Chapter 1252: The Dharma Spreader's Origins
Chapter 1252: The Dharma Spreader's Origins
The Sacred Emperor's golden chains shifted slightly, and one of the paper figures was dragged before Li Ping.
Unlike the others, this paper figure showed little fear on its face. Instead, it looked listless and lethargic.
Its thick eyebrows were turned upwards, giving it a somewhat comical appearance.
"Survival?"
"With no skin, where would the fur grow? If the Xuanhuang Realm is destroyed, where will you exist!" the Sacred Emperor said coldly.
The thick-browed paper figure gave a bitter smile. "The Salvation Sect's strength is mediocre at best. If the Xuanhuang Realm is truly destroyed, what could we possibly do? We'd have no choice but to accept it."
"Surely, Your Holiness, you wouldn't blame the mortals of this world for not stepping up to save the Xuanhuang Realm? One can only do what one's abilities allow..."
Li Ping didn't argue with the Salvation Sect's paper figure. The golden chains tightened once more. "Sharp-tongued and unrepentant, even at death's door."
The threads wrapped around the thick-browed paper figure, coil after coil.
The other captured paper figures cried out in terror.
But the thick-browed one remained as if seated in solemn meditation, its expression growing grave.
It began to chant: "Time becomes void, calamity is eternal. A hundred lifetimes, a thousand tribulations, forge my golden form..."
For the first time, the Sacred Emperor's previously invincible golden source power failed to have any effect.
Li Ping felt the power he exerted upon the paper figure being subtly and invisibly dissipated.
It was even being absorbed by the figure, becoming a part of its foundation.
The golden threads slowly dissolved. The thick-browed paper figure remained motionless, but the color of its paper body gradually shifted from a faded, yellowish-white to the brilliant gold of the Source Power Essence.
The Stone Slab, which had been observing from the side, suddenly wore a grave expression. "Friend, be careful. This is the ultimate art of the Salvation Sect, the [Eternal Calamity World]. It can transform the power of any calamity in the world into nourishment for one's own cultivation."
Li Ping sneered. "Just a coward hiding in its shell. You want to use my power to cultivate? Then I'll oblige you!"
A dazzling golden radiance, like a roaring flame, erupted from the Sacred Emperor.
The blazing light illuminated the entire Salvation Sect space in a sea of gold.
Golden flames, seemingly condensed into a solid form, surged along the remaining chains and were funneled into the paper figure's golden body.
The other paper figures, not the primary targets but merely caught in the backlash, let out earth-shattering wails as if they were being roasted by fire. One could only imagine the immense pressure the golden-bodied figure was enduring. It appeared to twist and distort, as if on the verge of melting.
Yet, the thick-browed paper figure remained unmoving, its expression serene.
This scene secretly astonished the Stone Slab.
Although their original appearances were unrecognizable in their paper forms, to remain so calm and unharmed under the Sacred Emperor's might was a rare feat, even in the Salvation Sect's heyday.
The Stone Slab began to speculate about the thick-browed paper figure's identity.
Meanwhile, the faceless Sacred Emperor did not lessen his torment of the Salvation Sect's paper figures.
The golden flames burned ever more fiercely. While they didn't completely incinerate the paper figures, they slowly coated them in an indelible layer of gold.
The thick-browed figure, in particular, was enveloped in flames, its golden luminescence growing increasingly conspicuous.
"You wish to retreat from the world and escape disaster, but I will not permit it!"
"The fate of the Xuanhuang Realm, its rise or fall, is a responsibility you all share!"
The Sacred Emperor's voice was like thunder as the Source Power Essence erupted violently.
It illuminated every corner of the space with a brilliance so intense that even the Stone Slab had to shut its eyes to avoid it.
When the light receded, the darkness in the Salvation Sect's grand hall had completely vanished.
The deeply unsettling, gloomy aura was also gone.
Freed from their chains, the paper figures fell to the ground in a chaotic heap.
They seemed to possess a little more vitality than before.
The thick-browed leader, however, had transformed into a "little golden man."
The golden figure still looked listless and dejected. It sighed, "Your Holiness, to waste so much Source Power Essence on useless trash like us is truly a great extravagance!"
"It's simply not worth it!"
Li Ping said in a deep voice, "If everything in this world were decided by pure reason, the Xuanhuang Realm would have perished long ago! You wouldn't be here chattering away!"
Before he had even finished speaking, a large "X" suddenly appeared on the golden paper figure's face, sealing its mouth.
The same then happened to all the other paper figures.
The Salvation Sect's grand hall, once as noisy as a marketplace, fell silent in an instant.
"Friend Yi Jue?" the Stone Slab asked tentatively, looking at the golden paper figure.
The golden figure couldn't speak, but it blinked at the Stone Slab.
It was impossible to tell if it was an acknowledgment or a denial.
They had no time for reunions. Without the support of the Source Power Essence, the space was gradually becoming unstable.
"Let's get out of here first."
Li Ping took the Stone Slab and the host of mindless paper figures and teleported outside the Salvation Sect.
At that moment, the true form of the ancient immortal sect, suppressed by the Dharma Spreader's seal, was revealed.
It was a book, open in the middle.
There were no words inside, only relief-like carvings of mountains and empty buildings.
As the book's pages turned on their own, the scenery within changed.
But it was all presented in silhouette, looking both comical and eerie.
Li Ping's giant hand grasped the Book of Salvation, and the magnificent mountains and rivers within were instantly bathed in a golden hue.
"Absorb!"
The Sacred Emperor gave a low command. The countless paper figures stacked together, including the thick-browed golden one, all flew uncontrollably into the Book of Salvation.
Snap!
Li Ping pressed down with his right hand, snapping the book shut.
All strange phenomena vanished in an instant.
"We shouldn't linger here. Although my method of breaking the Dharma Spreader's seal was quite ingenious, restoring it even as I broke it, I can't guarantee that he won't notice the disturbance."
"Follow me."
Li Ping said in a low voice, his form already vanishing from the sealed space.
The Stone Slab followed the Sacred Emperor through a spatial passage of the Xuanhuang Realm and into an endless void.
Even at their speed, they flew through the void for quite some time before sensing the aura of a world ahead.
"That is..."
The Stone Slab was momentarily stunned.
"The One Beginning Sect's Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven? It's actually here. Doesn't that mean the Longevity realm expert who moved the cave-heaven back then..."
While the Stone Slab was still lost in thought, Bai Hua had already flown out to greet them.
Her gaze lingered on the Stone Slab for a moment before she sent a voice transmission to Li Ping.
Li Ping nodded slightly.
Then, Bai Hua gave a nod to the Stone Slab before flying back into the Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven.
"This is the place where I rest and recuperate. What do you think of it compared to the main Xuanhuang Realm?" Li Ping asked, leading the Stone Slab into the Great Qi Small World.
With a sweep of its divine sense, a general view of the small world appeared in the Stone Slab's mind.
Even though some areas were concealed by a mysterious power, preventing it from seeing everything, what was visible on the surface alone was enough to shake the Stone Slab to its core.
Although the Creation Stone Slab's reputation for recording everything under the heavens was no longer entirely accurate, it at least knew everything that had happened in the provinces of the original Xuanhuang Realm with perfect clarity.
However, compared to this Great Qi Small World...
It was like looking at a world that was centuries, an entire era, behind.
There were so many things within it that even the Stone Slab itself couldn't comprehend.
Furthermore, it sensed the auras of old acquaintances here.
Like the ancient earth-vein tree, and that disciple of the Beast Control Sect.
By the time it followed the Sacred Emperor to his throne, the Stone Slab's shock had finally begun to subside.
"For so many years, carrying this burden, I believed that all the affairs of the world were contained within my mind. But after what I have seen and heard today, I finally realize that the world has long since moved beyond my predictions..." the Stone Slab said, a hint of melancholy in its tone.
"There's no need to be disheartened, friend. Constant change and progress is the proper way. If the world were to stagnate for thousands of years..."
"...wouldn't that just make us look incompetent?" Li Ping offered a slight smile.
For a moment, the Stone Slab didn't know how to respond and remained silent.
The shocks it had received since encountering this "incarnation of the Heavenly Dao" were simply too great.
Compared to the scenes it was witnessing now, the Xuanhuang Realm in its mind seemed like a play on a stage—a false image performed purely for its benefit!
This realization left the Stone Slab feeling somewhat lost and dejected.
"I always knew that the Five Elders Council, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, and the other supreme experts of the Xuanhuang Realm who knew of my existence would find ways to avoid my records. But I never imagined that the truth of the world had already evolved to such an extent..."
Li Ping seemed to perceive the Stone Slab's inner thoughts and said slowly, "The Xuanhuang Realm is the last bastion of life in the Darkest Star Sea. The main realm, the fragments of other worlds, the survivors of the Star Sea, and powers from beyond the High Wall..."
"...all converge here. The situation is so complex that forget you, friend; not even the Dharma Spreader or the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao itself can claim to fully grasp it."
"Indeed..." The Stone Slab sighed and nodded.
It thought again of the Fishing Pool it had seen earlier.
How many more such hidden treasures existed within the Xuanhuang Realm?
As an ancient remnant of the Xuanhuang Realm, it was finally experiencing what it felt like to be out of touch with the times.
"The world has changed, and the story is no longer the same."
Scenes from the original Xuanhuang Realm, from a long, long time ago, floated through the Stone Slab's mind, leaving it in a slight daze.
It was the Sacred Emperor's voice that broke its reverie.
"The fusion of worlds is now inevitable. A battle between me and the Dharma Spreader is also certain. But regardless of who wins or loses, it will not change the fact that the Xuanhuang Realm is being reborn from its ruins."
Li Ping didn't mention helping the Stone Slab with its mental overload, but instead changed the subject.
The Stone Slab's thoughts converged, and it focused its attention on Li Ping.
"The crucial issue is the new orthodoxy of the Xuanhuang Realm."
"Friend, do you know the Dharma Spreader's origins?"
Li Ping's divine sense locked onto the Stone Slab as he asked in a deep voice.
The Stone Slab pondered for a moment before replying, "When the Dharma Spreader first appeared, we of the Ten Great Immortal Sects investigated him. He is indeed a native cultivator of the Xuanhuang Realm. His life, from childhood to adulthood, is impeccably clear and on record."
"The Dharma Spreader's name is Xuanyuan Tuo. He grew up in a rural village. Because he was frail and sickly as a child, his parents gave him the pet name Goudan."
"Before the age of fifty, his life was no different from that of an ordinary farmer. It wasn't until after his fifty-first year that he suddenly attained enlightenment and rose to prominence overnight."
"Because of this, the Ten Great Immortal Sects' initial investigation could find nothing about his background. He truly did attain the Dao in an instant."
The Stone Slab recounted slowly.
As it spoke, scenes from those years materialized before the Sacred Emperor's throne.
...
"Xuanyuan Tuo." Li Ping watched as the simple, foolish-looking boy in the image slowly transformed into a taciturn middle-aged farmer, then gradually into a white-haired old man.
"It is indeed possible for a mortal to attain enlightenment overnight. However, it usually happens when they are young. For someone like the Dharma Spreader to undergo such a transformation when he was nearing the end of his natural lifespan..."
"...it is truly baffling and suspicious," Li Ping commented.
The Stone Slab nodded. "The Ten Sects had the same suspicions back then. But we used a secret art, verified by the Heavenly Dao itself, and confirmed that he had not been possessed, nor had an outsider assumed his identity."
"But the Dharma Spreader is truly and profoundly mysterious. It was as if he possessed innate knowledge. That year, several Longevity experts from the Ten Sects tried to assassinate him, but he somehow managed to neutralize them. After that, he was completely beyond our control. Perhaps if the Ten Sects had struck with their full might from the start, the outcome might have been different..." the Stone Slab said with a sigh.
The hall suddenly fell silent.
After a long while.
Li Ping suddenly spoke. "Verified by the Heavenly Dao... but what if the method used to steal his identity transcends the Heavenly Dao itself?"
The Stone Slab was stunned into silence.
At first glance, the question seemed absurd.
But as the Stone Slab considered it carefully, it realized that it was precisely because the Ten Sects had been too confident in their own methods that they had held onto this unwavering conclusion for thousands of years.
"At this point, what use is there in questioning the Dharma Spreader's origins?"
After a brief moment of dismay, this thought surfaced in the Stone Slab's mind.
Filled with confusion, it looked at the Sacred Emperor once more.
The Sacred Emperor's voice echoed like thunder through the hall. "As I said before, the key to the newborn Xuanhuang Realm lies in those two words: orthodoxy."
"It is like a new body pieced together from severed limbs. Who serves as the brain is of the utmost importance."
"Right now, the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao still considers itself the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao. But soon, that may no longer be the case..."
Li Ping's tone was grim.
The Stone Slab knew that as an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao, he wouldn't speak without reason. Its expression changed. "Please elaborate, friend."
"When you observe events through the slab, you can remain detached, viewing them from an outsider's perspective. But with the fusion of worlds, memories become like personal experiences, a blend of real and illusory. Over time, it becomes impossible to distinguish between falsehood and reality, between the self and the other."
"Especially..."
Li Ping's gaze shifted toward the main Xuanhuang Realm, countless leagues away.
"...now that the Heavenly Dao is weakened, its ability to resist is already negligible."
"If one day, the remnant wills of all the other worlds' Heavenly Daos were to come crashing down like a flood..."
"...I fear the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao would not be able to withstand it. It would go mad, losing its sense of self in an instant."
Li Ping said, his tone tinged with self-deprecation.
"And after that, if someone were to use a more complete Heavenly Dao's will to guide and corrupt it, they could steal the heavens and replace the sun, changing the very orthodoxy of Xuanhuang. At that point, though it would still be called the Xuanhuang Realm, it would no longer be the original Xuanhuang, inside or out."
Hearing this, the Stone Slab fell into deep thought.
The target of the Sacred Emperor's words was obvious: the Dharma Spreader.
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