Chapter 643: Contradictions
"Perhaps."
In the face of the answer Chen Yan had given, the Tianji Sage neither affirmed nor denied it, merely responding in such a manner:
"If the laws of heaven and earth in this domain were to collapse to the point where they could no longer sustain their own existence, then Tianji Continent... or rather, what you call Chenping Continent, would surely be reduced to nothingness."
Just like everything Chenping Continent had suffered when Chen Yan had returned to eight thousand years ago.
A colossal rift had appeared in the sky above, one capable of splitting the world in two.
This domain of heaven and earth had ultimately been utterly destroyed because of it.
It was precisely because of such an event that Chen Yan, having lost his reincarnation record point, had returned to eight thousand years ago, to that era when the path to immortality had not yet been severed.
And in that era, many things had happened.
In the end, that era of eight thousand years ago had left behind traces belonging solely to Chen Yan himself.
What Chen Yan did not know, however, was that the colossal rift that had completely split the sky above Chenping Continent in two had been caused by another dao artifact of immense destructive power.
Heavenly Summit Palace.
Even now, it still hung suspended in the sky more than two thousand zhang above the summit of Du Cang Mountain.
If what the Tianji Sage said was true, and the rift stretching over ten li above Du Cang Mountain were to expand once more to the point it had reached before Chenping Continent was utterly destroyed...
Then this domain of heaven and earth would be reduced to nothingness.
But Chenping Continent's ending certainly did not have to be only this one.
"However, there are still other hidden dangers."
The Tianji Sage, Zuo He, continued:
"If the rift in the sky were to expand to a certain extent, it could also cause this domain to be discovered by beings from above, such as being noticed by the Mystic Maiden."
Hearing this, Chen Yan merely remained silent.
His thoughts began to drift back to the past. Back then, Chen Yan had followed the words of Caiyun, True Person Kong Yang, and gone searching for the Dao Basis of True Person Minghua, Xie Shouzhuo.
In the end, he had been played for a fool by Kong Yang.
True Person Minghua's Dao Basis had indeed been in the mountain Kong Yang had mentioned.
But Kong Yang had never once said that he had also suppressed a Demonic Beast there, one that, under normal circumstances, Chen Yan's strength could never have hoped to defeat.
In the end, during one particular cycle of reincarnation, Chen Yan, who was merely a cultivator at the Myriad Transformations realm at the time, had chosen to ignite his Immortal Qi and take the Demonic Beast down with him in mutual destruction.
At that time, Chen Yan had already been bearing the karmic burden of over sixty thousand years of Chenping Continent, accumulated since the fall of Heavenly Summit Mountain.
No, more accurately, it was a strand of karma left behind in this world under the scheme of Bai Chen, the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void.
And after Chen Yan's death, this karmic thread of a Sage, spanning over sixty thousand years, had lost its vessel.
That strand of karma began to ferment, producing consequences far more terrifying than the severing of the path to immortality.
Before breathing his last breath, Chen Yan had seen, within the colossal rift that appeared in the sky, the face of that enormous Seven-Colored Flowing Gold Goddess Statue, towering thousands of zhang tall, its eyes gently closed.
That was the "Mystic Maiden" that the Tianji Sage, Zuo He, spoke of.
Chen Yan could roughly imagine what would happen to Chenping Continent after his death.
"Forgive this junior's dullness, but from what you, Sage, are saying, beings from even higher up would want to return this domain of heaven and earth to nothingness."
Chen Yan said:
"Sage, that higher existence you speak of, could it be Lord Qingluo..."
As he spoke, Chen Yan seemed somewhat hesitant to continue.
Because he worried that such a question might be an overstep of boundaries.
Yet judging from the Tianji Sage's reaction, Chen Yan seemed to have worried for nothing.
"Lord Qingluo..."
The young Sage in black daoist robes before him spoke those four characters, one by one, slowly:
"Chenping Continent, whose laws of heaven and earth have already suffered irreversible damage, indeed holds no value whatsoever in the eyes of Lord Qingluo. However, given the Lord's station, it would be absolutely impossible for him to pay any particular attention to a single corner among these Three Thousand Worlds."
A Creating Illusion Realm cultivator governs the Three Thousand Worlds.
In the eyes of the cultivators within this domain of heaven and earth, Chenping Continent, which they regarded as the entire world, was merely an insignificant, disposable one-three-thousandth in the eyes of that Lord Qingluo.
"Still, cleaning up the trash is just a matter of convenience, after all. Of course, the one who would make a move on Chenping Continent would certainly not be Lord Qingluo himself... because the Mystic Maiden would already be more than enough."
The Tianji Sage, Zuo He, continued.
"The Mystic Maiden..."
Although Chen Yan had already come to know that the colossal Seven-Colored Flowing Gold Goddess Statue, towering thousands of zhang tall, was a weapon under Lord Qingluo's command, he had to admit that there were still many unsolved mysteries in the current situation.
"The Mystic Maiden's strength can essentially be regarded as equivalent to that of an Uncarved Simplicity Realm cultivator, or perhaps slightly inferior to one."
The Tianji Sage said.
Indeed, Chen Yan could also roughly deduce the combat capability of that Seven-Colored Flowing Gold Goddess Statue towering thousands of zhang tall.
After all, around eight thousand years ago, Mr. You, after having become a Sage, had once crossed blows with that Mystic Maiden Statue.
Without a doubt, Mr. You had held the complete upper hand.
"Aside from the Mystic Maiden, would there be any other existence that might attack Chenping Continent?"
Chen Yan continued to ask.
"Any other existence? What more do you want?"
Zuo He let out a sneering laugh from his nose, then continued:
"I believe that this current domain of heaven and earth doesn't even have a single Returning to Void Realm cultivator, let alone a Sage. If the Mystic Maiden were to make her move, reducing the entire Chenping Continent to nothingness should be more than sufficient."
The Tianji Sage's speculation was completely correct. Then, he continued:
"However, if the intelligence you provided is accurate, this domain should have been completely wiped clean over sixty thousand years ago, when the Mystic Maiden annihilated the legacy the Sage of Imperial Void had left in the world... so why was it that only Heavenly Summit Mountain was destroyed?"
Zuo He truly could not understand why this was the case. After pondering for another moment, he ultimately just shook his head:
"Forget it, forget it. Perhaps this is part of the chess game Bai Chen has been orchestrating."
But Chen Yan did not think so.
"Sage, I have another question I would like to ask."
Chen Yan said.
Zuo He turned his gaze toward Chen Yan, then spoke:
"Speak."
Judging from the Tianji Sage's current reaction, he probably did not dislike this junior in the plain white daoist robe standing before him.
"If the existence of Chenping Continent holds no value for Lord Qingluo now that the laws of heaven and earth have suffered irreversible damage..."
As he spoke, Chen Yan paused briefly once more, then continued to pose his question:
"Then why must the Uncarved Simplicity Realm cultivators of Chenping Continent be dealt with at all?"