Chapter 602: Delivering Salvation to the People
“The me from eight thousand years ago?”
Master You didn’t seem the least bit surprised by this revelation:
“What’s the difference between him and me now?”
“His cultivation was higher than yours.”
Chen Yan said calmly.
Upon hearing this, Master You fell silent for a moment, then the corners of his mouth twitched slightly:
“Anything else?”
“No other differences.”
Chen Yan replied.
“You brat, you sure know how to poke at sore spots!”
Master You, for once, looked genuinely flustered and angry.
“Master, this current cultivation of yours wasn’t inherited from your previous self but rebuilt from scratch, wasn’t it?”
Chen Yan asked.
“That’s right.”
Master You nodded, having calmed down:
“This was a contingency plan left behind by that former me for myself.”
“So what exactly is this contingency plan…?”
Chen Yan pressed further.
“Want to know?”
Master You countered.
Chen Yan nodded.
“This is a secret known to no one…”
Master You said slowly:
“Fusheng City was created by the me from seventy thousand years ago, combining the illusion techniques of Weaving Dreams Tower with my own Dao Basis.”
“Just as I suspected.”
Chen Yan nodded calmly.
“You knew?”
Master You looked slightly surprised.
“When I learned that the Thousand Clouds Transformation you taught Si Youyou was a secret technique from Mirage Palace, I already had my suspicions.”
“That was a transaction I made with Mirage Palace back then. The Steward of Mirage Palace clearly understood that illusion alone couldn’t truly allow Mirage Palace to establish itself in this world.”
Master You said:
“I needed Weaving Dreams Tower’s illusion techniques to shed my skin and escape the notice of ‘that existence,’ while Mirage Palace needed powerful techniques to establish themselves in this world.”
“But just one Thousand Clouds Transformation alone probably wasn’t enough leverage.”
Chen Yan said.
“Of course it wasn’t enough.”
Master You smiled:
“At least a third of all the various techniques that Mirage Palace has passed down to this day came from my hand, or rather, many cultivators from Mirage Palace could be considered my disciples.”
Of course, Mirage Palace no longer existed now, leaving only a lone commander—Realman Sun-Eroding, Liang Huan.
“So, Master, what about your memories of the past…?”
Chen Yan asked.
“I only have memories from seventy thousand years ago and from eight thousand years ago until now.”
Master You replied:
“In other words, I have a blank period of about sixty-two thousand years of memories—those belonged to my former self. If I were to die, another version of me would gain new life in Fusheng City, but that would no longer be the current me.”
Just as Chen Yan had thought.
The current Master You and the one from eight thousand years ago were different.
And the reason why Master You now only had Dao Union cultivation was most likely related to his achievement of Sagehood back then.
“But I’m also curious about one thing.”
Master You said:
“I know that people change, but I never imagined that you would have such a strong desire for power… to the point of wanting to unify the Five Great Sects.”
Indeed.
From the actions Chen Yan had taken over the past year, it was clearly evident that he was trying to take control of the Five Great Sects.
That was also why, at the very beginning of today, Master You had teased Chen Yan about being “swamped with endless affairs.”
“Because it’s necessary.”
Chen Yan replied:
“To face the enemies ahead, I must complete the unification of the entire cultivation world of Chenping Continent. Or rather, I must rule Chenping Continent.”
“The enemies ahead refer to… ‘that existence’?”
Master You asked.
“The you from eight thousand years ago has already fought ‘that existence.’”
“And the result…”
Master You instinctively started to ask but then stopped himself.
The result was obvious.
If his past self had won, then the Master You here wouldn’t be the current one.
“‘That existence’ is a being even beyond the Uncarved Simplicity Realm.”
Chen Yan said.
“Uncarved Simplicity Realm?”
Master You showed confusion at this unfamiliar realm.
“Eight thousand years ago, during the era before the last Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator of Chenping Continent—Falling Star Realman Su Hongzhen—ascended to immortality, I entered the Heavenly Summit Palace carrying the intact Heavenly Summit Mirror.”
Chen Yan said.
“And then?”
Master You pressed.
“I went back countless ages ago, when Chenping Continent wasn’t yet called Chenping Continent. Back then, the name of Chenping Continent was Tianji Continent.”
Chen Yan continued.
Master You remained silent, because everything Chen Yan had just said was completely beyond his comprehension.
Or rather, it was beyond the understanding of any cultivator on Chenping Continent.
Even the him from eight thousand years ago, when first hearing the information Chen Yan presented, had taken a good while to digest it all.
Master You learned about many concepts he had never heard before.
Yuxu Continent, Tianji Continent, the twelve Immortal Sects, the Five Realms Above Immortality, fallen Immortals, false Immortals, Sages…
All of these together formed the unknown past of this domain’s heaven and earth.
“Chenping Continent won’t remain peaceful for much longer.”
Chen Yan said, and his words were by no means an exaggeration.
A year ago, during the Great Chaos of the Immortals, the six Immortal Ascension cultivators who participated in the melee had, without exception, all broken through the restrictions of the laws of heaven and earth, forcibly activating their dao rhymes.
The consequence, aside from severe damage to their Dao Bases, was the collapse of the laws of heaven and earth.
A quarter of Chenping Continent’s population had died, either directly or indirectly, from the aftermath of the collapse of the laws of heaven and earth.
A year had already passed, and most of the pitch-black rifts that had appeared in the sky had completely healed.
The few larger rifts had also shrunk considerably in size.
Except for the largest one in the sky.
Above the Heavenly Summit Palace, there was a pitch-black rift roughly over three thousand zhang long.
And a year ago, this rift had only been a few hundred zhang long.
“Before the true calamity arrives, we must gather and unite every possible force we can.”
Chen Yan said.
“So that’s why you want to unify Chenping Continent?”
Master You gazed at that pitch-black rift still slowly expanding in the sky, speaking slowly:
“To rule Chenping Continent, you at least need a dao title first. It’s already been a year since you ascended to immortality, and you still haven’t considered this matter?”
“No.”
Chen Yan shook his head.
“That won’t do. As an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator, a dao title is indispensable for the world to spread and know your name. Especially if you want to rule Chenping Continent, having a dao title becomes even more important.”
Master You said.
Indeed, he himself had never really thought about this issue.
Chen Yan’s gaze swept across the ruins on Heavenly Summit Mountain, then landed on the shattered sky above. He slowly spoke:
“Let it be Du Cang.”