Destiny is ashes

Chapter 1130 Rise and Fall of Dynasties and Empires

The fifteenth day after the Taixu Abyss Cave was opened.

Danlin Town, early morning, the sky is cloudless.

Huo Qing stood atop an unfinished high-rise building, facing the rising sun, overlooking the vast construction site below.

This place was once a safe zone town on the outskirts of Xuan Ye City. In the past, the Yuan Shen Heavenly Venerables forged the Spirit Network, and the base of the great array that split off was the spiritual vein of the four major spiritual vein cities and the sea spiritual vein where the demon spirits lived. It governed the five elements and also possessed the methods of the Yuan Shen level and Dao Embryo level.

The numerous differentiation arrays that subsequently emerged were the Golden Core Purple Mansion City and the Safe Zone Town, guarded by various True Monarchs and True Persons.

Although Huo Qing knew about this intricate network of formations within formations, he didn't understand it. It was like knowing how to operate software and computers and knowing that programming existed, but not understanding the principles behind the code. Therefore, he wasn't amazed by such a structure.

Now, Huo Qing looked down at the entire earth, watching the veins of the Spirit Network Array branch out from every corner of the world, transporting spiritual energy to every inch of land, and couldn't help but feel shocked.

"As expected of a great array that can simulate and replace part of the operation of the Heavenly Dao... It penetrates every aspect of the principles of law, filtering and suppressing the effects of all demonic energy."

He sighed softly, “But then again, the Heavenly Dao itself is also a ‘array’ created by the Daoist Immortal Venerable. These are all inherited from the same lineage.”

"Martial artists inscribe arrays that can simulate the Dao of Heaven on their bodies, thus gaining extraordinary power."

"And the Cave Heaven Technique, which combines immortal and martial arts, and opens up a new path..."

Huo Qing couldn't help but nod slightly. The stronger he was, the deeper his understanding of the laws of heaven and earth was, and the more he could appreciate the value of the Anjing Path.

When he can grasp the subtle principles of martial arts and the grand principles of formations, he can become a True Person. And if he can integrate the two into one, that may be the moment when he masters the method of 'Golden Core and Void Core'.

And this small part of the Cave Heaven Method and the Spirit Network Method alone can help him become a True Person or even a True Lord.

And what level would the 'Cave Heaven Technique,' which completely integrates the two and extracts their essence, be in its complete form?
However, compared to the awe-inspiring nature of the spiritual network, the maintenance centers and strongholds that were once used to maintain this great formation, namely the many towns in the safe zone, appear quite old, chaotic, and filthy.

Of course, it is also full of vitality, like weeds in a pile of rocks, guarding the huge spiritual city.

However, accompanied by a deafening roar, the massive engineering puppet, like a giant god, simply moved forward, leveling all the houses, streets, markets, warehouses, and all sorts of sheds.

Along with Huo Qing's childhood memories, everything turned into dust that filled the sky.

Then, amidst the dust, at a speed visible to the naked eye, a large number of Kun demons, or rather, Thousand Machines, were rapidly spreading. These steel-colored mists spread, and the skeletons of the new urban area and new town grew like crystal clusters or branches.

Wider streets, more rational layout, more standard housing...

Gazing at the dust of the past, Huo Qing showed no trace of melancholy.

With the arrival of the Heavenly Venerable Alliance of Huaixu Realm, the safe zones surrounding the four major spiritual vein cities began to be abolished, and construction was in full swing everywhere. A large number of puppets and huge construction machinery were leveling the old urban areas and safe zone villages and towns in every place.

Just now, at the entrance of the town, the mutton soup shop where he had taken Anjing several times had its canopy collapse under the immense force of the puppet.

The boss stood at a distance, watching with slightly red eyes, but he was also smiling, because just a few days ago, his family had been allocated new housing in the city, and they might even be able to get a better shop in the city in the future.

Memory is just memory.

What's past should be past, just as dust should return to dust, and soil and rocks should return to soil and rocks.

The old world should end and perish; this is the meaning of "death." Compared to a warm, safe new home with a stable supply of spiritual energy, the memories of the past are far too ethereal and intangible.

Huo Qing jumped down from the high building and came to stand in front of a person.

"Huo Qing?"

Downstairs, Iron Hand was smoking a cigarette, staring blankly at everything before him as it turned into ruins and then into the beginnings of a new town.

His prosthetic eye was flashing red, and his mood was clearly not as calm as it appeared.

"Uncle."

Standing side by side with Tie Shou, Huo Qing didn't say much. Tie Shou put down his cigarette, stared at a corner of Danlin Town from back then, which was the direction of Huo Qing's former residence, and slowly said, "Back then, the five of us came to the safe zone, only thinking about contributing to the Guiyi Army."

"Even if we don't talk about overthrowing the rule of the four major groups, we should at least make them feel bad, and make them feel normal."

"Most importantly, we need to understand why the four Celestial Venerables created such a world."

"At that time, we were full of ambition, and we were not hesitant to sacrifice ourselves for this great goal."

"But later, many things happened... We saw the darkness of the group, and we also saw the darkness of the Guiyi Army. We saw how hard it was for the people at the bottom to live, while the people at the top suffered in a different way."

"Even high-ranking executives of large companies and members of elite families live in constant fear."

"I'm not speaking for them. I hate them more than you think, but to be honest, compared to the resources and status they get... haha, a bunch of lords fighting and persecuting each other, they really deserve it."

"The losers fall into the abyss, and the winners cannot go any further, because the number of Dao Embryos is limited, and no matter what... one cannot find peace of mind."

At this point, Tie Shou stubbed out his cigarette and laughed, but his tone was almost melancholy as he said, "The more you know, the less you can wholeheartedly die for some ideal. Your parents died early, and your older brother and sister had enemies. Although I also have enemies, in the end, after all these years, I guess I've already avenged them."

“I don’t want to remember those bad things. Instead, I’ve started to miss that time. Huo Qing, that was the time when I lived with your father and the other four of us, and then the six of us… That was probably the happiest and most peaceful period of my life.”

Huo Qing knew what Tie Shou meant.

With hope and dreams in their hearts, and brothers and sisters with the same ideals fighting together, although it was hard and dangerous, that time was definitely a rare moment of light in Iron Hand's life.

He stood beside his uncle, who was no taller than him, side by side with this relative who was not related to him by blood.

“Now all those carriers of memory have disappeared.” The young monk said with some nostalgia, “The house where I used to live with my parents, the place where I was born, the place where I played, ate, and cherished, are all gone… The carvings on the walls, the doodles from my childhood, those streets and alleys, the paths and smells I cherished, will never be there again.”

"Our little shop is going to be gone too."

Tie Shou sighed and looked at Huo Qing: "I originally wanted to pass it on to you, but now you don't need it."

“How could that be?” Huo Qing laughed when talking about the recycling hut. “The reason we opened the general store is because the first place we came into contact with was your recycling hut general store, Uncle. The entire Ping An Group can be said to be a continuation of your recycling hut back then, Uncle. You also have shares.”

"Some things, although they have ended and disappeared, are not truly gone. Instead, they are transformed into something new and continue."

"Yes."

Iron Hand closed his eyes and murmured, "My little house may still be there, but the Guiyi Army is truly going to disband." "Originally, it was just an external organization used by the Four Saints to discipline the group. Only now do I understand the true nature of the Guiyi Army... it's just the name. Guiyi, guiyi, is about disciplining the group, ensuring it doesn't forget 'righteousness.' The group is also a trial to hone us, a clash of wills, using struggle to erase the rust, only then can it endure..."

"And the true purpose of the Four Saints was also announced to the public not long ago."

At this point, Tie Shou couldn't help but chuckle: "An Jing was originally just an ordinary little cultivator, or even not a cultivator at all—when I first met him, he had only recently awakened his spiritual power. Who would have thought that in less than ten years, he would... accomplish such a great thing."

"Don't underestimate yourself, Uncle." Huo Qing laughed as well. "Without your help, Anjing wouldn't have grown up so quickly. Just like Ping An Group, you've contributed to it all."

"That's not what I meant."

Iron Hand laughed, then sighed, "Too fast, but that's the problem."

Raising his head, Tie Shou looked at another town and new district in the distance that was being rebuilt, and sighed, "I can stop hating now. The Guiyi Army has disbanded, the group has undergone tremendous changes, and a better new world is about to be born. I have made peace with this world—but the majority of people cannot make peace."

“There are countless people who cannot reconcile. So many people have died from the indirect or even direct oppression of corporations. So many people have been refused entry into safe zones and spiritual cities. Can the suffering they have endured and their hatred for large corporations be erased with a few words of truth? Those former perpetrators in large companies, those guys who were high above and decided other people's lives, their heads haven't been chopped off yet, their blood hasn't been shed yet, and the world is about to be changed. They can also live a good life. How can this be allowed?”

"How can the decay of the old world remain in the new world? I don't care, I can pretend not to see it, but there will always be many people who can't tolerate it."

"Hatred, cause and effect, resentment... Remembering them is 'karma,' forgetting them is 'evil'."

"How can karma and sins be eliminated? The old era has perished, just like the town before our eyes, which has been flattened and rebuilt by a greater force. But just like the memories in our hearts, the ghosts of the old era... will not dissipate."

"So what?"

Huo Qing simply smiled calmly at this: "It's better than the past, isn't it? The new world still holds the sins of the past. Whether we resolve these sins or are resolved by them, it's what we should be doing."

“Anjing has laid the foundation. He will punish crime and kill evil when he encounters it, but he wants to do something more important: resist greater oppression. So we have to do these small things of cleaning up ourselves. This is also what we should do.”

Huo Qing had long been aware of this.

He knew very well that even if the world was changed, the karmic burden would still remain, and the demon's eternal entanglement would always cause people to be obsessed with it. Therefore, the Four Saints' ultimate idea was also to perish together, to put an end to everything with the fair death of all living beings, including themselves.

But this is just an escape.

Facing problems through sacrifice is merely a shortcut.

The truly painful but righteous path is to resolve all problems step by step in a positive way, including the entanglements of human hearts and the consequences of karma, just like heaven and earth, accepting and bearing whatever happens...

If one cannot do this, one cannot bear the virtues of Heaven and morality, and become a 'god' for oneself and all things.

at the same time.

A tremendous tremor came from the top of the sky, causing the void to shake. From the far north to the far south, from the far east to the far west, all the atmosphere of the sky was distorted. The white clouds that were originally scattered like cotton balls were instantly transformed into long and narrow shapes like willow catkins.

boom! boom! boom! boom!
At that moment, streaks of ethereal meteors streaked across the sky, bombarding the surface of the Tianyuan Realm. These were the 'star rain' formed by the disturbance of distant world remnants, which were blown away by the immense force. The debris of these worlds transformed into a meteor shower, continuously crashing into the top of the sky, causing the outer spiritual net of the Tianyuan Realm to dent slightly, demonstrating the immense power of this force.

Without a doubt, this is the aftermath of a battle between Heavenly Venerables, or even multiple Heavenly Venerables!

At that very moment, above the rising sun, in the distant void beyond, a dim, blood-red star lit up!
"This is……"

Upon seeing this scene, everyone in the Tianyuan Realm was stunned, while Huo Qing stared intently at the light, instantly recalling the blood-red star he had seen during the Demon Kingdom War!
That is……

The Northern Heavenly Cave is the prelude to the activation of the Heaven-Burning Divine Weapon, the [Void-Shattering Flood Cannon]!
"It's An Jing!"

Huo Qing clenched his fists, staring intently at the second rising sun. There was no need for guessing or imagining; what was about to happen was exactly what everyone expected!
The Holy Demon... is about to suffer its second and final defeat!

—Right now, right now.

—Some worlds have already truly ended.

Meanwhile, in the Realm of Emptiness.

As the sun set and the sea of ​​clouds surged, Canglinzu followed Gu Yunzhi to the entrance to the capital, in front of a fortress transformed from a majestic mountain.

The capital city is vast and boundless; an entire region is directly under its jurisdiction. After passing through the pass, one still has a long way to go before finally reaching the capital.

This was undoubtedly the place he longed to reach. Both he and An Jing, who was watching through his eyes, wanted to see what this heart of Da Chen, the place that held the thoughts, schemes, hopes, anger, love, and hatred of countless people in the entire Bei Xuan Sacrifice Continent and even the entire Huai Xu Realm, was really like.

However, when the moment actually arrived, the originally excited Canglinzu felt incredibly calm, even... a sense of serenity.

"What, not excited anymore?"

Noticing Cang Linzu's emotional change, Gu Yunzhi, who was chatting with the general guarding the pass, sent a telepathic message with a smile in his voice.

He greatly admired the fact that the granary was full, that one could remain calm in the face of important matters, and that one could make decisions when necessary. He was the kind of person who could be a good general: "Let me tell you the truth, the current capital may very well disappoint you. It is a good thing that you can remain calm."

“I have never felt that Shenjing would satisfy me, General. I just feel that when things come to a head, it’s nothing special.”

Canglinzu whispered to Gu Yunzhi, who then sent a message with satisfaction: "That's how it should be... After passing the test, I will teleport directly to the capital to report. From now on, you are free to act as you see fit."

"This is my token, take it."

As he said this, Cang Linzu felt a metal token appear in his pocket, and he thanked the general in his heart.

Gu Yunzhi did not reply, because he raised his head, looked up at the sky, and frowned slightly.

The guarding general beside him also looked puzzled, gazing at the sky.

Canglinzu also sensed a familiar aura.

He also raised his head.

then……

He saw the same light bloom.

I saw a distant star, faintly shining above the setting sun.

The crimson light flowed, like flames, like an omen of death.

(End of this chapter)