, but at this moment, he no longer needed to sustain it constantly.
Xu Tianzun had left together with Lord Tu. Without Xu Tianzun, the Heavenly Court's threat to the Primordial Realm had diminished greatly. He no longer needed to maintain the Six Paths of Reincarnation Wheel at all times.
Qin Fengqing closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. The Primordial Realm's Netherworld was now connected to the Netherworld, no longer two separate worlds. As Xu Tianzun and Lord Tu transformed into the Dao of the Netherworld, the Netherworld's Great Dao was once again restored to wholeness. The Dao permeating the Netherworld grew and expanded, making him feel filled with power.
At this moment, the Primordial Realm no longer had the threat of the Netherworld. And he could now fully unleash his skills and ambitions!
Above the Yan Kang, Little Xuan Du.
"Daoist Lord Tu, have you obtained what you wished for?"
Heavenly Lord looked downward. The fire in the Primordial Realm's Netherworld had gone out. His heart trembled, filled with a feeling that was both great sorrow and great joy.
Lord Tu had likely left without any regrets.
"To outsiders, his departure might be a cause for sorrow, but for you, Daoist, your heart is probably filled with the joy of having your wish fulfilled. You became human, and you also transformed into Dao. You are together with your daughter, your family, forever. Is this not a kind of great liberation?"
Boom!
Ancestral God King gathered the Heavenly Dao into a divine treasure and slammed it fiercely into Heavenly Lord's face. Heavenly Lord's features twisted as he was sent tumbling and rolling, crashing back and forth within Little Xuan Du. It took a long time before he finally stopped.
He had lost focus for just a moment, grieving and rejoicing for Lord Tu, and Ancestral God King seized the opening, beating him severely.
He was originally no match for his son, Ancestral God King. Although he had comprehended the Heavenly Dao Heart and cultivated his Dao realm to an extremely high level, he could not achieve enlightenment through the Heavenly Dao in such a short time. He could only rely on the Heavenly Dao divine treasures to contend with Ancestral God King.
However, at this moment, the Heavenly Dao divine treasure had transformed into Little Xuan Du, blocking the divine demon army of Xuan Du to buy time for Moon Heavenly Lord and Lang Wan, preventing the Xuan Du army from charging into Yan Kang. Therefore, he had been at a disadvantage from the start.
Within Little Xuan Du, Moon Heavenly Lord activated the Ultimate Void, cutting space and dividing Little Xuan Du into countless spatial fragments. Lang Wan stood beside her, visualizing countless divine demons and brilliant star rivers, engaging the Sun Guardians and Moon Guardians of Xuan Du.
As the two sides clashed, suns and moons filled the sky, forming various wondrous formations in an attempt to break through Little Xuan Du's restrictions. But facing Moon Heavenly Lord and Lang Wan, the formations of the Sun Guardians and Moon Guardians seemed somewhat inadequate.
"Heavenly Lord, the situation is stabilized!"
Moon Heavenly Lord wiped the sweat from her brow and called out, "You can retrieve the Heavenly Dao divine treasure!"
During this time, Heavenly Lord had been beaten nearly to death by Ancestral God King, barely escaping with his life. He could only flee continuously, but his physical body was in Ancestral God King's control. No matter where he fled, Ancestral God King could always attack him.
Heavenly Lord's physical body was slightly inferior to the primordial ancient god Heavenly Emperor's body, but it was still one of the most powerful bodies in the world. Over the years, Ancestral God King had become increasingly skilled at controlling this body, and its power grew stronger and stronger!
"Father God, will you die or not?"
Ancestral God King was extremely excited, driving Heavenly Lord's physical body to kill Heavenly Lord as he fled everywhere. But his attacks still landed on Heavenly Lord, worsening his injuries.
Heavenly Lord tried to summon the Heavenly Dao divine treasures, but Ancestral God King raised his hand and waved. From within Heavenly Lord's physical body, a series of heavenly palaces burst forth, blocking each of the Heavenly Dao divine treasures, preventing him from reaching them.
"Father God still dotes on me!"
Ancestral God King laughed heartily, not without pride: "Allowing me to kill Father God twice, to satisfy my heart's desire!"
He walked down from the forehead of Heavenly Lord's physical body, looked at the struggling Heavenly Lord, shook his head, and sighed: "In this world, there is no such thing as fairness and justice. Father God, you always have fairness and justice on your lips, but in truth, you are the most unfair. Wolves eat sheep, sheep eat grass, grass eats soil—that is the Heavenly Dao. Ancient gods eat demigods, demigods eat humans, humans eat animals and plants—that is also the Heavenly Dao. As Heavenly Lord, your understanding of the Heavenly Dao is too narrow. Faced with humanity's resistance, you chose to fulfill them rather than destroy them!"
He pointed a finger at Lanfeng Valley and sneered: "Look at these humans, these acquired beings. They were originally unable to achieve immortality, yet they defy heaven and can live as long as gods! They originally had no power, yet they created techniques and divine abilities, mastering power! They dig mineral veins, open mines, extract divine metals to forge weapons, and begin to slay gods!"
"They level mountains to pave roads, change river courses, irrigate farmland. They even alter the growth of crops to satisfy their appetites! They even twist the Great Dao of heaven and earth, actually implementing reforms, causing many Dao techniques that did not originally exist to appear in this world!"
Ancestral God King reached out and grabbed the Heavenly Principles divine weapon flying toward Heavenly Lord. With the weapon in hand, the other Heavenly Dao divine treasures immediately flew over, circling around Ancestral God King.
"They are changing the Heavenly Dao, changing this universe! And you have done nothing! As an ancient god, you should have a stance, but you have no stance at all!"
One by one, the Heavenly Dao divine treasures were controlled by Ancestral God King. He walked toward Heavenly Lord, and behind him, Heavenly Lord's physical body continued to attack Heavenly Lord furiously.
"I saw it very early on—these acquired beings will throw the universe into chaos. I realized that in the future, the rule of the gods will be dismantled and destroyed by them! If we let them grow, we will become their slaves, the objects of their enslavement!"
Ancestral God King was burning with rage, and the techniques and divine abilities of Heavenly Lord's physical body became increasingly ruthless: "As Heavenly Lord, you should punish all living beings! When they defy heaven, send down calamities to destroy them! When they do not worship the gods, use natural disasters to teach them reverence! When they dig river channels, send great floods to swallow their cities! When they mine mineral veins, use earthquakes to destroy them! You could make them know their place—send heavenly fire, block the sun and moon, bring down floods from the sky, cause great droughts—but you do nothing!"
"I told you to destroy them, yet you prattle on about the fairness of the Heavenly Dao! From then on, I knew you were unreliable. You are old, unable to see the stakes involved!"
Heavenly Lord raised both hands high, blocking the fist of his own physical body as it smashed down. His face was covered in blood, but he smiled: "My son, heaven operates with constancy, not for Yao's existence, nor for Jie's demise. You have never been able to comprehend this phrase!"
Boom!
The other fist of Heavenly Lord's physical body struck him, blasting him out of the Primordial Realm.
Ancestral God King looked up toward the heavens. Heavenly Lord's physical body extended a hand, lifting him up. Ancestral God King rose slowly, higher and higher, until he finally saw Heavenly Lord.
This was Xuan Du, the location of Heavenly Lord's physical body.
Heavenly Lord's physical body had not truly descended into the Primordial Realm, because this body was too massive. Compared to this body, the Primordial Realm was still too small to fully accommodate it.
Ancestral God King could only control the upper half of Heavenly Lord's physical body, reaching down from beyond the heavens into the sky of the Primordial Realm to fight with Heavenly Lord. And now, they had returned to Xuan Du.
Heavenly Lord floated in Xuan Du, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and panted heavily, smiling: "My son, I did not understand this before either. It was only later that I finally understood."
He reached out his hand, as if caressing the starry universe, his heart surging with emotion: "Look, from our Xuan Du, we can see everything in all the heavens and myriad realms—the myriad states of all living beings, clearly visible. The joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, loves and hatreds of the human world are all gathered before our eyes. What is this human world?"
Ancestral God King shook the Heavenly Principles divine weapon, and the other forty-nine Heavenly Dao divine treasures flew over, combining into a long spear. He walked toward Heavenly Lord with murderous intent, sneering: "Father God, what strange theories do you have now?"
Heavenly Lord stood in Xuan Du, looking down upon all the heavens and myriad realms, his heart filled with joy. He smiled: "This human world is the Heavenly Sea!"
Ancestral God King was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter: "Father God, your mind has truly been polluted by mortals and the mortal world. You are spouting nonsense! The Heavenly Sea is the sacred land of the Ancestral Court, never the human world! When the universe was first created, the Heavenly Sea was born. The Heavenly River originated from the Heavenly Sea, and Xuan Du was born! You are already this senile!"
Heavenly Lord shook his head and smiled: "My son, you still have not comprehended what the Heavenly Heart is. I did not understand it back then either. It was not until Lord Mu threw me into the Nine Prisons Platform, and I stood at its center and looked up, that I understood what the Heavenly Dao is, what the Heavenly Heart is."
His heart was filled with genuine joy. He said: "I stood below and looked up, seeing the sky above my head. At that moment, I finally understood—the heavens do not exist, and the Heavenly Dao does not exist either. When the Creators in the Ancestral Court looked up at the sky, the heavens were born, and the Heavenly Dao came into being in response."
"The Heavenly Dao is actually the Dao of all living beings!"
He said excitedly: "The Heavenly Heart is actually the heart of all living beings! The human world of all the heavens and myriad realms is the Heavenly Sea, reflecting every aspect of the Heavenly Dao! When living beings create new Great Daos of heaven and earth, heaven and earth are neither startled nor angered. They silently accept it, and heaven and earth silently undergo changes, without sending down calamities because of it. On the contrary, it is living beings who develop the Heavenly Dao and perfect it. Stopping them is the true act of defying heaven..."
"Nonsense!"
Ancestral God King flew into a rage, charging with his spear to impale Heavenly Lord!
"Father God, you are no longer fit to be Heavenly Lord. Let me teach you!"
He had killed Heavenly Lord once before. At that time, his strength was far inferior to now, and Heavenly Lord's strength was far superior. He could easily kill Heavenly Lord again. This time, he would shatter Heavenly Lord's soul, reducing even his spiritual black sand to nothing!
Boom!
He struck Heavenly Lord. Heavenly Lord exploded, his physical body shattered, but it did not turn to nothing as he had expected.
Heavenly Lord's primordial spirit was gone.
At that moment, Ancestral God King saw the Nine Prisons Platform. It should have been Qin Mu's divine ability. Back in the battle of Xuan Du, Qin Mu had struck the Nine Prisons Platform divine ability into Heavenly Lord's body.
This divine ability was wondrous and mysterious, a technique of the Dao Heart. Since then, even though Qin Mu had summoned Heavenly Lord's soul and reshaped his soul and body, his Dao Heart remained trapped within the Nine Prisons Platform, never able to escape.
Not only did he fail to escape, but he sank deeper and deeper, causing the Nine Prisons Platform divine ability to grow stronger and stronger.
Ancestral God King looked into the Nine Prisons Platform and saw Heavenly Lord's primordial spirit standing in a space the size of a square inch.
Heavenly Lord looked up at him and smiled: "My son, come with me to see the Heavenly Heart, to see all living beings!"
Ancestral God King was furious. He raised his Heavenly Dao divine treasure to shatter the Nine Prisons Platform, to shatter his Dao Heart, to shatter his primordial spirit!
Just then, Ancestral God King suddenly felt the world spin around him. He found himself standing in that square-inch space.
He looked up and saw the sky above his head.
"Should I help Heavenly Lord?"
Above the Lanfeng Valley in the Primordial Realm, Moon Heavenly Lord looked up toward Xuan Du beyond the heavens, a trace of worry on her face. But she quickly steadied her mind and took out her guqin, placing it across her knees.
Her gaze shifted toward the direction of the Heavenly Court army. Her fingers rested on a string but did not pluck it. She held her breath and concentrated, thinking: "Lord Mu is blocking the Heavenly Court army alone—it must be even more perilous. What I can do is find the most critical moment to play the tune of the Fourth Young Master of Miluo Palace, to disrupt his mind and give Lord Mu a chance to win!"
This opportunity would come and go in an instant. She had to seize it and could not afford to be distracted!