387: Chapter 387 Enlightenment Through Stone

The gale over Qingyun Valley finally ceased completely.

The massive dimensional rift that had torn through the sky of the Qingping Realm, bringing endless fear and despair, was swiftly stitched back together by the Heavenly Dao Laws of this world after losing the forced support of high-dimensional power. The churning Chaos turbulence receded, and the pale starry sky faded away.

The long-absent sunlight pierced through the remaining thin clouds like golden swords, stabbing straight through the dim world.

Sunlight spilled onto the main Peak of Qingyun Valley, now reduced to ruins. The ground was covered in crushed white jade powder, which shimmered under the refraction of light like fine grains of salt. The pungent smell of blood, the scent of burning, and that soul-stirringly sweet exotic fragrance in the air were all dispersed by the gentle, earth-scented breeze under the warm sunlight.

The world regained its clarity.

Zhou Wannian turned around, his spotless green cloth shoes stepping on the white jade powder with a soft rustling sound.

His gaze fell upon the youth behind him.

Shitou was still kneeling on the ground, clutching the mud-stained oilcloth bundle tightly in his arms. The youth's clothes had long been torn into rags by the astral winds, revealing fair skin beneath that was covered in fine bloody streaks.

But what Zhou Wannian noticed were Shitou's eyes.

Those eyes had once been filled with the cowardice of a street beggar, the terror of unknown powers, and an inferiority that reached the very marrow of his bones when facing cultivators.

But now, all of that was gone.

After witnessing the fraudulent Ascension scam, seeing the gods of the heavens slaughtered like pigs and dogs, and experiencing the catastrophe where the world teetered on the brink of collapse, a resolve like that of quenched pig iron had settled within those clear pupils.

He no longer trembled, nor did he wail after surviving the disaster. He simply looked at Zhou Wannian quietly, his breathing steady and his back held straight.

"See clearly now?"

Zhou Wannian asked calmly, his voice echoing over the empty ruins.

"I see clearly," Shitou nodded, his voice somewhat raspy yet carrying a gritted-teeth steadiness. "The gods in the sky are fake, and the gate those old grandfathers were fighting for is also fake. They were all being raised like meat pigs; there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

Zhou Wannian looked at the youth, and on that handsome, easygoing face, a rare smile of appreciation appeared.

"Your brain isn't too stupid."

He took a step forward and walked up to Shitou.

"This Qingping Realm is rotten to the core. It used to be covered by a piece of rag, and how the bugs inside bit or ate each other all happened within the rules set by others. Now, I've torn that cloth and pinched off the pipes from the sky."

Zhou Wannian lowered his head, his deep eyes gazing at the faint, shimmering green lotus mark on the youth's forehead.

"But the thing inside you is a time bomb. Although the Origin of Heaven-Opening is overbearing, your Physical Body's Foundation is too thin. Plus, with those high-dimensional waste codes you inhaled earlier, the two forces are fighting in your Meridians. Sooner or later, they will burst this physical shell of yours."

Shitou looked up, showing no intention of backing down.

"Big brother, I'm not afraid to die. If it weren't for you, I would have starved to death in that broken temple in Chunyu City. I know there's something very heavy inside me, and I know why those old grandfathers looked at me like I was a piece of meat. As long as I can protect this world, even if I burst, I'll accept it."

"Dying is easy; living to protect a world is the hard part."

Zhou Wannian slowly raised his right hand.

On the tip of his slender, fair index finger, a sprout of green light, pure to the extreme, lit up without warning.

This light was not blinding, yet it carried a terrifying vitality that could revive all things and make withered wood bloom in spring. It was not the kind of wood-attribute spiritual Qi used for healing that the cultivators of the Qingping Realm spoke of, but the most fundamental 'Vitality of Wood' from the Great Perfection Five Elements Law.

It represented growth, stability, and an immortal tree rooted in the void.

Zhou Wannian placed this green-glowing index finger steadily right in the center of Shitou's forehead.

The moment his finger touched the skin...

Shitou felt a thunderous roar in his mind.

There was no pain, only an indescribable feeling of fullness.

A warm torrent, like the early spring sun, surged frantically into his limbs and bones through Zhou Wannian's fingertip. The air was instantly filled with a thick fragrance of pine and cypress, which dispersed all fatigue and stray thoughts from the depths of Shitou's Divine Soul.

Inside his body, the green Origin of Heaven-Opening, which had begun to grow restless after losing the suppression of the high-dimensional threads, and the cold, rigid grey code residue were like two wild beasts being fitted with an incredibly tough leash upon the injection of this green Vitality of Wood.

The Vitality of Wood transformed into countless invisible emerald roots, following Shitou's Meridians all the way down, taking deep root in his bone marrow and Dantian.

The roots locked the overbearing Origin of Heaven-Opening tight and dismantled the rigid grey code bit by bit, turning it into nutrients to nourish his Physical Body.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

The bones all over Shitou's body let out a series of crisp popping sounds.

Under the infusion of this vitality, the green lotus mark on his forehead shone brightly before merging into his skin like a drop of water into the ocean, completely vanishing beneath his fair skin.

No more aura leaked out.

No more energy conflicts occurred.

The Heaven-Opening Fire Seed of this world, at this moment, truly and perfectly fused with the flesh and blood of this Mortal youth. He was no longer a vessel guilty of possessing a treasure, but the true master of this power.

Zhou Wannian withdrew his finger.

The green light on his fingertip quietly dissipated.

"I've stabilized your Foundation. How you use this power in the future and how far you can go will depend on your own destiny."

Zhou Wannian crossed his hands behind his back again, his tone as lazy as ever.

Shitou blankly felt the vast power within him, moving as easily as his own limbs. He no longer needed to deliberately suppress it, nor did he fear it would suddenly run wild. He felt that with just a stomp of his foot, he could sense the rhythm of the Qingping Realm's ley lines.

The youth stepped back two paces.

He straightened his back and knelt heavily on the ruins covered in jade powder.

He did not call out that slightly childish "Big brother" again.

Instead, he cupped his fists and kowtowed deeply, his forehead touching the cold dust.

"Shitou thanks Senior for the grace of rebirth."

The youth's voice was steady and deep, carrying a world-weariness and determination that transcended his age.

"From this day forth, I am the Gatekeeper of the Qingping Realm. As long as I, Shitou, have a single breath left, I will never let those monsters from beyond the heavens step foot into this world again."

This was a promise, and also a Dao oath.

A breeze brushed over the ruins, swirling a bit of dust.

Not far away...

The immortals of the Qingping Realm who had narrowly survived the down-dimensional storm and the Ascension scam were supporting each other, dragging their broken bodies as they struggled to climb out from the piles of rubble and Magic Treasure remains.

Sect Master Tianshuzi's hair was disheveled, and his purple-gold Daoist robe was reduced to a few tattered strips. His left arm had been broken in the previous shockwave, hanging limply at his side.

His once cloudy eyes were now fixed intently on the grey-clad youth kneeling there.

All the old monsters had also stopped their painful groaning and turned their gazes in that direction.

Although their cultivation was suppressed and they were heavily injured, their keen perception as cultivators remained.

Just at the moment Zhou Wannian had withdrawn his finger...

They had clearly felt a wondrous resonance from the Heavenly Dao Laws of the Qingping Realm. It was the feeling of a masterless land finally welcoming its monarch.

And the source of that aura that made all things submit was precisely that seemingly powerless Mortal youth.

Sect Master Tianshuzi pushed away the Elder who tried to support him and staggered forward a few steps.

He looked at Shitou, recalling everything that had happened in these short two days.

From that casual punch outside Chunyu City that shattered three Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators to the subtly flowing Origin of Heaven-Opening just now.

Sect Master Tianshuzi's Dao Heart, which had been parched for a thousand years, gave a sudden throb at this moment.

He understood.

People like them had spent their entire lives calculating against each other for the sake of illusory longevity, not even hesitating to pour their entire Sect's Foundation into that man-eating giant net.

In the end, they were nothing more than fodder in the eyes of the monsters from beyond the heavens.

Yet the true Legacy, the most ancient fire seed of this world, had actually been hidden all along in this muddy Mortal World, falling upon a beggar youth whose very name seemed so lowly.

Sect Master Tianshuzi gave a bitter laugh.

The laughter was full of self-mockery, but also the relief of a great enlightenment.

Dragging his broken arm, he walked to a spot ten yards away from Shitou and stopped.

The surrounding Sect Masters, Old Ancestors, and Loose Cultivator experts also dragged their broken bodies and silently followed behind Sect Master Tianshuzi, gathering around.

In the Qingping Realm, the hierarchy of strength was an iron rule etched into their bones. Wherever a Nascent Soul Stage old monster went, Mortals didn't even have the right to look them in the eye.

But now...

Facing this Mortal youth kneeling on the ruins...

Sect Master Tianshuzi took a deep breath of the muddy, metallic air.

Enduring the sharp pain in his broken arm, he bent his knees and knelt heavily onto the dust-covered jade slabs.

"Xuantian Taoist Sect, Tianshuzi."

He didn't use True Qi to amplify his voice; he just used his raspy, exhausted natural voice to shout word by word.

"Pays respects to the Realm Lord!"

After speaking, his head bowed deeply until it touched the ground, his posture humble to the point of being in the dust, yet revealing a heartfelt submission.

Sect Master Tianshuzi's kneel was like knocking over the first domino.

The old monsters behind him followed.

The Sword Sovereign of the Northern Borders, whose natal Flying Sword was broken and who was covered in frost.

The demonic cultivator of the Western Desert, who had lost his skull chains and was covered in blood.

The withered old man from the Eastern Sea, who had crawled out of an ancient coffin and exhausted his essence blood.

Which of these people wasn't a proud, ruthless character? But after experiencing this calamity that had shattered all their perceptions, the pride in their hearts had long been chewed to pieces by that giant maw from the abyss.

They watched Sect Master Tianshuzi kneel, and they looked at the youth emitting the aura of the world's Origin.

There was no hesitation, no resentment.

"Northern Borders Sword Pavilion pays respects to the Realm Lord!"

"Western Desert Blood Sect pays respects to the Realm Lord!"

"Loose Cultivator Alliance pays respects to the Realm Lord!"

"Thud, thud, thud, thud..."

The sound of knees hitting the ground formed a continuous wave across the wide ruins. Hundreds and thousands of cultivators, representing the Peak combat power of the Qingping Realm, lowered their bodies like a tide at this moment.

They bowed their heads—heads that had been held high for hundreds or thousands of years—to a Mortal youth.

The old order, along with that fake Ascension gate, had turned into a cloud of dust.

A new order took root and sprouted on these ruins stained with blood and despair, in a way no one could have imagined.

The Qingping Realm ushered in a great era that truly belonged to itself. No more blood-draining tubes from beyond the heavens, no more fake temptations. Only down-to-earth cultivation and this new Gatekeeper who carried the Heaven-Opening Fire Seed.

Shitou remained in his kneeling posture, his forehead not leaving the ground, nor did he respond to the immortals kneeling behind him.

Because he was bowing to the big brother who had granted him power and awakened him to life. As for the old monsters behind him, he knew in his heart that they weren't bowing to him, the beggar Shitou, but to the Origin of Heaven-Opening within him and the man in green robes behind him.

Zhou Wannian stood quietly in place.

He paid no mind to the group of trembling cultivators kneeling on the ground. In his eyes, these people weren't even qualified to be background noise.

His gaze passed over Shitou's thin shoulders.

It passed over the undulating mountains and rivers that were regaining their vitality.

It looked straight into the high, deep blue sky.

Although that terrifying dimensional rift had been smoothed over and the sky appeared cloudless and peaceful...

In Zhou Wannian's eyes, which could pierce through endless dimensions, he clearly saw that in the depths of the void, countless dimensional levels away from the Qingping Realm...

That massive floating island cluster, forcibly pieced together from the remains of countless broken worlds and emitting a pungent, foul stench of immortals and demons, still hovered there.

That was the Immortal-Demon Great World.

The angler's nest that hid behind the scenes, dropping its fishing line and trying to swallow the Qingping Realm in one gulp.

Zhou Wannian took a deep breath of the mountaintop air.

The air in the Qingping Realm had gained a hint of vitality from the world's recovery and lost some of its stale oppression.

But he felt it had become somewhat uninteresting.

"The mud roads in this place are getting a bit tiresome to walk."

Zhou Wannian crossed his hands casually behind his back, his slender fingers lightly tapping the back of his hand.

On his handsome face, that lazy expression was gradually replaced by an interest in finding new fun.

In this tiny lower Major Thousand World, those who needed to be killed were killed, and the connections that needed to be severed were severed. This play had reached its curtain call.

"I thought it was just a boring butcher casting a net at random. I didn't expect the things stitched together on that floating island to be a bit more resilient than the loaches down here."

In Zhou Wannian's mind, he replayed the image he saw when his perception flowed upstream: a giant dark golden figure slumped on a bone altar, clutching a bleeding eye.

The corners of his mouth slowly curled into a cold and dangerous arc.

"Since I've already identified the door..."

"It would be a bit unreasonable not to drop by for a visit and chop off those claws that reached out too far."

He did not look back at Shitou kneeling on the ground, nor did he give any instructions.

The path had been pointed out, and the Foundation had been laid. If this little fellow couldn't even guard his own home's door, then he wasn't worthy of carrying that green lotus mark.

Zhou Wannian dusted off his faded green sleeves.

He lifted his foot, and his spotless cloth shoes left the ruins covered in jade powder.

Without invoking any hand seals or causing any thunderous roars of tearing space...

He simply and plainly took a step toward the mid-air.

Where his sole landed, the void naturally condensed into an invisible, transparent step.

With his hands behind his back, Zhou Wannian stood tall and walked at a leisurely pace.

Treading on these invisible steps, he walked step by step toward the depths of the blue sky.

"It's time to change this walking route."

Zhou Wannian's voice drifted gently down to the ruins of Qingyun Valley on the high-altitude wind.

"I'll go to the sky and knock on that foul-smelling door."