12dz Chapter 463: Forged Cause and Effect
Chapter 463: Forged Cause and Effect
“Eight thousand years from now, I once obtained a fragment of the Heavenly Summit Mirror.”
Chen Yan said.
“Oh?”
Mr. You’s expression seemed to show great interest in what Chen Yan had just said.
“And then?”
He pressed further.
“I brought that one-fifth fragment of the Heavenly Summit Mirror into the Heavenly Summit Palace, and through the mirror, I witnessed the history of Heavenly Summit Mountain’s destruction... or rather, it was precisely because of my observation that Heavenly Summit Mountain was destroyed.”
Chen Yan slowly narrated the past:
“And precisely because of this, the future of the Chenping Continent was altered by me. So, I shouldered all the cause and effect from the day Heavenly Summit Mountain was destroyed, all the way until the moment eight thousand years later when I observed that destruction.”
That was over sixty thousand years of cause and effect.Mr. You listened to Chen Yan speak while appearing to ponder some problem, his fingers lightly tapping on the wooden table before him.
“Strange, strange.”
Mr. You looked up and spoke in Chen Yan’s direction:
“I have a question for you. You told me a couple of days ago that the little one was the last Ascended Immortal of Chenping Continent, and no one had ascended after him. And the reason no one could ascend was...”
“It was caused by the Cause of Calamity.”
Chen Yan replied:
“Because I observed the history of Heavenly Summit Mountain’s destruction through the Heavenly Summit Mirror fragment, completing the closed loop of history and shouldering over sixty thousand years of cause and effect, the path to immortality began to recover.”
“So, the reason no one on Chenping Continent could ascend was due to that over sixty thousand years of cause and effect on you?”
Mr. You continued asking.
“That should be the case.”
Chen Yan said.
“And that’s exactly the strangest part...”
Mr. You said slowly:
“If you are still bearing over sixty thousand years of cause and effect right now, then at this current point in time, starting from the day Heavenly Summit Mountain was destroyed, what exactly is this unbroken stretch of over fifty thousand years of cause and effect?”
Hearing this, Chen Yan was suddenly stunned.
Mr. You was right.
He had carried all the cause and effect from after Heavenly Summit Mountain’s destruction—over sixty thousand years’ worth—on his shoulders from eight thousand years in the future. And with his reincarnation, he had brought all that cause and effect back to eight thousand years ago, to the era before Su Hongzhen had ascended to immortality.
But at this point in time, the cause and effect of the Chenping Continent had not yet been placed upon his shoulders.
That meant... overlapping cause and effect?
Cause and effect should possess a unique, mutually corresponding nature.
It was like when, after the Outer Court Cataclysm had ended, he was reborn again in the Southern Region of Chenping Continent. The cause and effect and backlash he had originally carried should have all returned to the heavens and the earth.
But this time, they had not.
This suggested one possibility—the over sixty thousand years of cause and effect he bore might not be genuine cause and effect at all.
But something else...
Thinking this far, Chen Yan couldn’t help but shudder.
Forged cause and effect!
What kind of means could possibly forge cause and effect?
And it was precisely because of these sixty thousand years of forged cause and effect that the path to immortality on Chenping Continent had been severed...
That existence.
The existence that had chilled even Immortal Venerable Fusheng to the bone.
The existence that had annihilated Heavenly Summit Mountain in an instant.
The existence that had orchestrated the severance of Chenping Continent’s path to immortality.
The existence that would ultimately reduce Chenping Continent to nothingness.
A mere ant.
This was the first time Chen Yan truly felt what it meant to be a mere ant.
Even the oppressive pressure a Body Forging Realm cultivator felt when facing an Immortal Ascension Realm great power probably wasn’t as intense as what Chen Yan was feeling right now.
At the very least, a Body Forging Realm cultivator could still understand what it meant to Ascend to Immortality. They knew the opponent could crush them with less than a single thought.
But Chen Yan did not know.
He didn’t even know what that existence—that “It”—truly was.
“Let’s end this topic here for now.”
Mr. You said.
Chen Yan agreed.
He wasn’t the only one weighed down by the truth behind all this.
Mr. You felt the same.
There was no use worrying about an unknown enemy.
The most important thing was how to plan every step forward.
“Since the me from eight thousand years in the future placed all his hopes on you, then I will do the same.”
Mr. You said:
“I will go to the Five Great Sects to collect all five fragments of the Heavenly Summit Mirror. Then, through the mirror, I will glimpse the mission you must accomplish in this current era.”
This might be the only way to change the outcome where Chenping Continent is reduced to nothingness eight thousand years from now.
Having said that, Mr. You picked up the teacup from the table once more and downed it in one gulp:
“The Mirage Palace will summon all sect leaders and cultivators at the Qi Sea Realm and above from around Moxu Mountain tomorrow at the Hour of the Snake, at that tea house in Wushi Town. What are your plans?”
“I’ll go.”
Chen Yan replied.
“Using your External Incarnation?”
“That’s right.”
Then, Mr. You nodded and stood up:
“A very interesting technique. It’s about time for me to leave as well.”
“Leaving Moxu Mountain?”
Chen Yan asked.
“Mm.”
Mr. You nodded:
“If we meet again, it will be five years from now.”
“Heavenly Summit Mountain?”
“The Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent.”
There were still five years until the Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent.
Su Hongzhen would truly make a name for himself at the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry five years from now.
Chen Yan remained seated, not getting up:
“Sir, I won’t see you off.”
The young cultivator in plain daoist robes, his back to Chen Yan, did not turn around either. He simply nodded slightly, then pulled open the inn door and walked out.
...
The young cultivator in plain daoist robes slowly made his way down the inn’s stairs.
With each step he took, the stairs beneath him creaked and groaned.
Even though this Moxu Inn was the property of a cultivation sect, that didn’t mean its construction and materials were any different from the inns in secular towns.
He continued walking toward the inn’s entrance.
In the inn’s main hall sat several cultivators in daoist robes, some old and some young.
The true ages of these cultivators matched their appearances perfectly.
After all, among the cultivators currently in the inn’s main hall, the highest cultivation level was only the Qi Circulation Realm.
To slow down one’s aging process, one would need at least the Martial Spring Realm or above to achieve it.
The cultivators in the hall all turned their gazes toward the young cultivator in the plain daoist robes, but after only a brief pause, they all went back to their own business.
He continued walking toward the inn’s entrance.
And he heard a young boy’s voice coming from outside the door.
“What, you want to be a Swordsman?”
“Yes.”
“Then do you know who the number one Swordsman of Moxu Mountain is?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s my dad! Then do you know which sect on Moxu Mountain is the best at using swords?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s the Fuliuliu Willow Sword Manor! My dad is the Manor Lord of Fuliuliu Willow Sword Manor, Guo Xiuzhu!”
“Oh.”
“You don’t know anything, and you still want to be a Swordsman?”
“Is that not allowed?”
“What’s with your tone? Don’t you know who I am? Call me Young Manor Lord!”
“What?”
“I think you’re asking for a beating!”