Chapter 1365: The Heavenly Demon Finally Awakens
Under normal circumstances, recklessly implanting the fragments of another world—even a shattered one—into the Tianfa Realm would have undoubtedly triggered a defensive, exclusionary force from its Heavenly Dao. This was the expected rejection reaction.
However, the world fragment the Heavenly Doctor had just stitched in was first fused with the remains of five Dao Integration cultivators. The power of the Earth's Soul within their bodies originated from the Tianfa Realm itself.
Consequently, the degree of rejection during the integration was remarkably low.
The Tianfa Realm swallowed the fragment with ease.
Feeling a faint trace of life slowly flow from the remnant into the Tianfa Realm, the Heavenly Doctor let out a long, relieved breath.
"My long and arduous journey was not in vain."
He observed quietly for a time. Perhaps because the Tianfa Realm had been in a state of starvation for so long, this fragment seemed exceptionally potent.
It not only replenished the realm's energy but also reignited the life force that the Heavenly Dao had suppressed in response to the ceaseless greed of its cultivators.
"However, I will need to venture to the edge of the Star Sea again to retrieve new world fragments before this one is completely digested..."
At this thought, the Heavenly Doctor's brow furrowed slightly.
Though his power allowed him to travel through the Star Sea at incredible speeds and largely ignore its dangers, the cosmic expanse was simply too vast. A single round trip required more than a year.
Furthermore, he estimated that it would take the Tianfa Realm roughly two years to fully digest this world fragment.
"By that calculation, I'll have no time left for anything else. My hands will be completely tied..."
The Heavenly Doctor sighed softly, feeling for the first time as though he were a single pillar trying to support a collapsing sky.
Over the years, the Heavenly Doctor had nurtured a few promising talents, but they were still a long way from being able to shoulder such immense responsibility.
It made him nostalgic for his old friends, the comrades who had once fought alongside him.
A series of figures flickered through his mind, one after another, until his thoughts came to an abrupt halt on a particular one.
"The Heavenly Demon..." The Heavenly Doctor's expression grew complex.
Back then, before the great war between the two realms, the Heavenly Demon had already begun to wander beyond the heavens. He did not return, even during the most intense and brutal phases of the conflict.
Yet, the Heavenly Doctor could faintly sense that the Heavenly Demon had not fallen.
He still existed, somewhere in a corner of the Star Sea.
Ordinarily, the Heavenly Doctor had no intention of contacting this most peculiar existence among the Venerables of the Tianfa Realm.
The other Venerables were all beings born of the Tianfa Realm, brought into existence through a shared resonance as they comprehended its constant Daos.
The Heavenly Demon, however, was the sole exception.
He was like a dissonant note in a grand symphony. The Heavenly Demon was the autonomous personification of the Tianfa Realm's constant Dao related to Heart Demons.
He *was* the Heavenly Dao of Heart Demons itself.
He had interacted with the other Venerables, but not often.
The Heavenly Demon was born of the Tianfa Realm, but from the moment of his birth, he had effectively detached himself from it, severing all ties with the matrix that had gestated him.
He cared little for the affairs of the Tianfa Realm.
His only desire was to advance further, to pursue the ethereal realm of the Supreme.
To remain in the Tianfa Realm was to be forever bound to the mundane. Thus, the Heavenly Demon had departed with resolute determination.
He had not appeared even when the Tianfa Realm teetered on the brink of life and death. It could be said that he no longer had any sentiment or obligation toward it.
"I wonder if the Heavenly Demon has even touched the threshold of the Supreme by now."
The Heavenly Doctor's gaze drifted, lost in thought for a long while before he finally made his decision: he would search the Star Sea for any trace of the Heavenly Demon.
Looking up at the sky, his form dissolved into a gentle breeze and merged with the world of the Tianfa Realm.
The constant Daos hummed, and the laws of reality operated like a machine of infinite precision, turning ceaselessly day and night.
Although the Heavenly Demon had already severed his connection to the realm's constant Daos, he was, after all, born from this very world.
The Heavenly Doctor, the Great Venerable of all laws, now acted in place of the Heavenly Dao itself, extending his senses into the distant Star Sea.
After nearly half a day, he finally pinpointed the Heavenly Demon's approximate location.
It was at the very edge of the Star Sea, amidst the sprawling Realm Fragment Great Wall!
The Heavenly Doctor's mind reeled as he contemplated the reasons the Heavenly Demon might be there.
He did not set out in haste. Before departing, the Heavenly Doctor invited all six of the Tianfa Realm's current Longevity Heavenly Venerates to convene.
He wished to discuss the future of their world.
Though they all appeared as phantoms rather than in their true forms, it was sufficient for their discussion.
"We shall naturally follow the Great Venerable's lead. The Tianfa Realm is, after all, our shared home. If it truly falls into the Immortal Ruins... there will be no place left for us in this vast Star Sea," a middle-aged Confucian scholar was the first to declare.
This man had attained the Dao during the twilight of a desolate era of cultivation. Moved by how years of mutual slaughter had left the world's cultivators mired in paranoia and distrust, he reversed the logic of heaven and earth, eradicating falsehood from the world. He was revered as the True Word Heavenly Venerate.
"Heheheh..." Before the True Word Heavenly Venerate could finish, a strange, grating laugh echoed through the space.
"What does the survival of the Tianfa Realm have to do with me? I'd rather it fell into the Immortal Ruins sooner!"
The Heavenly Doctor gazed at the figure shrouded in a black hood, his eyes flashing with undisguised killing intent.
If there was anyone among the Venerables whom the Heavenly Doctor wished to eliminate above all others, it was this one.
Before him stood the Reverse Fusion Heavenly Venerate.
This man had once been a great master of the medical Dao. He comprehended the process of the Tianfa Realm devouring the Xuanhuang Realm and used this as the basis for his reversal mechanism.
He caused the Great Dao of the Tianfa Realm to spontaneously generate a resistive force whenever it attempted to devour other worlds.
For this, the Reverse Fusion Heavenly Venerate attained the fruit of Longevity.
If not for this man's meddling with the world's principles, the Tianfa Realm would have completely devoured and digested the Xuanhuang Realm long ago.
And implanting fragments of other worlds would not be such a time-consuming process now.
The Reverse Fusion Heavenly Venerate, however, showed no fear of the Heavenly Doctor. He continued his sardonic commentary, "When the Tianfa Realm falls into the Immortal Ruins, it's bound to be torn to pieces. That is when my own Dao will reach its grand completion! Of course I'm looking forward to it!"
The other Heavenly Venerates all turned to look at him with disdain.
Only the One Heart Heavenly Venerate, Zhao Ruoxi, spoke with a voice laced with both grievance and infatuation. "It seems Big Brother Li has grown to dislike me, so eager to flee from my side."
As she spoke, glistening teardrops seemed to fall from her face.
The Reverse Fusion Heavenly Venerate's voice died in his throat. He subconsciously drifted a short distance away from the One Heart Heavenly Venerate, his posture radiating apprehension.
The Heavenly Doctor snorted coldly and stated with grave authority, "I will not force any of you to contribute. But if anyone dares to obstruct this from within..."
"Then even if it means damaging the constant Daos of the Tianfa Realm, I will see to it that they are eradicated, root and stem!"
"Let no one say they were not warned!"
The words of the Great Venerable of all laws carried immense weight.
Faced with this warning, even the previously defiant Reverse Fusion Heavenly Venerate dared not object. He could only nod in feigned compliance.
The Reverse Fusion Heavenly Venerate, by reversing the logic of heaven and earth, had become a part of the Tianfa Realm's constant Dao.
So long as the heavens and earth did not perish, the Venerate would not die.
Hence the name Longevity.
But longevity did not mean invincibility.
If one could forcibly extract the principle that the Reverse Fusion Heavenly Venerate represented from the Tianfa Realm and destroy it, one could indeed slay a Longevity Heavenly Venerate.
However, such an act required two conditions. First, only a grand cultivator with ultimate mastery over the principles of heaven and earth, such as the Heavenly Doctor, could accomplish it.
And second...
Even if successful, the process of extracting one heavenly principle would inevitably impact the others.
The Tianfa Realm would be gravely wounded as a result.
The already weakened realm could not possibly endure another such blow.
This was the very reason the Heavenly Doctor had restrained himself for so long.
"However, once I have completed several feedings and the Tianfa Realm has recovered some of its vitality, I should be able to remove these parasites," the Heavenly Doctor thought, looking at the Reverse Fusion Heavenly Venerate as he temporarily suppressed the killing intent in his heart.
"Some days ago, I left the Tianfa Realm to investigate the Immortal Ruins. Faintly, within the depths, I saw a figure seated cross-legged..."
Just as a tense silence fell over the gathering, a voice suddenly rang out, startling everyone present.
The Heavenly Doctor turned his attention to the speaker.
It was the Attained Dao Heavenly Venerate, Su Bai.
His heart ached for the mortals who suffered under the scourge of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma, barred from the path of cultivation and enlightenment.
Thus, he reversed this principle, taking upon himself the suffering of the miasma on behalf of all the world's beings. Now, mortals needed only to chant the name of the Attained Dao Heavenly Venerate day and night, and if their hearts were sincere, the miasma would naturally dissipate.
Su Bai offered a faint smile and continued, "I also glimpsed a character upon those Immortal Ruins."
Using his finger as a brush, Su Bai instantly inscribed the character for 'Hunger' into the air.
"My vision was blurry. This is the best I can reproduce it," Su Bai said, shaking his head with a hint of regret.
Despite his modest words, the waves of power pulsing from the character in the air testified to the terrifying nature of the True Immortal Script.
"I believe the culprit responsible for all things falling into the Immortal Ruins is this very character."
"The power of a True Immortal must naturally be countered by a True Immortal."
"Remnants of True Immortal power are not uncommon in the Star Sea. My suggestion is that we study these powers and reverse-engineer their original True Immortal Scripts. We shall use True Immortal Script to fight True Immortal Script," Su Bai proposed, his expression earnest.
This suggestion immediately sent the assembled Heavenly Venerates into deep contemplation.
Even the Heavenly Doctor found himself frowning, weighing the feasibility of such a plan.
Seeing their reaction, Su Bai added more fuel to the fire. "To be honest with you all, I have already made some minor progress through my own secret research over the years. Your talents far exceed my own. If we were to dedicate ourselves to this together..."
"Using True Immortal Script to fend off the Immortal Ruins would be within our grasp in no time!"
As he spoke, Su Bai inscribed another character.
However, compared to the one he had glimpsed in the Immortal Ruins, this one—comprehended by himself—was clearly much weaker.
The Heavenly Doctor watched the other Venerates, their expressions clearly moved. A knot of worry tightened in his heart.
He already understood the power of the True Immortal Script.
This group was already difficult enough to handle. If they were to master the True Immortal Script as well...
Should a conflict ever erupt, the Tianfa Realm itself would be caught in the crossfire and reduced to rubble!
At this thought, the Heavenly Doctor's sense of urgency intensified.
In the ensuing discussion, the group reached a general consensus.
Their course of action would be divided into three schools of thought.
The first was to assist the Heavenly Doctor in nourishing and feeding the Tianfa Realm, strengthening it from within.
The second was to comprehend the True Immortal Script, relying on external power to resist the Immortal Ruins.
The third was to remain aloof, seeing the matter as none of their concern.
After dismissing the group, the Heavenly Doctor, the Great Venerable of the Tianfa Realm, could not help but feel a wave of exhaustion.
With the six Longevity Heavenly Venerates holding the line, the Tianfa Realm would likely face no major crises for the time being.
And so, the Heavenly Doctor rallied his spirits and, without further delay, sped toward the location where he had sensed the Heavenly Demon.
"If I can secure the Heavenly Demon's aid, I could possess these Longevity Heavenly Venerates without them ever knowing."
"That would avoid needless casualties to the greatest extent possible..."
At that thought, the Heavenly Doctor's desire to find the Heavenly Demon grew even stronger.
He journeyed through the Star Sea, day after relentless day.
Finally, he once again arrived at the edge of the cosmos.
After a long search within the range of his senses, the Heavenly Doctor at last found the Heavenly Demon.
He was alive, it was true.
But he was frozen solid within a peculiar, crystalline substance!
"The Resplendent Crystal Wind?"
The Heavenly Doctor did not approach to retrieve the Heavenly Demon directly but observed from a safe distance.
He recognized the strange power that had encased the Heavenly Demon.
"Phenomena of the Star Sea have become rare indeed."
"It seems the Heavenly Demon met with misfortune not long after leaving the Tianfa Realm..."
"Perhaps I wronged him. It was not that he refused to help, but that he was unable to."
Seeing the tragic state of his old acquaintance, frozen for countless millennia, a pang of pity arose in the Heavenly Doctor's heart.
"It is said that when the Resplendent Crystal Wind appears, it can freeze entire star domains. It is one of the most terrifying phenomena in the Star Sea."
"An existence of the Heavenly Demon's caliber was utterly powerless before its devastating might."
The Heavenly Doctor's expression grew grave. "After all this time, the freezing power seems to have hardly weakened at all."
"That bone-chilling cold... it would freeze even the power of a True Immortal who dared to approach..."
But the Heavenly Doctor was, after all, the Heavenly Doctor.
After pondering on the spot for a long while, he finally devised a solution.
He wrapped the crystal in a thousand golden threads.
Then, he began to drag it, accelerating toward the invisible high wall.
As he neared it, he swung the crystal with tremendous force.
The crystal, which had been hurtling through space, came to a sudden, jarring halt in mid-air.
It shuddered violently as if from a colossal impact.
The Heavenly Doctor's eyes lit up. He keenly sensed that a fraction of the freezing power had been chipped away by the collision.
"Perhaps only the high wall can shake this power of deathly frost."
The Heavenly Doctor mused, as the golden threads shot out once more.
He pulled the crystal back a considerable distance from the wall.
Then, he repeated the maneuver.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With each successive impact, the crystal shrank.
When only a thin layer remained, the Heavenly Doctor carefully reduced the force of his throws.
After all, while the Heavenly Demon was theoretically immortal and indestructible, the high wall was an entity beyond comprehension.
He had to be cautious.
Otherwise, if his old acquaintance survived a cosmic cataclysm only to perish at his own hand...
The Heavenly Doctor would surely be overcome with guilt.
Of course, the most crucial consideration was the loss of a vital ally.
The Heavenly Doctor's control over his power was nearly perfect.
Ultimately, through this somewhat unorthodox method, he managed to awaken the Heavenly Demon.
A transparent, blurry figure stared intently at the Heavenly Doctor.
It remained silent.
"Heavenly Demon..." the Heavenly Doctor began, speaking first with a hint of awkwardness, knowing that his old acquaintance had likely been aware of the outside world even while frozen.
The Heavenly Demon's figure suddenly vanished.
A moment later, it had already appeared inside the Heavenly Doctor's mind!
(End of Chapter)
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