Destiny is ashes

Chapter 1184 Bombarding the Undying Tree

"Ru Hui's blood is very special. I already knew this when I invaded the capital. Thinking about it carefully, it seems that it was also a deliberate act for Prince Jing to find so many friends to interact with Ru Hui."

Showing no concern whatsoever for that so-called great power, An Jing said indifferently, "Although his blood shadow still exists, he obviously has amnesia. But in the end, it doesn't matter. The relationship between Prince Jing and the late emperor was so close that it doesn't matter which of their children is who."

“Xuan Mingyu, don’t think that just because you have the blood of the Prince of Jing flowing through your veins I will hold back. Now tell me your true purpose, and I will decide whether to kill you or imprison you depending on the situation.”

"As for you, Grand Tutor Hong."

An Jing looked in the direction of Grand Tutor Hong, closed his eyes, and said with a hint of annoyance, "Power, strength, the leader of a force, the guarantee of succession..."

"If I wanted these things, I could have had them long ago."

"If what I really want is this boring stuff, I don't need to fight all the way here; I can just stay in Suspended Life Manor."

At this moment, in the west of Beixuan Sacrifice Continent, a Taoist priest was carrying the Zhou Tian Star Array Diagram and smiling as he gazed in the direction of the capital.

Although He was under close surveillance by the Four Seasons Dragon Gods and the Haotian Mirror, He could still keep track of the movements in the Divine Capital at all times. At this moment, He laughed loudly and congratulated Him: "Haha, what the Holy Son says is true. If I were teaching the Holy Son only for these things in the mortal world, he could have possessed them long ago."

"What you can give, my Heavenly Will Divine Sect can also give. You're using this as bait, as a bargaining chip? Don't make us laugh. He's someone who, even without destiny, could have founded a new Heavenly Sect and reached the pinnacle through his own strength."

Although this is my first time meeting the Holy Son, I know him far better than any of you!

The voice of the Heavenly Will Cult Leader reverberated throughout the heavens, while Grand Tutor Hong's expression grew even more unpleasant.

An Jing opened his eyes, which were now completely bloodshot. The martial artist raised his hand, held up his equally crimson sword, and pointed it at the three people in front of him: "Look, this is my sword."

"If I wanted, I could have obtained the most beautiful ending in the mortal world from the very beginning."

"Since I didn't ask for it, it means what I want is far more than it."

So what exactly do you want?

Grand Tutor Hong was completely bewildered. He was utterly confused: "Now that things have come to this, there's no need to hide anything. You must know about the Holy Ancestor, or rather, the Holy Ancestor's obsession still lives on through the Immortal Tree; it has become one with the entire Great Chen system."

[Given the right conditions, if the Great Chen Dynasty has the opportunity to 'unify the Northern Xuan and return to its former glory,' it will immediately awaken, transforming into an unprecedentedly powerful demon that devours everything!]

[The late Emperor and Prince Jing triggered the Holy Ancestor's awakening. The late Emperor sacrificed himself to prevent the Holy Ancestor from experiencing his strongest urge to revive. Before his death, he instructed me, Yin Gujin, Prince Jing, and I to maintain the order of heaven and earth and prevent widespread suffering—I did as he instructed! I did not betray the Great Chen!]

[By taking advantage of the causal fluctuations caused by the awakening of two other Great Heavenly Demons due to the Vast Ocean Demonic Calamity and the Frost Tribulation, we interrupted the Holy Ancestor's awakening process. During your Mirror Sect's Nirvana War, the Holy Ancestor once again sensed the opportune moment for the Great Chen Dynasty's rise, and it was Yin Gujin who suppressed it with all his might… To accomplish all this, the Frost Tribulation was indeed created, shaping you, but Anjing, this is the growing pain of reform!]

[If we don't do this, the entire Great Chen Dynasty will be devoured by the Holy Ancestor. In that case, you will all die, and everyone in the world will die! Between two evils, choose the lesser; no one can do it better!]

Now, once we complete the reconstruction of the new Civil and Military Array Plate, we can completely suppress and refine it, transforming it entirely into the power of the Heavenly Official!

[May the world be peaceful and prosperous, tranquil and serene. Tell me, what is it that you truly desire, something beyond that?]

"So that's it."

Upon hearing this, An Jing's heart stirred slightly, and he sighed softly, "So that's how it is."

There are many reasons for the outbreak and causes of the Frost Calamity and the Vast Ocean Demonic Disaster. All parties have their own reasons for tacit approval and intentional provocation, but most of the time it is not clear who benefits.

Especially in Da Chen, everyone is suffering, whether it's reputation or fortune. They have no reason not to help. Even if they were insects, they wouldn't act like this. At the very least, they should openly provide disaster relief while actually enriching themselves.

But if this wasn't a conspiracy, but rather a counter-strategy, then it makes perfect sense. Having understood everything, An Jing's tone remained calm: "In this light, Grand Tutor Hong, perhaps you can't be considered particularly despicable, because you truly don't have much self-interest. However, this is also because you've reached a level where, apart from a higher, farther, and longer future, you no longer care about worldly riches and honors."

"But in the end, it's nothing more than patching things up on the mundane. In the end, it's just humans oppressing humans, nothing more than a bunch of insects living a miserable life. Why can't you, with your intelligence, see higher and farther? Why can't you think more thoroughly? Is there no other possibility besides maintaining this human world that is destined to be a cycle of oppression and being oppressed?"

He asked, puzzled, "Ultimately, what's the point of being king in an anthill that's destined to rot?"

[Does refusing mean you have to become our enemy?]

The geomantic map surrounding Grand Master Hong lit up layer by layer, with billions of points of light rapidly circulating within. His tone grew increasingly somber: "Ant nests, is this how you judge humanity? But if you don't give ants a nest, and they face floods, fires, water disasters, or frost disasters, leaving them to fend for themselves, many more will die!"

Martial artists crave conflict and chaos. Sects don't care how their families and nations fare out—whether they have enough to eat and wear, shelter and work, or a peaceful life. They let all things roam freely under the frost-covered sky; those who survive are destined for greatness. That's what they want!

[What the Holy Ancestor wanted back then, and what I want now, is to control this power. The Imperial Court's structure is good enough; what's wrong with maintaining it?]

Although the imperial court makes mistakes and oppresses the people, it does so within limits. If you don't like the necessary evils of aristocratic families, you can simply change the name. After all, in any world made up of people, there will inevitably be such hierarchical relationships.

While the internal power struggles within a massive organization are undoubtedly ugly, corrupt, and bloody, and cause harm to the public, without this organization, far more ordinary people would die, and no one would care!

[You want everyone in the world to live and be free from oppression? How could the Seven Fiends be so naive?!]

"Innocent?"

An Jing shook his head slightly and scoffed, "Grand Tutor Hong, you seem to have missed the point. When did I ever say I wanted to save everyone? When did I ever care about the number of dead?"

"Don't talk about people dying. People are meant to die. They faced oppression, but they didn't resist your tyranny, didn't kill you with knives, didn't storm the government, didn't assassinate you, and didn't spit in your food when it was served—they accepted their fate and obeyed your rules. Do you think I would sympathize with or pity them?"

No, not at all.

"This is the fate they chose. People who don't even feel anger, who don't even cry for help, are not worth my time."

At this point, An Jing raised his head and looked up at the sky: "In the final analysis, the entire Great Chen Dynasty was built on mistakes. After listening to your words, I understand this even more."

"Back then, the Holy Ancestor used the Heavenly Demon as a restraint for the sake of bloodline inheritance, restraining the possibility of creation from nothing, and also using the Heavenly Official system to restrain the possibility of half of the martial artists in the Northern Profound Sacrifice Continent. Given that he was favored by the Mandate of Heaven back then, he should have established a Heavenly Sect to pass on the creation from nothing, restore the world, increase the number of martial artists, and then manage them, leading the order of martial artists into the next era."

"But everything turned out the other way around. You don't know why Xuan Tianji chose to devour Wu Zhong Sheng and create the Heavenly Official system, but the result is that even a strong person like Yin Gujin can only be regarded as a Martial Emperor."

"For the sake of easier management, the underlying idea in your hearts throughout the Great Chen territory is that the more mortals the better, and everyone is a Heavenly Official, rejecting the existence of Destiny Warriors—otherwise, how could I have so easily conquered the Divine Capital?"

“Destiny is a person’s pursuit and control over their own fate. Only those who are content with mediocrity and helplessly fall into mediocrity will not have destiny. A truly beautiful world should be a world where everyone has destiny, yet everyone is peaceful and happy. First, we should give people possibilities, rather than suppressing and controlling them.”

"Grand Tutor, this is the limitation of the Heavenly Official system. It allows mortals who don't even know their own desires to wield power, making it impossible for them to see the future clearly. You clearly have the power of Lingxiao, but your vision is still that of a mortal, too small and too short. You can only focus on a hundred or a thousand years... You only focus on the human world, not the future a thousand years later."

"Oppressing a group of people for the sake of stability—this kind of mediocrity is demonic. You, a peak member of the Heavenly Sect, a dignified Heavenly Venerable, can only think of these methods. I am very... disappointed."

At this point, An Jing stopped speaking to Grand Tutor Hong, his tone turning into an unquestionable command: "Alright, time's almost up. That's all I have to say. I completely understand your thoughts—Hong Xieshi, now, immediately hand over all authority over the entire Heavenly Official system to me and remove the great formation on the Xuantian Palace!"

As he spoke, a huge rift opened up in the blood-red sky, and an enormous phantom of a celestial cave appeared behind the dark void rift.

A huge, pitch-black roulette wheel could be vaguely seen slowly rotating.

The magnificent outline of the [Void-Shattering Flood Cannon] appeared above the capital, with blood-red stars burning fiercely at its core, chilling all living beings who watched it: "I will bombard the Yingtian Immortal Tree!"

(End of this chapter)