📖 Chapter 1044 - Doubts!

06 Aug, 2023

As they closed in on the top of the mountain, all the cultivators on the giant snake stopped whatever they were doing and gazed fixedly at that mountain peak.

Xie Haiyang, the Scorching Spirit Ancestor, and the others all came to Wang Baole’s side. As they looked upward, Wang Baole’s eyes flashed with a profound light.

During the past half a month, he had constantly been thinking about a certain problem as he meditated.

This problem arose from the contents of the trial that Brother Expert had talked about. On the surface, there was nothing out of the ordinary with the idea of “ten days, ten lives”. However, thinking more closely… there was a contradiction, and that contradiction came from the Never-Ending Clan.

The natural laws of the Underworld Sect’s Heavenly Dao included life and death and the cycle of reincarnation. With a clear distinction between yin and yang, all beings would reincarnate endlessly.

However, the Never-Ending Clan was different. After crushing the Underworld Sect and creating their own Heavenly Dao, the natural laws of the starry sky no longer included guaranteed death and rebirth. Once a person reached the Planet Realm, they would no longer truly die. At most, their soul would enter slumber and wait for a chance to resurrect.

Under the former, people lived life after life and forgetting the details of each. They were like souls wandering in the river of reincarnation, eventually wearing out, dissipating, and disappearing without a trace. For the universe as a whole, this was actually a beneficial thing, creating a virtuous cycle that allowed it to maintain its longevity. Furthermore, the cycle of reincarnation was like waves washing the sand. Although the vast majority of souls would dissipate in the end, there were some who eventually surpassed a certain limit and suddenly recalled the memories of all their past lives. Finally, they would fuse all their lives into one and become Inextinguishable Spirits.

In the Underworld Sect, such beings were known as Underworld Emperors. They were analogous to the present-day Never-Ending Clan’s Divine Emperors!

However, the Dao of the Never-Ending Clan was completely different from the Underworld Sect. They preached the value of a single life, caring about neither their past lives nor any future ones. They wanted this life to persist forever and ever. This Dao was extremely domineering. Under this Dao, cultivators didn’t give back to the universe but continuously plundered all sorts of resources unilaterally, reviving themselves again and again rather than going through reincarnation. In this way, cultivators who reached the level of Inextinguishable Spirits naturally surpassed those from the era of the Underworld Sect.

However, there was a huge hidden danger. Without a proper cycle of reincarnation, the universe itself was withering rapidly. At the same time, Wang Baole suspected that there was more to the so-called resurrection process. However, he wasn’t clear.

But this had nothing to do with the question of the trial.

‘In this era of the Never-Ending Clan, there should be no such thing as past lives!’ Wang Baole’s eyes revealed doubt as he pondered. If this really was the case, then there was no point to the trial, and no one would bother participating. But even the disciple of a Divine Emperor was attending the birthday celebration, which didn’t make sense.

‘Unless… there’s more to this matter. Brother Expert likely doesn’t know the exact details. But I’m sure that my doubts will be cleared when the trial is officially announced at the birthday celebration.’ As Wang Baole was in deep thought, the giant snake beneath him continued climbing the mountain. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled all around as the snake slithered through the clouds and mist, carrying all the cultivators on its back until it finally reached the top of this Eternal Star mountain!

The mountain peak was actually an enormous circular crater. Immense heat rose out from within, causing the air to distort. At the same time, there were loud rumbling sounds coming from inside the mountain, like the roars of some monstrous beast.

Just as the giant snake arrived at the crater, thirty-eight other giant beasts also appeared from different directions. There was a giant white dragon, a snapping turtle that alternated between blue and black, a brightly colored phoenix… all sorts of strange and massive beasts were there, and they all roared simultaneously at the sky above the crater.

The combined power of their heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roars caused the dense clouds to roll away, clearing the sky. Looking up, Wang Baole and the others on the giant beasts could clearly see that within the clouds, now out in the open, was… a giant sphere of light!

This sphere of light was so huge it was like a moon. Its translucent surface was completely smooth, and as it floated there above the crater, everyone’s eyes were drawn to it immediately. They could see that inside the sphere of light, there were actually numerous floating islands!

At the center of the islands, there was a vast altar floating in the air. This altar was shaped like a tower, and there were a total of ten floors. Each floor was engraved with countless birds and beasts, as well as bizarre murals!

Looking carefully, it could be seen that the bottommost mural depicted a member of the three-headed, six-armed Never-Ending Clan. On the floor just above that, there was a person in a black robe, standing on a boat with countless dead souls behind them!

The image on the next floor was a little blurry. Wang Baole could only vaguely see that there were some giants depicted. These giants were horned and had grotesque appearances, and there were also buildings and innumerable vicious beasts in the background that looked no bigger than ants.

Although there were more murals, Wang Baole was unable to see them, maybe because of the angle he was looking at the altar or maybe because his cultivation base was too low. He could only see that this altar that exuded an incredibly ancient aura was being held up by four giants!

And these four giants were obviously the same as the ones depicted on the third floor from the bottom. They weren’t quite as tall as the ones depicted in the mural, but in Wang Baole’s senses, their appearances were almost the same!

This scene caused Wang Baole’s heart to tremble. A majestic voice suddenly rang out from the enormous sphere of light and echoed in the ears of all the cultivators in the surroundings.

“Welcome to Planet Heaven’s Mandate!

“Everyone here is a Chosen among this universe’s younger generation. Many thanks for coming to my master’s birthday celebration. The celebration will begin tomorrow morning, so please be patient.”

As soon as this voice rang out, all the cultivators atop the giant beasts bowed their heads and respectfully expressed their assent. At the same time, several other voices rang out from all directions.

“Is it Senior Kun Lingzi^[1]? This junior is Ling Lan. My master knows Reverend Heaven-Learned’s rules and so he didn’t come in person. Instead, he sent me to come and pay respects. My master once said that this junior’s name was granted to me by the reverend. Senior Kun Lingzi, please send my respectful greetings to the reverend. I wish him a long and blessed life, and I hope for Planet Heaven’s Mandate to have eternal prosperity!” As this voice echoed out, Wang Baole immediately turned to look. It came from a young man dressed in white on the back of the giant white dragon in the distance.

Because he was too far away and the surrounding space was distorted, he was unable to see the young man’s face clearly. However, he could clearly sense the fluctuations of the great circle of the Planet Realm, as well as the power of Ancient Planets, making Wang Baole instantly understand the young man’s identity.

“Oh, so it’s the ninth disciple of Divine Emperor Kiga. I’ll relay your words to my master.” The gentle voice from the beginning rang out again from within the sphere of light.

“Senior Kun Lingzi, Junior Chen Han is here. Senior, please send my respects to the reverend. I wish the reverend everlasting fortune, and that he can achieve the state of all things returning to the self!”

“Fellow Daoist Chen, you’re too polite. This old man will naturally pass on your words. But you and I were once peers, so there’s no need to refer to yourself as a junior.” The gentle voice from the sphere of light sounded once more.

“If I still cling to the past after being reborn, how can I walk a new path? I’ve started over from the beginning again, so I am naturally a junior!” Since he was too far away, Wang Baole couldn’t see the speaker. However, he could still guess their identity from the words that were spoken.

“Fellow Daoist Chen is broad-minded!” The gentle voice seemed to carry a friendly tone. After that, several more people spoke up to pay their respects.

Anyone who could speak up at this moment was of extremely high status. Aside from the seventh Dao Child of the Nine Provinces Dao, there were other powerful sects. Even Xie Yunteng, who had arrived on Planet Heaven’s Mandate before Wang Baole, was among them.

Seven or eight people spoke up one after another, and their words of respect became more and more exaggerated. Seeing this, Wang Baole blinked and straightened his body. He bowed once toward the sphere of light and spoke loudly.

“On behalf of my master, the Flame Patriarch, Junior Wang Baole offers respectful greetings to Senior Kun Lingzi and Reverend Heaven-Learned! Senior, please pass on this junior’s words!

“With one bow to the reverend, I wish the reverend blessings as endless as the sea of stars and prosperity to rival the universe!

“With two bows to the reverend, I wish the reverend everlasting happiness, and may his Dao Heart persist in eternity!

“With three bows to the reverend, I wish the reverend a renewal of youth. May he be blissful evermore!”

As Wang Baole’s voice resounded, he bowed three times in succession. His words and actions instantly overtook the previous several people, causing everyone to suddenly pay attention to him.

Gentle laughter came out of the sphere of light.

“So it was the disciple of an old friend. Virtuous nephew, you’re too kind. This old man will surely pass your words on to the reverend.”

“Many thanks, Senior! Senior, I wish you good luck on your journey through this vast universe, that your original intentions may always remain, and that you won’t be disturbed by the chaos of the outside world!” Speaking again, Wang Baole performed another deep bow!