Chapter 205: The Moment of Awakening (III)
Chapter 205: The Moment of Awakening (III)
“That’s it, that’s the spot! At that moment, he was so utterly lonely. I could feel it profoundly, that deep loneliness within him when he spoke those words—something I’d never experienced myself!
But also, he said so much back then!”
Tang Jinbiao recalled Huang Biaozi’s words, faintly grasping at something, feeling closer and closer to the truth.
Just a little more, only a little more, and he would seize the truth!
…
After calming himself for a moment, Huang Biaozi continued, “Hah, so ironic. That person had a dream—an unparalleled dream. And after waking, he finally took the Fifth Step, something countless God-Kings in the Divine Realm craved beyond measure.
That same person led this old man to that World of Destruction. Upon arriving, I witnessed tears on his face for the second time!
The first was when a disciple of mine died. He wept then, but never again afterward… until we reached that World of Destruction. There, he wept once more…” Huang Biaozi seemed lost in deep memories, his eyes glazing over. Though only a soul form, tears seemed to shimmer in them. “Cough, let’s stop. Talking of it makes the tears just keep coming!
But about that World of Destruction, I can tell you this: it’s a world of death. No spiritual energy exists there—only void and endless rubble. And yes, those piles of rubble… they might be what you call planets. When enough gathered together, they looked like giant spheres from afar. Some glinted like stars when reflecting light.
After that person left, this old man stayed behind, determined to gauge the world’s true scale. He released his Divine Sense… one day, two days, a month, a year… three years… ten years… It became a stubborn, day-by-day quest; he refused to leave until he found its end. But that exploration… lasted ten thousand years…
Ah, ten thousand years… an entire ten thousand years!
His Divine Sense traversed immeasurable distances, yet encountered nothing but biting cold and infinite emptiness. Occasionally, he witnessed planetary destruction or regions terrifyingly capable of absorbing Divine Sense.
Yet regardless of what he observed, it was all void and desolation—utterly devoid of life. Not a spark of vitality anywhere. At that instant, he finally understood why that person had wept. Just as he prepared to withdraw… something finally emerged before his senses…”
…
“Yes! This is Huang Biaozi’s perception of the cosmos! When he mentioned regions absorbing Divine Sense, I secretly suspected it meant Black Holes. And if his account held true… then it must be the very universe I know!”
Tang Jinbiao carefully reconstructed Huang Biaozi’s words, his mind clearing with each thought, his eyes growing sharper with realization.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
“Red Worm! Cease your struggle! Your annihilation upon this field is foreordained today!”
Young Master Ma in the sky, already unnaturally flushed beyond his pallor, now emitted ominous green glows from his eyes as he dueled Red Worm, layering psychological pressure atop physical onslaught.
“ARGH! I won’t accept this! I REFUSE! Red Worm embodies the Will of Heaven and Earth! As long as heaven and earth endure, Red Worm remains eternal! You cannot slay me! IMPOSSIBLE!”
Red Worm’s body accumulated deeper wounds, scales shattered beyond recognition, flesh a bloody ruin.
Meanwhile, the Azure Dragon watched the aerial duel with vacant eyes, utterly paralyzed by indecision.
But none there noticed two figures silently observing the battle from over ten miles in the air.
Watching from afar: Tang Ni and Tang Yilin.
…
“Soon… very soon… I feel the true answer is within reach!”
Tang Jinbiao paid no heed to the chaos unfolding before him, submerging himself wholly in recollections of his time with Huang Biaozi and Huang Biaozi’s words.
Reviewing it all now, every utterance Huang Biaozi made seemed to carry profound meaning. Back then, though, Tang Jinbiao dismissed it all as idle rambling.
…
“Hah! Life—it finally manifested! After ten millennia of exploration, this old man’s Divine Sense finally brushed against life!
It was a Giant Boulder—well, following your description, a planet. Not large, mind you. To beings of our stature? Barely a grain of sand.”
Yet, it was on such sand that I first detected life. You wouldn’t know how excited I was at that moment!
I couldn’t wait to go over immediately. I wanted to take a look, I wanted to see with my own eyes what kind of life it was.
Yet, when my divine sense further explored, I was shocked!
Yes, I was shocked because there lived people, do you know that?
There were actually humans dwelling there, along with all kinds of animals, flowers, and trees. Unfortunately, there was still no spiritual energy there.
Those people were just like the mortals here, with no more than a hundred years to live. I observed diligently for a thousand years!
During that millennium, many things happened. I saw that world produce many novel things—things even I, your elder, had never seen.
But no matter what, every few decades, wars would break out. Those wars seemed very insignificant to me, like watching ants fight.
I didn’t feel much emotion, and then I grew bored. I stopped observing, withdrew my divine sense, and prepared to leave.
But just as I turned to depart, I finally understood!
I finally understood why that person shed tears back then, hehe!
Huang Biaozi’s face showed excitement as he mentioned discovering life, evidently moved after ten thousand years—a joy hard for ordinary people to understand. When he spoke of humans, plants, and wars, his expression barely changed, still joyful. Only at the end, when he talked of tears, sorrow filled his face, an inexpressible sadness.
Hehe, why cry? If you lived in such a world, don’t you feel lonely?
Don’t you feel sorrowful?
Don’t you feel pitiful?
With such a vast world, why are there inhabitants only on such a small planet?
Where are the others?
And for such a small place, why must there be wars?
Think again, without saying much. Just the Tang Family, within an area of only hundreds of li, has thousands of people. Going a bit further to larger cities, populations reach millions.
Even later, if you ascend to the Immortal Realm, populations in those cities become terrifying—tens of millions per city. But in that World of Destruction, such a vast place, even broader than the Divine Realm countless times over, all that remains is coldness and emptiness, only a group of oblivious people. Don’t you feel pain?
“This…” Tang Jinbiao suddenly felt as if the world had changed.
It was like he stood in Huang Biaozi’s position, seeing that in the boundless universe, only a tiny place was truly inhabited. A world so vast only had destruction and void left.
Just as he, in that other world when young, used to fantasize constantly about aliens living in far-off lands—people like them, filling his heart with hope and fantasy.
But over time, he stopped caring whether there were aliens, whether deities resided at the world’s other end. He cared only about daily necessities like food and fuel, how to scrape by on exams, how to survive…
Huang Biaozi’s words were like thunder, awakening him from his dream.
In that other world, were humans truly lonely?
Or in that other world, were humans truly isolated?
Or in that other world, were humans truly the sole beings?
Tang Jinbiao had a sudden urge to cry. Though he had long since stopped caring about aliens and didn’t believe in them.
But imagine—one day suddenly in another world, someone tells you you’re an orphan—no, not just you, but your whole world is an orphan.
Yet Tang Jinbiao felt like crying not for that reason, but because in that world, there are still people craving distant partners, eager to prove they aren’t alone—to cling to hope while answers remain unknown. But one day, if someone reveals the truth, what would you feel inside?
I always said you had no clue, or you wouldn’t spout such unthinking nonsense!
Haven’t I, your elder, told you the Way of Deception has five steps, and I’ve only reached the fourth?
Hmph, forget it, I won’t argue. I’ll just reveal the truth of the Way of Deception.
Actually, the first and second steps of the Way of Deception hold little effect!
The first step, deceiving others, has some perks—play it safe, and risks stay low.
Especially the second step, deceiving oneself: one wrong move, and your path perishes.
But if you complete the second step and reach the third, you glimpse partial truths of this world—only partial, seeing what mortals cannot. Then you truly enter the hall, becoming a great power!
Do you grasp the concept of a great power?
Hehe, I’m sure not. Fine, I’ll explain plainly. Like these space threads you see—only Three-Step Great Powers perceive such things. See?
At their intersections, a small dot appears—a space loophole. If you want, inject just a thread of spiritual energy, wreck the inner structure, and the space collapses.
Whatever, you don’t get it. Anyway, reach the third step, and you become the World of Destruction you mention. The space in this dimension you inhabit? Fragile as glass!
Of course, my main point was to tell you that only upon reaching the third step of the Way of Deception can one possess the strength to contend with Cultivators! The first two steps are merely for bluff and dealing—nothing more than marginally helpful!
Upon reaching the third step, altering someone’s will—like what you just did—is child’s play!
If you wished, you could even rewrite someone’s memories!
You could even replace their memories with your own! But I advise you against tampering with memories—manipulating will is quite enough!”
……
“Lad, don’t bristle—this is reality, stark reality, laid bare before your eyes! Even now, why hesitate?
Why not learn the Way of Deception from me?
Do you believe the heavens are just?
Do you think this world is fair?
It’s all utter bullshit! Some slave away their entire lives only to die destitute, exiled far from home, without even a grave.
Others are born blind or deaf, never once seeing color or hearing sound—they endure existence in eternal darkness and silence.
And some? Never even leave the womb—stillborn by cruel twists of fate. Do you think that’s as cruel as it gets?
Ha! If you call that cruel, then you’re naïve—utterly, hopelessly naïve!”
“To most, such lives seem tragic, yet they still cling to hope!
The blind hope to see light; the deaf long to hear sound; the unborn yearn for breath. But true cruelty?
It’s those who shuffle through life like corpses, teetering daily on death’s edge. They may cling to some hollow goal, some illusion of purpose!
But it’s a lie—mere self-delusion. In the end, they exist only to exist. Do you think…”
……
“I don’t know how far you’ll go down the Body Refining path, nor how far you’ll advance if your Spiritual Root is restored and you pursue Cultivation!
But across the ages—however long this world has existed—no matter what art one cultivates or path one walks, I’ve never witnessed a true god. Even that man merely approached godhood, infinitely close… yet still not divine!”
……
“Heh. Divine Realm? God-King?
Those are just labels mortals invent—much like how Mortals see Core Formation Cultivators as immortals or deities!
The so-called Divine Realm? Merely a more stable plane. The God-King? Just a Cultivator with greater Magical Power and a longer lifespan! Where are the real gods?
Hmph! If you ask me what true divinity is—have you ever wondered how every person, tree, stone, or droplet came to be?
Don’t spout nonsense like ‘dragons spawn dragons, rats breed diggers’!
Absurd! Then how did the first dragon arise?
Have you truly pondered this?”
……
“Truth is, lad, I reveal all this for a single reason: this is what the Dao is!
Understand the Dao. Master it. Then you too can forge worlds—and within them, you’d reign as a true god!
You could make rivers flow uphill, make men fairer than women, allow Mortals to soar or tunnel through earth—if you imagined it, you could will it so!
Surely you’ve heard: ‘Dao begets One, One begets Two, Two begets Three, Three begets All Things.’
That is the essence! That is the Dao! Only through mastering the Dao can you unravel every mystery!”
……
BOOM!
As these thoughts surged, Tang Jinbiao’s mind roared. The world blurred—he felt a mere reach could seize what he desired.
“Ah!”
But at that instant—just as clarity pierced through, the truth almost within grasp—a splintering pain erupted in his skull. Something clawed from the abyss of his mind…