828: The thought of death

"The scenery beyond the Immortal Realm?" Yang Dian, whose entire body was now split into two illusory forms, chuckled. "What kind of scenery could there possibly be?"

"It's nothing more than having a bit more strength and a longer lifespan. How is that any different from what you call Immortals?"

Ye Sansheng could not accept Yang Dian speaking so lightly. "How could it possibly be no different???"

"How could it possibly be no different!!!"

"The principles of Heaven and Earth, the secrets of the Dao, the rhythms of the rules..."

"All the mysteries of the world are tied to the Dao."

"If the Dao is not understood and principles are not grasped, looking at the world is like looking at flowers through a mist—unclear and hazy."

"Ascending the Immortal Steps, condensing the Dao Fruit, and experiencing ten thousand tribulations to attain the Dao."

"How could it be no different!"

Glancing at Daoist Sansheng, who was gradually descending into madness, Yang Dian shook his head, then turned his gaze back to the phantom of the ancient bronze tree before him.

However...

"Are you the shadow, or is the ancient bronze tree rooted on Chongming Star the shadow?"

Yang Dian did not know.

Both seemed to be reflections, both mirages.

Yet both also seemed like the original body.

They could freely convert between illusion and reality.

"If this ability were fully comprehended, it seems like it would be an incredible Clone ability?"

Shaking his head slightly, Yang Dian turned his attention to the Heaven-Shifting Grand Array.

Looking at it from the outside before, it was like looking at flowers through a mist.

He had some ideas about the Formation, but couldn't see it clearly.

Now that he was handling it personally, Yang Dian finally understood what the so-called Heaven-Shifting Grand Array was all about.

"Time, space, Yin and Yang, illusion and reality..."

"Using the power of time to solidify the Star Core Space, and even the time of the entire Chongming Star."

"Using the Dao of illusion and reality to make the entire Chongming Star and all living things within it illusory."

"Transforming the power of space into a long blade to cut off the spatial power from the Dimensional Battlefield that was entwined around Chongming Star."

"Finally, Yin and Yang repel each other, confusing the concept of time around Chongming Star, and relying on the principle of the Universe's own infinite expansion, the planet is 'shifted' out of this area."

"Actually, Chongming Star never moved."

"It was the entire Universe that moved?"

"And this movement doesn't need to last very long."

If one were to view the entire Universe as a two-dimensional plane, the anomalous spatial power of the Dimensional Battlefield caused the Universe to wrinkle, allowing two planets—or even more—that should never have had the chance to intersect to collide.

As long as the wrinkles were smoothed out, or if one escaped this layer of wrinkles, Chongming Star could naturally detach from this battlefield.

This was equivalent to using the 'power to shift stars' to relocate a planet.

"However, this doesn't seem useful for Earth."

"Earth's current situation is not just two wrinkles stacked together."

"Instead, it has plunged headfirst into a cerulean region."

"So, the Heaven-Shifting Grand Array of Chongming Star is useless for Earth?"

Thinking carefully, Yang Dian shook his head again.

"That's not right either."

"As long as time is solidified, Earth is made illusory, and then Earth is pushed in the direction of the Origin of the Universe's Big Bang, Earth could quickly move away from the Cosmic Extreme Cold Zone."

"As long as this state is maintained for a year, according to the rate of the Universe's expansion, it would be equivalent to moving three light-years away from the Cosmic Extreme Cold Zone."

"Push Earth again, or have the Cloud Whale pull Earth along."

"It's likely it could travel dozens of light-years."

"I don't believe that after running dozens of light-years, that Cosmic Extreme Cold Zone could still catch up."

Having made his decision, Yang Dian changed his action from pressing to grabbing, seizing the phantom of the ancient bronze tree and, under the gaze of Daoist Nun Yin Xiu, whose eyes were splitting with rage, uprooted it completely.

"Chi~ Chi~~"

"Boom~~~"

The sound of space shattering, like paper being torn, and the sound of mountains and rivers collapsing rang out simultaneously.

He looked up outside the Star Core Space.

Watching that giant tree, which had left Chongming Star in the same posture and was identical to the ancient bronze tree phantom in his hand, swaying back and forth, Yang Dian couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"The shadow moves, the tree also moves."

"A puppet?"

Muttering to himself, Yang Dian reached out and grabbed toward the Star Core.

Although much of the energy in the Star Core had been extracted—it could even be said that to activate the Heaven-Shifting Grand Array, more than half of the Star Core's energy had been drained.

But one still had to be meticulous.

The remaining Star Core Origin, converted into energy, still amounted to tens of millions.

Resources were accumulated bit by bit in this way.

Yang Dian would not waste it.

Daoist Nun Yin Xiu, who had not spoken earlier, was now truly red-eyed.

"Fellow Daoist, you have gone too far!"

She looked at Yang Dian with bloodshot eyes.

"Stealing our Chongming Realm's Divine Tree—we admit our skills are inferior, we accept our defeat."

"But you have taken our Chongming Realm's heart, ruined our Chongming Realm's Origin, leaving our Chongming Realm with no future, and making it impossible for billions of living beings to glimpse the Dao."

"Is such ruthless extermination not against the harmony of Heaven? You have gone too far!"

Yang Dian scoffed.

"Too far?"

"Why didn't you tell those worlds you destroyed, those worlds whose heart and Star Core you seized, that you had gone too far?"

"When things happen to others, it's the law of the jungle, and it's just their fate."

"When things happen to you, it's someone else being ruthless and acting against the harmony of Heaven?"

"There is no reason why you should always be in the right."

As he finished speaking, Yang Dian casually tossed the phantom of the ancient bronze tree from his palm.

As soon as it left his hand, the phantom turned into a streak of light and landed on the ancient bronze tree on Chongming Star that had also risen from the ground.

Then, that sky-covering ancient bronze tree began to shrink rapidly. In just a few blinks, the Cultivation Technique caused it to shrink to the size of a potted plant, turned into a streak of light, passed through the barrier of illusion and reality, returned to the Star Core Space, and landed in Yang Dian's palm.

Shaking the ancient bronze tree in his hand and listening to the crisp tinkling sound of its leaves colliding, a smile couldn't help but appear on the corner of Yang Dian's mouth.

"You're sensible enough not to run..."

Before he finished speaking, Yang Dian suddenly looked up.

A trace of aura escaped from his body uncontrollably, which he then gathered into a fist, directly striking Monk Miesheng, who had sneaked up behind him to launch a sneak attack, into a mist of blood.

Whatever hundreds of thousands of years of bitter cultivation, whatever hundreds of thousands of years of bitter feelings, whatever hundreds of thousands of years of unrequited love—all of it turned into ash here.

"Gousheng!"

Gousheng was the childhood name of Monk Miesheng.

Monk Miesheng had no formal name; his childhood name was Gousheng, and after becoming famous, he took the single name Sheng.

Later, he worshipped Buddha and took the religious name Miesheng.

What he sought was to extinguish Daoist Sansheng's obsession with the Dao, to make Daoist Sansheng turn back and look at Daoist Nun Yin Xiu.

Call him a simp, call him incompetent, it didn't matter.

In any case, he was dead.

His body turned into a mist of blood, his Soul annihilated into dust, without even the chance for Reincarnation.

Turning his head to look at Daoist Nun Yin Xiu, who seemed about to weep blood, Yang Dian couldn't help but chuckle.

"If Monk Miesheng knew you were red-eyed for him, he would probably be happy, right?"

"Unfortunately, he has suffered Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering."

After finishing, he looked at Daoist Sansheng, who was to the side.

"You are quite heartless."

"A Fellow Daoist who walked with you for hundreds of thousands of years has died, and your heart has not stirred even a ripple."

Daoist Sansheng lowered his eyes, his tone without a trace of fluctuation: "My heart is only for the Dao."

Daoist Nun Yin Xiu looked at Daoist Sansheng in disbelief, then her mind began to unravel, and her behavior became somewhat deranged.