Chapter 1236: Good and Evil Finally Meet
Chapter 1236: Good and Evil Finally Meet
"And you are?"
Sun Erlang and Wang Xuanba had arrived with Little Qing and Little Red, and for a fleeting, bewildered moment, Xu Ke thought they were his descendants.
But the notion vanished as quickly as it came. He knew it was impossible. The Empire's small world was far too deficient in spiritual energy to ever produce cultivators of their caliber.
Xu Ke's gaze, deep and discerning, settled upon the two men.
Sun Erlang, calm and respectful, clasped his hands. "We have come on our master's orders to request an audience with you, senior."
"Oh?"
Xu Ke was taken aback. He hadn't imagined anyone in this world still remembered him.
After Little Qing and Little Red conveyed the Empire's recent plight through a private transmission, his expression grew even more solemn.
Vague figures flickered through his mind, but he dismissed each one in turn.
He cast an almost imperceptible glance at the decaying wooden coffin on his back, his first instinct being to refuse their invitation.
But then...
Xu Ke's eyes lingered on Little Qing and Little Red.
He let out a soft sigh.
They already knew his location, yet they had brought Qing and Hong with them. The unspoken threat was clear. Though he had avoided them for a millennium, it was out of necessity. Xu Ke was no cold-hearted monster; how could he stand by and watch them come to harm?
With that thought, Xu Ke shook his head slightly. "I can go with you, but I have a few conditions."
Sun Erlang quickly replied, "Please, senior, speak your mind."
"First," Xu Ke began slowly, "one of you must remain here in my stead, seated on this mountain peak. Until I return, you cannot leave beforehand, no matter what happens. As a precaution, I will place a seal on you."
"This..." Hearing such a peculiar request, Sun Erlang hesitated.
"No problem. I'll stay and sit here in your place, senior," Wang Xuanba declared, patting his chest in assurance.
Sun Erlang knew that after practicing the technique their master had taught him, his brother could manifest thousands of bodies like a strange beast. Even if this particular body were utterly destroyed, it would be of little consequence. He offered no objection.
Xu Ke nodded and continued, "Second, after I leave this small world with you, no one is to come within a thirty-meter radius of me. Otherwise, don't blame this old man for being discourteous."
His eyes swept over Little Qing and Little Red, his tone hardening. It was clear that "no one" included them as well.
A shiver went down Sun Erlang's spine, but he still nodded in agreement.
"As for the last point..."
Xu Ke turned to Little Qing and Little Red. "If you notice anything... wrong with me, kill me. Do not hesitate for a single moment."
As he spoke, a small, palm-sized wooden sword materialized in his hand.
With a flick of his wrist, the wooden sword flew of its own accord and hovered before Little Qing.
She was completely stunned.
But when she saw Xu Ke's aged yet resolute face, so reminiscent of the day he had insisted on leaving the Empire, she faltered.
Tears welled in her eyes, but she swallowed her words and answered softly, her voice firm.
"Alright."
Little Qing clutched the wooden sword tightly, her knuckles white, as she attentively listened to Xu Ke's telepathic instructions on how to use it.
Once everything was settled, Xu Ke turned his gaze back to the two men.
Seeing Xu Ke's immense gravity, Sun Erlang and Wang Xuanba didn't dare to be careless. "Senior, do you have any other instructions?"
"Wait here for a moment. And stand back."
Though puzzled, the two men and two beasts exchanged glances and obediently flew a great distance away from the stark stone mountain where Xu Ke stood.
Xu Ke placed his right hand on the mountain's peak and pressed down gently.
In that instant, the stone mountain, the very heavens and earth—the entire world—began to tremble.
A sharp, venomous curse seemed to echo through the air, though it might have been a trick of the mind.
When the tremors subsided, the small world felt somehow different than before, though Sun Erlang and the others couldn't pinpoint what had changed.
Xu Ke slowly rose and looked at Wang Xuanba, stamping his right foot.
Wang Xuanba gave Sun Erlang a reassuring look before flying to Xu Ke's side.
"Sit."
Xu Ke moved his foot, revealing a deep depression that had appeared in the ground on the summit.
Wang Xuanba sat down without a second thought.
"This might hurt a little," Xu Ke said, now hovering in mid-air, "but you won't die."
The moment he flew beyond the boundary of the towering stone mountain, a piercing scream tore from Wang Xuanba's throat.
It was as if an immense, invisible weight had slammed down upon him. Caught off guard, his spine was instantly crushed against the ground.
A sickening chorus of grinding, splintering bone filled the air.
"Xuanba?!" Sun Erlang cried out in alarm.
"I'm... fine!" A hand emerged from the mangled pulp of what was once a body.
It gave a weak wave in Sun Erlang's direction.
"It just... really does hurt a bit."
Xu Ke gestured lightly toward Wang Xuanba. "Let's go. I told you he wouldn't die."
The pressure on Wang Xuanba seemed to lessen slightly, allowing him to just barely lift his head again.
Seeing this, Sun Erlang took a deep breath. He cast aside his hesitation and, along with Little Qing and Little Red, led the way.
Xu Ke followed closely behind them, step for step.
Like Little Qing and Little Red, Sun Erlang covertly watched Xu Ke from the corner of his eye.
When Xu Ke had been sitting, the seemingly rotten coffin on his back hadn't been particularly noticeable.
But now—and Sun Erlang wasn't sure if it was his imagination—ever since they left the small world, the coffin seemed to be growing less decayed, more complete.
Its form was slowly expanding.
It was as if...
...something was about to crawl out at any moment.
Recalling Xu Ke's three strange demands, a sense of unease bloomed in Sun Erlang's heart.
He began to hear faint, inexplicable whispers at the edge of his hearing.
Just as he couldn't resist the urge to listen closer, a surge of icy coldness suddenly coursed through his mind, a familiar energy activating on its own.
The dissonant murmurs vanished instantly, replaced by Xu Ke's low warning.
"Pay no mind to those strange sounds."
Sun Erlang broke out in a cold sweat.
He considered himself a man of strong will, especially after having lived another full, genuine life in the simulated world of the Dao Transformation Stone at the Taiyan Sect.
And yet, his centuries of experience had been utterly useless against those insidious whispers. He had nearly succumbed in an instant.
"If not for the Immortal Heart Mantra Master personally bestowed upon me, I would have been done for."
"This Xu Ke..."
Sun Erlang no longer dared to look at Xu Ke or the coffin he carried. He focused his mind and quickened his pace.
Before long, the group traversed the vast emptiness of the void and arrived just outside the Great Qi small world.
"Hm?"
This time, the sound of surprise came from Xu Ke.
Sun Erlang glanced back and saw that, for some unknown reason, the coffin on Xu Ke's back had once again become small and decayed, looking almost identical to how it had in the world they'd just left.
Having been notified in advance, all the citizens of the Sacred Capital had returned to their homes.
The enormous city was utterly deserted, leaving only a straight, ethereal path that led directly to the Sacred Throne.
"Master is waiting for you, senior," Sun Erlang said respectfully.
There was no longer any need to lead the way.
From the moment he arrived, Xu Ke could feel it—a powerful presence, omnipresent, blanketing the entire small world like a great sun in the sky.
It far surpassed what one would consider the Dao Integration stage.
It even exerted a certain degree of suppression on the sealed malevolent will of Xuanhuang within the coffin on his back.
What truly unsettled Xu Ke, however, was a faint, almost imperceptible trace of familiarity within that overwhelming aura.
But...
"How is that possible?"
With a heart full of doubt, apprehension, and a sliver of excitement he dared not name, Xu Ke finally stepped into the hall of the Sacred Throne.
When he saw the figure seated high above, a wave of relief washed over him.
It was followed by a flicker of disappointment.
"I was overthinking it. How could it possibly be Mr. Bai, who is long dead?"
Forcibly suppressing the stray thoughts, Xu Ke focused his gaze, studying the legendary Faceless Sage Emperor of Great Qi.
Or rather, the Heavenly Mandate Sage Emperor.
At the same time, Li Ping was observing Xu Ke. And the coffin on his back.
Naturally, Li Ping saw far more than Sun Erlang had. He saw not decaying wood, but a translucent, pale figure, flickering in and out of existence. The figure possessed the most handsome features in the world, yet they were twisted into an expression of pure venom and malice.
Li Ping felt the urging of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao descend upon him once more, fiercer than ever.
Simultaneously, the pale, malevolent consciousness of Xuanhuang seemed to sense something as well.
It snapped its head up, its eyes locking onto Li Ping with dead certainty.
The external manifestation of this was the coffin on Xu Ke's back, which began to shake with incredible violence. Loud, heavy thuds echoed from within, resounding through the cavernous throne room.
"You..."
Xu Ke's guard shot up instantly.
His body blurred as he retreated, a phantom image of a great wheel appearing above his head. The golden wheel spun rapidly, and from it emerged the images and roars of a billion ferocious beasts, attempting to pin down the vibrating coffin.
But the struggles of the Xuanhuang malevolent consciousness were more intense than ever before.
It was not until the Sage Emperor, Li Ping, acted on a thought—subtly activating the "Myriad Spirits of Heaven and Earth, Refining the Divine from All Living Beings" array to shield the entity from the main Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao—that the coffin finally grew quiet. Having lost its connection to its other half, the malevolent will gradually calmed down.
By now, Xu Ke, having discovered that escape was impossible, had ceased his futile efforts. He stared coldly at Li Ping. "Who in the world are you?"
How could Xu Ke not understand by now? This Sage Emperor was after the sealed malevolent will of Xuanhuang.
"Who I am..."
Li Ping paused for a moment. "That is not important. What is important is that it is time to return what was lost to its rightful owner."
The color drained from Xu Ke's face. "Return it to its rightful owner?"
"Back then, Mr. Bai failed the trust of the Heavenly Dao and sealed away a portion of its power. Today, I will set things right and return the Dao to Heaven," Li Ping declared. His voice was not loud, but it echoed endlessly within the throne room.
To Xu Ke's ears, each word was like a clap of thunder.
"What did you say?!"
In his long life, he had witnessed many strange and incredible things, but never before had he been so utterly shocked.
"Suppression is not the answer; guidance is. Sealing it is only a temporary measure. The longer it is restrained, the more violent the backlash will be on the day it breaks free. Did Mr. Bai not teach you that?"
"How much longer can you last?"
Li Ping gave Xu Ke no time to recover, his words striking at his heart one after another.
Beads of cold sweat trickled down Xu Ke's forehead.
"Are you..." he asked, his voice trembling with disbelief.
"The Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate?"
The moment he uttered the title, the very air in the throne room seemed to freeze.
After a brief silence, Li Ping chuckled softly.
"No."
The answer clearly caught Xu Ke off guard, and he was plunged into confusion.
"After Mr. Bai's betrayal," Li Ping's tone was inscrutable, "do you really think the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao would ever trust a cultivator again?"
"I am not the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate."
"I am the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao."
As Li Ping spoke, he rose thunderously from the Sacred Throne.
In that instant, his figure seemed to expand infinitely, becoming a titan that stood between heaven and earth, filling Xu Ke's entire field of vision.
The already formidable aura emanating from Li Ping erupted, climbing to new, unimaginable heights.
The shielding from the Myriad Spirits array vanished as Li Ping borrowed the full power of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao. And this time, for the sake of its sealed other half, the Heavenly Dao was more generous than it had ever been.
A faint fissure appeared in the sky above the Great Qi small world—a sign that the world itself was being stretched to its absolute limit. If not for the upgrades Li Ping had overseen over the years, raising its threshold far beyond that of an ordinary small world, it would have been instantly torn apart by the strain.
Though the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao had seemed helpless before the Dharma Spreader and the True Immortals of the Immortal Ruins, the truth was that the current Xuanhuang Realm had fused with the remnants of countless cultivation worlds. Its power was not much weaker than it had been in its original, complete state. Strength was always a matter of relativity.
Now, in Xu Ke's eyes, he saw once again that graceful figure from the past, a being whose every move carried the rhythm and will of heaven and earth. A being upon whom all the world's favor was bestowed.
But there was a difference. Mr. Bai had been gentle and refined.
The figure before him now...
was domineering. Majestic.
He inspired not just reverence, but fear.
In a daze, Xu Ke recalled Mr. Bai's final instructions.
"On the matter of whether to leave, my opinion differs from this consciousness."
"I do not believe I am wrong, nor do I believe this is a betrayal."
"I am simply searching for a better way to save the world."
"Xu Ke, if you can, please watch over it for me."
"I believe that one day, it will come to understand."
...
At the time, Xu Ke hadn't understood Mr. Bai's words. In the millennia that followed, the consciousness of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao that Mr. Bai had separated not only failed to understand but instead devolved in an increasingly extreme direction. The thoughts it conveyed grew more venomous, its curses more malevolent. It even began to affect any being that drew near it.
The small world Xu Ke inhabited, the very prison for this consciousness, had slowly lost its life force, transforming into a barren wasteland. His own body had aged far more rapidly than was natural.
Until today, Xu Ke had believed his fate was to be consumed by that malevolent will.
He never imagined...
"Is this what Mr. Bai meant by 'coming to understand'?"
"It's just that it was the other part, the main body, that understood."
The thought came to him unbidden.
"Give it back to me."
Just as Xu Ke's mind was reeling, Li Ping spoke again.
The words jolted Xu Ke from his contemplation. He instinctively took a step back, the golden wheel still pressing down on the decaying coffin.
(End of Chapter)
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