A journey of survival starting from Zhetian

Chapter 724 Proving the Cause and Effect
Many powerful beings with extraordinary abilities activated their pseudo-otherworldly power and carefully examined the young Taoist boy before them.

After a few breaths, his expression changed repeatedly.

Through their calculations, they all knew that with the help of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable, the Kitchen God had taken on part of the karma of the Water Emperor's failure to attain enlightenment on the other side. As time and fate changed, at the beginning of this era, the Kitchen God completely took over the Water Emperor's "position" and replaced Him as a naturally born deity of perfect creation.

Subsequently, while retaining the identity of the "Kitchen God" of [Nanshan], he also condensed a projection of a Taoist boy named "Zhenwu" to completely side with Xuanhuang Tianzun in exchange for the power of this weak other shore in all the heavens and myriad worlds.

Without a doubt, the Kitchen God, or rather, Zhenwu, wanted to use the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable, who could maintain the power of the weak other shore anytime and anywhere, to truly transcend the sea of ​​suffering and attain the other shore.

Upon seeing this "human" born in His kingdom, the Fire Emperor sighed inwardly, "Good luck, Jian Keng is truly lucky!"

"With a Celestial Venerable of the Other Shore as a backer, even if the final calamity comes in the future, I will not die in that near-absolute void. I will surely have many benefits when I attain the other shore in the future."

"As for the new projection of himself, does Zhenwu intend to use the Way of Tai Chi as a foundation to break free from the sea of ​​suffering and reach the other shore?"

The Golden Emperor's gaze swept over Jian Keng's pale face, looking at the clear halo behind his head that had disappeared. "Illusory Dao Fruit... has it dissipated?"

"The basic characteristics of the other shore are present. Under the blessing of the various other shore formations in the Celestial Venerable Daoist Temple of Nanshan, the illusory Dao Fruit that was forcibly gathered and shaped is indeed not a correct path to the weak other shore."

"Even whether it is a stable way to become the weak shore needs to be re-examined."

The three Great Sages of Zhongshan—Da'e, Qiongqi, and Aohun—exchanged glances and, relying on their unseen spiritual intuition, reached a conclusion immediately.

For them, and for the vast majority of those who have achieved perfect creation, the weak other shore may be a wrong path where no light can be seen!
To truly possess the power of the Other Shore level, and thus have the hope of overcoming the final tribulation and escaping the end of this era, one must understand the unknown beyond the Other Shore, and then break free from the sea of ​​suffering without reservation, attempting to reach the Other Shore.

In the current environment, the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable who can be called the weak other shore is most likely just a unique case in all the heavens and myriad worlds.

At this moment, most of the powerful beings who possessed pseudo-otherworld power by leveraging the power of the Nine Heavens and the Nine Netherworld, after seeing Zhenwu, the boy, for a few breaths, all abandoned their original thoughts and stopped trying to make their pseudo-otherworld power reach the level of weak otherworld.

However, an ancient being who had borrowed the power of the Nine Netherworld and whose body was surrounded by wisps of the aura of the Dao of Nirvana and the Dao of Annihilation had not relinquished his original thoughts.

This ancient being was of sturdy build, holding a string of unparalleled creations made from 108 Bodhi seeds. A kind smile always graced his lips. Although he borrowed the power of the Nine Netherworld, he never possessed the terrifying divine intent that corrupted all living beings and defiled heaven and earth.

He took a small half-step, leaving the [Nine Netherworld] and stepping into the [Nine Heavens]. Shedding the heavy, turbid colors of time, he donned wisps of ethereal light and charm. The power of the pseudo-other shore remained unchanged within the two different paths of advancement.

The ancient Creator bowed to the Celestial Venerable Xuanhuang and said sincerely, "We invited the Celestial Venerable here primarily to inquire about the path to the other shore, the path to weakening the other shore, and the method of attaining the other shore through heterodox means."

"The secondary purpose is to ask the Celestial Venerable about the unknown things that the Wood Emperor encountered after he proved the four extraordinary phenomena of the other shore and became one of the other shores."

After a pause, the ancient being glanced at his fellow cultivator beside him, and then at the still pale-faced Zhenwu Child.

He smiled and said, “However, many of our fellow practitioners may no longer be so interested in the methods of the heretical other shore or the weak path to the other shore.”

"However, I would like to hear about all three of them. I humbly request the Heavenly Venerable to broaden the path and generously impart his teachings."

This ancient being bowed once more to the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable, his eyes filled with seriousness and determination.

Looking at this highly respectful and powerful cultivator who was displaying his own path, Xiong Mo showed a hint of interest. "In the past, he occupied two places close to the Dao. Now, one of them has been integrated into the [Nine Heavens Realm], and the other into the [Nine Netherworld Realm]."

"At this point in time, I hold a certain proportion of power in these two enormous shortcuts. The path of Nirvana in the [Nine Heavens] and the path of Annihilation in the [Nine Netherworlds] already have a hint of my current level."

"But are you all sure you want to hear me explain the Way to the Other Shore, the Heretical Methods of the Other Shore, and the Principles of the Weak Other Shore?"

Xiong Mo glanced at the ancient cultivator holding the Bodhi seed, whose creation was unparalleled, then looked around at the hundreds of powerful cultivators at the peak of their creation, and finally pointed to the weak-looking young Taoist boy in front of him.

A faint smile appeared on his face. "Know that those who follow my laws and walk my path will inevitably bear my karmic consequences."

"So, you all still want to listen to my sermon?"

Many powerful beings of creation glanced at Zhenwu, who was extremely weak and unable to leave the power of the Nine Heavens Realm, and whose condition was extremely low. Then they looked at Zaojun, who was being nurtured by many otherworldly formations in Nanshan and was hovering on the verge of death. Their expressions changed again, and their eyelids twitched wildly.

He received the teachings of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable and then walked his path. The karmic consequences were indeed quite heavy.

Even if most ancient beings were confident that their own foundation far surpassed Jian Keng's, the direct consequence of causing the weaker realm to plummet and plunging them to the brink of death was still undeniable.
They could only see it and felt a chill run down their spines.

At this moment, Zhenwu revealed a forced smile and said to the assembled powerful beings, "Actually, working for the master isn't such a bad thing."

"At least if I really die, I won't waste a piece of land to bury myself."

"Extremely economical."

Many powerful beings with extraordinary abilities were momentarily stunned. They were extremely frugal and did not need to be buried after death.

This clearly means that if one incurs the karmic burden of this Celestial Venerable and something goes wrong, there is a high probability that one will die a gruesome death.
Why is the cause and effect so significant?!

All the powerful beings present, except for Zhenwu and the ancient being who held the Bodhi seed, remained silent, their brows furrowed.

Suddenly, the Golden Emperor recalled the actions of this Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable's projection in a certain ancient universe, and the [Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation] that it was very likely to have mastered. He seemed to understand something, and his furrowed brows quietly relaxed.

The Golden Emperor looked at the Celestial Venerable Xuanhuang and asked, "Please enlighten me, Celestial Venerable, if I only follow your methods but do not practice your way, will I bear such terrifying karmic consequences?"

Xiong Mo's eyes held a strange smile, revealing his true intentions. "No, if you can reach the other shore, you will only owe me a cause and effect for proving the Dao. Before you fully repay it, the illusory Dao fruit cannot be perfected, and once your cultivation reaches a certain level, you will find it difficult to make any further progress."

Xiong Mo looked at the Creation Perfection expert who was extremely respectful to him, "And those who inherit my methods and follow my path will be trapped before a certain limit in the next era, or even the era after that, and will be unable to surpass it."

The next era?
A certain level?

A certain boundary? Every powerful being present was stunned for a moment, exchanged glances, and were secretly alarmed.

With the three beings from the Other Shore gone, can there truly be a new era after the end of this era?
Or is it that this Celestial Venerable is absolutely certain of attaining the other shore of enlightenment, and will reopen all the heavens and myriad realms after the final tribulation?

Furthermore, the Celestial Venerable Xuanhuang seems to be very familiar with the cultivation after reaching the other shore, and is already making some kind of calculation, laying out a scheme to mark a certain path for future cultivation.

Many of those present seemed lost in thought, hesitant and undecided.

Can they escape the schemes of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable by not following his teachings?
Yes.

However, the path to enlightenment will require deduction by oneself, and there will be many terrifying unknowns that have not been anticipated during the process of enlightenment.

Take the Wood Emperor for example. He had already witnessed the four extraordinary phenomena of the other shore. According to the ancient deductions of creation, he should have become the will of the other shore. However, at the end of his journey to the other shore, he died.

The Wood Emperor's failure was inexplicable, bizarre, and abrupt, so much so that many ancient creations still dare not exert their full strength to escape the sea of ​​suffering and reach the other shore.

So, what would be the consequences of jumping into the trap dug by Xuanhuang Tianzun and falling into his scheme?
It will be extremely painful, as some of the very foundations of one's existence will be directly seized by this Heavenly Venerable, leaving one unable to resist or fight back.

Just like not long ago, in order to form the [Nine Heavens Realm] and the [Nine Netherworld Realm], many ancient creations handed over most of the power they had gathered from the nearby places they occupied and refined.

Now, all those with great supernatural powers, within these two places that integrate all the near-paths of the myriad realms, possess only the authority to borrow the power of the two and thus possess pseudo-otherworldly power; nothing more.

If the Celestial Venerable Xuanhuang were to have such intentions, in the blink of an eye, all the great supernatural beings present would shed their pseudo-other shore power, leaving only their most essential power of perfect creation, with no room for resistance.

The benefit of relinquishing power is that it allows one to explore powers that were previously untouched, accelerating the cultivation of one's illusory path and accumulating the necessary foundation for future enlightenment at an astounding pace.

At the same time, all the shortcuts converge, and perhaps under the leadership of nearly a hundred pseudo-other shores, there is a chance that they can survive the final calamity of this era.

Perhaps this is one of only two "treasure rafts" that all living beings, among many powerful beings and those with great supernatural abilities, have a chance to survive in the final calamity.

Holding the Bodhi seed, the ancient being bowed for the third time, his expression unchanged. "My understanding of the 'Tao' and my comprehension of the many illusory Great Taos have only reached the perfection of the Creation Realm in a few aspects. Compared with the other ancient beings, my foundation is not profound."

"If one wishes to escape the sea of ​​suffering and attain enlightenment before the end of this era and the final calamity, perhaps the only way is to follow the Heavenly Venerable's teachings and practice the Heavenly Venerable's path."

This ancient being clasped his hands together, a hint of inexplicable enlightenment in his eyes.

"Please, Master, enlighten me on the great path and clear the fog of confusion for me on the other shore."

Many powerful beings twitched their lips, and even the Golden Emperor looked at this ancient creation with a hint of disdain.

To act in such a way in order to attain enlightenment is utterly shameless!
The next instant, all the powerful beings present bowed to the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable.

"Please, Master, enlighten me on the great path and clear the fog of confusion for me on the other shore."

Such imposing presence and perfectly timed atmosphere caused Jian Keng, who was standing in front of Xiong Mo, to have his worldview begin to crumble, and his lips twitched incessantly.

The young Taoist priest looked around and found that every great master of creation had a sincere look in their eyes, and their attitude was exactly as expected, without any problems.

At least for this moment, he did not find any problems.

At the same time, Jian Keng also gained some insight into the attitudes of many long-standing masters of creation and supernatural powers towards the "Tao".

He murmured to himself, "Beyond the Way, there is nothing else."

"Even if our lives are threatened, even if we have to face all sorts of complicated causes and effects in the future, we remain as sincere as ever when facing the other shore and the 'Tao' at this moment."

"The Celestial Venerable is right. Perhaps I really lack tempering. My journey from the peak of Celestial Immortal has been too smooth, both in terms of legend and destiny."

"Having pondered the illusory Great Dao for so long, my Dao Heart has developed some problems, but I am unaware of them."

Xiong Mo sensed the hundreds of causal connections to his own path of enlightenment, as well as the causal threads that would continue to be generated in the future and connected to him, and nodded in satisfaction.

With a flick of his sleeve, three thousand prayer mats lined up in front of him. Then, he casually tapped the mats, causing wisps of corresponding Daoist energy to rise.

"sit."

The many creations exchanged a glance and immediately came to their respective positions, appearing to listen attentively.

Xiong Mo leaned back in a relaxed posture, his eyes lowered, and a clear, round light suddenly rose from behind his head, creating a new world in the nameless chaos, a time barrier that separated this place from the world.

In an instant, countless illusory Great Daos were generated from this place, rearranged, and evolved into different laws of heaven and earth, different from the present world, yet extremely similar, as if a new world of myriad realms was being reflected.

No, it's not just a feeling, but there truly is a new universe, reflected by the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable at this moment!

At this moment, hundreds of real beings with great supernatural powers of creation, as well as more than two thousand beings from the future who have traveled back to the present through various means, appear extremely illusory and empty, as if they do not exist.

They all saw an extremely real Reality, two "Approach Points" embedded in the Reality, and countless fragments of cosmic light that had split off from the Reality over time.

This universe of myriad realms is almost identical to the universe of myriad realms of this era in terms of its structure, except for the addition of a dreamlike, glass-like background.

Here, there exist great beings of perfect creation and supernatural powers.

Similarly, a false other shore exists.

Even to the other side!
(End of this chapter)