Destiny is ashes

Chapter 1127 The True Purpose of the Heavenly Will Demonic Cult (4500 words)

"You are Zhang Junxuan's junior brother."

Upon hearing this, An Jing immediately recognized the other party's identity, and the voice paused, clearly realizing the situation as well: "Could it be... that someone from the sect, no, that my senior brother, contacted you to try and save my life?"

"indeed so."

An Jing did not deny it. His voice pierced through the void and clearly entered the other party's will: "When I attended the Zhaolin Banquet some time ago, your senior brother specially brought Duan Chenguang to find me, willing to pay with things like the Divine Firmament Thunder Technique to buy your life. I did not make the decision on behalf of Master, because I know that Master will not kill you so easily."

"...Your master, Ming Guangchen, is indeed a good person."

The voice paused for a moment, then finally broke into a long sigh, its tone complex as it said: "So even I sometimes feel that for the sect to assassinate these outstanding individuals within humanity because of the prophecies in the Heavenly Book, and for the so-called balance of heaven and earth, and the future they can control, is inherently wrong, and could even be considered a form of depravity."

Even if the prophecy tells us that your master's very existence could cause the Northern Profound Sacrifice Continent to sink, I still believe that it is not your master's fault, but rather an outcome resulting from a complex interplay of cause and effect.

Now, needless to say, there's no trace of you in the Heavenly Book, which is enough to prove that the prophecy in the Heavenly Book is completely wrong.

"Oh?"

An Jing raised an eyebrow. During their conversation, he had already discerned the source of the sound through the interplay of spiritual energy. He reached out and grabbed at the void, which rippled like water as he grasped a white ball of light. That was the Mirror Light of Ming Guangchen's 'Sun' that sealed the soul of the Xuanjiao swordsman.

Grasping the soul, An Jing took a step forward and entered the void. He calmly asked, "The Heavenly Book, the prophecy, the sinking of the land... Interesting. I think I understand what the Heavenly Book is prophesying. Tell me in detail, I'm listening."

Although he was captured, the 'swordsman' was quite cooperative: [The Heavenly Book is a core Dao weapon of our Shangxuan Sect, the 'Great Evolution Heavenly Book,' left behind by the Great Immortal Huaixu in the past, used for weather forecasting in the Huaixu Realm. Although the Great Immortal Huaixu only used it to predict the weather and calculate the intersecting trajectories of various realms, we later discovered that its true function is to deduce the possibilities of endless timelines and anchor the steps leading to a specific future.]

If we strictly follow the steps, then the future we envision will definitely come true.

"Hmm, that explains why your Shangxuan Sect has been causing trouble everywhere like a madman."

An Jing seemed to understand something. He began to understand why the Shangxuan Sect always launched attacks on the ten continents in turn, and they seemed to provoke everyone and everything.

Having a weapon that can plan for the future certainly gives them immense confidence.

“But this heavenly book cannot see me—or rather, it cannot see destiny,” he said.

To be precise, it's about not being able to see the destiny protected by the Heavenly Way.

The swordsman calmly said: "[Only the power of the Returning to Emptiness Dao One is completely beyond divination. In other words, apart from the 'destined time' of fate, nothing in this world can escape the calculations of the Great Evolution Heavenly Book. And knowing everything except the destined time, even the direction of fate can be predicted.]"

[With the help of the Great Evolution Heavenly Book, the sect has saved Huai Xu more than a thousand times. The various upper sects therefore resent us for meddling. But little do they know, if we hadn't intervened, countless people in this world would have fallen into demonic possession, and many more would have become holy demons!]

An Jing really couldn't refute him on this point, because what he said was indeed true.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the Shangxuan Sect seemed to want to cause the entire Mingjing Sect and Taiming Sect to fall into demonic possession during the Nirvana War. Consider that the Taiming Sect has started to use the Heavenly Demon as a tool of ghosts and gods, and the Mingjing Sect is about to sacrifice the entire sect to use the demonic path to help Xiyi become a Heavenly Lord. So, if we remove everything external from these two sects, isn't their core essence to fall into demonic possession?
After discovering that the Mingjing Sect had not resorted to demonic possession to resolve the issue, the Shangxuan Sect did not continue to interfere. Judging from this point alone, although the Shangxuan Sect acts in a domineering style and always opposes Anjing, it is surprisingly principled in Huaixu, a land of mad martial artists.

"I probably understand."

An Jing nodded slightly, having figured out the key points: "Leaving aside why I'm not in the Heavenly Book, in short, you are not machines that completely follow prophecies, because you also know that prophecies are not absolute. The Great Evolution Heavenly Book is not in the hands of its former master, the Great Immortal Huai Xu, so it cannot perform its full function. Not to mention that the Great Immortal created it back then simply to save trouble by making weather forecasts and planning the world's operation path; this was not its full purpose."

"Therefore, you will keep making predictions and adjusting your behavior patterns. You truly want to protect the Huaixu Realm. No wonder the Tianxia Tianzong and many other sects, although they may not like you, just like the Fei Ancestor of Taishan, will think of asking you for help when they encounter crucial matters."

This is nature.

Upon hearing An Jing's objective evaluation of the Shangxuan Sect, the swordsman seemed to relax, and his tone became much more cheerful, unlike his previous gloomy demeanor.

If anyone else had praised the Shangxuan Sect in this way, He wouldn't have cared much. The Shangxuan Sect's actions were for the sake of upholding the moral order of heaven and earth; why would they need praise from others? But Heaven's Mandate was different. Especially after the swordsman learned from Ming Guangchen about An Jing's actions during this period, he knew that the other party would never exaggerate to deceive him. Naturally, he felt a sense of recognition from such an unprecedentedly powerful objective evaluation of Heaven's Mandate: "Although I was once your enemy, now I truly believe that my senior uncle and I were wrong in making the decision back then."

I don't expect forgiveness, so when Ming Guangchen originally wanted to unseal me and give me a new body to help him expand the Great Wilderness Realm, although I agreed to help him, I didn't ask him to unseal me—I should be punished, it was my fault.

The construction of the grand formation in Mirror City, its overall planning, and the entire administrative system for managing the ratmen were all my work. This is not boasting; I believe I also deserve credit.

"So you're Master's right-hand man."

An Jing seemed to be deep in thought. He had actually noticed in a fleeting glance at Mingjing City that the entire city was well-organized, which was almost unbelievable. This was because most of the managers of Mingjing City were immigrants from the Tianyu region of the Great Wilderness and some native rat people. Their strength was not strong and their overall ability was not high. It was good enough if they could manage, let alone manage well.

However, Ming Guangchen himself could leisurely read books, cultivate himself, and analyze the essence of the furnace-baking method. This alone is enough to show that someone else took care of all the tedious tasks.

It's hard to imagine that the person playing this role is actually the swordsman from the Shangxuan Sect, a former enemy.

Considering that his master was practically destined to be the protagonist of the Northern Xuan Sacrifice Continent before he arrived, An Jing wasn't surprised that Ming Guangchen could win him over—indeed, given Ming Guangchen's personality, if he treated others with sincerity, many people would accept him.

"But what about Lu Chen?"

An Jing said with great interest, "I think the Shangxuan Sect's recent actions have become increasingly large, which must be a prediction of a great calamity that will befall the Huaixu Realm in the future—are you preparing for it, or are you taking precautions against something?"

[Your master, Ming Guangchen, had a very difficult fate without you. After the Nirvana War, the Mingjing Sect will be destroyed, and he will wander and struggle, growing and fighting with the fragments of the Haotian Mirror. In the end, he will rebuild the Mingjing Sect, fight for supremacy, and may even contend for the Heavenly Sect and reach the pinnacle of the Northern Xuan Sacrifice Continent.]

However, among the many possibilities, there is also the possibility of the entire Northern Xuan Sacrifice Continent being destroyed and sinking. It is precisely because of this possibility that we have always maintained a high level of attention to the Northern Xuan Sacrifice Continent—the destruction of the Great Chen Dynasty, the destruction of your Mingjing Sect, and even the destruction of all living beings above, we, the Shangxuan Sect, do not care about your lives or your deaths, but as the manifestation of the Yin and Yang duality of the Five Colors and Five Directions of Huaixu and the Five Immortal Heavens, if the Northern Xuan Sacrifice Continent sinks, it only means one thing.

At this point, the swordsman said in a deep voice, "That is, the perfect and flawless state of Huai Xu will be broken, and the Heavenly Demons... the endless Heavenly Demons from the outside world, and even the countless supreme Heavenly Demons wandering in the endless void, will probably all converge on Huai Xu!"

In other words, the future of Beixuan Sacrifice Continent determines the survival of Huaixu!

Although the Heavenly Demons of Huaixu may seem insignificant, we must not underestimate them. Your master told me that the Great Heavenly Demon 'Tian Shuai' has broken free of his seal and emerged into the world. This is definitely an omen. The Northern Profound Sacrifice Continent is far more crucial than we imagined. We must have overlooked something back then, so we have no idea what factors there could determine the survival of the Huaixu Realm!

At this point, the swordsman's tone became deeply worried—He genuinely cared about the future of the Huai Xu Realm, and that was no lie.

An Jing nodded, seemingly lost in thought, and then calmly said, "There are now three Heavenly Mandates in the Northern Xuan Sacrifice Continent."

Upon hearing this, the swordsman was stunned, while An Jing continued, "You know that I am the Seven Fiends Tribulation—since you've figured that out, I won't hide it from you."

“You were once an enemy of me and my master. My master didn’t kill you, and neither will I. It’s just that killing someone who doesn’t resist or admit their mistakes is boring. If you had been more stubborn, you would have been refined and thrown into the divine wood of my inner cave just now… Now, you are assisting your master, which is good. So I’ll tell you something: you should use your knowledge to analyze some problems for me.”

【……no problem】

The swordsman could tell that An Jing wasn't joking or threatening him; he was speaking frankly, which was his seriousness. Therefore, he solemnly replied, "My name is Yuan Qingxu. I was born as a human through the divine rebirth of the Dao spirit of the 'Shangxuan Qingxu Five Thunder Annihilation Sword', which was transformed by an elder of the sect using the method of conferring divine power. This is my origin. As a former divine weapon worshipped by the Shangxuan Sect and a true core member of the sect, I know many things. I will analyze them for you, just as I planned for Ming Guangchen."

As he spoke, Yuan Qingxu was quite confident. He was knowledgeable and had seen a lot of things. Even if the sky were to fall, he wouldn't be too surprised.

But An Jing's next words completely stunned him.

“In the present Northern Xuan Sacrifice Continent, there are three Destinies – the Yingtian Immortal Tree represents ‘Creation from Nothingness’, and the Great Chen Little Emperor Xuan Mingyu represents ‘Natural Master’.”

"And me, the Seven Fiends Calamity."

An Jing spoke succinctly and without any unnecessary words: "I am now in the Zhaolin Realm, and I have already gained the approval of the Ancestral Dragon and obtained the title of 'Creator from Nothingness'. If that little emperor is ungrateful and insists on being my enemy, then after I kill him, I will gain the approval of the Yingtian Immortal Tree, and I will become the new generation of Creator from Nothingness."

"And after his death, I will not boast to you. With my talent, becoming a Natural Master is only natural. In fact, my current identity is that of a Natural Master, so I can most likely take advantage of the luck supported by the Tianyuan Realm to obtain another Natural Master destiny."

"In this way, with the three destinies gathered, if I were to unify the Northern Xuan Sacrifice Continent in the future... Ha, no, I will definitely be able to unify the Northern Xuan Sacrifice Continent, and I will be the ruler of this world."

At this point, An Jing's tone remained calm, as if everything was a matter of course: "The gathering of the Four Heavenly Mandates should be unprecedented, something that has never been heard of before, right? Yuan Qingxu, do you know what this really means?"

"Now we are in the Great Wilderness Realm, a place where the Heavenly Dao of Emptiness is not present, so you may speak freely."

Yuan Qingxu was stunned, his soul sphere flickering violently. He remained silent for a long while, until An Jing frowned slightly, thinking that the other party had lost the ability to think due to fright. Only then did the swordsman's soul exclaim: "[So that's how it is! So that's how it is! I understand now! I understand why the original deduction suggested that the Northern Profound Sacrifice Continent might sink!]"

[From nothing, nature creates, and there is the inevitable Seven Fiends Tribulation that we did not predict... Even without you, without you, Anjing! A Seven Fiends Tribulation will still appear in the Northern Profound Sacrifice Continent. That Seven Fiends Tribulation is very likely to be one of your current friends, perhaps Ming Guangchen, or perhaps a close relative of yours. And he or she will inevitably harbor the desire to destroy everything, and... inherit the will of the Heavenly Dao!]

An ordinary person would be completely confused upon hearing this. But with An Jing's wisdom and the slight doubt that had already been lurking in his heart, he instantly understood everything.

He thought of all his friends, that one who was indeed quite special and very important, but for some reason, always seemed to remain hidden behind the scenes, not involved in too many major events...

"Bai Qinghan..."

An Jing muttered to herself, "If it weren't for me, would she be the one facing the Seven Calamities..."

Parents gone, friends and family all lost… Yes, Bai Qinghan chose to follow the Heavenly Will Demonic Sect, but that doesn't mean she doesn't consider the other children of calamity as friends. Gu Yeqi is her friend, and so are the others. This girl, born in the midst of demonic calamity, raised in the Demonic Sect, filled with rage towards everything, wanting to change the world, yet even more so wanting to destroy everything… Yes.

She is the 'orthodox' Seven Killings Tribulation.

Starting with the Taiyin star and transforming into the 'Xuanming Seven Killings' is just as logical as starting with Taibai and Yinghuo.

However, his own existence, and the existence of Fu Xie, drew the attention of Heaven. Thus, destiny shifted, and he became one of the Seven Calamities!
[Bai Qinghan? The disciple of that acquaintance your master knew in the Demonic Sect? That goddess of the Heavenly Will Demonic Sect? You think she's the one responsible for the Seven Fiends Tribulation? It's not impossible!]

At this moment, Yuan Qingxu was still frantically deducing, his tone almost maniacal: "But no matter what, with the three Heavenly Mandates intertwined, the final victor will undoubtedly be the one who unites the four Heavenly Mandates in the future! And also… that will be the 'vessel of the Heavenly Dao'!"

[Or perhaps, it is the vehicle for the Way of Heaven to 'seek emptiness through reduction'!]

Yes, yes, the sinking of the Northern Profound Sacrifice Continent was the result of the fully developed Great War of the Heavenly Destinies in the distant future. And that result broke the shackles of the Void Realm, not only on martial artists but also on the Heavenly Dao—the Heavenly Dao could also use this gap to escape the Void Realm!

[Is Huai Xu Heavenly Dao trying to run away?!]

Upon realizing this, Yuan Qingxu suddenly understood, and his next words made An Jing raise an eyebrow: "So that's it! This is exactly what the Heavenly Will Demonic Sect wanted to do—so that's what the Heavenly Will Ancestor's disagreement with the sect stemmed from!"

They want to help Huai Xu Tian Dao escape, and then support a chosen one... to become the new Heavenly Dao!

They want to be the will of the new world!

(End of this chapter)