Chapter 414
Chapter 414
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 414
Chapter Title: Cultivators Are Thieves of Heaven and Earth!
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Cultivators are thieves of heaven and earth!
At this moment, that single thought filled Lu Yang's mind. He stared blankly at the sky, as if beholding an entirely new world.
*'Holes... all holes?'*
*'Even the fruit positions are like that—even the largest thirty of them... But shouldn't fruit positions be part of this heaven and earth?'*
*'Or could it be...'*
Lu Yang's thoughts raced. Then, as if struck by sudden realization, he abruptly turned his divine sense inward toward himself. A strange expression crept across his face.
Unlike those holes, his [Profound Capital Blessed Land] was no hole at all. Instead, it was like some entity that had appeared out of thin air. And now, as he linked to heaven and earth with [One with the World], a powerful sensation arose—one laced with scrutiny.
*'Heaven and earth... are observing me?'*
A meaningful smile gradually spread across Lu Yang's face.
*'Of course. [Profound Capital Blessed Land] isn't a hole because it doesn't point to any fruit position!'*
That was why heaven and earth was watching.
If he chose the path of empty proof, like the innate perfected beings, he would mend heaven and earth. Their attitude toward him would surely improve dramatically.
But if he ultimately chose the path of fruit position cultivation...
He would be heaven and earth's greatest enemy.
*'I see. This is what cultivation truly is!'*
*'Seizing heaven and earth's creation to form fruit positions—seemingly derived from heaven and earth, yet in truth, they are heaven and earth's parasites... Could it be that all the fruit positions in the world were designed by the Dao Lords?'*
How strong were those Nascent Soul Dao Lords, exactly?
If cultivators were thieves of heaven and earth, then those four Nascent Soul Dao Lords were surely the greatest four thieves among them. "Sages undying, great bandits unending"—truly, the sages were the greatest bandits!
*'This world's cultivation system revolves almost entirely around those four Dao Lords. They carved out the largest thirty holes in this world, turning them into thirty fruit positions. The other True Lords and Perfected Beings then borrow those thirty holes to keep digging at heaven and earth's foundations...'*
This was the essence of cultivation!
And so-called blessed lands were the tools for digging those foundations. No wonder other worlds lacked such things—what difference did they make from suicide for heaven and earth?
*"No wonder cultivators face the three disasters and the five declines of heaven and man."*
The four Dao Lords were deeply entwined with heaven and earth, to the point that this broken world's cultivation system was riddled with fundamental contradictions at its core.
The three disasters and five declines were both calamities and opportunities.
On one hand, heaven and earth truly used them to slaughter cultivators. On the other, blessed lands could only be forged through those very calamities.
"..."
Lu Yang fell silent for a long time. Only after a while did he withdraw his [Profound Capital Blessed Land]. He stopped gazing at the sky, burying his many doubts and speculations deep within.
Since ancient times, countless great Perfected Beings who had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment and forged their blessed lands had likely done the same. Why? They were too weak, lacking the power to do anything. They were mere frogs at the bottom of a well, glimpsing heaven and earth for the first time. Right or wrong, what did it matter? Nothing changed.
*'For now... Golden Core comes first!'*
With a thought from Lu Yang, the contents of that third-grade true merit he had obtained from the Dragon Palace treasury—the *Tian Yu Kun Ye Dragon Scripture*—surfaced in his sea of consciousness.
*'No wonder the path of empty proof is so much harder than orthodox cultivation.'*
*'One mends, the other destroys. Destruction is always simpler, of course... This world has held out remarkably well!'*
*'No, that's not right.'*
The Dao-Seizing War!
A long-forgotten term flashed through Lu Yang's mind. Every so often, the various True Lords would harvest world-heavens from beyond and fuse them into this heaven and earth.
*'Back then, it seemed trivial. Now I see—they were patching heaven and earth! The True Lords took the lion's share, divvying up the world-heavens with fruit positions or proto-fruit positions for their own cavern-heavens, then tossing the scraps—world-heavens without even fruit positions—back to heaven and earth like alms to beggars.'*
*'Beasts!'* Lu Yang sighed inwardly.
In this way, they prevented heaven and earth from growing too strong while avoiding its total collapse from too many holes—sustainable overfishing of the pond!
In this instant, Lu Yang comprehended far too much.
It wasn't a gain in strength, but in knowledge, vision—in truth, an increase in his Dao attainments, granting him a deeper understanding of heaven and earth.
*"...Fellow Daoist Suo Huan."*
The next moment, Lu Yang turned around and looked at Suo Huan.
*"You saw my blessed land refinement just now. Any insights, fellow Daoist?"*
*"...*
Suo Huan, already deep in thought, furrowed his brow at those words. He wore the pained expression of one racking his brains yet unable to grasp the key.
Seeing this, Lu Yang could only sigh inwardly.
*'[Knowledge-View Obstruction] is too powerful.'*
With that in mind, he cut to the chase.
*"Fellow Daoist, what do you think gave rise to your [Spirit Ruins Blessed Land]?"*
*"Boom!"*
Before the words even finished, Suo Huan's face changed.
It turned ghastly pale in an instant.
Lu Yang's words struck like a massive axe, cleaving through the fog shrouding his spiritual platform and revealing what he had never noticed before.
Yet in this moment, Suo Huan wished he hadn't seen it. Even so, countless thoughts still bubbled up unbidden in his mind.
*Of course. His [Spirit Ruins Blessed Land] hadn't undergone the tempering of the three disasters or five declines. How had it been forged out of thin air?*
*From [Huanxu Realm]?*
*Impossible! True blessed lands were unique to this broken world. How could [Huanxu Realm], lacking even complete fruit positions, produce a real blessed land?*
*Unless...*
*'...someone?'*
Suo Huan clenched his teeth, but the trembling wouldn't stop.
*Of course—someone! Unless someone had secretly helped forge his [Spirit Ruins Blessed Land]...*
But in this broken world, who would be so kindhearted?
*'A scheme! I've been plotted against?'*
*'Who!? Why don't I remember anything...'*
In a flash, Suo Huan felt as if he had plunged into an icy abyss. Yet he was a veteran of storms great and small. Though his heart chilled, his face remained calm.
He even spared a glance for Lu Yang.
*'This man is absolutely not some native outsider散修 like me! Most likely a reincarnated Perfected Being from one of the four great powers, only just returned.'*
Otherwise, how would he know so much!
It had taken him years to blend into this broken world.
And this Lu Yang before him? Forget blending—he had looted the Dragon Palace with such practiced ease, clearly thriving like a fish in water here!
*'...Primal Saint Sect?'*
At the same time, on the other side, someone else harbored the exact same suspicion as Suo Huan.
Jiangbei, Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea.
Within Sacred Fire Cliff, Hong Ju sat cross-legged in his cavern-estate, his sea of consciousness still using divine sense to simulate and deduce Lu Yang's battle against Tian Qiu.
*'It really looks just like...'*
The more Hong Ju deduced, the more astonished he grew.
In his view, the technique Lu Yang had used to slay Tian Qiu—manipulating causality and tampering with fortune—was eerily similar to his own Lord Hongyun's!
*'Come to think of it, ever since that meeting with me over a decade ago, my lord vanished without a trace for no reason. And then, not long ago, that Buddhist scion Guang Ming stirred up quite a stir in Jiangnan, drawing even Perfected Being Demon-Quelling to act personally. I thought my lord had failed and gone into reincarnation for another round of cultivation...'*
Now it seemed... that wasn't the case?
As Hong Ju pondered, the cavern-estate doors suddenly swung open. An elderly Daoist in black robes, with a kindly, benevolent face, walked in.
*"[Xiang Ye]?"*
Hong Ju's brows lifted slightly.
*"Why aren't you preparing for the gold-seeking ritual? What brings you to me?"*
Xiang Ye wasted no words, diving straight in.
*"That outsider散修 who slew Tian Qiu overseas—what do you make of him, fellow Daoist?"*
*"...What do you mean?"*
*"I think he's a Primal Saint Sect Perfected Being!"*
Xiang Ye stroked his beard with a smile.
*"No Primal Saint Sect Perfected Being could wield such insidious, despicable divine abilities otherwise. I think we might have a shot at pulling him to Jiangbei."*
Hong Ju frowned.
*"You think he'll agree?"*
*"He won't have a choice!"*
Xiang Ye chuckled lightly.
*"Have you forgotten, fellow Daoist? That Tian Qiu carried a strand of Buddhist karma. The dragon may be dead, but the karma lingers."*
Here, a flash of resentment crossed Xiang Ye's face.
*"That fellow from Jiangxi—the one who loves mingling with us lower cultivators—is probably already heading overseas."*
(End of Chapter)