Chapter 4230: Laying Cards on the Table

Chapter 4230: Laying Cards on the Table

Emotionally, Zhang Ruochen was very reluctant to speculate about Yunshen Daozhu's motives with malicious intent.

This was his most respected and admired grand-teacher! But reason told Zhang Ruochen that Yunshen Daozhu bringing him here and telling him the secret of this colorful light sea was by no means an act of kindness.

Rather, it was meant to psychologically destroy his will.

Yunshen Daozhu clearly knew that Zhang Ruochen was absorbing the power of quantity in Lihentian to impact the great realm of "the number remains constant from beginning to end."

However, Lihentian was too vast, no less than a universe, and the power of quantity was scattered like air currents everywhere. Even with Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation level, it would take a great deal of time to gather and fully absorb it.

Yunshen Daozhu's earlier words were essentially telling Zhang Ruochen: "I have never taken the power of quantity in Lihentian seriously. Even if you absorb it all, it won't compare to the amount contained in this colorful light sea. If you want to impact the number of heaven and earth, there's no need to waste so much time and effort. Grand-teacher has long prepared this colorful light sea for you."

At the same time, there was also a hidden oppressive will being conveyed to Zhang Ruochen: "I am not afraid of you breaking through to 'constant from beginning to end'!"

If Zhang Ruochen believed his words, he would undoubtedly lose the confidence and will to oppose him.

With confidence and will gone, only two paths remained.

Either, like the Sword Ancestor of old, abandon his "sword courage" and "sword soul," flee in panic, and never dare to oppose him again.

Or, like the Dark Sovereign, submit to Yunshen Daozhu.

Moreover, was there really no hidden scheme arranged by Yunshen Daozhu within the colorful light sea's power of quantity?

Seeing Zhang Ruochen staring at the colorful light in silence for a long time, Yunshen Daozhu said, "Is Ruochen worried that grand-teacher has set up a hidden trick in the colorful light sea? With your current perception and the mystery of the Wuji Divine Dao, what conspiracy in the world can escape your notice? Such petty schemes are beneath the level of an Ancestor's confrontation."

Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "I am just pondering two questions! First, why has grand-teacher collected so much power of quantity here? Could it be that many years ago, grand-teacher was already preparing for my breakthrough today? Just like back then, when grand-teacher specially took me to Xumi Temple and led me to the Primordial Beginning to cultivate the First-rank Sacred Intent?"

Back then, as soon as Yunshen Daozhu was rescued, he had taken Zhang Ruochen alone to find Xumi Temple, opening the path of time for Zhang Ruochen to go to the past and cultivate the First-rank Sacred Intent.

Otherwise, with Zhang Ruochen's cultivation at the Hundred Shackles Realm of a Great Saint at that time, finding Xumi Temple would have been as difficult as reaching the heavens.

Previously, Zhang Ruochen's cultivation was too low, and he thought that being able to go to the Primordial Beginning was entirely due to Xumi Saint Monk and the Time Esoterica.

Now it seemed, that point in time was critical to the extreme. Yunshen Daozhu, the Life Ancestor, and Ji Fanxin all intersected with it, appearing in different forms.

Yunshen Daozhu showed a look of recollection. "If you hadn't sent Ji Fanxin away early and let her accompany you to Xumi Temple, perhaps her identity would have been exposed back then. How much less killing would there have been later?"

"So, with grand-teacher's wisdom, you were unable to see through her true identity as the Nether Ancestor?"

Zhang Ruochen deliberately said this to test whether Yunshen Daozhu knew the secrets of the Nether Ancestor and Fanxin.

Yunshen Daozhu spoke earnestly, "Ruochen, you underestimate the Nether Ancestor! She is the most astonishing expert I have seen from ancient times to the present, no less than you. In the long river of time, we have had our wins and losses, neither able to do anything to the other."

"Neither of you has used your full strength, right?" Zhang Ruochen said.

Zhang Ruochen said, "I think your methods were more like those of the Chaos Ancient Era. The Nether Ancestor supported the Great Demon God, and you supported the Heavenly Demon, watching the two fight it out."

Yunshen Daozhu glanced at Zhang Ruochen and smiled. "Yes, without the threat of life and death from the Great Calamity, the Immortals can coexist peacefully. There's no need to use twelve-tenths of their strength to fight. It was only from the Chaos Ancient Era over ten million years ago, as the end-of-days Great Calamity gradually approached, that everyone began to get serious."

Zhang Ruochen understood in his heart. It seemed that Yunshen Daozhu and the Nether Ancestor might really not know each other's ultimate secrets.

The existence of Fanxin was undoubtedly the deepest secret hidden by the Nether Ancestor.

It was the Nether Ancestor's greatest flaw.

If Yunshen Daozhu knew this flaw, he would have dealt with the Nether Ancestor long ago!

"What about the Life Ancestor? When you went to Xumi Temple back then, did you two recognize each other's identities?" Zhang Ruochen asked.

Yunshen Daozhu was very patient, still like before, answering Zhang Ruochen's questions one by one. "The Life Ancestor can be said to be the most outstanding expert born from the Primordial Beings after the Primordial Era. But an Ancestor who submitted to the Nether Ancestor, what makes Ruochen think he can be compared to grand-teacher?"

At this moment, Yunshen Daozhu's eyes and tone shed their warmth and kindness, revealing the proud bearing befitting an Immortal.

It was a kind of majesty that even Ancestors found hard to enter his sight.

Zhang Ruochen was waiting for this sentence. "The Life Ancestor planted a heart demon by submitting to the Sixteenth Day, and could never break through to 'Heaven Beginning Self End' for his entire life. If I submit to grand-teacher, what difference would I have from the Life Ancestor of the past?"

Yunshen Daozhu shook his head. "Ruochen, your position in grand-teacher's heart is even higher than Qingchan, Xiaotian, Jiwang, and Zhang Ling. You are a true relative and grand-nephew. Grand-teacher has never thought of making you submit. My expectations for you have never changed. We can go together to the new era after the Great Calamity, bringing Qingchan, Xiaotian, Jiwang, and your father. We are a family!"

His eyes were warm and sincere, his tone slightly pleading, filled with deep emotion.

Any suspicion that he had ulterior motives would make one feel ashamed.

Zhang Ruochen's heart was as firm as a rock. He did not immediately deny or question him, but said with pain, "But at the cost of sacrificing the people of the world!"

"Under the Great Calamity, the people of the world cannot be saved," Yunshen Daozhu said.

Zhang Ruochen said, "Is it that they cannot be saved, or have you never considered their lives?"

Yunshen Daozhu did not answer immediately, looking toward the distant colorful light sea.

His aged face was also reflected in seven colors, giving off an eerie and unpredictable illusion.

"If grand-teacher has never regarded the cultivators of the world as living beings of flesh and blood, but as grain, how can I believe that you have true emotions? Do Nüdi, Xiao Hei, the Dragon Lord, and my father really have even a little weight in your heart? Are those righteous and compassionate words you once spoke still credible?"

Zhang Ruochen continued, "The Great Venerable was able to find the cause of the Great Calamity—the chaos of myriad forms, the irreversibility of entropy increase. With the height and wisdom grand-teacher stands at, do you not know this?"

"Why have you never thought of finding entropy decrease to resolve the Great Calamity?"

"Is it that you cannot find it? No, it's that you have no emotions. You look at the living beings of the world the way we look at grain in the fields. Now is the time for the harvest!"

"Ruochen boldly speculates that your ultimate goal, elder, is to advance your cultivation further, to impact the realm above 'Heaven Beginning Self End.' At that realm, one would truly live as long as heaven and earth, and even the Great Calamity would mean nothing!"

Silence for a long moment.

Yunshen Daozhu closed his eyes and sighed helplessly. "Entropy increase is irreversible! You Zhangs are all idealists—one wants to reverse entropy increase, one wants to empty hell, one wants to embrace all rivers. The longer you live, the more you see, and the more you understand that these are all your wishful thinking."

"Hell is in the human heart; how can hell be emptied?"

"Wanting to embrace all rivers, encompass all things, and lead all living beings to resist the Great Calamity together is even harder than emptying hell. Ruochen, this vision of yours is doomed to never be realized!"

"Just because you think it cannot be realized, you won't even try?" Zhang Ruochen's tone was very firm. He continued, "Does grand-teacher still remember what you said to me on the way to Xumi Temple back then? You said that if a cultivator's vision is not fulfilled, taking a step back is confusion, is an abyss of ten thousand zhang. So I will not retreat. What about you?"

Qiangu Nüdi watched the two gradually becoming confrontational, her mind stirred with waves of anxiety that were hard to stop.

She wanted to say something, but neither of their wills seemed to be something she could shake.

Yunshen Daozhu said, "Since you remember those words, you should remember that grand-teacher also commented on the Sword Ancestor at that time. The Sword Ancestor lived because he lost his will to fight."

"Learn from the Sword Ancestor and live? Is grand-teacher trying to persuade me to give up my will to fight and hand over my courage and soul?" Zhang Ruochen said.

"Not retreating, not giving up—then there is no choice but to fight."

Yunshen Daozhu murmured this, nodding slightly. He was no longer the decrepit and aged appearance, but exuded an ancient charm like an indestructible living fossil.

Then, his eyes released an unparalleled sharpness and momentum. "Fighting against grand-teacher, how much chance of victory do you have?"

Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands behind his back, his hair at his temples swaying in the wind. His heroic bearing was no less than that of Yunshen Daozhu, who had lived for billions of years. "When things go smoothly, I calculate gains and losses. When things go against me, I calculate the odds of victory. But in a desperate situation, I only consider how much I can make my opponent lose, regardless of the cost."

Seeing the two completely lay their cards on the table, with no trace of the previous friendly atmosphere, Qiangu Nüdi finally spoke. "I know I can't stop you from fighting to the death. But the Nether Ancestor is still out there, and the Great Calamity will arrive unexpectedly. Have you considered the consequences of disregarding all costs?"

"Grandfather, if you are severely injured, how will you contend with the Nether Ancestor? How will you withstand the Great Calamity?"

"Imperial Dust, what about you? If you die in battle, who will lead the cultivators of the world to find entropy decrease?"

"Neither of you can afford to lose!"

In the silence.

"Splash!"

The colorful light ahead surged with waves, the sound loud, shaking the earth.

The deepest part was hazy, with thunder audible. A humanoid black shadow flickered in and out of sight there.

Zhang Ruochen saw that black shadow but remained calm. "So, in fact, grand-teacher sending me to cultivate the First-rank Sacred Intent and collecting this power of quantity had the most fundamental purpose of wanting me to help you deal with the Nether Ancestor?"

Yunshen Daozhu had his own speculations in his heart:

"Could you have achieved what you have today without her help? Could she have allowed you to grow to this height without the intention of using your power to deal with me?

"We cannot do anything to each other; someone must break the deadlock."

"That was in the past."

Zhang Ruochen said, "The Corpse Demon and Lady Shiji have fallen! And grand-teacher has subdued the Dark Sovereign and the White Jade Divine Emperor, plus the Second Confucian Ancestor and Murong Zhuzai. The Nether Ancestor is no longer your match."

Yunshen Daozhu said, "So if you join in, we will form the strongest Ancestor alliance since ancient times. Even 'Heaven Beginning Self End' can be killed, and we don't have to worry about her deathbed counterattack."

Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "Grand-teacher misunderstands! I mean to say that you have the ability to deal with her. After she is erased, you will naturally have the ability to deal with me."

"So you have allied with her?"

Yunshen Daozhu had completely lost the desire to persuade, only saying regretfully, "In the end, we still have to meet on the battlefield. This is the result I least wanted to see. This battle is destined to be a lose-lose situation, with no winner. What is your second question?"

Zhang Ruochen looked over and smiled. "Grand-teacher still has some magnanimity, not striking immediately."

Yunshen Daozhu chuckled dryly. "After all, we are grandfather and grandson. Even if we face each other in life-and-death combat, it is only a difference in ideals. It is not to the point of launching an undeclared war. Before the battle, grand-teacher still wants to be a respected elder!"

"I want to know, what exactly is the Space-Time Divine Martial Mark?"

Zhang Ruochen said, "It was because I obtained the Space-Time Divine Martial Mark that I could embark on the path of cultivation. Then, at the Hundred Shackles Realm of a Great Saint, I could return from the River of Time to the past and go to the Primordial Beginning to cultivate the First-rank Sacred Intent."

"During the return process, I lost the Space-Time Divine Martial Mark in the Ancient Desolate era, which is your era, elder. So, who was the first owner of the Space-Time Divine Martial Mark? How was it actually born?"

"Is it really a great divine ability of cause and effect? I find it hard to believe."

Yunshen Daozhu seemed to have long expected Zhang Ruochen to ask this question. He smiled slightly. "Then do you think you were born in the universe earlier, or did grand-teacher appear earlier? The moment you understand this, you will understand all the cause and effect."

Zhang Ruochen frowned, then deeply bowed to Yunshen Daozhu. "Without grand-teacher, there would be no Zhang Ruochen today. Regardless of what purpose you, elder, hold, you are worthy of this bow."

"But after this bow, Ruochen will no longer have a grand-teacher!"

Saying this, Zhang Ruochen seemed to have used up all the emotions of this life. Scenes from the past flashed quickly—meeting, teaching, answering questions, protecting... infinite beauty flowing away.

"Human Ancestor, you may make your move!"

In an instant, Zhang Ruochen's body burst forth with Ancestor Divine Qi, his momentum reaching its peak, breaking through the invisible shackles formed by the Space-Time Human Ancestor's aura, like a peerless divine sword with sharp edge.

The Space-Time Human Ancestor beside him remained calm as water. But on the opposite shore of the colorful light sea, that black shadow was already thick with battle intent, rolling black clouds surging toward Kunlun Realm.

"Clang!"

Qiangu Nüdi drew the Wujian Divine Sword, its cry reaching the nine heavens.

The sword tip pointed straight at the opposite shore of the colorful light sea!

The next moment, she laid the sword horizontally across her neck, kneeling on one knee. "Grandfather, Qingchan has never asked you for anything since the day she embarked on the path of cultivation. Today is the first time I ask, and it may be the last. Can you, elder, agree?"

The Space-Time Human Ancestor said, "Are you also leaving grandfather?"

Qiangu Nüdi did not answer, continuing, "Qingchan hopes that you and Imperial Dust can stay away from the Sword Realm and fight elsewhere, not creating too tragic destruction and slaughter. If the battlefield cannot be changed, please give the gods of the Sword Realm some time to lead the living beings of a thousand realms to evacuate."

Zhang Ruochen naturally knew that Qiangu Nüdi was helping him.

As long as the living beings of the thousand realms under the Sword Realm could be evacuated on a large scale, Zhang Ruochen's psychological pressure would be greatly reduced in the upcoming Ancestor battle.

Conversely, if the Space-Time Human Ancestor disregarded Qiangu Nüdi's life and death and acted willfully, then in terms of morality and emotion, he would lose first.

It might not affect the Space-Time Human Ancestor's state of mind. But it could allow Zhang Ruochen to have no more emotional and psychological burdens, thereby strengthening his determination to fight to the death.

The Space-Time Human Ancestor sighed deeply. "Why bother? Even if they evacuate, won't they ultimately be unable to escape the Great Calamity? The result cannot be changed! Forget it, forget it. Qingchan, since you are forcing me with death, how could grandfather not agree? But only this once."

"Swoosh!"

In front of Qiangu Nüdi, a figure of the Space-Time Human Ancestor appeared.

He pointed a finger at her brow.

Instantly, Qiangu Nüdi, whose cultivation had reached the Heavenly Venerable level, lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

This figure of the Space-Time Human Ancestor dissipated instantly. From beginning to end, his true body stood in place, not moving at all.

Such a method was extremely terrifying!

To make a Heavenly Venerable-level being lose consciousness without even being able to react was far more difficult than killing a Heavenly Venerable in one move. Even Zhang Ruochen would have to use his true body to do it.

The Space-Time Human Ancestor looked at Zhang Ruochen. "Imperial Dust, you may go! But you must remember, from now on, only one of you can live. To family, I can compromise and yield, even agree to her most unreasonable request. But to an enemy, I will use every means to put you to death. So you need not show mercy either!"

"Thank you for the reminder, Human Ancestor."

Zhang Ruochen cupped his hands, then left.

"Swoosh!"

The Dark Sovereign stepped across the waves from the opposite shore of the colorful light sea, his massive humanoid body landing on the bank. He watched Zhang Ruochen's retreating figure grow distant. "What a waste of a good opportunity! If he flees far away now, I'm afraid you won't be able to do anything to him, right?"

"He will not flee," the Space-Time Human Ancestor said.

The Dark Sovereign looked at the colorful light sea. "Since Zhang Ruochen doesn't want this power of quantity, why not give it to me?"

The Space-Time Human Ancestor cast a cold glance at him, an invisible pressure in his eyes pressing down on the Dark Sovereign's entire body, causing cracking sounds. His bones and organs seemed about to be crushed into powder.

"Do you even have the right to call yourself 'sovereign' in front of me?" The Space-Time Human Ancestor raised his arm, pinched two fingers together, and pressed down lightly in the air.

These two fingers, pressing on the Dark Sovereign's shoulder from a distance, directly crushed his Ancestor body, which was dozens of meters tall, making it as small as a dwarf.

The Dark Sovereign did not want to dodge, but simply could not. His body seemed to be fixed in place.

The gods of the Sword Realm were rapidly evacuating, using their Divine Realm Worlds to carry large numbers of living beings.

Even powerful gods stored entire great worlds into their Divine Realm Worlds.

Bore arrived at Kunlun Realm, finding Zhang Ruochen on Kongle Mountain outside Shengming City.

"Just now, an extremely terrifying aura filled the entire starry sky, making even gods tremble. Have you already met the Immortal?" Bore asked.

Zhang Ruochen gazed at the ancient city below, which was in chaos like a war zone, and nodded slightly to Bore.

Bore did not ask who the Immortal was. Knowing would be meaningless. Instead, she asked, "Is Lingxi in his hands? I cannot find her. I have been looking for her for many years!"

"Swoosh!"

Zhang Xingchen streaked across the sky like a meteor, landing on Kongle Mountain.

He still wore gray cloth monk robes, looking weathered, but had grown a thin layer of hair. He knelt and kowtowed to Zhang Ruochen, sobbing, "Your unfilial son, Zhang Xingchen, comes to see Father!"

Seeing him become a monk, Zhang Ruochen sighed inwardly, but his eyes showed no ripple. "You haven't found your mother either, have you?"

Zhang Xingchen bowed his head and wept. "Mother... I'm afraid she has already..."

"Wipe away your tears and change out of your monk robes. If your mother saw you like this, how heartbroken would she be? You cannot find her because she does not want to be found."

Zhang Ruochen looked up at the sea of stars above. "But I know where she is! With her thoughts... she has lived her entire life for you and me!"