The Master of the Underworld Flower Workshop had departed, carrying Zhang Ruochen’s letter to the Underworld Palace.
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged in the stone hall, hands resting on his knees.
In the palm of his left hand swirled a grey mist of death energy, forming a tiny vortex. Strands of death rules from heaven and earth flowed continuously into it.
In his right hand, life rules gathered.
Huang Tian still wore the appearance of the Blood Absolute War God. His figure towered like a divine mountain. His voice rang out vast and domineering. “What is life? What is death? For birds and beasts, emerging from womb or egg is life. For trees and flowers, a seed taking root and sprouting is life.”
Zhang Ruochen kept his eyes tightly shut. “Does existence itself mean life?”
“For the Stone Clan, the birth of consciousness is life. Before consciousness awakens, everything is stone, yet it already exists. Is that also life?” Huang Tian asked.
Zhang Ruochen replied, “If there were no life to begin with, how could consciousness arise from death?”
“Well asked! Exactly. If stone possessed no life, how could consciousness ever emerge? All things in the world possess life.”
Huang Tian could not help looking at Zhang Ruochen with new respect. “Since you grasp this point, matters become simpler. Tell me plainly, what exactly is your current state?”
Zhang Ruochen knew many things could not be concealed.
If he wished to understand more of the mysteries of life and death, for now he could only choose to trust Huang Tian.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Around my body there is a circle, sometimes near, sometimes far, endless in layers. Within this circle I can draw life rules, using them to generate life energy and keep the flame of life within me from extinguishing.”
“Yet every time I draw one life rule, a great many death rules are automatically born.”
“These death rules are very fine, so for the moment life and death remain in balance. But life can never overpower death, and I cannot completely escape death.”
Hearing this, a flash of astonishment passed through Huang Tian’s eyes. He sighed with deep emotion. “Truly inconceivable. Yes, in the entire world, probably only you could remain alive in such a state. If Qing Tian knew that because of him you had entered this condition, he would regret merely crippling your cultivation.”
“What do you mean by that, great god?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Huang Tian stood with hands clasped behind his back in the shadow of a pillar. “From ancient times until now, you alone have cultivated a perfect First-Grade Sacred Will. The meaning of ‘One’ is the whole of heaven and earth; it represents everything in existence.”
“I originally believed a complete ‘One’ could never exist in the world. I thought your Sacred Will, like Yan Wushen’s Six Paths of Reincarnation, was merely a projection of One, always remaining within the scope of One.”
“Yet unexpectedly, you truly leapt beyond it.”
“What does it mean to leap beyond?” Zhang Ruochen asked, puzzled.
Huang Tian himself had once attempted to reach First-Grade Sacred Will. Cultivating both life and death simultaneously, bolstered by the Truth Boundary Form of “Boundless Universe”, he believed he held every advantage.
Regrettably, he had failed.
But that experience gave him understanding of First-Grade Sacred Will far surpassing that of other divinities.
Huang Tian said, “One is the circle around your body. It is also the highest realm in Buddhism, called the True Self. By discarding all your cultivation and returning to the origin, you were attempting to leap beyond. When the True Self manifests, it means you have succeeded. You stand outside life and death, beyond the five elements.”
Born in the Western Buddha Realm, Huang Tian naturally explained all things from the perspective of Buddhist Dharma.
In truth, One, the circle, and True Self can all be called Wuji, the Limitless.
Entering Wuji means leaping beyond the original world. How then could the five elements or life and death bind him?
The True Self Gate of Prajna merely carries a trace of the flavour of True Self. It is the union of Buddhism and Destiny.
Huang Tian continued, “Although you have leapt beyond, you still need to learn from heaven and earth and comprehend nature in order to walk your own path and grow strong. Otherwise, even having escaped the five elements, you will forever be suppressed by heaven and earth and eventually perish within them.”
“How does one learn from heaven and earth?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Huang Tian replied, “In truth it is no different from cultivation in the Divine Realm. The only difference is that other divinities still cultivate within this heaven and earth. No matter how powerful they become, they remain part of it.”
“You, however, are learning heaven and earth itself. You are cultivating yourself.”
“After stepping into the Divine Realm, the usefulness of cultivation methods gradually diminishes. What every divinity primarily cultivates is the divine path formed from their Sacred Will, their own unique path.”
“For example, Blood Absolute’s Fivefold Seas Sacred Will was formed in the Great Saint realm by fusing five paths: the Heavenly Dao of the Sea of Blood, the Dao of Fire of the Five Elements, the Dao of Lightning, the Dao of Death, and the Dao of Darkness.”
“After becoming a god, the divine path he created is the Fivefold Seas Divine Path. He can even condense Fivefold Seas rules completely different from the rules of the Sea of Blood, Fire, Lightning, Death, and Darkness. These can be called Fivefold Seas divine patterns. They belong only to him.”
“Yet even if Blood Absolute gathered the profundities of all five paths and cultivated his Fivefold Seas Divine Path into the Fivefold Seas Profundity Divine Path, he would still remain within this world. All his achievements would still belong to this world. As he grows stronger, the world grows stronger too. He can never transcend it.”
“Now I somewhat understand why he believes you can stop the Quantity Tribulation. Because you have become the greatest variable in this world. No one can predict what you will become. Your future depends only on yourself. Your future might even grant true immortality!”
“However, you are not yet strong enough. You are merely a bubble in the vast ocean.”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “When can one be considered strong?”
“Some bubbles form the atmospheric layer of Xinghuan Heaven, capable of enveloping an entire macro world. When your circle can envelop the whole universe, then everything in the universe will be yours to command. You could even create a complete universe of your own,” Huang Tian said.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Is that possible?”
“There is no possibility at all. At least for now, none exists,” Huang Tian replied.
Zhang Ruochen was speechless.
“But people are always changing, and the Dao changes too. Who can predict the future? Still, your potential is truly unmatched in all history. The future holds great promise for you.” A rare smile appeared on Huang Tian’s face.
He continued, “Let us speak of more practical matters. The reason that every time you draw one life rule, a great many fine death rules are born automatically is that life and death always coexist.”
“Death itself arose because of life.”
“This world was originally primal chaos. Only when life appeared did death follow. Moreover, death is stronger than life and possesses more rules.”
“That is why nothing in the world is eternal; everything dies. Countless cultivators throughout history who sought immortality have all failed, because they could not contend with the death rules of heaven and earth.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “The death rules in this heaven and earth far outnumber the life rules. Yet I have already leapt beyond. Why can I not decide the quantity of life and death rules within my Wuji circle?”
“Because you take this heaven and earth as your teacher. The life rules you draw are merely copies. Therefore, whatever this heaven and earth is like, you can only be the same,” Huang Tian explained.
Zhang Ruochen possessed extraordinary comprehension. “I understand! As long as within my Wuji circle the life rules surpass the death rules, the flame of life within me can become completely stable.”
“In theory, yes. But with your current spiritual strength, you are still far from creating life rules. If you do not learn from heaven and earth, how can you draw life rules?” Huang Tian posed the question, guiding Zhang Ruochen to enlightenment.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Then from now on I shall devote all my energy to studying the Dao of Life.”
“You are wrong! Death rules are indeed your enemy, but that enemy is immensely powerful. If you do not understand your enemy, how can you defeat it?” Huang Tian said.
Zhang Ruochen conceded, “Very well, I was wrong. Life and death are inseparable.”
A moment later.
“I have it! Life rules are derived from the Dao of Light among the Nine Eternal Daos. I must study the Dao of Light. And to study the Dao of Light, I must also study the Dao of Darkness, for light and darkness are likewise inseparable,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Huang Tian nodded. “A teachable child! Can you control the Wuji circle you speak of? Or rather, can you draw the Wuji circle into your body?”
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes and shook his head. “Not yet.”
Huang Tian said, “Then the road ahead of you remains long.”
Zhang Ruochen raised both hands. Life rules and death rules flowed between them. “Great god, you may take back the Life Profundity and Death Profundity.”
“They are only one ten-thousandth. Keep them. With profundities to assist you, your comprehension of life and death will be swifter,” Huang Tian said.
Zhang Ruochen’s heart jolted fiercely.
One ten-thousandth of Life Profundity and Death Profundity might seem small, yet for a divinity of the Supplement Heaven realm it was still an enormous amount. Even a direct disciple might not be granted such a gift.
Zhang Ruochen and Huang Tian had met only by chance and shared no deeper bond. That Huang Tian bestowed profundities upon him, was it because of his talent?
No.
Extraordinary talent should mean he ought to be killed at once.
It must be because of Bai Qing’er, and because Blood Absolute had said Zhang Ruochen could stop the Quantity Tribulation.
Whether for the love of his daughter or for all beings under heaven, both reasons made cultivating Zhang Ruochen worthwhile.
Over the following days, Zhang Ruochen activated the sundial, spending several years repairing the Nine Yin Evasion Formation and comprehending life and death, drawing life rules.
During this time, divinities came one after another to investigate the edges of the reddish-yellow Gobi, yet all hastily withdrew. None dared enter.
At last, in the starry sky, the star-soul divine seat of the Goddess in Rainbow Robes dimmed completely. The fall of a realm lord of a powerful macro world and a peerless great god was bound to raise a tremendous storm in both Hell Realm and Heaven.
Huang Tian stood beneath the hibiscus tree.
The instant the Goddess in Rainbow Robes perished, he sensed the location of the Heaven-Seizing Divine Emperor. He opened a pair of blazing tiger eyes. “He is on the sun of Xinghuan Heaven! Zhang Ruochen, I am setting out! To be honest, this battle will most likely end with both of us dead. Will you come with me?”
Huang Tian had already told Zhang Ruochen that to better comprehend life and death, he must enter Huang Tian’s divine realm world and witness this battle against the Heaven-Seizing Divine Emperor.
He had not told Zhang Ruochen why.
He had only said that if he died, Zhang Ruochen would die too.
Zhang Ruochen finished fully repairing the Nine Yin Evasion Formation and instructed Ah Ji to guard the place. Then he walked towards Huang Tian and smiled. “A clash at your level is something I should keep as far away from as possible. But who made me so eager to hear your story?”
“With those words, once I slay the Heaven-Seizing Divine Emperor, his Light Profundity will be yours! But before that, you must accompany me to the First Goddess City as Zhang Ruochen, so that all cultivators of Xinghuan Heaven are certain it was the Blood Absolute War God who killed the Goddess in Rainbow Robes, and it is the Blood Absolute War God who now goes to kill the Heaven-Seizing Divine Emperor,” Huang Tian said.
Zhang Ruochen did not refuse. Instead he took out a belt. “With this, it might be even more convincing.”
