Chapter 2826: The Secret of the Cultivation Method

Chapter 2826: The Secret of the Cultivation Method

When the sky collapses, and the tall ones are crushed to death.
When crisis descends, and resistance is impossible.
When the strong ones you once looked up to die without a burial place.
When heaven and earth shatter, and there is no retreat.
...
Where is our path?
...
When there is no longer a path beneath our feet.
There is no other way but to press forward, to resist, to grow stronger, and to become the backbone that supports heaven and earth.
When the eaves collapse and there is nowhere to shelter from the rain, we can only stand up, take a step forward, and face the cold wind and rain head-on. Because even if you curl up on the ground with your head in your hands, the rain and wind will still lash against you.

Chi Yao said, "Ten eons ago, the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable pursued the Immortal and vanished from the mortal world."
"Three hundred thousand years ago, the heavens waged war, and three returned. Their divine bones were buried in foreign lands, without even a piece of leather to wrap their corpses."
"One hundred thousand years ago, the great calamity of heaven and earth struck, all realms burned, and the Saint Realm was destroyed."
"And now, the war between the Hell Realm and the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms has erupted once again!"
"Zhang Ruochen, in truth, the moment you were chosen by Xumi Saint Monk, your fate was already sealed. If you want to survive, if you want to escape the calamity of destiny, you can only become stronger—stronger than even the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable. This is what Xumi Saint Monk hoped for."

Zhang Ruochen had already recovered from his oppressive emotions and said, "Wasn't it you whom Xumi Saint Monk chose?"

Chi Yao shot him a cold glare, feeling that Zhang Ruochen was pretending to be clueless.

Zhang Ruochen continued, "That's what you just said yourself! Moreover, the cultivation method you practice is the perfected version, while mine is incomplete. Clearly, the Saint Monk placed all his hopes on you and entrusted this era to you."

Chi Yao no longer wished to conceal the truth, nor was there any need. She said, "You simply don't understand the 'Thirty-Three Heavens.' Even someone as extraordinarily gifted as the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable could only cultivate it to the twenty-seventh heavenly realm."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that relying on one person's power alone, even with a foundation like yours, it is still far from possible to reach the thirty-third heavenly realm."
"Two people must cultivate together—one cultivates the solid, the other the void. The solid and the void are like a person's physical body and soul; only when the two are united can true perfection be achieved."
"Moreover, the two people cultivating the solid and void volumes of the 'Thirty-Three Heavens' must be one yang and one yin, one male and one female. And one of them must make a sacrifice to complete the other."

"I see," Zhang Ruochen murmured to himself.

Chi Yao had finally revealed the secret of the cultivation method, a puzzle Zhang Ruochen had long sought to unravel.
But if he hadn't provoked her, pushed her, and made her feel disheartened, she would never have spoken these words, even at the cost of her life. Because once spoken, the nearly two thousand years of concealment would lose all meaning.
That was for her sake.
For Zhang Ruochen, understanding this point unraveled all the doubts in his heart.
Everything, absolutely everything, stemmed from the cultivation method, from the pressure of that unknown and powerful force. To survive, a strong person had to step forward and support this world.
To cultivate such a strong person, one had to practice the "Thirty-Three Heavens" and reach a cultivation level surpassing even the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable.
This was perhaps the only way Xumi Saint Monk could conceive to save the world!
At least he had thought of such a method, while other deities, after the great calamity a hundred thousand years ago, were terrified, panicked, and fearful.
Whether it was activating the Sundial or choosing Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao in the future, it at least showed that Xumi Saint Monk was a person of great resolve who faced the collapsing heavens without fear, even at the cost of his own life.

That was right.
Xumi Saint Monk had chosen not only Zhang Ruochen but also Chi Yao.
If he had chosen another woman, how could she have been willing to sacrifice herself to complete Zhang Ruochen?
How could she have explained so much to him?
Most likely, at the moment Zhang Ruochen reached the peak below the divine realm, she would have used a sneak attack to kill him, seize everything he had, and complete herself.
From the age of fourteen to now, Chi Yao's heart had never wavered, which was already extremely rare.

Zhang Ruochen sighed, "To sacrifice oneself to complete another—who can do that?"

Chi Yao stood up, her divine light surging, the blood light of the Blood-Dropping Sword turning the darkness red. She said, "That's right. No one can resist the temptation of becoming the strongest in the world. So, I, the Empress, will give you a fair chance. Let the outcome of battle decide who lives and who dies."

"Wait a moment."
Zhang Ruochen said, "I'm very puzzled. Why must we cultivate the thirty-third heavenly realm?"
"Did I not make it clear enough just now?" Chi Yao said.

Zhang Ruochen nodded. "Very clear! You saw me die under an infinitely huge palm in the Pool of Fate. So, this battle is unnecessary. I've already won! Then, I absorb all your cultivation, complete the 'Thirty-Three Heavens,' and get killed countless years later. Is that it?"

Chi Yao caught the sarcasm in Zhang Ruochen's tone and said, "When one's cultivation is strong enough, the future can be changed. What is seen in the Pool of Fate is not necessarily set in stone; it is merely the greatest possibility. If you are not strong enough, then the future is truly sealed, and there is no escaping the arrangement of fate."

Zhang Ruochen stepped forward, summoning the Abyssal Ancient Sword, a killing intent gradually appearing in his eyes. "You speak very truly, but I think this battle is unnecessary."
"Because once a divine war erupts, it will spread far and wide, attracting countless strange beasts. In the end, we will both be buried in the Abyss of Darkness. So, why not... let you complete me?"

The two stood in the void, only a dozen steps apart, the energy radiating from their bodies already clashing.

Seeing Zhang Ruochen like this, Chi Yao could hardly believe that these words came from "Chen Ge's" mouth. Her heart ached more than all the pain she had endured over the years combined.
In her mind, images of Zhang Ruochen with Bai Qinger and Ji Fanxin flashed, and her heart ached even more.
For a moment, she wanted to raise her sword and strike at Zhang Ruochen.
But in that very moment, she thought of many things—of the time she and Zhang Ruochen stood before Xumi Saint Monk, of Chi Kunlun and Chi Kongle, of the beautiful years they had once shared.

"You've changed," Chi Yao said, tears falling again.
She realized that every time she shed tears, it was because of Zhang Ruochen.

Zhang Ruochen said, "People change. If you expect me to still be as innocent as I was at sixteen, you're asking too much. But I can promise you this: if I achieve great cultivation in the future, I will not fail Xumi Saint Monk's expectations. I will do my part for this era and will be grateful to you for the rest of my life. Go in peace. I will take care of Kunlun and Kongle. I won't tell them the secret that I killed you, to spare them grief and pain."

Slowly, Zhang Ruochen raised the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
Sword qi surged into the sky.

Chi Yao's tears flowed like a spring. She wanted to raise her sword and fight Zhang Ruochen to the heavens and earth, but at this moment, she couldn't even muster the strength to lift it.
When a person's heart dies, even the greatest power becomes useless.

Chi Yao closed her eyes. The last image she saw was Zhang Ruochen, his face cold and ruthless, swinging his sword down at her.
"So be it. At last, I can be free. At least I have not failed the you of sixteen years ago."

"Boom!"
A piercing explosion rang out!

Chi Yao felt a sharp pain in her arm, and the Blood-Dropping Sword she had been holding flew out of her hand.
She opened her eyes and saw the Blood-Dropping Sword knocked away by the Abyssal Sword.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen's long, warm arms wrapped tightly around her.

Chi Yao felt as if she had been electrocuted, her whole body numb. For a moment, she was dazed. Then, the little strength she had left vanished, and her body seemed to melt, soft and limp, into Zhang Ruochen's embrace.

In the distance, the red Blood-Dropping Sword and the black Abyssal Sword intertwined like two dragon swords, circling around them, emitting joyful sword cries, utterly delighted.

Zhang Ruochen inhaled the faint fragrance from her hair, feeling her soft and fiery body. Never before had he been so acutely aware of her presence as at this moment.

"You should have understood that no matter how much I change, my love for you has never changed, not even when I hated you the most," Zhang Ruochen whispered into her ear, his eyes closed.

Chi Yao realized that Zhang Ruochen had been fooling her like a fool earlier. For some reason, though she was furious, her heart felt as sweet as if it had been dipped in honey.
She said, "Didn't you say that if there's no hate, there's no love either?"

"Who says there has to be hate between two people who love each other? When hate is gone, the knot is untied, and only love remains," Zhang Ruochen said.

Chi Yao circulated her divine qi, breaking free from Zhang Ruochen's embrace. "You always have a way with words. You really have changed—not just in cultivation."

Zhang Ruochen knew she must be very angry, as some of the things he had said earlier were truly hurtful, even damaging her self-esteem and feelings.
He looked her straight in the eyes and said, "In the Pool of Fate, I saw you."

Chi Yao's delicate body trembled. These words healed all the wounds in her heart.
But it made her even angrier.

"In truth, I hated you deeply back then. Seeing you in the Pool of Fate made me realize that the reason I hated so much was that I loved too deeply."
Zhang Ruochen continued, "What I did earlier was partly to force you to tell the truth. But it was also to teach you a lesson: no matter the reason, being hurt by the one you love most is truly painful. Can you now understand the suffering I've endured all these years?"

Chi Yao was silent.
She had to admit that she had never considered things from Zhang Ruochen's perspective, always believing that everything she did was a sacrifice for him.
But was this approach really right?

Zhang Ruochen went on, "Kunlun and Kongle should have had a happy childhood. You shouldn't have told them I was their enemy. Do you know how much more painful it was for me when they came to seek revenge than what you just experienced?"

"So you were deliberately getting back at me?" Chi Yao said.

Zhang Ruochen said, "I didn't mean to get back at you. I was making a point."

Chi Yao said, "Fine, I'll reason with you! I, the Empress, did not ruin their childhood, but I couldn't just find any random person to be their father. So, who is their father?"
"You destroyed the Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion, killing countless members of the Chi Clan. The entire royal clan shares a blood feud with you. Kongle and Kunlun grew up among them and have long regarded you as their enemy."
"After I stepped into the divine realm, I not only had to consolidate my cultivation and heal my injuries but also contend with various forces. I simply didn't have the energy to take care of them. Since deities cannot interfere in mortal affairs, I had to find a reason to send them to you, so that you could resolve their hatred and take care of them."
"Only by letting them see you and having you tell them the truth could their confusion and hatred truly be resolved."

Zhang Ruochen pondered for a long moment before saying sheepishly, "In any case, your method was wrong."

Chi Yao also knew she had done things improperly and understood that she had deeply hurt Zhang Ruochen in the past. So, she stopped arguing and said softly, "What did you see in the Pool of Fate?"

Zhang Ruochen said, "I have never believed in fate."

"Tell me what you saw, whether good or bad. I, the Empress, can accept it. I'll just consider myself killed by your sword just now. What could be worse than that?" Chi Yao deliberately put on a carefree demeanor.

Zhang Ruochen looked up at the sky and said, "Unless you first promise me that no matter what happens, we will not cultivate the 'Thirty-Three Heavens.'"

Chi Yao's eyes deepened. "Are you serious? Doing so would betray the Saint Monk's expectations of you."

"Even if I betray the Saint Monk, I will not betray you."
This time, Zhang Ruochen put on a carefree demeanor. "Who says we must cultivate to the thirty-third heavenly realm? Who says I can't reach the thirty-third heavenly domain with my own power? Besides, the so-called thirty-three heavens are just a speculation. Even what is seen in the Pool of Fate is only a prediction. Why can't we live in the present? As long as we work hard enough, the future can be changed."

While Chi Yao was still pondering,
"Forget it. I'll break through to godhood first and completely cut off your thoughts."

Zhang Ruochen withdrew the Abyssal Ancient Sword, spread his golden wings, and turned into a beam of golden light, flying toward the exit of the Abyss of Darkness.

What Zhang Ruochen didn't know was that when he held Chi Yao in his arms, when the two reconciled, and when he said the words "love the most," Chi Yao still didn't have the courage to die!